Regina Goldschmidt Meyer: Another Young Widow

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Now I turn to Jacob Goldschmidt and Jettchen Cahn’s second daughter Regina Goldschmidt, who married eight months after her older sister Helene. She married Aaron Meyer in Frankfurt on August 26, 1874. Aaron was born on October 10, 1846, in Linz, Germany, to Abraham Meyer and Amalie Jacob.

Marriage record of Regina Goldschmidt and Aaron Meyer, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland, Year Range: 1874, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Regina and Aaron had six sons and one daughter.

Alfred Meyer was born on June 16, 1875, in Frankfurt.

Alfred Meyer, birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 903_8865, Year Range: 1875, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Jacob Meyer was born on September 29, 1876, in Frankfurt.

Jacob Meyer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 903_8895 Description Year Range: 1876 Source Information Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Max Meyer was born on May 13, 1878, in Frankfurt:

Max Meyer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 903_8917, Year Range: 1878, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Siegfried Meyer was born on August 16, 1881, in Frankfurt:

Siegfried Meyer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 903_8957, Year Range: 1881, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

A fifth son, Sally Meyer, was born on February 26, 1883, but died just a few days later on March 2, 1883, in Frankfurt.

Sally Meyer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903; Laufende Nummer: 145, Year Range: 1883, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Sally Meyer, death record, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 10361
Year Range: 1883, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Regina and Aaron’s sixth son Ferdinand Meyer was born on April 27, 1886, in Frankfurt.

Ferdinand Meyer birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 903_9017, Year Range: 1886, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Finally, Regina and Aaron had a daughter Amalie Meyer, who was born on January 12, 1892, in Frankfurt:

Amalie Meyer, brith record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 903_9100, Year Range: 1892,  Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Like her sister Helene and her mother Jettchen, Regina was widowed at a relatively young age. Aaron Meyer died on December 30, 1902. He was only 56 years old, and Regina was 47. Their six surviving children ranged in age from 27 (Alfred) to ten years old (Amalie).

Aaron Meyer, death record, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 10565
Year Range: 1902, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

I have not yet found any marriage records for Alfred Meyer or Siegfried Meyer, but Regina’s other children all married.

Jacob Meyer married Elli Loeser on February 26, 1906. She was born June 24, 1884, in Koln, Germany, to Ferdinand Loeser and Helene Doctor.

Marriage record for Jacob Meyer Elli Loeser, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Signatur: 9690, Year Range: 1906, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

According to Roger Cibella and David Baron’s research, Jacob and Elli had three children, Lotte (1907), Hilde (19120, and Arthur (1916).

Sadly, Jacob Meyer died when he was 51 on August 23, 1928. He was survived by his wife Elli and their children.

Jacob Meyer, death record, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 903; Signatur: 10941
Year Range: 1928, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Max Meyer married Anna Katzenstein on February 28, 1910, in Eschwege, Germany.  She was born in that town on December 19, 1886, to Gustav Katzenstein and Julia Loewenstein Kayser.

Marriage of Max Meyer and Anna Katzenstein, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 923, Year Range: 1910, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

According to Cibella/Baron, Max and Anna had one child, and I am looking for a record to establish that connection.

Ferdinand Meyer married Friederike Jaenecke on February 6, 1920, in Frankfurt. She was born to Karl Adelbert Jaenecke and Friederike Elisabethe Weber on July 6, 1891, in Frankfurt. Friederike was Protestant, not Jewish, one of the few “mixed marriages” I’ve encountered in my research of my relatives living in Germany during this time period.

Ferdinand Meyer and Friederike Jaenecke marriage record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 903, Year Range: 1920, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Ferdinand and Friederike had two children. Eleanora Meyer was born in Frankfurt on August 23, 1919. I do not have a birth record for her, but obtained this date from her parents’ naturalization papers filed years later.1 I noticed, of course, that her birth date was almost six months before Ferdinand and Friederike’s wedding on February 6, 1920. I assume that Ferdinand was nevertheless the biological father. This also may explain the unlikely marriage of a Jew and a Protestant in 1920.

Their second child, Erich Adelbert Meyer, was born on January 30, 1924, in Frankfurt.2

Finally, Regina and Aaron’s youngest child and only daughter, Amallie Meyer, married Charles Bloch in Frankfurt on November 24, 1911. Charles was born on August 14, 1881, in Frankfurt, to Julius Bloch and Clara Herzberg.

Marriage record of Amalie Meyer and Charles Bloch, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 923, Year Range: 1910, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

Amalie and Charles had a daughter Ilse (or Else) Helen Bloch born in Frankfurt on May 30, 1913.3

Thus, by 1933, Regina Goldschmidt Meyer had survived her husband Aaron and two of her children, Jacob and Sally. Her other five children and her many grandchildren were still living when Hitler came to power in 1933.

We will pick up with Regina and her family in the next series of posts.

 

  1. Friederike Meyer naturationalization papers, National Archives at Boston; Waltham, Massachusetts; ARC Title: Petitions and Records of Naturalization , 8/1845 – 12/1911; NAI Number: 3000057; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: RG 21, Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1798-1950 ↩
  2. Erich Meyer naturalization papers, The National Archives at Atlanta, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; ARC Title: Petitions for Naturalization, compiled 1880 – 1975; NAI Number: 2111793; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States; Record Group Number: 21, Ancestry.com. Florida, Naturalization Records, 1847-1995 ↩
  3. Else Helen Bloch naturalization papers, Declaration Date: 2 Sep 1941
    Declaration Place: New York, Court: U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Declaration Number: 498770, Box Number: 372, The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; NAI Title: Declarations of Intention for Citizenship, 1/19/1842 – 10/29/1959; NAI Number: 4713410; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21,
    Ancestry.com. New York, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩

30 thoughts on “Regina Goldschmidt Meyer: Another Young Widow”

  1. Inter-confessional marriages were frowned upon. Having a child often forced the issue and made the opposing families agree to the wedding as the lesser ‘evil’. It will be interesting to read about the fate of Regina and her family during the Nazi era.

    Liked by 1 person

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      • Gee, I didn’t think I was! I thought you were teaching me a new word, and I think you did. Perhaps that’s the term used when Christians from different sects marry each other? Do you think it comes from Germany or Canada?

        Liked by 1 person

      • I believe I got the idea from my German background. Your story reminded me of the tragical events of my wife’s mother who loved and lost the father of her daughter (my wife’s stepsister) under similar circumstances. Her story will eventually be told on this blog, when I am done with my own family.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. I think in those days many died in their early 50s de to heart disease or other issues. And it was not even considered ‘young,’ but more average. Living into your 80s was the more unusual. I was happy to see that all of their children lived to adult hood!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

    • Yes, though to be a widow at 47 with a ten year old child still seems awfully sad. (And not all the children did since Sally died as a baby, but I know what you mean!)

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

    • Hi. Your comment helps me articulate what struck me in this and the last few postings. There are certain factors like lifestyle and diet that cause frequency of a disease or diseases in a community that recir over a long period pf time In my own family there were many cases of stomach cancer from 1920s to 1940s. One possible cause that has been studied was the use of certain chemicals and casings when processing the kind of saisages favored by Italian immigrants to America.
      There were no more deaths from stomach camcer in the family after that because after the 1940s meat processing changed. I found the info in English by surfing online. The challenge is finding it in everyday language. Some of what turned up was very technical.

      Liked by 2 people

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      • That’s fascinating (and tragic) about the sausage. There were so many industries and foods that exposed people to dangerous chemicals. It makes me wonder what else we are still ingesting that will cause us harm.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Hi Amy, my grandparents were married in 1930, an inter-faith marriage the same as Regina’s, so I’m looking forward to reading more of her life story. People took a dim view of these circumstances, has it relaxed any in our current times I wonder?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • I think it depends on the people and the place, as with most things. I know people who once thought it would be awful to have a child marry someone who wasn’t Jewish and now embrace their non-Jewish sons-in-law and daughters-in-law completely, and I know others who would still be horrified. I care more about whether the person is a good, loving, kind, and loyal partner than his or her religion. I don’t know how Christians or Muslims feel about their children marrying out of the faith.

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  4. Like you, the qualities I look for in a partner (for myself if I were looking, and for those I love) are quite unrelated to their religious faith. I can only imagine it being an issue If that version of “faith” involved intolerance towards others.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply ↓

  5. I look forward to learning more about Regina’s family, too. The matter of inter-faith marriages is very close to me because my paternal Grandmother was born and raised Orthodox Jewish. She left the faith to marry my paternal Grandfather. It was a true love match and they were well suited to each other. Grandma Blanche was a modest woman because of her upbringing, very morally and socially conservative. A good mother and faithful wife. It was never enough for my Grandfather’s family. This affected my Dad and then me very much. I am looking forward to what Amy finds out about Ferdinand and Friederike as well as the rest of Regina’s family.

    Amy’s family lines always show an entrepreneurial spirit so I’m hoping to see positive developments for the family members who made it to the USA and allied countries.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • That’s so sad that their parents never accepted the marriage—I assume on both sides. It happened and still happens much too often. I think we all understand the desire to carry on religious and other traditions. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But to make our children unhappy in order to do that just seems to be misplacing priorities.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

      • Yes, it was both sides. I will write about it in my blog since anti-Semitism helped shape who my Dad and I became. It was a poison from others as Dad said but how we responded determined if we lived or died–in a spiritual and emotional sense. I think we became stronger and gained better insights from the pain.

        Liked by 1 person

      • I am looking forward to reading about this, Emily. It’s unfortunately something that many have experienced.

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  6. Pingback: Regina Goldschmidt’s Children: Did They Escape in Time or Not? | Brotmanblog: A Family Journey

  7. Pingback: Amalie Meyer Bloch: Where Was Her Husband During the War? | Brotmanblog: A Family Journey

  9. Pingback: Ferdinand and Friederike Meyer: Why Did She Stay Behind? | Brotmanblog: A Family Journey

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