Randi Jaspan wrote:

We have come across in our family tree what seems to be incredibly

young ages of marriage in the 1800's. It seems inconsistant with
the "norm" at the time. The ages would have been about 12-14 for females,
and around 15 for males. Has anyone else found this to be the confirmed
case in their family research? >>

Not in my family. However, in reviewing and databasing Archival records

from Herder Institute microfilms that the Courland Research Group

purchased, I have come across an enormous number of 15 year old fathers
and 12 - 15 year old mothers. The material dates >from 1798 to 1804 from
what is now present day Latvia.

Martha LEVINSON Lev-Zion, Israel

Have you tried looking up passenger manifests at the Mormon Family History
Center? I also live near LA, and the Santa Monica Temple has a complete
set of immigration manifests >from 1986-1940 [Mod Note: probably meant 1896
or 1886 to 1940](or so) and indices. The manifests usually give you a lot
of info, including town of origin.

They also have indices to NYC death certificates, you need to search by
borough by year, but then can order >from NYC with the certificate name.

Incidentally, I have family >from Siedlce, and just wanted to let you know
that it is a "province" (gubernia in Polish) as well as the main city in
the Province. Also, immigrants sometimes came >from smaller towns "near" a
city, and in America stated they are "from" that city, the way I would say
I'm >from LA, although you would have to look in another adjacent county
for my records.

The passenger manifests are great for this. In the FHC in LA they are
separated >from the other films in a corner of their own, and Labeled, so
you do not need to do much computer searching. The staff, while extremely
eager to help, is sometimes made up of volunteers who are not as familiar
with some of the materials. I am very grateful for all the help I have
gotten, but just wanted to point out that I found out "by accident" about
the segregation of the films, as the two volunteers I asked kept telling
me to look under the numerical film number only. Passenger Manifests also
show, of course, the whole family that arrived (though All of my
grandparents' families came in pieces, but if one sibling was in America,
his or her address is given, and you can then check census records-- in LA
FHC, and there is a NY census, as well as the US Census, and it is much
harder to access, though worth it. It will give dates and locations of
naturalizations sometimes)

Also, have you tried the Social Security Death Index? You can find this
under ancestry.com. You can obtain for $7 the actual (well a copy)
application for the number in the person's own hand, including town of
origin (though some "cheated" and put "Poland" only) and mother's maiden
name.

The numbers came into existence in 1936, but for the individual you seek,
try bothers and sisters. That's how I found towns for my grandparents in
two cases, each had 5 siblings, and two in each case listed the exact town,
the rest, including gparents put "Russia" or "Poland". It was also the
first way I found out that my great-grandmother's name was "Faiga Brucha",
rather than "Bertha", the only name I knew. This enabled me to find her
Polish birth records (once again, my grandmother listed only Bertha, it was
a sibling)

Hope this is not too much information. You also asked about the National
Archives and Naturalization papers, but many older people did not get
naturalized, and some children were naturalized under their parent's names.
Good FAQ on Jewishgen about this, bottom line, I have looked at this after
the above. Also, if you find the Passenger Manifests, there may be an INS
number written near the name of the individual, which was used to get a
"Certificate of Arrival" for Naturalization. Using this number, and
another Jewishgen FAQ, you can give the NA more information and get much
quicker of a response.

The second problem with the NA (I hate to say problem, as they have also
been wonderful, let's say disadvantage) is that many people were
naturalized in local (county) courts, and these records must be accessed
through the county clerk. NYC has five counties (the Brooklyn index for
some years is on line with a search function), and they would not be able
to find these records.

As for your last inquiry re: cemetery, do you have a picture of the graves?
I have gotten Beth David to photograph for me, there may have been a
charge, say $7 or $10, and you can then get the father's name of the
person off of the tombstone. They may have info on the burial society
(there is a Jewishgen cemetery site on NYC Cemeteries that has some of
this).

Good luck.

Debra Kay
debjkay@msn.com
Simi Valley, Ca

Searching LEWITA, BUCHBINDER, ZLOT Siedlce, Sokolow, Wenegorow

From: R Rose <singsong@ucla.edu>

I am brand new at this, thanks for understanding, I'm sure to get better
at it.

Can anyone tell me what the First Sedlcer Unter Verein and whether there
are records available on this organization or other Sedlcers? We are
researching our grandfather, Max Sonshine.

We know that he came to the US in about 1903 >from Sedlce Poland
(supposedly near Gdansk/Gdanya) and died in an accident in Manhattan NY
in May, 1931.
He and his wife are buried in Beth David cemetery in Nassau Co, NY. We
assume he immigrated to NY City. There is a notation about his working in
coal mines in Pennsylvania, and his death certificate indicates his
occupation as toolmaker. I know the original name was Sonenschein or
Sonnenschein.

The burial plot was identified by Beth David cemetery as part of 1st
Sedlcer Unter Verein. No dates of birth are given, as both records show
their age in this format: 46/0/0. His parents, Rose Cohen and Joseph
Sonshine are shown on the death certificate only as coming >from Poland.

I have a photo showing a family of at least 6 or 8 brothers but with no
notations. I have a few more fragments, one child might have been born in
Poland when Max would have been 17 or 18. This child called Frank might
have been named Isaac.

Any direction someone might share for pursuing this would be most
appreciated, the organization or burial society (?) should probably be my
first step. I am located in Southern California and could go to Laguna
Niguel for the Federal records if it makes sense.

MODERATOR NOTE: The JewishGen FAQ that was referenced in this post is
the best place to start for a novice genealogist. It can be accessed at
<http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/faq.html>;.

Randi Jaspan wrote:

We have come across in our family tree what seems to be incredibly

young ages of marriage in the 1800's. It seems inconsistant with
the "norm" at the time. The ages would have been about 12-14 for females,
and around 15 for males. Has anyone else found this to be the confirmed
case in their family research? >>

Not in my family. However, in reviewing and databasing Archival records

from Herder Institute microfilms that the Courland Research Group

purchased, I have come across an enormous number of 15 year old fathers
and 12 - 15 year old mothers. The material dates >from 1798 to 1804 from
what is now present day Latvia.

Martha LEVINSON Lev-Zion, Israel

Have you tried looking up passenger manifests at the Mormon Family History
Center? I also live near LA, and the Santa Monica Temple has a complete
set of immigration manifests >from 1986-1940 [Mod Note: probably meant 1896
or 1886 to 1940](or so) and indices. The manifests usually give you a lot
of info, including town of origin.

They also have indices to NYC death certificates, you need to search by
borough by year, but then can order >from NYC with the certificate name.

Incidentally, I have family >from Siedlce, and just wanted to let you know
that it is a "province" (gubernia in Polish) as well as the main city in
the Province. Also, immigrants sometimes came >from smaller towns "near" a
city, and in America stated they are "from" that city, the way I would say
I'm >from LA, although you would have to look in another adjacent county
for my records.

The passenger manifests are great for this. In the FHC in LA they are
separated >from the other films in a corner of their own, and Labeled, so
you do not need to do much computer searching. The staff, while extremely
eager to help, is sometimes made up of volunteers who are not as familiar
with some of the materials. I am very grateful for all the help I have
gotten, but just wanted to point out that I found out "by accident" about
the segregation of the films, as the two volunteers I asked kept telling
me to look under the numerical film number only. Passenger Manifests also
show, of course, the whole family that arrived (though All of my
grandparents' families came in pieces, but if one sibling was in America,
his or her address is given, and you can then check census records-- in LA
FHC, and there is a NY census, as well as the US Census, and it is much
harder to access, though worth it. It will give dates and locations of
naturalizations sometimes)

Also, have you tried the Social Security Death Index? You can find this
under ancestry.com. You can obtain for $7 the actual (well a copy)
application for the number in the person's own hand, including town of
origin (though some "cheated" and put "Poland" only) and mother's maiden
name.

The numbers came into existence in 1936, but for the individual you seek,
try bothers and sisters. That's how I found towns for my grandparents in
two cases, each had 5 siblings, and two in each case listed the exact town,
the rest, including gparents put "Russia" or "Poland". It was also the
first way I found out that my great-grandmother's name was "Faiga Brucha",
rather than "Bertha", the only name I knew. This enabled me to find her
Polish birth records (once again, my grandmother listed only Bertha, it was
a sibling)

Hope this is not too much information. You also asked about the National
Archives and Naturalization papers, but many older people did not get
naturalized, and some children were naturalized under their parent's names.
Good FAQ on Jewishgen about this, bottom line, I have looked at this after
the above. Also, if you find the Passenger Manifests, there may be an INS
number written near the name of the individual, which was used to get a
"Certificate of Arrival" for Naturalization. Using this number, and
another Jewishgen FAQ, you can give the NA more information and get much
quicker of a response.

The second problem with the NA (I hate to say problem, as they have also
been wonderful, let's say disadvantage) is that many people were
naturalized in local (county) courts, and these records must be accessed
through the county clerk. NYC has five counties (the Brooklyn index for
some years is on line with a search function), and they would not be able
to find these records.

As for your last inquiry re: cemetery, do you have a picture of the graves?
I have gotten Beth David to photograph for me, there may have been a
charge, say $7 or $10, and you can then get the father's name of the
person off of the tombstone. They may have info on the burial society
(there is a Jewishgen cemetery site on NYC Cemeteries that has some of
this).

Good luck.

Debra Kay
debjkay@msn.com
Simi Valley, Ca

Searching LEWITA, BUCHBINDER, ZLOT Siedlce, Sokolow, Wenegorow

From: R Rose <singsong@ucla.edu>

I am brand new at this, thanks for understanding, I'm sure to get better
at it.

Can anyone tell me what the First Sedlcer Unter Verein and whether there
are records available on this organization or other Sedlcers? We are
researching our grandfather, Max Sonshine.

We know that he came to the US in about 1903 >from Sedlce Poland
(supposedly near Gdansk/Gdanya) and died in an accident in Manhattan NY
in May, 1931.
He and his wife are buried in Beth David cemetery in Nassau Co, NY. We
assume he immigrated to NY City. There is a notation about his working in
coal mines in Pennsylvania, and his death certificate indicates his
occupation as toolmaker. I know the original name was Sonenschein or
Sonnenschein.

The burial plot was identified by Beth David cemetery as part of 1st
Sedlcer Unter Verein. No dates of birth are given, as both records show
their age in this format: 46/0/0. His parents, Rose Cohen and Joseph
Sonshine are shown on the death certificate only as coming >from Poland.

I have a photo showing a family of at least 6 or 8 brothers but with no
notations. I have a few more fragments, one child might have been born in
Poland when Max would have been 17 or 18. This child called Frank might
have been named Isaac.

Any direction someone might share for pursuing this would be most
appreciated, the organization or burial society (?) should probably be my
first step. I am located in Southern California and could go to Laguna
Niguel for the Federal records if it makes sense.

MODERATOR NOTE: The JewishGen FAQ that was referenced in this post is
the best place to start for a novice genealogist. It can be accessed at
<http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/faq.html>;.

Fmode@aol.com wrote:

I am in need of a lookup in a directory of physicians. This was
recommended to me through the German Jewish SIG but I cannot locate such
a book. The individual I seek was a first cousin of my grandmother and
apparently a well known physician in the early part of the 20th century
in the Philadelphia area- name Joseph LANGBORD. I would be eternally
grateful if someone could look this gent up and respond privately to me.
We hope to find his birthplace and parents names. TIA

The National Genealogical Society <http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/>;
maintains an archive of records of deceased physicians. e-mail them at
library@ngsgenealogy.org or write to National Genealogical Society, 4527
17th Street North, Arlington, Va 22207. Phone 1-800-473-060 ext.331.
I found them to be very helpful.

Larry

Michael Bernet wrote:

Spelling of names was quite loose in those days. His Hebrew name may
have been Me'ir. As for his knowledge of Spanish, the overwhelming
majority of London Jews at the time were Sfardim, and he may have
learned the language >from them. And these Sfardi Jews had come from
Holland.

and Stan Goodman added:

Very likely, indeed. And if his name was Me'ir, and if he was known by
the Meere surname in England, that suggests that he had no surname at
all in Holland, which would not have been unusual.

Another possibility: that it was his patronymic, and not his given
name, that was Me'ir, e.g. Ya'akov ben Me'ir, again suggesting that he
had no surname before arriving in England.

Stan's theory is likely correct and surely this very lack of an
established family name, which, if Mr Meeres were indeed >from a Spanish &
Portuguese family in Amsterdam one would certainly expect him to have, is
indicative of an Ashkenazi origin?

Other listers have either quoted >from or recommended the publication JHSE
Misc. vi, which contains both the 1695 London census information as it
pertains to Jews and the burial register of the S&P Bethahaim Velho
(1657-1733). The census does indeed list 5 families of MEERES (noting that
two of them are probably not Jewish) and in fact suggests that the
remaining three are Ashkenazim rather than Sefardim and this would seem to
tally with the lack of any MEERES burials in the S&P old cemetery.

So, how did Mr. Meeres know enough Spanish to translate? Michael Bernet is
probably spot-on in suggesting that the Ashkenazi Me'ir had had close
contact with the Spanish & Portuguese community in Amsterdam, London or
even further afield (Curacao possibly?) and thus picked up a language very
useful to his economic and social advancement within the Atlantic trading
network of the western Sephardi Diaspora.

David A Reed

Hello All,

Thank you for your help/responses. This is very new to me and I really
appreciate your patience in simply taking the time to explain.

The letter was written 9 December, 1695, so it is probable that Mr. Meere
was in Jamaica, not London, at the time of the Census. So, he returned to
England/London and apparently presented his letter to Wm. Blathwayt at
Whitehall.

In an effort to create a bridge >from the known unknown, here are a some
facts about William Meere. It may not be possible to go back >from Mr.
Meere, but does it seem possible to work back >from William to Mr. Meere?
Jewish records? English parish records? More Blathwayt papers? Other?

William was born abt. 1716 (>from burial listing). Wife Mary was born abt.
1730. So, he may have been married before, but no other children are named
in his will.

Son William baptised Mangotsfield, 1754 (in Gloucester, England). Two
daughters in Westerleigh. Youngest daughter March, 1765 in Dyrham.

Granted a lease to the Crown Inn at Tolldown, abt. 1 mile >from the estate
(Dyrham and Hinton) in 1776. Lease bears a seal of a child's head in red
wax. Worked as a surveyor and was a churchwarden at St. Peter's, Dyrham
(>from estate papers, etc.)

William's burial is 1793, Mangotsfield.

No birth for William and no marriage to Mary has been discovered in over 30
years of searching (most recently all of the original Bristol parishes).

Thanks again.

Marsha Meere Stringer
mstringr@bellatlantic.net

Fmode@aol.com wrote:

I am in need of a lookup in a directory of physicians. This was
recommended to me through the German Jewish SIG but I cannot locate such
a book. The individual I seek was a first cousin of my grandmother and
apparently a well known physician in the early part of the 20th century
in the Philadelphia area- name Joseph LANGBORD. I would be eternally
grateful if someone could look this gent up and respond privately to me.
We hope to find his birthplace and parents names. TIA

The National Genealogical Society <http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/>;
maintains an archive of records of deceased physicians. e-mail them at
library@ngsgenealogy.org or write to National Genealogical Society, 4527
17th Street North, Arlington, Va 22207. Phone 1-800-473-060 ext.331.
I found them to be very helpful.

Larry

Michael Bernet wrote:

Spelling of names was quite loose in those days. His Hebrew name may
have been Me'ir. As for his knowledge of Spanish, the overwhelming
majority of London Jews at the time were Sfardim, and he may have
learned the language >from them. And these Sfardi Jews had come from
Holland.

and Stan Goodman added:

Very likely, indeed. And if his name was Me'ir, and if he was known by
the Meere surname in England, that suggests that he had no surname at
all in Holland, which would not have been unusual.

Another possibility: that it was his patronymic, and not his given
name, that was Me'ir, e.g. Ya'akov ben Me'ir, again suggesting that he
had no surname before arriving in England.

Stan's theory is likely correct and surely this very lack of an
established family name, which, if Mr Meeres were indeed >from a Spanish &
Portuguese family in Amsterdam one would certainly expect him to have, is
indicative of an Ashkenazi origin?

Other listers have either quoted >from or recommended the publication JHSE
Misc. vi, which contains both the 1695 London census information as it
pertains to Jews and the burial register of the S&P Bethahaim Velho
(1657-1733). The census does indeed list 5 families of MEERES (noting that
two of them are probably not Jewish) and in fact suggests that the
remaining three are Ashkenazim rather than Sefardim and this would seem to
tally with the lack of any MEERES burials in the S&P old cemetery.

So, how did Mr. Meeres know enough Spanish to translate? Michael Bernet is
probably spot-on in suggesting that the Ashkenazi Me'ir had had close
contact with the Spanish & Portuguese community in Amsterdam, London or
even further afield (Curacao possibly?) and thus picked up a language very
useful to his economic and social advancement within the Atlantic trading
network of the western Sephardi Diaspora.

David A Reed

Hello All,

Thank you for your help/responses. This is very new to me and I really
appreciate your patience in simply taking the time to explain.

The letter was written 9 December, 1695, so it is probable that Mr. Meere
was in Jamaica, not London, at the time of the Census. So, he returned to
England/London and apparently presented his letter to Wm. Blathwayt at
Whitehall.

In an effort to create a bridge >from the known unknown, here are a some
facts about William Meere. It may not be possible to go back >from Mr.
Meere, but does it seem possible to work back >from William to Mr. Meere?
Jewish records? English parish records? More Blathwayt papers? Other?

William was born abt. 1716 (>from burial listing). Wife Mary was born abt.
1730. So, he may have been married before, but no other children are named
in his will.

Son William baptised Mangotsfield, 1754 (in Gloucester, England). Two
daughters in Westerleigh. Youngest daughter March, 1765 in Dyrham.

Granted a lease to the Crown Inn at Tolldown, abt. 1 mile >from the estate
(Dyrham and Hinton) in 1776. Lease bears a seal of a child's head in red
wax. Worked as a surveyor and was a churchwarden at St. Peter's, Dyrham
(>from estate papers, etc.)

William's burial is 1793, Mangotsfield.

No birth for William and no marriage to Mary has been discovered in over 30
years of searching (most recently all of the original Bristol parishes).

Thanks again.

Marsha Meere Stringer
mstringr@bellatlantic.net

Dear JGenners-
In July, I applied for the SSN Application of a relative, but to my
delight, this month I discovered her alive, well, & alert at the tender age
of 91 years! We are happily in contact again.

Now I am the owner of an extraneous application belonging to someone else.
If anyone is related to Elsie GINSBERG, b.1910 in the Bronx; d. 1988 in W,
Palm Beach, FLA; daughter of Morris GINSBERG & Rose KRONICK, I'll be more
than glad to forward this document to you.
Reply privately, please -
Florence Elman
<haflo@cadvision.com>

ELMAN researching: MACHERET - Zolotonosha, Ukraine; PRESSMAN - Dolginov,
Vilenskaya (Vileyka); SURIS/SURES - Odessa, Ukraine; WEISSBEIN/VAJSBEJN -
Odessa, Ukraine; NERENBERG - Socolec, Podolsk, Ukraine;
ZILBERBERG/SILBERBERG - Nova Ushitsa, Podolia, Ukraine;
GOTLIBOVICH/GOTLIBOWITZ/GOTLIEB - Cherkassy, Korsun, Kharkov, &
H/Gorodishche, Ukraine; KATSOVITCH - Minsk & Vileyka

For those who can access the World Wide Web, the JewishGen Family Finder
has a wonderful option for searching by the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex rather
than by literal spelling. A Daitch-Mokotoff search for the town below
reveals almost 50 entries citing the town of Letichev, Ukraine (cited once
as Letichev, Russia). Each of the researchers looking for that town is
sure to be a terrific source of information on its location and residents.

A similar search using the JewishGen Shtetl Seeker reveals about a dozen
different spellings for 6 different towns in Ukraine (including the one
noted above). Spellings, of course, are not nearly so important as
similarity of pronunciation (which can also vary when looking at a name in
multiple languages). Each town is identified by its distance >from Kiev
and its longitude/latitude. The coordinates are a link to MapQuest. The
town matching the spelling above, for example, is 147.9 m. WSW of Kiev at
49 23, 27 37. It is East of Medzhibozh and West of D'Akovici. The most
significant town in the area may be Chemelnickij, to the West.

Diane Goldman <dgoldman@erols.com>, Bethesda MD

. . . I am going to Kiev . My family comes >from a small town outside

of Kiev--I am unsure of the spelling-- sounds like-Letachev> Can anyone
tell me where this town is/was located? >>

In his message of 9-6-00 John Zunino wondered what or where his ancestral
town might be, the name of which sounded like "Letachev."

My 1962 Columbia Lippincott Gazetter has a entry for "Letichev," a town
which in 1926 had a population of 7,100. It is in the east Kamenets-
Podolski oblast, on the Southern Bug River, 28 miles east of Proskurov.
It did food processing and cotton milling.

Chester G. Cohen in his Shtetl Finder Gazetteer says that it is southwest
of Kiev and east of Proskurov. There is an article about the town
( probably a brief one), in the Encyclopedia Judaica.

Naomi Fatouros
NFatouros@aol.com
Bloomington, Indiana

Dears Sirs,

Re: Family RYSZCZUK or RITSCHUK or RISCHUK or RYSCHZUG or RYSCHCZUG or
similars

1) It is with reference to Dawid Ryszczuk (Ryschczug) that we address you,
asking for your help, namely:

2) Dawid Ryszczuk, was born in Poland, in the town of Grajewie on May 18,
1906, and came to Israel in the thirties. He was son of Yaacov Ryszczuk and
this mother's name Rivka.

3) Dawid Ryszczuk was married to Luba (Ahuva) Ryszczuk and they had the
only son Yaccov (he received the name of his deceased Grand-Father).

4) We know that on the eve of the World War II Luba (Ahuva) Ryszczuk and
the minor son, Yaacov Ryszczuk, traveled >from Palestine to Poland in order
to visit their relatives. At that time the war broke out and they could not
return to Palestine.

5) Years later Dawid Ryszczuk married in the second wedding Betty (Reutman)
Ryszczuk, both deceased in Israel.

6) Considering the facts exposed above we ask yous help to obtain the
following information:

a) Had Dawid Ryszczuk other brothers (children of Yaacov and Rivka) and if
he had any, what were their names and what happened to them?

b) Do any records exist concerning Luba (Ahuva) Ryszczuk and her minor son
Yaacov?

We thank you in advance for your valuable collaboration.

Very truly yours
Marcos Wasserman
Tel Aviv

Dear JGenners-
In July, I applied for the SSN Application of a relative, but to my
delight, this month I discovered her alive, well, & alert at the tender age
of 91 years! We are happily in contact again.

Now I am the owner of an extraneous application belonging to someone else.
If anyone is related to Elsie GINSBERG, b.1910 in the Bronx; d. 1988 in W,
Palm Beach, FLA; daughter of Morris GINSBERG & Rose KRONICK, I'll be more
than glad to forward this document to you.
Reply privately, please -
Florence Elman
<haflo@cadvision.com>

ELMAN researching: MACHERET - Zolotonosha, Ukraine; PRESSMAN - Dolginov,
Vilenskaya (Vileyka); SURIS/SURES - Odessa, Ukraine; WEISSBEIN/VAJSBEJN -
Odessa, Ukraine; NERENBERG - Socolec, Podolsk, Ukraine;
ZILBERBERG/SILBERBERG - Nova Ushitsa, Podolia, Ukraine;
GOTLIBOVICH/GOTLIBOWITZ/GOTLIEB - Cherkassy, Korsun, Kharkov, &
H/Gorodishche, Ukraine; KATSOVITCH - Minsk & Vileyka

For those who can access the World Wide Web, the JewishGen Family Finder
has a wonderful option for searching by the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex rather
than by literal spelling. A Daitch-Mokotoff search for the town below
reveals almost 50 entries citing the town of Letichev, Ukraine (cited once
as Letichev, Russia). Each of the researchers looking for that town is
sure to be a terrific source of information on its location and residents.

A similar search using the JewishGen Shtetl Seeker reveals about a dozen
different spellings for 6 different towns in Ukraine (including the one
noted above). Spellings, of course, are not nearly so important as
similarity of pronunciation (which can also vary when looking at a name in
multiple languages). Each town is identified by its distance >from Kiev
and its longitude/latitude. The coordinates are a link to MapQuest. The
town matching the spelling above, for example, is 147.9 m. WSW of Kiev at
49 23, 27 37. It is East of Medzhibozh and West of D'Akovici. The most
significant town in the area may be Chemelnickij, to the West.

Diane Goldman <dgoldman@erols.com>, Bethesda MD

. . . I am going to Kiev . My family comes >from a small town outside

of Kiev--I am unsure of the spelling-- sounds like-Letachev> Can anyone
tell me where this town is/was located? >>

In his message of 9-6-00 John Zunino wondered what or where his ancestral
town might be, the name of which sounded like "Letachev."

My 1962 Columbia Lippincott Gazetter has a entry for "Letichev," a town
which in 1926 had a population of 7,100. It is in the east Kamenets-
Podolski oblast, on the Southern Bug River, 28 miles east of Proskurov.
It did food processing and cotton milling.

Chester G. Cohen in his Shtetl Finder Gazetteer says that it is southwest
of Kiev and east of Proskurov. There is an article about the town
( probably a brief one), in the Encyclopedia Judaica.

Naomi Fatouros
NFatouros@aol.com
Bloomington, Indiana

Dears Sirs,

Re: Family RYSZCZUK or RITSCHUK or RISCHUK or RYSCHZUG or RYSCHCZUG or
similars

1) It is with reference to Dawid Ryszczuk (Ryschczug) that we address you,
asking for your help, namely:

2) Dawid Ryszczuk, was born in Poland, in the town of Grajewie on May 18,
1906, and came to Israel in the thirties. He was son of Yaacov Ryszczuk and
this mother's name Rivka.

3) Dawid Ryszczuk was married to Luba (Ahuva) Ryszczuk and they had the
only son Yaccov (he received the name of his deceased Grand-Father).

4) We know that on the eve of the World War II Luba (Ahuva) Ryszczuk and
the minor son, Yaacov Ryszczuk, traveled >from Palestine to Poland in order
to visit their relatives. At that time the war broke out and they could not
return to Palestine.

5) Years later Dawid Ryszczuk married in the second wedding Betty (Reutman)
Ryszczuk, both deceased in Israel.

6) Considering the facts exposed above we ask yous help to obtain the
following information:

a) Had Dawid Ryszczuk other brothers (children of Yaacov and Rivka) and if
he had any, what were their names and what happened to them?

b) Do any records exist concerning Luba (Ahuva) Ryszczuk and her minor son
Yaacov?

We thank you in advance for your valuable collaboration.

Very truly yours
Marcos Wasserman
Tel Aviv

Following my posting, I received numerous replies regarding the
availability of the 1901 British Census. Since they all seemed to be at
variance with what my family had told me, I decided to contact the PRO
(Public Record Office) in Belfast directly for an authoritative reading
on the matter.

Fortunately, I had just been given a new booklet published by The Jewish
Genealogical Society of Great Britain entitled "Jewish Ancestors?, A
Beginner's Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Great Britain". I looked up
Belfast in the Index and found the correct listing on Page 20 for "Vital
Records (Northern Ireland)". It listed the following:

Public Records Office
66 Balmoral Avenue
Belfast, BT9 6NY
TEL: 028-9025-1318
FAX: 029-9025-5999
E-Mail: proni@nics.gov.uk
Web-Site: http://proni.nics.gov.uk/index.htm

I e-mailed them and got the following very prompt response:

"The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland regrets that it is unable to
enter into genealogical research on behalf of private individuals.

If you are unable to visit our office personally, you may like to consider
employing the services of a commercial researcher. A list of commercial
researchers operating in Northern Ireland can be found on our web-site at:

http://proni.nics.gov.uk/research/searcher.htm

The 1901 Census is available to the public.

Unfortunately because of the Government's 100 year rule, the 1911 Census is
not available yet, here in Northern Ireland. It may be viewed in the
National Archives Office of Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, which is
under separate Government Rule.

You can visit their web site at:

www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy.html

Hope this straightens out any lingering doubts or misconceptions about the
availability of the 1901 and the 1911 Census."

Ann Rabinowitz
annrab@bellsouth.net

Following my posting, I received numerous replies regarding the
availability of the 1901 British Census. Since they all seemed to be at
variance with what my family had told me, I decided to contact the PRO
(Public Record Office) in Belfast directly for an authoritative reading
on the matter.

Fortunately, I had just been given a new booklet published by The Jewish
Genealogical Society of Great Britain entitled "Jewish Ancestors?, A
Beginner's Guide to Jewish Genealogy in Great Britain". I looked up
Belfast in the Index and found the correct listing on Page 20 for "Vital
Records (Northern Ireland)". It listed the following:

Public Records Office
66 Balmoral Avenue
Belfast, BT9 6NY
TEL: 028-9025-1318
FAX: 029-9025-5999
E-Mail: proni@nics.gov.uk
Web-Site: http://proni.nics.gov.uk/index.htm

I e-mailed them and got the following very prompt response:

"The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland regrets that it is unable to
enter into genealogical research on behalf of private individuals.

If you are unable to visit our office personally, you may like to consider
employing the services of a commercial researcher. A list of commercial
researchers operating in Northern Ireland can be found on our web-site at:

http://proni.nics.gov.uk/research/searcher.htm

The 1901 Census is available to the public.

Unfortunately because of the Government's 100 year rule, the 1911 Census is
not available yet, here in Northern Ireland. It may be viewed in the
National Archives Office of Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, which is
under separate Government Rule.

You can visit their web site at:

www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy.html

Hope this straightens out any lingering doubts or misconceptions about the
availability of the 1901 and the 1911 Census."

Ann Rabinowitz
annrab@bellsouth.net