The journey from Greece to Joliet can be traced back to the start of the 19th century on the ancient island of Crete in the prefecture of Xania. Crete was occupied by the Ottoman muslim Turks from 1669 - 1898.  In those days most of Crete was small villages of goat and sheep herders. There were a few large towns mostly scattered along the northern coast that were centers of commerce.

My great great grandfather Kostas Vlahoyiannis (Vlahoyiannakis)  left Sfakia, Xania, Kriti (Crete) for Mykonos around 1800. When he registered in Mykonos he took the surname "Xaniotis" to signify his  place of birth in Xania but more likely to conceal his identity.  Cretans that had killed or committed crimes against their Turkish Muslim oppressors that occupied Crete for 400 years fled the island and changed their names for their own safety.  We have reason to believe that we are descended from a Cretan Folk hero Yiannis Vlahos called "Thaskaloyiannis" "John the Teacher". Under Turkish rule the Cretans were given the suffix "akis" to their names. The meaning of "akis" is lesser or small. Many historians agree that the Turks did this to designate the Cretans as a lower class .

  My mother had told me that a first cousin of my father, born on Mykonos and living on the east coast of the US had visited Joliet in 1970. She confirmed that Zouganes (born 1860), son of Kostas, was a blue-eyed Cretan. Starting my family research later in my life after my father, his mother, and most who knew anything about the family history were gone was a challenge. At this point I never expected to meet this cousin Maroulina Xanioti-Pfeiffer in 2014 - the only child of Dimitri Z Xaniotis. Dimitri was a brother of my papou and the first of the family to arrive in Joliet in 1906.

Even though most Greeks are dark haired, blue eyes are not uncommon in eastern Crete. That would explain why blue eyes are not uncommon in our family as well.