Hi, I am looking for help tracing my great-grandfather and
great-grandmother and their children who all came >from Galicia. I
don't know what town, but this is what I do know >from my mother and

from US Census records >from 1900, 1910, and 1920.

My great-grandfather, Joseph Brotman, was born some time between
1844 and 1847 in Galicia. His death certificate said November, 1844,
so that may be the most reliable date. He had a first wife, whose name
I do not know, and several children with that first wife. The first wife
died, and sometime before 1880 he married my great-grandmother,
whose name was Rebecca, but always called Bessie in the US, and
whose Hebrew or Yiddish name was Pesl (I am named for her). She was
his cousin (not sure to what degree), and also had the surname
Brotman even before marrying him. Bessie and Joseph had two
children in Galicia: Hyman (Chaim?) who was born in 1880 and Tillie,
who was born in 1884.

US Census data indicates the four emigrated >from Galicia to the US
sometime between 1888 and 1891 (the various census records differ).
My grandmother Gussie (Hannah Gittel) was born in 1895, and her
younger sister Frieda was born probably in 1897 and the youngest
child, Samuel, was born in 1900.

Joseph died in 1901. Bessie remarried Philip Moskowitz and died in
1934. I could not find further records for Hyman, although it appeared
he changed his name to Max because my mother remembered that his
wife's name was Sophie and that he had two daughters Rosalie and
Rene and a son Norman. I found a Max with a wife and daughters with
those names, but no mention of a son. Frieda married and died giving
birth, but no one remembers her married name. I know what happened
to Tillie, Sam and Gussie.

I cannot find any evidence of Joseph's children with his first wife,
though we know that at least some of them emigrated to the US and
settled as chicken farmers in NJ. I don't know any of their names.

If anyone can help me figure out where my ancestors came >from in
Galicia, who my earlier ancestors were, and whether I can identify and
find any of the missing descendants, I would greatly appreciate it.

(There are many errors on the census records I found -- Bessie being
listed as Pauline, Tillie as Jessie, Gussie as Augusta, Brotman
spelled as Protman or Brodman, but I am fairly confident I have found
the right records except for those for Hyman/Max.)

Thanks for whatever assistance you can provide,

Amy Cohen