Steve's History Website
my family's journey through time
Shugaevsky Family
Part 1 (Long Ago)
The Name (Shugaevsky, Shugayevsky, Shuhayevsky, etc. etc.
Click on images to enlarge.
Shugaevsky (Шугаевский) is not a common name. It may originally be Polish (Ukraine was once part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) but I’ll set that issue aside for now. In this section I share what I know about Vasily, the father of Stefan (my grandfather’s grandfather). I have been using my Mom's spelling for the last name which gives the Russian pronunciation. The last spelling my grandfather used was Shuhayevsky.
Vasily Yermolaevich, born 1773
I was very excited to find records for my great, great, great, grandfather. This is because:
1) He was an Orthodox priest
2) Orthodox priests can marry (so he could have legitimate children)
3),The church kept records
4) Somehow these particular records weren't destroyed by the communists
5) Someone in Russia (or the Ukraine) put the records on the internet
6) I am very, very persistent (OK, obsessive) and I was able to find them
Vasily Yermolaevich Shugaevsky was a priest in the tiny village of Krasnovichi, which was exceeding difficult to find on Google Maps. I tried looking for the town using various spellings, both whole and truncated, in English and Russian, with no success. Then in another attempt using truncated names I finally found the town – spelled “Krasnovichi” – the spelling I used for my original search. This, unfortunately, is common, not just for Google Maps, but for any search on the internet.
I have found at least three references for Vasily on the internet. Since Russians and Ukrainians use a patronymic for the middle name, we know that his father’s name was Yermolai. In the following record we learn that Vasily was a priest at St Nicholas Church for at least five years. This was after the reign of Catherine the Great who expropriated church property to pay for her wars, so the Russian Orthodox Church was no longer as wealthy as it had been previously.
Nicholas Church
1773 - priest Ivan Prokopovich
1811-1816 - priest Vasily Yermolaevich Shugaevsky
1882 - Priest Grigory Semenovich Pokrovsky
1882 - Ivan Vasilyevich Pavlovsky, acting psalmman
This map is from 2020. Krasnovichi (larger red marker) is now in Russia. The cities of Kiev and Chernigov are marked by red dots.
I thought there was nothing more to be found about Vasily Yermolaevich on the internet, but I lost the web URL for the above record. I tried to find the above reference by searching for Vasily’s name in quotation marks. There were absolutely no results. I have learned that quotation marks are often not helpful in these types of searches so I took away the quotation marks and found information that previous (and identical) searches had missed. The translation below was made using Google Translate. My mom helped with some corrections but has trouble understanding the old church language and terms. I am including the original.
What incredible luck! The document lists ages for Vasily, and his wife and children.
Village of Krasnovichi , Church of St. Nicholas
priest Vasily Yermolaevich Shugaevsky, 43
his wife Anna Grigorievna, 40
their children:
- Trofim, 8
- Stefan, 6
- Elena, 18
- Evdokia, 9
- Efrosinia, 2
elementary sexton Ivan Vasiliev Shugaevsky, 18
studies in Chernigov seminar according to the special authorities,
by decree the sexton Fedor Semenov Rajevsky, 53, was appointed to this church after an audit from the peasants of the village of Mironovka by his landowner Count Illya Vasilyevich Zavadovsky of 1812, his children did not observe the post :
- Fedor - is studying at the Chernigov seminary
- Ivan 13
- Basil - 12
a junior priest Gregory Osipov Verbitsky, 72 dismissed from his position, was put on subsistence in his old age and poor health in 1800
с. Красновичи
Церковь Николаевская одноприходная
священник Василий Ермолаев Шугаевский, 43
жена его Анна Григорьева, 40
дети их:
- Трофим, 8
- Стефан, 6
- Елена, 18
- Евдокия, 9
- Евфросиния, 2
стихарный дьячок Иоанн Васильев Шугаевский, 18
обучается в Черниговской семинарии по особенному начальства указу
пономарь Фёдор Семёнов Раевский, 53
определён к сей церкви после ревизии из крестьян села Мироновки по отпускной помещика его графа Ильи Васильевича Завадовского 1812 года
должности не наблюдает
дети его:
- Фёдор - обучается в Черниговской семинарии
- Иван, 13
- Василий - 12
заштатный священник Григорий Осипов Вербицкий, 72 , уволен от должности поставлен на пропитание по старости лет и слабости здоровья 1800 г.
From other sources we know that Stefan was born in 1810, so this record is from ca.1816. Vasily’s year of birth would be ca. 1773, and his wife’s year of birth would be ca. 1776. I was especially happy to find this record because information about wives and daughters is rare. Notice that the sons are listed before the daughters. Below is a record from five years earlier that only lists Vasily and his two sons.
village of Krasnovichi
Church of St. Nicholas
Priest Vasily Yermolaev Shugaevsky, 38 years old, ordained from p. Molodkova priestly son to this church in 1800.
His children are:
- Trofim - 3
- Stephen - 1
sycophantic (sexton?) Ivan Vasilyev Shugaevsky, 13 years old, identified by a designated priest son to this church in 1810,
с. Красновичи
Церковь Святителя Христова Николая одноприходная
священник Василий Ермолаев Шугаевский, 38 лет, рукоположен из с. Молодкова священнический сын к сей церкви 1800 г.
дети его:
- Трофим - 3
- Стефан - 1
стихарный дьячок Иван Васильев Шугаевский, 13 лет, определен означенного священника сын к сей церкви 1810 г., обучается в семинарии Черниговской
Both records include an Ivan Vasilyev Shugaevsky but his father might be a different Vasily since he isn’t listed with the children. I have no evidence that Ivan was closely related.
Krasnovichi (where Vasily was a priest)
As I mentioned above, it was hard to find the village of Krasnovichi (Krasnovichi, Bryansk Oblast, Russia, 243321). It is no longer in Chernihiv Province or even in Ukraine. It is about 250 km north of the city of Chernihiv where my grandfather Valentin grew up.
Recent view of Krasnovichi from Google Maps
The new church in Krasnovichi (foundation consecrated in 2013). In an article about the new church I found a reference to the older wooden church of St. Nicholas where Vasily was a priest. The village didn’t have a church for over 80 years. From 1927–1932 almost all wooden churches in Ukraine (and I assume elsewhere in the Soviet Union) were destroyed.