Brick Walls
The genealogists term for not being able to find any more information about a person is “Brick Wall.” I’ve hit a number of these over the last several years and for the most part that barrier still stands but once in a while you knock it down or at least punch a hole through it. I posted early on about my grandfather’s uncle, Meyer Levine. At that time I didn’t have much information about him except for the fact that he was an uncle and his wife’s name was Tiba Mirachi. My third cousin, Beny Levin, smashed down that wall when he found that Meyer (Beny’s great grandfather) had two daughters and a son that we weren’t aware of. He went on to identify another great grandchild and eventually that person’s mother and uncle who are both still alive. They provided pictures, stories, and documents to add to our family history.
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Name: |
Louis Cohn |
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Event Type: |
Marriage |
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Event Date: |
1 Sep 1901 |
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Event Place: |
Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States |
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Event Place (Original): |
Manhattan, New York, New York, United States |
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Gender: |
Male |
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Father's Name: |
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Mother's Name: |
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Spouse's Name: |
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Spouse's Gender: |
Female |
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Spouse's Father's Name: |
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Spouse's Mother's Name: |
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I’m still banging my head against those steadfast bricks in a couple of other areas. Arlene’s paternal grandparents are a little of a mystery. Louis Cohn and Rachael Becker got married in 1901. I’ve been able to trace Rachel’s family back to her grandparents but I have Louis’s parents name and not much else. His parents were Harris Cohn and Liba Slopadofsky. I did find a 1900 census report that looks promising about the Harris Cohn family but delving into ship manifests and other documents yield nothing. I’ve tried to trace the families of the siblings in the 1910 census (if it is indeed the right family) and have not found anything about any of them. I also posed the question about the family on Tracing the Tribe, a Jewish genealogy Facebook group. I usually get a lot of helpful responses but this time the only thing that came about is a Slopadofsky reference to a family in Europe and a possible name change to Cohn from Baranowski. I find that a bit of a stretch but I will probably investigate it eventually.
The Meyer Levine that I mentioned earlier had three brothers. Beryl, Eli Leizer, and Labe. Beryl was my great grandfather and he died in 1889 of appendicitis on or about the day his daughter, Bertha was born. Eli Lazer and Labe have been elusive to say the least. I found a ship manifest for an Elie L. Levine that listed Latrobe as his final destination when he got to the USA. He was accompanied by his daughter Paschke but it could be Baschke. He entered the country in 1899 at the age of 30 which would mean he would have been born in 1869. That would be the proper time frame for him to be my grandfather’s uncle. The ship manifest says that his home town was Ivye which is about 20 miles south of Traby. My grandfather said he had uncles that lived in Ivye. It also says that he was heading to meet his brother in Latrobe. Meyer had already immigrated to the USA and is likely the brother he was referring to.
There is a ship manifest for a man named Leibe Lewin who arrived in 1902. He was 22 years old and from Traby and he was meeting his Uncle (Leizer) Levine in Mt. Pleasant, PA. It is doubtful that he was the brother of Meyer, Eli Lazar, and Beryl because he was born in 1880 and would have been too young. If he was truly a nephew of El Lazar then he would have to be a son of Meyer or Labe. We have no evidence of Meyer having a son named Labe and it is doubtful that Labe named a son by his own name. We know that Beryl did not have a son named Labe by testimony of two of Beryl’s children.
I haven’t been able to dig up any European records of this Levin/Levine/Lewin family but there are several other documents listing people with those names that were located in Westmoreland county in Pennsylvania. I may have removed a brick from this wall but I can’t see too much on the other side.
Sometimes the brick wall isn’t blocking old relatives and ancestors but it is keeping me from finding family of my generation and younger. I haven’t found much about Arlene’s cousin, Carol Carlton. Carol is the daughter of Arlene’s uncle Arthur (her father’s brother.) The 1950 census will be released soon and it may give us a clue as to where we can find her.
Traditional genealogical resources like birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage records may not be fruitful due to privacy concerns. Social media may give some insight but quite frankly I feel a little creepy sending a cold message to someone on facebook who doesn’t have any idea of who I am. Many people ignore these messages and even block the sender fearing it may be a phishing scam. Other areas to investigate are land records, probate records, occupational records, and even newspaper articles. Hello google et. al. More and more records are being indexed and are becoming available but until I can swing that huge heavy breaking ball I will have to be content with what I have.
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