Saturday, December 11, 2010
Telsiai, Lithuania, Home of Goldfus/Goldfoots
10/22/08 From Preserving our Litvak Heritage by Josef Rosin by JewishGen.Inc.
Nathan Goldfoot's family is thought to come from Telsiai or Telz in Yiddish, as many of Stanley Goldfoot's family reported to come from this city. It is one of the oldest towns in Lithuania and is in the NW part of Lithuania, the Zemaitija region on the shores of Lake Mastis and is even mentioned in Crusader chronicles in 1320. In the 2nd half of the 15th century a royal estate was established there. The Swedes invaded in 1710. 2/3 of the population died from epidemics at that time. Until 1795 Telz was a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom. Telz fell under Russian rule from 1802 as part of the Vilna Province (Gubernia) and from 1843 as part of the Kovno Province. In 1812 Napoleon's army passed through and left their big gun which is now in the town park. The town was damaged in Polish rebellions of 1831 and 1863. A fire caused a lot of damage in 1907 that lasted 2 days. Old wooden houses were replaced with brick.
Jews settled here at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1797, 2,500 people lived here of which 1,650 were Jews (66%). 1831 Polish rebellion saw Telz Jews suffer from rebels and Cossacks. Famine hit the land from 1869-1872, and my grandfather was born in 1872. Pograms against Jews in 1880's in Ukraine and other places had damaged the self confidence of Telz Jews. They were being conscripted into the army for 6 years. This is when many young Jewish men left Telz and immigrated to America, Argentina and South Africa. This immigration went on till WWI. during 1893 there was a cholera epidemic and took many poor Jews who lived in overcrowded conditions that had bad hygienic conditions.
In 1841 there were 25 Jewish artisans, 14 tailors, 10 shoemakers and one watchmaker and a lot of wandering artisans.
12/24/08 "I'm so happy for you that this is most likely the arrival of your grandfather. I feel that Nathan could have been a brother to my grandfather who was Haim (Chaim) Goldfoot as as all their dates seem to coincide. Or perhaps they were at least cousins all descending from Abraham Goldfoot(Goldfus) of Lithuania. The fact that they all went to Ireland in the 1890s seems to indicate that they all had an early family connection there. My grandfather settled in Dublin and yours left for Canada/USA. My grandfather died in Cape Town in his early 90s in 1952 or 54, whilst your grandfather died 20 years earlier at age 70. They must be all connected so therefore we must be connected too.
1/25/09 Avotaynu: In the 2nd half of the 19th century, the territory of Lithuania belonged to the Russian Empirre. Directly on the border were Kovno (Kaunas) and Suwalki guberniyas (provinces), the westernmost portion of the Pale of Settlement. No major work yet has been done on the Jews of Kovno and Suwalki guberniyas. At the end of the 19th century, Jews comprised 13% of Kovno guberniya. Of that, 43.4% lived in the cities of Kovno (Kaunas), Panevezys, Siauliai, and Ukmerge (Vilkomir); 54% had settled in Shtetles (villages); barely 3% lived in the country-side.
Over the centuries, a few well-connected Jewish merchants got permits, often temporary, to live within the boundaries of Russia. According to the Goldfoot genealogy from Stanley Goldfoot, his family was allowed to do that. They were corn merchants. Even within the Pale, Russian authorities frequently expelled whole communities of Jews and made them settle in desolate rural areas where they had no hope of making a living, hoping that these measures would get them to leave the country.
Nathan Goldfoot's family is thought to come from Telsiai or Telz in Yiddish, as many of Stanley Goldfoot's family reported to come from this city. It is one of the oldest towns in Lithuania and is in the NW part of Lithuania, the Zemaitija region on the shores of Lake Mastis and is even mentioned in Crusader chronicles in 1320. In the 2nd half of the 15th century a royal estate was established there. The Swedes invaded in 1710. 2/3 of the population died from epidemics at that time. Until 1795 Telz was a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom. Telz fell under Russian rule from 1802 as part of the Vilna Province (Gubernia) and from 1843 as part of the Kovno Province. In 1812 Napoleon's army passed through and left their big gun which is now in the town park. The town was damaged in Polish rebellions of 1831 and 1863. A fire caused a lot of damage in 1907 that lasted 2 days. Old wooden houses were replaced with brick.
Jews settled here at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1797, 2,500 people lived here of which 1,650 were Jews (66%). 1831 Polish rebellion saw Telz Jews suffer from rebels and Cossacks. Famine hit the land from 1869-1872, and my grandfather was born in 1872. Pograms against Jews in 1880's in Ukraine and other places had damaged the self confidence of Telz Jews. They were being conscripted into the army for 6 years. This is when many young Jewish men left Telz and immigrated to America, Argentina and South Africa. This immigration went on till WWI. during 1893 there was a cholera epidemic and took many poor Jews who lived in overcrowded conditions that had bad hygienic conditions.
In 1841 there were 25 Jewish artisans, 14 tailors, 10 shoemakers and one watchmaker and a lot of wandering artisans.
12/24/08 "I'm so happy for you that this is most likely the arrival of your grandfather. I feel that Nathan could have been a brother to my grandfather who was Haim (Chaim) Goldfoot as as all their dates seem to coincide. Or perhaps they were at least cousins all descending from Abraham Goldfoot(Goldfus) of Lithuania. The fact that they all went to Ireland in the 1890s seems to indicate that they all had an early family connection there. My grandfather settled in Dublin and yours left for Canada/USA. My grandfather died in Cape Town in his early 90s in 1952 or 54, whilst your grandfather died 20 years earlier at age 70. They must be all connected so therefore we must be connected too.
1/25/09 Avotaynu: In the 2nd half of the 19th century, the territory of Lithuania belonged to the Russian Empirre. Directly on the border were Kovno (Kaunas) and Suwalki guberniyas (provinces), the westernmost portion of the Pale of Settlement. No major work yet has been done on the Jews of Kovno and Suwalki guberniyas. At the end of the 19th century, Jews comprised 13% of Kovno guberniya. Of that, 43.4% lived in the cities of Kovno (Kaunas), Panevezys, Siauliai, and Ukmerge (Vilkomir); 54% had settled in Shtetles (villages); barely 3% lived in the country-side.
Over the centuries, a few well-connected Jewish merchants got permits, often temporary, to live within the boundaries of Russia. According to the Goldfoot genealogy from Stanley Goldfoot, his family was allowed to do that. They were corn merchants. Even within the Pale, Russian authorities frequently expelled whole communities of Jews and made them settle in desolate rural areas where they had no hope of making a living, hoping that these measures would get them to leave the country.
Labels: Ashkenazi Jews, history, Lithuania, Telsiai
