Category Archives: Genealogy

Aron Rothschild: An Elusive Subject

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Returning now to the story of Gelle Blumenfeld Rothschild’s son Moses Rothschild, this post is about his youngest child, Aron Rothschild. We’ve already seen that Aron married Martha Schoenholz in 1918 and that they had a son Melville born in 1919. In 1920 Aron was in his own business selling beads and novelties. Finding Aron after 1920 proved to be a challenging search.

I could not find Aron on the 1930 census, but I did find his wife Martha and son Melville (10) on that census; they were living with Martha’s mother Clothilde Schoenholz in Manhattan; Aron was not listed in the household, but Martha still listed her status as married. She was working as a salesperson in a department store. Where was Aron? I do not know. Somehow he eluded the census enumerator in 1930. Or so it seems.

Martha Rothschild 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Page: 20A; Enumeration District: 0512; FHL microfilm: 2341295, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census

Aron does, however, turn up on the 1940 census, living in the Bronx as a lodger with Nathan and Anna Braverman, two Russian immigrants. He listed his marital status as single and his employment as a salesman in a house furnishings store.1

Meanwhile, Aron’s wife Martha and their son Melville were still living with Martha’s mother in 1940; they were in Manhattan, and Martha, still listing her status as married, was working as a “saleslady” in a dress store. Melville, now twenty, was working as a junior salesman in a pleating factory.2

So although Aron had listed himself as single on the 1940 census, Martha still claimed that she was married in 1940. It would seem, however, that their marital relationship had ended by 1940, whether legally dissolved or not.

Aron’s 1942 World War II draft registration reported that he was then living in Manhattan and was self-employed. He listed “M. Alexander” as the person who would always know his address. That referred to his brother-in-law Max Alexander, who was married to Aron’s sister Theresa and living at that address.

Aron Rothschild, World War II draft registration, The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 14
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

Aron’s son Melville registered for the World War II draft on October 16, 1940; at that time he was living in Los Angeles and would not provide the name of his employer, according to the registration. He joined the US Army on February 22, 1943, and was discharged on January 11, 1946. He served in the Pacific and received the American Service medal and the Philippines Liberation Ribbon.3

Melville Rothschild, World War II draft registration, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1559 Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1559
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947

On December 7, 1946, in New York, Melville Rothschild took out a license to marry Barbara Sichel.4 Barbara may still be living although she would be over 100; I cannot find a death record or obituary. Melville and Barbara would have two children. I was unable to locate the family on the 1950 US census.

I had a lot of trouble locating Aron Rothschild on the 1950 census or thereafter, but after much investigation, I believe I found him. Here’s my research path:

According to an entry on FindAGrave, Aron died on March 17, 1955, at the age of 73 and is buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery in Queens, New York. But I was skeptical about the reliability of that information. First, Aron’s name was spelled “Aaron” both on FindAGrave and on the cemetery records listed on the Mount Carmel website.  Also, although I have Aron’s Social Security Number, he is not listed in the Social Security Death Index. The FindAGrave entry has his correct birth date, but says he was born in Manhattan Beach in Maryland. I assume the creator of that entry confused Manhattan Beach with Manhattan, New York. But given these inaccuracies—the spelling of the name and the error in the birth place—I worried that the FindAGrave entry could be for an entirely different A[a]ron Rothschild. 5

So I decided to search a little deeper. On FamilySearch, I found a record for an Aaron Rothschild who died in Islip, New York, on March 17, 1955, the same date of death for the Aaron Rothschild buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery and listed on FindAGrave. That listing in the New York State Death Index on FamilySearch gives Aaron Rothschild’s age at death as 71, but my Aron would have been 73 on March 17, 1955.6 So I remained doubtful.

I went back to search the 1950 census again to see if I could find the Aaron Rothschild who died in Islip, and I found him there, a patient at the Pilgrim State Hospital for the Care and Treatment of the Mentally Ill. His marital status was listed as “sep” or separated. His birthplace was “USA” (although transcribed on Ancestry as Virginia). And his age was 68. My cousin Aron Rothschild would have been 68 in April, 1950, when that census record was created.7 Had Aron suffered from mental illness? Was Aron the patient at the Pilgrim State Hospital?

Things certainly were pointing towards this being my Aron with his name misspelled. To know for sure, I needed more information. I could not get a copy of the actual death certificate because I am not a close enough relative to qualify. Instead, I wrote to the Mount Carmel cemetery to ask what information they had about the Aaron Rothschild buried there. Two days later, I received the following information in an email dated January 23, 2025: “The information the Cemetery has on Aaron Rothschild is as follows:  He died at the age of 71 on March 17, 1955, in W Brentwood, New York, and was interred on March 21, 1955.  Sam and Rudolph Rothschild were the lot owners.” [emphasis added.]

That seemed to confirm that the A(a)ron Rothschild who died on March 17, 1955, and is buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Queens, New York, was my cousin Aron Rothschild, son of Moses and Mathilde Rothschild. Brentwood is a small hamlet near Islip, New York, where the Pilgrim State Hospital was located. Although the age of the deceased is off by two years (Aron would have been 73, not 71), the fact that the cemetery plot was owned by Samuel and Rudolph Rothschild, Aron’s oldest brothers, convinced me that the man buried in that plot was their brother Aron.

In fact, Aron’s mother Mathilde, his brothers Samuel and Rudolph, Samuel’s wife Sallye, and Samuel’s grandson Ronald are also buried at Mount Carmel in the same section, 1-B-3-746. Aron’s sister Theresa and her husband Max Alexander are also buried at Mount Carmel in a nearby section, 1-B-4, and Rose Katz Rothschild, Albert Rothschild’s wife, is buried in section 1-C-9. All this further confirms that Aron Rothschild died on March 17, 1955, and is buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery.

As for Aron’s family, his wife Martha Schoenholz Rothschild is listed on the 1950 US census, still living with her mother in Manhattan and working as a “salesgirl” in a dress shop. (She was 59 years old at the time.) Now she listed her marital status as widowed. Was this just a way of avoiding listing her status as divorced? Since Aron was still alive in 1950, Martha was not yet a widow.8 Martha died on April 3, 1959; she was 68 and is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum in Hartsdale, New York.9 She and Aron were survived by their son Melville.

Melville died on June 9, 1978, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, at the age of 58. According to his obituary, he had lived in Edison, New Jersey for 27 years and had been a self-employed retail merchant for many years before spending the last ten years as a security agent for Wells Fargo. Melville was survived by his wife and child.10

This brings me to the end of the saga of Moses Rothschild and his family. Next I will turn to the younger siblings of Moses Rothschild, the remaining seven children of Gelle Blumenfeld Rothschild. Unlike Moses, all seven (as well as the three older children already discussed) remained in Germany for their entire lives. Moses was the only one of the eleven children of Gelle to come to the US and settle there. So it’s back to German research that I now return.

But first a short update on an earlier post about some of my Katzenstein relatives.

 

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  1. Aron Rothschild, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02469; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 3-344, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Martha Rothschild and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02646; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 31-935, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  3. Melville A Rothschild, Race White, Marital Status Single, with dependents (Single), Rank Private, Birth Year 1919, Nativity State or Country New York, Citizenship Citizen
    Residence New York, New York, Education 1 year of high school, Enlistment Date 22 Feb 1943, Enlistment Place New York City, New York, Service Number 32812468
    Branch Branch Immaterial – Warrant Officers, USA, Component Selectees (Enlisted Men), Source Civil Life, Height 69, Weight 150, 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: 05692; Reel: 233, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946. Melville A Rothschild, Rank Private 1st Class, Birth Date 1919, Service Number 32 812 468
    Service Branch US Army, Discharge Date 11 Jan 1946, Death Date 1978, Cemetery Floral Park Cemetery, Cemetery Location Deans, New Jersey, US, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, MO, USA; Applications for Headstones and Markers, 7/1/1970-9/30/1985; NAID: 6016127; Record Group Number: 15; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773-2007, Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985. “Melville A. Rothschild, was clothing merchant,” The Central New Jersey Home News, June 12, 1978, p. 26. ↩
  4. Melville A Rothschild, Gender Male, Marriage License Date 7 Dec 1946, Marriage License Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse Barbara T Sichel
    License Number 41647, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan; Volume Number: 60, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  5. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96201100/aaron-rothschild: accessed January 16, 2025), memorial page for Aaron Rothschild (17 Aug 1881–17 Mar 1955), Find a Grave Memorial ID 96201100, citing Mount Carmel Cemetery, Glendale, Queens County, New York, USA; Maintained by Dave Davisson (contributor 36744121). ↩
  6. “New York, State Death Index, 1880-1956”, , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGK2-WMK4 : Thu Mar 07 21:57:06 UTC 2024), Entry for Aaron Rothchild, 17 Mar 1955. ↩
  7. Aaron Rothschild, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Islip, Suffolk, New York; Roll: 5886; Page: 126; Enumeration District: 52-209B, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  8. Martha Rothschild, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: 2622; Page: 15; Enumeration District: 31-1077, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. Marth Rothschild, Age 65, Birth Date abt 1894, Death Date 3 Apr 1959, Death Place Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 7707, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  10. Melville Rothschild, Social Security Number 084-03-7768, Birth Date 22 Jul 1919
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State New York, Last Benefit 08817, Edison, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA. Death Date Jun 1978, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014. “Melville A. Rothschild, was clothing merchant,” The Central New Jersey Home News, June 12, 1978, p. 26. ↩

Simon’s Secret! Now Available on Amazon!

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Simon’s Secret is now available on Amazon in e-book, paperback, and hardcover!

My third family history novel, Simon’s Secret, is a story inspired by the lives of two of my Goldschmidt relatives, Simon and his daughter Hannah. Simon came to the US in the 1840s with a secret, one he wanted to hide from his family and his new country. His daughter Hannah never understood why he was such a curmudgeon. What was Simon’s secret? Will Hannah ever find out? And will she understand her father better if she does? Like all children, Hannah struggles to understand her father and his secrets.

This book follows the life of the fictionalized version of Simon Goldschmidt from Germany to America. We see how Simon and his family adapt to their new country while also trying to keep the traditions of Judaism that he brought with him from Germany. The story begins in 1826 and extends over a hundred years as we see what happens to Simon, Hannah, and Hannah’s children and grandchildren.

This is a story about a Jewish family, but its lessons are universal. Every generation has its secrets, and every immigrant brings their strengths and weaknesses to their new country as well as the gifts that will come with their descendants.

Celebration of the real Hannah Goldsmith Benedict’s 90th birthday in 1938.

You can find Simon’s Secret here on Amazon. I hope you enjoy it, and if so, please tell your friends and family and leave a review on Amazon.

Thank you!!

Gertrude Rothschild Lancellotti: When and Where Did She Die? Mystery Solved!

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Today I will turn to Moses and Mathilde Rothschild’s fourth child Gertrude Rothschild Lancellotti/Lancelot and her family and their lives from 1930 onward. I have records for most of the vital information, except that I cannot find a death record or obituary or any other information about the death of Gertrude herself. If anyone can help, please let me know!

In 1930 Gertrude was living with her husband Charles Lancelot (sometimes it was shortened this way from Lancellotti, which was also sometimes spelled Lancelotti) in the Bronx, and Charles continued to work as an artist. Neither of their two children, Milton and Estelle, was living with them, and I couldn’t find either of them elsewhere on the 1930 census. Milton would have been 22, and Estelle would have been 19. Was this just a mistaken omission? Or were Milton and Estelle living elsewhere? I don’t know.1

I did find a marriage license record for their daughter Estelle and a man named George Hodges taken out on September 1, 1926, when Estelle was only fifteen,2 but that marriage appears to have been over fairly soon as there was a divorce action by Estelle against George Hodges on August 11, 1927. Because Estelle was a minor, her father Charles acted as her representative and guardian in the divorce action. Where Estelle was living in 1930 after that divorce is still unknown.

Estelle Lancelotti divorce action, Year or Volume: Volume L 1914 – 1938, Ancestry.com. Bronx County, New York, U.S., Divorce and Civil Case Records, 1914

Estelle remarried in 1936 when she was 25. She married Dante V. Somma that year in New Jersey.3 Dante was born on February 21, 1904, in New York to Giovanni/John Somma and Eugenia Mortola. He had been previously married to Josephine Blake Clark, but that marriage had not lasted.4 Prior to marrying Estelle, Dante had been working as a furniture salesman and living in the Bronx.5 Dante and Estelle would have have two children.

Estelle’s brother Milton Lancelot also reappeared in 1936 when he married Dolores De Villasante on September 17, 1936, in Manhattan.6 Dolores was born in Bilbao, Spain, on April 13, 1916, and had immigrated to the US in 1930 from Mexico. Her parents were Alberto De Villasante and Maria Luisa Vidal.7 [Thank you to Eilene Lyons for pointing out that Dolores’ mother was living with Milton and Dolores in 1940, leading me to find the names of Dolores’ parents.] Perhaps Milton had been in Mexico in 1930 when the US census was taken and had met Dolores there? Milton and Dolores would have two children.

In 1940, Gertrude and Charles were still living in the Bronx at 1501 Undercliff Avenue, and Charles was still working as an artist.8 Charles’ 1942 World War II draft registration reports that his employer was Standard-Koppel Engraving Company.

Charles Lancelotti, World War II draft registration, The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

Milton and Dolores were living in Manhattan in 1940 with Dolores’ mother and sister. Milton was a salesman for a lithography company.9 His 1940 World War II draft registration revealed that his employer was Robert Teller Sons & Dorner.

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

Estelle and Dante were living in the Bronx in 1940, on the same street (1630 Undercliff Avenue) as Estelle’s parents. Dante was a salesman for a decorating business;10 his 1942 World War II draft registration reveals two things: he and Estelle were now living at the same address on Undercliff Avenue (1501) as Gertrude and Charles, and he was working for The Nahon Company.

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

Gertrude and Charles were still living at 1501 Undercliff Avenue in the Bronx in 1950. Charles was still a commercial artist. Their daughter Estelle and her husband Dante were also living at that address with their children, and Dante was working as a wholesale furniture salesman.11

Milton, however, had moved by 1950 with his family to the suburbs—to New Rochelle, New York.12 A June 17, 1948, article in the New Rochelle Standard-Star reported that he had purchased a home in that town.13 Milton was still selling lithography. In 1960, Milton legally changed his name from Lancellotti to Lancelot,14 although he had been using that abbreviated version of his surname for many years at that point.

Estelle Lancellotti Somma died on December 26, 1952, at the age of only 41.15 I could not find an obituary or any other document that provided a cause of death. She was survived by her parents Gertrude and Charles, her husband Dante, who died on May 30, 1986,15 and her two children.

Her father Charles Lancellotti died August 31, 1967, in New York; he was 84.16 I could not find any record at all for what happened to Charles’ wife and my cousin Gertrude Rothschild Lancellotti—no death record, no obituary. If anyone knows what happened to Gertrude, I hope they will find me and fill me in.

UPDATE!! Thanks to two researchers, Kaye Prince Hollenberg on Tracing the Tribe and John Schroedel, I now know when Gertrude died! She died on January 1, 1971, in New Rochelle, New York, where her son Milton was then living. John found the document below on FamilySearch, and Kaye found her in the New York State Death Index.

New York, Probate Records, 1629-1971,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G99R-NNYM?cc=1920234&wc=Q75G-DPF%3A213305501%2C235998202 : 28 May 2014), Westchester > Wills and letters index 1813-1983 Labate, Luigi-Lawson, Marie G. > image 934 of 3213; county courthouses, New York.

As for Charles and Gertrude’s son Milton, he died on January 4, 1994, in Stamford, Connecticut, at the age of 85.17 According to his obituary, Milton was “an award-winning book designer and author of several books on sports, naval history, and the development of aerial combat” as well as “an avid historian and theater-goer.”18  By googling his name I was able to find several books that are still in print that were authored or co-authored by Milton. Milton was survived by his wife Dolores and their children. Although I could find no death record for Dolores, a brief obituary for her states that she died on July 13, 2018, in New Smyrna, Georgia. (Thank you to Aaron Knappstein for reminding me that I had this obituary!)

This brings me to the last child of Moses Rothschild, his son Aron.

  1. Charles and Gertrude Lancelot, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Bronx, Bronx, New York; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0162; FHL microfilm: 2341203, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Estelle T Lancelot, Gender Female, Marriage License Date 1 Sep 1926, Marriage License Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse George M Hodges
    License Number 24473, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan; Volume Number: 10, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  3. Estelle Lancelot, Maiden Name Lancelot, Gender Female, Marriage Date 1936
    Marriage Place New Jersey, USA, Spouse Dante Somma, New Jersey State Archives; Trenton, New Jersey; Marriage Indexes; Index Type: Bride; Year Range: 1936; Surname Range: A – Z; Reel Number: 34, Ancestry.com. New Jersey, U.S., Marriage Index, 1901-2016 ↩
  4. Dante Summa, Birth Date 21 Feb 1904, Birth Place Manhattan, New York, USA
    Certificate Number 9980, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Birth Index, 1878-1909; “New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1938”, , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24W8-SK9 : Mon Mar 11 20:54:31 UTC 2024), Entry for Dante V. Somma and Josephine B. Clark, 14 August 1927. ↩
  5. Dante Somma, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Bronx, Bronx, New York; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0595; FHL microfilm: 2341221, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  6. Milton Lancelot, Gender Male, Marriage Date 17 Sep 1936, Marriage Place Manhattan, New York, USA, Spouse Dolores DeVilladante, Certificate Number 23730, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937 ↩
  7. Dolores Lancelot, Race Spanish, Record Type Naturalization Petition, Birth Date 13 Apr 1916, Birth Place Bilbao, Spain, Departure Place Veracruz, Mexico, Arrival Date 21 Oct 1930, Arrival Place New York, New York, Petition Place New York, USA, Spouse
    Milton, Petition Number 301464, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; NAI Title: Index to Petitions For Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906; NAI Number: 5700802; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Rg 21, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943. Alberto MA. De Villasante, [Alberto Maria De Villasante] Gender Hombre (Male)
    Marriage Age 22 Event Type Marriage Birth Date 1887 Marriage Date 15 feb 1909
    Marriage Place San Cosme y San Damián (San Cosme), Distrito Federal, México
    Spouse Maria de la Paz Vicente Vidal,  Film Number 004023378, Ancestry.com. Mexico, Select Church Records, 1537-1966. ↩
  8. Charles and Gertrude Lancelot, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02498; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 3-1473,
    Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. Milton Lancelot and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02675; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 31-2066,
    Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  10. Dante Somma and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02498; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 3-1476A, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  11. Charles Lancelot and family, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: 4107; Page: 82; Enumeration District: 3-305, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census; Dante Somma and family, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: 4107; Page: 30; Enumeration District: 3-305, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  12. Milton Lancelot and family, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New Rochelle, Westchester, New York; Roll: 2089; Page: 10; Enumeration District: 67-24, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  13. “13 Homes Sold, Broker Reports,” The New Rochelle (NY) Standard Star, June 17, 1948, p. 10. ↩
  14. Estelle Somma, Age 42, Birth Date abt 1910, Death Date 26 Dec 1952
    Death Place Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 27685, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  15. Dante Somma, Age 82, Birth Date 8 Feb 1904, Death Date 30 May 1986
    Death Place Orange City, Essex, New Jersey, USA, New Jersey State Archives; Trenton, New Jersey; New Jersey, Death Indexes, 1904-2000, Ancestry.com. New Jersey, U.S., Death Index, 1848-1878, 1901-2017 ↩ ↩
  16. Charles G Lancellotti, Gender Male, Age 84, Birth Date abt 1883, Residence Place New Rochelle, Westchester, New York, USA, Death Date 31 Aug 1967, Death Place New York, USA, Certificate Number 64838, New York State Department of Health; Albany, NY, USA; New York State Death Index; URL: https://www.health.ny.gov/vital_records, Ancestry.com. New York State, U.S., Death Index, 1957-1972 ↩
  17. Milton L Lancelot, Gender Male, Birth Date 23 Nov 1908, Death Date 14 Jan 1994
    Claim Date 14 Aug 1973, SSN 090051155, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  18. “Milton L. Lancelot, Author,” The Portchester (NY) Daily Item, January 16, 1994, p. 26. ↩

Two Sisters Married to Two Brothers: The Younger Daughters of Albert Rothschild

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This post will tell about the lives of the three youngest children of Albert and Rose (Katz) Rothschild, their daughters Theresa, Lillian and Dorothy, from 1940 and after.

The third  and fourth daughters, Theresa Rothschild Blumenfeld and her younger sister Lillian Rothschild Blumenfeld, were living together in 1940 in the Bronx, along with their husbands, Arnold and Max, respectively, and Theresa and Arnold’s two children, Albert (13) and their eleven year old daughter Doris. Remember that Arnold and Max were brothers so there were two sisters married to two brothers all in the same household.

Max Blumenfeld and family 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02492; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 3-1276, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census

Perhaps the decision to move in together was not just due to the family connection, but also a sign that the Depression had had some impact on these couples. Arnold, Theresa’s husband, was working as a taxi driver; his brother Max, Lillian’s husband, was a salesman in the pleating industry. His World War II draft registration revealed the name of that company—Ideal Pleating. His wife Lillian was a clerk at Twentieth Century Fox.

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

Whatever the reasons behind the decision to all live together, the two couples were no longer living in one household by 1950. Theresa and Arnold were living with their daughter, who had married in 1947 and who may still be living, her husband and their young son in Queens, New York. Theresa and Arnold’s son-in-law was a lawyer, and Arnold was a wholesale candy salesman.1

Theresa and Arnold’s son Albert Blumenfeld also had married by the time of the 1950 census. First, Albert served in the US Navy, enlisting on October 2, 1944, when he was eighteen, discharged on June 24, 1946.2 He then married Ruth Aronow sometime after March 17, 1949, when they took out a marriage license in New York.3 Ruth was the daughter of Moe Aronow and Mollie Schulter and born in New York on July 22, 1929.4

Arnold Blumenfeld died October 6, 1956, in New York; he was only 56 years old.5 Theresa survived him by less than eight years; she died in January, 1964.6 She was 58. Arnold and Theresa were survived by their two children and their grandchildren. Their son Albert also did not live a very long life; he was 63 when he died on October 19, 1989.7

As for Theresa’s sister Lillian and her husband Max Blumenfeld, Arnold’s brother, in 1950 they had moved from the Bronx and were living in Queens with their son, and Max was still a salesman for the pleating company.8 Max died on April 13, 1971, at the age of 67.9 Lillian survived him by almost seventeen years; she was 78 when she died on January 7, 1988.10 Max and Lillian were survived by their son.

Finally, the youngest of the sisters, Dorothy and her husband Sidney Spiegel were living in the Bronx in 1940; Sidney was working as a typewriter mechanic.11 Sidney joined the US Army on October 8, 1943, and was discharged on May 6, 1946.12 I couldn’t find Sidney and Dorothy on the 1950 US census. At some point they relocated to Florida, where Dorothy died on September 3, 1979, at the age of 6413. She was survived by her husband Sidney, who died three years later on October 27, 1982.14 He was 71. I was not able to determine if Dorothy and Sidney had any children.

Longevity was definitely not a trait shared by Albert Rothschild and his family. He died at 39, his wife Rose at 57, and their son Milton died when he was just a year old. Of their five daughters, only two made it to 65.  Although Josephine lived an extraordinarily long life, making it past 100, and Lillian at least made it to 78, the other three sisters did not have long lives—Rae was only 54, Theresa 58, and Dorothy 64. Their husbands didn’t live very long either.  It must have been very hard for Josephine to see not only her brother die as a baby, her father die when he was only 39, her mother when she was 57, and then to lose all four of her sisters before they reached a ripe old age. It seems quite miraculous that Josephine lived as long as she did, given all those losses she had suffered and her family history.

  1. Arnold Blumenfeld and family, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, Queens, New York; Roll: 5432; Page: 23; Enumeration District: 41-1418, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Albert Blumenfeld, Gender Male, Birth Date 9 Sep 1926, Death Date 19 Oct 1989
    Cause of Death Natural, SSN 054200492, Enlistment Branch NAVY, Enlistment Date 2 Oct 1944, Discharge Date 24 Jun 1946, Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 ↩
  3. Albert Blumenfeld, Gender Male, Marriage License Date 17 Mar 1949, Marriage License Place Bronx, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse Ruth Aronow
    License Number 2084, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Bronx, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  4. Ruth Aronow, Birth Date Jul 1929, Birth Place Bronx, New York City, New York, USA, Certificate Number 10300, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Birth Index, 1910-1965; “New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1938”, , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2CJ-256Y : Thu Mar 07 12:25:58 UTC 2024), Entry for Moe Aronow and Mollie Schulter, 27 October 1928. ↩
  5. Arnol[d] Blumenfeld, Age 56, Birth Date abt 1900, Death Date 6 Oct 1956
    Death Place Queens, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 9506, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  6. Death notice for Theresa Blumenfeld, The New York Times, January 30, 1964, p. 29. ↩
  7. Albert Blumenfeld, Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 9 Sep 1926, Birth Place NY Bx, New York, Death Date 19 Oct 1989, Father Arnold Blumenfeld Mother Theresa Rothschild, SSN 054200492, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  8. Max Blumenfeld and family, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, Queens, New York; Roll: 1920; Page: 22; Enumeration District: 41-601, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. Max Blumenfeld, Social Security Number 056-09-6623, Birth Date 18 Feb 1904
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State New York, Last Residence 11367, Flushing, Queens, New York, USA, Death Date Apr 1971, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  10. Lillian Blumenfeld, Social Security Number 056-10-4503, Birth Date 9 Dec 1909
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State New York, Last Residence 11360, Flushing, Queens, New York, USA, Death Date 7 Jan 1988, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  11. Sidney Spiegel and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02498; Page: 16B; Enumeration District: 3-1476A, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  12. Sidney Spiegel, Gender Male, Birth Date 28 Sep 1911, Death Date 27 Oct 1982
    SSN 109142052, Enlistment Branch ARMY, Enlistment Date 29 Oct 1943, Discharge Date 6 May 1946, Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 ↩
  13. Dorothy Violet Spiegel, Race White, Age at Death 64, Birth Date 3 Dec 1914
    Death Date 3 Sep 1979 Death Place Broward, Florida, United States, Ancestry.com. Florida, U.S., Death Index, 1877-1998 ↩
  14. See Note 12, supra. ↩

Why Was Josephine Traveling with her Future Husband’s Daughter Years Before She Married Him?

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We have seen that Albert Rothschild, the third son of Moses and Mathilde Rothschild, died at a very young age in 1915. He and his wife Rose Katz had had six children, five daughters and one son, but their son Milton had died before his first birthday. The five daughters, however, survived. When Rose, Albert’s widow died in 1933, all but one of those daughters were still living in New York City, either in the Bronx or Manhattan. But eventually most of them moved elsewhere—at least as far as Queens and as far from New York as California and Florida. This post is about the two oldest daughters, Rae and Josephine.

In 1940, Rae Rothschild Jordan, her husband Gerald Jordan, and their daughter Alberta (19) were living in the Bronx; Gerald was the credit manager for a clothing company, and Alberta was a secretary at an advertising firm.1 However, by April 24, 1942, Gerald listed his residence as New Haven, Connecticut, on his World War II draft registration, but listed Rae’s address in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. Gerald was working for Merit Clothes in New Haven.

Gerald Jordan World War II draft registration, The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War Ii Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the State of Connecticut; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Series Number: M1962, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

But in 1950, both Gerald and Rae were living in Queens; Gerald was not employed, but Rae was working as a salesperson in a department store.2

Meanwhile, their daughter and only child Alberta had married Joseph Weiner in 1948.3 Joseph, the son of Max Weiner and Minnie Kravich, was born in New York on July 1, 1916.4 Alberta and Joseph would have two children.

Sadly, Rae Rothschild Jordan died on July 16, 1950, two years after her daughter’s marriage and just months after the 1950 census; she was only 54.5 Her husband Gerald died fifteen years later on December 31, 1965.6 They were survived by their daughter Alberta, who herself died on March 28, 2008.7

Rae’s younger sister Josephine lived much longer than her sister’s 54 years. It took me quite a while to find Josephine on the 1940 census because it appears that sometime before 1940, Josephine’s marriage to Charles H. Hall had ended. I could not find Charles at all on the 1940 census, but I found a Josephine Hall listed on the 1940 census, living in New York City at the Barbizon Hotel, a well-known hotel for women where many women who later became famous actresses once lived in New York City during that same era and afterwards. Among the many famous women who once lived there were Grace Kelly, Shirley Jones, Ali McGraw, Lauren Bacall, Cybil Shepherd, and Liza Minelli.

The Barbizon Hotel, I, Dmadeo, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons

Josephine Hall’s marital status was recorded as single on that 1940 census, and she was working as a bookkeeper for a wholesale manufacturer. Her age matched my Josephine, as did her birthplace of New York.8 I can’t be positive this is my Josephine, but when I found a record on Ancestry that showed that on March 1, 1941, Charles Hall married Rosene Mast, it lined up with my assumption that Charles and Josephine were no longer married as of 1940.9

And sometime in that same era between 1930 and 1941, Josephine also remarried. Her second husband Andrew Sangster was also previously married. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on December 4, 1880, the son of Andrew Sangster and Margaret Robb,10 and had immigrated to the United States on January 30, 1911, listing his occupation as a chartered accountant.11 His first wife Margaret and their children arrived a few months later on April 24, 1911.12 They were living together as a family in 1920 in New Trier, Illinois,13 and in 1930 in Chatham, New Jersey,14 but by 1940 Andrew was living in the Hotel Laurelton in New York City, working as an accountant,15 and his wife and children were living in Madison, New Jersey.16 Both Andrew and Margaret listed their marital status as married.

An article I found in The (Morristown, NJ) Daily Record about the renovation of  historic homes in the area gave some background on what might have happened to Andrew Sangster. According to that article, Andrew purchased the family home in Chatham, New Jersey in 1922, but in 1937 the bank foreclosed on the home. As the article suggests, “apparently the Sangster fortunes had plummeted in the Depression.”17

Although I cannot find a marriage record for Josephine Rothschild Hall and Andrew Sangster, my hunch is that the two separated individuals, both living in hotels in New York, one located on West 55th Street and the other on West 63rd Street, one working as a bookkeeper and one as an accountant, somehow connected either before or after the 1940 census was taken. In 1940, Andrew was sixty years old and Josephine was 38.

In fact, they may have connected long before 1940. I found Josephine Hall on a ship manifest dated September 22, 1930, traveling from Bermuda to New York; listed immediately below her was the 13 year old daughter of Andrew Sangster and his wife Margaret, Edith Sangster, of Chatham, New Jersey. I searched the entire ship manifest and did not find either Charles Hall or any other member of the Sangster family aboard. What was Josephine doing with little Edith on a ship from Bermuda? I have no idea. But somehow Josephine knew the Sangster family as early as 1930. Isn’t this a little odd? I have no evidence that ties them together.

Does anyone have any theories? Was Josephine hired to take Edith on a trip for some reason? I have a theory, but it’s way too speculative to put down in words here.

Josephine Hall and Edith Sangster, 1930 ship 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: Veendam, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957

Andrew was appointed the director of accounting for the New York State Public Service Commission in December 1940. He was living in Larchmont, New York, at that time.18 I cannot find a marriage record for Andrew Sangster and Josephine Rothschild Hall, but their first child was born in early 1941 in Albany, New York, suggesting that by sometime in 1940 they may have married. Andrew’s April 1942 World War II draft registration shows him living in Albany, New York, but interestingly, he listed a man named Lionel V. Longhurst of New York City as the person who would always know his address, so perhaps he and Josephine were not yet married. But in 1950 they were living together with their two children in Albany, New York, according to the 1950 census. Andrew was still working as an accountant for the New York State Public Service Commission.19

Andrew Sangster World War II draft registration, The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War Ii Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the State of New York; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 533, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

Andrew died at the age of 89 in Albany, New York, on December 22, 1969.20 Josephine survived him by many years; she lived to be one hundred years old and died in Hermosa Beach, California, on June 2, 2003, but was buried back in Albany with Andrew.21

I am glad that Josephine and Andrew met and were able to have many years together. They are survived by their children and other descendants.

 

 

 

  1. Gerald Jordan and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02496; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 3-1403, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Gerald Jordan, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, Queens, New York; Roll: 4472; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 41-864, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  3. Alberta L Jordan, Gender Female, Marriage License Date 21 Jun 1948
    Marriage License Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse
    Joseph Weiner, License Number 19409, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan; Volume Number: 28, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  4. Joseph Weiner, Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 1 Jul 1916, Birth Place New York City, New York, Death Date 6 Jun 2002, Father Max Weiner Mother Minnie Kravich
    SSN 092079511, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  5. Rachael Jordan, Age 51, Birth Date abt 1899, Death Date 16 Jul 1950
    Death Place Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 15880, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965. (The birth date is off by three years here; she was born in 1896.) ↩
  6. Gerald Jordan, Age 73, Birth Date abt 1892, Death Date 31 Dec 1965
    Death Place Queens, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 16719, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  7. Alberta Weiner, Social Security Number 116-09-5716, Birth Date 18 Apr 1921
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State New York, Last Residence 11360, Flushing, Queens, New York, Death Date 28 Mar 2008, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  8. Josephine Hall, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02657; Page: 83A; Enumeration District: 31-1387, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. Charles H Hall, Gender Male, Race White, Marriage Age 41, Birth Date 7 Dec 1899
    Birth Place Glen Cove, LI, Marriage Affidavit Date 4 Jan 1941, Marriage Date 1 Mar 1941, Marriage Place New York, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Residence Street Address 10 State St, Residence Place Ossining, New York, Occupation Restaurant Prop, Father Joseph H Hall, Mother Minnie I Hall, Spouse Rosene Mast
    Certificate Number 140, Current Marriage Number 1, Witness 1 H. Edwin Brown
    Witness 2 Vivian C Lopez, New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Marriage Licenses; Borough: Manhattan; Year: 1941, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910 ↩
  10. Andrew Sangster, World War II draft registration, The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War Ii Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the State of New York; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 533, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942; Andrew Sangster, Parish: Edinburgh St Cuthberts; ED: 46; Page: 16; Line: 3; Roll: cssct1881_285, Ancestry.com. 1881 Scotland Census ↩
  11. Andrew Sangster, ship 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: Caledonia, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 ↩
  12. Margaret Sangster, ship 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, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 ↩
  13. Andrew Sangster, 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: New Trier, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T625_361; Page: 31B; Enumeration District: 119, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  14. Andrew Sangster, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Chatham, Morris, New Jersey; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0011; FHL microfilm: 2341108, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  15. Andrew Sangster, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02656; Page: 84B; Enumeration District: 31-1380,
    Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  16. Margaret Sangster, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Madison, Morris, New Jersey; Roll: m-t0627-02371; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 14-45, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  17. Shirley Eastman, “Restoration of Historic Homes,” The (Morristown, NJ) Daily Record, November 15, 1987, pp. 15-16. ↩
  18. “Larchmonter Named PSC Accounting Head,” The (New Rochelle, NY) Standard-Star, December 3, 1940, p. 14. ↩
  19. Andrew Sangster, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Colonie, Albany, New York; Roll: 4485; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 1-72, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  20. Andrew Sangster, Gender Male, Age 88, Birth Date abt 1881, Residence Place Menands, Albany, New York, USA, Death Date 22 Dec 1969, Death Place New York, USA, Certificate Number 90112, New York State Department of Health; Albany, NY, USA; New York State Death Index, Ancestry.com. New York State, U.S., Death Index, 1957-1972; Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/189724933/andrew-sangster: accessed December 11, 2024), memorial page for Andrew Sangster (4 Dec 1881–22 Dec 1969), Find a Grave Memorial ID 189724933, citing Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands, Albany County, New York, USA; Maintained by Sidney (contributor 48067839). ↩
  21. Josephine I Sangster, Gender Female, Birth Date 19 Nov 1902, Death Date 2 Jun 2003, Claim Date 14 Oct 1964, SSN 578011916, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; Josephine I Sangster, Birth Date 19 Nov 1902, Birth Location New York City, New York, Death Date 2 Jun 2003, Age at Death 100, Death Location Hermosa Beach, CA, Spouse Andrew Sangster, Section Number of Burial 123, Lot Number of Burial 349, Ancestry.com. Menands, New York, U.S., Albany Rural Cemetery Burial Cards, 1791-2011 ↩

New for 2025!

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Happy New Year to all my friends, family, and readers! I hope you all had a joyful and safe New Year’s Eve.

My first big news of 2025 is that my newest family history novel will be released at the end of January just thirty days from now. It’s titled Simon’s Story and was inspired by the story of my three-times great-grandfather’s younger brother Simon Goldschmidt. Although Simon’s life was the spark that led me to write this novel, the book itself is fiction wrapped around the skeleton of Simon’s life.

As described on Amazon, “Simon … came to the United States from Germany, a poor Jewish man whose first wife had died, leaving him with young children. After he remarried, he and his new wife and the children came to the United States. But Simon had a secret that he kept from his children. His daughter Hannah struggled all her life to understand her mysterious and aloof father. Why was he so cold, so withdrawn? What made him the way he was?”

The book is available for pre-order on Kindle now and you can find the link here. The paperback version will also be sold on Amazon and will be available on January 31, 2025.

I hope you will consider reading Simon’s Story, and if you enjoy it, please let me know and also please leave a review on Amazon.

Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Merry Christmas!

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Happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa, and merry Christmas to all my friends, family, and readers! No matter which holiday you celebrate (assuming you celebrate any of them), this will be a week of celebration. I don’t remember there ever being a time where Hanukkah began on the evening of Christmas Day. And Kwanzaa starts on the first day of Hanukkah, the day after Christmas.

While those celebrating Christmas will be honoring the birth of Jesus, gathering around their trees, singing carols, going to church, and opening gifts, we Jews will be honoring the Maccabees who rescued the Temple and rededicated it, thinking of the miracle of the oil, lighting the first candle on the menorah, playing with dreidels and also opening gifts. We will be eating latkes and sufganiyot (doughnuts); Christians will have their traditional Christmas meals (seven fishes or ham or some other festive meal) and Christmas cookies. Those celebrating Kwanzaa light candles in a kinara and have  traditional foods and music and rituals inspired by their African heritage and the seven values the holiday honors. While all of our traditions are different, we will all share a time that brings more light into the darkest time of the year.

And we certainly all need more light right now. Regardless of your political beliefs, there is no question that there is far too much anger, hatred, war, disease, and suffering in the world. The divisions here in the US and in Europe and in the Middle East and throughout the world have made this past year a very scary time.

Let’s hope that whatever joy and light our celebrations bring to our individual families and homes this week can somehow be transformed into love and peace throughout the world.

Christmas Hanukkah Kwanzaa Solstice!

Moses Rothschild’s Grandson Alvin and His Many Homes

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The 1940s were challenging years in the US and around the world with World War II raging in Europe and America’s entrance into the war after Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. They were also challenging years for the two oldest children of Moses and Mathilde Rothschild, Samuel and Rudolph. And Rudolph’s son Alvin found himself being transferred to at least five different cities over twenty years.

Samuel and his wife Sallye were living in the Bronx, now each 66 years old, and retired.1 Samuel and Sally’s son Milton and his family were also living in the Bronx, and Milton was a salesman in a wholesale grocery business.2 His 1940 draft registration shows that he was working for a company called J. Bond & Co.

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

Samuel’s wife Sallye died on November 14, 1945, at the age of 77.3 Samuel remarried on March 18, 1948; his second wife was Fannie Lichtenstein.4 She was born in Germany in about 1888. In 1940 she’d been single and living with her niece and brother-in-law in New York and was working as a “salesgirl.”5 In 1950 Samuel and Fannie were living in the Bronx.6 Samuel died eight years later on October 22, 1958, in New York.7 Fannie died four years after Samuel on February 8, 1962.8

Milton Rothschild, Samuel’s son, and his family were still in the Bronx in 1950, and Milton was still working in the wholesale grocery business.9 At some later point, Milton and Blanche moved to New Rochelle, New York,10 and then later retired to Hollywood, Florida, where Blanche died on October 7, 1974, at the age of 66.11 Milton outlived her by almost 20 years. He died on October 15, 1993, at the age of 87.12  He was survived by his daughter and grandchildren; his other child, Ronald, had died from leukemia in 1960 when he was only 25 years old.13

Samuel’s younger brother Rudolph lived in Florida, but years before Samuel and Blanche moved there. In 1940 Rudolph and his wife Rebecca were living in Miami Beach, Florida, and Rudolph was retired.14 But they may have been splitting their time between Florida and New York because  in 1948 they were in New York and living at 23 West 73rd Street when Rudolph died suddenly on May 31, 1948; he was 73. 15 In 1950 his widow Rebecca was living in New York City.16

As for Rudolph’s children, I could not find Mortimer and his family on the 1940 census, but when Mortimer registered for the draft on February 15, 1942, he was living in Manhattan and working for Mode Kiddie Coats, Inc.

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

In 1950, he and his wife Amelie and their two children were living in Scarsdale, New York, and Mortimer was an executive of a clothing manufacturer.17 Mortimer died on October 4, 1974, in Scarsdale; he was 74;18 his wife Amelie outlived him by 36 years; she was 104 when she died on March 4, 2010. 19 According to her obituary, Amelie made her mark in her support of public education. It states that “[s]he was an educator, the first Jewish woman on the Scarsdale, NY, Board of Education, one of the two New York State representatives at President Eisenhower’s White House Conference on Education, and a driving force for public education. She was President of the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale, the Associate Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, and in 1958 was honored by inclusion in the first Who’s Who of American Women.”

Mortimer and Amelie were survived by their sons and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Mortimer’s younger brother Alvin and his wife Marjorie, who had been living in Wilmington, Delaware, when they married in 1936, were living in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, by 1940. Alvin was still working for the same company, Neisner Brothers, owners of a chain of variety stores, that he’d been working for in Wilmington in 1936, so I assume he must have been transferred from one company location to another.20 By February 14, 1942, when Alvin registered for the draft, he had again been transferred by Neisner Brothers, this time to Buffalo, New York.

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

But Alvin and Marjorie weren’t done moving. In 1950 they were living in Wheaton, Maryland, with their three children, and Alvin listed his occupation as the manager of a variety store, I assume again one owned by Neisner Brothers.21

And that wasn’t the end of Alvin’s relocations. By 1957 it appears that he had moved to the Skokie, Illinois area and that his mother Rebecca had moved there as well and lived with them. I inferred this from the August 27, 1957, death notice in The Chicago Tribune for Rebecca Rothschild, which gave her address as 8943 N. Samoset. That matched the address of Alvin and Marjorie Rothschild as reported in the engagement announcement for their son Charles in the March 19, 1961, issue of The Chicago Tribune.

Death notice for Rebecca Rothschild, August 27, 1957, p. 28

“Weds in June,” Chicago Tribune, March 19, 1961, p. 125

It seems that the Chicago area was finally a place where Alvin and Marjorie and their children could settle in and stay. Alvin died there on February 22, 1987; he was 83.22 Marjorie survived him by almost twenty years. She died on January 9, 2006, in Chicago.23 Alvin and Marjorie were survived by their children and grandchildren.

The next post will cover the post-1940 lives of the children and grandchildren of Albert Rothschild, Moses and Mathilde’s third son, who, as we saw, died at a young age.

 

 

  1. Samuel Rothschild and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02497; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 3-1438A, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Milton Rothschild and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02497; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 3-1438A,
    Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  3. Sallye Rothschild [Sallye Livingston], Gender Female, Race White, Marital Status Married, Age 77 Birth Date 14 Oct 1868, Birth Place Missouri, Clarkville, Residence Street Address 1900 Grand Concourse, Residence Place New Death Date 14 Nov 1945
    Death Street Address 1900 Grand Concourse, Death Place New York City, Bronx, New York, USA, Cause of Death Adenocarcinoma of Ascending Colon, With Metastasis
    Burial Date 16 Nov 1945, Burial Place MT Carmel Cemetery, Occupation Housewife
    Father’s Birth Place Germany, Mother’s Birth Place Germany, Father Aaron Livingston
    Mother Magdeline Livingston, Spouse Samuel Informant Thomas Rothschild Informant Gender Male Informant Relationship Husband Executor Samuel Rothschild Executor Relationship Husband Certificate Number 10938, New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Death Certificates; Borough: Bronx; Year: 1945, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Index to Death Certificates, 1862-1948 ↩
  4. Samuel S Rothschild, Gender Male, Marriage License Date 18 Mar 1948, Marriage License Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse Fannie Lichtenstein
    License Number 7437, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan; Volume Number: 11, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  5. Fanny Lichtenstein, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02654; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 31-1275, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  6. Samuel Rothschild, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: 3965; Page: 71; Enumeration District: 3-1030,
    Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. Samuel Rothschild, Age 83, Birth Date abt 1875, Death Date 22 Oct 1958, Death Place Bronx, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 10774, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  8. Fanny Rothschild, Age 74, Birth Date abt 1888, Death Date 8 Feb 1962, Death Place Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 2961, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  9. Milton Rothschild and family, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: 3965; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 3-1030, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  10. Milton S Rothschild, Birth Date 5 Mar 1906,Address 164 Church St, Residence Place New Rochelle, New York, USA, Zip Code 10805-3254, Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2 ↩
  11. Blanche Rothschild, Social Security Number 098-36-1046, Birth Date 4 Nov 1907, Issue year 1962, Issue State New York, Last Residence 33021, Hollywood, Broward, Florida, USA, Death Date Oct 1974, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  12. Milton S Rothschild, Gender Male, Birth Date 5 Mar 1906, Death Date 15 Oct 1993, Claim Date 15 Dec 1970, SSN 062019743, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  13. “Ronald Rothschild Succumbs at Home,” The New Rochelle Standard Star, August 11, 1960, p. 2. ↩
  14. Rudolph Rothschild, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Miami Beach, Dade, Florida; Roll: m-t0627-00580; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 13-37A, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  15. Rudolph Rothschild death notice, Buffalo (NY) Jewish Review, June 11, 1948. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96200762/rudolph-rothschild: accessed December 6, 2024), memorial page for Rudolph Rothschild (19 Mar 1875–31 May 1948), Find a Grave Memorial ID 96200762, citing Mount Carmel Cemetery, Glendale, Queens County, New York, USA; Maintained by Dave Davisson (contributor 36744121). See also search results here: http://www.mountcarmelcemetery.com/search.asp&#160;↩
  16. Rebecca Rothschild, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: 1128; Page: 17; Enumeration District: 31-819, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  17. Mortimer Rothschild, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Scarsdale, Westchester, New York; Roll: 135; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 60-367, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  18. Mortimer Rothschild, Social Security Number 068-07-0481, Birth Date 28 Oct 1899, Issue year Before 1951, Issue State New York, Last Residence 10530, Hartsdale, Westchester, New York, USA, Death Date Oct 1974, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014. Death notice, The White Plains Reporter Dispatch, October 7, 1974, pp.8, 12. ↩
  19. Amelie S. Rothschild, Social Security Number 117-30-5315, Birth Date 13 Aug 1905, Issue year 1955-1956, Issue State New York, Last Residence 10530, Hartsdale, Westchester, New York, Death Date 3 Mar 2010, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  20. Alvin Rothschild and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Kingston, Luzerne, Pennsylvania; Roll: m-t0627-03554; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 40-147, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  21. Alvin Rothschild and family, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Wheaton, Montgomery, Maryland; Roll: 2551; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 16-189, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  22. Alvin Raymond Rothschild, Death Date 22 Feb 1987, Death Place Cook, Illinois, USA, File Number 12187, Cook County Clerk; Chicago, IL; Cook County Genealogy Records (Deaths), Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois Death Index, 1908-1988 ↩
  23. Marjorie Breuer Rothschild, [Marjorie B Rothschild] [Marjorie Breuer Breuer] Gender Female, Race White, Birth Date 29 Apr 1914, Birth Place Wilmington, Delaware
    [Wilmington|], Death Date 9 Jan 2006, Claim Date 5 Apr 1976, Father Charles Breuer
    Mother Maryann Gold, SSN 343368015, Citizenship or Alien Status U.S. citizen, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩

Theresa Rothschild Alexander’s Daughter-in-Law Grete Maren: A Dramatic Life

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Although Theresa Rothschild Alexander’s daughter Frances Alexander Jacobs left the US for Canada in the 1930s, her parents and siblings remained in the US. This post will be about the other members of Theresa’s family, in particular her son Herbert and his wife Grete.

In 1940, Theresa and her husband Max Alexander and their two sons Herbert (29) and Albert (24) were living together in the Bronx along with Max’s sister Esther, as they had been in 1930. Max continued to work in the real estate business, Herbert, who had graduated from New York University in 1931 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, was a short story writer, and Albert was an insurance salesman.1

Although the census said Herbert was a short story writer, according to one source, Herbert had been working as an editor in the publishing industry since 1932, except for two years when he worked as a social worker for New York City. Herbert’s 1940 World War II draft registration lists his employer as Norman Warren, which I assume was a publishing company. Thus, I think the census may be inaccurate—perhaps Herbert was writing stories on the side, but he was working as an editor in 1940. In 1942, Herbert enlisted in the US Army Air Force where he served until 1945, achieving the rank of second lieutenant.2

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

Before enlisting, Herbert married Grete Maren in early May, 1942.  Grete’s story deserves a post of its own. She was born Margarete Johanna Hinterauer on February 12, 1912, in Munich, Germany, to Maximillian and Margarete Hinterauer.3 Her parents were Catholic, and her father was a merchant in Munich. From a very early age, Margarete was interested in dance and theater, and by the time she was sixteen she was performing professionally on several stages in many cities in Germany, including in Munich at the Munich Kammerspiele, as well as at several theaters in Vienna, where she established herself as a successful actress, using the stage name Grete Maren.4

I located one image that was labeled Grete Maren in 1932, so I believe that this may be her.

Grete became part of the troupe of actors hired by Max Reinhardt, the esteemed Austrian theater and film director known for, among other things, establishing the famous Salzburg Festival.5 On August 31, 1930, Grete was performing as part of Reinhardt’s company in a theater in Bad Ischl, Austria, a town not too far from Vienna. She was eighteen years old. A young man named Kurt Daehn, who was also part of the same theater company and with whom she’d been involved romantically, traveled from Vienna to Bad Ischl to demand that she return to Vienna with him. An argument followed, and when she tried to end their relationship, he shot her five times, injuring her critically.6 As the notes below reveal, there was widespread international coverage of this crime of passion.

From “Vienna Beauties and The Jinx of 3,” The Buffalo (New York)Times, December 7, 1930, p. 45.

Grete was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, and she was able to resume her acting career once she recovered despite being scarred from her injuries. Kurt Daehn was arrested and convicted, but according to numerous newspaper reports, Grete testified on his behalf at his trial and as a result he was sentenced to only two years in jail, but only served nine months. 7 Numerous US papers ran a story in February 1932 that claimed Grete was going to marry Daehn after he was released from prison, but the Munich Kammerspiele biography of Grete Maren does not include any reference to a marriage between Grete and Daehn, nor can I find any support for it elsewhere.8

After the Nazis came to power in April 1933 and much of German theater was shut down or censored, Grete left Germany and on October 20, 1933, she arrived in New York, listing her occupation as an actress. However, she did not remain in the United States to live, but went to Montreal, Canada, until she returned to the US on May 3, 1934.9

When Grete came to the US in 1934, once again her life was filled with drama. After she was awarded a role in the Broadway production of Alfred Savoir’s play, Sexes and Sevens, the Council of the Actors Equity Association blocked Grete from taking the role because as a foreign actress, she was prohibited from taking another role within six months of performing in a different work. It appears she had been in a one-week tryout for a different play in a different theater less than six months before.10 The producer, Lee Shubert, soon selected another actress for the role.11

In April 1935, Grete finally had her debut on Broadway in Journey by Night, an English adaptation of a Germany play by Arthur Goodrich. Grete was cast  in the lead female role, and Jimmy Stewart was given the lead male role. Unfortunately the play closed after only seven performances after receiving terrible reviews.12 Once again, Grete’s acting career was stymied.

In 1937, Grete filed a Declaration of Intention to become a US citizen. Her Petition for Naturalization, filed on July 14, 1939, was approved, and she became a US citizen on November 13, 1939.13

Greta Maren Declaration of Intention, 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: 1199, Archive Roll Descriptions: (Roll 1199) Petition No· 330211-Petition No· 330571, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1882-1944

From various newspaper reports, it appears that Grete never returned to Broadway, but did appear in various local theater productions in the greater New York City region until she married Herbert Alexander in May 1942.

Grete and Herbert had one child born after Herbert was discharged from the military in 1945.  Herbert resumed his career in publishing and became the associate editor of Pocket Books, Inc., in 1947, and its editor-in-chief in 1948. He remained with Pocket Books for most of the rest of his professional career.

Meanwhile, Herbert’s brother Albert also served during World War II. On January 20, 1941, Albert enlisted in the New York Guard, where he served until he was discharged on May 7, 1945.14

In 1950, the entire family of Theresa and Max Alexander was living in the same building at 2033 Morris Avenue in the Bronx where they’d been living since at least 1930. Herbert and Greta and their son were living upstairs from Herbert’s parents Theresa and Max and his brother Albert, who were all living on the first floor. Herbert was an editor for the Pocket Books publishing company. His brother Albert was a machine parts salesman. No one else was employed outside the home.15

Theresa Rothschild Alexander died not long just months after the 1950 census was taken; she was 71 when she died on June 18, 1950, in the Bronx.16 Her husband Max Alexander died five years later on February 12, 1955, in New York City.17

Their son Albert took out a license to marry Mary Jane Deiches in 1952.18 Mary Jane was born on December 15, 1925, in New York, and was the daughter of Maurice Deiches and Ruth Greenebaum.19 In 1950 she had been living on her own in New York City and working as a freelance editor.20 Perhaps Albert’s brother Herbert had made the connection through his work as an editor. Albert and Mary Jane eventually relocated to the Rochester, New York, area.21They had two children.

UPDATE! I have been very fortunate to hear from Albert’s son Charles and granddaughter Kate, who have provided me with more information. Charles wrote that his mother Mary Jane Deitches did not meet his father Albert through Herbert, even though they were both in the publishing business. Charles wrote, “They met because they lived next to one another in an apartment building. They met on Thanksgiving of what I believe was 1950 or 1951and were married 6 weeks later. My mom was 10 years younger than my Dad.” Also, I learned that Albert and Mary Jane had four children, not two. There is nothing like first-hand information. I am so glad that Charles and Kate found me through this blog! Charles also shared this photo from his father’s high school yearbook. Unfortunately I could not add it to this post except at the very bottom because WordPress has made it too difficult to add here, so please look below. 

Herbert Alexander died on November 23, 1988, in New York City after a lifetime career in the publishing company. After Simon & Schuster acquired Pocket Books, Inc., in the late 1950s, he became a director and vice-president of that large publishing house. Herbert was 78 years old when he died;22 his wife Greta had died six years earlier in September 1982.23 They were survived by their son.

Albert Alexander died when he was 79 on September 15, 1994, in Rochester, New York;24 he was predeceased by his wife Mary Jane, who died at 65 in May 1991.25

  1. Max Alexander and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02497; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 3-1442,  Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Herbert M Alexander, Gender Male, Birth Date 1 Sep 1910, Death Date 23 Nov 1988, SSN 082015161, Enlistment Branch AF Enlistment Date 26 May 1942 Discharge Date 6 Jul 1945 Enlistment Branch 1 AF Enlistment Date 1 7 Jul 1945, Discharge Date 1 26 Oct 1945, Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010. ↩
  3. Herbert M. Alexander, Gender Male, Race White, Marriage Age 41, Birth Date 1 Sep 1910, Birth Place New York City, Marriage Date 9 May 1942, Marriage Place New York, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Residence Street Address 2033 Morris Ave., Residence Place Bx.NY, Bronx, Occupation Writer, Father Maximilian Alexander
    Mother Theresa Alexander, Spouse Greta Maren, Certificate Number 9322, Current Marriage Number 0, Witness 1 Enid Bessett, Witness 2 Robert Peters, New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Marriage Licenses; Borough: Manhattan; Year: 1942, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910, 1938-1940 ↩
  4. This information about Grete Maren and much of what follows about her comes from a page in the Munich Kammerspiele website “dedicated to the employees of the Munich Kammerspiele who were disenfranchised, persecuted and murdered during the Nazi era.” Grete Maren is one of the many individuals named on that website, which includes detailed biographies of each of those being remembered. ↩
  5. “Vienna Beauties and ‘The Jinx of Three,’ ” The Buffalo (New York)Times, December 7, 1930, p. 45. This story ran in numerous other US newspapers during this time. ↩
  6. See Note 7, supra. As a side note to this tragic story, another actress who was in love with Kurt Daehn committed suicide when he chose Grete over her even after shooting her. “She Fell in Love to Learn about Life,” Detroit Free Press, August 9, 1931, p. 46. This story also ran in numerous US newspapers during that time. ↩
  7. See the biography of Grete Maren on the Munich Kammerspiele website at https://schicksale.muenchner-kammerspiele.de/  Also, see “Weds Girl He Once Attempted to Kill,” The Oklahoma County News, May 13, 1932, page 1. ↩
  8. See, e.g., “Actress Plans to Wed Suitor Who Shot Her,” Chattanooga Daily Times, February 7, 1932, p. 21. Many other papers ran the same story. One paper later reported that the couple had in fact married. See, “Weds Girl He Once Attempted to Kill,” The Oklahoma County News, May 13, 1932, page 1. ↩
  9. Grete Maren, passenger ship 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, Description Ship or Roll Number: Deutschland, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957. Greta Maren, [Margareta Johanna Hinterauer], Race German, Record Type Naturalization Departure Place Montreal, Canada, Residence Place New York, USA, Declaration Date 10 Mar 1937
    Declaration Place New York, USA, Mode of Travel D & H Rr 10, Court District Court
    Court District Southern District, New York, Description (Roll 1199) Petition No. 330211-Petition No. 330571, 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: 1199, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1882-1944 ↩
  10. “Broadway Barred to Alien Actress,” The New York Times, September 26, 1934, p. 17. ↩
  11. “Margot Graheme Replaces Greta Maren in ‘Sexes and Sevens,’ ” The New York Times, October 5, 1934, p. 28 ↩
  12. See the biography of Grete Maren on the Munich Kammerspiele website at https://schicksale.muenchner-kammerspiele.de ↩
  13. Greta Maren, Naturalization papers, 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: 1199,
    Archive Roll Descriptions: (Roll 1199) Petition No· 330211-Petition No· 330571, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1882-1944 ↩
  14. Albert E Alexander, Birth Date 6 Jul 1915, Birth Place Bronx, New York, Residence Place Bronx, New York, Enlistment Age 25, Enlistment Date 20 Jan 1941, Enlistment Place Bronx, New York, USA, Unit Co A 8th Regt, New York State Archives; Albany, New York; Collection: New York, New York Guard Service Cards and Enlistment Records, 1906-1918, 1940-1948; Series: B2000; Film Number: 27, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., New York Guard Service Cards, 1906-1918, 1940-1948. ↩
  15. Max Alexander, Herbert Alexander, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: 856; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 3-1805, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  16. Theresa Alexander, Age 71, Birth Date abt 1879, Death Date 18 Jun 1950, Death Place Bronx, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 6080, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  17. Max Alexander, Age 80, Birth Date abt 1875, Death Date 12 Feb 1955, Death Place Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 2493, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  18. Albert Alexander, Gender Male, Marriage License Date 1952, Marriage License Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse Mary Deiches, License Number 1742, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  19. Mary J Deiches, Birth Date 15 Dec 1925, Birth Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Certificate Number 46405, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Birth Index, 1910-1965; Maryjane Deiches, [Maryjane Alexander] [Mary Alexander] Gender Female, Race White, Birth Date 15 Dec 1925, Birth Place New York New, New York, [New York N Y, New York], Death Date May 1991 ,Father Maurice Deiches, Mother Ruth Greenebaum, SSN 132206980, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  20. Mary Jane Deiches, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: 4145; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 31-86, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  21. Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 ↩
  22. Herbert M Alexander, Gender Male, Birth Date 1 Sep 1910, Death Date 23 Nov 1988, Claim Date 1 Apr 1975, SSN 082015161, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; “Herbert Alexander, Pocket Books Editor and Publisher, 78,” The New York Times, November 24, 1988, p. 96; “Herbert Alexander, Ex-Pocket Books Publisher,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, November 25, 1988, p. 42. ↩
  23. Greta Alexander, Gender Female, Birth Date 12 Feb 1912, Death Date Sep 1982
    Claim Date 7 Apr 1975, SSN 045129047, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  24. Albert E. Alexander, Social Security Number 114-12-2501,Birth Date 6 Jul 1915
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State New York, Last Residence 14610, Rochester, Monroe, New York, USA, Death Date 15 Sep 1994, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  25. Mary J. Alexander, Social Security Number 132-20-6980, Birth Date 15 Dec 1925
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State New York, Last Residence 14610, Rochester, Monroe, New York, USA, Death Date May 1991, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩

Moses and Mathilde’s Granddaughter Frances Alexander: A Genealogy Adventure Takes Me to Canada

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As we saw in the last post about the family of Moses Rothschild, Mathilde Rothschild died in 1931, and her daughter-in-law Rose Katz Rothschild died in 1933. There were also some weddings and some births for the children of the three oldest children of Moses and Mathilde, Samuel, Rudolph, and Albert.

Now we turn to Moses and Mathilde’s fourth child Theresa Rothschild Alexander and her children and their lives in the 1930s. This post focuses primarily on my challenges in finding out what happened to Theresa’s daughter Frances during this decade and thereafter.

In 1930, Theresa was living in the Bronx with her husband Max Alexander, who was in his own real estate business, and their two sons, Herbert (19) and Albert (14) as well as Max’s sister Esther.1 I will follow up with their lives after the 1930s in a later post.

But Theresa and Max’s daughter Frances, who would have been 24 in 1930, was not listed as living in the household, nor for a long time could I find her elsewhere. Looking for Frances led me down many a rabbit hole and provided me with a good reminder of how tricky genealogy research can be, even when you are looking for someone who lived fairly recently in the United States.

I searched for a death record, a marriage record, and elsewhere on the 1930 census, but for a long time could not find Frances. There were several other women close to her in age with the same or similar names, but I couldn’t establish that any of them was the daughter of Max and Theresa Alexander. The closest one I could find was a Frances H. Alexander who married a Joseph Jacobs, but I could only find a listing on the marriage license index and no actual marriage record. And the index didn’t provide the names of the bride’s parents. The marriage license index showed that the license was taken out on July 6, 1926, when Frances would have been only twenty years old.2

I was more certain that this was the right Frances when I found her birth certificate and saw the her middle name was Harriet, consistent with the middle initial on the listing on the marriage license index. I wasn’t positive, but pretty persuaded that Frances had married Joseph Jacobs.

But…then I found a Frances H. Alexander who married Jerome Walton in 1933. Had Frances never married Joseph Jacobs, just taken out a license?3

But when I searched for Frances and Jerome Walton on FamilySearch, I located a record there that revealed that the Frances H. Alexander who married Jerome Walton was the daughter of William Alexander and Helen Harkness, not Max Alexander and Theresa Rothschild. Also, that Frances was born in 1913, not 1907 like my Frances.4 So I eliminated Jerome Walton as a possible husband for Frances and focused back on Joseph Jacobs as the likely candidate.

Joseph Jacobs was born on November 6, 1902, in the Bronx to Max and Sarah Jacobs.5 In 1920, Joseph and his parents and siblings were living at 2020 Morris Avenue in the Bronx.6 When I saw Morris Avenue, it rang a bell. I went back to see where Frances Alexander and her family were living in 1920, and sure enough, they were at 2033 Morris Avenue.7 Frances and Joseph were neighbors! I was now more confident that my Frances Alexander had married Joseph Jacobs.

My next step was looking for Joseph Jacobs with a wife named Frances on the 1930 census, and sure enough, I found them living in the Bronx with a daughter named Joan. Joseph was working as an engineer. Joan Jacobs was born in the Bronx on July 13, 1927.8 But Joseph, Frances, and Joan disappeared after the 1930 census. I could not find them on the 1940 census nor could I find them anywhere else. Where had they disappeared to? Had they had any other children?

My big breakthrough came when I found an obituary for Frances’ brother Albert that listed “a sister Francis Jacobs of Canada” as one of his survivors.9 (More on Albert to come in a later post.) Not only did that give me the confirmation that my Frances (or Francis—both spellings appear to have been used) had married Joseph Jacobs, it told me where she was living at least in 1993 when her brother Albert died. I switched my search for Frances and her family from the US to Canada.

And sure enough I soon found an obituary for Frances Jacobs in the Montreal Gazette of June 19, 1998, that reported that Frances had died on June 17, 1998, in Montreal.10 The obituary provided the names of Frances’ survivors, including her daughter Joan and son-in-law Martin Samuels, but also two other children, a son Peter and a daughter Maggie. I then found an obituary for Frances’ husband Joseph Jacobs, who died on April 5, 1983, in Montreal.11 So I knew that Frances and Joseph had moved to Montreal at some point, but when?

That question was answered when I found an obituary for Frances and Joseph’s daughter Joan Jacobs Samuels, who died on August 16, 2021. The Montreal Gazette ran a long and detailed obituary for Joan on August 21, 2021, that reported that Joan “had moved with her family to Montreal in 1933.”12

Interestingly, I had earlier been confused by Joseph Jacob’s 1942 World War II draft registration, which listed 2033 Morris Avenue in the Bronx as his mailing address, but gave a Westmount, Quebec address in Canada as his place of residence. I had assumed that he was temporarily living in Canada for business, but otherwise still a US resident living in the Bronx. Now, after finding that 2021 obituary for their daughter Joan and looking more closely, I realize that he gave 2033 Morris Avenue, his in-law’s address, as his mailing address for purposes of his required registration with the US military. But they were living in Westmount, a section of Montreal.

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

So Frances and Joseph had moved to the Montreal area with Joan in 1933, where they would have two more children, Peter and Maggie. As we saw above, Joseph died in 1983, Frances in 1998, and Joan in 2021.Joan Jacobs was predeceased by her husband Martin Samuels, who died on December 23, 2003.13 Joan was survived by her children and grandchildren and her brother Peter and sister Maggie.

Sadly, Maggie Jacobs died on November 4, 2024, just days before I found the family of Frances Alexander and Joseph Jacobs. She is survived by her brother Peter and her nieces and nephews and their children.

It took some doing, but I am so glad I persisted and located my Canadian cousins.

 

 

 

  1. Max Alexander and family, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Bronx, Bronx, New York; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0609; FHL microfilm: 2341221, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Francis H Alexander, Gender Female, Marriage License Date 6 Jul 1926, Marriage License Place Bronx, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse Joseph N Jacobs, License Number 4383, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Bronx, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  3. Frances H Alexander, Gender Female, Marriage Date 19 Jul 1933, Marriage Place Kings, New York, USA, Spouse, Jerome M Walton, Certificate Number 10142, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937 ↩
  4. “New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1938”, , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2CD-FHZF : Sat Mar 09 21:15:06 UTC 2024), Entry for Jerome Maury Walton and Frances H Alexander, 19 July 1933. ↩
  5. Joseph Jacobs, World War II Draft Registration, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York City, 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947. Max Jacobs, Naturalization Petition, 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: 178, Archive Roll Descriptions: (Roll 0178) Petition No· 29218-Petition No· 29480, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1882-1944 ↩
  6. Max Jacobs and family, 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Bronx Assembly District 8, Bronx, New York; Roll: T625_1141; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 416, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. Max Alexander and family, 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Bronx Assembly District 8, Bronx, New York; Roll: T625_1141; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 416, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  8. Joseph Jacobs and family, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Bronx, Bronx, New York; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0689; FHL microfilm: 2341224, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. “Alexander, Albert E.,” Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, September 17, 1994, p. 5. ↩
  10. Montreal Gazette, June 19, 1998, p. 60. ↩
  11. Montreal Gazette, April 7, 1983, p. 31. ↩
  12. Montreal Gazette, August 21, 2021, p. CS18. ↩
  13. Montreal Gazette, December 26, 2023, p. 86. ↩