Treasure Chest Thursday: Louis Cohn's Petition for Naturalization

We've been having some trouble deciding where Louis Cohn (married to my grandmother Tillie Liebross' first cousin Sarah Ett Cohn) was born. This is one of the typical problems one has when there are:

1. more than one Eastern European town with the same or similar names and 
2. variations in how town names have been written or transcribed by others. 

On Louis' Petition for Naturalization he indicated Kaminetz, Poland, Russia.

Louis Cohn Petition for Naturalization (1923), Volume 325, page 189, petition number 81039, Supreme Court, Kings County, New York.

[page] 189

No. 81039

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

PETITION FOR NATURALIZATION

 

To the Honorable the Supreme Court of the State of New York:
The petition of Louis Cohn, hereby filed, respectfully showeth:
  First, My place of residence is 949 East 12th St., City of New York, Borough of Brooklyn, N.Y.
  Second, My occupation is Merchant
  Third, I was born on the 12 day of Dec., anno Domini 1884, at Kaminetz Poland, Russia
  Fourth, I emigrated to the United States from Hamburg Germany on or about the ----- day of May, anno Domini 1903, and arrived in the United States, at the port of New York, on the 23 day of May, anno Domini 1903, on the vessel Batavia
  Fifth, I declared my intention to become a citizen of the United States on the 27 day of January, anno Domini 1921 at Brooklyn, N.Y. in the District Court of U.S. Eastern District of N.Y.
  Sixth, I am married. My wife's name is Sarah; she was born on the 26 day of Sept, anno Domini 1887 at Austria, and now resides at 949 E. 12th St., City of New York, Brorough of Brooklyn, N.Y.
I have 6 children, and the name, date, and place of birth, and place of residence of each of said children are as follows:
Jacob born 9 Apl 1908     }
Dora      "   14 Dec. 1909  }
Pauline  "   13 Sept 1911  }   At & resides at Bkyn, N.Y.
Blanche "     5 Oct. 1914  }
Rose      "   26 Sept 1919  }
Ira         "   13 Dec. 1920  }
  Seventh, I am not a disbeliever in or opposed to organized government or a member of or affiliated with any organization or body of persons teaching disbelief in or opposed to organized government. I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy. I am attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and it is my intention to become a citizen of the United States and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly to the Republic of Poland, of whom at this time I am subject, and it is my intention to reside permanently in the United States.
  Eighth, I am able to speak the English language.
  Ninth, I have resided continuously in the United States of America for the term of five years at least, immediately preceding the date of this petition, to wit, since the 23 day of May, anno Domini 1903 and in the State of New York, continuously next preceding the date of this petition, since the 23 day of May, anno Domini 1903 being a residence within this State of at least one year next preceding the date of this petition. ...

Louis had previously submitted Declaration of Intention No. 51717, filed on 25 July 1923.

Witnesses to this petition were:

• Harry Husib, Jobber, residing at 337 Vermon [?] Ave, Brooklyn, and

• Louis Robinson, Salesman, residing at 1569 50th Street, New York.

The petition was subscribed and sworn on 25 July 1923.

Some of the information about the children differs from that provided on Sarah Cohn's petition. On Sarah's petition, Dora (later called Dorothy) was born on 13 December 1910; Pauline was born in 1912; and Ira was born on 12 December 1920. I have not located birth certificates for the children, but Ira's Social Security Death Index record shows his birth on 13 December.[1]

There were two communities in the Pale of Settlement with the name "Kaminetz: Kamyanyets-Litovsk, Grodno Gubernia (today in Belarus) and Kamyanets Podilskyy, Podolia Gubernia (then, close to the border with Austria and today in Ukraine). Based upon family stories of Louis crossing the border to enter Austria and be with family and information about other family members from communities (such as Chortkiv) in Austria close to the border with the Russian Empire, it is likely that Louis was born in Kamyanets Podolsky.

Notes:
1. U.S. Social Security Administration, "Social Security Death Index," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 June 2014), entry for Ira Cohn, no. 999-12-3804.

Cream Puff Daze

Hoda Epstein Wilson, ca 1866-1930

None of us now living had ever heard this story from any of our Wilson family.  It was first published in The Sun (New York, New York). Hoda Epstein Wilensky had been through a great deal.  On 19 May 1897, more than six years after her husband Zelig (Saul) had left for the United States, she accompanied her three children from their home town of Kazan (today Kozyany, Belarus) to Hamburg. From there they embarked on the Pisa and landed at Ellis Island on 1 June 1897. By the time my great grandmother Hoda Wilson moved to New York City in about 1906, she'd already lived in Hudson, NY and Albany. 

She must have been one formidable woman.  For some reason, I do not associate tenement life with cream puffs, literally or figuratively.  But, one does not live on bread alone. Frank Carrigan definitely got more than he'd bargain for.

DAZES THIEF WITH CREAM PUFF; TRAPS HIM ON ROOF

Intruder Leaps Eight Foot Gap on Housetops Fleeing From Woman

When Mrs. Hoda Wilson, who lives on the third floor of the apartment house at 10 West 116^th street, put on her hat and coat late yesterday afternoon and went to the corner delicatessen store she forgot to lock her apartment door.

A few minutes later Solomon Wilson, her husband, came home and found both doors leading to the apartment locked.  He returned to the sidewalk just as Mrs. Wilson was coming in with a bag of cream puffs.

“That’s strange!” exclaimed Mrs. Wilson and they rushed up stairs to investigate.  As Mr. Wilson began kicking on the kitchen door it suddenly flew open and a young man rushed out.

“Thief!” cried Mrs. Wilson as she struck the young man squarely across the face with the bag of cream puffs.  The intruder swallowed hard a few times, then began to descend the stairs four at a time.  He came out in a court back of the building, grabbed a fire escape ladder and climbed to the roof of 8 West 116^th street, while Mr. and Mrs. Wilson startled the neighbors by shouting “Stop thief!”

From the roof of No. 8 the young man made an eight foot leap to the roof of the adjoining building at No. 6.  There he was trapped for he could not climb back and could not go on to the next building, there being none.

It was at this juncture that the desk sergeant at the Lenox avenue police station heard over the telephone that a burglar has been trapped on a roof in his precinct.  Detectives Barnett and Curtayne were dispatched to the scene and captured the young man while he was still licking cream puffs off his chops.

At the station he said he was Frank Carrigan, 20 years old, of 247 West 144^th street, and then the police discovered that he was wanted in Rochester, N.Y. on a charge of having robbed his uncle, Joseph Carrigan, 228 Fremont street, that city, of $150 in cash and some diamonds.  Carrigan was locked up on a charge of burglary.

Later he confessed that he had robbed a house somewhere in West 146^th street a week ago.  He couldn’t remember the exact address, but guessed he could point the house out.  When the money from that last robbery had gone he planned yesterday’s unfortunate burglary. #

The Sun (New York, NY), Sunday, 5 January 1913, page [unknown], column 2; digital images, Old Fulton, New York Postcards (http://www.fultonhistory.com: accessed 2 January 2012).