Dear Genners,
I noticed an interesting discrepancy in my great-grandparents' citizenship papers.
Samuel and Ethel SHUKET raised their family in Lipovitz (Lypovets), Kiev. Samuel
immigrated to the US in December 1913 (via Bremen, Germany) with one of their sons.
Ethel, nee SPECTOR/SPEKTOR, immigrated ten years later in August 1923 (via
Cherbourg, France), with two other children, a daughter (my grandmother) and a son.
A second daughter remained behind, living in Moscow (she never came to the US).
Information about this daughter remaining in Moscow and the names of the children
are just about the only things that are consistent between Samuel's Declaration of
Intention (as SCHUCHAT)/Petition for Citizenship (as SHUCHAT) on the one hand and
Ethel's Petition for Citizenship (as SHUKET) on the other. For example, all of the
childrens' birthdates are listed differently between his and her documents
(although the years are largely consistent) and Ethel's birthdate and year also
differ between their documents. (Btw, there was a fifth child, a son who served in
the military there and was killed in about 1920; I'll be posting about him
separately at some point).
But the most interesting discrepancy to me is their wedding date and location: He
lists it as May 30, 1889, in Kiev, Russia. She lists it as July 13, 1891, in
Warsaw, Poland.
As noted above, Samuel immigrated to the US ten years before Ethel. His manifest
(as SCHOCHET) lists Lipovitz as his last place of residence; her manifest (as
SZUCHAT) lists Warsaw as her last place of residence. Does it seem reasonable to
think that either Ethel or Samuel had family in Warsaw? (The US records I have for
both of them say they were born in Kiev/Ukraine and I have no records yet >from
Ukraine or Poland.)
Could the different marriage dates and locations indicate one religious marriage
and one civil marriage? If so, was it common for two years to lapse between a
religious and civil marriage? And in different locations so far apart?
Other thoughts?
Thanks,
Liz Hanellin
New York City
