Frank Miller, or Franz Malnar, and his wife Frances Vidrih, were born near Ljubljana in Slovenia, when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. DNA records trace back to families who all came from an area about 20 miles southeast of Ljubljana, bounded roughly by the towns of Žlebič (Zlebic), Velike Lašče (Lasce), Videm, and Struge. He was born 5 October 1861, and had 19 brothers and sisters. According to family tradition, his father was in the lumber business and owned forested land and a lumber mill somewhere in the Ljubljana area, and his mother was from Graz.
According to Franz's son Frank Miller, his birth name was Malnar; his immigration records, however, show Franz Mallner, while his and naturalization papers and marriage license show Frank Mallnar, as well as the birth records of his children Edward and Carolina. His marriage license in Leadville also shows his wife as Francis Vidrich.
Franz and Frances were from Slovenia; at the time it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Franz, according to his granddaughter Francis, identified himself as Austrian, not Slovene, and the name suggests an Austrian heritage; the name Mallner is most common in Austria. Vidrich is a Slovene name, and Frances almost certainly was of Slovene descent, Both Franz and Frances spoke German.
Despite his Austrian ethnicity, Franz was an active memeber of KSKJ (Kranjsko Slovenska Katoliška Jednota, or "Carniolan Slovenian Catholic Union"), a fraternal organization for ethnic Slovenian Catholics. He also was bitterly resentful towards the Germans, perhaps due to the historic rivalry between the Prussian/German empire and the Austro/Hungarian empire.
Franz was a violin prodigy, and his parents wanted him to be a musician. He had other plans; he apparently was somewhat of an adventurer, and left home at an early age and joined the Austro-Hungarian army. He served in the Cavalry, and told stories about how while he was in the army he worked with the famous Lipizzaner horses, but in what manner is unknown.
His time in the army couldn't have been more than a few years; according to his son Frank Miller, Franz came to the U.S. in 1882, when he was 21. He went back to Ljubljana when his mother died and left him some money, and then returned to the U.S.; his father was still alive at that time. His immigration record shows that he arrived, the second time, under the name Franz Mallner on 29 Mar 1890, from Austria.
Franz was married twice. Nothing is known about his first wife; she died in childbirth. He and his 2nd wife Francis Vidrih were married in Leadville on April 13, 1896. Census records indicate that she arrived in 1895, when she was 17; she may have come to the U.S. to marry him.
Franz worked in the mining industry in Leadville; the 1889 city directory indicates he was working at the Harrison Reduction Works (where they removed the silver from lead carbonate ore) as a laborer. He also either owned, or more likely tended bar in, a saloon there. Franz was naturalized, and became a citizen, while in Leadville; his naturalization record indicates he became a citizen on 16 Oct, 1896, in Leadville. Frances, his wife, would have become a citizen automatically, as his wife, under Colorado law at that time.
He had a cousin in the U.S. who was a priest, and another who was a nun. Father Frank Gnidica, who lived in Pueblo Colorado, was his first cousin once-removed, as was Frank Gdnidica's sister, Sister Anna Leocadia Gnidica, who also lived in Pueblo. Their grandmother was Marija Malnar, believed to be the sister of Franz's father, whose name as of this time is unknown.
Franz and family came to Crockett in 1906/1907; their son Edward was baptized in Leadville in August 1906. He went to work there, at the C&H Sugar refinery, immediately, and worked there for about 25 years. He was a member of the KSKJ chapter in San Francisco. They bought a house in Crockett, at the end of "A" street, overlooking Pomona Street, where they raised their children, and they attended St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Crockett.
The 1910 census indicates that they had had 8 children, but only 4 were alive at the time: Frances, Rudolph, Caroline, and Edward; we have no information about 3 of other 4 other children. 3 more children were born in Crockett, after 1810. Of their 7 children who died young, we know only the 4 born in Crockett: Stephanie, Albert, Ruthie, and Frank. Edward 8, Albert 4, and Ruthie 2, died within a few days of each other, in May 1914, probably of Diphtheria. Stephanie died Sept 1909, when she was 6 months old. The other 3 children must have been born, and died, in Colorado, before the family moved to California.
Frank's wife Frances died in 1918, of unknown cause. She died just a few months before the onset of the great flu epidemic of 1918. Of her 11 children, only 4 lived to adulthood. Frank would later tell that Frances never recovered from the deaths of her children in 1914 and 1915. After she died, for many years he took the train to Martinez every day to visit her grave; in his later years, afflicted with severe tremors, he still managed to make the trip at least once a week.
The 1930 census of Crockett, Ca incorrectly shows Frank immigrated in 1888 (the immigration record and the 1910 census shows that he came in 1890), and was naturalized, and was working as a watchman at the C&H Sugar refinery. Both the 1910 and 1930 census show his nationality, and his parents, as Austrian (Slovenia was part of the Austrian empire at the time he immigrated; by 1930 it was part of Yugoslavia).
In his later years, Franz suffered from tremors, which may have been essential tremor, or Parkinson's Disease, or a side effect of working in the lead-filled environment of the Leadville mining industry. He lived in the house on A street with his daughter Caroline and her husband Albert Messenger, who took care of him until he died
From "Slovenian Genealogy Society Newsletter Vol. 2 No. 4 1988" "The first great wave of Slovenians came to America in 1880 to 1914. Slovenia had not been an independent state during the modern era. (See Therstrom, s. [Ed.], Harvard University Press, 1980 for a history of the region.) The territory inhabited by the Slovenes came into the possession of the Hapsburgs by the 15th century where it remained until the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918. The Hapsburgs did not permit the formation of a single geopolitical unit known as Slovenia but distributed the Slovene regions of the monarchy among several provinces. Carniola (where Ljubljana is situated) was the central Slovene province, and provided the large majority of Slovene immigrants to the United States. The religious background of 95 percent of the Slovenes was and is at least nominally Roman Catholic. The first coherent Slovene migration to the U.S. was that of the Catholic priests who came in the 19th century to serve as missionaries to the Indian tribes of northern Michigan, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. Up until the early 1880's the total number of Slovene immigrants probably did not exceed 1,000. Economic factors were the primary reasons behind the larger Slovene migrations. Landholding patterns in Slovenia prior to 1915 were characterized by small family farms, some with as little as two or three acres of arable land; few had more than 25 acres. Families were large, and the rural overpopulation that resulted in the 19th century could not be absorbed by the still limited industrial development of the region."
Frank Miller, or Franz Malnar, and his wife Frances Vidrih, were born near Ljubljana in Slovenia, when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. DNA records trace back to families who all came from an area about 20 miles southeast of Ljubljana, bounded roughly by the towns of Žlebič (Zlebic), Velike Lašče (Lasce), Videm, and Struge. He was born 5 October 1861, and had 19 brothers and sisters. According to family tradition, his father was in the lumber business and owned forested land and a lumber mill somewhere in the Ljubljana area, and his mother was from Graz.
According to Franz's son Frank Miller, his birth name was Malnar; his immigration records, however, show Franz Mallner, while his and naturalization papers and marriage license show Frank Mallnar, as well as the birth records of his children Edward and Carolina. His marriage license in Leadville also shows his wife as Francis Vidrich.
Franz and Frances were from Slovenia; at the time it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Franz, according to his granddaughter Francis, identified himself as Austrian, not Slovene, and the name suggests an Austrian heritage; the name Mallner is most common in Austria. Vidrich is a Slovene name, and Frances almost certainly was of Slovene descent, Both Franz and Frances spoke German.
Despite his Austrian ethnicity, Franz was an active memeber of KSKJ (Kranjsko Slovenska Katoliška Jednota, or "Carniolan Slovenian Catholic Union"), a fraternal organization for ethnic Slovenian Catholics. He also was bitterly resentful towards the Germans, perhaps due to the historic rivalry between the Prussian/German empire and the Austro/Hungarian empire.
Franz was a violin prodigy, and his parents wanted him to be a musician. He had other plans; he apparently was somewhat of an adventurer, and left home at an early age and joined the Austro-Hungarian army. He served in the Cavalry, and told stories about how while he was in the army he worked with the famous Lipizzaner horses, but in what manner is unknown.
His time in the army couldn't have been more than a few years; according to his son Frank Miller, Franz came to the U.S. in 1882, when he was 21. He went back to Ljubljana when his mother died and left him some money, and then returned to the U.S.; his father was still alive at that time. His immigration record shows that he arrived, the second time, under the name Franz Mallner on 29 Mar 1890, from Austria.
Franz was married twice. Nothing is known about his first wife; she died in childbirth. He and his 2nd wife Francis Vidrih were married in Leadville on April 13, 1896. Census records indicate that she arrived in 1895, when she was 17; she may have come to the U.S. to marry him.
Franz worked in the mining industry in Leadville; the 1889 city directory indicates he was working at the Harrison Reduction Works (where they removed the silver from lead carbonate ore) as a laborer. He also either owned, or more likely tended bar in, a saloon there. Franz was naturalized, and became a citizen, while in Leadville; his naturalization record indicates he became a citizen on 16 Oct, 1896, in Leadville. Frances, his wife, would have become a citizen automatically, as his wife, under Colorado law at that time.
He had a cousin in the U.S. who was a priest, and another who was a nun. Father Frank Gnidica, who lived in Pueblo Colorado, was his first cousin once-removed, as was Frank Gdnidica's sister, Sister Anna Leocadia Gnidica, who also lived in Pueblo. Their grandmother was Marija Malnar, believed to be the sister of Franz's father, whose name as of this time is unknown.
Franz and family came to Crockett in 1906/1907; their son Edward was baptized in Leadville in August 1906. He went to work there, at the C&H Sugar refinery, immediately, and worked there for about 25 years. He was a member of the KSKJ chapter in San Francisco. They bought a house in Crockett, at the end of "A" street, overlooking Pomona Street, where they raised their children, and they attended St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Crockett.
The 1910 census indicates that they had had 8 children, but only 4 were alive at the time: Frances, Rudolph, Caroline, and Edward; we have no information about 3 of other 4 other children. 3 more children were born in Crockett, after 1810. Of their 7 children who died young, we know only the 4 born in Crockett: Stephanie, Albert, Ruthie, and Frank. Edward 8, Albert 4, and Ruthie 2, died within a few days of each other, in May 1914, probably of Diphtheria. Stephanie died Sept 1909, when she was 6 months old. The other 3 children must have been born, and died, in Colorado, before the family moved to California.
Frank's wife Frances died in 1918, of unknown cause. She died just a few months before the onset of the great flu epidemic of 1918. Of her 11 children, only 4 lived to adulthood. Frank would later tell that Frances never recovered from the deaths of her children in 1914 and 1915. After she died, for many years he took the train to Martinez every day to visit her grave; in his later years, afflicted with severe tremors, he still managed to make the trip at least once a week.
The 1930 census of Crockett, Ca incorrectly shows Frank immigrated in 1888 (the immigration record and the 1910 census shows that he came in 1890), and was naturalized, and was working as a watchman at the C&H Sugar refinery. Both the 1910 and 1930 census show his nationality, and his parents, as Austrian (Slovenia was part of the Austrian empire at the time he immigrated; by 1930 it was part of Yugoslavia).
In his later years, Franz suffered from tremors, which may have been essential tremor, or Parkinson's Disease, or a side effect of working in the lead-filled environment of the Leadville mining industry. He lived in the house on A street with his daughter Caroline and her husband Albert Messenger, who took care of him until he died
From "Slovenian Genealogy Society Newsletter Vol. 2 No. 4 1988" "The first great wave of Slovenians came to America in 1880 to 1914. Slovenia had not been an independent state during the modern era. (See Therstrom, s. [Ed.], Harvard University Press, 1980 for a history of the region.) The territory inhabited by the Slovenes came into the possession of the Hapsburgs by the 15th century where it remained until the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918. The Hapsburgs did not permit the formation of a single geopolitical unit known as Slovenia but distributed the Slovene regions of the monarchy among several provinces. Carniola (where Ljubljana is situated) was the central Slovene province, and provided the large majority of Slovene immigrants to the United States. The religious background of 95 percent of the Slovenes was and is at least nominally Roman Catholic. The first coherent Slovene migration to the U.S. was that of the Catholic priests who came in the 19th century to serve as missionaries to the Indian tribes of northern Michigan, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. Up until the early 1880's the total number of Slovene immigrants probably did not exceed 1,000. Economic factors were the primary reasons behind the larger Slovene migrations. Landholding patterns in Slovenia prior to 1915 were characterized by small family farms, some with as little as two or three acres of arable land; few had more than 25 acres. Families were large, and the rural overpopulation that resulted in the 19th century could not be absorbed by the still limited industrial development of the region."
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