Tuesday 15 July 2014

Border Crossing leads to Canadian Passenger List

How a Border Crossing Can Help in Finding an Ocean Crossing

Kaufman Walder's Border Crossing Record was found with the name Wm Kauffman. Again the name was wrong and his given and surnames were in the wrong order.  He was 20 years old. His entry was through St Alban's Vermont in Dec 1916. His Petition for Naturalization had his Point of Entry as Rouses Point.


There is a variation of the location where he is from: Staro (Old ) Uschitsa, Podolia. Then there is a notation father with letters that don't look like the known name of his father, Moshe. 


The very important point is to realize that there is a second page to this Border Crossing. Here I found Kaufman's contact, a friend, Sam Bobchik, an unknown person to me. The first time I looked at this page, I hadn't paid attention to the headings of the next section and what the little numbers represent. Here was the secret to the clues in finding the Canadian passenger List!














Kaufman's information is on the bottom line in the list

Number 12/ 13 ( Heading was Date of Landing): Dec 1913

This was different from the 1930 Census: Immigration Year: 1908

Ship’s name: S.S. Teutonic

Port of Landing I couldn't make it out. When I looked at other places in the column, I saw Mont , abbreviated for Montreal but these letters didn't look like Montreal.

What I later found out was that it was Port for Portland ( Seaport landing in his Passenger List )

I then went to Canadian Passenger Lists

I did NOT search under name because for Kaufman, it was always problematic.

Since I had found out the date notation and the ship’s name Teutonic, I used that in Search in the Canadian Passengers Lists 

Name of Vessel (Teutonic )

I had 1898 for Birth; Russia for location and that is it.

Scrolling down, I found:

NAME ERROR AGAIN: This time, the name was :  

Walter Kaufman    Abt 1896    Russia    7 Dec 1913    Teutonic    Portland, Maine      Liverpool

Looking further in that record, there is a column, that has a destination contact. This time, it says his brother, who is a tailor ( spelled taylor ) and has been here for 8 years.


This is another puzzle as his only known brother, Louis was born about 1903. Since the year was 1913, this would make the brother's arrival at 1905. Impossible.

As well , the record has the info that the ticket was prepaid by his brother.
 
Could he be considering his contact, "brother" Jacob Goldberg whom I had heard had sent him money for a ticket? However as I had  discovered, Jacob had arrived in 1900
Adding to the confusion, Kaufman's 1930 census had indicated his arrival date as 1908.


Another type of Record that I had not seen seen before had Kaufman's border crossing information but the record was called Record of Registry and was dated 11 Dec 1930. This Record has Rouses Point as the Entry Point.

I want to pass on my genealogy friend, Deb's strategy in finding this record and what this type of record is. This is her explanation.

I found the photo card border crossing right on Ancestry and just did a general search in border crossings and passports for the first name K*fm*n. It is not a rare name but it is not terribly common in the context of this record set. Because there were only 25 results on 3 pages for Canada to US crossings it was easy to find him as Koffman Woelder.

This is part of an Alien Registration. The law was implemented in 1929 and additional laws were made part of it through the 1940s. Was administered by the US Department of Labor. These kind of documents were in the "A file" of aliens who had come to the US on visas and had not yet become citizens. Alien Registration usually included a photo.

It was great adding to what I know about Kaufman Walder but there is conflicting and puzzling information.

Sunday 13 July 2014

Eliahu Endler, Link for Aaron Solomon and to the Quebec City Community

Eliahu Endler, A Destination Relative and Leader in His Community

   
There is so much value in finding and noting the names of the people our relatives are heading for in their new country.  The Border Crossing of Aaron Solomon showed that he gave my great grandfather's brother, Eliahu Endler as his cousin, his contact relative, in Canada. This was a surprise as Aaron's wife's brother  lived in Bathurst, New Brunswick.

That curiosity about her great grandfather's contact led Deb to e-mail me.! How great it is when our relatives connect us to special people we would never have encountered otherwise!! I am incredibly grateful to her for sharing so much of her genealogy skills and knowledge with me.

The research that Deb did resulted in finding out more about what Eliahu's life was like. It is the out of the ordinary articles like these below that deepen our understanding of what our ancestors were interested in. It goes beyond the names and dates that we begin with. This sure adds an extra dimension to what genealogy is all about!

In Feb 1908, Eli and other Quebec merchants were going to apply at the next session of the Legislature of the Province of Quebec for an act incorporating them as a religious corporation, a synagogue in Quebec City.

Eli was a subscriber to books such as one called, " Great Epochs in American History: Described by Famous Writers" I wonder what languages he was able to speak and read.

He was one of the Canadian buyers at a Fur Auction in 1918 in New York City.

He was part of a meeting at the synagogue in Quebec City in May 1920. Eli was a committee member offering support for the rebuilding of Israel. The Jews of the Quebec City synagogue gave $8000 to the Restoration Fund for Palestine.

My great grandfather didn't immigrate and I don't know anything about him. Eliahu Endler, his brother, was the closest I got to that generation.


Saturday 12 July 2014

Goldenberg Name in Canadian Passenger Lists

Jacob Goldberg Arrived with the Name of Goldenberg

The Botosani Records surprised me with the name of Goldenberg. Goldberg was the name that was used by my great grandfather and his descendants in Canada. The 1911 Census listed the family under Goldberg. That was my mindset and the name that was familiar.

The Passenger Record for the family had eluded me since 2010 when I started this genealogy journey. 

I was trying  to help someone find his relative with the given name of Israel. I thought I would try a browsing strategy that my genealogy friend had suggested. I tended to include both given and surname in the search.This time, I searched:
First Name: Israel ( no surname )
Birth: Russia ( no year )
Arrival : 1899 (+or- 5 years )

Despite using Russia, meant for the other person, the result came up with my great grandparents' family who lived in Romania.
There I saw it; Israel Goldenberg  rather than Goldberg
Israel, age 9,  arrived 2 Nov 1901 on the ship, S.S. Simcoe
His UK Outward Passenger Record from Liverpool showed that the family left 24 Oct 1901
The address that Jacob was living at was 1039 St Dominique St.
In the left margin, there was a note.  To husband, no money"


The other names had transcription errors, alternate spelling or different names
The children were with their mother, with the spelling, Pine, age 30 ( transcription error, Perie )
Etta/ Yetta was under the name Jette, age 18
Leah was under the spelling Lea, age 13
Esther was under her second name, Rochel, age 11
Max was under the name  Morache, age 6 ( transcription error, Moracke )
Max's name in the UK Outward Passenger Record was Mordche ( transcription error, Mordelie )
Moe was under the name of  Moses, age 5
Moe's name in the UK Outward Passenger Record was Moses ( transcription error, Moser )

I knew that Jacob had arrived earlier with his oldest son, Benjamin Itzhak
Different versions were: that it took about 3 years until they found a home for his family, alternately, about a year later. The year had varied as well, 1902 or 1904.
I found the record for Jacob under the name, Jacob Goldenberg, age 40,  with his son with the name Itzig, age 17 ( transcription error, Marie )
They arrived 4 Aug 1900. The UK Outward Passenger Record from Liverpool had their departure on 17 Jul 1900 on the ship, S.S. Montfort. Jacob's name had a transcription error of Jant and Itzig's transcription error was Wm.

What an incredible challenge it is to find these Passenger Crossing Records!  It is really fantastic when I do find them. 

I wish I could talk to some one about the name change from Goldenberg to Goldberg. What were the reasons? Was there a legal change? Why didn't my great grandfather change his name back to Newman, the name he was born with? 

I would really like to find the family whose name Jacob adopted when he arrived in Romania from Russia. Was their name Goldenberg, not Goldberg? Did they immigrate also?

Friday 4 July 2014

Barney Oscar Rich

An Enterprising Man who Took Care of His Family







Barney Oscar Rich was born 8 Oct 1883 in Starow Cinavo, Volhynnia, Russia.




Travelling under the name of Berl Reitzman, he was 17 when he arrived in New York, 18 Mar 1901 on the S.S. Potsdam (NY Passenger List). The arrival date differs in his Naturalization Record by one year, 19 Mar 1900. He left Proskurow in Podolia ( now Khmelnitzky, Ukraine ). He was going to Philadelphia to his father M. Reitzman ( NY Passenger List ) who was known as Michael Rich in the US. His father lived at 1033 S. 3rd St.

  
When I started this genealogy journey, I was really fortunate to have contact with a great granddaughter of Barney's. It is she who gave me access to many of these marvellous pictures that I have on my Family Tree. Her grandparents  had told her that Michael had been working as a Hebrew teacher, earning just pennies a day.
"A day after arriving in the US, Barney got a job delivering meat for a kosher butcher. He got beat up daily as he went through a bad neigbourhood, delivering meat. He didn't quit his job, but bought a bull whip with his first pay check. The next time he went through the neighbourhood, he whipped the kids who were tormenting him. They wouldn't steal his money, just wanted to beat hi up because he was foreign.
Barney signed up for correspondence courses as soon as he got to America. He spoke 7 languages.
 In Russia, his family lived near the water. The story goes that Barney's mom was mad at him for something and chased him into a lake or river.
Barney took care of his siblings. He saved money and brought them all over from Russia. He later put them through school.







Barney put his brother through pharmacy school and made him the pharmacist at his drug store. He never could teach him to 'turn off the lights' so he could never be left to run the shop by himself."






Barney was the owner of a drugstore






 


Rose Rich Camlot
Mollie Rich Hopkins
Bessie Rich
Ruth Rich Goldstein

Photo taken by J.A.Walk Studios - post card printing on back - labeled "Souvenir of Atlantic City" Names on back are labeled as: Barney Rich's Sisters Aunt Rose Camlot, Aunt Mollie Hopkins, Aunt Bess Polansky, Ruth (Rich) Goldstein
Atlantic City, NJ


Michael's wife Sophie arrived in Philadelphia with their children, Bessie, Morris and Rose Lillian, 7 Sep 1903 on the ship, S.S. Nottingham. The names for the family were Sossie Raich, age 38, Bessie, age 11,  Mojche, 7 and Rochel, age 5. The tickets had been bought 31 May 1903 through the Rosenbaum Ticket Agency and sent to an address in Proskurov at the home of Shmuel Wolf Kaplan. The name of the person who bought the tickets was Michael Richman.

 




Bessie was born 25 Dec 1890 in Proskurov, Russia.  Bessie worked in her brother Barney's pharmacy as a cashier   (1940 Census). 




 

She lived with her brother Morris and his family in 1940. Her grand niece, Charlene, remembers Bessie living with her family for what seemed like years. Then Bessie, Rose Rich Camlot ( Charlene's grandmother, Bessie's sister ) and Charlene's mother's sister, Bernice moved to a house in Levitttown, Pennsylvania about 1963. Bessie had a common-law relationship with someone named Barney. Bessie had a child called Arthur who died as a child.
 








Bessie died 25 May 1964 in Bristol, Bucks, Pennsylvania











  Morris was born 12 Jul 1896 in Ostropol, Volhynnia, Russia. He married Pauline, born 1903. They had 2 children , Roselle and June. Morris died Oct 1967 in Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware.


 

Mollie/ Malka was born 6 Jan 1907 in Pennsylvania, died 29 Mar 1985 in Bristol, Bucks, Pennsylvania. She married Martin J Hopkins, born 6 Mar 1904, died 16 May 1973 in Bristol, Bucks, Pennsylvania. He was an owner of a cut-rate supply store. He was also the President and Secretary of the Bristol Jewish Center, President of Mill St Businessmen's Association and Bristol Lions Club. They had one daughter Lorraine, born 14 Oct 1928, died 24 Dec 2002 in Morrisville, Bucks, Pennsylvania. She married Bill Goldfarb and they had one daughter Shelley.(Bill Lynde)







Bessie Rich
Pop Hopkins
Martin Hopkins
Mollie Rich Hopkins
Richard Handloff
Laurie Hopkins Goldfarb
Bill Goldfarb
Rose Rich Camlot









Rose Lillian ( Ruchel Leah ) connects me to this family. She married her first cousin Charlie Camlot. Click the names, Rose and Charlie to link to my other blogposts to read about them.





Barney married Fannie Goldich 5 Jan 1912 in Philadelphia. They had 3 children, Beatrice Bebe, born 11 Mar 1917 in Philadelphia, died 8 Jul 2010 in Greenville, Delaware. (Alvin I Handloff ), Ruth, born 4 Nov 1912 in Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware, died 9 May 2005, in Warrington, Bucks, Pennsylvania ( Morris D. Goldstein ), Gladys, born 25 Sep 1921 in Wilmington, Newcastle, Delaware, died 18 Mar 2005, in Delray Beach, Florida ( Harry Zutz )

Barney died 14 Apr 1965 in Delaware. Fannie died 27 Mar 1977 in Wilmington, Delaware.




Thursday 3 July 2014

Kaufman Walder, The Challenge of a Name

Fabulous Records When You Find Them

Kaufman Walder had a particular interest to me because my great grandfather sent money to his cousin in Russia so that he could come to Montreal.

From Kate Newman Mehlman, the oldest woman, going clock-wise:
William Mehlman
Irene Esses Mehlman
Ruby Mehlman
Marian Hartman Mehlman
Sally Mehlman
Yetta Franckel Walder
Kaufman Walder
Unknown man
Mary Mehlman

 I have been finding out so much about the Newman and Walder family since discovering the Family Tree on Ancestry of a grandson of one of my great grandfather's nieces.

I had learned that Kaufman had first stayed in Montreal before moving on to New York

One of the best American records to find for the amount of information it contains is the
Petition for Naturalization Certificate.

I found his certificate under a different spelling of his name, Koffman Wolder. His wife Yetta Franckel's Petition for Naturalization had different information. So even though it is all very valuable, it really reinforces that you can't consider one date in isolation. Each is a piece of a puzzle.

Kaufman Walder's Petition For Naturalization

Born in Stasa, Russia

Last foreign residence: Montreal, Quebec

Lawful entry into the US was at Rouses Point, New York was under the name WOELDER KOUFMAN, 15 Dec 1916 This was a "winner" piece of info not only for the spelling but for the order at which his name was written, surname first. I don't know if the order was a mistake of the person who wrote the Naturalization document. I have yet to find his Border Crossing Record into the US and Passenger Record for his arrival in Canada. This date was given in Kaufman's naturalization Record and differs from the info that is written for him in his wife's Record.

Marriage date, 13 Jun 1925 is the same date as in the actual Marriage Record but different from what is stated in Yetta's.

This record has Kaufman's Date of Birth as 15 Apr 1898 ( different from what is stated in Yetta's Record )

Yetta's Date of Birth is 15 Mar 1904  ( different from what is stated in Yetta's )

Her Date of  Entry into the US is different in Kaufman's Record: 1 May 1920

Kaufman declared his intention to become a citizen, 8 Apr 1931

The witnesses, Jacob Greenberg and Isidor Epstein signed 20 Jul 1934.

Yetta Franckel's Petition for Naturalization

Yetta declared her intention to become a citizen 24 Jun 1929


They lived at 562 Georgia St in Brooklyn, New York

Here Yetta's maiden name is Frankel which is also the name stated in the Census info. However in the Marriage Index Record, her maiden name is given as Greenberg. Interestingly, one of the witnesses in both her and Kaufman's Naturalization Records is Jacob Greenberg

Each of the dates are different from that stated in Kaufman's Record

The Date of Marriage is one year earlier than in the Marriage Index and Kaufman's Naturalization Record.

Kaufman: born 20 Jun 1898 in Podolia, Russia. This Birth Date differs from 15 Apr 1896, in the 1940 Census and his SS Death Index and the 15 Apr 1898 in Kaufman's Naturalization Record

Kaufman immigrated Jun 1916, Russia

Yetta was born 15 Mar 1903 in Kaminetz

She immigrated 3 Jul 1921 on the ship S.S. Berengeria

Her last residence was Hotin, Romania before she immigrated.

The 1930 Census for Kaufman and Yetta has each of their info on consecutive pages. Here the Census takers recorded it completely wrong

For both Kaufman and Yetta, the Surname was written as Kaufman. The Given name was recorded as Walter

His immigration year is given as 1908 which would probably be reflecting the fact that he first immigrated to Montreal. Yetta's is given as 1921

They both lived at the same address in other records, 562 Georgia Ave, Kings, Brooklyn. 

The 1940 Census indicates that they had moved to 564 Bradford St, Kings, New York

They had one son, Henry E Walder, born 7 Mar 1933 in Brooklyn, New York and died 30 Aug 1985 in Huntington Station, New York. He married Harriet and they had 2 children.

Both Kaufman and Yetta are buried in Mt Hebron Cemetery. Kaufman died 30 May 1966. Yetta died 31 Aug 1983.

The translation of Kaufman's gravestone gives more information. I now knew Moshe was the name of the father of Kaufman and his brother  Louis Walder.  He  could be the brother of Benish/ Baynush, the first husband of Rebecca Newman, Jacob Goldberg's niece.




Thanks to the Viewmate, Jewishgen, I received this translation:

 Here lies Koipman Meshulem son of Moshe
 died 11 Sivan 5726
 May his soul be bound up in the bond of  everlasting life






Another one of my favorite resources is the Jewish Given Names Database, also part of Jewishgen. This gave the variations in Hebrew, Yiddish, Yiddish Nickname and US.

 Legal/Hebrew: Meshulam Koyfman    Gender: M    Legal Origin: Chronicles I 5:13

Yiddish: Meshulem / Meshulom / / Kofman / Kokhman / Koyfman

Yiddish Nickname: Meshl / Shalem / Shilem / Shulam / Shulman / / Keyfe / Keyfke / Koftse

US Name: Meshullam

I am hoping to find out more about the Walder Family and the link to my great grandfather and the Newmans. I am wondering if there is a direct ancestral link between the 2 families. All I know now is the marriage link of Benish Walder being the first husband of Rebecca Newman.

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Three Camlot Sisters

Where Do The Three Camlot Sisters Fit In?



What a very special treat it was to receive this picture of the Camlot sisters! Who is who and how they fit in with their brothers is the puzzle!


Sarah has wildly different ages. Her gravestone has 1881; other records have 1896 and 1899. The 1930 Census gives her age as 34. What is great about this particular census is that it has a column that gives the ages that the person was married: Sarah was 23 and Eli Saltzman was 20. The 1940 Census has her age as 41, so that would mean she was born in 1899. Her Aug 1923 Border Crossing has her age at 29, so 1896 again.

 What is even more confusing is that there is a gravestone for Sarah Saltzman, beloved sister and aunt but no mention of wife. She died 8 Oct 1959. 
Here lies
Sarah daughter of Yisroel
Died 6 Tishri 5720
May her soul be bound up in the bond of (everlasting) life.

From the Hebrew translation , her father's name was Israel, so that fits. However this woman has the age of 78, which would mean she was born in 1881. I want to trust what is on gravestones and say even though  a few parts fit, I thought at that point the conflicting age would make it unlikely that this was the gravestone of my relative.




Yet here is an obituary for Sarah Camlot Saltzman who died 8 Oct 1959 so the date actually matches the gravestone. It is strange to me there is no mention that she was a wife  and that there is such an age discrepancy. According to the obituary, she was a widow at the time she died. What is the truth?




Sophie's New York Passenger List and 1940 Census has her born in 1884. Her 1944 Naturalization Record has her name, Sosie Kamlut, and her age at 59, so that would mean a birthdate of 1885. She arrived in New York, 14 Aug 1920 at age 36 and was heading for her Uncle Michael Rich in Philadelphia.She married Samuel Cohen in 1935. However she was living with her sister and brother-in-law, Sarah and Eli in 1940 without Samuel being listed in the Census. 





Sophie's gravestone has her maiden name, Camlot and gives no mention that she was a wife, but has beloved sister and dear aunt.


Here rests Sosia or Sasia daughter of Reb Israel
Died on 18th of Sh'vat, 5722
Acronym for "May her soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life"
  
Eva's 21 Jun 1921 Ocean Arrival Record has her age as 22, so born in 1899. Her age in the 1940 Census was 36 which would give a birthdate of 1904. Eva married Carl Nitkin, 21 Nov 1929 in Montreal. In 1940 they were living in Philadelphia at 2016 N 31 St.

There is a witness' signature that my genealogy friend reads as Abraham K. Camlot. This is a mystery as we don't know of anyone by that name in the Camlot family.


A great niece of the sisters, Judie, told me that  Sarah, Sophie and Eva lived with her parents in  Montreal, at the end of their lives. Her mother's younger brother and her grandmother Gertie also lived with them. Judie wasn't born yet but her father told her the story. "One day, Sarah misplaced her false teeth. The family searched the house and they were eventually found in the teapot. All through his life, if something went missing, be it keys or a school book, my father would ask if we checked the teapot."