Uncle George Levitt in U.S. Census Records

Rose (Levitt) Goldstein's oldest brother George had been living in Philadelphia for more than two decades by the time of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census. I shared his 1918 WWI Draft Registration Card last week. See his 1920 U.S. Census record here.

In 1930, George Levitt owned his home at 2136 South Melvin Street in Philadelphia.

1930 U.S. Federal Census, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
Roll: 2119; E.D.: 428; Page: 17A. Record for George Levitt.

The value of his home was $6,950, which was the value of each of the other row houses in this city neighborhood. The "R" in the next column indicates that there was a radio in the home.

The census reports that George was 30 years old and his wife, Elizabeth G. was 29 years old and they were married at the ages of 23 and 22, (about 1923). Also in this household is Sarah Brodsky, age 47, who is George's mother-in-law, and confirms Elizabeth's maiden name.

I don't show here, but New Jersey is noted as George's birth place, and Russia is the birth place for Elizabeth and Sarah, who immigrated in 1903. They are listed as naturalized citizens.

In 1930, George's occupation is Salesman for Automotive Supplies.

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In 1940, George and Elizabeth were living at 2136 Melvin Street, which I am assuming is the same house as above. The home is now worth $4,500, as are the other homes along this street.

1940 U.S. Federal Census, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;
Roll: T627_2324; E.D. 51-1152; Page: 19B. Line 43. Record for George Levitt.

The circled X by George's name means he was the one who answered the census taker's questions. He reported that he was 40 years old and his wife 38. He completed three years of high school, and his wife completed 8th grade. He was born in New Jersey and his wife in Russia. They now have two children, Ruth, age 8 and Mathew, age 4, both born in Pennsylvania. His widowed mother-in-law, Sarah Brodsky, age 55, is living with them. She is also noted as having eight years of schooling.

He is now a merchant for electric appliances. This and similar occupations tended to run in this family. See Uncle Morton in Woodbine in 1940 and see Uncle Eddie in Springfield in 1940.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Levitt Family

I have shared this before, but thought I would share it again since I am blogging about the Levitt family.

This photograph from my mother-in-law's collection is of (standing:) Eddie Levitt (1908-1988), Morton Levitt (1904-1977), (seated:) Harold Reisner (1912-1990), Golda (Gussie) Levitt (circa 1870 - 1952), Rose Levitt (1902-1995). Harold was the son of Rebecca Levitt (Reisner), Golda's step-daughter.

I estimate the date as 1918 and the location as Woodbine, New Jersey. After sharing the WWI Draft Card for the oldest brother, George, showing that he now lived in Philadelphia, I wonder if this photograph was taken for George to remember his family by (even though he wasn't that far away).

Military Monday ~ WWI Draft Card for Uncle George Levitt

Rose Levitt Goldstein's oldest brother, George, was living in Philadelphia by September 1918, when he was required to register for the draft for World War I.

He was living at 2421 N. 31st Street in Philadelphia. Although he claims his age as 19, he was not yet 17, based on his date of birth of November 10, 1900. He was working as a Machinist for the government at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia.

The reason I know this is Rose's oldest brother is that he lists his nearest relative as his father, Max Levitt, living in Woodbine, Cape May County, New Jersey.

Uncle George was of medium height and build with brown eyes and black hair. He registered on September 12, 1918 in Philadelphia.

I wonder what made him decide to move out of his home in small Woodbine, New Jersey, to the big city before he was even eighteen years old?

The above images are from Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm.

Uncle Morton Levitt in 1940

My husband's grandmother, Rose, was one of four children of Max Levitt (about 1858 - 1935) and Golda Segal (about 1869 - 1952). I wrote about this family early on in my blog at Mystery Monday - Levitts in Woodbine, where I reviewed the family in the U.S. Federal Censuses from 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930.

I just realized that I had not found all of Rose's brothers in the 1940 Census, so I decided to see where they were.

In 1940, I found Morton Levitt in Woodbine at 603 Adams Avenue. His was the 129th household enumerated in this district.

1940 U.S. Federal Census, Woodbine, Cape May County, New Jersey;
Roll: T627_2324; E.D.: 5-48; Page: 8A; Line 5: Record for Morton Levitt

Morton, age 35, owned his home, which was worth about $2,500. The family lived in the "Same House" five years earlier, in 1935. His wife, Marian, is a year younger and was born in Pennsylvania. She had three years of high school education and Morton only had one year of high school education.

Celebrating Blogiversary #2

It has been two years since I started this blog and I have learned a tremendous amount about my husband's ancestry. I would like to share some of the resources I have discovered and/or rediscovered during these past two years.

Hungarian records are relatively easy to find, with civil records from October 1895 forward online at FamilySearch.org and Jewish records before October 1895 on microfilm at the Family History Library (click here to search the catalog). I have learned how to rent these microfilms and have learned a great deal about the family of Bubbie Lena, my husband's paternal grandmother. Among other records, I have shared the March 10, 1909 marriage record for my husband's grandparents, my husband's Bubbie Lena's birth record from Bonyhád, found her siblings born in Bonyhád, and in upcoming blog posts, I will continue to share what I have found out about Bubbie Lena's mother's family in Hőgyész, Tolna, Hungary.

JewishGen is a tremendous resource for Jewish genealogists. I'm sure I have only taken advantage of a few of its resources. The JewishGen Gazetteer contains the names of one million localities in 54 countries in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. I blogged about looking for Erdevick and Illok, Hungary at JewishGen. More recently I learned about JewishGen's ViewMate, which I explained in detail how to use to request translations for family gravestones.

JewishGen also has an online Worldwide Burial Registry which has helped me find burial locations for a few family members. This works with FindAGrave, where I can enter a memorial and request that a volunteer take a photograph of a gravestone for me. (See my Handler memorials at FindAGrave.)

I also recommend JewishGen's Reading Hebrew Tombstones to anyone trying to decipher the Hebrew on a tombstone.

I have met some fellow bloggers and Jewish genealogy researchers on Facebook, where I have found a Jewish genealogy group and a Hungarian genealogy group. These friends have been very helpful in translating handwritten records that I have found in my microfilm searching. Being able to share electronic images is great. I am also grateful for cousins who have contacted me and shared information - one second cousin on the Handler side, and another second cousin on the Segel / Siegel side.

I have also enjoyed sharing other information - newspaper articles, census records, naturalization records, passenger lists - from a variety of other websites.

Thanks for reading!