My grandfather's name was Elie Gavre Rasheta. He was from Yugoslavia, a town called Lika (or close to Lika) I think.

There is a Gavre RASETA, sounds like rrrashata, from Sapar listed as ethnic Croatian and an Ilija, sounds like eeleeya, RASETA, from Sapar. They both came September 25, 1903 Havre to Ellis Island. HOWEVER this info is from the transcribed info as the original manifest was not available tonight. From experience I have found all sorts of problems with the transcribed info, IE mis-spelling, etc.. So you should go to the Ellis site and try to view the original when it is available. These two names were listed on seperate lines so one can only assume they were different people and not the same person. Also it is very uncommon for Croatians or others in Croatia to have middle names, typically they have a given name at birth and a confirmation name. Yet I see people searching for people with both first and middle name. You will most likely find records where they came from which will have just a first name, except in church confirmation records when they received a confirmation name.

There is however one POSSIBLITY for towns and that is Lapac. The largest number, 21, of RASETA are listed in Licko-Senjska zupanija (Lika-Senj County) in the online phone books. And the largest number in that county are from Donji Lapac meaning Lower Lapac. Perhaps the transcriber misread the ship manifest and instead of Sapar perhaps it is Lapac. There simply does not appear to be a Sapar, in fact the only reference I found was to the Middle East. But until one can look at the original manifest....

Also the surname RASETA would appear to perhaps be of Vlaci origins. That was a group found throughout that part of Europe and many of that background settled in Lika when the Austrian Crown took control from the Croatian civil authorities and established The Militär Grenze or Military Frontier in that region. They are thought to have originated in the area that is now Bulgaria. But this is only a guess based on what I hear in the name.

Lika is a region and is IN CROATIA not Serbia! I know of no town called Lika, however there are some towns which contain the word Licki or Licko , IE Novi Licki (meaning New Lika) which is derived from the region Lika. There are/were a fair number of Serbs in that region though and many people mistakenly get the impression that it is in Serbia, it has been in Croatia for many centuries and never has been a part of Serbia. Records such as church and municipal records will be found at the local parish or in the National Archives in Zagreb. Also the LDS Church has microfilmed many parish records which are available at a Family History Center near you. You can check to see if they have filmed records for whatever town/village these folks came from.

Here is a link to a Croatia genealogy forum from other RASETAs

http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?forum=croat...

Also there were news accounts of a couple of RASETAs having been killed during the fighting in the Lika region in the 1990s.

Useful links for Croatian genealogy, inc. Bosnia, Lika, etc Updated 5-28-01

Links to info about Croatia including history and tourism

CROATIA, an Overview of its History, Culture and Science

http://mirror.veus.hr/darko/etf/etfss.html

Appleby in Rijeka, Croatia has a good genealogy page:

http://www.appleby.net/genealogy.html

Links to organizations Associated with FEEFHS from 14 Countries, inc. Croatia:

http://feefhs.org/ethnic.html

Croatians Books, Croatian Immigration, Croatian Coats of Arms, Croatian Genealogy, Croatian Heraldry, Ragusan Press Books, CGHS- By Adam S. Eterovich. Croatian Genealogical and Heraldic Society, research available

http://www.croatians.com/index.html

A Croatian genealogy newsletter:

http://www.durham.net/facts/crogen/newsltr.html

Croatia links, plus lots more

http://www.croatia.net/

The Province of Burgenland, Austria, was formed from parts of the Hungarian counties (Megye) of Vas, Sopron and Moson following WWI. While it is Austria's youngest province, it can claim to be one of the oldest. It has a fascinating history worthy of being studied in detail. The population comprises people of mainly Germanic, Croatian and Hungarian descent.

http://www.spacestar.com/users/hapander/burgen.html

The next two links are to sites about White Croatia, in ancient times white signified north and red south thus the red and white checkered Croatian Coat of Arms. This area is in present day Poland, including Krakow, and was populated by White Croatians as early as the 1st century AD. At one time this was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was called Galicia.

http://www.freenet.kiev.ua:8080/ciesin/Ukraine/ivfr-hist.htm...

http://www.kresy.co.uk/galicja.html

This link has history of Zumberak and Uskoci in Croatia

http://www.sandsmachine.com/hist_001.htm

A good site to learn about tourism and all the beautiful and historic places in Croatia, there is also a section on the language.

http://www.htz.hr/home.php


Genealogy message boards/forums

Croatia genforum message board:

http://genforum.genealogy.com/croatia/

Rootsweb genealogy message board:

http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/Croatia/General

Croatia based HR message board

http://www.hr/webbbs/genealogy/

Family History message board of Ancestry.com

http://www.familyhistory.com/messages/Messages.asp?msgindex=...

Usenet Slavic genealogy newsgroup (must be setup to receive newsgroups)

soc.genealogy.slavic

MAPS, PLACENAME LOCATORS, ETC.

Place name locator for the world, inc. Croatia:

http://www.multimap.com/index/HR1.htm

Croatia and Bosnia maps:

http://www.kakarigi.net/maps/

Croatia town and city locator. Due to the lack of being able to view Croatian letters with diacritical markings the names may appear a bit unusual but just use common sense and you will find the place you are seeking.

http://www.calle.com/world/croatia/index.html

1910 Hungarian County Maps, inc. areas of Croatia and Slavonia (site is in Hungarian but maps are useful)
Click on LINKS and then click on 1910 Hungarian County Maps, Croatian areas will be included in Lika-Kravaba, Modrus-Fiume, Zagrab, Varasd, Belovar, Baranya, Veroce, Szerem and Pozsega.

http://www.familytree.hu/

ShtelSeeker a good place name locator for all Eastern Europe

http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm

Having trouble finding a place? Perhaps this is due to a change in the name of the town or village. This link has Croatian Place Names Alternate spellings (Austria, Hungary and Italy) and FHL Microfilm Summary

http://feefhs.org/cro/crotowns.html

Here are links to maps which will give you an idea of the Austria Hungary Monarchy and their provinces so you can get some idea how that relates to Croatia today.

http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/austhung.htm

http://www.sandafayre.com/atlas/ahempia.htm

SURNAME SEARCH

A general article about the history of surnames

http://www.rootscomputing.com/howto/names/names.htm

Ancestry com, here you can look up US Social Security Death records and US phone listings

http://www.ancestry.com/?sourceid=00325405801503816180

LDS on line genealogy name search. . Many church records in Croatia have been microfilmed by the LDS. You can search this site by village/town name to see if your ancestors church has been microfilmed, which can be ordered at a local Family History Center, refer to next link for list of FHC near you!

http://www.familysearch.com/

Search for a Family History Centers near you

http://www.familysearch.com/Eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp

Stories abound about US Immigration officials changing our forbearer’s names. But are these stories true? Here is a link which delves into what may be just a “family legend” without basis!

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/aboutins/history/articles/...

Link to Ellis Island records, including immigrant information, place of origin, ship name and much more. Be sure to view the original ship manifest, the one that was handwritten. Don’t rely on the typed info which contains errors. The original manifest will also contain more personal info.

http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/

This page contains information about where to obtain vital records (such as birth, death & marriage certificates and divorce decrees) from each state, territory and county of the United States.

http://www.vitalrec.com/

Web page for The Vivodina Society, northern Croatia

http://homestead.juno.com/dberkley/files/home.htm

Family Tree Software

Here is a link to FREE downloadable family tree software from the LDS (Mormon) church, I know several people who use it and like it

http://www.familysearch.com/

Searching for family records in Croatia and the US, inc. parish records and US Immigration records

United States Immigration and Naturalization Service Website contains information about the INS Historical Reference Library collection and services

http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/aboutins/history/index.htm

Naturalization Resources general and by US state

http://www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/oc/usa/naturl.html

Locating family records in Croatia

http://www.durham.net/facts/crogen/croatia.html

Not all Croatians are ethnic Croats, here are links to some of ethnic groups in Croatia

Finding Jewish Family Records in Croatia

http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/Croatia.htm

A link to information about Germans, Donauschwabians, in Croatia (Slavonia):

http://www.genealogy.net/gene/reg/ESE/dsslawon.html

History of German Settlements in Southern Hungary (inc. Croatia)

http://www.genealogy.net/gene/reg/ESE/dshist.txt

The Vlachs in Bosnia (and Croatia)

http://www.farsarotul.org/nl16_1.htm

Istro-Romanians in Croatia

http://www.istroromanian.net/

History of the Arbanasi in Croatia

http://www.hwcn.org/~ae987/Curkovic/Arbanasi.html

ON LINE PHONE BOOKS

Croatia on line phone books. NOTE: to use the on line phone books first select area code (zupanija which means county), then type in the name you are searching for next to Subscriber, then check the circle next to csz (this will allow use of English style keyboards), select 100 results and then click on query. You will see the list of names. The listings include phone number and mailing addresses and will also give you the correct Croatian spelling, with diacritical marks over csz. Be sure not to use the Anglicized or Americanized version I. E. ch or sh when searching. The page will also display as list of towns by county if you click on that bar. Information includes phone number, name, address and city.

http://imenik.hinet.hr/imenik-asp/index.asp?lang=us

Worldwide Phone Directory index of online phone books, with over 400 links to Yellow Pages, White Pages, Business Directories, Email Addresses and Fax Listings from over 170 countries all around the world.

http://www.teldir.com/eng/

Bosnia on line phone directory The Bosnia phone book is available on line. Just type in the surname next to preizime select Kanton which is the region and then click on Trazi (search)

http://www.imenik.ptt.ba/osoba1.html

Religions in Croatia
http://www.dalmatia.net/croatia/religion/

Eastern Rite Church in Croatia

http://www.geocities.com/mysticrose.geo/eastlink.html

First Croatian Church in US

http://saintnicholas.webprovider.com/index.htm

Catholic Church in Croatia

http://www.hbk.hr/

Professional genealogical research services for Croatia
Zeljko “Fritz” Frigan’s Croatia Roots
www.croatianroots.com
Adam Eterovich CROATIAN HERITAGE
http://www.croatians.com/
Genealogical research for about 3000 family names originating from Dubrovnik city, Konavle, Zupa dubrovacka, Rijeka dubrovacka, Dubrovacko primorje, Peljesac, Kolocep, Lopud, Sipan and Lastovo
http://www.geocities.com/paris/cathedral/7835/index.html

MISC.
Croatian Fraternal Union of America

http://www.croatianfraternalunion.org/

Croatian Catholic Union of United States and Canada

http://www.ccu-usa-can.org/

A good search engine, just type in surname followed by genealogy may find others who have information you are seeking

http://www.google.com/

Good Luck! Let me know how it goes or if you have any other questions.

Robert Jerin
Croatian Heritage Museum
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Email: banjelacic@worldnet.att.net

Hello distant relative. Elie Gavre Rasheta was my great grandfather. The family comes from a town called Donja Lupka Lika (not sure about spelling). My Great uncle Richard has a copy of his birth certificate in cerilic (russian spelling). I have asked for a copy, but as usual, Uncle Richard is a little slow at responding. He is, however, a wealth of information about the family. He still lives in the house, farm that they lived on. Elie was the father of my grandfather Nicholas Rasheta. The eldest son of that family. I am just beginning research of this side of my family. My grandfather, Nicholas (son of Elie and Gertrude Rasheta) died very young in 1950 or 1951. He left behind 4 children, one being my mother. I know he had sibilings, but not sure of who and how many. I know there was Violet and Richard. There is also another sister for sure, but beyond that I'm not sure. Please contact me if you can fill in any gaps, it would be very appreciated and information will be equally shared. Thank you,
Judith

Not sure if my other email reached you. Just in case not. Elie Rasheta was my great grand father. His son Nicholas was my grandfather who died in 1950-51. The Rasheta's come from a town in Yugoslavia called Donja Lupka Lika (not sure of spelling). A family member of mine (his, yours) has a copy of his birth certificate in cyrillic. I am just beginning research on this side of my family. I would love to exchange info. Please email me at juuditt@hotmail.com

Thank you
Judith

Hello Judith,

The cyrilic is Serbian not Russian. In a previous posting I gave a link to a page which will help you translate the Serbian Cyrillic into English.

Also Lika is in Croatia (has been since about 925) but their is a substantial Orthodox/Serbian population in that area. Also the town is perhaps DONJI LAPAC (sounds like donyee lopats donji means lower)

There are several 24 listings for RAS"ETA (sounds like rasheta) in that area here are listings from the current Croatia phone book online There is a v over the S giving it a SH sound.
01. RASETA ANA Rudanovac, Rudanovac 12A (+385) 53 776 549
02. RASETA ANDRIJA Donji Lapac, Trg dr. Franje Tudjmana 7 (+385) 53 765 385
03. RASETA ANDRIJA Gajine, Gajine 3 (+385) 53 765 268
04. RASETA BOSILJKA Donji Lapac, Ante Starcevica 67 (+385) 53 765 306
05. RASETA DARINKA Frkasic, Frkasic 29 (+385) 53 759 001
06. RASETA DjORDjE Donji Lapac, Ante Starcevica 17 (+385) 53 765 434
07. RASETA GAVRE Donji Lapac, Ante Starcevica 23 (+385) 53 765 247
08. RASETA ILIJA Donji Lapac, Ante Starcevica 10 (+385) 53 765 412
09. RASETA MARJANA Donji Lapac, Ante Starcevica 39A (+385) 53 765 411
10. RASETA MILAN Donji Lapac, 9.Gardijske brigade 39 (+385) 53 765 103
11. RASETA MILAN Donji Lapac, Ante Starcevica 37 (+385) 53 765 129
12. RASETA MILAN Donji Lapac, Bjelovarska 13 (+385) 53 765 376
13. RASETA MILAN Gajine, Gajine 2 (+385) 53 765 283
14. RASETA MILAN Gajine, Gajine 6 (+385) 53 765 353
15. RASETA MILE Donji Lapac, Ante Starcevica 49 (+385) 53 765 330
16. RASETA MIRA Dnopolje, Dnopolje 57 (+385) 53 765 059
17. RASETA MIRA Donji Lapac, Trg dr. Franje Tudjmana 7 (+385) 53 765 038
18. RASETA NEDJELJKA Frkasic, Frkasic 27 (+385) 53 759 002
19. RASETA NEVENKA Donji Lapac, S.S. Kranjcevica 7A (+385) 53 765 052
20. RASETA NIKOLA Donji Lapac, Ante Starcevica 12 (+385) 53 765 219
21. RASETA NIKOLA Donji Lapac, Ante Starcevica 93 (+385) 53 765 436
22. RASETA SAVA Gajine, Gajine 84 (+385) 53 765 269
23. RASETA SAVKA Donji Lapac, Bujadnice 162 (+385) 53 765 416
24. RASETA SIMO Gajine, Gajine 9 (+385) 53 765 414

The Family History Center (LDS Church) near you can order microfilm records which you can rent for about $3 You will find Family Search in my links list which will give you locations. The records are in Cyrilic and they only have the death records for one year.


Title Maticna knjiga, 1832
Authors Pravoslavna crkva. Zupa Donji Lapac (Main Author)

Note Location
Film
Umrli 1832 FHL INTL Film
1536631 Item 11

Violet would be Ljubica (sounds like lyubeetsa, the lj has the sound of the ill in the word million)

Could the sp be Yila? sounds like eeleeya. There is a record at Ellis Island online for Yila ROSETA Arr May 1911 age 27 married wife in D. Lapac Marija (Maria or Mary) destination Pittsburgh to friend Frank Brozanovic, birthplace D. Lopac

Ellis Is online also has a record for Gavre ROSETA arr 1903 age 42 single from Lapac, Austria, Croatia, destination Sharon PA to brother Lazo ROSETA. The next line up on that ship manifest is ILIYA ROSETA! age 41 single, from Lapac, destination Connelsville PA to friend Gjuro (means George) If you look for the ship manifest for this particular person at the "regular" Ellis Is web page it will say "no image available" but you can find it at the following site, just enter Sept 24, 1903, Frame 581 he is line 17

Hope this helps.

There are records for 42 arr at Ellis Island many from Donji Lapac.

http://www.croatia-in-english.com/rj/index.html

Robert Jerin
Croatian Heritage Museum
Cleveland, Ohio

Hello Robert,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I aslo would like to thank you for the information and directions to continue my search. I am a novice at this search for family history and am a bit overwhelmed. I've also encountered those not really willing to be helpful, so once again, I thank you.

Judith

Hello Judith,

My pleasure!

Let me know if I can be of anymore assistance.

Robert Jerin

Hello!
Town called Lika does not exist.Lika is a part of ex Yugoslavia, and it is in its republic Croatia.Lika is Croatias middle part, known also as Lika and Gorski Kotar.If I am wrong,sorry.
Best regards!

Hey Judith, Eli Rasheta is my great grandfather too. Not sure how much info you have gathered this far but Eli had a son Gene Rasheta which is my grandfather, then came my mother and of course, you guessed it, me. Lol I would like to chat with you some time about our family. Your welcome to email me at rednecktex11@yahoo.com or find me on facebook at patrick.j.campbell

Hi rednecktex11

Judith is a bit off on the spelling of the town, Eli was from Donji Lapac, Croatia. This town is near the Bosnian border, Donji means lower. The town played a part in the defense of Europe from further Turkish invation, as it was part of Croatia which the Austrians liberated from the Turks in the 1700s. The Serbs arrived as refugees from areas to the south and east, along with Vlachs. The people were given a free status (that is they were not under any Lord) no taxes. The men were border gaurds, called Granicari, a term which is found for most men in church records. I have been to that general area on my yearly Heritage tours and have seen many of the records, although not for Donji Lapac.

I notice you don't have Gertrude's maiden name in your tree. Here is the Indiana Marriage record for them in 1919

Name: Elie G. Rasheta
Spouse Name: Gertrude Fischer
Marriage Date: 16 May 1919
Marriage County: Lake
Source Title 1: Lake County Indiana
Source Title 2: Index to Marriage Record 1850 - 1920 Inclusive Vol
Source Title 3: W. P. A. Original Record Located: County Clerk's O
Book: 35
OS Page: 495

And from Cook Co IL Death records
Gertrude Rasheta 1 Aug 1986 Cook County, IL

And Eli's Soc Sec Death index record
Elie Rasheta
Birth date 2 Aug 1894
Death Date Feb 1969
Last payments made at Saint John, Lake, Indiana

Be aware there is also another Ely RASHETA who lived in Wisconsin

Here is Eli's WW I Draft Record info (all men were required to register, but this does not mean they served in the US military) NOTE Ilija is the correct, original spelling and RASETA has a diacritical mark over the S which gives it the sound of SH

Name: Ilija Raseta
City: East Chicago
County: Lake
State: Indiana
Birthplace: Lika, Austria
Birth Date: 3 Aug 1894
Single
Occupation Chaffeur
Employer Calumet Garage
Date of Registration June 15, 1917
He had at this time Declared his intent to become a US Citizen

And his WW II (Old Man's) Draft Registration
Name: Elie Gavre RASHETA
Birth Date: 2 Aug 1894
Birth Place: Yugoslavia
Residence: St John, Lake, Indiana
Person who will know his address Gertrude RASHETA
Employer Champion Rivet Co.

WW II Draft records show a Michael RASHETA living at Crown Point Ind.

And from his Naturalization Index Card
Name: Ilija Raseta
Birth Date: 13 Jun 1895
Birth Place: Jugoslavia
Age at event: 31
Court District: Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa
Year of Arrival: 1913
Date of Naturalization June 14, 1926

HOWEVER NOTE the different birthdate... this may be the Eli from Wisconsin!

1930 US Census
Name Age
Elia G Rashetta 35 arrival date 1910
Gertrude Rashetta 27
Amelia Rashetta 10
Nicholas Rashetta 8
Eugene Rashetta 1 9/12
Richard A Rashetta 3/12

This *may* be his ship manifest info
Name: Thoje Raseta
Arrival Date: 28 Mar 1911
Age: 18 Years
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1893
Gender: Male
Race: Croatian
Port of Departure: Hamburg, Germany
Ship Name: Ypiranga
Port of Arrival: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Destination Irwin PA to his cousin Mile Radakovic
Last Residence: Hungary
Birthplace: Dolnje Lapac
Next of kin in old country his father David

I am not familiar with the given name shown on the manifest, perhaps the person who wrote the manifes *at the Port of Hamburg * made an error transcribing the info from Ilija's passport onto the ship manifest.

Robert Jerin
Croatian Heritage Museum
Cleveland Ohio