Category: Ancestors of Irving I. COOPER and Gertrude B. BROIDA

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Five Family Photos for Friday- A Green Family Photo Album

This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series A Green Family Photo Album
Unknown people in a photo album probably owned by Bess Dorothy Green, p.22.
Unknown people in a photo album probably owned by Bess Dorothy Green, p.22.

Very old family photo albums are such delights to find, but so maddening too! Usually people are not labeled in the photos, and seldom are dates or places noted- after all, the person who made the album already knew all that information that we now so desperately seek.  So it is up to the family historian to try to decipher the clues found in these albums.

Unknown people in a photo album probably owned by Bess Dorothy Green, p.17.
Unknown people in a photo album probably owned by Bess Dorothy Green, p.17. [Click on image to enlarge.]
This album is chock-full of pictures of many different people, which was typical for the time,  probably the very early 1900s. Happily, we recognized one of the person in the photos as Bess Dorothy (Green) Broida. Bess was born in 1891 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Abraham M. Green and Rose Brave. Bessie married Phillip Edwin Broida in 1910. On page 17, she may be the young girl in the oval portrait just to the bottom left of the center circle; we have positively identified her at an older age in other photos in the album. Using some detective work, we have been able to determine the names of a few of the others. (More on those folks in another post.)

Following are some photo album pages of people we would like to know more about. Please contact us if you can help identify any of these persons.

Unknown people in a photo album probably owned by Bess Dorothy Green, p.31.
Unknown people in a photo album probably owned by Bess Dorothy Green, p.31.
Unknown people in a photo album probably owned by Bess Dorothy Green, p.33.
Unknown people in a photo album probably owned by Bess Dorothy Green, p.33.
Unknown people in a photo album probably owned by Bess Dorothy Green, p.34.
Unknown people in a photo album probably owned by Bess Dorothy Green, p.34.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Green family photo album.

2) Family oral history.

 

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2013 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Wedding Wednesday- Joseph Baer Cooper and Helen Cooper

Wedding Photo of Joseph and Helen Cooper
Wedding Photo of Joseph
and Helen Cooper

February 3rd, 1901, was a special day for Helen Freda Cooper and her second cousin, Joseph Baer Cooper- it was the day they were married in Elmira, Chemung, New York, USA. Both were immigrants from Russian Lithuania, with Helen only in the United States for about a year before their marriage. Joseph was 27, Helen 22 on their wedding day.

Helen’s parents are unknown to us, and her Uncle, Irving Cooper, and Aunt, provided the wedding:

Wedding invitation of Helen and Joseph Cooper.
Wedding invitation of Helen and Joseph Cooper.

 [Click on images for larger pictures.]

 

The invitation reads:

“Mr. and Mrs. I. Cooper,
request the pleasure of your company at
the marriage of their niece
Miss Helen Cooper
and
Mr. Joseph Cooper,
Sunday evening, February 3d, 1901,
at six o’clock.
119 Orchard Street,
Elmira, N.Y.”

 Helen and Joseph lived in Montgomery, Lycoming, Pennsylvania from about 1903 until Helen’s death in 1934. They were married for 33 years and had four children: Ann Cooper (Hesselson) (Poser), 1903-1981; Rose Cooper (Gale), 1904-1988; Loretta Cooper (Ribakow), 1907-1955; and Irving Israel Cooper, 1908-1982.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family oral and written history, plus the above photo and invitation.

 

Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images.

Copyright 2013 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 

Harold Broida and Leah (Schreiber) Broida- A Correction

Harold Broida as a young man.
Harold Broida as a young man.

Please visit my previous post about Harold Broida and his wife Leah (Schreiber) Broida to see corrected information.

http://heritageramblings.net/2013/11/16/harold-broida-and-leah-schreiber-broida/

The 1910 US Federal Census used as a source was incorrect in stating that Harold and Morris were nephews of Jacob Broida, the head of household. The old hand-drawn Broida Family Tree and two good chats with a family member with encyclopedic knowledge of this family helped to correct this information- thanks, AG!

It sure would have been nice if the census had been more accurate (but we’re still grateful to have it). Terms like ‘nephew,’ ‘niece,’ ‘cousin,’ and even ‘daughter’ and ‘son’ are not always the relationship we expect when we are reviewing old documents, even those of the last 50 years. They are not always blood relationships, either. Using multiple resources and searching for a ‘preponderance of evidence’ will always help to make our genealogical research more accurate.

And as another family member said, it would have also been nice if this family had used more than about seven names for all their sons…

 

Collaboration- and a blog- really work in family history research!

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family oral history.

2) Broida Family Tree drawn in the 1950s.

 

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

Copyright 2013 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Mystery Monday- Do You Know This Woman?

Unknown Woman- Photo in with Broida and Green Family Pictures
Unknown Woman- Broida or Green Family?

 

Here is another of those mystery pictures…

It was found in with photos of the Philip Broida and Bess Dorothy Green families.

Please contact us if you know who she is!

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Broida-Green family papers and photographs. Grandmother, parents did not know who she was.

 

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

Copyright 2013 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 

 

Thankful for Family

John Broida Family at Frank & Seder Picnic
John Broida Family at Frank & Seder Picnic

Thanksgiving was not a holiday when our ancestors took photos- at least, not until small personal cameras were readily available and film and developing it inexpensive. So despite having a large family photo collection, I have no Thanksgiving photos from days long past. This photo, originally thought to be a family reunion, is like a Thanksgiving get-together: lots of loved ones, lots of food, lots of fun, lots of laughter.  Stories are exchanged, children run and play with cousins, and all feel the same fullness of belly and soul after a big day together. Family reunions, like holiday get-togethers, help us to know our place within the family tree, and within time and place.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Frank & Seder picnic in the Frank’s yard. Frank & Seder was a clothing store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, plus they had branches in other cities. Many Broidas worked at the Pittsburgh store, and Mr. Seder was a cousin, so their get-togethers had some hints of a family reunion. The man standing in the back in the suit, looking at the camera is John Broida. His oldest son Joseph Broida is on his right, with Joseph’s elbow resting on his brother Philip Broida’s shoulder. The second woman to John’s left, in the dark dress, is Bess Dorothy (Green) Broida (Philip’s wife). Fanny Broida is on Bessie’s left- we think she is John’s second wife, but there are a lot of women named Fanny in the family. The time period may have been the late 1920s or early 1930s.

2) Frank & Seder store information, plus photographs: Seder Family Photographs, c. 1900-1940, PSS#31, Rauh Jewish Archives, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center. http://digital.library.pitt.edu/images/pittsburgh/seder.html. Accessed 11-27-2013.

3) Family oral and written history notes.

 

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Copyright 2013-2015 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.