Hello, I am looking for my great grandparents, Jonas Teiberis and Isabel Kazlauskiute. I believe my great grandfather was from Vilnius but unsure about my great grandmother. They both settled in Grand Rapids, MI. in the early 1900s. Current spelling is Taber.

Also, I believe that I have found the ship documents regarding when Jonas came over. I found two coming into St Albans, VT from Canada and one on a German ship. There is a possibility they are not his as his census records are conflicted about when he emigrated (either 1890 or 1902). His parents were possibly named George Teiberis and Mary Gerlites (my great aunt wrote these down on a piece of paper but she has since passed).

I have not found any records regarding my great grandmother other than listed on the census and city directory pages along with Jonas (John). We also have some family papers that show the baptism dates of their children and there are multiple spellings for her first and last name. The spelling I used above is the one used most often but in another handwritten note from a great aunt, she spelled the last name the same as Isabel's father: Peter Kozlouskas. I have her mother's name as Anne Shatutuis. According to census records, Isabel came over in 1906. Both she and Jonas were naturalized in 1914 (according to census data) but have been unable to locate the paperwork.

Any help on trying to find out where they came from in Lithuania, how to locate possible passage (particularly for Isabel), naturalization papers, spelling variations, etc would be appreciated.

Hi Jennifer,

I'm not very familiar with this site, but the link was sent to me by a cousin on my Lithuanian side who has done a lot of research about our family:

http://www.lithuaniangenealogy.org/databases/surnames/index....

Perhaps you'll find some resources there. Good luck.

Thank you. I already had a hit from this site for the church my family has attended since my ggrandfather came over.
http://www.lithuaniangenealogy.org/databases/mi/1929/index.h...


I did not see any submission of my family name when I clicked off of the main site url you provided but I will not be deterred. Not sure how often that website is updated but maybe I can join the membership for a year and see if that will get me further in my search.


Appreciate your response. :)

There is a Jonas Teiberis from "Wilna" (Vilnius) on the Hamburg Passenger Lists, departing Hamburg on 13 Dec. 1902, bound for NY aboard the Belgravia (line 25). His destination was Brooklyn.
http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=...

In searching the arrival records for this ship (30 Dec. 1902), there are several Jonases but the Jonas above seems to match with line 25, indexed as "Jonos Terbstis" with nationality Russian but to me, looks like Jonas Teibatis. Passenger list shows he is from Wilna, Lithuania. His destination is a brother, "Kasis Teibeis" in Brooklyn. http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=...

Try wildcards in Ancestry, or enter just the first 3 or 4 letters of the first and last names (KAZ, KOZ, KAUS, etc.)and you can pull up additional possibilities.

Do either Jonas or Isabel have obits that may have named siblings who were already here?

I had found the Hamburg list but not the NY passenger so thank you for that. Very helpful.

When you say wildcard, what does that mean?

I will definitely try the first 3 or 4 letters trick, never thought of that.

I have yet to find any obits for Jonas or Isabel. The family didn't have a lot of money so not sure if that would make a difference. I will keep looking though. That NY passenger list is the first I have seen perhaps a brother. I know my ggrandfather had a sister come over as well but she ended up going back and the suspicion is that she might not have made it through the Russian purge.

I think that I found the brother on the ellisisland.org site.

Name is Kasimir Tebesies, age 33, married, arrived Mar 17, 1893, from Suwalki, ship oldenburg. destination Brooklyn NY. Doesn't appear to have any other family travelling with him.

Wild cards are symbols which are used in place of other letters. This can help when you don't know how the name was spelled on the record. Ancestry lets you use * and ? as wild cards. See here for how to use them (or go to the Learning Center tab, search for FAQs, and type in "wild card"):
http://ancestry.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ancestry.cfg/php/enduse...

Oh that is helpful, thank you. :)