Broida Family

John Zelig Jacob Broida was born in Eišiškės, Lithuania, around March, 1857. He was the first of the Karklinsky family to immigrate to the United States, sometime during 1874-1875. We are not sure if he arrived in New York or Pennsylvania, but he changed the family name to “Broida.” (It was not changed at Ellis Island by officials- Ellis Island had not yet been built, he is not listed at its predecessor Castle Garden, and the family story is that John chose ‘Broida’ himself.) John may have lived in New York for a while and worked as a ‘rag picker,’ collecting and possibly processing the rags before selling them to a company. He moved on and settled in the Pittsburgh PA area. We don’t know if he married his first wife, Sarah Gitel Frank, in New York or in Pittsburgh, as we have not found any marriage license, but they married sometime probably in 1881. She too was born in Lithuania (around Nov 1859), and we do not know if the two knew each other in Lithuania, if it was an arranged marriage, or if John and Gitel met in New York or Pittsburgh. We think we have found Gitel’s immigration and arrival to the US on 13 July 1881 in New York, so the marriage would have been after this time, since she traveled under her maiden name, but before the birth of their first surviving son, Joseph Jacob Broida, who was born 15 May 1882 in Pittsburgh.

John’s ‘rag’ business was stepped up in Pittsburgh, because he became a “jobber of notions” and then dry goods. He eventually sold “men’s furnishings”- including fine men’s clothing, a profession followed by a number of his sons. John and Gitel had 7 sons who survived into adulthood, plus one son and two other children who did not survive their infancy or young childhood. (If the 1890 US Federal Census had survived, we might know more about these children.)

Gitel succumbed to tuberculosis in 1901, and the children went to live with relatives, some in other cities such as St. Louis, around the time of her death. On 14 April 1904, John applied for a marriage license in Jefferson County, Ohio, (about 45 miles west of Pittsburgh) to Fannie Robinstein/Rubenstein; she had previously been married to Jacob Cohen and they had a daughter, Ethel (1892-1973). Upon the marriage the Broida household finally added a girl, this daughter Ethel, to the household, and some of the sons may have come back to live with John and Fannie, since the youngest was just seven at the marriage.

John’s granddaughter, Gertrude Broida Cooper, stated that he always spoke with a thick accent. John yearned to be a part of the new state of Palestine, to be with his own people. The last record we have of John as a resident in the US is a St. Louis, Missouri City Directory for 1917. John and Fannie emigrated to Palestine in September of 1920. John was 63 that year, and starting over- again. Fannie was 46.

We recently ‘found’ the above wonderful image of John and “Auntie”- most probably Fannie Rubenstein Cohen Broida- taken in 1927 in Tel Aviv. It suggests that she was called “Auntie” by John’s sons, although we do not know who labeled the photograph. This is a poor, older photocopy of the actual photo, so we would be very interested in getting a good scan of this photo if anyone out there reading has an actual photo, or a better photocopy. (Please contact us!)

John returned for a visit to the US on 10 June 1930, arriving from Jaffa, Palestine, on the ship Alesia. He appeared to be traveling alone, as we find no mention of Fannie on that passenger list. (Maybe they could not afford passage for two? Or was she ill so stayed in Palestine? She died on 14 Jan 1933.) The famous-within-the-family ‘seven brothers’ photo was taken on John’s U.S. visit.

John returned to Palestine and Fannie. She died in 1933, and he on 9 Nov 1938. Both are buried in Israel’s Mount of Olives Cemetery, not far from each other.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Thank you to the dear aunt who shared this treasure of an image after her pandemic cleaning unearthed it!
2. “Tombstone Tuesday: Fannie & John Broida”
    https://heritageramblings.net/2019/02/12/tombstone-tuesday-fannie-john-broida/
3. Many other Heritage Ramblings posts tell the stories of John, Gitel, and Fannie Broida and their children. You can use the search box on the left side of the website to learn more. Also, please keep in mind that older posts have not always been updated, so use the more recent posts as the most current data if some is conflicting.

 

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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 2013-2020 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, i.e, reference this blog.

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Broida Family

For many years the family has searched for the final earthly resting place of our immigrant ancestor, John Jacob (Zelig) Karklinsky Broida. A letter written to an (adopted) son-in-law described the death of John, and stated that he was buried beside his second wife, Fannie Rubenstein, on Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Families who have visited the cemetery in years past were unable to find his grave, and a query to the cemetery itself, after searching their database a number of years ago, resulted in a reply that there was no record of a John Broida or a Fannie Broida being buried in the cemetery. (John is not in the database today, either, however Fannie is actually listed, but challenging to find.)

We added a memorial to Find A Grave (FAG) for John in 2013, and for his second wife, Fannie Rubenstein/Robenstein [Cohen?] Broida in 2015, when we learned her maiden name. (John’s first wife, Sarah Gitel Frank Broida was buried in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after her 1901 death in Denver, Colorado.) We requested photos when each of the memorials were created (although the request for John’s was somehow deleted over the years, possibly with website changes), and just recently, a kind volunteer submitted photos for both John and Fannie, and gave us permission to use the images. He has been very helpful in sharing what he learned, and actually had to wander a bit to search out John’s grave, which he confirmed was not in the cemetery database.

Note that John’s ledger stone has been damaged, possibly from vandalism, which sadly happens in cemeteries everywhere. Thankfully John’s stone has been put back together.

John had immigrated to America around 1875 from his native Lithuania. After marrying, raising a family, and watching his first wife die of tuberculosis, he married Fannie Rubenstein/Robenstein [Cohen?] about 1904, and they emigrated to Palestine/Israel in September, 1920. He did return to the US on at least one occasion for a visit, and possibly a second visit, but both he and Fannie died in Israel. (Well, we believe Fannie died in Israel but do not have any confirmation of her actual place of death, just her burial.)

The Mount of Olives has quite a lot of folk traditions and Bible references explaining why persons wish to be buried there, including that the prophet Elijah will blow his shofar (ram’s horn) on that spot, declaring the “Day of Resurrection of the Dead.” Another tradition is that those buried on the Mount will be the first to be resurrected. Currently over 70,000 persons possibly 150,000, have been buried in this holiest- and largest- of Jewish cemeteries.

Our kind FAG photo volunteer in Israel translated the stones from the Hebrew.

Fannie R. Broida–

Here lies Feige Dina Broida, eldest daughter of R. Yitzhak Ya’akov Rubinstein

John Broida–

Here lies Yehoshua Zelig (son of Yosef) Broida

Thanks to a translation from a friend of family, we know the last two lines of John’s ledger stone:

next to the last line: deceased 18th of Heshvan 5669 (Nov. 9, 1938 according to the Gregorian calendar)

last line: May his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life

He also provided us GPS coordinates (in decimal degrees) for the headstones, so that visiting family can more easily find the stones.

John Broida: 31.77379, 35.24417

Fannie R. Broida: 31.7738, 35.24417

These coordinates show the graves as close to each other, as stated in the letter concerning the death of John: “He had a burial lot in the cemetery in Jerusalem near his wife–may she rest in Peace!– …” (1938 letter) It is way above my genealogical pay grade to be able to tell actually how far this is distance-wise using the GPS numbers. Thankfully, the grave images show the stones right next to Fannie’s, which do not match John’s stone, so we know he is not buried on either adjacent side. Another message to our very kind FAG volunteer produced a fast reply, stating he only had the request for Fannie’s grave, but since I had mentioned that we would like a photo of John’s marker as well and that he was buried nearby, our helpful volunteer searched the surrounding area for John’s plot. He found it one row over and a couple of graves down, so very close, and he took the photo and marked the GPS coordinates. Later he realized that John’s grave was not listed in the cemetery database, so we will contact Mount of Olives so that it is easier for future visitors.

Take the time, if you can, and use the GPS-Coordinates website (https://www.gps-coordinates.net) or Google Maps to put in the latitude and longitude of the grave location (on GoogleMaps, do not use a comma between the numbers, just a space), and then look at the area on a satellite map, zooming in and out – it is amazing. (Terms of Service do not allow posting any of their images on a blog, sorry. You can make screen shots for your personal use, however.) Gethsemane is at the foot of Mount of Olives, the Old City and Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem are just to the west, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a bit northwest of the Old City. The Dead Sea is on the other side of the mountain to the east, as is Jericho; Bethlehem is to the south. New Testament places would of course had less meaning to Orthodox Jews like John Broida, and there are Islamic holy places nearby as well. This place is still an amazing and holy area to so many even today. It is very special that John and Fannie are buried there.

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. A thousand thank yous to our kind FAG photo volunteer, Jared! It is hard to believe it has taken so very many years to find where John and Fannie are “quietly resting,” and his diligence is so appreciated.
2. Thank you also to the family members who helped out with translating and other information.
3. Very interesting reading about the cemetery and its history– https://mountofolives.co.il/en/כללי-en/jewish-cemetery-har-hazeitim/
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_of_Olives
   
4. John Broida memorial on FAG– https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120393993/john-zelig_karklinsky-broida
5. Fannie R. Broida memorial on FAG– https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/146082183/fannie-broida
6. Sarah Gitel “Gussie” Frank Broida, John first wife’s FAG memorial– https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120539136/sarah-gitel-broida
7. Related John Broida links–
   http://heritageramblings.net/2015/05/20/wordless-wednesday-report-of-john-broidas-death-in-israel-2/
   http://heritageramblings.net/2015/04/12/sunday-obituary-john-broida/
   http://heritageramblings.net/2015/05/19/tombstone-tuesday-john-jacob-zelig-broida/
8. Use Fannie’s name to search on HeritageRamblings.net for the many stories of the search for her maiden name and for an understanding of who Ethel Broida Pincus, John’s “8th daughter” (actually only “daughter” to his 7-really 8-sons, since one died very young and was not commonly known by the family.) There are some great photos too of her with John.

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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 2013-2018 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, i.e, reference this blog.

 Please contact us if you have any questions about copyright or use of our blog material.

Broida Family (Click for Family Tree)

Morris Broida was born 13 Jul 1896 in Pennsylvania, likely Pittsburgh, as the seventh son of John Zelig Broida and Sarah ‘Gitel’ Frank Broida. When his mother became ill with tuberculosis, the family’s young children were sent to live with family while John and Gitel went to Colorado with their youngest and oldest sons. Sadly, Gitel did not survive despite the clean mountain air and Denver ‘sanitariums’ for tuberculosis patients, and passed away on 14 April 1901 in Denver; Morris was not yet 5 years old.

We believe that Morris and his brother Harold had been sent to live with his father’s cousin Jacob Broida in St. Louis, though we cannot find him/them in a 1900 census. They are listed in the 1910 enumeration with the census noting the relationship of the boys as ‘nephew.’ Their older brother Philip Broida may have lived there as well, but was not enumerated on that census- nor any others that we can find anywhere.

The boys stayed in St. Louis after their mother’s death, we believe- it would have been very difficult for John Broida to raise seven sons alone while trying to earn a living. John did remarry, about 1904, to Fannie Rubenstein.

The tintype picture below is from a portrait about 1908 that included Philip, Morris, and Harold with their father, and may suggest that three of the boys went to St. Louis, since only the three sons are included. (Alternatively, Philip may have accompanied his father to visit them.)

By the 1910 census, Morris and Harold were enumerated in St. Louis with their “Uncle” Jacob, but the other sons were listed in Pittsburgh, living with their father, step-mother, and their ‘sister’ Ethel, who we believe was Fannie’s daughter by a previous marriage. (See previous posts listed below for a discussion of this time period for the Broidas.)

Morris married about 1915, thus the first photo and these following may have been of a honeymoon with his new wife Rose L. __.

Rose’s parents were also born in Lithuania, as were Morris.’ Rose may have been born 13 Dec 1897, and records vary as to whether she was born in Pennsylvania or Russia.

Their daughter Sylvia was born about 1917:

The family was living in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania during the 1920 census enumeration, and Morris was working on his own account as a retail grocer. “Rosie” was listed with her family from Lithuania as well as Morris’ and they spoke “Jewish” at home. Their son Saul was born about 1921, and son Daniel about 1926.

In the 1930 US Federal Census, the Morris Broidas were living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and owned their home that was worth $6,500; they had a radio, too. Morris was listed as a buyer for ladies underwear, and the family spoke Yiddish at home.

The family moved to Coral Gables, Dade, Florida sometime between 1935, when they were still in Philadelphia, and the April, 1940 census. Sylvia was likely married by then? and not enumerated with the family. Morris was working as a buyer in a department store, and had worked 52 weeks of the previous year, making $2500, or about $48 per week, and stated he was working 50 hours per week. He did report income form other sources as well. Son Saul was 19 and after completing 4 years of high school, was working as a stock boy at a department store- possibly the same store as Morris? Saul had worked 26 weeks and made $800 (about $30/week) for his 44 hour weeks. Daniel was 13 and still attending school, in 8th grade. The census notes that both Morris and Rose had completed 7th grade- they definitely provided for their children so that their lives could be even better.

Morris passed away at the young age of 66, in April of 1963 in Dade County, Florida. Rosie survived him by four years, passing away on 8 Feb 1967, also in Dade, FL.

 

Notes, Sources, and References: 

1. Images are from the Family Treasure Chest of Photos. They may be used freely by family members, but may not be published by others on any commercial website.
2. Death dates are from Florida and Social Security death indexes, and need to be confirmed that these are the correct people.
3. Links to pertinent posts- note name of post within link:
   
   http://heritageramblings.net/2015/05/18/mystery-monday-who-was-ethel-broida-pincus/http://heritageramblings.net/2015/02/02/matrilineal-monday-where-were-the-children-of-sarah-gitel-broida-in-1900/http://heritageramblings.net/2015/01/27/tuesdays-tip-broida-family-research-in-denver-colorado-repositories/http://heritageramblings.net/2015/01/29/those-places-thursday-denver-colorado-and-the-broida-family/Use our ‘Search’ function to find other Broida posts.

 

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 2013-2015 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 of our blog material.