Elias Meyers was actually Meyer Handelsman

The English immigration officer "suggested" the name change. So "cousin E. Meyers" was actually Jenny Gutman's cousin. I also learned that the Meyers family had been living in Leeds. At least 5 of their children were born in England so they were in England by 1885. Meyer Handelsman was born in 1863, in Warsaw if the US records are right. it is possible that he was a 1st cousin of Jenny; more likely 1st cousin once removed or 2nd cousin. Need more information.

Departure From Liverpool

Best to download these if you wish to inspect them. Joe, Jenny, and Esther are at the bottom of the page. Notice just above that Elias & Bertha Meyers and their 5 children. Barnett Bright is on the following page (not shown here).

Below are pages 1 and 2 of the August, 1908 immigration record of Joseph Goodman when he moved from Winnipeg to St Louis. He is on line 5 of each. .

Elias Meyers appears as "cousin E. Meyers" on the page above. Elias Meyers and family emigrated to St Louis in March of 1908. Barnett Bright followed in September, to "uncle Elias Meyers.". In the 1910 St Louis census Barnett is a boarder with the family. Soon after Barnett married Leah Meyers. In the 1940 Los Angeles census, Elias Meyers, 77, widower is a boarder with Barnett and Leah Bright, and their two sons, Russell and Ernest. Barnett Bright died in LA in 1944 and Elias Meyers in 1946. All those records can be found on Ancestry.

So another mystery - whose cousin was Elias Meyers - Joe's or Jenny's? Was Barnett Bright related to us as well? They traveled together to Winnipeg and reunited in St Louis so there must have been strong bonds.

Arrival In Canada

My grandfather told me that he tried to farm in Canada. My memory of that is vague. He said the deal was that if he farmed for 10 years the deed to the 100-acre farm would have been granted to him, but the Quebec winter was too harsh so he gave up after one year.

More likely the farm was 160 acres in Manitoba under the Dominion Lands Act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Lands_Act). According to the wikipedia article there was no such program in Quebec. The part about giving up after one year is true. Grandpa was working for the G.W. Murray Furniture Company in Winnipeg when he emigrated to St Louis in August, 1908. On the immigration form it gives his address as Burrows Ave in Winnipeg, and notes that he arrived in Montreal on the SS Victorian. Here is the record of the Halifax arrival of "J Goodman, Mrs J Goodman, and Esther Goodman" on the SS Victorian on March 23, 1907, showing that Winnipeg was their destination. Also bound for Winnipeg are Elias Meyers, wife Eva, their 5 children, and a bachelor, Barnett Bright. No coincidence (see following post)