Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The Pale of Settlement: Where Goldfus Came From
First Jews were locked up inside the ghettos in Italy. That's where the term came from. They were actually locked in at night. This happened in Venice from the 16th to 18th century.
Then Jews were confined in the Pale of Settlement. They were not allowed in Russia proper unless they were special and had a special pass allowing them to do so. When I first received a tree of the Goldfoot clan, it showed that one had a special permit to sell corn in Russia. That was very special.
"In 1772 and 1793, parts of Poland were ceded to Prussia, Austria and Russia. In 1795 the final partition of Poland ceded the balance of Poland to these 3 countries, and Poland ceased to exist as an independent country until 1918. In the part ceded to Russia, Jews were permitted to live only in the area just acquired. This area became known as the Pale of Settlement. " Avotaynu.
"The "Pale" was created in Czarist Russia in 1835 and lasted till the 1917 revolution. This area covered 386,100 square miles from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. The 1897 census recorded 4,899,300 Jews, which formed 94 percent of the total Jewish population of Russia. Most Jews lived in shtetlach (plural of shtetl, "small town").Nathan Goldfoot, born in 1871, and Hattie Jermulowske, born in 1886, were no doubt included in the 1897 census figures though I haven't found her as yet. I just found Nathan a week or so ago on http://jewishgen.org/.
Visit the Pale of Settlement website for a map and more information. I just received a catalog from Avotaynu with the Pale of Settlement on the cover. Telsiai is on the northwest side of Kovno which is very far north. That's where Nathan Goldfoot came from. Suwalki landed in the Kingdom of Poland and was just below Kovno. It was also very close to vilna, which was in the Pale. Suwalki had once been a part of Lithuania. This is where Hattie was from. They could have been neighbors.
The pogroms and anti-Jewish decrees, especially those during the 1880's to 1906, resulted in major Jewish immigration to Western Europe and the United States. The door slammed shut for Jewish Eastern European U.S. immigration in 1921 Passage, by Congress, of exclusionary laws in the 1920's - The Quota Act of 1921 reduced Jewish (and all other ethnic groups) immigration to 3% of 1910 numbers; and the Reed-Johnson Immigration Act of 1924 further reduced immigration to 2% which effectively ended most Jewish immigration until 1965. For more information about the history of Jewish life in the Pale and why many left spend, visit the informative and extensive Beyond the Pale, The History of Jews in Russia website exhibit.
Bryan’s research found that many Jews migrated to South America in the 1400s after being expelled from Spain and Portugal. They spoke the language, etc. During the 1700-1900s, if you had the money, you went where you could... eventually you get tired of getting beaten or having your neighborhood set on fire... and there were established Jewish communities in South America and the Caribbean (specifically, Jamaica -- first temple built in the early 1600s) Common Spanish-Jewish names... Perez, Ramirez... Portuguese... Cardoso (as in Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo 1932-1938). " Ronald Miller
"In the Russian Pale of Settlement, Jews were required to take surnames at various times in different countries, having previously been known as by given name and father's given name. Czar Alexander I unsuccessfully mandated that Jews adopt surnames in 1804. However, it was not until 1836 that all Russian Jews had surnames. By 1844, they were compelled to enter their names in a public register. Surnames were chosen according to various schemes: profession, town of birth, physical appearance or purely ornamental. It is generally accepted that those with Spira or Shapiro type names originated from Speyer in Germany, which welcomed Jews in the 11th century at the behest of Rudiger, Bishop of Speyer. As an example, source documents from this period make reference to Reb Kalonymos ben Reb Yosef haKatan miShpeira (mi - from; Shpiera - Speyer). As outlined in the history section, it is possible our ancestors moved from Germany to Poland and Lithuania in the 16th century and would still have carried the tag 'from Speyer' in their name (names being largely of the form A, son of B, from C). Alternatively, Saperia may have been an ornamental name derived from the Hebrew word for sapphire. Letters received from Mr S. Szapira and Mr M. Freedman argue for Speyer and sapphire respectively.
Whilst this surname is not common, is has a curious persistence amongst those who emigrated to Leeds from the Suwalki area. This strongly suggests that the various Saperia family trees are linked and that those who emigrated were following in the footsteps of their relatives, though we have not been able to establish this from records.
Aswell as sharing a surname, the Saperias evidently favoured a limited selection of given names. Amongst the girls, Rachel, Fannie and Ann(ie) were exceedingly popular, whilst Louis, Harris and Nathan recur as choices for boys. A word of caution: there was a brief fashion for 'Simon' in the 1890's, which faded rapidly as all the unfortunate babies died in their first year! " Saperia.com
Our surname, Goldfoot, came from Goldfus, and I have found many Goldfus/fuss in Lithuania and in several particular towns. Telsiai had our family. In the USA, we are the only family. Our other branch is in South Africa. They both came from Telsiai and went through London and then Dublin, Ireland before disembarking for South Africa and Oregon.
http://ronaldimiller.com/pale.htm
Avotaynu, publisher of works on Jewish genealogy 2011 Catalog
http://www.saperia.com/Pages/name.htm
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/venice-ghetto
http://www.romanhomes.com/your_roman_vacation/quarters/jewish-quarter.htm (with music)
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/rome/0064022151.html
Then Jews were confined in the Pale of Settlement. They were not allowed in Russia proper unless they were special and had a special pass allowing them to do so. When I first received a tree of the Goldfoot clan, it showed that one had a special permit to sell corn in Russia. That was very special.
"In 1772 and 1793, parts of Poland were ceded to Prussia, Austria and Russia. In 1795 the final partition of Poland ceded the balance of Poland to these 3 countries, and Poland ceased to exist as an independent country until 1918. In the part ceded to Russia, Jews were permitted to live only in the area just acquired. This area became known as the Pale of Settlement. " Avotaynu.
"The "Pale" was created in Czarist Russia in 1835 and lasted till the 1917 revolution. This area covered 386,100 square miles from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. The 1897 census recorded 4,899,300 Jews, which formed 94 percent of the total Jewish population of Russia. Most Jews lived in shtetlach (plural of shtetl, "small town").Nathan Goldfoot, born in 1871, and Hattie Jermulowske, born in 1886, were no doubt included in the 1897 census figures though I haven't found her as yet. I just found Nathan a week or so ago on http://jewishgen.org/.
Visit the Pale of Settlement website for a map and more information. I just received a catalog from Avotaynu with the Pale of Settlement on the cover. Telsiai is on the northwest side of Kovno which is very far north. That's where Nathan Goldfoot came from. Suwalki landed in the Kingdom of Poland and was just below Kovno. It was also very close to vilna, which was in the Pale. Suwalki had once been a part of Lithuania. This is where Hattie was from. They could have been neighbors.
The pogroms and anti-Jewish decrees, especially those during the 1880's to 1906, resulted in major Jewish immigration to Western Europe and the United States. The door slammed shut for Jewish Eastern European U.S. immigration in 1921 Passage, by Congress, of exclusionary laws in the 1920's - The Quota Act of 1921 reduced Jewish (and all other ethnic groups) immigration to 3% of 1910 numbers; and the Reed-Johnson Immigration Act of 1924 further reduced immigration to 2% which effectively ended most Jewish immigration until 1965. For more information about the history of Jewish life in the Pale and why many left spend, visit the informative and extensive Beyond the Pale, The History of Jews in Russia website exhibit.
Bryan’s research found that many Jews migrated to South America in the 1400s after being expelled from Spain and Portugal. They spoke the language, etc. During the 1700-1900s, if you had the money, you went where you could... eventually you get tired of getting beaten or having your neighborhood set on fire... and there were established Jewish communities in South America and the Caribbean (specifically, Jamaica -- first temple built in the early 1600s) Common Spanish-Jewish names... Perez, Ramirez... Portuguese... Cardoso (as in Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo 1932-1938). " Ronald Miller
"In the Russian Pale of Settlement, Jews were required to take surnames at various times in different countries, having previously been known as by given name and father's given name. Czar Alexander I unsuccessfully mandated that Jews adopt surnames in 1804. However, it was not until 1836 that all Russian Jews had surnames. By 1844, they were compelled to enter their names in a public register. Surnames were chosen according to various schemes: profession, town of birth, physical appearance or purely ornamental. It is generally accepted that those with Spira or Shapiro type names originated from Speyer in Germany, which welcomed Jews in the 11th century at the behest of Rudiger, Bishop of Speyer. As an example, source documents from this period make reference to Reb Kalonymos ben Reb Yosef haKatan miShpeira (mi - from; Shpiera - Speyer). As outlined in the history section, it is possible our ancestors moved from Germany to Poland and Lithuania in the 16th century and would still have carried the tag 'from Speyer' in their name (names being largely of the form A, son of B, from C). Alternatively, Saperia may have been an ornamental name derived from the Hebrew word for sapphire. Letters received from Mr S. Szapira and Mr M. Freedman argue for Speyer and sapphire respectively.
Whilst this surname is not common, is has a curious persistence amongst those who emigrated to Leeds from the Suwalki area. This strongly suggests that the various Saperia family trees are linked and that those who emigrated were following in the footsteps of their relatives, though we have not been able to establish this from records.
Aswell as sharing a surname, the Saperias evidently favoured a limited selection of given names. Amongst the girls, Rachel, Fannie and Ann(ie) were exceedingly popular, whilst Louis, Harris and Nathan recur as choices for boys. A word of caution: there was a brief fashion for 'Simon' in the 1890's, which faded rapidly as all the unfortunate babies died in their first year! " Saperia.com
Our surname, Goldfoot, came from Goldfus, and I have found many Goldfus/fuss in Lithuania and in several particular towns. Telsiai had our family. In the USA, we are the only family. Our other branch is in South Africa. They both came from Telsiai and went through London and then Dublin, Ireland before disembarking for South Africa and Oregon.
http://ronaldimiller.com/pale.htm
Avotaynu, publisher of works on Jewish genealogy 2011 Catalog
http://www.saperia.com/Pages/name.htm
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/venice-ghetto
http://www.romanhomes.com/your_roman_vacation/quarters/jewish-quarter.htm (with music)
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/rome/0064022151.html
Labels: 1911 Goldfoots in Ireland, 1911 Goldfoots Lithuania, in Poland, Jermulowske, Pale of Settlement
