Rose Liebross and Nathan Bernstein, DDS

My mother had two Liebross aunts, sisters Rose and Celia, who'd never married or had children. Or at least that's what I thought when I started my research. I did not know either of them. Younger sister Celia died on 16 December 1946 and Rose passed away on 24 November 1955.[1]

My brother, who was quite young when Rose died, recalls her as unassuming and quiet. We never heard much about Rose or Celia from my mother - although it was clear that she was fond of all her Liebross aunts and uncles, most of whom lived upstairs in her parents' two-family house. I do recall that my mother said that her wedding party on 9 February 1947 was kept small and reserved in keeping with the fact that the family was still in mourning for Celia who had died just two months before.

So, I was surprised when I found that Rose had been married and divorced. She had married Nathan Judas Bernstein, a dentist, on 14 November 1926 at 144 Beach - 74th Street in Rockaway Beach, Queens. This was the home of Rose's uncle and aunt Simon and Ethel Liebross.[2] Rose and Nathan divorced in Hamilton County, Florida in 1931.

According to Nathan's marriage record, he was the son of Aaron and Rebecca Bernstein and was an immigrant from the Russian Empire. The 1925 New York State census found him living with widow Rose Goldberg and her family as her "adopted son."[3] They resided at 1170 Walton Avenue, Bronx, NY.

Nathan (Nochem, age 6) arrived in New York in June 1897 with his sister Hinde (age 15) and brothers Isser (age 11) and Hersch (age 3). Their surname was Dubnozowa.[4] Nathan's naturalization in 1914 indicates he was born in Slutsk (now in Belarus) and that his former surname was Dubnitska.[5] 

I do not know how, when, or why Nathan was "adopted" by the Goldberg's, but I have found him living with the family in census enumerations in 1910, 1915, 1920 and 1925.[6] Rose Goldberg's husband Morris died in about 1905. In 1910 Nathan was working as a telegraph messenger. In 1915, as a Chemist. By 1920, he was studying dentistry.

More recently I found that Rose Liebross and Nathan Bernstein actually did have a child together. Ira Howard Bernstein was born on 12 September 1928. He lived but a few months and died of bronchitis on 3 January 1929.[7]

Thus far, I have not been able to find much specific information on Rose's and Nathan's Florida divorce. We cannot discount the pain and stress on a relationship that loss of a child might cause. But subsequent events may shed some light on Nathan's character.[8]

Nathan remarried on 2 August 1936 to Frances Hirschcoff.[9] On 22 June 1937, the following article appeared in the New York Post:

Dentist Drilled Into Her Cash, Wife Testifies

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Heart Was Won Through Her Teeth. She Tells Court - Asks Alimony

     
     Love blossomed into matrimony during the five years Dr. Nathan J. Bernstein tenderly ministered to his third wife's dental ills, but when, after their marriage, he started drilling into her bank account, she hollered "Ouch!"
     And, in the Supreme Court today, Mrs. Frances Bernstein asked Justice Louis A. Valente to administer novocaine in the form of alimony and counsel fees.
     The dentist, whose clintele includes a number of Park Avenue elite, moved into her apartment after their marriage ten months ago, she told the judge, and spent only $20 on her during the whole time they lived together.
     After he had extracted $4,000 of her savings and continued his "grasping, money-crazy attitude," she said, she left her no choice but the courts.[10]

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Apparently, this case was resolved prematurely when Nathan died on 6 November 1937.[11] An autopsy was ordered. The medical examiner reported that Nathan was found unconscious, frothing at the mouth and had suffered respiratory distress. There was an odor of cyanide. Letters had been left in Nathan's office suggesting death via suicide.

Nathan was 5' 4" in height and weighted about 150 pounds. He had thinning brown hair flecked with gray. While Nathan had suffered from heart disease, chemical analysis of this stomach contents indicated that cyanide was present in large amounts.[12]

Nathan seems to have had an interesting life - and death. Considering his suicide and the information in the Post newspaper article, it appears that Nathan may have been a troubled person - or, at least a person who would bring trouble.

Additional records (among these the court cases in Bronx County, the Florida divorce case, any records of Frances Bernstein's case, info on Nathan's other wife, and possible probate records) are yet to be acquired. Further information about the Goldbergs and any possible information about Nathan's biological brothers and sister may be useful.

In the 1920s and 1930s, divorce was considered shameful. So, I am not surprised that the Liebross clan did not talk about my great aunt Rose's failed marriage. In addition, painful episodes, such as the death of a baby, were often left to silence. In my research I have found several family lines where small children died and were, essentially, forgotten in time through family silence. To me, that's the greater shame.


Notes:
1. New York County, New York, death certificate no. 26589 (1946), Celia Liebross, 16 December 1946; Municipal Archives, New York City.
2. Queens County, New York, death certificate no. 5951 (1927), Simon Liebross, 18 November 1927; Municipal Archives, New York City.
3. 1925 New York State Census, Bronx Co., NY, enumeration of inhabitants, the Bronx, assembly district 2, election district 30, p. 32, entry 44, Nathan J. Bernstein
4. Manifest, S.S. Veendam, 7 June 1897, line 144, Nochem Dubnozowa, age 6; images, "New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 July 2018).

5. The "...ska" ending in a Russian surname is for a female. Nathan's surname was, likely Dubnitsky. "New York, County Naturalization Records, 1791-1980," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9M8-VHS1?cc=1999177&wc=MDSY-SZ9%3A326209701%2C329551201 : 21 May 2014), New York > Petitions for naturalization and petition evidence 1914 vol 179, no 44101-44350 > image 190 of 630; citing Supreme Court, New York County, New York, entry for Nathan J. Bernstein, naturalization, 1914, petition 44169 (17 December 1914). 

6. Nathan was not with the Goldberg family in 1900 and I have not yet located a 1905 New York State Census that shows him or them.
7. Ira Howard was also the first and second name of my mother's brother, Ira Wilson, Rose Liebross' nephew. Kings County, New York, death certificate no. 361 (1929), Ira Howard Bernstein, 3 January 1929; Municipal Archives, New York City.
8. There are a couple of court cases filed by Nathan J. Bernstein (plaintiff) in Bronx County in 1931 and 1933. I have not yet ordered copies of those records.
9. New York County, New York, marriage certificate no. 19086 (1936), Nathan J. Bernstein and Frances Hirschoff, 2 August 1936; Municipal Archives, New York City. Apparently, this was his third marriage. More research will be required to determine the additional earlier marriage.
10. "Dentist Drilled Into Her Cash, Wife Testifies," New York Post (New York, NY), 22 June 1937, p. 3; images, Fulton History (http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html : accessed 19 may 2015).
11. New York County, New York, death certificate no. 23977 (1937), Nathan J. Bernstein, 6 November 1937; Municipal Archives, New York City.
12. New York County, New York, Office of the Chief medical Examiner, case no. 6034, Nathan J. Bernstein, 6 November 1937; Municipal Archives, New York City.