From Pennsylvania to Croatia – a family’s quest to discover their Croatian heritage

Andrea Shiock, a third generation Croatian-American, writes that in the rolling fields of an old Pennsylvania coal mining town the direct descendants of the Šojat family from Francikovac house #75 held a family reunion recently with over 90 family members in attendance.  

Family from across the state of Pennsylvania and other United States cities attended the affair. Even a 4th great grandson was in attendance.  His name is Brayden and he is pictured kneeling with his arm on his knee in the center front of the photo (below) to the right of his grandmother.

Ivan Šojat was born in Francikovac, house #75, in 1872.  He was the son of Martinus and Catharina (nee Šojat from house #122) Šojat.  Sometime before 1898, Ivan traveled to Krompachy, Slovakia presumably for work. There he met and married Johanna Mikula and had two children.  In March of 1901, Ivan immigrated to the USA with his destination as Pennsylvania.  Unfortunately, his first-born child died in April 1901 after he left Slovakia. 

In December 1901, Johanna and her son also immigrated to Pennsylvania to be with Ivan.  His brother, Marcus Šojat, immigrated as well in 1907 and lived with Ivan’s family for 13 years until his death in 1920.  Ivan and his family relocated to the town of Adrian in Jefferson County in the early 1920s, where they remained for the rest of their lives, raising their remaining 11 children. Ivan passed away in 1959 and Johanna in 1946.  Ivan spent his life working in the coal mines of the surrounding villages of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.  

From researching census records, Andrea believes Ivan was one, if not the only, Croat to live in this area of Pennsylvania.

From Ivan’s and Johanna’s 11 children, the family has now grown to five generations of Croatian Americans.  

Andrea, who is Ivan and Johanna’s great granddaughter and 3^rd generation Croatian American, tells that growing up, she is sorry to say that she was not inquisitive enough to ask questions about her origins. She was only told that she was Slavish and Polish. No one talked about the family’s Croatian ethnicity.  In adulthood, her father asked her to research the spelling of their last name, which he thought to be ‘Sojat’, to see if she could find where his grandparents came from.  

Descendants of the Šojat family from Francikovac house #75 held a family reunion in September 2023 with over 90 family members in attendance 

Andrea states that the spelling of their surname morphed from Šojat to the current spelling of Shiock over Ivan’s early years in the United States.

When she began searching in about 1999, the Internet was just beginning to explode so she was able to search the Ellis Island Website for ship manifests and other sites for census records but, of course, the spelling of the name quickly became an issue. Once she started this search, she instantly became hooked on genealogy.  She searched files on microfilm before they became available on FamilySearch.org.  

Although she did find the Šojat surname, she could not make any connections with her American family.  She hired a researcher in Slovakia in 2009 who provided her with the marriage record for Ivan and Johanna that listed his birthplace as Krivi Put, Croatia. This was new information for her as the ship manifest listed him as Hungarian and his last residence as Krompachy, Slovakia.  

Once the Croatian vital records became available on FamilySearch.org, she began searching the records page-by-page and found him born at house #75 in Krivi Put.  

Andrea and Madison at Krivi Put House 75, home of her Great-Great-Great Grandfather

In March 2014 with no real expectations of a response, Andrea sent a Facebook message to the page listed for the Krivi Put area, stating that she was looking for information on Joannes Šojat from house #75 and other pertinent information. To her surprise, she received a message back the next day from Ankica Šojat who was the administrator of the site.  

Ankica felt sure we were related as her family always talked about one of Martinus and Catharina Šojat’s sons immigrating to the USA and because house #75 was still in their possession. 

Soon after that first Facebook message, Andrea and her brother John Shiock visited the Šojat family in Senj for the first time in August 2014. During that visit Ankica and her family took them to many beautiful places and to visit with other Šojat relatives.  

The most important and most special place that they visited, however, was to see house #75 in Francikovac where they got to travel on the same roads that their great grandfather Ivan took as a child.  Andrea states that it gave her the feeling of finally being at home. She has visited Croatia four times now, and her brother has visited five times with plans to spend several weeks this summer. 

On this trip, Andrea and John plan to stay longer and, along with Ankica, would like to further research and meet Šojat/Šajatović relatives from the Žumberak region, Jezernice in particular, and other areas as well. Andrea states that Ankica has been a wealth of knowledge for them on their Croatian genealogy as well as learning the language, the history of the country and its culture.  

Although Andrea states that she and Ankica knew instantly the first time they Skyped that they were related, the family connection has now been confirmed via DNA testing.  

Andrea and her John promote their Croatian heritage to their American family through their family Facebook page and at their family reunions where Andrea gives a genealogical presentation on their Croatian and Slovakian roots. They have also taken the first steps to learn the Croatian language and to obtain Croatian citizenship.

Andrea and John express how sad is it that their Croatian great grandfather died without ever returning to his home in Krivi Put, high in the Velebit Mountains overlooking the beautiful Adriatic Sea. Because of this, they feel a responsibility to ensure the bond continues with their children and grandchildren. John’s son has also traveled with them to Croatia each time they visited.  

Sojat’s at house 75 in Krivi Put 

Andrea’s granddaughter visited with them in 2019 and got to see where her great, great, great grandfather was born and raised.What an experience that was for her.In the summer of 2024, they plan to take another nephew and her father’s sister’s daughter and her husband to visit.

Andrea states that they have spoken so much about this beautiful country and their great grandfather’s home that several other cousins want to visit as well. They are encouraging all of their family to visit Croatia in order to preserve and develop their connection with their country of origin.

Since their Croatian great grandfather has passed away, Andrea and John feel it is up to them to ensure the bond with Croatia continues in their American family. They feel that having recently applied for Croatian citizenship by descent, it will enable them to preserve and develop their connection with the country and to pass it on to their future Šojat Croatian descendants in America.  Andrea and John are very proud of their Croatian roots.