In a very short period of time, Inna was able to get her hands on documents that would have taken me months to obtain.
First let me introduce you to Isidore’s Eastern European family.
When this photograph was given to us years ago by Charlotte, the daughter of Isidore’s sister Malka (Malka had only one child and no grandchildren), all we knew was that Malka is not in the photograph because when it was taken she was already in the United States–and that Isidore is the one in the center in back. We, of course, assumed that the older couple were his parents.
Now, remember last week the birth list from Odessa?
We saw Isidore (Itskhok-Meer) and Malka both on the list. We also saw a Scheshko whose name began with T, a Sura, a Mendel, and a Feyga Sosya. Sura and Mendel are listed as twins, and this seems to fit with the young man on our left and the seated young lady on our right. The T could be the standing woman.
So what did Inna find?
1885 Births, Odessa Rabbinate
Record #1420
Date: December 31, Hebrew date Shvat 6
Daughter: Malka
Father: Lida meschanin[1] Shimel son of Mendel SHESHKO
Mother: Khaya Brana
1887 Registry book of births, Odessa
Record #147
Date: January 26, 1887 Hebrew date: Shvat 13
Son: Itskhok-Meer
Father: Vasilishskiy Meschanin, Shimel son of Mendel SHESHKO
Mother: Khaya
Book of Odessa Jews born in 1889
Record # 631
Date: May 14, 1889 (Hebrew calendar: Iyar 25)
Daughter: Tema was born on May 13
Father: Vasilishskiy Meschanin, Shimen son of Mendel SHESHKO
Mother: Khaya
Metrical records book for Jews born in Odessa in 1891
Man Record #: 1379
Woman Record #: 1269
Twins:
Son – Mendel was born on September 3d, registered on September 5th, Circumcision was done on September 10th
Daughter – Sura was born on September 3d, registered on September 5th,
Father: Vasilisheskiy meschanin* Shimel, son of Mendel SHESHKO
Mother: Khaya
Metrical book for Jews born in Odessa in 1896
Record # 1741
Date: December 2, 1896 (Hebrew calendar: Tevet 9)
Daughter: Feyga-Sosya
Father: Vasilishskiy Meschanin, Shimel son of Mendel SHESHKO
Mother: Khaya
* Meschane in Russian Empire represented poor town residents who did not qualify as merchants or civil servants.
SO IN THE PHOTO ABOVE, WE HAVE:
Standing: Mendel, Isidore, Tema
Seated: Khaya (listed as Ida on Malka’s marriage license), Shimel (listed as Samuel on Malka’s marriage license), Sura, and an unidentified boy
Is it just me or does the boy look photoshopped in?
Regarding Feyga Sosya, why is she not in the family photo? She was younger than the twins, so she would certainly be in the family photo if she was still alive and not away with other family. Maybe we will discover one day what happened to Feyga Sosya.
In the Odessa archives, Inna was able to find the marriage record of Shimel and Khaya.
Book of marriage records of Odessa Jews, 1884
Record #147
Groom: Vasilkovski meschanin Shimel SHESHKA, bachelor, 23 y. o.
Bride: daughter of Kupilskiy[1] meschanin Itsek Meer PECHNIK, Khaya, maiden, 24 y. o.
Marriage took place on February 20, 1884
[1] Kupil – Jewish settlement in Khmelnitsk province of Western Ukraine
So Khaya did come from Ukraine, and her maiden name was Pechnik, which is a wonderful addition to our accumulation of information and clues for further research.
Since the story was that Isidore didn’t know his birthday, it’s wonderful to see that there really was a record of his birth and those of his siblings. January 26 will always be the gardener’s grandfather’s birthday to me from now on.
It’s so cool to have names and faces!
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We never dreamed we would know the names of the other siblings, although we still don’t know who the boy is in the photo. Am I right–doesn’t he look photoshopped in? His outfit? (Is it a school uniform?) His body language? His looks versus the looks of the others. I wonder if it’s a brother or perhaps a cousin. So many questions.
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I don’t think he looks photoshopped, but I see what you mean–maybe because he’s looking more straight ahead than the others. That is some uniform he’s wearing!
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Yes, his position, the way he holds himself, his looks, and that uniform that looks so Russian! And then there is no birth certificate in Odessa for him if he’s a Scheshko.
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I thought the uniform looked Russian, too. Maybe he’s like Chava’s husband in Fiddler! 🙂 Or maybe he’s a ghost caught on film.
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LOL he’s a little young to be somebody’s husband ;)! I’ll keep the ghost theory in mind. I’m leaning more toward a cousin or an actual sibling born in Tiraspol instead of Odessa haha.
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OK. Be practical and realistic. 😉
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How boring of me!
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🙂
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Wow, Luanne, just wow! First, it’s amazing that you have that photograph. But it’s even more amazing that Inna was able to find all those records!! I am just blown away (and a bit envious!). It gives me hope that someday when I start researching my arbitrator’s family from Ukraine, there will in fact be records to be found.
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Your arbitrator! 🙂 Yes, the photograph makes them all so much more “real,” doesn’t it? And the family resemblance in some of them is so strong–not in the gardener who looks like his mother’s family, IMO, but in other family members. And the records are amazing. Who knew that those would still be available?!!! (Well, apparently Inna did!) Oh boy, I can’t wait until you start on Ukraine!
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It will be a while. Someone asked at my presentation last night whether Harvey had any interest in learning about his family history, and he replied with his usual, “I don’t want to learn anything that conflicts with my positive stories about my family.” 🙂
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Oh wow. That is interesting. Gonna email you regarding that. How did it go last night????
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Did you ask this in two places? Now I am confused! I think it went really well!
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Haha, yes, I did. I asked you and then I saw you wrote about it, so I asked again! I knew it would go well. You are used to speaking in public, you know your material inside and out, and you have a passion for the subject. What more could they want?!
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I wasn’t sure they’d find it as interesting as I do! But they apparently did and thought I was funny. Who knew? 🙂
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I really wish I could have been there!
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So do I. Maybe I will take the show on the road…. 🙂
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Phoenix would be a good stop on that tour.
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😉
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Amazing! You are lucky to have old photos.
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I agree–this photo is not only a window into their world, but it actually helped to have it when we first found the list of Odessa births. That is how we could see that the names pretty much lined up with the people in the photo. The only thing off was that the youngest daughter is not in the photo, but a young boy is!
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Wow, my head is spinning you were able to get all these records to go with the amazing picture! I must dash off to work but now I can hardly wait to get home and reread this post! Fantastic break through!
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Sharon, this is such an intense and surprising experience! xoxo
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This is so fascinating! And I don’t even have any Russian ancestors to search out!
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Hahaha, thanks, Pauline! Pretty cool to get this info! I got your email, by the way. I’ll be responding this week!
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Wow! First of all that you have that photo, and second that you now have so much more information. I’m pretty sure the boy on the end is actually in the shot. I have some family photos where “absent” people were edited in from other photos and you can always tell. Usually they are just heads in the back of the shot because of the impossibility of finding another photo that fits. The size is always a bit wrong and the lighting never quite works. I’m wondering if the boy is wearing a school uniform? The body language of all the family is interesting, especially the young woman in the front hugging her body.
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I know–that photo is so cool to begin with, but now with the information about the people to go with the photo, it’s so wonderful as it makes them more “real” to us and gives me motivation to continue. I agree about a school uniform, especially given that Russian looking nature of it. I don’t know if there were boys’ organizations like the Boy Scouts, but I would think that it’s most likely that a Jewish boy wearing a Russian style uniform would be attending a school. Thanks for that tip to spend more time on Sura (I believe that is Sura) hugging herself. Was she cold? Was she extremely shy? Was it emotional?
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Pingback: The Places Behind the Faces, Part I: Vasilishki | Entering the Pale
Remarkable!
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I know!
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I love this, Luanne! The photo is beautiful and how wonderful to be able to add names. I had to chuckle about your photoshop comment. There is a crispness around his head that is slightly darker – similar to the look you get when you photoshop someone in. But there is that same crispness and slight darkening around the head of the standing woman too. I wonder who the boy is…? I’m glad Inna was such a help to you. The records are fantastic.
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She has been SUCH a help. Do you think the boy looks like the family? Like a little brother? Or could he be a cousin, etc.? His birth certificate (as a brother) is not in Odessa, for sure. However, it’s possible he was born in Tiraspol.
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Oh boy, those are the types of questions we all ask. It’s hard to say. His ears do match the father. His eyes, chin, and mouth match the mother. He certainly doesn’t appear to NOT belong. I hope you find more records to help you figure out who he is. ❤
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Right?! That is exactly what I was thinking about him! He feels right to me. But we can’t just go by feelings :/.
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No, but I often find my first “feelings” end up being proven right eventually. In fact, I can’t think of any genealogy gut “feelings” that turned out to be wrong. Uh-oh, now I am questioning my ability to discard a theory…
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LOL! Yes, my feelings are often right, too, but I never know why!
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