Tombstone Tuesday: Sylvia Kraslow, Montefiore Cemetery, Queens, NY

Hang with me here, this may get a little confusing!

A couple of weeks ago I posted about Joe and Rose Kraslow. They had a daughter named Sylvia. Today's post is not about her. As far as I can decipher, Sylvia Kraslow, the daughter of Joe and Rose, was born in the Spring of 1919. At the time of her sister Ethel's death in February 2009, Sylvia was likely married to Samuel Tankel. She had, perhaps, been married previously to someone named Kaufman.

The Sylvia Kraslow identified in the gravestone, below, had a father whose Hebrew name was Abraham Eliyahu. She died 5 June 1970 at the age of 46. That would place her birth date around 1924.

Here lies

Tzviya daughter of Avraham Eliyahu

Died 1 Sivan 5730

May her soul be bound in the bonds of the living

SYLVIA

KRASLOW

BELOVED WIFE

DEVOTED MOTHER

I cannot yet acquire this Sylvia's death certificate in New York City since death records do not become public until after 50 years from demise. However, her Social Security record, indexed on Ancestry, indicates that she was born on 3 May 1924.[1]

According to the recently available "New York City, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-1995," available at Ancestry [thank you Reclaim the Records!], a Sylvia Hochman, married a Joseph Kraslow in the Bronx in 1954 (when Sylvia would have been about 20 years old).[2]

According the the 1940 and 1930 U.S. Census and the 1925 New York State Census, Abraham and Sarah Hochman's eldest daughter, Sylvia's, reported ages are consistent with birth in 1924.[3]

Sylvia Hochman's husband Joseph Kraslow is not the Joe Kraslow (Jossel Kraselewski) mentioned in the blog post of two weeks ago. While I cannot yet prove it, I believe Sylvia's husband was either the nephew or cousin of the elder Joseph. The elder one was born in Labun in about 1892. The younger one was born in the United States (either Boston or New York in 1922).

Froim Krasilowski (later known as Frank Kraslow) came to the United States with his wife Golda's Sirota family in 1921.[4] The Sirota's were reportedly born and raised in Gritsev, a town 8 miles southwest of Labun, Ukraine. Froim, traveling with the Sirotas, was also reported on the manifest as residing in and born in Gritsev. However, his naturalization record casts doubt on his reported birth location.

Froim/Frank applied for citizenship twice: first as Froim Kraslow and second as Frank Kraslow. His first petition was denied due to "lack of prosecution" [he likely did not follow through to complete the process.] His first declaration of intention and petition for naturalization indicated he was born in Labun on 15 June 1896.[5] Froim also reported two sons born in the United States: Joseph (born in 1922) and David (b. 1926). His second petition was filed in 1938 and he took his oath of citizenship on 20 February 1939.[6] Rose Kraslow (the elder Joe's wife) was one of the witnesses for Frank's second petition.

While Frank and Goldie Kraslow had been active members of the First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association, neither of them are buried in any of the three of the landsmanshaft's plots in the New York metropolitan area.[7] I have yet to determine where their graves are located.

I recorded graves in the First Lubiner Progressive Benevolent Association plots in Montefiore Cemetery in 2008 and 2012. The only Joseph Kraslow I recorded then was the one born in about 1892. Montefiore Cemetery's current burial list includes an additional Joseph Kraslow who died on 29 April 2016. I believe this was Sylvia's husband Joe (son of Frank). The cemetery's index indicates that the Joe who died in 2016 was 93 years old. That would be consistent with birth in 1922 or 1923 (the same year as Frank's eldest son). He is buried in the grave location next to Sylvia.

I have located obituaries for neither Sylvia nor Joseph Kraslow who died in 2016.[8] I believe there are currently two avenues  to pursue. 

The first is to acquire Frank Kraslow's SS-5 (Social Security card application). I recently ordered the record. Since he was born more than 120 years ago, I will be able to see his parent's names. From that I may be able to determine whether he and the elder Joe, who were both from Labun, also had the same parents. 

I have to admit that I am leaning toward the thought the Joes are cousins rather than uncle and nephew. This is principally because in Ashkenazi tradition, it would be unusual for a nephew to have the same name as a close living relative. Although, I suppose this could occur if the younger Joe was named after a close relative in his mother's family (I may have to look further at the Sirotas. I already know that Golda Sirota Kraslow's father was Pesach/Phillip Sirota, not Joseph).

The second tack would be to acquire a photo of the gravestone for the Joe who died in 2016 - assuming the family has already installed one. If his family accurately inscribed his full Hebrew name (with patronymic), we will know if Froim was, as suspected, Joseph's father.

Sylvia and Joseph Kraslow's graves are located in Montefiore Cemetery, Queens, NY at gate 567W, block 5, row 10R, graves 1 and 2.

Notes:
1. There is, unfortunately no point in ordering her Social Security card application (SS-5) because the Social Security Administration promises to black out parents' names for anyone whose birthday was less than 120 years ago. "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007," index, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 October 2017), entry for Sylvia Kraslow, June 1970, SSN 125-16-1785. 
2. I am similarly unable to get a copy of this marriage record because it has not yet become a public record. "New York City, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-1995," index, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 October 2017), entry for Sylvia Hochman and Joseph Kraslow, 1954, Bronx County, New York; citing New York City Clerk's Office.
3. 1940 U.S. Census, Kings County, NY, population schedule, Brooklyn, enumeration district 24-2179, sheet 1B, household 15, Abraham and Sarah Hochman family; images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 October 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication T627, roll 2603.
   1930 U.S. Census, Kings Co., NY, pop. sched., Brooklyn, e.d. 24-797, sheet 1A, dwelling 1, family 10, Abraham and Sarah Hochman family; images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 October 2017); citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1532.
   1925 New York State Census, Kings Co., NY, enumeration of inhabitants, Brooklyn, assembly district 2, election district 48, sheet 56, Abraham and Sarah Hochman family; images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 October 2017); citing ew York State Archives, Albany. 
4. Manifest, S.S. Finland, 13 June 1921, list 24, line 21, Froim Krasilowski, age 27; images, "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 December 2010).
5. Froim Kraslow, naturalization file no. 154950 (denied - 1932), Southern District Court of New York; National Archives - Northeast Region, New York, Record Group 21.
6. Frank Kraslow, naturalization file no. 314507 (1939), Southern District Court of New York; National Archives - Northeast Region, New York, Record Group 21.
7. Frank and the elder Joe Kraslow are listed among the group's leadership in a photograph from about 1950 taken to commemorate the landsmanshaft's 40th anniversary.
8. It is of interest to note that, in contrast with Frank Kraslow's elder son Joseph, younger son, David, was quite celebrated when he died on 9 January 2017. David Jerome Kraslow was a respected editor and correspondent for many years in Washington, D.C., California and, especially, in Florida. He also wrote two books on the Viet Nam War. "David Jerome Kraslow, 1926-2017," Miami Herald (Miami, FL), 10 January 2017; transcription, Genealogy Bank (http://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 9 October 2017). The information in this obituary presents a third option for continued research: contact David's offspring (who are mentioned in the obit) and ask them about their family history.