Avrum's Women, Part 7: Feiga's Family

RMS Aquitania, Cunard Line

So far, we've determine that Feiga Grinfeld, who arrived in New York on the Aquitania accompanied by my great grandfather Avrum Garber, and Fannie Greenfield of Cincinnati were one and the same. We have not determined how she is related to my family. You may review my research and findings at the following links:

Avrum's Women, Part 2: Feiga Grinfeld
Avrum's Women, Part 3: Following Feiga (and Raya)
Avrum's Women, Part 4: The Trouble with Harry
Avrum's Women, Part 5: Finding Feiga 
Avrum's Women, Part 6: Added Confirmation
Avrum's Women, Part 8: Fannie's Story
Avrum's Women, Part 9: Fannie's brother Morris
Avrum's Women, Part 10: Morris Lederman - Who's your Mama? 
Avrum's Women, Part 11: Garber Y-DNA = Lederman Y-DNA 
Avrum's Women, Part 12: Finding Family with Family Finder  
Avrum's Women, Part 13: Bond of Brothers  

Obituary

At this point it seemed that a little family time should be prescribed. I found the prescription in Fannie Greenfield's obituary in the Cincinnati Post. 

Services will be held at 1 pm Wednesday at the Weil Funeral Home, 3901 Reading Road, for Mrs. Fannie Greenfield, mother of Robert Greenfield, proprietor of the Main Army Store in Norwood. Burial will be at Adath Israel Cemetery at Lick Run, Price Hill.

Mrs. Greenfield died Monday at her home, 3990 Parker Place. In addition to Robert Greenfield, she is survived by two other children, Mrs. Harry Young of Cincinnati and Mrs. Joseph Saltzman of Louisville, a brother, Morris Liderman of Detroit, and six grandchildren.[1]

There were two great new pieces of information in this obituary: Mrs. Joseph Saltzman and Morris Liderman (more on him in a future post). Prior to acquiring Fannie's naturalization records in early November, this was the first evidence I'd located regarding Leja Grinfeld. Apparently she'd married Joseph Saltzman and moved to Louisville. 

Family Contacts

Via Inter-Library Loan, I located Adath Louisville, which chronicles the history of the Jewish community in Louisville. Joseph Saltzman was a Rabbi and a Hebrew teacher who arrived in Louisville with his wife Leah in 1921. They were newly arrived from the Old Country and had learned of a teaching job at the Louisville Hebrew School from relatives in Cincinnati. Rebbitzen Leah Saltzman was a Hebrew teacher, as well, and started teaching at the school in the 1930s. According the Adath Louisville, 

She was one of the few women ever privileged to attend a Russian gymnasium (the equivalent of junior college) and carved out a niche as a beloved teacher on her own.[2]

Rabbi Saltzman and Leah taught at the school into the 1960s.  

Leah Grinfeld Saltzman, 1899-1965

I located Leah with her family, husband Joseph and two daughters, in Louisville in 1930 and 1940 U.S. Census records.[3] In addition, via an online index provided by the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Library, I located an obituary for Leah published in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Within a day, the librarian emailed Leah's obituary. [4]

Leah's obituary gave me her daughters' married names and cities of residence at the time of Leah's death (I will not share the full information here since I prefer to protect Leah's daughters' privacy). I tried to contact her younger daughter via her husband who had an online presence. No response. Frustration.  

While I waited for a response that was not to come, I checked the JewishGen Family Finder for the shtetl of Baranovka.[5] The names I'd been tracing were represented by one researcher who was not only seeking the names Greenfield and Saltzman, but also bore one of  the descendant surnames I'd been tracking. N.M. turned out to be the wife of Leah's grandson.

I first contacted N.M. just about this time last year - right before Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving she told me that Leah's younger daughter, whom I'd tried to contact, was not interested in talking with me. I understand. I came to them out of the blue. But I have to admit this was my first outright rejection in many tries. 

N.M., however, was a fellow researcher and helpful. She told me Fannie and Leah's story and, more recently shared an original document from Baranovka. She has not yet located a photo of Fannie, but I'm ever hopeful.

Next up: Feiga's story.

Notes
1. "Mrs. Fannie Greenfield," Cincinnati Post, 02 December 1942, Collection of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Library, page 20.
2. Landau, Herman, Adath Louisville (Herman Landau and Associates, Louisville, KY: 1981), pp. 79-82.
3. 1930 U.S. Census, Jefferson County, Kentucky, population schedule, Louisville City, Enumeration District 56-71, sheet 14-A, dwelling  230, family 274, Joseph Saltzman; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 November 2011); 1940 U.S. Census, Jefferson County, Kentucky, population schedule, Louisville City, Enumeration District 121-136, sheet 11-A, household 244, Joseph Saltzman; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 November 2012).
4. "Mrs. Joseph Saltzman," Cincinnati Enquirer, 12 January 1965, Collection of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Library, page 19, column 7.
5. The Family Finder is an online tool that allows researchers to list the surnames they are seeking and the towns they are researching. It also allows searches by surname, town or both. One may contact researchers via a message system supported by JewishGen.