DNA Testing and My Family Tree

It's that time of year again and I just ended another whirwind of genealogy activity at the International Association of Jewish Genealogy Societies annual conference.  This year it was in Orlando FL. As usual, the schedule was packed with great sessions on all sorts of topics, but a highlight was a full track on the latest innovation in genealogy, using DNA to help build your tree.

You've probably seen the commercials for the DNA testing companies on TV.  "Find out where your ancestors come from", "Find your lost cousins."  Maybe you were intrigued.  (To my cousins:  If you have tested or are interested in doing so, please PM me!).  This can be really interesting but unfortunately, traditional techniques of using DNA to find relatives do not work well for Ashkenazic Jews.  It's much harder.  We are an endogamous population; everyone is related to everyone else.  Everyone who tests comes up as a match to everyone else who tests.  This problem was not addressed at the outset by the companies performing the analyses for general consumers, but with advances in analysis and the advent of two companies and many researchers that put a focus on Ashkenazi Jews, DNA analysis has been added to our toolbox.

I have been trying to incorporate DNA results into my research.  It can be especially useful where traditional document based research can't confirm a suspected relationship.  I have several places in my tree where everyone agrees that two branches are related but we don't know exactly how.  I have written about some, "the Other Roth Family" here, and the "Tepper Zimmerman" connection here.  My research indicates a common ancestor for these branches, or a family story says that a couple were close cousins, but there is no documentation.  That is where DNA may be able to help.

It takes a fair amount of work, and for many family members to test.  Because everyone has a 50/50 chance of inheriting any piece of DNA from either parent, after a few generations, the amount of shared DNA goes down significantly even among direct descendants.  In my family, I have almost reached the limits of reliable testing material since my missing connections are four or five generations back from me so it is important that as many of the oldest generations still alive test now so that their DNA is available for the future.  The test that I have found to be the most useful in my research is the autosomal DNA (or "Family Finder") test.  This isn't limited to only direct male line descendants (Y-DNA) and it can be more specific than MtDNA which can say that the person is in a direct maternal line, but not how far back the common ancestor is.

Over the past two years, I have been getting DNA tests from some relatives.  After the test (a quick cheek swab, no pain, no blood) either they administer the results themselves (look at matches, answer e-mails from potential matches, analyze the results etc) or I act as administrator for them.  At the conference, I  heard about how several companies now allow you to upload the results from one company to another and use their tools for analysis.  A representative from Family Tree DNA, the company I use, also told me how to group all of the kits that I administer into one private family project to streamline my analysis.  I've started that process and am looking forward to making my life easier.  When it is complete, I will also be able to invite others into the project, if I am not the administrator of their results.

I hope that with more family members testing, and more work on my part I may be able to confirm or deny some suspected relationships in my tree.  Several companies have sales on the tests going on right now so if you are interested in giving it a try, let me know.

Moshe and Chaya Sura Groiskopf

Mosche and Chaya Sura (Kurman) Groiskopf
Labun, Ukraine abt 1925

     Mosche Groiskopf was born about 1880 in Labun, a small town near Polonnoye, in what is now Ukraine.  He was the fourth child (that I know about) of Chaim and Chaya Groiskopf.  Like his father and brothers, Mosche grew up to be a blacksmith.  He married Chaya Sura Kurman, daughter of David and Miriam Kurman of Labun in about 1900, when he was about 20 and she was a few years younger.  They quickly had two children, David, in July 1902, and Alexandra (Shivka) in about 1905.
    As I have mentioned before, times were hard in that area of Ukraine, so in 1907 Mosche decided to go to America where his older brother Elkunah (Elcon Grosser) was living and where he was quite successful.  Leaving his family behind, Mosche made his way to Liverpool, England, where on July 8, 1902 he boarded the RMS Lake Megantic [1], newly refurbished to carry immigrants to Halifax and St John, Canada [2].  He arrived in Quebec on July 17 listing Philadelphia as his final destination.[3]   He crossed into the U.S. by train, declaring that he was a smith, and that he was going to his brother (Cohn Grosser) in Philadelphia[4].   

Brothers Elcon, Joe and Mosche Grosser
Philadelphia, abt 1907

     Some time between 1902 and 1906 he returned to Labun, perhaps to try to convince Chaya Sura to return to the U.S. with him.  He returned to the U.S. alone in February 1907, this time traveling through Hamburg [5] and arriving in New York City aboard the Graf Waldersee on February 16 [6].  He listed his last residence as Tadeushpol, a small village about 4 miles from Labun, and again said that he was going to his brother Elcon Grosser in Philadelphia.
     Within a few years, he had accumulated some money, and, missing his family, returned again to Labun.  According to his grandson who often visited Mosche and Chaya Sura in Labun as a child, he built three brick "American style" houses in Labun.  His family lived in one of them, his brother Zise, also a blacksmith, lived in one, and Chaya Sura's brother, also called Zisye, lived in the third.   Mosche worked as a blacksmith, having a forge set off from the house, and also repaired tractors for the local farmers.  One of the houses had a garage, but since none of them had a car, they used it for the animals.
     After the 1917 Russian Revolution conditions got worse in the Ukrainian countryside, especially for Jews.  Civil war, and invasion by German, Russian and Polish forces between 1917 and 1922 devastated the area as various groups fought for control of Ukraine. [7] There were pogroms in the area of Labun.  The family sent their son, David to the United States in 1921[8].  Mosche, Chaya Sura and Shivka tried to follow him, going to Riga, Latvia for about a year in about 1922, but because the U.S. had passed restrictive immigration laws by then, they were unable to get visas, despite strong efforts by family already in the U.S.  They returned to Labun.  The wars ended after the area was incorporated into the Soviet Union, in 1922, but they were followed in the 1930s by a man-induced famine, the Holodomor, resulting in the deaths of millions across Ukraine[9].
       The farms in Labun were collectivized.  Because Mosche was skilled with iron work and fixing tractors, he worked for the agricultural commune as a blacksmith.  They and most of their relatives were still living in Labun when the Nazis arrived in 1943. (Shivka had married and moved to Kiev). They, along with the rest of the Jews in the town, were all murdered in the woods near the town.  There is now a small memorial in the woods for those who were murdered there[10].      
     

1. Ancestry.com, UK Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc 2012) Ancestry.com. Record for Mosche Grosskopf
2. http://www.theshipslist.com Record for ARAWA / COLON / LAKE MEGANTIC / PORT HENDERSON / ANAPO / PORTO SAID 1884 , accessed April 16, 2016.
3.  Ancestry.com, Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010) Ancestry.com, Record for Marche Groeskoff
4.  Ancestry.com, U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S.1895-1956 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010) The National Archives at Washington, DC; Manifests of Passengers Arriving at St. Albans, VT, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports1895-1954; National Archives Microfilm Publication: M1464 Roll: 13; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; Record Group Number 85. Record for Mosche Groiskopf.
5. Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Hamburg Passenger Lists 1850-1934 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008) www.ancestry.comStaatsarchiv Hamburg; Hamburg, Deutschland; Hamburger Passagierlisten; Microfilm No.: K_1798. Record for Moische Groiskopf
6.  Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010) Ancestry.com, Year: 1907; Arival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 0830; Line 25; Page Number 22. Record for Meiskke Greiskopf
7  Wikipedia.org Ukrainian War of Independence. .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_War_of_Independence
8.  Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006) www. ancestry.com, database online. Year: 1921; Arrival:, Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_2938; Line 23 Record for David Grojskop
9.  Wikipedia.org, loc.cit.
10. Blog: Going the Extra Yad: Labun (home at last) 14 June 2013 .http://extrayad.blogspot.com/2013/06/labun-home-at-last-14-june-2013.html

Ben and Alice Roth

Alice and Ben Roth at Jeffrey Roth's Bar Mitzvah abt 1963
Ben's brother Aaron and his wife Pearl in the background.

     Although he later claimed to have been born on Independence Day, Beny Roth was born to my grandparents, Armin and Mary Roth, on July 6, 1896 in Manhattan[1], where Armin had first settled on arrival in the US, and where he and Mary had married.  As I mentioned in my post in April about Armin and Mary, the family soon moved to Trenton, NJ where Armin had cousins.
     Now called Benjamin, or Ben, The young man went to elementary school where he learned to play the piano.  He graduated from Trenton High School in the class of 1914.  After High School, Ben went to the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied dentistry, graduating on June 20, 1917[2].  The announcement that he had passed the state licensing exam was made on July nineteenth of that year[3].
     When he registered for the draft in June of the next year, he had already opened a dentist office at 129 S. Broad Street in Trenton[4].  In July 1918 he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve Forces, serving actively in the war until December 26, 1918.  After the war Ben worked on establishing his dental practice.  He maintained the office at 129 S. Broad for a while, then moved briefly 200 S. Broad St., before settling in at 37 West State Street in about 1928[5].  Ben was in the inactive Reserve until September 1921 when he again became an active reservist as a Captain in the Officers Reserve Corps, 119th Medical Regiment, 155th Hospital Company, of Trenton.[6]  Captain Roth participated in a recruiting exhibition of the Hospital Company's facilities held in Stacy Park, Trenton in July 1926.  The 50'x16' tent was fully equipped and contained "surgical units, dental units, first aid and shower baths" as they would be set up in time of action[7].   
     Daniel Block had come to the US in about 1880 from Wurttemburg, Germany.  He went to work for his uncle Simon Samler, already in Trenton, and later ran the Washington Market Clothing Company. He married Bertha Gutmann in Philadelphia in 1891[8], and had two children, Lester Gutmann Block in 1895, and Alice Block in 1898. By 1907 he owned the Daniel Block Clothing Company at 107-109 South Broad Street[9], a successful business that paid $9 in taxes in 1908. [10].   He was a successful businessman and active in many charities and civic associations as well as Har Sinai Temple[11].  Between 1900 and 1903, he and his family travelled back to Germany three times, the last trip with his son Lester, lasting from July to October 1903[12].  Lester joined the Naval Reserves in April 1917 and served on Submarine Chaser No. 243.  He nearly lost his life in an explosion aboard the ship on May 6, 1919 when it was docked in Bermuda on its voyage back to the U.S.  When he returned home  in June after treatment, Lester was made a partner in his fathers business[13], as Daniel was already confined to his home by the illness that took his life on September 10th, 1919[14].
     In October, 1923, Ben Roth became engaged to Daniel and Bertha's daughter, Alice Block. Alice had graduated the Model School (predecessor of the State Teachers College)[15]. Perhaps they met through Ben and Lester's shared Naval Reserve activities.  Lester chaired the committee that organized a bachelor dinner for Ben at the Hotel Sterling on the night before the wedding.  It featured several short talks and the gift of a vacuum cleaner[16].  On April 16, 1924, Ben and Alice were married in a quiet ceremony at The Hillwood Inn in Trenton attended by their immediate families.  Alice wore a gown of powder blue beaded crepe romaine and carried roses and lilies of the valley. Fanny Block, Lester's wife, wore a coral beaded gown.  Unusually for a wedding, both mothers, Alice's aunt Rose Samler, and the Rabbi's wife all wore black.  After the ceremony, the couple left on a motor trip through the South, returning to their new home at 24 Newell Avenue[17].

     On February 24, 1927, Alice and Ben welcomed a son to the family.  He was named Daniel Block

Ben Roth with son Daniel.
About 1935

Roth after Alice's father.  In 1934, after the death of Ben's father Armin, Ben's youngest brother Barney,, and possibly his mother Mary, moved into the house at 24 Newell Ave[18].  The house, a duplex, was too small for the family, and in 1935 Ben and Alice moved to a large freestanding home at 928 Edgewood Avenue, near the Cadwalader Park[19].  Ben's mother died in 1939, and by 1940  the three family members lived in the large home alone.  About 1949, after Daniel was grown, Ben and Alice moved into the newly completed Brookville apartments in "the Island"section of town between Riverside Drive and Clearfield Avenue.  The complex was advertised as providing "homes for 132 families who can afford to pay $85 a month rent."[20]  
     My family lived on the same court in Brookville between about 1950 and 1954, and my strongest memories of Ben and Alice are from that time.  I remember going to Ben's office to have my teeth checked, although if any of us needed work, he sent us to someone else because "you are family".  We were in and out of their apartment as kids.  Ben (the dentist) always had a stash of candy in a drawer of the breakfront and he gave it to us in quantities that I know our parents disapproved.  Alice often made meals the we kids ate sitting at metal TV Trays in front of the set in the living room.  She encouraged us to eat our vegetables (especially succotash) by suggesting that we mix them into the mashed potatoes and calling the mixture "chaserei", Yiddish for pig food.  Alice was very active in the synagogue and various women's groups, and enjoyed playing cards.
     Alice died on March 19, 1966[21].  Ben, who in my parents words, "did not know how to get himself a glass of water without Alice," moved to a smaller place at the Carteret Arms at 333 West State Street.  He died on June 15, 1970.[22]  Alice and Ben were buried at the Ewing Cemetery.

1.  Ancestry.com, New York, New York, Birth Index, 1879-1909 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2014) Ancestry.com. Record for Beny Roth
2.  Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) Monday June 18, 1917. "Roth to Graduate then Join Army" Genealogybank.com.
3.  Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) Thursday July, 19, 1917 p.4 "Two Trentoniana Pass as Dentists" Genealogybank.com
4.  Ancestry.com, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005) ancestry.com Database online. Registration Location;Mercer county, New Jersey; Roll 1754444; Draft board 3.  
5.    Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2011) Ancestry.com. Directories for Trenton New Jersey  1920, 1926, 1936
6.  Ancestry.com, U.S. Select Military Registers, 1862-1985- (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013) Ancestry.com, Record for Benjamin Roth USNRF.
7.  Trenton Evening Times, (Trenton, NJ), Tuesday, July 6, 1926 "Medical Company has Tent Exhibition"  Genealogybank.com
8.  Ancestry.com, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Marriage Index, 1885-1951 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011) Record for Bertha Gutmann.
9.  Ancestry.com.  Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ), October 25, 1907. p. 11 "Advertisement for Daniel Block Clothing Co."
10.  "Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the State Board of Assessors of the State of New Jersey for the Year 1908, Part II"  Trenton, N.J. MacCrellish & Quigley, State Printers. 1909. p. 110. Accessed via Google Books.
11.  Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) p. 1, Wednesday September 10, 1919. "Daniel Block, Ill Long Time, Dead. Prominent Merchant Passed Away this Morning -- Confined to Home a Year" Geneaologybank.com
12.  Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ). Monday, April 30, 1900. "Trentonians Off for Europe".; Tuesday, July 23,1901 p.5. "Personal". Tuesday, May 26, 1903. p. 1 "Will Visit in Germany" Genealogybank.com
13.  Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) Monday June 23, 1919. p. 2. "Hero Will be his Father's Partner. Lester G. Block , Naval Explosion Victim, Soon to Receive Discharge" Genealogybank.com
14.  Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) Wednesday September 10, 1919. Op Cit.
15.  Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) Wednesday, April 16, 1924. p. 8 "Miss Block to Be Bride of Dr. Roth" Genealogybank.com
16.  Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) Tuesday, April 15, 1924. "Dr. Benjamin Roth is Tendered Dinner" Genealogybank.com
17.  Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) Thursday, April 17, 1924. p.9 "Miss Alice Block Bride of Dr. Roth" Genealogybank.com
18.  Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011) Ancestry.com 1935 Trenton, NJ, City Directory.  Record for Barney Roth.
19,  Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012) www.ancestry.comYear:1940; Census Place Trenton, Mercer, New Jersey;Roll T627-2437; Page 1B; Enumeration District: 27-139 Record for Roth D. Benjamin.
20.  Trenton Evening Times (trenton, NJ) Friday, December 3, 1948. p. 14 "Island Apartment Project Progressing" Genealogybank.com
21.  Sunday Times Advertiser (Trenton, NJ) March 20, 1966. "Mrs. Benjamin Roth, Wife of Doctor." Genealogybank.com
22.  The Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) Tuesday June 16, 1970. p. 10. "Dr. Roth, 71, Dentist Here for 50 Years" Genealogybank.com

Sam and Ida Tepper

Sam and Ida Tepper

     I mentioned in my post of March 8 this year that Meier David and Leie Tepper arrived in New York City on December 22, 1907 aboard the SS Lituania with several of their children[1].  Among those was Schlome, age 18, whose occupation was listed as "smith".  The family travelled to Philadelphia and by 1910 Schlome, now Sam, was living with his family, speaking English, and working an ironer in a tailor shop [2].
     Sometime between 1910 and June of 1917 Sam had met and married Ida Karzen.  He registered for the draft on June 5, 1917 describing himself as a fruit salesman, employed by J.M. Biedler.  He was tall, of medium build, with brown eyes and blond hair and he lived at 1519 N. Franklin Street in Philadelphia  with his wife[3].   I have no idea how Sam and Ida met, since Ida was from Cincinnati.
     Ida was born on August 3, 1892 in Cincinnati to Lewis Karzensky and Eda (Edith) Ostrovsky Karzensky [4]  who had arrived in the US in that year[5].  According to City Directories of the time, Louis worked as a presser until about 1914 when he entered the poultry business.  In 1914 the City Directory for Cincinnati shows Ida working as a stenographer in a bank building.  Both Ida and Louis are shown as living at 5305 Brotherton Rd[6].  The 1916 Directory shows Ida as still employed at the bank building.  Eda (or Edith as she was then known) died sometime in late 1916 or 1917.  She had written a will in March of 1914 which was probated on November 7, 1917, and in which she left her estate to her husband and then to her children, Ida and Samuel Karzen[7].
     In 1918 the Cincinnati City Directory shows Samuel D. Tepper living at 5308 Brotherton Rd, just down the street from Louis, who was now going by Karzen. Sam was working as a blacksmith.  Sam and Ida's first child had been born in January, 1918, and was named Edgar for his grandmother[8].  The 1920 census shows the family still living at the Brotherton Rd address, which they owned free of mortgage.  The census shows that the family did not own a radio, an item that was growing in popularity and the the Bureau was tracking as a proxy for urban and rural prosperity.  By this time, Lewis, now seventy-five, was living with them. Sam had gotten work as a tailor of women's garments[9].  Ida was pregnant with their second child, Florence, who was born in June of that year.  The third child, Robert Lee (Bobby), was born in 1924.
     The depression hit starting in 1929, and in 1930 the census found the family still in the Brotherton Rd. house, but now Sam was unemployed.  He had a wife, three small children and his aged father-in-law living with him[10].  By 1931 he had opened a service station at 5314 Brotherton Road, and a grocery at 5312 Brotherton[11].  By 1940, according to the census, Edgar was working as an attendant at the service station owned by his father, and Florence was a clerk[12].  The 1940 and 1942 City Directories show Sam still operating the service station in Cincinnati, but there is no mention of the grocery.  Edgar had enlisted in the armed forces in October, 1940 and Bobby followed in October 1942.
     For some reason, between 1942 and 1945, the family moved to Miami, Florida.  Perhaps it was the cold winters in Ohio, or perhaps it was because Sam's sister Rose and widowed sister-in-law/cousin Celia Zimmerman Tepper were already there (the tangled relationships among the Teppers and Zimmermans will be the subject of another post).  In 1945 Sam, Ida, and Florence lived at 4510 N.W. 10th St in Miami.  Sam was again in the produce business, and Florence was working as a case worker for Traveller's Aid[13].  World War II was still being fought, and Edgar, who had married Norma Abenschon in 1944, and Bobby were both still serving in the armed forces.  Florence married Manuel Mayerson in 1947 and moved back to Ohio.  In 1950, Bobby married Carolyn Dresser.
     The end of the war, and the desire of many of the thousands of servicemen who had trained there to become permanent residents made for a boom in Miami.  The Tepper produce business grew along with the city.  Meanwhile, according to his family, the pickles that Sam had made in his garage for a select few had grown into a business of its own.  According to the family story he would go to nearby Cuba and buy cucumbers in bulk and have them shipped into the port in Palm Beach County.  The 1958 Miami City Directory shows that Tepper's Wholesale Produce was being run by Edgar, while Sam was president of T&P Pickle Products, Inc, with Vivian (Zimmerman) Plasky (another Zimmerman cousin) as the vice-president, and Bobby as the secretary-treasurer[14].  The overthrow of the Cuban government in 1959 would have ended the forays to Cuba for cucumbers.
     Ida died in 1963[15].  Sam's widowed sister Bessie moved to Florida to help him, but in September, 1967, Sam married the recently widowed Pauline Kaufman (nee Stern)[16] and they moved to a duplex at 1176 Marseille Drive in Miami Beach.  Pauline died in 1979[17].  Sam continued to be very engaged with family, children, grandchildren, sisters and brothers.  He regularly came north to attend the annual anniversary parties for his sister Jennie Grosser and her husband Elcon.  He died on March 10, 1987[18], and was buried in Mt Nebo Cemetery.

1.  Ancestry.com, New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010) Ancestry.com, Year: 1907; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 1064; Line: 9; Page Number: 133  Record for Meier Tepper.
2.   Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006), www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1390; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 159; Image: 13. Record for David Japper.
3.  Ancestry.com, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005), www.ancestry.com. Database online. Registration Location: Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1907616; Draft Board: 13. Record for Samuel Tepper.
4.  Ancestry.com, U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index 1936-2007 (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2015). Record for Ida Tepper.
5.  Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006) www.ancestry.com, Database online.Year: 1910; Census Place: Dayton Ward 4, Campbell, Kentucky; Roll: T624_467; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 47; Image: 414. Record for Louis Karzensky.
6.  Ancestry.com, US City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2011, Ancestry.com Records for Ida Karzen.
7.  Ancestry.com, Ohio, Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Ancestry.com, Will Records 1792-1918; Probate Place: Hamilton, Ohio. Record for Edith Karzensky.
8.  Ancestry.com, U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com operations, Inc., 2015) Record for Edgar Karzen Tepper.
9.   Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009) www.ancestry.com, Database online,Year: 1920; Census Place: Cincinnati Ward 2, Hamilton, Ohio; Roll: T625_1388; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 34; Image: . Record for Sam Tepper.
10.  Ancestry.com 1930 United States Federal Census( Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2002) www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year: 1930; Census Place: Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio; Roll: 1806; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 408; Image: 459.0.Record for Samuel Tepper.
11.  Ancestry.com, U.S. city Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2011) Ancestry.com. Record for Samuel D. Tepper.
12.  Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2012) www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year: 1940; Census Place: Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio; Roll: T627_3187; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 91-19. Record for Samuel Tepper.
13. Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry. com operations, Inc., 2011) Ancestry.com, Record for Samuel D. Tepper.
14. Ibid.
15.  Ohio, The American Israelite, Cincinnati, Obituary Feb 14 1963. 
16.  Ancestry.com, Florida Marriage Indexes 1822-1875 and 1927-2001 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006) Ancestry.com, Record for Samuel D. Tepper.
17.  Ancestry.com, Florida Death Index, 1877-1998 (Provo, UT, USA, The Generations Network, Inc., 2004) www.ancestry.com, Database online. Record for Pauline G. Tepper.
18.  Ibid.  Record for Samuel Tepper.

Finding Pearl Groiskop Shapiro

 

Pearl and Hyman Shapiro

     One evening, a few days after Mother's Day last year, my husband answered a phone call at the house.  I heard him say "She is my wife." and "Yes, she is trying to contact a Doris Kleiman, who is her cousin."  He had a strange look on his face, and when he handed me the phone said simply, "It's the police!"   That was the climax of my search for Aunt Pearl. 

      When I began my family tree I started with my great-grandparents, Elcon and Jennie Grosser because they were the family that I knew the most about.  I remembered them, their children, and some of their siblings who appeared at every family gathering.  I heard from family stories that Elcon had a sister named Pearl, who had died before I was born.  None of the relatives that I interviewed when I began my tree knew any more about her than that her married name was Shapiro, and her husband was probably named Hyman.  They had come to America, and Jennie's scrapbook that I inherited had a few photos annotated "Pearl's son Abe" or "Pearl's son Max'. 

     My search for Pearl and her family in the records was somewhat successful at first.  I found a record for Hersch Schpaira, from Ostropol Russia, a laborer, age 34 arriving in New York on July 5, 1905 aboard the SS Finland from Antwerp.  He declared that he was going to his brother-in-law, Elkuny Grosser in Philadelphia.[1],  Then I found Chaim Shapira, a 42 year old, married, day laborer from Ostropol Russia, departing Hamburg on Nov 9, 1912 aboard the SS Stockport bound for the port of Grimsby in England and then to Liverpool [2].  He boarded the SS Haverford in Liverpool and arrived in Philadelphia on December 4, 1912, noting on his arrival that he had previously resided in the US for two years.[3].  This second arrival was the one he would use on his petition for naturalization.  The first two of his children followed  him in early 1913, arriving aboard the SS Dominion and stating that their father then living at 1015 S. 2nd St in Philadelphia did not have enough money to bring their mother and siblings from Russia[4].  Pearl and three more children finally arrived on September 10, 1913 in Baltimore aboard the SS Nekar from Bremen.[5]

     The family's naturalization record of 1920 had a wealth of additional information.  Hyman (as he was now known) was born in Ostropol on Feb 10, 1869.  Pearl was born in Lubin (another spelling for Labun where Elcon was born), Dec 18, 1878.  They were married about 1895, and had six children born in Russia between 1896 and 1902 and two more born in 1908 and 1909 after Hyman returned.  Their last child Benjamin, was born in Philadelphia in 1915.[6] 

     Hyman began working as a driver [7] for a bakery company and later was a salesman for the company.  The family moved to Pennsgrove Ave in Philadelphia where they owned their house [8].  Pearl died on June 16, 1940 of pancreatic cancer,[9] and Hyman died a few moths later on Dec 1, 1940 of stomach cancer.  His death certificate gave his parents names as Phillip and Eva Shapiro, but these were probably anglicized versions of their names[10].

     Of course, I didn't find all of this information at first.  In fact, for many years I was unable to find much of anything about Pearl and her husband after their arrival.  I had no luck tracing any of the children or finding any descendants.  Except for the first arrival record, that listed a brother-in-law Elkuny Grosser, I wasn't even sure that the few records I had found were records for the right family.  Every so often I would go back over what I had and see if any new clues had come on-line.  I asked every new cousin that I discovered if any of them knew anything about Aunt Pearl.  No luck for about 15 years.  That's when things went a bit sideways.

     One day I was in my office working on another part of my tree when I went to a bookcase to pull out a reference book.  Fallen behind that book I saw a small white leatherette book that I recognized at once.  It was a prayer book, of the type that is given out at weddings, and I had had it since I was a child.  Someone in the family had given it to me after attending a wedding and I had kept it.  Inside were crayon markings and a note written in the colored fountain pen ink that I favored in about sixth grade. Over the (many) years since then I had opened it many times, but this time my eye was caught by the inscription printed in gold on the cover:  IN HONOR OF THE MARRIAGE OF DORIS SHAPIRO AND JEROME KLEIMAN MARCH 6, 1952.  Doris Shapiro??  I didn't know either of these names, but was it possible that this Doris Shapiro was a descendant of Aunt Pearl?  Some family member had gone to this wedding so maybe she was a relative.  A note handwritten inside indicated that Jerome was a Doctor.  With bated breath I looked for a Dr. Jerome Kleiman in Philadelphia.  I found several listings including one that gave his wife's name as Doris.  I checked the 1940 census in Philadelphia and found a Max Shapiro (Pearl had a son Max) with a daughter Doris who would have been the right age to be married in 1952.  Then I found a recent obituary for Jerome that gave his wife as Doris (nee Shapiro).  I was on the trail!

      My next step was to try to find a current address for Doris.  When I discovered that she had moved to only a few miles from where I now live my excitement was so great that I did something I usually don't do, especially with older folks.  I called her.

     She was very polite, quizzed me about who I was and how I thought we were related but did not confirm that she was a descendant of Pearl or give me any real information about herself.  The questions she asked made me confident that I was on the right trail.  I could sense her caution so I told her that I would write to her and give the information from my tree so that she could look it over and get back in touch when she was satisfied.  I quickly gathered a simple tree and some photos and mailed them off with a cover letter including my contact information.  This was usually my first step when contacting a new relative.  I hoped that since Mother's Day was a few days away that she would share it with her daughters and call me back.  I was so excited that I shared my hopes with my husband who is generally not interested in the details of how I make my discoveries.

     That led to the call from the police.  After questioning me politely for several minutes about my relationship to Doris and my genealogy quest, the officer appeared to be satisfied.  She explained that Doris had recently attended a class about identity theft scams targeting older people.  She had specifically been warned about people calling out of the blue claiming to be relatives and later asking for money.  She and her daughters had decided to have the police check me out. I laughed and told the officer that Doris had been a good student and had not given me any information, but that I hoped she would do so now.

     Two days later I had a call from both of Doris' daughters.  They apologized for calling the police on me (partly my fault for making that quick phone call) and we arranged to meet.  We had a lovely brunch and I enjoyed meeting all of them.  From a genealogy perspective it was a gold mine as Doris had lots of details about Pearl's family, photos of Pearl and Hyman and all of their children, and an audio tape of Doris' father Max telling about their trip from the old country and their early life in the US.  Most of the information cited above was the result of those conversations.  I'm still mining that trove, but that's for another blog post[11].

1. Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists , 1820-1957(Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com operations, Inc. 2010) Ancestry.com. Year 1905; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 0597; Line: 10; Page Number: 29. Record for Hersch Schapira.

2.  Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2008) www.ancestry.com. database online. Record for Chaim Shapira.

3. Ancestry.com, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1945 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006), www.ancestry.com, database online.  Roll T840_108; Line 22. Record for Chaim Shapira.

4.  Ancestry.com, Philadelphia Passenger LIsts, 1800-1945 (Provo, UT, UA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006). www.ancestry.com, Database online.Roll T840_116;Line 4.

5.  Ancestry.com, Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820-1948(Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006) www.ancestry.com, Database online. Record for Perl Schapiro.

6. Ancestry, com, Pennsylvania, U.S. Naturalization Originals, 1795-1930(Provo, UT. USA., Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011) Databse online.

7. Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancesrty.com Operations Inc., 2009) www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year: 1920; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 24, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1628; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 742; Image: 122.

8. Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancesrty.com Operations Inc., 2002) www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year: 1930; Census Place: Philadelphia.

9. Ancestry.com, Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014) Ancestry.com, Record for Hyman Shapiro.

10. Ancestry.com, Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014) Ancestry.com, Record for Pearl Shapiro.

11. The story of finding Doris Kleiman is adapted from an article I wrote that was published in the Summer 2015 issue of "Mishpacha: the Quarterly Publication of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington."

The Other Roth Family - Part One

     In my post of April 17, 2015, I mentioned that I knew little about the family of my grandfather, Armin Roth.  I had documents that indicated that his father was Dov Roth, and his mother was Minna Prinz, and he came from the area of Kosice (yid. Kassa) now in Slovakia.  I also knew that there were other families in Trenton who were his cousins, but I did not know exactly how they were related.

Sam and Fanny Lavinthal

     These cousins, (the other Roth family) were the children of Isidore Roth and Esther Prinz[1], and they came from the town of Felso Mislye (today Vysna Mysla near Kosice Slovakia)[2].   Although I have no confirmation of the relationship, the name similarity between the two sets of parents sets up the possibility that this was two brothers marrying two sisters.  Five siblings arrived in the US between 1892 and 1913, and all ended up in Trenton, NJ, where they married and raised their families.  As a child I knew some of the children of these cousins, and their names recur in newspaper reports of our family events.
     The first of the siblings to arrive in Trenton was Fanny Roth.  She was born about 1870, and came the the US on 5 September 1887 aboard the Sorrento from Hamburg, Germany[3].  In December 1893, she married Samuel Lavinthal, a shoemaker, in Trenton[4].  She died in 1944, but I have fond memories of Uncle Sam from my childhood.  Fanny and Sam Lavinthal are the only members of that generation of whom I have photos.  (Hint: If you have photos of any others, I'd love to see them)
     The next to arrive was Minnie Roth (born betw 1878-1881).  I haven't found her arrival manifest, but census records indicate that she came to the US between 1892 and 1895.  She married Nathan Saaz, a milk dealer, and later saloon owner, about 1895[5] and they lived at 839 S. Clinton St.
     The first brother to arrive was Bernath Roth.  He was born in 1877 and arrived in New York on August 25, 1898 aboard the SS Sale from Bremen[6].  He moved in with Sam and Fannie Lavinthal at 191 Broad Street and also worked as a shoemaker[7].  In about 1902, he married a woman named Fannie and moved to 84 Pennington Ave[8], next door to my grandparents, Armin and Mary Roth at 86 Pennington Ave. Fannie died in August, 1918.
     Next to arrive was Agnes (Anna) Roth, born in 1884.  She came on August 21 1901 aboard the SS Grosse Kurfurst from Bremen[9].  She married Joseph Greenberger, a retail fruit merchant, in about 1906.  In 1910 they lived at 6 Third Street in Trenton, with their first child, Benjamin, and Joseph's brother Jacob[10].
     The last arrival was the youngest, Adolph Roth.  He was born in 1887, but didn't come to the US until June 4, 1913 when he arrived in New York aboard the SS Cleveland from Hamburg Germany[11].  Adolph was still single and a self employed butcher when he registered for the WWI draft.  He was living at 266 Jackson, in Trenton.[12]
     In later posts I will continue the stories of each of these families, or as much as I know of them.  Most stayed in Trenton until late in the 20th century and some remain in the area today. As more records become available from the area of Kosice, I hope to nail down exactly how all of these folks are related to me.

1.  Ancestry.com, Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963 (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014) www.ancestry.comRecord for Bernath Roth. 
2. Diacritical marks have been omitted as this program does not support them. Felso Mislye is listed as a birthplace on several records including Bernath's WWI draft registration and naturalization, Agnes Roth's arrival manifest, and Adolph Roth's WWI and WWII draft registrations.
3.  Ancestry.com, New York Passenger LIsts, 1820-1957 (Provo UT. USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2006) www. ancestry.com.  Record for Fanny Roth
4. "Social Calendar" Monday, December 3, 1917. Trenton Evening Times.(Trenton, NJ) p. 10. " Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Lavinthal entertained a number of friends and relatives at their home, 266 Jackson Street, last evening, in celebration of their twenty-fifthwedding anniversary." accessed at www.genealogybank.com.
5.  Ancestry.com 1920 United States Federal census(provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc 2009) record for Winnie Saaz, and Ancestry.com 1930 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2002)record for Minnie Saaz.   Both www. ancestry.com.
6. Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006) www.ancestry.com Database online, year: 1898; Arrival, Microfilm serial 15, microfilm rollT715_ 29 Line 15. Record for Bernath Roth.
7.  Ancestry.com, 1900 United States Federal Census (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2004) www.ancestry.com Record for Bert Roth
8. Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005) www.ancestry.com record for Bernath Roth
9. Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com year  1901, New York, New York.; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll 0217; Line 24; Page number 272. Record for Anna Roth
10. Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, INC., 2006) www.ancestry.com Year 1910; Census place : Trenton Ward 4, Mercer. New Jersey; Roll T624_896; 19B; Enumeration District: 0059; FHL Microfilm 1374909 Record for Joseph Greenberger.
11. Ancestry.com, New York Passenger LIsts, 1820-1957 (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006) www.ancestry.com  Database online. Year: 1913; Arrival: , ; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_2095; Line: 15 Record for Adolf Roth.  
12.  Ancestry.com, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), www. ancestry.com Database online. Registration Location: Mercer County, New Jersey; Roll: 1754443; Draft Board: 2. Record for Adolf Roth   

Meier David and Lena Tepper

Lena Tepper

     In a post on 3/8/15, I described the arrival of Meier David and Lena Tepper along with several of their children to New York in 1907, aboard the SS Lituania.  They were going to their son-in-law, Elcon Grosser, in Philadelphia.

     By 1909, they were living in Philadelphia at 306 North Front Street near the docks along the Delaware River.  "Myer D. Tepper" is shown as a huckster in the 1909 City Directory[1].  By 1910, they had moved to a rented house at 312 (Rear) North Front Street.  Their children Sam, Abe, Bess, Harry, Celia, and Mary lived  with them. They also had a boarder, Louis Gefler, a 28 year old, single, express driver.  In the census, Lena's occupation is listed as "none".  I imagine that she kept the house, did laundry, and cooked for all of those people, which is hardly being unoccupied!  Meier David is listed as being a retail merchant of fruit.[2]  The City Directories for 1916 and 1918 still list him as a huckster at that address [3], so he probably sold from a cart rather than a store.
   
     By 1920 Meier David and Lena were still living at 312 (Rear) North Front Street.  All of the

Meier David Tepper

children had grown and moved out, but their daughter Rose and her son Hyman lived next door at 300 N. Front. (see post of 6/5/15 for more about Rose)  Meier David is listed as the proprietor of a restaurant, and Lena is shown as the cook. [4] Their granddaughter remembers hearing that they made food that they sold to the immigrants arriving at the docks nearby.  These photos, taken at about that time show them as moderately prosperous.

     In 1930 they had retired from business and moved to a small three story brick home at 1921 North 31st Street, a few blocks from Fairmount Park.  They rented the home, and had a lodger, a widow named Sarah Ginsberg. [5]

     David died on March 14, 1940 of a strangulated right hernia and heart congestion. [6]  His death certificate shows him living at 1825 N. 31st St.  After David's death, Lena moved in with her son Abraham, his wife Sarah, and daughter Bertha at 4924 17th Street.[7]   In June 1941, following a cardiac incident, Lena moved to the Bellavista Home in Springfield PA where she died on February 1, 1942,.[8]

     The ages of both David and Lena are open to question. When they arrived in 1907 they gave their ages as 56 and 53. Three years later in the 1910 census they said that they were only 55 and 51.  Ten years later, in 1920, they had aged fifteen to twenty years, and were listed as 70 and 70. In the 1930 census they give their ages as 80 and 75.  David's death certificate in 1940 has two ages, 91(crossed out) and 79.   In the 1940 census, taken just after David's death, Lena is listed as only 77.   David's headstone at Har Nebo Cemetery gives an age at death in 1940 as 91.  Lena's headstone says she was 90 when she died two years after the census, but her death certificate says 85. A final determination will wait for the discovery of birth records.  Lena's will be particularly hard to find as I don't know her maiden name.  I have found marriage records for three of her children that have a mother's maiden name filled in.  Unfortunately, they are all different.  One says Zelbsman, one says Zotsman, and one says Kaplan.  Yet another mystery to add to the pile.

1.  Philadelphia City Directory.  Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2011) Record for Myer D. Tepper.
2.  Ancestry. com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006) Database online. Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1390; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 159; Image: 13. Record for David Japper.
3.  Philadelphia City Directories 1916 and 1918. op.cit.
4.  Ancestry. com 1920 United States Federal Census.(Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2009)Database online. Year: 1920; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1619; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 220; Image: 977. record for David Tepper.
5.  Ancestry.com 1930 United States Federal Census (Provo UT USA, Ancestry.com Opertions Inc. 2002)Database online. Year: 1930; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2116; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 741; Image: 1013.0. Record for Meyer Tapper.
6.  Ancestry.com Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963 (Provo UT USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2014) Record for David Tepper.
7.  Ancestry.com 1940 United States Federal Census (Provo UT USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2012)Year: 1940; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T627_3752; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 51-2120. record for Lena Tepper
8.  Ancestry.com, Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963 (Provo, UT USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2014) Record for Lena Japper.

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

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

Phillip Lieberman

Philip Lieberman 1868-1937

     Philip Lieberman, another great-grandfather of mine, has been a genealogical mystery man to me for a long time.  No family members I spoke to seemed to know much about him, and nothing about his contemporary family.  To further complicate my research, although I thought I knew that my Philip lived in Philadelphia, other folks who posted what seemed like his family tree had him living in New York and dying there.  I couldn't find a passenger list or a naturalization record for him either. Finally, with the assistance of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS.gov), I obtained his naturalization record and was able to untangle him from another Philip Lieberman (born about the same time, wife also named Becky), who was a Romanian furrier living in New York.
     My Philip (Pinchus as he was then) was born  February 27, 1868, in the town of Berdichev, Zhitomir district, now in Ukraine.  According to his tombstone, his father's name was Tszi Hirsch.  Berdichev was a large and prosperous town having more than 40,000 Jews out of a total population of over 53,000 in 1897.[1]  In about 1886 he married Beile Kandel of the nearby town of Makhnovka.  They quickly had three children, Dwore, Lieb, and Chaie.  In 1893, Pinchus left Makhnovka and travelled to Bremen where he embarked on the ship H.H. Meier sailing to New York City.  He arrived on August 1, 1893, listing himself as a laborer.[2]
      By 1895 Philip had moved to Philadelphia where he lived at 532 South Street.  In September 1985 he went to the Rosenbaum Immigrant Bank and purchased passage to Philadelphia for Beile and the three children. He paid in two installments, $48.25 in the first, and $20 due in 30 days[3].  They arrived in New York, also aboard the H.H. Meier, on November 15, 1895.[4]  Five years later, according to the 1900 census, they were living in a rented house at 308 Christian Street, along with the original three children, now named Dorothy, Louis, and Ida, as well as a new son, Nathan, and a daughter Annie .  By 1910, they had bought a new house at 716 Tasker Street, where Philip had a tailor business [5].  At that time, their grandson, Henry Bogatin was also living with them, as well as another son, Irving, and a servant, a 26 year old black woman named Rebecca Anderson.
     Philip and Beile (Bella, Becky,) continued to live at the Tasker Street address until his death in 1937.  Census records and various City Directories show that he continued as a tailor making pants (trousers, pantaloons)working for himself or as a contractor.  They have many descendants and I have traced most of them, but I have not been able to find anything about any siblings or other relatives of his.  I was told that a Simon Lieberman, a well known colleague of V.I. Lenin, was a cousin.  He was also born near Berdichev and photos show a resemblance, and I have done some research on him, but can't confirm that he was related in any way.  Lieberman cousins out there.... do you know any more about Philip or his family?

1.  Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust. Vol 1. p. 112. Shmuel Spector, Editor in Chief.  2001. Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.  New York University Press, Washington, Square, New York.
2.  New York Passenger List for S.S H.H. Meier, arrival 1 August 1893 in New York City.  Manifest for Pinchus Lieberman (indexed as Pinchus Hieberman aboard H.H. Heier). (Ancestry. com Provo Utah.) record online.
3.  Rosenbaum Bank Ticket Purchase Books  1890-1934. September 1895 page 105. Record online. accessed at Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.
4.  New York Passenger List for S.S. H.H. Meier, arrival Nov 15, 1895 in New York City.  Manifest for Beile, Dwore, Lieb, and Chaie Lieberman p.0354. (Ancestry.com, Provo UT.) database online.
5.  Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006) database online.

Armin and Mary Roth

Mary Fried Roth and Armin Roth about 1920

     I wish I knew more about my grandparents, Armin[1] and Mary Roth.  I never knew them.  They were both gone before my Mother's family even moved to Trenton, NJ., and since my Father was much younger than his siblings, I never really even knew people who knew them.  I only have a few old photos, and some sketchy records to tell me anything, and they often leave more questions to be answered.
     According to his naturalization papers, Armin Roth was born in 1867 in Kassa, Hungary (now Kosice, Slovakia)[2].  His father was Bernard/Dov Roth and his mother was Minna Printz[3].  He left there about 1891, stopping in Vienna, before departing for the US from Rotterdam on August 10, 1891 aboard the S.S. Didam, bound for New York, and arriving there on August 29, 1891[4].  Like many Jewish immigrants he was a tailor.
     On February 10, 1895, Armin married Mary Fried.  Mary was also Hungarian, probably born in the town of Modor sometime between 1864 and 1876[5].  Her parents were Bernard Fried, and Rosi Friedman. She had a brother, Jacob Jeno.  Bernard had remarried after the death of Rosi, and Mary also had several half siblings.  She was the only one to emigrate, arriving in New York City sometime around 1889. Armin and Mary lived at 95 Goerke Street, at the time the center of the immigrant lower east side of New York, near the Williamsburg Bridge, but now disappeared under a housing development.  Their first child, Bennie, was born July 6, 1896.
     By 1897, Armin and Mary had moved to Trenton, NJ where their other three children (Isidore, Aaron and Barney) were born.  Armin had several other relatives there who will be the subject of another blog post as I have not been able to determine exactly how they were related. In 1900 the family was living in a rented house at 166 S. Broad Street in Trenton.  Armin was working as a tailor from the house.  Armin and Mary were naturalized on January 11, 1908, and were living in a house they owned at 86 Pennington Avenue, where he also had his tailor shop.  They lived there until his death on June 4, 1933, and her death on Feb 28, 1939[6].
     From what I can determine, they lived a quiet and moderately prosperous life.  Their two older sons went to college and the younger had their own businesses.  Armin and Mary were often noted in the social pages of the Trenton Times, but mostly for attending family events of their several cousins(?), the Roths, Saaz's, Lavinthals, Princes, Davidows and Greenbergers of Trenton, NJ, and nearby Pottstown, PA.  The newspaper notice of their 25th anniversary celebration, a dinner with dancing at a local restaurant, was filled with those names[7].

1.  Like many immigrants from Eastern Europe, Armin and his family had several names.  Although he went by Armin in most records, his tombstone says his Hebrew name was Areye.  On his marriage license he is listed as Leopold, an anglicization as both Areye and Leopold have "Lion" as meanings.  Armin's Father is listed on the certificate as Bernard, but on Armin's tombstone as Dov.  Again according to the JewishGen given names database, these are interchangeable, both having "Bear" as a meaning.
2.  New Jersey State Archives, R. Group: Mercer County; Subgroup: Court of Common Pleas; Series: Naturalization Records, 1838-1940; Petition (post 1906), Vol.1 (#1-#150) 1906-1909; No. 30.  Record for Armin Roth, original document.
3. State of New York, Bureau of Records, Health Department, City of New York Certificate # 2373.  Received Feb 14, 1895. Certification of marriage of Leopold Roth and Mary Fried on 10th day of February, 1895.
4.  Manifest of S.S. Didam arriving at New York on Aug 29,1891.  Ancestry.com, New York Passenger lists 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, Ancestry.com operations)record on-line
5.  Like many women of her time, Mary's date of birth was a moving target.  Her marriage license says that she was 20 years old in 1895 (b ca 1875).  The 1900 census says she was born in 1864 which would have made her about 36, but that she was only 25. Ten years later, the 1910 census says she is 33 and 44 in 1920.  In 1930 she owns to 55.   The 1875 date is most probable but this is something I hope to pin down in the future.  This also raises another question. If she was 20 years old in 1895, then she was only 14 when she arrived in 1891. What made a 14 year old girl emigrate without other family members? 
6.  Tombstones of Armin and Mary Roth, Brith Sholom Cemetery, Ewing Twp. NJ.
7.  "Roths Entertain on Anniversary" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, NJ) Tuesday Mar 9, 1920 p.12.  Data online, accessed through GenealogyBank.com.

Tepper Grosser Passover Seder 1934

     It's Passover again, and all over the world, families are gathering for the Seder.  My earliest Seder memory was at my great-grandparent's apartment in Atlantic City.  I remember that the service was long, but the food was good and I was permitted to sip some sweet Manischewitz concord grape wine, heavily diluted with seltzer.  Passover was always my favorite holiday.  I loved polishing the silver, setting the table, and preparing all of the special foods, starting with the Charosets, the first dish I was allowed to make on my own.  Since my immediate family was not very observant, I became the person who led the seder as well, a tradition that remains today.

     This photo was also taken at my great grandparents' seder, but about 14 years before I made it on to the scene.  The attendees were (R-L) seated: Elcon Grosser (my ggfather), Jennie Grosser (his wife, my ggmother), Ida Grosser Lieberman (my grandmother, their daughter), Nat Lieberman (Ida's husband, my grandfather). Standing (R-L): Jerry Lieberman (Ida's son), Marcella Sterling (Mary's daughter), Phyllis Lieberman (Ida's daughter) Cissie Sterling (Mary's daughter), Joey Sterling (Mary's son),  Elynore Lieberman (Ida's daughter, my mother), Mary Tepper Sterling (Jennie's sister).  Mary's husband Nelson Sterling was probably behind the camera.

    Feel free to comment with your favorite family Passover memory.

Tepper Family Arrival

Manifest of S.S. Lituania Dec 22, 1907

     Finding the correct manifest for a person or family can be a challenge.  Voyages were usually booked using the Yiddish name or nickname of the traveller.  Transliteration from Yiddish, which is written in Hebrew characters, to English means that there was no consistency of spelling.   It is necessary to match up the information on the Manifest with what you already know to be sure that you have the right family.  It took me a while to find this one.
      On December 22, 1907, Meier Teper and most of his family arrived at the port of New York aboard the ship S.S. Lituania.1  The Lituania sailed from Libau, at the time one of the major ports in the Russian empire.  The family, along with thousands of other migrants, probably reached the port using the network of railways connecting with the port.
    The Manifest contains a wealth of information.  First it lists the family using their Yiddish names as told to the official at Libau who made up the manifest.  It shows their age, sex, marital status, and occupation.   Also, the town from which they came (in this case Baranovka) and where they were going (Philadelphia). On arrival, the relationships among the passengers was added by immigration officials.  Traveling on this trip were the Tepers:
Name           Age   Sex  Relation  Status  Occupation
Meier             56     M                     M        smith
Leie               53      F    wife          M        wife
Avorum         19     M    nephew     S        smith
Schlome        18     M    child          S        smith
Aron              11     M    child          S        child
Ruchel           23     F     niece          S        tailoress
Rivke            16     F     daughter     S        tailoress
Sosse             10     F     daughter    S        child
Miryam           9     F     daughter     S       child

     I was able to identify each of the family members except the niece and nephew.  Meier David and Leie kept their Yiddish names.  The other children became Sam, Harry, Bessie, Celia, and Mary.
     The manifest has other valuable information.  It lists a point of contact in Baranovka as Moschko Weinstein.  I still don't know who that was.  On the second page, it says that Meier arrived with $7.50, and that the family is going to the son-in-law, Mr. E Grosser at 814 South 4th Street Philadelphia.  (see previous blog post for more about Elcon Grosser).  Leie's entry also has a note that she had 4 children already in the U.S.  This note sent me off on an interesting voyage of discovery at the end of which I tracked down a son that I was unaware of.  But more on that experience later. Finally, it gives a town of birth, Miropol, in the gubernia of Wolyn.

Since I knew the names of many of my great-grandmother, Jennie Tepper's siblings, and I knew that she was from Baranovka, this manifest seemed like a good bet.  At the time I found it, I did not know her parent's names (I had photos and a drawing done by my mother, but they were labeled "Zeyda  and Bubbe Tepper").  I did know that my great-grandfather Elcon Grosser had sponsored many of his and Jennie's family members, and I knew where he lived on 4th St. so when I found his name on the manifest I was sure that I had the right family.

1  1907; Arrival; New York, New york; Microfilm Serial T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm roll; R1064; line9; page 133.  Accessed at Ancestry.com, on-line database; New York Passenger Lists