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Mystery Monday- Green or Golumb Family?

Unknown Children- Green or Cooper Family? Photo taken by R.D. Cochran, "Artistic Photographer" in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Standing: Ann Green, Herman Green sitting on left, Bess Green sitting on right. Photo taken by R.D. Cochran, “Artistic Photographer” in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

 

Here are more delightful family pictures, but which family??? And are the photos related, other than being taken at the same photo studio? I answered part of my own questions by working on my FSLOW New Year’s resolution- Find it, Scan it, Label it, Organize it, and Write about it.

This group of photos was in with family treasures from the Green and Cooper families. I have just found notes from 30 years ago that identify the above picture as three of the children of Abraham and Rose (Brave) Green: Ann, Herman, and Bess, taken circa 1895. But why isn’t Estelle, child #2, in the picture with children #1, 3,4?

The back of the photos is charming:

Reverse of photo- Unknown People in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Reverse of photo- Unknown People in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I especially love the line: “Instantaneous Portraits of Children a successful Specialty.”

Here are two more photos with the same backing:

Unknown Couple with Baby- Green or Cooper Family? Photo taken by R.D. Cochran, "Artistic Photographer" in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Unknown Couple with Baby- Golumb Family? Photo taken by R.D. Cochran, “Artistic Photographer” in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Unknown Girls- Green or Cooper Family? Photo taken by R.D. Cochran, "Artistic Photographer" in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Unknown Girls- Green or Golumb Family? Photo taken by R.D. Cochran, “Artistic Photographer” in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

These last two photos appear to have been taken at the same place, possibly at the same time- note the chairs. Thirty year-old notes also ask the question- ?Golumb Family? for the image with the couple and baby- no hints for the picture of the two girls.

Could the two girls possibly be the same ones as in in the photo of the three children? Note the long fingers of the older girl in both, and the shorter, wider hands of the younger girl. To me, their facial features are somewhat similar in the other picture, just more mature.

Some old notes from family oral history state the girls in the last photo may be Estelle Green and Ann Green.

Ann Green was born 1885 in Lithuania, and Estelle on board the ship in 1887 that carried her mother and 1 year-old sister Ann to America. Abraham had immigrated ahead of them, as was often done, probably in 1886, and he had established his tailor business before sending for his family. Their next known baby is Bess Dorothy Green- she was born in 1891 in Pittsburgh. One thought was that the baby in the picture with the couple could be Bessie, but the couple just doesn’t look like I think Abraham and Rose would have looked when young, comparing other pictures. And it is strange to only have some of the children in the first and last picture- that would have been fairly unusual.

Another possibility is that the pictures are of the Golumb Family. Sarah Rebecca Green, sister of Abraham, married Louis Golumb (also Louis Golomb, Lewis Golumb, or Lewis Golomb, dear Google search engine), and they lived in Pittsburgh. In the 1900 US Federal Census, Lewis Golumb and Sarah were living with their 4 children, Esther, Rosie, Bessie, and Isadore, born 1894, 1896, 1897, 1899, respectively. Lewis was a painter and paperhanger and had been born in Poland/Russia like his wife. Censuses vary in when each arrived, but the 1900 census states they had been married for 7 years. Could these be photos Sarah sent back to her brother in St. Louis? If so, and again, why only some of the children, not all?

Here is a picture of Sarah Rebecca Green- well, the family thinks it is Sarah:

Probably Sarah Rebecca (Green) Golumb.
Probably Sarah Rebecca (Green) Golumb.

Does she look like a younger version of the woman in the photo with the baby? To me her face is too thin to be the same woman.

So there’s your mystery for today.

I am currently trying to find out when R.D. Cochran had the Pittsburgh “Artistic” photography studio, and that may help to confirm the date of these photos. Looks like we also need to learn when  the Fischer Studio was active in St. Louis, Missouri.

Any other information or ideas would be much appreciated.

 

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Family oral history.

2) Family photo collection with identification on a very few.

3) Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Pittsburgh Ward 8, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1358; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 0129; FHL microfilm: 1241358. Accessed on Ancestry.com on 1/17/2014.

 

 

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Five Family Photos for Friday- A Green Family Photo Album

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series A Green Family Photo Album

 

Green Family Photo Album- page 20.
Green Family Photo Album- page 20.

The Green Family- On the Move!

The Green Family Photo Album has so many fun pictures on its pages. Today we are highlighting some with people on the move- or, at least, looking like they are on the move.

Above- some great hats! I wonder if this is a real automobile or a posed picture in a studio. Sadly, we don’t know the names of these people.

Green Family Photo Album- page 7.
Green Family Photo Album- page 7.

We haven’t been able to identify any of the above children on a porch swing, or any of the other beautiful little children.

Green Family Photo Album- page 16.
Green Family Photo Album- page 16.

Another page with people we cannot identify, but a day at the lake and on the move in boats looks like fun!

 

Green Family Photo Album- page 19.
Green Family Photo Album- page 19.

Taking a day off for a picnic, photo, and stroll is another way to get ‘out’ of the city, even if it might be in a local park. That top hat would make a young man look quite dandy strolling down the street. We think the women on the right, both top and bottom, may be Estelle Green.

And we have saved the most perplexing page for last:

Green Family Photo Album- page 36.
Green Family Photo Album- page 36.

We think that the top left picture is, from left, Rose (Brave) Green, Sam Stampfer (her son-in-law, married to daughter Ann Green), and Bess Dorothy Green (Rose’s daughter). Bessie’s daughter had identified the picture of the young woman in glasses as her mother. However, take a look at the photo at the bottom right of the page- the two women sitting almost look like twins! They have different hats so if it was a double exposure, the hats would have needed to be changed. If a double exposure, why only the one woman, not the other? Could they be cousins that look very much like each other? Or were there twins we just didn’t know about in the family? Censuses, family oral history, and other research has never turned up such information. It is one of the most perplexing genealogical puzzles we have ever faced. If anyone out there has any suggestions or knowledge about these people, we would love to hear it!

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Green Family Photo Album

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Rootsweb Groups and a Translation of the Green/Brave Photo Reverse

Reverse of "Mother of Abraham Green or Rose Brave- name unknown."
Reverse of “Mother of Abraham Green or Rose Brave- name unknown.”

Back in the days before the internet, genealogists wrote to each other with a SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) enclosed in hopes of a reply to their questions. The early days of the internet and genealogy found all sorts of lists and groups that specialized in various topics, including names, places, and nationalities- a big research-enhancing improvement. Genealogists freely shared their information and helped each other, even when making a copy meant going to the library to use their rare copy machine and sending a thick package through the mail. (I actually remember hand-writing Pedigree Charts and Family Group Sheets to share when there were no copiers around or my allowance didn’t stretch for expensive copies.) Now we can scan and send from our own home or share electronic copies of whole trees. We can get answers about far-away places or people within seconds, but there are definitely reasons for the old groups and lists to still exist and be used.

A prime example is the photograph I have had for 30+ years (reverse above) and never thought about getting it translated- well, I did think about it but it just seemed impossible- where to start? I didn’t know the language as there were non-English characters, and the area where that family lived had been under Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, and even German control at various times. (See my post That Place Thursday- Witebsk… for more about learning of the place the portrait was taken.) I assumed the writing was basically an advertisement for the photography studio, but was still curious to know what it said. Then I remembered the helpful groups…

There are two big groups of ‘listers’ that I have used often in the past- Rootsweb, now owned by Ancestry.com but promised to always be free, and The USGenWeb Project.

A search of groups still active through Rootsweb was somewhat frustrating- so many have not had many posts in the last five years or so. I was lucky enough to find Poland- Roots at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index?list=poland-roots

I joined the list, posted a query, and got fast replies to post my image somewhere on the web- such attachments are not allowed on some groups, plus suggestions on how to determine the language. (See http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/POLAND-ROOTS/2014-01/1389228929)

It was determined by kind listmembers that the language was Russian Cyrillic, and a book to translate it was also suggested. Not being very good with languages other than English, the thought was daunting. And then a wonderful lister posted the following translation (posted here with his permission):

Honored with deep gratitude
for photographic work
by His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke
Vladimir Aleksandrovich

The Photography Studio
of Hershevich (or Gershevich, as g and h are the same letter in Russian)

in Vitebsk
Zamkovaja Street in d. Cytrynko (a nieghborhood? the abbreviation d. that might stand for that)

in Smolensk
Troitsk. Road in d. Shchekotova (a neighborhood?)

 

Wow! No earth-shattering revelations that will help my family research, but it is amazing, after all these years, to know what the back of that photo says. And I learned all this in less than 24 hours and from the comfort of my home!

I urge you to give these groups a try- and again, if you have already used them long ago. The group posts can be searched or browsed in their archives, or you may subscribe to the list and get messages individually or as a digest. Many of these groups, such as the PAALLEGH group for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, are very active and undertake large projects such as gleaning death notices out of local papers. Sometimes the email addresses from very old posts are still active, or you can do a search on the person’s name through Google, Facebook, etc., and find someone researching your family lines. sometimes adding a query will get a dormant list up and running again. And if you have any kind of specialized knowledge on a topic, please help share your expertise with others through these lists.

As always, just because it is on the internet doesn’t make it true- I ALWAYS look at this information as secondary or further-down-the-line research, and use it as clues for me to verify. I have found some very good researchers and cousins this way (and sadly, some sketchy ‘facts’), and at times my family tree has had exponential growth because of the sharing with another kind researcher.

As they say, what’s old is new again.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/POLAND-ROOTS/2014-01/1389298190

2) rootsweb.ancestry.com

3) http://usgenweb.org

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Those Places Thursday- Witebsk, Belarus and The Mother of Abraham Green or Rose (Brave) Green

Mother of Abraham Green or Rose Brave- name unknown.
Mother of Abraham Green or Rose Brave- name unknown.

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.)

Mother of Abraham Green or Rose Brave- name unknown.
Reverse of Mother of Abraham Green or Rose Brave- name unknown.

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: https://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.

Vitebsk Map
Vitebsk Map

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.

Map of Europe with Belarus in green. Wikimedia Commons.
Map of Modern Europe with Belarus in green. Wikimedia Commons.

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.

Vitebsk Town Hall, built 1775. Wikimedia Commons,  GNU Free Documentation License.
Vitebsk Town Hall, built 1775. Wikimedia Commons, GNU Free Documentation License.

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.

Painting by Józef Peszka, Viciebsk,_Rynak._Віцебск,_Рынак_(J._Pieška,_XIX).
Painting by Józef Peszka, Viciebsk,_Rynak._Віцебск,_Рынак_(J._Pieška,_XIX).

 

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

 

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Copyright 2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

 

 

Art in Artifacts: Mortar and Pestle from the Rose Brafe Green Family

Brafe-Green Family Mortar & Pestle
Brafe-Green Family Mortar & Pestle

“The hand hammered brass mortar and pestle given … Dec. 1967 by Aunt Mary Green- who inherited it from her Mother Rose Brafe Green Jan. 1935.”

Written by Aunt Mary Green about the Brafe-Green Family Mortar & Pestle.
Written by Aunt Mary Green about the Brafe-Green Family Mortar & Pestle.

Transcription: “Rose Brafe Green’s Mother Sarah Brafe who owned it for many years brot [sic] it to the United States in Mar. 1888- We do not Know if she inherited it or purchased it before coming here to live- but its origin we believe was Kovna (Kaunas) a state in Russia near the German border.”

Brafe-Green Family Mortar and Pestle.
Brafe-Green Family Mortar and Pestle.

 

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) The family name has also been spelled “Braef” or “Brave.”

2) Family oral and written history.

3) Kovna/ Kovno was the Yiddish form of Kaunas, which is in Lithuania. The Russians controlled the country at the time the Brafe-Green family immigrated to the US.

 

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