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.

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.)

Herman Handler - Passenger List

Herman Handler's Naturalization Papers reported that he arrived in New York on the Vatterland. Ancestry happens to have images of some of the early 20th century passenger ships.

Image of S.S. Vaderland, Passenger Ships and Images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : viewed 30 August 2018);
Original data: Various maritime reference sources.

What can a passenger list tell you? Quite a bit. Herman managed to travel to Antwerp, Belgium, to depart on December 28, 1903, and he arrived in New York City on January 8, 1904, just as his naturalization papers reported.

Herman Handler is on line 19 of the following passenger manifest.

New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, Year: 1904; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 0425; Line: 19; Page Number: 52. Record for Hermann Håndler.

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.

Mystery Monday ~ Genealogy Time Machine

Nick Gombash recently blogged about his wish for a genealogy time machine. Although I have had the wonderful opportunity to hear my mother-in-law share the family stories, I have often wished I could go back in time and ask some questions to clarify the family lore.

The top three ancestors of my husband's I would like to go back in time to meet are as follows:

1.
Who: Max Levitt, who died May 3, 1935
When: Early 1890's, around when he immigrated
Where: New York City, before he moved to Woodbine, New Jersey
Why: When exactly did he immigrate, and from where, exactly? What are his parents' names and was it Max or his father who changed the family name from Levitas to Levitt because Levitas sounded "too fancy"? When exactly did he find out about the opportunity for jobs in Woodbine, New Jersey, and did he really make the decision to move there so quickly that when his son (Manuel, Emmanuel?) declared that he didn't want to move and ran away, he wasn't able to find him?

2.
Who: Morris Goldstein
When: July 1914, the month he immigrated to America
Where: Iasi, Romania
Why: The family story says that his older brother, Max Goldstein, changed his name from Yancu to Goldstein. I would love to ask Morris (or his brother, Max) to tell me exactly when and where this name change was done. Morris came over under the name Goldstein, so presumably he changed his name in Romania, but did Max change his name before immigrating from Romania, or after reaching America? Also, what was it like to make this trip at the age of 17, with just his older sister accompanying him?

3.
Who: Anna Honenváld
When: 1909-1911, when her daughter married and later left home for America
Where: Bonyhád, Tolna District, Hungary
Why: Her husband was Samuel Holländer, who would also be interesting to speak with. What did she think of her son-in-law, Josef Handler, who married her daughter, Lena Holländer? What were her feelings about their immigration to America? And what about when Lena returned to Hungary for a several-month visit in 1915? Was Lena eager to return to her husband in America?

Thanks, Nick, for this fun idea!

Passenger List for Morris Goldstein and his sister

Morris Goldstein was my husband's maternal grandfather (his Pop-pop). He came to the United States from Romania in July 1914, leaving Rotterdam, Netherlands on July 25, 1914, and arriving in New York City on August 3, 1914, on the ship S.S. Rotterdam. Knowing his Hebrew name was Moische certainly helped me find him on this passenger list. Below, I have transcribed the information in the passenger list with the handwritten parts underlined.

Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957. Arrival Date:  August 3, 1914;
Microfilm Roll:  T715_2356; Page Number:  68; Line:  13. Record for Moische Goldstein.

Family Name: Goldstein
Given Name: Moische
Age: 17
Sex: "   [ditto from above: Male]
Married or Singer: S   [single]
Calling or Occupation: Taylor
Able to Read / Write: Yes
Nationality (Country of which citizen or subject): Rumania
Race or People: " [ditto from above: Hebrew]
Last Permanent Residence (Country / City or Town): Rumania / Yassy

The name and complete address of nearest relative or friend in country whence alien came:
Father Itzik Goldstein
Stradă Ruksanska Yassy  [I think]

The second part of page 68 of the passenger list has additional information.

Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957. Arrival Date:  August 3, 1914;
Microfilm Roll:  T715_2356; Page Number:  68; Line:  13. Record for Moische Goldstein.

Final Destination (State / City or Town): NY / New York
Whether holding a ticket to such final destination: -
By whom was passage paid? brother
Whether in possession of $50 and if less, how much? 0
Whether ever before in the United States: "   [ditto from above: No]
Whether going to join a relative or friend and if so, what relative or friend, and his name and complete address: brother: Max Goldstein, 130 Forsyth St., New York
Additional columns not shown above indicate that Moische was 5'6" tall, fair complexion, brown hair, grey eyes and no marks of identification.

His sister, Anna Goldstein, arrived on the same ship, but was listed on a different page.

Thankful Thursday ~ International Passenger Lists

And connecting with distant cousins...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently received an email from a second cousin of my mother-in-law who has done quite a bit of research on their common Segal (Siegel) immigrant ancestor. He was able to tell me the exact dates and ships that Simche Siegel and his family traveled on to get to America in 1891.

The Siegel family first traveled from Hamburg, Germany, to Glasgow, Scotland, on the ship Coblenz leaving Hamburg on November 27, 1891. This is where I am thankful to Ancestry.com for providing free access to their international passenger lists from August 29 to September 5, because with my U.S. Membership, I do not have access to passenger lists between Hamburg and Glasgow. I took advantage and found the following. (Click to enlarge.)

 

Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934
(Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008),
www.ancestry.com, Database online. Record for Simche Siegel.

With a little help from Google Translate, I find that this is a list of people who are going to America via Glasgow on the steamship Coblenz. The paragraph above Zuname (Surname) and Vornamen (First name) says that people belonging to a family must be listed together and denoted as a family by a bracket. In looking at the list of people bracketed with Simche Siegel above, it looks like there were more family members who came with him than I originally thought:
Simche, age 56
Blume, age 26
Golde, age 22
Hinde, age 19
Itzig, age 17
Lea, age 10/12
Wolf, age 27
Rachel, age 25
Reisel, age 3/12
Mayer, age 26
Freide, age 25
Aron, age 4
Basse, age 6/12

Tuesday's Tip: Passenger Lists...

... and following up on family stories.

In my husband's family there is a story about his paternal grandmother, known to her grandchildren as Bubbie Lena, feeling homesick and wanting to return home after immigrating to America. After having followed her husband Joseph Handler to America, she returned home to Hungary with her two oldest children for a visit with her family. They ultimately returned to America with her daughter contracting polio on the return trip. She survived the bout with polio, but had a limp for the rest of her life.

To verify the story, I looked for the passenger lists.

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

First, I found the passenger list for Josef Händler. Josef arrived in New York City on the ship Oceanic on April 14, 1910. It had sailed from Southampton, England on April 6, 1910.

The image of the passenger list is below. For any of these images, you should be able to view a larger image by clicking on them.

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

Josef Händler was 26 years old (born about 1884) with an occupation of baker. My father-in-law remembers hearing that his father was not a baker, but a delivery man for a bakery. The next marks indicate that, yes, he could read and write and that his nationality is Hungary. The next column is headed "Race or People" and he is listed as "Hebrew." The following columns are "Last Permanent Residence" in which he is listed with a country of Hungary and a town that I originally thought was Jeok. (Jeok is also how it is transcribed by ancestry.com.) The following column is how I know this is "my" Josef Handler: the name and address of nearest relative in country whence alien came is wife Lina Handler, in "Jeok."  The last column indicates that his final destination is New York.

Another thing to know about passenger lists, at least at this time (1910's) is that there is a second page. The information on the second page of Josef's passenger list record shows that he arrived with $15 in his pocket and that he had not been in the U.S. before. The next column notes that he is going to join a cousin, Morris Levin (?) in New York. Another task will be to try to find this cousin!

Page 2 of Josef Handler's passenger list record

This also indicates that he was 5'9" tall, white (complexion), with brown hair and brown eyes.

All the way to the right notes that his birthplace is Ilok, Hungary, reproduced at the right. You can see why I thought for years that it read Jeok!