It has been forever and a day since I have posted on my family blog. Brickwalls have kept me busy with no forward movement or discoveries to report on. Having a bit of genealogy research withdrawal, I try and keep my skills up combining it with my love of vintage/antique photo’s. Scanning eBay for a photo with the subjects name, one caught my eye. It was for Daisy Fairchild, photo taken in Webster City, IA.
Isn’t she just precious? From the vintage lace on her dress to the high top boot shoes with 7/8 buttons, her photo stood out to me. Pinned to her dress seems to be some type of award ribbon possibly for an achievement. The price for her was a bit more than I will usually pay but I decided to do a bit of sleuthing on ancestry to see what I could find out about her. My initial find said you must buy her and tell her story.
Daisy Vera Fairchild was born on 15 Oct. 1891 in Hamiltion Co., Iowa to Lewis Sinclair Fairchild b. 1865 and Celia Edna Allen b. 1871. Lewis and Celia would have one more child, a boy named Lyle Elbert b. 1903.
From the 1900 census on, Celia’s parents lived with and remained living with the family thru the years until their passing.
In 1910c the family was living in Cass, Iowa and Lewis was a farmer, he owned his home free and clear. Living with the family was a farm hand named Walter Moore.
On the 27th of June, 1912 Daisy married Walter Alexander Moore.
In the Webster City Freeman Paper for the 29th Dec. 1914 there was a small article which stated that “Daisy had been quite ill but was able to sit up and take nourishment”.
Forest Elwin Moore was born on the 30th of July 1915 and would be their only child.
By September of 1922 Walter and Daisy had separated. There had been a number of restraining orders against Walter for violent behavior against Daisy. I found a document in the Webster City Daily for Oct 3rd, 1923 for a “temporary writ of injunction, as prayed for“. not sure what that meant exactly however Daisy went on to file for divorce.
It was Daisy death certificate which I had first found that had led me to trying to piece together her story. The cause of death was by gun shot but it didn’t say by who. Then I noticed the death date for Walter which was the same and wondered – intruder? then her husband?
Three months and 6 days later after the injunction that was prayed for, Daisy was shot to death by her husband Walter on the 9th of January, 1924. Walter also shot his son Forest in the throat and then turned the gun on himself. Daisy was shot in the head and died instantly, Forest survived the gun shot to his throat and Walter died on route the hospital.
I also found numerous newspaper accounts of the shooting which gave more details of the event. One account said that Walter went to his son Forest’s school where he found Daisy and then took them to their home. A witness saw that he had a gun and made a call to Daisy’s father fearing trouble.
Daisy’s mother Celia passed away 5 years after Daisy died in 1929 from hepatitis and diabetes complications. Her father Lewis went on to remarry and died in 1955.
Daisy’s son Forest died at the age of 22 on February 28, 1938 of a lung abscess and pulmonary hemorrhage. Noted on the death certificate was “patient shot in the chest when 11years old by his father and never developed normally”
Before I close with this story, I want to also mention another tragedy that stuck this family. Daisy brother Lyle had married a woman name Grace Butler. They had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth Fairchild born in 1924. Not only would Lyle live with the tragic memory of his only sisters death, and that of his only nephew Forest but his daughter Mary Elizabeth, 28 and her son Jack, 7, died in a car accident on August 27, 1952. Lyle lived to be 78 and died in 1982 in Contra Costa, California. Lewis not only suffered the loss of his daughter, then grandson a number of years later but also lived to see and experience the loss of his only other grandson and his mother.
Isidore and Minnie were married November 26, 1932 at 136 Allen Street in Manhattan.
This past week, my cousin Lisa Glassman nee Steinman, contacted me while visiting in Manhattan. She, her husband Aaron and daughter Mollie had made a trip up from Florida to visit with friends as well as do some sight seeing. No trip would be complete without visiting the historic Lower East Side, a guided tour and a few pictures that she has shared with me.
Above: was donated from the Allen Street Synagogue
While posting this and looking once again at their marriage license, a question as to their choice of synagogues for their marriage formed. Isidore lived in the Bronx and Minnie was living up town on E. 97th street with her parents Benjamin and Kate. Looking back in my records Benjamin and Kate’s marriage certificate states they were married at ‘110 E. 105 St. Synagogue’. This synagogue was Beth Hamidrash Hagodol of Harlem. Both Benjamin and Kate were deaf and most of their lives were spent at the E.97th St. address. My assumption was/is that they attended this local synagogue, most certainly within walking distance. My question/thought is, why had Isidore and Minnie picked the Allen Street Synagogue to marry and not a synagogue closer to her home?
A Big thank you to Lisa for sharing these photo’s with me 🙂
It’s been some time since I have checked in and shared any family history, documents or stories. It came to my attention that I had not shared the death certificate for Ida Lifshitz, which I will do in this post.
Ida Paley was the wife of David Lifshitz. I have little to no information about David. She was the mother of my great grandfather Benjamin Lipshitz (he spelled it with the p ) and his six siblings, Fanny, Molly, Solomon (Simon), Rachel, Isaac (Ike), and Samuel all spelling it with the (f) With the exception of their father David, they all immigrated to the U.S. From census records for Ida, she immigrated some time around 1893, as a widow. She remained an alien until her passing on June 23, 1921.
Death Certificate of Ida Lifshitz
On this record her birth date is given as June 16, 1838 – Russia. We also learned her fathers name and her mothers first name. I love on the back side of the document the signature of her son Simon which is off to the side.
In my last posting, I had shared my working assumption that Ida Paley had passed away some time between 1920 and 1925, Bronx, New York. Ida, also known as Yetta and Edith, was my 2x great grandmother. She was married to a David Lipschitz. They had 7 children, Samuel, Fanny, Molly, Solomon/Simon, Rachel, Isaac and my great grandfather, Benjamin.
Having gone back into the records looking for Ida, I discovered her living with her daughter Fanny and husband Israel Lifschitz (spelled Lipschidt on the census) at 1330 Franklin Ave., Bronx. Ida was listed as mother, 77, wd.. Listed as mother and not mother in law, I was still convinced this was Fanny’s mother and not Israel’s.
Continuing to work on learning when she passed away, I have had another breakthrough discovery and confirmation that I was right she was Fanny and not Israel’s mother.
Found under the last name spelling of Lifshitz, Ida (Ida Paley) was her death record.
New York, New York, U.S., Index to Death Certificates, 1862-1948 Ancestry.com
The option was given to purchase the certificate, which I have done and will post it once it is received.
Fanny was still living with her daughter Fanny and family at the 1330 Franklin address when she passed away. Executor was her son Simon, and an added bonus was the names of her parents. Also a birth date was given on this record.
Ida passed away on 23 June 1921 and is buried at Washington Cemetery.
Still on my ‘to find’ list is for Samuel. He is the only sibling that I have no information on other than his name. With only his name, it has been impossible to identifying any match.
After posting, I had an email exchange with 1c 1xr, which resulted in me going back into my records/tree for her. I discovered something I had missed in regards to mother Yetta/Ida/Edith Paley married to David Lipschitz.
We know from records that Ida immigrated and was present at the marriage of her son Isaac Lifschitz to Rebecca Leff and that was about it.
Information on Ida has been inconclusive however in my last post I had decided I had located Benjamin, prior to his marriage to Kate Rosen in 1913, living with his mother Ida in 1910. I had looked at this record for some time. With the discovery of Rachel this made 7 living children, which jived with the census record where Ida reported 10 children born 7 living. Benjamin and Ida were living at 56 Monroe, N.Y.C.. Ida’s sons Isaac and family, along with Simon and his family were at 56 Monroe and Rachel and Harry were at 58 Monroe.
Looking at back at records for my cousin, I began with Benjamin’s sister Fanny Lifschitz who married Israel Lifschitz (no known connection at this time)
Fanny Lifschitz
I had every census record from 1900, and the off years with the exception of the 1920c. A record hint led me to Fannie Lipschidt, another crazy spelling error and from the ‘f’ to p with a ‘schidt’ ending.
Living at 1320 Franklin Ave. Bronx, with Fannie and her husband Israel, daughters Estelle and Dora; sons Samuel, Jack and Benjamin was ‘Yetta’ (mother) 77, wd, imm. 1890, alien. The age puts her right inline with the abt. 1845 year of birth I had for her. Unless this is Israels mother (who is Chana (Eva) Ephrussie) I feel going forward I can safely assume that Ida/Yetta was still alive as of Jan. 4, 1920 – the census date.
However Ida was not living with the family by 1925.
Daughter Mollie had passed in 1922, Ida was not living with her husband Hyman Cohen and children in 1925
Nor was Ida living with her son Simon and wife Annie and family in 1925 or her daughter Rachel, Harry and their children.
She was not living with Benjamin and Kate leaving Samuel who I have no information on at this time.
My working assumption is that Ida passed away sometime between 1920 and 1925. I was unable to find anyone who matched using multiple spellings of Lipschitz and Ida, Yetta or Edith for her. I am still unable to find a death date or burial location for her.
It has been some time since I have written about the family of my 2 X great grandparents David/Davis Lipschitz and a woman known as Ida/Edith/Yetta Paley. They were the parents of my great grandfather Benjamin Lipschitz who married Kate (Kruse) Rosen. Both Benjamin and Kate were born hearing and became deaf from childhood illness. A marriage was arranged for them and on 2 November 1913 they were married in Manhattan. They went on to have three daughters, Minnie aka Myra (my grandmother) who married Isadore Haimowitz, Esther who married Oscar Raskowitz later changed to Ralston and Mary who married Hyman Salsbergh.
Quite recently I was contact by another researcher, Jeanne, who had read one of my postings on this Lipschitz family and wanted to let me know she had discovered another child for David and Yetta that I had not mentioned. Jeanne’s connect is through Harry Schwartz, from her tree who had married Rachel Lipschitz. After a few email exchanges I am ready to add Rachel Lipschitz born abt. 1879 as another sister of Benjamins.
The spelling of this last name with in this family alternates between the p and f and sch and simply sh spelling.
Let me recap before getting to Rachel
David and Ida were the parents of Benjamin, who appears to be the youngest of their children. He was born the 10 November, 1883 in Slutsk, Belarus/Russia and passed away on 22 May 1948 Bronx, N.Y.. I have arrival dates spanning 1891 – 1910 from possible passenger lists for him, non of which I can prove. His marriage certificate has his parent named as David (sp) Lipshitz and mother Yetta Pallai, place of birth Minsk. One his S.S. application his parents were written David Lipshitz and Edith Palay and his birth place as Slutsk, Russia. His death certificate simply has David and Gittel for his parents and place of birth Russia. Reporting on his death certificate was his son-in-law, Oscar Ralston who had married his daughter Esther.
Fanny Lipschitz born abt 1867 died 29 Dec. 1937 Bronx. She married Israel Lifschitz and they had children Estelle (Esther), Jacob (Jack) Louis, Samuel, Benjamin (Barnett) and Dorothy (Dora). On Fanny’s death certificate her parents were listed as David Lipshitz and Yetta Palley
Mollie Lifschitz born abt 1872 died 10 Mar. 1922 N.Y.C.. She married Hyman (Harry) Cohen and they had two sons Joseph and Jacob Lyons Cohen. On her marriage certificate her parents were listed as Davis Lifschitz and Ida Paley. Her death certificate has David Lifschitz and Ida Pallay.
Solomon Simon Lifschitz born Dec. 1873 Russia died 27 Jan 1941. He married Anna Dinofsky. They had children Moses (Moe, Morris), Rachel (Rae), Esther (Estelle), Stella Dora and Charles Lifschitz later changed to Lipton. On Simon’s death certificate his parents were listed as David Lipshitz and Ida Paley. On Simon’s marriage record his parents were listed DavidLipshitz and Chia Paley
Isaac (Ike) Lifschitz born 1 May 1880, Bronx died 14 Sept. 1955 Bronx and he married RebeccaLeff. They had two sons, David Lewis and NaphtaliLewis . I do not have a marriage or death record to check his parents names however I have confirmed DNA matches with this family and have been in touch with them. They have confirmed Isaacs parents for me. On Ikes New York, U.S., Index to Petition for Naturalization New York City, 1792 – 1989 (1902) his witness was his brother Simon living at 56 Monroe St. – which was Simon’s address on the 1910 census. Also known is that Ida – Isaac’s mother was alive, living in the Bronx and had attended the marriage of her son Isaac to Rebecca (Mar. 8, 1903, Manhattan) and I have a copy of the invitation. Not only was Simon and his wife Anna lived at this 56 Monroe St. address but Rachel and her husband Harry Schwartz was also living there and sister Fanny and Israel were at 58 Monroe St.
Which brings me to mother Ida and son Benjamin who had not yet married. I have long been looking at a 1910 census record for Ida Lipshitz, 60, widow, 10 births 7 living, at 56 Monroe St. with son Benjamin, 20, single, working as operator/sweat shop. (boarder Abraham Appestein,35, operator/sweat shop) I am convinced now this is the correct record for them. She is living by her daughter Rachel, son Simon, and daughter Fanny. Also she had 10 births 7 living and with Rachel, I now have 7 children for her. I have not been able to find anything on her death.
Samuel Lifschitz I have no information on him.
Rachel Lipschitz
According to the records pulled from familysearch.com Rachel Lipschitz was the daughter of David Lipschitz and Yettie Palia. She married Harris (Harry) Sapiro (Shapiro) on 13 March 1898, N.Y.C.. His parents were Yankel Movsha Shapiro (Shapira) and Sadie (Shimka) Fishkin.
Rachel and Harry were the parents of six children. Sadie (abt.1898) Julia (abt. 1900) Dora (abt.1905) Esther Stella (abt.1908), Miriam (Mary) (abt.1909) Aaron (abt. 1913)
Rachel passed away at 55 years of age on 8 Sept. 1932. According to her death record from Ancestry, her place of death was her home at 1270 E. 19th St., Brooklyn. She was widowed and cause of death was Coronary Thromnosism Coronary Sclerosis. She was buried at Washington Cemetery. Her parents were listed as David Lipschutz and Yetta Lipschutz
From familysearch.com
May her memory be a blessing
After discoveries like these I am always hopeful for communication from descendants. I have little to no other information on the children of Rachel and Harry other than names and ages from census records. I will be working on this branch in the future and hope to add more information for them.
In my last post I wrote about Benjamin Haimowitz, his wife Goldie aka Gussie Stein and their son Abraham aka Al. I was trying to answer the question, who was Benjamin and what happened to him after he divorced Gussie in 1921. I was unable to answer that question but provided all the information I could locate up until that date. Benjamin just seemed to disappear from all published records.
But in trying to answer that question I stumbled upon who I believe was Benjamins brother.
Researching for the Sherman family, I was given access to their ancestry page to take a look at their DNA matches. Hoping to find a clue that way, there were two 4-6 cousin matches that looked promising. One was for a Joseph Haimowitz(1886) m Lena Braumerwitz and one for Leon Haimowitz (1878) m Esther Hausfater. Their ages put them in the age range I had for Benjamin (1878 – 1880) to be siblings or cousin.
I took the information these tree’s had and began to work with Leon, building my own tree for him, gathering the records I could find, working backwards and forwards. (I have not made progress with Joseph)
Leon Haimovici arrived in August 1900 at the age of 22. (this was the same year Benjamin claimed to have arrived) He was born on 15 March,1876 in Braila, Romania. He left from Rotterdam, Holland aboard the SS Spaarndam, however they were not traveling together.
There are actually 2 records for a Leon – ours spelled on the passenger list as Chaimowitz, 22, tinsmith from Braila (matching his marriage and draft record) traveling to a friend (unable to read) The second listing which has been picked up by the other researchers is for a Leon Chaimowics, 28 tailor, married traveling with Sussel (female) 10. Both were traveling on the same ship arriving in August of 1900. It is really important not to just attach record hints that pop up on ancestry. The hint on ancestry defaulted to the wrong Leon. Looking at the hint I was suspicious of it as his profession was tailor, married and there was a young girl but it did not indicate her as a daughter. I started to scan through the pages associated with this voyage and located the correct Leon.
I found a marriage record on ancestry first but there was no information other than his name date and place (the certificate is available to order) I then checked on familysearch and located this record which matched the information that was on the corresponding DNA cousin tree. This gave me the names of Leons parents along with Esthers.
A bit later in my research I located the marriage certificate for Leon and Esther on the site of the DNA match with the Shermans. (I would have loved to have seen Benjamins name as a witness)
I was unable to find them in the 1905 census but located then in 1910 living at 344 Alabama Ave. Brooklyn. Leon (30) and Esther (25) and daughter Celia who had been born (1905), then son Abraham (1906) and Max (1907) Leon listed his occupation as tinsmith– I was really excited about this tinsmith connection with Benjamin who had listed his occupation in 1910 as tinsmith too as well as both arriving in the same year. Was this same occupation a family occupation?
I am out of chronological order but the next record I located was Leon’s Petition For Naturalization dated July 19, 1909. It was on this document that the connection with Benjamin was confirmed.
Under Affidavit of Witnesses was Jacob Steinworzel, father of Goldie/Gussie, Benjamin’s wife with the address confirming it was the right Jacob. It is my assumption that Benjamin’s father-in-law was witness on his brother Leons papers.
New York, U.S., State and federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 Ancestry.com
This next document dated April 23, 1914 seems to contradict the 1915 census record information (1915c will follow this) however it is possible that by 1915 the situation had reversed itself and Leon was back in the home.
Below is an application for admission to the New York, U.S., Hebrew Orphan Asylum Records, 1860 – 1934 (Ancestry) for Abraham and Max, their 2nd and 5th born children. Leon had abandoned the family for work and Esther was forced to place two of her children in the orphan home temporarily while she seeked employment. From the explanation below it also appears she had to sell all her household goods for money to survive.
Remarks: Husband of applicant deserted family 11 years ago. His whereabouts unknown. Man had been unsteadily employed before his desertion. Woman intends to seek employment after the children are admitted. She claims that since man went away she has sewed occasionally and earned from $1.50 to $2 per week. She recieved $4.50 for her household effects. No assistance from ( ? ) no relatives able to assist. (I am questioning the desertion of 11 years as an error)
By 1915 Leon shows up at the 105th St. address from above and was on the census. Spelled Himowitz he was (38) and Esther (31) and his occupation was listed simply laborer. Added to the family had been Joseph b. 1910 (Esther must have been pregnant at the time of 1910 census) and Isidore b. 1912. This made 5 children for the family. I also spent some time going through the pages hoping to find Benjamin possibly living close to Leon but had no luck.
But by 1918 the family had relocated to Oregon. The next record found was Leon’s WWI draft registration. He had moved his family and was living at 415 Main St. Oregon City, Oregon. Leon was 42 born Sept. ‘I don’t know’ 1876. He was working as a junk dealer for the Alaska Junk Co.
U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917 – 1918 Ancestry.com
By 1920 if they had truly been together prior, things had changed. I found Esther (35) divorced and all 5 children living at 684 2nd St., Portland. They were renting and Esther was not employed. Celia (15) was working as a waitress in a department store, Abe (13), Max (12) and Isadore (9) were news boys on the street and Joe (7) was spared working. I was unable to locate Leon in 1920
1930 they were still divorced however Esther (47) had moved to 187 Arthur St. Portland and had bought the home. It’s value was $2000. She was working in a garment factory as a coat operator. Still at home was Abe (24) architect in an architect office and Isidore (19) was a bookkeeper in an advertising office. Celia had married Herman Rosenbloom on Feb. 21, 1926, sadly Joseph had died at age 14, on Nov 8, 1926, and Max (23) was in San Francisco working as a chauffeur for a private family.
Leon (54) divorced, was listed as Lane Haimovci on the 1930 census. He was living at 75 Burns St. in West Linn, Oregon. He also owned his home and the value was $2300. He was working on his own account as a salesman in a furniture store.
Leon and Esther must had been on friendly terms because on June 3, 1930 they crossed the Oregon/Washington border and married in Vancouver, WA. One of her witnesses was her daughter Celia Rosenbloom.
However the marriage did not last long and they divorced in Clackamas County, Oregon on November 28, 1930.
By 1940 Leon (65) was working again as a junk dealer in his own business. He owned his home on Kone Street in West Linn, Oregon.
Leon passed away on June 10, 1950 Portland, and is buried at Shaarie Torah Cemetery. The cemetery is maintained by Congregation Shaarie Torah.
Esther passed away on Dec. 17, 1942 and is also buried at Shaarie Torah Cemetery.
Whether Leon is actually the brother of Benjamin or a cousin has not been proven. I want to believe they were brothers. I have searched the census pages around Leons entries hoping to find Benjamin living close by but have had no luck.
The one thing discovered was times were tough for this family, Leon and Esther’s marriage was rocky and filled with heartache. Neither remarried, they tried a second time – there had to be a deep love and affection that survived. They are at rest buried next to each other at Shaarie Torah.
Recently I was contacted by a woman researching her family and stumbled upon the blog. (I love those stumbled upon) She was inquiring about a possible connection to me through the Haimowitz line. I will share right now there was not a connection but I initially thought – lost Haimowitz sister? Since corresponding and helping her with research, I decided to post about this family for her and her father in hopes that just like she did, someone will ‘stumble upon’ this posting and I can connect them. Benjamin was her great grandfather and grandfather to her father.
Our main research question is to try and find out who was and what happened to this man named Benjamin Haimowitz. I began by learning Benjamin had married a woman named Gussie, last name unknown. They had a son named Abraham aka Al. Abraham was an only child. Gussie, at some time divorced Benjamin and remarried a man with the last name of Sherman, his first name was unknown. Abraham eventually either legally or not, took on the last name of his step father, Sherman.
Below are three photos that were graciously shared with me by the Sherman family.
order of names mislabeled on front: Abraham (aka AL), Eddie and Harry Haimowitz (abt 1925-1930) back of the photo and labeling order appears to be correct
In the two photo’s below both are labeled with Harry, Harry Haimowitz from the picture above.
Their second question is who was Harry Haimowitz to Abraham/Al? That information has been lost. Was he a brother to Benjamin, a cousin? No information on him has survived their family history.
Al & Harry Haimowitz 1940
Harry and his wife Rose (LNU)
Here is what I have discovered about this family
Abraham aka Al was born on 12 Sept. 1910, in New York City to parents Benjamin Haimowitz and Goldie Gussie Steinworzel,(and with a t wotzel) later shortened to Stein. On the few documents I have located for him his last name has been spelled Heimowitz, Hymowitz and Himowitz.
Gussie’s parents were Jacob Steinworzel and ClaraSchwartz. The family was from Romania.
According to Gussie’s naturalization records her birth date was listed as 3 Nov. 1882 and from what I can tell she was the oldest child of Jacob and Clara. Her last known address was Vaslui, Romania. Leaving from Hamburg, Germany on the 18 Feb. 1900, she arrived on 5 Mar 1900 under the name of Goldie Steinworzel aboard the SS Pretoria. She was traveling with her mother under the name of Alte b. 1860, with siblings David b. 1889, Israel b. 1891, Frume (Anna) b. 1893, and Gittel (Lillian) b. 1899. Jacob and Clara went on to have two more children born in New York, Jennie b. 1902 and Phillip b. 1904. The connection to this family was proven with a DNA match with a granddaughter of Phillip.
Sometime between arriving in 1900 and 1904 Gussie met and married Benjamin Haimowitz. I have not been able to find a marriage record for them. One of the first records I located for Benjamin was the 1910 census under the spelling of Heimowitz. Listed as Bennie, he was 32, b. abt 1878, Romania. They were living at 306 E. 102nd St. N.Y.C.. Benjamin listed his occupation as tinsmith, he could read and write, Gussie was marked not able to read and write. Gussie had also reported she had had 3 births and 0 were living. Benjamin had arrived in 1900 and had submitted his papers to naturalize. I have been unable to locate his naturalization papers.
Ancestry.com 1910 United States Federal CensusGussie listed 3 births 0 living which was a confirming clue that I had the correct couple
Using familysearch.com I was able to locate the three births and deaths for the children born to Benjamin and Gussie prior to Abraham being born.
In 1905 daughter Zipora (Heimowitz) was born. She lived for a year and on 17 of Jan 1906 she passed away. She was buried at Silver Lake Cemetery on Staten Island. Her parents were listed as Benny Heimowitz and Gossie Stein. Also noted was the address of 306 E. 102 St. tenement. Interestingly her place of birth was listed as Rochester N.Y. Her death certificate is available for purchase.
8 Oct. 1907 Sarah (Himowitz) was born and died 2 years later on 10 Oct. 1909. She is buried at Mt. Zion Cemetery, Queens, N.Y.. Her father was listed as Benjamin Himowitz and her mother as Gussie Stein.
Their third child was Zudek Lewis (Himowitz) born 4 Apr 1909 and on this birth record his parents are Benjamin Himowitz and Gussie Stein Himowitz. He passed away on 31 May 1909. On his death record (all records from familysearch) his name was written Zudek Lewis and his mother was listed as Gussie Goldy. He was also buried at Mt. Zion and the address was noted as 306 E. 102nd St.
Benjamin and Gussie faced the death of three children prior to their last Abraham (AL) born 12 Sept. 1910 at 306 E. 102 St.
Sometime between 1910 and 1915 Gussie had separated from Benjamin. I located her on the 1915 census listed as Goldie (33) living with her parents Jacob and Clara at 1294 Park Ave. N.Y.C. along with her siblings Lillie, Annie, Jennie and Phillip. She was working as a ‘finisher’. Her son Abraham was not listed with the family. He would have been 5 years old. It just may have been an omission by the census worker but the question is raised where was Al and what had happened to Benjamin? I have not been able to locate any records for either of them in the 1915 census using both Ancestry and Familysearch.
I have searched military records for a WWII draft registration for Benjamin on Ancestry, Familysearch and Fold3 and could not locate anything that even came close to a match.
I feel lucky I found a divorce record for Benjamin and Gussie with her name recorded as Goldie. In this case the defendant was Goldie and Benjamin had filed for the divorce.
Bronx County, New York, U.S., Divorce and Civil Case Records, 1914 – 1995 Ancestry
Name:
Goldie Hymowitz
Plaintiff or Defendant:
Defendant
Date of Action:
15 Dec 1920
Place of Action:
Bronx, New York
Other Party:
Benjamin Hymowitz
Volume Number:
4
Page number:
321
File Number:
3341
Location:
The Office of the Bronx County Clerk
As you will read shortly on Gussie’s naturalization paper’s, the final date for her divorce was Sept. 22, 1921 however on the 1920 census Gussie (37) claimed to be married to Morris Sherman (40). They were living with her parents Jacob and Clara, along with sisters Lillie,Jennie and her brother Phillip. Also listed was grandson Abe (9) under the last name of Sherman. The address was 630 E. 170th St. Bronx. According to the census, Morris arrived in 1904 from Russia and had applied for citizenship. He was working as a tailor in a shop. I have been unable to locate any prior census records for Morris.
By 1925 Morris had moved Gussie and Abraham/Al still under the name of Sherman (14) to 996 Trinity St. in the Bronx. Morris was working as a presser and listed his status as alien. Living with them now was Morris’s three children from his first marriage, Isadore (13) Helen (17) office helper and Sophia (16) With the exception of Helen, the others were in school. I have been unable to discover who his first wife was.
If you remember the photo above, taken at Coney Island, with Al and Harry, there was the friend Eddy (Anthony Eddie) Lo Guercio (15). I was excited to spot Eddie and his parents living at the same address as the Shermans. They were too entries down from the Shermans. Eddie was the son of Andrew and Leonarda both from Italy. From this information I have dated the photo abt 1925-1930. Father Andrew was working as a barber. In the photo below I feel like the boys all appear about in the same age group.
Al, Eddie and Harry
In the photo of the 3 men, the Sherman family has confirmed Abraham on the end in pants, leaving the middle to be Eddie (as marked on the back side of the photo) and the right end in shorts as Harry. A blow up of Harry with Rose has him in glasses.
itThe labeling of this photo, 1940 has me a bit confused. Abraham is the younger man with the tie. Believed to be ‘Harry Haimowitz’ could this be the same Harry? They do not look the same to me. Our 2nd question is who was this Harry Haimowitz to Abraham and Benjamin? and I am questioning is this the same Harry?
Getting back to the family
In 1930 on the census Abraham, listed as Al (19) was recorded as the step son of Morris Sherman. His last name was butchered by the census worker and recorded as Howizthy. I am sure my inability to find records for Benjamin is do to this kind of spelling errors. The family was now living at 2011 Mapes Ave, Bronx. Morris was a presser in a tailor shop. Helen was working as a saleswoman in ladies wear, Sophia an operator in leather goods. Isadore (18) and Al were not working. They were renting at $45 a month, they had no radio, and both he and Gussie, listed as Gennie, could not read or write and the language spoken was yiddish.
Abraham/Al Sherman married Blance Weisser on January 21, 1933, Bronx, N.Y.. In 1940 they were living at 3009 Kingsbridge Terrace in the Bronx. The census records they were living there in 1935. Their first child had been born. His occupation was listed as law professional.
Gussie Sherman applied for citizenship on 3rd or 5th of May, 1933 and became a naturalized citizen on 8 August 1940.
The page below gives us some inside into her divorce from Benjamin but unfortunately does not provide enough information to locate him. She initially stated she had remarried in 1918 but this was amended to state it wasn’t until Sept. 22, 1921 with her divorce on Feb. 24 1921. This may explain the confusion with the 1920 census which had then living together and married.
Gussie Sherman from her Naturalization record
At first I was unable to locate Gussie and Morris on the 1940 census. Using the address on Gussies naturalization papers I searched Ancestry with just the 2091 Prospect Ave. address. Morris had been transcribed as Harris. Morris (62) Gussie (56) had been living in the home since 1935. Both said they had no schooling, they were renting – $34 – working still as a presser, Morris had been out of work for 20 weeks and had made $900. Living with them was a widow, female Feinberg (73) she was not working but under the heading of ‘other income’ it said yes.
I was unable to conclusively find any death records for both Gussie and Morris.
While I still have not answered the question of what happened to Benjamin or the question who was Harry Haimowitz, in my next posting I will be sharing about the discovery of a brother to Benjamin Haimowitz.
From the Social Security application for my great grandfather Samuel Haimowitz, I learned that my 2x great grandmother was a woman named Ida Greenblatt (Grinblat) and her husband was Hyman Haimowitz. (from Sam’s death certificate Hyman was written Herman)
Ida was the mother of Samuel and his brother Marks Hyamovitch. The Hyamovitch/Hyams branch remained in London, England while Samuel immigrated to the states, settling in New York.
Next to nothing is known about Ida, her age and place of birth are estimates. Using Samuel’s birth year of 1875, going back 20 years, I have estimated Ida’s birth year about 1855, with a place of birth possibly Odessa, where on some records, Samuel had listed that as his place of birth, the family then moving into Romania where his brother Marks was born 1880 in Iasi.
I have been sitting on DNA matches to others with Greenblatt in their trees for quite some time. I am constantly reevaluating and comparing shared matches with 4 my known cousins off of the Hyamovitch (England) who have tested and known cousins here in the states in hopes of finding a pattern or connection back to Ida. The process has been time consuming and often required me to build the trees for some of these matches. The matches are mostly 4 – 6 generations, then into the 5 – 8 generations back. Almost impossible at times to connect.
Even so, I believe I may have discovered 1 brother of Ida Greenblatt who also immigrated to the United States with his family settling in Michigan.
Building my research:
This brother was a man named Pincus Greenblatt who married to Eva/Edith Broad.
I discovered Pincus and Eva by working off of a 4 -6 DNA match with 2 people to Abraham Greenblatt in their line, I had sent away for his marriage certificate to Fannie Schwartz to learn who his parents were. Abraham married at 27 years which made his birth year 1872, by going back 20 years, I estimated Pincus’s birth year about 1852, in line with Ida’s 1855 birth year.
Once I had the names of Pincus and Eva, I used Ancestry member trees to build their family tree. (all ages and names are from trees and may be incomplete and/or approx and not entirely accurate)
Pincus and Eva/Edith were the parents of Bayla/Bella, Mordecai, Breina/Rebecca b. 1869, Romania who married Israel Schwartz, Esther b. 1870, Romania who married Jacob Escoff, and Abraham b. 1872, Romania who married Fannie Schwartz.
Rebecca and Israel Schwartz were the parents of Max b. 1896 m Leonore Silverman, Harry b. 1892, Edward b. 1892 m Florence Seigel, Sarah b. 1895 m Israel Shemper, Charles b. 1898 m Frieda Chill & Beatrice LNU, (all born in Romania) and Bella b.1909, NYC d. 1903
Esther and Jacob Escoff were the parents of Adolf m Fannie Wilner, Sarah m Max Aronvici, Frank m Pearl, Rebecca/Rae m Benjamin Podolsky, and Isabelle m Jacob Goldhaber, Mollie b. 1898 m Max Smith, Zelda b. 1904 m Charles Tennen, (all born in Romania) and Edith b. 1907 Mich. m Leslie Meltzer and Ida b. 1909 Mich. m Samuel Levin
Abraham Greenblatt and Fannie were the parents of Bella b. 1909 m Edward Schultz, Pincus/Paul b. 1910, Lillian b. 1913 m Jack Blackoff and Annette b. 1922 m Jerome Kinoy (all children born in NYC)
I have (2) 4-6 DNA matches, all shared with my England cousins to Breina/Rebecca to Israel Schwartz and a 4 -6 match to Esther and Jacob Escoff (Ostrow) off of their daughter Rachel/Rae who married Benjamin Podolsky. There is also a 3 – 5 match off of son Abraham Grrenblatt and Fannie Schwartz
In order to understand a little clearer, posted below is a working copy of how I mapped out my notes. I used the individual DNA connected branches to created a tree. Originally I had an individual tree for Esther, Rebecca and Abraham, eventually putting them together to see how they all fit.
In most cases I have I expanded the trees to living descendants using obituary and member trees but have excluded names and information
My research is ongoing and evolving. Hopefully new information and distant cousin connection will either prove this working theory or help explain the family connection.
For now I am cautiously believing that Pincus Greenblatt born abt 1850 is the brother of my 2x great grandmother Ida Greenblatt.
In my last posting I wrote about Matchmaker/Marriage Broker Meyer Brick who sued grandmother Hannah Srolowitz in the amount of $200 for breach of contract in the arrangement of Bernhard Perboner to her granddaughter Rachel Lapini (Papini) in marriage. You can read about it at the link below ~
Going back into newspapers.com using ‘Meyer Brick’ and the year 1899, I was stunned to find the story had been picked up in 9 states. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois all ran the story. What was it about this that made it so note worthy?
In the last post I shared records that led to my confusion regarding two different Bernhard’s and who was the right one. I believe I have cleared up the confusion on the two.
Elias Perbohner and his wife Rachel Rose had sons, their oldest Adolph b. 1855, Latvia and their youngest Bernhard b. 3 Oct, 1876 Latvia, who I’ll refer to has # 1. Adolph married Anna Elias and they had a son named Bernhard b. 24 Dec. 1877, who I’ll refer to has # 2. Brenhard #1 spells his last name Perboner without the h. Born a year apart, the two were uncle and nephew.
In the newspaper articles shared in the last post, grandmother Hannah Srolowitz seems to be implying that the marriage was between Bernhard #1 to a Rachel/Rae Lapini/Papini on 18 Oct 1899, however the only marriage record I could find was for Bernhard #2 is to Eleanor Rabchikow on 18 Oct on 1898. The date reported in the papers was 16 Oct., 1899. Also, reported as Hannah – I only found her in records as Anna)
I can not find any marriage record for Bernhard #1 to a Rachel Lapini/Papini, nor can I find any record for a Rachel/Rae/Ray with either last name. If they had married they were not together by 1904 which seems to be substantiated by this article I found.
From The Tacoma Tribune (Tacoma, Washington) . 18 Jan 1904, Mon . Page 1
What was he doing walking back home at 1:30 with $600 worth of diamonds and other valuables?In 1904 Bernhard was living with his sister Ida Goldberg (widow)
The 1910 & 1920 census records support that Eleanor was the granddaughter of Hannah and her husband Lieb Srulowitz. They were living with Eleanor and her husband Bernhard #2 and children Robert/Rupert, Miriam and Lillian up until their passing.
If Rachel was another granddaughter – I have nothing to prove or disprove that. From ancestry.com I found a marriage record for Bernhard #1 for a marriage to LaVillah Sands on 12 Apr 1948, in Seattle, WA. From newspapers.org, I also found a 1923 marriage announcement to Miss Flora (Florence) Snitovsky. They would have 1 daughter, Marjorie Rae, born 1924.
Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) . 19 Aug 1923, Sun . Page 64
Looking at the record I found for Bernhard #1 with a connection to a Rachel aside from the original newspaper mentions is Bernhard’s #1 WWI draft registration, 1918. At first I thought this may confirm a girlfriend/wife but after some thought I decided to check on this mention of “Ray” with the Richmond, VA address.
This Ray is not a wife, Rachel, but is referring to his mother Rachel – Ray. I found her living, with her daughter Lena and husband Louis Burnstein and family at that exact address on the 1920 census.
The papers reported that “Perbona and his wife testified and substantiated Mrs. Srolowitz’s story.” They had spelled his last name as Perbona, the papers all differ with the spelling of Rachels last name. Lapini and some as Papini. Using both spellings and variations I still could not find a marriage record. (In fact I am jumping the gun here, bare with me. My thoughts are leaning toward – had this been an elaborate scam of some kind? You’ll understand why this thought shortly)
Bernhard #1 went by two names, Bernhard and Benjamin Perboner. His passport application dated 14 Sept. 1895, age 18, birthdate 3 Oct., 1876 was under Benjamin Perboner. His passport was issued on 11 Sept 1907, age 30, birthdate 3 Oct., 1876 under Bernhard Perboner.
This all began with a newspaper article with the last name of Srolowitz catching my eye. I have spent enough time on the possible trying to find a connection to our branch and it’s time to put it to rest. But before I do that, I wanted to share what I discovered about his brother Adolph.
Adolph Perbohner b. 1855 met an untimely and quite tragic death on 27 Oct., 1905, in Chicago, Ill.. He was 50 years old. And once again, I am struck by the amount of newspaper coverage his death got. It was picked up in 13 states that I found, Ill., Iowa, N.C., Penn., OK., Utah, Texas, Neb., Washington D.C., Tenn., N.D., Wisconsin, and Kansas.
from The Charlotte News (Charlotte, North Carolina . 27 Oct 1905, Fri . Page 1
In another article headed “Big Ring of Grafters Pray On The Public”
Fron Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) . 23 Sept. 1906, Sun . Page 53
My rabbit hole adventure with this family seemed to become endless. The Chicago Tribune in a follow up article a year later on graft in the city made mention of not only Adolph but his wife Anna. Who was Adolph’s wife, Anna, clairvoyant and fortune teller?
Anna was the daughter of Hyman Elias and Lena Kaminsky. Born about 1855, Russia, she immigrated about 1885/87. I found her in the 1900 and 1910 census. Both records listed her occupation as clairvoyant. She was head of household for both. With husband Adolph’s death in 1905, I was surprised to see he was not listed with her and children Leopold, Jacob, and Mary/Marion in 1900. Anna had 5 births with 4 living, the 4th being Bernhard who married to Eleanor Srolowitz. I also found a 1904 city directory listing her under ‘Clairvoyant’ heading. Anna died on 22 July, 1911 and is buried at the Waldheim Cemetery.
Having found this information on brother Adolph, I am now beginning to wonder if perhaps Meyer Brick, marriage broker, trying to recoup his $200 fee may actually have been some kind of scam that went wrong. I have the wrong granddaughter connecting to Srolowitz, fortune telling, clairvoyant, diamonds, graft, fraud, suicide….. I just touched the tip of newspaper reporting on this family and have left connecting Hannah and Lieb Srolowitz to our branch open.
Branches On Our Haimowitz Family Tree 