Wedding Wednesday ~ Suzi and Sigi 1952

Another wedding photo from my mother-in-law's collection of photos from her Romanian father's side of the family.

The back of the photograph includes my mother-in-law's note "Cousin Israel" indicating that this was one of her cousins who went to Israel from Romania.

The translation of the Romanian on the right is from Theo Rafael in the Genealogical Translations group on Facebook. (Thank you Theo!)

We offer you (plural) with much love and pleasure this photo from our part.
Suzi and Sigi
3 November 1952

The photographer's stamp reads:

Photo Kleinman, Haifa, 62 Jaffa street, 4 July 1952

This suggests that this cousin was married in July 1952 and sent the note to my mother-in-law's family in November 1952. If you think you know who Suzi and Sigi are, please let me know in the comments or send me a message via the contact me form on the left.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Unknown Wedding Couple

Another image of unidentified people from my mother-in-law's collection that she believes is from her Romanian side (Goldstein, a.k.a. Yancu from Iasi, Romania).

It looks like a wedding photo (bride in white, with a veil, groom in a suit with white bow tie and top hat), but they look so serious.

Could this be in the early 1930s and times were tough? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. 

Unfortunately, the photo appears to have been cropped and the back doesn't provide much information at all, except that it's more likely Romanian than Hebrew or Yiddish.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Family From Iasi Romania

This photograph was taken in Iasi, Romania, according to the stamp on the back. Could this be a mother, father, and their daughter?

My penciled notation reads: "oldest Goldstein cousin in Romania" which is what my mother-in-law told me. However, the surname of the family would not have been Goldstein, as only the siblings who came to America took that surname.

I don't know any more about the family in Romania except that the surnames might have been Iancu or Moskowitz (the surnames of my husband's great-grandparents).

If you think you know this family, please leave a comment or send me an email.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Flona of Romania

The handwriting on the back of these photos identifies the woman, but it is unclear what her name is.

The first photograph is about 3" x 5" and there doesn't appear to be a date.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Romanian Couple Betty and Izu 1951

Last week I shared a photo of Betty and Izu from 1937.

Here is another one from fourteen years later. This one is a 2" x 3" snapshot.

The left is Romanian [thank you to Theo Rafael in the Genealogical Translations Group]:

To the parents
With all our longing
From Izu Beti Marcel
Buc [bucharest] 27 February 1951

The right (sideways) is Yiddish [thank you to Esther Chanie Dushinsky in the Genealogical Translations Group]:

This is my oldest daughter and her husband and one child from Romania.

If you have an additional comment about the translation or you know who this family is, please let me know!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Romanian Couple Betty and Izu 1937

From my mother-in-law's collection, from her father, Morris Goldstein, as he was from Romania.

Thanks to Toth Levente at the Jewish Genealogy Portal on Facebook for the following translation:

To our parent with pleasure Betty and Izu. Iancu Zeilig's family in Negrești

Negrești is about 24 miles south of Iași, where the Goldstein / Yancu family was reportedly from.

If you have an additional comment about the translation or you know who these people are, please let me know!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Yitzchak and Sheva and Sons

I have connected with a cousin of my husband's in Israel which has inspired me to share more of the photos from that branch of the Goldstein / Yancu side of the family.

This is the oldest photograph in my collection from that side of the family.

The family story is that this is Yitzchak Yancu and his wife, Sheva Moskowitz and two brothers of my husband's grandfather, Morris Goldstein. They remained in Romania when Morris followed his brother Max to New York City in 1914, after having changed his surname from Yancu to Goldstein.

There is nothing on the back of the photo to identify which brothers these were.

Morris never returned to Romania and this photograph has been treasured over the years.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Unknown Wedding Couple in Romania or Israel

Another photographs from my mother-in-law that came from her father's family in Romania and Israel in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. I am sharing them here in hopes of reconnecting with this branch of my husband's family.

This one has both Yiddish and Romanian on the back.

The Yiddish is:
This is my daughter Liba with her husband Moishe

The Romanian / Yiddish on the right is:
memento
for my brother
Moriti Goldstein

Moishe Goldstein is my husband's maternal grandfather. So could this woman be a first cousin to my mother-in-law? Unfortunately, I don't know if this was taken in Israel or Romania.

Thank you to volunteers at the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston's "Help Day" in January 2014, as well as volunteers at Jewish Genealogy Portal Facebook page for assistance in the translation.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Romanian Wedding Couple, June 1947

Another of the many photographs from my mother-in-law that came from her father's family in Romania and Israel in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. I am sharing them here in hopes of reconnecting with this branch of my husband's family.

The photographer's imprint is "Studio FotoSelect Iasi" so I know this is a relative (or possibly very close family friend) on the Goldstein side of the family.

The top is Romanian and is translated:
____ offered with love to my uncle and aunt, by me Paul and [Hilda?]

8 June 1947

The bottom is Yiddish and is upside down in this image. The possibilities include:

This is my sister ____ husband 
Mendele / Menale [?]

This is my ____ with my sister Gendel / Manela [?]

Any other suggestions on the translation are very welcome.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Romanian Wedding Couple 1929

Another of the many photographs from my mother-in-law that came from her father's family in Romania. This one happens to be dated 20/4/1929 (or April 20, 1929, for us Americans). I am sharing them here in hopes of reconnecting with this branch of my husband's family.

For
our dear brother
sister in law and children
Manase Lots (or soți)
Goldstein
20/4/1929

Mister Moritz Goldstein
New York

Moische/Morris Goldstein was my mother-in-law's father. He was living in New York City with his wife, Rose, and two young children. (By the following year, the family had moved to Woodbine, New Jersey.)

Somehow, I doubt that this was mailed to Morris Goldstein in New York in this way, without an envelope. There were dozens of men by the name of Morris Goldstein in New York City in the 1920s...

If anyone has suggestions on the translation, feel free to comment.

Surname Saturday ~ Moskowitz of Romania

I am using the Surname Saturday prompt to review the ancestral lines for my husband's family.

Abraham D. Moskowitz appears as the father of Morris Moskowitz on the 1904 New York City marriage license of Morris Moskowitz and Liza Blumenfeld.

Also on this marriage license is Morris' mother's maiden name: Chana Sharf.

New York, New York, Manhattan Marriages, FHL Microfilm 1556816, Certificate No. 13533.
Morris Moskowitz and Liza Blumenfeld, June 29, 1904.; Family History Library microfilm.

According to my mother-in-law, Morris Moskowitz was a brother of Sheva Moskowitz, so I am assuming that Sheva's parents were Abraham and Chana.

All I know about Abraham is that he lived in Romania, probably in Iași. He likely died before 1910, when Chana appears as Hanna Moskowitz in the 1910 U.S. Census as mother of Morris Moskowitz. I haven't found any more information on Chana/Hanna.

Generation 2: Sheva/Sarah Moskowitz lived in Iași, Romania, and was married to Isaac Goldstein. Family lore said that she came to America but was turned back because of health reasons, but I have never found proof of that story.

Surname Saturday ~ Goldstein of Romania and New Jersey

I am using the Surname Saturday prompt to review the ancestral lines for my husband's family.

The earliest Goldstein whose name I know may not have even been a Goldstein!

Isaac lived in Iasi, Romania. Family lore said that his surname was Yancu and that the name was changed to Goldstein at Ellis Island. However, (1) names were never changed at Ellis Island, and (2) I found Moische Goldstein on a passenger list with the surname Goldstein AND referencing his father in Iasi, Romania, as Itzik Goldstein. Moische Goldstein arrived in New York on August 3, 1914. This is the second page of his passenger list record.

The name and complete address of nearest relative or friend
in country whence alien came:
father: Itzik Goldstein
Strada Ruksanska Yassy

Isaac Yancu was married to Sheva Moskowitz (listed as Scheiba on her daughter's death certificate). I have one photograph of her. They had six sons and one daughter. I'm not sure of the birth order and don't have much primary source information for the following:

• Max (1892-1956) - lived in New York City and was the first to emigrate to America. I have written about him and his family.
• Anna (1895-1918) - emigrated with Morris in 1914 and died in New York. I shared her death certificate here.
• Moische / Morris (1897-1965) - see below.
• Mendel - maybe emigrated to Israel; maybe remained in Romania (dying young?)
• Shmuel-Leib Yancu - emigrated to Israel. See a photograph of him here and here.
• Pineu Goldstein - remained in Romania. See his photograph here, though my mother-in-law always thought that this photograph was of the youngest brother.
• Usher - is remembered as the youngest and he emigrated to Israel.

Son Morris' gravestone has the inscription: Moshe Hersh bar Yitzchak Halevi, which indicates his father, a Levite, was named Yitzchak. I'm still waiting on FindAGrave photo requests for sister, Anna, and brother, Max, of Morris (buried at Mount Judah Cemetery, Ridgewood, Queens) in order to see what the Hebrew on their gravestones is.

Based on my mother-in-law's memories, I believe Sheva died in the mid-1930s and Isaac died in the late 1930s, both in Romania. Although there is a story that Sheva came to America and was sent back to Romania for health reasons, I have not found any evidence of this.

Wedding Wednesday ~ Morris Moskowitz Marriage License

I recently requested a marriage license via the Family History Library's Photoduplication Services for one Morris Moskowitz (no bride listed) in Manhattan in 1904, hoping it was the great uncle of my mother-in-law whom I've written about before. Census records for 1910 and 1930 indicate a marriage date of about 1904-1905. Their first child was born in June 1905, so a marriage date in 1904 was likely.

I found the following at Steve Morse's website (Accessing the New York City Marriage Indexes in One Step), searching on Morris Moskowitz in 1904:

When I click on "get bride," I get a "bride not found" message, so by requesting this image, I was just hoping that it was "my" Morris Moskowitz. This time I had success.

This is one of those cases where researching a collateral line gives me additional information about my husband's direct line.

More on Uncle Max Goldstein

My husband's grandfather, Morris Goldstein, followed his older brother, Max Goldstein, from Romania to America. I previously shared the passenger list for Moische Goldstein, and I also shared the fact that I haven't found Morris Goldstein in the 1920 U.S. Census, although I had expected to find Morris living with the family of his brother, Max, at 9 Second Avenue in Manhattan.

I thought I would share some more about Great Uncle Max, who was one of many Max Goldsteins in New York City.

It appears that he followed an uncle, Morris Moskowitz, to America. I believe that the Max Goldstein listed in the household of Morris Moskowitz in the 1910 U.S. Census (below) is Morris Goldstein's brother. Morris Moskowitz is the brother of Max's mother, Sarah.

1910 U.S. Census; Manhattan, New York, New York, E.D. 1675, Page 16A,
lines 37-42: Household of Morris Moskowitz

I have explored various passenger records and have not had luck confirming when Max arrived in America. This 1910 Census indicates that he arrived in 1905.

~~~~~~~

However, the 1915 New York State Census indicates that Max arrived in 1895 and was already a citizen by the time of this census. His household included wife, Lottie, son Joseph, and next door is the family of Leon Rosen, who is Lottie's father.

1915 New York State Census. A.D. 3, E.D. 15, Page 11, line 34: Household of Max Goldstein (Rosen family below)

~~~~~~~

The 1920 U.S. Census, which is a bit difficult to read, indicates that he arrived in 1898 and naturalized in 1919. His household now included Edith Goldstein, age 2 7/12. They still live in the same building as Lottie's parents.

1920 U.S. Census; Manhattan, New York, New York; E.D. 165; Page 6B;
lines 72-75: Household of Max Goldstein (Rosen family above)

And with a name like Max Goldstein, these different dates don't help me find his naturalization record or passenger record.

Military Monday ~ Pineu Goldstein in Romania

I thank the volunteer Romanian translator at the JGSGB (Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Boston) "Annual Help Day" for the following translation.

The message on the left is translated as:
    On the occasion I
    was photographed for the military
    I send you this
    photo of mine
    as a memento.
    [Your] brother,
       Pineu
       Goldstein
    Yassy [Romania] 15/3/928  [15 March 1928]

At right, it is addressed:
    Honorable Family
    Moise Goldstein
    New York
    America

Now, I can't imagine that this was mailed like this - there were at least a couple dozen Morris Goldsteins in New York at this time. I'm guessing that this labeled photo was then placed in an envelope and mailed to my husband's grandfather.

The name Pineu Goldstein is not familiar to my mother-in-law. All she knew of this photo is that this was the the youngest brother of her father, Morris Goldstein, who "remained in Romania and became a Communist." And where we thought that only the brothers who emigrated to America (Max and Morris) changed their surname to Goldstein from Yancu, it appears that at least one of the brothers who remained in Romania had the Goldstein surname.

Goldstein (or Yancu) Cousins in Israel

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the JGSGB (Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston) "Annual Help Day" where members volunteered to help with translations. I brought digital images of several photographs with handwriting on the back in either Romanian, Yiddish or, in some cases, both. These are photographs from Morris Goldstein's family.

At right is a photo of Morris (and wife, Rose) with his brother, Max (and wife Lottie) which I previously shared. There were six brothers in the family, and Morris and Max were the only ones who immigrated from Iasi, Romania, to America (along with sister, Anna, who died in 1918).

Even though the volunteer translators didn't have the time to provide complete translations for all of the Romanian and Yiddish I had (some of the handwriting was challenging to decipher), I was able to get enough to piece together the family a bit more.

I know that two brothers went to Israel and I believe two remained in Romania, the oldest and the youngest; the oldest brother is the only one I don't know the name of. The family story says that their surname was originally Yancu, but some of the family changed their surname to Goldstein (before immigration), and some retained the Yancu surname. I am still looking for confirmation of this. I believe at least one of the brothers who immigrated to Israel kept the Yancu surname.

The brothers did stay in touch with Morris and sent pictures of themselves and family members. Morris never returned to Romania and never saw his brothers again. (Morris died in 1965.)

However, his widow, Rose, his daughter, son and daughter-in-law visited Israel in the late 1970s and met one of his brothers, the next youngest, Shmuel, and his family. Shmuel could speak and understand Romanian and Yiddish (he never learned Hebrew) and his sister-in-law, Rose could speak and understand English and Yiddish, so she communicated with him in Yiddish. His daughters did learn Hebrew and English, having been born and raised in Israel.

The translation of the Yiddish on the back of this photograph is:

From Shmuel-Leib
and Ethel
for their Rose
    Shmuel-Leib
15/1/67 [15 January 1967]

My mother-in-law told me that some of the mannerisms of her uncle reminded her of her father, even though they hadn't seen each other since Morris left for America in 1914. Shmuel died soon after their visit to Israel.

Anna Goldstein's Death Certificate 1918

The story about the death of my husband's great aunt Anna Goldstein (sister of Max Goldstein and Morris Goldstein) is that she was hit by a trolley in New York, and didn't tell her family. Supposedly her untreated injuries caused her death sometime in the late 1910s.

My mother-in-law was named after her father's sister.

I recently obtained her death certificate.

New York, New York, Manhattan Deaths: FHL Microfilm 1322427,
Certificate No. 17223. Anna Goldstein, May 27, 1918.

She died at a private hospital at 41 E. 78th Street in Manhattan at 6:00 A.M. on May 27, 1918. The cause of death is "Carcinoma of ovary; Exploratory operation May 24th." She had suffered from this for two years.

I am guessing that in 1918, family members were not comfortable talking about their sister's death by ovarian cancer and the story about being injured by a trolley was an easier way to explain a young person's death.

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!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Sheva Moskowitz

My husband's great grandmother, Sheva Moskowitz, who is mentioned in a recent post about Moskowitz cousins and is listed as Sarah Moskowitz on her son Morris Goldstein's death certificate. As I have mentioned, she was of Iași (Yassy), Romania, and I don't think she ever came to America.

Moskowitz Cousins in Census Records

As I have written before, my mother-in-law, "A", has enjoyed sharing family memories with me and I have been able to use her memories to find out a little bit more about these families in online records.

Her father's mother was Sheva Moskowitz. I first found reference to Sarah Moskowitz on Morris Goldstein's death certificate. (Sarah is an Americanized version of the name Sheva.) I'm not sure if Sheva ever immigrated from Romania to America, though three of her children did (Max, Anna, and Morris Goldstein). Sheva's brother was known to "A" as great uncle Morris Moskowitz. I had the name in my Family Tree Maker genealogy program for quite a while, but had never done much research on him. Recently, I asked about him and heard the following stories.

"A" grew up in Woodbine, New Jersey, but had plenty of relatives who still lived in the New York City area. "A" remembers visiting Uncle Morris at his home on Long Island (likely in the late 1930's or early 1940's). She remembers that he had a dry goods store on Long Island and that he was very successful. He was a tall, thin man with a very kind wife. They had three daughters, but she couldn't remember their names. One daughter married a very nice man who practiced law. Another daughter married a man with the surname Mann, and the third daughter married after the war, but she couldn't remember his name. She does remember visiting Radio City Music Hall with this cousin and her boyfriend (or husband) when her brother Stanley returned from his war service.

In his later years, great Uncle Morris lost his eyesight, possibly due to diabetes, she thinks. In his apartment, he had a string to guide him from his bedroom to his living room to his kitchen. At this time, he spent most of his time in his apartment, as he was too ashamed to be seen in public, where he would be recognized by many former customers and he wouldn't be able to recognize them, due to his blindness. She doesn't remember exactly when he died, but believes it was in the early to mid 1950's.

"A" remembers that she drove to Long Island to visit the family after she got her driver's license (early to mid 1940's), but doesn't remember this family ever visiting her family in New Jersey.

With this information, I started searching census records on ancestry.com.