Morris Stern's Immigration

Morris Stern, the man that my husband's grandfather, Josef Handler, indicated on his passenger list as his cousin, himself had arrived in America about 15 months before Josef. The 1910 census reported that he had immigrated in 1909.

I easily found the passenger manifest for Moritz Stern, arriving in January 1909, and this handwriting is much better than most!

Manifest for Moritz Stern, age 34 (line 7), arriving in New York 9 January 1909 on the S. S. La Savoie; "New York, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1957," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 May 2020).

Detail from line 7 for Moritz Stern:

Moritz Stern, age 34 [born about 1875], was married, and his occupation was baker. He was able to read and write and he was from "Ungary" [Hungary] and of the "Hebrew" race. His last permanent residence was Ilok, Hungary. His closest relative in Hungary was his wife, Sidonia Stern, and his final destination was New York.

Moritz didn't appear to be traveling with anyone: there are no others from Hungary on this list.

And since this is after September 1906, when much more information was required, there is a next page and here is the information for Moritz from the following page:

Moritz had a ticket to his final destination and paid for his own passage. He was in possession of $12 (though $50 was crossed out). He had never been in the U.S. before and was on his way to join a friend, Simon Broder, at 105 E. 3rd Street, New York. The remaining columns full of ditto marks basically indicate that he was a responsible person and in good health. He was 5'4" with brown hair and brown eyes.

He reported that he was born in Ilok, Hungary, where Josef Handler was from.

Another interesting observation is that on his passenger list, Josef reported that his occupation was baker. The family story is that he was a delivery driver for a bakery, so perhaps he did that for his cousin Moritz before he immigrated to America.

Cousin Morris Stern in 1910

So who was the cousin whom Josef Handler was going to meet when he arrived from Hungary on April 14, 1910?

Morris Stern, of 193 East 3rd Street was enumerated on April 25, 1910, at 191-3 Third Street in Manhattan, New York, New York.

1910 U.S. Census, New York County, New York, population schedule, Manhattan Ward 17, enumeration district 919, sheet XVIIIA, dwelling 38, family 470, Morris Stern; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 April 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1033.

Detail from above census record.

Josef Handler Passenger List

One of my very early blog posts was about finding my husband's Handler grandparents on passenger lists in the 1910s. (It's one of my favorite posts: Tuesday's Tip ~ Passenger Lists and Following Up on Family Stories.)

The Oceanic from Ancestry.com. Passenger Ships and Images [database on-line].

Josef Händler arrived in New York City on the Oceanic on April 14, 1910, which sailed from Southampton, England on April 6, 1910. I noted at the time the importance of looking at the second page of the passenger list, but only more recently did I figure out the name of the relative who was meeting him in New York.

Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, Year: 1910, Microfilm: T715_1453, Page: 82, Line: 14, record for Josef Handler.

Josef Händler, age 26, with the occupation of baker [family story said he was a baker's delivery driver], was able to read and write. His nationality was Hungary and his "race or people" was Hebrew. He last lived in Ilok, Hungary, and his nearest relative was [his wife] Lina Händler, of Ilok Hungary. His final destination was New York.

The details from the next page:

Page 2 of Josef Handler's passenger list record

Josef had a ticket to his final destination, paid for his passage, and had $15 with him. He had not been in the U.S. before and he was going to join his cousin Morris Stern, 193 East 3 St, New York. He had never been in prison or an almshouse, was not a polygamist nor an anarchist, and his mental and physical health was good and he was not deformed or crippled. He was 5' 9" tall with brown hair and brown eyes.

At the time, I thought the cousin's name was Morris Levin and I noted that I should try to find out who he was. Well, it's Morris Stern, which makes sense because his maternal grandmother was Anna Stern. (See his mother's second marriage record at Great-Grandmother Handler Married Twice.)