In 1861, Gelle Blumenfeld Rothschild gave birth to her eleventh and last child, Meier, as we saw in my earlier post. Two of those eleven children had died before their third birthdays, but the other nine were still living although for one of those children, Isaac, born in 1850, I have no records after his birth record.¹ Thus, I can only report on what happened to the remaining eight children. I will tell their stories one at a time, starting with the oldest child of Gelle Blumenfeld and Simon Rothschild, Seligmann Simon Rothschild.

Seligmann Rothschild was 28 when he married Gelle Karoline Rosenberg on November 7, 1871, in Zimmersrode, Germany; she was the daughter of Jacob Rosenberg and Belle Kauffman and was born on September 11, 1850.²

Seligmann Rothschild marriage record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 884, p. 15

Seligmann and Gelle had two children. Moses (Max) Rothschild was born on January 18, 1874, in Waltersbrueck, Germany, and his brother Emiel (or Emil) Rothschild was born there on April 27, 1875.

Moses Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 40

Emiel Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 42

Sadly, Gelle Rosenberg Rothschild died less than two years later on August 26, 1876, in Waltersbrueck. She was only 25 years old and left her husband Seligmann with two children under three years old.

Gelle Rosenberg Rothschild death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 8453; Laufende Nummer: 920
Year Range: 1876, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Seligmann did not wait too long to remarry. On January 8, 1878, in Waltersbrueck, he married Emma Ernestina Rothschild, the daughter of Moses Rothschild and Caroline Baum. Emma was born on September 2, 1848, in Angenrod, Germany.

Seligmann Rothschild marriage to Emma Rothschild, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8404, Year Range: 1878, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849-1930

One question nagging at me is whether Seligmann Rothschild, son of Simon Rothschild, was related to his new bride Emma Rothschild, daughter of Moses Rothschild. Emma and her family were from Angenrod, which is only 22 miles from Waltersbrueck where Seligmann lived. I have tried to trace back the lineage of Moses Rothschild and Simon Rothschild, but so far have not found any overlap. Yet it seems somehow likely that these two families were related and that when Seligmann’s first wife died, Emma was selected to help him raise his two little boys. But I have no proof so it remains just speculation.

Emma and Seligmann had two children together. Leopold Rothschild was born on March 20, 1880, in Waltersbrueck, and his brother Hugo was born in Waltersbrueck on July 5, 1882.

Leopold Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8382, Year  Range: 1880, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

Hugo Rothschild birth record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Bestand: 920; Laufende Nummer: 8384, Year Range: 1882, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Births, 1851-1901

And then tragedy struck the family again when Seligmann, only forty years old, died on May 25, 1884, leaving Emma alone to raise the four little boys, the first two the children of Seligmann’s first wife Gelle, the other two Emma’s children. When Seligmann died, Moses Max was ten, Emil was nine, Leopold was four, and Hugo was two. It’s hard to imagine how Emma managed to cope with so much loss and with four little heartbroken children.

Seligman Rothschild death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 8461; Laufende Nummer: 920, Year Range: 1884, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Seligmann’s mother Gelle Blumenfeld Rothschild lived to see the births of all four of these grandsons, but also had to endure the heartbreak of losing her first-born child, Seligmann, who was the third of her eleven children to predecease her. Gelle died in Waltersbrueck on December 2, 1887, when she was 65 years old.³

Gelle Blumenfeld Rothschild death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 8464; Laufende Nummer: 920, Year Range: 1887, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Rothschild, Gelle nee Blumenfeld (1887) – Haarhausen”, in: Jewish Graves <https://www.lagis-hessen.de/de/subjects/idrec/sn/juf/id/2291&gt; (as of June 5, 2012 )

Gelle was spared the heartbreak of seeing that Seligmann’s second child, Emil, died when he was only eighteen on December 13, 1893, in Alsfeld, Germany, where he was then living and working as a merchant. I don’t know what his cause of death was, but when I think of all he’d endured—loss of his mother when he was one, the remarriage of his father and births of two half-brothers, the loss of his father when he was nine, and then the loss of his grandmother three years after that—I have to wonder what impact all that had on his physical and mental well-being.

Emiel Rothschild death record, Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv; Wiesbaden, Deutschland; Personenstandsregister Sterberegister; Bestand: 27; Laufende Nummer: 921, Year Range: 1891-1894, Ancestry.com. Hesse, Germany, Deaths, 1851-1958

Two years later Seligmann Rothschild’s father Simon Rothschild died on July 21, 1895, in Zimmersrode. He was 82

Rothschild, Simon (II) (1895) – Haarhausen”, in: Jewish Graves <https://www.lagis-hessen.de/de/subjects/idrec/sn/juf/id/2213&gt; (as of June 5th. 2012)

The futures of the three surviving sons of Seligmann Simon Rothschild will be discussed in the next post.

It’s been quite a while since I have written about my Blumenfeld relatives. Other things—photos, a photo album, updates from cousins—have filled my blog. But today I can finally return to the Blumenfeld tree. And it’s time for a new branch of that family.

After a year and a half researching and writing about Isaak Blumenfeld I and his large family, I can now turn my attention to Isaak’s younger sister Gelle (Karoline) Blumenfeld, the third child of my three-times great-uncle Moses Blumenfeld. To give you a sense of where I am in telling the story of my Blumenfeld family, here are two charts.

The first one shows where I am in writing about all the descendants of my earliest known Blumenfeld ancestors, Abraham Katz Blumenfeld and Giedel Katz Blumenfeld, my four-times great-grandparents.

The second one shows where I am in my writing about Moses Blumenfeld I, their oldest child–not quite two thirds done.

Now on to the third and last child of the oldest child of Abraham and Giedel, my first cousin, four times removed, Gelle Karoline Blumenfeld.

Gelle was born in about 1822 in Momberg, Germany.¹ She married Simon Rothschild on November 15, 1842, in Neustadt, Germany, when she was twenty years old. Simon was the son of Seligmann Rothschild and Terz Gutheim, and he was born in Waltersbrueck, Germany, in June 1813.²

Marriage of Gelle Blumenfeld and Simon Rothcchild. Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 629, S. 6

Gelle and Simon had eleven children together. Although the birth records for the children are listed in the records for the town of Zimmersrode, a larger town close to the very small village of Waltersbrueck, I assume based on later records that the family lived in Waltersbrueck and that the children were actually born there. But their births were registered in Zimmersrode.

First born was Seligmann Rothschild II on September 9, 1843.

Seligmann Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Hesse Archives, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 15

Seligmann was followed by Abraham, born December 22, 1844; sadly, Abraham lived just a few months. He died on February 16, 1845.

Abraham Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 17

Abraham Rothschild death record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 896, p. 16

A third son was born on August 23, 1846. His name was Levi.

Levi Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 18

He was followed by yet another boy, Moses, born August 30, 1848.

Moses Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 20

Then came Isaak, born January 15, 1850.

Isaak Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p.23

Finally, Gelle gave birth to a daughter, Gitel, on January 7, 1852, but Gitel lived just a little over a year, dying on February 11, 1853.

Gitel Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 24

Gitel Rothschild death record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 896, p 21

Gelle and Simon’s seventh child was another girl, Beschen, born June 22, 1853. Fortunately, she survived and became the oldest living daughter in the family.

Beschen Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 25

Another boy followed Beschen. Gerson was born May 1, 1855.

Gerson Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 27

The ninth child was Malchen, born March 3, 1857.

Malchen Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 28

Sara, the tenth child, was born on January 6, 1859.³

Sara Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 30

And finally, Gelle gave birth the eleventh and last time to another son, Meier, born on May 9, 1861.

Meier Rothschild birth record, Arcinsys Archives of Hesse, HHStAW Fonds 365 No 893, p. 32

Gelle was 21 when she gave birth to her first child Seligmann in 1843 and 39 when she gave birth to her last child Meier in 1861. She had been having babies for almost twenty years, sometimes in consecutive years. I am not sure how she did it, especially enduring the loss of two of those children at such young ages while raising all the others.

But fortunately, at least eight of the other nine children lived to adulthood, and I will be telling their stories in the posts to come.