Russia, Simbirsk, Church Books - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection contains images of births, baptisms, marriages, divorces, deaths, and burials in the province of Simbirsk (modern day Ulyanovsk). These records were acquired from the Ulyanovsk regional archive. These records are written in Russian. A common idea in the West is that metrical books (Russian parish registers) were destroyed by the Soviet regime in its campaign against religion. On the contrary, Soviet archives preserved them. Cut off by political circumstance, or unresponsive to genealogical inquires, these sources remained untouched for most of the twentieth century. In 1924 the Simbirsk Governorate (Russian: Симбирская губерния, Simbirskaya guberniya) was renamed Ulyanovsk.

For a list of records by localities, document type and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browselink from the collection landing page.

Reading These Records
These records are 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

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

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

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

Death
 * Date and place of burial
 * Name of the deceased
 * Date and place of death
 * Age of deceased
 * Cause of death
 * Residence
 * Sometimes, parents' names may be given

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?

 * The person may be recorded with an abbreviated or variant form of their name
 * Try searching by surname only
 * 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.

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