I haven't tried it, but you may be able to search the discussions using wildcards for some letters to get a wider response.
--
Barbara Sloan
Conway, SC

Peter Hoekstra has already replied correctly. One can only search JGFF database for the family names and towns names. This is a virtual meeting place.
Discussion groups postings are not included.

Best,

Alexander Sharon
JGFF editor

Dear Aaron,

The website https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate enables you to search for a UK probate record and obtain a copy of the record and of a will, if there is one.  I did a search and found Michael's probate record from 1919 which shows that he died on 23rd October 1918.  I assume you already have a copy of this via Ancestry but if not you can reach it via the above website.

As for vital records, UK birth certificates record both father's and mother's names, but of course that's not much use if Michael was born elsewhere!  Marriage certificates record only the father's name.  It might be worth searching UK newspapers to see if you can find any further information about Michael.

Not sure this helps you much, but good luck in your search!

Kind regards, Philip Tepper (Manchester, UK)

John,
Valerie Schatzker's book "The Jewish Oil Magnates of Galicia" is the definitive history of the oil industry in the region, and includes many references to individuals in Drohobycz. I do not see the Ordower family name in the index but the book is incredibly well researched and is well worth having a look at.

--


Vants/ Pl. vantsn means bedbug . I have never heard it used pejoratively for an adult , but I am sure it is possible . My father used to call me " kleyne vantsl "  which would be an affectionate term for "scamp" or "rascal" . 
Vonts pl vontsn  or vontse pl. vontses is whisker, one side of a mustache or a mustache ,  vontselekh being animal whiskers. ( Bienfeld dictionary) 

The reason for the confusion on spelling is that in " Tote-Mome loshn" the a is pronounced as an " o" . So , Vonts and vants would be homonyms. I noticed that Jews in London who were not all from Bessarabia/Moldava/Romania where that pronunciation was prevalent still said "Shobbos", "Khole" (Challah )  and "Khosn-Kole" ( Khosn-Kale-bride and groom) . but also the Polish " baygl"
instead of "beigel" . Gey veys! ( who knows why lit. Go, know ) So the writer may have heard the expression 'vonts" from a Bessarabian speaker or from someone who may have picked it up from a Bessarabian . 

As for the theory that the writer actually heard "shvants" which is literally a tail but is vulgarly used to refer to the male organ and disparagingly  used ( shvantz or dim. shventsl )  for a  " stupid bastard" . ( Bienfeld dictionary ) .Interestingly , shvantsevate (vulg.) means "damn stupid" (Bienfeld )

I still go with the theory that the writer actually heard "vants" pronounced as "vonts"  !

Henry H. Carrey

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John,

You would be best guided to contact the oil ministry in Ukraine if you want specific information.

Here is some historical background you might already know.

- https://www.drohobycz-boryslaw.org/en/drohobycz-boryslaw-and-vicinity/oil
- https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/drohobycz/petroleum-history/petroleum.html

--

Hello Genners,

I'm not very familiar with researching in England or Australia and am reaching out for assistance trying to find some particular information about the family of a Michael (Chaim Chaikel) WEINSTEIN (abt. 1849 - 1918) of London.  He had a number of children and his descendants are fairly well documented, including by the late Ruth Silver and others.  Per his tombstone in Edmonton cemetery, his father's Hebrew name was Baruch.  However, I am trying to learn his mother's name and where he was born and/or lived prior to emigrating to London.

I have found the family in the UK Census from 1881 through 1911, as well as a number of vital records on JewishGen.  The 1891 census notes that he was from "Gronner" which the family believes to be Grodno; however, I think it is referring to Grodno gubernia and not Grodno city as I'm unable to find him in the 1858 Revision List for Grodno on JewishGen.  I hope to identify the specific town.

My understanding is that UK vital records don't have mother's names on them, is that correct?  Any other avenues to try to learn his mother's name?  I found a reference to a Probate document on Ancestry for Michael when he died in 1918 (https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=1904&h=861549&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=7579) which may hold promise for learning other information, perhaps leading to other clues.  Is anyone familiar with the process to get a copy of that document?

Another idea that I had to learn where they were from is to research his oldest children who were born in 'Russia'.  The best candidate seems to be his oldest son Harry (Henry) Moses Weinstein (Winston) born about 1872 and died in 1955 in South Brisbane, Australia.  Might there be Australian records that would have his specific town of birth?

Michael apparently had a brother named Simon who also emigrated to and lived in London with his wife Fanny and family who I found in the 1891 and 1901 Census but it seems less is known about him and, for the same reason as for Michael, I don't see an alternative to learn his mother's name or where he was from.  Simon wasn't present in either census entry and appears to have died between 1891 and 1901.

I would be happy to hear any other alternative suggestions.  Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide!

Regards,
Aaron Slotnik
Chicago, IL USA

Thanks for the information. I probably wasn't clear enough in my question. What I am asking about i searches within the current and archived posts on this group discussion board. I do not believe that these posts are included in the Universal Search from the main JewishGen site. So this is a separate and apart database using a different search engine. So my question is whether there is a way to apply these search rules to the posts in this discussion board. This is an important question because it affects whether I need to include various spellings of the names in my posts or I can rely on the soundex. Thanks, Adam Cherson

Adam,

I have copied and pasted the explanation directly from Jewishgen as below. In this case they describe searching options for a town. The Surname search also has options for Phonetic and for DM Soundex.

Searching 'Hurwitz' in the Surname option DM Soundex will produce results for spelling variations including 'Horvits'.

https://www.jewishgen.org/jgff/jgffweb.asp

Search types:

For each search, you can choose one of four different types of matching, for Surnames and Town names:

• Is Exactly (Standard) — match on exact spelling only
• Starts With (Wildcard) — match based upon a prefix
• Sounds Like (D-M Soundex) — match based upon a name's sound
• Contains (Partial Text) — match based upon text matching anywhere within a name

Is Exactly:

Selecting the Is Exactly option will search for all instances of your surname or town based upon exact spelling only.  For Surnames, this option is not very useful, since surnames were rarely spelled consistently in historical records.  For Towns, you can also opt to use the Town Synonym database, if a specific country is chosen.

Starts With:

Selecting the Starts With option will let you search for all combinations of your surname or town based upon your input prefix.  For example, selecting the Starts With option for the name "Stein" will match all names that start with the letters "Stein", such as: "Stein", "Steinberg", "Steiner", "Steinman", etc.

Sounds Like:

Selecting the Sounds Like option will let you search for all similar-sounding names, according to the Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex system.  For example, "Rosenstein", "Rozenstine" and "Rojzensztejn" will all be searched if you request a Sounds Like search of "Rosensteen".

Contains:

Selecting the Contains option will let you search for all data records which contain that text anywhere within the surname or town field.  For example, selecting the Contains option for the name "Blatt" will match "Blatt", "Blattman", "Blattenberg", "Feinblatt", "Greenblatt", "Steinblatter", etc.

--

I have family Ordower, in Drohobycz and have a story that the first oil was found on one of our family member's land. How might I verify this information.

Thank you.

John Lowin
Researching: Radziechow, Vienna and Munich.

I am looking for siblings of Hilliard Greenblatt (*1899) and Adelina Blumberg (*1903), their son Herbert (1925-2005) who married Helen Gassner (1927-1999). The family lived in New York and Philadelphia.

Thanks in advance

Gidon Lev, Givatayim - Israel

Seeking Loew family from Ruchheim, Faber family from Karlsruhe, Fuerst from Muehringe (Baden-Wuerttemberg)

https://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM88079
https://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM88078
https://www.jewishgen.org/viewmate/viewmateview.asp?key=VM88077

These records are from Matyfalva, Hungary pre WW1 and Currently is Matiiovo,
Ukraine.
Surname- SALAMON

Thank you!

April Stone

Alice - Can you please send me your email address. I'm interested in your Denver Hellersteins/Farbers and would like to compare trees.
--
Ellen Shindelman Kowitt
Director, US Research Division
Colorado
ekowitt@...

I saw an article that mentioned a list of holocaust survivors who died in Israel Independence War. Does anyone know where to access this list?

Hadassah Wilen

Flohr - Suceava, Vienna
Schachter - Iassi, Suceava
Wilensky - Mir, Lyubcha, Karolichy - Belarus
Trembitsky/Trembitski - Turetz, Mir - Belarus

Your family may have shortened their name to Heller.  When my husband and I were first married in 1968 we lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico and bought our meat by mail from Heller's kosher meat market in Denver.
--
Sarah L Meyer
Georgetown TX
ANK(I)ER, BIGOS, KARMELEK, PERLSTADT, STOKFISZ, SZPIL(T)BAUM, Poland
BIRGARDOVSKY, EDELBERG, HITE (CHAIT), PERCHIK Russia (southern Ukraine) and some Latvia or Lithuania
https://www.sarahsgenies.com

Seeking Brown Family from Connecticut. They were cousins related to Celia (Cilla) Weisthal aka Celia (Cilla) Traub. The Brown's attended a Weisthal wedding in Boston on May 30. 1939.
Harvey Weisthal
Stoughton, MA