Treasure Chest Thursday: First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association 25th anniversary publication, Part 1

Last summer, Marilyn Silverman, another family history researcher and descendant of immigrants from Labun (aka Lubin, in Yiddish), was able to procure photocopies of pages of two publications created in honor of the 25th and 40th anniversaries of the First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association (FLPBA). Relatives of hers are the daughters of Julius Reitman, a past president of the the FLPBA, and his wife Sarah Scherman Reitman. Both Marilyn and I had hoped to either get the documents, themselves, or make good color copies of the pages. Unfortunately, the sisters involved had their own ideas, and provided photocopies of their own selection of pages for Marilyn.

In a previous Treasure Chest Thursday post we looked at the 1911 incorporation papers of the landsmanshaft (community support group) for Labun immigrants who had settled in New York City. Today and on the next few Thursdays we'll look at some of the pages copied from the 25th anniversary booklet (presumably from 1936, since the the FLPBA was organized in 1911).

These gentlemen were officers of the FLPBA during the 25th anniversary celebration. Actually, I know that I am related to three out of four of them: Nathan Garber (my great uncle), Abraham Sotskess (who married my great great aunt, Rivka Malzman/Rebecca Myers), and Joseph Myers (my great great uncle and Rivka's brother).

Nathan Garber (1884-1963), son of Avrum Garber and Khana Matsevitsky, was born in Lubin, Zaslav Uyezd, Volhynia Gubernia, Russian Empire (today, Yurovshchina, Khmelnitskyy Oblast, Ukraine). He married Yetta and had two daughters prior to emigrating in 1910. He settled in the lower east side of New York City and his family joined him there in 1912. 

Nathan worked in the butter and eggs business, sometimes as an egg candler. This is an interesting profession, probably most necessary for Jewish people who keep kosher. Fertilized eggs (the ones we may see when we crack eggs and find bits of blood in them) are considered not kosher. So, Nathan's job, as I understand it, was to hold eggs up to the light to see if spots of blood were present.

Abraham Sotskess (1877-1948), was born in Chodorow, located about 33 miles SSE of Lviv, Ukraine and came to the United States in 1910.[1] His wife, the former Rivka Malzman, arrived a few months later. Her most recent residence had been in Lubin. Abraham's and Rivke's surname at immigration was Czaczkes (pronounced Tchotchkiss, meaning "toy"). His manifest notes that he had a glass eye. 

Abraham worked as a glazier in New York City. Abraham's Ellis Island manifest indicated that he was going to a brother, Isaak, in Manhattan. But, when he died intestate (without a will) several years after his wife, Abraham's probate record indicated that he had no relatives in the New York City area.[2] The public administrator of his estate found addresses for three siblings in Argentina: Aida Sotskess and Faiga Sotskess of Allevenida, Argentina and Miguel Chachkin of Buenos Aires.

Joseph Myers (1889-1945), another glazier, was born in Lubin to David Myers (Malzman) and Ida (Chaye Sura) Kesselman. Joseph arrived in the United States in 1910, married Rose Adler in 1913, raised two children to adulthood, and lived out his life in the Bronx and Manhattan. Joseph's 1906 manifest record indicated he was fair-haired with blue eyes. His World War I draft registration differs, showing black eyes.

There are several things about Abraham Krakowsky (1888-1985), that I have yet to determine. He appears, based on his naturalization and manifest, not to have been an immigrant from Labun.[3] It is possible that his wife Rose was the immigrant, but I have not been able to determine her maiden name. He and Rose, as well as their son Murray (aka Morris), are buried in the FLPBA Beth Moses Cemetery plot. 

Notes:
1. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 23 November 2008), manifest, S.S. President Lincoln, Hamburg to New York, arriving 26 May 1910, p.104, line 27, Abraham Czaczkes; citing National Archives Microfilm Serial: T715; Microfilm Roll: 1487 .
2. New York County, New York, Abraham Sotskess probate case file no. 3569-1948, Surrogate's Court, New York City.
3. Abraham Krakowsky petition for naturalization no. 22634 (1920),  page 240, Eastern District of New York.
"New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 8 January 2015), manifest, S.S. Grosser Kurfurst, Bremen to New York, arriving 3 February 1909, list 4, line 15, Pinkus Krakowsky [indexed as Ainkus Krakowsky]; citing NARA microfilm serial T715, roll  1194.