Tombstone Tuesday: Morris and Rebecca Berman, Montefiore Cemetery, Queens, NY

Last week I documented Anna Chalewsky. She was the mother of Bertha Myers and, one of this week's subjects, Rebecca Berman.

BERMAN

Here lies

Moshe Aharon son of Naftali

May his soul be bound in the bbonds of the living

MORRIS

DIED APRIL 30. 1988

AGE 100 YEARS

Here lies Votah daughter of Meier

May her soul be bound in the bonds of the living

REBECCA

DIED JAN. 17, 1972

AGE 83 YEARS

REST IN PEACE 

Rebecca, born Votah Chalewsky, came the the United States in 1907 with her widowed mother, Henie, and her sister, Taube (who became Bertha).[1] The town of residence on this manifest is not clear, but it may have been the community where Henie's family resided, rather than where Rebecca and Taube were born. Additional information be required before town(s) of origin may be ascertained.

In 1912, Rebecca married Morris Berman, who worked in ornamental iron.[2] They gave their address as 207 E. 100th Street in Manhattan - the same address given by her sister Bertha and her husband Jacob Myers when they had married in 1911.[3]

They had two sons, Nathan (born about 1912) and Meyer (born about 1918). By 1920, the family lived at 218 146th Street, New York, New York.[4]

In 1925 they lived in the Bronx at 2162 Valentine Avenue.[5] They were in Yonkers by 1929, living in their single-family home at 141 DeVoe Avenue. The 1930 census indicates that they owned their house.[6] According to Zillow.com this home was built in 1927.

The Great Depression was probably not kind to this family. After 1931, they are no longer listed in Yonkers City directories. The 1940 census enumeration found Morris, still providing ornamental iron for the construction industry, renting a room from Louis and Celia Cohen in the Bronx.[7] I have not yet found the rest of the family. Morris' World War II Draft Registration card from 1942 indicated that the "person who would always know" his address was Celia Cohen - not his wife Rebecca.[8] Morris worked for Town Iron Works in the Bronx.

It appears that neither Morris nor Rebecca naturalized until the 1940s. I have not yet ordered their records.

Rebecca and Morris are likely interred in one of the First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association burial plots in Montefiore Cemetery because Rebecca's sister, Bertha Myers, marred a Jacob Myers, who was related to people from the community (and may have lived there, a some point, himself).

As noted in the previous post about Rebecca's mother, the family may have lived in Staro Konstyantiniv - a larger community, not far from Lubin/Labun.

Morris' and Rebecca's graves are located in Montefiore Cemetery, Queens, NY, Gate 567W, Block 5, Line 4L. There appears to be a mistake in the Montefiore Cemetery online index. Morris' grave is identified as grave 1 and Rebecca's as grave 21. My guess is that Rebecca's is actually grave 2.

Notes:
1. Manifest, S.S. Vaderland, 3 July 1907, stamped p. 18, lines 28-30, Henie [indexed as Henri] (age 55), Votte (21) and Taube (19) Chalewski; images, "New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 January 2017).
2. New York County, New York, marriage certificate no. 6428 (5 February 1912), Moris Berman and Beckie Cholawsky; Municipal Archives, New York City.
3. New York County, New York, marriage certificate no. 29954 (20 December 1911), Jacob Myers and Bertha Goldman; Municipal Archives, New York City.
4. 1920 U.S. census, New York County, New York, population schedule, Manhattan, enumeration district 1449, sheet 15B, dwelling 26, family 400, Morris and Rebecca Berman family; images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 November 2010); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 1225.
5. 1925 NewYork State census, Bronx County, NY, enumeration of inhabitants, assembly district 8, election district 27, page 4, lines 12-16, Morris and Rebecca Berman family; images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 February 2015); citing New York State Archives, Albany.
6. 1930 U.S. census, Westchester County, New York, population schedule, Yonkers, enumeration district 60-381, sheet 2B, dwelling 44, family 44, Morris and Rebecca Berman family; images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 November 2010); citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1668.
7. 1940 U.S. census, Bronx County, New York, population schedule, Bronx, enumeration district 362, sheet 3B, household 66, Morris Berman; images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 February 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication T627, roll 2469.
8. Morris Berman, World War II draft card, New York, fourth registration, serial number U 894"U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 February 2017).