Milton Goldsmith’s Family Album, Part XI: Tributes to His Father Abraham

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This is Part X of an ongoing series of posts based on the family album of Milton Goldsmith, so generously shared with me by his granddaughter Sue. See Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V,  Part VI, Part VII , Part VIII,  Part IX and Part X at the links.

The next two pages in Milton Goldsmith’s family album focus on his father Abraham. The first of those two pages consists of newspaper articles about Abraham.

Unfortunately I do not know the actual papers from which these articles were clipped, but this obituary was dated within the week after Abraham’s death on January 27, 1902, in Philadelphia:

Abraham was certainly active in his community.  How he had the time while raising all those children and earning a living is bewildering.

The next article that appears on this page relates to a tribute paid to Abraham by United Hebrew Charities at the time of his death:

The next article must have been published while Abraham was still alive. It relates to a resolution adopted by United Hebrew Charities to honor Abraham at the time he resigned from his position as secretary of that organization. Unfortunately the clipping is not in good condition and some of the words are not legible.

The second page of Milton’s tributes to his father Abraham has some items that are more personal.

This biography appears on that page. Again, Milton did not indicate where or when this was published:

This note written by Abraham when his wife Cecelia died seems almost journalistic in tone except for the opening and the last sentence:

My dear Cecilia died on Nov 8th 1874 after a short illness.

She complained of not feeling well on Monday evening the 2nd [?] but did not get [?] sick until the 5th in the PM. 

She was buried on Thursday the 12th November 11 o’clk am at Mount Sinai Cemetery.

Peace to her asked.

To the left and under Abraham’s note about his wife’s death, there is a poem by Milton written sometime in the 1890s, long after his mother died:

I assume this poem was somehow inspired by Milton’s experience losing his mother when he was just thirteen.

Under the poem he pasted this note written by his father Abraham in 1877:

My son Milton left from New York for Europe on the City of Richmond on Saturday morning Sept [?] 11:25

I do wonder whether there is some connection between the poem and the note. Anyone have any ideas?

The remaining two notes are in German.  I turned to the German Genealogy group for help.

The first note is dated around the same time as the note about Milton’s trip to Europe, September 1877:

The members of the German Genealogy group transcribed this as follows, “Gott sei mit dir! Der liebe Gott behüte und beschütze dich und gebe dir seinen Segen. Amen”

And translated it as, “May God be with you! May the good God keep and protect you and give you His blessing. From your father, Abr(aham) Goldsmith.”

Alfred, Abraham’s first child with Francis, his second wife, was born on August 11, 1877, just 20 days before Abraham wrote this note. I assume this was a prayer for his newborn son. I wonder where it had been kept that Milton found it and preserved it for posterity.

And then finally there is this note:

This one was transcribed by a German Genealogy group member as, “Auf Alle deiner Wegen, bleib Tugendhaft und rein; dann wird der himmlische Segen, stets deine Begleiter sein. Dein Papa, Abr. Goldsmith”

That translates to, “In all your ways, remain virtuous and pure, then heavenly blessings will always be your companions. Your papa, Abr. Goldsmith.”

As this one is dated 1880, I think Abraham wrote this blessing for his daughter Alice, who was born on August 29, 1880.

I wonder whether Abraham wrote these notes of blessing for each of his many children and if so, why only these two have survived. And where did he keep them that Milton found them and preserved them so that they could be read on the internet almost 140 years later?

27 thoughts on “Milton Goldsmith’s Family Album, Part XI: Tributes to His Father Abraham”

  1. These wonderful documents have suffered some damage over the past 140 years. Perhaps they have been stored in a humid environment and thus suffered some water damage. But its content is still clearly visible and has impressed me through a spirit of deep faith. The verses in the notes and poems have a scriptural ring, which is undeniable. I would translate ‘lieber Gott’ as ‘dear God’ rather than ‘good God’. Another great post on Milton’s family album, Amy!

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thank you, Peter. Dear God makes a lot more sense to me also. And yes, Abraham was clearly a man of faith. It’s interesting that he turned to German for these prayers—he must have felt more comfortable with his native tongue when expressing personal and religious feelings.

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  2. Every time I read a post from this album I feel more and more strongly that this is a major historical document, not just for your family but for the Jewish community of Philadelphia. Has there been any discussion of donating to a Jewish Museum or even a duplicate of this diary or even your blog postings?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Sharon—Sue and I have not discussed that. We have discussed doing something to preserve it physically. But you have raised a good question. It’s really up to Sue since she owns the album itself. Of course, I’d be happy to share my blog posts with anyone who is interested. Thanks.

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  3. It is great when family documents have been preserved. Letters, photo albums, etc. are a treasure. Not everyone appreciates these things, but through family letters long held we were able establish family line ties and locate distant relatives. It is amazing what you can find on the newspaper websites as well.

    Liked by 1 person

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  4. Does anyone on this blog know what the best place to donate this album would be? If there is a a Jewish historical society in Philadelphia that would preserve and perhaps display it? If so I might be willing to donate it.

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  7. Pingback: Milton Goldsmith’s Family Album, Part XII: The Mystery of His Stepmother Francis | Brotmanblog: A Family Journey

  8. Pingback: Milton’s Family Album, Part XIII: The Creative Talent of Milton Goldsmith Himself | Brotmanblog: A Family Journey

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