PHOTO OF JEWISH AMERICAN COUPLE SURFACES AFTER 100 YEARS

Passport photo of Abraham Emil Lessem 1921

Every time I sign into Ancestry.com I get caught up in history as a story unfolds from the documents I discover, and last night was no different.   After work I began my research on Lieb Nelick.  He was a Russian born, Jewish American Jeweler.
I have been working on this family line on and off over many years.  Ancestry is always adding new documents, so I began to look at his family members, and others in his tree to see if anything new could be discovered.

Nalick Family C. 1906 Brooklyn New York

When Lieb Nelick was born on February 14, 1900, in Pliskov, Vinnytsya, Ukraine, his father, Hershel, was 36 and his mother, Sema, was 31.  In the photo to the right you will see him as a young immigrant boy, standing in front of his eldest sister Essie.  Youngest brother Stanley who went on to become a vaudevillian actor is in the center, in front of their mother.  Albert is seen here in the second row to the right.  Behind Albert is Jennie, and at the top of the photo is Edith.

According to the ship manifest, their Hebrew names when they boarded the ship headed for the shores of their soon to be new home were: Hershel, Schime, Essie, Jasne, Judes, Elie, Leib & Schloma Nelik. They traveled on the S.S. Umbria  from the port of Liverpool to the port of New York City; leaving Liverpool England on June 30th 1906, and arriving on July 9th.

Steam Ship UMBRIA

I could go into so much more detail here, but this is a post to a blog to introduce a hundred year old photo, not a book.

Lets begin by researching more into Essie Nalick. I quickly discovered an official document titled "Deaths of American Citizens abroad, 1835-1974."

This document was a wealth of information. It enlightened me to the name of Essie's husband.  Prior to this, all that was known to me was his surname Lessem. I now had his full name Abraham Emil Lessem.
I began to read through, page by page of a very large file that was held by the State Department in Washington DC.   A paper trail which formed over months, as various American Consuls attempted to find the living relations to an American Citizen who had died in Hamburg Germany on the first of July, 1922.
It later struck me while I was preparing for bed how fortunate of a find this was. This was prior to World War Two.   All of these documents had been sent to the United States, ending up in the National Archives, thus protecting them to be discovered today. Most Jewish American history was lost forever during the war, so I decided I had to share this story, and began to write.

While all these documents in their totality held my interest with great intrigue; none as much as this next document.  A letter from Essie seeking help from the Secretary of State to investigate what had happened to the effects of her husband. When I think of the Secretary of State, I immediately think of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 67th to hold that office.  My eyes were first drawn to her signature. Something about a signature brings a genealogist so much closer to the lives of those whom they are researching.  I then noticed that the widow was left with an orphan daughter Ruth who she listed as nine years old.  I thought that clue might bring me another family line to follow.  Unfortunately, I discovered that Ruth passed away in 1938 at the young age of 24.

Widow Lessem, also mentioned in this letter some money, and other valuable possessions.  This lead me to continue reading through this file folder.  Where upon reading the list of personal effects of the deceased Abraham Emil Lessem It was in fact true that he had money, a gold watch, and a revolver.  The Cunard Lines had sent his steamer trunk to the American Consulate in Kovno Lithuania.

He had a little over $100 in U.S. currency, and almost as much in German Marks at just under 700 Marks.  The Widow Essie was also sent an accounting by the American Consulate. The accounting included expenses for the doctor, and housing for the doctor. Total 1300 German Marks. Burial expenses, 10,322 marks. Proceeds, I guess from the sale of his Elgin Gold Watch, and other valuables, 11,887 marks.  They sent the Widow, $140.60 US.  I looked that up, and that is approximately an average months salary for the time, as people listed on the 1920 US Census an annual income of $1,200.   It does not appear that they even sent her the photo.  See the list has one framed photo.

Accounting Proceeds/Expenses

The Passport

Abraham Emil Lessem
He was born on January 6, 1879, in Lithuania, the child of Benza Lessem. He had one daughter with Essie Nalick in Brooklyn New York, 1914. He died on July 1, 1922, in Hamburg, Germany, at the age of 43 of apparent Heart Attack. He became a Naturalized American Citizen in September 1914 in Kings County New York.

Abraham traveled to Kovno, Lithuania, to visit his family just after WWI, and died before the Holocaust of WWII which took the lives of so many others.

Here, finally is the never seen before photo of Abraham and Essie Lessem, c. 1914.

Abraham Emil Lessem (1879-1922) * Spouse Essie Nalick Lessem

If you would like to research more into Abraham, and possibly the family of Benza Lessem, you should start here!

More great stories for your future reading on The Jewish American Story.

ENGLISH - IRISH - SCOTCH & DUTCH

Over the years that I have been adding post after post to this blog, I think I have mentioned at-least once that it has been ingrained in me from early childhood that I am a mix of English - Irish - Scotch & Dutch.

1983 Holland, me on tour with my High School French Class.

I have been very fortunate in my life to get to travel the world.  Out of all the places which I have been, I always said that I wanted to return to Holland some day. The last time I was there, was in the early 80's, and still to this day I have hopes that I will in fact get back there one day.  I now know so much more about my ancestors who came from the Netherlands than I did in my youth.

Many of us, to include myself, can trace our ancestral roots to the passengers of the Mayflower. Those ancestors fled from England to Leyden, Holland to escape religious persecution, and then made their final journey to the new land, "New England."  This however, is not that story. 

I just recently completed taking my second DNA test, and sent it off to the lab to be analyzed.  I made the decision to take another autosomal  DNA test, this time with Ancestry.com.  Recently I worked briefly for Family Tree DNA, the current leader in DNA genealogical testing, where I learned a little something about DNA. The results from an autosomal DNA test mainly provide one with fourth and fifth genetic cousin matches.  Great! Do you know your fourth or fifth cousins? Me either.  I discovered many folks who were getting their DNA tested had no knowledge in their family roots, and hoped that a DNA test would get them started. They were not exactly stuck at a brick wall, they had absolutely no knowledge of their family past.  I on the other hand, have over 20,000 names in my family tree, and discovered that I did not have any fourth or fifth cousins. When a genealogist builds a family tree, they build back as far as they can go. Rarely do we think about then building forward. So, how could I match up to my DNA genetic cousins?   I began to work from my most distant known ancestors forward in time, to as current to today as privacy settings will allow.  I have been adding what I call downward branches as fast as I can in expectation of my new DNA results.  Most of my lines were already very complete, except for my Dutch family line.  I was really excited and pleased with myself as I worked on this line.  

Let me begin with baby Ruth!

Just a bit of levity, I am not one of those boring genealogists that just recite names and dates of birth and death.  Ruth Augusta England was my paternal Grand Mother.  This photo to the left was published in our family cookbook which a copy can be found at the LDS library in Salt Lake City Utah. 

We published the 75 page cookbook in the late 1980's.  Sorry that the above link does not take you directly to view the book.  I will search for a better link, and add it when I get the chance.

Ruth Augusta England was born on August 1, 1895, in Dunham, Quebec, Canada. Her father, Clarence Philo England, was 25 and her mother, Nettie Martha Smith, was 24. Both of Quebec, Canada.  She married William Rider Howie, also a native of Quebec, Canada on August 19, 1916, in Orleans, Vermont. They had seven children in 15 years. She died on April 9, 1935, in Newport, Vermont, at the age of 39, and was buried in the Woodside Cemetery, in Beebe Junction, in the Estrie Region of Quebec, Canada.  She died in the hospital during a Laparoscopic surgery for acute pelvic peritonitis.   A routine operation today, not sure if it was in 1935.  I am sure her death was a shock and surprise to my grand father, and her seven children as she was so young. 

Ruth the eldest of the three children.

 
Another family photo from the Howie Family Cookbook. Sorry, copies are all I have, the original photos are not in my possession.  This photo is circa 1901, as her younger brother, the famous author, Gordon Philip England was just a baby. 

Okay, so you are now wondering how does the surname England relate to Dutch ancestry? Since I am speaking about DNA, we cannot follow the mothers line, that of the mitochondrial DNA.  That would be the various family names of: Smith, Ewins, Strong, Flagg, and Kendall. Going back five generations to early 1700's Massachusetts.  We turn to her grand mother, Marguerite Eunice Ruiter,  the mother of Clarence Philo England is my Dutch connection.  

In Quebec at this time many books were recording family histories with many, if not all of my family surname lines in Canada, of the time.

Ruiter is a Dutch surname that may be traced directly back to the Netherlands. Let me quickly jump back to my 8th Great Grandfather, Roeloff Gerritse VanDerWerken (1647 - 1728).  He came from Meppel Drenthe, Netherlands.

According to a history library in Albany New York his father was the immigrant which began what is now known as New Netherlands in New York. 

I will not go into much detail about New Netherlands, and the people of Albany, New York.  You may read more about this history on your own if you have more interest.  The United States Dutch Reformed Church records were the major resource for documents which prove this family line. 

The following is a copy of the English translation from the Wikipedia biography of Jacob Ruiter as found on the Wikipedia website which I posted to Ancesty back on 12/18/2007.


"Jacob Ruiter was born in 1772 near Pittstown in the State of New York. During the American Revolution, his family fled to Canada because of his sympathies loyalists.  Installed first Manor Caldwell (Clarenceville), they settled in the town of Philipsburg, near the Missisquoi Bay.
Towards 1794, Jacob's father became a land agent and he gave his son land in the township of Dunham on the site of the future city of Cowansville.
In the summer of 1798, he went there only to locate his land and built his family a temporary shelter, but in the winter he returned with his family.
In the spring of 1799, he returned with his wife, daughter and a newborn. He built a log cabin on the south shore of the Yamaska River and began clearing his land.
The following year, he built a flour and mill near his cabin.  Known as "Ruiter's Mill, the mill was used for several years by the people in the vicinity.  In 1805, he named the area Nelsonville in honor of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson killed at the battle of Trafalgar.
Captain Jacob Ruiter had married Eunice Freeman and they had 12 children.

Their son, Philip Lampman Ruiter, was born on March 29, 1804, he would be the first white child to be born in Cowansville, and one of my 3rd Great Grand Fathers. You may click on his name, to link you to a post I did earlier.  Jacob Ruiter died in 1840."  Captain Jacob Ruiter was my fourth Great Grand Father."

The Ruiter and VanDerWerken families were in Albany New York for many generations.   Somewhere between New York, and Quebec is where I feel the DNA of the Native American entered my family genome. I am sure one day soon, we will easily be able to figure this out, but with today's technology we still must guess. 
Not to skip all the important stories of my ancestors, I will leave their stories for future posts.  I want to leave you with the Dutch pedigree which leads to my Grand Mother Ruth England.

Ruth Augusta England (1895-1935)

This is a good ending to my introduction on the DUTCH family blood line.

Jane Rosebella Howie - Hastings

Rev. Calvin John Hastings, Cora May Hastings, Jane Rosebella Howie - Hastings.
Photo from the Lawrence Frizzle Collection, Brome, Quebec.

Cora May Hastings was born December 15th, 1880 in Brome, Quebec, Canada. Standing in the center between her parents in the photo above.  Her mother Was Jane Rosebella Howie, and her father was Rev. Calvin John Hasings. When Jane Rosebella Howie was born on July 28, 1849, in Brome, Quebec, Canada her father, James Howie Jr., my second Great Grandfather was 28.  Her mother, Ann Howie, nee Stewart, was 25. Ann (Stewart) Howie photo appears at the end of this post.   Rosebella married Calvin John Hastings.  They were married New Years Eve, December 31, 1880 in the Methodist Church of Shefford, Quebec, Canada. They had one son and one daughter together between 1876 and 1880, Armand Hill Hastings, and Cora May Hastings.  Armand Hill was born April 10th, 1876.  Unfortunately, he died that same year, on September 15, 1876.  Rev. C. J. Hastings died March 21, 1901.

Memorial of Armand Hill Hastings

 
Rosebella then  at age 58, married Peter McKenny Hitchcock on December 24, 1907, in Philipsburg, Quebec.  Christmas Eve. 
Peter Hitchcock, and his first wife Elisabeth, and their daughter Della May we find living next to the James Howie Jr. family on the 1861 Census of Canada. In the township of Stanbridge, Canada. The proximity to the Howie family probably added to how they ended up knowing each other, and getting married.
Della May, Rosebella's Step-Daughter, married a Richard Smith (1859 - 1905) who was born in the United States, in Lisbon, Grafton, New Hampshire.  They had four children. Their Second Son, Eugene Francis Peter Smith (1890 - 1919) brings a special connection to Canadian's who served during World War I. Eugene was a Great-Step-Son to Rosebella. 

The Military Badge of the British & Commonwealth
The 13th Scottish Light Dragoons

Eugene F.P. Smith served for three years in The 13th Scottish Light Dragoons prior to Canada joining the allied forces of WWI, and attested his allegiance to His Majesty King George V. 

King George V

 The 13th Scottish Light Dragoons was a Calvary Regiment of the Canadian Army.  If his service to his country of three years was not enough, in 1914 he joined the first contingent of the Canadian Overseas Expedition Force, "CEF" which formed in Valcartier Quebec in 1914.  This enlistment was voluntary, as conscription was not enforced. Here I have clipped his signature and oath from the attestation form.

He would have adorned to his military uniform many badges and metals, to include these:

The distinguishing patch of the 2nd Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles, CEF.

He served as a Private in the 2nd Canadian Mounted Riffles Battalion.  They embarked for Great Britain June 12th 1915.  They later arrived in France September 22, 1915.  This unit fought to the end of the war.  

Eugene returned home, and married his bride Eva Rebecca Price (1892-1977) on June 12, 1918. He unfortunately died of tuberculosis in Riceburg Quebec, on the 20th of October 1919 at the age of 29 years old, before ever setting eyes on his one and only daughter, Thelma Imogene Smith who was born on the 9th of December 1919.  

Here is his final resting place, and memorial.

Photo courtesy of Graceti on Find A Grave Memorial # 121204425

Jane Rosebella (Howie) died on April 12, 1947, in Colchester, Vermont, at the age of 97, and was buried in Brome-Centre, Quebec Canada.

Jane Rosebella's sister Ann Craig Howie, who was named after her mother, was born on August 4, 1850, in Quebec when Jane Rosebella was 1 year old.

The resemblance between the two sisters is remarkable.

Annie Craig Howie-MacFarlane

Jane Rosebella Howie-Hastings

I have one more photo I wish to share, and that is of my second Great Grand Mother
 Ann Craig Stewart-Howie, with her Grand Daughter Cora May Hastings.

Ann Craig Stewart - Howie, and Grand daughter Cora May Hastings-Goodrich.

When Cora May Hastings was born on December 15, 1880, in Brome, Quebec, her father, Rev. Calvin Hastings, was 33 and her mother, Jane, was 31. She married Max William Goodrich on October 3, 1906, in Montgomery, Vermont. They had three children during their marriage. She died on January 4, 1938, in Oxford, Ontario, Canada, at the age of 57, and was buried in Brome Centre Cemetery.

Without Ancestry.com I would never have had access to the above photos, or have made the connections with cousins in far away places.  The photo of Rev. Calvin John Hastings, and family are from the collection of Lawrence Frizzle.  He is the great grand nephew of my Great Grand Aunts Jane & Annie.  A BIG Thank you to Lawrence Frizzle.

FRANKTOWN CASTLE

Tomorrow Sunday June 21st, 2015 a closing service will be held at 10:00AM for St. Pauls Church in Franktown, Ontario, Canada. 

     While I have never had the pleasure of driving along highway 15 on my way into Ottawa, It is my understanding that you could not miss seeing the Castle of the St. Paul Church.  I may never have known of the history of this Church if not for my perseverance.  You may have read in an earlier post of the MacFarlane family.  As a child I had discovered old photos and newspaper clippings my grandfather had kept. For many years I saved these old documents, later to discover they were of John Calvin MacFarlane (1889-1954), his wife Mildred Agnes Courtney and their daughter, Audrey Lenore Stuart MacFarlane (1922-2012).  As you may recall I had posted these photos to the internet in hopes of discovering who they were.  It was not until the passing of Audrey in 2012 that I would learn the story, and our family connection. 

Rev. Alexander Hastie MacFarlane
C. 1922. Ontario Canada

     Calvin MacFarlane was the son of Reverend Alexander Hastie MacFarlane, and the Great Reverend was the Minister of St. Paul Church. A cousin recently notified me that the Castle had been put up for sale for $199,000 in September 2014.  St. Paul's Church was built in 1901 for the cost of $6,100. 

St. Paul's 2005

The Stone Spire

The Church was designed by the famous Ottawa architect Moses Chamberlain Edey.

Moses Chamberlain Edey
Photo from Wikipedia

Rev. A.H. MacFarlane was born on June 29, 1848, in Dumbarton, Scotland, his father, James Edmond MacFarlane, was 29 and his mother, Mary Brooks, was 29. Both of Dumbarton, Scotland.   The Reverend married Ann Craig Howie on July 3, 1877, in Mansonville, Canada. They had six children in 10 years. He died on January 13, 1927. 

Rev. A.H. MacFarlane Family C. 1900 Canada

     Rev. A.H. MacFarlane emigrated prior to 1860 as a young boy with his parents and eight siblings from Scotland to Canada.  He grew up on Quay Street in Dumbarton Scotland, his father John MacFarlane was an officer of the town.  In 1861 the family is found residing in a one story log home in Brome, Canada.  His parents went on to live in Canada for thirty more years. 

Headstones of Mary Brooks & James E. MacFarlane.
Knowlton Cemetery Canada.
Photo by: Graceti

     After more than a century in operation, the congregation of St. Paul's Church decided to sell it.  After many months on the market for $199,000 they had to lower the price by $50,000 to sell this historic Romanesque style Church and historic landmark.  Rev. A. H. MacFarlane retired in 1913.