Where Did the Dolosic Family Come From?

To the best of my knowledge, the first Dolosic immigrants to America were six of the seven children of Toma Dolosic and Theresa Grguric.  The seven children are:

• Veronica Dolosic
• Johanna (Dolosic) Bridick
• Andrew Dolosic
• Anton Dolosic
• Joseph Dolosic
• Josephine (Dolosic) Sporcic
• Thomas Dolosic

Of the seven children, all but Veronica immigrated.  Note, however, that because she didn't immigrate, the only record I have of Veronica's existence and name is a letter written to me by my great-aunt Gladys (Dallas) Visintine.  Aunt Gladys' parents died when she was very young, but it is entirely possible that one of her aunts (both of whom lived in the area) told her about a sister left behind in Croatia.

The same letter than informed me of Veronica Dolosic's existence places the Dolosic family at Delnice, Croatia.  Delnice is a town in Gorski Kotar region of Croatia.  It is the highest town in Croatia and has a current population of approimately 4700 people. It is about 27 miles to the port of Rijeka (formerly known as Fiume), Croatia.

Delnice, Croatia

Several documents, however, lead me to believe that Sije, Croatia, rather than Delnice is the actual hometown of the Dolosic family.  Sije is a much smaller village about seven miles due east of Delnice.

The death certificate of Andrew Dolosic lists "Sije, Croatia, Jugoslavia" as his birthplace.  It is important to note that Andrew wife Katherine Dolosic is the the informant on the death certificate.  It is unknown if she would be aware of the town of Andrew's birth.  This information, however, is coordinated by the death certificate of Anton Dolosic.  Anton and Andrew's younger sister Josephine is the informant on Anton's death certificate.  She gives "Shije, Yugoslavia" as the birthplace of, not only Anton, but also his parents "Thomas Dolosich" and "Theresa Grgurich."

The fact that Katherine's information is corroborated by Josephine's makes me think that Sije is the most likely family home of the Dolosic family.  Presumably, Josephine was born and grew up in the town itself.  While she doesn't have first-hand knowledge of her older brothers and parents births, it is not unreasonably to assume that she would know if the family had lived in Sije for more than a few years before her birth.  Furthermore, given the size of Sije (a 2010 Croatian census puts the population at 21), it is not unreasonably to assume that people from Sije would give the name of the much larger, very close town of Delnice.

The next step is ordering the church records for the Catholic church in Sije.