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is genealogy information for each state
and in alphabetical order
State information below
Please scroll down to the State of interest
Relatively few Jews lived in the United States while George Washington was President. There were 1,350 at that time, constituting 0.03 percent of the national population and the total number did not reach 50,000 until 1850. Today, Jews account for less than three percent of the population and hold more than 30 seats in Congress.
As you may know, nearly half of the world's Jews reside in the
US -- more than any other country in the world with the
exception of Israel.
At first, they were Sefardic immigrants who were later supplanted by German Jews who would then be overwhelmed by the arrival of East European Jews between 1880 and 1920.
There is a lot of excellent in-depth information available to Jewish genealogists researching from the comfort of their home --- using their home computer. Since most of us have limited income, the cost of traveling to a resource and the cost of telephoning can be a problem, however, I've discovered a wonderful work-around and am happy to share this point of information with you.
This program works for those researchers who live in the US, though I have been in contact with a Jewish scientist living in Donetsk, Ukraine, who tells me he uses this program to call his sister in San Francisco. Hopefully this will work for those of you who live outside of the US. If it does work for you, please let me know so I can share the good news with others. The program is called Skype and can be obtained for free
www.skype.com
I recently added a camera to my computer and now I can speak with my nephew in Melbourne, but we see each other as we discuss our Margulis family with him. I also see and speak with my cousin, Gerald Smith, who lives in
Managua, Nicaragua and is also the president of the Jewish community - all thirty of them.
Data.Gov A government directive agency dataset that will continue to grow as agencies submit datasets required under the Open Government Directive through the end of the day of January 22, 2010. The site breaks down by: Catalogs; State/Local and FAQs. http://www.data.gov/ogd/
Political Contribution List Offers one to search for people who contributed money to various political campaigns by zip code name. http://www.votenet.com
"The American Medical Directory & Physicians Guide" Contains relevant data on over 500,000 physicians in the United States. Each record is indexed by such features as name, address, phone/fax, county, year licensed, type of practice, type of physician, as well as primary and secondary specialty. Fax : 905-751-0199. (Tel: 905-751-0919).
"An Empire of Their Own"
A lively group biography of the studio moguls.
"Coalfield Jews, An Appalachian History
Authored by Deborah Weiner and published by the University of
Illinois Press in 2006. This is the story of
several Jewish communities in West Virginia Kentucky and
Virginia, where the three states meet. The Jews arrived
in the 1890s, but by the 1970s, they had all but disappeared.
There are photographs of some synagogue exteriors, a few looking
like large houses. There is also a photograph of Middlesboro,
Kentucky cemetery with very well-spaced headstones, not at
all like the cemeteries of major cities. Finally, in my mind,
one measure of a books worth is the reference section at the
back, and here we are not disappointed as there are twelve pages
which will be most welcome to genealogists with long-ago
families in this region. From a posting by Jeremy G Frankel
ISBNs is 0-252-03094-9
"Early American Jews" Authored by Lee M. Friedman and published in 1934. The book has an entire chapter devoted to the Jewish arrival in NY in 1654.
"East Side Story" From another time, a place of faith and glory. An article published in the November 2003 issue of Hadassah Magazine that would be of interest to genealogist researching in New York City. The Central Synagogue, located at Lexington Avenue and East Fifty-Fifth Street is mentioned.
"From the Synagogues of the Lower East Side" Authored by Gerald R. Wolfe and published by Washington Mews Books in 1978.
"The Frontier Jews" by Rabbi I. Harold Sharfman and published by Citadel Press in 1977 Wealth of information on early Jewish communities in Texas, Pennsylvania, the Great Lakes belt. ISBN 0-8065-0649-0
"The Handybook for Genealogists, United States of America" Eighth edition published by the Everton Publishers, Inc. in 1997
"History of the Jews of Los Angeles" Authored by Max Vorspan and Lloyd Gartner
"Jewish Homesteaders on the Northern Plains" Published by Indiana Press - a true story of pioneer Rachel Colof.
"On the Lower East Side: Observations of Life in Lower Manhattan
at the Turn of the Century" A collection of articles, documentary sources, and study guides compiled to accompany the course, An Urban Experience: New York City's Lower East Side, 1880-1920. Readers can learn how people coped with, and sometimes prevailed over, the forces of industrialization, immigration, and urbanization.
From a posting by Bernard Kouchel koosh@att.net http://www.tenant.net/Community/LES/contents.html
"Quarantine!: East European Jewish Immigrants and the New York
City
Epidemics of 1892" Authored by Howard Markel
"Shalom Y'all: Images of Jewish Life in the American South" Photographs by Bill Aron. Text by Vicki Reikes Fox and published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. A Black and white photographic story of the Jews of the Deep South: Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas. 164 pages.
"Sixty Years in Southern California" Authored by Harris Newmark and describes early Jewish Los Angeles life of the Newmark family.
"Sources in the United States and Canada" (The Encyclopedia of Jewish Genealogy, Vol 1) Authored by Miriam Weiner
TheSyllabus of the 2000 International Summer Conference on Jewish
Genealogy
"Bibliography of North American Jewish Community Books" Contained a valuable compilation of the names of some 800 books on North American Jewish communities. This index created by Joan Rimmon and Hal Bookbinder is especially useful for the time prior to public records being collected. These books will frequently give old synagogue or cemetery records, among other things. This compilation is on-line at www.jewishgen.org/iajgs/bibliography.html
General United States Genealogy
Information
Jews can trace their first arrival in North America to the French privateer,
St Catherine which brought 23 Jewish refugees from
Recife, Brazil to New Amsterdam, which later was
renamed New York. Today, near the landing site in
Battery Park at Whitehall and State Streets,
there is a monument commemorating the settlement of these first
Jewish settlers in the US.
The plaque on that monument reads: "Erected by the State of
New York To Honor the Memory Of the Twenty-Three Men, Women and
Children Who Landed in September 1654 and Founded the First
Jewish Community in North America". Further
information can be found in"The Grandees: America's Sephardic Elite"
by Stephen Birmingham and in Malcolm Stern's "Americans of Jewish Descent".
Global Gazetteer A directory of 2,880,532 of the world's cities and towns, sorted by country and linked to a map for each town. A tab separated list is available for each country. www.calle.com/world/
American Jewish Historical Society 15 West 16 Street New York at the Center for Jewish History (Telephone: 212 294 8303) Links to the Jewish History Ring http://www.ajhs.org
American Jewish History
Celebrating 350 years as of September 2004
101 South Independence Hall East Philadelphia, PA 19106-2517 Phone: 215 923 3811 http://www.350th.org
A national effort to preserve and document the unique, rich history of traditional Jewish congregations, individuals, and communities in the United States from Colonial times to the present. www.ajlegacy.org
Archives
U.S. National Archives has biographic records including personal information on more than 2.1 million individuals who were process3ed by the Einwandererzentralstelle (EWZ). The EWZ was established to facilitate the immigration and naturalization of the ethnic Germans who were nominally citizens of other countries of Europe (e.g., Soviet Union, Romania, etc.) during the period 1939-1945. These records are reproduced on approximately 8,600 rolls of microfilm and are available through the US National Archives in College Park, Maryland.
for further information contact Laverty Krupnak
Lkrupnak@erols.com
Archives.com
has added a bunch
to its US Vital Records collections.
“They recently added more than 58 million
United States vital records. These 27 new
collections contain birth, death, or marriage
information from 21 states.”
Military Records (By State)
Jews have served in the US military since the time when the
first Jewish settlers arrived in New Amsterdam from Brazil in
1654. Asher levy, Jacob Cohen Henricques and others
petitioned New Amsterdam Governor Peter Stuyvesant for the right
to be a part of the defense force of the City
https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Jewish_Military_Records
Among the records pertaining to service in armed conflicts, both in the U.S. and abroad, include Civil War, the Spanish-American War, WW I, WW II, and the Korean War. While the extent of information on each conflict varies, each set of records can provide access to valuable information on the veterans who served.
I found another great search site - though it is a fee based site, it does provide a great service. Images of every tombstone in the following Jewish Cemeteries:
Saratoga Springs, NY: Sharei Tephilah on Weibel St. Springfield, MA: Bnei Israel Anshei Sfard, Kesser Israel, and City of Homes Assn. They are all located on Wilbraham Ave. Utica, NY:
Jonathan's lodge, House of Jacob, House of Israel, Tzvi Jacob, Beth El, all located on Woods Rd. Montreal, Canada: Baron De Hirsch on Savane St. - 20,000 records and images, about a quarter of the entire Cemetery.
Declaration of Intention Documents, which contain detailed information about immigrants who applied for US Citizenship, have been added to the database. High-resolution images of each document can be viewed online. The following 11,000 records have been added recently: Jewish documents from:
Circuit Court District of MA (Boston area) 1906-1910 Kings County (Brooklyn) NY 1906-1910 Oneida County (Utica area) NY 1906-1949 Onondaga County (Syracuse area) NY 1906-1930 Saratoga County NY 1906-1930
Name searches are free, and full access requires membership, with special rates for Societies and Libraries.
http://www.jewishdata.com
US Cemeteries
Cemeteries - A plan to visit. You will require a pair of gloves and gardening shears; bottles of water and paper towels to wash off the stones. Check in at the cemetery office which usually can be helpful in directing your to the graves you are researching. Bring the names of cousins, aunts, uncles, in-laws and ask about them also, at the office. Also bring a Memorial Book and Yarmulkes to say Kaddish. Leaving a pebble on the top of the tombstone as a sign of your attendance, is a Jewish tradition
and for the names, phone numbers, addresses, and notes about the Jewish cemeteries in the New York City and Northern New Jersey area
http://www.statmyweb.com/s/jewish-cemetery
Although the JewishGen InfoFiles do not carry the
telephone numbers of Cemeteries, they do have the
addresses. With the address you can find a
telephone number through a 555 1212 call, and armed with
that information, a quick call to a cemetery office will
generally elicit for you all sorts of information, in
particular, whether a Polaroid (or Digital) Photo
can be taken of a gravestone/gravesite.
The charge is generally $5. Sometimes, for a few more
dollars, you can get a map of a given Landmanschaften
plot showing all the names/dates of those interred.
Note: I have a "beginning" of listing
cemeteries and their location information from around
the US. Eventually I hope to have them all listed
on this web site.
Perpetual Care Isn't really perpetual. It
can last only so long as the cemetery is solvent and
able to pay for care taking. In practice, it often
lasts a much shorter time, until the cemetery owners
note that the survivors no longer come around to that
section.
Research Tip: Check university libraries, other
organizations that gather manuscripts; check their
catalogs. Get old books from a library and get the
names listed for a cemetery from them. The key is
OLD books. Do NOT violate copyright laws.
Old books would no longer be covered by a copyright.
Many books were written in the early part of this
century that have lists of all the burials in a
cemetery. Contact the cemeteries, or synagogues,
or JCCs or burial societies by phone, to try to get them
to give the lists. Submit lists of names you find
in your research to Arline and Sidney Sachs at
sachs@axsamer.org who has created the "Cemetery
Project" sponsored by http://www.JewishGen.org
City Directories
For most large and medium sized cities in the US are available on microfilm in the series "City Directories of the United States 1789 - 1935 and can be found in many large public and university libraries. They can also be borrowed through any LDS Family History Center.
Primary Source Media's Genealogical Archives Online: City Directories of the US offers access to results in the following city directories for free:
http://www.cyndislist.com/primary
Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Galveston, NYC, Newark, Philadelphia, San Francisco, St. Louis, etc. are available to paid subscribers. NYC directories online include 1890, 1910, 1917 and 1920. Directories can
be searched by first name, occupation, street name, and other variables.
However, it is like a cross-index directory in that you can locate residents using their street address. Today's Polk city directories have 3 sections: residents enumerated by alphabetic street names and number; residents enumerated by alphabetic last names (like a phone book) and residents enumerated by phone number.
Up through the 1970s and early 1980s, a Polk City Directory used to be compiled by enumerators who went door to door in cities and larger towns and villages asking the residents to them the name of the head of the household, his occupation and where he worked, and later on his wife's name (not shown in the earliest publications).
Later on the name of his spouse and names of all residents aged at least 18 plus their spouses' names, their occupation and place of work were added to the listing for that street address. At least through the 1970s,
if a woman was listed as the head of household, the listing would show her as a widow, or "Mrs." (to show divorce).
Like any information source, the accuracy of the listing would depend on how well the enumerators did their job and if residents (accurately) answered the questions. And the pay in the 1970s-1980s was low - minimum wage plus a bonus for speed - NOT ACCURACY. If no one gave conflicting information, the publisher would keep the old listing.
The year of the family's first listing will at least give researchers a clue as to when the family moved to that address. From a posting by Barbara Krauss on JewishGen. Barbara states that she was an enumerator for 10 seasons.
http://eu.polk.com/Company/Heritage/
The Library of Congress is adding the Congressional
Record, published by the Government Printing Office (GPO), and
cost-estimate reports from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
to its Congress.gov beta website, a public site for accessing free,
fact-based legislative information.
The additions will supplement bills, bill summaries,
Member profiles and legislative history information already available on
the site. Launched in September 2012, Congress.gov features platform
mobility, comprehensive information retrieval and user-friendly
presentation.Congress.goveventually
will replace the public THOMAS system and the congressional Legislative
Information System (LIS).
By integrating these added features, people can target
their searches to find a bill, corresponding floor statements and cost
estimates—all from a single search results page
http://beta.congress.gov
At the time, many deaths were attributable, but not noted in death records, to the terrible epidemic that swept through the country. http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/
You can request a form G639 by calling the INS at 1 800 870 3676. If you need further help, call the INS help line at 1 800 375 5283. Press 1 for the English option, then wait through the first set of six options and press 9 to talk to an agent. http://www.fcc.gov/foia/
Under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA ), the INS will not release the information unless you can a) prove they are deceased, or b) have a notarized form from them, releasing the information to you.
The INS will accept a statement from you saying they are deceased if you can find their name in one of the Social Security Death Indexes (SSDI) found at
Ancestry.Com - RootsWeb.Com or LDS.org, etc. and write that they are deceased as proved by being located in the appropriate SSDI. From a posting by Edmond Frost
frostedmond@hotmail.com
Genealogy Help List
Consists of volunteerswho are willing to help others by looking up specific items at institutions near them, or help supply other information easily accessible to them.
German Jews bound for the Midwest, generally traveled from New York City by paddle steamer up the Hudson, and thence via the Great Lakes. From the Hudson river they sailed up the Erie (not Welland) Canal of course, then via the Detroit Creek and Lake St Claire into Lake Huron and from there to Lake Michigan and Chicago.
Others continued through the Soo Canal to Duluth, and then headed south through Minnesota. My information related to German Jews in mid-century. The routes changed later in the century as the network of railroads was constructed, offering faster and more comfortable access to the American heartland. I have been told that some Ukrainian Jews disembarked in Nova Scotia and made their way across Canadato Winnipeg. Some Jewish settlers in Minnesota had come from Winnipeg, I'm further told. From a posting to JewishGen by Michael Bernet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American
Here is a bundle of Immigrant Arrival records, Ports of Entry information and a lot more. INS Immigration recordsis: FOIA/PA Unit at Immigration & Naturalization, 425 I St. NW, 2nd Floor, Ullico Bldg., Washington, DC 20536 Actually, the Petition offers a lot more information than the certificate - i.e. information where the petitioner emigrated from, when and the name of the ship sailed. Other information includes where and when their spouse emigrated. http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/aboutins/history/index.htm
A online searchable database of the Index to Brooklyn Naturalizations (1907-1924) is located in the Kings County Clerk's Office. Over 65,000 names are in this database. The database is accessible through the JGS (NY) homepage http://http://www.jgsny.org/
A web site listing all of the current SIG's (Special Interest Groups) discussion groupsand forums that are sponsored by JewishGen
http://www.jewishgen.org/listserv/sigs.htm
"Jewish Heroes and Heroines of America"
Four exhibits containing 168 articles, each one illustrated, of Jewish heroes and heroines of America, in war and in peace, from colonial times to the present http://www.fau.edu/library/depts/judaica9.htm
A complete list of every Jewish Museum is available by writing to The National Foundation for Jewish Culture 330 7th Ave., 21st floor New York, NY 10001, or call (212) 629 0500 Ask for the free list of the 60 institutional members of the Council of American Jewish-Museums http://www.nmajh.org/links/links1.htm
This site, created by Marge-Spears Soloff, includes archival and historical information of over 100 Jewish Orphanages in 49 cities and 23 states; information about the Jewish child Care Association of New York; Federal, State and
New York City police census lists and other material http://www.hnoh.com/
Hereis a large collection of photos from the turn of the century. The Library is composed of three large buildings; Madison, Adams and Jefferson Buildings. The Madison and Jefferson are the more important facilities to your research. http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/detroit/dethome.html
Check out these sites for further details. This site will give you the call numbers for any publications you wish to review. http://lcweb.loc.gov/homepage/online.html
Interlibrary Loan Program An excellent source for rare books is the U.S. Library of Congress, but the institution will not loan books
that are in poor physical condition because of the risk of further damage. A new service is being tested
to overcome this problem. These fragile documents are being scanned and offered to interlibrary loan members on the Internet. http://www.loc.gov/rr/loan/digitaldocs.html
The American Folklife Center At the Library of Congress is seeking audio and video recordings, letters, diaries, photographs, maps, home movies, drawings -- anything that helps you tell your story about your WW I or II or other war stories. For a project kit, applications and more detailed information on ways to participate: write to the Veterans history Project, Library of Congress/American Folklife Center, 101 Independence Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20540-4614. The center offers advice and sample questions to students and family members who wish to interview veterans for oral histories.
http://www.loc.gov/folklife/ TheAmerican Memory Maps Can give you the graphic view of settlements, cities, battles and territories at
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/ListSome.php?category=Maps
The Research and Reference site Read about the rooms you will most likely be using:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/
Main Reading Room (for called books) Microform Room (for City Directories); Local History and Genealogy Room for Newspapers and Periodicals Room (for obits). (The Hebraic Section)
http://www.loc.gov/rr/main/about.html
Suggested Plan to Visit the Library of Congress From the Second Street Researcher Entrance of the Jefferson Building (have Photo i.d.) go directly to Room G-40 to obtain a free researcher card. Leave any briefcases in the Cloak Room. Take the elevator to the first floor. Present your card at the desk in the hall and enter the Main Reading Room.
Go to the Book Service Desk and fill out your call slips for books. This can take up to one hour, so while waiting go to the Microfilm Room (near the Main Reading Room).
City Directories In "help yourself" drawers. Fiche and Microfilm readers and printers are located here and in the loft area. Have $1.00 bills to purchase a "printing card".
The Madison Building has a snack bar in the tunnel and a cafeteria on the 6th floor with limited hours for visitors.
Library of Congress: Map Collections 1544 - 1996; Military Maps. Environmental Maps. Maps that "record the evolution" of American cities.
This site offers more than 4.5 million old and new maps. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml
Prices vary depending on the size of the map and the type of reproduction, but the basic charge for oversize photocopies is $2.00 per linear foot ($5.00 minimum) plus shipping and handling.
Maps fromThe US Library of Congress Contact: Dr. Stephan Paczolt, Sr. Technical Information Specialist, Reference Section. E-mail requests: maps@loc.gov Another contact is Michael J. Klein, Senior Reference Librarian, Geography and Map Division, The Library of Congress
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html
Maps Electronic Map Library site (California State University, Northridge) collection of digital atlases based on census data http://130.166.124.2/library.html
Maps and more Maps Available at the Library of Congress which has hundreds of volumes of Sanborns, from around the US. www.loc.gov
Green Map System Helps locate eco-friendly information and businesses, from museums to grocers to renewable resources. http://www.greenmap.com/home/home.html
Jews settled everywhere and tried their hand at everything. This region had Jewish homesteaders and
they followed the railroad tracks and many of the Jewish
Emigrants ended up at the Union Railway
Station in Minneapolis. Photo taken around 1900.Prairie Dogs Weren't Kosher: Jewish Women in the Upper Midwest
My mother's
Soloski family was a perfect example. They came from Lithuania to Duluth, Minnesota. Part of the family chose to settle in Superior, Wisconsin, Virginia, Minnesota and in Duluth, Minnesota. My grandmother took her "kids" after the death of her second husband, Theodore Soloski, and moved to Virginia, Minnesota. My mother (of blessed memory) (she was a twin and was born in Superior) went to school there and later to Duluth State University which is today a part of the University of Minnesota. In Virginia, my grandmother had a cow and sold milk to neighbors. She also mended "gunny" sacks and did other odd jobs to support her husbandless family. Some of the family remained in Virginia and also in Eveleth until the 1950s. I have wonderful memories of spending summers at the Sand Lake cottage my Aunt Sarah owned where I could fish, or swim or even take a sauna and then jump into the cold lake. Ahh ... a machiah!
From 1940 until war's end, a total of 311 rabbis were commissioned. Of these, 267 served in the Army, 43 in the Navy and one in the Maritime Service.
The National Jewish Welfare Board (JWB), in October 1941 met to track Jewish participation in WW II. This information had never been done before and thus these Board members established the Bureau of War Records (BWR). The laws of the US government prevented the government from gathering statistics on the religious affiliation of America's citizens and no one had ever attempted to that time, determine how many Jews lived in the US.
There is an excellent and informative article about this subject published on page 18 of the American Jewish Historical Society magazine in their Fall/Winter 2003 issue entitled "Archival Treasure Trove: The Bureau of War Records". http://www.ajhs.org/
Access to Archival Databases System. This particular database is the "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946". It has records for close to 9 million enlistees in the U.S. Army for WWII. You can search for individual names
or by state and county, or a combination. Wildcards are permitted, too. To search by state and county. Click on SEARCH, then select ALL SERIES, the Army file is the sixth entry down. From there it's pretty self-explanatory. Be sure to select the state and county codes from the code lists - don't type the place names in. There are other databases in the ADD. http://www.archives.gov/aad/index.html
American Battle Monuments Commission Listing of names of those killed in various wars starting with the Mexican War and continuing to the Viet Nam War
http://www.abmc.gov
"American Jews in World War II" Volume Ipublished by Dial Press in 1947 Authored by I. Kaufman; Volume II was compiled by the Bureau of War Records of the National Jewish Welfare Board under the direction of Dr. Louis I. Dublin and Dr. Samuel C. Cohs. The list is set up by state.
"How to Locate Anyone Who Is or Has Been in the Military" Authored by Richard S. Johnson and published by MIE/Independent Publishers Group. Paperback $19.95
"Rabbis in Uniform - The Story of the American Jewish Military Chaplain" Edited by Chaplain Louis Barish (US Army) and published by Jonathan David Publishers in 1962 by the Association of Jewish Chaplains. The book offers a brief history of Jewish Chaplains in the US Military
and short stories of many of the chaplain's individual experiences as related by themselves.
Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, D.C. VA Claim Number Call the Veterans Administration 1 800 827 1000. If you have the exact name, SS # and birth date, the database should have a service number and a VA number. Ask for Form 180 to request military and VA records of download the form from
http://www.va.gov/landing2_contact.htm
Jews in Arlington National Cemetery
Kenneth Poch, spent years cataloguing the names. He eventually collected about 2,700 names among the 250,000 graves, as well as data about family members. http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jews.htm
Jewish War Veterans This is a great site that has a lot of information about American Jewish War Veterans starting with 1896 including help in locating people and information about them. Jewish War Veteran's office is in Washington, DCPhone 202-265-6280E MailNMAJMH@nmajmh.org http://www.jwv.org/
National Personnel Records Center
Military Personal Records 9700 Page Ave. St. Louis, MO 63132-5100 Phone (314) 263 3901 (Switchboard) (341) 538 4261 (Army) DSN 639 4261 If you have the WWI U.S. forces Service Number (7 digits number) send for Form PS-180.
Records of Army Officers after 6/30/1917; Enlisted Personnel after 10/31/1912
Air Force after 0/1947 (year Air Force was established)
Navy, Marines, Naval Officers after 1902 Enlisted personnel
after 1885 Marine Officers after 1895 and Marine Officers
after 1904 Coast Guard Officers after 1928 Enlisted Personnel after 1914
The Washington National records Center has Coast Guard records
from 1890 to 1929 http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/
1844-1845. Links included: Barbados, Beth Limmud Society ofKingston, Charitable Society in New Orleans, The Chief Rabbi ofEngland, Conflagration of the Synagogue at Cleveland, Ohio, Congregation of Beth Shalome, at Richmond, VA, The Congregation of British Jews, London, The Congregation of British Jews, London,Congregation at Mobile and much more. http://jewish-history.com/Occident/volume2/contents.html
War Sites
Civil War
One soldier wrote that soldiering is 99% boredom and 1% sheer terror. View an online exhibition and learn more about the Civil War. http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/index.html
Draft Registration World War I - Men, born between 1886 and 1900 were required to register. 24 million were registered, including aliens, who were required to register, but were not subject to induction and those who volunteered or were already in the military, did not register.
The first registration included men born between June 6,m 1886 and this form's information included
birth date, exact birthplace, occupation, previous military experience and nearest relative. There were a total of five draft registrations held.
The second registration included men born between June 6, 1896 and June 5, 1897 later adding those born up to August 24, 1897. Included on this form were the country of origin and father's birthplace.
The third registration included men born between September 12, 1873 and August 25, 1897 and later to September 12, 1900. This registration form now included occupation, country to which alien is subject and nearest relative. All draft forms required name, residence, date of birth, race, citizenship, where employed, a physical description and a signature. The cards are sorted by State, then County.
There are over 8,000 microfilm reels at the National Archivesand at the FHCs (under the US - World
War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918). In order to find a name, you need the address of the draft board where the person was registered. Since men could register anywhere, you may need to write to the NARA closest to the city the ancestor lived in at the time.
http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/genindex.html
There are 24 million original World War I Draft Registrations in boxes at the National Archives branch in Atlanta. For a $10.00 check made out to Friends of the National Archives, a member will try to locate the original draft registration and mail a copy of the form to you.
Friends of the National Archives, NARA, Southeast Region, 1557 St. Joseph Ave., East Point, GA 30344. They need the address where the person was living in 1917-1918 to locate the record. The 1920 census address usually is the address you are looking for, or look up in the City Directory. Mr. Charles Reeves is the Director of Archival Operations at the Southeast Regional office of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Atlanta.
The war to end all wars! This excellent encyclopedia provides everything you need to know about World
War I. View a chronology, war statistics and more. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWW.htm
New York city World War I Data base (Draft Boards: part of 150, all of 151 and 152) at
http://www.jgsny.org/
New York State Archives Published a list of World War I Service Recordsof those who served from New York State. Check out this site where you can print out a copy of the form to use to order a records search.
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/res_topics_mi_wwi_dah.shtml
US National Archives - Washington DC, Holds all of the World War I Draft Registration forms on microfilm as does the Mormon Family History Center (FHC).
http://www.archives.gov/
Most Bremen, Germany lists were destroyed when the U.S. 8th Army Air Corps, 487th Bombardment Group (Heavy) bombed Bremen on September 26th, 1944 and again on February 24, 1945 during
WW II.
Burial files for U.S. servicemen killed in action. These burials were handled by the Quartermaster General and are kept separate from service records - thus were not lost in the 1973 file. The National Archives in Washington, D.C. has a Military Archives Section.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=vcsr&GSvcid=41164
Jewish Chaplains in WW II There is a comprehensive list of Jewish Chaplains who served in WW II. Entries include date of birth, marital status, name of college graduated from, synagogue associated with and where served in the war. The list is published in The American Jewish yearbook, 1945-46, Volume 47. http://www.milhist.net/norwich/pskelly.pdf
The Nizkor Project A site dedicated to the nearly 12 million victims ruthlessly destroyed by Hitler and his Nazi regime. The site features collections of information about Holocaust - denial and the Holocaust
http://www.nizkor.org/
Pearl Harbor Remembered Contains a map of Pearl Harbor, an overview of the attack, a time line of events and a listof casualties http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/mainmenu.html
Links to pages dealing with wars starting with the American Revolution; Descendants of Mexican War Veterans through WW II U.S. Veterans website WW II The greatest battle in history contains the battles of the war, the atom bomb, a picture gallery and more http://www.cyberplus.ca/~chrism/
World War II Alien Registration In 1940, in response to distant threats of war, the USrequired every alien resident to register at their local Post Office. A two page (AR-2) form was filled out and then sent to the INS. Once process, the AR-3, or Alien Registration Receipt Cards (AR3) was torn off and mailed back to the registered alien.
The alien then carried the AR Card to show compliance with the law. This form contains the name used upon entry to the US, maiden names, nicknames, aliases, address, date of birth, place of birth (city, province, country), citizenship, sex, marital status, race, physical description, port and vessel/carrier of last arrival in the US, class of admission, date of first arrival in the US, number of years in the US, occupation and employment and much more.
Registration from July 1940 to April, 1944 with numbers below 12,000,000 are on microfilm at INS, searchable by name, date of birth and place of birth. The forms are subject to the Freedom of
Information Privacy Act. http://genealogy.about.com/od/immigration/p/alien_cards.htm
WW II Honor List of Dead and Missing Published by the War Department, June, 1946 and State Summary of War Casualties, U.S. Navy,
1941-1946 is available at the New York Public Library and there may be available at other Public Libraries. There is a volume for each state. http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/ww2/army-casualties/
WW II Preservation Society Dedicated to preserving the memory of the veterans and civilians involved in WW II by collecting and archiving interviews and research http://www.ww2rps.com/
WW II U.S. Veteran Website Contains a chat room where you can talk with other veterans, a place to look for lost war friends and a spot to post your stories and pictures
http://ww2.vet.org/
Vietnam War War and pix It's hard to view pictures of war and not be moved in some way. http://www.vietnampix.com
If you are searching the US for
Records Information There are many places you can check out - on the Internet - right now! There is always "one more way"
to find information i.e. by name; by country; by city; by county, by birth; by emigration information, by occupation or profession and more. Don't ever give up your search for your roots! Somewhere, someplace, your ancestors have left a paper trail. You can also find a list of search engines at my Genealogy web page. Genealogy
Another great web site to locate people: Alumni.net - and it is free!
http://alumni.net
Try these search sites
also check out the search sites at my 'Search' page
First Gov is a wonderful site to start at when researching both US government and State Government information
www.FirstGov.gov
A commercial search site operated by Northern Light is specially designed for government customized searches, and is a powerful, easy to use site with links to thousands of government web sites. They offer
a Day pass for $5.00 to an Annual Pass for $250.00. http://www.usgovsearch.com
Welcome to the ultimate source of authentic and reliable information about the US States on the net.
The links in this directory will guide you to the official sites of the states you are looking for.
http://www.123world.com/usstates/index.html
"Traveler "
Any traveling salesman was commonly called a 'traveler'. In. In the US, there were trade associations
for each, i.e.: The Shoe Traveler Association; The Hat Travelers Association
http://www.gbta.org/Pages/default.aspx
US Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
The PACER Service Center is the Federal Judiciary's centralized registration, billing, and technical support center for electronic access to U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate court records
http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/index.html
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Maintains an web site with linksto finding Military records of all kinds. There is one to help locate the burial site of a veteran, as well as how to obtain Military Records for all time periods of U.S. Military history at:
http://www.cem.va.gov
The Western Reserve Historical Society Located in Cleveland, Ohiohas all the WWI Draft Registration cards for Cuyahoga County, Cleveland.
The cards are on microfilm and filed by Soundex. The Death Notices from the local Cleveland Jewish Newspapers has been incorporated on a card file. You have to have special permission to search or you maybe able to log in and find some one who will do a lookup for you
http://www.case.edu/cgi-bin/database?subject=all
Western Reserve Historical Society 10825 East Blvd. Cleveland, Ohio 44106
http://www.wrhs.org/
This database contains nearly 10,000 entries from the Central Decimal Files of the U.S. Department of State, Record Group 59 (RG 59), pertaining to the Protection of Interest, 1910-1929, for selected countries.
This record group consists of correspondence from American citizens or their representatives who appealed to the U.S. State Department for help in tracing relatives, sending money, food and other assistance to family members overseas. Most entries were made during and immediately following World War I.
These records are of significant genealogical value. Many include documents of births, marriages and deaths of US citizens abroad; settlement of the foreign estates of US citizens who died abroad; lists and correspondence of US citizens temporarily or permanently residing abroad. Names of people who were not US citizens were often mentioned and are included in this database.
This database contains 9,724 entries from Record Group 59, covering 1910-1929, for selected geographical locations -- primarily Palestine (2,000 records)Romania (2,000 records), and Austria
(4,300 records).
Note that these country designations are complicated by the fact that the time period is 1910-1929 -- which spans World War I, and thus there are two sets of borders, since many national boundaries were changed after WWI. For example, "Austria" in the 1910-1918 period refers to the entire Austrian Empire, and thus includes Galicia and Bukovina (which are today parts of Poland, Ukraine, and
Romania) Where applicable, these records are also searchable via the JewishGen "All Country" databases: "All Hungary", "All Latvia" and "All Lithuania".
Probably one of the first sites to review, after you determine that you have decided on a specific known relative to research --- and you know they were born, married or died in a particular state. There maybe
a modest fee. Lots of links as well are offered. http://vitalrec.com/index.html/A
Thousands of other Internet sites that may have links to other web research sites are included in the lists that follow.
Vital records information for the United States U.S. Map, States & Territories, Guidelines, Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce are available using the links http://vitalrec.com/index.html
Some of the States' archives have searchable data on line. There are mailing lists and newsgroups for every state, and just about every county.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/internet.html
Lookup volunteers can be found either at the USGENWEB pages or here, at random acts of genealogical kindness
http://www.raogk.org/
Pretrieve
A site to search for Public Records of US individuals for most states
http://www.pretrieve.com
National Archives and Records Administration This site offers aids, guides and research tools that will prepare you for an actual on-site visit
http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/
Buying Microfilm Available Microfilm and Microfilm Rental Program. The latest price quoted was $34 a roll for domestic orders and $39 a roll for foreign orders. You can either buy an entire film or 'rent' a film also for $3.50. Most U.S. Libraries also participate in this program. LDS microfilms CANNOT be purchased.
http://www.nara.gov/research/ordering/micrordr.html
This is a Federal Web site and if the years you need aren't in this batch, then start with the County Clerk's Office for whatever County you are interested in. http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/natural.htm
New England Genealogy Collections not in New England
The orchestra has released
520,000 pages of instrumental music parts. It's already posted
over 1,300 orchestral scores online. Later, it will release
concert programs, correspondence, business records and annual
reports dating back to 1842. The Philharmonic launched the
digital archive in 2011 with 300,000 pages from the Leonard
Bernstein years, from 1943 to 1970. It's a multi-year
undertaking that will total 8 million pages
http://nyphil.org/about-us?utm_source=web&utm_medium=print_about&utm_campaign=standard_redirects
Ida Selavan Schwarcz
idayosef@barak-online.net states in a posting to JewishGen Discussion group on 12/8/02 the following: "As a former reference librarian at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, I often encountered this question (re the notion of obituaries of Jews who died in the New York area).
None of the New York newspapers, including the ones in Yiddish, commonly carried obituaries of ordinary people. If the dead person was well-known, or had died in mysterious circumstances, or had died at a very old age, there might be a write-up. Also, sometimes the families put paid death notices in newspapers. In smaller towns, where there were just one or two Jewish funeral homes, all Jewish dead were mentioned in death notices"
There are now 49 cities identified in 23 states and over 100 Jewish Orphanages listed at
www.hnoh.com
Painting (Portraits) Database
The database contains an image and information describing every known portrait, photo, daguerreotype and woodcut of an American Jew painted before 1865. http://www.ajhs.org/research/loeb/
The National Archives located at The National Archives Building in Washington, DC, has passport applications through 3/31/1925. They only have the indexes though through 1923. Contact Civil and
Old Military Reference Staff (202) 501 5395. The State Department Passport Services has passport application from 1925 to the present and indexes for 1923 to 1925. http://travel.state.gov/passport_records.html
Death Certificates In most cities may have a place for mother's maiden name. The Death registration is taken at the time that the funeral arrangements are being made.
Marriage Certificates May include the mother's maiden name. These forms are usually filled out by the people involved - with their personal knowledge of their history. Vital Record Information in the US. Many mistakes have been noted, so the information cannot always be considered necessarily accurate. http://vitalrec.com/index.html
Order Birth and Death Records Online!"State Index of County & City Online Tax Rolls" for all 50 states and includes Property, Deed and Voter Registration
information
Southern Jewish History A peer-reviewed journal sponsored by the Southern Jewish Historical Society. Contact Dr. Mark Bauman, Editor, 2517 Hartford Drive, Ellenwood, GA 30294 Phone: (404) 366 3306 or Rachel B. Heimovics, Managing Editor, Journal of the Southern Jewish History, Southern Jewish Historical Societyrachelheimovics@worldnet.att.net
Arrival list of emigrants from Canada into the US. The US government maintained lists of people crossing the border from Canada covering 1895 to 1954. Information is similar to ship passenger manifests and are indexed. These lists are available at the US National Archives in Washington, several of the Regional Branches and via the FHS. Further information is available at http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/faq.html
10 great places to share history of the Jewish faith -Samuel Gruber, author of "American Synagogues:
A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community", has named synagogues of architectural significance in New York City, Baltimore, Brenham, TX, Tucson, Portland, OR, Newport, RI, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Glencoe, IL, Easthampton, NY, in a list he provided to USA TODAY's Shawn Sell, here's the article:
http://tinyurl.com/b3q7v
A group of volunteers working to provide Internet websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States http://www.usgenweb.org
U.S. Department of State, Jerusalem, Jaffa, and Haifa Consular Post
Records
Database
Includes more than 9,000 entries and was compiled from U.S. National Archives Record Group 84, Foreign Service Post Records of the U.S. Department of State for Consular Posts: Jerusalem (1857-1935) Jaffa (1867-1917), and Haifa (1872-1917). Few of the original records were indexed, and many were disposed of in 1950.
http://www.genopro.com/genealogy-links/details.aspx?id=9&t=www.cyndislist.com
Vital records Information
(By State( for pre 1900's) including Birth, Death, Marriage & Divorce information is offered
Change the last two letters to the state you are interested in. This site is also excellent to check by state for vital records
http://vitalrec.com/#territories
Volunteers Around the U.S.A.
A web site, offering a list of people living around the United States, who are willing to help you in your research at little, or no cost, by state http://raogk.rootsweb.com/listing.htm
In the early days ... early
Jewish settlers were miners, explorers, gunslingers, suppliers, store owners
and yes, even cowboys. There was a song written "I'm a Yiddish Cowboy" that was written by Tough Guy Levi, would you believe?
Jews came to the American West in the 16th century, when they were expelled from Spain. Many of
these Conversos came to what was then called New Spain which later became Mexico in 1821. From there, they spread to what is now Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.
And from there, they spread across the West
Joe Bott has a large collection of Yearbook images on his web site called Dead Freds Genealogy Photo Archive. This is a free, fun web site devoted to helping you visualize your heritage and offers a searchable database that contains thousands of identified photos, as well as mystery photos for genealogy
enthusiasts looking for long-lost relatives.
http://www.deadfred.com
Yeshivas
Bais Chana Institute of Jewish Studies Founded in 1971 and is the world's first yeshiva exclusively for women. The founder and dean is Rabbi Manis Friedman www.itsgoodtoknow.com
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
(Yiddisher Visnshaftlekher Institut) 15 West 16th St. (between 5th & 6th Avenues) New York, NY 10011 Phone (212) 246 6080 Fax (212) 292 1892
http://www.yivoinstitute.org/
State by State
The following information is setup based on specific information relating to a specific state. If you know of other sites that would be of value to others, please let me know. Email
Knesseth Israel Beth-el Cemetery 320 11th Ct. North Birmingham, AL
Birth Certificates before 1908 Most counties just registered births in ledgers. Some county court houses may have kept some records, but the best source is:
Department of Archives and History 624 Washington Ave. Montgomery, AL 36130 Telephone: (334) 242 4363
Most of their information comes from census records.
Dothan
Reform Temple Emanue-el was established about 80 years ago. Larry Blumberg, chairman of Dothan's Blumberg Family Jewish Community Services offers $50,000 to families who move to Dothan, remain five years and join the synagogue in a move to bring Jews back to the town.
http://www.bfjcs.org/
There is a Jewish population of 1,000 out of a total of 200,000 residents. There are two synagogues; Temple B'nai Sholom
http://home.hiwaay.net/~tbsholom/
Ahavas Chesed, a Conservative synagogue dates back to 1894. Dr. Norman Berger is the president
and Rabbi Steve Silberman conducts services.
The Reform congregation is Sha'arai Somayim and also the Spring Hill Avenue Temple dating back to 1844 making it the oldest congregation in Alabama. The Rabbi is Donald Kunstadt.
Selma
Temple Miskan Israel dates back to 1899. Once a congregation of 150, it has 30 members today.
More than half of the coastline of the entire
United States is in Alaska. The United
States officially took possession of Alaska on
October 1, 1867. A Jewish soldier, Benjamin Levy,
according to his 1882 obituary in The American Israelite,
was credited "with hauling down the Russian flag and
hoisting up the Stars and Stripes when the formal transfer of
sovereignty took place at Sitka.
"ALASKA: That Great Big
Jewish Land" An article by Yereth Rosen and published in Moment Magazine |
January/February 2012 contains names and much information about the
history of the first Jews who came to the area after it was sighted on a
1741 trip by Vitus Bering, exploring on behalf of the Russian Tsar Peter
the Great. It is believed that Russian traders and
businessmen, lured by Alaska's untapped natural wealth were
Jewish furriers and Jews who had been exiled to Siberia by the
Tsar. Most worked for the state-sponsored trading concern - the
Russian=American Company, which had a monopoly on exploiting Alaska's
vast resources. One of its managers was Nikolay Yakovlevich
Rosenberg who ran the company from 1850 to 1853
http://www.alaskajewishmuseum.com/#!__news
Most of the Jews who came to
Alaska and Yukon during the gold rushes starting
in 1899, were merchants who supplied nearly half of all the goods brought into the area at frontier towns. Some were traders who peddled goods throughout the wilderness and others hit it rich or not as prospectors and land speculators. A good many were immigrants from Eastern Europe accustomed to harsh climates. Some were from established American and Canadian families
Rabbi Yossi
Greenberg, head of the Lubavitch Jewish Center of Alaska,
estimates there are more than 6,000 Jews of various stripes
among the state's population of about 627,000
Select the year 1998 for 'back articles' and then Wednesday, August 26, 1998 issue. Although the
Yukon is not part of Alaska, I thought the story is well worth reading. There is also a
Jewish historical Society
of the Yukon and there is research of at least one Jewish
cemetery
There are a number of books dealing with various aspects of
Jews in Alaska and available at Amazon.com Search for Jews
Alaska
"Finesilver's Gold" In 1894, nineteen year old Jacob Finesilver walked from the Ukraine to join the Yukon Gold Rush. A year later, his bride also made a perilous journey, accompanied by an Indian, across Alaska's notorious
Chilkoot Pass. A novel about the author's grandparents' life in early Alaska.
www.micahbooks.com
"Life on the Frontier: The Jews of Alaska"
Authored by Professor Bernard Reisman
"
Yiddish
Policemen's Union"
Authored by Michael Chabon - a re-envision of what Alaska
would have been like had the plan of making a place where Jewish
refugees could come to after escaping Europe before WW II.
Anchorage
There is a Jewish Presence here with an aggressive Reform synagogue.
Estimates are that 40% of the state's Jewish residents live
here. It is just 125 miles south of the Arctic circle.
www.frozenchosen.org
Jews first appeared in this
harbor town on an island off the southeast coast in 1848.
Alexander Cohen, whose daughters became the state's first
postmistresses, owned hotels and a brewery and were later followed by
other Ashkenazi Jews from Germany. They helped transform a tent
city into a city.
Marriage Index records (1727 to 1900) Contain information about the union of two families; the groom's name, the bride's maiden name, the county and date of marriage and sometimes more. A CD is available from
www.UltimateFamilyTree.com/online
Shema Arizona Adds a Jewish voice to Arizona's history. Shema (sheMA) means "hear" in Hebrew. With this site you can hear some of Arizona's Jewish history. http://www.asu.edu/lib/archives/shema/index.html
Sixty-three oral histories conducted by the Arizona Jewish Historical Society provide a valuable and unique resource for understanding how American Jews in the early 20th century pulled up roots, continued a tradition of migration, and became western Jews.
Phoenix is composed of
22 communities in the Valley of the Sun formerly known as the Salt River
Valley. Although it started as a frontier town, Phoenix
does have deep Jewish roots. Even before 154, there were Conversos
living in the area. The first known Jew to reside in the state
after Mexico ceded the area to
the U.S. in 1848, was Aaron
Bennett, who became the treasurer of The Swilling Company, owned by
Confederate veteran Jack Swilling. Swilling arrived in 1868 to dredge
the canals the Hohokam Indians
had built centuries before. Aaron arrive
in 1870, becoming the first recorded Jew in Phoenix. By
1920, Phoenix had more than 100 Jews. By 1940, about 1,000
Jews called Phoenix home many coming in search of relief from
tuberculosis, upper respiratory diseases and arthritis. by 1960,
there were over 8,000 Jews. Records indicate that that are 83,000
Jews now living in Phoenix as of 2002 out of a total population
of 3.5 million.
Emil Ganz served two terms as
mayor, once from 1885 to 1886 and again in 1899 to 1901.
Steven Spielberg spent part
of his childhood in Scottsdale, where he started making adventure
films. The Last gun, the first movie he edited, directed and acted in,
was filed at Scottsdale's Pinnacle Peak Patio Steakhouse and premiered
in 1959, when he was 13 - the same year that he celebrated his bar
mitzvah at Beth Hebrew synagogue.
Sylvia Plotkin Judaica
Museum A biblical garden and a mikve and part of the Beth Israel
Congregation. The highlight of the museum is
a composite synagogue
sanctuary brought from Djerba, Tunisia, with ornate floral motif
tiles and wooden Torah casings. www.spjm.org
Congregation Beth Israel
This reformed congregation began in 1922 and built the first synagogue
and community center in Phoenix.A resource center for genealogy the Metropolitan
Phoenix area including a copy of Encyclopedia Judaica available on CD-ROM.
The building and the rabbi's house, located at 122 E. Culver, off 2nd
Street has been converted into the Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage
Center. http://www.cbiaz.org/
A mining town just north of Phoenix. Barry Goldwater's uncle,
Morris Goldwater served six terms as
Mayor of Prescott
http://www.brithshalom-az.org/
Tombstone
This is the town where the "Gunfight at the OK Corral" took place. Just outside of this small town, there is the Boothill Graveyard cemetery, and within the cemetery is a Jewish section that was restored in 1983. It is quite interesting to see and well worth the time
http://swja.arizona.edu/content/restoration-jewish-cemetery-tombstone-arizona
Tucson
Leona G and David Bloom Southwest Jewish Archives at the
University of Arizona
POB 210055
Tucson, AZ 85721
The Bloom Archives no longer exists as it once was. They do not have an active staff, according to Alfred Lipsey, of the Jewish Historical Society of Southern Arizona.
E-mail sglogoff@bird.library.arizona.edu
http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/bloom/
There was a synagogue here with only eight elderly members still living in the town. The town was originally settled by a group of Jews that that originally arrived here in the 1840s. One of the torah scrolls from the synagogue was donated to the Vinnitsa community in Ukraine.
Anshe Emeth Cemetery. Understand that a Cindy Scott of Niceville, Florida has a transcription information for this cemetery.
California
Start your
ancestor search here. California State University, Los Angeles, Library
U.S. and foreign records; National Archives guide to Paris,
France; U.S. marriage records, 1785 - 1794
5151 State University Drive
Los Angeles, CA
Phone 213 343 3994
California State
University, Northridge Library
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA
Phone: 818 677 2285
Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio newspapers from mid-1850s to 1920s;
collection of 1,012 Western Americana books from 18th, 19th and early
20th century.
Family History Center
Latter-Day Saints Temple Visitors Center
10741 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Los Angeles, CA.
Phone: 310 474 9990
More than 10,000 genealogy books; U.S. census records; passenger lists;
roster of Ohio Civil War veterans; indexes to pension records; New York
church and cemetery records; California index of deaths and marriages;
records from Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Vermont; Index
to records of England and Wales
Huntington Beach Central Library
7111 Talbert Ave.
Huntington Beach, CA
Phone: 714 842 4481
More than 700 genealogies, microfilms and microfiches; roster of North
Dakota soldiers, sailors and marines: Los Angeles and Orange County
obituary files; vital statistics for Kansas, Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania; Swedish passenger arrivals in New York, 1820-1950
Immigrant Genealogical
Society Library 1310-B W. Magnolia St.
Burbank
Phone 818 848 3122
German genealogy and records; roster of Iowa soldiers in Civil War;
vital statistics from Massachusetts; Maryland wills
Jewish Home (Los
Angeles) 7150 Tampa Ave.
Reseda, CA 91335
818 758 5042 http://www.jha.org
Long Beach Public Library 101 Pacific Ave.
Long Beach, CA
Phone: 310570 7500
more than 7,500 genealogy books; Daughters of the American Revolution
lineages; U.S. Army rosters from 1865; listings of personnel in U.S.
Navy, National Guard, Air Force; Virginia historical index; encyclopedia
of American Quaker genealogy; family history collection
Los Angeles Public Library 630 W. fifth St.
Los Angeles, CA
Phone 213 228 7400
43,000 genealogy books; 600 periodicals; 22,400 microfilm and 75,000
microfiche records; family and county histories and heraldry
Pasadena Public Library 285 E. Walnut St.
Pasadena, CA
Phone 818 405 4052
1,500 genealogy books, 100,000 microfilm and 750 microfiche records;
West Virginia history collection; histories of Mexico in Spanish and
English; family history collections
Sherman Foundation Library 2647 E. Pacific Coast Highway
Corona del Mar, CA
714 673 1880
More than 10,000 genealogies; Arizona county archives; rancho histories;
California history
Sons of Revolution Library 600 S. Central Ave.
Glendale, CA
Phone: 818 240 1775
1,700 family histories; 10,000 town, county, state histories; archivist
and vital records for Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
New York; Michigan pioneer records; 140 volumes of Civil War history.
Southern California
Genealogical Society Library 122 S San Fernando Road
Burbank, CA
818 843 7247
More than 7,000 genealogy books, 50 microfilm and more than 2,000
microfiche records
Thousand Oaks Library 1401 E. Janss Road
Thousand Oaks, CA
Phone: 805 449 2660
Old Norwegian colony history and cemetery files; directories of Scottish
settlers, Irish famine immigrants
UCLA University Research
Library 405 Hilgard Ave.
Westwood, Los Angeles, CA
Phone: 310 825 4732
History collections of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada; map
collection; newspapers from Spain 1800s to 1900s
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/researchlibrary/6714.cfm
Birth, Death and other such records - If you wish to order a certified copy of a record from the State Office of Vital Records, you may write to either of the following addresses:
State Department of Health Services Office of Vital Records, P.O. Box 730241, Sacramento, CA 94244-0241 or
State Department of Health Services Office of Vital Records 304 S Street Sacramento, CA 95814
To contact Customer Service Department (916) 445-2684or (916) 445-1719 Cost is about $11 to $13.00 for a birth certificate. www.dhs.ca.gov
The California Death Index Available at many public Libraries (1940-1995) and at local FHC (1905-1939 and 1940-1968). The index gives the date of death and other information which can be used to obtain a copy of the death certificate. If you are sure of the date of death, you can obtain the death certificate from Sacramento without the extra information. For vital records in California write to:
Department of Health Services Office of the Registrar of Vital Statistics 304 S Street P O Box 730241 Sacramento, California 94244=0241
If the exact date isn't known, an additional fee will be charged for each 10 years searched. Make check payable to: Office of Vital Records and Statistics.
California record fees and policies. The policy is much more restrictive if one wants an "authorized certified copy." If you do not need the information for death benefits, driver's license, etc., the "informational certified copy" that they will now provide people who are not direct descendents may be enough for genealogical purposes. The State Legislature has added a new fee of $2.00 to existing certified copy fees for birth and death certificates. The cost to obtain a certified copy from the RR/CCs Office for a birth record is now $18.00 and the cost of a death record is $13.00. For further information, call 562 462 2137
"The fastest way to obtain a vital record in California is to order it from the County Recorder in the office where the event occurred. While processing times vary widely, most counties answer these requests within a week, and processing time is almost a matter of days or weeks, rather than months. (there are
a few exceptions, particularly the large counties like Los Angeles, which take longer) Prices will be similar to those at the state level, although the presence or absence of local surcharges may change the price a bit from county to county."
"Most counties in California now have websites, and you can generally get instructions on how to order vital records from the counties from their websites. If you are in a big hurry, you can also order the certificate with a credit card from the Vital Check network
www.vitalcheck.com
"These requests are usually handled with some priority, so waiting is usually less. There is a fee for the credit card use (usually $5.00), and almost all the counties in California participate in the network. Just one note about VitalChek - if you do use it, fax or phone in your request; don't use the online ordering mechanism. Between 25% and 50% of the requests sent through the online ordering system seem to
get lost the first time. This often delays the order being processed."
"While procedures differ from state to state, ordering through the local vital records office is usually faster than ordering through the state vital records office in most states. Check with the particular location whenever you order vital records to see if there is a local office that can issue the certificate; they are often more responsive than the state, and sometimes charge lower fees."
From a posting on JewishGen by Ted Gostin
Jewish Community Center of the Desert A Jewish Community Center - WOW (With Out Walls) Holds programs and events in different locations all around the Coachella Valley (which includes Palm Springs)
http://www.desertjcc.com/
Jewish Funeral Homes of America Web site lists the larger Jewish funeral homes http://www.jfda.org
Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, Formerly The Jewish Bulletin of Northern California
www.jewishsf.com
Los Altos
Congregation Beth Am 26790 Arastradero Road Los Altos Hills, CA
Los Angeles
The city's full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Pociuncula - and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.
"Los Angeles Jew: A Memoir" Authored by Martin Aaron Brower. Over the past 80 years, the Los Angeles Jewish population exploded from 65,000 Jewish residents to over 520,000 in 2009. The author, a Los Angelesnative, addresses the LA Jewish experience through a personal memoir, tracing his own life interspersed with references to the development of the Jewish community.
TheLA County Clerk's Department Headquarters Contains the birth-marriage-death records, is located at 12400 Imperial Hwy in Norwalk(800-815-2666). The births-marriage-deaths office is in the basement.
The staff there are very helpful; you should be able to search and not have to purchase. They do have a limit on how many records you can search at a time. If you call them for information you may wish to
ask them about this, since it may help you to plan before you go. The Brides Index is in this office.
"If you are searching for deaths try to get as much information as possible about exactly where in Los Angeles the person lived at the time of death, and whether that place was part of the City of Los Angeles at the time. The records are kept separately for deaths in LA City and LA County, and if you are not sure you may find yourself having to look through both books."
There is an estimated Jewish population of between 550,000 and 600,000 - second only to New York - stretching from the near edge of the desert to the Pacific Ocean. The first known Jew was a Jewish-German tailor Jacob Frankfort in 1844 and in 1850, Los Angeles became a city with a total of 8 Jews out of a population of 8,624. The other 7 Jews were either German Jews or Polish merchants. In 1854 they and the additional newly arrived Jews formed the Hebrew Benevolent Society. A year later they created the first Jewish cemetery in Chavez Ravine where today's Dodger Baseball Stadium sits. If interested in more LA history, refer to an article written by Joan Tapper in the June/July 2008 issue of Hadassah Magazine.
http://www.hadassahmagazine.org/site/c.twI6LmN7IzF/b.5766907/k.D79E/JuneJuly
_2008_Vol_89_No_10.htm
American Jewish University (formed when the University of Judaism merged with he Brandeis-Bardin Institute) - includes the 120,000 volume Ostrow Library. Located at
15600 Mulholland Drive
Los Angeles, CA.
Phone 888 853 6763
www.ajula.edu
Hollywood Forever Cemetery (Hollywood Memorial Park)is located in a slightly shabby neighborhood north of Paramount Studios on Gower Street, where Peter Lorre and Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel are buried
Mt. Sinai Cemetery - located in the Hollywood Hills and a newer site in Simi Valley
http://www.mt-sinai.com/
Los Angeles Jewish Home For The Aging Home of Peace was started in 1855 in Boyle Heights and was located at 4334 Whittier Blvd., Los Angeles 90023 Phone 323 261 6135. It is now located in Reseda (since the 1950s) at
18855 Victory Blvd
Reseda, CA. 91335
Marriage Licenses There is no* online index...but there are some (few) places where one may access a fiche index
covering--only--about 1960-1988 (or can't recall, could be 1998). This is a California-wide index.
**At** the Los Angeles County. recorders office itself, I believe one can do some looking up of names on their computer for L.A. Co. filings, but it's not on the web, you have to be there. From a posting by Bartlett Meyer, Los Angeles
* An on-line marriage list for all of California. The bride-indexed lists (searching by bride's surname) are available free for the years 1949-1985. Search can be limited by county. There are also groom-indexed lists available to "premium" searchers -- fee based." From a posting by Stephanie Weiner San Diego, CA
laguna@sciti.com
Museum of Tolerance TheSimon Wiesenthal Center 9786 West Pico Boulevard: 310 553 8403
www.museumoftolerance.com
Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 North Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. 310 440 4500. Grace Cohen Grossman, Curator of Judaica and American
www.skirball.org
Synagogues
Breed Street Shul Located in Boyle Heights, an old, established section of the metropolitan area of Los Angeles. The synagogue was built in 1923 and is in the process of being restored. The building was closed when the population moved west. There is an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/living/2000123/t000124349.html
Info about the early days of Monterey County. Contact the history departments at Monterey Peninsula Community College in Monterey and Hartnell College in Salinas. Temple Beth El in Salinas may have some historical records (membership lists, tribute books, bulletins etc.) and there is a Jewish cemetery
in Salinas. Another possibility would be to scan past issues of the Salinas Californian and Monterey Herald. Judah Magnes Museum in Berkeley has a rich repository of California Jewish history.
Jewish pioneers in earlyAnaheimowned many businesses and were active members of the community. Morris L. Goodman, who was born in Bavaria in 1819 and immigrated to the United States around 1840, opened Goodman & Rimpau Dry Goods Emporium with Theodore Rimpau in Anaheim.
There is an article in the weekly edition of the Anaheim Gazette (September 18, 1880) that the Jews closed their stores in observance of Yom Kippur. This caused the newspaper to report "Owing to the closing of many of the stores on account of it being a Jewish holiday, the town was abnormally quiet and dull."
www.jewishorangecounty.org/historical
Jewish Federation Campus of Orange County 250 E. Baker Street, Costa Mesa
Jewish Genealogy Society of Orange County Contact Dorothy Kohanski dkohanski@star.net
"A Home on the Range: The Jewish chicken Ranchers of Petaluma" A video about the emigrants who came to northern California from Eastern Europe with no agricultural background. Mostly leftists and atheists, they formed a choir and a drama group, but voted for a synagogue to get the tax credit. Bonnie Burt Productions www.jewishchickenranchers.com
B'nai Israel Cemetery 430 Magnolia Ave., Petaluma, CA 94952, Phone 707 762 7560. Contact: Ann Weinstock. For information on the old (Gold Rush time) cemeteries, Contact Susan Morris, Director Judah L. Magnes Museum 2911 Russell St. Berkeley, CA 94705 Phone 510 549 6950 E-mail
magnes-pr@eb.jfed.org
Jewish Genealogical Society of Sacramento Contact: Allen and Linda Minsky linal@jps.net Mailing address: 2351 Wyda Way Sacramento, CA 95825 Phone: (916) 486 0906, ext. 361
Email
jgs_sacramento@hotmail.com
TheSan BernardinoCoroners office Maintains a website for the State of California for people who have died and whose remains have not been claimed. The website if fully searchable and lists name, age if known, place of birth if known, and place
of death (city; at home; or the name of the hospital) and last known address. Some have birthdates listed. The URL is: http://www.unclaimedpersons.com
If you are looking for someone whose last known address or whereabouts was in California, and they seemed to have "disappeared", then perhaps this website is for you. Adelle Weintraub Gloger Shaker Hts., Ohio agloger@aol.com
There are 2 Jewish Cemeteries in San Bernardino County One is just east ofPomonaand is the Evergreen CemeteryinBloomingtonand the other one is in the
City
of San Bernardino.
San Diego
Beth Eliyahu Torah Center (Sephardic) 5012 Central Ave. Suite C Bonita, Ca 91902
dsrugo@aol.com
Congregation Beth Israel Towne Center Drive at Golden Haven Drive. This reform temple is the oldest and largest congregation in the region. The Rabbi is Benjamin Kamin.
http://www.cbisd.org/
Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society In addition to general information about this area of Alameda County, there are cemetery and
mortuary records; http://www.1-ags.org/
PlanItJewish™ Provides easy access to local and national Jewish event programming in Northern California
http://plaitjewish.com/
Located at
122 South San Fernando Blvd.
Burbank, CA
Phone: (818) 843 7247
The Library collection includes over 9,000 volumes of family and
local histories, as well as over 2,500 bound volumes of
genealogical periodicals and a microfiche collection of
California vital records of deaths from 1940 to 1989 and
marriages from 1960 to 1985
Vital Records Write to
Department of Health Services
Office of the Registrar of Vital Statistics
304 S Street
PO. Box 730241
Sacramento, CA 94244-0241
Phone (916) 445 2684
Cost of a Birth Certificate is $13.00.
The fastest way to obtain a vital record in California is to order it from the County Recorder in the office
where the event occurred. While processing times vary widely, most counties answer these requests within a week, and processing time is almost a matter of days or weeks, rather than months. (There are
a few exceptions particularly the large counties like Los Angeles, which take longer). Prices will be similar to those at the state level, although the presence or absence of local surcharges may change the price a bit from county to county. Most counties in California now have websites, and you can generally get instructions on how to order vital records from the counties from their websites.
Marriage Index records (1727 to 1900) Contain information about the union of two families; the groom's name, the bride's maiden name, the county and date of marriage and sometimes more. A CD is available from www.UltimateFamilyTree.com/online
Intermountain Jewish News Offices at 1275 Sherman St. in Denver. Rabbi Hillel Goldberg, executive editor and Larry Hankin, associate editor.
The Jewish Consumptive Relief Society - (JCRS) National Jewish Hospital were more likely to treat patients with money, and more likely German Jews. The JCRS was established when so many poor Jews arrived in Denver and were unable to obtain service; that the Orthodox Russian Jewish community made them a tent city on the West side of town. Some of the JCRS Annual reports are available for viewing at the main branch of the Denver Public Library, they include patient names. It is true that National Jewish Hospital began serving tuberculars sooner, unfortunately there were more than enough patients to make both organizations necessary. From a posting on JewishGen by Karen Lozow
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/USA/JCRS.htm The National Jewish Hospital Most likely to treat patients with money and more likely German Jews. The JCRS was established when so many poor Jews arrived in Denver and were unable to obtain service that the Orthodox Russian Jewish community made them a tent city on the West side of town. Some of the JCRS Annual reports are available at the main branch of the Denver Public Library and they include patient names. This information was submitted to JewishGen Digest by Karen. You can contact her atkslden@aol.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Jewish_Medical_and_Research_Center
There are two books available listing all burialsin these counties in Connecticut: Hartford, Litchfield,
Tolland, Middlesex and New London.
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/connecticut/
Connecticut Death Records Death records from 1949 to 1996. It includes dates and places of birth and death, father's surname, occupation, and last address. Many libraries now offer free access to the Ancestry web site. www.ancestry.com
TheConnecticut Jewish Genealogy Society Meets at Temple Emanuel, 150 Derby Avenue in Orange, CT.
It also meets at
United Synagogue
205 Mohawk Drive
West Hartford.
Contact: Marcia Meyers at marciarthur@msn.com or
Georgia Haken at gwhaken@yahoo.com
Connecticut Newspapers on the Web
http://www.cslib.org/newspaper/webnews.htm
Naturalization Information All pre-1906 naturalizations in Connecticut (and in the five other New England States) are now at the National Archives branch in Waltham, Massachusetts http://www.jewishgen.org/jgsgb/bostres.htm
Service Records, Connecticut, Men and Women in the Armed
Forces of
the
United States During World War 1917-1920 Published by the Adjutant General of the State. Along with a brief military record, the roster shows the person's name, race, serial number and address at time of enlistment. Contact: Werner S. Hirsch, Curator, Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven for possible assistance
whirsch869@aol.com
or
whirsch@snet.net
http://www26.us.archive.org/details/servicerecordsco02offi
Hartford Courant Archives Scroll down a bit on the web page and you will find a 'Search' form. Select the information at this search box http://www.ctnow.com/
"Back to the Land: Jewish Farms and Resorts in Connecticut" 1890 to 1945; published in 1998 by the State of Connecticut Historical Commission and the
Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven
P.O. Box 3251
New Haven, CT 06515-0351.
Phone: (202) 392 6125 (office) and (203) 392 5860 (archivist.
Copies are available from the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven, Warner S. Hirsch is the Curator
whirsch@snet.net
TheJewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven Has its own site which offers a listing of all burials (up to the early 1930s) in the two oldest Jewish cemeteries in New Haven. These listings will eventually be modified to include ALL the Jewish burials in the greater New Haven area
http://pages.cthome.net/hirsch/hale-jgs.htm
Jewish Center of Greater New Haven Located on Amity Road in Woodbridge and the New Haven Public Library's Main Branch on Elm Street in New Haven and the Jewish Historical Society located in Southern CT State University in New Haven offer
a collection of books on various Jewish subjects.
http://jccnh.org/
TheJewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven, Inc. Werner S. Hirsch is the Curator whirsch@snet.net
offers cemetery listings, photos, Table of
Comparative Hebrew Alphabets, New Haven information and "Gravestone Do's and Don'ts" http://pages.cthome.net/hirsch/
"Jews in New London, Connecticut - A Goodly Heritage: The Story of
the
Jewish Community In
New London 1860-1955" Authored by Ester Sulman with the Collaboration of Leonard J. Goldstein and published in New London,
CT in 1957.
http://www.iajgs.org/bibliography/Connecticut.htm
Waterbury
The Bronson Library has City Directories from 1860 to 1990. Located at 267 Grand Street.
Phone: 203 574 8225
http://www.bronsonlibrary.org/
Jewish Historical Society of Delaware The Society maintains a 350 linear foot archives of records, photographs and memorabilia relating to the people and institutions of the Delaware Jewish Community
http://www.hsd.org/jhsd.htm Marriage Index records (1740 - 1920) Contain information about the union of two families; the groom's name, the bride's maiden name, the county and date of marriage and sometimes more. A CD is available from www.UltimateFamilyTree.com/online
Jewish Museum of Florida 301 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach FL 33139
www.jewishmuseum.com
Ft. Lauderdale
(Broward County)
Broward County Jews have lived here since it was swampland and now is home to Florida's largest Jewish population
http://www.jgsbc.org/history.html
Broward County Includes Fort Lauderdale and many nearby cities including Hollywood and Plantation. Check out this no fee, no registration web site which offers scans of actual County record scans http://www.broward.org/cri03300.htm
David Posnack Jewish Community Center 5850 S Pine Island Road Ft. Lauderdale (at Sterling Rd)
http://www.dpjcc.org/
JGS Broward County (Fort Lauderdale) Contact Bernard Kouchel koosh@worldnet.att.net The Society has it's own web site and offers links to the Ellis Island Database, the Florida Atlantic University Libraries, the Directory of Jewish genealogical societies, LDS Family History Center addresses and more
http://jgsbroward.org/
In 2012,
Key West will be celebrating the 125th year of the establishment
of a Jewish Community. An excellent article authored by Helen Hill about
this city was published in the December 2011 / January 2012 issue of
Hadassah Magazine. The author wrote that there are two active
synagogues - one Conservative and one Orthodox and there is a kosher
restaurant. Shipwrecks became a method of making a living here and
brought Jews including Joe Wolfson, a young Romanian immigrant, who was
enroute to New Orleans, when his ship sunk in 1884. He
returned to Romania and convinced his family members to move here
and later, together with Abraham Wolkowsy (from Vilna) and
Mendell Rippa
(from Romania) organized a congregation and held
services in private homes.
In 1887,
they incorporated Rodef Shalom, a charitable and religious organization
with membership open "to all Hebrews who believe in and subscribe to
the doctrines of the Hebrew religion." A tobacco industry was
established here and cigar manufacturers such as the Rippa family,
Samuel Seidenberg and Julius Ellinger made their living from this
business, however, years of devastating fires and labor problems, caused
many cigar manufacturers to relocate to Ybor City in Tampa by the early
1900s.
Synagogues
Beth Emeth
"Many times, documents of your family's memberships in synagogues
and other organizations can provide a veritable treasure trove of
information regarding both your family and their Jewish community. A
recent find for me was a unique piece of Jewish history from South
Florida entitled: "Beth Emeth Journal, 1963, 12250 N.W. 2nd
Avenue, Miami, Florida."
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.genealogy.jewish/2008-01/msg00200.html
"This was the Journal of an early Conservative Synagogue located in
what was called unincorporated Dade County in the Miami/North Miami
area. It had originated in a small storefront on 117th Street and
N.W. 7th Avenue in the early 1950's. It was where my parents were part
of the founding membership. As the membership grew or moved, the
Synagogue did the same."
"As with many small congregations, they joined with other congregations
and grew bigger. In this case, Beth Emeth later joined with Yehuda
Moshe Congregation, then the North Dade Jewish Center and
then finally permutated into Beth Moshe Congregation. A number of
the members even joined the nearby Beth Torah Congregation in
North Miami Beach which provided youth activities in the form of
Young Judea. Eventually, many of the members left the area altogether
and moved northward to Broward County."
"The Journal contains adverts for local businesses mainly owned by the
Congregants, Memorials for those who had passed away including who they
were remembered by, a Jewels section listing the names of all of the
children of the membership, and finally, a listing of all of the
Congregants and their addresses."
"The Journal truly brought back memories of that time and the families
who struggled to make a Jewish life for themselves in an overwhelming
non-Jewish area." From a posting by
Ann Rabinowitz
Cuban Hebrew Congregation (now Beth Shmuel) Miami Beach's largest synagogue for Cuban Jews (at one time it had 1,000 members - now it has 500). There are an estimated 6,000 Cuban Jews in Miami.
http://www.cubanhebrew.com/
Sephardic Jewish Center of North Miami Beach Congregation Magen David
http://magendavidonline.org/default.aspx
Kehilat Beit Israel The Cuban born Rabbi Joseph Mont is written up in an interesting story about this 'converted' Jewish congregation' in the December, 2002 issue of Hadassah Magazine. A web site in Spanish may be of interest www.gacetaanusim.com
Jewish Genealogical Society of Southwest Florida Kim Sheintal is President. They meet at the
JCC
582 S. McIntosh Road
Sarasota, FL
http://www.jgsswf.org/
Jewish Funeral Homes of America Lists the three large funeral homes which serve Floridians http://www.jfda.org
Jews came to the South as early as the late 17th century in Charleston, S.C., and settling in Savannah, Ga. soon after. Samuel Nunes, a doctor who arrived in Savannah with 41 other Jews from Europe in 1733 became Georgia's first public hero and is credited with saving the infant colony from extinction by a ravaging epidemic. The first Jewish governor in America, David Emanuel was elected in 1801.
In 1960, there were 167 Jewish communities in the South, 98 of
which had Jewish populations of between 100 and 500 people.
By 1997, that number had dropped to 141, with only 62
communities averaging between 100 and 500 Jews
The Digital Library of
Georgia has online the Mercer Cluster Archive, an online archive
of the newspaper for Mercer University’s Macon campus. It covers
1920-1970 and includes over 5000 newspaper pages
http://blog.dlg.galileo.usg.edu/?p=3819
TheSephardi Heritage, Vol. II: The Western Sephardim
David A Reed has a list of surnames from this book dak.reed@which.net
A stretch of Holcombe Bridge and Spalding Roads, in an area dubbed 'Little Russia" - a mini-version of 'Little Odessa' in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn - has a string of Russian businesses, groceries and restaurants. Dimitriy Goroshin is the publisher of 'Russian Town', a regional monthly magazine.
http://www.russiantown.net/
Atlanta
Eighty percent of Atlanta's Jewish population comes from somewhere else. German Jews began arriving
in 1845. See an excellent article authored by Roni Robbins in the November 2008 edition of Hadassah Magazine for further details.
One of the nation's wealthiest communities, is home to the city's oldest and largest Conservative synagogue, Congregation Ahavath Achim, which dates back to 1887. There is also, along Peachtree Street, The Temple;
Atlanta's oldest synagogue, founded by German immigrants in 1887. The Reform Hebrew Benevolent Congregation is a national historic site.
Located about 20 miles north of Atlanta,the majority of Jewish communal services are located here. Other Jewish concentrations are inCobb CountyandSandy Springs.
The majority of South African Jews live in Sandy Springs located about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta and attend both Congregation Beth Tefilah and Congregation B'nai Torah.
Savannah
Congregation Mickve Israel was founded by 42 Jews who arrived in
Savannah, in the new colony of
Jewish Settlers of Savannah, GA., 1733 A summary of a discussion on the
Jews of Savannah is available in the archives of JewishGen Digest.
The date of the summary is 11/19/99 and it begins on Page 4.
Less than an hour's drive north of Tallahassee, Fla, the town's
Jewish history is similar to that of many small towns around the US and Canada. The first Jews arrived from Germany around 1885 and were followed later from by other Jews from Eastern Europe. The first services were conducted in a vacant hall above the public library. In 1905 the Congregation Sons of Israel of Thomasville, GA was formed with three classes of members: those paying $1 per month; those paying $2 and donors paying $5 per month. Construction of the B'nai Israel synagogue, now located on Vine St. was begun in 1913. There are Jews living here to this day.
Toco Hills
About 1,000 Iranian Jews live in the Orthodox enclave in this community located five miles northeast of downtown Atlanta. Congregation Netzach Yisrael conducts services in Hebrew and Farsi. Another synagogue, Congregation Ner Hamizrach, also was founded by Iranian Jews
http://www.jewishatlanta.org/IR/community-directory.aspx?id=300
The synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel, was built in the shape of a perfect Jewish star with a turquoise sanctuary divided by a mechitz, to separate men from women. The synagogue boasts the title of one of the smallest in the US. It began with 14 members when in began in 1969, through a donation from a visiting New Yorkmerchant. Now, only 7 members remain drawing additional Jews from neighboring towns. The president is Ben Smith along with his wife Sarah are the contacts in this town.
Hawaii
The first Jew, according to Hawaiian records was a "jew Cook " that was brought on board the whaling vessel Neptune in 1798 along with the Hawaiian king for a welcome visit. By the middle of the 19th century, Jewish traders from England, Germany and the US came to Hawaii as planters or suppliers to sugar plantations. An article by Alan M. Tigay about Honolulu was published in the January 2009 issue
of Hadassah Magazine.
Linda Lingle, a Jewess, was the first Jewish governor of Hawaii.
Today, Hawaii's Jewish population is estimated at about 10,000 with about half in or around Honolulu
and the rest on Maui, Kauai and Hawaii.
Jewish Community of Kauai The Jewish Community of Kauai is the only Jewish congregation on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, also called "the Garden Island," the westernmost island of the Hawaiian Island chain. We are unaffiliated and open to meet with and learn from all Jewish peoples and resources.
http://www.jewishcommunityofkauai.org/
"Chicago and County: A
Guide To Research"
Authored by Loretto Dennis Szucs, published by Ancestry in 1996 - a reference work. It is a very comprehensive book and includes: Adoption records; cemeteries in Metropolitan Chicago; Census Records; Court Records and research in Cook County; Historical Libraries and Museums in Cook County; Land and Property Records; Military Records, National Archives - Great Lakes Region; Naturalization Records, and more. The Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois has a copy in their library and you can also request it through inter-library loan from your local library.
"History of the Jews of Chicago" Authored by H. L. Meites and published by the Chicago Jewish Historical Society and Wellington Publishers, Inc. Chicago 1990.
"A Jewish-Chicago Records Survey: Guide to the records ofthe
Jewish Community Institutions of West Rogers Park, Chicago,
Illinois" Authored by Irwin M. Berent and published by Asher Library, Spertus College of Judaica in 1984.
"The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb" Authored by Irving Cutler and published by The University of Illinois Press.
Champaign
Year Book The 1918 Yearbook "ILLIO" from the University of Illinoisis available to access - Keyword is UI
http://www.deadfred.com
Chicago
Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.
Jews came to Chicago, from Prussia, Austria, Bohemia and parts of Poland as early as 1832. they settled first, along Lake and Clark Streets. An excellent article, written by Deborah Hale-Shelton, was published
in the June/July 2003 issue of Hadassah Magazine.
The Great Chicago Fire began on Simchat Torah - October 8, 1871, not far from Maxwell Street. Five synagogues and 500 Jewish families died, 300 among them destitute. German Jews moved south along Michigan Avenue. In the early 1900s, Russian and Polish Jews fleeing from Europe and numbering as many as 55,000, began moving into the area.
Jews started to move out from the downtown area by 1910 and could be found in Lawndale, Albany Park, Humboldt Park, Logan Square and Rogers Park. The greater Chicago metropolitan area today is home to 270,500 Jews according to estimates available from the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. There are 125 synagogues and seven Jewish community centers.
American Jewish Artists Club (established in 1930) 6301 N. Sheridan Road #8E Chicago, IL 60660
Beth-El Cemetery Located on Pulaski Avenue, south of Peterson. If you need a look up, Mimi Katz has offered to do one by contacting her at
geveretk@core.com
Chicago Birth Certificates Can be obtained by writing to: Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Records, 605 W. Jefferson St., Springfield, IL 62702. Chicago birth registers available for 1871 to 1915; Chicago birth certificates from 1878 to 1922 and Chicago death certificates from 1878 to 1915 are available.
Chicago Historical Society 1601, North Clark St. Chicago, IL 60614-6099 Phone: (312) 642 4600 Fax: (312) 266 2077. Deborah King is a Research specialist. http://www.chicagohistory.org
The CHS does not do any personal research, but it does allow researchers access to their files, or you can write for a copy of their catalog. http://www.chicagohs.org/
Chicago Jewish Tour Exploring the city's Jewish roots is sponsored by the Chicago Jewish Historical Society - for details call Telephone 1 312 663 5634
Chicago
Sentinel A new, searchable database for Chicago's
longest-running Jewish weekly newspaper, "The Sentinel,"
has
become available online. "The Sentinel" began
production in February 1911 and ceased publication
in December
1997. The Asher Library has digitized more than 2,000 issues,
focusing on the years
1911-1949 and is available through the
Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies website, as well as through
the Illinois Digital Archive, for free. Complete issues can be
downloaded as PDF files.
http://hannah.spertus.edu:8881/R
A complete set of microfilms
for this publication -- and other Chicago area
Jewish periodicals -- should
also be available for viewing at Hebrew
Union
College in its four locations in NYC, Cincinnati, Jerusalem and
Los Angeles.
They hold microfilm collections for a range of Jewish newspapers and
journals
in English, Yiddish and Hebrew, from cities and towns
throughout the United
States. They are not indexed, so it
helps to know the dates of the
events you
are researching. You can access the inventory of the libraries
at Hebrew
Union
College here:
http://www.huc.edu/libraries/LA/
I believe microfilms can be exchanged between branches through
inter-library
loan. For information on accessing the microfilm collection or inquiries
about
purchasing existing microfilm, please contact Laurel Wolfson,
Administrative
Librarian, at 513-487-3274 or by E-mail lwolfson@huc.edu
Chicago Genealogist Newsletter The Chicago Genealogical Society and the Newberry Library have
created a new digital collection, the Chicago Genealogist. The online
database contains images of the Chicago Genealogist, a quarterly journal
published continuously since 1969 by the Chicago Genealogical Society
http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/index_nby_cgs.php?CISOROOT=/nby_cgs
Chicago Shoah Museum (The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. It is a 65,000 square-foot facility that will house permanent exhibitions chronicling life before, during and after the Holocaust.
http://www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/
Chicago Street Name Changes and Enumeration Districts for the
Censuses in Chicago The site includes maps and ward lists as well.
http://alookatcook.com/
Chicago Telephone Books The Newberry Libraryweb site offers an overview of this library's collections and more. This library provides an inexpensive and first class service. The link will search the Chicago Daily News.
http://www.newberry.org
Chicago Tribune A complete web site includes an Obituary link, maps and a Archive Search link
http://www.ChicagoTribune.com/
Congregation Bais Tefilah 3555 W. Peterson Ave. Chicago, IL 60659
ygb@aishdas.org
Jewish Home For The Aged The Chicago Historical Society
has the complete records of the Jewish Home for the Aged, from
1899 to 1971 when it was closed
http://archive.org/details/chicagojewishcom00sent
Kehilath Anshe Maariv (Congregation of the Men of the West) Chicago's first Jewish congregation in 1847 and founded by a group of Bavarian Jews. The synagogue
was built at Clark and Jackson Streets in 1851. B'nai Sholom, the city's second-oldest synagogue,
merged with Kehilath Anshe Maariv, to form K.A.M. Isaiah Israel
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/il0127/
Marks Nathan Orphan Home (Orthodox)
Established in 1906 on the Northwest side of Chicago, and moved
later in 1912 to 1546-1558 S. Albany Albany Park in 1926
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brulelaker/3525617365/
Maxwell Street Where East European Jews settled in the 1800s and early 1900s and where I bought a suit from a Jewish merchant which turned into 24 pound brown Kraft paper when I was later caught in a rain. It was similar to the lower
East Side of New York in looks. There is a 'new' Maxwell Street Market,
just east of the old one
Newberry Library Located at 60 W. Walton (312-943 9090) in Chicago, offers a link to their Genealogy Collection. The research library houses one of country's biggest collections of pre-1800 Hebraica and also has a family-history section with many Jewish resources. The Newberry Library web site offers an overview of this library's collections and more. This library provides an inexpensive and first class service. The will search the
Chicago Daily News.
http://www.newberry.org
Sentinel Newspapers Around the time of the Jewish New Year, hundreds of Chicago residents paid to have a New Year's greeting printed in the newspaper in English (not Yiddish). The greetings are alphabetical by surname, and include an address. A great resource if you are looking for family
TheSentinel's microfilms Call Number is:
Mic/AJPC/353 and the holdings are:
V. 1, no. 1 ( 4 Feb. 1911) - V. 70, no. 13 (29 June 1928)
; 1 Aug. 1974
- V. 310, no. 5 ( Dec. 26, 1996) 12 Jan. 1989 ; 4 July 1991 ; 12
Dec. 1991;
28 Jan. 1993 ; 19 Aug. 1993 Mic/AJPC/353 From a posting by Pamela
Weisberger
http://www.jsonline.com/business/60060592.html
Silverman & WeissMortuary (708) 366 0125; Free Sons of Israel (708) 366 1190 at Waukegan, Other Jewish Cemeteries at Waldheim
are Rosemont Park, Oak Woods, Westlawn, Jewish Oak Ridge, Jewish
Graceland, Morton Grove and Mt. Mayriv-Isaiah Israel
http://www.ourfuneralhomes.com/SilvermanWeissInc-ForestParkIL/
South Side Hebrew Congregation
Formerly located in a community about 10 miles south of the
downtown area until 1970 when it moved
150 E. Huron St.
Chicago 60611-2999
Phone: (312) 787 0450
The Chicago Historical Society may have some of the older
records prior to its move
http://www.centralchicago.org/
"Waldheim Jewish Cemeteries Located in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park, Illinois is a large Jewish cemetery that contains over 200,000 graves and where of each of the separate Landsmanshaftn and synagogue plots are referred to as a "cemetery". The Piser Weinstein Menorah Chapels' cemetery map refers to these societies collectively as the "Jewish Waldheim Cemeteries". From a posting by Ada Green
1800 S Harlem Forest Park 60130 Phone 708 366 4541
or 1400 S. Desplaines,
Forest Park 60130 Actually three or four separate companies in charge of the hundreds of small to large Landmanschaften cemeteries that comprise the Waldheim Cemetery Co.
Waldheim represents about 85% of all burials in the Chicago area. The largest of the cemetery managers is Barnett Joseph Schwartzbach and can be reached at 800 222 4541. The
office is computerized and they will answer inquiries. They just
ask that as much information as possible e given i.e. age, date of
death, names of people, et.
http://www.graveyards.com/waldheim/
Over three hundred cemeteries make up Jewish Waldheim, totaling over 175,000 burials. Most of these cemeteries have their own gates of stone or brick, sometimes with iron doors, bearing the name of the cemetery. Here is the contact address and telephone and fax numbers that have been reported as being successful in obtaining information from the company:
Waldheim Cemetery Company 1400 Desplaines Avenue Forest Park, IL 60130
Fax: 708 366 4575 Phone 708 366 4541 Outside Illinois: 1 800 222 4541
West Rogers Park
This neighborhood became Jewish immediately after WW II and was
overwhelmingly so by 1952. It is estimated that there were
as many as 48,000 Jews living there in the 1960s and then
declining to about 30,000 today. This area remains the heart of
Chicago's Orthodox community
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Park,_Chicago
Cook County Archives Daley Center 50 West Washington Room 1113 Chicago, IL 60602 Phone: (312) 603 6601 Fax: (312) 603 4974
http://www.cookctyclerk.com/
"At the Cook County Archives you can search for: Naturalizations, 1871-1929, for a few states near and including
Illinois. Search by Soundex code. Cook County
has been working to digitize all of the 24 million vital records
in their possession and get them up on a website.
The following records are available- birth certificates at least
75 years old; marriage certificates more than 50 years old;
death certificates more than 20 years old. Certified
copies will not be available, and social security numbers will
not be on any of the documents.
You will be able to search for the records you want, then order
them on line from that website. No mention of cost, so hopefully
it won't be too expensive. There was an article announcing all
of this in the Chicago Tribune Newspaper on September
7, 2007 entitled
"Old county records being put online". From a posting
by
Lisa Lepore
Law and Chancery, Cook County Covers divorce, business, industry, labor; medical, sports, name changes; and more. There are separate films for plaintiff and defendant. Search by surname, using microfilms that cover these years:
Probate, 1871-1963, Cook County Search by surname, using microfilms that cover these years: 1911-1928; 1928-1935; 1936-1943; 1944-1951; 1952-1953; 1952-1953; 1954-1955; 1956-1959; 1960, 1963, 1964-1965 (possibly years before 1911)
Probate Incompetents Search by surname, using microfilms that cover these years: 1911-1939; 1940-1957; 1958-1963; 1962-1964
Probate/Minors and Conservators Search by surname, using microfilms that cover these years: 1871-1915; 1916-1921
Probate/Minors Index Search by surname using microfilms that cover these years: 1911-1939 (4/20/1911 to 12/31/1939); 1940-1962; 1962-1963; 1963-1964; 1965-1966
Probate/Minors and incompetents Search by surname, using microfilms that cover these years: 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976
Criminal Felony Cases, Cook County Search by surname using microfilms that cover these years: 1927-1934 and more not known at this time. There is also a computer with records from the 1980s to the present on Bond, Chancery, Child Support, Civil, Criminal (felony, misdemeanor), Domestic Relations, Law, Probate, Traffic Division. This information supplied by Daniel Kazez in the JewishGen Digest dated 1/16/01
County Clerk for Cook County 1311 Maybrook Sq. Maywood, IL 60153 Illinois Dept. of Public Health, Division of Vital Records 605 W Jefferson Springfield, IL 62702 dmorse@ccgate.sos.state.il.us
County Clerk, Cook County Vital Statistics David Orr PO Box 642570 Chicago, IL 60664-2570
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies 618 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, 60605 Reference Librarian is Dan (312) 322 1700 (1741) or (312) 922 8248 Fax: (312) 922 6406 E-mailsijs@spertus.edu The Institute offers a Jewish Museum; a Jewish gift shop and the Asher Library - all open to the public.
www.spertus.edu/
Elgin
Elgin Year Book The 1918 Yearbook "Maroon, Elgin High School, Elginis available to access - Keyword isELGIN http://www.deadfred.com
Obituary Index for the years1874-2005 Maintained by the librarians of the Public Library of Highland Park - a northern suburb of
Chicago. It lists obituaries that appeared in those years in at least four local papers.
http://www.highlandpark.org/obits/a.html
Morton Grove/Niles
Morton Grove/Niles Drohiczyn Cemetery Affiliated with the Kehilath Jacob synagogue of which Benny Goodman was a member. The file is VM2621 http://data.jewishgen.org/viewmate/toview.html
Located about 15 miles northwest of Chicago and was once the scene of a neo-Nazis attempted demonstration in 1978. Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois - 4255 W. Main www.hmfi.org
Skokie Public Library 5215 Oakton St. Skokie 60077 Phone: (847) 673 7774 Fax: (847) 673 7797. The library contains their newspaper index file including an obituary file. Click on "Services".
http://www.skokie.lib.il.us
Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) Has vital records, divorce, residence, real property, personal property, naturalizations, estates, school attendance, court actions, paupers, professions. Most, but not all, of their records begin with 1877. IRAD Information Services, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL 62756; Telephone 217 785 1266 There is a minimal charge if you request a search, but there are some limitations.
Professional Directories Illinois State Archives retains a "Register of Licensed Pharmacists (1881-1952)."
Entries include name, place of business, age, place of birth
[foreign country noted], cause of registration [examination,
etc.], date of registration, amount paid and certificate number
http://www.ilsos.gov/archivalrepositories/
Telephone Books Lookup Available for lookups are the 1931, 1937 and 1942 Chicago Phone Books; Arlington Heights area for 1946 and 1951: Mundelin area around 1950s. Also a few yearbooks: 1914 Whiting High School (IN) 1945 Lyons Township (La Grange) IL; 1943 Brookfield/Riverside High School; Roosevelt High School 1932. Contact: Kathy Lang Brnshpr@aol.com
Allen County Public Library Fort Wayne Historical Genealogy Department
has the second largest genealogy collection in the US. Sue
Kaufman, the Librarian at the library, can be contacted Historical Genealogy Department Allen County Public Library Box 2270, 900 Webster St. Fort Wayne, IN 46815 or via E-mail:
The Library holds the largest public library collection of genealogical materials in the world. Its Family Histories collection includes more than 38,000 volumes of compiled genealogies on American and European families, almost 5,000 genealogies on microfiche, and numerous family newsletters plus Census records and military records. For further contact, phone the department or E-mail Curt Witcher, Manager, Historical Genealogy Department-ACPL at
cwitcher@acpl.lib.in.us
Diane Freilich and Stan Finkelstein in an article published in the 'Generations' Magazine' published by the JGS of Michigan, reported in Volume 16, Number 2 Summer 2001, about a trip that nine members of the JGS of Michigan took to the library on May 20, 2001
La Porte County Marriages: To 1850; La Porte County Marriages: 1850-1865+ 1890 La Porte City Directory: La Porte County Cemetery Data; La Porte County Obit Index; Weekly Vital Statistics; La Porte Land Records; Union Soldiers Of La Porte (Civil War); La Porte High School: Classes of 1869-2000
http://www.in.gov/dnr/historic/3976.htm
South Bend
South Bend Area Genealogical Society Resources include 1870, 1880 and 1910 census records; a combined index to St. Joseph County; Coroner's Records Index 1879-1960; Grave Registration Project; St. Joseph County Cemetery Inscriptions - Book Series Index; Wills and Probates Index of St. Joseph County and Studebaker Corporation Employee List
http://www.rootsweb.com/~insbags/
has general
Martin County information. [September
2005]
Jewish population
in 1919 was 44. Source from Alan
Hirschfeld: "Directory of
Jewish Local Organizations in
the United States," pp.
330-583. American Jewish
Year Book 5680 September 25,
1919 to Sept. 12, 1920;
Volume 21. Edited by Harry
Schneiderman for the American
Jewish Committee
B'nai Judah
Cemetery
http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/indiana-in/whiting-martin-county.html
Year Book The 1920 Yearbook "Modulus Huntington High School, Huntington, Indiana"is available to access - Keyword isHHS
http://www.deadfred.com
The State Historical Society of Iowa Published a reprint of the Board of Immigration booklet entitled Studies In Iowa History: 'Iowa: The Home for Immigrants'.
This booklet, published in January, 1970, offers useful State
information for the benefit of immigrants
http://www.iowahistory.org/
How did Des Moines get it's name? It now appears that Des Moines, the capital of present-day
Iowa, got its name from a dirty joke. When the explorers got to the
part of the Mississippi that runs between Iowa and Illinois, Father
Marquette met with a group of Peoria Indians on the Illinois
side, and asked them about the tribe that lived at the mouth of the Des
Moines River. The Peoria told him the other tribe was called the
Moingoana, so he applied that name to the river. Later "Moingoana"
was shortened by the French to "Moines." The Moingoana became
extinct in the eighteenth century, and the Peoria moved away (to
Missouri), so when white settlers arrived in the area, they thought the
name "Moines" came either from the Indian burial mounds along the
river, or from a colony of Trappist monks living there. Then in 2003
Michael McCafferty, a researcher from Indiana University, was studying
the now extinct Miami-Illinois language, and he discovered that
Moingoana was an insult, not a real name; it translated as "sh*t-faces."
Evidently the Peoria were having a little fun at the expense of a rival
tribe, and Father Marquette didn’t get it
http://xenohistorian.wordpress.com/category/odd-history/
Filson Club Historical Society Offers a collection of diaries, books, public records, family histories and more regarding Kentucky
http://www.filsonclub.org/window.html
The first documented Jew to settle in New Orleans was Isaac Rodrigues Monsanto in either 1757 or 1758. He emigrated from the Netherlands and traded goods for a living. New Orleanshad essentially no Jews until after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase ceded the territory to the United States. Jews arrived as Spanish and Portuguese traders who had migrated up from the Caribbean in the 1700s. Jews at first suffered from the "Black Code," a policy theFrench introduced in 1724 which promised to expel Jews who practiced Judaism openly. A century later, Jacob Solis arrived from New York and founded the first congregation in 1828. The Touro synagogue was the second synagogue to be opened and has moved several times. There are about 10,000 Jews living in New Orleans before the hurricane Katrina devastated the community and about 80 percent were affiliated in some way with the Jewish community. Jews mostly lived in in uptown and Metairie portions of New Orleans.
Books
"The Early Jews of New Orleans" Authoredby Bertram Wallace Korn reviews the New Orleans Jewish history from 1873 to 1840
"Landsman: A Novel" Authored by Peter Charles Melman and published by Counterpoint Press. New Orleans had one of the largest Jewish communities during the 19th century and the South, especially Louisiana, was more welcoming to the Jews than most parts of the North. Nearly 3,000 Jews fought for the Confederacy. The books tells the story of a Southern Jew, his illegitimate son of an impoverished servant and a wealthy Jewish planter. Most of the story is revealed through the joining of the Confederate Army
Judah Touro, son of Isaac Touro who was the rabbi of Newport, Rhode Island's Congregation Yshuat Israel, was the first to have lived in the city after 1800. He founded the congregation Nefutzoth Yehuda synagogue which later merged with the city's firs synagogue, Sha'arai-Chasset to form Touro Synagogue. It is the city's leading Reform congregation. During the early nineteenth century, Jews from Germany and Alsace came to live here. An article in the May 2002 issue of Hadassah Magazine authored by Renata Polt offers a great deal of information and can be found in the archives of the magazine at
http://www.hadassah.com
It is reported in New Orleans that the well-known wealthy Israelite, Judah Touro, Esq., intends giving a piece of ground for the building of a Synagogue, and a further donation towards the building. "This gentleman some years since behaved in so handsome a manner to a Christian congregation whose church was sold, that we have every confidence that he will now do the same to his Israelitish brothers in their hour of need."
Genealogical Research Societyof New Orleans PO Box 51791, or PO Box 71791 New Orleans, LA 70151
Godchaux Family of New Orleans Compiled by Paul L. Godchaux, Jr. in 1971 and on file at the Jacob Bader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati Campus, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion. The parents of Leon Godchaux (aka the 'Sugar King'), were Paul Godchot and Michelette Lazard.
Paul was born in 1781 in Herbeviller; married Michelette in 1815; and died in Herbeviller, date unknown. Michelette was born Jan 1, 1790 and died on November 10, 1878. Leon Godchot was born June 10, 1824 in Herbeviller and died in New Orleans on May 18, 1899. He married Justine Lamm of Aie, France on May 24, 1851 in New Orleans. She was born April 8, 1835 in Aie, France and died December 29, 1906 in New Orleans.
New Orleans Public Library 219 Loyola Ave. New Orleans, LA 70112
If you are researching in the New Orleans area you may be able to find a death on either the Jefferson Parish Library obit index (just a few years in the 1970s) or the Louisiana Division obit index of the New Orleans public library - both indexes are very limited but they give the date of death as well as the date of the obit.
"If you have worked with Louisiana you know that records are not public - there is a 50 year wait on deaths and 100 years on births. A commercial site has deaths indexed thru 1949. This policy may be a problem for them with so many records destroyed by Katrina - I tried to contact a cemetery and funeral home and they had lost their records. This policy leaves a lag between the time when most people would have been in the SSDI - especially women." From a posting by Carolyn Lea
TheWilliams Research Center of the Historic New Orleans Collection Located in the French Quarters. 410 Chartres St. New Orleans, LA 70130 Phone: (504) 598-7171
Hours: 10AM-4:30PM Tues- Sat.
E-mail wrc@hnoc.org
They have all 1930 census for
Louisiana and city directories from 1822 on.
Louisiana
Louisiana State Library State Capitol Ground Baton Rouge, LA (USA) 70804
Monroe Volunteers Are creating an archive of any and all materials that relate to families who have ever lived in Northeastern Louisiana. Contact Rachel Unkefer runkefer@cstone.net
Jews have been living
in Maine since the 1800s: There were fully functioning Jewish
communities in Bangor in the 1840s, and in Portland in the
1880s. Somewhat improbably, at least to outsiders, those and
other Jewish enclaves around the state have endured and thrived.
Over the last 100 years, the
Maine Marriages,
1892-1966 index in online by the Maine State Archives.
Indexes are grouped in ten year periods and can be searched by
bride or groom. The town is specified until 1955, but
without a certificate number; from 1956, the certificate number
is given but not the town. Actual records from 1892 to
1922 can be ordered by email and last known cost was $6.00.
Records after 1922 must be ordered from the Maine Department of
Human Services
Office of Data Research and Vial Statistics
11 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
Phone: 207 287 3181
http://www.archives.com/GA.aspx?_act=MarriageRecords&klp=GA99001&CAM=309&Location=ME&KW2=Maine&gclid=CMiX_-O4m6sCFUwZQgod1APtlw
Year Book The 1916 Yearbook "University of Maine"is available to access - Keyword isUM
http://www.deadfred.com
Maryland
Note: Baltimore City is not part of Baltimore County nor any other county.
Baltimore
Books
"TheTents of
Baltimore: Ohelim in the Jewish
Cemeteries"
Authored by Dianne Weiner Feldman and
Nancy Stark Schoenburg.
Tucked away in several cemeteries
of Baltimore, Maryland, are
memorial structures that quietly hold a
piece of Jewish history. The
small buildings cover graves of various
rabbis and rebbitzens, as well as some
non-clergy. Such a structure is called
an ohel (plural, ohelim), meaning
tent in Hebrew. An ohel is an
enclosed structure built over an
in-ground burial. The ohel is different
from a mausoleum, a structure in which
there is an above-ground interment. The
majority of individuals whose ohelim are
displayed in this book were born in
Eastern Europe and passed away
between the 1930s and 1950s, although
the earliest died in 1892 and the most
recent in 1963. A photo, location,
description, dimensions, condition,
notes from the plaques of ohelim, and
historical notes are provided for each
ohel. The cemeteries covered include:
Rosedale, Bowley’s Lane, B’nai Israel,
German Hill Road, and United Hebrew.
This book preserves the memory of a part
of Baltimore history, the ohelim
and the names of those they honor. A
list of ohelim by date of death and a
bibliography complete this work
Advocate (published 1885-c.1893) and the Critic (published 1888-1893), two 19th-century Baltimore newspapers. They are available on microfilm in Maryland University collections.
http://www.jewishtimes.com/
B'nai Israel Congregation Located at 6301 Montrose Road Rockville, MD 20852
Bnei Israel Congregation Located at 3701 Southern Avenue
Jewish Historical Society of Baltimore Contact Virginia North; they will do research for a small fee.
15 Lloyd Street, Baltimore 21202 Phone: 410 732 6400
Jewish Historical Society of Maryland http://www.jhsm.org/
Halfway Hagerstown Hebrew Cemetery Located near Williamsport, MD John Drayman
Draystar@aol.com has a list of the grave markers (both given names and surnames, years, ages, etc.) in the Jewish section of the cemetery in Halfway. Hagerstown's Jewish population did not have a cemetery located immediately in the town. Instead, the residents mostly buried their departed in the Jewish section of the Halfway Cemetery, which, as is indicated by its name, is located halfway between Hagerstown and Williamsport.
Pikesville
Sol Levinson and Bros. Inc. The only Jewish Funeral Directors in Baltimore 8900 Reisterstown Rd. Pikesville, MD 21208 Phone 1 800 338 1701
State of Maryland
Jewish cemetery Information in the United States can be found her and then to the link to the cemetery page http://www.jewishgen.org/
Jewish Funeral Homes of America Lists the larger Jewish funeral homes http://www.jfda.org
Marriage Certificate Information Department of Health and mental Hygiene Division of Vital Records Box 68750, Baltimore, MD 21215, or contact Maryland State Archives - Annapolis. for Marriage License Information.
Marriage Index records (1740 -1920) Records contain information about the union of two families; the groom's name, the bride's maiden name, the county and date of marriage and sometimes more. A CD is available from
http://www.genealogy.com/index_n.html
Maryland City
Directories Guides provide an overview of print and digital Maryland
City Directories available in the Special Collections at the
University of Maryland
http://www.aomol.net/html/officials.html
Maryland State Archives Vital Records These include birth, adoption, marriage, divorce and death records. Fees vary depending upon the request. All adoptions after May 31, 1947 are sealed and can only be opened with a court order. Birth Records for the 23 counties from 1898-1978 and for Baltimore City from 1875-1978. Death Records from 1898 to 1987 for 23 counties and for Baltimore City from 1875-1987
http://www.mdvitalrec.net/cfm/dsp_search.cfm
"Resources for Jewish Genealogy in Boston" This site offers many links for researchers. The book may also be purchased from Amazon.com by using the link to your left. http://www.jewishgen.org/jgsgb/bostres.html
American Jewish Historical Society Brandeis is located in Waltham, MA.
New England Historic
Genealogical Society (NEHGS)
The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS)
announced that, together with the Jewish Cemetery
Association of Massachusetts (JCAM),
and the American Jewish Historical Society of New England (AJHSNE)
have made available online access to a growing database that
currently includes 13
Massachusetts Jewish cemeteries,
with approximately 5,000 records. More records are being
added weekly until all 106 JCAM cemeteries, which include
more than 100,000 total records, are online.The
names in this extensive database cover the years 1844 to the
present, and, when completed, will offer access to more than
100,000 names of
Jewish Americans
buried in
Massachusetts
http://www.AmericanAncestors.org
The
American Jewish Historical site
http://www.ajhsboston.org
The
Jewish Cemeteries Association of Massachusetts
http://www.jcam.org/
http://www.geneapress.com/
Amherst
The Yiddish Book Center offers a self-guided tour. Located on the campus of Hampshire College, the Center has a web site
http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org
Boston Jewish Advocate Obituaries - contact the Boston Public Library
http://www.bpl.org/
"Boston Jewish Advocate" On-line wedding announcements database. The index contains the full names of brides, grooms, the issue date and when published, home towns and parent's names covering January 1976 through May, 1997 with 3,800 entries. Copies can be obtained from microfilmed issues of the Advocate. http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/advocatew.htm Boston Marriages Database http://www.jewishgen.com
Boston Matzo Baking Company employees as featured in "They Came for Good: A History of the Jews in the United States Documentary"
Boston Public Library 666 Boylston St. Boston, MA 02116 Telephone (617) 536- 5400 or (617) 859-2018. Address" c/o Research Library Office P.O. Box 286 Boston, Massachusetts 02117.
Boston Public Library Selected Jewish Sources in the Micro text Department - the information on file includes newspaper sources, genealogical sources, magazines, biographies, Jewish communities and more http://www.bpl.org/WWW/microtext/jewishsources.html
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston
A nonprofit organization of individuals interested in
genealogical research. It conducts monthly educational programs
and publishes the Mass-Pocha.
Phone: 617-796-8522 E-mailinfo@jgsgb.org
Other Bostonnewspapers The Globe, The Herald and the Transcript may also be available http://www.bpl.org
Old West End Many poor Jews settled here in the early 1900s. The slums of the West End, along with most of its streets, were cleared in the 1950s and replaced with high-rise apartment buildings.
Melrose, Massachusetts Jewish Cemetery There is a Vilkomer Cemetery Section in this cemetery. A list of names are included on the Jewish Cemetery CD-ROM offered by Avotaynu. It is listed under Everett Vilkomer (10768) Melrose (Route 99). Everett is a part of Boston. The Vilkomer Cemetery is managed by the Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts.
www.avotaynu.com
Jewish Funeral Homes of America web site Lists the larger Jewish funeral homes http://www.jfda.org
Marriage Index records (1633 to 1850) Contain information about the union of two families; the groom's name, the bride's maiden name, the county and date of marriage and sometimes more. A CD is available from
www.UltimateFamilyTree.com/online
Massachusetts State Vital Records Office Registry of Vital Records and Statistics 150 Mt. Vernon Street, 1st Floor Dorchester, MA 02125-3105 Phone: (617) 740 2606 Fax: (617) 825 7755
Naturalization Information All pre-1906 naturalizations in Massachusetts (and in the five other New England States) are now at the National Archives branch in Waltham, Massachusetts
http://www.jewishgen.org/jgsgb/bostres.htm
New Bedford
Located in southern Massachusetts, about 50 miles from Boston and is/was an international port which handled some immigrants. An well written article about New Bedford and the surrounding towns was published in the August/September 2008 issue of Hadassah Magazine.
Morris Sederholm and Molly Horvitz were married here in 1921. Morris worked for Molly's father in the Horvitz's store which sold goods needed for whaling such as oilskins, waterproof boots and canvas bags.
Jews were involved in the whaling industry in the region, though in a minor way, from the second half of the 18th century.
It was a major international port by the 1800s - Nathaniel Hawthorne was the Customs Officer of Salem in the first half of the 1800s.
Springfield
Bnei Israel Anshei Sfard, Kesser Israel And City of Homes Association, located on Wilbraham Avenue - a commercial site offers an on-line database
www.jewishdata.com
A search for Woburn will lead to a nice map of a large group of Jewish cemeteries at the JCAM web site http://www.jcam.org
Michigan
Genealogy Help List A site that will help you find information about a State's resource and also will lead you to volunteer researchers who may offer you their assistance in researching their particular city, county or state
http://www.didian.com/
High School Year Books TheJewish Historical Society of Michigan has over 600 year books that also includes middle/intermediate/junior high school books, as well as 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th and 50th class reunion books as well as Hebrew Day Schools, Sunday Schools and Private Schools in addition to the public schools.
or Linda Hinshon
E-mail Bearina103@aol.com Phone: (248) 443 1943 This Society has a collection of various Yearbooks of Detroit Central High School. The JGSMI Library is located at Temple Beth El 7400 Telegraph Road at 14 Mile Road West Bloomfield. The librarian is Gayle Saini
www.jgsmi.org TheJewish Historical Society of Michigan Has PDF files available online for 55 complete Journals dating from January 1962 to Fall 2001. The Fall 2001 Journal is 76 pages. There is also a journal index, but note - I found family members in the journals who are not indexed in the master index. From a posting by Carol Hirschmann Borthwick
Michigan Department of Community Health Death Records (GENDIS) Available on the Internet with 148,000 Michigan death records from 1867-1880 and portions of 1881 and 1882. http://www.mdch.state.mi.us/gendisx/index.htm
Detroit Jewish News One of the largest Jewish newspapers in North America. It has been published for over 60 years. The paper has a staff of 50 and a weekly readership of 50,000 http://www.detroitjewishnews.com/
There is a Jewish cemetery and in 1995, there were just two Jewish families - Howard Rosen and Eddie Rovelsi. The Sharey Zedek synagogue and congregation originated in 1892. Services were held in Ironwood and Hurley, Wisconsin, the town directly down the street. Rabbi Rein, grandfather of my long time school friend Sheldon Rein, was the first Rabbi. From a posting by Carol J. Lieberman
http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/michigan-mi/ironwood-gogebic-county.html
The Jewish Agricultural Society helped a number of immigrant Jews purchase fruit orchards in the area. Friends and family came visiting in the summer contributing money for seeds and equipment. The hospitality business soon proved more profitable than the fruit. By the 1930s, Fidelman's and other Jewish resorts drew thousands every year to South Haven, known as "The Catskills of the Midwest".
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/11929365/ns/today-entertainment/t/vacation-spots-reflect-shape-jewish-america/
Minneapolis Talmud
Torah 1950.
I attended this Hebrew School from age 5 through 13. It
was located on 8th Avenue North.
Fond memories of my teachers, David Turchick, Joe King and Mar Zemach.
Jews came to Minnesota as early as 1849. Even though
Jews were barred from farming in Russia, many were more attuned to the pace of rural life. Many
Jews settled in the Midwest and took up farming. There were several important Jewish farming colonies in
North Dakota and some Jews homesteaded in the Dakotas tried their hand at ranching. Most didn't make it and turned to other ventures such as cattle buying and various types of goods peddling.
Many started off from Minneapolis with a backpack to peddle their wares and explore potential opportunities in the many small towns. At its peak in the 1930s, the
Jewish population reached 50,000 in Minnesota and the Dakotas. But the Jewish presence in the Dakotas and rural Minnesota didn't last. Taking advantage of the Homestead Act, many farmed the land for five years before taking title to it, then sold it to go into
'business'. "It was such a difficult life, farming. They just didn't stay. It's so arid. You're not going to get a good crop very often. Who would your kids marry? And the schools only went up to the eighth grade."
The site, sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest http://www.jewishwomenexhibit.org/
Some of the guys I grew up with on the Northside of Minneapolis
from the 1930s
Minnesota plans to
make it easier for people researching their family histories to access
old adoption information by digitizing roughly 5 million pages worth of
records, including some that date to the late 19th century. The records
are stored on about 2,000 rolls of microfilm at the Department of Human
Services.
While the microfilms contain
about 5 million pages worth of records, each record varies in size from
a few pages to several hundred pages. So, the rolls likely have
information on thousands of adoptions, although officials haven’t
estimated an exact total.
Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies Located at the University of Minnesota developing a web site for Minnesotans and the Holocaust. Dr. Stephen Feinstein id Director of the Center.(612) 626 2235 Fax (612) 626 9169
http://www.chgs.umn.edu/
Genealogy Help List A site that will help you find information about a State resource and also will lead you to volunteer researchers who may offer you their assistance in researching their particular city, county or state
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canghl/
Jewish Funeral Homes of America Lists the larger Jewish funeral homes http://www.jfda.org
Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest 1554 Midway Parkway Saint Paul, MN 55108 (651) 523 2407 or 651 637 0202. E-mail
history@jhsum.org
Bill Wolpert and Katherine Tane were the co-presidents in 2005. Susan Hoffman is the Archivist.
The Society's collection is particularly strong in the areas of Jewish homesteading in the
Dakotas, Northern Minnesota Iron Range Jewish communities, Minneapolis and
St. Paul synagogue records, Jewish women's organization records, and materials reflecting life on
Minneapolis North Side Jewish community.
Our archives are housed at two Twin Cities locations: The Eloise and Elliot Kaplan Family Jewish History Center is located on the Barry Family Campus in Minneapolis, and contains family and personal histories, oral histories, photographic and film collections, and genealogy materials.
The Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives at located at Andersen Library at the
University of Minnesota. The archives consist of synagogue and Jewish institutional records, as well as historical materials from rural Midwest communities. Both locations are open to the public by appointment only. www.jhsum.org
Minnesota Historical Organizations (MHO) Links to County Historical Societies, Chapters, and Local Organizations and more. The Society's History Center is
located at 345 Kellogg Blvd. W. St. Paul Phone: 612 296 6126
http://www.mnhs.org/index.htm
Minnesota Historical Society Press The Society publishes both scholarly and general interest books that contribute to the understanding of Minnesota and Midwestern history and culture.
http://shop.mnhs.org/mhspress.cfm
Minnesota Jewish Women Historical Site The Jewish Agency for Israel named this web site as a top site, according to the editor for the Jewish Agency for Israel. This site depicts the experiences of Jewish women in establishing homes on the prairie www.jewishwomenexhibit.org
Minnesota Newspapers Directory Links and contact information for all Minnesota newspapers
http://www.mnnews.com/
Minnesota Obituary Links This site includes: Minnesota Obituary Archives Search Engine, Southeast Minnesota Obituary Index Search Engine, Cemetery Inscriptions Search Engine, Death Index, Ancestry - Minnesota State Databases and more http://www.obitlinkspage.com/obit/mn.htm
Minnesota
Selective Service Records Records are available that include: Application by Aliens
for relief from Military Service - Act of 1940; Aliens Personal
History Statement - Act of 1940; Registration Cards, 1877-1897,
from the Iowa State Headquarters of the Selective Service
System. Application for Relief from Military Service - Act of
1940; Aliens Personal History Statement - Act of 1940;
Registration Cards, 1877-1897, from the North Dakota
State Headquarters of the Selective Service System. Application
by Aliens for Relief from Military Service - Act of 1940; Aliens
Personal History Statement - Act of 1940; Registration Cards,
1877 - 1897, from the Minnesota Headquarters of the Selective
Service System. Registration Cards, 1877 - 1897; Aliens Personal
History Statement j- Act of 1940, from the Nebraska Headquarters
of the Selective Service System, Application by Aliens for
Relief from Military Service - Act of 1940; aliens Personal
History Statement - Act of 1940; Registration Cards 1877-1897,
from the Missouri Headquarters of the Selective service system,
Registration Cards, 1877 - 1897, from the South Dakota
Headquarters of the Selective Service System, Registration
Cards, 1877 - 1897, from the Kansas Headquarters of the
Selective Service System, (302 cubic feet). Materials open. (RG
147)
http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/147.html
Naturalization Records Park Genealogical Books - a commercial genealogy and local history specialists, offers a range of materials to assist family history researchers including County map of Minnesota; various forms and information on naturalization records. http://www.parkbooks.com/Html/res_nat9.html
Sephardi Minyan A group of Sephardic Jews who get together at the Kenesseth Israel synagogue in St Louis Park to daven in Sephardic style. The group consists of Jews from Lebanon, Egypt and other Sephardic Countries. E-mail Joseph Israel at:
sephardiminyan.mn@gmail.com
"An Echo In My Blood: The Search for a Family's Hidden Past" Authored by Alan Weisman, who was born and raised in the North side of Minneapolis.
"Augie’s Secrets: The Minneapolis Mob and the King of the Hennepin Strip" Authored by Neal Karlen and published by MHS Press, April 2013. Augie Ratner, the proprietor of Augie’s Theater Lounge and Bar on Hennepin Avenue, was the unofficial mayor of Minneapolis’s downtown strip in the 1940s and ’50s. Augie Ratner knew everyone and everyone knew Augie and they told him everything. Mixing careful research with long suppressed family and community stories, Neal Karlen, Augie’s great-nephew, tells the real story of the seamy underside of Minneapolis, where mobsters, celebrities, comedians and politicians including Jimmy Hoffa, Henny Youngman, Kid Cann, John Dillinger, Jack Dempsey, Peggy Lee, Groucho Marx, Lenny Bruce and Gypsy Rose Lee mingled.
"Galveston: Ellis Island of the West" Authored by Bernard Marinbach.
"The Jewish Community of North Minneapolis" Authored by Rhoda Lewin and published by Arcadia Publishing - 128 pages in paperback form $19.99. This book details how those poor emigrants arrived penniless in their 'New World shtetl' also faced bleak job prospects, "because they could not speak English and knew nothing about America except what they'd read or heard." My wife Shirley and I personally endorse this book, for we both grew up on the Northside of Minneapolis and experienced that "wonderful" lifestyle - only we didn't realize it until after reading Rhoda Lewin's book. By the way,
I do not know Rhoda Lewin personally.
"Jewish Pioneers of St. Paul 1849-1874" Authored by St. Paul author Gene H. Rosenblum. This is a book about the first Jewish families to settle in Minnesota and in St. Paul - especially the Westside of St. Paul. Rosenblum, a retired St. Paul lawyer, is one of the founders of the Jewish historical Society of the upper Midwest. Publisher Arcadia Publishing Co.
"Jews in Minnesota" The first of a three-part series devoted to ethnic celebrations is based on books published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press and authored by Hyman Berman and Linda Mack Schloff. Telephone: 651 296 6126
West Side Jews- "The Lost Jewish Community of the West Side
Flats" Authored by Gene Rosenblum - a book and history of the Jewish West Side of St. Paul
Brainerd
Henry and Mina Cohen founded the Crow Wing County Historical Society.
Henry was a shirt tail relative on my maternal side.
http://www.crowwinghistory.org/
Gmilos Chasodim
(Free LoanSociety of Duluth) Incorporated in April 1925. The purpose of the organization was to lend money to those who were unable to obtain loans at banks. Money was lent free of interest. The organization operated solely as a charitable and benevolent society. It would lend, upon application, anywhere from $10 to $2,000. The organization was chartered with 100 members. The first Board of Directors of the organization were Dr. M. Z. Kassmir, president; M. Cook, first vice-president; A. Horovitz, second vice president; B. J. Cook. treasure; B. Garon, financial secretary and Hyman Segal, recording secretary. Other members and Directors were L. Zalk, I Helstein, F. Labovitz, I. B. Aarons, J. E. Rocklin, Charles P. Meyers, J. Altman, S. M. Kaner, Harry Davis, F. Keil and S. B. Copilowish.
http://special.lib.umn.edu/umja/col/reg/duluth_sup_85a.html
Jews of Duluth - Introduction Many of our Jewish ancestors immigrated to the United
States from Eastern Europe and settled in the
Duluth,
Superior,
the
Iron Range
and the surrounding areas of Northern Minnesota, Northern
Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. They came in the late 1800s and
early 1900s. This family website is about our family, our huge extended
family and about many of the other Jews who settled and lived in this
region.
http://www.garon.us/Duluth.html
PhilSher is a good local contact for information about the Duluth, Superior and Iron Range Jews. 25 East 1st Street Duluth, MN 55802 (218) 722 5563
http://pipl.com/directory/people/Phillip/Sher
So called because the area contained so much iron ore.Eveleth had a small Jewish population and a synagogue that was made into a carpenter's shop and later destroyed. Chisholm synagogue was demolished and Hibbing's synagogue was converted into a church. Both the shuls in Chisholm and Virginia were originally built as synagogues, while the synagogues in Hibbing and Eveleth were formerly churches converted into synagogues.
http://ironrangejewishheritage.org/
B'nai Abraham The remaining synagogue in Virginia, Minnesota built in 1907. My grandfather, Theodore Soloski was one of the founding members and many of my mother's family are remembered with Yahrzeit plaques on the interior walls.
B'nai Abraham 328 S. 5th Street Virginia, Minnesota There were only two remaining members as of 6/1/02.
www.IronRangeJewishHeritage.org
Virginia's My maternal grandmother, Feige Cohen Soloski bought a home in Virginia, after the death of my grandfather, Theodore Soloski in 1901. The house was located on Chestnut Street, just one block away from the Main Street and close enough to the iron mine that the company had to move her home several times as they dug more and more iron out of the ground.
Behind my grandmother's home, and facing
Chestnut Street, was Zimmerman's Grocery. Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman were Aunt and Uncle to Bob Zimmerman (Bobby Dylan). Bob is also a distant relative since his Uncle Max Zimmerman was married to my first cousin Minnie Margolis. My Uncle Abe Margolis, Minnie's father, didn't know that the family name was misspelled for many years.
Minneapolis
Minneapolis - my home town. The first Jews arrive in the Twin Cities in the 1840s and 1850s and were German-speaking Jews who had some money and education. These Jews founded Mt. Zion Association in 1856 - two years before Minnesota became a state. What would you like to know about the Northside from the late 1930s to 1956?
Contact Ted Margulis at
Jwebindex@gmail.com I know something about St. Paul, Duluth, Virginia, Hibbing and International Falls, Minnesota as well. Also Superior, Wisconsin.
The North Side, where I grew
up until my middle twenties, was a neighborhood where Jews felt secure
and rarely were treated as second-class citizens. Within the 3 square
miles, there was always a smell of chicken soup in the air on Friday
evenings. Neighbors looked after neighbors without being asked. It
was a small area of great economic diversity, and someone who prospered
could move up to a much nicer house close by. Even though they
moved into a bigger house, they still would shop on Plymouth avenue.
They would shop stores like's Greenstein and Post; Pesis Meat Market;
Malcoff's Delicatessen; Margolis Department Store; Stillman and also
Lehman's groceries and more. People lived in very tight circumstances.
One of my favorite memories was the story about the Saul Lebedoff, who
ran the Homewood Theater in the 1940s. Kids without the 12 cent
admission used to try to sneak in through the side door. One kid
would buy one ticket and then meander over to the door, unlocking it so
a dozen or more friends could sneak in. Each week "Old Man
Lebedoff" would catch someone by the scruff of the neck, and he'd
yell out in his English/Yiddish: "Who's the father from this bastid?".
My old school buddy, Sheldon
Kaplan's father and his brother Sidney operated Kaplan's Barber Shop
where one could get a "million dollar" haircut for twenty five cents and
they guaranteed that "You stick with Kaplan, and the girls will
stick with you."
Some of the Jews of theUkraine were relocated to Minneapolis and to other cities of the US Midwest through the Port of Galveston, as part of the historic Galveston Movement. This took place between 1907 and 1913. Later Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, came to Minneapolis and most were destitute. As many as 40% were actually penniless, having spent all their money just to cover the cost of passage.
Hundreds of thousands of Jews
fled oppression in Europe from the 1880s to the 1920s. North
Minneapolis attracted Jewish immigrants from Russia and
Lithuania. German and RomanianJews
tended to choose south Minneapolis. The Jewish community began in
the late 1800s where the present-day Farmers Market is and later moved
north and west over time. The first synagogue was Kenesseth Israel
and was near the early hub of 6th Avenue North and Lyndale Avenue.
During the 1930s and through
WW II, the community's center was Plymouth Avenue. Half of the
students of some elementary schools was Jewish. Eventually there
were five synagogues, all within walking distance. Because it was
the largest Jewish neighborhood in the Upper Midwest (between Chicago
and Denver) until the 1960s, there was a very strong sense of belonging.
During the late 1950s and
1960s, the Jewish community in the north side began to migrate to the
western suburbs - mostly to St. Louis Park and later to Hopkins and
Golden Valley. It was at this time that the end of the Northside, as I
knew it began with the civil unrest and with the ultimate burning of
many of the stores along Plymouth Avenue.
Without any doubt, those of
us who grew up in the 1920s, 30s, 40s and 50s felt a kinship with each
other - an intense feeling for the world that we grew up in. We
took it for granted then ... and now it's gone!
Adath Jeshurun Congregation Rabbi is Harold J. Kravitz. The synagogue offers a Web magazine, Keren Or Tel. 952 545 2424 www.adathjeshurun.org
American Jewish World Published every Friday by
AJW Publishing, Inc.
4509 Minnetonka Blvd.
Minneapolis, MN 55416
Mordecai Specktor, Managing Editor. Email amjewish@isd.net
City Directory Collection 1859 - 1917 Hennepin County Library's James K. Hosmer Special Collections department has digitized the Minneapolis
City Directories from 1859 to 1917 using a grant from the former
Professional Librarians Union of Minneapolis
(PLUM)
and the Minnesota Legacy Amendment program. City directories allow users
to find former city residents, their occupations and local businesses http://box2.nmtvault.com/Hennepin2/jsp/RcWebBrowse.jsp
Hodroff & Sons Funeral Home (Hodroff-Epstein Funeral Home) Has records dating back to the late 1920's when it was opened in Minneapolis. They will take phone calls.
http://www.hodroffepstein.com/
Mikro Kodesh Synagogue
"From 1896 to 1927, the synagogue of the Mikro Kodesh congregation was
located at 720 Oak Lake Avenue on the southwest corner of the
intersection of 8th Avenue North and Oak Lake Avenue. In 1927, the
building, which was demolished in 1935, was abandoned, and the
congregation moved to a new building located at 1004 Oliver Avenue North
on the northeast corner of Oliver Avenue North and Oak Park Avenue,
which now houses a church.
In 1968, Mikro Kodesh merged with Tifereth B'nai Jacob, a congregation
whose synagogue once was located at 810 Elwood Avenue North (the
building is a church today). Because of its location, Tifereth B'nai
Jacob was known in the Minneapolis Jewish community as the "Elwood
shul." At the time of the merger, Tifereth B'nai Jacob was located on
the west side of Xerxes Avenue North (the boundary between the cities of
Minneapolis and Golden Valley) between 14th and 16th Avenues North. The
merged congregation was known as "Mikro Tifereth."
In 1972, Mikro Tifereth merged with the B'nai Abraham congregation under the name "B'nai Emet." The merged congregation has been housed since the merger in a synagogue located at 3115 Ottawa Avenue South in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. The B'nai Emet congregation is merging on June 1, 2011, with Adath Jeshurun, a congregation whose synagogue is located at 10500 West Hillside Lane in Minnetonka, Minnesota http://www.mnopedia.org/structure/mikro-kodesh-synagogue-minneapolis
Whether the records of the Mikro Kodesh congregation have survived is an
open question. One might check with the Adath Jeshurun congregation
after the dust of the merger settled. One also might check with the
Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest www.jhsum.org
and the Minnesota Historical Society www.mnhs.org
If you are seeking information that can be obtained from burial
records Hodroff-Epstein Funeral Chapels holds its own records and those of its former competitors dating
back to the 1920s. From a posting by Mike Posnick www.hodroffepstein.com
Homewood Theater Mr. Lebedoff, Proprietor
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/4633
Minneapolis Talmud Torah Established in 1894 as the Hebrew Free School of Minneapolis and was located at 613 Fifth St. North. Later is was housed by Keneseth Israel, the first North Side Synagogue. I was a graduate of this famous school that taught the old style with melamdim (teachers) who spoke Yiddish and a cheder atmosphere. On April 17, 1915, The Talmud Torah celebrate a new building on the corner of Fremont Avenue North and Eighth Street - the building I was most familiar with and my wonderful teachers including: David Turchick, Joe King, Mar Center, Mrs. Black, Mr. Heilicher and Mr. Kaiser, the principal.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhsum-commons/4419521132/
Minneapolis' Temple Israel Sisterhood Cook booklet Published sometime between 1910 and 1920 has many names mentioned. Carol Zsolnay has a copy. gmz262@nwu.edu
North Side Jewish Sheltering Home for Children - Located on the Northside of Minneapolis, it was established in 1919 until the early 1960s. Approximately 1,000 Jewish children received hospitality and nurturing while living in the home.
http://www.placeography.org/index.php/Jewish_Sheltering_Home
There was only one
Jewish family living in this little town - the Edelstein Family.
There were three siblings - Jacob who invented the process of
making wax paper; David who became the sole owner of C. D.
Robinson, one of the largest volume sugar dealers west of
Chicago and Ruth, whose stage name was Ruth Easton. She
appeared in 5 Broadway plays and worked with Ethel and Lionel
Barrymore, Clark Gable, Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor
The twin city to Minneapolis. The first Jews to settle in the Territory of Minnesota were Edwin and Charles Elfelt in 1849. Other pioneer Jewish families include the Gundelfinger, Hurshler, Hirsberg, Koritowsky, Lowitz and Schuster. St. Paul was originally settled by relatively prosperous German Jews who came to this capital city in the mid 19th century. Following the German speaking Jews were the Jews from the East European shtetls and there was some conflict between the two groups.
Mt. Zion Temple Established in 1856 (1871?) by German Jews at 10th and Minnesota Streets. It was the state's first Jewish congregation in Minnesota Territory and was established by eight families and several young single men. A book celebrating the 150th anniversary has been published: L'Chaim! Mount Zion Temple Celebrating 150 years, 1856-2006 and was edited by Mary Ann Barrows Wark, Nancy Melamed and Holly Cogen Ross with scrapbook pages by Faye Kelber.
http://mzion.org/
Temple Israel Historical data from the Temple's archives has been compiled on a CD-Rom by Roland Minda, a Minneapolis public relations executive and son of Temple Israel's long-serving famed Rabbi Albert Minda. Further information is available from the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest
http://www.hamline.edu/~jhsum/
Mississippi
France and the Deep South are well known for their connections. In the Jewish cemetery in Biloxi, only one gravestone remains, that of Michel Levy, born in Paris in 1880. A story about Michel, who was apparently from Poland is described in an article in Revue du Cercle de Genealogie Juive #68 at
www.genealoj.org
Jews came to the South as early as the late 17th century in Charleston, S.C., and settling in Savannah, Ga. soon after.
Indianola
Located in the Delta has one Jew - Leanne Silverblatt, a fourth-generation resident.
Macy Hart is the president of the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life located in Jackson, Mississippi.
Natchez
Once had a thriving Jewish community, still holds a Passover seder attended by about as many non-Jews as Jews. At its peak, around the turn of the 20th century, Natchez was home to several hundred Jews. Today there are only 13 members of its synagogue. But when the boll weevil plague tore through the cotton plants, the Jewish population -- most of whom were involved in the cotton business --- took a hard hit, according to Natchez native Jerry Krouse in an article by Rachel Pomerance published in The American Jewish World.
The Missouri State Archives is developing a database of old marriages record that will be online. It will include more than 3 million Missouri marriage records from the territorial period through 1969. Those records already are available at county courthouses and on microfilm at the State Archives in Jefferson City. Details are available in an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch http://goo.gl/Wtfy4
Birth Records pre 1910 Searchable database
default.asp
United Hebrew Congregation 13788 Conway Road, St Louis.
Washington
Western suburbs of St. Louis
B'nai Amoona Congregation 324 S. Mason Rd. Creve Coeur, MO 63141
Kol Am Congregation 14455 Clayton Rd. Ballwin, MO 63011
Tpheris Israel Chevra Kadisha 14550 Clayton Rd. Ballwin, MO 63011
Traditional Congregation 12437 Ladue Rd. Creve Coeur, MO 63141
United Hebrew Congregation 13778 Conway Rd. Creve Coeur, MO
Montana
The Jewish population ofMontana is estimated at 2,500 in 2009
Bozeman
A Mikvah has been opened in the city - the first in this state and will be serving Jewish residents from
Wyoming, Idaho, North and South Dakota and the Canadian provinces of
Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is housed in the back yard of the Chabad House.
Montana Historical Society Has a list of 225 burials from 1865 to 1978 in the Jewish burial ground, Home of Peace Cemetery in Helena.
www.his.state.mt.us/
University of Montana, 1910 'Sentinel' Missoula, MT Year Book. Student photos have been uploaded to Dead Fred's Genealogy Photo Archive.
http://www.deadfred.com
To pull up all the information and images added, type UOM in the photographers slot in "Detailed Search". To see a list of the other annuals uploaded, go to
http://www.deadfred.com/search/annuals.html
Marriage Index records (1727 to 1900) Contain information about the union of two families; the groom's name, the bride's maiden name, the county and date of marriage and sometimes more. A CD is available from
www.UltimateFamilyTree.com/online
Selective Service Records See Minnesota
Omaha
The immigrant Jewish population of Omaha, during WW I was roughly 15,000
Naturalization Information
All pre-1906 naturalizations in New Hampshire (and in the five other New England States) are now at the National Archives branch in Waltham, Massachusetts
http://www.jewishgen.org/jgsgb/bostres.htm
"Jewish Agricultural Colonies in New Jersey, 1882-1920" Authored by Ellen Eisenberg, a Professor of History at Willamette University and published in 1995 by Syracuse University Press and in the newsletter of the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center.
E-mail
pjarch@balchinstitute.org
http://www.jewisharchives.net
Bergen Records Located at Bergenfield Municipal Building
North Washington Avenue
Bergenfield, NJ 07621
TheRecord Newspaper - the major newspaper in Bergen county http://www.northjersey.com
Jewish Genealogy Society ofBergen County
135 Chestnut Ridge Road, Montvale, NJ 07645. Contact Edward Rosenbaum. President
erosenbaum@worldnet.att.net
The Gatherers Newsletters It was issued four
times a year as a benefit exclusively for JGSBC members
The Society offers a copy of the latest issue of the 'The Gatherers' newsletter. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 3 or later, to open the file. Most likely, Adobe Acrobat has already been installed on your computer. If it has not, you may download it, free of charge, from
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Congregation Anshe Emeth A traditional synagogue in South River, Middlesex County. It is located in the Borough of South River, County of Middlesex http://www.anshe-emeth.org/
The county seat and the county offices are located there. North Bergen is in Essex County, NJ and is near the Lincoln Tunnel - just outside of midtown Manhattan, NY.
Iselin
Forest Lawn Cemetery Hebrew Cemetery Section Telephone number 757 441 1752. They are helpful and have a card file of all the burials right there in the office and will look it up for you.
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County. The Office of County Clerk 595 Newark Avenue, 07306 Phone: 1-201 795 6112
Jersey City Library Has all of the city directories in hard cover as well as a very valuable, but incomplete handwritten index of the Jersey Journal newspaper.
Jewish Genealogy Society of
Central Jersey
The Society meets, at
Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple
222 Livingston Avenue
New Brunswick
Meetings are free and open to the public. For further information, call
the Society office
732-249-4894
Email:info.jhscj@gmail.com
Located in Ocean County. The county seat is Toms River. The Ocean County Historical Society
26 Hadley Avenue
Toms River, NJ 08753.
Phone: (908) 341 1880
Research hours: Tuesday through Thursday 1 to 4. A Funeral Home Index Card system is available. The County Library is nearby and has some area small newspapers on microfilm on the 2nd floor. In 1920, Jewish chicken farmers appeared in Lakewood.
Marlton
CongregationBeth Tikvah Marlton, NJ Rabbi Gary Gans Telephone: 856-983-8090
The Southern New Jersey Jewish Gen. Society meets here.
Millville
Down Jersey Folklife Center A museum, archive, library and resource center for documenting and conserving traditional life in southern New Jersey. Located at Wheaton Village in Millville, NJ. their holdings include photographs of the old Jewish community and the books about Jewish farmers. Open daily from 12 to 5. Jack Shortledge is the director.
Cemeteries The following cemeteriesare located at the intersection of Mt. Olivet Avenue and McClellan Street, south of Newark, NJ airport, just off Routes 1 and 9. The plots are as follows:
Beth El; Congregation Lev Tov; Newark Progressive; Erste Bershader K.U.V.; Congregation Agudath Israel; Talmud Torah of Newark; Gomel Chesed; B'nai Israel Cemetery Assn.; Elizabeth Jewish Cemetery; Erste Bolochover; First Robishower and Chelmer K.U.V. (located on McClellan St.); Old United Newark Erste Rzeszower Anniex; Erste Rzeszower K.U.V.; Israel Verein K.U.V.; Klausner Borispoler Progressive Society; Louis Brandeis Lodge; Rosemont Memorial Park; Gomel Chesed Annex; Reim Ahuvrim; Ind. Newark Lodge #22; Congregation Beth Joseph.
Grove Street Jewish Cemetery A historic and much neglected cemetery with graves going back to the founding of the Newark Jewish community the oldest in New Jersey.
Newark Public Library Located on Washington Street has the surname index to the now defunct Newark Evening News, listing every surname that appears anywhere in the paper, sorted alphabetically by year.
New Brunswick Public Library
Public Library is located at 60 Livingston Avenue.
Jewish Funeral Homes of America Lists the larger Jewish funeral homes http://www.jfda.org
New Jersey Department of Health For death certificates a contact is Kathleen Johnson (609) 984 3459
New Jersey Historical Society Located in Newark
52 Park Place
Newark, N. J. 07102
May have research material of interest.
New Jersey State Archives 185 West State Street Trenton, NJ 08625-0307 Hours: Tuesday through Friday 8:30 to 4:30. Open for research: Births: June, 1878 to 1923; Marriages: June, 1878 to 1940; Deaths: June, 1878 to 1940. This State archive does not collect church records.
Court records for the 21 New
Jersey counties are located at
The Records Center
171 Jersey Street
(front door on Tremont St.)
Building #2
Trenton, N. J.
The mail address for this facility is:
Superior Court of New Jersey
Records Center,
CN 967
Trenton, N.J. 08625
Hours Mon. to Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 4 pm
Phone: 609 777 0092
Later Vital Records Not open to public search. All vital records from June, 1878 to the present are maintained by the New Jersey Department of Health State Registrar Search Unit PO Box 370 Trenton, NJ 08625-0370 They will only search their records if you have exact information http://www.state.nj.us/health/vital/vs11.htm
Publicly accessible microfilms of New Jersey death records at the New Jersey State ArchivesinTrentongo up only through1940.
Birth, Marriage and Death Records In New Jersey
There will no longer be year before and year after searches. The Search Unit Staff will search the requested year and the requested year 'only' in response to a customer request.
The Bureau of Vital Statistics will no longer accept a request to search or certify a birth, marriage or death record within our files unless the person who is making the request is able to provide the following information:
a) The 'exact' name that is currently recorded on the birth, marriage or death record (first, middle last)
b) The 'exact' place of birth, marriage or death (city)
c) The 'exact' date of birth, marriage or death (month day year)
d) The mother's maiden name
e) The father's name (when recorded)
There is no exception to this rule
In so many words, but without actually saying it, New Jersey is limiting vital records only to those who have enough knowledge of the person whose record they are requesting that they would be assumed to be a next-of-kin or other very close relative.
Passaic County Clerk's Office, Passaic County Administration Bldg. 401 Grand Street Paterson, New Jersey 07505. For information on naturalizations that took place around the early 1900's, write to this address and include a $5.00 check - last known fee.
Passaic County Historical Society May have research material of interest.
Located at 250 Broadway has a "Local History Room" with microfilm of many of the old newspapers, both of general and Jewish interest. Phone: (973) 357 3004.
Saddle Brook
Riverside Cemetery 12 Market St. Saddle Brook, N.J. 07663
The NJ Archives holdings include Vital Stats from 1848 -78; Vital Stat Records & 1878-1923 Birth Certificates (Cabinet 1-3).
Cabinet 2 has Marriage certificates from 1878 to 1940 Cabinet 3 holds Death Indices from 1878-1900 & Death Certificates from 1878 to 1940 Cabinet 5 holds NJ Censuses from 1820 - 1915 Cabinet 7 Holds Military Cabinet 8 has Early State Records, deeds, tax, road returns Cabinets 9, 10 holds Pre 1901 Wills Cabinet 14,15 holds Court records Supremen, Prerogative & Chancery Cabinet 16 Modern State Records, Federal Records (HABS) Cabinet 17 Municipal Records Cabinet 18 - 34 holds Country Records
Cabinet 38 - 45 holds Newspapers. From a posting by J. Lowenkron
A Baron de Hirsch Fundagricultural settlement established in 1891 and is located at the southernmost end of New Jerseyin Cape May County. More information about the Jewish cemetery located here can be found at the Vital Records at the state capital in Trenton. Joan Breslow has information about this town webjoan@earthlink.net
A reference list for New Jersey agricultural settlements is being compiled by Joan Breslow webjoan@earthlink.net
The Woodbine Brotherhood Synagogue was dedicated on November 29, 1896. Sabato Morais and Marcus Jastrow were two of the original founding members. On June 8, 2003 the synagogue was rededicated. There is a Museum of Woodbine heritage and Beth Judah in Wildwood, a congregations of Singers. www.thesam.org
New Mexico
Books
"History of the Jews in New Mexico"
Authored by Henry J. Tobias
The first Jewish settlement along the Santa Fe Trail, opened in 1821. At the time, The Santa Fe Trail consisted of western Kansas, eastern Colorado, the Texas panhandle and New Mexico to Santa Fe. New Mexico's Jews (Reform Jews from Germany) were traders. According to recent historical research, 'Conversos,' Spanish Jews coerced into converting to Christianity, arrived in the 'Land of Enchantment' as far back as the late 16th century. Many of them were fleeing the Inquisition. The German Jews arrived in the 19th century. (See my
Book page for books on this fascinating subject)
In 1880, with the advent of the railroad, the Santa Fe Trail ended and some of the Jewish population moved on to California; to the gold mines.
The second Jewish settlement in New Mexico was in Albuquerque. The first and third mayors were Jewish. There is still a Jewish presence in Las Vegas, New Mexico. In 1910 there were 11,000 Jews living in the town, today there are about 20-25 living in and around the immediate area.
Jewish Federation For information about Jews of New Mexico, call them at 505 821 3214
Jewish Funeral Homes of America
Lists the larger Jewish funeral homes http://www.jfda.org
Albuquerque
The home for about 8,000 Jews, mostly employed by the U.S. Government. The city has one Reform, one Conservative and one Chabad synagogue and three that call themselves Independent.
Jewish Historical Society
Located in Albuquerque and was organized in 1985 to pursue the fascinating and often amazing story of the Jews of New Mexico http://www.nmjewishhistory.org/
TheNew Mexico Jewish Link The Anglo-Jewish newspaper and it has a web site www.swcp.com/~the_link/
Cemeteries Seeking to identify family members who would be considered the "responsible party" for rights/ privileges re. family plots located inour cemetery. Consider this to be an official notification - if we cannot locate surviving family, the responsibilities will revert to us. So if you are related to any of these folks - or think you might be
- please reply. Additionally: it is a list of burials approx. 60-120 years old - perhaps we can contribute to your genealogical search by supplying dates, other family names, birthplaces, etc.
These are in
Congregation Albert and/or B'nai Brith cemetery -
Albuquerque, New Mexico (my abbreviations: f=father; m=mother)
Nathaniel LESEUR (SEUER) baby disinterred Edward DAVID GRUNSFLED; LOEWENSTEIN / FLOERSHEIM BIBO; NORDHAUS Bertha S, wife of Max; Max: Louis ILFELD: ROSENWALD / LOEWENSTEIN / FLOERSHEIM / PRICE; ROSENWALD Elise, Aron, David S (f) & Irma S (m): ROSENWALD Helen, Edward, David Milton R: ILFELD Helen S.; Noa; DANNENBAUM (f) Jacob D; (m) Lisette; MYER Bernhard, Pauline FLEISCHER Josephine B; Alphonse BENJAMIN Hortense, Sol, Charles M, (f) Joseph, (m) Caroline, Joseph; Louie J.; Leopold, Mrs. Regina WISBURN; WEILLER Sol ; Celestine B. Solomon, Jesse J, Marion L., Naomi & David UHLFELDER S; Julius, Eva G, Sigmund, Emil, Johanna BLATT; KEMPENICH Paul, Max, Eugene, A., Jenny, Abraham WHITEHEAD Sam & Mrs. HOLZMAN Philip (f), Samuel NEUSTADT; WEINMAN JA; Isaac GOLDSTEIN, Joseph GOLDSTEIN, Cecelia G, Clara & Jacob W, Walter W VOHS Freida ; infant VOHS 1926 (Adolph?) 1912 ?Siegfried Abraham MICHAELS; MICHAELIS E; Samuel, Betta, Siegfried SPITZ; Emma, Edward, Fannie S, Berthold; MARCUS Jenny COHEN, Mary MARCUS, Ben d 1929; KEMPENICH Ludwig, Pauline WEILLER David, infant son and daughter; DREYFUSS Julia, Julian, Ida; ROSENWALD Hannachaen, Cecilia, Elisa J, Theodore A WEIL Roberta; infants BAER; BLOCK Clara, Leo, Elza SELIGMAN disinterred: Erna, Elsa, HermanBELL: Morris, Ethel; Martin E. TROUTFELT; Herman SCHWEIZER; Julius GINSBURG; MANSBACH Rose S. HEYMAN Louis H, Mina K; KAHN Ida, Karl; BLOCK Florence W.; Walter; MININ Norman, Jennie, Herman HARMON John, Etta FRIEDMAN; DREYFUSS Mildred H, Paul, Esther; WEILLER Byron B. Bess B; MANDELL Joe; MANDELL C and J; Eide, Leon, Julius, Marie BContact for further information:
j2shorning@aol.comJudith Shor NinginAlbuquerque, New Mexico
Marketplace in La Cruces for handcrafts and produce
Has a Jewish presence and a synagogue. It is the State's second largest city with a population of around 92,000 residents. It is also the home of the New Mexico State University, founded in 1888 as Las Cruces College.
Las Vegas (The Meadows)
The state's oldest town and the wool capital of the US, is home to Montefiore Synagogue built in 1886 and the first Jewish cemetery in New Mexico. At one time, there were 800 Jews in the town, and today there are some 25 Jews now living in the community. There is still a synagogue in Las Vegas.
Los Alamos
Has a Jewish presence and an unaffiliated, egalitarian synagogue.
Marriage Index records (1727 to 1900) Contain information about the union of two families; the groom's name, the bride's maiden name, the county and date of marriage and sometimes more. A CD is available from
www.UltimateFamilyTree.com/online
Ranchos de Tao
Has a Jewish presence and a synagogue.
Roswell
Has a Jewish presence and a synagogue.
Santa Fe
The first Bar Mitzvah ceremony took place in Santa Fe in 1876. There is a Traditional Reform Congregation and a Reform Temple. There is also an Orthodox Congregation, a Renewal shul, a Chabad Jewish Center and a group called Hama Kom run by Rabbi Malka Drucker.
There is an exhibition at Santa Fe's Governor Palace which spans the immigration of Ashkenazi Jews who originated in Europe and who came to New Mexico with the opening of the Santa Fe Trail just after the US's invasion and occupation of the territory during the Mexican War in the mid-19th century through the founding of the state's long-awaited synagogue in 1884.
New York
Because there are so many pieces of information about the State of New York, what I have attempted to do with New York page section to make searching this page easier is to categorize the many subjects by either by city or by state. And within each City or by State, you will find sub-categories by Subject. Bear with me until it is all straightened out.
On April 20, 1777, New York State became the first political entity in over 1,200 years to grant full citizenship and civil rights to Jews. The New York State Constitution of 1777 gave full freedom of religion and conscience to all and eliminated all religious restrictions on voting and office holding. Although the U.S. Constitution of 1789, guaranteed the same rights, the other twelve original states restricted the right to vote and hold office on the state and local level to those acknowledging the divinity of Jesus Christ. It took many years for these states to liberalize their constitutions. Not until 1868 did North Carolina, under Reconstruction, grant Jews full political equality. It was the last of the original colonies to do so
New York State Marriages, 1908 - 1935 "Name index and images of New York county marriage records. New York
state began requiring marriage records for each county in 1908. The
collection includes the following counties: Allegany, Broome,
Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia,
Delaware, Essex, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis,
Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Nassau, Niagara, Oneida,
Ontario, Orange, Orleans, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Rockland, Saratoga,
Schenectady, Schuyler, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga,
Tompkins, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Westchester, Wyoming, and Yates.
The collection does not include New York City nor its boroughs.
Currently this collection is 41% complete. Additional records are in
process of being added.
At the foot of ManhattanIsland, across the street from the Staten Island ferry, is a small park with a flagpole. On the flagpole is a plaque honoring these first Jewish settlers. Further uptown, in Chinatown, near Chatham Square and Worth Street, behind an apartment building is an old Jewish cemetery which has grave sites going back to the 17th century and which probably contains the graves of some of these settlers or their descendents. There is a plaque on the wall outside which identifies the organization that maintains the cemetery and which may have additional information. From a posting by Irwin Nack
Adams
Located just south of Watertown and approximately 60 miles north of Syracuse, there is a website for genealogy and history of this location. The website includes Adams, South Jefferson County and some Jefferson County surnames, and a great deal of history. Adams was established in 1800.
http://www.bestplaces.net/city/Adams-New_York.aspx
This site is an aid for family historians and begins with an essay on New York's 350 year Jewish history since colonial times. It includes numerous listings of and links to government resources, Jewish institutions and organizations, public libraries with noteworthy genealogical collections and services, museums, historical and genealogical societies, Family History Centers, College and University archives and other organizations.
Books
"A Burial Place For The Jewish Nation" Authored by Rosalie S. Phillips. Volume 18, published by the American Jewish Historical Society.
"American Almanac, New York Registry and City Directory" Published by Longworth in 1840. It contains 37,000 names, occupations, and place of residence of all heads of families, firms, etc.
"Better Than Gold: An Immigrant Family's First Years in Brooklyn" Author Fannie Silver
"Brooklyn's
Midwood" Authored by Oscar Israelowitz. If Madison or
Midwood High Schools of the past are of interest, you will
find some great photos of the old trolleys on Kings Highway and
Avenue J, some old Dutch farmhouses, the East Midwood
Jewish Center, and a whole lot more.
www.israelowitzpublishing.com
"Brownsville, The Birth, Development and Passing of a Jewish
Community
in New York" Authored by Alter F. Landesman and it is in pocketbook format.
"Cemeteries in the New York Metropolitan Area" Compiled by David M. Kleiman
"For Them, Life in America Began in 1944, Behind a Fence" It is about a group of about 1,000 Jews brought to the US from Italyin 1944 and kept in an internment camp in upstate New York for seven months after the war was over until President Truman allowed them to apply for citizenship. The article mentions the emotions of the US official charged with choosing who would be allowed to travel on the ship. I believe a free registration is required to view articles on the NY Times web site New York Times. From a posting to JewishGen by Andrew Blumberg on 7/21/03
http://tinyurl.com/hmcm
"The History of the First Russian-American Jewish Congregation,
The Beth Hamedrosh Hagodol" Authored by J.D. Eisenstein and published in 1901, which details the fascinating -- and humorous -- history of one of the early synagogues founded in New York City. Available to read at the American Jewish Historical Archives at the Center for Jewish History in New York City.
"The Landmarks of New York, II" With an index by Barbaralee Diamonstein printed in 1993 and is cataloged under historic buildings -- New York. The LC# is F128.7 D56 The book offers lists of sites designated by the NY City Lands Preservation Commission in 1993, and a list of sites heard by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, but not designated from January 1982 to June, 1993
"Lower East Side In Vintage Photographs" Authored by Oscar Israelowitz & Brian Merlis. The book offers over 100 photographs from 1880 to 1960 and includes images of pushcarts, synagogues, people, tenement life and much more.
"Lower East Side Weddings: Dressed for America" Elizabeth Block has written a paper for her graduate class in American Studies at Columbia University which includes photographs. She has offer to send a copy via E-mail by just asking via her E-mail address blockeliz@aol.com
"Seabury Place: A Bronx Memoir"
Authored by Daniel Wolfe. Daniel brings back to life in telling
details of his childhood in the Bronx of the 1930's and 40's.
http://www.danielwolfebooks.com
Back in the Bronx An e-magazine that comes out occasionally. This site also offers "The Bronx Tracking Service" for a nominal fee. http://www.backinthebronx.com/
Bronx The Bronx Board is an exchange of information that, though not genealogical interest, may be of interest to those who are researching Bronx. You never know! Although it deals mostly with recollections of life in the Bronx through about the 1970s, you can find old class pictures from the 30s as well. http://www.bronxboard.com
"A Jew Grows in
Brooklyn: The Curious Reflections of a First-Generation
American"
Authored by Jake Ehrenreich and published by Health
Communications. Describes growing up as the child of
survivors; why he felt most American when vacationing as a youth
with other survivors in the Catskills; his close relationship
with his father and the tragedy of his mother's and two sisters'
early-onset Alzheimer's disease
"Welcome Back To Brooklyn Special 15th Anniversary" Authored by Oscar Israelowitz and Brian Merlis. Come back in time to Brooklyn, when life was simple. When you could take the trolley to Ebbets Field and watch the Brooklyn Dodgers play an exciting game of baseball or take the Brighton Line down to the Steeplechase in Coney Island. 168 pages
www.israelowitzpublishing.com
1927 Brooklyn Directory Steve Axelrath of Littleton, Colorado has a pocket sized 1927 Brooklyn directory and has indicated he would do lookups.
Bobover Yeshiva B'nai Zion A powerful and numerous group in Borough Park that owns an entire block on 48th St. On Shabbat and other celebrations, the street is closed off. 4909 15th Ave., Brooklyn 11218 Phone: (718) 853 7900 or Bobov Worldwide, 1609 Kings Highway, Brooklyn 11230 (718) 375 5868Brooklyn Board- for displaced and nostalgic Brooklynites
http://softech-consulting.com/brooklyn/
Brooklyn Board of Education 110 Livingston Street Brooklyn, NY
You can request voter
registration records. The information below pertains only to the
Brooklyn Board of Elections. Here are the important points of
information:
1. These records are not microfilmed and will not be from what I
understand. In theory they can go back as far as the 1900 voter
registration records, but the ledger sheets are very brittle, so
anything before the 1940s is iffy, though you shouldn't be discouraged
from requesting them. You can request records through 1956.
2. You must send three dollars per request to the address below. Whether
or not they find the record for the name, year and address you
requested, the charge is three dollars per search. Make out the check to
the "Board of Elections."
3. Submit by letter for each search the name of the person you are
inquiring about, the address and the year you are interested in. Include
the check with your request. Remember that not everybody registered to
vote (or voted when registered). I personally would chose a
presidential year, as a person generally would be more likely to have
voted during a presidential year.
4. Submit your request. If you send your request in, they will look into
it for you. Otherwise, the turnaround time is about a week or so.
5. The procedure is thus: The woman in the Board of Elections office
in Brooklyn will look up the name, etc. you requested. If she finds
it, she will call the storage facility where the small ledgers are being
stored, The storage facility will ship the ledger to the woman and she
will make whatever copies need to be made. She will then either mail the
requested papers to you or will notify you that the search was
unsuccessful. Again, it costs you three dollars per search even if they
can't find what you are looking for.
Keep the request letter
simple, e.g. "Enclosed is a check for x dollars. I am requesting a voter
registration form for such and such a person for the year 19xx. The
address of this person at that time was xxx in Brooklyn." From a
posting by Steve Lasky with some modification by the Webmaster
Board of Elections Search Department
345 Adams St., 4th Floor
Brooklyn, New York 11201
attention: Nydia Ruiz
Steve@museumoffamilyhistory.com wrote in response to Steve
Lasky's posting: "Remember that not everybody registered to vote (or
voted when registered.) I personally would chose a presidential
year, as a person generally would be more likely to have voted during a
presidential year." when he is talking about a search for voters
registrations.
All very true, but another trick though is that the NY Public Library
has on microfilm the listings of who voted in a particular year. It is
only a list of names and it is sorted by the AD/ED and address -- not by
the names. But I have looked through these films and could see who voted
from my family. Then if you see they voted you can send away for the
registrations. It takes some effort but saves the money and guess work
of when they might have voted or not. First you need to have an address
-- or look it up in the city directory, phone book, or census -- for the
person in question. The library has various tools to convert
addresses into AD/ED at least in the Census years. Then you have to hunt
in the microfilm. From a posting by Allan Jordan
Brooklyn City Directory These directories were published until 1913, and then resumed publishing again in 1933. Phone books are available beginning in the 1920s, but most people didn't have phones until after WWII. Check this site. There is a charge for their services. You can also call them at 800 444 0799 for further information. There is listed on the above site, a business directory for Brooklyn for 1917 and 1920-21, published by R. L. Polk. www.citydirectories.psmedia.com
Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum 300 children's names and dates of birth are listed or for any other individual information on any particular child as to parent's birthplace,
E-mail Marge Spears-Soloff at MSpearssol@aol.com www.hnoh.com
Brooklyn Jewish Institutions Talmud Torah of Flatbush is a medium sized orthodox synagogue on Coney Island Avenue, between Avenue J and Avenue I. In the forties, the Rabbi was Max Mintz. Neighbors included the Yeshiva of Flatbush and the Young Israel of Flatbush, all on the same block, which was technically in Midwood, not Flatbush.
Brooklyn Maps
From 1905 do not show the enumeration districts. The New York Public Library email is mapref@nypl.org
Brooklyn Marriage Certificates The maximum number of years you can request is five years. You need the groom's name since all indexes by bride's name since 1907 have been lost.
Brooklyn Naturalization Index The JGSNY created an online searchable database of the index to Brooklyn Naturalizations (1907-1924) Located in the Kings County Clerk's Office. Phase I is complete and contains 253,400 names and is accessible at http://http://www.jgsny.org/
BrooklynNaturalizations "Try the database for Brooklyn Naturalizations. The records are kept in the Kings County Clerk's Office." Alan Shuchat ashuchat@wellesley.edu
Brownsville A section of Brooklyn with stores along Pitkin Avenue, many temples and even Yiddish theater. Further information about the area may be available from the Hebrew Educational Society located in Canarsie and the Brooklyn Public library (Grand Army Plaza Branch). The Brooklyn Historical Society is also a probable resource.
County Clerk's Office (Brooklyn) State Supreme Court, Kings County (Brooklyn) 360 Adams Street, Room 0079 (Cross Streets: Johnson, Court & Joralemon Streets) Brooklyn, NY 11201
History of Brooklyn The Post-War Years - thousands of white middle class residents abandoned Brooklyn for Queens, Long Island's Nassau County, Staten Island, and New Jersey. Whole Jewish communities fled their old neighborhoods and moved to Flatbush, Borough Park, Eastern Parkway, and Brighton Beach http://www.thirteen.org/brooklyn/history/history5.html
Jewish Child Care Association (JCCA) Has been serving children and families since 1822. These are the places that are the successor to and still might hold records for:
Hebrew Orphan Asylum; Hebrew Benevolent & Orphan Asylum Society; Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society; Hartman-Homecrest; Home for Hebrew Infants; Fellowship House; Jewish Children's Clearing Bureau; Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum; Girls Club of Brooklyn; Children's Day & Night Shelter; Wayside Day Nursery; Childville; Children's Service Bureau; Jewish Youth Services of Brooklyn; Hebrew National Orphan Home; Israel Orphan Asylum; Gustave Hartman Home; Daughters of Zion Hebrew Day Nursery.
They are affiliated with UJA-Federation of New York, United Way of New York City; Council of Family and Child Caring Agencies; Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children. Located at Jewish Child Care Association of New York, 575 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022 Phone (212) 371 1313 Fax: (212) 371 1275 Contact: Ms. Leona M. Ferrer, Coordinator, Quality Assurance
JCCA -Jewish Child Care Association Serving children & families since 1822 120 Wall Street New York, NY 10005 Tel: (212)425-3333 * Fax: (212)425-9397 Attn: Leona M. Ferrer, Disclosure Coordinator JCCA E-mail
HNOHAlumni@aol.com
Labor History Site The Tamiment Institute Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives are housed at New York University
www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/tam
Machon Yichussin Located in Borough Park, Brooklyn, and is a genealogical institute that is used by Hassidic families to establish "noble" ancestries for their sons and daughters looking for a shidduch. It is located near 14th Avenue and 49th Street and could be a informative genealogical place for ancestry information.
http://www.machonchana.org/
Maimonides Hospital Formerly known as Zion Hospital or Mt. Zion and is located at 4802 10th Avenue in Boro Park Brooklyn. Phone (718) 283 6000 or Department of Fund Raising (718) 283 7041 . http://www.maimonidesmed.org/
Vilna-Associated Burials
in New York and New Jersey The unique surnames list for Vilnius-associated burials in New
York and New Jersey society plots now has more than eight hundred
names. Also listed are unique surnames for two Vilnius plots, one
in East Haven, and the other in New Haven, Connecticut.
www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/cp-vilnius.htm
Buffalo
Buffalo Adoption Records, For some years, are available in a notebook in the public library. Check with the librarian for Allen E. Jewitt's "Adoption's" (sic) recorded in Erie Country Hall, Buffalo (1874-1900) Hamburg, NY: Allen E. Jewitt, c1984
Note: If Erie County Hall has adoption records from the 19th century, perhaps other county clerks in New York State do as well, according to Cynthia Van Ness, MLS, Roots: The Buffalo, NY Genealogy Forum http://www.bfn.org/~roots/
This was 'the' area where many Jewish families would spend their summers in the cool, fresh air at the many hotels and bungalow colonies ... the Jewish Alps, the borscht Belt, the Sour Cream Sierras or just plain "the country."
The predominantly Jewish resort hotels of the Catskill Mountains often referred to as "the borscht belt" or "borscht circuit". From the popularity of borscht (cold beet soup) in the cuisine of these hotels.
http://www.laugh.com/main_pages/borscht.asp
Kutsher's Country Club Located in the Catskills at Monticello, New York 12701 - Ignore any password requests. www.kutshers.com
Inwood
Congregation Ohav
Sholaum An Orthodox synagogue which opened in 1940 and now wall
panels, remnants of prayer shawls, fabric from the seat cushions
made by female members from curtains, old blouses and upholstery
and more are displayed at the Derfner Judaica Museum
www.hebrewhome.org/art.asp
"The JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) is a good first step, the burial societies that are listed for NYC are not cemeteries, but rather are Landsmanshaftn and synagogue plots within a much larger cemetery. They are part of a larger entity, but are not the whole entity in itself. Most of the larger NYC Jewish cemeteries contain hundreds of thousands of burials and thus it is not humanly possible for any single individual or group of individuals to catalog an entire cemetery.
It is more realistic to catalog the burial societies for one's ancestral shtetl, family circle, or synagogue. For instance, in the JOWBR listing under Queens, NY, there are 30 burial societies listed for Mt. Hebron Cemetery and 35 for Mt. Zion Cemetery. In actuality, these are just a small portion of the total amount of societies in these two cemeteries, which at last count are 846 and 764 societies, respectively. Thus the NYC burial societies listed in the JOWBR are still just a minute drop in the bucket for any given cemetery and cannot be construed to represent the entire cemetery. In all, there are over 10,000 burial society plots in the New York Metropolitan area, includingLong Island and northern and central New Jersey." You can search for them by town name and keyword. Posted by Ada Green
http://www.jgsny.org/searchcity.htm
To find out where a relative is buried in New York City, the most efficient method would be to get a copy of the death certificate of the individual. If you do not know the date of death, it is best to narrow down to a decade or so, as it will cost less to order the copy of the certificate from either the Municipal Archives* or Department of Health, if you can give them a range of years (you have to pay for every year searched). If you do not have access to the published NYC Department of Health Death Indexes to search for the date of death, then narrow down by finding records such as census, city directory and telephone books to place the person in time. *Deaths before 1949 are available at Municipal Archives for a fee of $5.00
Burial Records New York State Department of Insurance keeps records of disbanded burial associations. New York State Insurance Dept. ATT: Liquidation Bureau, 123 Williams St. New York, NY 10038.
"In NYC a burial society is not a cemetery by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the majority of NYC burial societies have plots in more than one cemetery. Thus the bottom line is that care must be taken in what is referred to as a NYC cemetery." Posted by Ada Green
Riverside Memorial Chapel Located at 180 West 76th Street, corner of 76th and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan. It is one of the oldest memorial chapels in the tri-state area. It services Long Island, central and northern New Jerseyand Westchester County.
Hebrew Free Burial Association 224 West 35th Street, Room 300 New York, NY 10001 (212) 239 1662 Fax: (212) 239 1981 Contact: Amy Koplow Executive Director. They hold
alphabetical files and chronological records going back many years of any Jewish person whose families might not have had monies for burial with chronological records and alphabetical files. They helped bury some of the victims who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 and who are buried in Mt. Richmond Cemetery in Staten Island, NY
http://www.hebrewfreeburial.org
Jewish Funeral Homes of America web site Lists the larger Jewish funeral homes http://www.jfda.org
Maps
Map of New York Area Jewish Cemeteries (a large graphic file that may take a few minutes to load) http://www.jgsny.org/
The reason there are only a few cemeteries in New York City (Manhattan) is that a law was passed in 1865 forbidding new burials in New York. Thus cemeteries exist mostly in the outer boroughs and on Long Island.
Baron Hirsh CemeteryStaten Island Located at 1126 Richmond Avenue Staten Island, NY. Within this cemetery is the Mogilev plot.
Bayside Cemetery Located 80-35 Pitkin Avenue Ozone Park, Queens New York 11417 Phone (718) 843 4840 It is reported that the cemetery appears to be badly kept.
Beth David CemeteryLong Island Elmont, Long Island, New York Phone: (516) 328 1300. Try not to visit the cemetery on Friday as they close early and are quite busy. They are open 8:30 to 4:00 Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday. The offer a map and help find a grave. For a small fee, they will take photos and send it to you.
Ada Green
ada.Green@postoffice.worldnet.att.net has cataloged the two cemetery plots for the Chaim Hersch Weiss First Janower Sick and Benevolent Association (Chaim Hersch Weiss Erste Yanover KUV) The Beth David Cemetery Elmont- is in disrepair.
Beth Haim of Congregation Cypress Hills, Long Island.
Cypress Hills Cemetery Located at the Brooklyn-Queens border has a very long history. It is an interdenominational cemetery with approximately 12 Jewish sections. The Jewish sections are in poor condition.
Dutchess County Jewish Cemeteries The seven biggest Jewish cemeteries of Dutchess County : Beth-El, Children of Israel (Schomre Israel), Vassar Historic, Schomre Hadath, Vassar Temple, Hebrew Benevolent and Beacon Hebrew Alliance. Contact Pamela Weisberger
pweisberger@hotmail.com
for more information (by specific request) on burials in these locations.
Hebrew Free Burial Association 224 West 35th Street, Room 300 New York, NY 10001 Fax: 212 239 1981 Rabbi Shmuel Plafker is responsible for burials. Many of the victims of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire were buried here. The cemetery is owned and maintained by the Association
Long Island Montefiore Cemetery They
will take Polaroid photos for approximate $7.50 per headstone. The
office does have a locator, which indicates First Name, Last Name, Age,
Date of Death, Gate, Block, Row, Grave, Sec., Plot and Society name.
http://www.montefiores.com/Montefiore/jewish-cemeteries-new-york/index.html
Long Island National Cemetery (Military) Located at 2040 Wellwood Avenue Farmingdale, NY 11735 Phone: (516) 454 4949
Machpelah Cemetery 101 East Broadway New York, NY 10002 Holds records, except for the last ten years, are by date of death. Their records are for the last 200 years.
Mokom Sholom Cemetery (Ozone Park) Publishes "The Jewish Interest Magazine" which is on-line. Bayside(718-843 4840) Acacia(718 845 9240)
Cemeteries are also listed sometimes, as Bayside and they are all on the same block. Mokom Shalom, and possibly Bayside are locked 24 hours and you may need to have an appointment to be let onto the grounds.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2163456
Montefiore Cemetery, St. Albans, Queens, NY Ada Green
ada.Green@postoffice.worldnet.att.net has cataloged the two cemetery plots for the Chaim Hersch Weiss First Janower Sick and Benevolent Association (Chaim Hersch Weiss Erste Yanover KUV)
Mt. Judah Cemetery
Located in Ridgewood, Queens, New York - has online their website. This
includes their own searchable cemetery database. On this searchable
database, note that the search results are listed alphabetically by
surname, then given name. There is again a 200 entry limit per search.
http://www.mountjudah.com
Mt. Lebanon Cemetery Located in Ridgewood
Mt. Olivet Cemetery, 65-40 Grand Avenue, Maspeth, NY 11378 Phone: (718) 326 1777 This cemetery was previously known as Mt. Olive and located in what was then known as Nassau Heights. The Jewish Mt. Zion Cemetery is only about two miles north and is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 4 pm.
Mt. RichmondCemetery 420 Clark Ave. Staten Island, NY 10306 Phone: (718) 667 0915
Mt. Zion Cemetery Located (PO Box 780355) 59-63 54th Avenue Maspeth, NY 11378-1298 Tel: (718) 335 2500. Photographs of stones could be provided to people who live out of the area. It has been reported that the 'quality of their photos is not great'.
Contact Karen Grego is
KarenG@mountzioncemetery.com They also provide copies of burial cards. www.mountzioncemetery.com
Pinelawn A military cemetery located about 45 minutes east of New York City in Suffolk County
Rocky Mount There are about 60 Jewish burials in 3 cemeteries in the town according to Linda Moore, the Cemetery Supervisor. She has recorded birth and death dates, plot location and occasionally, a snippet of information. The names in the list are: Baker, Edwards, Epstein, Fox, Fuerst, Gold, Goldstein, Klitee, Klitzner, Kluger, Levy, Margolis, Meyer, Minski, Noble, Novey, Raskin, Rosenbloom, Shugar, Spirt, Sugar, Sulton and Weller. Burials occurred from 1936 through 1997. Linda is at
moore@ci.rocky-mount.nc.us
Staten Island (Richmond Hill Cemetery) The New York Jewish Week on February 8, 2002 carried a story by Jonathan Mark about this cemetery where 55,000 indigent Jews have been buried since 1909. http://www.thejewishweek.com
Washington Cemetery Located at 5400 Bay Parkway at MacDonald Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11230 Phone: 718 377 8690. The records are not computerized but the staff is very helpful with the paper records. The Jewish Genealogical Society of New York has a database of burial societies on its web site. You can search by town or by part of the society name. It will return the cemetery and location within the cemetery of the plots owned by the society. Records can be retrieved alphabetically by deceased's last name, chronologically by date of burial and by burial society. Their books and cards are in chronological order and unless you are willing to search large ledger books day-by-day and year-by-year, it will take you a very long time. Maps are available, but you need to write them to get the one (s) you want. The area is safe and the cemetery is in wonderful condition and huge. Have the date of death or burial before you go. http://www.jgsny.org
Death Certificates (For deaths before 1949) Records and Information Services, NYC Municipal Archives, 31 Chambers St. New York, NY 10006 (212) 788 8590. You can go there, look for your individual in the indexes, and obtain a copy of the death certificate. This certificate could give you the name of relatives, where the person is buried and a date to use for newspaper obit or death notice. It might also have a Social Security Number.
"A searchable index of the death records for New York City, 1891-1911. Search by exact spelling of a given name or surname, Soundex, or "begins with ...". If you use Soundex, be aware that the database is indexed by Russell Soundex, so you must be aware of different first letters that may be used for your surname. For example, the name Kornfeld could also be spelled Gornfeld or Horenfeld. You would have to do a search for each starting letter."
"Most important, if you find an ancestor, the database gives you the death certificate number. With that number you can order the death record from NYC Archives for only $6.00 per record. Without it, the cost would be much higher. From a posting by Ron Doctor www.italiangen.org/NYCDeathSearch.stm
"In the New York City all-borough index to deaths for 1940, I found a person in whom I am interested, who died 16 September 1940. However, the certificate number is No. 28 and the borough code is coded that the death occurred "Out of City"." From a posting by Sam Schelman
"I had the same situation occur when researching my ggm. The "Out of City" reference means that the person died somewhere else and was brought back to the city for burial. My ggm was visiting her children in Norwich, CT, when she had a heart attack and died. She was brought back to NYC and buried in Mt. Zion cemetery in May, 1936."
"My ggm's NYC death certificate states that she died in Norwich and gives the death certificate number. I suggest that you first look at the death certificate for clues, but absent this information, if you know where the person was buried - the cemetery (from the NYC certificate), ask the cemetery to check their records and to tell you if they have the actual place of death, then contact that locale for the death certificate."
From a posting by Marlene Bishow
mlbishow@mindspring.com
Censuses
Census - New York City
The best finding aid for the NYC census for 1905/1915 and 1925 is the NYPL's microfilmed card index (ZI-539) for all boroughs, alphabetized by street name. This will give you the Assembly District and election District. The Index was prepared for New York Country only, by the NY County clerk. Step two is to go to the microfilm for 1905 (ZI-540, Manh/Bx); 1915 (ZI-515 NYC, Z1513 Bronx, Zi 510 Bklyn) or 1925 (Zi 516-Manh., ZI514 Bronx, Z1511-Bklyn) for the actual census. From a posting by Phyllis Kramer
Enumeration Districts,
1930 Census There is a new M1930 microfilm series that shows ED map outlines
that are said to appear on M1931 microfilms. All 5 boroughs of New
York City should be on M1931. From a posting by Joel Weintraub
Censuses - New York City and State require the person's address and then you must find the election district on a finding map (available at the New York Public Library, Family History Centers, New York Genealogy Library, and NARA). The Genealogy Division is opened Wednesday through Saturday, 10 - 6 and Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 - 6. Closed on Monday. http://www.nypl.org/
City Clerk - New York
Office does not haveMarriage Licenses from before 1935 and will refer you to the Municipal Archives. The license contains: Name, Color, Residence, Age, Occupation, Place of Birth, Country of birth, Name of Father, Country of birth, Maiden name of Mother, Country of birth, Number of marriages, Name of former spouses. http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/researchroom/rr_family_vitalstats.shtml
Draft Registrations from WW II From the fourth draft call in 1942 known as the 'Old Men's draft registration' and applied to men who were born in 1877-1897 (ages 45-65). The area covered by the records at the New York Regional Branch of the National Archives covers the boroughs of New York City, State of New Jersey and Puerto Rico. An example can be found at http://www.avotaynu.com/WWIIDraft.htm
Ellis Island Opened on January 1, 1892 and the original building was destroyed by fire on June 14, 1897. Only some administrative records were lost to the fire, but the passenger arrival manifests are intact. http://www.ellisisland.org/
At this time, there is nothing of genealogical value at Ellis Island except for the American Immigrant Wall of Honor® donor list and The American Family Immigration History Center™. At the present time, Ellis Island does not have birth or deathrecords.
The originalpre-1897 Passenger Manifests are at the Temple-Balch Center for Immigration Research in Philadelphia. For more information on passenger list research http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/faq.html
1891 New York Immigrant Index A complete Index of 1890 New York Immigrants from Austria, Poland and Galicia is available. Contact Howard Relles
rellesh@nycap.rr.com
Ellis Island Births Anyone who was born on Ellis Island can find their own birth certificate. It helps to know your actual birth date. You will find it with the New York City Birth records, (no matter what the courts say, Ellis Island vital records are recorded in New York City). You might also look for the passenger ship arrival of the family just before the supposed birth which might supply some interesting information.
Family History Center
Check out this site for research on many aspects of records available, including immigration and naturalization. You cannot get copies of birth records unless it is of your own birth, or you have some legal (official) need for it. There is a health restriction on all birth records after 1909.
http://www.familysearch.org/Search/searchcatalog.asp
The Family History Library Catalogue for the New York City directories Runs from 1914 to 1936 with the only ones missing being 1919, 1926/27, 1928-30 not published. 1931 is not available.
"Ghetto" Fish Market in 1903 video
The view was photographed from an elevated camera position looking down on a very crowded New York City streetmarket. Rows of pushcarts and street vendors' vehicles can be seen
http://www.open-video.org/
Amsterdam Avenue, New York 1910 & the 1920 Federal Census are available for researching at
http://www.hnoh.com
The site contains 1,295 1910 names and 1,055 1920 names as well as other important information. The Orphanage began in New York City in 1912 and moved to Yonkers in 1919. It was closed in 1962. This same site now includes 23 States, 49 Cities and over 100 Jewish Orphanages with Historical and Archival information.
Hebrew Union College
1 West Fourth St. (between Broadway & Mercer St.)
New York
http://www.huc.edu/
High Schools in New York City Information Contact Carol Blumenthal Cohen who is a guidance counselor in a NYC Middle School and has copies of the most recent high school directories available at
Mamapoof2@aol.com Another source is to write a letter to the Board of Education 110 Livingston Street Brooklyn, NY
1939Abraham Lincoln High School Year Book Joan Parker
housemom@att.net
has offered to do look ups in this Year Book
Bronx High School of Science Class of '63 Renee Steinigrsteinig@suffolk.lib.ny.ushas the directory listing all alumni from 1938-1988. There is also a newsgroup alt.alumni.bronx-science
If you are looking for old class pictures in New York City in the 1930s and 40s, try these bulletin boards:
James Monroe High School Now known as Monroe Campus High School and is located at 1300 Boynton Avenue Bronx New York 10472 Phone (718) 893 2872 or (718) 893 5800. The records secretary is Jeanette Lederman. Include a $3 fee and the name, DOB and year of graduation for a copy of records.
Julia Richman High School Manhattan Henrietta M. Roth at
hennynow@pacbell.net has the January, 1942 Bluebird Yearbook and is willing to do lookups.
If you are searching for a relative who was an officer in either an ILGWU local, or at the national level, or was a delegate to the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, write to the Labor-Management Document Center Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y. 14853 Attn: Richard Strassberg, Director Note: there are no records for rank-in-file members
Ithaca
The 1916 Yearbook"Cornellian" from Cornell University, Ithaca, New Yorkis available to access Keyword isCORNELL http://www.deadfred.com
Jewish Orphanages in the United States
The HOA (Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City), Located at 1560 Amsterdam Ave and 138th Street
and their records may be available at the JCCA (Jewish Child Care Association)
There is a database of Jewish Orphanages in the US on their web
site. Address and further instructions are at: http://www.hnoh.com/
Deborah Nursery and Child Protectory Other orphanage information may be located at these facilities located at 95 & 103 E. Broadway, New York; 87 Henry St., New York; and 423 E 83rd St., New York
Jewish Theological Seminary and Yeshiva University
(located at 3080 Broadway, New York City) are open late hours and offer a vast collection of Yizkor books. They are opened weekdays until the early evening hours. For a comprehensive list of New York genealogical resources
http://members.aol.com/jgsny/resouce1.htm
Jewish Theological
Seminary of America, Cantors Assembly
It changed its name to Columbia University and sold its campus to the Rockefellers who built the Rockefeller Center on the site. With the money they bought the larger Bloomingdale Asylum lot and with that money, Bloomingdale bought a larger lot in Westchester and the street it was on was renamed Bloomingdale Avenue. Then it was known as Westchester and then was acquired by Cornell Medical Collegewhich was amalgamated to form the New York Hospital, which then combined with Columbia Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia being the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, a branch of Columbia University), to form the New York Presbyterian Hospital. And adjoining the new (former) Bloomindales, now known as the Cornell Department of Psychiatry, New York Presbyterian Hospital Westchester Division, is a Bloomingdale Department Store which is totally unrelated to the hospital.
Minkovitz (Ukraine) Independent Minkovitzer Podolar Society A photo of this society, picturing about 100 people, but no names is available by contacting Bobby Furst at
bobby1st@sprynet.com
New York Landmanschaften and Other Jewish Organizations (including many Galician societies) 1487 organizations that are listed in The Jewish Landmanschaften of New York (WPA, 1938) and 918 Landsmanshaftn from the YIVO Landmanschaften Collection. The JGSNY website is linked to it
http://home.att.net/~landsmanshaft/
Leo Baeck Institute
The institute is a research, study and lecture center whose library and archives offer the most comprehensive documentation for the study of German Jewish history. Located at the
Center for Jewish History 15 West 16th St., New York, NY 10011 Email:lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org Telephone: 212 744 6400 Fax 212 988 1305. There are also two Branches: LBI, London 4 Devonshire Street, London and LBI, Jerusalem 33 Bustanai Street 91082 Jerusalem. http://www.lbi.org/
Long Island Vital Records Department of Health, Vital Records Section, Corning Tower Building, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12237-0023 Phone: 518 474 3075 Albany office charges a $15 fee.
Mid-island JCC 45 Manetto Hill Road, Plainview Directions: www.miyjcc.org/
Mount Pleasant
Hawthorne School Westchester JCCA 1935: 1) Hawthorne School, 44 delinquent dependent Jewish boys; 2. York City and Nassau and Westchester Counties. Operates 2 group residences in White Plains.
1980 Located at 226 Linda Ave., Hawthorne, NY, residential treatment center (22 buildings) for 179 disturbed and problem children (including 18 girls), ages 8-19 under auspices of Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, NYC. Elementary and High School education on premises. Under Union Free School District #3. Opened in 1906, for delinquent boys. Coed since 1935
Long Island,
Patchogue
About one hour east of NYC by car and had a considerable Jewish population in the early part of the 20th century considering its distance and relative isolation. The reason ---Patchogue's lace mills -- attracted a large number of immigrants. It was also a poultry center, especially for ducks. Contact the Patchogue Public Library for more local information.
Nassau County
Most of Nassau County's vital records are kept by the clerks and/or vital statistics in the offices of the towns of Hempstead, (Town of Hempstead at Town Hall, Registrar and Vital Statistics, Hempstead, NY 11501) Phone: 516 489 5000)
Nassau County Clerk's office 240 Old Country Road
Minneola, NY 11501
Phone: 516 571 3131
It has been noted that the County Clerk has nothing to do with vital records, but the Nassau County Clerk is also the Clerk of the Court for the Nassau County Supreme Court and most of the records in the Clerk's office deal with court actions, real estate filings and business filings. The town or village, or City Clerk where the person died will have a copy of the death certificate.
North Hempstead Town Clerk
Phone: (516) 869 7650; and
Huntington
(516) 351 3014
Islip (516) 224 5498
Smithtown (516) 360 7620 Death Records are kept where the death record was filed, not where the person lived.
Books
"An Orphan in History: Retrieving a Jewish Legacy" Authored by Paul Cowan and published in 1996. The author discusses his and his wife's role in reviving the then nearly moribund Temple.
"The Luckiest Orphans: A History of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of
New York" Authored by Hyman Bogen
"Quarantine! : East European Jewish Immigrants and the New York
City
Epidemics of 1892" Authored by Howard Markel
New York City
The term 'The Big Apple' was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930s who used the slang expression "apple" for any town or city. Therefore , to play New York City is to play the big time - The Big Apple. There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland; more Italians in New York City than in Rome, Italy; and more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv, Israel
1910 Census Images for New York City Edward Rosenbaum, President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Bergen County, New Jersey offers shareware that computerizes the rules of the Ancestry.Com 1910 census images for New York City. http://erosenbaum.netfirms.com
American Hebrew A New York City English language Jewish newspaper. Harvard University has a library from 1935-1960. Brandeis University has a library from 1916-1950 and Drew has a library from 1936-1949. It was published from 1932 to 1935 as the American Hebrew and Jewish Tribune.
Archives -New York City
31 Chambers St.
New York City
Has available the 1890 Police census. You will need an address (from a directory or another source) and you will find the names of the people if locatable. This census is available though there may be a charge to search this database. The database is quite comprehensive, but only lists heads of households, who are, in most cases, men. http://Ancestry.com
Belz (Philip & Sarah) School of Music 500 W. 185th St., New York, NY Phone: (212) 960 5353 Fax: (212) 960 5359
New York City Birth Certificates Registration was required but didn't necessarily occur. Birth registration was required in 1880 in NY. However, midwives often didn't bother to fill out the papers, so until births occurred in hospitals, the registration did not, in fact, happen regularly. Some Births were registered and some not. Fewer would have been registered in 1890 and more in 1910.
New York City Birth Records Births reported in the city of New York, 1881-1965 Authors: New York (New York). Department of Health (Main Author)
Notes: Microfilm of original records in the Municipal Archives, New York
City, New York
An Index to Births in the Boroughs of New York City Names for 1881 - 1919, 1943 - 1945 are arranged by Soundex code number. For the same time period: names beginning with I are listed with E: K is with C; V is with W; Y is with J; Z is with S. Names for 1910 - 1942, 1946 - 1965 are arranged alphabetically. Includes name, date of birth, borough and certificate number. High reduction (42X) microfilm. Use high magnification reader.
Birth Certificate Searching
Birth certificates after l909 are located at the Dept. of Health in New York City. You cannot obtain them unless you are the person on the certificates or you have a death certificate for that person as it is still personal information. 1909 and before records are public information.
Bloomingdale Insane Asylum
Located in Morningside Heights in upper Manhattan in the late 19th century. It is now the site of Columbia University.
Riverside Memorial Chapel 180 West 76th St. (corner of 76th and Amsterdam Avenue) One of the oldest and most respected memorial chapels in the tri-state area. It serves Long Island, central and northern New Jersey and Westchester County
http://www.riversidememorialchapel.com/
Center for Jewish History
The home of YIVO, (Yiddisher Visnshaftlekher Institut) American Jewish Historical Society, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum and American Sephardic Federation. It is located at 15 West 16th Street New York, NY 10011 Note: Entrance is at 22 West 17th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues. Dr. Rachel Fisher is the Director.
City Directories
The Family History Library Catalogue for New York
City Directories runs from 1914 to 1936 with the only ones missing being 1919, 1926/27, 1928-30 not published. 1931 is not available.
Death Certificates - New York City
Available, up to 1949, are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. They include a second page not usually found at the City Archives which gives the name and relationship of the person who dealt with the undertaker.
Death Certificates prior to 1949 Are part of the public record and can be obtained through the New York City Municipal Archives 31 Chambers Street New York, N.Y. 10007 Phone: 212 788 8580
http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/about/archives.shtml
Death Index -
New York City
Available from 1929 at the Family History Center of the Mormon Church. FHC has the death index and it goes past 1929. Deathswere uniformly registered in NYC even before the state required it, as burials were not permitted without death certificates.
http://www.deathindexes.com/newyork/
Department of Health
-New York City
Office of Vital Records, 125 Worth Street, Box 4, Room 133 New York, NY 10013. Fax: 1 800 908 9146. If you are ordering a document copy, include a credit card number, expiration date and photo ID.
Cornell Department of Psychiatry, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Westchester Division Located at 21 Bloomingdale Road, White Plains, NY 10605, Phone 1 888 NYH-5700 or (914)682 9100. This hospital was known as "the Lunatic Asylum at Bloomingdale" circa 1874.
Dept. of Health The records from the Dept. of Health (New York City) are not entirely useful for genealogy, since they are not copies of the original records, but rather they are abstracts simply certifying the marriage. You should be able to obtain a copy of the original by making a special request. Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
The way this department works is you can visit their office, pay a small fee (about $15.00) and look through the index books. If you find your individual, you will have a date of death that will help you find an obituary or death notice in the newspapers. With a date of death, you can also order a copy of the individuals SS-5. The cost is higher and the delay longer, if you don't have a SSN, but the search is still possible.
Department of Health Index to Birth, Marriage and Deaths for
New York
City
TheNew York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH)
restricts access to the indices for vital records (birth, death) as of April 8, 2009. Only authorized personnel are permitted to research the indices. Anyone may pay $15 to have the staff research a specific name for three years. More years requires additional payment. The DOHMH has birth indices/records after 1909 and death indices/records after 1948. (The New York City Municipal Archives has birth indexes prior to 1910 and death indexes prior to 1949.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/vitalrecords/home.shtml
This archive holds death records BEFORE 1949. You can visit it and look for individuals in the indexes and obtain a copy of the death certificate. The information you may find would give you the date of death, which will help you look for a newspaper obit or death notice. It might also have a Social Security Number. See also 'Dept. of Health'.
Note that the Mormons have also microfilmed birth and marriage certificates for New York City, as well as the indexes. For example, the Mormons have microfilmed Manhattan marriage indexes and certificates for the period 1866-1937; Manhattan death certificates for 1866-1949; Queens birth certificates for 1898-1909; and Bronx marriage certificates from 1897-1938.
New York City Municipal Archives Division of Old Records 31 Chamber Street, Room 103, New York City 10006. Phone (212) 788 8580 or 8590 http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/doris
There is a $10 charge for each search and one copy of the record requested. Vital Records. The maximum number of years per request is five years. Note that you will need the groom's name since all indexes by bride's name since 1907 have been lost. http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/serdir/html/xdoris01.html
Try the 7th floor for all kinds of business records. Birth records: You cannot get copies of birth records unless it is of your own birth, or you have some legal (official) need for it. There is a health restriction on all birth records after 1909.
The Municipal Archives Contains a source of photographs of old synagogues and for any building in New York City including all five boroughs.
There is another source located in the same building and is known as "The Old Records Room of NYC" It is only open Tuesdays and Thursdays and has limited hours. It contains old Business Records including a computer printout of all corporations and once you have the corporations id number, you can review the incorporation documents.
It also contains the original books of Naturalization from the New York State Supreme Court (only State, not Federal) which took place from 1906 through 1924. There is an old alphabetical card index with names, a volume and a page; then you can pull the volume off the shelf. Copies can only be made through the microfilm printer. You will need quarters. They also have the New York State Census from 1855, some very old New York City directories and a Name Changes Index 1847 to 1934.
New York (Manhattan) County Index New York County Clerk Attn: Old Records Room 161 60 Centre Street New York, NY 1007 212 374 4376
Many births and marriages were not "registered" with the civil authorities in NYC until probably about l910. Midwives did many births and many of them did not register the births of these babies. Also many churches did not always register the marriages with the City but only kept a record in their own church registers. Only for burials were death certificates required. From a posting by Diane Jacobs New York
Jewish Centers in New York City
Located on West 16th Street. You will be required to surrender your coat and bags at the counter and they only allow pencil (no pen), paper and/or laptop (without a case) -- in the reading room.
Jewish Community Center Located at the corner of 76th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan.
Jewish Communal Register of New York City (1917 - 1918)
Listed virtually every communal organization in New York. This book also contains a study of the Jewish Population of New York City; Synagogue Pictures and Drawings; Jewish Schools in NYC and Jewish Periodicals
http://home.att.net/~landsmanshaft/communal.htm
Offers an "Annual Guide to Jewish Life in New York" issue and it is posted on their
web site. Look for the link with the title "Directions" http://www.thejewishweek.com/
The Lower East Side
Map scanned from the Lower
East Side Consortium News & Events, Volume 1, No. 1, Summer 1992
Between 1880 and 1920, the Lower East Side became a teeming mass of
mostly East European Jewish immigrants and food was a major part of the
revolution.This area became the epicenter of American Jewish memory after WW II, when knowledge
about the Holocaust and the freedom enjoyed by American Jews combined to foster
interest in their past. One result was the production of books and films that
highlighted the Lower East Side.
An Urban Experience: New York City'sLower East Side, 1880-1920 A collection of articles, documentary sources, and study guides was compiled to accompany the course. Readers can learn how people coped with, and sometimes prevailed over, the forces of industrialization, immigration, and urbanization.
http://www.tenant.net/Community/LES/contents.html
This historic street is where it all began for generations of immigrants from
around the world. Orchard Street was one of the busiest shopping streets. I
found a brochure on Historic Orchard Street Shopping District that offers an
explanation of the time. "The character of Orchard Street began to evolve more
than two hundred years ago, when travelers from around the world squeezed their
hungry families into the tenement buildings that filled lower Manhattan." In
search of opportunity, turn-of-the-century newcomers quickly hit the streets
selling their wares out of potato sacks slung over their shoulders, becoming the
Lower East Side's first business owners. Not stopping there, the upgrade was
made to pushcarts, and eventually storefronts, making Orchard Street one of the
busiest commercial districts in the world."
This same brochure, which you can pick up at the Visitors Center A 'Walking Tour' is available.
261 Broome Street (between Orchard and Allen Streets)
Telephone 1 212 226 9010. Hours 10 am to 4 pm daily. Toll free number is 1-888-825-8374
East Side (Lower Manhattan) 'The Street Necrology of the Lower East Side', which is defined by Houston Street,
the East River and by the Manhattan Bridge and the Bowery, was a bustling magnet
for immigrants in the 19th and 20th century. The Lower East Side
was the birthplace of some of America's most famous retailers
including Wanamaker's, Brooks Brothers, Lord & Taylor's,
Brentano's, B. Altman and Hammacher Schlemmer. Check out this site which includes
photos and a map at
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/streetnecrology/lowereast/lowereast.html
Essex Street Market
120 Essex Street
Serving the community for over 50 years selling meats, produce and other markets. It
was created by then Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia to bring pushcart vendors together.
TheFirst Rumanian American Congregation
89/91 Rivington Street
Was originally built as a Methodist church in 1850 but bought by the Jewish congregation
a few years later.
TheForward Building
175 East Broadway
Once the home to the most successful Yiddish language newspaper
The Jewish Daily Forward founded in 1897.
Lower East Side Tenement Museum Located at 97 Orchard Street. The museum, a restored 1863 tenement building, exhibits a model from 1870 and 1915. The museum is open Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 pm and Saturday and Sunday 11 to 5 pm. http://www.wnet.org/tenement/
Norfolk Street Also located on the famous Lower East Side of New York where many people lived
following their journey to the US.
Things to see on the tour include
:
Angel Orensanz Center
The oldest synagogue building in New York. Built in 1849 and now serves as a
spiritual and cultural center.
Beth Hamedrash Hagadol
60 Norfolk Street is the oldest Russian Jewish congregation in the United States.
Congregation Ohab Zedek Many researchers with turn-of-the-century Hungarian families
who lived on the lower east side, have found references to this
synagogue's marriage and death certificates. The
synagogue is now known as Ohav Zadek, First Hungarian Congregation
and still exists. The congregation had a plot at
Union
FieldCemetery and at Riverside Cemetery. Congregation Ohav Zadek 771 West End Avenue New York, NY 10025
TheEldridge Street Synagogue
12 Eldridge Street erected in 1887 has been restored and celebrated its 120th
anniversary of the building's completion. The synagogue, now the Museum at
Eldridge Street has exhibit and performance spaces.
The following book, which is
located at the New York Public Library, and
maybe other libraries as well.
Call #: *PXY 01-1148 Title: "Minutes of the Eldridge Street Synagogue: 12-16 Eldridge Street New York 1890-1916 - translated from the
original Yiddish
manuscript by Fruma
Mohrer." Imprint [New York : Lower East Side Tenement
Museum, 1988?]
The
book does not contain lists of congregants. Rather, congregants
are
discussed in
the context of membership or seats (many people were seeking
reduced
membership
fees because of financial hardship). In addition, there are
detailed
discussions
regarding the decision to hire rabbis and cantors. As an officer of
my
own
synagogue, I found these discussions fascinating.
"As a genealogical tool, there isn't going to be much in this book of
great help.
(There isn't much about births or marriages or deaths). However, if you
have
relatives on the list, you might want to check the book out because the
information might give you some insight about your relatives religious
lives.
One other thing to remember, most of the people who lived in the Lower
East Side
did not daven at the Eldridge St. Synagogue. While the Eldridge St.
Synagogue
was an important shul, it has taken on greater importance these days
because so
many of the other prominent synagogues in that neighborhood have ceased
to exist.
There were hundreds of other synagogues and shtebyls on the Lower East
Side. So
you shouldn't be disappointed if your family member is not on the list."
From a posting by Todd Brody
www.eldridgestreet.org
Books
"Beyond the Facade: A Synagogue, A Restoration, A Legacy:
Museum
at Eldridge Street"
Authored by Larry Bortniker and published by Scala Publishers. It
took 25 years to restore the Eldridge Street Synagogue - today called
the Museum at Eldridge Street - preserving a site that was once a
center of Jewish life on the Lower East Side. There are
nearly 100 images of this 750 seat structure, which by 1924, stringent
laws ended immigration, leading to declining membership and
dilapidation.
Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum
280 Broome Street which opened in 1927 to serve individuals of
Greek-Romaniote descent
TheLower East Side Tenement Museum
97 Orchard Street (between Delancey & Broome Streets
Phone:
431 0233 Recreates life in the tenements in its restored building with apartments typical of the turn
of the century. Walking tours, dramas, lectures, workshops and
exhibitions are offered
The (former)
Municipal Bath House 113 Allen Street
The Museum of Jewish Heritage Phone: 646 437 4200 A Living Memorial to the Holocaust - located in Battery Park on Manhattan's southern tip. This museum focuses on three themes:
Jewish Life a Century Ago; The War Against Jews and Jewish Renewal. The Museum's director is David Altshuler. www.mjhnyc.org
New York City's Lower East Side Tour There is a free cell-phone walking tour of "the Lower East Side: Birthplace of Dreams" at
1 800 644 3545. To get started, go on-line. Print out the list of 13 stops. Next, program the tour's telephone number into your cell phone; you will call in at each site. You will probably recognize the voice you hear as comedian Jerry Stiller. www.talkingstreet.com/les.php
Ohab Zedek
Hungarian Congregation in New York City This synagogue is now known as Ohav Zadek, First Hungarian
Congregation
771 West End Avenue
New York, NY 10025
The congregation had a plot at Union Field Cemetery and at Riverside
Cemetery
https://ozny.org/about/about-the-congregation.php
Orchard Street
Orchard Street, the birthplace of bargains, with an array of merchandise
at prices hard to beat. Photo taken from the Lower East Side
Consortium News & Events, Volume 1, No. 1, Summer 1992
The NY Public Library has indices for post 1937 marriages. This will give you the county and certificate numbers you need. They are organized by groom name. Then you can request the record from the Dept. of Health. You will have to have certain signatures if the individuals are still living.
Sunshine Theater
143 Houston Street closed for many years, but now a movie house that includes 5 screens
and features art house films.
The
University Settlement 184 Eldridge Street
the oldest settlement house in America.
TheVisitor Center
261 Broome Street (between Orchard and Allen Streets) more information about the area can be obtained.
Virtual Tour Of how the people lived in thetenements, on the lower east side of New York, after they passed through Ellis Island
www.wnet.org/archive/tenement/
An excellent collection of maps around the world is located in the 42nd Street Library, Map Room.
When using Mapquest, if you are trying to locate a street in New York City, in the 'city' block, if the address is in either Bronx, Brooklyn, or Staten Island, you must enter Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. If the address is in Manhattan, enter New York. If the address is in Queens, it can be Queens or one of the town names i.e. Jamaica, Flushing, Long Island City, etc. Queens was part of Long Island (physically and politically) but when it joined with New York City, it brought its town names with it and they persist to this day. The ones noted here are just the major post office designations, but there are many others. Anita Citron
anitac1@erols.com in a posting on JewishGen
Over the years, high school names have changed including: Girls Commercial is now Prospect Heights; Boys High is Boys and Girls High Erasmus Academy of Finance, Culinary Arts or Performing Arts is now Erasmus Hall High School. Barbara Streisand graduated from Erasmus. Carol Cohen at
Mamapoof2@aol.com offers to look up the most recent high school name as she is a guidance counselor in a New York City Middle School.
Immigrants from Austria, Galicia and Poland in 1890 Database -
New York City
Certificates can be obtained from the NYC Department of Health, which is two blocks away from the archives on the corner of Worth Street and Centre Street. (NYC marriages only). The cost is $15.00 however there are no search facilities, you must know what it is you want or be able to narrow it to within a few years.
Marriage Licenses for New York City There are at least two offices in New York City that handle marriage license information. City Clerk's Office 1 Center Street, Room 252 New York 10007 Phone: (212) 669 8898. They charge $15 for a search plus $1 for each additional year you request they search.. The other location is the NYCDepartment of Records, MunicipalArchives at 31 Chambers Street, Room 103 New York 10007 Phone: (212) 788 8580 or 8590. In both offices, the records are only open to the public up to 1937 for marriages. The mother's maiden name *usually* appears on the child's birth certificate. Also, if she was married in the USA the names of the bride's and groom's parents would appear on the marriage license application.
NYC marriage records Are a confusing issue. First, there are 2 sets of marriage records (Dept of Health and City Clerk) indexed by bride surnames:
First Set: Dept of Health Microfilms Available at the municipal archives: index cards in Brooklyn: brides 1866-1910,1931-7; Brooklyn Groom 1866-1907; (Brooklyn grooms is missing 1911-1929); All boroughs: Bride 1898-1937, All boroughs: Groom 1898-1937; Bronx: bride 1898-1937, Manhattan: Bride 1866-34; Manhattan Groom 1866-1910. I do not believe that the municipal will take mail orders for these records because they are handwritten, alphabetized by first letter only, and not easy to read."
*However*, Bride indexes for the Bronx (1898-1937) and Manhattan (1879-1937) Also in microfilm at the Family History Libraries; you can check for the index tape numbers on the online catalog. Look for the film notes under Manhattan Marriages for the details. Once you get the certificate number from the index, you can order the actual certificate microfilm.
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp
Second,City Clerk's records Are available *only* in person at the Municipal. These are microfilms of the application ledgers for 1908-1929 Manhattan, 1914-29; Bronx indexed by first two letters of surname for Brides and Grooms. The applications are filed in the Bride’s residence borough; i have gotten copies of the affidavits, licenses, parental approval and divorce papers in this way." From a posting by Phyllis Kramer
On-line. The Index shown is not complete as it represents only a fraction of the NYC naturalizations ... most naturalized in the Federal courts, and this is only the Manhattan local county court. The NARA NE Region is located at Varick and Houston Streets in Manhattan: Phone: 212 337 1300; #1 or #9 subway to Varick Street stop.
This is the repository of Naturalization papers filed with the Federal courts covering NY and NJ (including Southern and Eastern NY districts. NARA/NE has naturalization papers filed up through December, 1940 - perhaps more years have been added. Original declarations of Intention as well as Petitions for Naturalization are provided for your inspection - they are not microfilmed. Photocopies will be made by NARA staff at a nominal per-page cost. To find the Federal courts (Eastern and Southern Districts), go to the NARA http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/genindex.html
or a Family History Center sites. You might also research the card indexes at the Old Records Division31 Chambers Street, 7th floor, which is open only on Tuesday and Thursday. www.Ancestry.com
There are Children's Death Certificates with genealogical information for orphans and foundlings from NYC area orphanages and hospitals. The years of death range from 1882 to 1901 and these children are buried in some of the free burial plots at various Jewish Cemeteries in the NY area. This information may be seen on the Federal and State Census Page.
The Jewish Child Care
Association, also known as JCCA, has been serving children and families
since 1822. The following are the places that they are successor to and
may hold records for:
Hebrew Benevolent & Orphan
Asylum Society; Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society; Home for Hebrew
Infants; Fellowship House; Jewish Children's Clearing Bureau; Brooklyn
Hebrew Orphan Asylum; Girls Club of Brooklyn; Children's Day and Night
Shelter; Wayside Day Nursery; Childville; Children's Service Bureau;
Jewish Youth Services of Brooklyn; Hebrew National Orphan Home (opened
about 1919 in Yonkers, NY); Hebrew Orphan Asylum, merged with the
above about 1945 and became Hartman-Homecrest; Israel Orphan Asylum;
Gustav Hartman Home; Daughters of Zion Hebrew Day Nursery; Information
that may be available are: names and addresses of people who placed
their children in these orphanages, name and maiden name of parents and
addresses of last place of residence and the exact location of the town
and country they came from. It is against agency policy to provide the
kind of information to anyone but the former client himself; or, if the
client is deceased, certain basic facts may be given to the client's
children or grandchildren. Contact them at:
Jewish Child Care
Association of New York
575 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Phone: 212 371 1313
Fax: 212 371 1275
Contact: Ms Leona M. Ferrer, Coordinator
Photos of New York City - TheNYC Archives photo collection
Includes photographs from 1889-1956, including those of the Department of Taxes, 1939-1941 consisting of a photograph of every building in the five Boroughs. Write to City of New York, Dept. of Records and Information Services, Municipal Archives, 52 Chambers St. New York, NY 10007. There is a charge for a photograph and it is necessary to give the exact address of the building you are interested in obtaining a photo of. Photo reproductions can be ordered for $25.00 for an 8 x 10 print and $35.00 for an 11 x 14 print. Be sure to ask for the assistance of Mr. Cobb, who seems to be the only one there who knows how the entire process works.
This room houses a collection of microfilms relating to ships' passenger lists; the census; city directories; vital records indices and more. Room 121, the Reference Assistance and Reading Room has 10 computers and houses a number of handbooks and guides, along with a collection of vital records in book form. Included are Social Register books for the years of the 1900s and a large collection of family histories.
Both rooms are located by walking up the steps between the Lions on the 5th Avenue side, and once inside the building, make a right turn and go to the end of the hall where you then make a left. Web Site: http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/lhg/genea.html
The Humanities-History and Genealogy Section of the New York Public
Library Main Branch Located at 5th Avenue and 42nd Street has the information on microfilm for the years 1884, 1889-1890, 1898-1899, and 1904-1954. The Call No. is *ZAN-G430.
Both old and new photos of the city are at the Library of Congress web site www.loc.gov
New York City Photos
Photos taken about 1940 of most of the Lower East Side are stored at the NYC Archives at 31 Chambers Street New York, NY. The charge is about $25 per photo.
The
NY Public Library
Using The NY Public Library
The NY Public Library has a genealogical section that is staffed by a patient staff. Once you have found the reel or reels you are looking for (the reels consist of death, birth and marriage indexes as well as reproductions of the manifests and of census reports), and after you have found the information you are looking for, you should rewind the film and fill out a form to have a copy made at the counter.
Other rooms at the Library offers microfilmed directories of major US cities dating from the late part of the 19th century until about the 1930s (Brooklyn's directories for the 1920s are, it is reported, frustratingly, not reproduced anywhere. Another room has some immigration indexes in book form and also the DOH death index in book form from around 1957 onward.
At the Library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, you can find a microfilm that has the AD/ED for the 1905, 1915 and 1925 State Census.
"Tax Photographs" Between 1939 and 1941, the then Department of Taxes of the City of NY (today Dept. of Finance), photographed every building on the tax rolls in the five Boroughs. This collection is located in the Municipal Archives Building 31 Chambers St. Manhattan. This link will bring you to the New York City Municipal Archives which can provide further information as well as an application to get a "Tax Photograph" (b& w only)
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/serdir/html/xdoris02.html
United States History, Local History and Genealogy, at the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of Room 119 is the Microform Room housing 4 manual and 4 automatic readers along with 2 fiche readers and a copier.
Police Census 1890 - New York City
Because the 1890 Federal Census was destroyed in a fire, this is now a valuable resource. Ancestry.com has placed 26 books on the Internet or you can get a copy of the original census record through microfilm at a Family History Center. http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/inddbs/3519.htm
Reverse Directory Information A listing of reverse directories of the International Association of Cross Reference Directory Publishers, divided into six geographical regions. Also Cole's Reverse Directory and Hill-Donnelly also publish reverse directories and can be viewed at public libraries. In the U.S. dial 1 900 933 3330 (Uni directory charges $1.00 per minute). For New York http://www.iacrdp.org/region4.shtml
New YorkCity Science & Business Library
Located on Madison Avenue between 34th and 35th Street has the NYPL Voter Registration Lists in book form for the period 1955-1969. The Call No. is *SYA+ (New York (City), Record Office, City Record Supplement, Registry of Voters).
Street Information -New York City
Broadway runs north/south from the upper west side of Manhattan all the way downtown.
Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Synagogue Located at 60-64 Norfolk Street in 1901
Congregation Ohel Abraham of Zhitomir
Congregation Shearith Israel Thought to be the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. The formal cadences of the Spanish and Portuguese liturgy is still chanted in the sanctuary. The congregation traces it's roots back to the first 23 Jews who arrived in September 1654 as refugees from Recife, Brazil. In 1730 the congregation bought an old grist mill and turned it into a synagogue and named it Shearith Jacob and later changed the name to Shearith Israel. It remained the only congregation in New York for 171 years, although other congregations had sprung up in Philadelphia, Charleston, Savannah and Newport. The current structure was built in 1897 at 8 West 70 Street. More information, including photographs of the synagogue, can be found in the March 2004 issue of Hadassah Magazine as authored by Rahel Musleah.
Eldridge Street Synagogue Located at 12 Eldridge Street (between Canal and Allen streets) was built in 1887 and is being restored. Tours are available on Sundays from 11 to 4 and Tuesday and Thursdays 11:30 am and 2:30 pm o by appointment. Phone: 212 219 0888 They have a listing of all synagogue members from the 1870s. Visit the women's section where changing exhibits are housed.
Manhattan's First Synagogue Once located in 1730 on South William Street, then known as Mill Street. The building has long been replaced by a parking garage.
Millinery Center Synagogue Still functioning at 1025 Sixth Avenue, between 38th and 39th Streets in New York City. Phone number is (212) 921 1580 Naomi Fatouros at
NFatouros@aol.com has
a copy of the 20th Century Banquet Celebration which lists the Synagogue's officers as well as many donors that was published in 1955 by the Synagogue. In her message, published on May 16,2000 in JewishGen Digest on page 4, she lists names of 11 Unions and Associations relating to the millinery industry. See the Archives at http://www.jewishgen.org/
Temple Ansche Chesed 251 West 100th Street (Corner of West End Avenue) New York, NY 10025. A report on what is (or isn't available) may be read in the JewishGen Digest of November 11, 1999. Temple Ansche Chesed and the Archives. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF) to view the files. A free copy can be obtained at http://adobe.com
"Triangle: The Fire That Changed America" Authored by David Von Dreble and published by Atlantic Monthly
A fire broke out on the eighth floor on March 25, 1911 and spread quickly through the eighth floor as it fed on air-borne fabric particles and bolts of linen stacked on cutting room tables. The building where the fire took place is in Washington Square, New York City and is part of the Main Building of NYU - College of Arts and Science.
The workers ran towards the exists, but the management had locked the doors to prevent the young women from taking unscheduled breaks. In panic, some of them climbed through windows and jumped more than eight stories to their death. Fireman brought ladders, but unfortunately, they could only reach as high as the seventh floor, and upon realizing that there was no way out, many more women jumped to their death when flames started burning their clothing and hair. One hundred and fifty four lives were lost and that prompted calls for factory regulations. This event also set the stage for labor union activism and governmental legislation to ensure occupational safety. The last survivor of this tragedy, Rose Freedman died in Beverly Hills, California on February 15, 2001 at the age of 107.
The Museum has a permanent exhibit that include an illuminated 15th century Prague Bible.
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
(Yiddisher Visnshaftlekher Institut)
15 West 16th St. (between 5th & 6th Avenues) New York, NY 10011 Phone (212) 246 6080 Fax (212) 292 1892. YIVO was founded in 1925 to collect and preserve Jewish documents and cultural treasures from Eastern Europe, and studying, educating and teaching about Jewish life.
http://yivoinstitute.org
Rochester
Jewish Genealogical Society of Rochester, NY Offers searchable databases and links to other sites including maps, libraries, history and much, more http://jgsr.hq.net
It is not a free site, but the database it offers, may be of enough value for you to consider paying for their service. You can access this site and see if your surnames are listed for free.
Here's how you do it: Select "free search"; it will show you the free directories; click "continue" click city, state or year; click on the state you are interested in if you select state. A list of all the state's directories will come up. Put a check mark in the one you are interested in and click "add to list". The next page will show the directory. Put a check mark in the box and go to the top of the screen and click "search". You will then be able to put in your surname. Click "submit". You can also call Primary Source Microfilm's City Directories at 800 444 0799
New York State
1910 New York State Census CD Information about this census CD and the 1910 census CD for New York City can be found at http://www.avotaynu.com/cds.htm
Abstracts To find out who owned property in Kings Country, contact the Register for Kings County. A title abstract company will do it for a fee.
Adams and South Jefferson County, New York
Has their own home page where you will find two boards -- "Surname Board" which is self-explanatory and the "Record Board" which is set up to research biographies, census, deeds, obituaries, wills, vital records, etc. in Adams, NYand South Jefferson County. Adams is just south of Watertown and approximately 60 miles north of Syracuse and was established in 1800 http://www.adamsny.org/adams.html
American Jewish Historical Society New York, Administrative Office located at the Center for Jewish History 15 West 16th St. New York 10011 Contacts: Michael Feldberg, Donna Leonard, Rachel Chodorov at (212) 294 6161. For research and membership questions contact the Waltham Office: 2 Thornton Road, Waltham, MA 02453 Phone (781) 891 8110 Fax: (781) 899 9208 or E-mail ajhs@ajhs.org
Mr. Sidney Gribetz Office of Committee on Character & fitness Supreme Court of the State of New York appellate division - First Department 60 Madison Avenue New York City, NY 10010
http://www.nycourts.gov/attorneys/registration/faqs.shtml
Crows & Ravens
The alumni association of the Pleasantville Cottage School, an orphanage in Westchester County, NY. It has now been superseded by the JCCA (Jewish Child Care Association) Alumni Office tel: (212) 558 9915
The Forward
Past issues of this all Jewish newspaper can be viewed at The New York Public Library on Fifth Ave. and 42nd Street in New York. The YIVO Institutemay also have pre-war issues.
www.nypl.org
Has more than 75,000 names of individuals naturalized in their database.
Middletown
Obituaries for Middletown, New York and surrounding areas for the period from Sept. 1984 - March 1988 check out the Middletown Thrall Library Obituary Database http://thrall.org/obitdb/
For dates other then these, try to contact the
Times Herald Record newspaper at: 40 Mulberry St. Middletown, NY 10940 845-341-1100 800-295-2181
**Ask for the Librarian
NARA
National Archives The address is 201 Varick Street, 12th Floor in New York. The #1 or #9 train takes you to Houston Street.
Offers an excellent facility on Manhattan that has many of the records from Ellis Island available on microfilm. http://www.nara.gov
National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators
Gives you access to names on a list of unclaimed assets for New York and other states http://www.unclaimed.org
New York Death Certificates
For obtaining a death certificate of someone who is dead less than 50 years, unless you are a direct descendant, for further information and the forms needed http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/consumer/vr.htm
New York Department, Liquidation Bureau
123 William Street, NY 10038-3889 Phone (212) 341 6400. May have information or be of assistance in locating burial associations in New York.
New York Prison Inmate Population A searchable database of past and current inmates in any New York State Prison http://www.docs.state.ny.us/
Sing Sing Prison A maximum security prison for males. (Telephone: 914 941 0108) The New York State Archives in Albany has records for Sing Sing (1865-1971) and for other New York prisons and reformatories.
NYS Department of Correctional Services Building 2 1220 Washington Ave. Albany, N.Y. 12226-2050 Telephone: 518 457 8126 E-mail: mediainfo@docs.state.ny.us
Joan Brown discusses her experience in researching this list in the JewishGen Digest Archives dated 1/9/99 Page 13. http://www.jewishgen.org/
New York State Bar Association If you contact the Association, you will probably be directed to the following individual and address: Mr. Sidney Gribetz Office of Committee on Character & Fitness Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division First Department 60 Madison Avenue New York City, NY 10010 Letters should state (a) that you want the Bar Application for the relative in question (provide the name and relationship) for genealogical purposes; (b) that the personal data concerning this person is., etc., etc., (POB, DOB, Father, Mother, etc.,) and (c) that you are making a formal request that the documents relating to this relative be unsealed by the court. The very last part of the letter should be the address to which you want the documents sent. There is a nominal charge for this service and will be billed to you with the arrival of the documents. Processing time is approximately 6 weeks. Also check the "Martindale Hubbell" Directory for attorney listings. http://www.martindalehubbell.com
New York State Census -1905 and 1915
The Census can be viewed in the New York State Library in Albany, NY and at any Family History Library.
New York State Census - 1925 The NY Public Library has a microfilm reel that has every street and every address in New York with the Election District and address and at any Family History Library.
New York State
Court of Appeals
The system, called
Court-PASS, will be maintained as a permanent public archive for
documents related to cases at the state’s highest court that
were pending or filed after Jan. 1.” It is free
http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/appeals/
Vital Records Section, Corning Tower Building/ESP, Albany, NY 12237-0023. Phone Inquiry Numbers are (518) 474 3077 or (518) 473 1477 and Vital records is (518) 474 2005 or (518) 473 1477. Death Certificates are $11.00 and usually take at least six months to receive once you have made your inquiry. "The time periods are waived if the applicant is a descendant or has been designated to act on behalf of a descendant of the person whose record is being requested." No mention is made of required proof of relationship. They have a 50-year privacy rule applying to death and marriage records; the rule for births is 75 years. Substituting another State's abbreviation (i.e. MN = Minnesota) may bring you to that State's Department of Health. http://www.health.state.ny.us
For checking out a past accident report, a copy of all accident reports are sent to this department and a copy remains in the Police Headquarters at 1 Police Plaza. Also check with Community Affairs Officer in a particular precinct and have him check the Command Log Book for a specific date for any record.
http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/
New York State Banking Department Holocaust Claims Processing Office 2 Rector Street New York, NY 10006 Phone 800 695 3318, 212 618 6983 (outside of USS) Fax: 212 618 6908 http://www.claims.state.ny.us
Address mail to c/o NYState Dept. of Insurance 123 Williams St. New York, NY 10038 Call (212) 341 6400 for names of members of Cemetery Groups in New York area.
New York State Marriages, 1908 - 1935 "Name index and images of New York county marriage records. New York
state began requiring marriage records for each county in 1908. The
collection includes the following counties: Allegany, Broome,
Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia,
Delaware, Essex, Fulton, Genesee, Greene, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis,
Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Nassau, Niagara, Oneida,
Ontario, Orange, Orleans, Oswego, Otsego, Putnam, Rockland, Saratoga,
Schenectady, Schuyler, Seneca, St. Lawrence, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga,
Tompkins, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Westchester, Wyoming, and Yates.
The collection does not include New York City nor its boroughs.
Currently this collection is 41% complete. Additional records are in
process of being added.
New York State Military Museum
There are 53,671pages of New York National Guard Records availableand includethe NY National Guardsman Magazine published between 1924 and 1940, and National Guard Annual reports from 1858 to 1955.
http://www.dmna.state.ny.ushistoric/index.htm
The best way to obtain information from this source is to appear in person. There are many rows of file cabinets arranged alphabetically by last name and then by given name. Most of the file cards will offer the date of death and a case number. Copy the case number and hand it to the clerk to retrieve the file. It shouldn't take long unless the file is a very old file. The files can be viewed and photocopied. Take plenty of dimes with you if you plan on making copies. The normal rule is that you can expect to review only three files per day, but this can be waived if you state to the clerk that you are from out of town.
New York Times Newspaper
The archives from January 1996. The Times is now putting its stories, photos and ads dating to the first issue on 9/18/1851, in digital format. They will be available by subscription to schools and libraries around the country. It will be indexed so that researchers can look for a particular keyword. It wasn't clear whether obituaries will be included.
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/nytarchive.html
The oldest standing structure (a fur-trading post) owned by a Jew in the US, Louis Moses Gomez. He was also the Shearith Israel (New York) and the oldest synagogue in America) synagogue's first parnas (elder).
New Rochelle
Bess and Nathan P Jacobs Library at Beth El Synagogue Northfield Road Cr. Phone: (914) 235 2700
The archives contain local obituaries reported for the Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster County NY area since Feb 2001
Oswego
Almost 1,000 people were given safe haven from the Holocaust in the only American refugee shelter during WW II - Fort Ontario, Oswego, New York. This website includes a list of names of the refugees http://community.syracuse.com/cc/oswegohaven.org
Mid-Island YJCC is located at 45 Manetto Hill Road
Porter Corners
I met Rabbi Laurence Aryeh Alpern at my granddaughter Amy's wedding and found him to be a very interesting "Internet" Rabbi. He flies all over the world to perform marriages, etc and also is the Rabbi of Temple Shabbat Shalom 340 Plank Road, PO Box 53 Porter Corners, NY 12859
RabbiAlpern@aol.com
Queens Borough Public Library (Long Island Division) Located at 89-11 Merrick Blvd, Jamaica 11432 (718) 990 0770) Open Sundays noon to 5 from September to May.
Good assortment available of City Directories for Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island. The Library holdings, at the Long Island Division includes a collection of city directories and telephone directories for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island; the 1880 and 1900 census Soundex for all of NY State; NY Passenger Manifests for 1820 to 1897. The Queens Library is about 7 miles from LaGuardia and JFK airports.
There is a separate and distinct Queens Borough Public Library in NYC with its main library (Central) in Jamaica (Queens). It has 63 branches. NYC has 3 separate library systems (New York Public, Brooklyn Public and Queens). Queens has the NYC directories (the earlier ones for Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan as they were combined, but the later ones are only Queens, some ship manifests, census, an incredible history of Queens and Long Island (a separate Long Island Division).
The
Mount Judah Cemetery
in
Ridgewood, Queens, New York, has a searchable cemetery database online. Burial
information available on everyone buried there, including those
buried in whatever Lithuanian-associated society plots
exist there. www.mountjudah.com
Rochester
1860 & 1870 Census For Rochester, Monroe County, New York for the 6th and 8th Ward is available by contacting Phoebe Nix
phoenixxph@aol.com Also available is the 1860 Cayuga County, Port Byron, New York.
Baron Hirsch Cemetery 1126 Richmond Avenue Staten Island, NY 718-698-0162
Suffolk Country
Probate Records Located at Surrogates Court, County Center Building, 320 Center Drive, Riverhead, New York Road - a commercial site offers an on-line database www.jewishdata.com
US District Court US Courthouse 500 Pearl Street Suite #820 New York, NY 10007 Telephone: 1 212 805 0100 or 1 212 637 0500
US District Court, Eastern District - the two courts that covered New York City are now at the National Archives, Northeast Region, 201 Varick Street, New York, NY. http://www.uscourts.gov/allinks.html#2nd
The following are the two district courts within the 2nd Circuit that are located in New York City: New York Eastern District Court (Brooklyn) U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11201-1818; New York Southern District Court (Manhattan) U.S. Courthouse 40 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007-1581
Utica
Jonathan's Lodge, House of Jacob, House of Israel, Tzvi Jacob, Beth El, cemeteries All located on Woods http://www.jccutica.net/
Hebrew Institute of White Plains is a Haimisch Shul, a leader in Open Orthodoxy http://www.hiwp.org/
Yonkers
Cemetery "A number of articles have appeared in recent weeks in New York and Jewish newspapers about a former Jewish cemetery in Yonkers, N.Y. -- just west of the New York State Thruway (Route 87) and about three miles north of the Cross County Expressway. The half-acre cemetery of the now defunct Congregation People of Righteousness has been the subject of a year-long investigation by N.Y. State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, begun after a Lake Placid, N.Y., woman complained about the disappearance of the cemetery where her grandparents were buried."
"Investigators learned that the cemetery was moved 15 years ago to make way for the parking garage for two new superstores. Under the terms of a court-approved 1989 agreement, drawn up with the approval of rabbinical authorities, all remains were to be relocated at the developer's expense, in accordance with Orthodox Jewish law and under the supervision of a Jewish funeral director - either to Eretz Hachaim Cemetery in Jerusalem or, at the request of families, to cemeteries in the United States. Although an old map of the cemetery shows at least 241 burials, Spitzer's office found evidence that 77 graves (65 adults and 12 children) were moved to Jerusalem and that no more than 20 wererelocated within the U.S. Removal permits were obtained for the 20 U.S. reburials but not for the graves moved to Israel. The Attorney General's court brief raises questions in particular about the fate of about 135 children's graves that cannot be accounted for and may never have been moved. The brief calls for an appropriate memorial to those once buried in the Yonkers cemetery and a contribution by the responsible parties to rehabilitate and maintain other abandoned Jewish cemeteries in New York."
"According to newspaper reports, People of Righteousness, an Orthodox synagogue, was founded in 1898 and bought its cemetery grounds in 1899. The synagogue, which was located adjacent to the cemetery, was demolished in 1969. By 1989, the cemetery, overseen by five surviving synagogue members, was "in shameful condition" -- "thoroughly overgrown with vegetation" and "in serious disrepair." From a posting by Renee Steinig
rsteinig@suffolk.lib.ny.us
North Carolina
Jews first arrived in both of the Carolinas late in the 1600s, settling in a colony that offered in its Fundamental Constitutions, written in 1669, religious tolerance and openness to "Jews, Heathens, and other Dissenters from the purity of the Christian religion" as stated in an article in the September 2002 issue of Hadassah Magazine written by Leah F. Chase.
Marriage Index records (1850 to 1900) Contain information about the union of two families; the groom's name, the bride's maiden name, the county and date of marriage and sometimes more. A CD is available from
www.UltimateFamilyTree.com/online
Most populated
places in North Carolina This information appears in the Microfilm M1931 at the
National Archives
State of North Carolina Agencies A list of state agencies known to have information available via the internet http://www.state.nc.us/agency/
Year Book The YearbookSights & Insights, Salem College, Winston-Salemis available to access - Keyword is NC http://www.deadfred.com
North Dakota
Bessie Schwartz along with her family stand outside her sod hut around 1890.
Photo from Minn. Historical Society
Even though Jews were barred from farming in Russia, many were more attuned to the pace of rural life. At its peak in the 1930s, the Jewish population reached 50,000 in Minnesotaand the Dakotas. But the Jewish presence in the Dakotas and rural Minnesota didn't last. Taking advantage of the Homestead Act, many farmed the land for five years before taking title to it, then sold it to go into 'business'. "It was such a difficult life, farming. They just didn't stay. It's so arid. You're not going to get a good crop very often. Who would your kids marry? And the schools only went up to the eighth grade."
Books
"Dakota Diaspora, Memoirs of a Jewish Homemaker" Authored by Sophie Trupin in 1984 and published by Alternative Press.
Homesteaders
Rachel Calof was born in
Russia in 1876. Rachel's mother died when she was quite young, and
she and her siblings were mistreated by an uncaring housekeeper and
stepmother. Then her own father deserted them. At 18 years old, and
without a dowry, Rachel was sent to America as a mail-order-bride
for a young man named Abraham Calof.Read her story at
http://jwa.org/discover/infocus/westernpioneers/rachelcalof.html
Naturalization Records Park Genealogical Books - a commercial genealogy and local history specialists, offers a range of materials to assist family history researchers including County map of North Dakota; various forms and information on naturalization records.. http://www.parkbooks.com/Html/res_nat9.html
Selective Service Records See Minnesota
Ashley
60 Jewish families once lived in and around this town, according to an article written in 1986 in the North Dakota REC Magazine published by the rural electric association, according to Susan Cohn in her Jewish Genealogy article of February 2004. The cemetery is still there, though the Jewish community is long gone.
Further, Susan wrote that "In the spring of 1911 there were 60 families and the Jewish Chautauqua Society sent Rabbi Hess (my great grandfather) to serve Ashley and other communities." There are 21 grave sites in the cemetery and all face west. Some of the gravestones have photos under recessed ovals of glass set in the tombstone, Susan further wrote. As of 1986, this cemetery was in perfect condition as the congregation had made provisions for it to be kept up on an ongoing basis.
Fargo
Jews have been living in this town that straddles the Minnesota/North Dakota borderfor more than 100 years. The first synagogue, Fargo Hebrew Congregation, was dedicated in 1904. In 1955, a new shul was built on Ninth Avenue and Ninth Street. The old ark was donated to the Minneapolis Talmud Torah. Prayer books from the old synagogue can be obtained by contacting Aaron Geller 1339 6th Avenue South, Fargo, North Dakota 58103.
Former rabbis included Lesk, Katz, Eiseman and Ettedgui. Some of the surnames from this community included Paper, Geller, Jolosky, Hoffman, Persillin, Joelson, Smith, Zimmerman, Weingarten, Mellen, Hersowitz, Kapelin, Jonas and Muller.
Garske Colony
The Garske Colony was located near Devils Lake and was settled by Jewish pioneers from 1883. There is a monument dedicated to the memory of those original Jewish pioneers.
http://www.siegelphotos.net/North_Dakota_2006/index.html
There is a school district in the state named for Moses Montefiore, leader and benefactor of an aid society (HIAS?) which sought to locate Jewish refugees from southern Russian on the land" ... Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society sent 22 families here. There is an article about Montefiore in The Minot, ND Daily News. Dec. 14, 1968 issue
http://www.minotdailynews.com/default.html
Ohio
The tide of the Jewish immigration from Germany to the US became very strong during and immediately after the memorable year, 1848, the year of European Revolutions and very many of those Jewish settlers went westward, making the large cities like Cincinnati and Chicago, their principal places of residence, but settling also in smaller cities, like Dayton, Zanesville and Portsmouth. From a posting to JewishGen by Alice Josephs
Did you know that there are no natural lakes in the state of
Ohio? Every one is man made.
"Cold Cases" This online database had fewer than 170 cases in September
2012 when Attorney General DeWine asked law-enforcement agencies
to submit their cold cases. Now, the database includes more than
1,000 cases, and expected submissions from Cleveland police
and the Montgomery County sheriff in Dayton may
double that total
http://www.cleveland.com/coldcase/homicidedatabase/
Ohio Historical
Society Ohio Death from 1913 - 1927 and 1933-1937 databases are
available
http://www.ohiohistory.org/
TheTemple - Tifereth Israel A Reform congregation of 1,600 families in a suburb of Cleveland http://www.ttti.org/
Cincinnati
Cincinnati The first Jew was English-born peddler Joseph Jonas who arrived from
Philadelphia on March 8, 1817. An article by Lois Gilman about
Cincinnati was published in the October 2005 issue of Hadassah Magazine.
Adath Israel Congregation (now located in Amberley Village) Founded in 1847 as thePolish Synagogueoriginally
www.adath-israel.org
The American Israelite Oldest English-Jewish weekly in the US (founded by Rabbi Wise in 1854)
www.americanisraelite.com
TheAmerican Jewish Archives, Cincinnati Offers many resources relating to American Jewish History. http://huc.edu/aja/
Bene Israel Congregation (Rockdale Temple)- Cincinnati According to Joseph Jonas' "History of the Jews inOhio", the congregation was founded in 1824 by 10 Jews of English origin, making it the oldest congregation west of the Alleghenies mountains. In Oct. 1875, it was located at Eighth and Mound Streets. Later, in moved to West Sixth Street and in 1913 relocated to its present 20 acre campus. B'nai Yeshurun - (nowIsaac M. Wise Temple)
http://www.wisetemple.org/
Cincinnati Jewish Genealogical Society Nancy F. Brant, President.
Contact Josephine Rosenblum
JoRose@prodigy.net
Cincinnati City Directory Margot Conte
MargotC@aol.com offered to do a lookup in the 1856 city directory she has in her library.
Cincinnati Jewish Community Left downtown for the nearby Avondale and Walnut Hills neighborhood and later moved north to the suburban areas of Roselawn, Golf Manor, Amberley Village, Blue Ash, Montgomery, Clifton and Sycamore. The Jewish population in 2005 is estimated at 20,000. In 1830 there were about 100 Jews out of a total of 25,000 population. In 1910, the Jewish population was now 28,000 and made up 7.7 percent of the total city population. By 1933 to 1941 more than 1,000 Central European Jewish refugees added to the community.
Cincinnati Jewish Newspaper The American Israelite of Cincinnati, began publishing on July 15, 1845
"Freie Press" Emanuel Harry Austerlitz founded the first German Language Newspaper
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion Located at 3101 Clifton Ave.; Tel. 513 221 1875. They have an enormous collection of Jewish newspapers from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
www.huc.edu
Jewish Cemetery Located at Chestnut Street and Central Avenue and had its first burial in 1821.
Around E. 105th Street, this area once housed more than 50% ofCleveland's Jewish population.
Glenville
was one of the two areas (the
other was Kinsman)
in which a
large portion of the Jewish population lived.
Books
"History of the Jews of Cleveland" Authored by Lloyd Gartner. published by Western Reserve Historical Society in 1978
"Inside Looking Out: The Cleveland Jewish Orphan Asylum,
1868-1924" Author Gary Edward Polster.
American Jewish Archives 3101 Clifton Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45220 Contact Rabbi Gary Zola, Director
Bureau of Vital Statistics Cleveland City Hall 601 Lakeside Ave. Cleveland, Ohio 44115 216 664 3266
Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Includes an on-line index to naturalizations from 1818 to 1931, mostly from the Court of common Pleas for Cuyahoga Country. There are also some searchable birth and death records
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohcuyah2/index.html
Maps
WW II Maps
Maps
