Samuel Steuer’s great-granddaughter, Eva Wachsner Nothmann, Descendants Uncovered

I discovered several years ago that Samuel had at least three children: Emanuel, Friederike and Bernhard. Emanuel Steuer married Friederike Boehm and they had five children – although Louis died at age 1 year 7½ months old and Emilie died when she was a year and 5 months old, Friederike Steuer married Moses Wachsner (his second wife; his first wife was Rosalie (Rosalia )  Steuer) and they had nine children – although Rosalie died when she was not yet month old and Selma died at the age a mere 11 days  and Bernhard Steuer married Jettel "Henriette" Eisner and they had six children – although Friederike died at age 4 years, 7 months old; Rosalie died when she was  just 3 months old and Emilie died when she was 4 months old.

I already had found out that Eva Wachsner, daughter of Isaac Wachsner, and Herschel Nothmann had three children: Isaac (21 Dec 1861, Bierun, Upper Silesia), Selma (3 Apr 1863, Bierun, Upper Silesia) and Mathilde (17 Aug 1865, Prussia). Just before Rosh HaShanah I uncovered Eva’s grandchildren and descendants. There now are Eastern Prussian Provinces, Germany [Poland], Selected Civil Vitals, 1874-1945 online, which were not available a few years ago.

Mathilde Nothmann married Julius Bielschowsky, son of Adolf Bielschowsky & Rikel Friederike Schiller. They had six children: Frieda, born 29 Aug 1888, Lodz, Lodzkie, Poland, married Bruno Pincus Apt on  23 Apr 1914 and died  1944, Auschwitz; Adolf, born 26 May 1891, Lodz, Lodzkie, Poland and died 10 May 1944, Warschau/Warsaw; Selma, born 08 Oct 1893, Lodz, Lodzkie, Poland, married Jacob Henry Bernstein, son of Leon Bernstein and Taube and died 1942, Shoah; Otto Stephen, born 17 Sep 1895, Lodz, Lodzkie, Poland and died 1942, Shoah; Olga, born 30 Apr 1898, Lodz, Lodzkie, Poland and died ca 1943, Shoah and Georg, born 04 Jan 1903, Lodz, Lodzkie, Poland & died 1942, Shoah.

Frieda Bielschowsky and Bruno Pincus Apt, son of Adolf Apt (b. 1848) and Marie Nothman (b. 1850, daughter of Herschel Nothmann and Hanna Johanna Baender/Bender), (he died 19 Dec 1943 at Theresienstadt Camp) had three children: Maria Eva Apr (8 Sep 1916-05 Jul 1926), Tzvi Apt and another son.

Adolf Bielschowsky also married, his wife was a survivor.

Selma Bielschowsky and Jacob Henry Bernstein (1886-1942) had two children: Leo Bernstein, born 10 Jun 1923, Lodz, Lodzkie, Poland and died in 1942 and Toni Bernstein, born 17 Jan 1929, Lodz, Lodzkie, Poland and died in 1942.

I’m sure if I keep digging, I’ll find more family members.

Genealogy and DNA

It’s been crash course time! I have been trying to learn as much as I can about DNA testing as possible. I have a couple distant cousins and a first cousin who have agreed to do DNA tests to find out if we can find out if any or all of the 4 people who have contacted me about the possibility of being related are related thru DNA testing. All of my cousins and a possible cousin who have asked for my help in understanding and deciphering the DNA results.

There is only one company that offers their test worldwide - Family Tree DNA. They're also the only company to charge the same price all over the world.  It is very easy to download your RAW data from them and uploaded it into GEDMatch.com for better comparisons.

Jewish genealogists can't assume that paternal line ancestors have had the same surname for over 300 years, interpreting close and exact matches requires more thought and consideration than would otherwise be the case for other populations. Jewish genealogists needs to  have a knowledge of how the surname relates to their family history and needs to consider each family's geographic origins. The Jewish people, unlike other populations, adopted hereditary surnames relatively recently. Surnames may have changed during emigrations or later to make it easier to get good work (not to sound so Jewish). 

Some families just modified their surname spellings to fit with local norms. Y-DNA and mtDNA can be used to determine the relatedness of individuals at 10 generations. There are as many as 1024 ancestors in the family tree, thus, a Y-DNA test or mtDNA test represents only one individual out of 1024. By testing the Y-chromosome DNA, you and your cousins can recover the linkage along a direct paternal line.

Receiving an exact Y-DNA37, Y-DNA67, or Y-DNA111 match to someone with a different surname isn't a cause for those of Jewish descent. Rather, this is the potential discovery of a branch that some time changed their family name.

We do know that Cohanim belong to the same genetic Y-chromosome lineage: Cohanim Modal Halotype (CMH). The Y Haplogroup classification of the male Y-chromosome is currently used to estimate the population group of the paternal line. They are identified by the letters, A through T. Haplogroups are subdivided into one or more levels, called subsclades, which form a tree. By performing a sequence of SNP tests, the Y-chromosome haplogroup is determined.

Each line on the tree lists a haplogroup or subclade, then one or more SNPs follow on the same line. For a sample to belong to a particular subclade, it must test positive for any one of the SNPs appearing on the line, providing positive results were obtained for its haplogroup and any intervening subclades.

SNPs are indicated by these letters at the beginning:
A, AD, AF, AM or AMM, B, BY, CTS, DC (Dál Cais, an Irish group believed to be descended from Cas), DF, E, F, F* (Fudan; beginning letter F; second letter Haplogroup, i.e. FI is Fudan Haplogroup I), FGC, G, GG, IMS-JST, JFS, K, KHS, KL, KMS, L, M, N, P, Page,  Pages, or PS, PF, PH, PK, PR, S, SA, SK, SUR (Southern Ural), TSC, U, V, VL, Y, YP, YSC, Z, ZP.

A Small Glossary

CentiMorgan (cM): A measurement of how likely a segment of DNA is to recombine from one generation to the next. A single centiMorgan is considered equivalent to a 1% (1/100) chance that a segment of DNA will crossover or recombine within one generation.

Centromere: It's one of the parts of each chromosome. A centromere is a dense area that joins together the two chromatids (arms) of each chromosome.

Genetic cousin: Someone that meets the criteria to be a genetic match in genetic genealogical testing, which may or may not be a known cousin.

Haplogroup: A major branch on either the material or paternal tree of humankind. Haplogroups are associated with early human migrations. Today these are associated with a geographic region or regions.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA): The genetic material found in mitochondria which is passed down from females to both sons and daughters. although on the daughters pass down their mother's mtDNA to their children.

X Chromosome: It is one of the two sex chromosomes and is passed down from mother to child. X is the sex chromosome that is present in both sexes, although, singly in males and doubly in females.

Y Chromosome: The Y chromosome passes down from father to son. Females don't have the Y chromosome. It is passed on through the paternal line, making it valuable for surname based genealogy studies.

Central European "Barches"

My interest in the 18th & 19th century bread recipes comes from trying to find as many family recipes handed down( if any of you cousins have any, I'd love a copy!) as I can while I've been researching my family history, as well as my own bread baking. A "teacup of yeast" in old bread recipes referred to sourdough starter (commercial yeast was not invented until the late 19th century and the only leavening available at the time was wild yeast; sourdough).

"Barches" was a European name for challah, an acronym of the phrase birkat HaShem hi teasher (the L-rd's blessing brings riches). Central Europe (where most of my family was from: Galicia and Hungary - both part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which today includes Hungary, Slovakia, Poland to name a few) rye flour was and still is used to bake traditional sourdough breads. Since rye flour doesn't have suffiecient gluten, it is mixed with some other wheat flour. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was usually spelt flour. Barches are usually a wetter dough because of the sourdough starter instead of dry (or cake) yeast breads.

Typically the barches were started on Thursday night, making the sponge with your existing sourdough starter (flour and water normally, but some places add some chopped onion to help it ferment). It was then added to the rest of the barches ingredients on Friday for making our Shabbat bread.

I did find a recipe for Rich Sourdough Barches recipe from Inside the Jewish Bakery, but they use bread flour and dry yeast. I decided to make my recipe with my rye sourdough starter I already have in the refrigerator and use ry and spelt flours - both I have in the house (I always have rye flour in the freezer and try to also keep some spelt flour in the freezer too) and raw brown sugar. [In the 16th century Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish law, mentions the use of sugar mixed with the juice of lemons and water by Jews in Cairo, Egypt to make lemonade on Shabbat. (Orech Chayim Hilhot Shabbat)]

Of course I use my ceramic bowl when making bread dough. I don't need to find a warm place in the kitchen in this weather (every place in the kitchen is a "warm spot"), so I'll just cover it with a towel and put a packages of matches on the towel.

I decided to make a bunch of rolls since it's just me and no one to share a complete challah with. At one time my best friend used to enjoy my challahs not made from white flour. Since she was ill, she doesn't eat as healthy and I don't know if she'd enjoy this challah or not. I really was thinking of making a larger challah and putting it in the freezer to bring over on a Shabbat when we would be together. Oh well, I'll ask her the next time I decide to make rye challahs again. Oh well, I'll ask her the next time I decide to make rye challahs again.

Hopefully, I'll have someone to pass down my version of an 18th century barches (challah) recipe to, continuing the tradition.

On A Roll

On a roll with finding more Leber family information. To be more specific, more information on Hannah Leber Zucker and her family.

I found out that Hannah & Aron “Harry” Zucker’s daughter Molly had a second son, Malcom, with her husband William E. Howard. Malcom was married to Mariam and they lived in Trabuco Canyon, Orange County, California in 2007. Jerry S. Howard married a woman named Linda. At the time of his mother’s death, they lived in St. Louis, Missouri.

William died 23 Apr 1994 in the Norfolk Hospital. At the time of his death, he and Molly had five grandchildren, Jeremy, Bradford, Ryan, Ariel and Rani Howard. Molly died 15 May 2007 in Forest Lake, California. Both are buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Norfolk, Norfolk City, Virginia, USA.

I also discovered Mildred Zucker Rudnick’s new husband’s name from their divorce decree, Charles Lewis. They were married in Jan. 1945. The decree mentioned only one child was involved, so I assume it was the child she had with Max Rudnick, Frederick. Charles adopted him.

I found Frederick Joseph (Rudnick) Lewis’ marriage record. He married Shirley Mae Levine on 28 Jan 1967, Norfolk, Norfolk City, Virginia. Frederick and Shirley were divorced on 23 Jan 1981, also in Virginia. They had two children. Frederick lived in Las Vegas, Nevada at the time of his divorce.

Nothing new found on Wilton Zucker, whom I wrote about in my last blog.

Cousin uncovered some good leads!

Thanks to my cousin Caroline uncovering some good leads, I was able to find even more information on Hannah Leber Zucker and her family. I previously had her birth and marriage data and some photos.

Caroline sent me the death certificate for Hannah Zucker, which shows both her parents and husband, but he is listed as Harry, not Aaron. She also sent me the 1940 census, which lists their children and two son-in-laws, and a grandson. She also told me they lived in Bridgeport, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA and about Wilton Zucker Co., a men's clothing store, run by their son Wilton.

With her leads, I uncovered Mildred Zucker Lewis' death certificate. Her sister, Molly Howard, was the informant. That lead me to figure out that the son-in-law William Howard on the 1940 census was married to Molly Zucker. The other son-in-law was Max Rudnick. I found his draft card for WWII and he died in December of that same year (1942). He began his theatrical career as the owner of motion picture theatres in Brooklyn. He had produced “Folies Bergere”.

  

Mildred and Max Rudnick lived at the same address as Molly and William Howard in the 1940’s. I kept digging and found Harry Zucker’s (Aaron) death information, but no death certificate. He died in Bridgeport, Connecticut in May 1956. Hannah Leber Zucker died 23 Mar 1972 in Norfolk, Virginia.

Digging further I found information on Wilton Zucker and his family. Wilton and his wife had two sons and a daughter: Harold, Edward and Toby. Wilton was in the army and hi's buried at the Star of David Memorial Gardens, North Lauderdale, Florida, Plot: Negev Garden.

Harry Leber, the youngest son of all of the Leber siblings from both of Max's (Yechiel Mechel) wives, changed his last name to Leiber. He was also in the army and is also buried at the Star of David Memorial Gardens in the Star of David section.

Now to find out what I can on Morris Leber, the third born of Max and Annah, and Sarah Leber. the fourth child born to Max and Annah.

Is It A Small World?

Just before Pesac, I connect with two people that might be related via the Judkovics family. It took me a long time to prove the family lore that the original family name for our Steuer family was Judkiewicz/Judkovics/Jutkovits. Since I found proof in black and white, I’ve been searching for more proof and other branches of the family, since I know there are at least another 6 branches!

I connected with someone that had in his family tree names that I knew were in my family: 

I also connected with someone from Canada. She mentioned that she knew there were cousins that settled in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

Both mentioned not knowing much about their families since they lost many family members in the Holocaust. I immediately went to work and found their relatives. Of course, through all my searching I was hoping to uncover the connection between our families. As I got back to them with information I had found on their own families, they were able to dig up more information on what they were told and notes.

I was told that Avrum Jutkovits was murdered while being robbed in 1888. Avrum’s wife, Rachel, re-married and afterwards was subsequent murder of the older son of Avrum and Rachel by his step-father. To date we still don’t know the name of Josef Judkowitz’s sister, her family members or his mother’s maiden name or second husband.

I did find proof of Josef Judkowitz and Bernard Eichler. He states on the passenger list that he was going to stay with his Uncle Bernard Eichler in New York. There were several Judkowitz-Eichler marriages, so this led to checking more into the Eichler family to try to uncover more information on the Judkowitz families.

Since I uncovered more information on the Eichler family, I connected with someone who referred me to someone else who was also researching the Eichler family. This last connection confirmed that Sara Eichler who was married to Sam Berkowitz was his great-great aunt. He also mentioned a Lefkovitz connection: Isidore Jutcovich and Lefkovitz and another connection: Lefkowitz-Schoenfeld through the marriage of Adolph Schoenfeld to Augusta "Gussie" Lefkowitz.

There is another Judkiewicz/Judkovics/Jutkovits connection with family that also settled in Pennsylvania. There are common home towns in Hungary. He mentioned that the only sibling of his grandfather was Uncle Boruch (Barney), who lived near his family in Pennsylvania. He was told by someone else he’s gotten information on the Judkowics / "Yutkewitz" that “a descendant of Menachem Mendel that these 3 brothers had 14 more brothers!”

I’m waiting to hear from the newest connections and their cousins to see if anyone can provide me more information. I’ve got to find the missing puzzle pieces!!

New Kushner Information and Kushner Family Book

While writing my book on my Kushner family, I received a lot of good information from my grandma (Rosie Kushner Steuer Schuman) on her paternal uncles and their wives.

I uncovered their parents’ names (grandma’s paternal grandparents) came from grandma’s brother Nathan who was the informant on their fathers’ (Jacob Kushner) death certificate. I discovered that the name of grandma’s father on her death certificate was the name of her youngest brother, Herman, not Jacob. It also listed her mother, Sara, but her last name was listed as unknown. Thanks to my catching the mistake, mom submitted an amendment to grandma’s death certificate. The amendment to the death certificate lists her name at birth, Rosie, as well as correcting her father’s name to Jacob, including her mother’s full name, Sara Kaufman and changing their place of birth from Poland to Russia.

I just found out that George had another daughter when I thought he had only one child, Rosa Kushner. The 1940 census had George, his wife Lena and daughter Rosa living in the same house as Nettie Butler. Nettie was the head of household; she was a widow and mother of two daughters: Goldie Butler and Marcia Butler; George Kushner was listed as father; Lena Kushner was listed as mother; Rosa Kushner was listed as sister.

 

1940 Census for George,Lena Kushner, Rosa Kushner Butler and her daughters.

I also realized that Abraham and George both petitioned for naturalization in 1902. Both gave the same address. I discovered that their family (including their parents and other two brothers Samuel and Joseph) were living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan at 44 Rivington Street.

It’s back to writing my book – A Family of Tailors.