Elcon and Jennie Grosser - 50th Anniversary

Jennie and Elcon Grosser 50th Anniversary
Sept 8, 1946

     Elcon and Jennie Grosser celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Sunday, September 8, 1946.  Family and friends were invited to a formal dinner with dancing at the Lorraine Hotel, Broad and Fairmount Ave in Philadelphia.  A five man orchestra and girl singer (extra $15) under the direction of Maurie Swerdlow were hired to perform from 7PM to Midnight at a total cost of $130.[1]  The dinner was preceded at 6 PM by a second wedding.  Photos of the event help to reconstruct the evening.  Grandchildren Elynore Lieberman and Phyllis Lieberman Schlesser, Morton and Richard Grosser (sons of Al) helped the bride with her corsage and crown. The bride was brought to the Chuppah (wedding canopy) by her daughter and son-in-law Ida and Nat Lieberman, walking between rows of her sons Sam, Jack, Herman, Al, and their wives. A Rabbi performed the wedding ceremony .

Back (L-R) Herman Grosser, Sam Grosser, Nat Lieberman, David Schlesser, Phyllis Lieberman Schlesser, Elcon Grosser, Morton Grosser, Al Grosser, Jack Grosser
Front (L-R)  Mrs Fanny (Jack) Grosser, Mrs Esther (Al) Grosser, Mrs Ella (Herman) Grosser, Richard Grosser, Jennie Grosser, Ida Grosser Lieberman, Elynore Lieberman, Mrs Florence (Sam) Grosser

     Following the ceremony, the bride and groom, flanked by their children and grandchildren were seated at a raised head table decorated with floral centerpieces.  Many round tables served groups of family and friends, including Elcon and Jennie's many brothers and sisters and their families.  Dancing included traditional Jewish dances as well as ballroom dancing.  The event was well remembered by all who attended it.

Elcon and Jennie at Rainbow Inn
Sept 17, 1946

     A few days later, the couple went on a second honeymoon to New York City.  They had dinner at the Rainbow Inn at 82 E. 4th St in Manhattan, a newly renovated dinner and dancing restaurant with a floor show featuring "all the Jewish staples and delicacies, elegantly prepared, as well as steaks and chops. The portions are on the large side.  We recommend particularly the chopped liver and kosher steaks."[ 2].  They also tried Chinese food at the Singapore restaurant at Broadway and 50th Street, which advertised "Exotic Chinese and Island Foods, made to order" and recommended if the diner is in a hurry to make a show.[3]  

Altogether a memorable celebration of an important event.


1.  Contract between Maurie Swerdlow Theatrical Agency, Suite 514, 1001 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, 7, PA, and Mr. Elcone Grosser, 338 South Street, Philadelphia PA. dated 4 September 1946.  From papers of Jennie Grosser.  Original held by Mary-Jane Roth
2.  "Brooklyn and Broadway Night Life", Al Salerno. "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle" Brooklyn NY, Sept 27, 1947, p. 6 . www.bklyn.newspapers.com accessed Jun 29, 2015.
3.  Advertising card for Singapore restaurant with handwritten note 9/17/1946. From papers of Jennie Grosser. Original held by Mary-Jane Roth

Owen McGorman and Rachel Winslow

Marriage Record for Owen McGorman and Rachel Winslow
July 24, 1865, Castleblaney, Ireland

     The marriage record above is for my husband's great-great-grandparents, Owen Gorman (McGorman),  and Rachel Winslow.  This record was the first I found firmly putting his mother's family in a town in Ireland.   I had identified their names when I found the marriage record for his great-grandparents, Joseph Gorman and Julia Connolly, during a research trip to the New Jersey State Archives.  One of the difficulties of Irish research is that many of the names are common, John, Joseph, Mary, Bridget etc., and surnames often use or drop the prefixes "Mc" or "O'" at random, and his family was no different.  Here, however were two names that seemed more uncommon.  When I entered the two names into Ancestry.com, I at once came up with an index to marriage records showing these two names.  An index to birth records later showed children of this couple.  The names, although common, matched the known brothers of Joseph Gorman.  Later, when I was researching at the huge Family History Library in Salt Lake City, I was able to acquire this image of the actual marriage record, and the names of the bride and groom's parents..
     Owen Gorman, a laborer, son of Patrick Gorman, was born about 1845.  He married Rachel Winslow, daughter of Nilsen Winslow, on July 24, 1865, in the town of Castleblaney, county Monaghan[1], Ireland.  They had six sons and a daughter born in towns near Castleblaney,  John (Oct 23, 1865 in Kilmore)[2], Joseph W. (Jul 22, 1867 in Kilmore)[3], Owen (April 27 1870 in Ballyhay)[4], Thomas (Jul 10, 1872 in Ballyhay)[5],  Patrick (Apr 29, 1875 in Monaghan)[6], James D. (April 1877[7], and Mary (about 1878)[8].  Thomas died in 1874 in Castleblaney.[9]
       Owen, Rachel, John, Joseph, David, and James all seem to have emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1880s, according to various census records.  John Gorman appears in the 1885 census of Warwick, Rhode Island as a boarder[10].  According to his family, he married Mary Keenan there on November 15, 1887, and lived in Warwick until his death.   In 1895, the New Jersey State census[11] shows Owen, Rachel, David and James living in Somerville, Somerset county, New Jersey, along with Joseph and his wife Julia who had married on November 6, 1894[12].  

1.  Marriage Records 1845-1870 in the General Registry Office of Ireland.  Digital copy FHL film # 101479. Record page # 576 for Castleblaney District, County of Monaghan. Record for Rachel Winslow.
2 , 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.  Ancestry.com Ireland: Select Births and Baptisms 1620-1911. (Provo, UT. Ancestry.com Operations Inc,  2011) records for John McGorman, Joseph Gorman, Owen Gorman, Thomas Gorman, Patrick Gorman, James Gorman, and Mary Gorman.  Records online.
9. Ireland Civil Registrations Deaths Index 1864-1968 (Provo Ut Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2011) Record for Thomas Gorman. Record online.
10. Rhode Island State Censuses 1865-1935. (Provo UT. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2013) Ancestry.com record for 1885, John Gorman. Record online.
11. Ancestry.com New Jersey State Census 1895 (Provo UT. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2007) Ancestry.com record for Owen Gorman.
12.  State of New Jersey Marriage Return for Joseph Gorman and Julia Connolly Nov 6, 1894. New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, NJ.

Tepper Arrivals: Feige/Rose?

Rose Tepper and her husband about 1910

     Continuing the story of the Tepper Family arrivals.  I have posted about Meier David and several of his children arriving together, and about their son Abraham.  My story of the next child, Rose Tepper, is filled with quirks and mysteries.  There are few records that I can unequivocally state refer to her.  She did not arrive in the US with her parents and siblings in 1907. I have not been able to find a record of her arrival.  On the other hand, there is a record of another person, Feige Tepper, about the same age, a seamstress, from Baranivka (the departure point for the rest of the family) departing Hamburg on July 5 1902 aboard the SS Barcelona[1], and arriving in New York on July 21[2].  She states that she is going to her brother-in-law "Coln" (Elkunah) Grosser in Philadelphia, the same person who sponsored the rest of the Tepper family.  This Feige was almost certainly a child of Meier David and Leie.  Did she become "Rose"?  Although Feige to Rose is not a common name change, is is certainly possible, and there are no other records of this Feige that have surfaced so far.  Also, if Feige was another child, and not Rose, then the number of children claimed by Leie on her arrival and in later census records is off by one.

     The photo above is of Rose with her husband.  It was in the scrapbook of her sister Jennie Grosser.  The husband is un-named.  I have spent much time and energy trying to find a record of her marriage in the Philadelphia City Archives with a few candidates, but no firm conclusions.  I have not found her under the name Feige or Rose in the 1910 census, although I am certain that Rose was in the United States.  She was not living with her parents.  Rose had a son Hyman in about 1911 (although I haven't found a record of his birth either despite hours going through index cards in the Phila Archives).  Rose's granddaughter tells me that her father said that his father deserted the family early on, that Rose took the name Cohen after trying to trace him as far as South America, and began calling herself the widow Cohen.  In 1920 she and Hyman were living at 300 North Front Street, next to her parents at 312R.  She was the proprietor of a notions store[3].  The business directories of 1919 and 1921 list a Rosa Cohen as the owner of a cigar store at 820 S. 8th Street[4], but I am not certain that this is her as that would be two miles from her home.  Her granddaughter tells me that during Prohibition, Rose was a bootlegger.  Hyman remembered growing up among liquor bottles and ran away at thirteen, using his Bar Mitzvah money to go to California to live with his mother's sister Bessie and her husband Harry Nitt.  Both Rose and Hyman drop from the records again after 1920.
     By 1945, Rose was living in Miami, Florida and had remarried to Lewis Adelman[5].  She died sometime after August 1967 when she attended her sister Jennie's 70th anniversary party in Philadelphia.

Rose Tepper Cohen and her brother Sam Tepper
August 10, 1967

1.  Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Hamburg Passenger Lists 1850-1934 (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations  Inc. 2008) Record for Feige Tepper July 5, 1902 SS Barcelona.
2.  New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006)Database online. Year: 1902; Arrival: , ; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_290; Line: 20; List number: . record for Jeige Tepper.
3.  Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal Census (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009Database online. Year: 1920; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1619; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 220; Image: .for Cohen Rose
4. Philadelphia Pennsylvania City Directories 1919 and 1921.  Ancestry.com database online.
5  Ancestry.com, Florida State Census, 1867-1945 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. ,2008) Database online. Record for Rose Adelman