Esterson & Ukrainian Family Lists

 

Since there finally some Ukrainian records online, I was hoping to find my paternal grandpa’s birth record and possibly his parents’ marriage record and/or birth records. Unfortunately, no such luck.

 

There were Ukrainian Family lists (revision lists, similar to a modern day census). I did find an 1897 list for my paternal great-grandparents, 1862 and 1875 lists for my paternal great-great-grandfather! These family lists not only show their ages, but also their fathers’ names. These Family Lists had their Yiddish names, which were the names they used in Berdichev.

 

These Ukrainian Family Lists spelled our family name as Esterzon. My great-grandfather, whom we knew as Simon and Hebrew name Shlomo, was Shlioma Zelman (also spelled Shlema Zalman); His full Hebrew name was Shlomo Zalman ben Yaakov Dov. In 1897, Shlioma Zelman was listed as Head of Household, son of Yankel Ber and 28 years old. He and his family lived in Berdichev, Berdichev Uyzed, Kiyev Gubernyia, Ukraine. His wife was Elka bat Avrum Mordko and she was listed as 30 years old. They had two sons: Yankel Ber, 2 years old and Motus, 1 year old and a house maid living with them. This confirms my grandpa’s year of birth as 1896, which was on his passenger list of 1898.

 

I found an 1850, 1862 and 1875 Family Registers for my great-great-grandfather Yankel Ber (also known as Yaakov Dov). The 1875 register listed his father as Zelman which lead me to the 1850 list. This 1850 list was a true treasure! Not only did it confirm my great-great grandparents’ names and years of birth, but allowed me to go back one more generation!

 

My great-great grandfather’s parents were Zelman ben Leyb Berko and Esther Ginda bat Leyb. This 1850 list, 25 Oct 1850, has them living in Berdichev, Berdichevskiy, Kiyevskaya, Ukraine. It also shows that my great-great grandfather Yankel Ber had a sister, Nekha. She was three years younger than him, born in 1835.

 

Yankel Ber was the only one listed on the 1862 register. He was listed as 30 years old and Head of Household. The 1875 Family Register for Yankel Ber only lists him as Head of Household, age 43 and two sons. This makes me believe that his wife, Rachel Bracha Buchalter Esterzon, passed away previously, which coincides with the date of death I have for her, 1895. Yoseyf was listed as Ios, 10 years old and Shlioma Zelman, 7 years old. I don’t know why Esther Esterzon (Margosin) was in 1875. She married Yoseph Margosin in 1885 and their daughter Rebecca was born 15 Jul 1886 in Berdichev.

Now I need to be patient and hope more Ukrainian records will be uploaded. I would like to find out more about Nekha Esterzon, as well as Leyb Berko and his wife Esther Ginda bat Leyb.

 

I did find an 1858 Family Register for Elyukim Margosin (24 yrs), Yoseph’s father, before he had children. His father, Yankel Ajzyk, was dead and Elyukim was the Head of Household. Living with Elyukim was his wife, Rukhlya bat Ios (18 yrs), his mother Khana bat Abram (41 yrs) and his two sisters: Dvojra (19 yrs) and Fejga (11 yrs).

 

48 Years of Research Bears Fruit

 

Finally after 48 years of research I was able to find and connect with my great-grandfather’s sister’s descendants. It has been eye opening and wonderful getting to know them, stories they have heard from their grandparents and old family photos they have graciously shared with me.

I previously wrote about finding Rachel “Rose” Steuer Schiff’s family members, November 2023. The shared photos showed that Rachel looked very much like her mother, Rasei “Rose” Keller Steuer. From the photo 1901 of Rachel, her daughters and her mother, you can see that her daughter Beatrice looks a lot like her mother.

 

Just about a week ago, January 2024, I was able to connect with Sadie/Sarah Steuer Schwartz’s great-great-grandson and through him I have been in touch with one of her great-granddaughters. I’m so excited! I have wanted to know my cousins from my own direct Steuer line since I first started my research on my grandpa Max Steuer and his family.

I was told a story by one of Sarah’s great-granddaughter that she heard from her mother. The story was that her mother’s grandmother, who came over to this country with her husband, who was teaching at Yale University.

Her grandmother was being tutored in English by a student at Yale and left her husband and went to live in Brooklyn with the student and that she had three children. The oldest one Max. She thought this was a story about her grandmother's mother, Sarah Steuer Schwartz. 

This story totally didn't fit with the information I had on her grandmother's parents. Louis Schwartz was a cap maker and their son, Max Steuer Schwartz, followed in his father's footsteps. I put on my Sherlock hat and went to work. This story was interesting, but I hadn't ever heard anything like it from anyone else in the family.

I discovered that the story was about my cousin's mother's paternal grandparents, Irving J. Secols's parents: Samuel Secol and Esther Feinstein Secol. Esther was still married when she had her third child, Milton Saxe Secol. The name Saxe is from her tutor, Moses Saxe, yet Sam was listed as his father on Social Security and death record, as wellas the obvious, his birth record. Moses and Esther married in March 1911 and they had a son, Edwin L. Saxe.

Another story was about driving to Providence, Rhode Island to visit relatives. She wasn't sure if they were Aunts and Uncles or grandparents' siblings. They were chicken farmers and they would collect eggs. I hope in time we can figure out who her mother remembered visiting in Rhode Island.

Louis and Sadie/Sarah (Steuer) Schwartz had five children: Max Steuer Schwartz, baby Schwartz, Lena "Lillian" Schwartz, Stella Schwartz and Fannie M. "Frances" Schwartz. Their youngest was born in Providence, Rhode Island. They lived in Rhode Island until 1914 or early 1915. Then the family lived in Brooklyn, New York.

Louis and Sadie's eldest, Max married Harriet Hoffman in Boston, Massachusetts, but they lived in Brooklyn, New York. Lillian, Lena as she was born, married Irving J. Secol, as mentioned above. Stella married Meyer Jacobs and Fannie married Emanuel "Manny" Weintraub.

Continuing to find out more on my new cousins and their families.