Perskie-Rovine-http://l.b5z.net/i/t/w/imgBlank.gifJacobs-Kurtz Family Tree

The Beginning

"I saw behind me those who had gone, and before me those who are to come. I looked back and saw my father, and his father, and all our fathers, and in front to see my son, and his son, and the sons upon sons beyond. And their eyes were my eyes." Richard Llewellyn

My name is Jana Lynne Perskie, older daughter of Erwin "Buddie" Perskie,* and Sylvia M. Ginzberg. From early childhood until his death, my father regaled me with tales of our family, past and present. He was a natural born storyteller and frequently discussed our relatives and our family's unusual history with me and my sister, Merle. His repertoire was large, an extensive oral and genealogical history, and he repeated his stories and family lore often enough that I learned, almost by heart, many of the names, dates, places, and biographical information of our forefathers and contemporary family members. He also documented all that was told to him and all he remembered.

Dad was the youngest of thirteen children whose ages span the years from 1891 to 1914. Because of my father's age, relative to those of his siblings, I was doubtful as to how he remembered the people and events that occurred way before his birth.

Was this information accurate? In genealogy, source material is all important! He responded to my queries saying that, "My father told me. My siblings told me. They kept records and photographs." Dad was adamant that if we didn't carry these stories to the next generations, we would lose our history, our roots. He often quoted: "A Family Tree can wither if nobody tends its roots."

My father tended them well, as did his father before him, and my grandfather's father before him....going all the way back to Russia, 1820....and further still.

Dad died on August 16, 1998, at the age of 84. He spent the last two years of his life learning to use the computer, conducting Perskie genealogical research in the library, writing down everything pertinent he discovered there, as well as all he could remember of our Perskie family heritage.

I promised that I would publish his writings someday, and so I took on the job of tending our roots and growing the tree. I only hope I am as able as our forefathers in making it bloom.

I began to research and document family data on Ancestry.com in 2000. I contacted almost every surviving member of the five branches of our extensive family that I could locate, (the oldest was born in 1922), and conducted lengthy telephone interviews with them. Many of my cousins and their parents, now deceased, also kept records, old documents, i.e., my great grandfather's Last Will and Testament with references to his place of birth in Volozhin, (then located in Russia); a telegram from President Franklin D. Roosevelt expressing sorrow at my grandfather's passing, (my grandfather, Jacob H. Perskie, was the President's personal portrait painter, photographer and friend); many photographs, (some taken in the late 1880s), and other memorabilia. The samovar my great grandmother, Minnie, brought over to America from Russia, has survived the centuries and is now in the possession of my cousin Judith Bloch Saravis.

The purpose of this Website is to preserve our family heritage and to share genealogical research. It is not intended for commercial use.

The information posted on this site is collected from many sources, including various genealogy Websites, family data, cemetery markers, and other records. Most of the information is proven or known.

This project has truly enriched our family's lives, as we have met many wonderful new relatives and have renewed acquaintances with others. I created this site for family members worldwide to celebrate and share our heritage together, and hopefully, to make new connections.

Many thanks to our family, the Perskies, Rovines, Jacobs , Kurtzes, and Abramowitzes, (my paternal grandmother's family), and to friends who have contributed research, personal memories, photographs, and other memorabilia. Special thanks to David Perskie, and the late Lawrence M. Perskie, for the initial genealogical research they conducted. Their assistance has been invaluable. I also want to thank my dear cousin Deirdre Bloch Barlaz, who has taught me so much about editing photos using Photoshop Elements, and who has assisted me in making old, torn, and faded photos from the past look like new.

*Note: The English spelling of the surname name can be either Persky, Perski or Perskie. The name was not meant to be spelled in English, but in Hebrew, Yiddish, or Cyrillic. US officials spelled the names of newly arrived immigrants phonetically. Traditionally, Jews were known by Hebrew patronymic names, ben or bat with the father's name following, as is still the custom today in religious life. In Central and Eastern Europe, Jewish surnames did not become common until much later, circa 1800, and in a good number of cases were imposed by the non-Jewish authorities.