Tombstone Tuesday ~ Hersh Handler, d. 1863

In early 2016, Radovan Sremac, a researcher from Serbia contacted me through JewishGen's family finder and provided me with some images from the local archives showing the 1882 marriage record for Aron Handler and Szali Handler, my husband's great-grandparents, and the 1900 death record for Aron Handler.

He also let me know that there is a Jewish cemetery in Ilok, Croatia, and he shared several photographs of gravestones from that cemetery. Just about all of the text on the gravestones is in Hebrew, but with the assistance of resources like JewishGen's Reading Hebrew Tombstones, Steve Morse's Deciphering Hebrew Tombstone Dates and people on Facebook groups: Tracing the Tribe and Jewish Genealogy Portal, that isn't too much of a problem. I thank these kind volunteers for their translation assistance!

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Anna Gershman, d. 1909

Over two years ago, I connected with a DNA match of my husband's and we theorized that she and he were fourth cousins. See Connecting with a Segal Cousin.

A year before that, I shared a photograph of the gravestone of Simche Siegel (husband's 2x great grandfather) in Woodbine, New Jersey. See Tombstone Tuesday ~ Simche Seigal, 1919.

This fourth cousin recently obtained a photograph of her 2x great grandmother's gravestone in Har Nebo Cemetery, Philadelphia.

Hinde, daughter of Yehuda

Beloved Mother

Anna

Gershman

Apr 20, 1909

Age 60 Years

This is one more fact to help confirm that Anna / Hinde (Segal) Gershman is the sister of Simche Segal/Siegel - both gravestones list Yehuda as father.

Thank you Jill for sharing this photograph with me.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Uncle Max and Aunt Lottie

Max Goldstein was brother to Morris Goldstein, my husband's grandfather. The Hebrew on his gravestone reads:

Here lies Menachem Mendel son of Mr. Yitzchak

Lottie (Rosen) Goldstein was Max's wife. The Hebrew on her gravestone reads:

Here lies Lottie daughter of Mr. Lieb

They are buried at Mount Judah Cemetery, Ridgewood, Queens, New York, in the same cemetery as Anna Goldstein, sister of Max and Morris.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Anna Goldstein, d. 1918

My husband and I visited New York City last week and of course, there were trips to cemeteries.

Mount Judah Cemetery is in Ridgewood, which is in Queens (though the closest subway stop is in Brooklyn).  The website includes a burial search, which provides the location of the burial of the person you're looking for. The About Us page includes information that helps a searcher locate where in the cemetery the loved one is buried.

Because of the wealth of resources available to FindAGrave volunteers, I'm a bit surprised that there are currently over 800 photo requests for this cemetery. I encourage FindAGrave volunteers local to this area to help fulfill these requests.

My husband's maternal grandfather has a sister and brother buried at Mount Judah in the Dr. Igel Lodge Society, one of the dozens of societies in this large cemetery.

My husband and I looked for his relatives and we easily found his great uncle and aunt, but couldn't find Anna Goldstein, for whom his mother is named. It appeared that there was a large yew bush planted where we expected a gravestone for her. Before we left the cemetery, I decided I would walk all the way to the back of the section, just to see what I could see.

Good thing I did.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Harry Handler

My father-in-law died in March (I previously shared the obituary) and a few weeks ago, the family gathered again at Woodbine Brotherhood Cemetery in Woodbine, New Jersey for the unveiling of the gravestone.

The Hebrew reads: Tzvi Hersh son of Joseph the Levite and Lena

The family plot is mostly relatives of my mother-in-law and Handler was added to the plot stone.

See other gravestones at this plot here and here. My mother-in-law's grandparents' stones can be seen here.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Sally Handler (d. 1932)

Here lies

Our dear (or beloved) mother

Chaya Sarah daughter of Mr. Tzvi

Died 25 Tishrei 5693

Mother

Sally Handler

Died Oct. 25, 1932

Age 78 Yrs.

I got help with the Hebrew translation by the Steve Morse Deciphering Hebrew Tombstone Dates in One Step and JewishGen's Reading Hebrew Tombstones, as well as confirmation via the Tracing the Tribe Facebook Group.

This is my husband's great-grandmother, buried in Lansing Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio. I wrote about finding this at Great-Grandmother Sarah or Sally Handler.

Sally's youngest grandson was my father-in-law, who died this past March and whose gravestone will be unveiled this coming weekend. He was named after Sally's father.

Many thanks to FindAGrave volunteer PatMaruna for fulfilling my longtime photo request for Sally Handler's memorial.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Rebecca Katz

A wonderful Find A Grave volunteer set up several memorials in the Beth Kehillah Cemetery in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, where I found Rebecca (Blume) and Benjamin Katz.

Courtesy FindAGrave volunteer, Carol Chakurda

Although the tombstone only has the year of death, the Hebrew tells me the date of death. I used the Deciphering Hebrew Tombstone Dates at the Steve Morse website to figure out what the Hebrew said (and then received confirmation from members of the Tracing the Tribe Facebook Group):

Benjamin:
Binyamin son of Mr. Meir, who went to his eternal rest on 23 Nisan 5712 (April 17-18, 1952).

Rebecca:
Bluma daughter of Mr. Eliezer, who went to her eternal rest on 2 Sivan 5714 (June 2-3, 1954).

I still need to find additional confirmation of the secular date of death. Hebrew dates start at sundown.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Rebecca Levitt

Rebecca (Neminroff) Levitt was the first wife of David Levitt, a son of Max Levitt and his first wife. (David was a half brother to Rose (Levitt) Goldstein, my husband's grandmother.) Rebecca is the only person I have in my genealogy database who died during the 1918 influenza epidemic. She left her husband and three young daughters.

She is buried in Har Jehuda Cemetery, Upper Darby, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

Photo courtesy FindAGrave.com volunteer Sheila Peascheck

Beloved Wife

And Mother

Rebecca Levitt

Died Oct. 7, 1918

Aged 35 Years

Photo courtesy FindAGrave.com volunteer Sheila Peascheck

The Hebrew is roughly translated as:

Here lies

My dear/beloved wife

Mrs. Rivka daughter of

Yerachmiel died

On the first of the month of Cheshvan

5679. May her soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life.

Translation help is from the Tracing the Tribe Facebook page and JewishGen's How to Read a Hebrew Tombstone.

Her FindAGrave memorial can be found here.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ George and Elizabeth Levitt

George Levitt was the oldest full brother of Rose Levitt, my husband's maternal grandmother. I have written a little bit about him previously.

Photo courtesy FindAGrave contributor, Mark Barnett (48059838).

George and his wife Elizabeth (also known as Betty) are buried in Montefiore Cemetery, Jenkintown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where I have recently discovered that many of my mother-in-law's extended family are buried.

The Hebrew above George's name can be roughly translated as Yuda (aka Yehuda) Leib son of Mordecai. Again, I thank the members of the Tracing the Tribe Facebook page for assistance with this translation.

George's father, Mordecai, was also known as Max Levitt, and I shared his gravestone very early on in this blog.

The Hebrew above Elizabeth's name is Leah daughter of Gershon. I wrote about her mother's naturalization here.

George Levitt's FindAGrave memorial is here. Elizabeth Levitt's FindAGrave memorial is here.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ William and Rachel Siegel

Rachel (Segal) Siegel was the older sister of Gussie or Golda (Segal) Levitt, my husband's great-grandmother. Rachel and her husband, William, are buried at Montefiore Cemetery, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.

One side of their gravestone is in English:

I am surprised to see 1869 as birth year for both of them, because usually when the birth year of immigrant parents is not known for sure, it is usually not mentioned on the gravestone. I'm sure it was a guess, as I have seven different sources providing a birth year for Rachel from 1866 to 1873 and eight different sources providing a birth year from 1864 to 1871 for William.

The other side of their gravestone is in Hebrew:

The Hebrew on the left is for William: Zev son of Reb Yitzhak / Died 28 Adar 5701 [Zev is Hebrew for Wolf, which is what he was known as earlier in his life.]
Rachel daughter of Reb Simcha / Died 8 Adar 5709 [See her father's all-Hebrew gravestone here.]

View Rachel's FindAGrave memorial and William's FindAGrave memorial.

Photos courtesy of FindAGrave.com volunteer, Charles Zar.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Litwin Family in Oheb Shalom Cemetery

Sophie (Lewites) Litwin and her husband, Samuel Litwin, are buried at Oheb Shalom Cemetery, in Hillside, New Jersey. I got a chance to briefly visit during our annual summer drive to visit family in southern New Jersey. We found the burial plot just as the rain started.

The Litwin family plot has four burials.

Husband and Father
Samuel Litwin
1872-1935

Wife and Mother
Sophie Litwin
1875-1958

Husband and Father
Grandfather
David M. Litwin
1896-1972

Wife and Mother
Grandmother
Minna Krasner Litwin
1898-1988

Sophie was a sister of Emanuel Levitas (who is buried on Staten Island, NY) and Max Levitt (who is buried in Woodbine, NJ). I wrote about Assemblyman David Litwin here.

Interesting to note that these gravestones do not include any Hebrew. This is the first Jewish cemetery that I have visited that had many gravestones without Hebrew inscriptions.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Levitas in Baron Hirsch Cemetery

To continue with the Levitas siblings and connecting them with their parents and their likely birthplace, I recently had a couple of FindAGrave photo requests fulfilled.

Emanuel Levitas is brother to Max Levitt (my mother-in-law's grandfather) and Sophie (Lewites) Litwin. Sarah is Emanuel's wife. They are buried in Baron Hirsch Cemetery, on Staten Island, New York.

The Hebrew reads:

Here lies 

Menachem Mendel son of

Moshe Eliezer HaLevi [a Levite]

Emanuel's brother, Max Levitt, also has "son of Moshe Eliezer" on his gravestone (in Woodbine, New Jersey).

You can just see the edge of Emanual's gravestone behind and to the right of Sarah's gravestone. Too bad there is no Hebrew here, other than "here lies". I know very little about Sarah's family.

Photos courtesy of FindAGrave volunteer, George Plunkett.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Jacob and Rebecca Reisner

Rebecca (Levitt) Reisner and Jacob Reisner are buried in B'nai Jacob Cemetery in West Springfield, Massachusetts. They both have memorials at FindAGrave (Rebecca and Jacob).

For the translation, I used JewishGen's Reading Hebrew Tombstones, Steve Morse's Deciphering Hebrew Tombstone Dates in One Step, my rudimentary knowledge of Hebrew, and some help from the Tracing the Tribe Facebook page:

Here lies the woman Rivka

daughter of the worthy Mordecai

Died on 13 Adar 5722

May her soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life

Beloved Wife

And Mother

Rebecca

Died Feb. 16, 1962

Here lies worthy Jacob Nathan

Son of Mendel

Died on 26 Tamuz 5725

May

Beloved Husband

and Father

Jacob

Died July 26, 1965

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Simche Seigel, 1919

A couple of years ago, my husband and I explored Tifereth Israel Cemetery in Woodbine, New Jersey, looking for the gravestone of Simche Seigel, his second great grandfather and had no luck.

Well it turns out the gravestone was all in Hebrew.

Photo courtesy L. Seigle, via R. Seigle, Jerusalem

A third cousin of my husband was in the southern New Jersey area in September and took this photograph. Her father, who previously shared Simche's death certificate with me, sent me this photo and his translation:

"My eyes were like springs of water because of my dear and honorable husbands death Rabbi Simcha son of Yehuda Seigle (סיגעל). Passed away in old age. Died on second and buried on third of Tamuz in year 5679."

He also notes that "The numbers slightly do not match as the second of Tamuz is about 1 July and on the death certificate his death is July 7th."

I shared the image at JewishGen's ViewMate and got a slightly different translation from Lara Diamond of Lara's Family Search blog:

"Fountains of water fall from my eyes
On the death of my husband
The dear and honored Reb
Simcha son of Yehuda Siegel
What like sleep his rest
On the 20th day and was buried on the ?? day
Of the month of Tamuz in the year 5679
May his soul dwell in everlasting life"

Another translation from Sheindle Cohen at ViewMate:

"Streams of water shed from my eyes
On the death of my husband
The dear and honorable Reb
Simcha son of Reb Yehuda Segal
[Who]died in good old age on day Two (Monday)
and was buried on day Three (Tuesday)
10th(?)day of the month of Tamuz
Year 5679
May His Soul Be Bound in the Bindings of Life"

Monday, July 7, 1919, corresponds to 9 Tamuz 5679, so "Day Two" (two days after Shabbat) makes sense, and he was likely buried on July 8, which was 10 Tamuz 5679.

There is something to be found in each of these translations, and I thank everyone for their assistance.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Sam and Sadie Handler

Photo credit Alan Simon

Shalom son of Aaron (I think; at least that's what it should read).
Sam Handler
Husband - Father
1887 - 1954

See his Find A Grave Memorial with additional pictures and links to family members. His death certificate names his father as Arthur.

Photo credit Alan Simon

And his wife, Sadie, who outlived Sam by over 30 years. Link to her Find A Grave Memorial.

Tombstone Tuesday and Genealogy Serendipity

Last month, my husband and I decided to fulfill one of my own longtime Find A Grave photo requests and we drove to a group of Jewish cemeteries in West Springfield, Massachusetts from our home in eastern Massachusetts.

I knew that Great Uncle Eddie Levitt and wife, Great Aunt Adele (Reisner) Levitt were buried in Beth El Cemetery in West Springfield. The Find A Grave page for Beth El Cemetery includes a map which notes that there are four Jewish cemeteries on Kings Highway in West Springfield: Beth El (in two sections), B'nai Jacob, Kodimoh, and Beth Israel.

I parked my car in a rather central location near a small building, and a man approached asking if he could help us. It turned out he worked for a vault company and was there to prepare a vault and assist with a burial later in the day.

Well, I explained about Find A Grave and that we were looking for the gravestones for Edward and Adele Levitt and he was the one to walk ahead and let us know where it was.

 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Handlers in Akron, Ohio

Ahavas Zedek Cemetery in Akron, Ohio, is also known as Hungarian Jewish Cemetery or Sand Hill Cemetery. The following photographs are courtesy of Find A Grave volunteer, Dennis Frisone, who has given me permission to share them here.

My husband's grandfather, Joseph Handler, 1884-1947. Click here to see his Find A Grave Memorial.

My husband's grandmother, Lena (Hollander) Handler, 1890-1983. Click here to see her Find A Grave Memorial.

My husband's uncle Alfred, who died in Biak, New Guinea in the service of our country. Click here to see his Find A Grave Memorial.

My husband's uncle Louis, who died in Normandy, France in the service of our country. Click here to see his Find A Grave Memorial.

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Barnett and Hannah Nappen

Or Woodbine Cemetery, Part 4...

I started this blog with photos of family members' gravestones in the Woodbine Brotherhood Cemetery, Woodbine, New Jersey:
Part 1 - Goldstein grandparents
Part 2 - Levitt
Part 3 - Goldstein uncle and aunt
Following is another gravestone of a 2nd great aunt and 2nd great uncle of my husband.

Hannah (Segal) Nappen was the sister of Golda (Segal) Levitt, whose gravestone is nearby. Their father was Simche Segel, whose death certificate indicates he was buried in Woodbine, but I have not found his gravestone.

The Hebrew for Hannah reads: Hannah daughter of the honored Simcha. The Hebrew for Barnett is possibly Dov son of the honored Mordechai. (Advice on Barnett's Hebrew name is welcome in the comments below.)

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Woodbine Brotherhood Cemetery (Part 3)

This is the third in a series of Tombstone Tuesday blog posts from the Woodbine Brotherhood Cemetery in Woodbine, New Jersey.

Stanley Goldstein was the only son of Morris Goldstein and he was a beloved uncle. He fought in World War II and when recovering from injuries suffered in battle, he met his wife, Betty Coleman, an English nurse and married her in England before returning home to the U.S.

The Hebrew reads:

Simcha ben Moshe Hersh Halevi

"ben" means "son of"
"Halevi" means he understands himself to be a Levite

"Always Fighting Windmills" is in reference to Don Quixote by Cervantes, which was Stanley's favorite literary character.

Betty (Coleman) Goldstein was born in Liverpool, England. She met her American in-laws after having married Stanley in England. They settled in southern New Jersey.

The Hebrew reads:

Basher (or Beser or Baser) bat Yosef v'Sarah

"bat" means "daughter of"
"Yosef v'Sarah" means "Joseph and Sarah"

My grateful thanks to Rabbi Todd Markley of Temple Beth Shalom, Needham, MA for his assistance in the translation of the Hebrew.

Tombstone Tuesday is a daily blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers, the genealogy community’s resource for blogging. It is used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their ancestors.  

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Woodbine Brotherhood Cemetery (Part 2)

As I mentioned last week, we visited New Jersey and my husband took some wonderful photographs of family gravestones in the Woodbine Brotherhood Cemetery.

Goldie (Segal) Levitt is my husband's great-grandmother. She was the mother of Rose (Levitt) Goldstein, my husband's grandmother. She was born in Russia or Poland, depending on which census I look at. She immigrated (presumably with family) around 1889 or 1890. The translation of the Hebrew reads:

Here lies

Our Mother The Beloved/Dear

Golda daughter of Simcha Lev

Died on the 4th of Elul 5712 

The last line of five Hebrew letters is an abbreviation of a verse from the Bible, the first book of Samuel, 25:29, which means:

May her soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life

Max Levitt is my husband's great-grandfather. He was born in Austria or Russia (depending on which census I look at). He presumably immigrated in 1891, 1893, or 1896, again, depending on which census I look at, but he is in Dennis Township, Cape May County, New Jersey, by 1900, with a family that puzzles me. I expect his wife to be Goldie (or Golda or Gussie), but his wife's name is listed as Rebecca, (as is a daughter, so I think this is in error and should be Goldie) and there is a one-year-old son, Daniel, who my mother-in-law does not recognize as an uncle. (Perhaps a child who died very young?) There are also three additional children listed from his first marriage, but only two of them fit into what I've been told about the family. The translation of the Hebrew reads:

Here lies

The Levite

My husband Beloved/Dear

Mordecai son of Moshe Eliezer Levitt

Died on the 1st of Iyar 5695

The last line of five Hebrew letters is an abbreviation of a verse from the Bible, the first book of Samuel, 25:29, which means:

May his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life

My grateful thanks to Rabbi Todd Markley of Temple Beth Shalom, Needham, MA for his assistance in the translation of the Hebrew.

Tombstone Tuesday is a daily blogging prompt from GeneaBloggers, the genealogy community’s resource for blogging. It is used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their ancestors.