How do I begin a search for my grandfather's family in Russia? They were of Jewish decent. I am no
I am searching for information about my paternal grandfather who was born in either Odessa or Kherson. On his naturalization papers his name is shown as Jakob Lavine, on his US Social Security application his name is shown as James Lavine and he was also know as James Michael Lavine. He was born on December 25, 1869 or 1870. His S.S. application also lists his parents as Micheil Lavine and Sophia Galperin (maiden name) His father worked for a newspaper company. My grandfather had siblings, at least brothers. Some siblings possibly lived and worked (or had a business) in Argentina. He left Russia in the late 1890's going through Austria and possibly meeting his first wife there, Sophia (Halper). They sailed to Argentina and had their first child in Buenas Aires, Argentina, on March 1, 1903. A short time later they sailed to New York, arriving June 16, 1904, on a Lamport Holt Line vessel. The had two more children, Cecelia and Pierre (Peter) They divorced about 1916 and James/Jakob and his trhee children traveled to Californis. Pittsburg, California is where he met my grandmother, a widow with 2 children, They married in 1917 and added six more children to their family. My father being the oldest of their six children. I have censuses and other information since their arrival in the US but nothing before their arrival. I do not know where or how to begin to search for my grandfather's family and information in Russia. Please, whatever information or help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Answers
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Good morning!
Do you by chance have a possible hometown that he came from in Odessa or Kherson? Without having an idea of a locality that he came from, it can be difficult to find records. Research in U.S. records (particularly vital, naturalization and Jewish records) can give yo some clues about where they came from in Russia (proba. You could also try searching through indexed records on JewishGen (www.jewishgen.org). This website is free, but requires registration.
Odessa/Kherson is now in modern day Ukraine. You can also read more about Jewish research in Ukraine on the FamilySearch Wiki (https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ukraine_Jewish_Records)
or in this handout (https://www.cjh.org/pdfs/Ukraine.pdf)
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Thank you for answering back. I do not have a hometown location. He didn't speak much about where he came from. I have recently joined JewishGen.org but have not researched anything on that site yet. I'll check out the wiki and the handout. Thank you again. I appreciate your reply.
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