Who's Your Daddy (and Mommy), Mendel Fuchs?

Mendel Fuchs was born about 1823.  He may have been born in what's now Novoselytysa, Ukraine; at any rate, he was living there by the time he had children.  As this is the same place that my Fuchs family came from, I wanted to know if there was a connection.  By putting together the documentation I have on him--on documents relating to his children--as well as using naming patterns, I think I've figured out the connection.

Mendel had at least three sons with his wife Etya: David, Chaim and Hers.  Their birth records give some information about their parents.

Chaim Fux Birth; 1853

Chaim Fux was born in Neresnytsya (the village next to Novoselytsya) on April 9, 1853 to Mendel and Etye.

David Fux Birth Record; 1849 birth registered in 1909

David was born in 1849, but he registered his own birth in 1909.  He gives his parents as Mendel and Etya (nee Viezal) Fux and said that he was born in what is now Novoselytsya.  Mendel was said to be 26 at the time, giving me the 1823 approximation for his birth.

Mendel also had a daughter Marjem with his third (that I know of) wife, Szoszi Schachter; Marjem was born in 1864 in Novoselytsya.

Marjem Fux Birth; 1864

And twenty years later, Marjem married Izrael Rubin.

Marjem Fux & Izrael Rubin Marriage; 1886

But while this is great and wonderful information about Mendel's children, it doesn't tell me the relationship, if any, between Mendel and my Fuchs family.  In fact, I've found no mention of Mendel's birth, marriage or death.

Mendel is of the right age to be a sibling of my great-great-great grandfather Baruch Hirsch, who was born about 1830.  And Novoselytsya was a very small village, so odds are that the two Fuchs families are related to one another.  But do we have enough information to show that Mendel is (or is not) a brother to Baruch Hirsch?

There is a gravestone in the Novoselytsya cemetery that is for the death of Yitzchok Menachem son of Gershon.  Mendel is Yiddish for Menachem, so perhaps this is Mendel Fuchs.  And since Gershon Fuchs is my great-great-great-great grandfather, Mendel could be a brother of my great-great-great grandfather Baruch Hersh Fuchs.  But there's no surname, so I can't know for sure either way.

So let's look at some of Mendel's grandchildren.  Could their naming patterns show them to be descendants of Gershon and Toba-Rivka Fuchs?

Birth of Gerzson Fixler, son of Gittel Fux; 1912

David had a daughter Toba-Rivka.  David's daughter Gita Fuchs Fixler had a son Gerzson in 1912.  David's daughter Etye Fuchs Steinmetz's oldest grandson was Gerson born in 1908.

I have no record of Chaim having any children; either he had none or they were born in a town for which I don't have records.

Birth of Gerzon Fux to Mozes Fux; 1897

Hers had only one daughter I know of; while she wasn't named for Hers' possible grandmother Toba-Rivka, she was named Etya after Hers' mother which makes sense.  And like David, all of Hers' sons were born pre-1893.  I only have records for children of Hers' son Moses--but that includes a son Gerzon born in 1897.

Mendel Fuchs's family (selected people; only those with names mentioned above)

Based on the naming patterns, I'm pretty convinced that Mendel was the son of Gershon and Toba-Rivka Fuchs.  What do you think?

Note:  I'm on Twitter.  Feel free to follow me (@larasgenealogy).

Want to get future blog posts emailed to you automatically?
Enter your email address: