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

Ancestor Deep Dive: Hillel Tolchinsky (Part 2/2)

In an earlier post, I traced the life of my great-great grandfather, Hillel Tolchinsky, from his birth around 1865 in what is now north-central Ukraine, through the 1910 census, when he was living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Hillel Tolchinsky (left), my great-great grandfather and his son Isadore Tolchin, my great grandfather

In March 1911, Hillel's wife Pesha Riva and six of their children came to join Hillel and Isadore in Pittsburgh.  Unfortunately soon after their son Naftali Hirsh died.

Ancestor Deep Dive: Hillel Tolchinsky (Part 1/2)

My great-great grandfather, Hillel Tolchinsky, was born in 1865 or 1866 (although he later used the birthdate of January 10, 1869) in what is now Lubny, Poltava, Ukraine.  His father was Shimon Tolchinsky, and his mother was probably named Chaya.  His mother died soon after his birth, and by 1867 Shimon had moved with Hillel to Nezhin, Chernigov, Ukraine and married Risha Frayda Mechansky.

In 1882, Hillel was 16 (backing up the 1866 birthdate) and living with his father, stepmother, and siblings in Losinovka, a village just south of Nezhin.

Tolchinsky Family, 1882 Poll Tax Census, Nezhin, Ukraine; Hillel is the 16-year-old son

Shimon Tolchinsky - Ancestor Deep Dive

Shimon Tolchinsky was my great-great-great grandfather; I'm descended from his son Hillel.  Shimon Tolchinsky was born about 1842 to Naftali-Hirsh Tolchinsky, probably in Lubny, Ukraine.  I do not (yet) know his mother's name.  Shimon was registered in Luben (modern-day Lubny, Poltava, Ukraine), and the first record I have found of him was in 1867 as a 25-year-old widower getting remarried in Nezhin, Chernigov, Ukraine; his new wife was a divorcee, 22-year-old Risia-Frayda Mechansky.  As my great-great grandfather Hillel was born in 1866 (according to early records; in the US he gave his year of birth as 1869), Hillel's mother would have been Shimon's first wife; however the Nezhin records do not record her death.  As Hillel was consistent in naming his birthplace as "Luben," probably his mother died there.  Hillel's death certificate listed his mother as "Helen," and Hillel's sister Helen's hebrew name was Chaya, so likely Shimon's first wife was Chaya.

Marriage record for Hillel Tolchinsky and Risia-Frayda Mechansky, 1867