Mystery Monday ~ Finding A Jewish Great-Grandmother

When I wrote about Great Aunt Regina (Handler) Solomon, I noted that when I found the Jake Solomon family in the 1920 Federal Census, at 2721 East 62nd Street, included in their household was Rose Goodman, age 60 (born about 1860), and with a relationship to the head of household noted as "Mother."

Detail for household of Jacob Solomon in the 1920 U.S. Census, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.

Just a couple of months ago, I wrote a blog post about the different names I had found for the mother of Regina, Sam and Joseph. Her name shows up as Rozalia, Roza, Szoli, Sali, or Sally in a variety of records.

Searching for an Ohio death for Rose Goodman, I found the following death certificate at Family Search:

Ohio Department of Health, Death Certificate, Ohio Deaths 1908-1953.
Record for Rosie Goodman, died 25 October 1932, found at FamilySearch.org

This is a death certificate for Rosie Goodman, who died in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, on the evening of October 25, 1932. Additional facts from this death certificate:

1928 Cleveland City Directory: Solomon

Residence: 2166 E. 70 St.  [This happens to be where Jacob (a laborer) Solomon lived, based on the 1928 Cleveland City Directory, though I can't find this family in the 1930 Census.]

The deceased is Female, White, a Widow, with name of her husband listed as Aaron. Her date of birth is 1858, making her 74 years old.

Birthplace is Hungary. Name of father is Sam Goodman (born in Hungary) and name of mother (also born in Hungary) is Handel Handler.

1926 Cleveland City Directory: Handler

The name of the informant is [daughter-in-law,] Sadie Handler, of 6908 Hough Avenue, where I knew Sam and Sadie Handler were living at the time of the 1930 census. (They are also there in 1926.)

Rosie died of coronary thrombosis (a heart attack) due to arteriosclerosis. According to the death certificate, she was buried at Lansing Cemetery the following day, October 26, 1932. (As an aside - this was just before my father-in-law's tenth birthday. I need to follow up with him and see if he has any memory of "Rosie," his paternal grandmother.)

I then visited the JewishGen website. One of their databases is the JewishGen Online Burial Registry (JOWBR), which has information from cemeteries and burial records. Look what I found there:

Sally Handler is buried at the Lansing Avenue Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio. She died October 25, 1932, at the age of 78 and her Hebrew name is Chaya Sara bat [daughter of] Zvi.  I suppose Zvi could be the Hebrew name for Sam, which is listed as her father's name on her death certificate.

Much of this information doesn't agree with the details on the death certificate, except for the date of death and burial place, but by including the additional information that I've found (the different names in different sources referring to the same person), I'm surmising that Rosie Goodman is Rozalia (Roza, Szoli, Sali, or Sally) Handler and it's a good bet these two records refer to the same person.

I have set up a memorial at Find A Grave for Sally Goodman Handler and have requested a photo of the headstone. If and when a kind volunteer takes a photograph of the stone, I will share it.