Treasure Chest Thursday: Louis Cohn's manifest

Louis Cohn, husband of Sarah Ett Cohn, left the port of Hamburg on the S.S. Batavia on 25 May 1903 and arrived in New York Harbor on 8 June 1903. Louis' naturalization papers confirm this arrival record.

"New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 10 November 2013), manifest, S.S. Batavia, Hamburg to New York, arriving 8 June 1903, List 31, number 13, Lewys Kohn; citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715, microfilm roll 365.

Lewys Kohn is listed at number 13 on the page.

detail of manifest page

[Items in red will be discussed further, below.]
 
Name: Lewys Kohn
Age: 20
Sex: m
Married or Single: s
Calling or Occupation: ? smith
Able to Read: yes
Able to Write: yes
Nationality: Austria
Race or people: Hebrew
Last residence: Kazmiowa
Final Destination: Brooklyn, N.Y.

detail of manifest page

Whether having a ticket to destination: yes
By whom was passage paid: cousin
Whether in possession of $50: $25
Whether ever before in the United States: No
Whether going to join a relative or friend: 
          cousin Max Wolkowicz
          Brooklyn, NY 223 Lynch Str

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Louis was a tinsmith in the United States and became a successful businessman dealing in sheet metal. He apparently brought some skills as a smith to the United States. It is unclear to me what the first word may be in his occupation information on the manifest. It is likely "tinsmith."

Austria is noted as Louis' nationality. He is likely to have been born in Kamyanets Podilskyy - at that point (in about 1883) within the Russian Empire, but very close to the border with Austria. Family stories suggest he may have been born in Kamyanets Podilskyy, but grew up in Czortkow (Chortkiv, Ukraine), which, at the time, was in the Austrian Empire.

As best I can decipher, the community of last residence was written as Kazmiowa. I am unable to find a community in eastern Europe with that name. Louis' Declaration of Intention to naturalize (the first papers he filed for naturalization on 27 January 1921), indicated that his last residence was in Kazimierz, Austria.[1] Kazimierz is today a suburb of Krakow, Poland. Prior to World War I it was within the Galicia province of the Austrian Empire. It is quite far from Chortkiv and one may wonder, if this is the correct town of residence for Louis, what he was doing so far from home.

Louis reported on his manifest record that his cousin purchased his ticket for passage and that he would be heading to his cousin Max Wolkowicz residing at 223 Lynch Street, Brooklyn, New York.

The X to the left of Louis's name on the manifest indicates that he was detained by immigration officials. Louis' detention page (found near the end of the manifest pages for the Batavia voyage) shows he was met by his cousin Max who then resided at 188 Middleton, Brooklyn.

Detail from: "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 10 November 2013), manifest (Record of Detained Alien Passengers), S.S. Batavia, Hamburg to New York, arriving 8 June 1903, page 184, number 8, Lewy Kohn; citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715, microfilm roll 365.

I have not located Max Wolkowitz at Lynch Street or Middleton in Brooklyn directories from the early 1900s. However, I have found Max Wolkowitz, a tinsmith from Austria, married to Clara and living on Ellery Street in the 1910 U.S. Census.[2] While I am not certain this is Louis' cousin Max Wolkowitz, this man's World War II Draft Registration record indicates he was working for a metal roofing company and was originally from Jagielnica, Austria.[3] Jagielnice (today Yahilnytsya, Ukraine) is six miles from Chortkiv. Further research may identify Max as a relative Louis Cohn and shed further light on Louis' origins.

Notes:
1. Louis Cohn Declaration of Intention no. 51717 (1921), Eastern District Court of New York, filed with Petition for Naturalization no. 81039, volume 325, page 189, Supreme Court, Kings County, New York.
2. 1910 United States census, Kings County, New York, population schedule, Brooklyn, Enumeration District 480, page 17A, line 11, Max W. Wolkowitz; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 9 July 2014), citing NARA Microfilm publication series T624, roll 968.
3. "U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 July 2014), card for Max Wolkowitz, no. U-65, Kings County, New York, National Archives record group 147, Saint Louis, Missouri.