Maria Cohen 1856-?: A Hard Story to Find, A Harder One to Tell

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Amy

It took me a long time to find the story of Maria Cohen, the seventh[1] child of my great-grandparents, Jacob and Sarah, and once I did, I wished I hadn’t. Things started easily enough, as I was able to find a record in the Philadelphia marriage index identifying her husband as William Levi. They married on December 15, 1875. I was able to find them on both the 1880 and 1900 census reports with their sons Lewis, Jacob, and Isaac, but on both there were entries that were inconsistent with the facts I know about Maria. On the 1880 census, it says her parents were born in Germany, and in 1900 it says her parents were born in Russia, when I know that her parents were in fact both born in England.

Had the census taker received erroneous information or did I have the wrong Maria? Certainly her sons’ names, Lewis, Jacob and Isaac, were all names that ran in the Cohen family. The age given for Maria on the census reports seemed close enough. In 1880 Maria would have been 24; the census says she was 21 with two sons ages two and one. If she really married in 1875, that means she would have been only 16 when she married, which seems unlikely. In 1900, Maria would have been 44; the 1900 census reports it as 40. I am accustomed to census errors, and these were not any worse than others I’ve seen.

So this could be the right Maria Cohen, but I cannot be absolutely sure because after 1900 she and her husband disappear from the records. I cannot find Maria or William Levi on the 1910, 1920, or 1930 census. Perhaps they both died between 1900 and 1910, but I also cannot find any death records or burial records for either of them. At first I thought perhaps they all changed their names, but after a lot of looking I was able to find death records for three of their four sons, and that is where this story gets harder to tell.

The first record I found was for their oldest son Lewis, who died on May 4, 1915, from heart disease at age 38.

Lewis C. Levy death certificate

His wife Emma Fogle, whom he had only married five years before in 1910, lived another almost 50 years, but was buried beside him at Adath Jeshurun cemetery and apparently never remarried. Since the headstone is marked “father” and “mother,” there must have been at least one child born during that brief marriage, but so far I have not been able to locate that child.

Lewis and Emma Levy headstone

This morning, after much looking, I found a death certificate for Maria and William’s second son Jacob, who also died at a young age. He died only a year and half after his brother Lewis on December 22, 1916, from tuberculosis. He also was 38 when he died. The death certificate reveals that he had been residing at the Norristown State Hospital for the Insane when he died and had been there for just over ten years. He also was buried at Adath Jeshurun.

Jacob Levy death certificate

I was already feeling sad for Maria and William for losing two sons before either reached forty years of age when the story got even worse.

In searching for records for Maria, William and their sons this morning, I was surprised to see a death record for a Benjamin Levy, son of William Levy. It was the first time I knew that Maria and William had had a fourth son, Benjamin, born in 1881. Since he was born in 1881, he was not on the 1880 census. Since he died in 1897, he was not on the 1990 census. I had missed him completely in doing my initial research of Maria and her family. I gasped when I found his death certificate and saw his cause of death: “found drowned.”

Benjamin Levy death certificate

I looked to see if I could find any other information and found this story, quoted in its entirety from the Philadelphia Inquirer dated March 18, 1897.

The body of the young man which was found on Monday in the Delaware River at the foot of Callowhill street was that of Benjamin Levy, aged 16, who lived at 1580 Fontaine Street, and who has been missing since January 9. It is thought that he committed suicide.

Before going away, he said to his brother: “Good-bye, Jake, forever. I’m going to jump overboard.” He was not seen alive afterwards. It is believed he drowned himself because he had been rebuked for drinking.

(“A Young Suicide,” Thursday, March 18, 1897,Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA) Volume: 136 Issue: 77 Page: 10 )

Benjamin had been missing for two months when his body was found. I cannot begin to imagine how his family felt. Could it possibly be that just getting scolded for drinking led him to commit suicide? Or was there something else behind the story? Was there underlying mental illness, as was the case with his older brother Jacob?

Although the death certificate for Jacob said that he had been hospitalized since October, 1896, ten years, one month and 28 days before his death, this news story about Benjamin seemed to indicate that Jacob was still home when Benjamin committed suicide in March, 1897. One has to wonder whether Jacob’s mental illness was precipitated or at least exacerbated by his little brother’s death and thus whether Jacob’s death certificate was off by a year in describing his stay at the state hospital. Did Jacob feel guilty, knowing that his younger brother had talked about suicide but Jacob had not being able to stop him? How did Maria and William cope with these two traumas?

It was less than twenty years later that their son Lewis died in 1915, with Jacob dying a year later in 1916. Only Isaac remained, their youngest son. Fortunately, Isaac’s story is not tragic. In 1909, he had married Rose Hicks, who was a few years older than Isaac and had a son William from a previous marriage. Although marrying an older divorced woman with a child might have been somewhat unusual back then, given what this family had been through, that must have been small potatoes to them. In 1910, he and Rose were living at 133 Walnut Street in 1910 with several boarders, and Isaac, now using the name Harry, was working at a pawnshop.

Isaac “Harry” Levy and Emma Levy 1910 census

In fact, it was his uncle Lewis Cohen’s pawnshop, as revealed in Harry’s World War I draft registration (and as confirmed by an address check for Lewis Cohen in 1917).

Isaac “Harry” Levy draft registration World War I

Harry, Rose, and Rose’s son William as well as her nephew were living on Reno Street in 1920, and Harry and Rose continued to live in Philadelphia at least until 1942 when Harry’s draft registration for World War II continues to provide a Philadelphia address at 222 North 52^nd Street. Harry was working for the WPA in Philadelphia at that time.

Isaac “Harry” Levy World War 2 draft registration

It does not appear that Harry and Rose had any biological children of their own. I cannot yet find any record for Harry or Rose after 1942, nor have I yet had any luck locating any records for Maria or William after the 1900 census. I plan to contact Adath Jeshurun cemetery in Philadelphia to see if they have records for Harry/Isaac, Rose, Maria or William Levy. Since the other members of the family were all buried at that cemetery, I am hoping that I will be able to get at least some greater information about the others.

Genealogical research is filled with twists and turns. I spent many hours this week, focused on Maria Cohen and her family with William Levy, and until this morning I had found almost nothing except their marriage record and those two census reports. I went to sleep feeling that I would never know the rest of the story. Then with just a few lucky keystrokes this morning, I opened the door to a terribly tragic family story. I almost wish that I hadn’t. Careful what you wish for, as they say. I hope I can put some closure on Maria’s life. Only time, persistence, and lots of good luck will tell.

[1] Reuben was the sixth child, but I am skipping over him for now as I wait to hear from one of his descendants.

Rachel Cohen 1853-1925: An Ordinary Life

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Amy

As I move down the list of my great-grandparents’ thirteen children, I will face a few new obstacles. First, there are several daughters among the middle group of siblings, and as noted before several times, women have a tendency to disappear if I cannot figure out their married names. Second, as these children were born later, many also died after 1924, making it much more difficult to obtain their death certificates and other vital records on line. That means I will either have to order documents from the Pennsylvania archives or visit a local branch of the Family History Library where I can view microfilm sent from Salt Lake City. Those visits will have to wait until the fall probably as I will not have ready access to a branch until then. For now I will report what I know based on what I can find and then update my findings as I obtain more documents and information.

I have reported on the first four children of Jacob and Sarah, my great-great grandparents: Fanny, Joseph, Isaac, and Hart. Rachel is the next child. She was born in Philadelphia in 1853 and spent her childhood at 136 South Street with her family. In 1879 she married Lewis I. Weil, who was born in Pennsylvania of German-born parents. In 1880 Rachel and Lewis were living at 406 South 2d Street with a servant. Lewis was in the gentlemen’s furnishings business, and Rachel was at home. (It is hard to imagine what a young woman with no children did at home all day, given that she had a servant, but times were different back then.)

Rachel and Lewis Weil 1880 US census

Rachel and Lewis had six children: Sallie (1880), Benjamin (1882), Jacob (1883), Blanche (1888), Irene (1891), and Joseph (1893). All but Benjamin survived to adulthood; Benjamin died when he was six months old from enteritis, an inflammation of the small intestine usually caused by a bacterial infection.

Benjamin Weil death certificate

On a separate record of Benjamin’s death, it identified the attending physician as “Sarah Cohen.” Since this was 1882, it seems unlikely that this was really a doctor, but rather Rachel’s mother, Sarah, my great-great grandmother.

UPDATE: See the comments below from rustica2389. It seems there was a Dr. Sarah Cohen practicing in Philadelphia at that time! I should never make assumptions….

Benjamin Weil death record

That must have been an awful loss for Rachel and Lewis, but like so many others, they went on to have four additional children. In 1900, Rachel and Lewis still had all five surviving children living with them, and Lewis was still engaged in the business of men’s clothing. They also still had a servant living with them, now at 1401 Ridge Avenue.

Rachel and Lewis Weil 1900 US census

By 1910, the family had moved to 606 Diamond Street, and only Sallie (who never married), Irene, 19, and Joseph, now 17, were still living at home. Lewis was still working in men’s furnishings, and Joseph was working in the same business. Sallie was a salesperson in a department store, and Irene was at home. Lewis’ brother Simon was also living with them.

Rachel and Lewis Weil 1910 US census

In 1908 Jacob had married Flora Cohen and was selling men’s neckwear in 1910, and the following year his younger sister Blanche had married Alexander Klein who was a “manager” in some kind of manufacturing, according to the 1910 census.

Marriage certificate of Blanche Weil and Alexander Klein

Ten years later in 1920 Rachel and Lewis were living with Sallie, Blanche, and Blanche’s son Edwin, who was nine years old, born in 1911. They now lived at 4620 Thirteenth Street, and Lewis was working as a buyer and manager in “furnishings,” I assume men’s clothing. Sallie was an assistant buyer of dry goods, and Blanche was a singer in the theater. (Each of these moves from Second Street to Ridge to Diamond to 13th Street took the family further and further north, consistent with other family members and Jews in general in Philadelphia.)

Rachel and Lewis Weil 1920 US census

Although Blanche was still listed as married, her husband Alexander was not living with her, but was living with his brother Lewis at 4510 York Drive. He was in the shoe business. He also is listed as married.

Alexander Klein 1920 census

Since Blanche and Edwin were also living without Alexander in 1930, I assume they never reconciled, although perhaps they also never divorced. Thanks to Gil Weeder, a relative by marriage to the Weil family, I now have these photographs of young Edwin Klein with his father’s family, presumably with his mother Blanche next to him sometime before Blanche and Alexander separated.

Blanche and Edward Klein 1930 US census

Rachel and Lewis Weil’s daughter Irene had married James Doran in 1915. They had a long marriage, living in Philadelphia for almost twenty years before moving to Camden, New Jersey in the 1930s where they lived for at least another ten years. I have not found any records for either of them after 1945, except for a record of Irene’s death on April 8, 1977 in Erie, Pennsylvania, on the Social Security Death Index. Both Irene and James were buried at West Laurel Hill cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, but no dates are recorded for James, so I am not sure when he died. They left no descendants.

Rachel and Lewis’ youngest child, Joseph, married Goldie Kret on June 17, 1912. He was only 19, though his age on the marriage certificate is 21. Goldie was recorded to be 18. They were married in Wilmington, Delaware, and Joseph’s sister Blanche and brother-in-law Alexander Klein were the witnesses on the certificate. Goldie was the daughter of Jacob Kret and Sarah nee Newman.

Joseph Weil and Goldie Kret marriage certificate

Interestingly, Joseph was residing in Boston at the time and working as a salesman. Why is this interesting? Because I have been in touch with someone who is a relative of Flora Cohen, Jacob Weil’s wife, and he has a copy of a baby book created for Jacob and Flora’s daughter, Maizie Weil, in which there is a reference to a trip to Boston to visit “Daddy.” Maizie was born in 1912, so perhaps Jacob and his younger brother Joseph were living in Boston for work during that time period. Since both Jacob and Joseph were living in Philadelphia in 1910, this marriage certificate is the first document I’ve found that has a reference to anyone in the family living in Boston.

By 1917, however, Joseph was living back in Philadelphia, according to his World War I draft registration. The registration also says that Joseph was married with two children, living at 2405 South Elkhart Street, and working as a buyer at N. Snellenburg and Company. Joseph’s uncle, Joseph Cohen (Rachel’s brother) had married Caroline Snellenburg, so I imagine that this was a store owned by his uncle’s father-in-law’s family.

Joseph Weil World War I draft registration

I cannot find Joseph or Goldie or either of their daughters on the 1920 census, although there is a man named Weil living as a boarder in a home in Tampa, Florida, with no other identifying entries in the listing. By 1922, however, it is evident that the marriage between Joseph and Goldie had ended, as Goldie married Edwin Hoffman that year, and in 1930, she and her two daughters with Joseph, Lillian and Barbara, were living with her second husband in Newark, New Jersey.

Joseph, meanwhile, had also remarried by then. He had married Rose “Rena” Sley in 1921. On the 1930 census, he was living with Rena, and their daughter Geraldine, who was then seven years old. Joseph was selling men’s shirts. In 1935, they were living in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in 1940 in Irvington, New Jersey. Two cousins were living with them as well. Joseph was a buyer at a department store; according to his World War II draft registration, he was working for R.J. Goerke Company in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and living in East Orange in 1942.

Joseph Weil World War II Draft Registration

Meanwhile, on March 9, 1925, his mother Rachel, my great-grandaunt, had died at age 72 of what looks like bone cancer: carcinoma of the left femur; she, like so many in her family, was buried at Mt Sinai cemetery. Her husband Lewis died three years later on July 26, 1928, of heart disease and was buried beside her.

Rachel Cohen Weil death certificate 1925

Lewis Weil death certificate 1925

Rachel and Lewis Weil death record

Rachel’s life story is not dramatic. It was in fact a bit of a relief after researching her brother Hart. Rachel’s life seems to have been without scandal. Her husband had a steady occupation throughout. They suffered the loss of a child early in their marriage and perhaps other losses that are not documented in public records, but they also raised five children to adulthood. Two of those children may have had some marital issues, but overall there were, aside from Benjamin’s death, no apparent tragedies or scandals. Rachel and Lewis stayed married to each other for almost 50 years. They both lived into their seventies, unlike Rachel’s older siblings who did not live to see 70. It was not a remarkable life, but it was a life not unlike many lives. It may not make for an exciting story, but nor do most lives. Their story is a family story, a story that many people aspire to live for themselves.

My Great-Great Grandmother Rachel Jacobs Cohen: Her Death Certificate

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Amy

I have received a certified copy of my great-great grandmother’s death certificate from the General Register Office in London. This is my first English vital record, and I was quite excited to receive it. It amazes me that I can obtain a record that is over 150 years old from a foreign country just by clicking on the keys of a computer. Below is a scan of the document and also a cropped version to highlight the actual text on the certificate.

Rachel Jacobs Cohen death certificate

There are a number of things that interest me about the information on this document. First is Rachel’s date of death, January 9, 1851. When I had searched through the BMD Index for this certificate, there were a number of Rachel Cohens who might have been the right person. I guessed that it was this one based on the date. Although Lewis and Jacob, Rachel’s sons, had left for the US in 1846 and 1848, respectively, Rachel’s husband and other children, Elizabeth and Jonas, did not leave until 1851. I had a hunch that they did not leave because Rachel was ill and not able to make the journey, so they waited until after she died.

As the certificate shows, Rachel’s cause of death was “scirehus paylonis” and exhaustion, and it seems she had been ill for a year. As best I can tell, scrirehus paylonis would be translated to schirrous pylonis or cancer of the stomach. (My medical expert should feel free to correct this.) I found some English writings on line in which that term was used to refer to what we would call stomach cancer.

The certificate also indicates where the family was living—in Landers Buildings in Christchurch, Spitalfields, in the Registration District of Whitechapel, County of Middlesex. It also confirms that Hart Levy Cohen was a clothes dealer.

Perhaps most interesting and surprising to me is that Hart signed the certificate with a mark, an X, not with a signature. Was he not able to sign his name? Was he illiterate? It’s so hard for me to imagine not being able to read and write that I found this shocking and disturbing.

Hart Cohen and Family Between 1841 and 1851: My Great-Great Grandfather Jacob Cohen

Isaac Cohen 1850-1914: A Harder Story to Tell

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Amy

The third child of my great-great grandparents was Isaac. He was born on February 4, 1850, in Philadelphia, the first of their children both conceived and born in the US. Until at least 1872 when he was 22 years old, he lived at home with his parents at 136 South Street and was working as a clerk in one of the family pawnshops.

He was living at a different address as of 1873, 923 Parrish Street, which was two and a half miles north of his family home, continuing the northward movement of the family. I assume that sometime in 1873 he had married his wife, Emma Cordelia van Horn, since he was no longer living at home. Emma was born in 1853 in Pennsylvania, the daughter of William van Horn and granddaughter of I.B. Merkel, according to documents relating to her death, but so far I have not been able to find out more about her family or to locate a William van Horn with a daughter named Emma. I was surprised to see just how many William H. van Horns there were in Philadelphia alone.

Like his older brother Joseph (as well as many of his younger brothers) and his father, Isaac was a pawnbroker. For his whole career he worked at a pawnshop at 830 North 10^th Street, a block away from his residence in 1873 on Parrish Street. On July 9, 1879, Isaac and Emma’s son, Isaac Wilbert Cohen, was born, and in 1880 the family was living at 636 North 11^th Street, only a few blocks away from the store on 10^th Street. The 1880s seem to have been fairly uneventful. Isaac continued to work at the same location throughout the decade, according to the city directories. Emma and little Isaac were at home.

Isaac Cohen and son living with Emanuel Cohen and family 1880 census

Isaac Cohen and family 1880 census

Then in 1893, tragedy struck, and Isaac’s life was never the same. His wife Emma died on November 3, 1893, when she was only forty years old and her son was only fourteen years old. Emma died from “Septic Peritonitis from Suppurative Salpingitis,” according to her death certificate. As explained to me by my brother, suppurative salpingitis means she had pus in her fallopian tubes, a condition today known as pelvic inflammatory disease. In Emma’s case it led to a septic condition in her abdomen which killed her.

Emma Cohen death certificate 1893

Emma Cohen funeral notes 1893

It was from the funeral notes above that I learned Emma’s father’s and grandfather’s names.

When she died, Emma and Isaac had been living at 1606 Diamond Street, so the family had moved again, about two miles north from 11^th Street and Isaac’s store on 10^th Street. After Emma died, Isaac and his son remained at 1606 Diamond Street, and as of 1895, Isaac’s much younger brother, my great-grandfather Emanuel, was also living at 1606 Diamond Street. Emanuel was thirteen years younger than Isaac, 32 in 1895, and was himself married and the father of three sons, including my grandfather John, who was born in 1895. On the 1900 census, Isaac and his son were still living with Emanuel and his family, with Emanuel listed as the head of household.

Isaac Cohen and son living with Emanuel Cohen and family 1900 census

I found this somewhat puzzling. Had Emanuel moved his family to Isaac’s home to help take care of his widower brother and motherless nephew? Or had Isaac taken in Emanuel to help him out? I assume it’s more likely the former—that Isaac need help with caring for his teenage son and that my great-grandmother Eva was willing to help raise him as well as her three sons, who would have been young boys during the 1890s. Isaac had twelve siblings, some much closer to him in age. Why would he have ended up living with Emanuel, his much younger brother and not one of the others?

Isaac was the first member of the Cohen family to marry someone who was not Jewish. Emma had been buried in a non-Jewish cemetery, West Laurel Hill in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia. Had his other siblings been upset that he married outside the faith?

Isaac’s stay in Emanuel’s household continued for almost twenty years. In 1910, he was still living with Emanuel, Eva, and their sons, now at 1441 Diamond Street, and still working as a pawnbroker. His son Isaac Wilbert had married Gertrude Mann the year before and was living in his own place. Why had Isaac stayed with Emanuel and not moved with his son? To give the newlyweds their own space? Again, it does seem a bit strange, but I suppose that after fifteen years of living with his brother and family, Isaac at age 60 was content to stay put.

Isaac Cohen with Emanuel and family 1910 census

But then Isaac suffered another terrible loss. On March 3, 1914, his son Isaac Wilbert Cohen died from lobar pneumonia. According to the death certificate, Isaac Wilbert had suffered from myocarditis, another family member succumbing to heart problems. He was only 34 and had been married only five years when he died. He had no children.

Isaac Wilbert Cohen death certificate

Isaac Cohen, my great-grandfather’s brother, himself died just a few months later on September 15, 1914, from acute peritonitis secondary to pancreatic cancer.

Isaac Cohen death certificate

He was 64 years old and had lost his wife 21 years before and his only child just six months before. It seems like he endured far too many losses far too soon. I hope that he found comfort living with my great-grandparents and my grandfather and great-uncles. I wish that I knew more about his life and his story.

Like his wife, Isaac was buried at West Laurel Hill cemetery along with his son Isaac Wilbert.

My Great-Grandfather’s Brother Joseph: 1848-1923

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Amy

Joseph was the first child of Jacob and Sarah Cohen to be born in the US; he was born on November 21, 1848, in Philadelphia, only four months after his parents’ arrival in July, 1848, meaning his mother was five months pregnant when she traveled from England to the US with her husband and toddler daughter, Fanny. Joseph lived with his family at 136 South Street until he married Caroline Snellenburg around 1868.

Caroline was born in Germany around 1849 and emigrated to the United States with her family as a young child in 1857. Although I cannot locate a specific marriage record for Joseph and Caroline, they probably were married sometime in or before 1868 because their first born child, Hart, was born May, 1869. In June, 1870, when the census was taken, Caroline, Joseph and one year old Hart were living at 115 Congress Street in the same ward and district as Joseph’s parents, and Joseph was working as a tailor.

Joseph and Caroline Cohen 1870 US census

Then, later that year, little Hart was stricken with typhoid fever and died on November 21, 1870, only one and a half at the time. So like his older sister Fanny and her husband Ansel who lost their daughter Rachel to typhoid fever in 1873 before she was two years old, Joseph and his wife Caroline lost a young child to typhoid.

Hart Cohen death certificate 1870

I have speculated before about what these deaths must have done to young parents and whether it made them less able to attach to children or made them treasure each child more. In the case of Joseph and Caroline, it seems they compensated by having another ten children after losing their first born. At least one other child did not survive to adulthood, the last born child, Meyer, who was born in July 1889 and died the next month. By having so many children, Joseph and Caroline were able to ensure that at least some of their children would survive the dangers of life back in the 19^th century.

By 1875, Jacob and Caroline had four children, Jacob (1872), Bertha and Isaac (1874) and Nathan (1875) and were living at 221 South 2d Street, where they would live at least until 1886, according to various city directories. This residence was located about half a mile north of where Joseph grew up on South Street and close to the city center of Philadelphia, near Walnut Street.

In 1875 Joseph was listed in the city directory as a clothier, and in 1879 he was in business as Cohen and Brothers with at least his younger brother Reuben and perhaps Hart and Isaac as well. Although there is no description of what trade Cohen and Brothers were engaged in in the 1879 directory, on the 1880 census Joseph’s occupation was described as a dealer in clothing so he was still in the clothing trade.

Joseph Cohen and family 1880 census

In 1881, however, the city directory lists his business as being a pawnbroker, like his father and his brothers Isaac and Reuben (Hart was still a clothier), but also as a clothier at his home location. So by 1881, Joseph had followed in his father’s footsteps and was working as a pawnbroker but also selling clothing.

Perhaps Joseph was engaged in two businesses for good reason. By 1881, he and Caroline had five children, Sallie having been born in 1877. By 1884, they had two more, Fannie (1882) and Julia (1884). By 1886, the family had moved, perhaps to accommodate all these new and growing children, to 703 South 12^th Street, and Joseph was in business with his younger brother Lewis Cohen and had a store at 701 South 12^th Street, right next door to his residence. This was a move closer to Broad Street near South Street, so presumably a good business location. In 1887, Joseph and Caroline had two more children, twins named Morris and Samuel.

The business and the family remained at this location at least through 1889, and then in 1892, Joseph had a store at 1200 South Street and was residing at 710 North 5^th Street. This was a move four miles north, and so nearing the turn of the century, Joseph, like his sister Fanny, was living in North Philadelphia, part of the migration of Jews from the southern to the northern parts of the city. Presumably, the business and the family were doing quite well.

Interestingly, in 1900, Joseph and Caroline and the children were living in Cape May, New Jersey, where Joseph was working as a pawnbroker. I assume that he was working to establish a new store in a new territory, perhaps for one of his sons. Or maybe after the death of infant Meyer in August of 1889, they just needed a change of scenery. Although the records conflict, some records indicate that the twins Morris and Samuel were born in Cape May in August, 1887, so it could be that this was a second stay for the family in Cape May.

Joseph Cohen and family 1900 census

Although Joseph and Caroline’s oldest son Jacob was already married at this point, he is listed on the census as living in Cape May with his parents in 1900. (He is also listed as living with his wife and child back in Philadelphia, so I assume he was shuttling back and forth.) His occupation was as a jeweler, a business that I know became a part of the Cohen family businesses. His younger brother Isaac was working as a traveling salesman, and Nathan, then 25, was working as a clerk in the pawn store.

By 1903, however, Joseph was back in Philadelphia, working at the store at 1200 South Street, and in 1910 Joseph and Caroline were living with six of their adult children at 1915 Diamond Street, another few miles north and west of where they had lived in 1889.

Joseph Cohen and family 1910 census

Joseph was described as the proprietor of a business, but I cannot decipher the script for what type of business. If one of you can, I’d love to know.

Detail: What is the word after “Proprietor” on Joseph Cohen’s line?

Sam and Morris were working in a department store (maybe Ansel’s, maybe their father’s?), and Nathan was working as a loan officer in a bank. Imagine that! A rebel in the family, abandoning the long tradition of being merchants and pawnbrokers.

On October 17, 1918, Joseph and Caroline lost another child, but this time an adult child. Their son Morris, who was only 30 years old, died from pneumonia after having influenza. Morris was married to Helen Goodman and working as a sheet metal worker in the manufacture of automobile radiators, according to his death certificate and 1917 World War I draft registration. He had only completed that draft registration a few months before his death.

Morris Cohen death certificate

Morris Cohen draft registration for World War I

In 1920, Joseph and Caroline were living with just two of their adult children, Nathan, now 43 and still working as a loan officer, and Fanny, who was 35 and not employed outside the home. Joseph had no occupation listed on this census, and he and Caroline were now 70 years old. They were living at 1914 Erie Avenue, even further north and west from their prior home on Diamond Street.

Joseph Cohen and family 1920 census

Joseph died three years later, on June 10, 1923, from chronic endocarditis, another family member dying from heart disease. The contributing causes were chronic parenchymalious nephritis. According to my medical consultant and brother, this is form of kidney disease.

Joseph Cohen death certificate 1923

Caroline died the following year on April 3, 1924. I do not have a death certificate for her, but both she and Joseph were buried in Mt Sinai cemetery. Together they had endured a fair share of heartache, losing at least two children as babies and one as an adult, but they also had enjoyed a fair amount of financial security and the company of many of their children. As with Fanny, Jacob and Sarah would have been pleased to know that their son Joseph had overall lived a good life.

So Many Cohens, So Many Stories to Tell

Posted on May 24, 2014 by Amy

(Photo credit: wok)

I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I thought there were a lot of Rosenzweigs; after all, Gustave had nine children and Tillie had seven. But my great-great-grandparents Jacob and Sarah Cohen had THIRTEEN children, and Jacob’s brother Moses had five more. And they are only the first generation of American Cohens. There are two more to go before I get to my generation, and each generation gets bigger. Fortunately, Jacob’s other siblings did not have children, or I would really be drowning in Cohens.

As is it, I am not sure where to start or how to tell the story of Hart Levy and Rachel Cohen’s grandchildren. Do I keep doing it by decade, jumping from one of those descendants to another? Do I take each one and discuss his or her life separately? Doing it the first way gives me more of an opportunity to see and describe the big picture, but it could make each post very long if I tell the story of all the grandchildren’s lives in a particular decade. Doing it one by one would be simpler, but would mean losing the chance to see overall trends in the family.

I am also still researching each one of these eighteen grandchildren and looking ahead to see how many children each one of them brought into the world. I haven’t even begun to research that generation—the great-grandchildren of Hart and Rachel, many of whom lived far into the 20^th century. But I am getting ahead of myself. One thing at a time. First, the children of Jacob and Sarah. Then the children of Moses and Adeline.

Since Jacob and Sarah’s children were born over a twenty year span from Frances (1846) to Abraham (1866), I think it makes sense to take a few of these children at a time in chronological sets. I will do first the four oldest, then the middle five, and then the last four. Some of these people, especially the women, I have not been able to track completely, but amazingly for most of them, I have been able to go from birth to death.

Once I have done Jacob and Sarah’s children, I will turn to the five children of Moses and Adeline Cohen. I am still researching the question of whether or not the DC Cohens were in fact related to the Philadelphia Cohens, but I am operating under the assumption that they were in fact all descendants of Hart and Rachel. I am even having my brother take a DNA test to see if we can make the linkage. Only time will tell, but meanwhile I am going with my hunch that Moses and Jacob were brothers.

So that’s where I am. Thanks for letting me think out loud and get organized. It may take a bit longer to get each of these posts researched and written, so I may be posting a little less frequently. Stay tuned for the continuing saga of the Cohen clan.

If you think my plan makes no sense, let me know. I am more than open to suggestions on how to tell the story.

Changing of the Guard: 1870 to 1893

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Amy

Mikveh Israel Cemetery, Philadelphia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As we move forward from 1870, the grandchildren of Hart and Rachel Cohen were becoming adults and forming businesses and families of their own. The generation of Hart and Rachel’s children—Elizabeth, Lewis, Moses, Jacob and Jonas—was growing older and passing on the legacy of the family to this next generation. Today’s post will focus on those five children, my great-great grandfather and his siblings. Subsequent posts will focus on the grandchildren and their families, in particular my great-grandfather Emanuel and his family.

In 1871, Elizabeth was still working as a clothier, according to the Philadelphia city directory. Lewis continued to work as a pawnbroker and Jonas a clothing salesman through the 1870s, according to the city directories. In 1880, the three siblings were still living with each other at 713 May Street, a location north and west of the neighborhood where the family had long lived near 136 South Street.

Lewis, Elizabeth and Jonas Cohen 1880 US census

In 1870, their brother Jacob continued to live at 136 South Street with his wife Sarah and eleven of his thirteen children, ages five through twenty-one. He also continued to work as a pawnbroker, and his sons Isaac and Reuben were also working in the business in 1870. By 1880 much would have changed. Most importantly, Jacob’s wife, my great-great grandmother Sarah, died on November 19, 1879, of erysipelas, a bacterial infection similar to cellulitis. She, like her father-in-law Hart, was buried in Mikveh Israel cemetery. She was 53 years old, had moved from London to Philadelphia with her husband and first child, and had then given birth to twelve more children, some of whom were still young teenagers when she died.

Sarah Jacobs Cohen death certificate 1879

On the 1880 census, Jacob was a widower, still working as a pawnbroker, and living with five of his children, ages 14 through 23. All but one of them, Lizzie who was 19, was working either as a salesperson or a clerk in a store, presumably their father’s store. The eight other children were married and out of the house, some of them also working as pawnbrokers. His son-in-law Ansel Hamberg, Fannie’s husband, was also working as a pawnbroker, again presumably still in business with Jacob. Jacob’s business was still supporting many people. Obviously, with all those children working in the store, it must have been quite an establishment.

Jacob Cohen and family 1880 US census

In the decade that followed that census, all of Hart and Rachel’s children passed away, except for Jonas, the youngest, who died in 1893. First, Elizabeth died on June 28, 1883, of what looks like “atrophy muscular,” which I assume, from reading online, was some form of a motor neuron disease. She was about 65 years old. She was buried in Mikveh Israel cemetery, like her father and her sister-in-law, Sarah.

Elizabeth Cohen death record 1883

Less than a year later, on March 6, 1884, her brother Lewis died of an abscess of the lung. His age was given as 68 on his death certificate, and he also was buried at Mikveh Israel cemetery.

Lewis Cohen death certificate 1884

On April 21, 1888, my great-great-grandfather Jacob died as well, also in his sixties. He, too, was buried at Mikveh Israel, with his wife Sarah, his father and his siblings. According to his death certificate, he died from “uremia from Bright’s disease of the kidneys (probably auto ? kidneys).” (If someone can decipher the word after “probably,” please comment below.) Bright’s disease was defined in Wikipedia as follows: “Bright’s disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes.”

Jacob Cohen 1888 death certificate

The last of Jacob and Sarah’s children, the youngest, Jonas, died on January 23, 1893, and was also buried at Mikveh Israel. He also was in his early 60s when he died. His cause of death was given as pneumonia.

Jonas Cohen 1893 death certificate

So all five of Jacob and Sarah’s children died before reaching seventy years of age, whereas their father lived to be 88. (Their brother Moses had died before reaching forty; although I’ve yet to locate a death certificate for Moses, according to the 1860 census taken just months before he died, he was “insane from intemperance.”) They all died from different causes—atrophy muscular, a lung abscess, kidney disease, and pneumonia. Their mother died from a bacterial infection. I would think most of these would be treatable today and that, given better medical treatment, they all could have lived a long life like Hart Levy Cohen had. Looking at how young they all were when they died makes me realize just how remarkable it was for Hart to live to be almost 90 years old back in the 19^th century. And how lucky we all are to live in the 21^st century.

Who Knew? My Great-Great Grandmother’s Family, the Jacobs

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Amy

One of the great surprises I’ve encountered in doing genealogy work is that I have many more surnames in my family than I ever knew. I knew about Goldschlager and Brotman, on my mother’s side, and I knew about Cohen, Schoenthal, Seligman and Katzenstein, on my father’s side. But I never knew that I was also a Rosenzweig until I found my great-grandmother Ghitla’s maiden name, and now I know that I am also descended from the Jacobs family on my father’s side. My great-great grandmother was Sarah Jacobs, married to Jacob Cohen. My great-great-great grandmother was Rachel Jacobs, married to Hart Levy Cohen. Although I have not yet found any familial connection between Rachel and her mother-in-law Sarah, I have found some evidence of Rachel’s parents and siblings.

First, I noticed that a man named Lazarus Jacobs was living with Rachel and Jacob Cohen in Philadelphia in 1860. Then yesterday while researching the Cohens in the 1860s, I found a Philadelphia directory that listed Jacob’s business partner as Joseph Jacobs. I assumed this was another of Rachel’s relatives, but was not sure how they might be related.

After some further searching, I found Joseph Jacobs on the 1841 England census, living with his parents Reuben and Frances and his siblings Rachel, my great-great-grandmother, and Lazarus, the younger brother who was living with Jacob and Rachel in 1860.

Reuben Jacobs and family 1841 England Census

Joseph married his wife, Rachael, in 1847, whose maiden name may also have been Jacobs. (The BMDIndex has two Rachels on the registry page for Joseph Jacobs, so until I can obtain the actual records, I am not sure if she was Rachel Levy or Rachael Jacobs.)

Joseph and Rachel had a son, Solomon, born in 1848, and a son Reuben, born in 1850. Both were living with Rachel on the 1851 England census. Rachel was listed as the sister of the head of household, whose name was Abraham Abrahams; his wife’s name was Elizabeth. I cannot find a Rachel Abrahams on the marriage registry on the BMDIndex, and although I did find an Abraham Abrahams married to an Elizabeth Levy, I also wonder whether the census taker took down Abraham’s name incorrectly since there is also an Abraham Jacobs married to an Elizabeth.

Rachel Jacobs and children 1851 England census

At any rate, the bigger question is— where was Joseph?

My guess was that he was in the US, preparing to move the family to Philadelphia. I could not find him, however, on the 1850 US census nor could I find him on a ship manifest for that time period. I did, however, find a Joseph Jacobs on the 1851 England census as a visitor in Birmingham, England; he was listed as born in Middlesex, London, and his occupation was as a general dealer, so my guess is that Joseph was simply away on business the day the census was taken.

Joseph Jacobs 1851 England census
a visitor

Joseph and his family left England and, like Joseph’s sister Rachel, settled in Philadelphia. It appears that Rachel Jacobs and her three children, Solomon (4), Reuben (2) and Emanuel, who was described as an infant, left in 1853 along with her brother-in-law, fourteen year old Lazarus (L. Jacobs on the manifest).

Rachel Jacobs and children 1853 ship manifest “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1882”, index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K8CH-1V8 : accessed 20 May 2014), Jacobs, 1853.

Her husband Joseph may not have left until 1854.

Joseph Jacobs ship manifest 1854 “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1882”, index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K8CC-N1Z : accessed 20 May 2014), Joseph Jacob, 1854

These dates make sense because according to the 1860 US census, their daughter Frances or Fanny was born in England and was six at the time of the census in 1860, but their daughter Esther was born in Pennsylvania and was already two years old in 1860.

Joseph Jacobs and family 1860 US census

What seems inconsistent, however, is that Frances/Fanny is not on the ship manifest with either her mother Rachel or her father Joseph. Perhaps the 1860 census was incorrect, and Frances was born shortly after arriving in the US, but the 1870 census also has her listed as born in England, so more likely she just wasn’t included on the ship manifest. Emanuel Jacobs, however, although listed on the ship manifest, is not included in the 1860 census. In fact, a later born child was named Emanuel, born in 1866. So was “Emanuel” on the manifest really Frances? Or did the first Emanuel die?

Sadly, it was the latter. Emanuel died on May 3, 1860, of heart disease, according to the US Federal Census Mortality Schedule. The Philadelphia death certificate identifies his father as Joseph Jacobs residing at 150 South Street, so this is definitely the right child since that is where the Jacobs family was living in 1860. The certificate also says that Emanuel had been in Philadelphia for 2 and 2/3 years, meaning since sometime in 1857 (which seems incorrect unless they lived elsewhere between 1853 and 1857), and although I cannot decipher the age very well, I think it says he was 8+ years, meaning he was born sometime either in 1851 or 1852, which would explain why he was not on the 1851 census, but was on the 1853 manifest. Apparently, the second Emanuel, born in 1866, was named for the deceased older brother.

Emanuel Jacobs death certificate May 3, 1860

That does not explain where Frances was, however, when the rest of the family was sailing to Philadelphia.

In 1860 Joseph Jacobs and his family lived at 150 South Street in Philadelphia, not more than a few houses from my great-grandparents who lived at 136 South Street. He was in business with his brother-in-law, Jacob Cohen, my great-great-grandfather. Although I will track what happened to Joseph and to Lazarus after 1860 as well as research Joseph, Sarah, and Lazarus’ parents in England, for now I will return to the Cohen family and finish their story before returning to my newly discovered family line, the Jacobs. The tree just keeps on growing.

Mystery Solved—I think

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Amy

As I wrote yesterday, I was somewhat befuddled by the existence of two men named Hart Cohen, born around the same time (1850-1851), both married to women named Henrietta whose birth names started with B. Although one Hart was born in Philadelphia and the other in Maryland, at first I (along with many other ancestry.com members) thought they were the same person and had their families intertwined on my family tree. After spending much time sifting through census reports and other documents, I was finally convinced that there were in fact two Hart Cohens married to two different Henriettas, one living in the Washington, DC, area his whole life and the other living in Philadelphia his whole life except at the very end of his life. Philadelphia Hart died in Washington, DC, in 1911, thus making the situation even more confusing. But there were in fact two separate men, not one man living a double life.

But was this more than coincidence? Was there any connection between them aside from all those coincidences? I went to sleep last night unsure about the answer to that question, but the last document I found before my post was a death record for DC Hart which revealed his parents’ names: Moses Cohen and Adeline Himmel. Further research revealed that Moses was born in England, Adeline in Germany, and that they had had a son born in Germany named Moses before emigrating to Maryland and having DC Hart.

Hart Cohen DC death record 1926

I woke up this morning, determined to find some link between Moses Cohen, DC Hart’s father, and Jacob Cohen, my great-great grandfather and the father of Philadelphia Hart. After some searching, I first found Adeline’s death record and saw that she had died in 1895, already a widow, in Washington, DC, and was buried in Washington. I then tried to figure out when Moses, her husband, had died, and found a number of Washington, DC. city directory listings in which Adeline Cohen was described as the widow of Moses. The earliest one I found was dated 1867, meaning that Moses had already died by that time.

1867 Washington DC city directory Adeline Cohen as widow of Moses

In fact, in 1870, Adeline was living with DC Hart and her other children in Washington.

Adeline living with her children 1870 US census

That gave me an outer limit for when Moses, Sr., had died, and by placing a date limit on his death, I was able to uncover this record on ancestry.com:

Moses Cohen death record 1860

Notice his father’s Hebrew name: Naftali ha Cohen. This rang a bell, and I went back to my earlier research and found that on my great-great grandfather Jacob Cohen’s marriage record his father’s Hebrew name was recorded as Naftali Hirts ha Cohen.

Jacob and Sarah Cohen’s marriage record

This was one coincidence too many and enough for me to conclude that Moses, Sr. and Jacob were in fact brothers, that Moses had not stayed in England as I had concluded early on in my Cohen research, but had come to America just as all his other siblings had. I now also think that it is possible that the “Mordecia” [sic] listed as living with Jacob on the 1850 US census was probably his brother Moses, who had also emigrated in 1848 from England.

Jacob Cohen and family 1850 US census

His wife Adeline and son Moses, Jr., must have arrived sometime later, though I have not yet located a record revealing when they came. I will need to track down a few more documents to be sure—death certificates for Moses and Jacob and also photographs of their headstones.

But assuming my hunches are correct, Philadelphia Hart and DC Hart were first cousins, sharing a name, sharing an occupation (pawnbroker/jewelry store owner), having wives with the same first name, and sharing a grandfather for whom they were both named, my three-times great-grandfather, Hart Levy Cohen. The only real coincidence was that they both had wives named Henrietta.

I just love when the pieces come together. It is what makes this so much fun. Digging around in the muck, being totally confused and overwhelmed, and then that AHA! moment when suddenly it all makes sense.

Did My Great-Grandfather’s First Cousin Live Two Separate Lives?

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Amy

I have started tracking down the lives of the children of Jacob and Sarah Cohen, my great-great-grandparents, and all was going pretty well until I started to research their son Hart. It seems he might have been living two lives, one in Philadelphia, one in Washington, DC. Or perhaps not. Here’s what I have found; see if you have any ideas on how to resolve this one.

The first mention of Hart, obviously named for his grandfather Hart Levy Cohen who was still alive when he was born, is on the 1860 US census, listing little Hart as nine years old, so born in 1850 or 1851, depending on whether his birthday was before or after June 7^th, the date in 1860 when the census was taken. Since he was not listed on the 1850 census taken on July 25, 1850, he was obviously born sometime between July 25, 1850 and June 7, 1851 if he was actually nine on June 7, 1860.

Jacob and Sarah Cohen and family 1860 US census

Things start getting weird in 1870. I found two census reports for Jacob and Sarah and their children for 1870, one taken in June, one in November. The second one is labeled “Second Enum” for second enumeration so for some reason the census taker went to the neighborhood twice. What’s odd is that Hart is listed as 20 on the June version and 19 on the November version. I’ve seen age mistakes so often that this did not faze me in the least, but it does not help pin down Hart’s precise birth date.

It is the 1880 census, however, that really threw me. In 1880 there are also two census reports for Hart Cohen born in 1850 or 1851. One is clearly the right Hart: He was living in Philadelphia, working as a storekeeper, and was born in Pennsylvania of parents born in England. He is 30 years old, giving him a birth year of 1850 or 1851. This Hart was married to a woman named Henreta or probably Henrietta and had three children, Jacob (6), Sarah (5), and Julia (4). If Hart and Henrietta had a six year old child, then presumably they would have been married no later than 1873, and in fact I was able to find a record of a marriage of Hart Cohen to a Henrietta Brunswick in Philadelphia on February 12, 1873 in the Pennsylvania marriage index.

Hart Cohen and family Philadelphia 1880 US census

All seemed to be making sense until I found another 1880 census report for a Hart and Henrietta Cohen residing in Washington, DC. This Hart was also 30 years old. I was ready to dismiss this as just as bizarre coincidence since this Hart was listed as having parents who were born in Germany. His own birthplace was given as Washington, DC. This seemed like it had to be a different person. The DC Hart and Henrietta had one child, a daughter named Fanny who was only a year old.

Hart Cohen and family Washington, DC 1880 US census

I have a city directory for Philadelphia listing Hart Cohen as a pawnbroker in 1886, so I was convinced that the DC Hart was just a fluky coincidence of someone with the same name and age as my Hart marrying a woman also named Henrietta. The 1890 census was destroyed by fire, so I had to skip ahead to 1900 to see if I could follow up on the two Hart and Henrietta Cohens.

I could not find the Philadelphia Hart and Henrietta on either the 1900 or the 1910 census, but I did find the DC Hart and Henrietta on both. The 1900 census for the DC Hart provided a more specific birthdate—September, 1851—and had his birth place as Maryland, but this census listed his parents’ birthplace as England, not Germany as on the 1880 census. DC Hart was working in a jewelry store, a retail business not unlike those of my ancestors, so that seemed strange as well. Hart and Henrietta now had four children, Frances, Munroe, Isador and Jacob. But this Jacob was only 14 in 1900 so could not be the same Jacob who was 6 in 1880 and thus born in 1874. Once again I felt pretty certain that this was still not the same Hart Cohen who was Jacob and Sarah’s son. Despite the fact that his parents were now reported to be English-born, that he was a jeweler, that he married a woman named Henrietta and that he was also 30 years old, I again said that this was just a coincidence.

Hart Cohen and family in Washington, DC 1900 US census

On the 1910 census report for the DC Hart and Henrietta, Hart still had a jewelry store and was married to Henrietta and living with Frances and Jacob, two of their children. His birthplace was listed as Maryland, and now his parents’ birthplaces were reported as England for his father and Germany for his mother. This also seemed to suggest that this was not the Philadelphia Hart.

Hart Cohen and family Washington, DC 1910 US Census

But because I could not find the Philadelphia Hart on the 1900 or the 1910 census, I was a bit perplexed. Could he have died? Had he moved to DC? Even if that were the case, it would not explain the two 1880 census reports. Was he living a double life, having two wives both named Henrietta, one in Philadelphia and one in DC, and two different sets of children?

I decided to search for a death record for any Hart Cohen born around 1850, and I found one dated January 3, 1911. Since this record was from the District of Columbia Selected Deaths and Burials database, I assumed that this related to the DC Hart especially since the report said that the deceased was living in DC at the time of his death, but on a closer look I saw that it said that he had been born and was buried in Philadelphia.

I then found a second record in the Philadelphia Death Certificates Index that made it quite clear that this was the Philadelphia Hart, not the DC Hart: it listed his parents’ names as Jacob Cohew (sic) and Rachel Jacobs, both of whom were born in England.

Pennsylvania Death Certificates Index

Further research revealed that Hart’s body had been moved from its original burial location twice by two of his children, Jesse Cohen and Sarah Cohen Jonas, ending in a move in 1944 to a location in Mt Sinai Cemetery where both his son Jacob H. Cohen and a Ralph Brunswick were also buried. Since the Henrietta who married Jacob was born Henrietta Brunswick, this seemed (no pun intended) to be the final nail in the coffin establishing that the Jacob who died in January, 1911, was the Philadelphia Hart, son of Jacob and Sarah Cohen, my great-great grandparents.

If that conclusion is correct, then Philadelphia Hart was actually living in Washington, DC, at the time of his death in January, 1911, just nine months after the 1910 census recorded DC Hart (and no other Hart) living with his wife Henrietta and two children Frances and Jacob at 1806 4^th Street. Philadelphia Hart’s residence at his time of death was reported as 1737 N. 15^th Street in Washington. He was also a widower, and I was able to locate a death record for a Henrietta B. Cohen who was born in Lengnau, Switzerland and died in November, 1902. Had he moved to DC after Henrietta died? If so, why? And what, if any connection, might there be to the “other” Hart and Henrietta?

The other Hart, the DC Hart, was still alive in 1920 and living with his daughter Frances in the District of Columbia. He also was a widower at this time and retired. The census report lists his and his parents’ birthplaces as DC, but that is clearly wrong, at least for his parents, whose birthplaces had previously been reported at various times as England and Germany.

Hart Cohen Washington, DC 1920 US Census

My next find was a record of DC Hart’s death. He died August 10, 1926, in Washington, DC. His parents’ names were listed on this record: Moses Cohen and Adeline Himmel. His wife’s name was Henrietta Baer. So not only did both Philadelphia Hart and DC Hart marry women named Henrietta, they both married Henriettas with a birth name that started with a B. It is no wonder that I was confused, and there are numerous trees on ancestry.com that have mixed together the two Hart and Henrietta Cohen families.

When I saw the name Moses Cohen as DC Hart’s father, it stopped me in my tracks. Could this be my great-great grandfather Jacob’s brother Moses, the one I thought had stayed behind in England? So far I have not been able to find whether there is a connection. Although I did find a ship manifest with a Moses Cohen emigrating from England to New York in 1848, the same year Jacob left England, I have no idea whether this is the right Moses Cohen. Tracking Moses Cohen and Adeline Himmel, I know that they had a son also named Moses before Hart and that Moses the younger was born in Baden, Germany around 1839. Adeline was born in Germany, and Moses must have gone there, married her, had Moses his son, and then moved sometime between 1839 and 1850 to the United States and settled in Maryland where DC Hart was born.

If this was in fact Moses, the son of Hart Levy Cohen, my three times great grandfather, it would explain why Moses named his son Hart. It might also explain why Philadelphia Hart was living for some time in Washington. Perhaps he wanted to be closer to his cousin DC Hart and his family. On the other hand, if there is no connection, then it is just a very, very strange series of coincidences.

What do you think?

Brotmanblog: A Family Journey

Adventures in Genealogy

Tag Archives: genealogy

Maria Cohen 1856-?: A Hard Story to Find, A Harder One to Tell

Rachel Cohen 1853-1925: An Ordinary Life

My Great-Great Grandmother Rachel Jacobs Cohen: Her Death Certificate

Isaac Cohen 1850-1914: A Harder Story to Tell

My Great-Grandfather’s Brother Joseph: 1848-1923

So Many Cohens, So Many Stories to Tell

Changing of the Guard: 1870 to 1893

Who Knew? My Great-Great Grandmother’s Family, the Jacobs

Mystery Solved—I think

Did My Great-Grandfather’s First Cousin Live Two Separate Lives?

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