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.

Thriller Thursday ~ All The Girls Jumped

My husband's great-grandmother, Golda Segal, immigrated to America in 1891. The family settled in Woodbine, New Jersey, which was originally established as a farming community for Jewish immigrants. But when that was not successful, Woodbine became a manufacturing center with a variety of factories providing jobs for new Americans.

Golda Segal was born sometime about 1869 in Russia. She worked in one of the factories in Woodbine in the 1890's. Golda was my mother-in-law's Bubbie (grandmother), and, as my mother-in-law tells it:

She [Golda] was in a fire and in those days they locked people in the factories so they wouldn't get out. When the fire happened, people told her to jump so she came out of the window to jump. There was a barrel or something on the ground and when Golda jumped, she fell onto this barrel, hit her head, and her eardrum burst. This caused hearing and speech problems for her for the rest of her life.

I have found several newspaper accounts of a factory fire in Woodbine on February 7, 1895, which is likely the one my husband's great grandmother was injured in.

From the Bridgeton (NJ) Evening News, February 8, 1895 from GenealogyBank:

TERRIBLE FIRE AT WOODBINE. Factory Buildings Burned and Many Persons Hurt. A Panic Among Employees - Rosa Litshetz Jumps From a Third Story Window - The Loss May Reach Fifteen Thousand Dollars  There was a big fire, terrible in its results, at the Russian Hebrew colony of Woodbine late yesterday afternoon, but the particulars are meagre and hard to obtain.
  The machine and tool factories were burned to the ground. The first account says that seven persons were badly injured and one woman was nearly burned to death.
  A later report says: One of the main building which were burned was a three story one. Forty five persons were in it. The fire happened late yesterday afternoon. A girl named Rosa Litshetz jumped from a third story window and was seriously injured.
  Several others jumped from windows and were somewhat hurt. Nearly all the employees were injured, either by jumping or fighting the fire.
  The factories have lately started up and the town had taken a sudden boom during the last two weeks.
  Great excitement prevailed during the fire and several persons were frozen by exposure.
  The loss by the burning of the buildings is estimated at between $12,000 and $15,000.
  A physician went to Woodbine from Millville by special car this morning. Several reporters of Philadelphia and New York papers, en route for the place, are on the down train, snow bound at Glassboro.

Sunday's Obituary ~ Uncle Edward Levitt

My mother-in-law's uncle Eddie moved from southern New Jersey to Springfield, Massachusetts, between the births of his two children in 1933 (born in NJ) and 1937 (born in MA). Springfield is where his wife, Adele Reisner, was from. (Adele was the daughter of his older half-sister, Rebecca Levitt.)

GenealogyBank has his obituary in its Recent Obituaries database. This means that I don't have an image of it, but a transcription. The following is from page 24 of the Tuesday, August 23, 1988 issue of the Union-News of Springfield, Massachusetts.

Former store owner Edward Levitt, introduced television to Springfield
Edward Levitt, 80, of 7300 Radice Court [Lauderhill, FL], founder and retired 40-year owner of Levitts TV Center, Springfield, died yesterday in Holy Cross Hospital, Fort Lauderdale.
Born in Woodbine, N.J., he lived in Springfield many years, moving to Florida after his retirement in 1974. He was graduated from the R.C.A. Electronics School of Chicago, and after taking many other TV courses, he introduced television to the Springfield area in 1934.
He was a member of Beth El Temple, the Samuel Sherwood Lodge of Masons, the Scottish Rite Bodies and Melha Shrine Temple and the Maccabean Lodge, Knights of Pythias.
He leaves his wife, the former Adele Reisner; a son, Marvin B. of Longmeadow; a daughter, Saundra E. Solomon of Longmeadow; a sister, Rose Goldstein of Ventnor, N.J., and seven grandchildren.
The funeral will be tomorrow afternoon at the Harold R. Ascher and Son Memorial Chapel with burial in Beth El Cemetery, West Springfield.
Memorial week will be at the home of Marvin Levitt, 54 Glenbrook Lane, Longmeadow, with evening services.

I have shared a photo of an early business of his: Levitt's Electric Service, in 1930's Woodbine, NJ.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Margaret Handler Levine 1913-2012

My husband's Aunt Margaret in the early 1940's, in Akron, Ohio, before the brothers went to war.

Louis, Margaret, and Alfred Handler

And Aunt Margaret at a family wedding in 1991:

Always with a smile on her face.

Sympathy Saturday ~ Remembering Aunt Margaret

My husband's aunt, Margaret (Handler) Levine, passed away a year ago. She had lived a long life and was cherished by those who knew her. I only got to meet her a couple of times and could see why everyone loved her.

She had been a widow for over 30 years and had no children, but I wanted to share a bit about her to ensure she will be remembered.

Margaret Handler was the second child of Joseph Handler and Lena (Hollander) Handler, and the first of their children to be born in America. I wrote about the passenger lists that showed Joseph's arrival in America in 1910, Lena's arrival in 1911, and Lena's return arrival in 1916 with their two children, Arpad (Arthur) and Margaret, after having gone back to Hungary for a visit.

I have also written about Joseph Handler's naturalization, which includes birth information for his children. This indicates that Margaret was born August 26, 1914, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Margaret contracted polio as a young child, supposedly on the return trip from Hungary in 1916. She survived, but had a limp for the rest of her life.

Margaret married Meyer Levine on June 23, 1947, in Akron, Ohio. As you can see from the marriage record below, Margaret and Meyer were neighbors on Rhodes Avenue. The marriage record notes that "Margaret Handler is 33 years of age on the 26 day of August 1946," implying that she was born on August 26, 1913, a discrepancy with the birth date noted above. August 26, 1913, is also the birth date recognized in the Social Security Death Index.

Ancestry.com, Summit County, Ohio, Marriage Records, 1840-1980 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), www.ancestry.com online database. Record for Meyer Levine and Margaret Handler

Aunt Margaret (known as Aunt Marge) and Uncle Meyer lived in Akron their entire lives. Uncle Meyer died in 1977.