Tag: WWI - Heritage Ramblings

Leah Schreiber and Harold Broida, possibly around the time of their wedding c1917.

Harold “Harry” Broida was the last of eight sons born to John (Zelig) Broida (1857-1938) and Gittel (Gertrude) Frank (1859-1898). Born December 25, 1897 in Pennsylvania, his mother passed away the next year, and he was living with his Uncle Jacob Broida, and Jacob’s wife Annie, in St. Louis, Missouri in the 1910 US Federal census. His brother Morris was living there too.

[Correction 12/2/13: Harold/ Harry and his brother Morris were not living with their Uncle Jacob, even though the 1910 census states they were nephews of the head of household. Jacob was actually the cousin of their father, John. John’s father was Joseph, and Joseph’s brother Theodore was the father of this Jacob (1857-1932, lived in St. Louis after he immigrated to US in 1886). This solves a mystery that Hilda, grand-daughter of Morris who was the son of Peter, always had- she wanted to know who “Yankel” (Hebrew for ‘Harold’) was that lived with Jacob. Thanks to AG for the correction- and the 2 nice chats on the phone.]

Leah Schreiber immigrated to the United States in 1906 from Russia when she was just 5 years old. Her parents are unknown. She was working at Frank & Seder, a clothing store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when she was just 15, as a clerk. In the 1917 Pittsburgh City Directory she was listed as a Stock Girl at Frank & Seder. She may have met Harold Broida there, as he was the Head Stockman in September, 1918, per his World War I Draft Registration. Harold married Leah Schreiber about 1917-1918- he was 20, she just 16.

Harold Broida, Buyer, Women's Coats, Frank & Seder Department Store, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From ad in Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph, 31 Jan 1921, page 9. — Harold Broida, Buyer, Women’s Coats, Frank & Seder Department Store, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From ad in Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph, 31 Jan 1921, page 9.

Harold’s World War I draft card completed 12 Sep 1918 lists him as being short with a medium build, and brown hair and eyes. He stated Leah Broida was his next of kin, and they were living at 114 Wooster Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was just 20 years old, so it is surprising that he was not drafted for World War I.

Harold and Leah lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for the remainder of their married life. In 1932 they were living at 418 Highland Ave S, Apt. 610 in Pittsburgh, and in 1946 were living at “The Frontenac Apartments.” The 1940 US Federal Census noted that he was working 45 hours per week as a buyer, and made $5,000+ – only 2 others on that census page made that amount, and most neighbors made much less. Harold and Leah never had children.

Harold died in 1953 at the age of 55.

Obituary of Harold Broida, in 27 Feb 1953 issue of The Jewish Criterion, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, p21,c4.

Headstone of Harold Harry Broida in Temple Sinai Memorial Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Used with permission of photographer on Find A Grave.

Leah lived another 18 years, with her death occurring in 1971.

Headstone of Leah Schreiber Broida in Temple Sinai Memorial Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Used with permission of photographer on Find A Grave.

Notes, Sources, and References: 1) Family oral history 2) 1910 US Federal Census: Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: St Louis Ward 4, Saint Louis City, Missouri; Roll: T624_812; Page: 23A; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1374825. Ancestry.com, accessed 15 Nov 2013. Living at 1448 N. 11th St. 3) World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918: Source Citation: Registration State: Pennsylvania; Registration County: Allegheny; Roll: 1908016; Draft Board: 4. Ancestry.com, accessed 15 Nov 2013. 4) 1932, 1946 Pittsburgh, PA City Directories: Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Accessed 15 Nov 2013. 5) 1940 US Federal Census: Source Citation: Year: 1940; Census Place: Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; Roll: T627_3655; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 69-166. Ancestry.com, accessed 15 Nov 2013. 6) The Jewish Criterion, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, 27 Feb 1953, p21, c4. 7) Find A Grave: Harold H. Broida Memorial # 79579417, and Leah S. Broida Memorial # 79579467. Headstone photographs used with permission of photographer. Accessed 15 Nov 2013. Please contact us if you would like higher resolution images. Copyright 2013 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.

Grave site of Charles Underwood – Old Trace Creek Church Cemetery, Bollinger County, Missouri

Armistice Day

Ethel Underwood Whitener always remembered where she had been on 11-11-11. (That was the 11th month, the 11th day and the 11th hour, 1918).

As a fourteen year old girl, she was walking across the field from her home down toward her grandparents home. This is probably a 20 minute walk on a pleasant day. At 11 A.M. the Old Trace Creek Church bells tolled indicating the signing of the Armistice. Although this was in Bollinger County, southeast Missouri, and in the US central time zone, it was a celebration of an event that had occurred earlier in France which officially ended World War I.

Just a few days before that she had been one of those who mourned at the burial of her uncle – Charles Underwood (1888-1918). He was a casualty of the Great Influenza Epidemic. His body had been returned to his home after service in the US Army. There had not been too many people at that service because of fear in the community of the contagion of the disease.

When she got to her grandparents’ home, her grandmother Elizabeth Adeline (Rickman) Underwood was standing on the porch. She said, “They won’t get any more of my boys.”

(Elizabeth was the mother of Emroe, Will, John, Zach and Charles Underwood. Ethel was the oldest daughter of Will and Nellie.)

By James Richard Whitener

Notes, Sources, and References:

1) Whitener family oral history

2) Elizabeth Adeline (Rickman) Underwood on Find A Grave: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5822248.

3) The “Spanish Flu” or “La grippe”outbreaks of 1918-1919 were more deadly than war. WWI caused the death of an estimated 16 million persons; the flu pandemic, however, killed over 50 million people worldwide, or one-fifth of the population. Young adults, a population normally not as widely affected by such viruses, were hit very hard by this influenza, as were the young and elderly. Over 25% of the US population was affected by this flu (ten times as many as were lost in “The Great War”, and life expectancy in this country decreased by 12 years in 1918. One half of the American soldiers lost in WWI died from influenza, not the enemy, as did Charles Underwood. Funerals were often regulated by the public health system to only 15 minutes, to avoid further spread of the disease.

“The Deadly Virus. The Influenza Epidemic of 1918.” A National Archives Exhibition (online). http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/. Accessed 11-12-13.

“The Influenza Pandemic of 1918.” http://virus.stanford.edu/uda/. Accessed 11-12-13.

4) Photo: Grave site of Charles Underwood – Old Trace Creek Church Cemetery, Bollinger County, Missouri.

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Harold Broida and Leah (Schreiber) Broida of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Armistice Day- Ethel Underwood Whitener Remembers