Hello JewishGen and fellow members,

I am attempting to trace the place of birth of my great grandfather Alfred
Lewis.

In my family tree album, my mother recorded:

Alfred Lewis
Born 1855
Place of Birth: Wesse, Poland (Russia)

Alfred Lewis migrated to Australia (via Manchester, England) in 1888. His
profession was master tailor.

I cannot find any references to Wesse, which I believe has been anglicized.
Google searches seemed to indicate Wesse may also be pronounced Jesse?
Using JewishGen, I have come up with Jejse [Polish], Belarus (also known as
Yeysi, Jaisa, Jaisi, Jajsi, Ya'isi).

The date of my great grandfather's birth in 1855 fits with the town being
part of the Russian empire, at that time.

This is what I found on JewishGen about Jejse:
https://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/community.php?usbgn=A0027

I would appreciate any information to help me confirm the identity of Wesse.

Thanking you in anticipation

Jeanette Anderson ID 765987

Jeanette Anderson is attempting to trace the town of birth, recorded as
Wesse, Poland (Russia) in her mother's family tree album, of her great
grandfather Alfred Lewis, born 1855 and immigrated to Australia via
Manchester England in 1888.
She wrote: "Google searches seemed to indicate Wesse may also be pronounced
Jesse? Using JewishGen, I have come up with Jejse [Polish], Belarus (also
known as Yeysi, Jaisa, Jaisi, Jajsi, Ya'isi)."
-----

I believe you are on the wrong track identifying the town of Wesse, Poland
(Russia). By the way, Vilna, Russia is now Vilnius, Lithuania, not Belarus.

The key is accurate pronunciation of foreign alphabets. Generally, the
letter /W/ was pronounced /V/ whereas the letter /J/ was pronounced /Y/.

For Polish and Russian alphabet pronunciation, see Routes to Roots
Foundation - Archive Database -Foreign Alphabets <
http://www.rtrfoundation.org/webart/ForeignAlphabets--Polish.pdf > and <
http://www.rtrfoundation.org/webart/ForeignAlphabets--Russian.pdf >.

Obtain all possible family documents in Australia and England, including
ship manifests and naturalizations (if available), that may name your GGF's
and other family members' town of birth.

Keep in mind that, presumably, your great grandfather's original surname in
Russia was not LEWIS and his original given name was not Alfred.

Results of (phonetically like) and (sounds like) searches in JewishGen
Gazetteer for Wesse do not include an obvious match except for one
possibility, Laczno, Laka, Wiese in Poland, located 126.7 miles NNW of
Warszawa, not a significant Jewish community. Polish letter /L with stroke/
is pronounced /W/ and Polish letter /a with ogonek/ is pronounced /an/ or
/am/ but the town was also called Wiese.
< https://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/LocTown.asp >

Do you know or have you contacted Hec Alcock in Victoria, Australia who
posted a similar inquiry to RootsWeb in August 2014 about his GGF Alfred
LEWIS >from Wesse Poland Russia and Manchester, England?

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/POLAND-ROOTS/2014-08/1406913107

Good luck!
Bette Stoop Mas
USA

Jeanette Anderson wrote:
I am attempting to trace the place of birth of my great grandfather Alfred Lewis.

Alfred Lewis
Born 1855
Place of Birth: Wesse, Poland (Russia)

Alfred Lewis migrated to Australia (via Manchester, England) in 1888. His
profession was master tailor.

I cannot find any references to Wesse, which I believe has been anglicized.
Google searches seemed to indicate Wesse may also be pronounced Jesse?
Using JewishGen, I have come up with Jejse [Polish], Belarus (also known as
Yeysi, Jaisa, Jaisi, Jajsi, Ya'isi).
---

Jeanette,

Place you are searching for is most probably modern Vidzy in Belarus at 5524
2638.

Best,

Alexander Sharon
JGFF editor

Bette Stoop wrote in reply to Jenette Anderson:

…"I believe you are on the wrong track identifying the town of Wesse, Poland
(Russia). By the way, Vilna, Russia is now Vilnius, Lithuania, not Belarus".

While I do not know if Jenette has located the correct town, I can say she is
correct about Belarus. it is true that the city of Vilna, is Vilnius and in present
day Lithuania, the inquirer, was not referring to the city of Vilna, rather a town
located in the gubernia (province) of Vilna. She was asking about the town of
Jajsi. Jajsi is located located in the Belarussian part of Vilna Gubernia
(province). The former Vilna Gubernia encompasses an area which includes parts of
modern day Lithuania and Belarus and Jajsi is in Belarus.
Avrohom Krauss
Tell-Stone Israel