Another Cousin Found!

I’m so excited! I’ve just found another Gamson (Gamza/Gamzu) cousin. She is very new to genealogy research. She only has information on Charlotte Gamson’s descendants, but there is information she has that I don’t. She wasn’t sure if we really were researching the same Charlotte Gamson since she was told the Gamson’s were from Baden, Baden or Heidleberg, Germany. Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany was actually just the last place of residence before they sailed from Hamburg to the USA. 

I have found out that there are definitely cousins in South Africa and are (or at least were) cousins in Haifa. Frieda T. Priest came to visit them in Israel sometime in the 1950’s. Okay, okay, the Gamsons are cousins by marriage, but cousins are cousins!

Just before I found this Gamson cousin, I discovered Chaim Nochem Gamsu’s (Khaim Nokhim Gamza) Lithuanian marriage record. This lists his father’s name as Shmuel. Rivkah Meriem (Mary) was listed with her Yiddish name, Rive Mere.

  

 I also found the Hamburg passenger list for Rivkah Meriem (Mary) and four of her children. Her youngest son, Philip, was left behind for some reason.

 

Hopefully, more Gamson (Gamza/Gamzu) information to come.

Known Steuer Extended Family Medical Conditions

Over the years I have had several people contact me in regards to their (or their child’s) medical condition and if any other family members may have it. They are trying to find out more about this condition, where it came from, ie hereditary or not hereditary, from their direct Steuer line, from their other direct family line or if anyone in the extended family also has this same condition. This information is NOT made public. I just want to be able to help family members that ask me about specific ailments.

Some family members who are planning to have a family are concerned about the possibility of passing on a genetic trait to their offspring. Currently, Carrier Identification includes genetic tests for Tay-Sachs, cystic fibrosis and sickle-cell. Other family members may wish to be tested if the family shows a history of a specific disease such as breast cancer or Huntington's Disease and if a genetic disorder could be improved by early diagnosis. I will mention cause of death, if it is known and any medical conditions known of those who have already passed.

Now there are more people having genetic testing to find out if they have a genetic condition or disorder that is likely to develop a disease based on his or her genetic makeup. I currently know about the following existing medical conditions in my extended Steuer family:

       Heart problems

          Mitral Valve Prolapse

Dry Macular Degeneration

Wet Macular Degeneration

Retinitis Pigmentosis – both parents must be carriers

BRCA1 Gene Mutation

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Septicimia Streptococcue

 Raynaud's Disease

Sjourn's Disease

Alzheimer

Deaf

Diabetes

Diphtheria

Failing Memory

Gliomatas Cys (cysteines)

Meningitis

Mental Retardation

Multiple Sclerosis

Osteoporosis

Polio

Scarlet Fever

 Tinnitus

 

       Breast Cancer

       Colon Cancer

       Pancreatic Cancer

       Prostrate Cancer

       Throat Cancer

       Brain Tumor

Cancer is a disease of abnormal gene function. An abnormal change in a gene is called a mutation. It’s possible to be born with healthy genes and some of them can become mutated over the course of your lifetime. These mutations are not inherited and known as sporadic or somatic. Sporadic mutations cause most cases of cancer. These mutations usually are caused by things that we are exposed to from our environment, including cigarette smoke, hormones, radiation, and diet. We have a higher risk of cancer as we get older due to a build-up of more gene mutations. 

When someone has inherited an abnormal copy of a gene, their cells already start out with one mutation. This makes it all the easier (and quicker) for enough mutations to build up for a cell to become cancer. That is why cancers that are inherited tend to occur earlier in life than cancers of the same type that are not inherited. 

Cancer in a close relative, like a parent or sibling, is more cause for concern than cancer in a more distant relative. The chance of passing on cancer to you gets lower with more distant relatives, even if it was from a gene mutation. There is also more concern if you have it on both sides of your family. A woman who has a mother, sister, or even a daughter with breast cancer is about twice as likely to develop breast cancer as a woman without a family history of this cancer. Most cases of breast cancer ‘though are not part of a family cancer syndrome caused by an inherited gene mutation, even those found in close relatives.

“The chance that someone has an inherited form of breast cancer is higher the younger they are when they get the cancer and the more relatives they have with the disease. Inherited breast cancer can be caused by several different genes, but the most common are BRCA1 and BRCA2. Inherited mutations in these genes cause hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC). Along with breast and ovarian cancer, this syndrome can also lead to male breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, as well as some others. This syndrome is more common in women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent than it is in the general US population.” [American Cancer Society]

Those of you who want to be proactive in in your health, you may want to read about Dr Johanna Budwig.

http://www.budwigcenter.com/

If you or someone in your direct line has a medical condition, please let me know. This information could help someone else in our extended family.

Brazilian Document Found

Just this evening I found my first Brazilian document. I found the Immigration Card for Renata Steuer in the Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965. This not only gives her date of birth, but also her place of birth, Breslau Alemanha.

After finding this document, I decided to do another search to see if I could find any more Brazilian documents. I found another immigration card, this time for Neil Burt Steuer, a geologist, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio. His card had his photo on it.

I continue looking, and another Cleveland born Steuer was found! Irwin Steuer, the son of Joseph and Lillian Steuer, immigrated in 1957. Irwin's card was actually a tourist card. He was married and living in Beverly Hills, California at the time.

I was hoping to find the immigration cards for Renata's brother, Rudolf, and her mother, Karoline (Lina) Bry Steuer. Unfortunately, their immigration cards don't seem to be online. Maybe they will be in the near future.

Abramowit/Zelmanov Family

Recently I was contacted by an Esterson cousin after she saw my knitting blog. She was interested in more information on her mother’s side of the family. Her mother was an Abramowitz before marrying into the Esterson family. Some of her maternal side of the family has the name Solomon and she heard a bubbameister from a cousin of hers.

The story that was told to her: Grandfather’s name was Solomonsky or something like that. He changed his name on the train on the way to America when escaping the Russian army (AWOL). The man in the seat next to him died and he stole his ID. That’s when he became Avrahum Abramowitz. This was the story that was told to me by my mother. She wrote it all out and it’s in her Memorial Book that we made of her life a couple years ago when we found her “chest of memories”. 

I put on my Sherlock hat and did some research for my cousin. I found out that the original family was incorrect. The original family name was Zelamanov. Her Zelmanov family was from Rogachev, Belarus. All Zelmanovs from Rogachev are related according to Sophia Maler.

I was able to tell my newly found cousin that her cousins not only went by the last name of Abramowitz and Solomon, but also by Zalmanov. She has Zalmanov cousins in Detroit, Michigan, Oak Park, Michigan, Sepulveda, California, Hammond, Indiana and Baltimore, Maryland. It seems like the spelling in the old country was ZELMANOV and in the new country they spelled it ZALMANOV.

Avrum Nachman Zalmanov, my new found cousin’s maternal grandfather changed his last name to Abramowitz. Cousins in Indiana are from Ben J Zalmanov, who changed his last name to Solomon. Also, Arnold Zalmanov in Michigan changed his last name to Solomon too.