Saturday, October 12, 2013

The Supkoff--um, Zubkis--Family

My great-great grandparents were Yeshaya and Zlata Tzipra (nee Sanshuck) Supkoff.  I've blogged earlier about how the Supkoffs were from the town of Shpikov, but I hadn't been able to find them in the metrical records that our Shpikov group obtained.  I knew that Yeshaya had at least one brother Yossel and three sisters who never left Europe and whose names were unknown, and that his father was Shaul Ber.

Recently, we got another batch of records, the largest part of which is a revision list from around 1895--basically a census of the Jewish residents of Shpikov.  They're being transcribed by volunteers, and that process is still ongoing.  However, the first pages of the records are an index to the heads of each family in the overall records.  I asked the volunteer transcribing the records if he was Supkoff or Zypkoff in the index--but he didn't.  Oh well.

But then Alexander sent the first half of the transcription of the index--and a quick glance through the names made me do a double-take--"Shoel-Ber Zubkis" was listed as a head of family.  The Zubkis name was familiar to me.
Elke & Malke Zupkin Boat Record, 1906


My great-grandmother (daughter of Yeshaya) and her sister Elka were listed as Malke and Elke Zubkin on their boat record (which made it very difficult for me to initially locate the record).  They were going to join their brother Leib (later Louis Supkoff) in Pittsburgh.  Leib's boat record also had another version of the last name:
Leib Subkis Boat Record, 1905
Leib Subkis' name was very similar to the "Zubkis" family name in the index.

So I went to record 105 in the newly-acquired revision list to see who was in the Zubkis family.  And there they were:
Left Side of the Zubkis Family's Revision List Entry
Right Side of the Zubkis Family's Revision List Entry
The left side gives the males in the family:
Shoel Ber-Shayev ZUBKIS, 33, died 1888 (he was 33 in the last census in which he was listed)
son: Shaya, 38
Shaya's sons: Leib, 14, Yankel, 7
Shoel Ber's other son: Yosel, 29
 

The right hand side gives the females in the family:
Shoel Ber's spouse: Syma, 55 (I don't believe this was my ggg grandmother, as I've been told her name was Elka, and there are no Symas in the family--probably she's a second wife to Shoel Ber)
daughers: Ester, 18 and Fryma, 15 (These are 2 of the 3 sisters who all the older relatives have mentioned!)  

Shaya's spouse: Zlata, 36
daughter: Elka, 9


This is definitely my family.  I now have my gggg grandfather's name--Shaya, and my gg grandfather would have been named for him.  Leib is the Louis who my great grandmother was going to join.  I'm not sure who Yankel is--I've found no record of him coming to America.  But interestingly, he is around the age that my great-grandmother Malka should be, and she doesn't appear on the census.

If anyone can make out the several Russian words in the column next to "105," I'd appreciate a translation!

3 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. My husband family last name Zubkis, they immigrated from Ukraine in 1975.

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