Kotchan Family

[grammatj8]

My grandfather George Kotchan and his brother Johan Kotchan came to Canada in June 1909. They resided in Fort William Ontario. Johan Kotchan later went back to Davidestic P.O. Stauczon, Bokivina in 1921 and brought back his wife Isteria. I don't know when my grandfather got his wife. Her name was Mary Medwed
I have pictures, of my Grandparents and his brother Johan and his wife with children. There is another couple in the picture, and I am thinking they could be a sibling of George and Johan. I am wonderin if anyone can help me find out if there are siblings to this family. George and Johan's Dad's name was Peter.

Any help would be appreiciatd. Johan was born in1 May 1885 and George was born Februry 1888.

[Hannia]

Today selo/village Davydivtsi (Давидівці ) and Stavchany (Ставчани) still share the same post ofc. Current zip code is 59309. They are in the Kitsman raion/district of the Chernivtsi oblast/region. This general area is still frequently referred to as the Historical Northern Bukovina .

There should be LDS films available, enabling you to ascertain siblings and dates. I am assuming that the Kochan brother s were Christian Orthodox.

Title
Metrical books, 1840-1909

Authors
Orthodox Church. Dawidestie (Bukowina) (Main Author)

Notes
Microreproduction of originals at the Chernivtsi State Archive.
Civil transcripts of Orthodox Church records (births, deaths) for Dawidestie, Bukowina, Austria; later Davideşti, Cernăuţi, Romania; now , Davydivt︠s︡i, Kit︠s︡man′, Chernivt︠s︡i, Ukraine. Headings in German and Romanian, text in Romanian written with old Cyrillic script before 1874, changed to Roman script sometime in the following decade.
Chernivtsi State Archive: Fond 1245, opis 1, no. 385-386, opis 2, no. 17.

Subjects
Austria, Bukowina, Dawidestie - Church records
Romania, Cernăuţi, Davideşti - Church records
Україна, Чернівці, Кіцмань, Давидівці - Метричні книги
Ukraine, Chernivt︠s︡i, Kit︠s︡man′, Davydivt︠s︡i - Church records

Format
Manuscript (On Film)

Language
Romanian
German
Russian

Publication
Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 2002-2003

Physical
on 3 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.

Film Notes
Note - Location [Film]
Volume 1245-1/385 Births 1840-1889 - VAULT INTL Film [ 2349404 Item 2 ]
Volume 1245-1/386 Deaths 1841-1882 - VAULT INTL Film [ 2349404 Item 3 ]
Volume 1245-1/386 (cont.) Deaths 1882-1905 - VAULT INTL Film [ 2349405 Item 1 ]
Volume 1245-2/17 Births 1890-1909 - VAULT INTL Film [ 2362993 Item 2 ]

[grammatj8]

If I can't find them on the LDS website, would they still be available if I went to a LDS centre. I'm not quite sure everything you are telling me, but I assume if I take your info to the centre they should be able to help me. Am I correct. Or can I maybe hope that someone will look at the archives for me.
Thanks for your help. It is very informative.

[Hannia]

These films are not available online.

First check w/your local public library and ask them if you can rent LDS Films thru them.

I am assuming that you are somewhere in Ontario? Someone at one of these orgs may have already researched the village?

TUGG Homepage

Ukrainian Genealogy Group - National Capital Region

If not, locate your nearest, most convenient family center on following site. Call them and order the films. Cost is nominal. It may take a little time to get the films to the center you would like to use. If you decide you would like to have LDS do the research for you, they will refer you to someone who may charge you $500+ USD. You are much better off trying your own hand at the research. You will also have a greater sense of satisfaction as well.

Bare in mind that the records are in Romanian and Russian. Romanian and German utilize the Latin alphabet, and you shouldn't have too much trouble spotting your surname . The older records are in Old Church Slovanic, so make sure you have Kochan (Кочан) written out using Cyrillic. Bring a notebook, lots of pens and a magnifying glass.

FamilySearch.org - Family History Centers

HOW-TO research and what to expect. Although this site has a Galician orientation, the tutorials are applicable to your research as well.
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We have several members here, who are descendants of emigrants from Bukowina (Land of Beech Trees). They will probably have some additional ideas/advice for you as well

[grammatj8]

Thanks a million Hanna for all the advice. It is appreciated.

[grammatj8]

Hanna, I have been investigating the town. And there are 2 Stavchane, and Stavchany in the Ukraine, roughly 100 miles apart. Stavchane is close to Davideshte, within 1 mile. There isn't a Davydivtsi near Stavchany. Do you think it could be Stavchane and not Stavchany. Just asking. Thanks for any info.

[Hannia]

Today selo/village Davydivtsi (Давидівці in Ukrainian) and Stavchany (Ставчани in Ukrainian) still share the same post ofc. Current zip code is 59309. This is in the Kitsman raion/district of Chernivtsi oblast/region !!!!

Selo Stavchany (Kitsman raion) is exactly 2.8 miles NNW of selo Davydivtsi.

There are actually four same name villages Stavchany/Stavchane in Ukraine. One is in Lvivska oblast, rite outside of Lviv. Another is in Khmelnytska oblast, rite outside of Kamenets-Podilskij. Just found another one in Khotin district of Chernivtsi. The coordinates for the Stavchany/Stavchane sharing the post ofc w/your ancestral village in Kitsman district of Chernivtsi region are 48.31-25.40.

Following link allows for a 10-30 miles radius search. I like using Mapquest (M) on this site. Submit your ancestral village + click Ukraine into search. Once you access info, at end of line notice dot and click that. That will give you a 10 mile radius for Davydivtsi. Can be obtained in miles or kilometers.
JewishGen ShtetlSeeker – Town Search

Advice > Remember to stay very flexible re/spellings of names and place names. The only correct spelling is in the language of origin in its original language. Everything else is a transliteration variant. Ukrainian is a fairly phonetic language. What you hear is what you write, yet transliteration is contingent on the hearing of the person doing the transliteration (sounds like). For example the Ukrainian sound ВИЧ can be wicz/wycz/wich/vich/vych in English. Although there are/were rules of transliteration for varous languages, hardly anyone pays/paid strict attention to those. STAY FLEXIBLE and when in doubt always try pronouncing the word out loud.