Sentimental Sunday: John Broida’s Chair?

Likely John Broida's chair, brought to US from Eastern Europe.
Likely John Broida’s chair, brought to US from Eastern Europe.

Broida Family (Click for Family Tree)

This chair, thought to have belonged to John/Zelig Broida, has been passed down in the family, and it is now needing a new home. The current owners are downsizing, and need to find a new family member to appreciate its history- ASAP. Are you a descendant of John Broida (1857-1938)? Please contact us through the blog if you are interested in owning this chair.

Likely John Broida's chair, brought to US from Eastern Europe; close-up of carved backrest.
Likely John Broida’s chair, brought to US from Eastern Europe; close-up of carved backrest.

The story is that the chair was given to a non-Broida family member, and Bess Dorothy (Green) Broida (1891-1901), married to Philip E. Broida (1887-1952), one of John’s sons, took it back and gave it to the current owner, a Broida descendant. She was adamant that the chair needed to stay in the Broida family. Unfortunately we do not know much more about the history.

Likely John Broida's chair, brought to US from Eastern Europe; detail of carved backrest.
Likely John Broida’s chair, brought to US from Eastern Europe; detail of carved backrest.

John Jacob or Zelig, whose surname originally was Karklinsky, changed his name to Broida after arriving in the United States about 1874. John and his wife Sarah Gitel Frank (1859-1901) were originally born in Lithuania. At that time, Lithuania was a part of Russia, and the town he came from was called Eišiškės (AKA PolishEjszyszkiRussianЭйши́шки/Eishishki, BelarusianЭйшы́шкі/Eishyshki, Yiddishאײשישאׇק‎/Eyshishok). The Jews were  the largest percentage of the population, and it was a thriving town, or Jewish ‘shetyl.’

Likely John Broida's chair, brought to US from Eastern Europe; close-up of carved backrest.
Likely John Broida’s chair, brought to US from Eastern Europe; close-up of carved backrest.

It has been suggested that this chair came from Eastern Europe with John Broida, so this chair may have originally come from Eišiškės. If he immigrated to the US about 1874, the chair would be at least 142 years old!

Please do let us know if you have an interest in this chair- it would be a shame for it to go outside the family.

 

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

  1. Eišiškės– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eišiškės
  2. See Eliach, Yaffa. There Once Was A World: A 900-Year Chronicle of the Shtetl of Eishyshok. Boston: Little, Brown, 1999 for more information about the town and population through the years beforeWWII.
  3. We have quite a few posts about the Broida family published in the past- just click on “Broida”under the “Families” heading on the left side of the blog, or use the search box to learn more about John and Gitel and their children.

 

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Click to enlarge images.

We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post (see form below), and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
 

Original content copyright 2013-2016 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Family history is meant to be shared, but the original content of this site may NOT be used for any commercial purposes unless explicit written permission is received from both the blog owner and author. Blogs or websites with ads and/or any income-generating components are included under “commercial purposes,” as are the large genealogy database websites. Sites that republish original HeritageRamblings.net content as their own are in violation of copyright as well, and use of full content is not permitted. 
Descendants and researchers MAY download images and posts to share with their families, and use the information on their family trees or in family history books with a small number of reprints. Please make sure to credit and cite the information properly.
 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.