Russia, Tomsk, Church Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection contains records of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, and burials from metrical books kept by Orthodox churches in the Tomsk region of Russia.

Reading These Records
These records are written in Russian. For help reading them see:
 * Russia Language and Languages
 * Russian Genealogical Word List
 * Russia Handwriting
 * FamilySearch Learning Center videos:
 * Reading Russian Documents: The Russian Alphabet
 * Russian Alphabet, Language and Handwriting, part 1
 * Russian Alphabet, Language and Handwriting, part 2

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Baptism
 * Date and place of baptism
 * Name of principal (usually an infant)
 * Age or date of birth of principal
 * Names of parents and their residence
 * Names of godparents
 * Sometimes names of grandparents
 * Witnesses

Marriage
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Name, age and patronymic surname of groom
 * Religion of groom
 * Name, age and patronymic surname of bride
 * Religion of bride
 * Names and signature of witnesses
 * Name of person who performed ceremony

Death/burial
 * Name, age and gender of deceased
 * Date and place of death
 * Cause of death
 * Date and place of burial
 * Name of person who performed burial
 * Name of person who administered confession and communion

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person
 * Approximate date of the event

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * If available, check the image for additional information
 * Analyze the entry to see if it provides additional clues to find other records of the person or their family

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Try searching by surname only
 * The person may be recorded with an abbreviated or variant form of their name
 * Remember that spelling was generally not standardized until the early part of the 20th century

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in Russia.
 * Russia Research Tips and Strategies
 * Russia Record Finder

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.