 aily aily osarep mon 12312012 1328 articles of interest   a story of mississippi s seafood industry the mississippi croatian story overcoming adversity by kat bergeron sun herald south mississippi s news leader  reprinted with permission from the april 27 2014 issue   the croatians of the mississippi coast love to tell the story of nikola skrmetta who immigrated from the dalmatian coast in the late 1890s biloxi was growing strong seafood legs in need of workers to harvest and can oysters and shrimp with a legendary strength of 10 men he went to work in the laborintensive industry this one man is credited with starting an early 20th century immigrant title wave of other slavonians coming to work on the gulf coast the story goes that nicholas nick skrmetta his americanized name jumped ship in new orleans and soon found himself in biloxi as he stood at a trolley stop he struck up a conversation with laz lopez owner of a factory and fleet of schooners the story further explains he could not speak english and lopez could not speak croatian so they communicated in a mixed european language that included italian that day lopez offered skrmetta a job lopez was so impressed with his energy and hard work that he asked are there any more like you there were hundreds of them their offspring number in the thousands now skrmetta convinced family and friends that america was the land of opportunity at that time their homeland was under the thumb of the austrianhungarian empire life was tough for nonroyals and many young men were being conscripted into the army known for its cruel treatment of soldiers the  daily herald  in may 1905 declared in a headline many slavs coming are driven to america by untoward conditions wars and conquerors had historically pockmarked the peace and prosperity of their central european homeland in 1903 in response to skrmetta s convincing the first contingent of austrians as they were then called arrived by way of ellis island this group of five from the village of bobovisce included steve m sekul and peter m skrmetta they were as hard working as the first skrmetta and factory and schooner owners wanted even more like them austrians obliged that first group sent for wives and children and more men to work a move repeated again and again  freedom in america eventually whole extended families settled in biloxi forming a closeknit community on the peninsula known as point cadet when skrmetta died in 1918 the  herald  reported he will be greatly missed by biloxians and especially those of his people who relied on him for advice in their affairs women and older children worked in canneries as did some of the men although many worked on the boats and docks at first they lived on biloxi s version of cannery row in small camp housing but they saved and eventually built their own fisherman cottages some bought their own schooners this early 20th century wave of immigrants has been variously called austrians yugoslavians and croatians depending on what stage of history their homeland was in about 250 families came in that wave and they tended to have lots of children in america it wasn t an easy life but they could live free and that was most important said anthony fofo gilich president of the centuryold slavonian benevolent association of st nichole headquartered in biloxi coming to the united states was a big opportunity the first croatians were ambitious and some became factory and boat owners even factory owners themselves or their children did education was important and that lead to croatian doctors lawyers pharmacists and business leaders they had arrived with little money no safety net and no assurance of success they taught us leadership and not to be afraid of anything gilich at 66 is a computer program developer and grandson to one of the 1903 dalmatian arrivals gilich s first job was catching cans off the conveyer belts of sea coast packing company owned by his grandfather and located where the golden nugget casino now sits he estimates that less than five percent of the descendants now work in the seafood industry  coast waves of slavs french polish these early 20th century immigrants supplied much of the brawn for the coast s seafood industry the region s economic engine but the croatians were actually the second wave of immigrants to make mississippi seafood buzz in 1890 the first socalled bohemians arrived by trainloads to work for factories to fill a local labor shortage these seasonal workers mostly of polish background came from baltimore already a few croatians had settled in the gulf region to work with oysters during the postcivil war central european migration explained a november 1893  herald  they are austrians or descendants of austrian parentage a hardy economical and industrious class worthy and good men but the wave of slavonian immigrants spurred by the skrmettalopez acquaintance didn t begin until 1903 that was followed in 1914 by the first acadians or louisiana cajuns then in the late 1970s by the vietnamese few of the bohemians seasonal by nature stayed permanently so their place in seafood history is an early dot and the vietnamese are still writing their chapter a century later the french and slavonians have proven their staying power like a lot of immigrants they went from being workers and laborers to being prominent citizens politicians lawyers business owners and doctors playing important community roles said murella hebert powell biloxi s historian emeritus in the beginning they were the backbone of the seafood industry it s remarkable that the acadians and the slavonians who at first couldn t talk to each other because of language barriers were soon marrying each other yet each of these groups have managed to hold on to their own identities the french still have their fleur de lis society and the croatians have their slavonian benevolent association they became a melting pot but they retained that individuality as a people the yugoslavs were making gumbo and the cajuns making pusaratas pusaratas are a type of european fruit doughnut ball still popular on the coast and gumbo is a seafood stew brought from louisiana  tradition tradition  croatian traditions remain strong although like many americanized cultures they are fading the nativelanguage songs often accompanied by an accordion are now more of a rarity than commonplace at the slavonian lodge their south slavic language too is rarely heard on the coast i didn t grow up speaking the language said capt pete skrmetta 88yearold patriarch of the family that runs the ship island ferry and son of the 1903 skrmetta immigrant of the same name that was the only language my father spoke when he was young but he married my mother from bay st louis and she didn t speak it but he d continue to use the language when speaking with the croatians who worked with him catching oysters and shrimp some of the kids in school like john misko and peter barhanovich was raised up with the language and they spoke it we were all raised up with the cajuns and the polish people we all went to school together and were friends the cajun people liked to  fais do do  have a good time the croatians were very serious people we worked hard saved money and invested where we came from only the strong survived religion also played an important role as evidenced by st michael catholic church on point cadet known as the fishermen s church it began as a mission in 1907 for the immigrants living in camp houses and working long hours each time factory whistles blew to announce fresh seafood arrivals the modern version of the church with its seashell dome is noted for its christian symbols of the sea a generation ago st stephens day was a huge slavonian observance with the making of a special wine called prucke from european raisins one tradition that continues is the spring blessing of the fleet an ancient european tradition open to fishermen of all cultural backgrounds to assure a bountiful and safe harvest many of the seafood festival kings and queens have come from this croatian community  a cultural center still abuzz the biloxi lodge remains the center point for this immigrant community now two three and four generations as americans parties balls weddings even funerals are held there and stone plaques list all deceased members they first formed in 1913 as the austrianslavonian benevolent association to fill the social needs as well as subscriptions to pay sick and disabled seafood workers tragedy struck early when in 1916 the treasurer also a founder killed himself after admitting to misappropriating funds for personal use accustomed to adversity they moved forward in 1921 in response to yugoslavia now holding sway in their homeland biloxi croatians got a new charter as the slavonian benevolent association st nicola the lodge they maintained became the center of their lives but was visited by others who gladly shared their traditions and entertainments especially their dances and music in 1956 the lodge installed an air conditioner at the behest of member yankee barhanovich a promoter who planned a set of concerts that included elvis presley the current lodge now called the croatian american cultural center replaces the one on myrtle street built in 1938 inundated in 1969 by hurricane camille and destroyed in 2005 by hurricane katrina they say that building back better than before is proof they d learned the lesson of overcoming adversity it is an impressive 4 million building reflective of the croatian community s prosperity but especially of the importance that descendants put on their roots  oh so many iches  mississippi s americancroatians continue to visit the homeland where some still have ties many have links to dalmatia an historical region of croatia on the eastern coast of the adriatic sea among the many islands of this region is brac from which hailed recognizable coast names mavar pitalo sekul skrmetta radish marinovich kuljis to name a few the local joke was if the names ended in viches and iches you could safely bet they had slavonian roots among others lucky enough to leave their wartorn homeland for mississippi shores brought the names of stanovich rosetti barhanovich mladinich marinovich simonich trebotich peresich cvitanovich covacevich fillipich radich polovich popovich gruich gabrich cerinich misco hire ragusin and halat to name a few more they never forgot where they came from nor did those they left behind in september 1937 the  southern slavonian herald  an englishlanguage newspaper that published in belgrade featured a biloxi water scene and this explanation that was repeated in the  daily herald  newspaper that published in belgrade featured a biloxi water scene and this explanation that was repeated in the  daily herald  not dalmatia s romantic riviera but the mississippi gulf coast at biloxi where for more than 50 years dalmatian fisherfolk have had this colony and where hundreds of jugoslavs are today engaged in the fishing and canning industry   kat bergeron a veteran feature writer specializing in gulf coast history and sense of place is retired from the sun herald    history plays with slavonian name in mississippi by kat bergeron sun herald south mississippi s news leader  reprinted with permission from the april 27 2014 issue   are the wave of slavonian immigrants who came to the mississippi coast from central europe s dalmatian coast called austrians yugoslavians or croatians the answer is all of the above what we call them today depends on what time frame in history into the mix we should also toss slavonian that is a popular local term used for more than a century for these hardworking immigrants they began as poor laborers in the biloxi seafood industry prospered stayed and spread across the coast where their family names remain numerous most 21st century descendants of these immigrants now proudly refer to themselves as croatians a name not used when the first of them arrived in the 1800s nick skrmetta credited with starting an early 21st century wave of migration from dalmatia to biloxi was officially an austrian because his homeland was then under the rule of the austrian hungarian empire those living here or who moved here after 1918 called themselves yugoslavians in fact some of us may even remember them in the recent past being called jugoslavians or jugoslavs or just jugos the j spelling and pronunciations was used both on the coast and in the homeland orally and written the changing names reflect history the austrianhungarian empire formed in 1867 fell in 1918 yugoslavia next held sway over the immigrant s homeland until 1991 when croatia around as an identity since the 7th century declared independence a lot happened in the 20th century including world war i and ii when the politics of eastcentral europe made american immigrants suspect one  daily herald  story from april 1917 reported austrians were planning a parade to show that biloxi s socalled alien population is with the united states government heart and soul in both world wars ablebodied males from this closeknit immigrant community donned american uniforms generations of coast slavonians as did most other immigrant groups maintained ties to the homeland they watched as their beloved croatian region came under communism in the late 1940s they watched in 1991 as croatia declared independence from yugoslavia followed by the fouryear croatian war of independence the breakup of the soviet union threw the entire region into chaos and american news was filled with stories of atrocities in the bosniaherzegovina war of croats serbs slavs and others fighting today the republic of croatia is part of the european union and it has a prosperous literate four million people dalmatia where many of the coast s first fishing immigrants were born is described as a historical region of croatia when those biloxi immigrants formed their first fraternal society in 1913 to help sick and disabled fishermen they named it the austrianslavonian benevolent association in 1921 they got a new charter under the name slavonian benevolent association st nicola the latter is for st nicholas also sometimes nicholi and nicole who is the patron saint of travelers and seafarers the association s lodge has remained the center of their lives a place to meet be entertained and hang on to as many old country traditions as possible when hurricane katrina destroyed the 68yearold lodge building they built a 43 million one as proof of changing times the front of the lodge now declares the croatian american cultural center   kat bergeron a veteran feature writer specializing in gulf coast history and sense of place is retired from the sun herald    biloxi croatian time line 1913 the daily herald   set for trial in circuit court   january 8 1913 p 3 local croatians on trial in early 1913 in the harrison county circuit court were tony martinolichgambling nick skermetta sic assult with intent nick john maro and john skermetta jr assaut and battery mike skermetta and nick skermetta fighting and disorderly conduct tony stanovich and jake stanovich jr selling liquor and jake stanovich sr allowing liquor to be sold on his premises  the daily herald    austrians form benevolent association   december 18 1913 p 7 charter members ivan budinich ivan gabrich ivan letich ivan lovetich blas miljan marko mulat tony rosetti nikola skrmetti victor simonich jacob stanovich 18601926 and philip williams  the daily herald    new society is growing rapidly   december 30 1913 p 2  1918 the daily herald    servian  sic  wants to be an american   march 20 1918 p 3 tony conovich came to america in 1904 and lives in handsboro  1920 the daily herald   americans from troubled dalmatia   march 4 1920 p 4  the daily herald   files petition   june 3 1920 p 3 dominick cvitanovich had made application to file his naturalization papers in federal court here tony cvitanovich has filed his declaration of intention to become an american citizen with us commissioner george money at gulfport  1921 the daily herald    these men may don us suits june 20   may 23 1921 p 6 gregorio anticich came from ygrane and was naturalied at nola in 1914 peter lessa  lesso biloxi fisherman came to nola as a boy on the eugenia  a liner as part of the crew and jumped ship  the daily herald   the charter of incorporation of the slavonian benevolent association st nicola   august 19 1921 p 2  1927 captains jake rosetti   tony cvitanovich  and frank j barhonovich collected 17650 from biloxi s slavonian community for victims of the 1927 mississippi river flood they offered their boats to rescue and aid those in the flood ravaged waters the daily herald may 6 1927 p 1  1929 on 4 june  biloxi aliens from the jugoslavian community seeking their citizenship were  rocco beverin   martin baranich  sic  jerko covich   a dujmov   g garbin   stefano gego   parvel starmeta  paul m skrmetta  mato soljan  and giovanni zorkovic   the daily herald  may 24 1929 p 2  captain anthony j stanovich  181929 aboard lone star and ferrying workers from the louisiana seafood factories of the cb foster packing company was killed while workng on the vessel s engine off the coast of waveland hancock county mississippi the daily herald november 5 1919 p 1 the benevolent association of st nicolai dedicated their new home on east howard avenue on december 26th the organization was lead by b dujmov  pres  tony cvitanovich  18881964 v pres  peter pavlov  sec treas  steve filipich  marshal with alexc pitalo  chair of the arrangement committee the society commenced circa 1914 with jake stanovich  18911927 as president and phillip williams  sec treasurer the daily herald december 27 1929 p 1 and the timespicayune december 128 1929 p 2 photo  1930 vincent mardesic former biloxi restaurateur in the kennedy hotel building expired on 26 march at his home at komissa vis croatia the daily herald may 1 1930  1932 the sea coast packing company was founded by hard working croatian fishermen in july when they acquired the martin fountain packing company from the 1st national bank of biloxi peter pavlov  18821951 was president and treasurer  alexander pitalo  vice pres and steve m sekul  18811970 operations manager the plant had been idle for a year and expected to employ 200 people when it was fully operating the daily herald july 30 1932 p 1 during the 1932 biloxi seafood strike  captain jerry covich and captain willie green board the anita christine and magnolia unloaded large quantities of shrimp and fish at the biloxi community house pier for the needy seafood worker familes of biloxi  matre pitalo was in charge of a committee to bring supplies and provisons into biloxi to feed about a thousand people the daily herald september 12 1932 p 1  1935 the daily herald    matre pitalo heads new voting club   july 1 1935 p 2 the slavonian voting club was organized on august 31 1935 at the slavonian hall by austrian residents in the eastern section of biloxi matre pitalo  18981981 seafood dealer and grocer was elected president mico fillipich was elected vicepresident he is president of the slavonian benevolent association pete pavlov of the seacoast packing company was eelcted secretary and treasurer the organization is planning a picnic and political rally at the slavonian hall on east howard avenue  1937 the 25th anniversary of the slavonian benevolent association was celebrated in early august miss lucille gabrich was selected as queen jugoslavia and miss mandaline kuljis as miss biloxi  meco filipich was president of the group and the event was well attended by the jugoslavian community of new orleans the daily herald august 3 1937 p 2  dominic cvitanovich of the sanitary grocery and paul petrich of the gulf and pacific brokerage compnay have returned from new orleans where they attended the ceremonies in honor of konstantin fotich yugoslavian ambassador to the united states and the captains of two yugoslavian steamer into the port of nola this marked the first time that ships flying the yugoslavian flag have visited nola the daily herald march 6 1937 p 2  1938 madeline kuljus  daughter of luka kuljis 18851965  was named miss biloxi  the daily herald february 11 1938 p 8 the slavonian society began planning for the erection of their new home  the daily herald february 24 1938 p 12  dr konstantin fotich  yugoslavian ambassador to america visited biloxi and the croatian community in late february the daily herald february 24 1938 p 1 the new st nicholas slavic benevolent society lodge  slavonian lodge on first street and myrtle at point cadet was dedicated on november 20th the 20000 twostory structure was erected by the collins brothers  general contractors from a design by jack fayard  the architect steve kuljis was president of the organization at this time and building sponsors were mary anticich and alonzo gabrich  the daily herald november 19 1938 p 3  1938 madeline kuljis  b 1912 daughter of mr and mrs luka kuljis  1002 east beach was named miss biloxi on february 4th she was sponsored by elliott s jewelery the daily herald february 5 1938 p 1  1939 veronica anticich cangemi 19191998 was named miss yugoslavia garnering 12450 votes to beat frances pavlov  19152004 touchet who had 2880 votes the daily herald august 2 1939 p 5  1941 in midaugust  dan markotich  18921964  sold the french restaurant to joseph baricev  19041999 markotich had operated the restaurant for six years the daily herald august 13 1941 p 6  1943 vincent kuluz was elected president of the slavonian benevolent association  other officers were tony cvitanovich vicepres tony m pitalo sectreas alex pitalo was elected grand marshall and new trustees were mateo kovacevich luka kuljis john cosmich john mavar jr and frank barhonovich members of the sick committee are mateo kovacevich luka kuljis visko kuluz peter sekul boze dujmov and boze barich the daily herald may 22 1943 p 7  1945 the daily herald    vincent kuluz slavonian head   may 26 1945 p 5   trebotich brothers michelina trebotich  18911978 native of croatia and widow of  george trebotich   had six sons serving in the us armed forces   steve trebotich  19162010 us coast guard  joseph m trebotich  19171996 usn  george trebotich us army air corps  john l trebotich  19202003 us army  louis j trebotich  19232004 usn and  peter b trebotich  19262006 us army  madeline trebotich  19242006 a daughter who married ernest keenan was employed at keesler field the daily herald september 11 1945 p 3  1947 tony j rosetti was elected president of the slavonian benevolent association in may other officers elected were dr steve pitalo v pres tony m pitalo sec treas alex pitalo marshal peter sekul asst marshal jake mladinich sgt atarms and mateo kovacevich luka kuljis and visko kuluz trustees the daily herald may 24 1947 p 6  1948 the times picayune    yugoslavia mississippi   may 2 1948 p 130  1951 in late may the slavonian benevolent association elected visko kuluz as their new president who replace paul skrmetti other association officers elected were tony mihojevich vicepres and john kersanac sec treasurer the daily herald june 1 1951 p 8  1952  in late may the slavonian benevolent association elected  pascal talijancich  19021976 as its president other officers elected were tony mijojevich vice pres john kersanac sec treasurer and steve kuljis grand marshal the daily herald may 24 1952 p 4  1953  in june  steve marinovich was elected president of the slavonian benevolent association suceeding pascal talijanich other officers selected were peter kuljisvicepres jerry covichsec treas and trustees mateo kovacevich luka kuljis eddie hire and tony rosetti the daily herald june 2 1953 p 16 at the 1953 slavonian benevolent bazaar  miss elmerita mihojevich was crowned miss jugoslavia by clare sekul hornsby miss hillbilly of mississippi was barbara mae knebel and her tiara was placed by mrs hank williams  billie jean jones b 1933 the daily herald august 3 1953 p 6  1955   elvis presley   19351977 sun records recording artist and louisiana hayride particpant  appeared at the improved slavonian lodge on june 26 1955  louis tremmel son had recently installed an air conditioning system making the lodge the only air conditioned auditorium on the coast  improvements to the structure exceeded 30000 the daily herald june 22 1955 p 7 june 23 1955 p 6 june 25 1955  the timespicayune    the day afterfestivities continue on as yugoslavs at biloxi honor their patron st stephen   december 25 1955 p 5  1959   1974 milos m vujnovich published pelican publishing compmay of gretna louisiana  yugoslavians in louisiana on the occaision of the centennial of the united slavonian benevolent association   1999 the sun herald    slavonian men pose for posterity   december 18 1999 p a1  2010  images made november 2009 and october 2015 the new  3 million lodge of the slavonian benevolent association of st nikolai  located near howard avenue and oak street  was dedicated on november 27th  the sun herald november 26 2010 p a2  2011 pusharatas are a sweet tradition the sun herald december 24 2011 p a2  2013 historical marker placed at myrtle and 1st street by mdah in 2013  2014 corner of east howard avenue and  2015 andrew fofo j gilich jr   andrew fofo j gilich   jr  and  winfield windy swetman iii  received 51 of the vote  in the april 28th biloxi mayoral election  to replace former mayor aj holloway in a runoff will be held on may 12 2015 mr gilich outpolled mr swetman 4319 votes to 2914 votes and became biloxi s new mayor the sun herald april 30 2015 p a1 and may 13 2015 p a1  2016  on august 6th the croatianamerican cultural center  city of biloxi and dr gilbert mason jr  were hosts to the frank yankee barhanovich the music mogul  and the  50th anniversary of the august 5 1966 biloxi municipal stadium by james brown   arrivals from zadar   bulich sam bulich sam  simeone  bulich  18731955 was born at zadar zara zadar county croatia on february 16 1873 he left trieste aboard marguerite and arrived at gulfport mississippi on november 2 1905 declaration of intention no 534southern districtsouth mississippimay 27 1918 sam bulich settled at 336 crawford street in biloxi and worked in the seafood industry as a fisherman he died at the biloxi hospital on january 26 1955 sam was survived by a sister donica in yugoslavia and a nephew joseph smolcich sr 18931967 biloxi and other relatives funeral was from the o keefe funeral home with services at st michael s catholic church followed by internment in the biloxi cemetery  john bulich john bulich  18771949 was the brother of sam bulich he was born at anbanasi a village on the on the zadar peninsula croatia john came to live with sam on crawford street circa 1934 john appears to left his wife and three children in croatia he was a member of the sea food workers and gulf coast shrimpers and oystermens association john worshipped at st michael s catholic church and was a member of the dalmatian benevolent society john bulich died at 637 crawford street on january 5 1949 he was survived by sam bulich and joseph smolich sr 18931967 his nephew funeral was from the o keefe funeral home with services at st michael s catholic church followed by internment in the biloxi cemetery the daily herald january 5 1949 p 3 funeral was from the o keefe funeral home with services at st michael s catholic church followed by internment in the biloxi cemetery  references  the daily herald   john bulich dies   january 5 1949 the daily herald   sam bulich dies   november 27 1955  joseph smolcich joseph smolcich  josip smolcic 18931967 was born august 6 1893 in anbanasi a village on the on the zadar peninsula zadar county croatia he left trieste italy on the franz joseph i and arrived at new york city on august 31 1912 joseph smolich married frances cvitanovich  19011979 a native of milna brac splitdalmatia county croatia in harrison county mississippi on may 22 1916 they settled at 402 oak street in biloxi francis was born september 19 1901 declaration of intention no 840southern district south mississippimarch 12 1927 and harrison co mississippi circuit court mrb 29 p 38  joseph smolcich and francis cvitanovich smolich were the parents of at least seven children  matilda smolcich  b 1920 m raymond c barry 19051988  joseph smoky joe a smolcich   19222010 m anna kopszywa 19272010  vincent l smolcich  19251981 m aurora marie saujon 19242007 the daughter of robert saujon 18651944 and mary mccaleb 18971937  steve   anthony smolcich  19272013 m patricia lee wilson  mary rita   melrita smolcich  m marvin lee raesner  samuel dominick smolcich  19342006 m vinnie elva seymour and  john anthony smolcich  19372001 m jeanet m smolcich the smolcich family started the biloxi seafood company the roxy theatre at 1430 east howard avenue the roxy restaurant and owned much rental property on point cadet in east biloxi the sun herald october 12 2010 p a4  references  the daily herald    smolcichwilson   january 2 1950 p 6 the daily herald   frances c smolcich   february 13 1979 the daily herald   vincent smolcich   july 28 1981 the sun herald   aurora marie saujon smolich   april 5 2002 the sun herald   john anthony smolich   august 31 2001 the sun herald   mr sam smolich   january 31 2006  the sun herald   anna kopszywa smolcich   february 13 2010 p a4 the sun herald   joseph smokey joe smolcich   october 11 2010 p a6 the sun herald   smolcich lived as mr biloxi   october 12 2010 p a4 the sun herald   steven anthony steve smolcich sr   july 14 2013 2881 views  