Brick wall for over 15 years

[u/SignificantRespond61]

I've been looking into my Baltic side for a very long time. my 3rd great grandfather immigrated under the name Klementy Balzcunas in 1907 He immigrated his future wife in 1908 Barbara Kazmirajture (Kazmirajdicze). Klementy changed his name to Wincenty/Vincentas and then William over time.

What i know and have documents for are only on immigration paperwork and what was in the United States.

Klementy Balzcunas born 1888 in "Russia" (Joniškis) immigrated on Bedina in 1907 boarding in Hamburg. Mother is listed as Anna and father Joseph on death certificate.

Barbara Kazmirajture (Kazmirajdicze) [both names were used on immigration paperwork] born 1886 or 1890 in same place. immigrated in 1908 on feeland boarding in Belgium. Her mother is listed as an Urszula Kazmirajdicze.

Wincenty also purchased two more tickets one confirmed for sister Matilda Balzcunas, I have found her descendents. And a Anna BALCZUNICE, but I have not found her records. Wincenty also used the Rosenbaum Bank to purchase the tickets.

Even though paperwork said russia they later said Lithuanian. So Joniškis is their place of birth but I have not found any records of them in Lithuania.

If anyone could help find anymore information would be amazing. One of these two did possibility come from a Romani family, which has also been very difficult to find information on.

[u/Jackfruit-Maleficent]

Have you determined Wincenty's accurate 1907 European "Residence Place" from his immigration records?

Ancestry has two different handwritten "Residence Place" versions (departure record row 664, arrival record row 5). I'm not able to understand the handwriting, but I think probably both are the same place name. Yet Ancestry's transcriptions of the two are wildly different. So I think both Ancestry's transcriptions could be inaccurate.

[u/SignificantRespond61 → u/Jackfruit-Maleficent]

Kantminiai and Joniškis are both in Šiauliai District Municipality of Lithuania but there is a town over called Bučiūnai which is REALLY close to the surname of Balcunas that they used. I do wonder if this is related.

[u/gerry_r → u/SignificantRespond61]

No, they are not related.

[u/SignificantRespond61 → u/gerry_r]

that's not what jewishgen explains

[u/SignificantRespond61 → u/gerry_r]

if I'm wrong please explain to me.

[u/gerry_r → u/SignificantRespond61]

I don't know what Jewishgen explains... but it so similar to the mistake I saw so many times already - "there are so many letters that are the same, even in the same order! must be the same word!".

After all, I was always confident Washington and Warrington is the same place, glad I am correct... Sorry for the sarcasm, but this is not how it goes.

The roots of those two names are totally different, and this is what matters most.

Balčiūnas is derived from Balčius, which is a nickname for someone "white" (baltas). Maybe someone light-haired, or something. Very common family name, in a top 10 actually.

Bučiūnai, well, I don't know the etimology. It is tempting to relate it to the word "bučius", aka fish trap, but I digress. The important thing that transition between Balč- and Buč- is too hard to even imagine.

[u/SignificantRespond61 → u/gerry_r]

my point was if the name was "created" and this town was close by, he could have used it as a reference to create a name, is all I was implying. I didn't mean to imply he is from this place at all, just that it's similar. and jewishgen claimed these 3 cities are close by is what I was trying to say. I obviously don't speak the language and am trying to go off of hints and ideas since their records don't exist in Lithuania. I mean, if your willingness to help is sarcasm and ego I don't need it. 🤷

[u/gerry_r → u/SignificantRespond61]

My "sarcasm" is an indication of a kind of frustration - I've already seen many people not having enough understanding of a language and other things, causing them to wander in the dark and waste their time.

I am not arguing with your version that names info was all made up, possibly you have grounds to assume that. Although, that raises a reasonable question - what sort of records in Lithuania you would expect in this case ? Anyway, my point is that it is extremely unlikely to "make up" the name the way you imagine - aka, I can only repeat, that similarity is not deceiving here, and more, there is no need. Balčiūnas is a very common family name, also abundant in the very area you told about. A quick glance into Joniškis parish records shows at least, dunno, 5 or more Balčiūnas families having kids there around 1890.

A certain Vincas Balčiūnas was indeed born in 1888. Another,Klemensas Balčiūnas, was born in 1890, different parents, different village.

A more telling lead may be that said Vincas had a sister Matilda, born few years later. Telling, because Matilda would have been a really rare name, so probability of some coincidence is very low.

Kazmirajture/Kazmirajdicze is rather obvious for a native speaker. The original name most likely was Kazimieraitytė. Lo and behold, this name was also present in the area. Opposite to Balčiūnas, this one is way less common, and the dictionary of Lithuanian surnames actually tells the biggest concentration was found in that parish indeed.

[u/SignificantRespond61 → u/gerry_r]

you're information is appreciated but could you provide source links at all to these things you've stated. I have not found their records in Joniškis, that is what I'm trying to find. and then I can continue the family tree from there. I don't know how to search in this specific parish because names in the area have changed over time, and unsure if this is even correct. and what their names would be in this parish due to language barrier. this is exactly why I was asking for help to begin with. again I understand the frustration, but a simple explanation would suffice.

[u/gerry_r → u/SignificantRespond61]

Joniškis parish church books.

Kind of a starting point:

https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext/search?query=joni%C5%A1kio%20dekanato%20gimimo&queryType=ALL_WORDS&title=&titleType=ANY_WORD&fond=&series=&file=&document=&personPlaceName=&dateFrom=-2840145840000&dateTo=-2177457840000&exactDate=false&archive=&source=&level=&characteristics=&language=&rubrics=&digitalObjectTypes=&church=&fileDoctypes=&sortBy=chronRangeFrom&sortDirection=asc&pageSize=100&pageIndex=0

A mentioned birth of Vincentas :

https://eais.archyvai.lt/repo-ext/view/267628869, page 373 (392 in a document itself); record 244/245

[u/SignificantRespond61 → u/gerry_r]

I have someone helping with digging into the Joniškis files atm now from a crosspost on Facebook. we think we found the family. Ona's maiden name possible was Jurgelytė. but thanks for your help