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Genealogy Update - KHONKEL (HANKIN)
Jan. 13th, 2015 01:53 pmI'm planning several posts on my recent genealogical progress, due to the huge expansion of the availability of Lithuanian vital records and revision lists. (The latter are a sort of census that was done for tax purposes.) There are several documents I've found that I need to obtain copies of, particularly internal passport cards and applications for them. I should note that I've sent a nice contribution to Litvak SIG for the helpfulness of these records.
So let's start with the easy one, the KHONKEL clan. (The name was Anglicized to HANKIN by relatives who came to the U.S.)
Before this round of searching, this was the best documented part of my family, largely due to the late Beryl BLICKSTEIN (whose wife is a distant cousin). I learned a few new things out of searching this time. Namely, I found the death record for my great-great-great-grandfather, Efroim KHONKEL, who died in Kaunas on 8 May 1927 of cancer at age 71. That means his birth year was 1856. Because my father, who was born in 1930, was named for him, the 1927 date makes more sense than a previous claim I'd seen which suggested he had died in 1936 . It also gives his father’s name as Tevjus (i.e. Tevje) and his mother’s name as Vichna Dveira. His wife’s name is not given, which may mean she predeceased him, but is not definitive. There’s also a death record for his daughter, Seina, who died on 3 Jan 1938 at age 45 of heart disease.
But the one I really didn’t know about is that Efroim apparently had a sister, Cipe MEDINTS, who died 8 Jun 1936 at age 74 of heart disease (so born in 1862). I’ve actually made a match with another researcher regarding her, so hope to get more info in that direction soon. According to that source, she married Leon MEDINTS. There are several records in the right general timeframe showing a Leib or Arie Leib MEDINTS as the father, which are good matches. (Leib is Yiddish for lion, and is Aryeh in Hebrew. My grandfather, Leib NADEL, became Leo in English.) Those all identify Leib as being from Seta.
Also, the revision lists have some info. I already had the names of Efroim’s children (and a lot of other info regarding them). But the 1892-1894 revision list gives his wife as Pesa Risa, rather than the Leja we believe (and is on Seina’s death certificate). So there’s a mystery to solve. And the internal passport list gives Efroim’s occupation as a shopman and indicates he was from Seta, but that 1892-1894 revision list shows him as from Pakruojis, Panevezys uyezd, since 1882, and the family was living in Vandziogala at that time. The connection to Seta increases my confidence that Cipe is indeed his sister. There is also, by the way, an internal passport card for Leyb MEDINTS from Kaunas, indicating he was 71 in 1920, came from Seta, and was a merchant.
But that migration between Seta, Pakruoijs, and Vandziogala raises new puzzles, too. (Ending up in Kaunas itself makes sense, since that was the big city.) And, of course, I don't know anything about Tevje KHONKEL, Vichna Dvoira, and Leja and/or Pesa Risa. Then there's the whole MEDINTS line to pursue. I can't close the books on this part of my family tree by any means.
So let's start with the easy one, the KHONKEL clan. (The name was Anglicized to HANKIN by relatives who came to the U.S.)
Before this round of searching, this was the best documented part of my family, largely due to the late Beryl BLICKSTEIN (whose wife is a distant cousin). I learned a few new things out of searching this time. Namely, I found the death record for my great-great-great-grandfather, Efroim KHONKEL, who died in Kaunas on 8 May 1927 of cancer at age 71. That means his birth year was 1856. Because my father, who was born in 1930, was named for him, the 1927 date makes more sense than a previous claim I'd seen which suggested he had died in 1936 . It also gives his father’s name as Tevjus (i.e. Tevje) and his mother’s name as Vichna Dveira. His wife’s name is not given, which may mean she predeceased him, but is not definitive. There’s also a death record for his daughter, Seina, who died on 3 Jan 1938 at age 45 of heart disease.
But the one I really didn’t know about is that Efroim apparently had a sister, Cipe MEDINTS, who died 8 Jun 1936 at age 74 of heart disease (so born in 1862). I’ve actually made a match with another researcher regarding her, so hope to get more info in that direction soon. According to that source, she married Leon MEDINTS. There are several records in the right general timeframe showing a Leib or Arie Leib MEDINTS as the father, which are good matches. (Leib is Yiddish for lion, and is Aryeh in Hebrew. My grandfather, Leib NADEL, became Leo in English.) Those all identify Leib as being from Seta.
Also, the revision lists have some info. I already had the names of Efroim’s children (and a lot of other info regarding them). But the 1892-1894 revision list gives his wife as Pesa Risa, rather than the Leja we believe (and is on Seina’s death certificate). So there’s a mystery to solve. And the internal passport list gives Efroim’s occupation as a shopman and indicates he was from Seta, but that 1892-1894 revision list shows him as from Pakruojis, Panevezys uyezd, since 1882, and the family was living in Vandziogala at that time. The connection to Seta increases my confidence that Cipe is indeed his sister. There is also, by the way, an internal passport card for Leyb MEDINTS from Kaunas, indicating he was 71 in 1920, came from Seta, and was a merchant.
But that migration between Seta, Pakruoijs, and Vandziogala raises new puzzles, too. (Ending up in Kaunas itself makes sense, since that was the big city.) And, of course, I don't know anything about Tevje KHONKEL, Vichna Dvoira, and Leja and/or Pesa Risa. Then there's the whole MEDINTS line to pursue. I can't close the books on this part of my family tree by any means.
