Russia, Tatarstan Church Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Records
Россия, Татарстанские церковные книги

Image Visibility
Whenever possible, FamilySearch makes images available for all users. However, ultimate rights to view images on our website are granted by the record custodians. The Russia, Samara Church Records collection is available only to  members of the supporting organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Record Description
This collection covers various church denominations and their records, such as baptisms/births, marriages, and burials/deaths for the area now belonging to Tatarstan. Places are identified by their historical name and jurisdiction when it was part of the Russian Empire. The collection includes records from 1721 to 1939. The text of the records is in Russian. Most churches priests created the records in registers that were kept at the local church archive, and a duplicate copy was sent, at a later time, to a higher level church archive for preservation.

Record Content
Burials/death records may include:


 * Place and date of burial
 * 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
For burial records, the information in records is usually reliable, but depends upon the knowledge of the informant.

Regarding marriage and burial records, name changes, shortened names, or nicknames may have been used by your ancestors, so pay attention to other relationships (parents, spouse, siblings, children, etc.) that can confirm whether you have the right person/record.

Search the Collection
To search by image: To search the collection images, ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate "Province" ⇒Select the appropriate "District" ⇒Select the appropriate "Place/Parish" ⇒Select the appropriate "Year/Vol/Event," which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image, comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

When searching: As you are searching, it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor's given name and surname, residence, age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Russian. For help reading the records, see the following wiki articles:


 * Russian Genealogical Word List
 * Russia Languages

Using the Information

 * 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 parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * The name of a marriage officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the province. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other provinces.
 * 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.
 * Use the marital status to identify previous marriages, that is, whether a divorce or death dissolved a previous marriage.
 * Witnesses often were relatives of the parents.

Tips to Keep in Mind
When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Related Websites

 * The Russian Orthodox Church
 * A History of the Orthodox Church: The Church of Russia (1448-1800)
 * Republic of Tatarstan – Religion

Related Wiki Articles

 * Russia Church Records
 * Russia, Tatarstan Confession Lists (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Russia

Citations for This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation:

Image Citation: