As Suwalki was close to the Baltic, it was easier to get to the Baltic ports either by being smuggled across the border with Konigsberg/East Prussia or by travelling via the Augustow canal (at least partially) to Libau in Latvia. By the 1880's the railway went through Suwalki town and trains could be caught to Hamburg, to either cross the North Sea to UK and then onwards to USA, or directly across the Atlantic to USA. By the 1880's, the journey was done by steamship and many lines plied the Baltic/North Sea/ Atlantic routes including those that operated out of Hull on the NE Coast of England. The University of Hull has a lot of information on its immigration website about these shipping lines. Also the 2008 IAGS conference in Chicago had a series of lectures on this theme, especially one on New East Prussia (which Konigsberg was then part of) on the border with Suwalki Lomza, where there was a whole industry in getting people across the border, sometimes involving false passports if the immigrant did not come from Suwalki Lomza gubernias but from further afield. 

Jill Whitehead, Surrey, UK 

I would be very surprised if this was actually a "given" name. Endlings with "owna" typically mean "daughter of" so one would assume that this woman/girl was the daughter of someone named Icek.

Judy Golan
JRI-Poland Kielce Area Coordinator
JRI-Poland Sandomierz Area Coordinator

In Russian this means that she is a daughter of Icko.
Her brother was Ickovich
the father, naturally, Icko Itsko, Itshak and any other spelling of this name of one of Our Fathers

Why not?  my dad’s family were Levites and the surname was Stern.  My husband was also a Levite and the last name is Mannlein,

or the synonym name for women in eastern Europe?
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Jgodelnik

Yes, Reba, it can be true… that’s the way I was raised.  You ate what you were given…..  Food was expensive, and children’s tastes were not catered to.

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Please translate the birth record in Viewmate #82617.   It is for Roza Fern/Marienstrauss, my grandmother's younger half-sister.  Also, please translate the categories at the top of the page.  Thank you for your help.  Marilyn Gelber

I have another doubt. My surname is Levites and we were told that we were Israel. How come? Who decides? This doesn't make sense to me.

This is a record for a stowaway, arriving in Boston in 1915.  He was aided by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in a Special Inquiry case, as Yale Zussman decribes.

HEBREW SHELTERING and IMMIGRANT AID SOCIETY of AMERICA, RECORD of SPECIAL INQUIRY CASE

Jacob Batkowsky  age 26,  dated May 10, 1915.
SS: U.S. Colier Porthemous, arrived 10/5/15.  Nativity: Lodz, Russ-Poland.  Social State: G.
Occupation:  Carpenter   $16		Stowed away
Dest. to:  Cousin D. Glasser, 477 Thompkins Ave. Brooklyn, NY
We held of the hearing, pending word from relatives, communicated with New York Soc'y and
received affidavits and money order for $75.00.  We then got him a hearing and secured his
admission outright. We took him to our office where we furnished him with two meals, then
secured a ticket to New York, via Providence, bought him food for the night and placed him
on the train, wired his departure to the N.Y. Soc'y to await him.  We then returned the money
order uncashed to the N.Y. Soc'y for which we received acknowledgement.

David Rosen

I doubt we have the same ancestors, but I do have a few Claymans (2 - Harrys) who emigrated from the Riga area to SE Ohio before resettling in Washington, DC.  However, they arrived several decades after your Harry was born.

According to a family history written by one of my uncles, my grandparents Jacob Morris (Moshe?) and Minnie Rivke Genis emigrated from Dubno, now Ukraine, in 1888 just after they married.  I have been unable to find an immigration record and suspect they may have come in under temporary visas and then just stayed.  I do however have a departure record for 1901 from Hamburg for a Yacob, Mende, Chaim, Yosef and Noah which I believe is a return from a visit back home after their first three children, known to me as Herman, Joseph, and Nathan (my father), were born.  There is also a Castle Garden arrival record for what looks like Yacob, Mendol, Yonin, Yosef, and Noach. 

The family history indicates that my grandfather had a brother who is not named and that their mother ran a grocery store.  There is no mention of their father but Jacob's grave stone indicates that his name was Joseph. Their mother's name is also not mentioned but from Jacob's death record I learned that her name was Rachel. My 1st cousin Bennett Genis has Y tested but has never had a match come up with the same surname.  In fact it appears that his best match is likely Catholic as his father was a member of the Knights of Columbus.  The name Genis is found in Spain and some sites do credit Bennett with as much as 6% Sephardic DNA. All of us Genis cousin's who have tested also show both Greek and Italian DNA which could have been acquired migrating from Spain thru Italy eastward but I have nothing at this point to support that possibility.  I have also found the name in Bessarabia which is plausible but no names I can recognize . The only other place I have found the name Genis is in the Netherlands and can find no connection to my Genis line.

We have always pronounced our name with a soft G but my orthodontist, a dental school colleague of my father, alway pronounced it with a hard G.  I found what I believe is an NYC birth record for Herman listed as Genec.  When I was growing up in NYC there were very few people in the phone book named Genis but when Russia opened up Jewish emigration, in the 70's I think, that changed.  So the name i still rare in the US but not as rare as it used to be. I have not been able to trace any further back than my grandparents although Bennett did meet someone in Israel many years ago who claimed to be related.  However it was a woman with a different last name that he could not understand very well because of language conflicts.

My understanding is that most records for Dubno were lost in WW II but I would appreciate any leads to where I might find information that would allow me to track further back.

June Genis

Howdy,

The National Genealogical Society's (now virtual) 2020 conference will feature "Austria, Poland, Russia, or Prussia?  Making Sense of Central and East European Historical Geography" presented by Joseph B. Everett.  For me, this is a must attend.  The syllabus for this talk is four pages and pretty substantial.  The 'On Demand' sessions will not release until July, but you are still able to register.

https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/sessions/austria-poland-russia-or-prussia-making-sense-of-central-and-east-european-historical-geography/

Chris D.

Howdy,

At the 2019 Texas State Genealogical Society's conference last October, David Passman presented "From Minsk to Manhattan:  Using Maps to Retrace an Ancestor's Journey."  It was an extremely detailed and fascinating talk.  I think you would find it quite enlightening.  From the syllabus:

OVERVIEW
When an immigrant ancestor leaves no letters, journals, or other mementos; retracing their journey proves problematic. Three records, all passenger lists, reveal that David Passman travelled from Minsk to Manhattan in spring 1891 with fellow landsman (countryman) Abraham Kriegel. Using historic maps in conjunction with research into extant integrated transportation systems illuminate David and Abraham’s journey city by city during the Age of Steam.

You should contact David (dbpdallas@...) to:
1)  Ask him when and where this presentation will next be available to view;
2)  When will his book on this topic be published and where / how to purchase it.

Chris D.

From my experience with Jstor, it is a database composed of academic articles and doesn't deal with genealogy directly.


Moderator Note: Please review the site again. There are journals of genealogy research available