Szamovo or Szumowo? I Can't Tell Where He Was - maybe in Poland?

I emigrated to the United States from ??? Belarusia(?).

However, his record says that he was in Somovo, Russia and was Lithuanian (which even the naysayers here know is bull-you-know-what). I have a cousin working to help me with this as well.

Are you sure you have posted the right photo/
All I can see is that someone was born in Suwalki,Russian Poland in 1876.
Plenty of Lithuanians around there I imagine back then.

His most-recent Ellis Island Record (November 7, 1904) says that he resided in Somovo, Russia; but the naturalization record states, "I emigrated to the United States from ??? Belarusia(?)." Remember that he claimed to be a Polish Lithuanian to hide his Jewishness.

Whoops. It said "Antwerp, Belgium". Nonetheless, he was in a Somovo.

And you think all Polish Lithuanians are / were Jews? Also, Lithuania and Belarus lie right next to each other and there was a lot of overlap historically. E.g. my grandfather lived in Lithuania before WW2, but spoke Polish and Belarussian at home - I guess he must have been Jewish then as well ;-)

In my great-great-granddad's case, he was a Crypto Jew.

My 2 cents :
1.Why his first name is not jewish?
2.Jews in Russian Empire could not buy any land so they could live only in towns.
3. Was he practising any religion?Was his children christened?
4. There is Dna testing nowadays, so you can confirm 'jewisness' (23&me and ftdna to name a few). You could test only his ydna through your male relatives (genealogy.about.com/od/dna_genetics/p/y_dna.htm).

What actually makes you think that?

- Plenty of Jews had Non-Jewish names. Go look on JewishGen. You're find a Yulyan Chernetski, one who may perhaps be my cousin.
- The farm may have been in the family before the Russians co-opted that part of Poland. They lived in small-town Lipsk nad Biebrzą, after all.

- Yes; and they were christened during the pogroms (Great-Granddad) and after they immigrated to the U.S. (Regina, Alexandria Alice the Second, Cecelia, and the boys besides Great-Granddad). Before that, they had been Jews but became equivalents of "marranos" during the pogroms--in fact (long discussion), the first Anusim were Ashkenazic Jews.

- Only one male relative, and on another side, has agreed to take and has taken one.

I'm going to hazard a guess and say that he was in Szumowo ("Somovo").

The record reads Suwalki. The kids were all born in the USA, except for Antoni. Names Julian Czarniecki (b 12-24-1876) and Alexandria (b 6-24-1918). Came through Antwerp, Belgium to USA.

jewishgen.org/jri-pl/psa/suwalkisurn.htm

Perhaps this might help you. "List of all surnames contained in Jewish civil records of the town of Suwalki."

I forget which family member you believe was the "crypto-jew" as you called it.

tiptopglobe.com/city?n=Somovo&p=13729#lat=51.73920&lon=39.3 5720&zoom=7

There is also a Somovo in Russia, a few kilometers from Lipetsk.

As well as a tiny village named Sumowo near Suwałki, Poland

There is also a lake called Sumowo about 12 miles from Suwałki.

"Danilewicz" is listed there. Besides, it's Suwałki town, and they lived in Lipsk.

Thanks for letting me know that.


However, based on Google maps and distance to Antwerpen, I'm going to guess that he was in Szumowo. Besides, there was a known Jewish community there.