I appreciate the insight. When I used the word "cousin" I used it loosely. Quick backstory that puts this a little more into context.
*Me < my father (83 years old) date of birth 1937 < grandfather Miladin date of birth 1902 < great grandfather Pavao date of birth 1878.
*Pavao came to America.
They lived in a small town called Weirton WV. (Bigger steel mills were in Pittsbugh and many offshoots were in surrounding towns such as this.) There were a substantial amount of Serbian immigrants to Pittsburgh and the surrounding towns.
*Miladin had 3 sons (born 1927, 1932, and 1937) spanning before, during and after the Great Depression. Miladin didn't have an education so he was day laborer having to work very hard and work was not always consistent. Therefore they were very poor.
I scour every reference of a Batalo in American documents. Batalo is actually a fairly uncommon name today in the US.
Whenever I would find a Batalo reference I would question my father. I found a Milanko (Mike) Batalo (1891-1963) born of Damyen and Kata from Tobolic who lived and died in
Weirton WV. My father said...
yes. That was a cousin. He was a bachelor and had a really good job. One time my mom reached out and we borrowed money from him. So based on the date of birth for Milanko....and his father being Damyen AND him being from Tobolic..... I have hypothesized that Bozo was the brother of Milanko.
Where I think this actually fits into my family tree? I hypothesize that Pavao and Damyen were first cousins. Their fathers were brothers. Will I ever be able to prove this factually? Maybe...maybe not. But because of all of the obstacles I face in directly searching my family line...I can only use deductive reasoning and try to prove or disprove my hypothesis.
I do appreciate your feedback. My initial comment didn't make a lot of sense at face value. Also...even if my hypothesis is perfect...it doesn't mean it is fact. So I greatly rely on input, knowledge and perspective from others....so please always weigh in because it helps me.