Bio: Kuznacic, Blaz & Goldie

Transcriber: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Kuznacic, Cakanich

----Source: Family Scrapbook

Blaz Kuznacic was born February 3, 1888 in Stupnik, Samobar, Croatia.

Blaz came to the United States around 1907, settled briefly in Michigan, then came to Sheboygan in 1915 where he worked at the Phoenix chair factory.

Goldie Cakanich Kuznacic was born April 23, 1898 in Kerestinec, Samobar, Croatia.

Goldie came to the United States with her parents and two sisters in 1912. One frightening thing they en-countered was seeing negro people on the boat coming across the ocean. They had never seen negro people before and were very afraid of them. They hid under the tables in the dining room when they saw them.

After getting off the boat they were detained at Ellis Island, New York. One of Goldie's sisters was very small for her age, the authorities thought she might be sick, and then the whole family would have been sent back to Jugoslavia. After an examination by a doctor, they determined that she was healthy and they let them go on.

When they got on the train, they packed their food in their trunk which, of course, was put in the baggage car, so they had no food for the three day journey. They were given food by the other passengers.

Blaz Kuznacic and Goldie Cakanich were married in Sheboygan April 1917. They had seven children: Anton, Barbara, Anne, Paul, Rose, George and John. Anton was born in Sheboygan, the other six in Willard. They came to Willard in 1919.

They also told of wolves, coyotes, and bears in the Willard area in those early days. They walked to Willard through the woods, carrying a gun for protection. A bear once broke into their log barn and was shot and killed.

Goldie's father, George Cakanich was one of the first settlers in Willard. He bought 80 acres where Blaz later farmed until 1950. George also built the house that now stands on that property. When Blaz and Goldie came, they bought 40 acres on the east side of the road. When George Cakanich had an auction and moved back to Sheboygan, Blaz and Goldie bought the farm and farmed there until 1950. Anton, Barbara, Anne, Paul, George and John live in Sheboygan, Rose lives in Princeton, Wisconsin.