Category Archives: New York

Clara Rothschild and Moritz Katz, Part IV: Their Family and Their Life after World War II

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By early 1946, both Otto and Hal Katz had returned home from service in World War II, and life began to return to normal. Otto returned to his job at the Kenneth Miller Company (later Custom Bed Covers), where he worked for the rest of his career, eventually buying the company.1

Otto married Edith Alexander on June 27, 1948. Edith, like Otto, was a refugee from Nazi Germany. She was born on September 30, 1923, in Rehlingen, Germany, a town in the Saar Basin near the border of Germany and France.2 She came to the US with her parents Max and Lina Alexander and her siblings on March 5, 1937, and settled in New York.3 On the 1940 census, Edith was living with her parents and siblings in the Bronx.4

In 1950, Otto and Edith were living in the Bronx; Otto’s occupation as listed on the 1950 census is a salesman for a dry goods manufacturer, and Edith was working as a bookkeeper for a children’s clothing manufacturer. Edith and Otto would have two children, Judy and Steven.

Otto and Edith Katz, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: 860; Page: 75; Enumeration District: 3-1946, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census

Meanwhile, in 1950 Moritz, Clara, Hal, and Ilse were still living in Washington Heights. Moritz and Clara were working in the sweet shop they owned, as was their son Hal. Ilse was working as an x-ray technician in a laboratory. Her daughter Karin told me that Ilse had become an x-ray technician after turning down a scholarship to Columbia because she could not afford not to work full time. The family also had one lodger living with them.

Moritz Katz and family 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: 3572; Page: 72; Enumeration District: 31-2297, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census

Hal decided he wasn’t ready to go to college, so he enrolled in a technical course in radio technology with RCA, thinking that there would be a good future in servicing radios. Then a co-worker applied to interview with General Electric (GE), and Hal went along and was interviewed and offered a job in Syracuse, New York. He didn’t really like New York City, so was happy to move upstate.

After Hal had been in Syracuse for few months, GE opened a plant in Utica, New York, and asked Hal if he’d be willing to transfer there. He had no ties to Syracuse, so he agreed to move to Utica. During that time he became seriously involved with Kate Weil, a woman he’d known since high school and a fellow refugee from Nazi Germany. Kate, born Kaethe, was born on November 14, 1929, in Karlsruhe, Germany, to Max Weil and Carola Hess. She and her family arrived from Germany on March 18, 1938, when she was eight years old.5 In 1940, Kate and her family were living in the Bronx;6 by 1950, they had moved to Washington Heights, and Kate was working for an insurance company.7

Hal and Kate were married on June 29, 1952, and lived in Utica, New York, where their two children Jeff and Sandy were born. Hal enrolled in courses at Utica College, a branch of Syracuse University, and earned a degree in engineering. By 1965, they had relocated to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, a town not far from Philadelphia, and Hal has lived there ever since and worked for GE for his entire career.

Ilse, the youngest child of Clara and Moritz, married Herbert Goldsmith in New York City on May 19, 1950.  Herbert, born Hans Goldschmidt, was the son of Sally Goldschmidt and Johanna Blumenthal; he was born on January 4, 1920, in Hain-Gruendau, Germany,8 and like Ilse, had escaped Nazi Germany. He arrived in New York on October 27, 1938, listing his occupation as an upholsterer. He was only eighteen years old.9

Hans/Herbert’s parents were able to get him and his sister Kaete out of Germany, but were unable to save themselves. As Karin, their granddaughter, explained it, among the obstacles her grandparents faced were delays caused when they had to change their names to meet Hitler’s requirements that all Jewish men add Israel to their names and all Jewish women add Sarah to theirs. That change slowed down their attempts to get the necessary papers. Karin told me that her grandmother Johanna was learning English and even wrote one letter in English to her son in America. But it was all for naught. Sally and Johanna Goldschmidt were eventually sent to the Minsk ghetto and died there, two more innocent victims of the Nazi death machine. But fortunately their son Herbert and his sister Kaete survived.

Herbert settled in New York and first worked in an upholstery shop and then established his own shop in the Bronx and then later in Washington Heights, where he met Ilse Katz. Ilse and Herbert had two children, Karin and Robert. By 1958, they were living in Fairlawn, New Jersey. Ilse had been forced to quit her job as a x-ray technician when she became pregnant, as was common in those days. She never worked in that field again but Karin told me that her mother did work at various part-time jobs and ultimately had a career as a unemployment insurance claims examiner for the state of New Jersey.

As for Moritz and Clara, they lived in New York City for the rest of their lives, but traveled extensively once their three children were all married; they visited Clara’s brother Max and Moritz’s sister Johanna in South America and also went to Switzerland and Israel.

Here are two family photographs taken during the 1950s sent to me by Judy Katz. First, a photograph of Clara with her son Hal:

Clara and Hal Katz, 1950s. Courtesy of the family

This second photograph was taken in 1958 at the wedding of Werner Rothschild, Clara’s nephew. In the back row from left to right are Otto and Edith Katz, Hal and Kate Katz, and Herbert and Ilse Katz Goldsmith. In the front row is Hattie Erdreich, a first cousin of Moritz Katz on his mother’s side, then Moritz and Clara’s granddaughters Judy and Karin,  and then Moritz and Clara (Rothschild) Katz.

Katz family at Audrie and Werner Rothschild’s wedding in December 1958. Courtesy of the family

I asked the family of Moritz and Clara for some of their memories of the couple. Their granddaughter Judy wrote, “We loved our grandparents. Karin and I occasionally got to “work” in the chocolate store, unloading chocolates onto a tray for the display case. At bedtime, when we were in bed, my grandmother would give us a sleeping pill (a chocolate, probably a lentil). When we woke up, we would jump on our grandfather to wake him up. He would pretend to be sleeping through it. My grandfather had the bluest eyes, and always smiled. He kidded around a lot.”

Karin, another granddaughter, shared that Moritz was very knowledgeable about plants and enjoyed gardening when he visited her family in New Jersey. She wrote, “He once planted the pit of a peach in our back yard, and it grew into a tree producing a lot of peaches!”

As for Clara, Judy wrote, “My grandmother was more serious; we used to tell her that she was like a sergeant, and she would say to us, ‘Don’t be a silly-billy.’ ” But Judy also remembers Clara as very sweet and loving. Karin wrote that Clara “was very dependent on Moritz, very proper, and cared a lot about how she dressed, how things fit, and cleanliness.” She also remembered that Clara baked very well and knitted to earn money; Karin loved her potatoes.

Steven Katz, one of Clara’s grandsons, also remembered her baking; he wrote, “My grandmother “invented “ (by accident) a crumb cake without yeast… it was dense, with crumbs on top. So yummy.” Karin also commented that Moritz and Clara were very kind to her father Herbert–even before he started dating their daughter Ilse. Karin said that Clara always invited him for Shabbat dinner, and he would bring challah and flowers.

Both Karin and Judy commented on the fact that Moritz was a heavy smoker and smoked Camel cigarettes, and both observed that he ultimately died from a heart attack. Judy had specific memories surrounding his death on February 5, 1967, at the age of 72. She wrote:

In January (possibly 1/27/67) my grandfather had a heart attack, in the apartment. It was during a blizzard. He was taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where he seemed to be recovering. I stayed in my grandparents’ apartment with my grandmother for about a week. In the early morning of Sunday, February 5, 1967 he died (age 72). The funeral was that day. (Uncle Hal was in NYC (visiting his parents) when he died). 

All of the cousins were brought to our (my parents) apartment, which was walking distance from 190th Street, and I took care of the kids while the rest of the family went to the funeral. I was 15. My grandmother was devastated. She and my grandfather adored each other.

 

Clara outlived him by over five and half years; she was 81 when she died in New York on October 1, 1972. Here is one more photograph of Clara:

Clara Rothschild Katz Courtesy of the family

Here is a photograph of the headstones for Moritz and Clara:

Gravestones for Moritz and Clara Katz  Courtesy of the family

Moritz and Clara’s oldest child Otto Katz was 94 when he died on February 10, 2017; his wife Edith had predeceased him on December 20, 2008, at age 85. Otto’s obituary described him this way: “Honest and righteous Jewish man. Former shipping clerk and President of Custom Bed Covers. Longtime volunteer at the Physical Therapy Department of the Allen Pavillion. Awesome bridge player. Loyal and loving uncle, cousin and friend to many. Great teller of jokes that cannot be repeated.”

Ilse Katz Goldsmith died almost two years after her brother Otto; she was ninety when she died on December 20, 2018. Her husband Herbert outlived her, living to age 101 and dying on July 6, 2021.

Hal Katz lost his wife Kate on June 29, 2018; she was 88. According to her obituary, “s]he worked as a teacher at the Kimberton Farms School and a substitute teacher for the Phoenixville Area School District. She was an active member of Congregation B’nai Jacob in Phoenixville, PA. She served on the board of Phoenixville Area Childrens Learning Center. She was a prolific knitter for her friends near and far.”

Otto and Edith, Ilse and Herbert, and Kate were survived by their children and grandchildren and by their remarkable brother/brother-in-law/husband, Hal Katz, whose light continues to bring great joy to his family and who has given me much joy as well. His sense of humor, his modesty, and his obvious zest for life are all inspiring.

When I asked Hal what he thought was the meaning of life, having experienced so much over the last century, he said he had one word: family.

Isn’t that the truth?

Thank you to Hal, Sandy, Judy, Steve, and Karin for zooming with me and sharing their memories, and special thanks to Judy for all her help in sending me the interviews she did with Otto and Hal, the family photographs, and several family documents. Without all their input, my stories about the family of Clara Rothschild Katz would have been far less interesting and far too superficial.

  1. Once again, much of the information in this post comes from either Zoom calls or emails with members of the family including Hal Katz, his daughter, his nieces and nephew. Unless otherwise indicated by footnotes, links, or images, the information in this post comes from the family. ↩
  2. Edith Alexander, 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, Description
    Description: (Roll 662) Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1842-1959 (No 529501-530400), Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩
  3. Edith Alexander, passenger ship manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 ↩
  4. Max Alexander and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02493; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 3-1303A, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  5. Max Weil, Declaration of Intentions, 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, Description
    Description: (Roll 542) Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1842-1959 (No 420501-421500), Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩
  6. Max Weil and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02470; Page: 61B; Enumeration District: 3-364, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. Max Weil and family, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: 4547; Page: 74; Enumeration District: 31-1722, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  8. Hans Herbert Goldschmidt, 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, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩
  9. Hans Goldschmidt, passenger ship manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 ↩

Clara Rothschild Katz and Her Family, Part II: Life in America

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After Moritz Katz and his fifteen year old son Otto arrived in New York in August, 1937, they shared a furnished room in the Bronx that they rented from some cousins of Moritz. Moritz started working in a meat processing plant, and Otto, who was fifteen, went to school during the day and worked at a grocery store after school. In an interview with his daughter Judy in 2000, Otto told her that he didn’t know any English, and the teacher, who would occasionally speak to him in German, was not a good teacher and didn’t care if the students learned or understood the material.1

Otto quit school after that year and got a full-time job working as a delivery boy at Kenneth Miller Company; he then began doing tracing and sketching designs for the company and was promoted. Otto stayed with that company for his entire career, leaving only during his time in the army during World War II but returning to the company (later called Custom Bed Covers) after he was discharged. He eventually made enough money to buy the company and worked there until 1990 when he retired!

When Clara arrived in New York in late April 1938, with Hal and Ilse (who were thirteen and almost ten, respectively), Moritz rented an apartment for the family in Washington Heights, the neighborhood in Manhattan where many German Jews settled after escaping Nazi Germany. The apartment was quite large, but Ilse shared a room with her parents and Otto and Hal shared another room so that the other rooms could be rented to boarders to generate more income to support the family.

Otto remembered that it was still Passover when his mother and siblings arrived on April 21, 1938 (it was the eighth day, the last day, of the holiday). He also remembered that when the family signed up with Con Edison, the electric company in New York City, they were offered three appliances for twenty-five dollars. They selected a toaster, a radio, a floor lamp, and an iron, and paid off the purchases by paying two dollars a month for a year. Otto seemed particularly excited about the radio since they had not had one in Germany and commented on the “five buttons—one for each station” in his interview with his daughter Judy in 2013.

In that same interview, Otto also recalled that the man who delivered and unloaded the crate that Clara had packed and shipped from Germany broke the legs off her sewing machine when he unloaded it, causing Clara to cry. I wonder whether some of Clara’s sadness was not only about the broken sewing machine, but also about leaving her sisters and her mother Fanny behind in Europe and about her worries about what her life in America would be like.

Hal and Ilse started school in New York and much to Hal’s chagrin, they were placed in first grade because they didn’t know English. Hal was fourteen and humiliated to be in a class with six-year-olds. But soon he was able to move up to a class with his peers.

Here is the family on the 1940 US census, living at 535 West 163rd Street in Washington Heights. Moritz is listed as a butcher in a butcher shop and Otto as a cutter in a factory. They were paying $45 a month in rent, and there were two lodgers living in their apartment.

Moritz Katz and family, 1940 census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02677; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 31-2144, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census

Moritz worked in the meat packing plant until he was able to buy a small retail shop that sold sweets. He and Clara then worked in their sweet shop, which was called “C & M” for Clara and Moritz.

The United States declared war against Japan, Germany, and Italy in December 1941, joining the Allied powers in World War II. Otto registered for the draft on February 15, 1942. Here is his draft registration:

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

Here is Hal’s draft registration dated December 19, 1942; he was eighteen and still using the name Helmut at that time, but had already adopted Harold as his Americanized name. He was a student at the Manhattan High School of Aviation Trades.

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

The two brothers both served overseas in Europe during the war. My next post will describe their time in the service, as told to Judy in three separate interviews, one with Otto in 2001 and another in 2016 and one with Hal in 2019.

  1. The stories and information in this post came from a combination of my Zoom calls with the Katz/Rothschild cousins in May and June 2025 and from interviews Judy Katz did with her father Otto and her uncle Hal over the years. Also, see Part I here. ↩

Siegmund Rothschild and His Family: Life in America

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After escaping from Nazi Germany to England, the family of Siegmund Rothschild chose to immigrate from England to the United States in September 1940.

First, Siegmund and his younger son Werner left on August 30, 1940, arriving in Boston on September 14, 1940, and then Elise and their older son Ernst left England on September 18, 1940, arrived in Quebec, Canada, on September 27, 1942, then crossed the border into the United States.1 Elise must have been waiting for Ernst to be released from being interned as an enemy alien in England. Both Siegmund and Elise reported on their respective ship manifests that they were teachers, the profession they had practiced in Frankfurt before the Nazi era.

Siegmund and Werner Rothschild ship manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Series Title: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At Boston, Massachusetts, 1891-1943; NAI Number: 4319742; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: T843; NARA Roll Number: 450, Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963

Elise and Ernst Rothschild, ship manifest, The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; BT27 Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors: Outwards Passenger Lists; Reference Number: Series BT27-145937, Month: Sep, Ancestry.com. UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960

The family settled in New York City where on April 23, 1941, Siegmund filed a Declaration of Intention to become a United States citizen, now listing his occupation as a salesman.

Siegmund Rothschild 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, Description: (Roll 613) Declarations of Intention For Citizenship, 1842-1959 (No 484001-485000), Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943

As the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt described their early life in America, “The new beginning in the USA was associated with challenging times for the couple. Neither of them could ever be active in the profession they had learned. Siegmund, with a doctorate in philosophy, first worked as a dishwasher. Until the end of his life he mostly kept his head above water with mini jobs.” Imagine how frustrating that must have been for Siegmund and Elise. And what  a waste of their knowledge and skills.

Both Siegmund and his older son Ernst, now using the more Anglicized Ernest, registered for the World War II draft; I haven’t found any evidence that either served in the military during the war. As their registration statements indicate, they were living at 558 West 164th Street in New York City in the Washington Heights neighborhood where so many Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany settled. Siegmund was working for the Gibraltar Manufacturing Company in Jersey City, New Jersey, and Ernest was working for Hugo Brand in Brooklyn.

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

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

Werner may have had the easiest transition to life in the United States. According to the report in the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website, “Werner was 12 years old in 1940 and felt like an American from day one, he emphasized. In order to contribute to the family income, he took various jobs. Early in the morning before school at 5:30 a.m. he delivered bread rolls, delivered meat to the households or brought the clothes from the dry cleaners to the apartments, seven days a week, upstairs and downstairs. He immediately felt like an American in his school too. He studied with 35% Afro-Americans and classmates of different nationalities. Something like normal came back to life.”

The 1950 US census shows Siegmund without a job, but both Ernst, now 28, and Werner, now 22, were working. Ernst owned a laundry where both young men were working. According to the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website, however, that laundry did not provide much income for the family until a few years later.

Siegmund Rothschild, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: 3572; Page: 72; Enumeration District: 31-2290, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census

Here is a photograph of Elise and Ernest in their laundromat:

Elise Bloch Rothschild and her son Ernest in their laundromat. Courtesy of the family

Sadly, Siegmund died on October 2, 1952, at the age of sixty-eight.2 According to the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website, he suffered a heart attack after receiving an injection from a contaminated needle.

Ernest Rothschild married Margot Ochs in New York in 1954.3 Margot was born in Duren, Germany, on July 29, 1923,and like her husband Ernest, she had first escaped from Germany to England before immigrating to the US on December 27, 1939.4 Ernest and Margot had one child; he was given the middle name Siegmund presumably in memory of Ernest’s father Siegmund Rothschild.

Werner Rothschild married Audrie Max on December 21, 1958.5 Audrie was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on September 18, 1929, to Isadore Max and Minnie Vinkelstein.6 According to the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website, Werner and Audrie met while vacationing in Florida. Werner and Audrie have three children.

The engagement announcement for Audrie and Werner in the Allentown newspaper, The Morning Call, on October 5, 1958 (p. 25) reported that Werner was a graduate of City College of New York and had received a master’s degree in school administration from Columbia University. He was working at that time as a teacher in Levittown, New York. How interesting that Werner pursued the teaching profession, the profession both his parents had lost as a result of Nazi persecution.

Ernest and Werner’s mother Elise Block Rothschild lived to 102, dying on May 2, 1991.7 As reported on the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website, “Elise outlived her husband by 42 years and died very old at 102. She led a very independent life; it wasn’t until the age of 90, after a hip fracture, that she was admitted to the Margaret Tietz Nursing Home. … Elise worked in the family laundromat, taught English to German immigrants, and volunteered at the Young Men’s Hebrew Association, YMHA, library. She fought for compensation for many years and got a small pension from the 1950s onwards. Of course, this amount could not even come close to compensating for the enormous financial losses that had arisen as a result of the Nazi era and emigration and that shaped her life from then on.”

Ernest Rothschild died on December 11, 2011; he was 89 years old.8 His younger brother Werner is living, and I am hoping to be in touch with him soon. His first cousin Hal and Hal’s daughter Sandy and niece Judy are trying to connect me with Werner.

Given what happened to so many of Siegmund’s siblings and their families, Siegmund and his wife and children might by some be considered lucky because they survived. And yes, in some ways that is true. But look at how they also suffered because of Nazi persecution. Both Siegmund and his wife Elise lost their chosen careers as teachers; Ernest never became a dentist. These were psychological losses as well as financial losses. They also lost their homeland and most of their close family members. No one who was touched by Nazi persecution should ever be considered lucky.

For more information and photographs of the family, please see the Projekt Judische Leben Frankfurt website.

 

  1. Elise and Ernst Rothschild, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Manifests of Passengers Arriving At St. Albans, Vt, District Through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895-1954; NAI: 4492490; Record Group: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 – 2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: M1464; Roll Number: 611, Ancestry.com. U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960; Elise and Ernst Rothschild, The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Series Title: Index to Alien Arrivals at Canadian Atlantic and Pacific Seaports; NAI Number: 3000080; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85, Ancestry.com. U.S., Index to Alien Arrivals at Canadian Atlantic and Pacific Seaports, 1904-1944 ↩
  2. Siegmund Rothschild, Age 66, Birth Date abt 1886, Death Date 2 Oct 1952
    Death Place Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 20929, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  3. Ernest Rothschild and Margot Ochs, Marriage License, Ernest Rothschild
    Gender Male, Marriage License Date 1954, Marriage License Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse Margot Ochs, License Number 7121, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  4. Margot Ochs, Declaration of Intention, Margot Ochs, Gender Female, Race
    White, Declaration Age 18 Record Type Naturalization Declaration, Birth Date
    29 Jul 1923, Birth Place Duren, Germany, Departure Place Southampton, England
    Arrival Date, 27 Dec 1939, Arrival Place New York, New York, USA Declaration Date
    24 Apr 1942, Declaration Place New York, Court U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Declaration Number 520250, Box Number 395, 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, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943 ↩
  5. Werner Rothschild, Gender Male, Residence Date Abt 1958, Residence Place New York City, Marriage Date 21 Dec 1958, Spouse Audrie Max, The Morning Call; Publication Date: 21/ Dec/ 1958; Publication Place: Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/275138958/?article=8c58a828-c766-4dff-8c86-8cceadb65bd&focus=0.38331795,0.5598585,0.4987282,0.6864521&xid=3398
    Ancestry.com. U.S., Newspapers.com™ Marriage Index, 1800s-current ↩
  6. Audrie M Rothschild, Birth Date 18 Sep 1929, Residence Date 1993, Address 14 Joyce Ln, Residence Woodbury, NY, Postal Code 11797-2115, Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1; “Rothschild,” South Florida Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL), September 7, 2016, p. B6; Minnie Vinkelstein and Isadore Max marriage announcement, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, PA, November 18, 1919, p. 18; Isadore Max and family, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Allentown, Lehigh, Pennsylvania; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0038; FHL microfilm: 2341798, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. Elise O Rothschild, Birth Date 4 Apr 1892, Death Date 2 May 1994, Claim Date 6 Apr 1957, SSN 080181441, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  8. Ernest Rothschild and Margot Ochs Rothschild gravestones at Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/245622521/ernest-rothschild: accessed April 7, 2025), memorial page for Ernest Rothschild (1922–2011), Find a Grave Memorial ID 245622521, citing Beth-El Cemetery, Paramus, Bergen County, New Jersey, USA; Maintained by dalya d (contributor 46972551). ↩

Aron Rothschild: An Elusive Subject

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

,

  1. Aron Rothschild, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02469; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 3-344, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Martha Rothschild and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02646; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 31-935, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  3. Melville A Rothschild, Race White, Marital Status Single, with dependents (Single), Rank Private, Birth Year 1919, Nativity State or Country New York, Citizenship Citizen
    Residence New York, New York, Education 1 year of high school, Enlistment Date 22 Feb 1943, Enlistment Place New York City, New York, Service Number 32812468
    Branch Branch Immaterial – Warrant Officers, USA, Component Selectees (Enlisted Men), Source Civil Life, Height 69, Weight 150, National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 05692; Reel: 233, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946. Melville A Rothschild, Rank Private 1st Class, Birth Date 1919, Service Number 32 812 468
    Service Branch US Army, Discharge Date 11 Jan 1946, Death Date 1978, Cemetery Floral Park Cemetery, Cemetery Location Deans, New Jersey, US, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, MO, USA; Applications for Headstones and Markers, 7/1/1970-9/30/1985; NAID: 6016127; Record Group Number: 15; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773-2007, Ancestry.com. U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985. “Melville A. Rothschild, was clothing merchant,” The Central New Jersey Home News, June 12, 1978, p. 26. ↩
  4. Melville A Rothschild, Gender Male, Marriage License Date 7 Dec 1946, Marriage License Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse Barbara T Sichel
    License Number 41647, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan; Volume Number: 60, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  5. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/96201100/aaron-rothschild: accessed January 16, 2025), memorial page for Aaron Rothschild (17 Aug 1881–17 Mar 1955), Find a Grave Memorial ID 96201100, citing Mount Carmel Cemetery, Glendale, Queens County, New York, USA; Maintained by Dave Davisson (contributor 36744121). ↩
  6. “New York, State Death Index, 1880-1956”, , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGK2-WMK4 : Thu Mar 07 21:57:06 UTC 2024), Entry for Aaron Rothchild, 17 Mar 1955. ↩
  7. Aaron Rothschild, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Islip, Suffolk, New York; Roll: 5886; Page: 126; Enumeration District: 52-209B, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  8. Martha Rothschild, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: 2622; Page: 15; Enumeration District: 31-1077, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. Marth Rothschild, Age 65, Birth Date abt 1894, Death Date 3 Apr 1959, Death Place Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 7707, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  10. Melville Rothschild, Social Security Number 084-03-7768, Birth Date 22 Jul 1919
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State New York, Last Benefit 08817, Edison, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA. Death Date Jun 1978, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014. “Melville A. Rothschild, was clothing merchant,” The Central New Jersey Home News, June 12, 1978, p. 26. ↩

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Josephine Hall and Edith Sangster, 1930 ship manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ship or Roll Number: Veendam, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

  1. Gerald Jordan and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02496; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 3-1403, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Gerald Jordan, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, Queens, New York; Roll: 4472; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 41-864, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  3. Alberta L Jordan, Gender Female, Marriage License Date 21 Jun 1948
    Marriage License Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse
    Joseph Weiner, License Number 19409, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan; Volume Number: 28, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  4. Joseph Weiner, Gender Male, Race White, Birth Date 1 Jul 1916, Birth Place New York City, New York, Death Date 6 Jun 2002, Father Max Weiner Mother Minnie Kravich
    SSN 092079511, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  5. Rachael Jordan, Age 51, Birth Date abt 1899, Death Date 16 Jul 1950
    Death Place Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 15880, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965. (The birth date is off by three years here; she was born in 1896.) ↩
  6. Gerald Jordan, Age 73, Birth Date abt 1892, Death Date 31 Dec 1965
    Death Place Queens, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 16719, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  7. Alberta Weiner, Social Security Number 116-09-5716, Birth Date 18 Apr 1921
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State New York, Last Residence 11360, Flushing, Queens, New York, Death Date 28 Mar 2008, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  8. Josephine Hall, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02657; Page: 83A; Enumeration District: 31-1387, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. Charles H Hall, Gender Male, Race White, Marriage Age 41, Birth Date 7 Dec 1899
    Birth Place Glen Cove, LI, Marriage Affidavit Date 4 Jan 1941, Marriage Date 1 Mar 1941, Marriage Place New York, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Residence Street Address 10 State St, Residence Place Ossining, New York, Occupation Restaurant Prop, Father Joseph H Hall, Mother Minnie I Hall, Spouse Rosene Mast
    Certificate Number 140, Current Marriage Number 1, Witness 1 H. Edwin Brown
    Witness 2 Vivian C Lopez, New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Marriage Licenses; Borough: Manhattan; Year: 1941, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910 ↩
  10. Andrew Sangster, World War II draft registration, The National Archives At St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War Ii Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) For the State of New York; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Box or Roll Number: 533, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942; Andrew Sangster, Parish: Edinburgh St Cuthberts; ED: 46; Page: 16; Line: 3; Roll: cssct1881_285, Ancestry.com. 1881 Scotland Census ↩
  11. Andrew Sangster, ship manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ship or Roll Number: Caledonia, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 ↩
  12. Margaret Sangster, ship manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 ↩
  13. Andrew Sangster, 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: New Trier, Cook, Illinois; Roll: T625_361; Page: 31B; Enumeration District: 119, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  14. Andrew Sangster, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Chatham, Morris, New Jersey; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0011; FHL microfilm: 2341108, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  15. Andrew Sangster, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02656; Page: 84B; Enumeration District: 31-1380,
    Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  16. Margaret Sangster, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Madison, Morris, New Jersey; Roll: m-t0627-02371; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 14-45, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  17. Shirley Eastman, “Restoration of Historic Homes,” The (Morristown, NJ) Daily Record, November 15, 1987, pp. 15-16. ↩
  18. “Larchmonter Named PSC Accounting Head,” The (New Rochelle, NY) Standard-Star, December 3, 1940, p. 14. ↩
  19. Andrew Sangster, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Colonie, Albany, New York; Roll: 4485; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 1-72, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  20. Andrew Sangster, Gender Male, Age 88, Birth Date abt 1881, Residence Place Menands, Albany, New York, USA, Death Date 22 Dec 1969, Death Place New York, USA, Certificate Number 90112, New York State Department of Health; Albany, NY, USA; New York State Death Index, Ancestry.com. New York State, U.S., Death Index, 1957-1972; Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/189724933/andrew-sangster: accessed December 11, 2024), memorial page for Andrew Sangster (4 Dec 1881–22 Dec 1969), Find a Grave Memorial ID 189724933, citing Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands, Albany County, New York, USA; Maintained by Sidney (contributor 48067839). ↩
  21. Josephine I Sangster, Gender Female, Birth Date 19 Nov 1902, Death Date 2 Jun 2003, Claim Date 14 Oct 1964, SSN 578011916, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; Josephine I Sangster, Birth Date 19 Nov 1902, Birth Location New York City, New York, Death Date 2 Jun 2003, Age at Death 100, Death Location Hermosa Beach, CA, Spouse Andrew Sangster, Section Number of Burial 123, Lot Number of Burial 349, Ancestry.com. Menands, New York, U.S., Albany Rural Cemetery Burial Cards, 1791-2011 ↩

Moses Rothschild’s Grandson Alvin and His Many Homes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Greta Maren Declaration of Intention, The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Petitions For Naturalization From the U.s. District Court For the Southern District of New York, 1897-1944; Series: M1972; Roll: 1199, Archive Roll Descriptions: (Roll 1199) Petition No· 330211-Petition No· 330571, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1882-1944

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  1. Max Alexander and family, 1940 US census, Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02497; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 3-1442,  Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Herbert M Alexander, Gender Male, Birth Date 1 Sep 1910, Death Date 23 Nov 1988, SSN 082015161, Enlistment Branch AF Enlistment Date 26 May 1942 Discharge Date 6 Jul 1945 Enlistment Branch 1 AF Enlistment Date 1 7 Jul 1945, Discharge Date 1 26 Oct 1945, Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010. ↩
  3. Herbert M. Alexander, Gender Male, Race White, Marriage Age 41, Birth Date 1 Sep 1910, Birth Place New York City, Marriage Date 9 May 1942, Marriage Place New York, Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Residence Street Address 2033 Morris Ave., Residence Place Bx.NY, Bronx, Occupation Writer, Father Maximilian Alexander
    Mother Theresa Alexander, Spouse Greta Maren, Certificate Number 9322, Current Marriage Number 0, Witness 1 Enid Bessett, Witness 2 Robert Peters, New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Marriage Licenses; Borough: Manhattan; Year: 1942, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Index to Marriage Licenses, 1908-1910, 1938-1940 ↩
  4. This information about Grete Maren and much of what follows about her comes from a page in the Munich Kammerspiele website “dedicated to the employees of the Munich Kammerspiele who were disenfranchised, persecuted and murdered during the Nazi era.” Grete Maren is one of the many individuals named on that website, which includes detailed biographies of each of those being remembered. ↩
  5. “Vienna Beauties and ‘The Jinx of Three,’ ” The Buffalo (New York)Times, December 7, 1930, p. 45. This story ran in numerous other US newspapers during this time. ↩
  6. See Note 7, supra. As a side note to this tragic story, another actress who was in love with Kurt Daehn committed suicide when he chose Grete over her even after shooting her. “She Fell in Love to Learn about Life,” Detroit Free Press, August 9, 1931, p. 46. This story also ran in numerous US newspapers during that time. ↩
  7. See the biography of Grete Maren on the Munich Kammerspiele website at https://schicksale.muenchner-kammerspiele.de/  Also, see “Weds Girl He Once Attempted to Kill,” The Oklahoma County News, May 13, 1932, page 1. ↩
  8. See, e.g., “Actress Plans to Wed Suitor Who Shot Her,” Chattanooga Daily Times, February 7, 1932, p. 21. Many other papers ran the same story. One paper later reported that the couple had in fact married. See, “Weds Girl He Once Attempted to Kill,” The Oklahoma County News, May 13, 1932, page 1. ↩
  9. Grete Maren, passenger ship manifest, The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85, Description Ship or Roll Number: Deutschland, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957. Greta Maren, [Margareta Johanna Hinterauer], Race German, Record Type Naturalization Departure Place Montreal, Canada, Residence Place New York, USA, Declaration Date 10 Mar 1937
    Declaration Place New York, USA, Mode of Travel D & H Rr 10, Court District Court
    Court District Southern District, New York, Description (Roll 1199) Petition No. 330211-Petition No. 330571, The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Petitions For Naturalization From the U.s. District Court For the Southern District of New York, 1897-1944; Series: M1972; Roll: 1199, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1882-1944 ↩
  10. “Broadway Barred to Alien Actress,” The New York Times, September 26, 1934, p. 17. ↩
  11. “Margot Graheme Replaces Greta Maren in ‘Sexes and Sevens,’ ” The New York Times, October 5, 1934, p. 28 ↩
  12. See the biography of Grete Maren on the Munich Kammerspiele website at https://schicksale.muenchner-kammerspiele.de ↩
  13. Greta Maren, Naturalization papers, The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Petitions For Naturalization From the U.s. District Court For the Southern District of New York, 1897-1944; Series: M1972; Roll: 1199,
    Archive Roll Descriptions: (Roll 1199) Petition No· 330211-Petition No· 330571, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1882-1944 ↩
  14. Albert E Alexander, Birth Date 6 Jul 1915, Birth Place Bronx, New York, Residence Place Bronx, New York, Enlistment Age 25, Enlistment Date 20 Jan 1941, Enlistment Place Bronx, New York, USA, Unit Co A 8th Regt, New York State Archives; Albany, New York; Collection: New York, New York Guard Service Cards and Enlistment Records, 1906-1918, 1940-1948; Series: B2000; Film Number: 27, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., New York Guard Service Cards, 1906-1918, 1940-1948. ↩
  15. Max Alexander, Herbert Alexander, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: 856; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 3-1805, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  16. Theresa Alexander, Age 71, Birth Date abt 1879, Death Date 18 Jun 1950, Death Place Bronx, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 6080, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  17. Max Alexander, Age 80, Birth Date abt 1875, Death Date 12 Feb 1955, Death Place Manhattan, New York, New York, USA, Certificate Number 2493, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1949-1965 ↩
  18. Albert Alexander, Gender Male, Marriage License Date 1952, Marriage License Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse Mary Deiches, License Number 1742, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  19. Mary J Deiches, Birth Date 15 Dec 1925, Birth Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, Certificate Number 46405, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Birth Index, 1910-1965; Maryjane Deiches, [Maryjane Alexander] [Mary Alexander] Gender Female, Race White, Birth Date 15 Dec 1925, Birth Place New York New, New York, [New York N Y, New York], Death Date May 1991 ,Father Maurice Deiches, Mother Ruth Greenebaum, SSN 132206980, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  20. Mary Jane Deiches, 1950 US census, National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: 4145; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 31-86, Ancestry.com. 1950 United States Federal Census ↩
  21. Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 ↩
  22. Herbert M Alexander, Gender Male, Birth Date 1 Sep 1910, Death Date 23 Nov 1988, Claim Date 1 Apr 1975, SSN 082015161, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; “Herbert Alexander, Pocket Books Editor and Publisher, 78,” The New York Times, November 24, 1988, p. 96; “Herbert Alexander, Ex-Pocket Books Publisher,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, November 25, 1988, p. 42. ↩
  23. Greta Alexander, Gender Female, Birth Date 12 Feb 1912, Death Date Sep 1982
    Claim Date 7 Apr 1975, SSN 045129047, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  24. Albert E. Alexander, Social Security Number 114-12-2501,Birth Date 6 Jul 1915
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State New York, Last Residence 14610, Rochester, Monroe, New York, USA, Death Date 15 Sep 1994, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  25. Mary J. Alexander, Social Security Number 132-20-6980, Birth Date 15 Dec 1925
    Issue year Before 1951, Issue State New York, Last Residence 14610, Rochester, Monroe, New York, USA, Death Date May 1991, Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

  1. Max Alexander and family, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Bronx, Bronx, New York; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0609; FHL microfilm: 2341221, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Francis H Alexander, Gender Female, Marriage License Date 6 Jul 1926, Marriage License Place Bronx, New York City, New York, USA, Spouse Joseph N Jacobs, License Number 4383, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Bronx, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018 ↩
  3. Frances H Alexander, Gender Female, Marriage Date 19 Jul 1933, Marriage Place Kings, New York, USA, Spouse, Jerome M Walton, Certificate Number 10142, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937 ↩
  4. “New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1938”, , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2CD-FHZF : Sat Mar 09 21:15:06 UTC 2024), Entry for Jerome Maury Walton and Frances H Alexander, 19 July 1933. ↩
  5. Joseph Jacobs, World War II Draft Registration, National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York City, 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947. Max Jacobs, Naturalization Petition, The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, D.C.; Petitions For Naturalization From the U.s. District Court For the Southern District of New York, 1897-1944; Series: M1972; Roll: 178, Archive Roll Descriptions: (Roll 0178) Petition No· 29218-Petition No· 29480, Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Naturalization Records, 1882-1944 ↩
  6. Max Jacobs and family, 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Bronx Assembly District 8, Bronx, New York; Roll: T625_1141; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 416, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. Max Alexander and family, 1920 US census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Bronx Assembly District 8, Bronx, New York; Roll: T625_1141; Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 416, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  8. Joseph Jacobs and family, 1930 US census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Bronx, Bronx, New York; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0689; FHL microfilm: 2341224, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. “Alexander, Albert E.,” Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, September 17, 1994, p. 5. ↩
  10. Montreal Gazette, June 19, 1998, p. 60. ↩
  11. Montreal Gazette, April 7, 1983, p. 31. ↩
  12. Montreal Gazette, August 21, 2021, p. CS18. ↩
  13. Montreal Gazette, December 26, 2023, p. 86. ↩