A Wilson Family Tree

Notes for Ivan (John) Maljovac

I have seen various spellings for the last name. Edith Carroll thought it should be Milovac. Mary Blackwelder had Maljivac in her information. The name Ivan Maljovac is on the Malovich family-tree information that Ernie and Johnny brought back from Yugoslavia. His name was Americanized to John Malovich when he came to the U.S.

The Maljovacs were Croatian, but I'm not sure just where John came from. Edith told me that he was born in Sapienne, Croatia, but I haven't found a place of that name. I think that Mary Blackwelder listed his birth place as Rijeka.

According to Ernie Malovich, his father came to the U.S. when he was 15 years old, travelling alone. He got sick on the boat and was cared for by an older couple. When he arrived in New York he had only ten dollars. He first went to St. Louis and then to Washington state. His sister (I'm guessing Katarina) was brought to the U.S., to Dawson, NM, by a man to be his bride. But she met someone she liked better (Paul) and they ended up getting married. Paul had to pay the other man for the cost of her passage. It was because of visiting her in New Mexico that John Malovich ended up in southern Colorado.

The closest match that I have found on EllisIsland.org is Ivan Maljivac, who arrived at Ellis Island on 3 Nov 1909 on the ship Martha Washington, from Trieste (Austria-Hungary, at the time). The age of Ivan is listed as 18, which would be right for our Ivan, though it doesn't match the family story about him immigrating at age 15. Place of residence is listed as Sapljane, Austria, which is very close to Sapienne, and inclines me to think that this might be the right person. (Unfortunately, my map doesn't have a Sapljane, either, but there is a Šapjane, which maybe is the place?) On the ship's manifest, it said that he was going to see his brother, Anton Maljovac, but doesn't say where.

He was a coal miner in mines in the vicinity of Trinidad, CO, and Edith told me that he had black lung disease. However, Elsie Beazley told me that his cause of death was a heart attack.

Headstone of his grave says John Malovich, 1890 - 1962.

Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson

Page generated on 31 October 2023