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Oy Gevalt!
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A Note from Reed:
Merle is in possession of some differing information about the origin of the family in Belarus. I ask my father - Mike- about what Shtetl his grandparents came from. He clearly remembered the name Poletsk. There is a Polotsk, a Polatsk, and also a Polozk uezd all in Vitebsk Gubernia. Resources for the Vitebsk Gubernia for the 1911 Vsia Rossiia - Vitebsk Gubernia - data compiled by members of the Belarus SIG Click here for Jewish population of Vitebsk gubernia and other research resources.
I did not find the name Hatkovich, Chachkov-ich or any variations in my cursory research in Belarus SIG, however I did find the name Paiken listed in the Polotsk shtetl which happens to be the surname of our original maternal ancestor. Strangely enough, I also found this webpage written by Elsebeth Paiken from Denmark-- a person who I would be willing to bet is a long lost ancestor from the Paiken family-- our Hatkoff family matriarch- Mary (Merke Lea) Paiken. Elsebeth has done a substantial amount of family research-- and tried to piece together the geneological puzzle from old records. Her website can be found here . In the Paikin family genesis, she presents a photo (below) surmising that it might possibly be Fannie [Nissenholts] Paikin. If Fannie subsequently had a daughter that resembled her-- might this be the maternal side connection?
Elsebeth has also written the review for a book written by a woman who was born only a couple of years after Nathan-- In Polosk, Vitebsk-Gubernia. It's a very descriptive and detailed literary work about our ancestors homeland-- and daily life in the town (or shtetl) of Polotsk. Amazon.com has a number of copies.
http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/newsletter/
antin.htm
| Read about our Russian roots. The "Gubnerias" of early 20th century Russia. See the Belarus map from turn of the (19th) Century See the Shtetl Maps of Belarus See the Vitebsk Gubneria Map |
Is there any resemplence between these three women? Merke Lea Paikin (our 1st generation matricrarch, and the other women- both Paikin women on Elsebeth's web site-
I personally see a lot of family resemblence!
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A Note from Merle About the Family Tree
If you see any mistakes or have any additions to the tree, please e mail me:
bruno113@charter.net and I'll make the corr-ections as soon as I can and send the corrected tree to Reed. Eventually we'll find ways that you can keep your own tree up to date or do so on the web site.
Also, if anyone has information about the origins of the family and early years in the US, please submit them to the Message Postings Bulletin Board
What I've been told is that most of the family came from Minsk or Vinsk Gubernia (county?), and that fits with what I've learned from web research about where most Russian Jewish immigrants came from. I assume there should be more specific village or town names, but I haven't heard them. If you have any documents that show what boat your ancestor arrived on or what the original name that became Hatkovich might have been or how it might have been spelled originally, that could help a lot of us who would like to do genealogical research, but it's hard to use anything like the Ellis Island or Mormon sites if it doesn't recognize the spelling of the name. If anyone has had success with this search, please let us all know.
As many of you know, I've been collecting information about the family tree for many years and trying to find an affordable way to distribute it to anyone who would like one. The Mishpouka.com web site offers an opportunity to provide the tree in sections for anyone who can download it to their computer and, if they wish, print it out.
I hope eventually to put it on a CD with some other information and images. I assume I can do this so people could have it just for the cost of materials and postage which should be around $5-10. I hate to sound cheap and not just say I'll just send it to everyone who wants it, but if you take a look at the tree, you'll realize that could get expensive. When I get to that point I'll post it on the Mishpouka site.
Thanks for your help, and I hope you find the tree as intriguing as I do.
Regards to all-
Merle