Can you identify this Russian town: "Chashvato, Podolski"?

Question

Can you identify the name of the USSR town referenced in the 1910-1914 images below?

My maternal grandfather's side references several different places in various naturalization records & ship passenger lists. They all have a common theme: some kind of town that starts with a "ch" sound and in the region of Podolsk/i/y. I suspect the town was in the part of the USSR that is now modern day Ukraine, as there is another census that lists them as being from Kiev. However, one brother consistently lists himself as being Polish. Everything else always just says Russia, which of course in 1910 was the USSR anyway.

P.S. I have tried using the JewishGen Gazetteer, but with no luck, except for "Podolsk", which returns multiple entries.

Answer 1

I would transcribe the examples given as:

• Chashevoty, Podolsci gub.
• Podolsk, Russia
• Chesovoto, Russia
• Chaszczewod, Podoler gub.
• Chashvato, Podolski, Russia

The second part of this place name is most straightforward. Gub. is an abbreviation of guberniya, or governorate, the major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. On this list of governorates of the Russian Empire, there is really only one candidate that can be Podolsci, Podolsk, Podoler, Podolski - however it's spelled - that is Podolia (Russian Подольская г., transliterated Podol'skaya g.)

The first part (presumably a town or village) is more tricky. I suspect these are spellings of Khoshchevatoye, which is in the governorate of Podolia (modern Ukraine). It is about 150 miles from Kiev.

Here is a Google Map Link to the location.

The page on JewishGen (also linked above) includes details of the coordinates of this place, a map, and the following alternate spellings:

Alternate names: Khoshchevatoye [Rus], Khashchuvatye [Ukr], Khashchevata, Khashchevato, Khashchevatoye, Chaszczowata [Pol], Hachtchevaty, Chascuvate
Region: Podolia

Answer 2

How I interpreted the text which I used as a basis for my search using the technique I describe below.

• Chashov... (left bracket)
• Chashavody? (right side of bracket)
• Chesovoto (first typed version)
• Chasterew(v)od (in front of the word wife)
• Podolosk, Russia (First Typed)
• Chashvato, Podolski, Russia (2nd Typed)

I then used tried different ways to phonetically spell these out and in cyrillic and combined those spellings with Map search as well as entering it into non-english search Engines. Google is handy as it will search in either and make suggestions, and then also translate between the two if you find a page you want to explore more.

It is a technique that sometimes works but sometimes does not so if you are not satisfied or want to check any of our our answers you are welcome to try it yourself.

I found a few possible guesses but no exact hits for you to explore further or you can use the above technique to due further exploration.

• My best guess Kamianets-Podilskyi (Kam'yanets'-Podil's'kyi Кам'янець-Подільський) which has a modern a street name very close to the Chesovota listed called Chekhova (Чexoвa) and is currently in the Ukraine.
• My 2nd best guess is Częstochowa, Poland (pronounced here, listen to it) which was part of Russia in 1910. So explaining Chesovota, Podolski, Russia.
• Lastly, but not likely based on other info you supplied, is Podolsk Russia, (Подольск, Московская область, Россия) is an area of Moscow Russia.

I didn't cross check any of these with JewishGen, I just used phonetic spelling and maps technique. One of the other things to keep in mind when searching using this technique is you may not find a village or community still named it as what was once a village may now just be a street name or district. You also sometimes may find multiple references for similar spellings in an area which can give you an area to look.

The first one is a different location than Vervet's answer but to the northwest of it north of Albania vs. to the east of it.

Answer 3

I would guess that it is Chaszczowate which can be found on page 550 of the Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich (Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic Countires). It says that Chaszczowate is part of the powiat of Hajsyn (more information, in Polish, can be found here) Chaszczowate had 1446 inhabitants in the 1880's. At one time it was owned by Jarosław Potocki, the son of Szczęsny Potocki. The town had a chapel.

If I have understood correctly, Hajsyn or Gaysin or Haisyn can be found here.