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More Memories of Sharon: Typing Class, a Bad Hair Day, and Almost Like Sisters

(Image: rawpixel.com) "A Rose for Sharon," my recent post about preserving my sister Sharon's memory, sparked some lovely, fun, and poignant reminiscences from family and friends. With their permission, I'm sharing them here.  My Aunt Sharon surprised me with this fact: "I remember when we took a typing class together at night school. I could never keep up with her. God love her.  " I had never heard this before! My sister attended Bowling Green State University for a time, and my aunt said they took the class together after Sharon left BGSU and moved home. Eventually, Sharon attended Bryant & Stratton and was about to graduate. Her diploma was awarded posthumously. "Sharon was such a sweet and lovely young lady who had a great smile and gorgeous hair," recalls my Aunt Marian. "I remember how excited she was going to Bowling Green when your mom drove her there and I went along. She was ready to go to college and get on with her life. A be...
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Unusual Name: Vjekoslava

This blog post is part of the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" writing challenge by genealogist, blogger and podcast host Amy Johnson Crow. Week 3 prompt: "Unusual Name."


Being of Croatian and Slovak ancestry lends itself to having many unusual names in my maternal line. So far, my favorite is Vjekoslava, my Croatian great grandmother's name. According to the website "Behind the Names" it is the feminine version of the male name Vjekoslav or "glory through the ages." How beautiful!

My mother knew her grandmother as Louise Kozlina, her married name. So it was a giant leap to actually determine her real name. My aunt recalled her first name was "Alouisa," Americanized to Louise. Various documents such as her childrens' birth certificates and United States Federal Census records have her variously listed as "Loyza," "Elizabeth," "Elizie," "Lojza," and "Loyzka."

But Louise was actually baptized Vjekoslava on 14 August 1882, in Gorica Svetojanska, Zagreb, Croatia, as seen in her birth and baptism entry from the "Matična Knjiga Rođenih," or Parents Book of Births1. It was apparently a very popular name at that time, as two other baby girls were recorded as being named Vjekoslava on the same page.

Reading from left to right, record number 70, born on 14 Aug 1882, baptized same date, Vjekoslava, "zakonita" or legitimate, to Petar Baltorinic and Bara Celinscak.

I have also found her name listed in the ship's manifest for the "Slavonia," which sailed from Fiume, Croatia (now Rijeka), bringing her to New York in December 19052. In the manifest Vjekoslava is listed as 19 years old. She gives her destination as Lemont Furnace, Pennsylvania, and the home of "Jakels Tukich." I recently realized that this is a misspelling of her sister Zora's husband's name: Jacob Vukich. So, she must have lived with them when she first arrived in the United States.

Shortly thereafter, in May 1906, Vjekoslava signs her own name to her application for a marriage license in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.3  I love her clear, strong handwriting. She applied for the license as Louise Baltorinic, but signs her birth name to the document.

Detail of signatures on Fayette County, Pennsylvania marriage application for Frank Kozlina and Vjekoslava Baltorinic, May 1906.

Louise became a United States citizen in November of 1941, making her declaration and petition with her full married name: Lojza Vjekoslava Kozlina. My theory is that the Lojza is perhaps a confirmation name, and from which her more commonly-known name derived.

Detail of Lojza's signature on her Petition for Naturalization.

Just the other day, I happened upon a news item published in The Morning Herald on 13 Sept 1973 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, which mentions my great grandmother by her Croatian name. The photo caption detailed a testimonial dinner held by the Croatian Fraternal Lodge No. 72:

"Also recognized were the 60-year members of the lodge: ....Lojza Kozlina..."4

Lojza Vjekoslava Baltorinic had come a long way from the 19-year-old travelling alone to a new country--to become "Lojza" Louise Kozlina, a women with deep roots in her Croatian American community in southwestern Pennsylvania.


 1 Roman Catholic church, Gorica Svetojanska, Matična Knjiga Rođenih 1858-1897 (Parents Book of Births) entry for Vjekoslava Baltorinic, 14 August 1882; digital image, "Croatia, Church Books, 1516-1994," image 354, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : accessed 13 Jan 2019); citing FHL microfilm 00549381. 

2  Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation, database with images (https://libertyellisfoundation.org : accessed 14 Jan 2019), "Passenger Record," entry for Vjekoslava Baltorinic, age 19, arrived 1 Dec 1905 on Slavonia from Fiume; citing passenger ID 102479100440, frame 672, line 2.

3 County of Fayette, Pennsylvania, marriage application and license entry for Frank or Franciscus Kozlina and Louise or Vjekoslava Baltorinic, 19 June 1906; database and digital images, "Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950," image 201, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org : accessed 13 Jan 2019), citing Marriage, Uniontown, Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States, various county courts and registers, Pennsylvania; FHL microfilm 1,318,045. 

4 Author unknown, "Testimonial," The Morning Herald, 13 Sept. 1973. (Newspapers.com database with images, https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 14 Jan 2019), page 9; citing print edition.

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