I always smile when I hear people say that their family tree is "done." Perhaps they have exhausted some major online resources. But it's likely that they're not aware of some obscure site that has information and that they haven't looked in every archive or repository that has information about their family. There's almost surely at least one more nugget out there waiting to be found.
I've been researching my family for 30 years, and I still find more information. And the latest was three new direct ancestors!
I'd previously found my Zubkis family in a 1811 list, headed by my 5th great grandfather, Berko Zubkis. Unfortunately, he was one of the few heads of household in that list enumerated without a patronymic, so I didn't know anything about his parents. But now I do.
In 1806, Berko's patronymic was given. My 6th great grandfather, likely born in the early 1700s (Berko would have been born about 1755) was Yankel. Even better, while the 1811 census only listed males, 1806 names women--so I now know my 5th great grandmother's name, Gitlya. And I have her father's name, Abram--another 6th great grandfather.
My 4th great grandfather Shaya wasn't born yet--he was born about 1809. But his older brothers Betzalel (likely from a previous marriage of Berko), Gershko and Yos are listed. Betzalel and his wife Beila lived in the same household. There are also 3 girls listed who had moved out when they married. It's kind of ambiguous as to whose children they are, but based on ages, it's more reasonable to assume that they are children of Berko and Gitlya than Betzalel and Beila.
The family at this point entered the class of townspeople for the town of Uman. Unfortunately it doesn't say where they were from before this! (Thanks to Dmitry Pruss for helping me with the Russian that I couldn't make out.)
As a side note, in this 1806 list, the surname is Zyubkis. In 1811 it is Zibkis. Post-1811, the surname is usually Zubkis. And many of the descendants who emigrated to America changed their name to a version of Supkoff/Soupcoff/Zoupcoff.
Thanks once again to Alex Krakovsky, on whose wiki I found this document. You can look to see what he's scanned for your own towns here. (No, the documents are not in English. Yes, he's consistently adding more documents, so keep checking.)
So am I done with my family tree yet? Not even close.
You can now like my page on Facebook:
or follow @larasgenealogy .
I've been researching my family for 30 years, and I still find more information. And the latest was three new direct ancestors!
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| Zyubkis Family, 1806, Uman |
I'd previously found my Zubkis family in a 1811 list, headed by my 5th great grandfather, Berko Zubkis. Unfortunately, he was one of the few heads of household in that list enumerated without a patronymic, so I didn't know anything about his parents. But now I do.
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| Zyubkis Family, 1806, Uman (closeup) |
My 4th great grandfather Shaya wasn't born yet--he was born about 1809. But his older brothers Betzalel (likely from a previous marriage of Berko), Gershko and Yos are listed. Betzalel and his wife Beila lived in the same household. There are also 3 girls listed who had moved out when they married. It's kind of ambiguous as to whose children they are, but based on ages, it's more reasonable to assume that they are children of Berko and Gitlya than Betzalel and Beila.
The family at this point entered the class of townspeople for the town of Uman. Unfortunately it doesn't say where they were from before this! (Thanks to Dmitry Pruss for helping me with the Russian that I couldn't make out.)
As a side note, in this 1806 list, the surname is Zyubkis. In 1811 it is Zibkis. Post-1811, the surname is usually Zubkis. And many of the descendants who emigrated to America changed their name to a version of Supkoff/Soupcoff/Zoupcoff.
Thanks once again to Alex Krakovsky, on whose wiki I found this document. You can look to see what he's scanned for your own towns here. (No, the documents are not in English. Yes, he's consistently adding more documents, so keep checking.)
So am I done with my family tree yet? Not even close.
You can now like my page on Facebook:
or follow @larasgenealogy .
Lara, do you know if all the Soupcoffs go back to one common ancestor? I taught with a teacher in California who is a Soupcoff, by marriage.
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