I didn’t mention the three Green children that were born in America in my post Wedding Wednesday- Abraham Green and Rose Braef or Rose Brave.

Daughter Ann had been born in Lithuania/Poland/Russia in 1885 in Grincasek, Kovnau, Russia, per family oral history. She was about 1 year old when she made the sea voyage to America with her mother who was expecting Estelle. Estelle was born on board ship in 1887.

Bess Dorothy Green was born 24 Jan 1891 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA. The only son of Abraham and Rose, Herman, was born 1 Sep 1894, also in Pittsburgh. Their baby, Mary Cecelia Green, was born 17 Nov 1895, after they moved to  St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

From left, standing in back: Bess (Catlin) Green, wife of Herman Green; Estelle (Green) Ledwidge; Herman Green; Ann (Green) [Stampfer] White; Bess Dorothy (Green)Broida; Rose (Brave) Green.

From left, standing in front: [I believe the names of these sisters are reversed on the back of the photo ID] Sarah “Jane” Ledwidge; Helen D. “Sis” Ledwidge;  Gertrude Broida; Esther Stampfer; and Preston Green, son of Herman Green and Bess Catlin.

From left: Gertrude Broida; Preston Green; Helen D. “Sis” Ledwidge behind; in front of her, the toddler Harold Green, son of Herman and Bess (Catlin) Green; Sarah “Jane” Ledwidge; and Esther Stampfer.

From left: Esther Stampfer; Charlie P. White, second husband of Ann Green who may be next to him but not visible; Rose (Brave) Green holding her grandson Harold Green; in back, Bess (Catlin) Green; boy in front is Preston Green; behind Preston is Sarah “Jane” Ledwidge; behind Jane may be Mary C. Green, daughter of Rose and Abraham; Estelle “Stelle” (Green) Ledwidge with her hand on her daughter Helen D. “Sis” Ledwidge; Bess Dorothy (Green) Broida behind with her hands on her daughter Gertrude Broida; Herman L. Green.

From left, standing: Phillip Edwin Broida and his wife, Bess Dorothy (Green) Broida; Rose (Brave) Green and her husband Abraham Green.

From left, sitting: Mary (written on photo and may be Mary C. Green, or Sarah “Jane” Ledwidge?); Helen D. “Sis” Ledwidge, both daughters of Estelle Green and Charles P. Ledwidge; Gertrude Broida, daughter of Phillip and Bessie; and Esther Stampfer, daughter of Ann Green and her first husband Samuel Stampfer.

Please let us know if we have gotten any of these identifications wrong. You may click on any image to enlarge it.

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family oral and written history.

2) Green Family Photo Album which has some individuals identified.

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2013 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

One of the cardinal rules of genealogy should be, “Go back and look at everything again. Do it again. And again.” People mention it but we don’t always want to do it- we would rather do the exciting searching and find the big, new, ta-da!

I really should know better, and I really should revisit families every few years. I also really should have learned my lesson after searching for a maiden name for years, and then finding it later in handwritten notes taken while talking with older family members long ago. Oh well, the thrill of discovery was so sweet- at least until I realized I already had that information and could have been researching something else instead.

The above photo is a prime example of why one should revisit data after they have learned more, or just when time has passed and one can see things with a fresh eye. I have had a copy of this image for 30+ years, and occasionally thought about trying to have someone translate the reverse of the photo but didn’t know where I could get that done. Today I was looking at a scan of a family history album that a dear aunt put together, and it hit me- look up the word on the right– “Witebsk”- it is probably a place. Sure enough, it is. And it may have just told us where that branch of the family lived before immigration to the United States.

(Note: Family oral history and the death certificate of Rose Brave state she was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, which is 285 miles from Witebsk; Abraham was also born in Kaunas per oral history/their daughter.)

The woman in the photo is probably the mother of either Abraham Green, or his wife, Rose (Brave) Green’s, mother. See my previous post for more information about Abraham Green and Rose Braef: http://heritageramblings.net/2014/01/07/wedding-wednesday-abraham-green-and-rose-braef-or-rose-brave If she is Rose’s mother, her first name may have been Sarah.

The portrait of the woman we suspect was Abraham or Rose’s mother was taken in Witebsk.

Witebsk is the Polish spelling for Vitebsk, one of the oldest Slavonic cities found in the northeastern section of what is today Belarus. It is strategically located at the Zapadnaya Dvina and the Vitba Rivers, and is a crossroad to many trade routes. It had been a part of Lithuania but became a part of Belarus and the Russian Empire in 1772. In 1812, Napoleon battled Russian armies near the walls of Vitebsk- Abraham and Rose’s parents or grandparents may have witnessed those battles.

Witebsk and Belarus were centers of European Jewry for much of the 1800s, although the Russian Czars repressed the local Polish culture, and that of the Jews, during that time in a campaign of Russification. By the 1897 Russian Census, about 52% of the Vitebsk population of 65,900 were Jewish ( 34,400 persons). This large percentage of Jews persisted in the region until World War II. Sadly, in 1944 when the city was liberated from the German occupation, only about 118 of the city’s 138,000 inhabitants remained in the city; most of the Jews (possibly 16,000) had been moved to the Vitebsk Ghetto and then massacred in October 1941, possibly including some Green and Braef cousins. Other citizens had been put into concentration or work camps, died during the occupation, etc.

Abraham and Rose chose to emigrate in the mid-1880s, thankfully before the World Wars- was it the draw of freedom of religion, language, speech, assembly, etc. in America that made them undertake such an arduous plan? Was it a poor economy in Witebsk? Was it the parental hope of making life better for their children? Maybe all these played into the tough decision to leave family and friends and move to America.

The town hall, above, would have been regularly seen by Rose and Abraham as they traveled throughout the city, as would be the Catholic churches below.

Marc Chagall (1887-1985), the Jewish artist, is one of the Vitebsk region’s most famous sons.

Today, Vitebsk is a cultural, industrial, and economic center in the region. With over 350,000 residents,  over one-fifth of the region’s industrial output is contributed by Vitebsk, concentrating in mechanical engineering, metal- and wood-working, light and food industries. Science and education are well represented. It is still a crossroads with connections via rail, air, and automobile transport.

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Wikipedia entries and Wikimedia images for Belarus, Vitebsk, Vitebsk Ghetto, Marc Chagall: wikipedia.org.

2) Vitebsk City Executive Committee Offical Site: http://www.vitebsk.gov.by/en/region/history

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 (Click to go to family tree.)

Abraham Green (or possibly Abraham Gren) was born in 1866 in Grincasek, Kovnau, Russia, per family oral history, including that of his still-sharp-in-her-90s-daughter Mary C. Green. He and Rose Brave (or Rose Braef) were married about 1884 in Lithuania. The newlyweds decided shortly after that he would emigrate to the United States- how difficult that must have been! The family tells the story that Abraham came to America by himself and established a business as a tailor, then sent for Rose and their daughter Ann, who was just 1 year old by that time. Stelle was born on board ship during migration, and Rose’s mother made the trip as well. We don’t know if she accompanied Rose, had come earlier with Abraham to care for him before Rose arrived, or came on her own, but my thought is that she probably came with her pregnant daughter to care for her as well as her very young grandchild on the long and difficult voyage.

Abraham had a tailor shop in St. Louis, Missouri, and made very fine suits- it was said that no one in the family could afford an Abraham Green suit! Sadly his business floundered as many others did during the Great Depression, and he passed away on 02 Jul 1931 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Rose Brave- or ‘Braef’ per her death certificate and family oral tradition- was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, on 15 May 1866. The oral tradition is that her father disappeared somewhere in Europe- perhaps a victim of Russian pogroms? Rose’s mother was elderly and died soon after her immigration to the United States. Rose lived until 03 Jan 1936, when she died at her home in St. Louis, Missouri. She and Abraham have side-by-side stones at Mt. Olive Hebrew Cemetery, now United Hebrew Cemetery, in University City, St. Louis, Missouri.

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family oral history.

2) Findagrave.com for Abraham Green (Memorial #6008372) and Rose (Brave) Green (Memorial #35697089)

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

One of our readers, and an excellent Broida researcher, asks a question about who the Rogow family is, and how they are related to the Broidas we are researching. Following is an engagement announcement he found in the 27 Jun 1924 issue of The Jewish Criterion from Pittsburgh, PA:

Krieger—Rogow

Mrs. Goldie Krieger, of Shermaiv Avenue, North Side, announces the engagement of her daughter, Eva, to I. Rogow, of New Kensington, Pa.

Also, the 30 Sep 1927 issue of The Jewish Criterion states that they have a son named Bernard.

Anyone know more about this family and their connection to the Broidas?

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family oral history.

2) A special thanks to Jim Whitener for his conversations with Gertrude (Broida) Cooper asking her to identify many of these old photos, and for writing it down and sharing.

Please contact us if you would like a higher resolution image.

Copyright 2013 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Photo album owned by the author.

2) Family oral history plus comparison to known family photos.

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2013 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.