Lithuanians sent from Scotland to Russia

[dubs]

I dont know if this will interest anyone (I dont think it has been mentioned before here) but whilst surfing the web for more information on the North Russian campaign I came across the diary of a chap who sailed on a hospital ship to Archangel in 1919. It gives a fascinating account of what it was like to journey to Archangel and to be part of the operations in 1919 thus giving an insight in some small way into what it must have been like for our relatives who were there at that time.... here is the link if you havent already come across it http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bardenweb/. If you click on the download diary button you can see the actual diary in the chap's handwriting (there is also a transcription)..

[dubs]

Checked Ancestry - no Roversteinas records - there is a family of Roverstein in 1911 English Census. They are Lithuanian as they come from Pajevonys in Suwalkija where my family come from

1911 England Census

Census & Electoral Rolls

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Name: Agota Roverstein

Age in 1911: 26

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1885

Relation to Head: Wife

Gender: Female

Civil parish: Whitton

County/Island: Durham

Country: England

Street Address: Carlton Iron Works Nr Ferryhil

Registration district: Stockton

Registration District Number: 544

Sub-registration district: Stockton

ED, institution, or vessel: 45

Piece: 29591

Household Members: Name Age

Geo Roverstein 24

Agota Roverstein 26

George Roverstein 1

Agota Roverstein 7/12

Coyemiers Synerpina 28

Joseph Senauskas 41

Joseph Mulauskas 36

Take a look at the picture to see even more.

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Name: Agota Roverstein

Spouse: Geo Roverstein

Birth: abt 1885

Residence: 2 Apr 1911 - Whitton, Durham, England

1911 England Census

Census & Electoral Rolls

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Name: Geo Roverstein

Spouse: Agota Roverstein

Birth: abt 1887 - Payewons, Russia

Residence: 2 Apr 1911 - Whitton, Durham, England

1911 England Census

Census & Electoral Rolls

View Image

Name: George Roverstein

Birth: abt 1910 - Whitton, Durham, England

Residence: 2 Apr 1911 - Whitton, Durham, England

1911 England Census

Census & Electoral Rolls

View Image

Name: Agota Roverstein

Birth: abt 1910 - Whitton, Durham, England

Residence: 2 Apr 1911 - Whitton, Durham, England

Paul, thank you so much for posting this information. Believe it or not, after extensive research I had discovered that George was my great-granny's brother. It took a lot of sifting of material but I followed this family across the water to America via the Ellis Island records and then found them in the U.S. Census records for 1940. I then discovered an address my Mum had written on an old envelope for a 'Jurgis' - I had no idea who he was but it turned out to be the same address as the above George in Cleveland Ohio, thus I had my match. Furthermore, I confirmed that Great Granny had a brother called Jurgis Roversteinas by finding a photo of her mother's death certificate (which lists all her children) - I found this on a facebook page which shows all the Vistytis deaths from 1922-1936 (along with many other records from this area). It has been a massive breakthrough for me as I now know the villages my family came from so can plan a visit later this year!

[paullucas01]

Dubs, no problem, I went to Vistytis this year. It is on the lake so it is has beautiful views. My family come from Pajevonys which is nearby. If you want any advice please let me know as I have been back every year since 2007.

Can you post the link for the Facebook page as I am still searching for some family?

[dubs]

Paul, here is the link - https://www.facebook.com/pajevonys.wizajny?ref=ts&fref=ts. Click on the 'photos' link then the 'albums' link. Let me know if it doesnt work. It really is fascinating stuff - pages and pages of birth/marriage/death certificates for Wizajny, Pajevonys, Liubavas, Vistytis, Vilaviskis, Sakiai and Graziskiai. There are only certain years available but this stuff is invaluable, as is all the photos from the cemeteries. I have spent hours looking at it! I will definitely get in touch when I start to sort out my visit - I have no idea about where to stay, hiring a car etc....

[paullucas01]

Thanks, that is amazing that you found this Facebook page. My family come from within the rectangle defined by Kybartai, Vilkaviskis, Vistytis and Graziskiai. I have lots of photos from this area.

Let me know when you plan to travel.

[dubs]

Thanks, that is amazing that you found this Facebook page. My family come from within the rectangle defined by Kybartai, Vilkaviskis, Vistytis and Graziskiai. I have lots of photos from this area.

Let me know when you plan to travel.

My family are from the same area, one side is from Kaupiskiai (the Roversteinas/Grigalius side) - I am still searching for where exactly the Ziurinskas' were from (so far have only found two gravestone records on the Facebook page). I have the email address of the page owner (W.Grabauskas) if you want to contact him directly....he is very helpful (he looked at the records when I first contacted him and found my great granny's sisters' marriage record and emailed the file to me). Happy hunting!

[frances togneri]

Everyone has found so much info since I last visited the forum! I don't have much Internet time but I will certainly check the link. My family seem to have come from a village close to Wilkaviskis with a related family at Virbalis. What an amazing breakthrough Dubs!

[dubs]

Everyone has found so much info since I last visited the forum! I don't have much Internet time but I will certainly check the link. My family seem to have come from a village close to Wilkaviskis with a related family at Virbalis. What an amazing breakthrough Dubs!

I know, its quite incredible, it was pure luck (and quite a lot of mindless surfing, which I do every time I hit a brick wall!). Cant believe that chap in Vilnius has spent so much time at the archives taking photos of each page and of every gravestone in the graveyards! I am a bit obsessed with this whole project now, having made so much progress. Do you want to look yourself when you have more time or would you like me to take a look for you for your relatives?

[paullucas01]

Nearly all of the Lithuanians who settled in Scotland come from around Vilkavikis and Marijampolje.

I posted some photographs from Pajevonys on the Facebook page.

[frances togneri]

Dubs

Yes Please!!!!!!!!

I am in a McD for WiFi at the present - just looking up some names. My Grandfather's cousin is Juozas Papilauskas. His parents are Simanas Papilauskas (it actually says Popiliauskas. I don't know if this is an error as this certificate was issued in 1938) and Ona Simanaviciute. The birth certificate was issued from the village (Kur Gime?) of Moliniuose, Virbalis (Virbalio). I don't think this place is far from Virbalis.

His wife was Kastanciza Dereskevicuite. I think she was born in Virbalis. Her parents (from a marriage certificate issued in Scotland) were Juozas Dereskevizus or similar and Azota Popkiute (I think). The writing has not reproduced well.

Looking at the next entry on this marriage record, there is an entry for Jonas Revinckus and Antonina someone. His parents are Jonas and Barbara (MS Ostrauckuite). Her parents I can't read. The marriage was in the district of Holytown 1915. He lived in Carfin, she in New Stevenson. The name is close to your relatives.

I thnk the village where my Grandparents lived was Stolaukelio, Lankoliski. This is just outside Vilkaviskis and was the village name on my uncle's birth certificate. My gran's parents were Andrius Kulbokas and Azota Bargansdute My Grandfathers parents were Jonas Papilauskas and Mariona Virbickas. I din's see this village on my quick scroll through.

I can stay in a cafe for about an hour or so but then it gets busy, so doing research is not easy.

[paullucas01]

This Polish site has maps of Lithuania from the last century. The place names are in Polish.There are English menus.

http://english.mapywig.org/news.php

This is the modern equivalent

http://www.maps.lt/map/default.aspx?lang=en

Moliniai exists today to the west of Virbalis (Virbalio is the area). There are no houses there today.

[silvestris]

Dubs, thanks so much for finding that facebook page! I believe I've found record of my great-great-grandfather's death. It's in the album called "Vilkaviškis deaths 1922-1938", photo #65, Mykolas Kisielius: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=109990789061752&set=a.109987165728781.13273.100001524954865. Family stories said that we came from Vilkaviskis, but I had no evidence until just now.

[dubs]

Dubs, thanks so much for finding that facebook page! I believe I've found record of my great-great-grandfather's death. It's in the album called "Vilkaviškis deaths 1922-1938", photo #65, Mykolas Kisielius: http://www.facebook....100001524954865. Family stories said that we came from Vilkaviskis, but I had no evidence until just now.

That's brilliant news! I have been slowly trawling through the Facebook page for Frances - will report back soon....I used Google Translate to translate the main headings of the marriage and death certificates into English so I could work out exactly what I was being told. Wierd thing is I have only found the two pictures of gravestones for the Ziurinskas family (my main family name), not a single marriage or death record...

[dubs]

I just found another interesting site. I think someone on here said their relative joined the Lithuanian Independence Army or something like that? Anyway, I stumbled across this page which may be of interest...http://www.scribd.co...uter_page_2

Further down the document it says this....

Who is included in the list of 10,000 Lithuanian names? The individuals named are men who volunteered to be in the first Lithuanian army which wasformed in 1918 at the beginning of the first modern independent Lithuanian government.

You can look up people by their surname then go to another site which gives information about them. If the link doesnt work just type in '10,000 Lithuanian Last Names and Surnames' into Google and it should come up as the first search result...

[frances togneri]

Hopefully I have managed to take a copy of the information to browse. I had a quick look but no Papilauskas. I am certain this is a spelling error from Lithuania. Paul - have you seen this site? What did you think?

Frances

[dubs]

Hi Frances, I have come to the conclusion that your Papilauskas name must have been altered from Paplauskas somewhere along the line as I havent found a single Papilauskas reference on the Facebook page, despite extensive trawling of the records. I have found plenty of Paplauskas references and quite a few Kulbokas references, including one for a Juozabas Kulboka b.1902 who lived in the right area (Lankeliskiai, Vilaviskis). I will pop all the info into an email for you as soon as I get a minute....

Oh and I managed to find where the Ziurinskas family are from - they seem to be concentrated in the Grazikiai area, so I was looking in the wrong place!

[paullucas01]

There are no Papilauskas in the Lithuanian telephone directory. In fact there are no names that start Papil* so this is most likely another corruption of the correct Lithuanian spelling Paplauskas.

[paullucas01]

Dubs, do you mean Graziskiai ? If you are on facebook, you will see photos I posted of Pajevonys. I have photos from Graziskiai as well.

[dubs]

Oops, yes I did, Paul, that was a typo! Yes I am on Facebook, will check out your photos... but I cant find them. Where exactly should I be looking???

[paullucas01]

can you send me a private message here ? I can send you links with photos of my visit in 2010.

[paullucas01]

_{hi, got your message}

[frances togneri]

Paul

I was told the same by someone who has traced his Paplauskas family. He had no record of my family being connected but we are from the same area. It is very frustrating. I can only go by what I have in the birth certificates from Lithuania. Unfortunately, the cousin I found recently may be suffering an age related problem so I don't know how much longer I can ask him about family. My best option just now is to look at his father and mother who are from Virbalis but his father also held the name Papilauskas.

Frances

[dubs]

Frances, I am going to put all my findings from the Pajevonys Wizajny facebook page into a spreadsheet for you this weekend and email it to you....I have definitely found a living Ziurinskas relative who lives in Whitburn, which is very exciting. Turns out her grandfather was my Mum's grandfather's brother! A telegram sent to her by my Great-Aunt on my Mum's grandfather's death was the concrete proof that our Ziurinskas families were related! Its taken a long time, but I have finally made some solid progress...

Sorry to all those following this topic - we seem to have got off the point of the Lithuanians being sent to Russia during WW1...

Cat

[frances togneri]

Dubs - sounds like you are really making headway. It's fantastic feeling when everything falls into place. I look forward to your email. I wouldn't worry about moving off the title for the forum. From what I am seeing people are enjoying this unexpected direction.

Frances

[paullucas01]

I am still looking for the list (s)