My great aunt, newly married at age 18, emigrated from Belagorodka to St Louis before 1900.  She had many relatives from Zaslav [and Shepetovka] some of whom joined her in the early years.  Her husband [Icheal/Israel Rich] had kin who were in St Louis.  I suspect that as has been mentioned, St Louis was seen as a hub of opportunity and discussed well in advance of immigration. 
Shirley Ginzburg

RICH [St Louis], BOCKSER & SCHLAGER/ SHLUGER [Boston, Lynn MA]  all from Zaslav & Shepetovka area, Ukraine
KANTER/OWITZ & dEMATOFF [Mir, Belarus to Chicago]

I notice the liberal use of sequins in the torah cover, in the crown, under the lions, and making up the garland vase. 

This is similar to a sequined torah cover from the early 1900s, found at a synagogue in the Lower East Side of New York City:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-judaica-torah-cover-belt-469740705

It is also similar to a torah cover that is in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, though there is no date mentioned in the website listing:
https://jewishmuseummd.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/BA0C1F9A-7E3E-49F4-B22A-153508871677

I would think there are textile historians here in the US who can tell you when those types of sequins became available, to at least give you an early date for the cover. 
--
Michele Lock

Lak/Lok/Liak/Lock and Kalon/Kolon in Zagare/Joniskis/Gruzdziai, Lithuania
Lak/Lok/Liak/Lock in Plunge/Telsiai in Lithuania
Trisinsky/Trushinsky/Sturisky and Leybman in Dotnuva, Lithuania
Olitsky in Alytus, Suwalki, Poland/Lithuania
Gutman/Goodman in Czestochowa, Poland
Lavine/Lev/Lew in Trenton, New Jersey and Lida/Vilna gub., Belarus

I'd like to thank all the responses I've gotten, both here and privately.

The consensus, taking into account both the way the surname was written in Hebrew and Russian, is that the named should be transliterated as Lak, and that the vowel is similar to the second 'a' of "ah-HAH". This accords with how my family has always pronounced the surname, and our using the Anglicized spellings of 'Lock' or 'Locke'.

There is no longer any one alive from the Lock immigrants who came to this country in the early 1900s, so I can't hear how they pronounced the name, but I do have an 88 year old cousin who did grow up around these immigrants, and I'm hoping he remembers how they pronounced it.

As for the meaning - according to two different Beider volumes, the name is related to either sealing wax, or having curly hair. I'm thinking that the 'curly hair' is most likely, bestowed on either Efroim Lak (b. 1793) of Plunge, Lithuania, or perhaps his father Yankel (b. about 1760-70.). Someone suggested that I check out a photo of these individuals, but that is not possible. The oldest Lock for whom I have a photo is my great grandfather Hyman Lock (b. abt 1845) and a grandson of Efroim; Hyman had straight hair as it turns out. Myself, I have wavy hair.

On the latest chapter of this surname - in the 1960s, some of my distant Lock relatives moved to Israel, where they decided that לאק was too Yiddishy. So they changed the spelling to what I believe is לוק, and now pronounce the surname similar to 'Luke'. So sad.

 

 

, --
Michele Lock

Lak/Lok/Liak/Lock and Kalon/Kolon in Zagare/Joniskis/Gruzdziai, Lithuania
Lak/Lok/Liak/Lock in Plunge/Telsiai in Lithuania
Trisinsky/Trushinsky/Sturisky and Leybman in Dotnuva, Lithuania
Olitsky in Alytus, Suwalki, Poland/Lithuania
Gutman/Goodman in Czestochowa, Poland
Lavine/Lev/Lew in Trenton, New Jersey and Lida/Vilna gub., Belarus

It appears Rose married an Edward McMahon 20 July 1927 as parents' names match.  She evidently lied about her age.
Rosalyn Bernstein, "New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940" • FamilySearch

Johanna Becker
Newport, RI

Hi, the information could be in the local archives.
Janet Furba,
Germany

Hi,

My paternal side were Gunsbergers (one time mis-typed in an official document as Grunsberger) from Hungary. I wonder if any connection?

Yael Silver

My maiden name is Ginsburg, my GGF was David Joseph Ginsburg from Chernigov, now Ukraine. They moved to this area from somewhere in Germany about the beginning of the 19th century to manage farmland, forests, mills, etc. About 1911 they moved to Detroit from Liverpool via Quebec. Eventually many of them moved to the Los Angeles area in So Cal.
As far as I know, we are not related to Bodansky families.  Might we be related?

Susan Ginsburg Brundage
researching Ginsburg, Baron, Katz, Bikovsky, Mindlin, Kvas or Quass, and Malatsky
from Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus and Latvia

Charles,

Have you been able to obtain documents such as naturalization, passenger manifests, vital records, etc.?

These documents may list town of birth for the original immigrants.

Once you have a town name then you can begin searching further back in time.

Have you tried doing a soundex search on the surname on various JewishGen databases?  https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/

www.familysearch.org
is a free site and good starting point for census, manifests, naturalization and other records.

Hope this helps,

Sherri Bobish

Vivienne,

I assume that the occupation "Alien Trader" was written in Polish (although sometimes the occupation was written in Polish and French.)  What words were written in the directory exactly?  Perhaps you've gotten an inaccurate translation?

Regards,

Sherri Bobish

Karen,

There is a Zvia Moskowitz, b. 1859 Romania, d. 1926 New York City.

I have not been able to find any further info on her. Her death cert lists no husband's name.  It does list one son named Joe (probably the informant.)

If you can get a photo of her tombstone from Baron Hirsch Cemetery than it may contain the name of her husband.
Baron Hirsch Cemetery charge $16. for a photo.
https://baronhirschcemetery.org/photo-grave-request/
If you post a request for a photo on JewishGen than someone may volunteer to take a photo for you.

Good luck in your search,

Sherri Bobish

(info below from www.findagrave.com)

Name:	Zvia Moskowitz
Gender:	F (Female)
Birth Date:	1859
Birth Place:	Romania
Death Date:	26 Nov 1926
Death Place:	Manhattan, New York County (Manhattan), New York, United States of America
Cemetery:	Baron Hirsch Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place:	Staten Island, Richmond County (Staten Island), New York, United States of America
Has Bio?:	Y

Following info from www.familysearch.org

Name:	Ziwee Moshkowitz
Sex:	Female
Age:	67
Burial Date:	28 Nov 1926
Burial Place:	New York, New York
Death Date:	26 Nov 1926
Death Place:	Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Death Place (Original):	Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
Birth Date:	1859
Birthplace:	Romania
Marital Status:	Widowed
Occupation:	housewife
Race:	White
Father's Name:	Israel Moshkowitz
Father's Sex:	Male
Father's Birthplace:	Romania
Mother's Name:	Clara Rachael
Mother's Sex:	Female
Mother's Birthplace:	Romania
Certificate Number:	cn 29181
Cemetery:	Baron Nirch
Note:	son Joe/Moshkowitz

Looking forward to this informative exchange with Alex! Bring your questions and learn what's new.
--
Ellen Shindelman Kowitt
Director, USA Research Division
Colorado
ekowitt@...

I am having great difficulty tracing my great grandfather's family.  His name was Zalman Shweilach and lived in Giedraiciai (Gedravich). I have been told he owned substantial property in the town and wondered if records of land ownership were available.  He lived there from approximately 1861-1920. 

Ann Neumann
Buffalo NY
aineumann@...

Dear Marilyne,

Thanks for sharing your mother's touching story.

David Solly Sandler from Australia published a book on the Pinsk orphanages: "The Pinsker Orphans; The life and times of the children from the three Pinsk Jewish Orphanages in the 1920s", published by David Sandler, 2013. You can find the book in Amazon.

In addition the Brest Archive in Belarus holds a numerous number of files on these children. The files include questionnaires, applications to travel abroad and more. The documents are in Russian, Polish and Yiddish, so exhausting them is very hard. Years ago I tried to employ someone to find info on 3 orphans who came to Israel in 1923, also under a false family name, and nothing was found. In the end I established their identity thanks to press news: a cousin from Russia tried to trace the children in 1937. Perhaps you will have the same luck?

Orit Lavi
Tsukey Yam, Israel

FWIW, in 1930, in Regina, Saskachewan, David Prooth married Ollia Stein. The marriage didn't last. That's all I know.

Mel Comisarow
Vancouver BC

Dear Group,

I hope you are enjoying your summer and are safe. 

I have been tracing the half-siblings of my great-grandmother, Ciril Yurowitz, nee Schwimmer, originally from Munkacs. With the WIKI for Munkacs records, I found (most?) of the children of her father's first marriage to a Scheindel Farkas. Using DNA I located the descendants of two of these half-siblings. One family seems to be that of Adolf (Abraham), born December 14, 1869 in Munkacs. He married in Europe about 1893, to (Sara) Esther Jakubowicz (her brothers changed the name to Jacobs) and they lived in Chester, PA. His family came to the USA exactly 126 years ago, today, on 22 Jul 1895. I am wondering if Adolf and Esther married in Nagy Szollos, where the Jakubowicz family seems to have lived. Are there any records that can be searched from that town, even if not yet indexed?

Thanks, 
--

Moishe Miller
Brooklyn, NY
moishe.miller@...
JGFF #3391

Sort of on topic:  I searched all over for my GF 's immigration.  Finally found him in Galveston from where he went (was sent?) to Kansas city.  It was noted he was a button hole maker.

Lee MESSING Hover

Searching KLEIN, Hungary; LAP(P)IN, Kretinga, Lithuania; ALTSCHULER, ALTSZULER, Poland; MESSING, Warsaw

I am trying to connect my ancestor Chai Sarah Shapiro b. 1818 probably Rovno, Ukraine to Rabbi Phinehas ben Avraham Abba Shapiro (aka Pinkas of Koretz). It is family lore that Chai Sarah Shapiro is great or 2nd great-granddaughter of Pinkas of Koretz who was born 1726 Shklov, Mogilev, Belarus and died 14 Aug 1791 Shepetovka, Khmelnystskyi, Ukraine. Chai Sarah Shapiro was married to Pincus Gidonsky. Any hints, help or ideas would be most appreciated.

Dawn Halvorsen

Hi All
I am trying to obtain a death record for an ancestor of mine but am having a difficult time ordering it through vital check. Is there someone in the area who can go there and take a photo of it or transcribe the information for me. The name of the ancestor is Max Koenig who died in Bronx, New York on 5/17/1953. His wife who died 2/20/1948 was Anna Horowitz. Any help is appreciated. I am not a direct relationship and I believe that is why I am being waylaid in getting the record.

Sarah Greenberg (USA)
sacredsisters1977@...

Assuming that the marriage record Giannis found is correct, it appears that Rose's first husband died in Manhattan in December 1927 - only a few months after they married.

Ellen
--
Ellen Morosoff Pemrick 
Saratoga County, NY

Researching WEISSMAN/VAYSMAN (Ostropol, Ukraine); MOROZ and ESTRIN/ESTERKIN (Shklov & Bykhov, Belarus); LESSER/LESZEROVITZ, MAIMAN, and BARNETT/BEINHART/BERNHART (Lithuania/Latvia); and ROSENSWEIG/ROSENZWEIG, KIRSCHEN, and SCHWARTZ (Botosani, Romania)