Things I Didn't Know I Didn't Know

 

    Researching your family history often times surprises you. Family lore and word of mouth narratives make you think that you know the whole story but then a document appears that lets you know that you didn’t really know. Most of the time it is just a small actuality like a person’s middle name or the apartment they lived in. Sometimes it is much bigger than that and can confuse the hell out of you just when you think everything is concrete. 

Tillie Cohen 1910 census 216 Henry Street

 

Simon Muckler 1910 census 214 Henry Street

     I knew that my grandfather, Louis Levine was met at Ellis Island by his Uncle Simon Muckler. I also knew that my grandmother, Tillie Cohen lived in New York and was a machine operator in the garment industry. What I didn’t know was that Simon and Tillie lived next door to each other on Henry Street on the lower east side. I discovered this when searching for Tillie in the 1910 census. I found a Tillie Cohen but wasn’t sure it was her. I turned to the previous page and staring me in the face was Simon Muckler’s family in the next building. Her residence on Henry Street was corroborated in an interview between my Grandfather and his Son in Law, Murray Ringold. 

    Speaking of Murray Ringold, it turns out that he spent some time in the Cincinatti, Ohio area in the early 1940’s. Murray married my Aunt Helen in 1945 but I am uncertain if they were engaged during his stay in Ohio where she and her sister Ruth were also living. Murray and Helen’s oldest brother Bernie, was an engineer at Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton at the time. I don’t know if they knew it but their cousin Rosalind Wolinsky nee Levin was also in the area because her husband Meyer Wolinsky had enlisted at Patterson Field in 1942. 

Louis Boxi draft card
 

     In a previous post about family members who served in the military I stated that my Uncle Lou Boxi (my mother’s brother) served in the Canadian armed forces. I was wrong. He was in the US military. He registered for the draft in 1940, two years before he married Hilma so he put his aunt Anna as the next of kin. Anna was married to Lou’s uncle Max Boxinbaum. It is also interesting to note that his country of citizenship is listed as Poland. Lou was born in Lodz, Poland and came to Canada with his parents as a young boy. Apparently he never became a citizen of Canada. I think he must have eventually become naturalized as a US citizen but I haven’t yet found that document. 

     I knew that my Uncle Herman had four children. What I din’t know was thataAll of them were born in different states. Marcie was born in Illinois, David was born in New York, Missy was born in Ohio, and Aaron was born in and still lives in New Mexico. I always thought that my mother, Minnie Levine nee Boxinbaum was born in Toronto and moved to Hamilton. It was the other way around. Her border crossing papers, dated the day she got married attest to that fact.

     My Uncle Bernie was the oldest of six children. I always thought that he was named after his paternal grandfather, Beryl. Bernie’s gravestone says that his Hebrew name is Beryl. Beryl was the father of Louis (Bernie’s father) and died in 1889 of appendicitis. My mother’s Hebrew name was Manya, although it is really a Yiddish name. That was the name of her great grandmother and it is likely she was named after her. Minnie was also honored thusly and has two granddaughters named Manya after her. 

Philip and Bessie Snyder gravestone
 

     Arlene’s grandfather was Philip Snyder. We just spent a month in the Philadelphia area to escape the Florida heat and while we were there we visited her grandparent’s grave. Nobody had visited them for a long time and there are not many people left in the Philadelphia area to place a small rock on their gravestone. I had an ulterior motive. I knew that Philip’s mother’s name was Esther but I did not know his father’s name. The gravestone says his fathers name was Chaim. Another lead for me to follow. Also, there was some discussion as to where Philip emigrated from. Some sources said Russia but a family story said it might have been Hungary. His naturalization papers say he was from Libau which is in Latvia. Another lead to follow.

     I don’t know if all of my research is correct and I don’t know if I will ever find a long lost cousin. I also don’t know if any of my descendants or descendants of my numerous cousins will ever want to continue what I’ve started here. I do know that I am enjoying the ride. I am enjoying learning about my past family and my future generations. I do know that I am loving discovering what I don’t know.