Elcon and Jennie Grosser - 50th Anniversary

Jennie and Elcon Grosser 50th Anniversary
Sept 8, 1946

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

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

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

Elcon and Jennie at Rainbow Inn
Sept 17, 1946

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

Altogether a memorable celebration of an important event.


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

Owen McGorman and Rachel Winslow

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

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

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

Tepper Arrivals: Feige/Rose?

Rose Tepper and her husband about 1910

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

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

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

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

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.

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.