My Family in the Cholera Pandemic of 1848

As COVID-19 has spread across the world, instantly changing how we go about our day-to-day lives, our lives have changed.  It's the first time in most of our lifetimes that we've experienced something like this impacting ourselves and our families personally.  But pandemics have happened before, and at least once before, they specifically impacted my family.

Tzipra Brandman Death; Krasnoye, Podolia, Russian Empire; July 26, 1848

The Brandman Connection

Just a few years ago, I only knew my great-great-great grandmother's first name.  I knew that Rochel was married to Aryeh Leib Sanshuck, and that their daughter Zlata Tzipra was my great-great grandmother.

Leib & Rochel Sanshuck's Marriage Record; Krasnoye, Russian Empire; 1849

But then I found their marriage record.

Ancestor Deep Dive: Rochel Brandman Sanshuck

My great-great-great grandmother, Rochel Brandman Sanshuck, was born about 1832 in what is now Krasnoye, Vinnitsa, Ukraine (then Podolia Guberniya).  Her parents were Yaakov and Tzipra Brandman.

Rochel had at least 3 siblings:

1. Dov Ber Brandman, born about 1828, died April 9, 1844 in Krasnoye
2. Golda Brandman, born about 1830, died November 15, 1852 in Krasnoye
3. Pinchas Leib Brandman

On November 9, 1849, Rochel married Aryeh Leib Sanshuck in Krasnoye.

Leib Sanshuck & Rochel Brandman Marriage Record in Hebrew; Krasnoye; 1849

Deciphering History

I'd already determined that the Tolchinsky family which I thought was from Shpikov was not.  But I knew that the Supkoffs were.  My great grandmother was Malka (Mollie) Supkoff who married Isadore Tolchin after they both had immigrated to Pittsburgh.  Mollie's and her sister's Elka's boat record confirmed they were from "Spikow."  So Isadore's involvement in Pittsburgh's Shpikov Society must have been through his wife.

Mollie & Elka Supkoff's boat record (lines 8-9), 1906

Mollie's parents, Yeshaya and Zlata Tzipra (nee Sanshuck) Supkoff also came to America along with their younger children (besides Mollie and Elka, son Leib/Louis had come earlier).  Yeshaya and the children were listed as having been born in "Spikoff" and "Schpikoff," but Zlata Tzipra was from "Krosny."  With the help of JewishGen (which will list other towns with Jewish populations near a given one), I discovered that Krasnoye was only 11 miles from Shpikov.

Nice!  I then started investigating if any documentation existed of these towns' past.  Perhaps I could find documents on microfilm like I had used to learn about the Tolchinsky and Lefand/Marienhoff families in Nezhin.  I looked on familysearch, but unfortunately they had not microfilmed either of these towns' records.  I then looked at Miriam Weiner's excellent Routes to Roots, which catalogs many of the existing Jewish records in eastern European archives.  My heart sunk.  Both towns had listed documents, but they were followed by the following disclaimer:

I contacted Ms. Weiner to see if many of the remaining records were available, but at that time they were being preserved and protected and were not available to the public.  Drat.