Sara Rivka / Shayna Basya - Solved

Back in January, I wrote about how I was no longer sure that my 4th great grandmother was Shayna Basya Halpern.  I'd found a birth record for a Yisrael Wolf Halpern whose father was given as Yitzchok son of Yisrael Halpern--my great-great-great-great grandfather.

Birth of Yisrael Wolf Halpern, 1870

Who was Devorah Tolchinsky? (aka How Blogging Helped me Find Two More Ancestors)

I've viewed 60 years' worth of Nezhin birth, marriage & death records (no, I don't sleep well) in the past few weeks.  I found multiple records for Tolchinskys who were registered in Lubny but living in Nezhin from around 1866.  All of these people are descended from my great-great-great grandfather Shimon Tolchinsky, and I've been able to fit them into my tree.  Well, all except one.

Devorah Tolchinsky Death - Full Page

Nezhin Metrical (Vital) Records

I've mentioned how I've been going through the Nezhin Uzed records that are available for viewing on FamilySearch.  The records are surprisingly complete from the 1850s all the way until the Russian Revolution in 1918 with only a few missing years.

(Note via Dr. Bert Lazerow-- The names of the child and the father that in years missing from the records can sometimes be picked up from the indices.)

The kinds of records found here--this is my great-great grandmother's birth record!

For others researching the Nezhin area, I've gone through all of these records and notated how to jump to a specific year's records as well as how complete that record set is.  Note that for some years there are duplicates of some record sets, so I list all of those (sometimes one set is more complete or in better shape than another).  You'll need a free account on FamilySearch to view the records.

If you don't have family from Nezhin, still check these out to see what Russian Empire metrical record books actually look like.  You can also see if there are filmed records for your town by following these directions.

Taking it Back...To My 7th Great Grandfather

Earlier in the week, I excitedly posted that I had discovered my 5th great grandfather's death record--and that in doing so, I'd discovered the name of my 6th great grandfather.  Well, that was nothing.

1854 Nezhin Death Records

Discovering my 6th Great Grandfather

Now that I can access lots of Nezhin vital records and tax poll censuses from home (see if your own town's records are covered by following the directions here), I've been slowly going through them.  And there are many thousands of images.

The vital records start in the 1850s, and in the 1858 death records, I found an exciting (to me) record.

Meir Lefand Death Record, 1858

IAJGS2018 in Warsaw!

IAJGS2018 is coming up in just under a month.  This year it's in Warsaw, and I'll be presenting and mentoring.  If you're a regular blog member who will be attending, please come by and say hi!

Here's where and when I'll be speaking:

My Step Great-Great Grandmother's Arrest and Acquittal

Newspapers can be a wonderful resource to get insight into ancestors' lives, beyond the brief facts noted in census records, ship manifests and the like.

My great-great grandfather, Yechiel Suttleman, was married three times; his third wife, Ida Himelfarb Suttleman, was the only spouse who came to America.  There are lots of family stories about how the family made moonshine and had the younger kids sell it (since they'd be more likely to be let off if/when caught).  But the January 5, 1923 edition of Baltimore's Evening Sun mentioned how Ida herself had been arrested for possessing moonshine.

Where Did Yankel Marienhoff Go?

I've been tracing the children of my great-great-great grandmother Mira Halpern Lefand Marienhoff for years.  I had the birth records for a set of twins born to Mira and her second husband, Yitzchok Marienhoff; Yaakov/Yankel and Chava Marienhoff were born in Nezhin on July 1, 1887.

Birth of Yaakov and Chava Marienhoff