AncestryDNA Updates Ethnicity Results ~ Jewish Results

Initial AncestryDNA ethnicity results were not particularly helpful or interesting for those with primarily Jewish ancestry. The results have been updated. I don't know if they are more helpful, but they certainly are more interesting. I look forward to seeing if matches with other Ancestry users are more fruitful now.

I first wrote about AncestryDNA-One Jewish Result over a year ago. At that time, the autosomal results for my husband indicated that his genetic ethnicity (going back many hundreds of years) was 82% European Jewish, 13% British Isles (which didn't make sense to us), and 5% Uncertain.

The updated results show an increased number of genetic regions and provide more information about the possible ranges of ethnicity. The updated summary page is below, showing an approximate amount of European Jewish ancestry of 92%.

My husband's updated genetic ethnicity (according to AncestryDNA)

Okay, this makes more sense - 92% European Jewish with some trace regions... let's look at these results more closely:

Specific ethnicity results for European Jewish from AncestryDNA

The links in this information box provide additional information about how AncestryDNA came up with the percentage and range for each ethnicity. The link after "Surprised by your ethnicity estimate?" includes a good explanation of the reasons for variations, which include: the genetic influence of neighboring regions, the estimate is on the edges of our predicted range, the random nature of genetic inheritance (with a nice graphic representation showing how genes can pass quite differently from parents to multiple children), and the fact that ethnicity estimation is still an open problem.

Trace Regions is an interesting addition to the AncestryDNA results. (I like this better than "Uncertain" as a result.)

Workday Wednesday ~ Patent for Suspensory Device (Garter Belt Improvement)

When I discovered information about the Emanuel Levitas family (see Max Levitt's Brother is Emanuel Levitas) based on my mother-in-law's memory that her maternal grandfather's brother ran a garter factory in New York City, my husband looked for Levitas and found a patent under the name of Sarah Levitas.

You can search patents at http://www.google.com/patents and when you search for Sarah Levitas, there are two results.

The first result is for Patent No. 842,893, patented Feb. 5, 1907 to S. Levitas for "Suspensory Device for Garters, &c.," Application filed Apr. 4, 1905.

The initial result page is an OCR'ed version of the patent (Optical Character Recognition), so it's not a 100% accurate transcription of the patent, but you can click on a button for the PDF of the patent, and here it is, with Sarah Levitas' signature on the first page:

The second search result is a 1958 update to this device by Sidney Baruch and references the 1907 Levitas Patent, among others.

So, although only Emanuel is listed as Garter Manufacturer in census records, it looks like his wife had something to do with his success in his business.

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.

Emanuel Levitas in Census Records, Part 2

This is a continuation of the census records for the family of Emanuel Levitas, my husband's second great uncle. See the family in 1895-1915 census records here.

1920 U.S. Federal Census

Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, Roll 1168, E.D. 945, Page 3A
2036 65th Street

Mathew Levitas is head of household, age 27, single, born in New Jersey. You can't see it in this image, but his occupation is Doctor.
Emanuel Levitas, father, age 55, born in Austria (mother tongue: German). His occupation is listed as a manufacturer of garters.
Sarah Levitas, mother, age 50, born in Russia (mother tongue: Jewish). Both Emanuel and Sarah are listed as having immigrated in 1888 and having been naturalized in 1891.
Hana Levitas, Mother-in-law (sic), age 85, born in Russia (mother tongue: Jewish). She is listed as widowed, having immigrated in 1870, and having been naturalized in 1875. She wouldn't be Mathew's mother-in-law, as he is not married, and I believe she is Sarah's mother, since she was born in Russia.

Emanuel Levitas in Census Records, Part 1

As I noted, once I learned about Emanuel Levitas (brother of Max Levitt), I was able to find his family in just about every census record between 1895 New Jersey State Census through the 1940 U.S. Federal Census. There are a few discrepancies, but the following censuses show the basics of the family. All of the following census records were found at Ancestry.com, except for the 1905 New York State Census, which was found at FamilySearch.org.

1895 New Jersey State Census

Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, page 23, Family 148

Herman (sic) Levitas, age between 20-60, considered "Male, German"
Sarah Levitas, age between 20-60, considered Female, all-other nationalities (not Irish or German)
Marain Levitas, age under 5, white male, native-born
David Levitas, age under 5, white male, native-born

~~~~~~~

1900 U.S. Federal Census

Manhattan, New York County, New York, Roll 1082, E.D. 53, Page 22B

Emanuel Levitas, head, born Oct 1864 in Austria, age 35, married 13 years
Sarah Levitas, wife, born Jun 1865 in Russia, age 35, married 13 years. Mother of 3 children, all living
Muse Levitas, son, born April 1892 in New Jersey, age 8
David Levitas, son, born Jan 1894 in New Jersey, age 6
Lena Levitas, daughter, born May 1896, age 4