Suvalki Gubernia Church Records

Introduction
One of the predominant faiths in the Suwałki Gubernia was that of Roman Catholicism, although there were also groups of Evangelical Lutherans/Protestants, Jews, Russian Orthodox and Old Believer Orthodox. These churches acted as both religious and civil agents in recording vital events.(church) records were sent to the ecclesiastical court or provincial administration, and Jewish records were filed with the local town council.

Metrical records may be stored in Polish Archives or the State Historical Archive in Vilnius Some of these records are available online as digital images or indexed records. Others may only be accessible via an archive. Find your ancestor's religion below to learn more about how to find metrical records.

Roman Catholic
Catholicism has been the majority religious denomination since the Christianization of Lithuania in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Digital Copies of Roman Catholic Church Records through FamilySearch
Digital images of Roman Catholic metrical records for several uyezdi of the former Vilna gubernia are available online. Records may be available for your ancestor's parish, or they may be included in an uyezd wide collection of metrical records. You should check both places for records. Follow the instructions below for more information.

How to Locate Parish Records

 * 1) Go to https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog
 * 2) In the Place box, type in the name of the parish. Or click here and follow the instructions below to use the places within feature.
 * 3) Click on Places within Poland, Suwałki.
 * 4) From the list that appears, select the uyezd that your ancestor lived in.
 * 5) Next, click on Places within Poland, Suwałki [district].
 * 6) Browse the list to locate the name of your ancestor's parish.
 * 7) Once you have located your parish, look for the heading entitled Church Records. Click on that. Then, look for titles that include Księg Metrykalnych (Metrical books) and have the rzymsko-katolicki (Roman Catholic Church) listed as the author.
 * 8) Once you have located your desired record, click on it.
 * 9) This will take you to the catalog entry page for your desired record. Scroll down to the Film/Digital Notes section. Locate the type of record and time frame you are in need of.
 * 10) The final Format column will let you know how the record can be accessed. A digital camera indicates the records are available online, while a digital camera with a key indicates the record is available, but with additional viewing restrictions. You may be able to view the record at a Family History Center. Click here to locate a Family History Center near you. Finally, a microfilm icon indicates the record is only accessible at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. View the Family History Library website for more information about the record look-up service. Be sure to take note of item numbers found in the Film section. Occasionally, microfilms were divided into separate items to conserve space. Look for black "title" cards with a large number on them that indicate the beginning and end of an item. This will help you find the location of the proper records on the film.

Digital Copies of Roman Catholic Church Records through ePaveldas
ePaveldas Lithuanian Cultural Heritage Collection is a digital repository containing almost 4,000 Roman Catholic metrical books, with many for areas within the former Vilna gubernia.

To learn how to use the records available at ePaveldas, see the Online Catholic Church Records: ePaveldas "How to" Guide.

Digital Copies of Roman Catholic Church Records through Bažnytiniai dokumentai Lietuvoje (Church Documents in Lithuania)
The Bažnytiniai dokumentai Lietuvoje Wiki page contains records for various location throughout Lithuania and Poland. The Wiki page is organized by location. Simply click on the name of your parish (keep in mind the parish names are in genitive case, so they may appear a bit differently than you are used to). Simply click on your parish name, and then select the year and record type desired.

Indexed Roman Catholic Church Records through Geneteka
Geneteka contains over 30 million indexes from many regions of Poland. Although it is a Polish website, and focuses on indexing Polish records, it contains indexes for areas that were part of the former Suwałki Gubernia. To learn how to use the site, see the Geneteka Indexed Records and Geneteka: Accessing Records "How to" Guides. For records specific to Suwałki gubernia, search by parish, or choose Lithuania (Litwa).

Indexed Roman Catholic Church Records through Metrikai
Metrikai is a Lithuanian site that indexes metrical records from throughout Lithuania. It's a newer website and is constantly being updated with new indexes and information, so check back often. The website is only available in Lithuanian; however, for non-Lithuanian speakers, you can use Google Translate to help you navigate the site.

Website Translation For help using the site, follow the instructions below.
 * If you use the Google Chrome browser, simply right click anywhere on the page and select the option Translate to English.
 * If you prefer to use another browser, just go to https://translate.google.com/, and change the language settings to translate from English to Russian. Copy and paste the URL of the website you want translated into the English box and click on the link that appears in the Russian box. This will take you to a translated version of the site.
 * In the upper right hand corner, above Powered by Google Translate, click on Select Language and find your language of choice.
 * 1) Go to https://www.metrikai.lt/index.php
 * 2) If needed, translate the website into English (or your preferred language) using the information above.
 * 3) Check to see if records for your parish location have been indexed by looking at the list of parishes on the left hand side (the black column with locations followed by RKB (Roman Catholic), and a number). The number following each parish name represents the number of records indexed from that location. If you do not see your parish in the list, check back in the future. If you do not know the name of the parish, you can search using just a surname in the search box on the main page.
 * 4) If your parish does appear in the list, click on it.
 * 5) In the search box that appears at the top of the page, type in the surname in the Keyword (Raktinis žodis) box. If desired, you can add additional search terms or filter by record type.
 * 6) Press enter or click Search (leškoti).
 * 7) Search results will appear in a columnar format. Keep in mind that Google Translate may not correctly translate all information. See the table below to help you navigate some of the common information that may appear in the columns.

Reading Records
Metrical books for Suwałki Gubernia may have been recorded in Russian, Latin, Polish, or German. More recent metrical records (not Suwałki Gubernia era) may be recorded in Lithuanian. Lithuanian did not serve as the official language of the country until Lithuania's independence 1918-1940, and more recently, 1991 to present day. Although most Vilna Gubernia records will not be in Lithuanian, many websites and repositories will use Lithuanian in their interface. Use the word list and Google Translate to help you navigate sites that might be in Lithuanian.

Use the resources below to help you read records. For free translation help, consider the FamilySearch Community - a place where you can get research and translation assistance (in many languages). Be sure to place your translation request in the Russian Empire Genealogy Research Group.

Russian

 * The Russian Alphabet "How To" Guide


 * Deciphering the Handwriting and Understanding the Grammar "How To" Guide
 * Russian Genealogical Word List
 * Reading Russian Documents FamilySearch Learning Center Course
 * Russian Alphabet, Language, and Handwriting FamilySearch Learning Center Course
 * Deciphering the Handwriting and Understanding the Grammar FamilySearch Learning Center Course

Latin

 * Latin Genealogical Word List
 * Latin Handwriting FamilySearch Learning Center Course
 * Latin for Genealogists FamilySearch Learning Center Course

Polish

 * Polish Genealogical Word List
 * Polish Paleography Seminar Handout

German

 * German Genealogical Word List
 * German Paleography Seminar FamilySearch Learning Center Course
 * Old German Script FamilySearch Learning Center Course

Lithuanian

 * Lithuanian Genealogical Word List

Additional Research Assistance
Need additional research assistance with metrical records? Get help through Virtual Genealogy Consultations, a free service provided by the Family History Library, or via the FamilySearch Community, an online research community hosted by FamilySearch.
 * To meet with a research specialist who can provide you with research assistance and next steps, schedule a free 20-minute consultation. To sign up for a consultation, see Virtual Genealogy Consultations.
 * To ask a question via the FamilySearch Community, an online forum where you can get free research assistance from the broader genealogical community, click here. Be sure to join the Russian Empire Genealogy Research Group!