My great grandparents were born and/or married in Pitkin County, Colorado. There names are Anton Vedic and Elizabeth Obester. If any one can help me I'd appreciate it. There ancestors are from Yugoslavia and Austria therefore, information is limited. Thank you.

ANTON VEDIC WAS BROTHER TO MY GFATHER FRANK VEDIC,NAMED WAS CHANGED TO WEDIC WHEN HE CAME TO THIS COUNTRY 1890.

The following names appear in the records for Red Butte Cemetery in Aspen, Colorado.
Vedic Elizabeth 08/15/06 08/15/1906 1 54 F 3
Vedic Joseph 11 01/01/12 01/01/1912 1 54 G 5
Vedic Anton 55 02/15/20 02/15/1920 1 37 E 1
Vedic Mary Anna 21 02/16/26 02/16/1926 1 34 C 4
Vedic Anton Bernard 51 06/16/48 06/16/1948 1 34 C 3
Vedic Micheal Augustine 44 08/22/56 08/25/1956 1 37 E 3
Vedic Antonia Gregorich 94 11/05/66 11/09/1966 1 37 E 2
Obester Mary 02/28/01 02/28/1901 1 35 D 3
Obester Agnes Julia 07/22/05 07/22/1905 1 35 D 3
Obester James 61 01/01/13 01/01/1913 1 35 D 2
Obester Frank 23 12/16/13 12/16/1913 1 35 D 7
Obester Jr. James 45 12/09/37 12/09/1937 1 35 D 1
Following the names are the ages at time of death, followed by death or burial dates and finally, the location of the grave site in the Red Butte Cemetery.

There are a lot of people still living in this area that are related to these families from Slovenia.

I just finished reading about your ggrandparents. As a matter of fact, I'm looking at a photograph of your ggrandmother right now. It's a rather charming photgraph. She's with her sister, who has just married a bootlegger named Tony "The Weasel" Harvett.

No joke. I found this information in a book called "Aspen, The Quiet Years." I got the book through my university's library (they borrowed it from Harvard) to investigate my Aspen ancestors, among whom I can almost count the Obesters. You see, my great-grandmother was the second wife of Valentin "James" Obester. It was her first marriage. After his death, she married Anton Kralich, my ggf.

But before James Obester died, he'd had 17 kids. With his first wife, Mary Kocevar, he had:
1 Gaylord b. 1887
2 Frank b. 1890 d. 1905
3. James (Valentin) b. 1892
4. Mary Agnes b. 1893
5. Louis b. 1895 d 1895
6. Anna b.1896
7. John b. 1898
8. Joseph b. 1901 twin
9. Francisca b. 1901 twin

With OUR ggm, Agnes Luba, he had:
1. Stephan b. 1903
2. Agnes b. 1904 d. 1905
3. Elizabeth b. November 9, 1905; baptized Jan 28, 1906; married Anton Vedic (Vidic) Sept 20, 1925
4. Randolph William b. 1907
5. Veronica b. 1908 d. 1910
6. Julian b. 1910
7. Julia b. 1911
8. Eva b. 1913

Agnes' second marriage produced several more children, including my grandmother, Josephine. I guess that makes us related.

The book has many pictures and interviews with members of the Vedic family, including Jennie Vedic Popish, daughter of Anton Vedic.

As for where they all came from, well, Slovenia is the easy answer. More specifically, most of them came from the Duchy of Krain (Carniola), which was part of the Austrian Empire at that time. Later it was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, then became Yugoslavia. Slovenia was the first republic to break away from Yugoslavia.

I know where Valentin Obester and Agnes Lube came from.

Valentin was born in a village called Hinje. He was the son of Mathias Obestar and Ursula Pelc.
You can see some pictures of the village at this link:
http://oreh.pef.uni-lj.si/~markor/hinje/

He and his brother were among the first Yugoslavs to come to Aspen in 1888. They were miners, which is what eventually caused his death due to "miners' consumption" (black lung).

Agnes came from a little village not far away called Gradenc. It's located near the ancient castle Zuzemberk. I believe her parents' names were Josef and Maria, but I'm not sure. She had a sister who came to meet her in Colorado, but I don't know what her name was or what ever happened to her.

Well, that should be enough to get you started. Let me know if you have more questions!

-Kent

Kent,Thank you for all the info. My father has "Aspen the Quiet Years" and to know that all this family history was in that book, while I have been searching census of Pitkin County, is a joke on me! My Great Grandparents were James & Mary Obester. I just called my Dad to tell him what is in the book. He wanted to know who you were. He said that your grandfather had owned the "Aspen Times" or one of the Aspen news papers.
I do have a question for you. I was told that Augnes Lube had left your great grandfather, and moved from Aspen. Did she move back? She is buired in Red Butte Cemetry in Aspen. But I understand that she died in San Francisco. What do you know of this? 1920 Pitkin County Census shows your family spelled Kralich.
Patty Henke Carbondale, CO
spa2098@sopris.net

Patty,

Not all of that stuff was in "Aspen the Quiet Years". A lot of it was from hand-written notes I got from Grandma and from Helen Hawk. Other is from research I've done here and through the LDS family centers.

Agnes and Anton Kralich had moved to Utah for a while, then returned to Aspen together, I think. They did separate at some point, though I'm not sure when. They both passed away in California.