Tag Archives: Greenbaum

The Descendants of Levi Goldsmith, Part 2: The Families of Helen and Blanche

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The three youngest children of my 3x-great-uncle Levi Goldsmith and his wife Henrietta—Helen, Blanche, and Sylvester— had all experienced plenty of tragedy in their lives—loss of siblings and children and/or a spouse and in Sylvester’s case, his own early death. By 1933 when their oldest sister Eva died, Helen and Blanche were the only siblings left from the nine babies born to Levi and Henrietta.

Helen Goldsmith Loeb had lost her husband Harry in 1925, but her three children Armand, Henriete, and Leonard were all still living. As we saw, as of 1930 her daughter Henriete was divorced from Leo Dessauer and was living with her mother and brother Leonard in Philadelphia along with her seven year old son. Armand was married to Rose Kahn and had two children by 1930 and was working as merchant, presumably in the Loeb Warehouse with his brother Leonard. Later in 1930 Leonard had married Florence Mayer.

Helen and her children were all still living in Philadelphia in 1940. Helen was living with her son Leonard and his family (he and Florence had two children by then) in Philadelphia, and Leonard was working as a brewery machinery salesman.1 According to his World War II draft registration, he was self-employed.

Leonard Loeb World War II draft registration, The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1495
Ancestry.com. U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947

His older brother Armand was also living in Philadelphia with his wife and two children in 1940, and he listed his occupation as the owner of a machinery company.2 His World War II draft registration also states that he was self-employed and at the same address as his brother Leonard, presumably the Loeb Warehouse Company.

Armand Loeb, 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 Pennsylvania; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group Number: 147; Series Number: M1951
Source Information
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942

Henriete had remarried by 1935 and moved to Florida with her second husband, Ralph Palmer Brown. Ralph was born in Pennsylvania on November 3, 1892, to Alonzo and Ada Kate Brown; his father was a druggist.3 In 1930 Ralph had been living in Philadelphia with his sister and brother-in-law and working as a sewer inspector.4 By 1935 he and Henriete were married and living in Daytona Beach, Florida. In 1940 Ralph, Henriete, and Henriete’s son Leo Dessauer were living in Daytona Beach, and Ralph was a gas station operator (his own business).

Ralph Brown and family, 1940 US census, Census Place: Daytona Beach, Volusia, Florida; Roll: m-t0627-00620; Page: 42A; Enumeration District: 64-28
Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census

Blanche Goldsmith Greenbaum, the youngest surviving sibling, had been living in 1930 with her husband Max and their only surviving child of four children, their daughter Helen. Then she suffered another loss—Max died in September 1937.  Unfortunately I have no official source for Max’s death, just a burial record at Mt Sinai cemetery, a FindAGrave entry, and biography at prabook.com. And although Max appears to have been a successful dentist, I could not find an obituary for him either. He was 69 years old when he died. He must not have died in Pennsylvania, or I assume I would have been able to find a death certificate for him.5

As for Blanche’s daughter Helen, she also proved to be an elusive person to track down. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Marriage Index on Ancestry listed a marriage to Jay J Feinstein in 1942.6 According to his US Army enlistment records, Jay was born in Russia in 1900, was an insurance salesman, and had enlisted in the army in August 1942, so either soon after or soon before he married Helen.7 I could find no other record showing Helen and Jay together, nor could I find for a long time any record of what had happened to either of them.

Then I found Jay’s veteran’s compensation application dated February 10, 1950, with Jay listed with a different surname—Jay J Mandell—but mentioning that he had served as Jay J Feinstein.  That record also reported that Jay had been married to Helen G. Mandell, whom he had divorced in January 1945, so obviously Helen and Jay’s marriage had not lasted. But I could find nothing more about Helen as either Helen Greenbaum, Helen Feinstein, or Helen Mandell. But I did find one more clue.

Jay Feinstein Mandell, Veteran Compensation file, Box Title: Fegeley, Joseph Smith Jr – Felker, Carl A (Box 242). 
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Veteran Compensation Application Files, WWII, 1950-1966 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
Original data: Pennsylvania (State). World War II Veterans Compensation Applications, circa 1950s. Records of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Record Group 19, Series 19.92 (877 cartons). Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

My next clue as to Helen’s whereabouts came when her mother Blanche died on June 19, 1950, from a cerebral hemorrhage at age 82:

Blanche Goldsmith death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 054451-056880. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

Her death notice named her as the “wife of the late Dr. Max Greenbaum and the devoted mother of Helen Bank.”[^8] And Helen Bank was the informant on the death certificate. So I knew that Helen must have married again after divorcing Jay in 1945. Although I could not find one record or newspaper article revealing the first name of her second husband, I was able to find an entry in the Social Security Death Index for a Helen Bank with the same birth date and from Pennsylvania.8 Assuming it is Helen Estella Greenbaum with that Social Security number, she died in December 1984 at age 77. As far as I can tell, Helen had not had children with either of her two husbands.

After Blanche died on June 19, 1950, Helen Goldsmith Loeb was the only child of Levi and Henrietta Goldsmith still living. But she did not outlive her younger sister for very long. Helen died less then seven months later on January 3, 1951; she was 85 years old, which made her the sibling with the greatest longevity. She was survived by her three children: Armand, who died in October 1967,9 Henriete, who died in 1978,10 and Leonard, who died in 1964.11 She also was survived by three grandchildren.

Helen Goldsmith Loeb death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 006151-008700
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

Interestingly, Sylvester Goldsmith, who had died so young back in 1914, had five children who were blessed with a longevity that he was denied and that was denied to so many of the descendants of Levi and Henrietta Goldsmith. In my last post about the family of Levi and Henrietta, I will write about his descendants.

  1. Helen Goldsmith Loeb and family, 1940 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: m-t0627-03749; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 51-2006. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Armand Loeb and family, 1940 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: m-t0627-03749; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 51-2007. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census. ↩
  3. Alonzo Brown and family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Belle Vernon, Fayette, Pennsylvania; Page: 5; Enumeration District: 0001; FHL microfilm: 1241409. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census. Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County: Philadelphia; Roll: 1907956; Draft Board: 48. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. ↩
  4. Ralph Brown, 1930 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 0444; FHL microfilm: 2341854. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census ↩
  5. Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records, Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013. Gale Research Company; Detroit, Michigan; Accession Number: 1795533. Ancestry.com. Biography & Genealogy Master Index (BGMI). https://prabook.com/web/max.greenbaum/1064849 ↩
  6. Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Index, 1885–1951.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009. Philadelphia County Pennsylvania Clerk of the Orphans’ Court. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia marriage license index, 1885-1951.” Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ↩
  7. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946.Original data: National Archives and Records Administration. Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database]; ARC: 1263923. World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, U.S.A. ↩
  8. The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 1950, p. 32. ↩
  9. Number: 163-28-4324; Issue State: Pennsylvania; Issue Date: 1951-1952. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  10. Ancestry.com. Florida Death Index, 1877-1998 ↩
  11.  Number: 181-24-0802; Issue State: Pennsylvania; Issue Date: Before 1951. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014  ↩

The Many Namesakes of Levi and Henrietta Goldsmith

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As I wrote here, when Levi Goldsmith died on December 29, 1886, he was survived by his wife Henrietta and their eight children. Three of those children were already married, as we already saw.

Their oldest child Eva had married Nathan Anathan in 1875, and they had two daughters, Helen (1879) and Bessie (1883) after losing their first two children, who died as babies. Thank you to Sherri Goldberg of Tracing the Tribe for pointing out that Nathan Anathan was a first cousin to Theresa Anathan, whose daughter Nellie Buxbaum was married to Philip Goldsmith, son of Jacob Goldsmith. 

Their second daughter Estella Goldsmith had married Solomon Rothschild in 1883, and by the time of Levi’s death had two children, Jerome (1884) and Stanley, born on January 29, 1886; Stanley died, however, shortly after his grandfather died; he was a little over a year old when he died on March 30, 1887, from gastroenteritis.  Estella then gave birth to a third son, Leonard Levi Rothschild; he was born in 1888 and presumably was named for his grandfather. A fourth child, Herbert Hirsch Rothschild, was born February 3, 1894, in Philadelphia.1

The next child of Levi and Henrietta who had married before Levi died was Felix Goldsmith. He married Bertha Umstadter in 1886, and their first child, Frances Lee Goldsmith, was born in 1889 and may have been named for Levi. Felix and Bertha had a second child on October 28, 1892, a son named Lee Goldsmith, who was likely named for Levi. 2

The two remaining daughters of Levi and Henrietta were both married in 1893. Helen, the older of the two, married Harry Loeb.3  Harry was born April 28, 1859, in Philadelphia.4 His father, Moses, was born in Germany and was a butcher; his mother Pauline was born in France. In 1880, Harry was working as a clerk in a store in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he was boarding.5 Helen and Harry Loeb had their first child, Armand, on April 25, 1894, in Dubois, Pennsylvania, a town located about 270 miles west of Pennsylvania, where Harry and Helen had settled.6

Helen’s younger sister Blanche also married in 1893. She married Max Greenbaum, who was born in either Germany or Austria in about 1868 and immigrated to the US in about 1871.7 His father Philip Greenbaum was a tailor in 1880, and Max, who later became a dentist, was in school.8

Blanche and Max suffered two terrible losses in the early years of their marriage.  Their first child, Ethel, was born in 1894 and died from pneumonia on December 29, 1898. 9 Their second child, Leah, named presumably for Levi, was born on January 19, 1895.10 I have not been able to locate a death record for Leah, but she is not listed with her family on the 1900 census or afterwards. Although Blanche reported on the 1900 census that she’d only had one child, on the 1910 census she reported that she had had four, only one of whom was still living. I have to believe that Leah died sometime between January 19, 1895, and 1900. Thus, the family of Levi Goldsmith suffered the deaths of two more very young children.

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DTVH-TC?cc=1320976&wc=9F5N-RM9%3A1073210101 : 16 May 2014), 004009439 > image 1295 of 1741; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

The next sibling to marry was the youngest child of Levi and Henrietta, their son Sylvester. He married Ida Simms on March 21, 1895 in Allen County, Ohio.11 I could not find any definite records for Ida’s life prior to marrying Sylvester, but according to her death certificate,10 she was born in Michigan to John Simms and Sarah Mott on December 21, 1874. According to Sylvester’s obituary,12 she lived in Lima, Ohio, before marrying him.

Three months after Sylvester’s marriage, his mother Henrietta Lebenbach Goldsmith died on July 3, 1895, in Philadelphia from “congestive apoplexy.” She was 60 years old and was survived by eight of the nine children to whom she had given birth. She was buried at Mt Sinai cemetery in Philadelphia where her husband Levi was buried.

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JXRJ-MH6 : 8 March 2018), Henrietta Goldsmith, 03 Jul 1895; citing cn 371, Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; FHL microfilm 1,862,809.

Then three months after Henrietta’s death and six months after Sylvester married Ida, Ida gave birth to their first child, whom they named Henrietta. She was born in September 1895 in Lima, Ohio.13 She was not the only baby presumably named for Henrietta Lebenbach Goldsmith. Helen (Goldsmith) and Harry Loeb had a second child in January 1896 named Henriete Loeb,14 and on June 4, 1897, Felix and Bertha Goldsmith had a third child born in Norfolk, Virginia, whom they named Hortense Lee Goldsmith.15 In addition, Sylvester and Ida had a second child born on November 12, 1898, in Shelbyville, Indiana. They named him Louis Sylvester Goldsmith.16 Could he be yet another child named in memory of his grandfather Levi?

Meanwhile, in 1896, Levi and Henrietta’s son Isadore Goldsmith married Mary R. Wheeler.  Strangely, there are two different marriage records for Isadore and Mary. One, dated October 17, 1896, shows they married in Camden, New Jersey. 17 A second shows they married on November 18, 1896, in Washington, DC.18 That story will be told in a later post. Mary was born on December 23, 1852, in Pennsylvania, making her twelve years older than Isadore and 43 when they married. She was the daughter of John and Caroline Wheeler.19

Thus, by the end of the nineteenth century, both Levi Goldsmith and his wife Henrietta Lebenbach had passed away and were survived by their eight children and many grandchildren, many of whom were named for either Levi or Henrietta. Tragically, two more grandchildren died as babies, Blanche’s daughters Ethel and Leah. As of 1898, there were twelve surviving grandchildren: Eva’s two surviving daughters, Helen and Bessie Anathan; Estella’s three surviving sons, Jerome, Leonard, and Herbert Rothschild; Felix’s three children Frances, Lee, and Hortense Goldsmith; Helen’s two children, Armand and Henriete Loeb; and Sylvester’s two children, Henrietta and Louis. Levi and Henrietta must have been well-loved to have been so well-honored.

The next decade would bring more births, but far too many tragic deaths.

  1. Herbert Rothschild death certificate, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-63B7-4Z1?cc=1320976&wc=9F5C-L2S%3A1073221501 : 16 May 2014), 004009533 > image 376 of 1778; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. The sources for the other facts in this paragraph can be found in my earlier post linked above. ↩
  2. Lee Goldsmith World War I draft registration, Registration State: Virginia; Registration County: Norfolk (Independent City); Roll: 1984907; Draft Board: 2. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. See prior post for sources for other facts. ↩
  3. Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951. Original data: “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Index, 1885–1951.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009. Philadelphia County Pennsylvania Clerk of the Orphans’ Court. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia marriage license index, 1885-1951.” Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Certificate 59231. ↩
  4. Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 1112. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 ↩
  5. Loeb family, 1860 US Census, Census Place: Bellefonte, Centre, Pennsylvania; Roll: M653_1090; Page: 307; Family History Library Film: 805090. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census. Harry Loeb, 1880 US Census, Census Place: Scranton, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1139; Page: 243B; Enumeration District: 063. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census ↩
  6. Armand Goldsmith Loeb, World War I draft registration, Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County: Philadelphia; Roll: 1907649; Draft Board: 29.
    Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 ↩
  7. Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Index, 1885–1951.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009. Philadelphia County Pennsylvania Clerk of the Orphans’ Court. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia marriage license index, 1885-1951.” Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Certificate 65035. ↩
  8. Greenbaum family, 1880 US Census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1169; Page: 173A; Enumeration District: 084. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census ↩
  9.  Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DTVH-TC?cc=1320976&wc=9F5N-RM9%3A1073210101 : 16 May 2014), 004009439 > image 1295 of 1741; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. ↩
  10. Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 114001-116700. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966. Certificate Number: 114311-60 ↩ ↩
  11. Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XDW2-5XC : 10 December 2017), Sylvester Goldsmith and Ida J. Simens, 21 Mar 1895; citing Allen, Ohio, United States, reference pg471cn192; county courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 901,416. ↩
  12. “Sudden Death of Well Known Citizen of DuBois,” DuBois (PA) Daily Express, Friday, October 9, 1914. ↩
  13. Clearfield County (PA) Death Records, found at http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/vitals/deaths/goldsmith-henrietta.txt ↩
  14. Henriete Loeb, 1900 US census, Census Place: Dubois Ward 2, Clearfield, Pennsylvania; Page: 5; Enumeration District: 0071; FHL microfilm: 1241396.  Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩
  15. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007. SSN: 305037627. ↩
  16. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania Veterans Burial Cards, 1929-1990; Series Number: Series 2.
    Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Veterans Burial Cards, 1777-2012 ↩
  17. Ancestry.com. New Jersey, Marriage Records, 1670-1965. Original data: Marriage Records. New Jersey Marriages. New Jersey State Archives, Trenton, New Jersey. ↩
  18.  Ancestry.com. District of Columbia, Compiled Marriage Index, 1830-1921.Original data: District of Columbia, Marriages, 1830-1921. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. ↩
  19. Mary Goldsmith death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 038171-041450. Certificate Number Range: 038171-041450. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966 ↩