Tombstone Tuesday: David Perlman and Lillian Reitman Perlman, Montefiore Cemetery, Queens, New York

Sometimes it all falls into place!

Over the last several years I have been documenting people who were interred in Labun/Lubin community landsmanshaft (First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association) plots in Old Montefiore and Beth Moses Cemeteries in New York. 

I have to admit to doing the easier pickins' first: the ones who died earlier than 1949 and/or married before 1938 for whom I could access death and marriage records in New York City. I also went after those old enough to have been married and enumerated as a family in the 1940 U.S. census. Being able to unambiguous identify one's quarry is critical.

Here lies

Our beloved mother

Mrs. Leah daughter of Moshe

Died 2 Nisan 5747

BELOVED WIFE

DEAR MOTHER

GRANDMOTHER

GREAT-GRANDMOTHER

LILLIAN

PERLMAN

DIED MARCH 31, 1987

AGE 87 YEARS

FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS

I had avoided the Perlman's because I could not immediately tell which one of them, if either, were associated with the community. It seemed a challenge to find records linking them to each other. 

Here lies

Our beloved husband and father

Mr. David son of Shmuel

Died 2 Cheshvan 5714

May his soul be bound in the bonds of the living

BELOVED HUSBAND

AND DEAR FATHER

DAVID

PERLMAN

DIED OCT. 11, 1953

AGE 53 YEARS 

My first break in the mystery was finding an indexed New York City marriage license record. I searched on the name David Perlman (not exact for either name) and found that Dave Perlman and Lilly Reitman had applied for a license on 13 February 1924.[1] An aha! moment. The name Reitman was fairly significant in the First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association (see previous posts here, here, here and here). 

Lillian Perlman's patronymic on her gravestone inscription led me to her parents who I'd already documented. That led me to the Italian Genealogy Group's New York City Marriage Index where I located the Dave and Lilly's indexed marriage certificate. I located their marriage certificate via the FamilySearch catalogue on digitized microfilm and confirmed that Lilly was indeed the daughter of Morris and Dora Reitman.[2]

She arrived in New York City as Leja Chajtman. She'd landed with her mother and siblings on the S.S. Kroonland on 9 August 1921.[3] 

David Perlman was born about 10 May 1900 to Samuel (Shmuel) and Bessie [original name currently unknown] Bienstein.[4] His original surname was likely Perlich. His passenger manifest when he arrived by himself in New York on 18 January 1921, indicated that he had last resided in "Sudydkon." This is likely to have been Sudylkiv (today in Ukraine) - a community 24 kilometers northwest of Labun.[5] David's place of birth was listed as "Antydkon." Taking the mistakes in Sudylkiv as a guide, one might think that his place of birth was something like "Antylkiv." But, I have not yet determined what community this may have been (I have a sneaking suspicion that the town was still Sudylikiv but was mangled in transcription).

David held a variety of jobs in New York. In 1925, he worked making shoes and lived with Lillian and their daughter Pauline at 359 Berriman Street, Brooklyn.[6]

By 1930, the family was at 415 Central Avenue, Brooklyn and Dave worked as a glazier in a glass store (perhaps his father-in-law's). The Perlmans now included son Bernard.[7]

The 1940 U.S. census showed David without an occupation. His father-in-law Morris Reitman had died in 1935 and, in the midst of the Great Depression, things were difficult for small business owners. He may have been unemployed. There was no indication on the census of how the family was supporting themselves. They lived at 313 East 4th Street, New York, New York and had a third child, daughter Barbara.[8]

Lilly naturalized on 14 February 1933. She reported her birth date as 20 August 1900 in "Volin, Russia." Her children had been born in Brooklyn:

• Pauline, 11 July 1924 
• Bernard, 23 May 1927 [9]

Barbara was born about 1933-34, after her mother Lilly provided information for her petition for naturalization.

Pauline married Harry Krug.[10] That determination led to a wonderful discovery - a 2014 article in Tablet by Morris Dickstein. Morris, son of Anna Reitman Dickstein (sister of Lilly) [Harry and Pauline were not buried in the Labun plots, but Anna and her husband Abe Dickstein are. I'd previously no idea who they were (!)] has written a loving memory of his cousin-in-law, Harry Krug. He provided some great genealogical information - solving some mysteries for me - but, even better, provided the kinds of information not readily determined via records, alone.

With regard to his mother's extended family:

...This matriarchy was dominated by strong-minded women like Harry's mother-in-law, my aunt Lily, stubborn and spiky as a Russian peasant, and Harry's wife Pauline, a force of nature, who had crisp reactions to everyone she knew...

He described  the mild-mannered men who'd married into this family having to "surrender their passports and go native."

Pauline and Harry met in the neighborhood when they were 12 and were high school sweethearts. They married after Harry's service in World War II. 

I recommend the article - a well-written memoir.

Pauline passed away in October 1995. Her brother Bernard married Trude Schwartz in 1953 and died on 9 September 1997.[11] Bernard and his wife are not interred in the First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association plots either.

David's and Lillian's graves are located in Montefiore Cemetery, Queens, NY, block 89, gate 156N. David is in line 9R, grave 3 and Lillian line 11L, grave 4.

Notes:
1. Some records show Lillian's name Lillie, some as Lilly, sometimes as Lillian. Perlman is sometimes written as Pearlman. "New York City, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-1995," index, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 October 2017), entry for Dave Perlman and Lilly Reitman, 13 February 1924, license no. 4065, Manhattan; citing Municipal Archives, New York City.
2. For some reason, Dave and Lilly's marriage certificate has not been indexed on FamilySearch. Nevertheless, an image of the certificate is, indeed, among FamilySearch holdings. Kings County, New York, marriage certificate no. 2581 (1924), Dave Perlman and Lilly Reitman; images, "New York, Brooklyn, marriage certificates, 1866-1937," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 17 October 2017), New York, Brooklyn, marriage certificates, 1866-1937>Cert. no. 2251-3500 Feb-Mar 1924 (FHL film 1,614,488). 
3. Manifest, S.S. Kroonland, 9 August 1921, p. 15, line 9, Leja Chajtman, age 20; images, "New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 December 2010). 
4. David's parents' names come from his marriage certificate. Kings County, New York, marriage certificate 2581 (1923), David Perlman and Lilly Reitman, 17 February 1923. 
His date of birth is from his naturalization record. David Perlman, naturalization file no. 75576 (9 August 1927), U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York; images, Fold3 (http://www.fold3.com : accessed 16 October 2017).
His original surname might have been Perlich (as shown his naturalization), but on his passenger manifest, it shows Perlier. Manifest, S.S.Gothland, 18 January 1921, p. 8, line 18, Dawid Perlier, age 22; images, "New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 October 2017).
5. David's brother (mentioned on his manifest), Samuel Perlman, arrived in the USA in 1912 and reported birth in Sudylkiv. Manifest, S.S. Konigin Luise, 6 December 1912, p. 22, line 11, Joine Perlitz, age 20; images, "New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 October 2017). See also "U.S., World War II Draft Registration Card, 1942," images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 October 2017), entry for Sam Perlman, serial no. U842, Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.
6. 1925 New York State Census, Kings County, enumeration of inhabitants, Brooklyn, assembly district 22, election district 43, p. 92, no. 44-46, David and Lillian Pearlman family; images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2017); citing New York State Archives, Albany.
7. 1930 U.S. Census, Kings Co., NY, population schedule, Brooklyn, enumeration district 24-420, sheet 21B, dwelling 203, family 527, David and Lillie Pearlman family; images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1535.
8. 1940 U.S. Census, New York Co., NY, pop. sched., Manhattan, e.d. 31-500, sheet 6A, household 98, David and Lillian Perlman family; images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication T627, roll 2635.
9. Lilly Perlman, naturalization file no. 167426 (1933), U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York; images, New York, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1940," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2017).
10. A search on Pauline Perlman in Ancestry's "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007," database led to her married surname.
"U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007," index, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2017), entry for Pauline Perlman, 11 July 1924-October 1995; SSN 129-14-0409. 
A search in their marriage license database, led to Harry's first name and their approximate marriage date. "New York City, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-1995," index, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2017), entry for Harry Krug and Pauline Perlman, 19 June 1946, license no. 21389, Manhattan; citing Municipal Archives, New York City.
11. "New York City, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-1995," index, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2017), entry for Bernard Perlman and Trude Schwartz, 1953, license no. 4686, Queens; citing Municipal Archives, New York City. "U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014," index, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 15 October 2017), entry for Bernard B. Perlman, 23 May 1927-9 September 1997, SSN 132-16-8364, Lake Worth, pal Beach County, Florida.