Sara and Moses Adler’s Younger Children: The Chicago Five

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As of 1933 when Hitler came to power in Germany, five of Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler’s surviving children were still living in Germany: Caroline (Grete), Malchen, Emmi, David Theodore, and Betty. Their oldest three children—Louis, Sigmund, and Julius—had long ago emigrated to the United States. Fortunately, all five of those still in Germany were able to leave in time.

Interestingly, Betti, the youngest of those still in Germany, was the first to leave. She, her husband Marx Regenstein, and their two children Lucie and Erich sailed from Cherbourg, France, on April 29, 1936, and arrived in New York on May 6, 1936. Notice that all the first names were changed on the manifest. Marx became Max, Betti became Jenny, and Lucie was no longer Johanna, Erich no longer Siegfried. Max listed his occupation as a merchant on the ship manifest. They listed their destination as Leavenworth, Kansas, identifying Betti/Jenny’s brother Louis Adler as the person they were going to.

Regenstein family passenger manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ship or Roll Number: Berengaria, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957

Regenstein family passenger manifest p 2

I found it heartwarming to learn that Louis, who had left his family behind in 1900 when he was fifteen, was still in touch with his siblings back home. Just as he had taken in his brother Julius after Julius lost his first wife, Louis once again seemed to take on the role of assisting a sibling. In January 1938, when Betty declared her intention to become a US citizen, she and her family were still living in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Betti Jenny Regenstein Declaration of Intention, National Archives at Chicago; Chicago, Illinois; ARC Title: Petitions For Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: M1285; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21, Petitions, V· 1243-1245, No· 309401-309950, 1944, Ancestry.com. Illinois, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991

But two years later in 1940, Betti (now listed as Jennie), Marx (now Max), and their children Lucie and Eric were living in Covert, Michigan, where Max was working as a farmer. I don’t know what drew them to that location. In 1935 they’d been living in Chicago, according to the census report. At first I thought it was Betti/Jenny’s brother Sigmund who had drawn them to Michigan since at one point he had been living in Ishpeming, Michigan, but that is very distant from Covert, and besides, by 1940 Sigmund was living in Connecticut.

Regenstein family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Covert, Van Buren, Michigan; Roll: m-t0627-01822; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 80-13, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census

The next Adler siblings to leave Germany were Caroline Grete and Malchen. They sailed together from Cherbourg on April 14, 1937, with Malchen (Mally)’s husband Fritz Apolant and Caroline (Karoline) Grete’s son Kurt. Caroline’s husband Albert Mandelstein had died on October 20, 1934, in Grebenstein; he was 79.1 Fritz listed his occupation as a manufacturer’s agent, and Kurt Mandelstein, who was twenty, listed his as a merchant. Like Betti before them, they all listed Leavenworth, Kansas, as their destination, and Louis Adler as the person to whom they were going.

Mandelstein and Apolant passenger manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ship or Roll Number: Queen Mary, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957

I have to confess that until I saw this ship manifest, I’d had no idea that Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler had a daughter named Caroline Grete. Somehow in my initial search for their children, Caroline had eluded me. It was only when I saw her listed on that ship manifest that I realized I’d missed a child and went back and found her records.

I don’t know whether or not Caroline or Malchen ever actually went to or lived in Leavenworth, Kansas. When Caroline filed her declaration of intention on October 20, 1937, just six months after arriving in New York on April 19, 1937, she and her son Kurt were living in Chicago, Illinois.

Similarly, when Malchen’s husband Fritz Apolant filed his declaration of intention on October 14, 1937, they were living in Chicago.

Fritz David Apolant declaration of intention, National Archives at Chicago; Chicago, Illinois; ARC Title: Petitions For Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: M1285; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21
Petitions, V· 1079-1081, No· 268890-269400, 1942, Ancestry.com. Illinois, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991

I don’t know what drew them to Chicago, but I did notice that one of the witnesses on Malchen’s naturalization papers was a man named Benjamin “Nandelstein.” Perhaps that was really Mandelstein, as the signature appears to be, and this was a relative of her sister Caroline’s deceased husband Albert Mandelstein.

Affidavit of Witnesses for Malchen Apolant naturalization, National Archives at Chicago; Chicago, Illinois; ARC Title: Petitions For Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: M1285; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21, Petitions, V· 1192-1195, No· 297765-298328, 1943, Ancestry.com. Illinois, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991

In any event, in 1940, Fritz, Malchen (Mally), Caroline (Grete now), and Kurt were all living together in Chicago, and all four were working. Fritz was an egg salesman, Mally a nurse for a private patient, Grete a cook in a private home, and Kurt a clerk in a retail grocery store.

Apolant and Mandelstein on 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: m-t0627-00929; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 103-268, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census

The next sibling to arrive in the US was Emmi Adler Speier. Like her older sister Caroline Grete, Emmi was a widow when she immigrated to the US. Her husband Robert Speier had died on May 15, 1937, in Guxhagen, Germany; he was only 47 when he died.2 Emmi and her two children, Ilse/Elsie and Senta, and her sister-in-law Lea Speier all sailed from Easthampton, England, on June 29, 1938. They arrived in New York on July 4, 1938, an auspicious date to arrive in the US. Like her other sisters, Emmi listed her brother Louis as the person she was going to and Leavenworth, Kansas, as her destination. She listed her brother T. [Theodore] Adler as the person she left behind.

Speier family passenger manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ship or Roll Number: Queen Mary, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957

But Emmi and her children also did not end up in Leavenworth for long, if at all. By November 19, 1938, she also was living in Chicago, as were her two daughters.

Emmi Adler Speier declaration of intention, National Archives at Chicago; Chicago, Illinois; ARC Title: Petitions For Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: M1285; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21
Petitions, V· 1180-1183, No· 295150-295735, 1943, Ancestry.com. Illinois, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991

In 1940, Emmi was living in Chicago with Ilse and Senta, along with three lodgers. Ilse was working as a dressmaker.3

Finally, the last sibling to arrive was the remaining son of Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler, their son David Theodore Adler. He sailed without his wife Emma on April 30, 1939, arriving in New York on May 8, 1939. He listed his wife Emma as the person he had left behind and his brother Louis Adler in Leavenworth, Texas, as the person he was heading to; his occupation was a dealer.4 David did in fact go to Leavenworth, where on September 29, 1939, he filed his declaration of intention. He listed his occupation as a farmer.

David Theodore Adler declaration of intention, National Archives at Chicago; Chicago, Illinois; ARC Title: Petitions For Naturalization, 1906-1991; NAI Number: M1285; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21
Petitions For Naturalization, V· 1224, No· 305251-305500, Ca· 1943-1944, Ancestry.com. Illinois, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991

But in 1940, like his other siblings Grete (Caroline), Malchen, Emmi, and Betty, David Theodore (now just using Theodore) was living in Chicago, working as a laborer doing odd jobs.5

All five of the younger children of Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler were reunited in one city. What would their lives in America bring for them and their children?

To be continued.

 

  1. Albert Mandelstein, Gender männlich (Male), Death Age 79, Birth Date abt 1855
    Death Date 20 Okt 1934 (20 Oct 1934), Death Place Grebenstein, Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland​​​ (Germany), Civil Registration Office Grebenstein, Spouse Grete
    Certificate Number 27, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Signatur: 3080; Laufende Nummer: 909, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 ↩
  2. Robert Speier, Death Age 48[sic], Birth Date 15 Sept 1889, Death Date 15 Mai 1937 (15 May 1937), Death Place Guxhagen, Hessen (Hesse), Deutschland (Germany, Civil Registration Office Guxhagen, Certificate Number 12, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 2869; Laufende Nummer: 920, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958 ↩
  3. Emmi Speier, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: m-t0627-00929; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 103-267, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  4. David Adler, passenger manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ship or Roll Number: New York, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 ↩
  5. Theodore Adler, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: m-t0627-00930; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 103-303, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩

Julius Adler, Part IV: Did I Have the Wrong Guy or Not? More Confusion!

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As we saw in the last post, the 1940s saw all the children of Julius Adler married except for one, Julius’ second child with his first wife Edith, his daughter Chrystal. Chrystal married Oliver Kenneth Boyd on October 20, 1955, according to one tree on Ancestry, and they had one child.1

While Chrystal was beginning married life, her brother Roland’s marriage to Verna Pataky seems to have ended sometime after 1957. At some point later, Roland married his second wife, Auda Marie Randle. Auda was born in Shannon County, Missouri, to Fred Randle and Wilbur Mae Widener on May 9 or 10, 1932.2 I cannot locate a marriage record for Roland and Auda. Auda had several children from an earlier marriage who took the Adler surname. I don’t know whether Roland officially adopted those children or when he married Auda. Lots of unanswered questions…

Minnie Hankins Adler, second wife of Julius Adler from whom he appears to have been separated for many years, died on April 15, 1970, in St. Louis; she is buried at Our Redeemer Cemetery in St. Louis.3 Notice that her death certificate lists Julius Adler as her surviving spouse, but her informant was her adopted son Ronald Adler.

Minnie Hankins Adler death certificate,Certificate Number 18131 URL https://s1.sos.mo.gov/records/Archives/ArchivesMvc/DeathCertificates#searchDB,  Missouri Office of the Secretary of State; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1971, Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Death Certificates, 1910-1971

Julius Adler died three years later on June 4, 1873, also in St. Louis. Although he is also buried in St. Louis, he is not buried with Minnie. He is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery.4 His death certificate lists his marital status as widowed, not divorced. And interestingly it lists his parents as Martin Adler and Marie Rotich.

WHO?? Did I have the wrong person all along? Was this not the son of Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler and the brother of Louis and Sigmund Adler? I searched and searched for a Martin Adler and for a Marie Rotich. I didn’t find anything that seemed relevant. Could Julius have forgotten his parents’ names or disassociated from them? Julius did not identify himself as Jewish as far as I can tell and he is buried in a Catholic cemetery, so names like Moses and Sara might have given away his Jewish parentage. He might have changed Martin from Moses and Sara to Marie. And “Rotich” could be a confused spelling of Rothschild. I will keep looking for Martin and Marie, but for now I am convinced that Julius was the son of Moses Adler and Sara Rothschild based on (1) the fact that he was born on the same day as their son named Joseph (and had a middle initial “J”) and (2) he was clearly the brother of Louis Adler, identified as such on the 1920 census. But I am open to hearing the doubts and questions of my readers.

Joseph Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 909; Signatur: 7413, Year Range: 1887, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Louis Adler 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Leavenworth Ward 6, Leavenworth, Kansas; Roll: T625_537; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 109,
Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census

Julius was survived by his six children, three born to his first wife Edith: Roland, Chrystal, and Irene. And three by his second wife Minnie: Milton, Alice Marjorie, and Warren.

The three younger children all predeceased their three older half-siblings. Milton died on October 4, 1984, in Missouri; he was only 63.5 His brother Warren was 69 when he died on January 20, 1994, in St. Louis.6 Interestingly Warren’s obituary described him as the father of Ronald Adler, the son who’d been adopted by Minnie, Warren’s mother, and as the grandfather of Ronald’s daughter.7 Milton and Warren’s full sister Alice Marjorie died almost two years after Warren on December 5, 1995, in Phoenix; she was 73.8

Julius’ three children with his first wife Edith had greater longevity than their younger half-siblings. Roland died on May 6, 1999, in St. Louis, Missouri; he was 87.9 Irene died a year later on June 6, 2000, in St. Louis; she was 84.10 Chrystal was 90 when she died in St. Louis on June 1, 2004.11 In addition, Ronald Adler, the child adopted by Minnie Hankins Adler and also identified as the son of Warren Adler, died at age 81 on January 3, 2021, St. Peters, Missouri.12

Born Joseph Adler in 1887 in Germany, Julius Adler came to the US as a teenager and lived in Wisconsin, working as a baker, before moving with his three young children to Leavenworth, Kansas, to live with his older brother Louis after his first wife Edith died in 1919. He then married his second wife Minnie in 1920 and had three more children. He and Minnie and the six children bounced around quite a bit among different cities in Kansas and Missouri during the 1920s and 1930s before finally separating sometime before 1940. Neither ever remarried, but it also appears that they never reconciled. It must not have been an easy life for Julius, but he has many descendants who carry on the Adler name.

 

  1. That tree appears to belong to a great-granddaughter of Julius Adler and Minnie Hankins so I am hoping it is reliable. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/182652840/person/222372786688/facts  I also found a news story that reported that Chrystal and Oliver took out a marriage license in October 1955. “Marriage Licenses,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 20, 1955, p. 19. ↩
  2. One source says she was born on March 9, 1932:  Auda Marie Randall [sic], Birth Date 9 Mar 1932, Birth Place Missouri, USA, Missouri State Archives; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Birth Index, 1920-1999, Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Birth Registers, 1847-2003. Her obituary says she was born on March 10, 1932; Auda Marie Adler
    [Auda Marie Randle], Gender Female, Death Age 88, Birth Date 10 Mar 1932
    Birth Place Mountain View, Missouri, Residence Place Carthage, Missouri, Death Date 6 Jun 2020, Death Place Joplin, Missouri, Obituary Date 9 Jun 2020, Father
    Fred Randle, Publication Date: 9/ Jun/ 2020; Publication Place: Neosho, Missouri, USA; URL: https://www.clarkfuneralhomes.com/obituary/auda-adler, Ancestry.com. U.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-Current. See also Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/74726264/wilbur_mae-randle: accessed January 2, 2026), memorial page for Wilbur Mae Widener Randle (1895–1981), Find a Grave Memorial ID 74726264, citing Greenlawn Memorial Gardens, Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Lyle and Marsha (contributor 47442725). ↩
  3. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90763021/minnie_jewel-adler: accessed January 2, 2026), memorial page for Minnie Jewel Hankins Adler (18 Jun 1897–15 Apr 1970), Find a Grave Memorial ID 90763021, citing Our Redeemer Cemetery, Affton, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Susan Ing (contributor 47043987). ↩
  4. Julius J Adler, Death Date 4 Jun 1973, Death Place Missouri, USA, Missouri Dept. of Health & Senior Services; Jefferson City, Missouri; Missouri Death Index, 1968 – 2015, Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Death Records, 1968-2015; Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96084314/julius_john-adler: accessed January 2, 2026), memorial page for Julius John Adler (28 Jul 1887–4 Jun 1973), Find a Grave Memorial ID 96084314, citing Mount Hope Cemetery Mausoleum and Crematory, Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Carol Beck (contributor 47592652). ↩
  5. Milton T Adler, Death Date 4 Oct 1984, Death Place Missouri, USA, Missouri Dept. of Health & Senior Services; Jefferson City, Missouri; Missouri Death Index, 1968 – 2015, Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Death Records, 1968-2015; Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14579954/milton_theadore-adler: accessed January 2, 2026), memorial page for Milton Theadore Adler (15 Apr 1921–4 Oct 1984), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14579954, citing Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay Township, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Mark Utley (contributor 47178748). ↩
  6. Warren Fred Adler, [Warren F Adler], Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 31 Mar 1924, Birth Place Girad, Kansas, Death Date 17 Jan 1994, Father Julius J Adler
    Mother Minnie J Hankins, SSN 500186534, Death Certificate Number 721 Kutis 7723000, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  7. “Adler, Warren F.,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 20, 1994, p. 14. ↩
  8. Marjorie Alice Adler, [Marjorie A Williamson], [Marjorie Ocamb], Gender Female
    Race White, Birth Date 26 Aug 1922, Birth Place Kansas City, Missouri, Death Date 5 Dec 1995, Father Julius J Adler, Mother Minnie J Hankins, SSN 496187036, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/214870624/alice_margaret-ocamb: accessed January 2, 2026), memorial page for Alice Margaret “Marj” Adler Ocamb (26 Aug 1922–5 Dec 1995), Find a Grave Memorial ID 214870624, citing Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA; Maintained by Fred Jorgensen (contributor 46797466). ↩
  9. Roland George Adler, Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 22 Feb 1912
    Birth Place Stevenspoint, Wisconsin, Death Date 6 May 1999, Father Julius J Adler
    Mother Edith Richelt, SSN 488109582, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  10. Irene Jeanette Kohring, [Irene Jeanette Adler], Gender Female, Race White
    Birth Date 12 Sep 1915, Birth Place Minneapolis, Minnesota, Death Date 6 Jun 2000
    Father Julius J Adler, Mother Edith Reichelt, SSN 489071723, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  11. Chrystal Lorraine Adler, [Chrystal Lor Boyd] [Chrystal Boyd], Gender Female,
    Race White, Birth Date 30 Jan 1914, Birth Place Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Death Date 1 Jun 2004, Father Julius Adler, Mother Edith Reichelt, SSN 494035530, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  12. See obituary at https://www.baue.com/obituaries/ronald-ron-l-adler ↩

Julius Adler, Part III: Were He and Minnie Still Married in the 1940s??

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We saw at the end of the last blog post that in 1940 Julius Adler and his wife Minnie were living almost 300 miles apart—-Julius on a farm in Leavenworth, Kansas, and Minnie in St. Louis with their three children. Two of Julius’ children from his first marriage—Roland and Irene—were married and living with their spouses, also in St. Louis. I could not locate Chrystal, the third child from Julius’ first marriage on the 1940 census or anywhere else between 1930 and 1940.

So why was Julius living so far apart from his wife Minnie and his children in 1940? Was it just economics, or was there a problem with the marriage?

When Julius registered for the World War II draft in 1942, he was back in St. Louis, working at a bakery, but interestingly he listed his son Roland as his contact person, not his wife Minnie. Notice also that Julius listed his birth date as July 27, 1887, which lines up with the birth record I found for Joseph Adler, son of Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler. But notice also that this document lists his birthplace as St. Louis, Missouri, not Germany.

Julius J Adler World War II draft registration, National Archives at St. Louis; St Louis, MO, USA; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the State of Missouri; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 754, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

Minnie and Julius were still not living at the same address in 1942, as Julius was living in Sappington, Missouri, and Minnie, according to their son Milton’s draft registration, was living 2857 Pestalozzi Street in St. Louis, or about 14 miles apart.

Milton Adler World War II draft registration, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Missouri, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 2, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947

Milton enlisted in the US Army on March 11, 1943, and served until January 21, 1946. He identified himself as single on the enlistment record. He served in Central Europe and the Rhineland and was awarded Bronze Stars for his service in those campaigns.1

Milton T. Adler, Enlisted Record and Report of Separation, Honorable Discharge, found at Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14579954/milton_theadore-adler: accessed December 26, 2025), memorial page for Milton Theadore Adler (15 Apr 1921–4 Oct 1984), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14579954, citing Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay Township, St. Louis County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Mark Utley (contributor 47178748).

Sometime after 1940, Milton married Mary Virginia Piper, who was born on March 31, 1924, in Missouri, to Daniel W. Piper and Norien Klepper.2 I could not locate a marriage record for Milton and Mary Virginia (she seemed to use both names). In 1950 he and his wife and their two children were living in St. Louis, and Milton was working as a real estate salesman.”3 Milton and Mary Virginia would have two more children in the 1950s.

Julius and Minnie’s daughter Marjorie Alice (or Alice Marjorie) also married in the 1940s. She married Adrian Pettus Williamson on July 14, 1946, in St. Louis. Adrian, then serving as a gunner’s mate in the US Navy, was born on April 9, 1924, in Eagletown, Oklahoma, to Harry Claret Williamson and Swayne Pettus.4 I found it interesting that the article about the wedding gave one address for Julius and Minnie and described the reception for the wedding as taking place at the home of the “bride’s parents.” So perhaps Julius and Minnie were back living under one roof at the time?

“Alice Marjorie Adler Is Married At Church,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 4, 1946, p. 60.

The article also stated that the bridegroom would be returning to Brooklyn where he was stationed after the honeymoon, but that the bride would be returning to St. Louis.

Adrian and Alice seem to have had a second marriage ceremony a year later on September 11, 1947, in Coconino, Arizona:

Marriage record of Alice Marjorie Adler and Adrian Williamson in Arizona, Description: Marriage Certificates/Licenses – Books 11, 12, 13, 1941-1948, Ancestry.com. Arizona, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1865-1972

I have no idea why—perhaps to have a second celebration in Arizona where Adrian’s family lived?

Adrian and Alice did not have any children together. In fact, the marriage did not last very long, and on September 10, 1951, Alice married Eugene Ocamb in Pinal, Arizona. Eugene was the son of Joseph Wesley Ocamb and Irene Emma Van Bach; he was born on September 20, 1908, in Kansas City, Kansas.5 On the 1950 census, they had already listed themselves as married, living in Phoenix, Arizona, where Eugene was the owner of a retail auto parts store and Alice was a cashier in a jewelry store.6

Alice Marjorie Adler Williamson marriage to Eugene Ocamb, Licenses – Marriage, 1949 – 1954
Ancestry.com. Arizona, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1865-1972

Alice and Eugene would have two children together.

Thus, by 1950 four of Julius Adler’s six children were married: Roland, Irene, Milton, and Alice. I could not locate Roland on the 1950 census, but Irene was living in St. Louis with her husband John, who was an inspector and auditor for the National Guard.7 Milton was in St. Louis and Alice was in Phoenix with their respective spouses, as noted above.

Julius Adler was living with his oldest daughter Chrystal in St. Louis. Julius was working as a baker, and Chrystal was working as a clerical worker for a petroleum pipeline company. Julius listed his marital status as a widower, and Chrystal was single.8

Despite Julius claiming to be a widower, Minnie was not dead; she was living in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1950 with a ten-year-old boy she identified as her son; his name was Ronald Adler, and he was born on August 8, 1939, in St. Louis.9 According to his obituary, he was adopted by Minnie shortly after he was born.10 Minnie continued to list her marital status as married on the census. I assume that Minnie moved to Phoenix to be closer to her daughter Alice Marjorie.

Minnie Adler 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona; Roll: 577; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 15-75, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census

The sixth child of Julius Adler, his son Warren, had enlisted in the US Army on March 3, 1943, and was discharged on February 16, 1946.11 In 1950 he was living as a lodger with a family in St. Louis, working as an office clerk in the accounting department of a railroad company. He was single and 26 years old.12 As far as I’ve been able to determine, Warren never married.

My next post will wind up the story of the family of Julius Adler before I move on to the remaining children of Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler, the three who did not come to the US before the rise of Hitler in Germany.

My next post will be in 2026. Happy New Year, everyone!

 

 

  1. Milton T. Adler enlistment records, National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 12376; Reel: 3, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 ↩
  2. Mary Virginia Piper, Birth Date 31 Mar 1924, Birth Place Missouri, USA, Missouri State Archives; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Birth Index, 1920-1999, Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Birth Registers, 1847-2003; Daniel Piper and family, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: St Louis, St. Louis (Independent City), Missouri; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 0519; FHL microfilm: 2340977, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census; Norien Klepper Piper death certificate, Missouri Office of the Secretary of State; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1969,
    Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Death Certificates, 1910-1971 ↩
  3. Milton T. Adler and family, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: St Louis, St Louis, Missouri; Roll: 1016; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 96-755, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  4. Adrian Pettus Williamson, Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 9 Apr 1924, Birth Place Eagletown, Oklahoma, Death Date Mar 1977, Father Harry C Williamson, Mother Swayne Pettis, SSN 527141202, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  5. Eugene Ocamb death certificate, Arizona Department of Health Services; Phoenix, AZ; Arizona Genealogy Birth and Death Certificates, Description County: 8703_B1010744, Ancestry.com. Arizona, U.S., Death Records, 1887-1968. One source says his birthdate was August 20, not September 20, 1908. ↩
  6. Eugene Ocamb, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona; Roll: 576; Page: 74; Enumeration District: 15-69, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. John and Irene Kohring, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Manhattan, Riley, Kansas; Roll: 1251; Page: P82; Enumeration District: 81-26, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  8. Julius Adler, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: St Louis, St Louis, Missouri; Roll: 125; Page: 16; Enumeration District: 96-991, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. Ronald Lee Adler, Gender Male, Birth Date 8 Aug 1939, Birth Place St. Louis, Missouri, Residence Place St. Louis, Missouri, Industry Roosevelt High School
    Occupation Student Draft Registration Date 8 Aug 1957, Draft Registration Place St. Louis, Missouri, Draft Location Missouri, USA, Weight 170, Height 6 Ft., Hair Color Brown, Eye Color Blue, Complexion Medium, Next of Kin Name Warren F Adler
    Next of Kin Residence Place St. Louis, Missouri, Next of Kin Relationship Brother
    Draft Registration Number 2310739209, Box Number 170, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926–1975; Record Group Number: 147; Series: Post-WWII through Vietnam Era Selective Service Records, Missouri; Series Number: 147-76-0298, Ancestry.com. U.S., Korean War Era Draft Cards, 1948-1959 ↩
  10. Obituary found at https://www.baue.com/obituaries/ronald-ron-l-adler ↩
  11. Ronald Adler, U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs; United States; U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs Birls Death File, 1850-2022; URL: https://www.va.gov/
    Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2020 ↩
  12. Ronald Adler, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Glendale, St Louis, Missouri; Roll: 6189; Page: 86; Enumeration District: 95-138, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩

Julius Adler, Part II: Another Restless Brother

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Relying on the assumption that Julius Adler was in fact the brother of Louis and Sigmund Adler and was born Joseph Adler, I will now continue to tell the story of his life from 1920 to 1940. We know that in 1920 Julius was living in Leavenworth, Kansas, with his older brother Louis, that he was a widower, and that he had three young children, Roland, Chrystal, and Irene. We also know that he was a baker.

Louis Adler 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Leavenworth Ward 6, Leavenworth, Kansas; Roll: T625_537; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 109,
Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census

On June 26, 1920, not long after the enumeration of the 1920 census, Julius married his second wife, Minnie Hankins, in Kansas City, Missouri. Minnie was a Missouri native, born on June 18, 1897, to Charles Love Hankins and Martha Meirhaftz.1

Julius Adler and Minnie Hankin marriage record, Missouri State Archives; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Marriage Records [Microfilm], Year or Year Range: 1920, Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Marriage Records, 1805-2002

Julius and Minnie would have three more children together in the 1920s: Milton Theodore, born on April 15, 1921, in Kansas City, Kansas2; Marjorie Alice (sometimes Alice Marjorie), born on August 26, 1922, in Kansas City, Missouri3; and Warren Frederick, born on March 31, 1924, in Girard, Kansas.4

Unfortunately, Julius got into some trouble when he was involved in a physical altercation with his employer on December 19, 1921. Guy Moll, the owner of the bakery where Julius was employed, got into an argument with Julius when Julius refused to clean out the mixer. Julius picked up a “stove lifter” or poker and threatened Moll, who then punched Julius in the mouth, knocking out two teeth.5 Julius, at the suggestion, if not urging, of his litigious brother Louis, sued Moll for $10,000, even though Moll had apologized and offered to pay his dentist bill. The case went to the jury, which rendered a verdict in Julius’ favor, but for only $285, not $10,000. One news story about the case mentioned that Louis had just won a case against the railroad, as discussed here, so perhaps Louis saw an opportunity for his brother also to win a large judgment.

“Jurors to Start Deliberations in Moll Case Today,” The Leavenworth (KS) Times, February 18, 1922, p. 10

This dispute may explain why Julius and Minnie’s next child Warren was born in 1924 in Girard, Kansas, 146 miles from Leavenworth. Julius may have decided (or been forced to decide) to relocate since I assume Moll no longer employed him. The family was still living in Girard in 1925 when the Kansas census for that year was enumerated, and Julius was still working as a baker.6

In 1927 Julius and Minnie were listed in the Topeka, Kansas, city directory, and Julius was again working in a bakery.7 But he ran a “situation wanted” ad that year seeking a bakery job “preferably in a small town.”

Kansas City (MO) Star, October 5, 1927, p. 22

In 1930, Julius, Minnie, and the six children (the three Julius had had with his first wife Edith and the three he’d had with Minnie) were living in Chapman, Kansas, and Julius was continuing to work as a baker. His oldest son Roland was a deliveryman for a dairy.8 At first I thought Roland might have been working for his uncle Louis, but since Chapman is 133 miles from Leavenworth where Louis lived, that seems not to be possible.

Obviously Julius was moving from place to place for all those years—from Wisconsin to Minnesota and then to several different places in Kansas. He was not involved in as many legal disputes as his brother Louis, but he seemed to have a different kind of restlessness.

Two of Julius’ children married in the 1930s. His oldest child Roland Adler took out a license to marry Verna Pataky in Edwardsville, Illinois, in November 1933.9 Verna was the daughter of Andrew Pataky and Theresa Kaldi and was born in Illinois on September 12, 1910.10 I don’t have a marriage record for Roland and Verna, but in 1940 they were living in St. Louis, Missouri, where Roland was working as a baker, just like his father Julius.11 Roland and Verna would have one child together.

Roland’s younger sister Irene also married in the 1930s. She and John Robert Kohring were married on September 17, 1936 at Emmaus Lutheran Church in St. Louis, Missouri.12 John was born in St. Louis on March 13, 1914,13 and was the son of John Henry Kohring and Evelyn Kercheval.14 In 1940 Irene and John were living in St. Louis, John was working as a chauffeur for a private family and Irene was a waitress in a cafeteria.15 They did not and would not have any children.

Chrystal, the middle child of Julius and his first wife Edith, did not marry during the 1930s, nor could I locate her on the 1940 census or find any records or articles revealing where she was at that time or any time from 1930 and 1940. She would reappear, however, in later records.

As for Julius Adler and his second wife Minnie Hankins, the 1940 census lists them in different locations. Minnie was living in St. Louis with their three younger children, Milton, Marjorie, and Warren, all now teenagers. Milton listed his occupation as “new worker,” and Marjorie gave hers as a factory worker in a paper factory.

Minnie Adler and family 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: St Louis, St Louis City, Missouri; Roll: m-t0627-02195; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 96-355, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census

On the other hand, Julius was enumerated back in Leavenworth County, Kansas, the census report indicating that Julius was a caretaker of a farm and country grocery at that location, earning his rent by taking care of the farm. Since his brother Louis was also in Leavenworth County in 1940 and listed his occupation as “farmer,” I wonder whether Julius was working with Louis or even living and working on Louis’ farm.16

Although they were enumerated in different places that were 281 miles apart, both Julius and Minnie listed their marital status as married. Yet both census records, enumerated in different states by different enumerators, have the same strange mark over the M for marital status.

Minnie Adler marital status 1940 census

Julius Adler marital status 1940 census

Is that a D for divorced? An S for separated? It looked more like a seven or a two or a Z to me. I googled “1940 census marital status marks” and learned, lo and behold, that M 7 meant that the person was married but did not have their spouse living with them.

I thought perhaps Julius and Minnie were living separately because of economic reasons; perhaps Julius could not find work as a baker during the Depression. Or maybe Minnie was just tired of moving from place to place as Julius looked for work as a baker.

To be continued in the next post.

  1. Minnie Jewel Hankins Adler death certificate, Missouri Office of the Secretary of State; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1971, Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Death Certificates, 1910-1971; Minnie Hankins, 1900 US census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Shoal Creek, Barry, Missouri; Roll: 838; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0015, Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census; Charles L Hankins, Age 24, Birth Date abt 1871, Marriage Date 23 Mar 1895, Marriage Place Barry, Missouri, USA, Spouse Martha Meirhaftz, Missouri State Archives; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Marriage Records [Microfilm], Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Marriage Records, 1805-2002 ↩
  2. Milton Theodore Adler, World War II draft registration, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Missouri, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 2,
    Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
  3. Alice Marjorie Adler, Birth Date 26 Aug 1922, Birth Place Missouri, USA, Missouri State Archives; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Birth Index, 1920-1999; Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Birth Registers, 1847-2003; Ancestry.com. U.S., Marjorie Alice Adler
    [Marjorie A Williamson], [Marjorie Ocamb], Gender Female Race White, Birth Date 26 Aug 1922, Birth Place Kansas City, Missouri, Death Date 5 Dec 1995, Father
    Julius J Adler, Mother, Minnie J Hankins, SSN 496187036, Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  4. Warren Fred Adler, Gender Male Race White, Birth Date 31 Mar 1924, Birth Place Girard, Kansas, Death Date 17 Jan 1994, Father Julius J Adler, Mother Minnie J Hankins, SSN 500186534, Death Certificate Number 721 Kutis 772300, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  5. “Moll Shows Adler Had Stove Lifter When He Was Hit,” Leavenworth Times, February 17, 1922, p. 1. ↩
  6. Julius Adler and family, 1925 Kansas census, Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1925 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: KS1925_32; Line: 16, Description Township or Location: Girard, Ancestry.com. Kansas, U.S., State Census Collection, 1855-1925 ↩
  7. Julius Adler, Gender Male, Residence Year 1927, Residence Place Topeka, Kansas, USA, Occupation Baker, Spouse Minnie Adler, Publication Title Topeka, Kansas, City Directory, 1927, Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  8. Julius Adler and family, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Chapman, Dickinson, Kansas; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 0032; FHL microfilm: 2340435,
    Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. The Edwardsville (Il) Intelligencer, November 25, 1933, p. 5. ↩
  10. Verna Adler, Social Security Number 488-10-9705, Birth Date 12 Sep 1910
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State Missouri, Last Residence 33931, Fort Myers Beach, Lee, Florida, USA, Last Benefit 33931, Fort Myers Beach, Lee, Florida, USA
    Death Date Oct 1979, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014; Verna Pataky, 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Granite Ward 5, Madison, Illinois; Roll: T625_390; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 84, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  11. Roland Adler, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: St Louis, St Louis City, Missouri; Roll: m-t0627-02205; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 96-579, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  12. Marriage record of Irene Adler and John Henry Kohring, Concordia Historical Institute; St Louis, MO, USA; Lutheran Church Records, Missouri Synod, U.S., Lutheran Church records, 1851-1973 ↩
  13. John R Kohring, Gender Male, Birth Date 13 Mar 1914, Death Date 23 Jul 2000
    Claim Date 16 Dec 1975, SSN 500189141, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; John Kohring, World War II draft card, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Missouri, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 182, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
  14. John H. Kohring and family, 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: St Louis Ward 20, St Louis (Independent City), Missouri; Roll: T625_957; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 393,Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census; John H. Kohring and Evelyn Kercheval marriage record, Missouri State Archives; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Marriage Records [Microfilm], Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Marriage Records, 1805-2002 ↩
  15. John R. Kohring and family 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: St Louis, St Louis City, Missouri; Roll: m-t0627-02195; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 96-350, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  16. Julius Adler, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Delaware, Leavenworth, Kansas; Roll: m-t0627-01240; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 52-2A,
    Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩

Julius J. Adler, Part I: Was His Birth Name Joseph?

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The third son of Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler, Joseph, was born on July 28, 1887, in Niedermeiser, Germany, and as I mentioned in my first post about Sara’s family, I could not find any further documentation of the existence of this son other than his birth record:

Joseph Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 909; Signatur: 7413, Year Range: 1887, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

I searched for a Joseph Adler in US and German records but failed to come up with anyone who was a definite or even a likely match. (The name was quite common.)

And then, when I was researching Louis Adler, as I mentioned in my first post about Louis, I saw that on the 1920 US census, Louis Adler’s household in Leavenworth, Kansas, included a brother named Julius as well as three children of Julius: Roland, C(h)rystal, and Irene. Julius was 32 years old, so likely born in 1887 or 1888. He was a widower and a baker. I wondered whether Julius Adler could be the same person as Joseph Adler, who was born in 1887.

Louis Adler 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Leavenworth Ward 6, Leavenworth, Kansas; Roll: T625_537; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 109,
Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census

That led me to search for Julius Adler and his three children. The 1920 census is hard to read, but it looks like Julius arrived in the US in either 1901 or 1907 and was naturalized in 1911. According to this census record, his three children were all born in Wisconsin, so American-born. Roland was seven, Crystal five, and Irene three and a half. With those clues, I went to look for Julius Adler in Wisconsin on the 1900 and 1910 census records as well as on immigration and naturalization records.

I could not find him on any passenger ship manifest, but I did find him on the 1910 census in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He was then 22 and a baker, so that fit with the facts reported on the 1920 census. He was not yet married. On this census he reported that he had arrived in the US in 1906.1

Since his son Roland was seven in 1920, I assumed he was born in 1912-1913 in Wisconsin, so I searched for a birth record and found one for a George Rolland Adler born February 12, 1912.2 Searching further for Roland, I found a Roland George Adler born February 12, 1912, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in the Social Security Applications and Claims Index on Ancestry. His parents were Julius J. Adler and Edith Richelt.3 I also found Chrystal Adler on the SSACI, and she was born in Stevens Point to Julius and Edith on January 30, 1914.4

Knowing the name of the mother of Roland and Chrystal was Edith Reichelt or Richelt led me to a marriage record for Julius. He married “Ida Richelt” on May 11, 1911, in Portage County, Wisconsin.5 I then found a news article about their wedding:

“Adler-Richelt,” Stevens Point (WI) Journal, May 12, 1911, p. 1

It appears that Ida was also known as Edith and that her birth surname was also sometimes spelled Reichelt.

In any event, all of this was interesting, but it didn’t definitively tie Julius Adler to the Joseph Adler born to Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler.

But the fact that Julius was in Wisconsin in 1910, the same state where Sigmund Adler was living and going to school at that time, seemed likely to have been more than coincidental and made me think it was very likely that Julius was in fact the same person as Joseph Adler. This little article in the March 16, 1916, Leavenworth, Kansas, newspaper also buttressed the ties between Louis, Sigmund, and Julius:

“Looking for Brother,” The Leavenworth (KS) Times, March 16, 1916, p. 5

Notice that Louis knew that Julius had been in Beloit, Wisconsin four years earlier in 1912. Sigmund went to Beloit College in Beloit before attending the University of Wisconsin in Madison and finishing his education there. Had Julius been drawn to Beloit, Wisconsin by Sigmund or perhaps vice versa? By 1916 when Louis was searching for Julius, Sigmund had left Wisconsin and was in Michigan. Perhaps that’s when Louis lost touch with Julius.

I knew that Julius’ children Roland and Chrystal were both born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, but Irene, the youngest of the three, was born September 12, 1915, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.6 So sometime between 1914 and 1915, Julius and his family had relocated to Minneapolis. I also knew from the 1920 census that Julius was a widower by 1920, so sometime between September 12, 1915, and the taking of the 1920 census, his wife Edith/Ida must have passed away.

I found this obituary for Edith, and it filled in some of these holes:

“Mrs. Julius Adler,” Stevens Point (WI) Journal, September 3, 1919, p. 5

Edith was only thirty years old, and her children were only seven, five, and three, when she died from tuberculosis on August 28, 1919. She was buried back in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, where she was raised and where she’d married Julius just eight years before.

And then Julius appeared on the 1920 census, living with his older brother Louis in Leavenworth, Kansas. For all his legal troubles, Louis came through for his younger brother. He looked for him and obviously when he learned that his wife had died, he welcomed Julius and his young children into his home. Louis and his wife Edna had no children of their own, so it must have been quite an adjustment having Julius and three young children move in with them.

Of course, I still had no absolute proof that Julius was the same person as the Joseph Adler born on July 28, 1887 to Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler, just circumstantial evidence: the 1920 census listing him as Louis Adler’s brother, the fact that he had lived in Beloit, Wisconsin, around the same time that Sigmund Adler was in school there, and the fact that he was born in Germany in around 1887. But for me that circumstantial evidence was strong enough to conclude unless proven otherwise that Julius must have been the secular name adopted by Sara and Moses for the third-born son Joseph. And so based on that assumption, I will continue in my next post to tell the story of Joseph/Julius Adler and his family.

What do you think? Have I persuaded you that Julius Adler was the son named on the 1887 birth record as Joseph, son of Sara and Moses?

To those celebrating Hanukkah (and everyone else), I hope you are finding some light, some hope, in these very dark days. It seems like just one tragedy after another since the weekend: Brown, Bondi Beach, Rob Reiner, an MIT professor, teens at a sweet sixteen party in Brooklyn. Everywhere we turn, we see the results of violence and hatred and guns. I am searching for the light and the hope, but it just keeps getting harder.

Be safe, everyone, and be kind.

  1. Julius J Adler, Age in 1910 22, Birth Date 1888, Birthplace Germany, Home in 1910 Menomonee Falls, Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA, Sheet Number 14a, Street Fond Du Loc St, Race White, Gender Male, Immigration Year 1906, Relation to Head of House Baker, Marital Status Single, Father’s Birthplace Germany, Mother’s Birthplace Germany, Native Tongue English, Occupation Baker, Industry Bakery
    Employer, Employee or Other Wage Earner, Naturalization Status Alien, Able to read Yes Able to Write Yes, Enumeration District Number 0163, Out of Work N, Number of Weeks Out of Work 0, Enumerated Year 1910, Year: 1910; Census Place: Menomonee Falls, Waukesha, Wisconsin; Roll: T624_1741; Page: 14a; Enumeration District: 0163; FHL microfilm: 1375754, Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. George Rolland Adler, Birth Date 22 Feb 1912, Birth County Portage, Wisconsin, USA, Wisconsin Department of Health Services; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Birth Records, Ancestry.com. Wisconsin, U.S., Birth Records, 1812-1921 ↩
  3. Roland George Adler [Roland Edward Adler] [Roland Adler] Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 22 Feb 1912, Birth Place Stevenspoint, Wisconsin, Death Date 6 May 1999, Father Julius J Adler Mother Edith Richelt SSN 488109582, Notes Nov 1936: Name Listed As Roland George Adler; Sep 1964: Name Listed As Roland Edward Adler; 12 May 1999: Name Listed As Roland E Adler, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  4. Chrystal Lorraine Adler, [Chrystal Lor Boyd] [Chrystal Boyd] Gender Female
    Race White, Birth Date 30 Jan 1914, Birth Place Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Death Date 1 Jun 2004, Father Julius Adler, Mother Edith Reichelt, SSN 494035530
    Notes Dec 1936: Name Listed As Chrystal Lorraine Adler; Nov 1955: Name Listed As Chrystal Lor Boyd; 05 Jun 2004: Name Listed As Chrystal L Boyd, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  5. Julius Adler, Marriage Date 11 May 1911, Marriage County Portage, Wisconsin, USA, Spouse Ida Reichelt, Wisconsin Historical Society; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Marriage Records 1907-1939, Ancestry.com. Wisconsin, U.S., Marriage Records, 1820-2004 ↩
  6. Irene Jeanette Kohring, [Irene J Kohring] [Irene Jeanette Adler] Gender Female
    Race White, Birth Date 12 Sep 1915, Birth Place Minneapolis, Minnesota, Death Date 6 Jun 2000, Father Julius J Adler, Mother Edith Reichelt, SSN 489071723, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩

Sigmund Adler, A Life Dedicated to the Young

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Compared to the rather tumultuous life of his older brother Louis, the life of Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler’s second child Sigmund seems relatively uneventful, but not without its own drama. And it started even earlier in Sigmund’s life. He was sent off at the age of twelve to live with an uncle in the United States; he arrived even earlier than his older brother Louis. As with Louis, who also immigrated as a teenager, I am very curious as to what would lead a parent to allow a child to leave home and cross the ocean at such a young age. But I don’t have an answer.

Sigmund was born on March 10, 1886, and immigrated to the US in 1898, according to numerous census records including the 1900 census taken just two years later. On that census Sigmund was living in Lexington, Kentucky with his uncle Louis Adler, his father’s brother (not Sigmund’s own same-named brother), a shoe merchant. Sigmund was in school and had been listed as an honor student the year before at the Dudley Public School in Lexington.1

Sigmund Adler 1900 US census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Lexington Ward 4, Fayette, Kentucky; Roll: 519; Page: 10; Enumeration District: 0022, Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

By 1910, Sigmund had left his uncle’s home and Lexington, Kentucky, behind and was living in Madison, Wisconsin. He was living as a lodger with an unrelated family and listed no occupation. I was puzzled as to what had brought him to Wisconsin so looked for him in the newspapers.com database to see if there were any articles that shed light on that question.2

I found several articles that provided the answer. Sigmund had left Kentucky to attend Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin, and then the University of Wisconsin, which is in Madison, Wisconsin. After graduating he was hired by the YMCA in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to be the Assistant Secretary and Boys’ Secretary; as described in the paper, he would be in charge of clerical matters, but primarily responsible for programming for boys at the Y.3 The article below (click and zoom in to read) discusses Sigmund’s involvement in and commitment to programming for boys at the Y during his time at the university.

“To Boost Boy’s Work, Kenosha (WI) News, February 16, 1911, p. 2

A later article further detailed Sigmund’s expected responsibilities. “There will be meetings for boys at which interesting topics will be discussed and an effort will be made to have the boys take up natural history with long walks into the country to follow up on this work. Secretary Adler is full of enthusiasm and full of plans for the boys and it is pretty certain that the directors will give him free rein to carry out these plans.”4

In February 1912, Sigmund spoke at a local church; his talk was titled, “The Foreigners within our Gates.” The newspaper commented that “Mr. Adler came to this country as an emmigrant [sic] when he was fifteen years of age [actually twelve]. He worked hard and earned enough money to pay his way through the University of Wisconsin and now holds a responsible position.”5

Six months later Sigmund announced that he would be leaving the Kenosha YMCA for a similar position in Richmond, Virginia. The local paper bemoaned his impending departure, commenting on all the good work he had done:6

[H]is work for boys in this city has attracted attention among association men all over the country. No more popular leader of boys ever came to Kenosha. His work has made the YMCA the social headquarters for the boys of the city and he has brought a big interest in this work to the boys.

The article then listed numerous projects that Sigmund had successfully initiated and led. It also pointed out that Sigmund would have preferred staying in Kenosha, but because of plans for building a new building, “there is grave doubt as to whether or not this work can be continued during the coming year….”7  There was even a farewell dinner for Sigmund attended by a hundred boys.8

Sigmund was still affiliated with the Richmond YMCA in March 1913 when he came to Ishpeming, Michigan, to speak at a boys’ conference there.9 But not long afterward he must have taken a job at the Y in Ishpeming because when he married Ethel Farrill of Kenosha on August 14, 1913, the newspaper story about their wedding noted that Sigmund was now “in charge of YMCA work” in Ishpeming, Michigan.10

Ethel Farrill was the daughter of Reverend Edgar Thomas Farrill and Mary Alice Fenner of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; she was born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, on April 28, 1885.11 Ethel was a graduate of Smith College and had been teaching in the schools in Kenosha, Wisconsin.12

Sigmund and Ethel had a baby boy named Edgar Farrill Adler on August 27, 1914, in Ishpeming, Michigan, but sadly the baby died a month later on September 28, 1914, from congenital heart disease. Although the name on the death record is Randall Adler and at first I thought Sigmund and Ethel lost two babies born on August 27, 1914, I could find no birth record for Randall and no death record for Edgar. A newspaper article mentioned only one baby. So either Sigmund and Ethel changed the baby’s name (unlikely) or the person filling out the death certificate misheard the baby’s name. 13

Edgar Farrill Adler birth record, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services; Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan Birth Records, 1867-1920, Reference Number: 1-316, Michigan, U.S., Birth Records, 1867-1914

Death record for son of Sigmund Adler and Ethel Farrill, Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, Michigan; Death Records
 199: Lenawee-Missaukee, 1914, Ancestry.com. Michigan, U.S., Death Records, 1867-1952

Sigmund and Ethel later adopted a baby boy and named him Edgar Thomas Adler. He was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on April 3, 1917.14

Sigmund registered for the World War I draft on September 12, 1918, in Ishpeming, Michigan. He listed his occupation as “social welfare” for the Cleveland-Cliffs Mining Company.

Sigmund Adler World War I draft registration, Registration State: Michigan; Registration County: Marquette County, Draft Card: A, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

By 1920, however, Sigmund and his family had relocated again, this time to Hartford, Connecticut, where Sigmund was once again working for the YMCA.15 He finally became a naturalized citizen of the United States on October 25, 1921.16 And appropriately enough his job with the Hartford Y was the secretary of Americanization. Sigmund gave many speeches on the subject and also supervised a program where local volunteers would go into the factories to teach employees about the process of “Americanization.”17

Sigmund returned to working with young people by 1925 when he was a teacher and a guidance counselor in the public high school in Hartford.18 On the 1930 US census, he listed his occupation as a public school teacher; he and Ethel and Edgar were living in Rocky Hill, Connecticut.19 They were still living in Rocky Hill in 1940, and Sigmund continued to teach at a public school.20

Their son Edgar, now 23, was working as a laborer in 1940.21 His World War II draft registration filed later that year revealed that Edgar was working for the Royal Typewriter Company in Hartford and was living at home in Rocky Hill. He enlisted on February 12, 1941, and was discharged with the rank of captain in the US Army on December 26, 1945.22 He served with the Fifth Army in Italy during World War II, earning a Bronze Star and the European African Middle Eastern Service Medal.23

Edgar Adler World War II draft registration, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Connecticut, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 2, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947

Edgar married Edith Constance Gilbert on July 3, 1943, in Augusta, Georgia.23 She was born in September 6, 1923, in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, to Harry Gilbert and Gertrude Codaire.24 They would have two children born in the 1940s. Edgar at some point earned a degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

Sadly, Ethel Farrill Adler died on June 12,1944, in Rocky Hill, before she would know her grandchildren. She was 59 years old.25

Sigmund remarried the following year on February 12, 1945, in Bangor, Maine. His second wife was Alice Jennison,26 born on December 15, 1894, in Bangor, to William Jennison and Florence Whitney.27 She had been previously married and was employed as a secretary to an attorney in Bangor.28

In 1950 Sigmund and Alice were living in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and neither listed an occupation on the census record. Sigmund was now 64 years old and had retired.29 His son Edgar was also living in Rocky Hill in 1950 with his wife Edith and their children; Edgar was working as the manager of a concrete plant.30

Sigmund Adler died on March 10, 1968, in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. His obituary identified him as “the first guidance counselor of the state,” having served as a guidance counselor at Hartford High School for 27 years, retiring in 1948. He was also active in several civic organizations and in 1962 had been named Man of the Year by B’nai Brith, which surprised me because nothing in Sigmund’s life in the US indicated any connection to Judaism. In fact, his memorial service was at the Rocky Hill Congregational Church.31 Sigmund’s second wife Alice survived him by 26 years. She died at the age of 99 on May 10, 1994, in Rocky Hill.32

Sigmund’s son Edgar died on March 22, 2005, in Hyannis, Massachusetts, not far from where I now live. He was 87 years old. According to his obituary, “[h]e was employed as a boat captain in the charter fishing industry for 25 years prior to retiring in 1979.”33 His wife Edith died twelve years later on January 15, 2017. She was 93 and had been a registered nurse.34 Edgar and Edith were survived by their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Sigmund Adler’s story stands in stark contrast to that of his older brother Louis, despite the fact that both came as boys to America without their parents. Louis had a life filled with conflict, but like Sigmund, had a long marriage. Sigmund, on the other hand, lived a life that was based on education and service, and although he moved around a lot early on, he lived most of adult life in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, teaching and helping young people find a successful path in life.

As with Louis, I will always wonder why Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler sent Sigmund off to the United States when he was so young. Perhaps in this case they saw his intelligence and his potential and believed his opportunity for success would be greater in the United States than it would have been in a small town in Germany. He certainly found that success.

And now we turn to the third son of Sara and Moses, who also came to the United States when he was quite young. Let’s see what paths his life took. Would they be more like that of his brother Louis or that of his brother Sigmund?

 

  1. “Honors for February,” Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader, February 22, 1899, p. 2. ↩
  2. Sigmund Adler, 1910 US census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Madison Ward 5, Dane, Wisconsin; Roll: T624_1708; Page: 3a; Enumeration District: 0061; FHL microfilm: 1375721, Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  3. “To Boost Boy’s Work,” Kenosha (WI) News, February 16, 1911, p. 2. ↩
  4. “Will Keep Boys Busy,” Kenosha (WI) News, February 21, 1911, p. 1. ↩
  5. “Speaks at Church,” The Journal Times (Racine, WI), February 26, 1912, p. 7. ↩
  6. “Going to Richmond,” Kenosha (WI) News, August 27, 1912, p. 4. ↩
  7. Ibid. ↩
  8. Kenosha (WI) News, September 4, 1912, p. 5. ↩
  9. “Delegates Leave Friday to Attend Boys’ Meet,” The Calumet (MI) News, March 26, 1913, p. 5. ↩
  10. “Miss Farrill Weds,” Kenosha (WI) News, August 15, 1913, p. 5. See also Sigmund Adler, Marriage Date 14 Aug 1913, Marriage County Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, Spouse, Ethel A Farrill, Wisconsin Historical Society; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Marriage Records 1907-1939, Ancestry.com. Wisconsin, U.S., Marriage Records, 1820-2004 ↩
  11. Ethel Alice, Gender, Female, Race White Birth Date 28 Apr 1885 Birth Place
    Hopkinton, New Hampshire, USA, Father Edgar T Farrell. Mother M Farrell, Birth Certificates, 1631-1919; Archive: New Hampshire Department of State; Location: Concord, New Hampshire; Credit: The Original Document May Be Seen At the New Hampshire Department of State; Ancestry.com. New Hampshire, U.S., Birth Records, 1631-1920 ↩
  12. See Note 10, supra. ↩
  13. See images above. Kenosha (WI) News, September 30, 1914, p. 5 (news report of the death of Edgar Farrill Adler). ↩
  14. See Edgar Adler on the 1920 US census, where he is described as their adopted son. Year: 1920; Census Place: Hartford Ward 10, Hartford, Connecticut; Roll: T625_184; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 124, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census. Edgar Thomas Adler [Edgar T Adler], Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 3 Apr 1917, Birth Place Fondulac, Wisconsin, Death Date 22 Mar 2005, Father Sigmund Adler, Mother Ethel Farrill, SSN 049015785, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  15. Sigmund Adler and family, 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Hartford Ward 10, Hartford, Connecticut; Roll: T625_184; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 124, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  16. Sigmund Adler, Naturalization Age 35, Record Type Naturalization, Birth Date 10 Mar 1886, Birth Place Germany, Naturalization Date 25 Oct 1921, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Indexes to Naturalization Petitons For United States District Courts, Connecticut, 1851-1992 (M2081); Microfilm Serial: M2081; Microfilm Roll: 1, Ancestry.com. U.S., Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project) ↩
  17. “YMCA Planning to Educate Aliens in City Factories,” Hartford (CT) Courant, September 11, 1919, p. 16. ↩
  18. “Older Girls Hold Annual Conference,” Hartford (CT) Courant, April 18, 1925, p. 9. ↩
  19. Sigmund Adler, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Rocky Hill, Hartford, Connecticut; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 0207; FHL microfilm: 2340003, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  20. Sigmund Adler, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Rocky Hill, Hartford, Connecticut; Roll: m-t0627-00506; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 2-199,
    Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  21. See Note 20, supra. ↩
  22. Edgar T. Adler, National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 03303; Reel: 52, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 ↩
  23. “Adler-Gilbert,” Hartford (CT) Courant, July 30, 1943, p. 11. ↩ ↩
  24. Edith C Adler, Death Age 93, Birth Date 6 Sep 1923, Death Date 15 Jan 2017
    Interment Place Bourne, Massachusetts, USA, Massachusetts National Cemetery
    Section D, Row 2, Plot D30, National Cemetery Administration; U.S. Veterans’ Gravesites, National Cemetery Administration. U.S., Veterans’ Gravesites, ca. 1775-2019; Edith Adler, 1930 US Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Rocky Hill, Hartford, Connecticut; Page: 22A; Enumeration District: 0207; FHL microfilm: 2340003, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  25. Ethel Adler, Death Date 12 Jun 1944, Death Place Rocky Hill, Connecticut, USA, Connecticut Department of Public Health; Hartford, Connecticut, USA, Ancestry.com. Connecticut, U.S., Death Index, 1917-2017 ↩
  26. Sigmund Adler, Gender Male, Residence Rocky Hill, CT, Spouse’s Name Alice Jennison, Spouse’s Gender Female, Spouse’s Residence Bangor, ME, Marriage Date 5 Oct 1945, Marriage Place Maine, USA, Ancestry.com. Maine, U.S., Marriage Index, 1892-1996, Original data: Maine State Archives. Maine Marriages 1892-1996 (except 1967 to 1976). ↩
  27. Alice Jennison, Gender Female Birth Date 15 Dec 1895 Birth Place Bangor, Penobscot, Maine, USA, Father William A Jennison. Mother Florence Whitney, Maine State Archives; Cultural Building, 84 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0084; 1892-1907 Vital Records; Roll Number: 29, Ancestry.com. Maine, U.S., Birth Records, 1715-1922 ↩
  28. Alice Jennison, Gender Female, Age 27, Birth Date abt 1894, Birth Place Bangor, Marriage Date 5 Nov 1921, Marriage Place Bangor, Kennebec, Maine, USA
    Father William A Jennison, Mother Florence Whitney, Spouse Miles F Ham, Maine State Archives; Cultural Building, 84 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0084; 1908-1922 Vital Records; Roll Number: 24, Ancestry.com. Maine, U.S., Marriage Records, 1713-1922 ↩
  29. Sigmund Adler, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Rocky Hill, Hartford, Connecticut; Roll: 3568; Page: 19; Enumeration District: 2-205, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  30. Edgar T. Adler, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Rocky Hill, Hartford, Connecticut; Roll: 3568; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 2-206, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  31. Sigmund Adler, Gender Male, Birth Date 10 Mar 1886, Death Date 15 Mar 1968
    Claim Date 20 Dec 1965, SSN 048362456, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; “Sigmund Adler Dies; Guidance Counselor,” Hartford (CT) Courant, March 11, 1968, p. 8. ↩
  32. Alice Adler death notice, Hartford (CT) Courant, May 12, 1994, p. 90. ↩
  33. Edgar T. Adler, Social Security Number 049-01-5785, Birth Date 3 Apr 1917
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State Connecticut, Last Residence 02675, Yarmouth Port, Barnstable, Massachusetts, Death Date 22 Mar 2005, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014; Edgar T. Adler, The Barnstable (MA) Patriot, April 1, 2005, found at https://www.barnstablepatriot.com/story/news/2005/03/31/obituaries-4-1-05/33017465007/ ↩
  34. Edith Constance Adler obituary, found at https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/sandwich-ma/edith-adler-7253066 ↩

Louis Adler, Continued: More Troubles in the 1930s

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My last post before Thanksgiving about Louis Adler stirred a lot of interest. Many wondered why he got into so much legal trouble: was it discrimination? Was it economic desperation? Was it just his nature? We don’t know.

Two readers went above and beyond and did their own research, looking for answers. Linda Stufflebean, a fellow genealogy blogger who writes the blog Empty Branches on the Family Tree, tried to find more information about Louis’ wife Edna Anderson. Although she found a birth record for a Hetna Brandes born in Copenhagen around the same time period that Edna was born, neither of us could find anything that connected Hetna to Edna. So Edna’s background remains a mystery. I went back and searched everything again and still have no immigration record for Edna nor anything else before her marriage to Louis Adler.

Another reader, John Shriver, decided to look for more news articles about Louis. He subscribes to two newspaper services I don’t follow–newspaperarchives.com and oldnews.com–and sent me several articles from the 1930s and later that I could not find in the databases to which I have access: newspapers.com and genealogybank.com  The last article I had found about Louis, as reported in that earlier blog post, told of his arrest for possession and transportation of alcohol in April 1931.

Apparently Louis was convicted of those charges because the earliest article that John found was dated May 24, 1932, and reports on Louis Adler’s release from prison after eleven months. On a positive note, the article described Louis as a “prominent Leavenworth man” and as “one of the most likable and best behaved prisoners ever to serve in the local jail.”

“Gains Freedom After Nearly Year in Jail,” Hutchinson (KS) News, May 24, 1932, p.11

But Louis did not avoid controversy for long. In 1934 he became embroiled in a political and legal battle involving garbage pickup services in Leavenworth. Louis had made an agreement with the city to pick up the city garbage for a year for one dollar. When there were numerous complaints that the garbage was not all being collected and creating a health hazard, Louis offered to buy whoever could find any uncollected garbage “a $50 suit of clothes.”

“Charges Are Hurled in a Leavenworth Rumpus,” Lawrence (KS) Daily Journal-World, February 9, 1934, p. 1

I could not understand why Louis would agree to pick up all that garbage for $1 a year until I read the last two paragraphs of the article: he was using the garbage to feed his hogs!  But when he realized that there were objects like glass and cans in the garbage, making it unsuitable to use as hog feed, perhaps he stopped picking up the garbage. Or maybe this was just the case of a disgruntled commissioner who had lost the garbage contract to Louis. Once again, it’s hard to know what was really going on with Louis.

The next article about Louis that John Shriver located is dated August 5, 1937, and is about a fire that destroyed a desiccating plant in Leavenworth that seems to have belonged to Louis Adler.

“Wants Plant Rebuilt Elsewhere,” Lawrence (KS) Journal-World, August 5, 1937, p. 6

I had no idea what a desiccating plant was, but Google defines it as a plant “involved in the processing of animal carcasses into products like fertilizer, hides, or rendered fats.” Since Louis raised hogs and perhaps other farm animals, it would make sense that he had a facility for processing their carcasses. It looks like Louis once again raised the ire of the local community just three years after the garbage controversy.

Louis was not directly involved in the next article, dated March 20, 1939, but his wife and an employee named Lange were. Lange was a security guard Louis hired to protect his property; he was killed by intruders while trying to protect Edna.

“New Job Costs His Life,” Lawrence (KS) Daily Journal, March 20, 1939, p. 1

The final article that John Shriver found that concerned Louis Adler was dated March 9, 1940, and it also did not directly involve Louis. I learned something new in studying this article–that Kansas continued to ban alcohol sales even after federal prohibition ended. It was the last state in the country to lift the ban–in 1948!

Anyway, although neither Louis nor Edna was charged with possession or sales of alcohol in this article, it seems to suggest that the authorities suspected that such illegal activity was being conducted on their property.

“Two Are Arraigned,” Lawrence (KS) Daily Journal-World, March 9, 1940, p. 1

I love that last sentence: “They found Mrs. Adler churning butter in the kitchen of the house but a search disclosed no liquor.”

As we saw, Louis Adler died on February 1, 1942, just about two years after that last article. John did not find an obituary or any other relevant article after the 1940 article above. Perhaps Louis’ life settled down and he was able to live in peace for those last couple of years.

 

Louis Adler, A Man with Many Legal Troubles

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Sara Rothschild Adler’s first child was her son Louis, born on December 4, 1884, in Niedermeier, Germany. Louis was just a teenager when he left home and immigrated to the United States. I could not find a passenger ship manifest for Louis despite hours of searching, but according to the 1910 census1 he arrived in 1900 when he was going on sixteen years old. Louis also provided that year of arrival in a document he filed on February 11, 1918, to register as an “alien enemy” during World War I.2 In fact, he was quite specific in saying he arrived on the Kaiser William in New York on April 22, 1900. Even with that information, however, I could not find him on a ship manifest on any ship arriving within two years before or after 1900.

Louis Adler, 1918 Alien Enemy registration, Arrival Date 22 Apr 1900, Arrival Place New York, Ship Kaiser William, District Court, Kansas, National Archives at Kansas City; Kansas City, MO, USA; Record Group: Records of United States Attorneys and Marshals, 1821-1994; Record Group Number: Rg 118; Catalog: Enemy Alien Registration Affidavits, 1917-1921; Catalog Number: 286181, Ancestry.com. Kansas, Permits and Registration of Alien Enemy Residents, 1918.

But a few months before filing that February 11, 1918, document, Louis filed a different document required by his “alien enemy” status. In that document dated December 13, 1917, he stated that he had arrived in the US on April 21, 1901. (That’s why I searched for two years before and after 1900.)

Louis Adler 1917 Alien Enemy registration, National Archives at Kansas City; Kansas City, MO, USA; Record Group: Records of United States Attorneys and Marshals, 1821-1994; Record Group Number: Rg 118; Catalog: Enemy Alien Registration Affidavits, 1917-1921; Catalog Number: 286181, List of Permits Issued to Alien Enemies 1918, Ancestry.com. Kansas, Permits and Registration of Alien Enemy Residents, 1918

Also, his naturalization registration dated September 14, 1921, lists April 1, 1901, as Louis’ date of arrival. And on the 1930 US census his date of arrival is also 1901.

Louis Adler naturalization card, The National Archives at Kansas City; Kansas City, Missouri; Naturalization Index for the Western District of Missouri, compiled 1930 – 1950, documenting the period ca. 1848 – ca. 1950; Record Group Title: Records of the District Courts of the United States; Record Group Number: RG 21, Surname Range: Aach – Amonia, Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Western District Naturalization Index, 1840-1990

Just to add to the confusion, the 1920 US census reports his arrival as 1903,3 and a 1925 Kansas census reports his arrival in 18954 when he would have been eleven! (Louis also was inconsistent with how he reported his date of naturalization so perhaps we just should assume he was an unreliable reporter.)

In any event, Louis Adler likely arrived in New York from Germany in April of either 1900 or 1901 when he was either fifteen or sixteen years old. I have no evidence of where he first lived on arrival.

But on March 24, 1906, Louis Adler obtained a license to marry Edna Anderson in Kansas City, Missouri.5 According to the 1910 census6 and almost every subsequent US census record on which Edna appears, she was born in Denmark in about 1877-1878 and arrived in the US in 1903. I do not have any records that reveal more precisely where or when she was born, who her parents were, or when she arrived in the US.

In 1910, Louis and Edna were still living in Kansas City, and Louis was working in a butcher shop. They also had a boarder living with them.

Louis Adler 1910 US census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Kansas Ward 9, Jackson, Missouri; Roll: T624_787; Page: 16a; Enumeration District: 0119; FHL microfilm: 1374800, Enumeration District: 0119; Description: Kansas City, Old Ward 9 (part) Precinct 10, New Ward 9 (part)
Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census

By December 14, 1917, when Louis filed the first document (see 1917 document above) to register as an “alien enemy”  to obtain a permit to do business, Louis and Edna had moved from Kansas City to Leavenworth, Kansas, and Louis now was self-employed as a dairy farmer. The registration affidavit he filed a few months later in February 1918 (see above) also indicated that he was a “dairyman” living in Leavenworth.

Louis (despite being an alien enemy) registered for the US draft on September 12, 1918, listing Edna as his wife and his occupation as dairyman.

Louis Adler, World War I draft registration, Registration State: Kansas; Registration County: Leavenworth County, Draft Card: A, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

In looking for more information about Louis, I ran across numerous newspaper articles dated between 1918 and 1924 in which Louis was involved in either a legal dispute or a criminal charge. It seems he was a man who couldn’t escape conflicts.

Louis’ public problems seemed to start in July 1918 when his truck was hit by a train while he was taking two calves and a pig to the market in Kansas City. His truck was badly damaged and one of the calves was killed, but Louis escaped without injury. I did not find any articles following up on this incident.

“Train Hits Louis Adler,” The Leavenworth (Kansas) Post, July 25, 1918

But a year later on July 9, 1919, Louis was arrested and charged with selling milk that did not meet the standards required for the sale of milk in Leavenworth.

“Arrest a Milk Man,” Leavenworth (Kansas) Tribune, July 9, 1919

This would not be the last time he was accused of this behavior. In fact over and over again, Louis’ legal problems made the newspapers, often on the front page.

Less than a year later he was again charged with selling substandard milk. According to an article in the February 4, 1920, Leavenworth Tribune, Louis had been convicted on the earlier charge but released on a technicality because the ordinance regulating the sale of milk had been too vague. That ordinance had since been amended to provide more clarity. The February 4, 1920, article reported that “[f]our samples bought after the milk had been sold by Adler and while it was in bottles sealed by him showed, after straining, to have contained a quantity of dirt, according to [the inspector].”6 Yuck…

Louis’ troubles continued in June 1920 when he was sued by a local garage owner for non-payment of a bill for repairs to his truck. The headline on the article first discussing this lawsuit read, “Adler In Trouble Again.” Louis was ultimately held liable for payment of the bill.7

Meanwhile, the 1920 US census showed Louis and Edna in Leavenworth and owning a dairy farm where both were working. They had no children of their own, but living with them, as described on the census report, were Louis’ “brother” Julius and his three children. Julius was a widower and a baker born in about 1887. This really puzzled me. Who was Julius? I had no brother named Julius for Louis. I was intrigued. But that’s a story for another post.

Louis Adler 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Leavenworth Ward 6, Leavenworth, Kansas; Roll: T625_537; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 109, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census

Louis continued to have legal problems in 1921. In January he was arrested for disturbing the peace because he made “uncomplimentary remarks” about officials who were removing fixtures from a local hotel A subsequent article described his behavior as “loud and boisterous.” Ultimately Louis pled guilty, was sentenced to ten days in jail and subjected to a ten dollar fine; both penalties were then suspended by the judge.8

The Leavenworth (Kansas) Times, January 20, 1921, p. 6

In April 1921, there was another train collision with a vehicle owned by Louis Adler. Louis was not driving this time; one of his hired drivers was. As the article in the April 24, 1921 Leavenworth Times reported:

“Team is Killed by Train Crash, Driver Escapes,” The Leavenworth (Kansas) Times, April 24, 1921, p. 2

Louis sued the railroad and ultimately received a verdict in his favor and a judgment of $350.9

On September 14, 1921, despite all these lawsuits and arrests, Louis became a naturalized citizen of the United States (after claiming on earlier census reports that he was already naturalized).10 But his legal problems did not end. In March 1922, he was sued by a man who had purchased a cow from Louis and claimed that Louis had misrepresented how much milk the cow would produce. Louis lost this case and was found liable for $150 to the plaintiff.11 In July 1922, the Adlers were both sued by an ice cream company that claimed the Adlers owed $274.25 for milk and flour it sold to them.12

Things got worse when Louis was found guilty of violating Prohibition laws in March 1924. One article described him as the “king of the bootleggers” after two police raids found liquor on his property. A first raid uncovered 78 gallons of corn whiskey and a later one fifty gallons of corn whiskey.

The (Leavenworth, Kansas) Chronicle, March 14, 1924, p. 1

A subsequent article in the Leavenworth Chronicle described Louis as a “wholesale moonshiner” and a “persistent violator of the prohibitionary law.” He was fined $1500 and sentenced to eighteen months in jail. As the article so glibly commented, he “may, on conviction, be away from the giddy whirl of society for a long, long time.”13

Louis appealed his conviction, but it was upheld by the Kansas Supreme Court with respect to the possession of alcohol.14

The court concluded:15

The defendants were also convicted of having intoxicating liquor in their possession. Thirteen five-gallon containers of whisky were found hidden in a barn on the Adler premises, which were claimed by them, however, to have been leased to some one else—a claim which the jury were warranted in discrediting. Other five-gallon bottles of whisky were also found along a fence under garbage cans in the street abutting on the Adler place, and in a neighboring ditch. The contention is made that there was no evidence of any of this liquor having been in the possession of the defendants, and particularly of Mrs. Adler. There was evidence fairly open to interpretation as showing an effort on the part of both to bribe the officers to abandon the raid and let them alone, after liquor had been discovered in the barn, and this with other circumstances warranted the verdict rendered.

I don’t know whether or how much time Louis spent in prison for this conviction.

And he didn’t learn his lesson! Despite this conviction, Louis continued to be involved in some aspects of bootlegging. In April 1931 he went on trial in federal court on charges of possession and transportation of liquor after authorities allegedly found fifty gallons of liquor in his car. Louis claimed he’d been framed because he had information that a group of men including the Leavenworth chief of police were selling liquor.16

I did not locate any later articles about Louis Adler after the 1931 arrest for possession and transportation of alcohol. Maybe that arrest really marked the end of his legal troubles or, more likely, maybe I just can’t find any more articles because the newspaper databases I use do not have Leavenworth papers for the years between 1925-1942.

Louis Adler died on February 1, 1942;17 he was 57 years old. Despite all the newspaper coverage of his life in earlier years, I could not locate one obituary for him. Sometime before 1950 his widow Edna remarried; her second husband was George W. Edwards.18 Edna died on May 14, 1959, in Leavenworth, Texas. She is buried in the same cemetery as both her husbands, Mount Muncie Cemetery in Lansing, Kansas. Her name on her headstone has both of her husbands’ surnames: Edna Adler Edwards.19

I wish I knew more about Louis Adler and why he was so often embroiled in legal troubles. Was it resentment on his part after being treated as an “alien enemy” during World War I? Or was he targeted because he was a German immigrant? Or because he was Jewish? Or was he just a difficult person, one who had left home as a troubled teenager? Whatever the reasons for all his troubles, it is noteworthy that his wife Edna stayed with him to the bitter end.

I will be taking the next two weeks off from blogging, but will be back during the first week of December. Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving a bit early!

 

 

  1. Louis Adler, Age in 1910 26, Birth Date 1884, Birthplace Germany, Home in 1910 Kansas Ward 9, Jackson, Missouri, USA, Immigration Year 1900, Relation to Head of House Head, Marital Status Married, Father’s Birthplace Germany, Mother’s Birthplace Germany, Native Tongue English, Occupation Butcher, Enumeration District Number 0119, Years Married 4, Enumerated Year 1910, Year: 1910; Census Place: Kansas Ward 9, Jackson, Missouri; Roll: T624_787; Page: 16a; Enumeration District: 0119; FHL microfilm: 1374800, Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. On April 6, 1917, after the US entered World War I against Germany, President Woodrow Wilson invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to require all male German immigrants over the age of fourteen to register as an “alien enemy.” They were photographed and fingerprinted and in some cases detained. See Wilson’s speech here https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/april-6-1917-proclamation-1364. See also Tim Balk, “A History of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798,” The New York Times, March 21, 2025, at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/us/politics/trump-alien-enemies-act-history.html ↩
  3. Louis Adler, 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Leavenworth Ward 6, Leavenworth, Kansas; Roll: T625_537; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 109, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  4. Louis Adler, 1925 Kansas Census, Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1925 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: KS1925_76; Line: 19, Ancestry.com. Kansas, U.S., State Census Collection, 1855-1925 ↩
  5. Louis Adler, Marriage Date 24 Mar 1906 Marriage Place Jackson, Kansas City, Missouri, USA, Spouse Edna Anderson, Missouri State Archives; Jefferson City, MO, USA; Missouri Marriage Records [Microfilm], Year or Year Range: 1905-1906, Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Marriage Records, 1805-2002 ↩
  6. “Milkman is Arrested,” Leavenworth (Kansas) Tribune, February 4, 1920, p. 8. ↩ ↩
  7. “Adler in Trouble Again,” Leavenworth (Kansas) Tribune, June 22, 1920, p. 1; “Judgment of $75 in Repairs,” The Leavenworth (Kansas) Times, June 23, 1920. ↩
  8. “Adler Finds Friend in Mr. Roy Hubbard,” Leavenworth (Kansas) Tribune, January 25, 1921, p. 1. ↩
  9. “Jury Deliberates More Than Hour; Adler Gets $350,” The Leavenworth (Kansas) Times, February 16, 1922, p. 10 ↩
  10. Louis Adler, Naturalization Age 36, Record Type Naturalization, Birth Date 4 Dec 1884, Arrival Date 1 Apr 1901, Arrival Place New York, Naturalization Date 14 Sep 1921, Naturalization Place Leavenworth, Kansas, USA, Naturalization Courthouse District Court, The National Archives at Kansas City; Kansas City, Missouri; Naturalization Index for the Western District of Missouri, compiled 1930 – 1950, documenting the period ca. 1848 – ca. 1950; Record Group Title: Records of the District Courts of the United States; Record Group Number: RG 21, Ancestry.com. Missouri, U.S., Western District Naturalization Index, 1840-1990 ↩
  11. “Ten Jurors Sit in Damage Suit,” The Leavenworth (Kansas) Times, March 14, 1922, p. 3; “Verdict Favors Martin Grabish in Damage Suit,” The Leavenworth (Kansas) Times, March 21, 1922, p. 2 ↩
  12. “Company Files Suit Against Louis Adler,” The Leavenworth (Kansas) Times, July 7, 1922, p. 1 ↩
  13. The (Leavenworth, Kansas) Chronicle, March 21, 1924, p. 1 ↩
  14. Kansas v. Adler, Supreme Court of Kansas, 119 Kan. 757, 241 P. 119 (1926). A separate verdict for maintaining a “liquor nuisance” where liquor was kept and sold was overturned due to a legal technicality. ↩
  15. Ibid, at 759. ↩
  16. “Kansas Farmer Will Face Liquor Charges,” The (Manhattan, Kansas) Morning Chronicle, April 16, 1931, p. 1 ↩
  17. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/182868544/louis-adler: accessed October 30, 2025), memorial page for Louis Adler (4 Dec 1884–1 Feb 1942), Find a Grave Memorial ID 182868544, citing Mount Muncie Cemetery, Lansing, Leavenworth County, Kansas, USA; Maintained by KAB (contributor 47294688). ↩
  18. Edna and George Edwards, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Leavenworth, Leavenworth, Kansas; Roll: 1825; Page: 22; Enumeration District: 52-43, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  19. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/182868648/edna-edwards: accessed October 30, 2025), memorial page for Edna Adler Edwards (1876–1959), Find a Grave Memorial ID 182868648, citing Mount Muncie Cemetery, Lansing, Leavenworth County, Kansas, USA; Maintained by KAB (contributor 47294688). ↩

Sara Rothschild Adler, Part I: Ten Children in Seventeen Years

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Having completed the story of Malchen Rothschild Rosenblatt, I will now move on to the tenth child of Gelle Blumenfeld and Simon Rothschild, their daughter Sara. Fortunately her family has happier stories than those of some of her siblings.

Sara Rothschild was born on either January 6, 1859, or January 3, 1860, in Waltersbrueck, Germany. Her marriage and death records indicate the January 3, 1860, date, but there was no record of her birth on that date in the archives for Waltersbrueck. The birth record below, however, appears to be for Sara (Sarchen) and shows a birth date of January 6, 1859. It’s difficult to read, but the baby’s name is Sarchen, and in very faint letters you can see that the father is Simon and the mother’s name is Gelle Blumenfeld of Momberg. You will need to click on the image and zoom in to see the writing.

Sara Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 30, found at https://digitalisate-he.arcinsys.de/hhstaw/365/893/00030.jpg

Sara married Moses Adler on December 26, 1883, in Waltersbrueck. He was the son of Selig Adler and Amalie Winkler and was born in Desenberg, Germany, on April 25, 1858. (Notice the January 3, 1860 birthdate for Sara.)

Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8409, Year Range: 1883, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Sara and Moses had ten children. Their first was Louis, born December 4, 1884, in Niedermeiser, Germany.

Louis Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 909; Signatur: 7410, Year Range: 1884, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-190

Then came Siegmund, born March 10, 1886, in Niedermeiser.

Siegmund Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 909; Signatur: 7412, Year Range: 1886, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

The third child was Joseph, born July 28, 1887, in Niedermeiser. Joseph proved to be a real challenge to track down later, as we will see.

Joseph Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 909; Signatur: 7413, Year Range: 1887, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

After three sons, Sara and Moses next had a girl, Caroline (also known as Grete), born on August 13, 1889, in Niedermeiser.

Caroline Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 909; Signatur: 7415, Year Range: 1889, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Sara and Moses’ second daughter Malchen was born on March 15, 1891, in Niedermeiser.

Malchen Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 909; Signatur: 7417, Year Range: 1891, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Then came another daughter, Emmi, born in Niedermeiser on September 4, 1892.

Emmi Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 909; Signatur: 7418, Year Range: 1892, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Their seventh child was Tekla, born November 23, 1893 in Niedermeiser. Tekla died when she was only twelve years old on June 17, 1906 in Grebenstein, Germany.

Tekla Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 909; Signatur: 7419, Year Range: 1893, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Tekla Adler death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Signatur: 3052; Laufende Nummer: 909, Year Range: 1906, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Another boy was born next. David (also known as Theodore) was born on July 2, 1895, in Niedermeiser.

David Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 909; Signatur: 7422, Year Range: 1895, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Then came Betty (also known as Jenny), born on September 20, 1898, in Grebenstein, so the family must have relocated to Grebenstein sometime between July 1895 and September 1898.

Betti Adler birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Signatur: 2954, Year Range: 1898, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Sara and Moses’ last child was Adolph/Adolf Adler, and he died when he was nine months old in Grebenstein on February 25, 1902. I couldn’t locate a birth record, but I can infer from his death record that he was probably born in May, 1901. UPDATE: Richard Bloomfield found in the Arcinsys Archives of Hessen a database of headstone inscriptions from the cemetery in Grebenstein that included information from Adolph’s headstone indicating that he was born on May 11, 1901.

Arcinsys Archives of Hessen, HHStAW, 365, 378, p. 6, found at https://digitalisate-he.arcinsys.de/hhstaw/365/378/00006.jpg

Adolf Adler death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Signatur: 3048; Laufende Nummer: 909, Year Range: 1902, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Of the ten children born to Sara Rothschild and Moses Adler, eight survived to adulthood: Louis, Siegmund, Joseph, Malchen, Caroline, Emmi, Tekla, David, and Betty Jenny. Miraculously, all eight survived the Holocaust, and all ended up in the United States. Some came long before Hitler came to power, some came after. But they all survived. I will tell all of their stories in the posts to come.

 

 

 

Lotte Nathan: Carrying and Passing on Family Trauma

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Although I couldn’t find out what happened to Bertha Katzenstein Nathan Langebartels, I learned from her naturalization papers that Bertha had had a child with her first husband, Hermann Nathan, named Lotte. Lotte, according to the naturalization petition, was born on May 1, 1915, in Hamburg, Germany. She would have been only eleven years old when her mother and stepfather immigrated to the US in 1926, but she did not come with them. The naturalization petition stated that she “lives in Germany.” The petition also indicated that Friedrich and Bertha had last resided in Hamburg before coming to the United States. I hoped to find Lotte as another way of learning what happened to her mother.

Bertha Katzenstein Langebartels Weber petition for naturalization, The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Petitions For Naturalization From the U.s. District Court For the Southern District of New York, 1897-1944; Series: M1972; Roll: 542
Description
Archive Roll Descriptions: (Roll 0542) Petition No· 124777-Petition No· 125042
Source Information
Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1882-1944

My hunch is that Lotte stayed behind with her father Hermann Nathan, but I can’t be certain. But I do know that sometime during or before 1936 Lotte married Emil Fischbein because on September 8, 1936, they left Germany and immigrated to Palestine as a married couple.1 Emil was born in Duisburg, Germany, on September 15, 1912, but was of Polish nationality, according to his Palestine immigration documents; one tree on MyHeritage created by his great-grandson Gil reports that Emil’s parents were Isaak and Esther Fischbein, both born in what is now Poland. German law at that time provided that children born to non-German parents were not considered German.

Emil and Lotte’s Palestine immigration documents also include Lotte’s passport,2 which was issued as a Fremdenpass, or a passport issued by the German government to non-Germans living in Germany. Lotte was not eligible for a regular German passport—either because she had married a “foreigner” or because she was Jewish. Jews whose citizenship had been revoked also were granted Fremdenpasses, not regular German passports.

Lotte’s passport was issued on August 15, 1931, from Koeln (Cologne), which suggests that she was living in the German state of North Rhine Westphalia in 1931, not in Hamburg where she was born and where her mother and stepfather had been living before going to the US. It also appears that Lotte’s father Hermann Nathan was not living in North Rhine Westphalia; he was born in Wittingen3 and in 1939 was living in Hildesheim, both of which are located in the German state of Lower Saxony. Emil, however, was born in Duisburg, which is in North Rhine Westphalia, so perhaps that is where they connected with each other.

By October 15, 1940, when Lotte and Emil obtained Palestinian citizenship, they were living in Haifa and had a son, Hanan, who was born on August 11, 1937, in Haifa.4 Through MyHeritage, I located one of their descendants to learn more about Lotte and her family. Gil is Lotte’s great-grandson; his grandfather was Hanan, the baby born in Haifa in 1937. He told me that family lore is that Lotte left Emil and Hanan when Hanan was a child and went to England with an English soldier.

Some trees on Ancestry and MyHeritage indicate that she married Ronald Francis George Buchanan and died in England in 1971. There is a death record on Ancestry for  Lotte Emma B. Buchanan born on May 1, 1915, the day Lotte Nathan was born; the index indicated that she died in the fall of 1971 in Nottingham, England.5 Another record on Ancestry indicates that she died on November 21, 1971, and was cremated in Nottinghamshire on November 24, 1971.6

Lotte Nathan Fischbein Buchanan had a family history and personal history that was difficult. Her grandmother Bertha Metz died from complications of childbirth just two weeks after giving birth to Lotte’s mother Bertha Katzenstein in New York. Bertha Katzenstein was then taken by her father Adolf to Germany, away from her mother’s family.

Then Lotte’s mother Bertha married Hermann Nathan and had Lotte in 1915, only to be divorced from Hermann in 1919 and to marry Friedrich Langebartels in 1921. In 1926 Bertha and Friedrich came to the US and were there at least long enough to file for US citizenship in 1927, leaving Lotte behind in Germany at eleven years old. I don’t know what happened to Bertha after 1927 or whether Lotte ever reunited with her mother.

We know that there is truth to the concept of generational trauma—how the traumas and tragedies suffered by earlier generations are passed down to the children, grandchildren, and so forth of those earlier generations. Bertha Katzenstein grew up without a mother and was taken from the US to Germany as a child by her father, far from her maternal relatives. We don’t know how that trauma affected her, but in some ways her daughter Lotte suffered a similar trauma when her mother Bertha divorced her father, remarried, and left Lotte behind after moving to the US with her second husband. And then Lotte inflicted a similar trauma on her son Hanan, leaving him behind when she remarried and moved to England.

How tragic it is that the scars of one generation can be so easily passed on to the later generations.

 

  1. Emil and Lotte’s application for citizenship in Palestine in 1940 was found at the Israel State Archives website, temporarily found at https://search.archives.gov.il/, after a cyberattack on their main site. ↩
  2. See Note 1, supra. ↩
  3. Hermann Nathan and Bertha Katzenstein marriage record, Year Range and Volume: 1913 Band 01, Ancestry.com. Hamburg, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1920 ↩
  4. See Palestine immigration documents above. ↩
  5. Name Lottie Emma B Buchanan, Death Age 56, Birth Date 1 May 1915, Registration Date Oct 1971, [Nov 1971] [Dec 1971], Registration Quarter Oct-Nov-Dec, Registration District Nottingham, Inferred County Nottinghamshire, Volume 3c
    Page 1274, General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: 3c; Page: 1274, Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 ↩
  6. Name Lottie Emma Bertha Buchanan, Register Type Cremation, Death Date 21 Nov 1971, Burial or Cremation Date 24 Nov 1971, Burial or Cremation Place Nottinghamshire, Deceased Online; Kettering, England, UK; Deceased Online Burial Indexes, Ancestry.com. Web: UK, Burial and Cremation Index, 1576-2024 ↩