Wedding Wednesday ~ Morris Goldstein and Rose Levitt in 1922

I requested some vital records from the New Jersey Archives earlier this year for some of my ancestors and decided that I should request my husband's maternal grandparents' marriage license. It did take over two months, but that was fine with me.

New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics, Marriage Certificate no. 786 (26 August 1922) for Morris Goldstein and Rose Levitt; New Jersey Archives, Trenton, NJ.

Morris Goldstein and Rose Levitt married on 26 August 1922, in Woodbine, Cape May County, New Jersey... at 10 P.M. (A perpetual calendar tells me that August 26 that year was a Saturday, Shabbat, so they had to wait until after sundown to marry. However, Wolfram Alpha tells me that sunset was at 7:40 P.M. that day, so it's interesting that they married so late in the evening.)

The Groom's information was entered where the Bride's information was supposed to be entered and vice-versa, so I'm not transcribing this exactly as written:

The bride lived in Woodbine, New Jersey and was born there 21 years before. Her father was Max (Levitt) and her mother was named as Gertrude Segal. (I have found record for her under the names Golda, Goldie, Golde, and Gussie, but never Gertrude; my mother-in-law had never heard that name for her grandmother before.)

The groom lived in New York City (I think that says #9 2nd Ave). He was born 24 years before, in Yosse (Iași), Romania. His parents were Isaac Goldstein and Shary (?) Moskowitz. (Two other records I have give her name as Scheiba and Sarah; my mother-in-law remembers her name as Sheva.)

D. Sussman was Don Sussman, the Rabbi at the synagogue (1920 U.S. census for Woodbine) who officiated at the ceremony.

I think there are two witnesses: H. Jaffe was Harris Joffe in the 1920 U.S. census and I can't read the other name - let me know if you can!

Morris's parents never came to America; can you imagine having to send a letter home to Romania letting your family know about your marriage? So different from today.

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 ~ 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.

Wedding Wednesday ~ Anita and Harry

January 27, 1952, was the wedding day for my parents-in-law: the first day of over 64 years of a very happy marriage.

Harry died last month and I shared his obituary here.

Wedding Wednesday ~ Adolf Handler and Sali Handler, 1882

Here is another one of the records that the researcher from Šid, Serbia, shared with me.

This record, along with other records in this archives, helps to confirm the story that my husband's great-grandparents were related.

I have split the horizontal record into two sections, for easier reading.

Wedding Wednesday ~ 1898 Ketubah

A ketubah is a Jewish marriage contract between husband and wife. It is traditionally all in Hebrew, though more recently, a ketubah will have English on the left side and Hebrew on the right.

My brother-in-law recently found a ketubah among family papers and thought it was for his grandparents, Rose and Morris, who were married in 1922. He had it framed and when I said I would try to get a translation of the handwritten entries, he took a photograph and emailed it to me.

Wedding Wednesday ~ Honevald-Weisz, 1854

I shared a piece of this marriage record at Surname Saturday ~ Honevald. Here is the full page. Record number 10, at the bottom of this image is the 14 November 1854 marriage record for Jacob Honevald and Mari Weisz.

Hőgyész, Tolna, Hungary, "Registers of Jewish births, marriages and deaths for Hőgyész (1842-1895)," 1854: Marriage no. 10. Jacob Honevald and Mari Weisz. November 14, 1854.; Family History Library microfilm.

I shared the left-hand side in my last post:

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.

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.

Wedding Wednesday ~ Lillian Levitas and Max Messing

Lillian F. Levitas, cousin of my husband's grandmother, and sister of Dr. Matthew Levitas, married a doctor. Following is the marriage certificate from New York City:

New York, Brooklyn Marriage Certificates, 1866-1937, Family History Library Microfilm 1613735,
Certificate No. 14741. Max Messing and Lillian F. Levitas, December 27, 1914.

Max Messing, of Philadelphia, married Lillian F. Levitas, of 2124 65th Street, Brooklyn, on December 27, 1914. They were married at her home in Brooklyn by Nathan Cantor of Temple Emanu El.

Max lives in Philadelphia and is a physician. His parents are Simon Messing and Clara Heiser (though I haven't found any record of his parents in the U.S.). Max was born in Russia and is listed as 30 years old, though other records I have found for him indicate that he may have been 34 at the time of his marriage.

Lillian lives in Brooklyn and her parents are listed as Emanuel Levitas and Sara Rabin. (However, I have found her last name listed as Rabinowitz on two of her children's birth records.) Lillian was born in Newark, New Jersey and is just 19 years old.

Witnesses to the marriage are Harry Berlin and Irving K. Schwab. I wonder if some research into those men would shed any light into where the Levitas family originally was from...

Wedding Wednesday ~ 1886 in Hungary: Hollander-Honevald

When I found Bubbie Lena's birth record in Bonyhád, Hungary, I learned that her mother was from Hőgyész, Hungary. So last month, I rented the microfilm from the Family History Library for Hőgyész and have been into my local Family History Library (NEHGS in Boston) to work my way through this microfilm to see what I can find out about this branch of my father-in-law's family. (I'm still not done.)

On March 16, 1886, in Hőgyész, Tolna, Hungary, Samu Hollander of Bonyhád married Lentsi Honevald of Hőgyész. Interestingly, I found that these records, unlike those from Bonyhád, included some Hebrew.

Groom's information: Samu Hollander, a pipafaragó (pipe cutter) from Bonyhád, son of Lipot Hollander and Betti Kohn, 23 years old, nőtlen (unmarried).

It looks like both Samu (Samuel) and his father Lipot (Lipod) were pipe cutters; they would have carved pipes from wood for smoking.

Bride's information: Lentsi (also known as Anna) born in Hőgyész, daughter of Jakob Honevald, a szabo (a tailor) and Maria Weisz, of Hőgyész.

Bride's information continued: born in Hőgyész, age 24, hajado (unmarried).

The next column indicates where and how many times the marriage was publicized. It looks like three times in both Bonyhád and Hőgyész. If my Hungarian experts want to weigh in on the exact translation, please do so in the comments. The next column notes the wedding date of March 16, 1886, and I would guess that the Hebrew below notes the date in the Hebrew Calendar (9 Adar II 5646?). (I use the Hebrew Date Converter at www.hebcal.com.)

The next column notes the wedding location in Hőgyész, and the last column notes the witnesses. Based on all of the other records I found, I believe Salamon Heller is Anna's brother-in-law and Lipod Hollander is, of course, Samuel's father.

From this marriage record, I learned Anna was also known as Lentsi, that she was born about 1864, and her parents' names were Jakob Honevald and Maria Weisz. From here, I found more birth and marriage records and still need to finish reviewing the microfilm for any death records.

My husband is descended from this set of second great-grandparents as follows:

Jakob Honevald = Maria Weisz

|

daughter, Anna Honevald / Honenvald = Samuel Hollander

|

daughter, Lena Hollander = Josef Handler

|

Father-in-law

|

Husband

98 Years Ago ~ Wedding Wednesday

I have recently been writing about my husband's Great Aunt Regina and Great Uncle Jake Solomon. Not only have I found their marriage record, but a newspaper write up of their fiftieth anniversary celebration.

The following can be found at either Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org in the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records:

Jake Solomon, age 28 and a cook, and Regina Handler, age 22 and a seamstress, were married on [Sunday] the 13th day of December 1914 by Rabbi H. A. Liebovitz.

Interestingly, since this document asks for the bride's mother's maiden name, and it is given as Rozalia Handler, I think that this is where the story of Handler cousins marrying each other comes from: The parents of Regina, Joseph, and Sam were Adolf Handler and Rozalia (or Roza or Szoli or Sali or Sally) Handler.

~~~~~~~

Fifty years later, in the December 13, 1964, issue of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, comes the following notice:

From December 13, 1964, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio,
found at www.genealogybank.com

A great find, as it confirms the names of the couple's children, as well as their addresses!

Wedding Wednesday ~ Sam and Sadie, 1909

Earlier this year, I posted a marriage record for my husband's grandparents, Josef Handler and Lena Hollander. They were married in Bonyhád, Tolna, Hungary, on March 10, 1909.

Soon afterward, I found the record for the marriage of Sam Handler and Szedy Herzkovitz at FamilySearch.org in Ohio County Marriages, 1789-1994.

Sam Handler, age 22, and Szedy Herskovitz, age 20, were married on March 10, 1909.

I wonder what the brothers thought about their common wedding anniversary dates.

Wedding Wednesday ~ Another Holländer Wedding in Hungary

I'm working my way through the Hungary, Civil Registration Records at FamilySearch to find records of family members of my husband's paternal grandmother, Lena (Hollander) Handler (1890-1983). My newest find is a marriage record for Lena's younger sister, Roza Hollander. (See Roza's Birth Record about halfway down my post about Lena's siblings' birth records. Roza was born on December 4, 1892 in Bonyhád, Tolna, Hungary.)

FamilySearch.org, Hungary Civil Registration, 1895-1980, Bonyhäd, Tolna, Hungary,
Marriages, (Házasultak) 1914-1917 (sic), image 157 of 190.
Record for Ernö Breuer and Roza Holländer, February 14, 1913.

The heading of the left-hand column reads: "A házasság-kötés helye és ideje (év, hó, nap)", which translates to "The bond of marriage place and date (year, month, day)" which, for Roza and Erno is in Bonyhád, on February 14, 1913.

A vőlegény: the groom.

Ernö Breuer's occupation looks like "kereskedősegéd", which translates to "trading assistant" in Google Translate. The izr- below his occupation indicates his religion.

Google Translate indicates that Ernö is Hungarian for Ernest.

Below that is his birthdate: May 29, 1887, in Bonyhád.

To the right are his parents' names: Sama- or Soma- Breuer and "néhai" Berta Tager. "Néhai" translates to "late" meaning that Ernö's mother was deceased at the time of his marriage.

A menyasszony: The bride.

Roza Holländer does not have an occupation. Her religion is indicated by izr-, and her birthdate here agrees with the birth record: December 4, 1892, in Bonyhád.

The column to the right names her parents: Sam[uel] Hollander and Anna Honenwald (or Honenvald?).

I find it interesting that the right-hand section, which has the header: "A házasságkötési tanuk családi és utóneve, lakhelye" (translates to "The marriage witnesses first and last name, home") indicates that one of the witnesses is Jakob Honenwald. This could be a relative of Anna Honenwald, the bride's mother, but I have yet to explore records from Hőgyész, the town that Anna came from.

May 2013 update: Jakob Honenwald is Roza's maternal grandfather, of Hőgyész.


There are not many stories handed down from this side of the family. What my father-in-law remembers from his youth is that his mother's family in Hungary would write to them, often asking for money because times were hard for them in Bonyhád.  Times were hard everywhere and the family in America did not always have money to send.

During the early 1940's, the letters stopped coming. It was in the spring and summer of 1944 when Bonyhád Jews were removed from their homes into a ghetto, and ultimately sent to Auschwitz.

By the time my mother-in-law got to know her husband's mother, Lena (known to the grandchildren as Bubbie Lena), all she ever said about her family was that she had a sister, but now she had no family - that they were all lost in the Holocaust.

Now that I know that Lena's sister married a man by the name of Breuer, I can start looking for that name in various records.

Wedding Wednesday 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.

Wedding Wednesday ~ Holländer and Händler in 1909

As I mentioned in an earlier post about finding birth records for Lena's siblings, civil registration started in Hungary in October 1895. These civil registration records can be found at FamilySearch.org's Collection List, under Hungary, Civil Registration, 1895-1980, where at this time, there are over 5.5 million unindexed images. This just means that you have to find the community you want and search screen by screen, like going through a microfilm roll.

I have been working my way through the (unindexed and mis-titled) images for Bonyhád, Tolna, Hungary, looking for any record with the surname Holländer. I have found a few Holländer birth and death records, but I really wanted to find the marriage record for my husband's paternal grandparents.

I knew that Lina Holländer and Josef Handler had married around 1908-1909 because their oldest son was born in January 1910, Josef immigrated to America in April 1910, and Lina and her son immigrated in May 1911. See my post about passenger lists for these details and how much I learned.

Bonyhád, Tolna, Hungary, "Civil Registration, 1895-1980" Marriages (Házasultak) 1914-1917 [sic],
Image no. 86, (1909, no. 20). Marriage record for Jozsef Handler and Lina Hollander

Jozsef Händler, (izr. = Jewish), born August 24, 1884 in Ilok (Hungary) married Lina Holländer (izr. = Jewish), born September 5, 1889 in Bonyhád. It looks like his occupation is Fuvaros, which Google Translate tells me is "Carter" and his parents' names are Aron and Szah (?) Händler. Lina's parents' names are Samuel Holländer and Anna Honevald, which I already knew from the birth records for her and her siblings. The names in the following column are names of the two witnesses, Antal Engelmann and Salamon Heller, both of Bonyhád.

Handwritten records are a challenge. The items here that I'm unclear on are:

Jozsef's occupation: does this look like fuvaros? If so, is "carter" an accurate translation?

What is the word above Aron Handler's name? I wonder if it means "the late" Aron Handler and he was no longer living? It is believed that Joseph's and Lena's oldest child, Arthur, was named after this grandfather. Update (3/24/2012): I found another, more legible, instance of this word: "néhai", and yes, it does translate to "late" as in he was deceased at the time of his son's marriage.

What is Jozsef's mother's name? My first instinct was Leah, but on closer look and comparing letters with others on the page, the first letter is not "L" and the second letter looks like "z" not "e". The 1911 passenger list has a Roza Handler so perhaps this is a variation on the "zah" sound of the name? Update (3/25/2012): Thank you to a reader from Jerusalem with generations of ancestors in Hőgyész, Tolna, Hungary, who emailed me to let me know that she reads this as Szoli which is an equivalent of Sara.

All in all, I am pretty excited to have found this record. I will still work my way through these records, looking for Hollanders to try to piece together Lina's family, who are believed to have died in the Holocaust, as there were no more letters after World War II. To find these cousins, I need to find out who her sisters married.

Wedding Wednesday 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.