Tombstone Tuesday: Harry and Ethel Dansker, Montefiore Cemetery, Queens, NY

Harry and Ethel Dansker were married in the Russian Empire and came to the United States early in the 20th Century, settling initially in Lower Manhattan and later in Queens.

Here lies

My husband and our beloved father

Tzvi son of Aizik Dov

Died 10 Kislev 5691

May his soul be bound in the bonds of the living

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HARRY DANSKER

BELOVED HUSBAND

AND DEAR FATHER

DIED NOV. 30, 1930

AGE 69 YEARS

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FATHER

Harry was born in Labun, Volhynia Gubernia, Russian Empire (also called Lubin in Yiddish and today, Yurovshchina, Ukraine) in about 1865. His parents (as reported on his death certificate) were Isaac Dansker and Sophie Goldberg.[1] 

Ethel was born in Radzivilov, Volhynia Gubernia, Russian Empire to Yale Bresner and Pessie Gittleman.[2] 

Our beloved elderly mother

Etel daughter of Yoel

Died 15 Sivan 5707

May her soul be bound in the bonds of the living

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ETHEL DANSKER

OUR BELOVED

MOTHER

DIED JUNE 7, 1947

AGE 90 YEARS

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MOTHER 

Ethel traveled to the United States with her children Mottel (age 19), Malke (17) and Rachel (8) following their father Harry. They landed in New York on 16 June 1905.[3] While I have a candidate record, I am not yet certain that I have found Harry's manifest.

 

I have located the family in the 1910 census living at 274-6 Henry Street, New York, New York.[4] Harry was reportedly an operator at a skirt factory. The family consisted of Harry, Zeitl, Mollie and Rachel. Son Mottel is not with the family.  The census record reports that Zeitl had had 7 children, only two of whom were still living. I have not found any other records regarding son Mottel.

Daughter Rachel married Reuben Minkowitz on 6 June 1922.[5] She reported that she, like her father, was born in Lubin. I have not located a marriage record for her sister Mollie. 

Harry's death certificate indicates that he had become a glazier. He is among many Lubin immigrants who took that profession in New York City. 

Ethel's death certificate indicates that she died at the age of 89. The tombstone says 90. But, the manifest for her arrival in New York indicated that she was 40 years old in June 1905. That would calculate to a birth year of about 1865. The 1910 U.S. Census provides information that agrees: she was listed as 46 years old in 1910. Based on this, she was probably about 82 years old at death.

There is inconsistency regarding the Dansker surname in Ethel's death records. Ethel's death certificate lists her surname as Dansky and Montefiore Cemetery has her identified in their index using that surname. However, both her and her husband's tombstones indicate that the surname was Dansker. That name is in agreement with the 1910 U.S. Census record for the family, Ethel's manifest and Rachel's marriage certificate. "Dansky" is a mistake on the Ethel's death certificate - a mistake carried forward by the cemetery.

The Danskers are buried next to each other in one of the First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association plots in Montefiore Cemetery, Queens, NY: block 89, gate 156N, line 4R, graves 5 and 6.

Notes:
1. Queens County, New York, certificate of death no. 7008 (30 November 1930), Harry Dansker, New York City Municipal Archives, New York.
2. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 18 December 2010), manifest, S.S. Patricia, Hamburg to New York, arriving 16 June 1905, p. 40, line 3, Zwettel Danzker; citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715, Roll 589. 
Queens County, New York, certificate of death no. 11895 (7 June 1947), Ethel Dansky, New York City Municipal Archives, New York.
3. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com, manifest, S.S. Patricia, Hamburg to New York, arriving 16 June 1905, p. 40, Zwettel Danzker.
4. New York County, New York, 1910 U.S. Census, population schedule, Manhattan, enumeration district 91, sheet 1A, dwelling 1, family 5, Harry and Zeitl Donsker; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 May 2015); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1008.
5. Kings County, New York, marriage certificate no. 6221 (6 June 1922), Reuben Minkowitz and Rachel E. Donsker, New York City Municipal Archives, New York.