(1863-1940), born in San Francisco The arrival of the first Serbian Orthodox Christian emigrants to the Americas began in the first half of the 19th century. The first secretary of the
California Land Commission was
George Fisher (Đorđe Šagić) who came to America in 1825 and is remembered as an eminent American pioneer. When Serbs came to
Amador and
Calaveras counties in the late 19th century, many of the mining companies in those counties were Slavonian-owned or managed. They also came to the
United States of America via
Mexico, then under the rule of an Austrian Archduke
Maximillian. By the end of the century, more Serb immigrants continued to come from Austria-Hungary, from the
Kingdom of Serbia,
Principality of Montenegro and from the
Ottoman Empire since not all Serb territories were liberated at the time. Emigration was mainly directed to the United States and Canada where industries thrived. Among emigrants, there were several Serbian Orthodox priests, and by the end of the 19th-century first parish communities were established and churches built. The city of
Douglas in
Alaska was a very rich mining town at the turn of the century. During this time, large groups of Serbs from
Montenegro came to Douglas to work in the gold mines of the
Treadwell Company. Among these Serb pioneers arose the traditional desire to establish their own church as well as their own print shop. An article told of the first Serbian pioneers in Alaska and their fraternal efforts to build a church for themselves and for the generations of Serbs in Alaska. These documents were signed by 286 members of the
Saint Sava Church, eight members of the church board and three priests, headed by
Archimandrite Sebastian Dabovich in
Douglas, Alaska. The reorganization was strongly opposed by bishop Dionisije, who was supported by several fractions of Serbian political emigration in the United States. The conflict resulted in
schism since Dionisije refused to recognize decisions of the
Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Thus, two parallel ecclesiastical structures were created, the official "patriarchal" branch organized into three eparchies, and an alternative "free" branch headed by Dionisije, who was officially deposed. ==Dioceses==