Breaking News-- Morits Guins Baptism

Important Ancestral Documents Discovered

We have always known that Morits Gins, our earliest common ancestor, converted to Christianity in 1842, but now we have a copy of the original baptismal record. Morits Gins, born 1827 in Kalisz, Poland, made a momentous decision that changed the course of his life when he was just 15 years old. Following in his older brother, Alexander’s, footsteps, Morits moved to Warsaw by, or before, 1842. Alexander, born in 1821, worked as a publisher and his younger brother Morits entered the printing profession as a typographer-in-training. While living in Warsaw, Alexander Gins chose to be christened in the Evangelical-Reformed (Protestant) faith on 10 Nov. 1839. Boris Dralyuk, our multilingual researcher/translator, found information about Alexander’s baptism, and that of Morits and a third brother, Bernhard, in Teodor Jeske-Choiński's (1854-1920) Neofici polscy, a volume that noted the names of people from Poland’s Jewish population who converted to Christianity along with the dates and places of their conversion.

What we hadn’t seen before were the original baptismal records for brothers Alexander, Morits, and Bernhard that included more details than those presented in Neofici polscy. In 2016, genealogist Ted Gostin located the original documents and they revealed that all three Gins brothers were baptized into the Christian faith by members of the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews operating in Warsaw during the 19^th century. Morits Gins’ sponsors for his 18 Oct. 1842 baptism were his godfather, Rev. Richard Schmidt (Smith), and witnesses Frydryk Jan Rosenfeldt and Teodor Wilhelm Goldinger. Morits was given the new name, Emil, to signify his conversion. Members of the London Society, which was founded in England in 1809, reportedly baptized 949 Jewish people in Warsaw during its tenure.

There can be no doubt that this Morits Gins who was baptized into the Christian faith in 1842 was our ancestor. His birthplace, Kalisz, and parents, Ludwik and Frydryka (nee Holz), who were still living, were listed on the Warsaw baptismal record. Morits was said to be 15 years old and this corresponds with his birth year of 1827 on the original Polish Jewish birth records in Family History Library (Mormon Church) microfilm archives. We also learned from this document that Morits Gins was living at 2449 Zelznej Street in Warsaw at the time of his conversion.

Although we do not know for certain Morits Gins’ motivation, Jews such as our Gins relatives most likely adopted the Christian faith to gain access to economic, educational, and social opportunities that were denied Jewish people in Eastern Europe during the 19^th century. As an example, original documents from the archives in St. Petersburg, Russia, that summarized Morits Emil Gins’ career, demonstrate his progression through the ranks of the Russian Civil Service. He became Chief of the Kiev Central Telegraph Office, with a building directly opposite the iconic St. Sophia’s Church. This high office is something that Morits Gins would never have achieved if he had not converted from Judaism to Christianity.

We also do not know for certain why Morits Gins and his brothers chose to be baptized into the Protestant religion rather than the predominant (in Poland) Catholic faith, but according to Todd M. Endelman, in Jewish Converts in Nineteenth Century Warsaw: a Quantitative Analysis, “Jews who became Christians chose Protestantism over Catholicism because it was less offensive to them as secularists and victims of intolerance” (Endelman, 2010:286-314).

Please note that name spellings were not consistent across records and even within individual documents. Morits’ name was spelled Moryc as well as Mauryc in his Polish baptism record. And after his conversion, Morits Gins, who signed the 1842 baptismal document as Morits Emil Gins, used the name Emil Andreevich Gins while living in Ukraine. The name Emil was given to him to acknowledge his new life as a Christian, but the new patronymic or middle name was more of a puzzle. Vicky Mlyniec suggested that he used Andreevich instead of Ludvigov (a variant of his father’s name) since there was no Orthodox Russian saint by the name Ludvig. Stas Bookalo, the Ukrainian genealogist who we met in Kiev in 2010, agreed with Vicky.

In addition to baptizing our Gins family members, the London Society also owned and operated a print shop in Warsaw and sold the enterprise to Aleksander Gins in 1852. We’ll discuss the family’s involvement in the media and communications field in another blog.

Below is a watercolor of the Iron-Gate Square marketplace in Warsaw in 1884 by Stanisław Masłowski. This is how market day in central Warsaw may have appeared to Morits Gins and his brothers while they were living in the city during the 19^th century:

References

Warsaw Evangelical-Reformed Church baptisms 1842, FHL microfilm publication 689,336 (Warsaw, Poland: W.A.P. Warszawa, 26 Jul 1968), vol. 9, baptism/birth no. 59, 18/30 Oct 1842, baptism of Moryc Emil Gins.

The Matter of the Noblemen Gins, Department of Heraldry of the Governing Senate, St. Petersburg, Annotated Register of Inventories, Russian State Historical Archive, Russia: documents for the case of Morits Emil Gins who was granted hereditary nobility in August 1891 when he received the order of St. Vladimir, 4^th degree. He wished to have his sons and grandsons formally “attached” to the nobility, with 77 pages of original documents.

• Doc. cover sheet with nos. 5692, 1335, 1752, Governing Senate, Department of Heraldry, The Matter of the Noblemen Gins, started: 6 Jan 1897, finished: 26 Dec 1899. Side note (next to the document): Russian State Historical Archive, Annotated Register of Inventories, Part III, Fond no. 1294-1699, St. Petersburg, 2008.
• Doc. 20568 (copy), Certificate of State Councilor Morits Emil Gins civil service record, p. 11:

"This certificate, issued by the Head of the Kiev Post and Telegraph District on August 28, 1893, No. 20568, to the Chief of the Kiev Central Telegraph Office, State Counselor Morits-Emil Ludvigov Gins, shows that he was born in 1827 to residents of the town of Warsaw, is of the Evangelical Reformed [Protestant] faith, and possesses the orders: St. Vladimir 4th degree, St. Anna 2nd and 3rd degrees, and St. Stanislav 2nd and 3rd degrees.  He first entered [the civil] service as a Telegraphist in February 1858 and, continuing in this department of service, was gradually awarded ranks and orders.  He retired on July 30, 1893 at the rank of State Counselor, which was awarded to him on September 10, 1891.  He was never reprimanded/tried.  He is married to Mariia Konstantinovna and his sons are: Konstantin (December 15, 1857), Vladimir (February 29, 1864), Modest (April 1, 1870), and Aleksandr [...]" Translation by Boris Dralyuk, 2011

Jeske-Choiński, Teodor

1904     Neofici polscy: Materyaly Historyczne, Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC.

Endelman, Todd M.

2010     Jewish Converts in Nineteenth Century Warsaw: a Quantitative Analysis, Broadening Jewish History, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.