I've been researching information on my grandfather, known to the
family as John BERGMAN, born in Riga, 1867. Under the Riga Tax
Administration List of JewishGen, I have found what certainly are his
parents and brothers and sisters. There is a name, Naftel or Naftalij
BERGMANN, which in every respect other than the first name corresponds
to my grandfather; I believe this person is, in fact, my grandfather.
I always assumed that my grandfather changed his first name to be more
American, just as he took off the final N on our last name. But I can
find no name of Naftel or Naftalij in JewishGen's given name finder.
Is it a Yiddish-Latvian variant? I know we're working with translating

from Cyrillic into Roman letters, and that accounts for some

strangenesses within this list, of course. But I am stumped with this
interesting first name.
Any suggestions you may have would be appreciated!

Susan Bergman Meehan
Washington, DC

Thanks to a second review of how the JewishGen Given name finder works,
I found the meaning of my grandfather's apparent given name, Naftali
and don't need to trouble other members of the Discussion forum with
this question. It sure doesn't sound like John - which I guess we can
call his Immigration Name!

Thanks very much

Susan Bergman Meehan
Washington, DC

I've been researching information on my grandfather, known to the
family as John BERGMAN, born in Riga, 1867. Under the Riga Tax
Administration List of JewishGen, I have found what certainly are his
parents and brothers and sisters. There is a name, Naftel or Naftalij
BERGMANN, which in every respect other than the first name corresponds
to my grandfather; I believe this person is, in fact, my grandfather.
I always assumed that my grandfather changed his first name to be more
American, just as he took off the final N on our last name. But I can
find no name of Naftel or Naftalij in JewishGen's given name finder.
Is it a Yiddish-Latvian variant? I know we're working with translating

from Cyrillic into Roman letters, and that accounts for some

strangenesses within this list, of course. But I am stumped with this
interesting first name.
Any suggestions you may have would be appreciated!

Susan Bergman Meehan
Washington, DC

Thanks to a second review of how the JewishGen Given name finder works,
I found the meaning of my grandfather's apparent given name, Naftali
and don't need to trouble other members of the Discussion forum with
this question. It sure doesn't sound like John - which I guess we can
call his Immigration Name!

Thanks very much

Susan Bergman Meehan
Washington, DC

"Juedisches aus der deutsch-polnischen uebergangszeit; Posen 1918-1920," by
Max Kollensher (Berlin, "Ewer" buchhandlung, H. Werner, 1925), is available
on the Digital Library of Wielkopolska's website:

http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=12781

To view it, click on "Content" on the left, below "Publication," and follow
the instructions (if presented) to download the DjVu plugin, if you are a Windows
or Linux user.

If you are a Macintosh OS X (or higher) user, instead download the DjVu
plugin from:

http://www.lizardtech.com/download/dl_download.php?detail=doc_djvu_plugin&;pl
atform=macx

Clicking on "Content" subsequently will present you with an
option to "Browse" the publication or will take you directly to it.
(Internet Explorer recommended; some problems reported with FireFox.)

If you are knowledgeable about Posen (I am not) and believe it would be of
significant benefit to have a searchable version of this book, please
contact me privately. Best regards,

Logan Kleinwaks kleinwaks@alumni.princeton.edu near Washington, D.C.

"Juedisches aus der deutsch-polnischen uebergangszeit; Posen 1918-1920," by
Max Kollensher (Berlin, "Ewer" buchhandlung, H. Werner, 1925), is available
on the Digital Library of Wielkopolska's website:

http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/docmetadata?id=12781

To view it, click on "Content" on the left, below "Publication," and follow
the instructions (if presented) to download the DjVu plugin, if you are a Windows
or Linux user.

If you are a Macintosh OS X (or higher) user, instead download the DjVu
plugin from:

http://www.lizardtech.com/download/dl_download.php?detail=doc_djvu_plugin&;pl
atform=macx

Clicking on "Content" subsequently will present you with an
option to "Browse" the publication or will take you directly to it.
(Internet Explorer recommended; some problems reported with FireFox.)

If you are knowledgeable about Posen (I am not) and believe it would be of
significant benefit to have a searchable version of this book, please
contact me privately. Best regards,

Logan Kleinwaks kleinwaks@alumni.princeton.edu near Washington, D.C.

Rebecca Stoneham is seeking information about her gg-grandfather Israel
(Ira) ABRAHAM, born 1838 in Baden.

I checked the on-line index to the Baden Emigration indexes:

http://auswanderer2.lad-bw.de/auswanderer/deutsch/index.htm

There's no Israel ABRAHAM, but I did find an Abraham ISRAEL, born 23 April
1838, who left for North America in 1854. He was born in (Ort)
Strümpfelbrunn, Gde. Waldbrunn, MOS, and his emigration papers were filed at
(Amt) Eberbach.

I believe the actual emigration papers, which contain much more information, have
been filmed by the LDS Family History Library. Perhaps someone more experienced
with these lists can assist Ms. Stoneham. (I have no family >from Baden.)

Monica Leonards suburban Philadelphia <m_leonards@hotmail.com>

Rebecca Stoneham is seeking information about her gg-grandfather Israel
(Ira) ABRAHAM, born 1838 in Baden.

I checked the on-line index to the Baden Emigration indexes:

http://auswanderer2.lad-bw.de/auswanderer/deutsch/index.htm

There's no Israel ABRAHAM, but I did find an Abraham ISRAEL, born 23 April
1838, who left for North America in 1854. He was born in (Ort)
Strümpfelbrunn, Gde. Waldbrunn, MOS, and his emigration papers were filed at
(Amt) Eberbach.

I believe the actual emigration papers, which contain much more information, have
been filmed by the LDS Family History Library. Perhaps someone more experienced
with these lists can assist Ms. Stoneham. (I have no family >from Baden.)

Monica Leonards suburban Philadelphia <m_leonards@hotmail.com>

My g grandparents, Gabriel and Lena BAMBERGER came to the US in 1879 (or
1878) >from Germany. They do not appear in "Germans to America" according to
a friend who looked them up for me. I have just looked in the Castle Garden
files online and also cannot find them. Gabriel was b in Angenrod, Hesse
Darmstadt in 1845 and his first children were born in Frankfurt AM. He was a
well known educator, introduced manual training in this country and
established and became principal of the Workingman's School of New York. In
1890 he founded the Jewish Training school in Chicago.
How can I find their immigration records?


James Aronson Winchester, MA <jraronson@comcast.net>

My g grandparents, Gabriel and Lena BAMBERGER came to the US in 1879 (or
1878) >from Germany. They do not appear in "Germans to America" according to
a friend who looked them up for me. I have just looked in the Castle Garden
files online and also cannot find them. Gabriel was b in Angenrod, Hesse
Darmstadt in 1845 and his first children were born in Frankfurt AM. He was a
well known educator, introduced manual training in this country and
established and became principal of the Workingman's School of New York. In
1890 he founded the Jewish Training school in Chicago.
How can I find their immigration records?


James Aronson Winchester, MA <jraronson@comcast.net>

I too have had positive experiences with research at the Leo Baeck
Institute.

However, the Center for Jewish History has a very limited number of
microfilm readers. Can Karen Franklin advise us whether there will be
additional readers available during the 2006 conference?

Monica Leonards suburban Philadelphia <m_leonards@hotmail.com>

I too have had positive experiences with research at the Leo Baeck
Institute.

However, the Center for Jewish History has a very limited number of
microfilm readers. Can Karen Franklin advise us whether there will be
additional readers available during the 2006 conference?

Monica Leonards suburban Philadelphia <m_leonards@hotmail.com>

Regarding NYC Online (the New York City archives website):

If your record is one that is directly ordered >from the archives, and
you have precise info, it is very likely to only take 1 month at most,
probably 2-3 weeks if you gave a certificate number. This is >from
personal experience of ordering many records.

They seem to be one of the best! (for ordering efficiency and
in turnaround)

Steve Bloom
Farmville, VA

Does anyone have any information on the genealogy of Simon Blumenfeldt,
a famous calligrapher of the late 18th and early 19th centuries? My
family always said that we were descended >from him. He lived in what
is now Latvia, and travelled throughout Russian and Europe,
demonstrating his talent at calligraphy in miniature, and in many
languages.

Susan Bergman Meehan
Washington, DC

Regarding NYC Online (the New York City archives website):

If your record is one that is directly ordered >from the archives, and
you have precise info, it is very likely to only take 1 month at most,
probably 2-3 weeks if you gave a certificate number. This is >from
personal experience of ordering many records.

They seem to be one of the best! (for ordering efficiency and
in turnaround)

Steve Bloom
Farmville, VA

Does anyone have any information on the genealogy of Simon Blumenfeldt,
a famous calligrapher of the late 18th and early 19th centuries? My
family always said that we were descended >from him. He lived in what
is now Latvia, and travelled throughout Russian and Europe,
demonstrating his talent at calligraphy in miniature, and in many
languages.

Susan Bergman Meehan
Washington, DC

Claire Sztern wrote:

My great grand mother's death act says she was born in 1882 in Bialki,
Poland. I can't find this place. I know the family lived around
Sokolow, Ryki... Her father was Rabbi Nachman Oberklajd and one of her
brothers, David, was a Sokolow hassid.
Does anybody know more about Bialki?

In case this question has not been answered yet: There are at least six
localities in (modern) Poland called "Bialki". The one you are looking
for is probably Bialki near Ryki, about 10-12 km south-east-east of
Ryki. It consists of two parts: Bialki Gorne and Bialki Dolne [Upper and
Lower, resp.]

(Ryki is half-way between Warsaw and Lublin, in the north-western part
of the Lublin voivodeship).

-Margaret Mikulska
silvagen@gmail.com
Warsaw, Poland / NJ, USA

Sure, there could have been 2, probably cousins named after the recently
deceased grandmother or great grandmother. Don't feel bad, I have a
situation with 9 grandsons named after grandpa.

Sally Bruckheimer
Bridgewater, NJ

"I realize Hanni may be a common name, but I'm not
sure about "November, and it would be even stranger to find another
Hanni who was born a November."

Claire Sztern wrote:

My great grand mother's death act says she was born in 1882 in Bialki,
Poland. I can't find this place. I know the family lived around
Sokolow, Ryki... Her father was Rabbi Nachman Oberklajd and one of her
brothers, David, was a Sokolow hassid.
Does anybody know more about Bialki?

In case this question has not been answered yet: There are at least six
localities in (modern) Poland called "Bialki". The one you are looking
for is probably Bialki near Ryki, about 10-12 km south-east-east of
Ryki. It consists of two parts: Bialki Gorne and Bialki Dolne [Upper and
Lower, resp.]

(Ryki is half-way between Warsaw and Lublin, in the north-western part
of the Lublin voivodeship).

-Margaret Mikulska
silvagen@gmail.com
Warsaw, Poland / NJ, USA

Sure, there could have been 2, probably cousins named after the recently
deceased grandmother or great grandmother. Don't feel bad, I have a
situation with 9 grandsons named after grandpa.

Sally Bruckheimer
Bridgewater, NJ

"I realize Hanni may be a common name, but I'm not
sure about "November, and it would be even stranger to find another
Hanni who was born a November."