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...

Celebrating Blogiversary #3

I started this blog three years ago because my other blog, From Maine to Kentucky, is about my ancestry, and researching my husband's ancestry is so different from mine that I thought it deserved its own blog.

I have not been as prolific during this past year, but I try to write at least a couple of blog posts each month.

In celebration of three years of blogging, I thought I'd share some of my favorite posts of this past blogging year.

I had fun finding records for Emanuel Levitas, brother to my mother-in-law's grandfather, Max Levitt. I am still trying to figure out where this family immigrated from!

And the fact that his wife, Sarah Levitas, had a patent in her name was a great find by my husband!

I enjoyed attending the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) Conference 2013, which was held in Boston last August and I blogged about my experiences in IAJGS Part 1 and IAJGS Part 2.

One of my favorite photos can be seen at Two Tone Tessie.

Another photo (one of many) of the "cousins in Israel" can be seen here.

And a photo of the uncle who remained in Romania and "became a Communist" can be seen here.

I do have several more photographs with Yiddish on the back that I should share...

Thanks for reading, even thought I haven't been posting much!

Military Monday ~ Stanley Goldstein

My husband's Uncle Stanley served in World War II. Several websites are offering free access to military records this Memorial Day weekend. On Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, and MyHeritage.com, I found Uncle Stanley's U.S. World War II Army Enlistment record. (Original data from The National Archives.)

The information it provides is as follows:

Name: Stanley Goldstein
Birth: 1924, New York
Residence: Cape May [County], New Jersey
Enlistment: February 13, 1943 in Camden, New Jersey
Serial #: 32750962
Grade alpha: Pvt
Grade code: Private
Branch alpha: Bi
Branch code: Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Term of enlistment: Enlistment For The Duration of The War or Other Emergency, Plus Six Months, Subject To The Discretion of The President or Otherwise According To Law
Army component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Race and citizenship: White, Citizen
Education: 4 Years of High School
Civil Occupation: Semiskilled Occupations In Fabrication of Textile Products, n.e.c.
Marital status: Single, Without Dependents
Source: Civil Life
Height: 67
Weight: 169
Box #: 0559
Reel #: 2.222

On Ancestry.com, I found a bit more information in the U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010. This record included his birth date of April 13, 1924, death date of December 28, 1993, as well as:
Branch 1: A
Enlistment Date 1: February 20, 1943
Release Date 1: April 4, 1946

I don't have any photos of Uncle Stanley in his military uniform.

As I noted in an earlier blog post, I noted that Stanley Goldstein 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 New Jersey.

He is buried in the Woodbine Brotherhood Cemetery in Woodbine, New Jersey.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Dr. Matthew S. Levitas

Dr. Matthew Samuel Levitas was first cousin to my husband's grandmother, Rose (Levitt) Goldstein. As part of his distinguished medical career,  he was recognized for his work with the V.F.W.:

Brooklyn Newsstand, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 10 September 1948, page 7

Military Monday ~ Dr. Matthew S. Levitas of Brooklyn

Matthew Samuel Levitas was a first cousin of my husband's grandmother, Rose (Levitt) Goldstein. According to his WWI and WWII Draft Cards, he was born in Newark, New Jersey, on April 14, 1892.

I shared his family in census records here (1895-1915) and here (1920-1940).

I'm not sure where he attended medical school, but by June 1917, according to his WWI Draft Card, he was working as a Physician at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, N.J.

Ancestry.com, U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.
Registration location: Kings County, N.Y.; Roll: 175449; Draft Board: 60; Record for Mathew Levitas

He did serve in the medical corps in World War I, initially serving at Base Hospital Camp Upton on Long Island, then as a surgeon in Hoboken, N.J. He was given an honorable discharge on September 4, 1919.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle can be found online at Brooklyn Newsstand. (Any issues not found there might be found at Fulton History.) I found several articles that mentioned Dr. Matthew S. Levitas in the 1940s and early 1950s. A select few follow.