My Grandfather’s Cousin Rebecca: Another Life Cut Short

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Amy

About ten days ago I posted about my search for Rebecca Rosenzweig, my grandfather’s first cousin and daughter of Gustave and Gussie Rosenzweig. I had certain hunches about who she married and what happened to her, but was awaiting documentation to confirm those hunches.

The first document provided evidence of Rebecca’s birth on May 27, 1893.

Rebecca Rosenzweig birth certificate 1893

It’s interesting that in 1893 Gustave was still using Ghedale as his first name and Gussie was still using Ghitel, as in Romania; they were spelling the surname Rosentveig. Gustave was already a painter, and they were living at what seems to be 34i 74^th Street in Manhattan. (It was actually 341 East 74th Street, according to a city directory published the following year.)

One mystery raised by the birth certificate is that it reports that Gussie had already had five children, four of whom were then living. According to my research, in 1893, Gussie had four living children, Lillie, Sarah, Abraham, and Rebecca, and one child who had died, David (1891-1892). Who could the other child be? Lillie was probably born in 1885, Sarah probably in 1887, Abraham probably in 1889, David in 1891. Was there another child who was born between 1885 and 1893 who was living in 1893 but who died before the 1900 census? A quick search of the NYC death index for children with surnames that sound like Rosenzweig who were born between 1885 and 1893 and who died between 1893 and 1900 turned up a horrifying number of young children who died in that period with surnames similar to Rosenzweig: 366. My guess is that one of those 366 children was a child of Gustave and Gussie, just adding to the list of children they lost. I will have to sift through them and search for the death certificates to see if I can figure out which ones might be my lost cousin.

One hunch I’d expressed in my last post was that Rebecca had married a man named Frank Elkin in 1914, based on the fact that there was only one Rebecca Rosenzweig in the NYC marriage index for the appropriate time period. I was also sure that this was correct because she and Frank ended up living on the same streets as Rebecca’s family on both the 1915 and 1920 census reports. I also wondered whether Rebecca was the one who introduced my grandfather, her cousin, to my grandmother, her neighbor on Pacific Street. My hunch that this was the right Rebecca was confirmed when I received the marriage certificate.

Rebecca and Frank Elkin marriage certificate

This is obviously the correct Rebecca, as seen by her parents’ names on the certificate. Rebecca was living at 1166 Nostrand Avenue, the same address Gustave gave in 1913 when his son Harry died. Perhaps this means that Gustave and Gussie were still living together in 1914 when Rebecca married Frank.

Having confirmed that I had the correct Rebecca, I now knew that the information on the 1920 census reporting that Rebecca’s parents were from Minsk, Russia, was incorrect, just another example of how unreliable census information can be.

Elkin Family 1920 census

More importantly, I was also now able to trace what happened to Rebecca. I had not been able to find her on the 1930 census, but I had found a Frank Elkin, living with his parents Louis and Ida and siblings in Brooklyn, along with a woman named Fannie, listed as the daughter-in-law of Louis, and two children, Irwin and Stanley, listed as Louis’ grandsons.

Frank Elkin with his parents 1930 census

From the marriage certificate, I now know that the Frank who married Rebecca was the son of Louis and Ida Elkin, so this was clearly the same Frank. But where was Rebecca? Who was Fannie? And who were Stanley and Irwin?

I could not find a death certificate for Rebecca, but I was able to find a headstone through Jewishdata.com and findagrave.com. I knew now that Rebecca died on January 22, 1921, just two years after her son Irving was born in 1919 (as per the 1920 census). She was only 27 years old.

Rebecca Elkin’s headstone

Having confirmed that Frank Elkin was in fact Rebecca’s husband, I wanted to figure out who Fannie and Stanley were—were they his second wife and child or the wife and child of one of his brothers, Edward or Matthew? I looked back at the 1920 census and found Frank’s parents Louis and Ida and his siblings. His brothers were both single and living at home.

Louis Elkin and family 1920 census

I then searched the NYC marriage index for Edward and Matthew Elkin and saw that both were married after 1930. Thus, I inferred that Fannie was indeed married to Frank as of 1930. But I could not find a marriage record in NYC for them.

I searched forward to the 1940 census and was able to find a Frank and Frances Elkins with two sons, Irving and Stanley, living in Boston.

Frank Elkin and family 1940 census

Could this be just coincidence? The sons were the right ages—Irving was 20, Stanley was 14. Frances could certainly be the same as Fannie. The name was Elkins, not Elkin, but the 1920 census for Frank’s parents also had the surname as Elkins, not Elkin. But what were they doing in Boston? I thought perhaps Frances had been born in Boston, but the census said that she was born in New Jersey. (It also says that Frank was born in Massachusetts, but that has to be an error.) It reports that Irving was born in New York and Stanley in Boston.

Then I searched for records of Frank Elkin or Elkins in the Boston area, and I found on the Massachusetts marriage index a listing for a Frank Elkins and Frances Reiner, married in 1922, the year after Rebecca had died. Perhaps Frank had left NYC to start anew after losing Rebecca? Where had he met Frances? Stanley was born in Massachusetts, so they must have been living there in 1925 when he was born (which also explains why Frank is not found on the 1925 NYS census). But then they moved back to Brooklyn as of 1930, yet were back in Boston by 1940.

According to his 1942 draft registration for World War II, Frank owned a dressmaking business in Boston.

Frank Elkins World War II draft registration

His Mason’s membership card dated 1945 confirms that he was still living in the Boston area (Newton) as of that date.

Mason Membership card

I was fortunate to be able to find one of Frank’s grandchildren, who told me that Frank had been a scrapper or bare-handed boxer when he was a young man. According to family legend, Frank had boxed with his brother, a champion boxer in the Navy himself, over who would get to date Rebecca Rosenzweig. Frank won that fight and not only dated Rebecca; he married her. Frank’s grandson also told me that Frank never forgot his first wife although he also loved Frances very deeply. Apparently Frank and Frances did a wonderful job raising Irwin and Stanley, as they were never thought of as half-brothers, but as brothers. Frank also must have been a terrific grandfather, as his grandson said he still thinks of him often.

Frank Elkins and two of his grandchildren

It appears that the Elkins family ultimately developed strong New England roots. Irwin, Rebecca’s son, my second cousin once removed, ultimately settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he and his wife Muriel were the co-owners of Brattleboro Kiln Drying and Milling Company, which they sold after they retired. They were both devoted to the Brattleboro community and made significant contributions to its growth over the 50 years they lived there, according to Frank’s grandson. He also told me that Irwin had been able to connect with some of Rebecca’s relatives in Florida late in his life. Irwin died in 1996 in Boynton Beach, Florida, and is buried along with his wife Muriel in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Irwin and Muriel Elkins

Stanley, Irwin’s half-brother, became an influential American history scholar who died only last year. According to his obituary, Stanley Elkins “graduated from Boston English High School and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943, where he served in the 362nd Infantry Regiment in Italy. After the war, Stanley attended Harvard University on the G.I. Bill and married Dorothy Adele Lamken in 1947. He graduated from Harvard in 1949 and received a master’s and a doctorate in American history from Columbia University, where he studied with historian Richard Hofstadter. … In 1959, Stanley’s doctoral dissertation, “Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life”, was published by the University of Chicago Press. His book received widespread attention from scholars, politicians, and students, and is considered a seminal work on the subject of slavery in the United States. Stanley was hired by Smith College in 1960, became the Sydenham Clark Parsons Professor of History in 1969, and continued his career there until his retirement in 1993.”

Stanley Elkins

When I had first seen the name Stanley Elkins on the 1930 census, I had immediately wondered whether this was the same Stanley Elkins whose book on slavery I had read in my American history course on the Civil War during college. The obituary confirmed for me that it was the same Stanley when it identified Stanley as “the son of Frank and Frances (Reiner) Elkins.” Discovering that gave me the chills. Stanley Elkins died only six months ago and lived not far away from me. He was not a blood relative, but nevertheless he was someone whose work I had read and admired, and he was connected to me through family.

The last bit of research I need to complete regarding Rebecca relates to one of the other questions raised in my original blog post about her life: the child who was born before Frank’s World War I draft registration in 1917 but who died before the 1920 census, Daniel Elkin. I am still awaiting the death certificate for Daniel Elkin, and in the course of my subsequent research I have learned that a second child also had been born and died before 1920, Milton, so I need to order that death certificate as well. I also am looking for Rebecca’s death certificate to find out what cut her life short at 27.

Once I obtain those documents, I will have learned a great deal about the short life of Rebecca Rosenzweig Elkin, my first cousin twice removed, my grandfather Isadore’s first cousin, and perhaps the cousin who introduced him to my grandmother. In her 27 years Rebecca experienced not only the loss of several siblings, but also the loss of two young sons. She never got to see Irwin, the one son who survived, grow up. I hope that by recording her life, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren she never knew will get to know a little more about her and her family.

Women are VERY Difficult: Part III, Lizzie and Rachel

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Amy

As I continue to look for my grandfather’s female first cousins, I have hit some more dead ends. I hit a wall with Lillie after 1910. With Sarah I got as far as 1940, and I still can track her children to learn more. I have made lots of progress tracing the life of Rebecca Rosenzweig, but I am putting off reporting on my findings until I get some more confirmation. But with Lizzie and Rachel, I’ve had almost no luck at all. I have not been able to find anything that reveals if they got married and, if so, what their married names were. With Lizzie, the trail runs out in 1920; with Rachel I can get no further than 1930.

Here is what I know about Lizzie. She was born in February or March of 1900; I have not found a birth certificate, but her age on the 1900 census was three months, and the census was taken on June 7, 1900.

Gustave Rosenzweig and family 1900 census

Perhaps no certificate was ever recorded for her, for none shows up in the NYC birth index. She was living with her family in 1900, 1905, 1910, 1915, and in 1920. In 1915 she was in high school, and in 1920 she was an operator in a shop that made underwear.

Gustave Rosenzweig family on the 1905 NYS census

Gustave Rosenzweig and family 1910 census

Rosenzweigs 1915

Rosenzweigs 1920 census

After that, she disappears. She is not living with either her father or mother in 1925 or thereafter, nor is she living with any of her siblings. I assume that she got married and changed her name, but I cannot find any record of a marriage in NYC or on Long Island. Perhaps she was married elsewhere, but I have no idea where to start.

I thought I had a great clue from Gustave’s death certificate, which was signed by a daughter whose first name started with L, but as I posted the other day, the signature is hard to read and led me nowhere. I even used the address on the death certificate, 59 Oak Street in Brooklyn, and searched the 1940 census for that address, but no one with her name was living at that address in 1940, which was four years before the date of her father’s death certificate.

Thus, I have nowhere else to turn, and for now I’ve hit a wall and have to stop hitting my head against it. It hurts to give up, but as I learned in doing the research for the Brotman side, sometimes you have to stop and hope a new clue will appear.

I also know very little about Rachel. I do not have her birth certificate, but from the census reports it seems she was probably born in either 1902 or 1903. I cannot find a birth record for a Ray or Rachel Rosenzweig, however, in either of those years. There is one for 1900, but that is too early, and one in 1904, but that appears to be too late. On the 1905 census report, her age was four, meaning that she was born in 1901, just a year after Lizzie; however, in 1910 she was reported as being 7, making her birth year either 1902 or 1903. In 1915, Rachel was reported to be 12, making her birth year again 1902 or 1903. In 1920, she was seventeen, and although the entry is not very legible, it looks like she was working in a mail order business. In 1925 she was 22 and employed as a stenographer, and in 1930 she was reported to be 28 and working as a typist in a mail order business. Perhaps she was working at the same place from 1920 through 1930. In 1925 and 1930 she was living alone with her mother and was single.

Gussie Rosenzweig 1925 NYS census

Gussie Rosenzweig 1930 census

Like Lizzie, Rachel then disappears. Her mother died in 1935. Rachel either had to be living alone or married at the time of the 1940 census, but as with Lizzie, I cannot find a marriage record nor can I find her on the 1940 census living alone. As with Lizzie, I have nowhere else to turn right now and so have to put this aside and hope some new clue shows up.

This is particularly frustrating since I know that they both lived long enough that Joe’s grandchildren remember them both, but none of them remembers any husbands or children or last names Perhaps at some point a document or photograph or letter will show up that opens the door to finding out more about Gustave and Gussie’s two youngest children, Lizzie and Ray.

A brick wall (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

More Mysteries: Can you help with handwriting analysis?

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Amy

When I order a death certificate, I am hoping it will help me put some matters to rest (OK, pun intended), give me some closure, provide some answers. More often than not, however, these so-called vital records raise more ghosts and mysteries than answers.

Two cases in point: the death certificates of Gustave Rosenzweig and his first wife Gussie Rosenzweig, the parents of my grandfather’s first cousins Abraham, Jack, Joe, Lillie, Sarah, Rebecca, Lizzie, and Rachel, among others.

First, let’s look at Gustave’s death certificate. It confirms a number of things that make me certain that this is the right Gustave. He was born in Romania. At the time of his death, he was married to Selma and living at 49 Wadsworth Avenue in Manhattan. He died on October 16, 1944; his birth date is given as October 7, 1859, which is not exactly the date provided by his Romanian birth record of June 10, 1856, but close enough. He was a retired painter, which is consistent with his occupation both in Romania and in New York. The only clear mistake here is that although it has his father’s name correct (David), it has his mother’s name as Leah, instead of Esther. Again, I’ve seen worse mistakes on death certificates, so I am comfortable dismissing that error. Overall, this is a fairly reliable record of Gustave’s life and death.

Gustave Rosenzweig death certificate 1944

But here’s where it opens a new door and a mystery. Here’s where I need some help. At the bottom of the certificate is the signature of Gustave’s daughter as the informant, and I cannot read the last name. The first initial appears to be an L, meaning this could be either Lillie or Lizzie. But what is the surname? Dorsie? Dorne? Dorme? Dorsue? If I could decipher this, it might help me find either Lillie or Lizzie, both of whom I’ve had trouble tracking down. If anyone can help me read this writing, I’d much appreciate it. Remember you can click on the image below to enlarge it.

Now to Gussie Rosenzweig’s death certificate. Again, the information here makes me certain that this is the correct Gussie, the mother of my grandfather’s first cousins and Gustave’s first wife. Gussie was born in Romania to Isadore Sachs (Itzic Zacu) and Muriel Klein (Mirel), which is consistent with her birth record and marriage record from Romania. She was residing at 2112 Dean Street in Brooklyn at the time of her death on December 23, 1935. She was reported to be 75 years old at her death, giving her a birth year of 1860, close to the 1864 given on her Romanian birth record. It looks like Gussie must have died a fairly gruesome death, having been hospitalized since November 5, 1935, suffering from gangrene of her foot, caused by diabetes. Her son John hired the undertaker, as indicated on the reverse of the death certificate.

Gussie Rosenzweig Death certificate 1935

So what is the mystery here? Gussie is identified as widowed, and her husband’s name is…Benjamin? Who could Benjamin be? Had Gussie had remarried after she and Gustave divorced? (They are not living together on any census after 1910.) In 1915 the children were living with Gussie. (I have yet to find Gustave on the 1915 NYS census.)

Rosenzweigs 1915

The 1920 census is confusing; I have two pages for Gustave—one as a painter living in Manhattan as a boarder in East Harlem, one in Brooklyn with the Rosenzweig children. I have to believe that the Brooklyn Gustave is really Gussie, as she is listed as unemployed and divorced.

Gustave Rosenzweig in Manhattan 1920

Rosenzweigs 1920 census

The 1925 census shows her living with “Rose,” who I assume by the age (22) is Ray/Rachel. The NYS census does not indicate her marital status, but there is no Benjamin living with them.

Gussie Rosenzweig 1925 NYS census

The 1930 census has her again living with Ray, but lists her marital status as married. Again, there is no husband, no Benjamin living with her.

Gussie Rosenzweig 1930 census

I checked the NYC marriage index for any brides named Gussie Rosenzweig who married between 1915 and 1935 and found three. One did marry a man named Ben Rosenberg on January 27, 1935, less than a year before our Gussie died. Could she have gotten married at that point? If so, why wouldn’t she have changed her name to Rosenberg? Or did John, her son, not want her listed as divorced so he made up a husband who predeceased her? I will order the marriage certificate for Ben Rosenberg and Gussie Rosenzweig, but somehow I doubt that that is the same Gussie Rosenzweig. Stranger things have happened, of course.

And here’s the final mystery. Both Gustave and Gussie are buried at Mt Zion Cemetery, not in the same section, but nevertheless in the same cemetery. Neither Selma, Gustave’s widow at the time of his death, nor Benjamin, the alleged widower of Gussie at the time of her death, is buried there. Gustave and Gussie’s son Harry who died as a teenager in 1913 is buried there, however, so perhaps in death Harry brought his parents back together.

I’m Ba-a-a-ck! With an Update on Lillian Rosenzweig

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Amy

After a week away in the beautiful Florida Keys where we were able to put the miserable New England winter weather behind us and enjoy the outdoors, kayaking, swimming, walking, and seeing wildlife including dolphins and alligators, I am back in New England with the miserable winter temperatures outside, but happy knowing that spring is at least here on the calendar if not in the weather quite yet. It has to get above freezing soon, doesn’t it?

While I was away I received a number of documents, mostly confirming the hunches I’d had about Lillian and Rebecca Rosenzweig. Today I will focus on Lillian. About ten days ago I posted what I knew and thought I knew about Lillian. I believed that she had married Toscano Bartolini in July, 1901, had had a son William born in March, 1902, and then lost her husband in 1904. All of those facts are now confirmed by the marriage certificate, William’s birth certificate, and Toscano’s death certificate, all of which I received late last week.

First, as you can see from the marriage certificate, Lillian and Toscano were married by an alderman, not a rabbi, on July 6, 1901. This is clearly the right Lillian Rosenzweig, as her parents’ names are Gustav and Gussie nee Sagg. According to the certificate, Lillian was then eighteen years old, which would have made her birth date 1883—a year before her parents married. Lillian must have lied about her age in order to get married without parental consent. I have speculated elsewhere that she was likely born in 1885 since her parents were married in June, 1884. Also, Lillian’s address is given as 320 East 9^th Street—not in Brooklyn where her parents were living. She must have moved out before she married Toscano, who was living on Sullivan Street at that time. These inferences are consistent with the family story that Lillie’s marriage to someone who was not Jewish led to disapproval and perhaps some estrangement from her family.

Bartolini Rosenzweig marriage certificate

From William’s birth certificate, another inference seems possible. William was born on March 9, 1902, just eight months after Lillie and Toscano had married. Perhaps Lillie was already pregnant at the time of the wedding, although I am not sure she would have known that at the time since she would have been just one month pregnant. It is, of course, entirely possible that William was a month premature. William was born at home—177 Houston Street in NYC. Interestingly, Lillie’s age is now reported as seventeen—a year younger than she had reported on her marriage certificate a year earlier. If she was in fact seventeen in March, 1902, her birth year would have been 1885, as I suspected. It also means she was only sixteen when she married Toscano.

William Bartolini birth certificate

The other interesting fact gathered from this certificate is that Lillie had already had a child before William’s birth, but that that child was no longer living. When could she have had that child? Her marriage certificate reported that her marriage to Toscano was her first marriage. Had she had a child with him before they married? Had she had an out-of-wedlock child with someone else? Had that child really died or had she given that child up for adoption and simply reported it as if he had died? I have no idea and no idea how to try and figure that out. (It’s also sad that on the 1910 census when Lillie was back living with her parents, she is listed as single and having no children.)

The third document in this trilogy is Toscano’s death certificate. Toscano died on April 27, 1904, from chronic nephritis, kidney disease, at age 27. He’d been working as a bartender and died at 69 Carmine Street in NYC. He had only been in the US for five years, had been married for less than three years, and left behind his 19 year old wife and 2 year old son. I don’t know what causes chronic nephritis, although it looks like uremia is given as a contributing cause of death. But I’ve never heard of someone dying at age 27 from that today.

Toscano Bartolini death certificate

The rest of the story, as reported earlier, shows a family in disarray. Lillie and William moved back to Brooklyn and were living with Gustave and Gussie and the family in 1905, indicating at least a temporary reconnection. In 1906, however, William was living at the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphanage. Although it appeared that he was released back to his mother for some time, by 1910 William was living at St. John’s Home in Brooklyn and in 1915 at the NY Catholic Protectory. Lillian, who was living with her parents in 1910 without William, then disappears from the records.

I still have not found either William or Lillian after that. I don’t know what happened to either of them. Joseph’s grandchildren told me that at some point Lillie was back in touch with her siblings, but no one knows anything more specific than that. I will keep looking for some new clue, but for now I’ve hit the proverbial brick wall with Lillie and William Bartolini.

What I do know is an incredibly sad story of a young woman, emigrating with her family from Romania when she was only a young child, having two children before she was eighteen years old, losing one apparently to death and another to institutional care, losing a young husband after just a few years of marriage, and losing the support of her family as well for at least some period of time. It’s a story to contrast with the story of Leah Strolowitz Adler, the daughter of Tillie Rosenzweig and Jacob Srulovici, who also came to the US as young girl but found the American dream.

The story of Lillie Rosenzweig raises so many questions: how did she, a young Jewish immigrant living in Brooklyn, meet and get involved with a young Italian immigrant who was living in the Lower East Side, not Brooklyn? Who was the father of her first child, and what happened to that child? What happened to William after he left the Catholic Protectory? Did he have any contact with his mother or her family? And what happened to Lillie after 1910? Did she remarry and regain custody of William? Did she also die at a tragically young age? These loose ends make me crazy—I want some endings to the story, but I may have to accept that I may never know what happened.

Women are Difficult, Part Two: Rebecca Rosenzweig

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Amy

I am continuing to search for my grandfather’s first cousins, and I am struggling to find the daughters of Gustave Rosenzweig. I have tracked Lillian up to 1910 and Sarah up through 1940. My next target was Rebecca, the second oldest daughter. This is what I have found so far, although I need documentation to confirm some of my conclusions.

Rebecca was born May 27, 1893, in New York (birth certificate on order, but I am quite certain I have found the correct one based on the report on FamilySearch, which includes her parents’ names), and she was living with her family until at least 1910, according to the 1900, 1905,and 1910 census reports. That is all that I can be certain about at this point. She is not living with her family in 1915 or thereafter.

Gustave Rosenzweig and family 1900 census

Gustave Rosenzweig family on the 1905 NYS census

Gustave Rosenzweig and family 1910 census

When I did a search for a Rebecca Rosenzweig on the NYC marriage index for the years between 1910 and 1915, there was only one potential person, a woman who married a man named Frank R. Elkin on March 22, 1914. I have not yet received the certificate for this marriage, but I am fairly certain that this is the correct Rebecca. She and Frank appear on the 1915 census, living at 1985 Pacific Street in Brooklyn.

Frank and Rebecca Elkin 1915 at 1985 Pacific Street

On the same census one page earlier are the Rosenzweig family, living 1918 Pacific Street.

Rosenzweigs 1915

In 1915, Frank was employed as a tinsmith.

(Also listed on the same page as Rebecca and Frank Elkin is my grandmother Gussie Brotman, living at 1991 Pacific Street with her sister Tillie Ressler and her family; perhaps Rebecca was the cousin who introduced my grandfather, her cousin, to my grandmother, her neighbor?)

Gussie living with TIllie 1915

In 1917 Frank Robert Elkin was employed doing sheet metal and had a wife and child, according to his World War I draft registration form.

Frank Elkin World War I draft registration

(Interestingly, the registrar of his draft board was someone named J. Rosenzweig.) They were living at 1875 Bergen Street. Frank gave his birth date as May 4, 1891 and his birth place as New York, New York. I could not search for a child born after 1914 since the NYC birth index to which I have access only goes up to 1902.

When I searched for Frank and Rebecca Elkin on the 1920 census, a number of things confused me.

Elkin Family 1920 census

First, the birth place for Rebecca’s parents is given as Minsk, Russia, not Romania. I would not be troubled by this since there are often errors on the census, but this one is so specific in identifying not just the country, but the city, which I had not seen on a census report before. Could I have the wrong Rebecca? Only the marriage certificate will tell me for sure, but I still think that I have the right one. Rebecca and Frank were now living at 1892 Bergen Street, and the Rosenzweig family was also now living on Bergen Street at Number 1918. Could it just be coincidence that both the Elkins and the Rosenzweigs had moved from Pacific Street to Bergen Street?

Rosenzweigs 1920 census

Frank was now working as a steam fitter in a shipyard, according to this report. Perhaps this was his war time employment, working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The second puzzling thing about the 1920 census report is that although it does list a child living with Frank and Rebecca, a boy named Irving, he was only 8 months old at the time of the census, or born in May, 1919. (The census was dated January 7, 1920.) Obviously, Irving was not alive when Frank filled out his draft registration in 1917, so who was the child he referred to on his registration back then?

I searched the death index (which runs to 1948, unlike the birth index) and found an entry for a one year old child named Daniel Elkin who died on December 16, 1917. I will have to obtain that record to be sure, but I fear that the child Frank referred to on his draft registration in 1917 died later that same year.

After the 1920 census I could not find any record for Rebecca Elkin. There were two Frank Elkins on the 1930 census—one living in Brooklyn and one in the Bronx. After some confusion based on the fact that both Franks seemed to have sons named Irving, I was finally able to sort through the facts for both, looking backward to see where each had come from before 1930, and concluded that the Brooklyn Frank Elkin was the same one who had been married to Rebecca.

Frank Elkin with his parents 1930 census

That Frank was living with his parents and siblings on Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn that year, working as a salesman at an electrical supply company. His father Louis was listed as the head of household, and living with Louis in addition to Frank was Louis’ wife Ida, his two other sons Matthew and Edward and a daughter Celia and a daughter-in-law Fannie as well as two grandsons, Irwin, age 11, and Stanley, age 4. I cannot tell from the census who was Fannie’s husband—Frank, Matthew or Edward—or who were the parents of Irwin and Stanley. They could be cousins or brothers; they are only identified as Louis’ grandsons.

My hunch is that Irwin is the same child as Irving, Rebecca and Frank’s son born in 1919. He would have been eleven in 1920 when the census was taken. My other hunch is that Rebecca had either died or was institutionalized; I cannot find her on the 1930 census at all, nor can I find a death record for her. I don’t know whether Stanley was her son or her nephew. Unfortunately, I also could not find either Frank or Rebecca on the 1925 census, nor can I find Frank or Irving/Irwin on the 1940 census. There are a number of Irving Elkins born around the right time, but I have not yet had a chance to narrow down those possibilities.

So pending receipt of the marriage certificate for Rebecca and Frank Elkin and the death certificate for Daniel Elkin, I am putting on hold further research about Frank and Irving. I want to be certain that I have the right Rebecca before I go further into the lives of the men I assume to have been her husband and son.

And on that note, let me leave you all in suspense. I will be out of town for the next week and unable to do much research. I will, however, try to post some tidbits and photos I’ve been saving up.

Women are Difficult…to Find and Track, Part I: Lillian Rosenzweig

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Amy

One thing that has been clear to me for a long time is that women are much harder to track in vital records than men, largely because they traditionally changed their names when they married. The Rosenzweig daughters are a case in point.

I have now located and tracked from birth to death the five sons of Gustave and Gussie: Abraham, David, Jacob, Harry and Joe. For those who survived to adulthood, I know who they married, where they lived, and what they did for a living and their military service. I still need to trace the children of Abraham and Jack, but I wanted to see what I could find about the five daughters of Gustave and Gussie first. I’ve been looking all along, but kept hitting walls and so decided to focus on one daughter at a time. Here’s what I know about Lillian.

The oldest child and the only one born in Romania was Lillie or Lillian. According to the 1900 census, she was born in July, 1884, in Romania, but since that was only a month after Gustave and Gussie’s marriage, it seems likely that this was an error and that Lilly was probably born during 1885. The census also says that Lillie arrived in 1884, but her father’s naturalization papers say that he arrived in 1887. In 1900 when she was only fifteen years old, Lillie was working as a typist while her younger siblings were all in school.

Gustave Rosenzweig and family 1900 census

In 1905 the family had moved to Fulton Street in Brooklyn, and Lillian, now 21 according to the census, was doing housework as her employment. In addition to the siblings listed on the 1900 census, there were now two additions, Rachel, who was four, and William, who was three. William is described as a son of the head of the household, which led me to believe that he was another child of Gustave and Gussie. I was unable, however, to locate William on the birth index as William Rosenzweig, nor did he reappear on the 1905 or 1910 census with the family.

Gustave Rosenzweig family on the 1905 NYS census

Once again I searched the death index for a child of Gustave and Gussie, but could not find a death record for William Rosenzweig either. If he was not living with his “parents” and siblings in 1905, where could he be? I searched on ancestry.com for William Rosenzweig and found him living at the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphanage in 1906. I knew it was the right boy by his age (four years old), the address from where he was taken (1021 Fulton Street, Brooklyn), and his mother’s name—Lillian nee Rosenzweig.

William Rosenzweig at the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphanage in 1906

Brooklyn Hebrew Orphanage

William was not Gustave and Gussie’s son, but Lillian’s son. His father is only identified as “Frank (dead),” with no surname. For the other children listed, their father’s first name is also all that is supplied, but that’s because the child presumably has that surname. For William, his surname is the same as his mother’s—Rosenzweig, and no surname is given for his father. I could not find any marriage record for a Lillie or Lillian Rosenzweig between 1900 and 1902 to a Frank, so had Lillian had William out of wedlock? Who was Frank? Was he really dead?

I did find a Frank Cramer who died between 1902 and 1906 and a William Cramer born on March 2, 1902, the birth date provided for William on the orphanage records. I sent for the birth certificate for William Cramer, but unfortunately that William’s parents were not named Frank and Lillian.

Then last night I went back once again to the marriage index and looked again for a marriage record for Lillian Rosenzweig, but this time I did not limit my search to grooms named Frank. I restricted the dates to 1900 to 1902, based on the fact that Lillie was single in the 1900 census and that William was born in March, 1902. I found one marriage of a Lillie Rosenzweig in July, 1901, to a Toscano Bartolini. Could Frank have been his more American nickname? I turned to the death index and searched for a death record, and there it was—Toscano Bartolini had died on April 27, 1904, at 27 years old. Finally I looked for a birth record for a William Bartolini and found one—born March 9, 1902, a mere eight months after Lillie’s wedding to Toscano in July, 1901. It was all starting to come together. I obviously have to send away for all these records to be sure that Lillie is Gustave’s daughter and that William is Lillie’s son, but it certainly seems likely that the records will back up my hunches here. In fact, I checked today on FamilySearch for Toscano Bartolini and found a more thorough description of the marriage record, including a reference to the bride’s parents’ names, Gustav and Gussie. I will still order a copy of the certificate, but I am now certain that Lillie married Toscano, who died just a few years later, leaving her with a two year old son named William.

UPDATE: All these facts were confirmed by the documents. See my more recent post with images of the documents.

After finding all this, I remembered something that Joe’s grandson Ron had told me—that one of Gustave’s daughters had married someone who wasn’t Jewish, and Ariela had said she thought one of the sisters had married someone with an Italian name. Ron had told me that the family was not happy about this, and that for a long time there was some estrangement. Despite whatever they felt, however, in 1905 after Frank/Toscano died, Gustave and Gussie took both Lillian and her son into their home.

It also occurred to me that perhaps the reason Lillie used the name Rosenzweig for William and not Bartolini was based on the fact that he was being taken to a Jewish institution. Obviously Rosenzweig would seem more clearly Jewish than Bartolini.

But why he was taken from the home in 1906 is not explained by the records. The orphanage record indicates that William was discharged to his mother on September 3, 1906, and reports that her address was then 307 East 120th Street in Manhattan, so perhaps there was a falling out with the family. But in 1910, Lillian was living again with her parents and siblings in Brooklyn, and William was not living with her. Lillian’s occupation was listed as a trained nurse at a hospital, and she was listed as single, not widowed. But where was William?

Gustave Rosenzweig and family 1910 census

I had not been able to find him as William Rosenzweig in the 1910 census, but now I searched for William Bartolini and found him, living at a residential facility, St. John’s Home in Brooklyn.

William Bartolini 1910 at St John’s Home, Brooklyn

Maybe Lillie placed him there so that she could get training to be a nurse. Perhaps she just could not take care of him. Perhaps I can find some records from St John’s Home.

I also was able to find where William was in 1915: another home for children, this one the New York Catholic Protectory, in the Bronx. (Interestingly, this facility was located where Parkchester is today; Parkchester is an apartment building complex developed by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in the Bronx and is where my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, and my parents once lived; I lived there also until I was four and half years old.)

William Bartolini 1915 Catholic Protection Bronx

William Bartolini 1915 Catholic Protecory Bronx

It seems that in both 1910 and 1915 William had been placed in Catholic institutions after being at a Jewish orphanage briefly in 1906. Had Lillie given up her parental rights? Was neither set of grandparents interested or able to take care of the boy? Was William troubled or disabled in some way that made caring for him at home a problem for everyone? I don’t know the answers, but will try to find out what happened to William after 1915. Apparently you can order microfilm from the Family History Library and see the actual records for the children who resided there, which I plan to do.

And I cannot find Lillie in 1910 or thereafter. She was not living with her mother and siblings in 1915 or in 1920. I cannot find her as Lillie Rosenzweig or as Lillie Bartolini. Perhaps she remarried and changed her name, but I have not yet found a marriage record. But now I know that I just have to keep looking. I almost gave up after Frank Cramer did not pan out. And then last night I looked a different way and found Toscano Bartolini. I hope I can eventually uncover what happened to Lillie and to William.

Document Updates on David and Jack Rosenzweig

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Amy

Last week I wrote about Gustave and Gussie’s one year old son David, who died on December 25, 1892. Today I received David’s death certificate, and it confirmed that this was their son. It also revealed his cause of death: meningitis. Having known a young child who had meningitis when he was just a few months old, reading this caused me to stop and once again be thankful that we live in an era of modern medicine where most children survive what were once deadly illnesses, although meningitis remains a danger to children and adults.

David Rosenzweig death certificate

I also am not sure what to make of the notation here that a contributing cause to his death was teething. Really? Teething? I will have to ask my brother whether there is or was anything that linked teething to meningitis and/or death.

The certificate also indicates that the doctor had cared for David from December 6 until December 18, but had not seen the baby in his last week. He wrote, “Child lingered hopelessly for the last week therefore no MD was called in during last days.” How awful that must have been—to watch a one year old child just literally pass away and not be able to do anything about it.

I also received the marriage certificate for Jacob/Jack/John Rosenzweig and Ethel Bloom, confirming that this was the correct Jacob, as indicated by the names of his parents provided on the certificate.

Jacob Rosenzweig and Ethel Bloom marriage certificate

Interestingly, Jack and Ethel each gave the same residence: 327 Howard Avenue. I doubt they were living together before they were married (it was 1923), so either they were providing their expected address for after the wedding or they had been living in the same building on Howard Avenue. Jack was 28 years old, and although he had been living with his family on Bergen Street in 1920, perhaps he had moved out on his own to Howard Avenue and met Ethel there.

The Rosenzweig Brothers: A Family Portrait

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Amy

Abraham Joseph and John (Jack) Rosenzweig

I have now been able to trace the outline of the lives of the three Rosenzweig brothers who survived to adulthood: Abraham, Jack, and Joe. I posted elsewhere about Abraham and Joe, so let me fill in the details of Jack’s life. His name shifted throughout the records from Jacob to Jack back to Jacob and then to John Jacob and finally to John Edward, but based on both clues in the records and confirmation from Joe’s granddaughter Ariela, I am certain that all the records refer to the same person, born Jacob Rosenzweig on August 19, 1895, in New York City to Gustave and Gussie Rosenzweig.

Like his older brother Abraham and his younger brother Joseph, Jacob served in the US Navy. Like Abraham, he already was a sailor in 1915 before the US entered World War I.

Rosenzweigs 1915

On his draft registration Jack claimed that both his mother and his father were dependent on him.

John Jacob Rosenzweig World War I draft registration

I found this interesting for two reasons: first, why would his father be depending on him? Wasn’t he still working as a painter? Also, Joseph had claimed on his draft registration that he was his mother’s sole source of support. According to his 1917 draft registration, Jack, like Joseph, was then employed by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company. The brothers must have been quite close, living together and working together. In 1920, Jack was still living with his mother and siblings in Brooklyn and working as a clerk in the shipyard.

Rosenzweigs 1920 census

On November 26, 1923, he married Ethel Bloom and was now identifying as John Rosenzweig. In 1925, he and Ethel were living with her parents Fanny and Hyman Bloom in Brooklyn, and Jack was working as a postal clerk.

John E Rosenzweig 1925 NYS census

In 1930 Jack is listed as John E. on the census, still working as postal clerk, but now listed as the head of household with his in-laws living with him.

John E Rosenzweig 1930 census

In 1935 Jack and Ethel’s daughter Mona was born, as indicated on the 1940 census. On that census Jack was still working as a postal clerk.

John Rosenzweig 1940 census

According to his World War II draft registration in 1942, he and his family were still living in Brooklyn, and Jack was still working for the post office.

John Rosenzweig World War II draft registration

Sometime after his 1942 draft registration, Jack and his family moved out to Patchogue, Long Island. Jack died in June 1981, when he was 86 years old.

Jack may have changed his name a few times, but otherwise he seems like an incredibly constant and consistent man. He remained close to his family, he had a long marriage to one woman, and he worked for the US Postal Service his whole career.

Putting together what I have learned about Abraham, Jack, and Joe from these records and, more importantly from Joe’s grandchildren, I believe that I have a good sense of what these siblings were like. Despite having endured some terrible family tragedies growing up—the deaths of several siblings in infancy, including David, and of one as teen, Harry, and the apparent divorce of their parents around the time that Harry died, the brothers grew up to be warm, fun-loving and close to each other and to at least two of their sisters, Lizzie and Ray. They were all salt-of-the-earth men—a bakery driver, a postal worker, and a hat maker. Joe quit school after 3rd grade. He was very active in the union as well as an active Mason. He not only supported his own wife Sadie and his daughters Irene and Mildred; he also brought Sadie’s family over from Russia. Her family lived in his home until they were able to move out on their own. These three brothers, first generation Americans, worked hard, played hard and loved their children and grandchildren.

I was very touched by the fact that all the grandchildren with whom I have spoken or emailed have such strong feelings of love and affection for their grandfather Joe and grandmother Sadie. All mentioned how much they still missed them after all these years.

Joe and Sadie

In a comment on the blog, Hava shared that she named her first-born son for Joe and that she sees him as a gift from her grandfather. She wrote, “My older son is named for him, and I believe the first thing Joe did when he got to heaven was send my Joe’s soul to be born to me! I’d been trying to get pregnant 5 years and we conceived the night Joe passed away.”

Ariela described her grandfather Joe as very fun-loving and outgoing. She said that he “loved children – and children loved him. He would walk around with pistachio nuts and Hershey’s Kisses and M&M’s in his pockets and distribute them to any child he would meet. He was warm, loving and nurturing and generous. He would sometimes stop the car in the middle of the road and start dancing to the music on the radio.”

Joe at Ariela and Uri’s wedding in 1974

Ariela also remembered how Joe would bring his grandchildren rolls of ribbons and beautiful hats. He always had a cigar in his mouth and loved a drink of scotch.

Joe

Ron told me that his grandparents Joe and Sadie were incredibly devoted and committed to having a relationship with him after their daughter Mildred, Ron’s mother, passed away when Ron was only 15 months old. They worked hard to stay in touch with him, and Ron remembers visiting them not only when he was a child, but also as an adult when Sadie and Joe lived in Brighton Beach near Ron’s in-laws. It was very clear to me that Joe and Sadie were exceptional people and exceptional grandparents to have developed such strong, close and lasting bonds with their grandchildren.

Although I have yet to find the grandchildren or children of Abraham, Jack, Lizzie or Ray, from the recollections of Ariela and Ron, it seems that the siblings were all warm, fun-loving and close. Ariela remembers that Abraham was quite a practical joker; she commented that he “used to hide behind a curtain and put his set of false teeth around and click the top and bottom together and scare me half to death. He was as fun loving as Joe was.” Ron remembers his grandfather Joe talking about going out to Patchogue to visit Jack, even when they were both relatively old men. Ariela also said that Ray and Lizzie were outgoing and warm and fun-loving.

To me, it is remarkable how happy and well-adjusted these siblings appear to have been. They endured so much loss and heartache. How did they grow up to be so seemingly functional and joyful? My impression from the historical data about their father Gustave has always been that he was a devoted and caring person who did whatever he could do to help his entire extended family. I don’t have as clear a picture of Gussie, but she also must have loved her children very much. It is therefore perhaps not that surprising that these children grew up to be so close and so devoted to their families.

Another Sad Story: Harry Rosenzweig

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Amy

I have already told the story of Gustave and Gussie’s son David who died shortly after his first birthday. I’ve also talked about the records that indicate that Gustave and Gussie suffered the loss of many infants—perhaps as many as nine babies who did not survive. But I have not yet told the story of their son Harry Rosenzweig.

Harry was born in July 1897, two years after Jacob and a year before Joseph. He appeared on the census reports with the family in 1900, 1905, and 1910, but then he disappeared from the records. He is not on the 1915 census or any later census report. Since he would have been eighteen in 1915, I thought perhaps he was serving in the military like his brothers Abraham and Jack, but I could not find any military record or draft registration with his name. Where could he have been?

Fearing the worst, I checked the death index for NYC and sadly saw that indeed a Harry Rosenzweig had died on July 9, 1913. He would only have been sixteen years old—could this be the same Harry? If so, why did he die so young? I sent for the death certificate, which I received the other day.

Harry Rosenzweig death certificate

As you can see, it is in fact the death certificate for Harry, the son of Gustave Rosenzweig and Gussie Sachs. His cause of death is given as drowning.

I then searched for and found this brief news article from the Brooklyn Standard Union of July 8, 1913, p. 6, which explains some of the circumstances surrounding Harry’s death.

Brooklyn Standard Union July 8, 1913 page 6

Can you imagine what his father must have felt, going to the police station and seeing his son’s clothing? Why was Harry off by himself, swimming alone and away from the others in his gray flannel bathing suit? The article almost seems to imply that there was something suspicious about his behavior. Was his drowning other than accidental? The police obviously did locate his body the next day, as indicated on the death certificate, but the rest of the story remains a mystery.

The other question that lingers for me is whether or not Harry’s death occurred before or after Gustave and Gussie had separated. By the time of the 1915 census, Gussie and Gustave were apparently separated, as Gustave is not listed as living at 1914 Pacific Street with Gussie, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Lizzie and Ray. I have yet to find Gustave anywhere on the 1915 census. I searched the address given in the news report on Harry’s drowning in 1913, 1166 Nostrand Avenue, and Gustave is not listed as living at that address in 1915. In 1910 the family was living at 677 Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn and in 1905 they were living on Fulton Street in Brooklyn. Had they moved to Nostrand Avenue between 1910 and 1913 and then moved again between 1913 and 1915 to Pacific Street? Or had Gustave already left the home by 1913 and thus was living by himself on Nostrand Avenue? Where was he then in 1915? I will have to keep searching. By 1920 he seemed to be living in upper Manhattan as a boarder, and by 1920 he was remarried.

If Harry died before Gustave and Gussie separated, one has to wonder whether his death precipitated the end of their marriage. And if he died after they separated, one has to wonder whether the end of their marriage was in any way a factor in his swimming alone, away from everyone else on the beach.

Of course, his death could have been an accident, or he might have been swimming alone for any number of possible reasons. Whichever version of the story is true, the death of Harry Rosenzweig as a young teenager must have been a terrible tragedy for his family, a family which had already suffered the deaths of so many of their children.

Which makes it even more remarkable that at least some of his surviving siblings grew up to be such loving, warm and fun-loving adults, as my post tomorrow will discuss.

Blog Update

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Amy

Just a quick note to let you know that I have updated the page for David and Esther Rosenzweig’s Descendants to include the newly found children and other descendants of Gustave and Gussie Rosenzweig. There is also an updated family tree (see the link) and some new photos, so check it out when you get a chance. The page is found by clicking on the appropriate title at the top of the blog page under the main title.

Enjoy!

Brotmanblog: A Family Journey

Adventures in Genealogy

Tag Archives: Gustave Rosenzweig

My Grandfather’s Cousin Rebecca: Another Life Cut Short

Women are VERY Difficult: Part III, Lizzie and Rachel

More Mysteries: Can you help with handwriting analysis?

I’m Ba-a-a-ck! With an Update on Lillian Rosenzweig

Women are Difficult, Part Two: Rebecca Rosenzweig

Women are Difficult…to Find and Track, Part I: Lillian Rosenzweig

Document Updates on David and Jack Rosenzweig

The Rosenzweig Brothers: A Family Portrait

Another Sad Story: Harry Rosenzweig

Blog Update

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