Treasure Chest Thursday: Sarah Ett Cohn's Manifest

Sarah Ett Cohn was the second Ett sibling to journey to the United States. Her elder sister Chaitza (anglicized to Clara) arrived sometime before June 1903 when she married Chaim (Adolph) Rappaport. Thus far, I have been unable to locate Chaitza's manifest.  I believe she and her husband likely did not naturalize. So, after Clara and Adolph's marriage certificate, Sarah's manifest is the first indication I have of the Etts in New York City.

"New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 22 November 2013), manifest, S.S. Brandenburg, Bremen to New York, arriving 26 December 1903, List 10, number 19, Sali Ett; citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715, microfilm roll 423.

Sali Ett is listed at number 19 on the page. She arrived on 26 December 1903 on the S.S. Brandenburg, which had sailed from Bremen, Germany on 12 December 1903.

Detail of Sali Ett manifest record (left side)

[Items in red will be discussed further, below.]
 
Name: Sali Ett
Age: 19
Sex: f
Married or Single: s
Calling or Occupation: maid servant
Able to Read: yes
Able to Write: yes
Nationality: Austria
Race or people: Hebrew
Last residence: Zaleszczyki
Final Destination: N.Y.
Whether having a ticket to destination: yes

Detail of Sali Ett manifest record (right side)

By whom was passage paid: self
Whether in possession of $50: $1
Whether ever before in the United States: No
Whether going to join a relative or friend: 
          uncle Lebenhauss Leizer 
          Bushwick Ave 299 Brooklyn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In light of what I have already learned about Sarah's brother David Ett's manifest, it is interesting that Sarah traveled under her father's surname. In 1913, David traveled under his mother's maiden name, Wenkert, and changed it back to Ett upon immigration.

Sarah indicated that her last residence was in Zaleszczyki. Sarah's mother, Perl died in 1895 in Skole. Zaleszczyki had been the town (in today's Ukraine) where Perl Wenkert and her husband Hersch Leib Ett were registered. Other records, such as David Ett's manifest, indicate that some of the Ett children were born in towns, such as Uscieczko and Torskie, that are geographically close to Zaleszczyki. We do not know when, but sometime between Perl's death and Sarah's departure, the family moved back to the Zaleszczyki area.

Sarah reported on her manifest record that she would be heading to her uncle's home at 299 Bushwick Avenue. The handwritten name looks like Leizer Lebenhauss (or Leberhaus). In fact, Sarah's uncle was my great grandfather Leiser (Louis) Liebross. This is supported by the 1905 New York State census showing Louis and his family living at 299 Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn.[1] The 1905 census also shows Sarah"Att" living with her sister Clara and her family in the same building.[2]

The small X to the left of Sarah's name on the manifest indicates that she was detained by immigration officials. Unaccompanied women immigrants were usually held until a relative could come to claim them and vouch for their welfare. Detention pages are usually found near the end of the ship's manifest pages.

Detail: "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 22 November 2013), manifest, S.S. Brandenburg, Bremen to New York, arriving 26 December 1903, Record of Detained Alien Passengers, 42 (stamped), number 23, Sali Ett; citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715, microfilm roll 423.

 Sali Ett was met, not by her uncle, but by her new brother-in-law. His name is listed as "Alter Applrot" - an interesting take on the name Rappaport. Clara and her husband were living at 406 Bushwick Avenue in December 1903.

Notes:
1. 1905 New York State Census, Kings County, New York, population schedule, Brooklyn, Assembly District 15, Enumeration District 18, sheet 73, entries 41-50, Louis Lebros family; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 8 July 2010), citing New York State Archives, Albany, New York.
2. 1905 New York State Census, Kings County, New York, population schedule, Brooklyn, Assembly District 15, Enumeration District 18, sheet 74, entries 8-11, Adolph Rappaport family and Sarah Att; digital image, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 8 July 2010), citing New York State Archives, Albany, New York.

Ustechko and Tovste, 9 June 2013

If one visits Ustechko and Tovste to learn about current Jewish life, heritage, and experience, one will likely be disappointed. There are no jewish people currently living in either location and few remnants of pre-Holocaust Jewish life. The current residents, however, were helpful and tried to point out locations of interest.

When we arrived in Ustechko most people were at the Greek Catholic Saint Paraskebiya Church, built in 1881.

The scenic town sits nestled along the Dniester River.

The two main roads run roughly parallel to the river. We explored them while waiting for the church service to end. There are numerous old homes from the Hapsburg era that might have been in the town when my Wenkert relatives were likely here.

After church let out we talked with some people who were able to confirm Svetlana's suspicions that Jewish homes were once near the church (the market center of town). Unfortunately, little remained. A small wooded area devoid of buildings was identified as an area that once had Jewish homes and businesses.

We were told that this house across the street had been sold in 1947 by a Jewish family. It is currently being renovated. 

A few doors down, an uninhabited former Jewish home was for sale.

The Germans burned the synagogue to the ground during the War, but we saw its former location. The homeowner said that they had chosen not to build their home on the spot, but rather kept it for potato cultivation.

We sought the cemetery and were directed to an area on the far west side of the village overlooking the Dniester River. If there were any stones, they are under dense vegetation. We did not see any remnants. We were told that the cemetery was under the bushes on the right side of this photo.

My interest in Tovste (aka Tluste) was principally to see the cemetery and murder site. My family research has not turned up any Tovste residents, however, Torskie/Zaliszczyki relatives (Jutte Wenkert Barath, her husband Moshe and two children) were held in the Tovste ghetto. Jutte and Moshe were shot with many others on the cemetery grounds.

Unlike the other cemeteries I've seen thus far, the Tovste Cemetery has many stones in fairly good condition. There is also a memorial to those murdered here.

In honor of my cousin Sally Barath Eisner who escaped death in Tovste and in memory of her parents, Jutte and Moses, Katherine and I recited the mourner's kaddish.

Lviv Archival Records: Ett in Uzciezcko

This morning I met again with Natalie Dunai at our hotel, the Nobilis, and walked to the archives. The Central State Historical Archives in Lviv is located in the former monastery attached to St. Andrews Church, built in the early 1600s and now operated as a Greek Catholic Church.

One enters stepping over about a 12 inch tall threshold and passing through the substantial metal doorway. One then heads up well-worn wooden stairs to the archives.

The check-in clerk sits at a small, poorly lit desk. One must fill out paperwork and then leave one's passport or driver's license in exchange for an electronic key used to enter the archives area. Large bags must be placed in lockers. 

There are no lights on in the naturally-lit hallway. Nor are there lights in the reading room which is filled with about ten small desks all occupied by researchers and archive workers. Natalie tells me that the archives, like everyone else, is charged a premium if they go over their allotment of electricity use. They are extremely diligent about keeping the lights off. Yesterday we turned them on while taking photos of records. While we were in the midst of that, someone turned them off. In addition, should a bathroom break be necessary, better have a personal supply of tissues/toilet paper. The archives cannot afford that, either.

Today, we arrived about 10 o'clock and snared the last desk in the reading room. Fortunately, it was by a window, affording adequate natural light. Natalie had selected books from Uzciezcko and Torskie, two small towns north of Zaleszczyki. I was looking for more evidence of the Liebross and Wenkert families. These towns were (and are) much smaller than Zaleszczyki and the records are less robust. We searched records similar to those we'd searched yesterday for Zaleszczyki. 

No Liebrosses or Wenkerts. I did, however, find Abraham Eth and his widow Feiga in Uzciezcko in about 1850. The earliest Ett family member I previously knew about was Hersch Lieb Ett who had married my great grandmother's sister Perl Wenkert Ett (the same person whose grave I sought in Skole a few days ago). Abraham Eth is likely a relation of Hersch Lieb.

I took the opportunity to photograph pages that included lists of all Jewish homeowners. I will probably put these names on a spreadsheet that may be shared with other researchers.

This is our last day in Lviv. Tomorrow morning and for the next few days we head to the southeast with Svetlana, an associate of Alex, for Kolomyya and visits to Zaleszczyki, Uzcieszcko, and Torskie. I am not sure of Internet accessibility. So, my blogging may be intermittent.

Ukraine 2013: Mapping the Journey

My daughter, Katherine, and I will be leaving in a few days for Ukraine. I will be suspending my Tombstone Tuesday and Treasure Chest Thursday blog posts until I get back (unless, of course I find something wonderful and have an overwhelming need to share under those themes immediately!).

In the meantime, here is a concept map of the planned trip. I say "concept" because while we will pretty much take these routes, there is flexibility built into the schedule and things may change.

Map constructed in Google Maps, 26 May 2013

Our journey will start in the Galicia section of Ukraine, part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. We will arrive in Lviv (A) about mid-day on 3 June. The next day we will head to Yaremche (B) with Alex Dunai (our genealogist, translator and guide) to take in Hutsel culture. I had hoped to hike Mt. Hoverla, the highest point (6762 feet) in Ukraine, but we've already had to change that plan due to a foot injury Katherine, my daughter, suffered yesterday. 

After at least looking at Mt. Hoverla we'll wend our way back to Lviv through the Carpathian Mountains. We will stop at Bolekhiv (C), the shtetl that Daniel Mendelsohn wrote about in his book The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million. I am finally getting around to reading it. Alex Dunai is featured as Mendelsohn's Ukrainian genealogist.

My first family shtetl stop will be at Skole (D). Skole is the place where Jutte Ett Barath was born on 21 January 1894 and where, her mother (also mother of David Ett, and Sophie Ett Leiner, Sarah Ett Cohn, and Chaitze Ett Rappaport) Perl Wenkert Ett died on 18 August 1895.

We will then spend a couple of days seeing the sites of Lviv and working in the archives. Records will likely be in Polish script. I have been reviewing "Reading Polish Handwritten Records," a 3-part tutorial in the Learning Center on FamilySearch.org.

After Lviv, we will once again head south to continue treading the ground where my Wenkert and Liebross (maternal) relatives trod: Kolomyya (E), Chernivtsi (G) and Zalishchyky (F), Ustechko and Torskie. By the way, I have not been able to put Ustechko on the above map (I didn't even attempt mapping Torskie!). Each time I ask Google Maps to include Ustechko, Google places a dot north of Ternopil - way off from Ustechko's actual location just north of Zalishchyky. So, I had Google Maps place a dot near Chortkiv (H), which is a little north of Ustechko.

I am really looking forward to Kamyanets-Podilskyy (I). The photos I've seen indicate a picturesque location: a walled town with a castle. One of my floater "relatives," Samuel Myers (nee Zise Malzmann) lived in K-P before emigrating to the United States.

Visits to the archives in Khmelnitsky (J) and Zhytomir (O) will mark my entrance to the old Russian Empire and Volhynia Gubernia and my father's side of the family (Garber, Mazewitsky/Morris, Malzmann, and Kesselman). The Family History Library has been unable to film any records for Yurovshchina [once Labun (K) and Lubin], Gritsev (M) and Polonnoye (L). These towns, having been neither part of Poland nor the Austro-Hungarian Empire since about 1795 , have no records in the Warsaw archives (accessible to JRI-Poland). So, the best bet is checking the Ukrainian Archives. The records will likely be in Russian script. I'm working on understanding that, too.

I hope to not only find family records but to locate village records for Labun, Gritsev, Polonnoye and Baranovka that may be acquired, perhaps at a later date, for use by other Jewish researchers.

I'm trying not to be too excited about setting foot in Yurovshchina. I just don't know what to expect. But I will come prepared with early 20th Century maps for comparison sake and a photo the the bath house (pictured here) repaired with the American Joint Distribution Committee's help in 1923. I'd like to see if we can locate where it was located in the town. I want to know where the Jewish section was. I want to visit the cemetery - if there still is one. And I want to know where the Jewish people lived. 

I know that many Jewish people were slaughtered along with their Jewish neighbors from Polonnoye in a location near Polonnoye. I want to go there, too. 

I would like to visit Baranovka (N) so I can see the town where Feiga Grinfeld (Fannie Greenfield) was born. I've written so many posts about her, I've an investment (!). 

We'll end our trip with a few days in Kiev (P) and then fly home on 22 June. I hope to have my iPad and Dropbox folders filled with photos to share. If all goes well, I'll be able to blog a bit about my trip as it happens. If not, I'll be sure to post quite a bit when I return to the United States.

Are we there yet? Five tips for answering this nagging question

Ukraine Flag

How does one know it's time to go abroad for family history research? I've been thinking about a genealogy research trip for a while, but I am one of those who believes one needs to have completed a great deal of United States research before jumping the pond. For me, pre-work is critical to enjoying a productive research trip abroad.

I've not previously blogged about my plans for the summer. Although I did mentioned earlier that I have some summer genealogy travel plans. Well, preparations have been taking a great deal of my time. On 2 June 2013, my daughter and I head off to Ukraine.

How does one know one is there? that it's nigh time for a research trip? One needs to evaluate what one has already learned and evaluate which research problems might benefit from a trip abroad. I see this type of trip as a bit different from very focused research where one researches one problem. When making the time and money investment for a trip abroad, one must think more broadly. Things to consider: 
 

1. Who emigrated and when? 

Is your family research well documented? Include the earliest generation of immigrants on down through their children and children's children and each generation's collateral relatives.

The names are critical when one is looking through records in archives. What were your relatives names in the old country? Write the names in script in all the languages one may encounter in the archives. 

If one is lucky enough to have relatives who left the shtetl relatively recently, one may find locals who remember the family or the family name.

In my case I have great grandparents (born in about the 1860s who arrived in New York between 1897 and 1922) and one set of great great grandparents (born about the 1840s-1850s) who came to the USA in 1913. My last immigrant relatives arrived in the USA in 1922. It's unlikely that I will find anyone in Ukrainian communities who recalls my family members who emigrated. 

Father's Family

• GARBER ggf Avrum/Abraham (b. ca. 1864, Labun) son of Mordechai, grandson of Yitchak Leib.
• MACEVICKI (Mazewitsky, changed to MORRIS) ggf Yitzchak Leib/Isidore (b. 1874) son of Solomon and Sarah. Sister Chana (likely older sister) married Avrum GARBER, died before early 1922 in Labun.
• MALZMANN (changed to MYERS, other may have used MOLTHMAN & MALTMAN) ggf David (b. ca. 1933-1854, Labun) son of Yisrael.
• KESSELMAN ggm Chaye Sura/Ida Kesselman Myers (b. ca. 1844-1854, Labun) daughter of Baruch Yisrael and Devorah. 

Mother's Family

• LIEBROSS ggf Eliezer/Louis (b. 1864). Lived in Radauti, Romania. Likely born in Zaleszczyki, Ukraine area.
• WENKERT ggm Breindl/Bertha Wenkert Liebross (b. 1864). Lived in Radauti, Romania. Likely born in Zaleszczyki, Ukraine area.
• WILENSKY and EPSTEIN - Not this trip. The rest of my mother's family were from today's Belarus and are not relevant to my Ukrainian research plans.

2. Where did the family live before emigrating? Where were they born? 

Documentation of shtetls of origin has been, surprisingly, somewhat of a moving target. As I've completed more research I seem to locate more and more collateral relatives who lived in different, albeit usually nearby, shtetls. 

For the main paternal village, Labun (aka Lubin, aka Yurovshchina, Zaslav Uyezd, Volhynia Gubernia), I've applied the Genealogical Proof Standard in my research (and I've continued to do so as I seek and locate new records) and I'm sure that I've identified the correct village. One doesn't want to complete a genealogy trip and discover that one visited the wrong location.

The more I research my Liebross and Wenkert relatives in the Bukovina and Galicia areas of Ukraine, the more villages and towns I find. This part of my family research is, unfortunately, not as solid as my paternal side. This is not optimal, but the constant in my research is the Zaleszczyki/Ustechko area. That's where I will concentrate my research for these families.

3. Are there "floaters" that need to be tied down? 

I like to call them "floaters," but others might identify people of unknown relation to the known family as "brick walls."

Have you conducted exhaustive research using United States records on those people who have the same surnames as your relatives, came from the same villages as your family, and keep showing up interacting with your relatives after immigration? These are the people who, while likely relations, resist your efforts to determine kinship. Are you at the point where evidence gleaned from records in foreign archives may be the best next step?

Some of my floaters include families who emigrated as Malzmanns from Labun and then took slightly different surnames in the United States: Molthman and Maltman. Benjamin Molthman shows up as my ggf Isidore Morris' business partner. 

A couple of the Myers brothers' manifests show them joining their "uncle" Abram Malzmann (aka Abraham Maltman). At this point, I cannot definitively identify the parents of Benjamin Molthman and his brother Abraham Maltman. I may be able to find some evidence on this research trip.

4. Are there relatives who did not emigrate?  

With which towns/villages are they associated? From relatives and resources in the USA and the few records I have been able to acquire from some eastern European archives, I've documented some of those who were left behind. Yad Vashem and other Holocaust databases that may associate family surnames with family villages have also been helpful for linking the surnames and the villages. This sort of research broadened my geographical scope (see item # 2, above)
 

5. Which foreign archives are likely to hold records for communities and relatives of interest?

A scatter shot approach is not advisable. Know where you intend to research and what you might find there. Routes to Roots has a well-known database of Jewish shtetl records and their repositories. 

But, in some cases, additional resources have been located.  Check out what Gesher Galicia has been doing, Ukraine SIG, and the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People. These organizations have indices and finding aids that may give one a good idea of archival holdings relative to a particular village.

Check for JewishGen Kehilalinks websites for villages of interest. There may be information about record repositories or stories of trips by other researchers that may disclose archival gems. In Googling "Polonnoye," the neighboring village 10 miles to the east of Labun, I found a newsletter article by Ellen Shindelman regarding her trip to the area in 1997. The article was in the Belarus SIG newletter - a place I would not have checked for Ukraine research for my area of interest.

___________________________

Based upon the above five criteria, I have created draft research plans.  This is my draft research plan for the surnames and shtetls of interest in the Volhynia Gubernia area of today's Ukraine.

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With a research plan in hand, I have been able to identify places that are a must for my research visit. Of course, I won't be totally clinical in my visit. I will visit family villages for the pleasure of walking in my ancestors' footsteps. I expect that when I do that, I'll know that I am indeed there!

[This is a re-posting of an article published yesterday, 22 May 2013, that somehow disappeared from my blog. I have been able to reconstruct it.]

Treaure Chest Thursday: Jutte Ett Birth Record

Jutte Ett Barath was the only Ett child who did not emigrate from the Austro-Hungarian Empire (today's Ukraine). She was the youngest of six siblings: Gittl Ett, Clara (Chaitza) Ett Rappaport, Sarah Ett Cohn, David Ett, Sophie (Sprintze) Ett Leiner, Jutte Ett Barath). Jutte and her husband Moshe Barath were murdered in 1941 when the German's occupied their community and shipped all the Jewish people to a ghetto in Tluste (14 miles north of their home town of Zaleszczyki). Their two children escaped harm and emigrated after World War II.

I have found the Wenkert and Ett family mostly in the area of Zaleszczyki, Ukraine, including the villages of Ustechko and Torskie (6.1 kilometers west of Ustechko). However, as noted in a previous post, Jutte's mother Perl died on 17 August 1895 in Skole, about 240 kilometers west-north-west of Zaleszczyki. The record, below, indicates that the family was in Skole when Jutte was born in January 1894.

Birth Record for Jutte Ett, 21 January 1894, Jewish Metrical Books, Town of Skole Deaths 1878-80 & 1883-1903, Stanislawow Wojewodztwa, Fond 300, Year 1894, Akta 6, Sygnatura 1149, Archiwum Giowne Akt Dawnych (Central Archives of Historical Records), Warsaw, Poland.

Translation of first page:
 

Column Heading	Entry
Record Number	6
Date of Birth (day/month/year)	21 January 1894
Location: Town/House number	Skole/1
Date of Bris or Naming (d/mo/yr)	22 January 1894
Location: Town/house number	Skole/1
Child’s Given Name	Jutte
Male/Female	Female
Born Legitimate or Illegitimate	Illegitimate
Father’s Name, Surname, Occupation and Place of Residence	[blank]

Translation of second page:
 

Column Heading	Entry
Mother’s Name, civil marriage status, occupation, parents names, place of residence	Perl Wenkert from Skole, daughter of the couple Israel Hersch and Rosa Wenkert, lived in Zaleszczyki.  Married in a religious ceremony, Leib Heth, laborer in Skole [factory? fabric?]
Signature of Official or Witness and place of residence	Leibish Gottfried [occupation?] from Skole
Signature of Mohel and place of residence	[blank]
Signature of Midwife and place of residence	Selde Fuchsgelle from Skole
Report of Stillbirth	[blank]
Remarks	[blank]

Born Legitimate or illegitimate:

During this time the Austro-Hungarian Empire required that Jewish people comply with civil marriage laws and register marriages with civil authorities. Many chose to have religious marriage ceremonies not in compliance with these laws. When this occurred and when children of the union were born, the government considered the children illegitimate and the child's legal surname would often be recorded as his/her mother's surname. [1]

In Jutte's case, we can see on the first page that her birth is considered illegitimate. On the second page the note acknowledges that Jutte's parents had had a religious marriage ceremony. 

Notes:
1. Wynne, Suzan F. The Galitzianers: The Jews of Galicia, 1772-1918, Wheatmark: 2006, p. 59.