Baltic Genealogical Profile: Difference between revisions

== Source Description ==

''Metrical books'' begin in early 1700s. When the Baltics became independent in the 1920s they each continued the system of clergy registering births, marriages and deaths. The original was kept locally and the transcript sent to the civil registrar office. Lutheran records (Estonia and Latvia) are normally in German, Catholic records (Lithuania) in Latin or the native language. In 1892 the state required they be kept in Russian. Orthodox records (Estonia and Latvia)  are in Russian. Jewish records are in Hebrew and Russian. Each country established the native tongue as the language of the registers in the 1920s. In 1940 the Soviet Union absorbed the Baltics and replaced ecclesiastical registration with civil registration. The records are in the native language and Russian. Divorces are also recorded. Civil registers are located in civil registration and not state archives.  

''Revision lists (Seelenlisten)'' were kept in the Baltics from 1795-1858 to support a national poll tax. Peter I originated the poll tax throughout imperial Russia in 1719. The first revision in Estonia was 1782 and elsewhere in the Baltics was 1795. They list individuals with their name, age and relationship to head of household. The last three revisions noted changes in families during the interim between revisions. Because the tax was imposed on male persons of the lower classes, nobility, clergy, officialdom, army, and higher strata of urban population were absent from the lists-about 5-10 % in the 19th century. Separate volumes were kept by social class: merchant (kuptsy), town dweller (meshchane), peasant (krest'iane), and others, so may be more than a single volume to check.  

''1897 census'' was the only universal census in tsarist Russia. It was conducted on January 28, in the middle of the winter because when the populace was least mobile. Census lists name, sex, relationship, age, marital status, social class, birthplace, registration place, residence, religion, native tongue, literacy, occupation, and military status. Provincial copies of the census exists partially for Estonia and Latvia, very little for Lithuania.  

''Conscription lists'', 1874-1918 census substitute, of those entering military service or being drafted began earlier than 1874, but, as of that year, all 21 year-old males were subject to military service. Conscription occurred each year in October. Initially, the term of service was 6 years active and 9 years reserve. The length of active duty was reduced to 5 years in 1876 and then varied between 3-5 years thereafter. Deferments were granted for only sons, sole breadwinners, etc. Over 50 percent of the draftees were not inducted.  

''Nobility/genealogy collections'', six collections in Estonia pertaining to the nobility of Estonia, the nobility of Ingermanland, the nobility of Oesel, the general population, the Estonian Bureau of Genealogical Research, and the Dorpat Genealogical Society; three collections in Latvia pertaining to descendants of the Teutonic Knights, the nobility, and the general population; and two collections in Lithuania pertaining to: Vilnius Province, and Kaunas Province.  

''Personal registers'', 1926-1940 (Estonia, Latvia), provide alphabetical access to individual information for this period. Located in local civil registry offices.  

''Local censuses'', 1860-1917 (Estonia only).  

''Resident books'' (Estonia, Latvia), pertain to capital cities only in the late imperial period and period of independence between the wars. Names and ages with inclusive dates of residence.