Category Archives: Genealogy

Final Chapter for Bert, Meyer, and Julius Mansbach and their Sister, Hannah Mansbach Dannenberg

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If the 1910s were years of growth for the families of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach’s children and the 1920s were years of transition, the 1930s and 1940s were primarily years of loss.

Those decades were particularly sad for the family of Bert Mansbach. First, on January 17, 1933, Rosa Schloss Mansbach, Bert Mansbach’s wife, died in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at age 64.1 Then on March 16, 1935, Bert’s son-in-law Herbert Kahn, husband of Corinne Mansbach, died at age 51 in Trinidad, Colorado.2

The following year, Corinne and Herbert’s daughter Rosalyn married Warren Jefferson Hahn in Philadelphia.3 Warren was born in Woodville, Rhode Island, on August 6, 1909, but grew up in Philadelphia where his father was a furniture salesman. In 1930 Warren had been living with his parents in Philadelphia and working for a motion picture company.4 Rosalyn and Warren settled in Philadelphia. Rosalyn’s widowed mother Corinne also moved to Philadelphia, and it appears that Rosalynn’s grandfather Bert Mansbach did as well because Bert died in Philadelphia on March 6, 1939; he was 83 years old.

Berthold Mansbach death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1965; Certificate Number Range: 020001-023000. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

In 1940, Corinne, her daughter Rosalyn, and son-in-law Warren Hahn were living together in Philadelphia where Warren was now working as a clerk in a loan office.5 Corinne’s brother Alvin Mansbach was living with his wife Lucille and their daughter Betty in New York City where Alvin continued to work for the telephone company.6 The following year on April 10, 1941, Alvin and Lucille’s nine year old daughter Betty died for reasons that are not revealed in her death certificate:

New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2WP2-SWW : 10 February 2018), Betty Mansbach, 10 Apr 1941; citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 2,130,228.

Alvin then lost his sister Corinne six years later on June 17, 1947, in Philadelphia; she was only 57 and died from breast cancer:

Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1965; Certificate Number Range: 057151-059700
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

Alvin and his wife Lucille, who had no more children after losing Betty, both died in 1961, Alvin on March 16 in New York at age 66, Lucille exactly three months later on June 16 in New York at age 64.7

The 1930s were not as difficult for the family of Hannah Mansbach Dannenberg. Hannah and Gerson were still living in Philadelphia, as were all three of their children, Reta, Arthur, and Katinka.  They were also all still living in Philadelphia in 1940. Gerson Dannenberg and his son-in-law Elmor Alkus, Reta’s husband, were still in the towel supply business together. Arthur Dannenberg was a physician in private practice, living with his wife Marion and their sons; his brother-in-law Sidney Olsho was also a doctor in private practice and living with his wife Katinka and their children.8

But the family’s settled life changed soon after the 1940 census. First, Hannah Mansbach Dannenberg died at age 83 on August 27, 1940, from myocarditis; her husband Gerson followed her three years later on March 20, 1943; he was eighty and died from leukemia.9

Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1965; Certificate Number Range: 071201-073500
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

And sometime in the 1940s Katinka Dannenberg’s marriage to Sidney Olsho ended. I am not sure exactly when, although she did fly to Texas without him in 1946. But by 1949 she and Sidney were definitely divorced because during 1949 Katinka married Julius Adler.10

Now when I saw the name Julius Adler, something rang a bell (it amazes me that any names stick in my head these days). So I searched on my tree, and sure enough, I did have a Julius Adler on my tree, and in fact, I already had entered Katinka as his second wife but hadn’t realized she was my relative (I had to merge the duplicates on my tree). Why was Julius already on my family tree?

Because his first wife was also a cousin—my second cousin, twice removed, Flora Baer, the daughter of Malchen Hamberg and Jacob Baer, about whom I have already written in depth. In fact, I had already written quite a bit about Julius as well, who lived to 106. He outlived Katinka by 21 years; she died on March 27, 1971, and her death notice listed her survivors as not only her husband Julius and her son Edward Olsho, but also Julius and Flora’s three children, Stanley, Amy, and Jerrold, who were young adults when Katinka married their father and who were my third cousins, once removed, through my Hamberg line. Once again, my crazy tree was doubling over itself.11

As for Katinka’s siblings, Reta Dannenberg Alkus died on August 30, 1960, at age 70 from cancer; her husband Elmor Alkus died eight years later in December 1968; he was 79.12

Reta Dannenberg Arkus death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1965; Certificate Number Range: 076201-078900. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

Hannah and Gerson’s son Arthur Dannenberg outlived them all. The Philadelphia Inquirer published this wonderful  obituary of Arthur on December 9, 1990:13

Arthur Mansbach Dannenberg lived to 99; he died on December 7, 1990. His wife Marion had died twelve years earlier in April 1978. According to his obituary in The Philadelphia Inquirer,

Arthur M. Dannenberg, 99, a pediatrician who made house calls, died Friday at his home in Philadelphia.

Dr. Dannenberg graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1913 and did his internship at the Jewish Hospital, now known as Albert Einstein Medical Center. From 1938 until his retirement in 1968, Dr. Dannenberg was chief of pediatrics at the center.

He practiced medicine during the 1920s, when there were only a few pediatricians in Philadelphia, said his son, James. “I would ride in the car with him when he made house calls,” said Dannenberg, recalling his childhood. ”He spent time educating the mothers about what was a serious illness and what wasn’t and how to take care of their babies.”

During Dr. Dannenberg’s career, he wrote numerous articles on pediatrics that were published in medical journals. He was a member of the Philadelphia County Medical Society, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He was a past president of the Philadelphia Pediatric Society.

He also was a member of the Council of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

We saw that in 1930 Meyer and Ida (Jaffa) Mansbach as well as their daughter Edith and her husband Herbert Marshutz and their children were living in Los Angeles where Meyer was selling millinery and Herbert was practicing optometry.  Meyer’s son Arthur Mansbach and his wife Gertrude and their daughter had also relocated to Los Angeles by 1936, where Arthur was working as the sales manager for Caltex Sportswear.14

Meyer was still in the hat business in 1940 in Los Angeles, and Herbert was still in the optometry business there as well.15 I could not find Arthur on the 1940 census, but he is listed in the 1940 Los Angeles directory.16

Just months after the 1940 census, Meyer passed away on December 10, 1940, in Los Angeles.17  He was eighty years old. Two weeks after his death, the Los Angeles Times ran this sweet article about Meyer’s encounter with Damon Runyon, the journalist and writer best known for the book Guys and Dolls, the source of the well-known Broadway musical:

“News for Mr. Runyon,” The Los Angeles Times, December 25, 1940, p. 28

Meyer’s wife Ida Jaffa Mansbach died almost exactly a year after her husband on December 2, 1941. She was 66.18 Meyer and Ida’s son Arthur died just nine years later on May 4, 1950; he was only 53.19 His wife Gertrude lived another 28 years, dying at age 77 on June 3, 1978. She had remarried in 1954.20 Finally, Edith Mansbach Marshuk died on March 20, 1968; she was 66. Her husband Herbert had predeceased her, dying on October 5, 1959.21 Meyer, Ida, and their children all died and are buried in Los Angeles.

Last but not least, Julius Mansbach, Sarah and Abraham’s youngest child, and his wife Frieda were still living in Wunstorf, Germany, in 1930, but their son Alfred had left for the US the year before to study at Northwestern University in Chicago. Fortunately Julius and Frieda did not remain in Germany for long once Hitler came to power. They sailed to the US in September 1933, and followed their son Alfred to Chicago:

Julius and Frieda Mansbach, passenger manifest,  lines 8 and 9, Year: 1933; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 5390; Line: 1; Page Number: 181, Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957

Here is a photograph of Julius, Frieda, and Alfred taken in 1934 and one of Julius taken in 1936:

Alfred, Frieda, and Julius, 1934. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Julius Mansbach, 1936. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Finally, here is one taken in 1937, which must have been not long before Julius died. He died on April 12, 1937, at the age of 71.22

Frieda and Julius Mansbach, 1937. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

His son Alfred married Alice Spitz of Cleveland in about 1946 and moved to Cleveland. 23 Frieda Bensew Mansbach died in 1968, and Alfred died in 1982, his wife Alice in 2012.24

That brings me to the end of the story of those children of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach who came to the US. There is one more line of the Goldschmidt-Mansbach familiy to discuss: the family of Breine Mansbach Bensew, the one sibling who did not come to America herself.

  1. JewishGen, comp. JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) ↩
  2. JewishGen, comp. JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) ↩
  3. Marriage License Number: 662803, Digital GSU Number: 4141760,
    Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951 ↩
  4. Warren Hahn, World War II draft registration, The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 992, Ancestry.com. U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947; Hahn household, 1930 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 26A; Enumeration District: 0672; FHL microfilm: 2341840, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  5. Hahn household, 1940 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: m-t0627-03702; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 51-493, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  6. Mansbach household, 1940 US census, Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02643; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 31-812, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. Alvin Mansbach, Certificate Number: 6059, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Death Index, 1949-1965. Lucille Mansbach, Certificate Number: 42370, New York State Department of Health; Albany, NY, USA; New York State Death Index, Ancestry.com. New York State, Death Index, 1957-1968 ↩
  8. Gerson Dannenberg household, 1940 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: m-t0627-03732; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 51-1426, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census. Elmor Alkus household, 1940 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: m-t0627-03754; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 51-2167, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census. Arthur Dannenberg household, 1940 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: m-t0627-03692; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 51-144, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census. Sidney Olsho household, 1940 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: m-t0627-03704; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 51-558, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census. ↩
  9.  Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1965; Certificate Number Range: 020901-023300, Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966, Certificate Number: 20971. ↩
  10. The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Series Title: Passenger and Crew Manifests of Airplanes Arriving at Fort Worth, Texas; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004, Ancestry.com. Texas, Passenger Lists, 1893-1963.  Film Number: 004144625, Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Marriages, 1852-1968 ↩
  11. The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 30, 1971, p. 14. ↩
  12. Number: 176-26-9579; Issue State: Pennsylvania; Issue Date: Before 1951. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014  ↩
  13.  Philadelphia Inquirer, The () , obit for ARTHUR M. DANNENBERG, PEDIATRICIAN, GenealogyBank.com (https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/0FBAE72EAEE42B55-0FBAE72EAEE42B55 : accessed 18 October 2018) ↩
  14.  Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1936, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  15. Meyer Mansbach household, 1940 US census, Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: m-t0627-00404; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 60-200,
    Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census. Herbert Marshutz household, 1940 US census, Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: m-t0627-00406; Page: 17A; Enumeration District: 60-313, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census. ↩
  16. Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1940, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  17. Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1940-1997. ↩
  18. Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1940-1997 ↩
  19. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 560148581 ↩
  20. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 557440725. ↩
  21. Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1940-1997 ↩
  22. Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois Death Index, 1908-1988, File Number: 6011583. ↩
  23. Cuyahoga County Archive; Cleveland, Ohio; Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records, 1810-1973; Volume: 282; Page: 107; Year Range: 1945-1947, Ancestry.com. Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records and Indexes, 1810-1973  ↩
  24. Frieda Bensew Mansbach death, Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois Death Index, 1908-1988, File Number: 630257. Alfred Mansbach death, Certificate: 023244; Volume: 24800, Ancestry.com and Ohio Department of Health. Ohio, Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2007. Plain Dealer, The , obit for PETRAS, ALICE L. (Spitz), GenealogyBank.com(https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/13DC20F1FA539460 : accessed 22 September 2018) ↩

The Langer Brothers: Lives Devoted to Photography

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Amelia Mansbach and her husband Henry Langer died in the 1920s and were survived by their two sons, my grandmother’s second cousins Joseph and Lester, both of whom were career photographers, Joseph for The Denver Post and Lester as a dark room technician. We saw that in 1930, Joseph was still living in Denver,1 but Lester was living in Kansas City.2 Neither brother was married at that time. Lester was a lodger in what appears to have been a large boarding house in Kansas City, and Joseph was living in a hotel in Denver. This post will look at their lives in more depth.

It was a challenge to learn much more about Lester, the younger of the two brothers. In 1940 he was still living in Kansas City, working as a photographer, and living at the Washington Hotel. According to the census record, he was married, but I found no other indication of a marriage, and he is not listed with another woman named Langer at the Washington Hotel.3 I believe this was an enumerator mistake, or Lester was lying. After all, he had listed his mother as his wife on his World War I draft registration. Lester was still living at the Washington Hotel two years later when he registered for the World War II draft (he was then 58 years old). And he was still working as a photographer—for Guy E. Smith.

Lester Langer, 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 Missouri; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 966.  Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

I could find no other information about Lester in his years in Kansas City except for this news story about him being the victim of a robbery in 1930:

“Loot Is His By Priority,” Kansas City Star, March 11, 1930, p. 22

The only other reference I could initially find for Lester was an entry on FindAGrave indicating that he died on March 19, 1960, and was buried at Temple Israel Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.4 I contacted the synagogue affiliated with the cemetery where Lester was buried, and the archivist there told me that there are no other Langers buried there and that Lester was not a member of the congregation. I was not sure where else to look to learn more about Lester and how he ended up being buried in Memphis.

So I  joined the Tennessee Genealogy group on Facebook, and a very helpful member named Shannon located Lester’s death certificate, which opened the doors to the rest of his story.

Lester Langer death certificate, “Tennessee Deaths, 1914-1966,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9DL-CF56?cc=1417505&wc=34DM-BZS%3A1580614801 : 15 October 2018), 007552516 > image 33 of 2310; Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.

Lester had died in the Baptist Hospital in Memphis, but was residing at the time of his death in the tiny village of Ridgely, Tennessee, located about 100 miles north of Memphis. Ridgely’s population in 1960 was 1,464. Why was Lester living there? His death certificate indicated that he was still a photographer working as a darkroom technician.

I contacted the local newspaper for Ridgely, The Lake County Banner, and they kindly sent me a copy of Lester’s obituary:

Lake County Banner, March 24, 1960, p. 5

From the obituary I learned that Lester had moved to Ridgely, Tennessee in 1954, just six years before he died, to work with W.L. Glover, a “nationally known livestock photographer,” who had purchased the photography business of Lester’s Kansas City employer, Guy E. Smith (the name mentioned on Lester’s World War II draft registration card) in 1952. The obituary said that Lester had worked for Smith for twenty years, so dating back to 1930 or so, when he was living in Kansas City.

Then I contacted one of W.L. Glover’s sons, Jere, who remembered Lester well and told me that Lester had also spent time in Hollywood where he did photography developing and printing for movie studios. From what I already knew about Lester’s career, I assume that he must have been in Hollywood sometime after 1920, when he was still in Denver, and before 1930, when he was already in Kansas City. Those must have been exciting days in the early years of the movie business. Unfortunately Jere did not have more details as he said that Lester had not talked very much about his Hollywood days.

Jere also told me that Lester “was well liked by everyone in the town. He had a good sense of humor and was a truly nice person.” He thought that Lester was probably the only Jew in the area.  Nevertheless, Lester had held on to his Jewish identity. His funeral was officiated by a rabbi, and he was buried in a Jewish cemetery. I found it particularly touching that a small number of residents of Ridgely, including the Glovers, traveled all the way to Memphis to attend the funeral, as noted in the obituary.

So from knowing almost nothing about Lester, I now have a fairly complete picture of Lester Langer’s life, thanks to the generosity of Shannon from the Tennessee Genealogy group, the Lake County Banner, Temple Israel synagogue in Memphis, and Jere Glover.

Fortunately, it was easier to find information about Lester’s older brother Joseph—largely because Joseph worked for a newspaper. In fact, I was able to find news coverage about Joseph dating back as early as 1899 when he was just twenty years old and won an amateur photography contest with a photograph of the then-governor of Colorado laying the corner stone for a hospital in Denver:

“Joseph Langer Wins The Leslie Prize,” The Denver Post, September 3, 1899, p. 5

Not long after that, Joseph became a staff photographer for The Denver Post. In 1904 he took this photograph:

The Denver Post, January 2, 1904, p. 14

And in 1908 Joseph did this full page layout of photographs of the mayor of Denver, Robert Speer:

The Denver Post, January 19, 1908, p. 46

He also took this photograph of the Denver Post editorial board:

And here is a street photograph he took of a couple hoping to marry:

The Denver Post, July 10, 1909, p. 3

Obviously, these are not very good quality reproductions of the photographs as they are scans of photographs published in old newspapers, but they give a sense of the variety and volume of Joseph’s contribution to the newspaper.

Sometimes Joe Langer was himself the subject of articles, as in this 1911 article written when he broke his leg after slipping on ice. The newspaper wrote of the irony of him injuring himself this way in light of the risks he had taken for his job:

Denver Post, December 20, 1911, p. 7

The strangeness of the ways of fate is here again emphasized.  All newspaperdom familiar with Langer’s record as one of the pluckiest of press photographers and his hair-breadth escapes in the pursuance of his arduous and hazardous vocation, his daring exploits and his proverbial good luck while on perilous ventures—and now a slip and a trifling fall has laid him up in pain for perhaps six weeks!

The article then described some of his feats, including climbing up on the scaffolding on the spire of the new cathedral to get a birds-eye view of Denver and another time climbing up on the tower of a newly completed building, standing in the wind as it swayed, to get another shot of the city.

As noted in an earlier post, Joe served in the armed services intelligence division during World War I. In 1924 the Post published a whole article about Joe, celebrating his 22nd anniversary with the Denver Post:

Denver Post, March 3, 1924, p. 6

This article also heaped high praise on Joe for his work:

“Joe” has been struck by lightning, burned by flashlight powder, his camera has been smashed, he’s been cursed and lauded, rebuffed and welcomed, but he’s never lost his enthusiasm for the press photography fame, and if there is a better newscamera man in the world. The Post hasn’t been able to find him.

… In his twenty two years as The Post’s news photographer, Langer has exposed approximately 90,000 negatives.  If those negatives were placed end to end they would make a glass strip all the way from Denver to Arvada.

The news of Denver, as Langer has seen it thru his cameras, would fill a library. And the most interesting stories, because they are the inside and the most intimate stories of the big happenings of those one score and two years, would far surpass what has been printed.

The article also described some of Joe’s many challenging experiences over the years.

After his mother Amelia died in 1926, Joe retired and began to travel the world.5 In 1930 Joe Langer was one of a number of journalists sailing on the SS Resolute, when this photograph was taken:

Embed from Getty Images

I found one manifest for Joe on the SS Resolute in 1929,6 and Joe also traveled to South America in February 1930 on the SS Samaria,7 and in August he traveled on the SS St. Louis to Hamburg Germany.8 It is thus not surprising that I could not find Joe on the 1930 US census.

While searching on Google for more information about Joseph Langer and for more examples of his photographs, I ran across this image:

Embed from Getty Images

According to the caption with the photograph on the Getty Images website, “JAN 20 1933; Honeymooners are Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Langer of Denver, shown here as they reached New York recently after an eighteen-day cruise of the West Indies. For many years Langer was a photographer on The Denver Post staff. His bride was Miss Bertha Courlander of Denver. Following their wedding here they sailed from New York Dec. 17 on the S.S. Reliance of the Hamburg-American line and spent the holidays sailing the Caribbean sea. (Photo By The Denver Post via Getty Images)”

Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate an actual marriage record for Joseph and Bertha or even a newspaper article, despite a search done by the Denver Public Library of issues of the Denver Post for that time period. From the caption, it appears that they were married in Denver shortly before departing on December 17, 1932, for their honeymoon cruise to the West Indies. It also appears that Joe was no longer working for the Denver Post, as the caption described him as someone who “[f]or many years… was a photographer” for the Post. (Emphasis added.)

Joe was 53 in December, 1932, when he married Bertha. She was 36. Bertha was born in Chicago on August 11, 1896, to David Courlander and Tillie Oppenheim. Her father was a dry goods jobber in 1900.9 In 1910, Bertha and her parents and siblings were living in Indianapolis where her father was now a woolens merchant.10 Then in 1920 Bertha was a patient in the National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives in Denver. She was 24 and listed her occupation as a stenographer for a lawyer. Bertha was also, however, included in the enumeration of her parents’ household in Detroit in 1920, where she was listed without an occupation. Since both enumerations are dated in January 1920, I am not sure how to reconcile this, but my guess is that her parents included her because they still considered her residence to be with them even if she was a hospital patient elsewhere.11

But Bertha Courlander stayed in Denver. She is listed in the 1922 Denver directory as residing at 1356 Pearl Street, in 1924 at 1440 Washington Street, and in 1928, 1929, and 1930, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan, the same hotel where Joe Langer resided.12 It was probably there that Joe and Bertha met. In 1933 they are listed together in the Denver directory as living at 2737 East 13th Avenue in Denver, and Joe was working as an agent for a steamship company. They later moved to 3535 East 17th Avenue in Denver.13

Sadly, their marriage did not last very long because Joe’s life was cut short on August 29, 1934, when he died from complications after a minor operation. He was 54 years old. The obituary published by his former employer, The Denver Post, filled in some of the remaining gaps in the story of Joseph Langer:

“Death Takes Former Post Photographer,” The Denver Post, August 30, 1934, p. 9

Announcement that “Joe” Langer is dead will be received with sincere regret and sorrow by thousands who knew him during his activities as a newspaper photographer. Until he retired to become a world traveler some eight years ago [1926] he was always at the front with his camera in every important story calling for picturization. No day was too long, no task too difficult to curb his enthusiasm or turn his ambition to be the “unscooped photographer.” The great and humble and all in between were to him “interesting subjects: and his files were a clear pictorial history of the times. ….After the death of his mother in 1926 he decided to see something of the world.
He took a world cruise, carrying the faithful camera along, and on his return headlined many club programs with moving pictures and oral descriptions of places he had visited in far lands.

Joe Langer certainly left his mark on the paper and the city of Denver.

Neither Joseph nor Lester Langer had any children, and thus there are no descendants for them or for their parents, Amelia Mansbach and Henry Langer. The two brothers both had such full and interesting careers in photography, one living in Denver all his life, the other living at times in Hollywood, Kansas City, and finally the small town of Ridgely, Tennessee. I am so glad I was able to learn so much about them and keep the facts of their lives from disappearing into oblivion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Publication Title: Denver, Colorado, City Directory, 1931, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. ↩
  2. Lester Langer, 1930 US census, Census Place: Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 0018; FHL microfilm: 2340928. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census. ↩
  3. Lester Langer, 1940 US census, Census Place: Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri; Roll: m-t0627-02165; Page: 81A; Enumeration District: 116-13, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census. ↩
  4. MEMORIAL ID 149610799, Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current. ↩
  5.  “Death Takes Former Post Photographer,” The Denver Post, August 30, 1934, p. 9 ↩
  6.  The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Pedro/Wilmington/Los Angeles, California;NAI Number: 4486355; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85. NARA Roll Number: 021, Ancestry.com. California, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1959 ↩
  7. Year: 1930; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 4706; Line: 1; Page Number: 193. Ship or Roll Number: Roll 4706,
    Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger and Crew Lists ↩
  8. Year: 1930; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 4805; Line: 19; Page Number: 14. Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 ↩
  9. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 573669492. Courlander household, 1900 census, Census Place: Chicago Ward 9, Cook, Illinois; Page: 10; Enumeration District: 0221; FHL microfilm: 1240253,
    Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩
  10. Courlander household, 1910 US census, Census Place: Indianapolis Ward 3, Marion, Indiana; Roll: T624_367; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 0062; FHL microfilm: 1374380, Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  11. Bertha Courlander 1920 US census, Census Place: Denver, Denver, Colorado; Roll: T625_162; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 244, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census. Courlander household, 1920 US census, Census Place: Detroit Ward 14, Wayne, Michigan; Roll: T625_813; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 428, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  12. Denver City Directories, 1922, 1924, 1928, 1929, 1930, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  13. Denver City Directories, 1933, 1934, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩

The Mansbachs in the 1920s: First the Bad News, Then the Good News

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As seen in the last two posts, the years between 1910 and 1920 were primarily years of growth for the children of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach. Unfortunately the next decade was not as happy a time; the family suffered a number of losses as the children of Sarah and Abraham entered their sixties and seventies.

1926 was a particularly bad year. First, Louis Mansbach, Sarah and Abraham’s oldest son, died in Philadelphia from myocarditis on April 2, 1926, at age 77:

Louis Mansbach death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 037001-040000.  Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

A couple of observations about this death certificate. One, Louis was a veterinarian, but the certificate says he was a doctor; while a vet is a doctor in one sense of the word, it’s still odd that he is identified this way and not as a veterinarian.

Secondly, the informant was Richard Rattin, and I have no idea who that was. Louis’s son-in-law was David Rattin, husband of Rebecca Mansbach. He lived at 1638 North Franklin Street in Philadelphia. But as far as I can tell, David had no siblings, and his father had died long ago. I cannot find any Richard Rattin during this period or any other time in Philadelphia (or elsewhere). Could David have signed using the wrong first name? Did someone forge his signature with the wrong first name? And if so, why?

Third, I was struck by the fact that the informant did not know the names of Louis Mansbach’s parents. I see this so often, and it makes me sad that so quickly the names were forgotten, but it also makes me feel good to know that I am filling in that gap for descendants who might otherwise never know who their ancestors were.

But more tragically than Louis Mansbach’s own death was the death of his daughter, Rebecca Mansbach Rattin. She died less than a month later on April 30, 1926, from meningitis; she was not yet 29 years old. She left behind her husband David and two young daughters, Ruth, who was only seven, and Virginia, who was born on June 27, 1923 and two months shy of her third birthday when she lost her mother.

Rebecca Mansbach Rattin death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 040001-043000
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

Thus, just as Rebecca had lost her mother Cora when she was a young girl, Rebecca’s daughters lost their mother when they were young girls.

David Rattin was the informant on his wife’s death certificate. Comparing this death certificate with that for Louis above, it does not appear to be the same handwriting or signature, does it? (Also, it says that Rebecca’s father was born in Alsace Lorraine, which is not correct; he was born in Maden in the state of Hesse.) So who was Richard Rattin? Did someone else fill in the death certificate for Louis and just sign the wrong name? It appears that Rebecca had been ill since January, her father since February, so perhaps David Rattin was just too overwhelmed when Louis died to deal with the details of the death certificate.

UPDATE: Frank, a member of Tracing the Tribe, commented that it was likely that David Rattin/Richard Rattin did not sign either certificate, and when I compared the signature on David’s draft registration with the two death certificates, I realized that Frank was right: David had not signed or filled out either form. The registrar or some third party did in each case. And it seems likely that in the case of Louis Mansbach’s death certificate, whoever did fill it out just got David’s first name wrong on the line identifying the informant.

Then the third family death came when Amelia Mansbach Langer died two months after her brother Louis and niece Rebecca; she died in Denver on July 18, 1926, at age 72.1 She had been predeceased by her husband Henry Langer, who had died on October 25, 1921.2 Henry had died the day after his 91st birthday in Denver, where he had lived since at least 1880.

“Death Claims Mother of Joseph H. Langer, Post Photographer,” The Denver Post, July 16, 1926, p. 17

Colorado Springs Gazette, October 26, 1921, p. 3

Amelia and Henry’s son Joseph remained in Denver as a photographer for the Denver Post, but by 1930 their younger son Lester had moved to Kansas City, where he continued to work as photographer. He was living in a large boarding house as a lodger in 1930.3 More on the Langer brothers in my next post.

Meanwhile, back in Melsungen, Germany, Breine Mansbach Bensew, the oldest child of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach, died on May 31, 1922, at age 77. Her husband Jakob Bensew died three years later on April 25, 1925, in Kassel, Germany; he was 85.

Death record for Breine Mansbach Bensew
Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 4684

Death record for Jakob Bensew, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 910; Signatur: 5599 Description Year Range: 1925 Source Information Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Thus, by 1926, the only children of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach still living were Bert, Hannah, Meyer, and Julius. For them and their children, there were some happier events in the 1920s.

Bert Mansbach’s son Alvin moved to Chicago in 1921 to go to the Western Electric School.

Albuquerque Morning Journal, February 2, 1921, p. 7

At some point thereafter Alvin moved to New York City, where on May 12, 1927, he married Lucille Nelson, a native New Yorker, born in about 1897 to Louis Nelson and Bertha Heineman.4 Finding Lucille’s background was another research adventure as I had to work backwards from the listing of her aunt Marian Heineman in Alvin and Lucille’s household on the 1930 census to find Lucille’s parents.  In 1930, Alvin and Lucille (and Lucille’s aunt) were living on West End Avenue in New York City, and Alvin was working as an engineer for the telephone company. They had a daughter Betty born on February 22, 1932, in New York.5

Alvin Mansbach 1930 US census, Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0421; FHL microfilm: 2341289
Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census

Alvin’s sister Corinne and her husband Herbert Kahn and daughter Rosalynn were still living in Trinidad in 1930, where Herbert was in the produce business.6 And Alvin and Corinne’s parents were still in Albuquerque. In January 1927, Bert suffered injuries after being hit by a car. In 1930, Bert and Rosa were living in Albuquerque, and Bert was working as a salesman in a retail store.7

“Man Struck by Car Painfully Injured But Is Improving,” Albuquerque Journal, January 22, 1927, p. 8

In 1930 Hannah Mansbach Dannenberg and her husband Gerson were still living in Philadelphia, where Gerson was a “dealer” in “goods.”8 Their daughter Reta had had a second child, a boy, in 1923,9 and in 1930 Reta and her family were also living in Philadelphia where her husband Elmor Alkus continued to work in the towel business.10 Hannah’s third child, Katinka Dannenberg Olsho, was living with her husband Sidney and son Edward in Philadelphia in 1930, where Sidney continued to practice medicine.11

Hannah and Gerson’s son Arthur married Marion Loeb Stein in 1922 in Philadelphia.12 Marion was born on September 11, 1888, in Pennsylvania to Leo and Rosetta Loeb and grew up in Philadelphia.13 Marion was a widow when she married Arthur. On March 15, 1915, she had married Milton C. Stein, who became ill on their honeymoon and died on August 1, 1915; he was only 31.  Reading these two newspaper articles in sequence made me quite sad for Marion:

Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, March 15, 1915, p. 9

“Laid at Rest,” Allentown (PA) Democrat, August 4, 1915, p. 12

But she and Arthur Dannenberg had a long marriage together and had two children born in the 1920s, so I hope she did find happiness after experiencing the tragic loss of her new husband in 1915.

Meyer and Ida (Jaffa) Mansbach’s two children were both married in the 1920s. Their daughter Edith married Herbert Marshutz on July 9, 1924, in Detroit. Herbert was an optometrist, born March 12, 1894, in Los Angeles, where he had grown up and where he was residing at the time of their marriage. Herbert was the son of Siegfried Marshutz, who was born in Bavaria, and Hattie Wolfstein, who was born in Walla Walla, Washington.14 Herbert and Edith would have two children. In 1930, they were living in Los Angeles, where Herbert continued to practice optometry.15

Marriage record, Edith Mansbach and Herbert Marshutz, Michigan Department of Community Health, Division of Vital Records and Health Statistics; Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952; Film: 179; Film Description: 1924 Wayne
Ancestry.com. Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952 [

By 1930, Edith’s parents Meyer and Ida had also moved to Los Angeles. I don’t know whether they had moved there to be closer to their daughter Edith or whether they had moved to Los Angeles before Edith even married Herbert and somehow connected him to their daughter. Meyer was working as a millinery salesman in 1930 in Los Angeles.16

Meyer and Ida’s son Arthur Jaffa Mansbach also married in the 1920s. In 1926, he married Gertrude Heller in Milwaukee, where she was born on September 6, 1901, to Henry Heller and Frederika Grothey.17 Arthur and Gertrude would have one daughter, and in 1930 they were living in Detroit where Arthur was the vice-president of a retail store.18

Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, April 2, 1926, p. 2

Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, July 23, 1926, p.2

Finally, Julius Mansbach and his wife Frieda and son Alfred were still living in Germany in the 1920s, but according to Alfred’s son Art, Alfred came to the United States in 192919 to go to college in Chicago. In 1930 Alfred was living with Emanuel Loewenherz and his wife Frieda and son Walter in New Trier, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Alfred was listed as the cousin of the wife of the head of the household, that is, Emanuel’s wife Frieda.

Alfred Mansbach with Loewenherz family, 1930 US census, Census Place: New Trier, Cook, Illinois; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 2223; FHL microfilm: 2340238
Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census

Frieda Loewenherz was born Frieda Bensew and was the daughter of Jakob Bensew and Breine Mansbach. Breine Mansbach Bensew was the daughter of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach and sister of Alfred’s father Julius, making Frieda Bensew Loewenherz Alfred’s first cousin through his father Julius:

But I believe that Alfred may also have been Frieda Bensew Loewenherz’s cousin through his mother as well. Alfred’s mother was also born with the name Frieda Bensew. Although I haven’t been able to figure out the connection, my hunch is that the two Frieda Bensews were somehow related. More on the Bensew cousins in posts to come.

Thus, the 1920s were years of transition for the children of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach. Three of them died in this decade, and their children were adults marrying and raising their own children, the great-grandchildren of Sarah and Abraham.

 

 

  1.  JewishGen, comp. JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR). ↩
  2.  Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current. MEMORIAL ID 79956101. ↩
  3. Lester Langer, 1930 US census, Census Place: Kansas City, Jackson, Missouri; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 0018; FHL microfilm: 2340928. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  4. Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937, Certificate Number 13376. Lucille Nelson, 1915 NYS census, New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1915; Election District: 53; Assembly District: 03; City: New York; County: Queens; Page: 46. Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1915 ↩
  5. Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Birth Index, 1910-1965, Certificate Number 5591 ↩
  6. Herbert Kahn and family, 1930 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0046; FHL microfilm: 2339980. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. Bert and Rosa Mansbach, 1930 US census, Census Place: Albuquerque, Bernalillo, New Mexico; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0010; FHL microfilm: 2341127. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  8. Gerson Dannenberg household, 1930 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0778; FHL microfilm: 2341859. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census  ↩
  9. Warren Alkus, The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 23. Ancestry.com. U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
  10. Elmor Alkus household, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 23A; Enumeration District: 1030; FHL microfilm: 2341867. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  11. Sidney Olsho household, 1930 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0627; FHL microfilm: 2341838. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  12. Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951, Marriage License Number: 465401.  ↩
  13.  Number: 188-36-8650; Issue State: Pennsylvania; Issue Date: 1962; Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014.  Loeb family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0408; FHL microfilm: 1241461. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩
  14. Herbert Marshutz World War I draft registration, Registration State: California; Registration County: Los Angeles; Roll: 1530901; Draft Board: 2.
    Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Marshutz household on 1910 US census,  Census Place: Los Angeles Assembly District 72, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T624_82; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0185; FHL microfilm: 1374095. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census. Marriage record of Sigfreid Marshutz and Hattie Wolfstein, Ancestry.com. California, County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1849-1980. ↩
  15. Herbert Marshutz household, 1930 US census, Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0107; FHL microfilm: 2339871; Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  16. Meyer Mansbach household, 1930 US census, Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0108; FHL microfilm: 2339871; Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census. ↩
  17. Ancestry.com. Wisconsin, Birth Index, 1820-1907, Reel: 0198 Record: 002612. Ancestry.com. Wisconsin, Births and Christenings Index, 1801-1928, FHL Film Number: 1013697. ↩
  18. Arthur Mansbach household, 1930 US census, Census Place: Detroit, Wayne, Michigan; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0363; FHL microfilm: 2340781; Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  19. Alfred Mansbach, ship manifest, Year: 1929; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 4639; Line: 1; Page Number: 104; Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 ↩

Pittsburgh

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Where do I start to express how I feel about what happened in Pittsburgh? Do I tell you how my heart didn’t stop racing all day on Saturday from when I first heard the news?  That I am just too sad and scared to be angry? That I feel like an outsider in my own country?

I didn’t know any of the individuals killed or injured in Pittsburgh, but I knew every single one of them. They are my friends and neighbors, my fellow congregants, my family, my ancestors. Yes, I have some actual ties to Pittsburgh—relatives from long ago who lived there including my great-grandfather, friends who grew up there, a brother who once lived there, and so on. But even if I didn’t, I knew these people. Because they were like me, a Jewish person living in America taking for granted all too often that we are safe. That it can never happen here. That people are basically good, that evil will not prevail.

Now I am not so sure. More and more we see the evil prevailing, the anger fanned, the hatred accepted and even condoned. Whether it is directed against someone because of their religion—be it Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or Christianity—or their skin color or their sexual orientation or their gender or their age or their nationality, the hatred is not only there, it is being acted upon. And it is not being condemned by our federal government in strong enough terms to be credible. In fact, it is encouraged.

I am beginning to lose faith in people. I no longer feel safe, I no longer believe it could never happen here. I have learned from studying my family history and Jewish history in general how much hatred and oppression and discrimination and violence have shaped my own history. Many of my ancestors came to this country in order to escape anti-Semitism and the oppression and lack of opportunity they faced in Europe. When I learned how many of my not-so-distant relatives died in the Holocaust or survived it against all odds or escaped just in time, I felt so grateful for America. America was supposed to be different. But is it really so different now?

Of course, in some ways it is. In Pittsburgh, the police took bullets to protect Jews. The mayor condemned what happened. The government there was not afraid to help the victims or condemn the murderer. On Facebook I am heartened when I see non-Jews standing up and making any kind of statement condemning what happened. We attended a gathering at our synagogue, and I was touched to see representatives there from other faiths and government officials pledging to stand by us. The service ended with the singing of The Star Spangled Banner and Hatikvah. As the rabbi said, we sing The Star Spangled Banner, the American national anthem, because this is our home.  And we sing Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem which means “the hope,” because we are Jews and to remind us that that we must never abandon hope.

And as I write this, I realize that I am not afraid to publish these thoughts. Because somewhere deep inside I must still trust that I will be safe here. But not as much as I once did.

Tomorrow I will return to telling my family’s story—with even more urgency than before. Because people—not just my people, not just my family—need to know what we as Jews have endured and what we have learned, what we have suffered and what we have contributed. And people need to understand the dreams that brought our ancestors here. We must not let those dreams die.

The Colorado Coalfields War and Its Effect on the Mansbach Brothers

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As we saw, between 1910 and 1920, there was a fair amount of growth in the families of Hannah Mansbach Dannenberg and Louis Mansbach, the two children of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach who were still living in Philadelphia. Hannah’s daughters had married and had children as had Louis’s daughter, and Hannah’s son Arthur Dannenberg had become a doctor. Julius Mansbach and his family were living in Wunstorf, Germany.

The Colorado siblings—Amelia, Bert, and Meyer—were experiencing similar growth in this decade. Amelia and her husband Henry Langer were still living in Denver. Both of their sons registered for the World War I draft, and as you can see, both were in the field of photography, Joseph for the Denver Post and Lester a self-employed commercial photographer.

Joseph Langer, World War I draft registration, Registration State: Colorado; Registration County: Denver; Roll: 1561841; Draft Board: 5
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

Joe Langer enlisted and was assigned to the intelligence division, “marching away with his camera under his arm.”1

Lester’s World War I draft registration confused me.  For his nearest relative, it says “Mrs. Amelia Langer wife.” But that was his mother’s name, and on the 1920 census he was listed as single and living at home with his parents and brother Joseph. And I can find no record that he had been married to anyone named Amelia before 1920, nor can I find an Amelia Langer elsewhere in Colorado (except for his mother).

Is it possible someone else filled out the form and Lester only signed it and didn’t see the mistake? The handwriting on the form is similar but somewhat different from the signature—especially if you compare the Es in the signature to those on the line where Lester’s name is written at the top. What do you think?

Lester Langer World War I draft registration, Registration State: Colorado; Registration County: Denver; Roll: 1561841; Draft Board: 5
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

Henry Langer and family 1920 US census, Census Place: Denver, Denver, Colorado; Roll: T625_162; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 245
Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census

As for Bert and Rosa (Schloss) Mansbach, their daughter Corinne had married Herbert J. Kahn in 1909, as noted in my earlier post, and on July 13, 1912, Corinne gave birth to their daughter Rosalynn.2 In 1920, they were living in Trinidad, Colorado, and Corinne’s younger brother Alvin was also living with them. Herbert was a produce broker, and Alvin was an electrician.3 Alvin had served in the US Army overseas during World War I as a regimental supply sergeant on an ammunition train and had returned safely home in 1919.4

Although Corinne and Alvin were thus in Trinidad in 1920, their parents Bert and Rosa Mansbach had moved to Albuquerque, where Bert is listed in the 1917 directory as a dry goods merchant.5 What would have taken Bert and Rosa away from Trinidad where both their children and their granddaughter were living and where Bert had been in business with his brother Meyer for so many years?

In 1912 both Bert and Meyer were still in Trinidad. They were listed in the Trinidad directory for that year as officers of The Famous Department Store, Bert as president, Meyer as treasurer.

Mansbach brothers, Trinidad, Colorado, City Directory, 1912
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

But Meyer also ended up leaving Trinidad; in 1914 he was listed in the Detroit, Michigan city directory as a milliner.6 What had happened?

Well, a search on genealogybank.com revealed the answer. The Famous Department Store had been forced into bankruptcy in the spring of 1914, according to this article from the May 10, 1915 Denver Post (p. 8) describing the sale of the assets of the store to a third party:

According to the first two paragraphs of this article:

One of the largest commercial transactions of the west, and one of supreme importance to the shopping public of Denver has been consummated in the sale of the entire $125,000 stock of the Famous Department Store of Trinidad, the largest and most complete department store in Southern Colorado, to the Golden Eagle of this city.

The Famous Department Store enjoyed the reputation of carrying one of the finest and highest grade stocks in Colorado and was established “many years ago.” Early last spring it was forced into bankruptcy through the general depression caused by the great Southern Colorado coal strike.

This ad, which appeared in the Denver Post on May 23, 1915, also reveals the demise of the Famous Department Store in Trinidad owned by Bert and Meyer Mansbach and its sale to the Golden Eagle:

The strike that caused the failure of the Mansbachs’ store is better known today as the Colorado Coalfields War and the Ludlow Massacre. Much has been written about this tragic chapter in US labor history, and I cannot give it adequate coverage here, but I thought that this summary from the Denver Public Library website provided a good overall description of the background of the strike and its aftermath. Here are some excerpts:

From 1884-1912, Colorado miners died at nearly double the rate of the national average, according the University of Denver’s Coal Field War Project. ….But unsafe work conditions were hardly the only problem Colorado coal miners faced as they headed to work. Thanks to a variety of unfair work practices, miners were paid by the amount of coal they pulled from the mine, not by the number of hours they worked. Even worse, miners were not compensated for the time they spent actually getting down the mine or the time they spent tunneling, laying track and other jobs that they referred to as, “Dead Time.”

By 1900, the United Mine Workers of America was actively organizing Colorado’s coal miners, and in 1913, after a few false starts, they launched a massive strike. … The 1913 strike involved nearly 90% of Colorado’s coal miners and involved an exodus from the mining camps to UMWA-sponsored tent cities that had a devastating effect on the families of the men walking the picket lines.

The strikers’ demands were relatively benign by today’s standards. Their conditions included:

An hourly wage for “dead time” and a 10 percent increase in the price per tonne paid.

The right to shop outside of company stores.

An 8-hour workday

The opportunity to elect their own representatives to operate the scales that weighed their output. (Apparently CF&I’s company men could not be counted on to provide fair and accurate measurements.)

Not surprisingly, the mine owners were not happy about the strike and were more than willing to use brutal force to suppress their rebellious workforce. Rockefeller’s representatives hired private security companies to put down the strike with violent results. .…

Tensions between striking miners and the men hired to put them down came to a head on April 20, 1914, when gunfire shattered the calm of a Sunday morning at a strike encampment at Ludlow. Though there are still disputes as to who started the shooting, there’s no question about who took the brunt of the violence that followed; innocent women and children.

When the gunfire subsided, 25 people were dead, including 11 children. Most of those children died from suffocation when a burning tent collapsed on a makeshift bunker where they’d taken refuge.

News of the murders in Ludlow spread quickly and ignited violence across the coal field as striking miners unleashed their pent-up rage on the coal mines and their absentee owners. The violence continued for 10 more days until Federal troops stepped in to break the warring parties apart.

The Colorado coal strike lasted for another seven months before desperate miners finally went back to work. Though they’d wrangled a few concessions from their bosses, the strike was anything but a victory for the men and women who put everything on the line in hopes of winning fair pay and safe working conditions.

Armed strikers, Trinidad, Colorado. By Survey Associates, Inc. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

This terrible event, about which I’d known nothing before, had ramifications most tragically for the miners and their families, but it also harmed those in the community who were not directly involved in mining, including Bert and Meyer Mansbach, who lost their business.

It is not surprising that they both left Trinidad for bigger cities where they could start over. Bert and Rosa were living in Albuquerque in 1920, Bert working as a retail dry goods salesman as an employee.7 It must have been hard to work for someone else after all those years owning his own business. In 1920, Meyer and his family were in Detroit where Meyer was a retail merchant in the millinery business; his son Arthur was in business with him.8

It’s sad that after working together and raising their families near each other for all those years that Bert and Meyer were separated by so many miles in 1920. Amelia Mansbach Langer was at that point the only Mansbach sibling still in Colorado where once five of them had been living there : Amelia, Bert, Meyer, Katinka, and Julius.

  1. “Death Takes Former Post Photographer,” The Denver Post, August 30, 1934, p. 9 ↩
  2.  Number: 181-09-2067; Issue State: Pennsylvania; Issue Date: Before 1951. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  3. Herbert Kahn and family, 1920 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: T625_167; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 136. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  4.  Ancestry.com. Colorado, Soldiers in WWI, 1917-1918. The National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985; Record Group Number: 92; Roll or Box Number: 75. Date Range: 12 Aug 1918-Sep 1918, Ancestry.com. U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists ↩
  5. Albuquerque, New Mexico, City Directory, 1917, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  6. Detroit, Michigan, City Directory, 1914, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  7. Bert Mansbach, 1920 US census, Census Place: Albuquerque Ward 3, Bernalillo, New Mexico; Roll: T625_1074; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 18.  Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  8. Meyer Mansbach 1920 US census, Census Place: Detroit Ward 1, Wayne, Michigan; Roll: T625_803; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 50
    Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census. One thing puzzled me about this census record, in addition to Arthur (23) and Edith (18), the census lists two other children living with Meyer and his wife Ida who are identified as their sons: Harry (16) and Meyer (14). Both boys were listed as born in Colorado. But neither was listed with Meyer and Ida on the 1910 census, and neither was named as a survivor in the death notices and obituaries later published for Meyer and Ida. I cannot find a birth record for either boy in Colorado or elsewhere, nor can I find any other records for a Harry Mansbach born around 1904 or a Meyer Mansbach born about 1906. Was the census enumerator just wrong? Was someone pulling a prank on the enumerator? Or were these boys someone else’s children? I don’t know, but if they existed at all, I do not think they were the sons of Meyer and Ida. ↩

Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach’s Grandchildren Come of Age: Philadelphia 1910-1920

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The years between 1910 and 1920 were years of growth for the children of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach who were living in the US.  Their children, Sarah and Abraham’s grandchildren, were becoming adults and starting households of their own. This post will cover the Philadelphia siblings, Hannah and Louis, and their brother Julius, who was living in Germany with his family. The Colorado siblings will be discussed in the next post.

The two Philadelphia siblings, Hannah Mansbach Dannenberg and Louis Mansbach, saw their daughters marry in this decade. Hannah’s older daughter Reta married Elmor Alkus in Philadelphia in 1912.1 Elmor was, like Reta, born in Pennsylvania in 1889; his parents were Morris and Henrietta Alkus, both of whom were born in Germany. Elmor’s father Morris was a wool merchant. In 1910, Elmor was a commercial traveler selling notions.2 Reta and Elmor’s first child, Elaine, was born on April 22, 1914, in Philadelphia.3 In 1920, they were all living in Philadelphia, and Elmor was now the owner of a towel supply company. I assume that his father-in-law Gerson Dannenberg had taken him into his business.4

Hannah’s younger daughter Katinka married Sidney Olsho in 1916 in Philadelphia.5 Sidney, the son of Jacob Olshoffsky (later shortened to Olsho) and Louisa Galeski, was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, on January 22, 1879, making him fifteen years older than Katinka. He was 37 when they married, she 22. He was a doctor. His parents were German immigrants, and his father was a dry goods merchant.6 Sidney and Katinka had a son, Edward, born on February 6, 1919, in Philadelphia. In 1920, they were living in Philadelphia where Sidney was practicing as an eye, ear, nose and throat physician (amusingly, it was transcribed as “dye, oat, nas, thead” on Ancestry).

Sidney Olsho and family, 1920 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 8, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1619; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 181
Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census

Sidney wasn’t the only doctor in Hannah’s family. Her son Arthur Dannenberg was also a physician, according to his World War I draft registration. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania medical school in 1913 and had trained as a pediatrician:

Arthur Dannenberg, World War I draft registration, Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County: Philadelphia; Roll: 1907646; Draft Board: 26
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

University of Pennsylvania alumni directory, Publication Year: 1917
Ancestry.com. U.S., School Catalogs, 1765-1935

Arthur served in the US Army from August 10, 1917, until August 1, 1919, and was promoted to a captain in May, 1918. He served primarily at Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia in the medical corps and did not serve overseas.7 After the war, Arthur returned home and was living with his parents, Hannah and Gerson Dannenberg, in Philadelphia in 1920.  Arthur was practicing medicine, and his father Gerson was a merchant in the towel business.8

Louis Mansbach’s daughter Rebecca also married in this decade. Rebecca married David Rattin in Philadelphia in 1917.9 David was born on September 10, 1886 or 1887 (records conflict), in Alsace, Germany, to Isadore and Sophia Rattin. They immigrated when David was just a toddler in 1888. David’s father must have died either before they immigrated or shortly thereafter as by 1895, his mother was listed as a widow in the Philadelphia directory.10 So like Rebecca, David had lost a parent when he was a young child.

I believe that this is David, living in the Jewish Home for children in 1900 (line 21):

David Rattin in Jewish Home, 1900 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 22, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0512; FHL microfilm: 1241464
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

By 1910, David was reunited with his mother, who was living on her own income, presumably from the boarders who were living in their home:

David Rattin, 1910 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1394; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0359; FHL microfilm: 1375407
Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census

In 1912, David graduated from the University of Pennsylvania law school, and in 1918, when he registered for the draft, he was working as an attorney.11 Rebecca and David’s first child Ruth was born on April 28, 1919.12 In 1920 they were living in Philadelphia along with David’s mother Sophia, and David was practicing law.13

University of Pennsylvania alumni directory, Publication Year: 1917
Ancestry.com. U.S., School Catalogs, 1765-1935

Louis Mansbach was also still living in Philadelphia in 1920 and continued to practice as a veterinarian. He was living with Moses Dannenberg, who although listed as Louis’s cousin was more likely his brother-in-law, brother of Gerson Dannenberg, Hannah Mansbach’s husband, because in 1910, Moses had been living with Gerson and Hannah and listed as Gerson’s brother. 14

Meanwhile, Julius Mansbach and his wife Frieda Bensew and their children Beatrice and Alfred were living in Wunstorf, Germany, in the 1910s. Art Mansbach shared this adorable photograph of  his father Alfred in 1916 when he was six:

Alfred Mansbach, 1916. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

The one very sad note in this decade was the death of Beatrice Mansbach, the daughter of Julius Mansbach and Frieda Bensew. Beatrice died in 1918 from the Spanish influenza, according to her nephew Art Mansbach. She was only fourteen years old. These photographs of Beatrice taken when she was just a little girl help to preserve the memory of this young girl whose beautiful life was cut short.

 

 

  1. Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951, Marriage License Number: 289763. ↩
  2. Alkus family, 1910 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 32, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1403; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 0765; FHL microfilm: 1375416. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census. ↩
  3.  Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 191222552. ↩
  4. Elmor and Reta Alkus, 1920 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 42, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1643; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 1578.
    Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  5. Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951, Marriage License Number: 350034. ↩
  6. Sidney Olsho death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Box Number: 2408; Certificate Number Range: 099851-102700. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966. Olsho family, 1910 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 28, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1402; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0630; FHL microfilm: 1375415.  Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. Series II: Questionnaires: Jews; Record Group Description: (D) Officers-Army (Boxes 11-14); Box #: 11; Folder #: 14; Box Info: (Box 11) D-Deg. Ancestry.com. U.S., WWI Jewish Servicemen Questionnaires, 1918-1921 ↩
  8. Dannenberg family, 1920 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1633; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 969. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951, Marriage License Number: 363508. ↩
  10. David Rattin, naturalization papers, National Archives; Washington, D.C.; Record Group Title: M1522. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Federal Naturalization Records, 1795-1931. David Rattin, World War I draft registration, Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County: Philadelphia; Roll: 1907616; Draft Board: 13, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Philadelphia City directory, 1895, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. ↩
  11. David Rattin, World War I draft registration, Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County: Philadelphia; Roll: 1907616; Draft Board: 13. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 ↩
  12. Issue State: Wisconsin; Issue Date: Before 1951. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014; ↩
  13. David Rattin and family, 1920 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1616; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 471.
    Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  14. Louis Mansbach, 1920 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1616; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 455.
    Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩

The Legacy of Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach: Prosperity in America, Roots in Germany 1900-1910

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As seen in the last post, in 1900 six of the surviving children of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach were living in the United States, as was Sarah. Their oldest daughter Breine Mansbach Bensew was still living in Germany, and three children had passed away, as had Abraham in 1889.

The six children living in the US were split between Colorado and Philadelphia. Amelia Mansbach Langer and her family were living in Denver, and her brothers Berthold and Meyer were living in Trinidad, Colorado. Sarah and her other three children—Louis, Julius, and Hannah —were all living in Philadelphia.  All of Sarah’s children except Julius, the youngest, were married by 1900, and she had nine grandchildren born in the United States plus her German-born grandchildren, the children of her daughter Breine Mansbach Bensew. A tenth American grandchild was born when Meyer and Ida (Jaffa) Mansbach had a second child, Edith, on December 15, 1901, in Colorado.1

In 1903, Julius, Sarah’s youngest child, married Frieda Bensew in Wunstorf, Germany.2 Frieda was born on March 6, 1883, in Wunstorf, the daughter of Moses Bensew and Theodora Freudenthal.3 Julius had applied for a passport on August 10, 1903, stating that he was temporarily residing in Wunstorf, Germany, where he had been since July 8, 1903, and that he intended to stay there for two months. I assume this was when he must have married Frieda.

Julius Mansbach, 1903 passport application, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 41; Volume #: Volume 075: Germany
Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925

Their grandson Art shared this photograph of Julius and Frieda dated 1903 when they were engaged:

Julius Mansbach and Frieda Bensew, 1903. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Julius and Frieda returned to the United States and settled in Philadelphia where on July 12, 1904, their daughter Beatrice was born.4 In May 1905, Julius, Frieda, and Beatrice sailed to Germany, presumably for Frieda’s family to meet the new baby.

Philadelphia Inquirer, May 14, 1905, p. 35

Here are two beautiful photographs of Frieda and her baby daughter Beatrice, courtesy of my cousin Art Mansbach:

Frieda Bensew Mansbach and her three-month old daughter, Beatrice, 1904. Courtesy of Art Mansbach.

Frieda Bensew Mansbach and daughter Beatrice, c. 1906. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

The year 1907 brought two sad losses to the family.  First, on June 26, 1907, Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach passed away from nephritis at age 88.

Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 059571-063330
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

Sarah was the oldest child of Seligmann Goldschmidt and Hincka Alexander and had outlived all but three of her younger siblings. Unlike her younger siblings who had immigrated as young adults, Sarah came to the United States and settled in Philadelphia in the 1880s when she was already in her sixties and had grown children. It must have been a hard transition, especially with half her children living half a continent away in Colorado and one daughter still back in Germany. She had survived her husband and three of her children and lived to 88.

She must have been an exceptionally strong woman. That strength and her warmth certainly show in this photograph of Sarah with her granddaughter Beatrice taken shortly before she died:

Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach with granddaughter Beatrice Mansbach, 1907. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

The second loss the family suffered in 1907 came less than two months after Sarah’s death. Cora Eslinger Mansbach, Louis Mansbach’s wife, died from tuberculosis on August 22, 1907; she was only 40 years old and left behind not only her husband, but her eleven-year-old daughter, Rebecca.

Cora Eslinger Mansbach death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 078391-082250
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

This photograph was taken just eight days before Cora’s death.  It is dated August 14, 1907, and taken in Cape May, New Jersey. The young girl on the left is Cora and Louis Mansbach’s daughter Rebecca, and she is with Julius and Frieda Mansbach and their daughter Beatrice:

Rebecca Mansbach, Beatrice Mansbach, Frieda Bensew Mansbach, and Julius Mansbach. August 14, 1907, Cape May, New Jersey. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Rebecca’s face conveys sadness; her mother must have already been quite ill and had been sick for six months. Perhaps Julius and his family took her to Cape May to distract her from her mother’s illness.

Julius and Frieda Mansbach and their daughter Beatrice moved to Wunstorf, Germany by 1910, where Julius and Frieda’s son Alfred Heinz Mansbach was born on February 10, 1910.5 They did not return to live in the US for another two decades. Thank you again to Art Mansbach for sharing these wonderful photographs of Julius and Frieda and their young children:

Beatrice, Frieda, and Alfred Mansbach, 1911. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Alfred, Frieda, Julius, and Beatrice Mansbach, 1913 in Wunstorf, Germany. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

In 1910 Louis Mansbach, now a widower, was boarding with his thirteen year old daughter Rebecca in the household of the Beutelspacher family. I cannot find any connection between his family and the Beutelspachers.  Louis continued to practice veterinary medicine.6

Hannah Mansbach Dannenberg, the only other sibling still in Philadelphia, was living in 1910 with her husband Gerson and their three children as well as Moses Dannenberg, Gerson’s brother. Gerson and Moses were both merchants and owned a supply house. Hannah and Gerson’s son Arthur was in college.7

As for the three siblings in Colorado, Amelia Mansbach Langer and her family were still living in Denver in 1910. Her husband Henry, now 71, was retired. Their sons were both living with them. Joseph (30) was a newspaper photographer, and Lester (26) was a photographic printer in a portrait gallery.8

In 1910, Berthold Mansbach and his wife Rose and son Alvin (15) were living in Trinidad9. Bert and his brother Meyer, who had been the proprietors of a dry goods store known as Mansbach Brothers, were now in business with John and Barney Tarabino as owners of The Famous Department Store, as listed in the 1910 Trinidad directory. The directory lists Bert as the treasurer and Meyer as the secretary.

Title: Trinidad, Colorado, City Directory, 1910

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

Bert and Rose’s daughter Corinne had married Herbert J Kahn on October 11, 1909, in Trinidad. Herbert was a Trinidad, Colorado native, the son of two German immigrants, Jacob and Rosa Kahn. His father was a dealer in hides and wool.10

Ancestry.com. Colorado, County Marriage Records and State Index, 1862-2006

The Denver Rocky Mountain News posted this news item about the wedding on October 12, 1909 (p. 4):

In 1910, Herbert and Corinne were living in Trinidad where Herbert was working as a salesman in a clothing store.11

Berthold’s younger brother Meyer was also living in Trinidad in 1910. He and Ida and their two children Arthur (13) and Edith (8) were living with Ida’s mother Amelia Jaffa, and Meyer was, as described above, the secretary of The Famous Department Store, the store he owned with his brother Berthold and others.12

Thus, in 1910, the family of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach was doing well. Bert and Meyer and their families were living in Trinidad where the brothers were partners in a department store. Amelia and Henry Langer were living in Denver where Henry was retired and their sons were both involved in photography. Hannah Dannenberg was living with her family in Philadelphia and had a child in college already. Louis and his daughter Rebecca were in Philadelphia, moving forward after the death of Cora. In addition, as we will see, six of the children of Breine Mansbach were also in the US by 1910.

The only descendants of Sarah and Abraham still in Germany in 1910 were their oldest child, Breine Mansbach along with her husband Jakob Bensew and their daughter Roschen and her children, and their youngest child, Julius Mansbach and his wife Frieda Bensew and their children Beatrice and Alfred.

 

 

 

 

  1. Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1940-1997, Social Security #: 573387763. ↩
  2. As per Julius Mansbach’s grandson, Art Mansbach. ↩
  3. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 351248754 ↩
  4. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Births, 1860-1906,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBYL-HSB : 10 March 2018), Beatrice Mansbach, 12 Jul 1904; citing 18961, Department of Records; FHL microfilm 2,110,929. ↩
  5. Number: 341-03-5638; Issue State: Illinois; Issue Date: Before 1951, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  6. Louis and Rebecca Mansbach, 1910 US Census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1394; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0355; FHL microfilm: 1375407. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. Gerson and Hannah Mansberg and family 1910 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1399; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0692; FHL microfilm: 1375412. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census  ↩
  8. Henry and Amelia Langer and family, 1910 US census, Census Place: Denver Ward 10, Denver, Colorado; Roll: T624_116; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 0134; FHL microfilm: 1374129. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. Berthold Mansbach and family 1910 US census, Census Place: Trinidad Ward 2, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: T624_122; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0120; FHL microfilm: 1374135. Enumeration District: 0120. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  10. Registration State: Colorado; Registration County: Las Animas; Roll: 1561836, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Kahn family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240126.
    Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩
  11. Herbert and Corinne Kahn, 1910 US census, Census Place: Trinidad Ward 2, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: T624_122; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0120; FHL microfilm: 1374135. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  12. Meyer Mansbach and family, 1910 US census, Census Place: Trinidad Ward 2, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: T624_122; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0115; FHL microfilm: 1374135. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩

Growing in America: The Family of Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach

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As seen in my last post, as of 1882 Sarah Goldschmidt and her husband Abraham Mansbach had immigrated to the United States, as had all but one of their eight surviving children. Three of those seven children had arrived before 1880 and are enumerated on the 1880 census. Amalie and her husband Henry Langer and their two sons were living in Denver, Colorado, where Henry was furrier. Louis was a veterinarian, living with my great-great-grandparents Gerson and Eva (Goldschmidt) Katzenstein in Philadelphia. Berthold was in Trinidad, Colorado, living with and working with his cousin, Abraham Mansbach, in his dry goods business. The rest of the family—Sarah, Abraham, Hannah, Meyer, Kathinka, and Julius—arrived between 1880 and 1882.

The years between 1882 and 1900 were eventful years for Sarah and Abraham and their family—many happy events as well as some sad ones. First, on February 10, 1888, Berthold Mansbach married Rosa Schloss in Philadelphia. Rosa was born in Philadelphia in August 1868, the daughter of Aaron Schloss and Caroline Stein, who were German immigrants. Rosa’s mother Caroline died when Rosa was just nine years old. Her father Aaron was in the jewelry business.1

Berthold Mansbach and Rosa Schloss marriage record, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 792
Organization Name: Congregation Rodeph Shalom
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013

Berthold and Rosa’s first child Corinne was born on February 1, 1889, in Trinidad, Colorado.2 Here is a delightful photograph of Corinne with her grandmother Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach:

Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach and her granddaughter Corinne Mansbach, c. 1892. Courtesy of the Mansbach family

And here are two photographs taken in Trinidad, Colorado of Corinne as a little girl with her uncle Julius Mansbach:

Julius Mansbach and his niece Corinne Mansbach, c. 1892. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Julius Mansbach and niece Corinne Mansbach, c. 1892. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Berthold’s younger sister Hannah was also married in 1888. She married Gerson Dannenberg in Philadelphia.3 Gerson was born in Adelebsen, Germany on July 22, 1862, and had immigrated to the US in 1881. He was the son of Simon Dannenberg and Henrietta Brandes and was a merchant by occupation.4 Hannah and Gerson’s first child, Reta, was born on September 11, 1889.5

Sadly, Abraham Mansbach died not long after the births of these two new grandchildren. He died on October 5, 1889, at the age of 80. (The death certificate has his age as 81 years, nine months, but that is not consistent with other records; I am not sure which is correct.) The cause of death was a lung hemorrhage.

“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6P3D-C4N?cc=1320976&wc=9FT9-JWL%3A1073324801 : 16 May 2014), 004010398 > image 335 of 1093; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

The next two grandchildren born were presumably named for Abraham.  Arthur Mansbach Dannenberg, son of Hannah Mansbach and Gerson Dannenberg, was born in Philadelphia on January 7, 1891.6  Berthold and Rosa’s second child was also named in memory of Abraham; Alvin Abraham Mansbach was born in Trinidad, Colorado, on December 26, 1894.7

Unfortunately, the family had suffered another loss before the birth of Alvin. On February 3, 1893, Kat(h)inka Mansbach, Sarah and Abraham’s youngest daughter and second youngest child, died from consumption, or tuberculosis, in Trinidad, Colorado. She was only 30 years old. (The death certificate says 27, but that is not consistent with her birth record from Maden.) Her body was transported back to Philadelphia for burial, accompanied by her brother, Louis Mansbach.

Kathinka Mansbach death certificate, “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6353-MYS?cc=1320976&wc=9FR2-929%3A1073252901 : 16 May 2014), 004009761 > image 1367 of 1803; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Katinka’s sister Hannah honored her sister’s memory by naming her third child Katinka Mansbach Dannenberg, born on June 21, 1894, in Philadelphia.8

Louis Mansbach married Cora Eslinger on June 20, 1895 in Philadelphia.9 Cora was born on November 13, 1866 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; her parents were Jacob Eslinger and Rebecca Stein. Cora had experienced many losses by the time she married Louis. Her father had died when she was a very young child—in 1868. A brother William died in 1871 at age four from typhoid fever, her mother died in 1885, and an older brother Solomon died in 1889 at age 26 from heart failure.  Cora had only one member of her immediate family left when she married Louis Mansbach—her older sister Esther.10

Louis and Cora had one child, a daughter, Rebecca, presumably named for Cora’s mother; records conflict as to her date of birth, one is as early as November 1896, another suggests October 28, 1897.11 Since the November 1896 date came from the 1900 census and the other from far later source, it would seem November 1896 may be more reliable. I could not locate a birth record in the Philadelphia birth index.

Meyer Mansbach married Ida Jaffa on January 21, 1896, in Trinidad, Colorado. Ida was born in Trinidad on January 28, 1875, the daughter of Samuel Jaffa and Amelia Sommer. Her parents were both German immigrants, and her father was an important merchant in Trinidad.12

Meyer Mansbach Ida Jaffa mariage record, Ancestry.com. Colorado, County Marriage Records and State Index, 1862-2006. Original data: Marriage Records. Colorado Marriages. State Archives, Denver, Colorado.

In an earlier post about the Mansbach family, I discussed how Trinidad had experienced huge economic growth in the 1870s, making it an attractive place for merchants to settle to take advantage of the population explosion. Sharon Haimovitz-Civitano of the Branches of our Haimowitz Family Tree and Branches on Civitano Tree blogs alerted me to a page on the website of the Jewish Museum of the American West that describes the Jewish history of Trinidad, Colorado. According to that website, Ida Jaffa’s uncles and father were among the earliest Jews in Trinidad, arriving in the 1870s.  Sam Jaffa, Ida’s father, was the first president of the local B’nai Brith and the first chair of Trinidad Town Council, formed in 1876. The synagogue, Congregation Aaron, was founded in 1883 and named for the Jaffa brothers’ father Aaron.

Meyer and Ida’s first child, Arthur Jaffa Mansbach, was born in Trinidad on November 21, 189613 He also was presumably named for his grandfather Abraham Mansbach.

The only surviving child of Sarah and Abraham who did not marry before 1900 was Julius Mansbach, their youngest child. In 1892 he was in the dry goods business with his brothers Berthold and Meyer in Trinidad, Colorado:

Title: Trinidad, Colorado, City Directory, 1892
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

Art Mansbach, Julius’s grandson, generously shared this photograph of Julius and his brothers Bert and Meyer in their Trinidad store:

Bert, Meyer, and Julius Mansbach in the Trinidad store. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Here Julius is depicted with his two Langer nephews, Joseph and Lester, in Denver.  From the ages of the boys, I would estimate that this was taken in about 1888-1889.

Julius Mansbach with Lester Langer and Joseph Langer. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

By 1897, Julius must have moved to Philadelphia as he was listed in the 1897 Philadelphia directory as a salesman, living at the same address as his brother Louis, the veterinarian, 915 North 16th Street.14 In 1900, he was still living with Louis, Cora, their daughter Rebecca, and his mother Sarah in Philadelphia. Julius was working as a milliner and Louis as a veterinarian.

Louis Mansbach and family 1900 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 16, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 0313; FHL microfilm: 1241459
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

Hannah and her husband Gerson Dannenberg and their three children were also living in Philadelphia in 1900, and Gerson was in the towel supply business. They were just a mile away from Louis and his household.15

In 1900 Amelia (as she is listed here and known as thereafter) and Henry Langer were still living in Denver with their children and with Amelia’s nephew, William Bensew, son of her sister Breine and brother-in-law Jakob Bensew. Henry was still a furrier, and their older son Joseph (20) was a cigar salesman as was his cousin William (28). Amelia and Henry’s younger son Lester (16) was still in school.16

Henry Langer family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 0031; FHL microfilm: 1240117
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

Berthold Mansbach was living with his wife Rosa and children in Trinidad in 1900, where he continued to be a merchant.  His younger brother Meyer was living right nearby (they are enumerated on the same page of the 1900 census report) with his wife Ida, their son Arthur and Ida’s parents and siblings. He also was a merchant.17

Thus, three of the Mansbach children were living in Philadelphia and three were living in Colorado in 1900. Together, Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach had nine American-born grandchildren living in the United States in 1900.

What would the first decade of the 20th century bring to Sarah’s family?

 

 

  1. Bert Mansbach family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240126.
    Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census. Caroline Schloss death, Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Death Certificates Index, 1803-1915. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915. Schloss family, 1870 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20 District 66, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1407; Page: 432A; Family History Library Film: 552906.
    Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Corinne Mansbach Kahn death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 057151-059700.  Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966 ↩
  3. Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951. Original data: “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Index, 1885–1951.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009. Philadelphia County Pennsylvania Clerk of the Orphans’ Court. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia marriage license index, 1885-1951.” Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Marriage License Number: 20344. ↩
  4. Gerson Dannenberg death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 020901-023300. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966. Passport application, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 81; Volume #: Roll 0081 – Certificates: 1621-2520, 02 Apr 1909-15 Apr 1909. Volume: Roll 0081 – Certificates: 1621-2520, 02 Apr 1909-15 Apr 1909. Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 ↩
  5. Reta Dannenberg Alkus death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 076201-078900. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966. ↩
  6. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 179363551. ↩
  7. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 179363551. ↩
  8.  Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, SSN: 199369215. ↩
  9.  Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951. Original data: “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Index, 1885–1951.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009. Philadelphia County Pennsylvania Clerk of the Orphans’ Court. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia marriage license index, 1885-1951.” Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ↩
  10. Cora Eslinger Mansbach death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 078391-082250. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966. Translation of Jacob Eslinger’s gravestone. William Eslinger death certificate, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JD1V-VY4 : 8 March 2018), William Eslinger, 16 Jan 1871; citing , Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; FHL microfilm 2,020,733. Rebecca Eslinger death record, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 792. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 Solomon Eslinger death record, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 792. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 ↩
  11. Louis Mansbach and family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 16, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 0313; FHL microfilm: 1241459. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census. Rebecca Esslinger Rattin death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 040001-043000. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966 ↩
  12. Sam Jaffa and family, 1880 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: 92; Page: 66A; Enumeration District: 066. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census. Sam Jaffa and Amelia Sommer marriage record, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 792. Organization Name: Congregation Rodeph Shalom. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013. ↩
  13. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 560148581. ↩
  14.  Title: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1897, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  15. Gerson Dannenberg and family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0425; FHL microfilm: 1241462. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩
  16. The Bensew/Bensev family will be discussed in subsequent posts in greater detail. ↩
  17. Berthold Mansbach and family, Meyer Mansbach and family, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Page: 13; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240126. Enumeration District: 0064; Description: Trinidad City, Precincts 12, 28 and 32 and 35, Trinidad Ward 1, Ward 2, Ward 5. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩

(Re)introducing Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach and Her Family

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Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach, c. 1899
Courtesy of Art Mansbach

I have already told in two earlier posts the beginning of the story of Sarah Goldschmidt, my three-times great aunt and oldest child of my three-times great-grandparents Seligmann Goldschmidt and Hincka Alexander, but that was almost nine months ago. I had moved away from Sarah to tell the story of her younger siblings who had immigrated to the US thirty or so years before Sarah arrived. Now it is once again Sarah’s turn. But first a brief refresher on those earlier posts. Some of this material is covered in more depth in those earlier posts, and some is newly updated.

Sarah Goldschmidt was born December 1, 1818, in Oberlistingen; she married Abraham Mansbach on October 31, 1843.

Marriage record of Sarah (Sarchen) Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach
Trauregister der Juden von Gudensberg 1825-1900 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 386)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Wiesbaden, p. 14

Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach had ten children: Breine (1844), Hewa “Hedwig (1846), Leiser “Louis” (1849), Jacob (1851), Merla “Amalie/Amelia” (1853), Berthold (1856), Hannah (1858), Meyer (1860), Kathinka (1862), and Julius (1865).1

Jacob, the fourth child, born on June 23, 1851, died on September 13, 1853. He was just two years old.

Jacob Mansbach death record
HHStAW Fonds 365 No 387, p. 47

Hedwig was born on November 20, 1846. On February 16, 1875, she married David Rothschild of Zierenberg, Germany. Sadly, Hedwig died nine months to the day later on November 16, 1875.

Hedwig/Hewa Mansbach birth record HHStAW Fonds 365 No 384, p.43

Death record for Hedwig Mansbach Rothschild
Description: Geburten, Heiraten Tote 1874-1875
Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1730-1875

All but one of Sarah and Abraham’s eight other children emigrated to the United States.  The one who remained in Germany was their oldest child, Breine. She was born on September 27, 1844, and she married Jacob Bensew on February 3, 1870; Jacob was born on January 15, 1840, in Malsfeld, Germany, the son of Heinemann Bensew and Roschen Goldberg.

Breine Mansbach birth record
HHStAW Fonds 365 No 384, p. 39

marriage record for Breine Mansbach and Jacob Bensew
HHStAW Fonds 365 No 386, p. 35

Breine and Jacob had eight children—six sons and two daughters: Roschen (1870), William (1872), Lester (1873), Julius (1875), Siegmund (1877), Heinemann (1879), Max (1882), and Frieda (1886). Siegmund died in 1882 when he was five, but the six of the other seven Bensew children would eventually immigrate to the United States. Breine and Jacob stayed behind, however, and lived the rest of their lives in Germany, as did their daughter Roschen. Breine died in Melsungen, Germany, on May 31, 1922, and her husband Jacob in Kassel, Germany, on April 25, 1925. More on the Bensew family in posts to come. 2

Death record for Breine Mansbach Bensew
Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 4684

This post will now focus on the seven children of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach who immigrated to the US: Louis, Amalia/Amelia, Berthold, Hannah, Meyer, Kathinka, and Julius.

Thanks to my cousin Art Mansbach, I have some photographs of Sarah and Abraham and their family.  Here is one of Sarah and Abraham and their youngest child, Julius in about 1870:

Abraham Mansbach, Julius Mansbach, and Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach c. 1870
Courtesy of the Mansbach family

The photograph below is of Sarah with her two youngest sons, Julius and Meyer, taken in about 1874, when Meyer would have been fourteen and Julius nine:

Julius Mansbach, Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach, and Meyer Mansbach c. 1874
Courtesy of the Mansbach family

It was about this time that Abraham and Sarah’s older children began immigrating to the US. Although I was unable to find passenger manifests for all the Mansbach children, the earliest one I could find was for Merla/Amalie/Amelia. She was born December 10, 1853, in Maden, Germany. She (as Amalie) sailed to the US in 1872 with my great-great-uncle Henry Schoenthal and his new wife Helene Lilienfeld, as I discussed here.

Birth record of Merla Mansbach, Archives for the State of Hessen, Jewish records, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 384, p. 55

Henry Schoenthal and Helene Lilienfeld 1872 ship manifest lines 95 to 98
Year: 1872; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 359; Line: 1; List Number: 484

I have no record of Amalie from the time of her arrival until the 1880 census, but I assume she must have been living in Pennsylvania, probably in Philadelphia, because according to the 1900 census, in 1879, she married Henry Langer. Henry was 22 years older than Amalie, born in 1831 in Austria; he had immigrated to the US in 1856, and in the 1870s he was living in Philadelphia, working as a furrier, according to the Philadelphia directory for 1870 and a newspaper listing in 1877.3

Amalie and Henry relocated to Denver by December 17, 1879, when their first child, Joseph Henry Langer, was born.4 According to the 1880 census, Henry continued to work as a furrier in Denver:

H and A Langer and son 1880 census
Year: 1880; Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Roll: 88; Page: 116C; Enumeration District: 005

Amalie and Henry’s second child, Lester Sylvester Langer was born in Colorado on January 1, 1884.5

Berthold may have been the next child of Sarah and Abraham to arrive from Germany; he was born on February 23, 1856. Although I cannot find a passenger manifest for him, the 1920 census reports that he immigrated to the US in 1874.6 In 1877, he is listed in the Philadelphia directory working as a clerk.7 But by 1880, he  had relocated to Trinidad, Colorado, where he was living with his cousin, who was also named Abraham Mansbach and was the grandson of Marum Mansbach. Abraham  was a merchant, and Bert was working as a clerk, presumably in his cousin’s store.

Birth record of Berthold Mansbach, Archives for the State of Hessen, Jewish records, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 384, p. 59

Bert Mansbach 1880 census
Year: 1880; Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: 92; Page: 65D; Enumeration District: 066

But not all the Mansbach siblings chose to settle out west. Sarah and Abraham Mansbach’s oldest son Leiser/Louis Mansbach, who was born on March 10, 1849, came to the US on December 16, 1876:

Birth record of Louis “Leser” Mansbach, Archives for the State of Hessen, Jewish records, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 384, p. 47

(The long note to the left of the birth record is extremely difficult to read, even by those used to reading German script, but thanks to the efforts of Cathy Meder-Dempsey and a man from the German Genealogy Transcriptions group on Facebook, I now believe that it merely says that the date of birth was provided by the synagogue.)

Louis (Lasser) Mansbach ship manifest
Year: 1876; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 406; Line: 1; List Number: 1160
Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957

In 1880, Louis was living with my great-great-grandparents, Gerson Katzenstein and Eva Goldschmidt; Eva was his aunt, his mother Sarah’s sister. My great-grandmother Hilda, who was then sixteen, was also living at home and thus must have known her first cousin Louis quite well. Louis was 31 years old and was a veterinary surgeon.

Louis Mansbach in the household of Gerson Katzenstein 1880 census
Year: 1880; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1173; Page: 274B; Enumeration District: 219

For Hannah Mansbach, I was unable to locate a birth record, but other records establish that she was born on February 6, 1858. I also have no ship manifest, and census records indicate three different years of arrival: 1880 on the 1900 census, 1881 on the 1920 and 1930 census records, and 1885 on the 1910 census. Usually I’d assume the one closest in time, the 1900 census, would be the most reliable, but at best I can say she arrived sometime between 1880 and 1885.  Since the rest of the family had arrived by 1882, I think 1880-1881 is more likely.8

Census records also conflict regarding the arrival date for Meyer Mansbach. He was born on June 21, 1860. The 1900 census reports that he arrived in 1879, but the 1910 and 1930 census records both report 1882 as his date of arrival.9

Birth record of Meyer Mansbach, Archives for the State of Hessen, Jewish records, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 384, p. 65

For Julius, who was born on November 7, 1865, I found information about his arrival on his passport applications, of which there were three—in 1900, 1903, and 1908. Although all three provide the same date of arrival (June 12, 1881) and the same port of departure (Bremen), they each have a different name for the ship.10 Julius would have been not yet sixteen when he immigrated, perhaps explaining why he didn’t remember the name of the ship. This photograph of Julius at age 13 may capture how young he was only three years later when he left home by himself:

Julius Mansbach, Age 13, c. 1878
Courtesy of Art Mansbach

It thus seems reasonable to conclude that Hannah, Meyer, and Julius had all arrived by 1881-1882.

On October 23, 1882, they were joined by their parents, my three-times great-aunt Sarah Goldschmidt and her husband Abraham Mansbach, and their youngest sister Kathinka.

Abraham Mansbach II and family on passenger manifest
Year: 1882; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 459; Line: 1; List Number: 1509

Given that all four sons are adults in this photograph, I believe it was taken shortly after Sarah and Abraham had immigrated to the United States:

Abraham Mansbach and his four sons
Courtesy of Art Mansbach

The next post will pick up with the Mansbach siblings and their parents between 1882 and 1900.

 

  1. Sources for births to be provided as I write about each child. ↩
  2. Sources for the children’s births will be provided when I write about each child in later posts. ↩
  3. Henry Langer on the 1900 US Census; Year: 1900; Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Roll: 117; Page: 2;Enumeration District: 0031; FHL microfilm: 1240117′; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1870,
    Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  4. Joseph Langer, Passport Application, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925; Roll #: 933; Volume #: Roll 0933 – Certificates: 122000-122249, 27 Sep 1919-28 Sep 1919 ↩
  5. Lester Langer, World War I draft registration, Registration State: Colorado; Registration County: Denver; Roll: 1561841; Draft Board: 5. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 ↩
  6. Berthold Mansbach, 1920 US Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Albuquerque Ward 3, Bernalillo, New Mexico; Roll: T625_1074; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 18 ↩
  7. Title: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1877. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  8. Hannah Mansbach death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 071201-073500,Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966, Certificate Number 72276. Hannah Mansbach Dannenberg on the 1900-1930 US Census records: Year: 1900; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1463; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0425;FHL microfilm: 1241462; Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1399; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0692; FHL microfilm: 1375412; Year: 1920; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1633; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 969; Year: 1930; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2125; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0778; FHL microfilm: 2341859 ↩
  9. Meyer Mansbach on 1900-1930 US Census records: Year: 1900; Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: 126; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240126; Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1399; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0692; FHL microfilm: 1375412; Year: 1930; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: 136; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0108; FHL microfilm: 2339871 ↩
  10. Julius Mansbach 1900 passport application
    National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, 1795-1905; Roll #: 550; Volume #: Roll 550 – 07 May 1900-11 May 1900. Julius Mansbach 1903 passport application
    National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Emergency Passport Applications (Issued Abroad), 1877-1907; Roll #: 41; Volume #: Volume 075: Germany. Julius Mansbach 1908 passport application
    National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925; Roll #: 74; Volume #: Roll 0074 – Certificates: 64339-65243, 20 Nov 1908-15 Dec 1908. ↩

Rosa Goldschmidt and Her Family: The Final Chapter

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This is the final post about the family of my three-times great-aunt Rosa Goldschmidt and her husband Bernhard Metz.  In 1900, Rosa and Bernhard and three of their four surviving children were all living together in New York; Bernhard was still in the import-export business, and his sons Edwin and Joseph were merchants. Their daughter Hattie was working as a saleswoman, and her husband George Gattel was a commissioner. Rosa and Bernhard had already lost three of their children: Siegfried had died in 1880, Emily in 1885, and Bertha in 1892;  also, their oldest son Paul had abandoned the family and disappeared in 1900.

Bernhard Metz family 1900 US census, Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Page: 19; Enumeration District: 0661; FHL microfilm: 1241110
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

Rosa, Bernhard, Hattie and her husband George, Edwin, and Joseph were all still living together in 1905. Edwin was a “nit goods salesman;” Joseph was a dry goods clerk, George Gattel was some kind of salesman, and Bernhard was a commercial merchant. There were also two boarders and two servants living in the household at 209 East 61st Street.

Bernhard Metz family 1905 NYS census, New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1905; Election District: A.D. 24 E.D. 16; City: Manhattan; County: New York; Page: 48. Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1905

Things changed between 1905 and 1910. We saw that Edwin, who had married Gertrude Becker in 1903, was living in Chicago in 1910. The youngest sibling, Joseph George Metz, also married during those years. He married Florence W. Wolf on December 31, 1905.

New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2497-DHX : 10 February 2018), Joseph Metz and Florence Wolf, 31 Dec 1905; citing Marriage, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York City Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,558,583.

Florence was the daughter of Louis Wolf and Rebecca Stiefel, and she was born on September 20, 1884, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.1 Florence was living in New York City in 1900 with her parents and siblings; her father was a manufacturer.2 Florence and Joseph had their first child, Robert, on August 19, 1907, in New York.3

In 1910, Joseph Metz was enumerated as the head of household at 149 West 135th Street; in addition to his wife Florence and their son Robert (2), his parents Rosa and Bernhard were living there as well as two servants. Joseph was a ladies’ underwear manufacturer, and his father Bernhard was working as an insurance agent.

Joseph Metz and family 1910 US census, Census Place: Manhattan Ward 12, New York, New York; Roll: T624_1027; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0710; FHL microfilm: 1375040
Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census

Not too far away at 607 West 136th Street, Joseph’s sister Hattie was living with her husband George Gattel; George was now a silk merchant. Living with them was Hattie’s niece, the daughter of her deceased sister Bertha, eighteen-year-old Bertha Katzenstein. As you may recall, Rosa and Bernhard’s daughter Bertha Metz died shortly after the birth of her daughter Bertha from puerperal fever. I don’t know whether the child was named Bertha before her mother died or afterwards in her memory.

Hattie Metz Gattel and family 1910 US census, Census Place: Manhattan Ward 12, New York, New York; Roll: T624_1027; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 0709; FHL microfilm: 1375040
Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census

Bertha Katzenstein’s father Adolf had remarried in 1895, three years after the death of his first wife Bertha Metz. His second wife, Lisbeth Schierstad, was a German immigrant like Adolf.4 I could not locate Adolf, Lisbeth or Bertha (the daughter) on the 1900 US census. Since Adolf was in the import-export business and traveled many times to Europe, I suppose that he and Lisbeth and Bertha might have been abroad when the 1900 census was taken. But Adolf and Lisbeth are listed on the 1905 New York State census, and Bertha was not with them at that time,5 nor was she with her grandparents or aunt or uncles. She would have been only thirteen at the time. Was she in boarding school? Still abroad? I don’t know. At any rate, in 1910, Bertha was back in New York City, living with her aunt Hattie.

Thus, in 1910, Rosa and Bernhard had only two of their seven children still living nearby: Hattie and Joseph. Paul had disappeared, Edwin was in Chicago, and Siegfried, Emily, and Bertha had passed away. They had five grandchildren: Bertha’s daughter Bertha Katzenstein, Edwin’s son Walter, Joseph’s son Robert, and the two sons of Paul Metz, Elwood and George.

On May 16, 1911, my three-times great-aunt Rosa Goldschmidt Metz passed away at age 73 from colon and liver cancer as well as kidney disease.

New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2WMM-ZTL : 20 March 2015), Rosa Metz, 16 May 1911; citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives

When I first opened this death certificate, I panicked. It showed Rosa’s parents as Jacob Goldsmith and Gretchen Stern, not Seligmann Goldschmidt and Hincka Alexander. Had I been researching the wrong Rosa Goldschmidt? But then I noticed her very specific age—73 years, 6 months, 19 days. Using a web date calculator, I determined that since she died on May 16, 1911, that meant she was born on October 27, 1837. Bingo! That is EXACTLY the date for Rosa’s birth on the Oberlistingen birth register, showing her parents as Seligmann and Hincka. Phew! But where in the world did the family come up with the names Jacob Goldsmith and Gertrude Stern?? I don’t know.

Two years after Rosa’s death her son Joseph named his second child for her; Rosalind Metz was born on May 21, 1913, in New York City.6

The following year Bernhard Metz died on August 10, 1914, in New York; he was 81.7

Meanwhile, Bertha Katzenstein was married on February 9, 1913, in Harburg, Germany, to Hermann Nathan. It was this fact that also led me to think that she had been living abroad for some part of her childhood. She was only twenty when she married, and six years later they were divorced on July 3, 1919, in Hannover, Germany. (Thank you to Matthias Steinke of the German Genealogy group for translating this document for me.)

Ancestry.com. Hamburg, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1920.
Original data: Best. 332-5 Standesämter, Personenstandsregister, Sterberegister, 1876-1950, Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Hamburg, Deutschland. Certificate Number: 62
Reference Number: 332-5_11409

Unfortunately that is the last document or record I have for Bertha Katzenstein. I don’t know whether she returned to the US, but if she did, I can’t find her in the US nor can I find her in Germany—not as Bertha Nathan or Bertha Katzenstein. If she remarried, I have no record of it and thus do not know her married name.

UPDATE! Thank you to Ines Weber, whose comment below received almost SEVEN years after I published this post. She provided me with further information about Bertha Katzenstein Nathan. On January 14, 1921, she married Friedrich “Fritz” Wilhelm Langebartels. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, on June 5, 1894.

Bertha Katzenstein Nathan marriage to Friedrich Wilhelm Langebartels, Landesarchiv Berlin; Berlin, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Heiratsregister, Register Year or Type: 1921 (Erstregister), Ancestry.com. Berlin, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1940

On October 15, 1926, Friedrich and Bertha arrived in New York City after living in Berlin. Friedrich filed a declaration of intention to become a US citizen on June 14, 1927.

Friedrich Langebartels declaration of intention, The National Archives at Philadelphia; Philadelphia, PA; NAI Title: Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1/19/1842 – 10/29/1959; NAI Number: 4713410; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21,  (Roll 357) Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1842-1959 (No 226101-227150), Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943

More on Bertha and Fritz and their family can be seen in a new post here.

In 1920, Hattie and George Gattel were still living in New York City, and George was still selling silk. Ten years later they were still living in New York, and George was no longer working.8 Hattie died on December 11, 1930, at the age of 66;9 George died less than a year later on September 24, 1931.10  He was seventy. Having lost both of their children as babies, they have no direct descendants.

Joseph Getz, the remaining and youngest sibling, must have hit some hard times after 1910. In 1915, he and his wife Florence were living with Florence’s mother and brother Milton at 243 West 99th Street, and Joseph had no occupation listed on the 1915 New York State census.11 Their two young children, Robert, who would have been eight, and Rosalind, who was two, were not listed with them nor can I find them elsewhere on the New York State census. Could they have been omitted by mistake? Or were they living some place outside of New York, perhaps with a different relative?

I don’t know, but in 1920 Robert and Rosalind were again living with their parents in New York City; Joseph was now a commercial traveler. Florence’s mother Rebecca Wolf was also living with them.12 In 1925 they were all still living together, and Joseph was now an insurance broker.13 Five years later the 1930 US census shows them all living at the same place, Joseph still working as an insurance broker.

Joseph Metz and family, 1930 US census, Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Page: 17B; Enumeration District: 0465; FHL microfilm: 2341292
Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census

Joseph and Florence’s two children married in the 1930s.  Robert married Anna Steinhardt on June 29, 1934, and Rosalind married John L. Swartz on June 2, 1935.

Certificate Number: 17141, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937.  Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003, Ancestry.com

Certificate Number: 11535, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937. Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003, Ancestry.com

Sadly, the decade ended with Joseph’s death on March 4, 1939. He was sixty years old.14 His wife Florence outlived him by more than 25 years, dying at 85 in  September 1965.15 They were survived by their children and grandchildren.

With that, I come to the conclusion of the story of Rosa Goldschmidt, her husband Bernhard Metz, and their seven children. It was quite a wild ride at times. Rosa’s children faced many challenges and provided me with many research challenges. She was the youngest child of my three-times great-grandparents Seligmann Goldschmidt and Hincka Alexander. She was the second to last of their children to come to the US.

Her oldest sister and Seligmann and Hincka’s oldest child, Sarah, was the very last of the Goldschmidt siblings to come to the US. Her story comes next.

 

 

  1.  Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 058221651 ↩
  2. Louis Wolf and family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0832; FHL microfilm: 1241118. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩
  3. Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Birth Index, 1878-1909. Certificate Number: 3926. ↩
  4.  Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937, Certificate Number: 13289. Lisbeth Schierstad Katzenstein passport application, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 1744; Volume #: Roll 1744 – Certificates: 85500-85875, 23 Sep 1921-24 Sep 1921. Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 ↩
  5. Adolf Katzenstein, 1905 NYS census, New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1905; Election District: A.D. 31 E.D. 14; City: Manhattan; County: New York; Page: 42. Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1905 ↩
  6.  Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Birth Index, 1910-1965, Certificate Number 27?? (not legible on index) ↩
  7.  Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948 , Certificate Number: 23969. ↩
  8. Hattie and George Gattel, 1920 US census, Census Place: Manhattan Assembly District 7, New York, New York; Roll: T625_1197; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 555.
    Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census. 1930 US census, Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0385; FHL microfilm: 2341288. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948, Certificate Number: 28089 ↩
  10. Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948, Certificate Number 22939 ↩
  11.  New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1915; Election District: 16; Assembly District: 17; City: New York; County: New York; Page: 01. Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1915 ↩
  12. Joseph Metz and family, 1920 US census, Census Place: Manhattan Assembly District 23, New York, New York; Roll: T625_1226; Page: 18B; Enumeration District: 1489. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  13. Joseph Metz and family, 1925 NYS census, New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1925; Election District: 34; Assembly District: 09; City: New York; County: New York; Page: 10. Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1925 ↩
  14. Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948, Certificate Number 5487. ↩
  15. New York Times, September 13, 1965, p. 35. ↩