Andrew Dacovich (first draft)

Andrew may have come from a little town called Perast near Boka Katorska (Kotor Bay). This was a part of coastal Dalmatia, a province of the Austria-Hungarian Empire at the time of his birth. Kotor is the principal city on this large, beautiful bay. In the year 2001 this area is now located in Montenegro.

The name Dacovich is Serbo-Croatian, and is actually spelled Dakovic. There seems to be many variations with this name. In Serbian 'vich' simply means 'son of'. So this progenitor probably was a man named Dako.

Andrew was born October 18, 1838, and was the youngest of a family of brothers and one sister. One brother was Nicolai, and two of Nicolai's sons, Jovo and Daniel, eventually came to Mobile and lived in Andrew's family home. Nicolai had lived in Mobile and was listed in the Mobile Directory in the 1860's. We know he returned to his homeland.

Andrew's father drowned at sea when Andrew was a boy. It appears the family work life, at least in part, was around the sea. A family friend named Nick was captain of a ship called the Santa Maria and Andrew had asked Nick to take him to America, and Nick kept that promise. The Santa Maria sailed to New Orleans. Unfortunately Nick beat his crew, including Andrew, who at this point was possibly 15 years old (1853). We're not sure whether it was by design or destiny that Andrew stayed in New Orleans when they docked. Nick arranged for Andrew to stay with a New Orleans family named Ziekovich (?), who may have been ship owners or had some association with the docks.

The New Orleans family helped him adjust and find work. It appears that Andrew was a hard worker and seemingly a quick study, based on his accomplishments. He started work on the docks for a weekly pay of three dollars. He and an Italian friend named Tony picked figs to sell at the market. Stories in the family have often included reminisces of Andrew selling produce by cart and at stalls. He must have saved his earnings and planned his future. He eventually opened a coffee shop in the French Quarter.

The rift between the states was widening in the 1850's. It's unclear what year Andrew left New Orleans and moved to Mobile. We know that during the War Between the States he was assigned to ship duty, loading and unloading supplies. Some family members recall stories about Andrew's involvement as a blockade-runner and trips to Cuba. His oldest daughter, Rosanna, in her later years, wrote that her dad "worked very hard. He saw many tragedies, and the saddest day of his life was when he heard the Santa Maria had gone down with all on board." These words sound as if she was repeating what she'd heard her dad tell her over her lifetime.

On May 1, 1862, Admiral Farragut and the Federal Army captured New Orleans.
It appears that Andrew may have moved to Mobile prior to this date, since the action was preceded by months of military movement. If Andrew was in any way involved with shipping, he may well have gone east of New Orleans. Blockade running continued out of Mobile over the following months. Admiral Farragut's fleet forced the surrender of Forts Gaines and Morgan on August 23 1864. The city of Mobile was not taken over until the following April 1965. However, with the port closed, the Gulf Coast east of the Mississippi was closed to Confederate shipping and blockade-runners.

Sometime in the early 1860's Andrew rented a building in Mobile and had it equipped as a restaurant. Grandchildren recall that the floor at one point had sawdust; and another recollection was that there were barrels of oysters, and that beaten biscuits were served.

It was at the Italian Society Club that Andrew met Peter Rosette, described as a 'happy-go-lucky' Italian. Andrew spoke Italian. The Rosette family lived in Toulminville, about 3 miles from the downtown center of Mobile. Their home was adjacent to the Catholic Cemetery where Peter worked. Peter's first wife had died, however he was remarried. It was said that his second was a loving mother to his four children and the two of their own.

Andrew had been raised a member of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Even though there was no Orthodox Church in Mobile, he maintained many of the traditions he practiced in his youth. As grandson Joe Dacovich reflects in his letter to the editor of the _______Herald-Whig, printed 1/12/96:
My grandfather never completely forsook his childhood religious practices. Unfailingly, in his household two weeks after Dec. 25, he always celebrated with great gusto the Eastern Orthodox Christmas or what his children liked to call "Little Christmas." My father often told us that one of the delicacies at his family's annual "Little Christmas" feast, along with the traditional plum brandy and a holiday-baked goose, was roast-suckling pig garnished with a stick of peppermint candy in its mouth.

Andrew and Mamie raised their family in Mobile, visiting with her parents and family, and also visiting friends in New Orleans over their lifetime. One idiosyncrasy that has been mentioned was that Andrew always kept the keys to the china closet. No more is recalled, but there must be a story there.

Andrew was an astute businessman. He bought land on Royal and Dauphin Streets and built the St. Andrew's Hotel in 1885. The Battle House, also on the same block, had burned 4 years earlier and hadn't been rebuilt at that point. The 1890 Mobile Directory lists his name associated with restaurant and coffee saloon. "He had big ideas." A granddaughter recalls he imported ice from Canada. (Refrigerated ships were designed and built in France in 1870, which fits the time period.) "He was a really fine man." "Everybody had an interest in his business."

In the late 1800's their residence is shown as 160 St. Joseph Street. The family home was left to daughters Agatha and Angelina when he died.

He had a chauffeur named Dave Detig, who apparently became a member of the family to some degree. He had a large family himself. After Andrew's death in 1921, Dave Detig worked for Andrew's son, Joseph.

Andrew traveled to his childhood home with son Johnnie in 1912. It was at that time that he brought his brother's sons, Jovo and Dan, to Mobile. They joined the family on St. Joseph's Street.

Andrew wanted to leave his family well taken care of throughout their life. We believe he enlisted the services of a local friend and attorney, _________Sullivan, to write the first family trust in Alabama. Attorney Sullivan was son Joseph's father-in-law, who was married to Edith Sullivan Dacovich.
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Written and compiled by Joan McGuire Coulombe (DOB 1936) and Joseph Dacovich (DOB 1925)

Sources: Grandchildren Mary Louise D. Crowley, George Dacovich, Joe Dacovich, Graham Dacovich. Daughter Rosanna Dacovich McGuire's America and the Silver Dollar. Great grandson E. Paul McGuire.