Gone too Soon: Little Esther Grosser

     Esther Grosser was the last child of my great grandparents, Elcon and Jennie Grosser.  She was born on May 2, 1909, at the family's home at 814 S. 4th St in Philadelphia [1].  She was remembered by her older sister, my grandmother, as a happy child.  By 1920, the family had moved to 344 South St, where Elcon had a retail store selling hardware items.[2]

814 S. 4th St Philadelphia, taken Nov 2015

      According to my grandmother, On October 31, 1920, Halloween, Esther was in her costume.  As it was dark, she reached to light the gas lamp, and her costume caught fire.  The death certificate says her clothing caught fire, not specifying a costume, but agreed with the gas lamp lighting.  She was burned over most of her body (flameproof childrens' clothing was not the norm at the time).  She was taken to Pennsylvania Hospital, about one mile away, where she died on November 1, 1920 [3].  She was buried at Har Nebo Cemetery in Philadelphia on November 2, 1920[4].

1. Ancestry. com, Pennsylvania Birth Records, 1908-1909 (Lehi, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015) Ancestry.com, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania (State). Birth certificates, 1906–1909; Box Number: 240; Certificate Number 79776. Record for Ester Grosser

2.  Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2006) www.ancstry.com, Database online.Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 3, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1387; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 48; Image: 797. Record for Colkin Grosser.  

3.  Ancestry.com, Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1924 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014), Ancestry.com, Record for Esther Grosser.

4.  Ibid.

Harry and Bessie Tepper Nitt

Bessie Tepper and Harry Nitt, about 1917

     Rebecca, or Bessie as she was commonly known, was one of the children of Meier David and Lena Tepper about whom I have posted off and on over the past year.  Bessie was born in Miropol, Ukraine, around 1892.  She moved with the family to Baranivka, then travelled with her parents and many of her siblings to the U.S.,through Libau, Latvia,  arriving in New York on December 22, 1907 aboard the SS Lituania[1].  The family then travelled by train to Philadelphia to join the siblings already established in that city.  
     By 1910, Bessie was working in a shirt factory in Philadelphia, and living with her parents at 312R Front Street[2].  On February 1, 1914, 22 year old Bessie married Joseph Stanley Blender[3].  Joseph was also born in Russia, had come to the US in about 1902, and had served in the US Coast Artillery from December 1909 until May 13, 1912, when he was discharged for disability[4].  The marriage did not last long, and by the time he registered for the draft for WWI in 1917, he listed himself as single and living with his parents[5].
     I'm not sure what Bessie did for the next few years as I haven't been able to find her 1920 census record, but by 1924 she had met the love of her life, Harry Nitt, and on August 6, 1924 Bessie and Harry had travelled to York (Toronto), Ontario, Canada, where they were married[6].  Harry was tall, rangy and handsome, He was somewhat exotic as well, a Lutheran, raised in the American West, and a bit of a rolling stone.
     Rhinehalt Gustav "Harry" Nitt was the son of a German immigrant, Pauline Mampel, and her husband Gustave Nitt a first generation American.  Pauline came to the US in 1885 destined for Detroit, MI[7].  She worked as a domestic[8]. S  In August 1889 she married Gustave Nitt, a blacksmith[9]. A son, Rheinhalt Gustav, was either born in June 1889 or in June 1890 according to various records.  By 1894,  Gustave had moved to the town of Denver Colorado where he continued to work as a blacksmith[10]. Denver had benefited from a "silver boom" and was growing rapidly, attracting workers to support new industries.  The boom ended suddenly in 1893 with a financial panic, leaving Denver and the country in the grip of a severe depression.  Denver did not begin to recover until 1897.  Gustave had died in Denver in 1896, leaving his young wife and son[11]. In the 1900 census of Denver, Pauline is listed as a widow, and 9 year old Harry is still in school[12].  Sometime around 1909, Harry married a woman named Hildred Josepha (last name unknown.)  They are listed in the 1910 census as living in Sterling, Colorado where Harry worked as a cement worker[13].  In the 1911-1912 Business directory for Sterling, Hildred is listed as working for the New Method Laundry and living at 528 Walnut St[14].  There is no mention of Harry.
     When Harry registered for the WWI draft on June 5, 1917, he was living in Salem, New Jersey, not far from Philadelphia, and working as a munitions worker at the DuPont Powder Company.  He declared himself to be married, although I have found no record of Hildred at that time in New Jersey or elsewhere[15].  Based on the clothing from the photo above, it is likely that Harry and Bessie met at about this time.
     I have not been able to find either Bessie or Harry in US or Canadian records until August 6, 1924, when Rhinehalt Gustav Harry Nitt, 34, a salesman, son of Pauline Mampel, and Bessie Rose Tepper, 32, daughter of David Tepper and Lena Zelbsman signed a marriage record in Toronto, Canada.  They both listed themselves as widowed, although I don't believe that their ex spouses were dead, but this designation was not unusual at a time when divorce was not approved of in many places[16]. (I have spent some time trying to determine the fates of Hildred and Joseph with no success so far.)
     Although Harry and Bessie had no children, they were welcoming to Bessie's nieces and nephews.  They moved to San Luis Obispo, California, sometime in the 1920s.  There is a family story that Bessie's nephew Hy Cohen (of whom more in another post) took has Bar Mitzvah money and travelled from Philadelphia to California in about 1925 to live with Bessie and Harry there.   Another of Bessie's great nieces told me that her mother and baby brother lived with Bessie and Harry during WWII when her husband was stationed on the West Coast.
     By 1930 Harry was a clothing salesman[17].  By 1935 they had moved to Santa Monica, where they rented various homes near the Santa Monica Pier[18] and took in boarders, one of whom was a friend of the (then little known) Desi Arnaz, who used to call the house often.  Harry was still a salesman, and Bessie had a concession on the pier[19].  Bessie's great niece told me that Bessie was a nurse during the war.  Harry had gone gray, and standing at 6' 1/2" 225 pounds was no longer rangy by the time he registered in the "Old Man's draft" in 1942.  He still worked "In and around Santa Monica"[20].  Harry died on July 17, 1953[21].
     Sometime after Harry's death, Bessie moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey,[22] where her sister Jennie lived.  According to one of her great-nieces, she worked as a "shill" at an auction house on the boardwalk.  Later, after the death of her sister-in-law Ida Tepper in 1963, she moved to Miami, Florida, to help her brother.  She continued close contact with her family in Philadelphia area, visiting often for family occasions, anniversaries, Bar Mitzvah's and the like, and entertaining family who visited Miami.  I remember her as warm and funny.  Bessie died in Miami in August, 1966[23].

1.  Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2010),Ancestry.com, Year:1907; Arrival: New York; Microfilm serial : T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: 1064; Line 15, Page 133, Record for Riwke Teper.
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 T6254_1390; Page 6B; Enumeration District 159; Image:13. Record for David Japper.
3.  Philadelphia City Archives. Philadelphia, PA. Marriage Record for Joseph Stanley Blender and Bessie Tepper. Filed Jan 8, 1914.  License No. 306833 copy held by Mary-Jane Roth
4.  Ancestry.com.  U.S. Army Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2007), Ancestry.com. Database on-line.  Record for Joseph S. Blender
5.  Ancestry.com, U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2005). Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County; Philadelphia; roll: 1907647; Draft board 27. Record for Joseph Stanley Blender.
6.  Ancestry.com and Genealogical Research Library (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801-1926 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2010) www.ancestry.com. Database online.  Record for Rhinehalt Gustav Harry Nitt.
7.  Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006), www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year:1885; Arrival :New York, United States; Microfilm serial: M237; Microfilm roll: M237_490; Line:29; List Number: 1241. Record for Pauline Mampel.
8.  Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011) Ancestry.com, Record for Pauline Mampel. Detroit, 1888.
9.  Ancestry.com, Michigan Marriage Records, 1867-1952 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015) Ancestry. com, Record for H.H. Gustav Nitt.
10.  Ancestry.com, Ballenger & Richards twenty-second annual Denver city directory containing a complete list of the inhabitants, institutions, (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005). Ancestry.com. Record for <No Name>.  Gustave Nitt
11.  Ancestry.com, U.S. Find a Grave Index, 1600-Current (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012), Ancestry.com,  Record for Gustave Nitt.
12.  Ancestry.com, 1900 Unitred States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2004), www.ancestry.com, Year: 1900; Census place: Denver, Arapahoe , Colorado; Roll:119; Page:10B; Enumeration District: 0102; FHL Microfilm: 1240119. Record for Pauline Nil.
13.  Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006) www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year:1910; Census Place: Sterling Ward 3, Logan, Colorado; Roll;; Page; Enumeration District: Iname: Record for Hildred Joseh Nitt.
14. Ancestry.com. Hoffhine's Sterling Colorado directory for 1911-1912 containing an alphabetical arranged list of business firms and prove (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005).  Ancestry.com, Record for <no name> Hildred Nitt.
15.  Ancestry.com, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo, UT, USA Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005), Ancestry.com, Database online.  Registration Location: Salem county, New Jersey; Roll: 1754437; Draft Board: 1; Record for Harry Rhineholt Gustave Nitt.
16.  Ancestry.com and Genealogical Research Library (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), Ontarion, Canada Marriages, 1801-1926 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010) www.ancestry.com, database online.  Record for Rhinehalt Gustav Harry Nitt.
17.  Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census (Provo, Ut, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2002) www.amcestry.com. Database online. Year: 1930; Census place: San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, California; Roll: 213; Page: 8A; Enumeration District:21; Image: 364.0; Record for Rhinehalt G. Nitt.
18.  Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012) www.ancestry.com. Year: 1940; Census Place: Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T627_256; Page 1B; Enumeration District: 19-761. Record for Harry G. Nitt.
19.  Ancestry.com. California Voter Registrations, 1900-1968 (Provo, Ut. USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008). Ancestry.com Database online.
20.  Ancestry.com. U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010). Ancestry.com.  World Wat II Draft Cards (4th Registration) for the Sate of California; State Headquarters: California; Microfilm Roll: 603155.  Record for Rhinehalt Gustav Nitt.
21. Ancestry.com. U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index. 1936-2007) (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015). Ancestry.com. Record for Rhinehalt G. Nitt.  And Ancestry.com. California Death Index, 1940-1997. (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2000). www.ancestry.com. Database Online. Place: Los Angeles; Date 17 Jul 1953: Social Security: XXXXXXX Record for Harry Gustav Nitt.
22.  Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1922-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2011), Ancestry.com. Record for Mrs. Bessie Nitt.
23.  Ancestry.com.  Social Security Death Index (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009). www.ancestry.com. Database online. Number XXXXXXXXXX; Issue State: California; Issue Date: Before 1951. Record for Bessie Nitt.
   

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."

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

Moishe and Esther Malka Kandel

Moishe Kandel of Makhnovka, about 1904

     Some time ago I posted about Philip Lieberman and his wife Bella (Beile).  While I know little about Philip before he came to the US, Bella's family is a different story.  Bella's father was Moishe Kandel, and her mother was called Esther Malka.  They lived in the town of Makhnovka in the Berdichev Uzezd, Kiev Gubernia, in what is now Ukraine.  In the late 1890s, Makhnovka was a good sized town with about 5300 inhabitants, of which 2400 were Jews [1].  Moshe was said to be a cantor for the local congregation.
     Moishe and Esther Malka had at least four daughters Pesa, Alte Sara, Chana and Beile.  All four daughters married in Makhnovka, and had children there.  Pesa, the oldest, was born about 1851, and died about 1877 in Makhnovka.  She married Shalom Yosef Keyser in about 1870, and had twin boys, Aaron and Lieb in 1872.  Aaron, who became Harry, came to the US in about 1904.  Lieb, who became Louis, came to New York on June 19, 1904 aboard the SS Etruria from Rotterdam.[2]  They both came to Philadelphia and worked for their uncle, Philip Lieberman, Beile's husband, making men's pants.
     Alte Sarah was born about 1860 and married Yehuda Lieb Apple in about 1879.  They had four children, Samuel (Sholem, 1885), Harry Isaac (Aaron, 1890), Gertrude (Golde, 1899), and Dorothy (Dora, 1901).  Lieb came to the US in about 1901 where he worked as a self employed poulterer or butcher.  On October 2 1902, Samuel arrived in Quebec sailing from Liverpool aboard the SS Lake Champlain[3].  He joined his father in Philadelphia, probably travelling on the Grand Trunk railroad through St Albans NY, the usual route of passengers arriving from Canada.  On January 24, 1905, Sarah and the other three children arrived in Philadelphia aboard the SS Friesland from Liverpool to join their husband and father[4].

L-R: Golde Apple, Moishe Kandel, Harry Apple, Alte Sarah Apple, Dora Apple.  The photo was taken in Makhnovka in 1904 before Sarah and the children left for Philadelphia to join her husband and son.  This is the original from which the photo above of Moishe Kandel was restored.

      Chana Kandel, the next oldest sister was born about 1876.  She was married three (or four) times over the years and had five children.  Her first marriage was to Shlomo Friedman.  They had a daughter, Lillian in about 1892.  Chana's second husband, was Alter Diamond.  They had a son Jossel in about 1896.  Jossel and Lillian both later went by Chana's third husband's name, Aron Goldenberg.  Aron, Chana, and Jossel came to the US on the SS Pretoria which docked in New York from Hamburg on January 2, 1901[5].  Aron was a tailor and reported that he was going to his brother-in-law, Philip Lieberman in Philadelphia.  Lillian came later, according to family lore, after her grandfather had died.  Jossel became Joseph Goldenberg, and later, Joseph Bernard Gould.  Chana became Anna or Annie.  Anna and Aaron had three more children after they settled in the US, first in Philadelphia and then Wilmington, Del.  Leopold and Philip were born soon after the couple arrived in the US, and a daughter, Esther Malka, was born in 1902[6].  Aron died in 1937.  Family lore says that Anna married again, to a man named Eisen, but I haven't found a record of it.  She died March 25, 1945 and was buried under the name Anna Goldenberg.
     The youngest sister Beile, or Bella, who married Philip Lieberman, I have treated before.  Philip and Bella had a large family of six children which I will discuss in a later post.  All three Kandel sisters, their husbands, some children, and other family are buried in Montefiore Cemetery in Jenkintown PA, in a section purchased by the Moishe Maknovker Benevolent Association, founded by them and named for Moishe Kandel of Maknovka.


[1]  The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust vol 2.  Shmuel Spector editor in Chief.2001 New York University Press New York, NY. p. 653, entry for Komsomolskoye.
[2]  Ancestry.com New York Passenger Lists 1820-1957 (Provo UT, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2010) Year: 1904; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 0469; Line: 1; Page Number: 11. Record for Lerb Kunher.
[3]  Ancestry.com. Border Crossings from Canada to the U.S. 1895-1956. (Ancestry.com Provo UT, USA. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2010)  National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Manifests of Passengers Arriving at St. Albans, VT, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895-1954; National Archives Microfilm Publication: M1464; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Record for Scholem Appel.
[4]  Ancestry.com.  Pennsylvania, Passenger and Crew Lists 1800-1963 (Provo, UT, USA. Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2002) record for Alte Appel.
[5]  Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA Ancestry.com Operations, Inc 2010) Year: 1901; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 0167; Line: 22; Page Number: 23. Record for Fron Goldenberg
[6]  Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census.  (Provo Ut, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2006) Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 1, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1385; Page: 17A; Enumeration District: 0006; FHL microfilm: 1375398. Record for Aaron Goldenberg

Abe and Sarah Tepper

Sarah and Abe Tepper 1966

     Another of Meier David and Lena Tepper's children who came to the US was Awram, or, as he became, Abraham.  On November 8, 1906, his brother-in-law, Elcon Grosser opened an account at the Rosenbaum Bank for a ticket for him, listing c/o Dowid Tepper , Baranowka, Novograd Wolinsky as the passenger's address.  The ticket cost $31.50, and Elcon paid it in three installments.[1]  Awram was booked on the SS Haverford arriving in Philadelphia on January 28, 1907 from Liverpool England.  He is described as single, a barber, standing 5'7" with a fresh complexion and blue eyes.  The manifest says he was going to his brother-in-law, Kune Grosser (Kune is the nickname for Elkunah, Elcon's yiddish name) and he was met by his sister at the dock on arrival.[2]
     In April 1910, the census showed Abe living with his parents and five of his siblings at 312 Rear South Front Street.  He was employed as a blacksmith at a wagon works.[3]  By late 1912 he had moved to 2226 S. 7th Street and was employed as a plumber.  In October of that year he had married Sarah Stine (Sternman)[4]  They quickly had two children, Rubin and Bertha, and by the time he registered for the WWI draft, they lived at 938 Jackson Street, where they lived for about ten more years. [5]  He and Sarah applied for naturalization in 1914, and were naturalized in 1921.[6]  He was briefly unemployed during the depression, so they moved to a rented house at 4924 N. 17th Street[7], but by 1940 he was listed as the manager of a plumbing supply place.  They were still living in the same house, along with their daughter Bertha who was working as a bookkeeper for an apartment building, and his widowed mother Lena,[8] Rubin having married in 1937.
     Abe was remembered by his granddaughter Evie as someone who could build or fix anything.  He was quiet and liked to play checkers with his friends.  Sarah was remembered as a great cook who kept a kosher house and could make the most delicious food, gedempt, stuffed helzel, roast chicken, cookies (mun and orange), honey cake, blintzes, kugels, etc. They continued to live on 17th street until Abe had a stroke in 1963.  Then they moved to the York House, an assisted living facility, and later he moved to the Philadelphia Geriatric Center after Sarah died in 1970.  Abe died in 1978[9].

The photo above was taken in 1966 at the annual anniversary celebration for Elcon and Jennie Grosser.  Sarah and Abe always attended these gatherings as well as many other Grosser family get-togethers.

1.  Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center and Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Philadelphia, Philadelphia Bank Immigrant Passage Records.  Rosenbaum Bank Book #18 1906-1907 accessed at Paley Library, Temple University.
2.  Ancestry. com.  Philadelphia Passenger Lists  Pennsylvania, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1800-1963 [database on-line] Roll: T840_55; Line: 30. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Record for Awram Tepper.
3.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.  Accessed from Ancestry.com
4.  Affidavit of Applicant for Marriage License No. 286484 Abraham Tepper and Sarah Stine, filed Oct 10, 1912 with Duplicate certificate Filed Oct 16, 1912 citing Marriage of Abraham Tepper and Sarah Stine on 14th day of October, 1912.  Accessed at Philadelphia City Archives
5.  Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. record for Abraham Tepper.
6.  Pennsylvania, U.S. Naturalization Originals National Archives; Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Petitions for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1795-1930; Series: M1522; Roll: 197; Record Type: (Roll 197) Petition Nos. 43391-43750 Accessed through Ancestry.com Record for Abraham Tepper
7. U.S. Federal Census.Year: 1930; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2136; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 1077; Image: 182.0; FHL microfilm: 2341870. Accessed form Ancestry.com Record for Sarah Tepper. 
8.  U.S. Federal Census Year: 1940; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T627_3752; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 51-2120 Accessed from Ancestry.com record for Abraham Tepper.
9.  Comments from Evie Wartell Brezo on records for Abraham and Sarah Tepper in Tepper and Grosser Family Tree on Ancestry.com on 28 Nov. 2010.

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.

Elcon Grosser Part 2 - Elcon and Jennie

Elcon and Jennie with Ida, Herman, and baby Sam abt 1903

     It took nearly a year for Elkunah's wife Czerna to come to the United States.  She arrived in New York on May 22, 1901 aboard the S.S. Barbarossa from Bremen, Germany with daughter Chaie and son Chaim[1], and joined Elkunah in Philadelphia.  Their next child, Samuel, was born in July 1902. The photo above was taken about 1903. It was typical of photos taken by recent immigrants and sent back to the old country to show family and friends that they were well and prospering in the new land. When I recently showed this photo to the grandson of Elkunah's brother Moishe, he remembered that a copy had still been hanging in his grandparents home in Labun when he would visit there before the war.
    By the time Elkunah and his family were naturalized in 1904, they had become Elcon and Jennie Grosser, and the older children had become Ida and Herman[2].  Three other children followed quickly; Abraham (Albert)(1904), Jacob (1907) and Esther (1909).
     Elcon continued to work for Baldwin Locomotive as a Tender Shop mechanic for a few years but Jennie didn't like it.[3]  By 1905 they had opened a shop at 322 Poplar Street where they sold stoves[4] and household things[5].  Jennie operated the store.  By 1908 they had moved to a bigger store at 814 S. 4th Street where they also lived in the apartment above the store[6].   By 1912 they had moved to a store at 338 South Street, selling hardware and children's furniture.  The store continued to operate on South Street into the 1940s although by 1930 Elcon, Jennie, Sam and Jacob (now Jack) had moved to a larger duplex home at 1014 Lindley Avenue in the leafy area of Logan [7].  By then Elcon listed himself as a plumber doing general jobbing, while the boys ran the store.
     From the time he arrived in the U.S. until immigration was restricted in the mid-1920s, Elcon and Jennie continued to provide a welcome to family members arriving from Europe.  Jennie's parents, all of her siblings, Elcon's brothers, and a variety of nieces, nephews, and in-laws all listed Elcon as the person to whom they were destined on their immigration manifests.  The Rosenbaum Immigrant Bank records even show that he purchased passage for several of the immigrants[8].
  Both Elcon and Jennie were very active in the community.  They both served as officers in Landsmanschaft organizations for the towns of Baranivka and Makhnovka (the town from which their daughter Ida's in-laws emigrated.)  They were also active in a variety of Jewish charitable organizations.  With business, family and community, their lives were very busy.


1.  Manifest for S.S. Barbarossa, May 22, 1901 Record for Czerna, Ciaje and Chaim Groeskop.  Record on-line Ancestry.com, New York passenger lists 1820-1957 (Provo UT, USA) roll T715_197, line 9
2.  Naturalization record for Elcon Grosser. Ancestry.com Selected U.S. Naturalization Records- Original documents 1790-1974 (World Archives Project)
3.  "Couple Married 74 Years Invite 300 to Celebrate"  The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, PA, Tuesday August 11, 1970. p B9.
4.  Philadelphia City Directory 1905 &1906.  Ancestry.com online record.
5.  "Couple Married 74 Years Invite 300 to Celebrate"  The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, PA, Tuesday August 11, 1970. p B9.
6.  1920 Federal Census.Philadelphia Ward 4, page 1A ED 105. Roll T625_1616. record for Elcon Grosser record on-line.  Ancestry.com (Provo UT)
7.  1930 Federal Census.  Philadelphia, PA Roll 2136; page 15A; ED 1075  Record for Elcon Grosser. Record on-line Ancestry.com (Provo, UT)
8.  Rosenbaum Immigrant Bank Records.  Record on-line.  Holding of Center for Jewish History, Paley Library, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.

Elcon Grosser - Part 1

 

Elcon Grosser about 1902

   When I was deciding who to feature in my first real post, my great-grandfather, Elcon Grosser, immediately came to mind.  He was a larger-than-life figure to me, all during my childhood until he died when I was 25 years old.  He and his wife Jennie were the centers around whom the extended family revolved.  Their passing began the process of our drifting apart.  He was 103 when he died, and his life has so many stories that I will have to come back to him several times.

    Elcon was born in August 1870 in the town of Labun, Volhinya Gubernia, Zaslav District, Russia[1].   This town is now called Yurovschina, Ukraine.  His name at that time was Elkunah Groiskop.  He had at least three brothers, Zise, Moishe, and Jossel, and a sister Perl.  Elkunah was not tall, but he was sturdily built and known for his strength, a trait that lasted throughout his life.

    Labun was a small town in the so-called Pale of Jewish Settlement, in a predominantly agricultural area, but with a significant Jewish population.  In 1897 the nearby town of Polonoye, where the railway station was, had a Jewish population of nearly 8,000, nearly half of the town.  Jews were artisans, specializing in printing, porcelain, and parquet flooring.  All of the Groiskop brothers described themselves as blacksmiths or ironworkers.

    Elkunah served in the Russian army, probably from 1891 to 1894.  Although many Jews tried to avoid conscription, Elkunah was always proud of his service.  He was in the cavalry, probably serving as a smith.  According to the various stories recalled by grandchildren and great grandchildren, he attained the rank of Sergeant, and received a medal for killing an enemy officer in battle.

    When his service was over, Elkunah moved from Labun to the larger nearby town of Baranivka.  Possibly this move was because Labun was too small to support three blacksmiths.  Baranivka had a large Jewish population since the 17th century, and in the 19th century the Jewish population was nearly 2,000, to form a majority of the town.  Here Elkunah found the love of his life, the tall, blond, blue-eyed, Czerna Tepper.

    Elcon described the meeting in a newspaper article in 1970.

       " I had an honorable discharge", he said, 'and in those years when a young man finished the army, he was a valuable piece of property because he had lived through the danger and had the promise of a future.  When I came out it was September, and on Rosh Hashanah I went to the synagogue and my friend showed me a picture of my lovely wife....I went in myself to see her - without a matchmaker, " he bragged, "I gave her my picture and she accepted it...and that's when I began to court my lovely wife."[2]

      They were married in August 1896 in a ceremony in her home. Elkunah worked as a blacksmith in Baranivka, and the couple soon had two children, Chaija born in 1898, and Chaim born in April 1900.

      Shortly after Chaim was born, Elkunah left Baranivka for America.  He joined the stream of emigrants traveling across Europe to Liverpool, England.  In Liverpool he boarded the S.S. Pennland on July 4, 1900, and on Tuesday, July 17, he arrived in Philadelphia,  He listed his occupation on the manifest as "smith".[3]  At that time, Philadelphia was an industrial giant.  "Pennsylvania in general established itself as ...the center of heavy industry, of iron and steel, coal and oil, America's foundry.  Philadelphia became its...chief port for the foundry, nerve center of transportation, producer of finished goods of an enormous variety but particularly of steam engines and steamships."[4]    As Elkunah described it, he arrived in Philadelphia on a Tuesday and by Thursday he had a job paying $6 per week at the Baldwin Locomotive Works.[5]  He began saving to bring the rest of his family to Philadelphia.

[1]  The date of 1890 was reported by him in various documents, census records, naturalization papers, and in many newspaper articles in the Philadelphia Bulletin, Inquirer, and Jewish Exponent.  He generally cited the date of August 16 when a date was specified.

[2]  Jewish Exponent, August 14, 1970. "Couple Will Mark 74th Anniversary, His 100th Birthday at Sunday Fete." copy held by Mary-Jane Roth

[3] Ancestry.com, Philadelphia Passenger LIsts, 1900-1945, (Provo, Utah, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2006) Database on-line. Roll T840_32, line:5,  record for Elkan Groskopf .

[4] Russell F. Weigley, editor, Philadelphia: A 300-Year History (New York: W.W. Norton and Company,1982), 471.

[5] "Couple Married 74 Years invite 300 to Celebrate"  Unattributed newspaper clipping in collection of Jennie Grosser, now in possession of Mary-Jane Roth.