Shavli shtetl and town projects

The project linked to above apparently no longer exists - or ???

One of the Lithuanian curators is reorganizing and creating new projects for Lithuania. That was an umbrella project. I don't know if it had any content or just listed the sub-projects. The sub-projects should all exist and be linked to one or more administrative districts of current Lithuania.

She has standardized the project names also.

I suggest you look here:
https://www.geni.com/projects/Jewish-Communities-of-Historical-Lithuania/4505728

A lot of shtetls are missing projects so anyone who is a descendant is welcome to help out. I haven't done much on those projects since I began them because of the many immigrants from those towns who immigrated to Muscatine, Iowa in the late 19th century.

My family were among the first Eastern European ("Russian") Jews in Muscatine, but many others came. It turned out my family was in the minority, being from a shtetl in Volhynia and many of the other Muscatine Jews were from Zagare, Leckava, Telshi, and neighboring towns.

Hi Hatte Rubenstein Blejer
Thanks.
One of my branches has surname Shavlian.
It seemed possible the surname was maybe from living in Shavli earlier.
I was hoping the project gave info on Shavli.
But it does not seem like it does that.

Shavli is both a town and a district. Shavlyani is a small town in the Shavli district according to Beider's surnames of the Russian Empire dictionary, so your family may have been from there.

He hypothesizes that Shavlian (Shavlyan) is a surname meaning from Shavlyani.

Alternate names: Šiaulėnai [Lith], Shavlan [Yid], Shavlyany [Rus], Szawlany [Pol], Šiaulėnų, Shyaulenay, Shaulenay, Šavlan, Shavlian, Sialenai

There are 47 listings in the JewishGen Family Finder.

Check the nearby towns. Did your Shavlian family live in one of those towns?

Shavlan, Shavlian, Savlan are all ways I have seen the surname spelled.

Yankel Shavlan is apparently my 3rd great grandfather.
He and his brother apparently died in Kedainiai. JewishGen has an 1843 Military List for/from Kedainiai, Kaunas, Kaunas which says he died 1838. Think assumption from that was he died there
I do not know where they or their father were born. Do not go back before my 4th great grandfather.
My 2nd great grandfather was born in Kedeiniai. My great grandmother is on a 1874 Kedeiniai Family List, before she was married - on Geni she is born in Kaunas, no longer remember why.
My greatgrandparents' children were born in Kaunas.

I do not see Kedeiniai in the list of nearby towns.

I know any time I see Private User 's name on a profile, I know it is probably from or at least connected to someone who is from Kedeiniai. He had entered the Shavlian line long before I knew anything about them.

Think it is fun noticing - this is one of my first cousins four times removed - on the Shavlian line -
Mortkhel Nokhemia Shavlian -
Managers are you, Divon, and my fifth cousin, Aaron.

Divon never entered any records, documents, or references to documents. But almost always I can find a record in JewishGen matching the date &/or location info he entered.

Šiaulėnai, Radviliškis District Municipality, Lithuania and Kėdainiai, Kėdainiai District Municipality, Lithuania are only 70 kilometers apart. I believe Kedainiai was a much larger Jewish community and town. Men often moved to a town to marry. Perhaps your 4th great grandfather moved to Kedainiai to marry and as surnames were being imposed he or his sons took that surname.