Never Turn Your Back on a
Petrovich
Plantations, Soldiers,
Gunfighters, Goldminers and Troublemakers
By Adam S. Eterovich
www.croatians.com
The
surname Petrovich, or son of Peter, is found in great numbers in all parts of
Croatia. The name has many variations:
Petrich, Petricevich, Petrin, Petrinec, Petrinich, Petrinovich and Petrovcich.
Coat of Arms
Since
namesakes were plentiful, the Petrovich clan was granted many coats of arms.
Arms were granted in 1555, 1578, 1771 and 1800 for Peter, Elia, Frank, Joseph,
Martin, Michael, Paul and Jacob. Information can be found in Zagreb, Budapest
and Vienna archives. They were fighters and known to be a tough bunch to tangle
with. The Arms display a Turk’s head. This was a Warrior Clan.
Louisiana
Andria
Petrovich married a French-Creole girl in Louisiana in the 1790's and George
Petrovich surveyed a plantation in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, in the 1820's. In
the 1840's and 1850's, John, Marko, George and Paul Petrovich had fruit and grocery establishments in New Orleans.
Confederate Army of 1861
Corporal
George Petrovich of Company D. 1Oth Louisiana Infantry was wounded and killed
at the battle of Gettysburg on July 2,
1863. He enlisted in the Confederate Army on July 22, 1861, and participated in most major
battles of the Civil War.
French Restaurant and Saloon
"X"
Petrovich and Nikola Perasich owned a restaurant in 1873 at Panamint,
California. Being a rough and tough silverboom town, they had a gunfight over
money with some Irishman and Perasich was killed while Petrovich was shot in
the hand. Petrovich was then thought to have left town for safer parts.
Troublemakers
Soldiers,
gunfighters, goldminers and all around troublemakers, the Petrovichs were a
mighty gang in Louisiana, Nevada and California in the 1860's. You could never
turn your back on a Petrovich!