Our GARFINKEL ancestors descend from Moshka GURFINKEL, born about 1750, in the Russian Empire called The Pale of Settlement. The area has had many names. Today it is located in Moldova. The family probably lived in the Kiev area and then, as farmer colonists, moved to the town of Lyublin. Census records, called Revision Lists, as far back as 1835 list our GURFINKEL ancestors. They help trace the family branches as they moved through the Russian Empire to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION on census records: Revision List records – County Census Records – in 1875 from Soroki uezd (Soroca County), include records with our ancestor families who resided in different villages or towns These records include entries which are ‘Out of Town Lists’, which indicates they are registered but do not reside in Soroca County. The following explanation applies to the other known census’ where our GARFINKEL ancestors are listed in the 1835, 1854, 1859 and this 1875 census’. To explain why our ancestors might have lived in one place and registered for the census in another you should understand about the two TOWN’s with which most Jews were connected:
First: The town where they were registered in different societies (estate) as Merchant, Middle Class or Farmer. By the Russian law every Jew suppose to register in one of these 3 estates.
Second: The town is town where they lived.
How this all help us: We may find in a record a place where the family was registered, and that may not be a place of their residents.
This is an expanded explanation when these TWO towns are different:
Of course in many cases these two towns were the same, but in a mean time hundreds and hundreds of our ancestors lived in towns, where they were not registered. Why?
– To register they had to pay fees, and in some towns these fees were less than other towns.
– Many were registered as farmers/colonists in a colony, but lived in some other places.
– the colonists had some privileges, and did not pay taxes for some years.
– Jews moved from one place to another to get a job, to get married, etc… and their registration remained from the previous town.
– small towns did not have societies for Middle Class, Merchant Jews, and Jews had to go to large towns to get registered.
– and for other reasons.
We are interested in our ancestors who lived in these villages, and where they registered.
Here is an example: 395 Jews (150+ families) lived in Rashkov, Soroki uezd (County). You may be surprised to know that about half were registered in places not in Bessarabia, but in other gubernias (Provinces/States): Podolia, Volyn, Kovno, Kiev, Kherson, etc. Of the places where these 150+ families were registered included Khotin, Bessarabia, where some of our GURFINKEL ancestors lived and registered.
Other Revision List years have our ancestors registered in the counties of Soroki and Khotin. These census lists include the towns of Lyublin and Brichany, with some families indicated as living in other places such as Ataki (Otaci). These indicate that the families registered in one location while living in another, or that they moved between census taking years.
Source: Extracted and modified from email by Yefim Kogan, JewishGen Bessarabia SIG Leader and Coordinator; Bessarabia SIG digest June 14, 2018.
Lyublin was a farming colony established in 1842 and that the settlers came from Kiev and other areas. The 1854 census (Revision List) provided family details. Moshka’s son, Yakov Shimon, was the 30 year old head of household in Lyublin and was a farmer with a 25 year farming permit that began in 1844 when he was age 20 and would end in 1869. Perhaps Yakov inherited the farm from his father. Yakov’s younger brother, Geinikh, family also lived on the farm with his family.
On the 1854 Revision List, Simon’s mother Enta was living in the Lyublin farming household at age 63. Enta’s husband Moshko was not listed on the Revision List, presumably because he was not alive. Further, note that Enta’s maiden name is listed as Sorokorova, presumably derived from the geographic location of Soroki. If Enta’s maiden surname was Sorokorova, and surnames were mandatory in the Pale of Settlement by 1804, does that imply that when Moshko met Enta (hypothetically when she was age 20 in 1811), she was living in Soroki? Would it not then follow that Moshko was living in Soroki or somewhere nearby and not in Kiev or somewhere else in the Pale? So many questions to answer . . . . genealogy research is never ending!
The 1854 Census
Moshka GURFINKEL had at least 2 sons, Yakov and Geinikh. And this is the history of those we know came to America. Those that remained may have avoided the Pogroms, wars, famine, disease, accidents, and other perils and their descendants may survive today. DNA genealogy may help establish these ‘lost’ branches of our family.
The family tree below will expand as new connections are verified. To view the current descendants of each, follow the links below for their family tree, family history information, and stories.
Moses Melech (Moses GARFINKEL1839-1918 Philadelphia)
Ikhel Avrum (Ely A. GARFINKEL 1846-1911 Philadelphia)
Friedel (Fred GARFINKEL 1864-1933 Philadelphia)
Mendel (Mendel GARFINKEL 1856-xxxx Philadelphia)
Moshko Shimon (Moses Simon GARFINKEL 1853-1894 Philadelphia)
Our relatives listed towns such as Ataki as their place of residence. This map shows that they were in the same area, within about 25 miles. Walking distance is typically measured as 3 or 4 miles per hour, so they were within a one full day animal cart trek, or two day walk, between towns.
A further discussion of the 1854 census (Revision List), where the GURFINKEL family members registered, and how it may impact further GARFINKLE family research.
In the middle of 19th century, which included the 1854 census, many Jews who were registered as farmers in one or another colony actually lived in a large town or city. That happened because of the privileges farmers received from the government. That included lower taxes and relieve from military conscription. Because of this, the provincial government eventually allowed Jews to resettle officially in towns and enter the town communities. By the beginning of the 20th century, almost all of the former colonists lived in towns.
The 1854 Revision List was divided into categories that included Merchants, and farmers. Both groups were subdivided. The farmers, which included our GURFINKEL’s, were divided into those who had 10 year or 25 year privileges of tax and other incentives. (EstateOfJewsinBessarabia). You may recall that Shimon GURFINKEL, son of Moshko, was a farmer on a 25 year privilege from 1844 and was thus granted tax and military exemptions until 1869.
A discussion of Revision List registration versus residence was the topic of an online discussion group and is relevant to our ancestors. Extracts from the Bessarabia SIG post of 18 May 2018 – and modified by me – may be of interest and relevant to future family research:
It is hard to understand why person registered in a different place (city) then where they lived. One thing though is more or less clear: “One family member is registered as Moldovan citizen . . .” However it is not a registration, but a citizenship to another country, and we need to go back and to learn about the changing borders. Residents had to register somewhere, and it might be that the easiest was different cities for different family members.
Bessarabia had a special status, and residents including Jews had privileges by living (and registering there). Jews moved to Bessarabia in most part because there were incentives to do so. Many became farmers in the Agricultural colonies in Bessarabia and Kherson gubernias. People moving to these places had 10-15 years free of taxes and other privileges. (MigrationToBessarabia)
Before 1812, all people living in Moldova Principality (later divided to Bessarabia to the East and Moldova to the West) were Moldovan citizens; some were Turkish citizens because they came from Constantinople (Turkey) or other places in Turkey. Moldova until 1812 was under Turkey and paid tribute to the Ottoman Empire. In 1812 after Russo-Turkish wars, Russia got part of Moldova Principality, which became Bessarabia oblast (Gubernia) in the Russian Empire. So then there were Jews living in Bessarabia having Russian Citizenship, and Jews living in Moldova Principality having Moldovan citizenship, and Jews having Turkish citizenship. So our Moshko GURFINKEL who was born in 1790 may – probably – was born as either a Moldovan, Turkish, or Russian citizen.
To further illustrate how family members could live in the same geographic area yet have different citizenship’s, there is a period between 1856-1878 when a small piece of land went back from Bessarabia (Russian Empire) to Moldovan principality. The result could be the same family members were registered as citizens of different citizenships and registration locations on the 1854, and other, revision lists.
