Golovaty or Holyk in Myshkiv, Bilche-Zolote

[Kiwibird]

My grandmother's family emigrated from Myshkiv, Bilche-Zolote to Winnipeg, Manitoba around WWI. Her parents anglicized names were Irene Golovaty and Dmytro Holyk, and their children at the time were James, born Sept 15, 1902, Peter, Tillie, Mary and Pearl. I realize that those names are probably anglicized as well, but I was hoping someone might be able to help me track down any possible relatives still living either in Myshkiv or the surrounding area. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Jiggy]

Kiwibird,

I am not an expert on geography of Ukraine or town names but I think Myshiv and Bilche-Zolote are two different places? I only suspect this becasue my one grandmother's family came from Bilche-Zolote and I have traced that leg of the family tree for that particular village. I had the help of a researcher from Ukaine and he also posts on this forum. He is Ihor Voronchak and he maybe able to assist you. I used him twice for two different searches and he actually found living relatives for me in one of the villages! HIs rates are reasonable and he came higly recommned from a few different people. His email is: voronchak@ukr.net He will gladly answer some questions for you first before you decide to hire him or not. You will need to confirm exactly where your family was from. Do you have any documentation? Ships manifests can often tell you what village they came from. Have you looked for homestead records? Census? That could also give you various spellings of your last name which could be helpful.

Off hand I can tell you the most likely ukrainian names of some of your family. Irene - Irina or rina, Dmytro - same, Tillie - Teckla, Peter - Petro, Mary - Marusia, Pearl may have been changed from Paraskevia (also Parania, or Paraska or Pasha). Not entirely sure on Pearl but I have seen the name Pearl changed from Paraska before).

Are you in Canada? Not sure on other countries but you can search Ancestry.com for free at your local library. Census can be searched on-line from home as well as located homestead files (you wont' see the actual homestead record on-line but can search the name (be open to various spellings) and then order a copy if you find something). Be flexible with names. I found my CHWYL name listed very differently and actually found it by comparing legal description from Census records to homestead records. The "clerk" filling in paper work really mixed up the name but the signature clearly had our name on it.

Good luck,

Sandra

[Kiwibird]

Sandra,
Pretty much I'm currently working with two primary documents.

-My great uncle, John's naturalization papers, which list him as being born on September 15, 1902 in Mishkiw, Bilcze Zlote, Poland.

-My grandmother's baptism certificate, listing her parents as Irene Golowaty and Dymtro Holyk

In regards to my great uncle, I gather it is rather likely that his birth name was not John, but rather an anglicized variation given to him by immigration officials. His date of birth is also semi-fictitious. He was "about eight" on landing in Canada and the immigration officials were similarly creative with his DOB. This would also place my great-grandparent's emigration to Canada being approximately 1910.

Since Mishkiw was a dead end, I decided to do a search of Bilcze Zlote, and found alternate spellings of said village, namely the Ukrainian spelling of Bil'che-Zolote. As Mishkiw had been under various rule over the past millennium, and upon reviewing my great-uncle's stated place of birth, it named it as being part of Poland, whereas that is very much not the case anymore. Going with the Ukrainian Bil'che-Zolote as a starting point, I managed not only to find said village but a Google Ukraine satellite view that encompasses not only that village, but a neighboring village with the name of Myshkiv. The slight differentiation in spelling can be rather easily attributed to the fact that there is no letter "v" in the Polish language, plus the rather tricky nature of Cyrillic transliteration. With that in mind, I figured my grandmother's maiden name to originally being the Ukrainian Golovaty.

I am not in Canada, but my mother's family is. I will probably be attempting a search on Ancestry.com from home if not available at my public library to see what I can come up with from there, as well as looking into the other resources you mentioned. If there is anything else you might be able to suggest, I would greatly appreciate it, but regardless, you have been really helpful with all of this.

Thanks,
Dana

[Jiggy]

Sounds then like you have found the right village! Your great uncle would have been Iwan (Ivan) and his baptismal name most like Joanne. Ihor is from the same district as Bilche Zolte (whatever the spelling is). You may want to ask him to do your family tree for you. I have been able to research the church records for other villages through the LDS (Latter Day Saints) but not that particular village. Ihor has "special" access to the local district offices. Ihor sends you a written report and also a CD/DVD of photo's of the church records for the pages with your family info. Both your family names seem familiar so I will check my church documents I have and see if I find those names. I don't have copies of the all documents but Ihor did photograph the whole page where ever my family names appeared. You may have to do the research first before relatives could be found. The relative Ihor found no longer had my family name as it was his grandmother who was a sister to my grandfather. He could not have found this relative without first doing a family tree as we did not know who his grandmother had married untilt he research was done.

Family names I have (and still) researching from the same village are Iwaschuk (Iwaszczuk), Prytula, and Kubyszyn. Give me a few days to look over the church documents I do have and see if I see any of your family names.

Sandra

[Voronchak]

Dear Kiwibirt and Sandra!
Family Holyk and Gulovaty really lived in the village Myshkiv Zalishchyky District Ternopil region.
Bilche-Zolote - nearby village, but is already in Borschiv district.

In the metric book marriage village Myshkiv found:
November 14, 1897 married Demetrius Holyk (son of Simeon and Xenia Nykolyszyn) - 25 years with Iryna Gulowata (daughter of Basilius and Xenia Dzus) - 17 years.
Holyk family lived in the house number 13, and family Gulovata in house number 192.

There are many other additional information. Metric books Myshkiv stored in the Zalishchyky Registry Office.
If you need additional information please contact by e-mail: voronchak@ukr.net

Sincerely,
Ihor Voronchak

[Jiggy]

Nice to see you Ihor and thanks for your help!

Kiwibird, looks like Ihor has found the right info for you. Good luck with the rest of your research.

Sandra

[sylvie]

Appears as though there still is/was a Dzhus/Dzus Maria, born 1914, in Myshkiv.
ДЖУС МАРІЯ КАРОЛОВНА 0 1914-07-07 МИШКІВ

There are still a few Nykolyshyn/Mykolyshyn individuals living in Myshkiv. The oldest one is Mykhailo, son of Il'ich, born 1926.
НИКОЛИШИН МИХАИЛО ІЛЬИЧ 0 1926-04-16 МИШКІВ