An Unknown First Cousin!

 

Surprising DNA Results

When I teach a beginning genetic genealogy class for my Jewish Genealogy Society, I always tell the students to test at more than one site and warn them that sometimes DNA results can be surprising. 

Although I have had my DNA results at both Family Tree DNA and My Heritage for a long time, I had never tested at Ancestry DNA. They had a good sale on tests last fall so I bought one and sent it in, not expecting results for a while due to the holiday crush.  When they finally notified me in January that my results were ready, I clicked on the link, expecting to see thousands of matches, including several that were known second cousins and below that I knew had tested there.  What I did not expect was to see a match that was so large that it had to be a first cousin (I ruled out a grandparent due to my age).  I won't use his name but just call him GRH.  I was pretty sure that I knew all of my first cousins so after I re-started my heart, I ran down the possible parents of this person and the likelihood that they were the parent. My father's much older brothers? Not likely.  My mother's sister?  From what I knew of her this was possible but not likely either.  Then it hit me. My mother had a brother, Jerry, who died at age 20 (before I was born) when his Army Air Corps plane crashed.  I wrote about him here.  

The story I heard from my mother was that Jerry had possibly fathered a child with a non-Jewish girl near his base before the crash and that my grandmother had been in contact with her but for whatever reason, contact was lost.  I looked at his ethnicity data and sure enough, he was 50% Ashkenazi Jewish.  My next best match, who appeared to be GRH's son, was 25% AJ. Could this person be Jerry Lieberman's son?

After several false starts, I finally contacted GRH a few days ago.  He confirmed that Jerry Lieberman was his birth father.  His mother had married and her husband raised GRH as his son.  GRH did not find out the true story until that man's death when GRH was about ten and his mother told him the story. He remembered seeing Jerry's mother (our grandmother) once when she came out to where he was living, and he knew that he had received gifts from his grandparents' Baby Furniture store.

We had a great FaceTime chat and it seems that we have a lot of interests in common.  I hope that I will get to meet my new first cousin sometime in person.  Meanwhile, we are exchanging photos and family information.  

Cousins who would like to know more should contact me offline.

Meanwhile, never be surprised at what your DNA results may show!

Genealogy Fun

Janice Sellers, who writes the blog Ancestral Discoveries, passed on a genealogy challenge this weekend. It was to show an unbroken line of ancestors and descendants for whom you have photographs.
This weekend, I attended the Bat Mitzvah of a cousin who is at the newest end of such a line so I thought I'd post my response that way.

Lena Tepper

 First is Lena Tepper.  I don't know her maiden name.  I have found several of her children's marriage certificates, but each has a different maiden name for her.  She was born in about 1857,  probably in the town of Mirapol in what is now Ukraine.  This photo was taken in Philadelphia in about 1930.

Cherna (Jennie) Tepper Grosser

 Lena's oldest child, Jennie Tepper Grosser was born about 1880, also in Miropol (now called Myropil).  This photo was taken in Philadelphia in about 1944.

Albert J. Grosser

Jennie's son Al was born in 1904, in Philadelphia, PA.  This was taken in 1969 at his parent's 73rd wedding anniversary party.

Al's son was born in Philadelphia in 1937. I'm guessing that this was taken in about 1960 in Philadelphia.

Proud Father of the Bat Mitzvah girl

Latest Bat Mitzvah and sixth generation of the family.

DNA Testing and My Family Tree

It's that time of year again and I just ended another whirwind of genealogy activity at the International Association of Jewish Genealogy Societies annual conference.  This year it was in Orlando FL. As usual, the schedule was packed with great sessions on all sorts of topics, but a highlight was a full track on the latest innovation in genealogy, using DNA to help build your tree.

You've probably seen the commercials for the DNA testing companies on TV.  "Find out where your ancestors come from", "Find your lost cousins."  Maybe you were intrigued.  (To my cousins:  If you have tested or are interested in doing so, please PM me!).  This can be really interesting but unfortunately, traditional techniques of using DNA to find relatives do not work well for Ashkenazic Jews.  It's much harder.  We are an endogamous population; everyone is related to everyone else.  Everyone who tests comes up as a match to everyone else who tests.  This problem was not addressed at the outset by the companies performing the analyses for general consumers, but with advances in analysis and the advent of two companies and many researchers that put a focus on Ashkenazi Jews, DNA analysis has been added to our toolbox.

I have been trying to incorporate DNA results into my research.  It can be especially useful where traditional document based research can't confirm a suspected relationship.  I have several places in my tree where everyone agrees that two branches are related but we don't know exactly how.  I have written about some, "the Other Roth Family" here, and the "Tepper Zimmerman" connection here.  My research indicates a common ancestor for these branches, or a family story says that a couple were close cousins, but there is no documentation.  That is where DNA may be able to help.

It takes a fair amount of work, and for many family members to test.  Because everyone has a 50/50 chance of inheriting any piece of DNA from either parent, after a few generations, the amount of shared DNA goes down significantly even among direct descendants.  In my family, I have almost reached the limits of reliable testing material since my missing connections are four or five generations back from me so it is important that as many of the oldest generations still alive test now so that their DNA is available for the future.  The test that I have found to be the most useful in my research is the autosomal DNA (or "Family Finder") test.  This isn't limited to only direct male line descendants (Y-DNA) and it can be more specific than MtDNA which can say that the person is in a direct maternal line, but not how far back the common ancestor is.

Over the past two years, I have been getting DNA tests from some relatives.  After the test (a quick cheek swab, no pain, no blood) either they administer the results themselves (look at matches, answer e-mails from potential matches, analyze the results etc) or I act as administrator for them.  At the conference, I  heard about how several companies now allow you to upload the results from one company to another and use their tools for analysis.  A representative from Family Tree DNA, the company I use, also told me how to group all of the kits that I administer into one private family project to streamline my analysis.  I've started that process and am looking forward to making my life easier.  When it is complete, I will also be able to invite others into the project, if I am not the administrator of their results.

I hope that with more family members testing, and more work on my part I may be able to confirm or deny some suspected relationships in my tree.  Several companies have sales on the tests going on right now so if you are interested in giving it a try, let me know.

Gone too Soon: Little Esther Grosser

     Esther Grosser was the last child of my great grandparents, Elcon and Jennie Grosser.  She was born on May 2, 1909, at the family's home at 814 S. 4th St in Philadelphia [1].  She was remembered by her older sister, my grandmother, as a happy child.  By 1920, the family had moved to 344 South St, where Elcon had a retail store selling hardware items.[2]

814 S. 4th St Philadelphia, taken Nov 2015

      According to my grandmother, On October 31, 1920, Halloween, Esther was in her costume.  As it was dark, she reached to light the gas lamp, and her costume caught fire.  The death certificate says her clothing caught fire, not specifying a costume, but agreed with the gas lamp lighting.  She was burned over most of her body (flameproof childrens' clothing was not the norm at the time).  She was taken to Pennsylvania Hospital, about one mile away, where she died on November 1, 1920 [3].  She was buried at Har Nebo Cemetery in Philadelphia on November 2, 1920[4].

1. Ancestry. com, Pennsylvania Birth Records, 1908-1909 (Lehi, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015) Ancestry.com, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania (State). Birth certificates, 1906–1909; Box Number: 240; Certificate Number 79776. Record for Ester Grosser

2.  Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2006) www.ancstry.com, Database online.Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 3, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1387; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 48; Image: 797. Record for Colkin Grosser.  

3.  Ancestry.com, Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1924 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014), Ancestry.com, Record for Esther Grosser.

4.  Ibid.

Phyllis Lieberman Schlesser Swern 1922-2017

Phyllis Lieberman about 1944

    Phyllis and her twin, Jerry Lieberman, were born on December 15, 1922, in Philadelphia to Nathan and Ida (Grosser) Lieberman.  Phyllis told me that she was overweight and always felt unattractive as a child.  The family moved to Trenton, NJ in about 1940. Phyllis, who had dropped out of high school, studied cosmetology and hairdressing.  The family was not a happy one, and the stress grew worse when Phyllis' twin Jerry was killed in 1943 flying for the USAAC (see post here).
    As she grew older, Phyllis learned to highlight her beauty.  In May 1944, Phyllis became engaged to David Bernard Schlesser, son of Selig and Minnie Szlesser of New York City[1].  The Szlessers had immigrated to the US from Austria in 1932[2], and David had signed up to fight for his new country in 1942 at age 20[3].  He was a private in the US Army, probably stationed at nearby Ft Dix.  When they married on September 5, 1945[4,] he had recently been mustered out of the Army and returned to Trenton.  The couple was active in social activities at the Har Sinai synagogue and in October 1948, just before the birth of their son, David purchased a delicatessen at 64 Market Street in Trenton [5]. The marriage only lasted a few years, part of which the couple spent living in the Lieberman home.  By March of 1949, David posted a notice in the newspaper disavowing any debts not contracted by himself[6].  David moved to Miami, Florida, and after the divorce in March 1951[7], Phyllis officially became a single mother.

Phyllis and her son

     Phyllis wanted a more exciting life, and by 1953 she and her son had moved to Manhattan where they lived in an apartment on the Upper West Side, a block from Central Park[8]. Looking back, I suspect that the apartment was subsidized by her long time gentleman friend, although my family never said as much in my hearing. She became a dress designer.  She was always very chic. I remember frequently visiting her there as a child. She took me to lunch at elegant restaurants and ordered me my first oyster. She travelled to the Caribbean, and to Europe.  Her son soon began his education in a series of boarding schools and overnight summer camps, and Phyllis enjoyed the New York social life. By 1960 they had moved to a high rise apartment building at 3 Washington Square Village [9] and she had opened her own dress shop in Greenwich Village.  She designed and made all of the clothes, often using hand painted fabrics made by other artists in the Village.  The clothes were popular, but she was not a good business person, and the store closed, despite contributions from various family members who tried to keep it afloat.  Despite her financial troubles, Phyllis was always generous.  She always had a gift for me, even if I now realize that she was often re-gifting something that had been bought for her.  Sometimes the gifts were not perfectly appropriate.  I remember after a trip to Switzerland and France, she brought my six year old brother some skis, and she brought eight-year-old me a french string bikini.  I loved it, but the rulers of the Jewish Community Center swimming pool decreed that I could not wear it to swim there.

Phyllis in India

    Meanwhile, like many people in Greenwich Village and elsewhere, by the mid-sixties Phyllis had become interested in Eastern religions, and she embraced the idea of shedding worldly goods and living a simpler life.  She moved back to Trenton for a while, and in 1967 briefly married Marvin Swern[10], a widower from a prominent Trenton family who was also going through some difficult times.  They were divorced in 1973[11], although they had separated before that time.  She then went to to India in the mid 70s to study with her guru.
    Although I would see her often at family gatherings in Philadelphia or in Florida over the next decade, I was too involved in making my own life to be aware of hers.  I'm not sure where she was living or what she was doing.  Sometime after her son married and had sons of his own in the mid 1970s, she moved to Portland Oregon to be near his family. In her mid sixties, she decided to take advantage of a program for seniors and continue her education.  She got a GED, and then went on to complete undergraduate and graduate degrees in fine art.

     Phyllis finally moved into a senior citizen apartment building on Northrup Ave in Portland and lived there until the end of her life.  She had a small but nice upper floor apartment with a spectacular view of the city.  She continued to use her designing and sewing talents, making items to sell at crafts fairs for some years, and then in the last few years, making hats for a local charity.  When I visited her last year, her apartment was filled with boxes of fabrics and her dining table was shared with a cutting mat and sewing items.  She was very independent, continuing to drive her car and running her own errands.  Her son and grandchildren were the focus of her life.  In December 2016 she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  She refused treatment, staying in her apartment and continuing to be independent as long as she could.  She died on March 2, 2017.

1.   Trenton Evening Times, Trenton, NJ. Sunday May 14, 1944. p.10 "Society: Number of Engagements, Miss Phyllis Lieberman" GenealogyBank.com database on line.
2.  Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2006), www.ancestry.com, database online.  Record a SS Alfred Bain from Hamburg.
3. Ancestry.com, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death file, 1850-2010 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), Ancestry.com. Record for David Schlesser.
4. Trenton, Mercer, New Jersey Marriage Certificate:  David Bernard Schlesser and Phyllis Lieberman 5 September, 1945. original document. Papers of Phyllis L. Swern.
5.  Trenton Evening Times, Trenton, NJ. Sunday October 10, 1948. p.16.  "Delicatessen Store Changes Ownership" GenealogyBank.com database on line.
6. Trenton Evening Times, Trenton, NJ. Thursday March 3,1949 p.35.  "Personals" GenealogyBank.com database on line.
7.  Ancestry.com, Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001 (Provo, UT, USA.The Generations Network, Inc., 2005), www.ancestry.com.
8.  Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), Ancestry.com, Record for Phyllis Schlesser.
9.  Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), Ancestry.com, Record for Phyllis Schlesser.
10.  Kettubah between Marvin Swern and Phyllis Lieberman Schlesser, Dec 23, 1967., Dec 23, 1967, Phyllis Swern papers; privately held by Phyllis Swern, Portland OR, 2017
11. Divorce of Phyllis Swern and Marvin Swern June 1973., Papers of Phyllis Swern; privately held by Phyllis Swern, Portland OR, 2017.

Harry and Bessie Tepper Nitt

Bessie Tepper and Harry Nitt, about 1917

     Rebecca, or Bessie as she was commonly known, was one of the children of Meier David and Lena Tepper about whom I have posted off and on over the past year.  Bessie was born in Miropol, Ukraine, around 1892.  She moved with the family to Baranivka, then travelled with her parents and many of her siblings to the U.S.,through Libau, Latvia,  arriving in New York on December 22, 1907 aboard the SS Lituania[1].  The family then travelled by train to Philadelphia to join the siblings already established in that city.  
     By 1910, Bessie was working in a shirt factory in Philadelphia, and living with her parents at 312R Front Street[2].  On February 1, 1914, 22 year old Bessie married Joseph Stanley Blender[3].  Joseph was also born in Russia, had come to the US in about 1902, and had served in the US Coast Artillery from December 1909 until May 13, 1912, when he was discharged for disability[4].  The marriage did not last long, and by the time he registered for the draft for WWI in 1917, he listed himself as single and living with his parents[5].
     I'm not sure what Bessie did for the next few years as I haven't been able to find her 1920 census record, but by 1924 she had met the love of her life, Harry Nitt, and on August 6, 1924 Bessie and Harry had travelled to York (Toronto), Ontario, Canada, where they were married[6].  Harry was tall, rangy and handsome, He was somewhat exotic as well, a Lutheran, raised in the American West, and a bit of a rolling stone.
     Rhinehalt Gustav "Harry" Nitt was the son of a German immigrant, Pauline Mampel, and her husband Gustave Nitt a first generation American.  Pauline came to the US in 1885 destined for Detroit, MI[7].  She worked as a domestic[8]. S  In August 1889 she married Gustave Nitt, a blacksmith[9]. A son, Rheinhalt Gustav, was either born in June 1889 or in June 1890 according to various records.  By 1894,  Gustave had moved to the town of Denver Colorado where he continued to work as a blacksmith[10]. Denver had benefited from a "silver boom" and was growing rapidly, attracting workers to support new industries.  The boom ended suddenly in 1893 with a financial panic, leaving Denver and the country in the grip of a severe depression.  Denver did not begin to recover until 1897.  Gustave had died in Denver in 1896, leaving his young wife and son[11]. In the 1900 census of Denver, Pauline is listed as a widow, and 9 year old Harry is still in school[12].  Sometime around 1909, Harry married a woman named Hildred Josepha (last name unknown.)  They are listed in the 1910 census as living in Sterling, Colorado where Harry worked as a cement worker[13].  In the 1911-1912 Business directory for Sterling, Hildred is listed as working for the New Method Laundry and living at 528 Walnut St[14].  There is no mention of Harry.
     When Harry registered for the WWI draft on June 5, 1917, he was living in Salem, New Jersey, not far from Philadelphia, and working as a munitions worker at the DuPont Powder Company.  He declared himself to be married, although I have found no record of Hildred at that time in New Jersey or elsewhere[15].  Based on the clothing from the photo above, it is likely that Harry and Bessie met at about this time.
     I have not been able to find either Bessie or Harry in US or Canadian records until August 6, 1924, when Rhinehalt Gustav Harry Nitt, 34, a salesman, son of Pauline Mampel, and Bessie Rose Tepper, 32, daughter of David Tepper and Lena Zelbsman signed a marriage record in Toronto, Canada.  They both listed themselves as widowed, although I don't believe that their ex spouses were dead, but this designation was not unusual at a time when divorce was not approved of in many places[16]. (I have spent some time trying to determine the fates of Hildred and Joseph with no success so far.)
     Although Harry and Bessie had no children, they were welcoming to Bessie's nieces and nephews.  They moved to San Luis Obispo, California, sometime in the 1920s.  There is a family story that Bessie's nephew Hy Cohen (of whom more in another post) took has Bar Mitzvah money and travelled from Philadelphia to California in about 1925 to live with Bessie and Harry there.   Another of Bessie's great nieces told me that her mother and baby brother lived with Bessie and Harry during WWII when her husband was stationed on the West Coast.
     By 1930 Harry was a clothing salesman[17].  By 1935 they had moved to Santa Monica, where they rented various homes near the Santa Monica Pier[18] and took in boarders, one of whom was a friend of the (then little known) Desi Arnaz, who used to call the house often.  Harry was still a salesman, and Bessie had a concession on the pier[19].  Bessie's great niece told me that Bessie was a nurse during the war.  Harry had gone gray, and standing at 6' 1/2" 225 pounds was no longer rangy by the time he registered in the "Old Man's draft" in 1942.  He still worked "In and around Santa Monica"[20].  Harry died on July 17, 1953[21].
     Sometime after Harry's death, Bessie moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey,[22] where her sister Jennie lived.  According to one of her great-nieces, she worked as a "shill" at an auction house on the boardwalk.  Later, after the death of her sister-in-law Ida Tepper in 1963, she moved to Miami, Florida, to help her brother.  She continued close contact with her family in Philadelphia area, visiting often for family occasions, anniversaries, Bar Mitzvah's and the like, and entertaining family who visited Miami.  I remember her as warm and funny.  Bessie died in Miami in August, 1966[23].

1.  Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2010),Ancestry.com, Year:1907; Arrival: New York; Microfilm serial : T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: 1064; Line 15, Page 133, Record for Riwke Teper.
2.  Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2006) www.ancestry.com, database online. Year 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll T6254_1390; Page 6B; Enumeration District 159; Image:13. Record for David Japper.
3.  Philadelphia City Archives. Philadelphia, PA. Marriage Record for Joseph Stanley Blender and Bessie Tepper. Filed Jan 8, 1914.  License No. 306833 copy held by Mary-Jane Roth
4.  Ancestry.com.  U.S. Army Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2007), Ancestry.com. Database on-line.  Record for Joseph S. Blender
5.  Ancestry.com, U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2005). Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County; Philadelphia; roll: 1907647; Draft board 27. Record for Joseph Stanley Blender.
6.  Ancestry.com and Genealogical Research Library (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801-1926 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2010) www.ancestry.com. Database online.  Record for Rhinehalt Gustav Harry Nitt.
7.  Ancestry.com, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006), www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year:1885; Arrival :New York, United States; Microfilm serial: M237; Microfilm roll: M237_490; Line:29; List Number: 1241. Record for Pauline Mampel.
8.  Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011) Ancestry.com, Record for Pauline Mampel. Detroit, 1888.
9.  Ancestry.com, Michigan Marriage Records, 1867-1952 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015) Ancestry. com, Record for H.H. Gustav Nitt.
10.  Ancestry.com, Ballenger & Richards twenty-second annual Denver city directory containing a complete list of the inhabitants, institutions, (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005). Ancestry.com. Record for <No Name>.  Gustave Nitt
11.  Ancestry.com, U.S. Find a Grave Index, 1600-Current (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012), Ancestry.com,  Record for Gustave Nitt.
12.  Ancestry.com, 1900 Unitred States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2004), www.ancestry.com, Year: 1900; Census place: Denver, Arapahoe , Colorado; Roll:119; Page:10B; Enumeration District: 0102; FHL Microfilm: 1240119. Record for Pauline Nil.
13.  Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006) www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year:1910; Census Place: Sterling Ward 3, Logan, Colorado; Roll;; Page; Enumeration District: Iname: Record for Hildred Joseh Nitt.
14. Ancestry.com. Hoffhine's Sterling Colorado directory for 1911-1912 containing an alphabetical arranged list of business firms and prove (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005).  Ancestry.com, Record for <no name> Hildred Nitt.
15.  Ancestry.com, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo, UT, USA Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005), Ancestry.com, Database online.  Registration Location: Salem county, New Jersey; Roll: 1754437; Draft Board: 1; Record for Harry Rhineholt Gustave Nitt.
16.  Ancestry.com and Genealogical Research Library (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), Ontarion, Canada Marriages, 1801-1926 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010) www.ancestry.com, database online.  Record for Rhinehalt Gustav Harry Nitt.
17.  Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census (Provo, Ut, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2002) www.amcestry.com. Database online. Year: 1930; Census place: San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, California; Roll: 213; Page: 8A; Enumeration District:21; Image: 364.0; Record for Rhinehalt G. Nitt.
18.  Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012) www.ancestry.com. Year: 1940; Census Place: Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T627_256; Page 1B; Enumeration District: 19-761. Record for Harry G. Nitt.
19.  Ancestry.com. California Voter Registrations, 1900-1968 (Provo, Ut. USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008). Ancestry.com Database online.
20.  Ancestry.com. U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010). Ancestry.com.  World Wat II Draft Cards (4th Registration) for the Sate of California; State Headquarters: California; Microfilm Roll: 603155.  Record for Rhinehalt Gustav Nitt.
21. Ancestry.com. U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index. 1936-2007) (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015). Ancestry.com. Record for Rhinehalt G. Nitt.  And Ancestry.com. California Death Index, 1940-1997. (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2000). www.ancestry.com. Database Online. Place: Los Angeles; Date 17 Jul 1953: Social Security: XXXXXXX Record for Harry Gustav Nitt.
22.  Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1922-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2011), Ancestry.com. Record for Mrs. Bessie Nitt.
23.  Ancestry.com.  Social Security Death Index (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009). www.ancestry.com. Database online. Number XXXXXXXXXX; Issue State: California; Issue Date: Before 1951. Record for Bessie Nitt.
   

Sam and Ida Tepper

Sam and Ida Tepper

     I mentioned in my post of March 8 this year that Meier David and Leie Tepper arrived in New York City on December 22, 1907 aboard the SS Lituania with several of their children[1].  Among those was Schlome, age 18, whose occupation was listed as "smith".  The family travelled to Philadelphia and by 1910 Schlome, now Sam, was living with his family, speaking English, and working an ironer in a tailor shop [2].
     Sometime between 1910 and June of 1917 Sam had met and married Ida Karzen.  He registered for the draft on June 5, 1917 describing himself as a fruit salesman, employed by J.M. Biedler.  He was tall, of medium build, with brown eyes and blond hair and he lived at 1519 N. Franklin Street in Philadelphia  with his wife[3].   I have no idea how Sam and Ida met, since Ida was from Cincinnati.
     Ida was born on August 3, 1892 in Cincinnati to Lewis Karzensky and Eda (Edith) Ostrovsky Karzensky [4]  who had arrived in the US in that year[5].  According to City Directories of the time, Louis worked as a presser until about 1914 when he entered the poultry business.  In 1914 the City Directory for Cincinnati shows Ida working as a stenographer in a bank building.  Both Ida and Louis are shown as living at 5305 Brotherton Rd[6].  The 1916 Directory shows Ida as still employed at the bank building.  Eda (or Edith as she was then known) died sometime in late 1916 or 1917.  She had written a will in March of 1914 which was probated on November 7, 1917, and in which she left her estate to her husband and then to her children, Ida and Samuel Karzen[7].
     In 1918 the Cincinnati City Directory shows Samuel D. Tepper living at 5308 Brotherton Rd, just down the street from Louis, who was now going by Karzen. Sam was working as a blacksmith.  Sam and Ida's first child had been born in January, 1918, and was named Edgar for his grandmother[8].  The 1920 census shows the family still living at the Brotherton Rd address, which they owned free of mortgage.  The census shows that the family did not own a radio, an item that was growing in popularity and the the Bureau was tracking as a proxy for urban and rural prosperity.  By this time, Lewis, now seventy-five, was living with them. Sam had gotten work as a tailor of women's garments[9].  Ida was pregnant with their second child, Florence, who was born in June of that year.  The third child, Robert Lee (Bobby), was born in 1924.
     The depression hit starting in 1929, and in 1930 the census found the family still in the Brotherton Rd. house, but now Sam was unemployed.  He had a wife, three small children and his aged father-in-law living with him[10].  By 1931 he had opened a service station at 5314 Brotherton Road, and a grocery at 5312 Brotherton[11].  By 1940, according to the census, Edgar was working as an attendant at the service station owned by his father, and Florence was a clerk[12].  The 1940 and 1942 City Directories show Sam still operating the service station in Cincinnati, but there is no mention of the grocery.  Edgar had enlisted in the armed forces in October, 1940 and Bobby followed in October 1942.
     For some reason, between 1942 and 1945, the family moved to Miami, Florida.  Perhaps it was the cold winters in Ohio, or perhaps it was because Sam's sister Rose and widowed sister-in-law/cousin Celia Zimmerman Tepper were already there (the tangled relationships among the Teppers and Zimmermans will be the subject of another post).  In 1945 Sam, Ida, and Florence lived at 4510 N.W. 10th St in Miami.  Sam was again in the produce business, and Florence was working as a case worker for Traveller's Aid[13].  World War II was still being fought, and Edgar, who had married Norma Abenschon in 1944, and Bobby were both still serving in the armed forces.  Florence married Manuel Mayerson in 1947 and moved back to Ohio.  In 1950, Bobby married Carolyn Dresser.
     The end of the war, and the desire of many of the thousands of servicemen who had trained there to become permanent residents made for a boom in Miami.  The Tepper produce business grew along with the city.  Meanwhile, according to his family, the pickles that Sam had made in his garage for a select few had grown into a business of its own.  According to the family story he would go to nearby Cuba and buy cucumbers in bulk and have them shipped into the port in Palm Beach County.  The 1958 Miami City Directory shows that Tepper's Wholesale Produce was being run by Edgar, while Sam was president of T&P Pickle Products, Inc, with Vivian (Zimmerman) Plasky (another Zimmerman cousin) as the vice-president, and Bobby as the secretary-treasurer[14].  The overthrow of the Cuban government in 1959 would have ended the forays to Cuba for cucumbers.
     Ida died in 1963[15].  Sam's widowed sister Bessie moved to Florida to help him, but in September, 1967, Sam married the recently widowed Pauline Kaufman (nee Stern)[16] and they moved to a duplex at 1176 Marseille Drive in Miami Beach.  Pauline died in 1979[17].  Sam continued to be very engaged with family, children, grandchildren, sisters and brothers.  He regularly came north to attend the annual anniversary parties for his sister Jennie Grosser and her husband Elcon.  He died on March 10, 1987[18], and was buried in Mt Nebo Cemetery.

1.  Ancestry.com, New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010) Ancestry.com, Year: 1907; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 1064; Line: 9; Page Number: 133  Record for Meier Tepper.
2.   Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006), www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1390; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 159; Image: 13. Record for David Japper.
3.  Ancestry.com, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005), www.ancestry.com. Database online. Registration Location: Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1907616; Draft Board: 13. Record for Samuel Tepper.
4.  Ancestry.com, U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index 1936-2007 (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2015). Record for Ida Tepper.
5.  Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006) www.ancestry.com, Database online.Year: 1910; Census Place: Dayton Ward 4, Campbell, Kentucky; Roll: T624_467; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 47; Image: 414. Record for Louis Karzensky.
6.  Ancestry.com, US City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2011, Ancestry.com Records for Ida Karzen.
7.  Ancestry.com, Ohio, Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015), Ancestry.com, Will Records 1792-1918; Probate Place: Hamilton, Ohio. Record for Edith Karzensky.
8.  Ancestry.com, U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com operations, Inc., 2015) Record for Edgar Karzen Tepper.
9.   Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009) www.ancestry.com, Database online,Year: 1920; Census Place: Cincinnati Ward 2, Hamilton, Ohio; Roll: T625_1388; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 34; Image: . Record for Sam Tepper.
10.  Ancestry.com 1930 United States Federal Census( Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2002) www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year: 1930; Census Place: Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio; Roll: 1806; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 408; Image: 459.0.Record for Samuel Tepper.
11.  Ancestry.com, U.S. city Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2011) Ancestry.com. Record for Samuel D. Tepper.
12.  Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2012) www.ancestry.com, Database online. Year: 1940; Census Place: Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio; Roll: T627_3187; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 91-19. Record for Samuel Tepper.
13. Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry. com operations, Inc., 2011) Ancestry.com, Record for Samuel D. Tepper.
14. Ibid.
15.  Ohio, The American Israelite, Cincinnati, Obituary Feb 14 1963. 
16.  Ancestry.com, Florida Marriage Indexes 1822-1875 and 1927-2001 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006) Ancestry.com, Record for Samuel D. Tepper.
17.  Ancestry.com, Florida Death Index, 1877-1998 (Provo, UT, USA, The Generations Network, Inc., 2004) www.ancestry.com, Database online. Record for Pauline G. Tepper.
18.  Ibid.  Record for Samuel Tepper.

Meier David and Lena Tepper

Lena Tepper

     In a post on 3/8/15, I described the arrival of Meier David and Lena Tepper along with several of their children to New York in 1907, aboard the SS Lituania.  They were going to their son-in-law, Elcon Grosser, in Philadelphia.

     By 1909, they were living in Philadelphia at 306 North Front Street near the docks along the Delaware River.  "Myer D. Tepper" is shown as a huckster in the 1909 City Directory[1].  By 1910, they had moved to a rented house at 312 (Rear) North Front Street.  Their children Sam, Abe, Bess, Harry, Celia, and Mary lived  with them. They also had a boarder, Louis Gefler, a 28 year old, single, express driver.  In the census, Lena's occupation is listed as "none".  I imagine that she kept the house, did laundry, and cooked for all of those people, which is hardly being unoccupied!  Meier David is listed as being a retail merchant of fruit.[2]  The City Directories for 1916 and 1918 still list him as a huckster at that address [3], so he probably sold from a cart rather than a store.
   
     By 1920 Meier David and Lena were still living at 312 (Rear) North Front Street.  All of the

Meier David Tepper

children had grown and moved out, but their daughter Rose and her son Hyman lived next door at 300 N. Front. (see post of 6/5/15 for more about Rose)  Meier David is listed as the proprietor of a restaurant, and Lena is shown as the cook. [4] Their granddaughter remembers hearing that they made food that they sold to the immigrants arriving at the docks nearby.  These photos, taken at about that time show them as moderately prosperous.

     In 1930 they had retired from business and moved to a small three story brick home at 1921 North 31st Street, a few blocks from Fairmount Park.  They rented the home, and had a lodger, a widow named Sarah Ginsberg. [5]

     David died on March 14, 1940 of a strangulated right hernia and heart congestion. [6]  His death certificate shows him living at 1825 N. 31st St.  After David's death, Lena moved in with her son Abraham, his wife Sarah, and daughter Bertha at 4924 17th Street.[7]   In June 1941, following a cardiac incident, Lena moved to the Bellavista Home in Springfield PA where she died on February 1, 1942,.[8]

     The ages of both David and Lena are open to question. When they arrived in 1907 they gave their ages as 56 and 53. Three years later in the 1910 census they said that they were only 55 and 51.  Ten years later, in 1920, they had aged fifteen to twenty years, and were listed as 70 and 70. In the 1930 census they give their ages as 80 and 75.  David's death certificate in 1940 has two ages, 91(crossed out) and 79.   In the 1940 census, taken just after David's death, Lena is listed as only 77.   David's headstone at Har Nebo Cemetery gives an age at death in 1940 as 91.  Lena's headstone says she was 90 when she died two years after the census, but her death certificate says 85. A final determination will wait for the discovery of birth records.  Lena's will be particularly hard to find as I don't know her maiden name.  I have found marriage records for three of her children that have a mother's maiden name filled in.  Unfortunately, they are all different.  One says Zelbsman, one says Zotsman, and one says Kaplan.  Yet another mystery to add to the pile.

1.  Philadelphia City Directory.  Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2011) Record for Myer D. Tepper.
2.  Ancestry. com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006) Database online. Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1390; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 159; Image: 13. Record for David Japper.
3.  Philadelphia City Directories 1916 and 1918. op.cit.
4.  Ancestry. com 1920 United States Federal Census.(Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2009)Database online. Year: 1920; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1619; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 220; Image: 977. record for David Tepper.
5.  Ancestry.com 1930 United States Federal Census (Provo UT USA, Ancestry.com Opertions Inc. 2002)Database online. Year: 1930; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2116; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 741; Image: 1013.0. Record for Meyer Tapper.
6.  Ancestry.com Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963 (Provo UT USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2014) Record for David Tepper.
7.  Ancestry.com 1940 United States Federal Census (Provo UT USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2012)Year: 1940; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T627_3752; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 51-2120. record for Lena Tepper
8.  Ancestry.com, Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1963 (Provo, UT USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. 2014) Record for Lena Japper.

Elcon and Jennie Grosser - 50th Anniversary

Jennie and Elcon Grosser 50th Anniversary
Sept 8, 1946

     Elcon and Jennie Grosser celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Sunday, September 8, 1946.  Family and friends were invited to a formal dinner with dancing at the Lorraine Hotel, Broad and Fairmount Ave in Philadelphia.  A five man orchestra and girl singer (extra $15) under the direction of Maurie Swerdlow were hired to perform from 7PM to Midnight at a total cost of $130.[1]  The dinner was preceded at 6 PM by a second wedding.  Photos of the event help to reconstruct the evening.  Grandchildren Elynore Lieberman and Phyllis Lieberman Schlesser, Morton and Richard Grosser (sons of Al) helped the bride with her corsage and crown. The bride was brought to the Chuppah (wedding canopy) by her daughter and son-in-law Ida and Nat Lieberman, walking between rows of her sons Sam, Jack, Herman, Al, and their wives. A Rabbi performed the wedding ceremony .

Back (L-R) Herman Grosser, Sam Grosser, Nat Lieberman, David Schlesser, Phyllis Lieberman Schlesser, Elcon Grosser, Morton Grosser, Al Grosser, Jack Grosser
Front (L-R)  Mrs Fanny (Jack) Grosser, Mrs Esther (Al) Grosser, Mrs Ella (Herman) Grosser, Richard Grosser, Jennie Grosser, Ida Grosser Lieberman, Elynore Lieberman, Mrs Florence (Sam) Grosser

     Following the ceremony, the bride and groom, flanked by their children and grandchildren were seated at a raised head table decorated with floral centerpieces.  Many round tables served groups of family and friends, including Elcon and Jennie's many brothers and sisters and their families.  Dancing included traditional Jewish dances as well as ballroom dancing.  The event was well remembered by all who attended it.

Elcon and Jennie at Rainbow Inn
Sept 17, 1946

     A few days later, the couple went on a second honeymoon to New York City.  They had dinner at the Rainbow Inn at 82 E. 4th St in Manhattan, a newly renovated dinner and dancing restaurant with a floor show featuring "all the Jewish staples and delicacies, elegantly prepared, as well as steaks and chops. The portions are on the large side.  We recommend particularly the chopped liver and kosher steaks."[ 2].  They also tried Chinese food at the Singapore restaurant at Broadway and 50th Street, which advertised "Exotic Chinese and Island Foods, made to order" and recommended if the diner is in a hurry to make a show.[3]  

Altogether a memorable celebration of an important event.


1.  Contract between Maurie Swerdlow Theatrical Agency, Suite 514, 1001 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, 7, PA, and Mr. Elcone Grosser, 338 South Street, Philadelphia PA. dated 4 September 1946.  From papers of Jennie Grosser.  Original held by Mary-Jane Roth
2.  "Brooklyn and Broadway Night Life", Al Salerno. "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle" Brooklyn NY, Sept 27, 1947, p. 6 . www.bklyn.newspapers.com accessed Jun 29, 2015.
3.  Advertising card for Singapore restaurant with handwritten note 9/17/1946. From papers of Jennie Grosser. Original held by Mary-Jane Roth

Tepper Arrivals: Feige/Rose?

Rose Tepper and her husband about 1910

     Continuing the story of the Tepper Family arrivals.  I have posted about Meier David and several of his children arriving together, and about their son Abraham.  My story of the next child, Rose Tepper, is filled with quirks and mysteries.  There are few records that I can unequivocally state refer to her.  She did not arrive in the US with her parents and siblings in 1907. I have not been able to find a record of her arrival.  On the other hand, there is a record of another person, Feige Tepper, about the same age, a seamstress, from Baranivka (the departure point for the rest of the family) departing Hamburg on July 5 1902 aboard the SS Barcelona[1], and arriving in New York on July 21[2].  She states that she is going to her brother-in-law "Coln" (Elkunah) Grosser in Philadelphia, the same person who sponsored the rest of the Tepper family.  This Feige was almost certainly a child of Meier David and Leie.  Did she become "Rose"?  Although Feige to Rose is not a common name change, is is certainly possible, and there are no other records of this Feige that have surfaced so far.  Also, if Feige was another child, and not Rose, then the number of children claimed by Leie on her arrival and in later census records is off by one.

     The photo above is of Rose with her husband.  It was in the scrapbook of her sister Jennie Grosser.  The husband is un-named.  I have spent much time and energy trying to find a record of her marriage in the Philadelphia City Archives with a few candidates, but no firm conclusions.  I have not found her under the name Feige or Rose in the 1910 census, although I am certain that Rose was in the United States.  She was not living with her parents.  Rose had a son Hyman in about 1911 (although I haven't found a record of his birth either despite hours going through index cards in the Phila Archives).  Rose's granddaughter tells me that her father said that his father deserted the family early on, that Rose took the name Cohen after trying to trace him as far as South America, and began calling herself the widow Cohen.  In 1920 she and Hyman were living at 300 North Front Street, next to her parents at 312R.  She was the proprietor of a notions store[3].  The business directories of 1919 and 1921 list a Rosa Cohen as the owner of a cigar store at 820 S. 8th Street[4], but I am not certain that this is her as that would be two miles from her home.  Her granddaughter tells me that during Prohibition, Rose was a bootlegger.  Hyman remembered growing up among liquor bottles and ran away at thirteen, using his Bar Mitzvah money to go to California to live with his mother's sister Bessie and her husband Harry Nitt.  Both Rose and Hyman drop from the records again after 1920.
     By 1945, Rose was living in Miami, Florida and had remarried to Lewis Adelman[5].  She died sometime after August 1967 when she attended her sister Jennie's 70th anniversary party in Philadelphia.

Rose Tepper Cohen and her brother Sam Tepper
August 10, 1967

1.  Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Hamburg Passenger Lists 1850-1934 (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations  Inc. 2008) Record for Feige Tepper July 5, 1902 SS Barcelona.
2.  New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006)Database online. Year: 1902; Arrival: , ; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_290; Line: 20; List number: . record for Jeige Tepper.
3.  Ancestry.com, 1920 United States Federal Census (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009Database online. Year: 1920; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1619; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 220; Image: .for Cohen Rose
4. Philadelphia Pennsylvania City Directories 1919 and 1921.  Ancestry.com database online.
5  Ancestry.com, Florida State Census, 1867-1945 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc. ,2008) Database online. Record for Rose Adelman

Abe and Sarah Tepper

Sarah and Abe Tepper 1966

     Another of Meier David and Lena Tepper's children who came to the US was Awram, or, as he became, Abraham.  On November 8, 1906, his brother-in-law, Elcon Grosser opened an account at the Rosenbaum Bank for a ticket for him, listing c/o Dowid Tepper , Baranowka, Novograd Wolinsky as the passenger's address.  The ticket cost $31.50, and Elcon paid it in three installments.[1]  Awram was booked on the SS Haverford arriving in Philadelphia on January 28, 1907 from Liverpool England.  He is described as single, a barber, standing 5'7" with a fresh complexion and blue eyes.  The manifest says he was going to his brother-in-law, Kune Grosser (Kune is the nickname for Elkunah, Elcon's yiddish name) and he was met by his sister at the dock on arrival.[2]
     In April 1910, the census showed Abe living with his parents and five of his siblings at 312 Rear South Front Street.  He was employed as a blacksmith at a wagon works.[3]  By late 1912 he had moved to 2226 S. 7th Street and was employed as a plumber.  In October of that year he had married Sarah Stine (Sternman)[4]  They quickly had two children, Rubin and Bertha, and by the time he registered for the WWI draft, they lived at 938 Jackson Street, where they lived for about ten more years. [5]  He and Sarah applied for naturalization in 1914, and were naturalized in 1921.[6]  He was briefly unemployed during the depression, so they moved to a rented house at 4924 N. 17th Street[7], but by 1940 he was listed as the manager of a plumbing supply place.  They were still living in the same house, along with their daughter Bertha who was working as a bookkeeper for an apartment building, and his widowed mother Lena,[8] Rubin having married in 1937.
     Abe was remembered by his granddaughter Evie as someone who could build or fix anything.  He was quiet and liked to play checkers with his friends.  Sarah was remembered as a great cook who kept a kosher house and could make the most delicious food, gedempt, stuffed helzel, roast chicken, cookies (mun and orange), honey cake, blintzes, kugels, etc. They continued to live on 17th street until Abe had a stroke in 1963.  Then they moved to the York House, an assisted living facility, and later he moved to the Philadelphia Geriatric Center after Sarah died in 1970.  Abe died in 1978[9].

The photo above was taken in 1966 at the annual anniversary celebration for Elcon and Jennie Grosser.  Sarah and Abe always attended these gatherings as well as many other Grosser family get-togethers.

1.  Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center and Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Philadelphia, Philadelphia Bank Immigrant Passage Records.  Rosenbaum Bank Book #18 1906-1907 accessed at Paley Library, Temple University.
2.  Ancestry. com.  Philadelphia Passenger Lists  Pennsylvania, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1800-1963 [database on-line] Roll: T840_55; Line: 30. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Record for Awram Tepper.
3.Database online. Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 11, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1390; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 159; Image: 13. Record for David Japper.  Accessed from Ancestry.com
4.  Affidavit of Applicant for Marriage License No. 286484 Abraham Tepper and Sarah Stine, filed Oct 10, 1912 with Duplicate certificate Filed Oct 16, 1912 citing Marriage of Abraham Tepper and Sarah Stine on 14th day of October, 1912.  Accessed at Philadelphia City Archives
5.  Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. record for Abraham Tepper.
6.  Pennsylvania, U.S. Naturalization Originals National Archives; Washington, D.C.; Naturalization Petitions for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1795-1930; Series: M1522; Roll: 197; Record Type: (Roll 197) Petition Nos. 43391-43750 Accessed through Ancestry.com Record for Abraham Tepper
7. U.S. Federal Census.Year: 1930; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2136; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 1077; Image: 182.0; FHL microfilm: 2341870. Accessed form Ancestry.com Record for Sarah Tepper. 
8.  U.S. Federal Census Year: 1940; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T627_3752; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 51-2120 Accessed from Ancestry.com record for Abraham Tepper.
9.  Comments from Evie Wartell Brezo on records for Abraham and Sarah Tepper in Tepper and Grosser Family Tree on Ancestry.com on 28 Nov. 2010.

Elcon Grosser Part 2 - Elcon and Jennie

Elcon and Jennie with Ida, Herman, and baby Sam abt 1903

     It took nearly a year for Elkunah's wife Czerna to come to the United States.  She arrived in New York on May 22, 1901 aboard the S.S. Barbarossa from Bremen, Germany with daughter Chaie and son Chaim[1], and joined Elkunah in Philadelphia.  Their next child, Samuel, was born in July 1902. The photo above was taken about 1903. It was typical of photos taken by recent immigrants and sent back to the old country to show family and friends that they were well and prospering in the new land. When I recently showed this photo to the grandson of Elkunah's brother Moishe, he remembered that a copy had still been hanging in his grandparents home in Labun when he would visit there before the war.
    By the time Elkunah and his family were naturalized in 1904, they had become Elcon and Jennie Grosser, and the older children had become Ida and Herman[2].  Three other children followed quickly; Abraham (Albert)(1904), Jacob (1907) and Esther (1909).
     Elcon continued to work for Baldwin Locomotive as a Tender Shop mechanic for a few years but Jennie didn't like it.[3]  By 1905 they had opened a shop at 322 Poplar Street where they sold stoves[4] and household things[5].  Jennie operated the store.  By 1908 they had moved to a bigger store at 814 S. 4th Street where they also lived in the apartment above the store[6].   By 1912 they had moved to a store at 338 South Street, selling hardware and children's furniture.  The store continued to operate on South Street into the 1940s although by 1930 Elcon, Jennie, Sam and Jacob (now Jack) had moved to a larger duplex home at 1014 Lindley Avenue in the leafy area of Logan [7].  By then Elcon listed himself as a plumber doing general jobbing, while the boys ran the store.
     From the time he arrived in the U.S. until immigration was restricted in the mid-1920s, Elcon and Jennie continued to provide a welcome to family members arriving from Europe.  Jennie's parents, all of her siblings, Elcon's brothers, and a variety of nieces, nephews, and in-laws all listed Elcon as the person to whom they were destined on their immigration manifests.  The Rosenbaum Immigrant Bank records even show that he purchased passage for several of the immigrants[8].
  Both Elcon and Jennie were very active in the community.  They both served as officers in Landsmanschaft organizations for the towns of Baranivka and Makhnovka (the town from which their daughter Ida's in-laws emigrated.)  They were also active in a variety of Jewish charitable organizations.  With business, family and community, their lives were very busy.


1.  Manifest for S.S. Barbarossa, May 22, 1901 Record for Czerna, Ciaje and Chaim Groeskop.  Record on-line Ancestry.com, New York passenger lists 1820-1957 (Provo UT, USA) roll T715_197, line 9
2.  Naturalization record for Elcon Grosser. Ancestry.com Selected U.S. Naturalization Records- Original documents 1790-1974 (World Archives Project)
3.  "Couple Married 74 Years Invite 300 to Celebrate"  The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, PA, Tuesday August 11, 1970. p B9.
4.  Philadelphia City Directory 1905 &1906.  Ancestry.com online record.
5.  "Couple Married 74 Years Invite 300 to Celebrate"  The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, PA, Tuesday August 11, 1970. p B9.
6.  1920 Federal Census.Philadelphia Ward 4, page 1A ED 105. Roll T625_1616. record for Elcon Grosser record on-line.  Ancestry.com (Provo UT)
7.  1930 Federal Census.  Philadelphia, PA Roll 2136; page 15A; ED 1075  Record for Elcon Grosser. Record on-line Ancestry.com (Provo, UT)
8.  Rosenbaum Immigrant Bank Records.  Record on-line.  Holding of Center for Jewish History, Paley Library, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.

Tepper Grosser Passover Seder 1934

     It's Passover again, and all over the world, families are gathering for the Seder.  My earliest Seder memory was at my great-grandparent's apartment in Atlantic City.  I remember that the service was long, but the food was good and I was permitted to sip some sweet Manischewitz concord grape wine, heavily diluted with seltzer.  Passover was always my favorite holiday.  I loved polishing the silver, setting the table, and preparing all of the special foods, starting with the Charosets, the first dish I was allowed to make on my own.  Since my immediate family was not very observant, I became the person who led the seder as well, a tradition that remains today.

     This photo was also taken at my great grandparents' seder, but about 14 years before I made it on to the scene.  The attendees were (R-L) seated: Elcon Grosser (my ggfather), Jennie Grosser (his wife, my ggmother), Ida Grosser Lieberman (my grandmother, their daughter), Nat Lieberman (Ida's husband, my grandfather). Standing (R-L): Jerry Lieberman (Ida's son), Marcella Sterling (Mary's daughter), Phyllis Lieberman (Ida's daughter) Cissie Sterling (Mary's daughter), Joey Sterling (Mary's son),  Elynore Lieberman (Ida's daughter, my mother), Mary Tepper Sterling (Jennie's sister).  Mary's husband Nelson Sterling was probably behind the camera.

    Feel free to comment with your favorite family Passover memory.

Tepper Family Arrival

Manifest of S.S. Lituania Dec 22, 1907

     Finding the correct manifest for a person or family can be a challenge.  Voyages were usually booked using the Yiddish name or nickname of the traveller.  Transliteration from Yiddish, which is written in Hebrew characters, to English means that there was no consistency of spelling.   It is necessary to match up the information on the Manifest with what you already know to be sure that you have the right family.  It took me a while to find this one.
      On December 22, 1907, Meier Teper and most of his family arrived at the port of New York aboard the ship S.S. Lituania.1  The Lituania sailed from Libau, at the time one of the major ports in the Russian empire.  The family, along with thousands of other migrants, probably reached the port using the network of railways connecting with the port.
    The Manifest contains a wealth of information.  First it lists the family using their Yiddish names as told to the official at Libau who made up the manifest.  It shows their age, sex, marital status, and occupation.   Also, the town from which they came (in this case Baranovka) and where they were going (Philadelphia). On arrival, the relationships among the passengers was added by immigration officials.  Traveling on this trip were the Tepers:
Name           Age   Sex  Relation  Status  Occupation
Meier             56     M                     M        smith
Leie               53      F    wife          M        wife
Avorum         19     M    nephew     S        smith
Schlome        18     M    child          S        smith
Aron              11     M    child          S        child
Ruchel           23     F     niece          S        tailoress
Rivke            16     F     daughter     S        tailoress
Sosse             10     F     daughter    S        child
Miryam           9     F     daughter     S       child

     I was able to identify each of the family members except the niece and nephew.  Meier David and Leie kept their Yiddish names.  The other children became Sam, Harry, Bessie, Celia, and Mary.
     The manifest has other valuable information.  It lists a point of contact in Baranovka as Moschko Weinstein.  I still don't know who that was.  On the second page, it says that Meier arrived with $7.50, and that the family is going to the son-in-law, Mr. E Grosser at 814 South 4th Street Philadelphia.  (see previous blog post for more about Elcon Grosser).  Leie's entry also has a note that she had 4 children already in the U.S.  This note sent me off on an interesting voyage of discovery at the end of which I tracked down a son that I was unaware of.  But more on that experience later. Finally, it gives a town of birth, Miropol, in the gubernia of Wolyn.

Since I knew the names of many of my great-grandmother, Jennie Tepper's siblings, and I knew that she was from Baranovka, this manifest seemed like a good bet.  At the time I found it, I did not know her parent's names (I had photos and a drawing done by my mother, but they were labeled "Zeyda  and Bubbe Tepper").  I did know that my great-grandfather Elcon Grosser had sponsored many of his and Jennie's family members, and I knew where he lived on 4th St. so when I found his name on the manifest I was sure that I had the right family.

1  1907; Arrival; New York, New york; Microfilm Serial T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm roll; R1064; line9; page 133.  Accessed at Ancestry.com, on-line database; New York Passenger Lists