The Knowles Collection
Connecting Jewish Families
07 January 2021
11 November 2020
Virginia Records on FamilySearch
Those databases, Virginia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, County Marriage Registers, 1853-1935 and Virginia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Death Records, 1853-1912, are part of the Historical Record Collections at FamilySearch. Both collections contain records and images from various counties in Virginia. In the case of the marriages, the records were turned over to the county clerks by those who performed the marriages. The clerks then sent the records to the state auditor who preserved them. Both databases are wonderful collections of very informative records. The originals are in the custody of the Virginia State Library in Richmond.
Below, are examples from the various collections. The first, is the marriage record for the marriage of Sydney S. Cohen and his wife Bessie Flax. The second and third, are the death records of two sons of Meyer Cohen and his wife Esther Michael. Those boys, Maxie and Sidney, both taken by accidental drowning.
As more records become available, these collections should continue to grow.
31 July 2020
IAJGS 2020 Virtual Conference
As has been well documented, this year the 2020 IAJGS Conference will be virtual. It is now less than 2 weeks away. For more information about the schedule and how to register, visit https://s4.goeshow.com/iajgs/annual/2020/index.cfm. I look forward to another great event.
04 May 2020
Estonia Jewish Population Registers, 1921-1940, at FamilySearch
The record above is a great example of these records.
Line # 7 shows Maks Abramson, who was born in Tallinn in 1881. He is married and a merchant by trade. He is married to Zilla.
Line #8 is the record of his wife, Zilla Abramson, maiden surname Goldberg. She was born in 1896 in Latis.
Included on both entries are the names of their two sons, Gabriel, who was born in 1920 and David who was born in 1922.
These records can be accessed through the FamilySearch catalog. The entry is found below.
17 December 2019
South Carolina, Charleston Records at FamilySearch
By the mid-1700's, Charleston was the destination of choice for the Jews leaving London. These Sephardic Jews were for the most part the families of wealthy merchant families. Once in Charleston they used their experience in business as they established their own holdings in Charleston. In the year 1800, so many Jews had made their homes in Charleston that it had the largest Jewish population of any state in the United States.
FamilySearch has been adding many records to its Historical Collections section that will be of help to researchers looking for their Jewish roots in Charleston. The list as of 17 December 2019 is shown below.
These records are constantly updated and should be checked often as the databases continue to grow.
24 August 2019
IAJGS 2020
The very successful 2019 IAJGS conference is but a few weeks old and yet its time to begin planning for 2020.
10 July 2019
IAJGS 2019 Only 3 weeks away
Only 3 weeks till we gather in Cleveland, Ohio for the 39th annual conference of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS). I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends and meeting many new ones. I hope to see you there.