The History of My Family

Background

I've been a history nut for as long as I can remember. I became really interested in my roots after attending the 75^th reunion of the descendants of Stefan (Gedo, or grandfather(?)) and Milosava (Baba, or grandmother(?)) Smilanich in 1977. In addition to spending some time with cousins that I knew, I also met people from branches of my family that I had no idea existed.

For the first time, I listened to my great aunt Amelia tell the story of how and why Gedo came to the New World from a Serbian village in Croatia in 1902. She told of the struggles and hard work that he and Baba faced. She spoke of their shared heartbreak of losing 4 of 9 children. But she also spoke of the happiness of a loving family that took care of its own, and had enough love left over to help out their neighbors. The values of hard work, love, integrity, and a respect for education were passed down to their children and their children's children.

BTW, I remember several tape recorders going while she spoke. I would love a copy if any still exist.

Anyway, that reunion got me interested in exploring my roots. I have discovered that in many ways my family's history is literally the history of the United States. My paternal grandmother Marie Smilanich, for instance, once spoke of the fact that apparently one of her lines of descent qualified her to become a member of the DAR. Another side of her family traces its roots to a French Canadian family that emigrated to the U.S. in the mid 1800s. My mother's family can trace itself back to a cooper (barrel maker) in Plymouth colony in 1638.

And then there's my paternal great grandparents, the two who got me started on this quest. A pair of modest people from the Balkans who came to America with nothing but hope, a willingness to work hard, and each other. Heroes in the best sense of the word.

I have decided to build this Web site dedicated to their memory. I hope those of you who visit here will find the same sense of connection to our shared past that I did when I first heard great aunt Amelia talk.