Treasure Chest Thursday: Simon Liebross 1892 NY Census

Thought I'd start blogging on Thursdays regarding records I have in my digital files.

First up is the earliest incidence I have of a relative appearing in a census in the United States: the 1892 New York State Census record for my great great uncle Simon Liebross. Enumerated on 16 February 1892.

1892 New York State Census, Kings County, New York, City of Brooklyn, Enumeration District (ED) 14, Ward 16, sheet 19, 26 Moore Street, Simon Librose and Addie Librose; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 July 2010). 

Simon Liebross and his wife Ethel appear at the lower left portion of the image, above. Liebross is rendered "Librose" and Ethel's first name is listed as "Addie." It's possible that she was called Ettie (a common nickname for Ethel) and the census enumerator heard "Addie."

Name: Simon Librose
Male or Female: Male
Age: 34
In what country born: Germany
Citizen or alien: Alien 
Occupation: Laborer 

Name: Addie Librose
Male or Female: Female
Age: 30
In what country born: Germany
Citizen or alien: [no entry] 
Occupation: [no entry]

While Simon and Addie probably spoke some German, they were never of German nationality. When they had emigrated 2 years earlier, their village Krasnoilsk was in the Austrian Empire.

When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 4

When my father died in 2002 and my mother began her precipitous decline (dying eight months later) my brother and I began the arduous task of cleaning out the house. In my mother's dresser drawer I found a packet of twelve envelopes containing letters my father had sent her during their courtship. The letters are sweet and humorous, completely reminiscent of my father's personality. They are a wonderful chronicle of the beginning of their enduring love-affair.

In honor of what would be my parents 66th anniversary on February 9th, I will be posting a letter each day along with an annotated transcription adding additional insights and explication.

____________________________

Between the 10 July 1945 letter and this 3 August 1945 letter, Sonny was reassigned from Chanute Field to Langley Field, Virginia. As noted in this letter, he took some leave in Brooklyn and visited with Norma Wilson. Notice the salutation where he is finally able to use the L word.

                                               Friday August 3, 1945

Dear Norm,

    I was sorry to say so long Tuesday night and after I saw you Wednesday I was left with a feeling that I find it hard to describe. All the way down here I kept thinking of you and I still can't get you out of my mind.

    I spent years convincing myself that I was the world's number one woman hater but all those years have gone for naught. I must be getting soft in the cranium, think of my reputation. What is my trouble Mr. Anthony? [1] Is it her long black hair, those big eyes or that tilting eyebrow. Maybe it's the combination of many things. If this were the older days I would have you arrested for witchcraft. Is it possible that a thing like that can happen to a guy like me in a short span of seven days. Perhaps time will help me in my dilemma, then again who wants help.

    I arrived here two o'clock in the morning and went right to the good old sack. All the fellows I came down with have now been assigned to a permanent outfit. Once again I am among strangers but I'll get acquainted shortly. It has happened to me many times before. Nobody has called for me and I certainly won't volunteer my services. I hope they forget about me.

    I have returned a bitter soldier with only one aim. That is to get out of this army. I spoke of South Africa, Argentina, and Pearl Harbor but all I want to do is get back to B'klyn and stay there.

    It hasn't been so long that I've seen you but how are you? What are you doing besides working? Did you finally catch up on your lost sleep? How's Rosolina? (Is that right?) [2] How do you look? How are your folks?

    The weather here is beautiful but very hot. How is it at home? I hope the sun finally came out.

    See if you can find a snapshot of yourself and send it to me. That is if you want to.

    I can't think anything else, right now, so I'll sign off. Write as soon as you can and be good. Say hello to everyone for me.
                                                                                                          Love
                                                                                                          Sonny

Notes:
1. This is a reference to a radio program called the Goodwill Hour with John J. Anthony who dispensed marital advice. The stock phrase was, "Mr. Anthony, I have a problem!" 
2. "Rosolina" was likely Rosella Mass Siskind (1922-2003), my mother Norma's friend since childhood. Rosella and her family moved to 28 Colin Place (across the street from the Wilsons) sometime between 1925 and 1930. By the 1940 Census, Rosella's father, Nathaniel Mass, had died and Rosella and her mother Elizabeth and two brothers lived about a block and a half from Colin Place on 1970 East 1st Street, Brooklyn, New York. Rosella married Erwin Siskind (1817-1997). Interestingly, in the 1970s while I was attending Wellington C. Mepham High School in Bellmore, New York, Rosella started teaching there. I believe she taught math. I never took a class with Mrs. Siskind. 

Other posts in this series:
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 1
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 2
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 3
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 5 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 6
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 7 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 8 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 9 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 10 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 11
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 12
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: 66th Wedding Anniversary 

When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 3

When my father died in 2002 and my mother began her precipitous decline (dying eight months later) my brother and I began the arduous task of cleaning out the house. In my mother's dresser drawer I found a packet of twelve envelopes containing letters my father had sent her during their courtship. The letters are sweet and humorous, completely reminiscent of my father's personality. They are a wonderful chronicle of the beginning of their enduring love-affair.

In honor of what would be my parents 66th anniversary on February 9th, I will be posting a letter each day along with an annotated transcription adding additional insights and explication.

____________________________

Tuesday, July 10, 1945

My dear "Circe,"

    I have just returned from mail call and was very happy to receive a letter from you. Your prompt reply deserves one in return so here I am, not two minutes later. It was good to hear from you and I am glad to see that you are in your usual happy frame of mind. I am fine and dandy and with the exception of a few minor annoyances cropping up occasionally I feel super.

   You mentioned pulling your blonde hair and I can't picture you as a blonde. Now that I think about it, I am almost sure you are a red head or was it black. Yes, you have black hair, that's it. I think it is very pretty hair, too. Then again who ever made me an authority on hair. As for you being the demonstrative type, that sounds interesting. When shall I come around for the demonstration. "Foul ball!" [1]

    It took me a little time to recover my composure after the second page. You made me feel lower than Dr. William Beebe. What a heel I am. I think that next new years I will have to make that a resolution. Be kind to Norma in 1946. I'll protect you, and comfort you, too. I can lick any woman my weight and twice as old.

    My social life is still running in somewhat the same vein. Last Friday we had a very nice formal dance which I attended. Saturday I went to Champaign to a dance. Sunday I drank beer at the N.C.O. club and Monday night the same.

    Our latest card game is hearts and we really play for blood. I like to play bridge but I can't seem to get any players.

    I am very interested in finding out exactly what those two dashes mean, "Just because you look like ______  ______." If that means Boris Karloff I'll never speak to you again.

    Yesterday, I spent a very profitable day and my morale was raised 100%. I had an interview with that Lt. and I succeeded in qualifying for two more battle stars. This raises my total to 93 points. I then went to the head of this technical school and I was told that I would not have to start school. From here I expect to be sent to a base close to home. The latest rumor has it that Langley Field, Va. is the closest field open, right now. There I shall get some sort of an assignment and be put on the quota list for discharge. It all sounds lovely but it will take time and I hesitate to predict how long. However, it is something to look forward to. On second thought I had better make allowances for things going amiss. I won't predict the army. They may change some rule and have me chasing fliers on Okinawa, who knows. I have my fingers and all ten toes crossed. Boy, to get into a zoot suit again and spend those enjoyable evenings at Louie's Pool Parlor. I may even decide to take a job making [check mark in circle] on peoples books. I still have my movie contract pending but I don't like being in the public eye, or hair, have it your way. Perhaps, a white slaver would be a lucrative enterprize [sic] or perhaps, taking numbers. You must admit I have ambitions and want to get ahead in this world.

    My brother is now at home enjoying a 30 day furlough. [2] He writes every day and keeps me posted on his activities. The highlight is that he is thinking of becoming engaged. I know his girlfriend quite well and I approve. [3] She is a nice sweet kid. I guess he is leaving his brother in the dust. My sister is finally settled in Dorchester after a nice honeymoon and is enjoying married life. [4] She recommends it highly, so there must be something to it. So many other people are doing it, too. What is this world coming to.

    I couldn't help noticing your salutation, "as ever sonny." I'll see what I can do about that.

    Nuff sed for now so I'll close. Be good, have fun and please write.

                                                                                                 Your affectionate friend

                                                                                                                     (how's that)

                                                                                                 Sonny

Notes:

1. Norma Wilson had jet black wavy hair.
2. Leonard Garber, was nearly five years younger than Sonny. He had also been in the Eighth Air Force stationed in England. The brothers had been able to visit each other during their assignment in the United Kingdom. Both came home unscathed.
3. Lenny married his high school sweetheart from Madison High School in Brooklyn, Harriet Silverman, on 3 February 1946.
4. Leah Garber had married Samuel "Westy" Eisenberg on 17 June 1945. Westy was from Boston and the couple settled in the Dorchester neighborhood.

Other Posts in this series:
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 1
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 2 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 4 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 5    
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 6
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 7
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 8
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 9
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 10
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 11
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 12
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: 66th Wedding Anniversary     

When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 2

When my father died in 2002 and my mother began her precipitous decline (dying eight months later) my brother and I began the arduous task of cleaning out the house. In my mother's dresser drawer I found a packet of twelve envelopes containing letters my father had sent her during their courtship. The letters are sweet and humorous, completely reminiscent of my father's personality. They are a wonderful chronicle of the beginning of their enduring love-affair.

In honor of what would be my parents 66th anniversary on February 9th, I will be posting a letter each day along with an annotated transcription adding additional insights and explication.

____________________________

Wednesday, July 4, 1945

Dear Norma (Circe) [1]

    As you probably notice, the above date is July 4, usually a holiday. Due to the critical times and the war we are carrying on in our usual routine manner. I don't expect to shorten the war or save another man from loss of life and limb because I am doing absolutely noting. Doing nothing is not too hard to take but it becomes pretty old. Such are the exigencies of war.

    I received your most welcome letter yesterday and I am now making this feeble attempt to reply. I hope this letter reaches you before you go on your vacation.

    Regarding my name, it really doesn't matter, you can call me anything you like. On second thought I retract that last sentence. There is no telling what you may decide. [2]

    Your plans for a vacation sound pretty good and you ought to have a fine time. I did that same thing before I came in the army and had a very enjoyable time. Being the pampered brat that you are it will do you good to get out and away from all the comforts. Seriously, have a good time and tell me all about it. I mean about the pitching tents.

    Yes, I have enough points to get out but I am afraid it is a long process. Not being a professional soldier I am bucking for it but I believe I missed my chance upon arrival in the states. Being an incurable pessimist It won't be dissappointment [sic]. However, I have an appointment with an officer next monday [sic]. I am quite sure I can raise my points but I am skeptical about a discharge. Oh well, what's a few years in my young life.

    My set up right now is typically army. I live in regular army barracks and I am fairly comfortable as far as quarters. Of course, it is a long way from Atlantic City but who expects luxury all the time. My social life is limited to the movies and an evening drinking beer. We have a very nice club and I am down there almost every night. We have a beer bar, a juke box, snack bar, and dance floor. The feminine membership is limited to a few very horrible Wacs, so I drink beer. I went to town once and that was to the neighboring town of Champagne, Ill. It is a sleepy rural town of 23,000 and nothing much in the way of life.

    I have just finished "Black Boy" by Richard Wright and "Come and Get It" by Bennett Cerf. I found them both interesting in a different manner. "Come and Get It" was just a book of anecdotes and very amusing in spots. You may have read both of them.

    I am just awaiting the start of school and as I said before I do nothing during the day. Things are very indefinite so I really can't say anything on that account.

    The weather here has been rather warm, too. We have a pool on the post and I may run down there one of these days. The other night we had a freak chill and I froze for lack of covers. When I finally did get more blankets the weather returned to normal.

    I can't blame you for not enjoying the beach as it must be plenty crowded, hot and dirty. It would be nice to take a car out to some beach on the Island and enjoy a nice day on the beach. [3]

    I don't mind Mishofsky coming along on our dates, as long as I am around to chaperon you. However, if he insists on on [sic] hanging around after I am gone that's another story. Tell him the wrath of a Garber is upon his head. Anyway what does he have that I haven't got. [4]

    I'll bring this crudely constructed epistle to a screeching halt. Be good and take care of yourself.

                                                                                                     As ever

                                                                                                     Sonny

Notes:

1. My mother loved her Liebross (maternal) uncles and was especially fond of Uncle Jerry Liebross. She said that it was he who decided her middle name should be Circe - the enchantress who turned men into pigs. She was quite proud of that name, actually. And, my father, obviously, thought it amusing.

2. My father got his nickname Sonny from his sister Leah Garber Eisenberg (1917-2006). Leah was only 16 months older than her brother and when she was little had trouble saying his name. She started calling him "Sonny" and it stuck. All his relatives called him (and still refer to him as) Sonny. My mother, however, thought it would be odd to call her boy friend "Sonny." It's too bad we do not have her letters, but I believe she expressed that concern and his response was in this paragraph. She always referred to him as Bernie or Bern and all those who met him after his marriage knew him as Bernie.

3. Throughout my childhood and throughout their lives on Long Island, Bernie and Norma rented a locker or cabana at Lido Beach every summer, first at private beach clubs and later, at a Nassau County facility developed after the private clubs had been bought out by the County and the Town of Hempstead. Usually, my parents went in with friends &/or neighbors on the rental and all our families would spend time together. The mothers and their kids would go to the beach every summer day and the fathers would join their families on the weekends. My father worked a half day on Saturday and we would usually wait for him to get home before we headed to the beach for the rest of the day.

4. I have no idea who this Mishofsky is. I cannot even find anyone with this name (or a close spelling of this name) and from this time period on Ancestry.com. If anyone has any concept, let me know.

Posts in this series:

When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 1

When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 3
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 4
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 5 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 6
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 7 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 8 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 9 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 10
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 11
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 12 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: 66th Wedding Anniversary    

Tombstone Tuesday: Tillie Liebross Wilson

Tovah daughter of Eliezer haLevi

Died 10 Cheshvan 5722

TILLIE WILSON

BELOVED WIFE, MOTHER,

GRANDMOTHER AND SISTER

DIED OCT. 20, 1961 

My grandmother Tillie was the eldest child of Louis and Bertha Liebross. She was born about 1888 in Radautz, Austria-Hungary (today Radauti, Romania) and came to the United States in 1898 on the Britannic by way of Liverpool with her mother and seven brothers and sisters. Her father had emigrated six months earlier. [1]

She is buried in Section 5, Block H, Lot 36, Grave 2 in Knollwood Park Cemetery (now part of Mt. Carmel Cemetery) next to her husband, Joseph Wilson, and her two children and their spouses: Ira and Lee Urbass Wilson and Norma and Bernard Garber. My daughter's Hebrew name is Tovah - named after her great grandmother.

Sabbath and Festival Prayer Book, Published by the Rabbinical Assembly of America and the United Synagogue of America, 1946 (1960 printing).

My cousin, Larry Liebross, sent me a wonderful gift: a copy of the Sabbath and Festival Prayer Book donated by my grandmother's first cousins (Louis and Sarah Ett Cohn) in her memory. My grandmother's youngest sibling (Larry's father), Dr. Irving B. Liebross, had this copy on his bookshelf. The cover is pictured, above.

The New York Times ran two notices about Tillie's death on 22 October 1961:

WILSON - Tillie, beloved wife of Joseph, devoted mother of Norma C. Garber and Ira H., loving grandmother and dear sister of Dr. Irving B. Liebross. Services Sunday, 1 P.M., "Westminster Chapels," Coney Island Ave. (Ave. H), Brooklyn.

WILSON - Tillie. The Ladies Auxiliary of the Morris J. Solomon Sunshine Fund mourns the loss of its beloved and faithful member, Tillie Wilson, wife of Joseph Wilson. Her loyalty and devotion were always inspiring. Services at Westminster Chapel, Coney Island Ave and Ave H, Sunday, 1 P.M.      GUSSIE LEVITON, President [2]

Notes:

1.  "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 13 May 2009), manifest, Britannic, Liverpool to New York, arriving 1 July 1898, Libros, citing National Archives Microfilm Serial: T715; Microfilm Roll: 25; Lines: 20-28; Page Number: 2.
"New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 5 September 2009), manifest, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Bremen to New York, arriving 23 December 1897, Leiser Lebros, citing National Archives Microfilm Roll: 11; Line: 4; Page Number: 107.

2. The Morris J. Solomon Sunshine Fund was the women's auxiliary of the Elite Club (pronounced EE-lite), in which my grandfather, Joe Wilson, was a member for many years.

Free Records!

On 25 January 2013 FamilySearch.org announced on their Photoduplication Services Wiki page that they had moved inexorably into the twenty-first century: records could now be ordered via email and would be filled by providing images via email. In addition, since mailing costs would be zero, fees per record or per page would now be zero. 

The part that excites me the most is the email ordering (the previous fees were nominal, anyway). Corresponding via email promises to shave, I would think, about a week from the process.

Back in October 2012 I wrote a blog post outlining procedures for finding and ordering documents from the Family History Library and a second one about finding records already digitized on FamilySearch. I have just updated the first post with this new ordering information. Check it out. FamilySearch continues to provide some awesome services.

When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 1

When my father died in 2002 and my mother began her precipitous decline (dying eight months later) my brother and I began the arduous task of cleaning out the house. In my mother's dresser drawer I found a packet of twelve envelopes containing letters my father had sent her during their courtship. The letters are sweet and humorous, completely reminiscent of my father's personality. They are a wonderful chronicle of the beginning of their enduring love-affair.

In honor of what would be my parents 66th anniversary on February 9th, I will be posting a letter each day along with an annotated transcription adding additional insights and explication.

____________________________

My mother, nee Norma Circe Wilson, wasn't one to feign inability in some coquettish notion of fetching femininity. On their first date, a bowling outing set up by my father's first cousin Annette Garber (my mother's friend from Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, New York), my mother out-scored my father. [1] He was smitten.

My father, Bernard (Sonny) Garber, was in the Army Air Corps training for his eventual deployment to Rattlesden, England and he and my mother did not have contact, apparently, for about two and a half years. When he returned to the States and he took leave back in Brooklyn, New York, he called her and they dated. This first letter, from 25 June 1945, was written from the base Chanute Field, Illinois (about 130 miles south of Chicago), shortly after his stay in Brooklyn.

Monday June 25, 1945

Dear Norma,

  Two and a half years ago I told you that I would write and here I am. You must admit I don't go back on my promises even if it did take a little time.

  Seriously, it was nice seeing you and I was hoping that I would get one more weekend at home. As luck would have it, they decided to speed up the process and I find myself out here. [2] 

  I arrived here late last night and haven't had much of a chance to find out everything but I imagine I won't mind this place too much. In this place I have really returned to the army routine of reveille and calisthenics but I'll get used to it again. The one compensation is that we are only 110 miles from Chicago and I will be able to go to that fair city occasionally. Here I shall take a specialist course in airplane instruments which should help me in the army and possibly in civilian life, too. A discharge seems very remote although that is foremost in my mind.

  How is my little numerical juggler getting on? [3] Fine I hope. I spoke to my mother before I left A.C. and she told me that she saw you. What are you doing these days?

  Well, Wilson I'll say bye now and be good. If you get some time drop me a line but please don't take as long as I took.

                                                                                            So Long

      

                                                                                            Sonny

_______________________________

Notes:

1. Annette Garber (1922-1996) was the daughter of Max and Mary Garber.
2. The return address on the envelope is:

T/SGT. B. Garber 12057376
3502 BASE UNIT
Sq K BKs 428
Chanute Field, ILL

3. Norma Wilson worked as a bookkeeper.

Other posts in this series: 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 2  
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 3 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 4 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 5 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 6
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 7
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 8
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 9 
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 10
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 11
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: Courtship Letters, 12
When Bernie (Sonny) met Norma: 66th Wedding Anniversary  

Tombstone Tuesday: Simon Liebross

Here lies

Shimon son of Maneh haLevi

Died 23 Cheshvan 5688

May his soul be bound in the bonds of the living

BELOVED HUSBAND

AND BROTHER

SIMON LIEBROSS

DIED NOV. 18, 1927

AGE 73 YEARS

Simon Liebross was the elder brother of my great grandfather Louis Liebross and was born between 1855 and 1861 in the Austria-Hungarian Empire. [1] He lies in Mt. Lebanon Cemetery, Queens, New York, near most of the rest of the Liebross family and next to his wife Ethel in the Workmen's Circle Block, Section D, Line 9, Grave 1. 

At this point, I am unaware of any other siblings of the two Liebross brothers. Simon first emigrated, by himself, to the United States in 1881. [2] So far, he is the earliest of my known relatives to emigrate to the United States. I have been unable to locate him immediately after immigration in any city directory, so I do not know where he resided or when he returned to Europe. He came back to the United States in 1890 with his new wife Ethel Hammer Liebross. [3] Their last residence in Europe had been Krasnoyil's'k a small community (today in Ukraine) northwest of Radauti, Romania (where brother Leiser and family had resided). [4]

Ethel and Simon did not have any children. They lived their lives in Brooklyn and Queens. Early in my research when I'd first discovered Simon, my mother's first cousin Stanford Liebross (1929-2011), told me that his father (Jerry) had named him after Jerry's great uncle Simon Liebross. I have been told that the name Maneh, the name of Simon and Louis' father, may be a shortened version of "Emanuel."

Notes:

1.  Queens County, New York, Certificate of Death no. 5951 (18 November 1927), Simon Leibross [sic], New York City Municipal Archives, New York.

2. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: 29 August 2012), manifest, Elbe, Bremen to New York, arriving 13 August 1881, line 620, S.[?] L. Liebraefe, citing National Archives Microfilm Serial M237, Roll 440, Line 4, List 1119.

3. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 28 May 2008), manifest, Rhaetia, Hamburg to New York, arriving 25 January 1890, line 188, Simon Libros, citing National Archives Microfilm Serial M237, Line 35.

4. Special thanks to genealogist Ava Cohn (Sherlock Cohn), who may be related to Ethel Hammer Liebross, for identifying that the location cited on the manifest ("Krasno") was actually Krasnoyil's'k.
"Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 28 May 2008), manifest, Rhaetia, Hamburg to New York, departing 5 January 1890, line 190, Simon and Etel Libros, citing Staatsarchive Hamburg, Volume 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 066, Seite 4.

Avrum's Women, Part 8: Fannie's Story*

* This article reflects both my research on Baranovka during the time Feiga Grinfeld lived there and information generously shared by Feiga's family. For earlier posts on Feiga and my research, see the links at the end of this post.

 _________________________

The Russian Civil War

Jewish residents were enthusiastic about the Tzar's abdication in March 1917. The end of the World War had left the battleground communities of Eastern Europe in shambles. It is estimated that 70-80 percent of the Jewish population were without a regular income. [1] Now, before villagers could even consider their limited options for economic recovery, the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917 and the ensuing political chaos made the Empire's hinterlands playgrounds for thugs.

For three years competing armies, bandit groups, and political groups, each with their own flags and uniforms, roamed the land. The Red Army Bolsheviks, desiring Marxist revolution, fought the Russian Provisional Government. Ukrainian nationalists sought independence. The newly formed Polish State pressed territorial claims. The White armies fought to restore the Tzarist government. Anarchists rallied. And bandits groups took advantage of all.

Pogroms

The Jewish people, rightly or wrongly viewed by all as on the incorrect side of the conflict, were targets. While many Bolshevik leaders were of Jewish origin, the Bolsheviks were atheists and opposed to the private trade that had been, for many Jews, their only economic option in Tzarist Russia. The White anti-Bolshevik (pro-Tzarist) forces, used anti-semitic sentiment to rally people to their cause. Between 1918 and 1919 over 1,200 pogroms were carried out in Ukraine. Over one third of these are attributed to the Ukrainian Nationalist military commanded by Semion Petliura. In addition, White armies pogromized Jews in territories they occupied.

Between 1918 and 1921, in more than 2,000 pogroms, 500,000 Jewish people were left homeless, 30,000 were killed in the violence, and, overall, about 150,000 Jewish people died.[2]

The pogroms during the civil war were as brutal as their methods and targets were varied. They were not merely spontaneous riots against Jews, but organized mass murder.[3] [4] Sometimes bands would target people of wealth or businesses. Sometimes the armies would come for the men, shooting them on sight. Other times the armies would torture their victims using a variety of methods. Sometimes they would come for the women, brutalizing them. Sometimes they would target the young, the infants, the old. Waves of thugs would pillage Jewish homes, business, and fields. And just when the Jewish residents thought they had nothing more the give, another armed group would come through taking the very stones from which Jewish homes had been constructed. One could not tell exactly when a pogrom would start, but one knew that the pain would be indescribable and unrelenting.

Baranovka

The Leib (Levy) Yitzchak and Frieda Liderman family had been living in Baranovka where Feiga was born in 1878. Due to restrictions on Jewish lives and livelihoods in Tsarist Russia many relatives and neighbors had left in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Prior to the start of emigration, the Jewish majority population of Baranovka had been as high as 1,990.[5] 

Feiga married fellow Baranovka-dweller Shalom Shachna Grinfeld, son of Yitzchak. Shachna made a living selling flour sacks. On 18 September 1899, they had their first child, Lea.[6] After that they had Wolf (Tzvi) in about 1905 and then Raya (Rachel) on 11 August 1907. [7] Shachna was well-regarded in the community and in 1917 served as a delegate from Baranovka to the Zionist convention in Petrograd (St. Petersburg/Leningrad). [8] 

Abstract (created on 21 June 1910) from a metric book kept in the Baranovka Municipal Archive (copy courtesy of Nancy Metz; translation courtesy of Emma Karabelnik)[6]

Education was important to the Grinfelds. Lea attended a Russian gymnasium. The image included, above, is a portion of a document abstract created in 1910 and certified in 1917 as part of Lea's application to attend school. It documents her birth in Baranovka.

Abstract from metric book
Issued according to paragraph 1086 of 1876 civil law from Community Rabbi of Novograd-Volynsk district for application to educational institution, stating that in the metric list of Jewish female births in Baranovka, Novograd-Volynsk district, is written: "In 1899 on September 18, born in Baranovka daughter Lea to father, citizen of Baranovka Shachna, son of Itzhak Grinfeld and mother Feiga, daughter of Levi Itzhak.
Signed and approved on June 21, 1910
[on the left margins] Documents with corrections and marks from Rabbi Y. Fridman office will not be accepted

The other side of the document (not pictured here) indicates that this is a genuine copy made from the original metric certificate approved by the Baranovka Town Committee on 29 June 1917. It is signed by the Secretary of the Town Committee (whose name is not legible).

Wolf attended school taught by Josef Zalzman whose parents also lived in Baranovka. Josef's father had a small shop selling a variety of goods including flour, gasoline, tobacco, and horse feed. Their family was not well-off, but Josef's father was very religious and wanted his eldest son to study the Talmud. Ultimately, Josef attended yeshiva under the Chofetz Chaim in Radin, (today Radun, Belarus) and studied with Rabbi Amiel in Sventzion (today Svencionys, Lithuania), Vilna Gubernia. He first taught school for a wealthy Jewish family. This was the first time in his life that he had been given a good diet. He later returned to Baranovka to teach. 

For those who'd not emigrated from Baranovka, the Great War and then the Russian Revolution meant that all options for departure were gone. And so, by 1919 there were relatives and friends in America whom Feiga and her family had not seen in 10 to 20 years. Two of Schachna Grinfeld's brothers, Hori and Betzelal (who became Harry and Charles Greenfield in the USA), had left Baranovka in 1900 and 1903, respectively, residing first in Indiana, then Cincinnati and Kentucky.[9] But Feiga, Shachna and their family had stayed. They had survived the World War and the Revolution and now were living through civil war in Ukraine. 

Josef Zalzman had been visiting the Grinfelds when bandits entered the village and began to gather the Jewish villagers into the synagogue. Feiga sent Shachna to the home of a Christian friend for safety and urged Josef to go, as well. He chose to stay with Feiga and her children. The Baranovka Jewish Youth organized and managed to drive off the bandits, but not before Shachna was murdered.

Between March 1919 and December 1920 Baranovka was plagued by five pogroms carried out by disaffected and demoralized military detachments and roving bands of armed bandits. Forty-five people were murdered; 20 women were violated. About 200 families were affected by the pogroms. In June 1923, an American Joint Distribution Committee report indicated there were 12 widows, 6 full orphans and 40 children who'd lost one parent. Before the pogroms 2,000 of Baranovka's population of 6,000 were Jewish. Less than three years later, 500 non-Jews and 300 Jews had left. Jewish-owned shops had decreased from 100 before the programs to 40. Thirty-five percent of the heads of Jewish families were either unemployed or without definite occupations. [10]

Shortly after Shachna's murder Josef was invited to Korets, a town about 28 miles northwest of  Baranovka, to become principal of a school. Lea accompanied him and taught in the school, as well. But the pogroms that had plagued Ukraine had cast a terrible pall. 

Emigration

In December 1920, when travel from the Soviet Union again became a possibility, Josef and his sister Sara left Korets for New York where their sister Ester had moved in 1911.[11] Manifests and naturalization records indicate that the Grinfelds moved to Warsaw and prepared to leave, as well. Wolf Grinfeld arrived in New York in October 1921. [12] Lea and Raya followed in December 1921. [13] Feiga's children went to Paintsville, Kentucky to their uncle Charles. Like Charles they changed their last name to Greenfield and Wolf took Robert as his new first name.

From his new home in New York City, Joseph Saltzman contacted Leah and asked her to marry him. They married in the Bronx on 17 April 1922 [14] and remained in New York for a year, staying with Joe's sister Esther. 

By March 1922, Feiga was living in Warsaw. [15] In November 1922 she arrived in New York accompanied by my great grandfather Avrum Garber and a woman by the name of Pezsa Garber. While their manifest says that both Avrum and Feiga would head to Avrum's son Nathan's home on the Lower East side of New York City, Feiga actually headed west to join her children. [16] I have not been able to track Feiga's early moves in the United States and I have not determined how and why she and her children settled in Cincinnati. But, by 1925 they were living in Cincinnati at 712 W. 9th Street. [17] 

Greenfield family members alerted Joe and Leah to a job opening teaching Hebrew at a school in Louisville, KY. It was an attractive opportunity because it was close to family in Lexington and Paintsville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. 

When Ray and Robert married and had children, they named their sons Sheldon, likely in memory of their father Shalom Shachna. [18]

The End

Fannie Greenfield lived out her years in Cincinnati. The last several years she lived with her daughter Ray Young, her son-in-law Harry Young and her grandson. She passed away on 30 November 1942 at the age of 63 leaving three children, several grand children and a brother, Morris Liderman, in Detroit. Her grave is located at the Adath Israel Cemetery.

"Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZP6-FVZ : accessed 21 Jan 2013), Fannie Greenfield, 30 Nov 1942; citing Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, reference fn 69916; FHL microfilm 2024039.

Gravestone for Fannie Greenfield, Adath Israel Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio. Photo from Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati website  (http://www.jcemcin.org : accessed 31 October 2011).

 

How is Feiga Grinfeld related to the Garber Family?

We began this study with the intent of determining how Feiga Grinfeld is related to Avrum Garber. I had hoped that her death certificate or some other document might shed light on that. Thus far, however, we still do not have a tie between the Garber family and the Greenfield and Liderman families. There is one more obvious option using available United States records: Morris Liderman - Fannie's brother in Detroit.

In the next post (after I recover from this one) in this series I will review what we have learned and search for Fannie's brother in Detroit.


Notes 
1. Gitelman, Zvi, A Century of Ambivalence: The Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the Present (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press), 2001, p. 82.
2. ibid, page 70.
3. Dekel-Chen, Jonathan, David Gaunt, Natan M. Meir and Israel Bartel, editors, Anti-Jewish Violence: Rethinking the Pogrom in East European History (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press), 2011, p. 4
4. Weisser, Michael R., A Brotherhood of memory: Jewish Landsmanshaftn in the New World (New York: Basic Books, Inc.), 1985, p. 113
5. Spector, Shmuel (editor), The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust (New York: New York University Press), 2001, p. 87.
6. Abstract of metric book from Baranovka Municipal Archives documenting birth of Lea Grinfeld, 18 Sep 1899, abstract prepared 21 June 1910 and approved by the Baranovka Town Committee on 29 June 1917. Original document in the possession of the Metz family. Translation, 12 November 2012, by Emma Karabelnik, via JewishGen.org, ViewMate application.
7. Hamilton County, Ohio, United States District Court (Ohio: Southern District). Petition for Citizenship no. 9399, Faiga Grinfeld, 16 January 1931.
Gravestones for Robert Greenfield and Ray Young, Adath Israel Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio. Photo from Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati website  (http://www.jcemcin.org : accessed 31 October 2011).
8. Ori, Azriel and Mordechai Boneh, editors, Sefer Zvhil (Tel Aviv: Association of Former Residents of Zvhil and the Environment), 1962, p. 243. Digital copy online at the New York Public Library (http://www.nypl.org : accessed 10 January 2013). Paragraph translated by Emma Karabelnik via ViewMate on JewishGen.org.

9. The years of emigration are approximate as I have been thus far unable to find their Ellis Island manifests. In a previous post I'd said that I did not have Harry and Charles' naturalization records. Since that time, they have been loaded on Ancestry.com.
"Kentucky, Naturalization Records, 1906-1991," digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 January 2013), Harry Greenfield, Petition for Naturalization no. 75, 11 April 1917, citing National Archives and Records Administration.
"Kentucky, Naturalization Records, 1906-1991," digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 19 January 2013), Charles Greenfield, Petition for Naturalization no. 14, 1 January 1911, citing National Archives and Records Administration.
10. Kowalsky, I.M., "Report on Baranovka, Novograd-Volunsk Gubernia," digital image, "1921-1932 New York Collection," American Joint Distribution Committee Archives,  (http://www.archives.jdc.org : accessed 7 July 2012), report dated 5 June 1923.

11. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 13 November 2011), manifest, Manchuria, Antwerp to New York, arriving 6 January 1921, list 28, Josef and Sara Zalcman, citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715.
12. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 12 November 2011), manifest, Polonia, Danzig to New York, arriving 12 October 1921, list 5, Wolf Grinfeld, citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715.
13. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 30 June 2012), manifest, George Washington, Bremen to New York, arriving 5 December 1921, list 8, Raya and Leja Grinfeld, citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715.
14. Bronx County, New York, Certificate and Record of Marriage no.1494 (17 April 1922), Joseph Saltzman and Lena Greenfield, New York City Municipal Archives, New York.
15. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 7 February 2009), manifest, Lapland, Antwerp to New York, arriving 2 April 1922, list 7, Feiga and Aron Garber, citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715.
16. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 8 March 2008), manifest, Aquitania, Southhampton to New York, arriving 4 November 1922, list 4, Avrum Garber and Feiga Grinfeld, citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715.
17. "Williams' 1925 Cincinnati Directory," digital image, The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Virtual Library (http://www.virtuallibrary.cincinnatilibrary.org : accessed 4 November 2011), Greenfield, page 722-723. 
18. 1940 U.S. Census, Hamilton County, Ohio, Population Schedules, Cincinnati, Enumeration District 91-208, sheet 65-B, family 100, Harry and Ray Young, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 April 2012).
1940 U.S. Census, Hamilton County, Ohio, Population Schedules, Cincinnati, Enumeration District 91-208, sheet 61-B, family 41, Robert and Faye Greenfield, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 April 2012).
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Previous posts in this series:
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 7: Feiga's Family
Avrum's Women, Part 9: Fannie's Brother Morris
Avrum's Women, Part 10: Morris Lederman - Who's you 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