Is a Puzzlement - Piecing together the Telefus Tree (Part 2)

In my last post I laid out the puzzle. Three TELEFUS families, each from Khotin, Ukraine. How do the three relate to each other? When I finally felt my internet resources were tapped, a few of the descendants of these families decided to hire a researcher in Europe. I've had success in the past this way, but only when the archivist was recommended. The researcher is based in Chişinău, Moldova, where some 19th century census records for Khotin are archived. (If you'd like a recommendation for this researcher, please contact me directly).

The archivist in Moldova found records for Telefus in the 1848, 1854, and 1874 censuses and revisions! Information about the censuses can be found here. The censuses were incomplete, often ignored female family members, and are known to have been inaccurate. Still, they are records, and I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Image from the 1854 revision of the Khotin census. Record for TELEFUS

From these records - plus some likely related records at JewishGen - I was able to piece together two 19th century TELEFUS families (below). The names in the first family below correspond to my family (my grandfather's Hebrew name was "Shemarya," and so is mine - an uncommon name to be sure), but the dates don't match up. The problem is that the information gathered in US records only goes back to the 1880s and 1890s, and these records stop in the 1870s. Vital records from 1880 - 1900 would help us make the connections among the current families and the 18th century records, but those records seem to be missing. Maybe DNA testing would shed some light on the connections. For example, my great-grandfather was Itzak TELEFUS (#20), the son of Chaim Hirsh TELEFUS (#41). And there is a father/son pair named Izak TELEFUS and Haim Hirsh TELEFUS below (#226 & #231). But the age difference between the two Izaks is 20 years! That is too wide to be a simple error.

So, for now, this is a wall. I'm not sure it is a genealogical brick wall; hopefully it's one we may be able to climb one day. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

19th Century TELEFUS Family 1

Haim Telefus (204), d. before 1848

+Pesea (--?--) (205), d. between 1848 and 1854

├── Shmaria Telefus (220), b. 1789, d. 1848

│ +Ruhlea (--?--) (221), d. before 1854

│ ├── Aron Telefus (224), b. 1817

│ │ +Ester (--?--) (225), b. 1816

│ │ ├── Feiga Telefus (230), d. before 1854

│ │ ├── Hana Telefus (228), b. 1839

│ │ ├── Sura Telefus (229), b. 1840

│ │ ├── Haim Hersh Telefus (226), b. 1850

│ │ │ +unknown spouse

│ │ │ └── Izik Telefus (231), b. 1872

│ │ ├── Mordco Telefus (227), b. 1852

│ │ ├── Shmary Telefus (232), b. 1854

│ │ └── Srul Telefus (233), b. 1862

│ └── Mendel Telefus (222), b. 1833

│ +Perla (--?--) (223), b. 1836

│ └── Shmary Telefus (234), b. 1855

├── Yos Telefus (206), b. circa 1803

│ +Zlata (--?--) (207), b. 1823

│ ├── Yanckel Telefus (211), b. 1826

│ │ +Etea (--?--) (212), b. 1829

│ │ ├── Haim Telefus (235), b. 1850

│ │ │ +unknown spouse

│ │ │ └── Shleoma Duvid Telefus (236), b. 1868

│ │ ├── Hessel Telefus (237), b. 1855

│ │ └── Azril Telefus (238), b. 1867

│ ├── Manoil Telefus (208), b. 1834

│ ├── Ezra Telefus (209), b. 1844

│ └── Shleoma Telefus (210), b. 1849

└── Ghetsel Telefus (213), b. 1805, d. 1848

+Hantsea (--?--) (214), b. 1815

├── Haim Telefus (215), b. 1836

├── Leiia Telefus (217), b. 1838

├── Menea Telefus (218), b. 1840

├── Sheila Telefus (219), b. 1844

└── Yanckel Telefus (216), b. 1845

19th Century TELEFUS Family 2

Hasckel Telefus (239), b. before 1777, d. before 1848

+unknown spouse

└── Froim Telefus (240), b. 1795

+Reiza (--?--) (241), b. 1795

├── Nehama Telefus (243)

└── Itsko Telefus (242), b. 1831

+Tsiva (--?--) (244), b. 1831

├── Haia Telefus (245), b. 1850

├── Mendel Telefus (246), b. 1850

│ +unknown spouse

│ └── Ghershko Telefus (247), b. 1871

└── Froim Telefus (248), b. 1869