Russia, Tatarstan Confession Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This is a collection of confession lists for those living within an Orthodox congregation in the Tatarstan Republic (subject of Russia) and will include records from 1775-1932. The lists are a census substitute and contain names of those in the congregation, their ages, and whether or not they attended confession. The lists may also include the names of children at least a year old, as well as their gender and ages.

Church confession lists were created and kept by priests to record the information related to their parishioner’s confessions. The form of confession lists was established in 1737. It includes the sequential number of the household, surname, given names of all children at least one year old, gender, ages, whether or not the person attended confession, and, if not, why the person did not attend (this is rarely noted).

Confessions were done during Lent, the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Children were taken to confession beginning in their seventh year. Russian Orthodox confession lists were sometimes interfiled with the church records of baptisms, marriages, or deaths.

Reading These Records
These records are in Russian. For help reading them see: FamilySearch Learning Center videos:
 * Russia Language and Languages
 * Russian Genealogical Word List
 * Russia Handwriting
 * 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: • 2

How Do I Search the 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
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900

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 Record Finder
 * Russia Research Tips and Strategies

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.

Rússia, Tatarstan, Listas de Confissão (Registros Históricos do FamilySearch) Россия, Тверские исповедные ведомости (FamilySearch Исторические Записи)