Russia, Samara Church Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Records
Россия, Самарская Православная Консистория Дубликаты Метрических Книг, 1869-1917

Collection Time Period
This collection of church records covers the years 1869-1917

Record Description
These are records of births and baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials from the Orthodox Church in the Samara Province. Register transcripts usually contain multiple parishes for a year, with separate sections for the baptisms, marriages, and burials of a single parish. The volumes cover a district (uezd) and often are very large. Original registers may contain multiple years for a single parish.

Record Content
The key genealogical facts found on most baptism records include:


 * Date and place of baptism [[Image:Russia Samara Orthodox Church Records (10-0154) Birth DGS 4567484 128.jpg|thumb|right]]
 * 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

The key genealogical facts found on most marriage records include:




 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names of bride and groom
 * Ages of bride and groom
 * Names of parents
 * Residence of all involved
 * Witnesses

The key genealogical facts found on most death or burials records include:


 * Place and date of burial [[Image:Russia Samara Orthodox Church Records (10-0154) Death DGS 4567484 180.jpg|thumb|right]]
 * Names of the deceased
 * Place and date of death
 * Age of the deceased
 * Cause of death
 * Residence
 * Sometimes parents may be listed

How to Use the Record
Begin your search by finding your ancestors in indexes; this will help access a specific record quickly. Remember that these indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned. When searching the index it is helpful to know the following:


 * The county where the birth/baptism, marriage, or death occurred.
 * The name of the person at the time of the event.
 * The approximate event date.
 * The event place.

Use the locator information found in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestors in the records. Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family.

For example:


 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as military records.
 * Use the parent’s birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties.
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom, this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Keep in mind:


 * The information in marriage records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1900.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one marriage record to another record.

If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, try the following:


 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Search for the marriage record of the marriage partner if known.
 * Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Record History
The Church acted as both a religious and civil agent in recording vital events and church sacraments such as baptism and burial. Peter the Great mandated the keeping of Russian Orthodox books in 1722. The format was standardized in 1724. Printed forms were introduced in 1806. In 1838 a format was introduced that prevailed until the 1930s. The priests made a transcript for the ecclesiastical court (dukhovnaia konsistoriia) having jurisdiction over the parish. This is usually the version that has been preserved. The register covers 70% of the population for early periods, 90% after 1800. The registers are in Russian.

Why This Collection Was Created
Church registers were created and kept by priests to record the baptisms, marriages, and burials performed for their parishioners.

Record Reliability
These were considered an official record and are normally very reliable. Earlier registers may not be equally reliable. In 1825 the Holy Synod, governmental body over the Orthodox Church, ordered bishops to eradicate bribery of priests to falsify the books, suggesting that this problem existed.

Related Websites

 * The Russian Orthodox Church
 * Orthodox Christian Information Center

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Related Wiki Articles
Russia Church Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections

Please add sample citations to this article following the format guidelines in the wiki article listed above. Examples of citations:


 * United States. Bureau of the Census. 12th census, 1900, digital images, From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: September 29, 2006), Arizona Territory, Maricopa, Township 1, East Gila, Salt River Base and Meridian; sheet 9B, line 71
 * Mexico, Distrito Federal, Catholic Church Records, 1886-1933, digital images, from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: April 22, 2010), Baptism of Adolfo Fernandez Jimenez, 1 Feb. 1910, San Pedro Apóstol, Cuahimalpa, Distrito Federal, Mexico, film number 0227023

Sources of This Collection
“Russia, Samara Church Books 1869-1867”,images, FamilySearch Historical Records, 2010; from Russian Society of Historians and Archivists. “Russia Samara church books”. State Archive in Samara, Russia. FHL microfilms. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

The format for citing FamilySearch Historical Collections, including how to cite individual archives is found in the following link: How to Create Source Citations for FamilySearch Historical Records Collections

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