Family history
Fred Radavich, 1883–1939
How Фаддей Родзевич of a village near Molodechno became Fred Radavich of Greenfield, Massachusetts, with a stop in Buenos Aires along the way.
For years, all the family knew was that my great-grandfather Fred came from "Vilna." His 1923 naturalization papers said Vilna, Poland, his 1921 declaration said Vil, Russia, and his death certificate just said Russia. Searches for Radzevich in the Belarusian church books came up empty.
The record turned up once I worked out why. The volunteer who indexed it had read the father's patronymic as his surname, so it was filed under "Nikolaev," not Radzevich.
Where he came from
Fred was born Фаддей (Faddei) on 10 June 1883 and baptized three days later. The family was Orthodox, in the Krasnoe (Krasnoselye) parish of the Molodechno deanery, Vileika district, Vilna gubernia. Today that area is in Belarus, between Minsk and Vilnius. Between the world wars it was Poland's Wilno Voivodeship, which explains the "Vilna, Poland" on his American papers.
His parents were Мартин Николаевич Родзевич (Martin Rodzevich) of the village of Mozolei and Елена Яковлевна Козел (Elena Kozel) of Ivantsevo. They married on 1 June 1875 at the Novo-Krasnoselye church, both twenty years old. Elena's sister Anna Kozel was Fred's godmother.
Martin and Elena had at least five sons:
| Name | Born |
|---|---|
| Иоанн (Ivan / John) | 23 Aug 1876 |
| Николай (Nikolai) | 5 Apr 1881 |
| Фаддей (Faddei / Fred) | 10 Jun 1883 |
| Сергий (Sergei) | 1 Oct 1885 |
| Александр (Alexander) | 14 Nov 1887 |
Going back further, Martin's father was Николай Иванович (Nikolai), and Nikolai's father was Иван Родзевич (Ivan). Ivan died on 15 November 1890 at about age 80, still a peasant of the same Krasnoselye parish. That puts his birth around 1810, so the family was in the same few villages for at least four generations.
The spelling moves between Родзевич and Радзевич (Rodzevich and Radzevich) from record to record. In America it became Radavich, and in Buenos Aires a clerk wrote Rodzewitch.
The long way to Greenfield
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct 1904 | Vileika district office issues Faddei a travel certificate "for Argentina" |
| Jul 1905 | Arrives New York from Antwerp on the Kroonland, headed for Greenfield, MA |
| 1910 | Greenfield, MA: married, boarding, working as a machinist |
| Sep 1918 | WWI draft card lists his wife as "Mrs. Annie Radavich, Vilna, Russia" |
| Jul 1920 | Russian consulate in New York issues him papers for Argentina |
| 4 Sep 1920 | Lands in Buenos Aires alone on the SS Vestris (recorded as "Rodzewitch, Frederick," miller) |
| 5 Jan 1921 | Arrives at Ellis Island from Buenos Aires on the SS Huron with Anna |
| Feb 1921 | Files declaration of intention to naturalize |
| Jul 1921 | Son Fred Jr. born in Greenfield |
| Oct 1923 | Son John born |
| Jul 1924 | Naturalization petition denied (he had claimed an alien exemption from the WWI draft) |
| Jun 1927 | Son Alex born |
| 16 Oct 1939 | Dies in Greenfield; buried at Green River Cemetery |
The Buenos Aires chapter is the part I find most remarkable. Fred and his wife Anna (Shupak / Shupska) spent most of the 1910s on different continents. She was still in Vilna in 1918, in the middle of the war and occupation. By 1920 she had somehow reached Argentina, and Fred sailed from New York to meet her there. When they arrived together at Ellis Island that January, she spoke Russian and Spanish and was six months pregnant.
Anna was born on 22 December 1882 in the town of Vileika. She outlived Fred by 35 years, never naturalized, and died in 1974 at age 91. She is buried next to him in Greenfield.
Still looking for
- Fred and Anna's marriage record (about 1903–04). The 1904 Molodechno marriage register on microfilm is missing exactly one stretch, entries 18–27. The original book is in the Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius.
- Anna's birth record (1882, Vileika). The volume for those years is also held in Vilnius and was never filmed.
- Martin's birth (about 1855) and Ivan's (about 1810). These are on restricted films that can only be viewed at a FamilySearch center.
- How Anna got from Vilna to Buenos Aires. Her arrival in Argentina hasn't been digitized yet.
If you're descended from any of the Rodzevich/Radzevich families of the Krasnoe or Molodechno parishes, or from Shupaks of Vileika, I'd love to hear from you.
Sources include Orthodox metrical books of the Molodechno and Vileika deaneries (National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno, via FamilySearch), U.S. federal censuses for 1910–1950, WWI and WWII draft registrations, Ellis Island manifests, Franklin County naturalization records, Massachusetts vital records, the Argentine national archive's immigrant database, and Anna's 1974 obituaries. Only people who have died appear on this page.