Sunday, August 31, 2014

Sunday's Obituary ~ Jacob Reisner

Springfield Union, Springfield, Massachusetts, online images (www.genealogybank.com).
July 27, 1965, p. 14, col. 5. Jacob Reisner obituary.

Jacob Reisner, 75, of 98 1/2 Fort Pleasant Ave. died Monday in Wesson Memorial Hospital following a brief illness. He was born in Austria, son of the late Mendel and Rachel Reisner, and came to this country in 1905. He lived in New York City until 1921, when he moved to this city with his late wife, the former Rebecca Levitt, who died Feb. 16, 1962.. He had been general foreman for Asinof and Sons Co. both in New York and later in Chicopee until 1934. He later operated a grocery store on Fort Pleasant Ave. for many years until 11 years ago. He was a member of B'nai Jacob Synagogue, Maccabean Lodge, Knights of Pythias No. 23 and Springfield Jewish Home for the Aged. He leaves three sons, Atty. Samuel and Joseph, both of this city, and Harold of West Hartford, Conn.; two daughters, Mrs. Adele Levitt and Mrs. Roselle Lewis, both of Longmeadow; two brothers, Benjamin and Alex, both of Brooklyn, N.Y.; nine grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews. The funeral will be held today at 2 p.m. at Harold R. Aschey Memorial Chapel. Rabbi Moses D. Sheinkopf and Cantor Herman Abramson will officiate. Burial will be in B'nai Jacob Cemetery, West Springfield. Memorial week will be observed at the home of his son, Atty. Reisner at 27 Bronson Ter.

A couple of observations:
(1) There is no mention of the two daughters who pre-deceased him. See Reisner Twins.
(2) There is mention of the move from New York City to Springfield in 1921, which helps confirm my theory that they moved from Manhattan soon after the death of their infant daughter.
(3) The reference to working for "Asinof and Sons Co. both in New York and later in Chicopee" helps confirm the World War I Draft Card that I thought was for him, which mentions that he worked as a tailor for Essenoff & Sons.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Jacob Reisner in the Census 1910-1920

My mother-in-law's mother, Rose (Levitt) Goldstein, was one of four children of Max Levitt (1858-1935) and Golda Segal (1869-1952). I shared census records for her family from 1900-1930 early on in this blog.

Rose also had three or four older half-siblings, children of Max Levitt and his first wife, Adele, who died before the family came to America:

Manuel Levitt: He was supposedly born about 1883 in Russia and "ran away" when told the family would be going from New York City to Woodbine, New Jersey. I have found no evidence to support this story. Interestingly enough, I found that Max Levitt's brother's name was Emanuel Levitas and he remained in New York.

Minnie Levitt: She was born June 1887 in Russia according to the 1900 census. I have found no more information about her.

Rebecca Levitt: She was born about 1889 in Russia and was the one cousin whose family kept in touch with her younger half-siblings.

David Levitt: I have several conflicting birth dates (and birth places) for him, ranging from 1885-1891, in Austria, Russia, New York or New Jersey.

I have found some basic information about Rebecca Levitt.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Jacob Reisner's Passenger List, 1905

I believe I have found the passenger list that shows when Jacob Reisner arrived in the United States. At Ancestry.com, I searched in the New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, for Jacob Reisner, born about 1888 in Austria (date and place from his marriage license). (I also have a middle initial of N from other sources.)

The result shows Jankew N. Reisner on a List of Aliens Held for Special Inquiry.

Ancestry.com, New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, Database online. Year: 1905; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_534;
Ship: Zeeland, List: Special Inquiry, Line: 21; Image number: 180 of 990. Record for Jankew [Jacob] N. Reisner.
I have marked this image to draw your eye to certain items on this page. First of all, he arrived on the S. S. Zeeland on February 7, 1905, at 10 AM, from Antwerp.

(1) Jankew N. Reisner appears on line 21 here. To the left of the line number 21 is 16, which is his age. I am making an educated guess that this is Jacob N. Reisner who later married into the Levitt family. To the right of his name is A9, which represents that he appears on manifest A, line 9. I was able to use this information to find the original passenger list, which is NOT currently indexed. Note the young man listed below him, Uscher Sumer, also age 16. His name appears just below Jankew's on the original passenger list and he was also held for special inquiry.

(2) Cause of Detention is L.P.C. which represents "Likely Public Charge" which means he could be excluded as one who might become a burden on the public. This was part of the immigration law at the time.

(3) The scribble here is simply the initials or name of the initial inspector who made the L.P.C. determination and decided he needed to go before the board of special inquiry.

(4) 2/7 represents the date that Jankew [Jacob] had his hearing. 4 is the page number of the recorder's book where his information was recorded. (Unfortunately, most of these records have been destroyed.) It looks like his hearing was at 3:47 in the afternoon. (Uscher Sumer had his hearing at 4:00.)

(5) The numbers in the right columns indicate the number of meals provided (at a cost to the shipping company). It looks like Jankew (and his friend) got just one meal, lunch, before heading to his destination in New York City.

The man on the list above him left on the S.S. Zeeland when it left New York on February 10. This would have been at the expense of the shipping company.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Wedding Wednesday ~ Jacob Reisner and Rebecca Levitt

Rebecca Levitt is a half-sister of my husband's grandmother, Rose. I recently acquired her marriage license via the Family History Library photoduplication services. I am trying to explore every avenue to try to figure out where the Levitt family was originally from.

New York, New York, Manhattan Marriages, FHL Microfilm 1613232, Certificate No. 19430.
Jacob Reisner and Rebecca Levitt, August 12, 1911.; Family History Library microfilm.

  • Groom, Jacob Reisner and bride, Rebecca Levitt.
  • Both lived at 131 Ridge Str. in New York City.
  • He is 23 years old (born about 1888); she is 21 years old (born about 1890). I actually have a variety of birth dates for both of them, but these are within the range.
  • They are both single (not widowed or divorced) and his occupation is Tailor (which matches all the other records I find for him). This is the first marriage for both of them.
  • Both list their birth places as Austrya (Austria). This is one of those instances that I wish they listed a specific city or town, or at least a district or county!
  • Jacob lists his parents as Max Reisner and Rechil Silber (note the "Levitt" that is crossed out.)
  • Rebecca lists her parents as Manuel Levitt (this should be Max Levitt) and Hudel [?] Willer. This gives me a surname for her mother. All I had known was that her mother's name was Adele and that she died before her father, Max, immigrated to America with his children.
  • They were married on August 12, 1911, at 106 Foursyth [Forsyth] Str. by J. Marcus Skhiller, of 177 Norfolk Str.



On the back of the license, we get to see Jacob's and Rebecca's signatures, as well as the signatures of the witnesses, Abraham Reisner and Sam Prufer [?], whom I have not researched.