JewishGen Discussion Group #JewishGen useful websites from Rootsweb-and MOKOTOFF article #general
Miriam Margolyes <75342.3217@...>
Pushing Back The Brick Wall
by Gary Mokotoff Jewish genealogists with Eastern European ancestry hit a brick wall in tracing their roots at about the year 1800 for two reasons: (1) prior to that date Jews did not have hereditary surnames; therefore, if there are any records of that time, ancestors are identified only by their given names and perhaps their patronymics; and (2) for many years the evidence was that there were few records prior to 1800 that identified Jews by name. With the increased sophistication of Jewish genealogical research, this brick wall is being pushed back at least a century. Because Eastern European Jews historically name their children after deceased ancestors, a number of more advanced researchers have been able to analyze 18th-century documents and identify their family based solely on given names. (See "Tackling the Lack of Surnames in 18th-Century Russian Records" by Len Yodaiken in the Fall 1999 issue of Avotaynu.) The Fall 2000 issue of Avotaynu addressed the second obstacle, lack of documents, by noting that Polish nobility records contain information about the population on their lands, including Jews. (See "Can Jewish Genealogists Successfully Research 18th-Century Poland?" by Sallyann Amdur Sack.) The region covered is Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which today comprises portions of Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. Researchers should first determine which nobleman owned his/her ancestor's town and then find out where the private archives is now located. There is a good chance that these records will include censuses and lists of Jews who lived on the noble's lands and in his towns. To assist in the research, Avotaynu has published on the Internet all known holdings of the private archives of Polish magnates at http://www.avotaynu.com/magnates.htm. For example, if your ancestors lived under the rule of the MIERZEJEWSKI family, their private archives is at the Academy of Sciences in Vilnius. The SAMBIRS'KYI family archives is at the State Historical Archive in Kiev. One researcher found censuses in the CZARTORYSKI family archives in Krakow that included entries on the Ba'al Shem Tov (1700-1760), the founder of Hassidism, in the Besht's hometown of Medzhibozh! ["Pushing Back the Brick Wall" first appeared in "Nu? What's New? News About Jewish Genealogy >from Avotaynu," Vol. 2, No. 2, January 28, 2001 and is reprinted with the author's kind permission.] England. 19th Century Trade Directories and Tax Lists 104,000 records; Sue O'Neill http://userdb.rootsweb.com/uki/ United States. Federal and New York State Census Transcriptions Northeastern States; 945 records; Veronica Meier http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/index/ Call For Volunteer U.S. Federal Census Transcribers. If you are interested in transcribing any state/county of any U.S. federal census records, please visit http://www.rootsweb.com/~census/ All transcriptions are included in the USGenWeb Archives. Census Additions/Updates, Week Ending 2 February 2001 http://www.rootsweb.com/~cenfiles/nu/index.htm * * * Don't overlook the valuable existing locality mailing lists. For example, learn what lists are now available for Australia, England, and New Zealand by checking the indexes at: Australia: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/AUS/ England: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/ENG/ New Zealand: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/NZL/ MISNER, MISENER, MISENAR, MIZNER, and MIZENER Family of North America. Contains an alphabetical list of all found deceased male members of the various MISNER families in Canada and the U.S.A. >from the early-1700s to the mid-1900s. Some pictures. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~grannyapple/MISNER/ MISNERdata.html [Note Two-Line URL] Permission to reprint articles >from Rootsweb Review is granted unless specifically stated otherwise, provided: (1) the reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice appears at the end of the article: Written by [author's name, e-mail address, and URL, if given]. Previously published by RootsWeb.com, Inc., RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Genealogy News, Vol. 4, No. 6, 7 February 2001. RootsWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/ Miriam Margolyes searching: SANDMAN (Prussia, 19C London & South Africa) POSNER (Berlin & Posen) LAZARUS (Berlin) MODE & MOED (Lisbon & London)
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