The Gutman Sisters - Rosa and Gittel

I know two living descendants of Rosa (1868-1941) and Gittel (1854-?). One is Gittel's great-granddaughter Linda Edelstein of San Francisco. The other is Michele Akerberg of France who is a great-granddaughter of both Rosa and Gittel. Gittel's daughter Masha Migdal married Rosa's son Josef Ackerberg, the parents of Michele's father Leon Akerberg (1914-1987). So Leon's grandmothers were sisters.

Ancestry.com is how Linda and I became acquainted. Her family tree had Gittel Migdal and her husband Shmul Migdal in it. Gittel had many children, who were in both of our trees. Linda did not know that Gutman was Gittel's maiden name or that she was from Kock.

MyHeritage.com is how Michele and I became acquainted. Our family trees overlapped with Gittel and Shmul and descendents. She knew they married in Kock. She also had Rosa Gutman in her tree but had nothing more about when and where she lived or who her parents were. However she had Ackerberg as her married name.

For my part I found many records of the Gutman family of Kock in the Polish State Archives which are online. The 1870 marriage of Gittel and Shmul is one of them. Gittel's parents were Moshe Gutman and Sara nee Tannenbaum. There is no record of Rosa's birth but there is a record of her death, and her husband's, in Warsaw in 1941 at the hands of the Nazis. On the yadvashem web site there is a record of their death which clearly shows Rosa to have been the daughter of Moshe and Sara, thus Gittel's sister. Below is an excert.

https://yvng.yadvashem.org/nameDetails.html?language=en&itemId=1831591&ind=0

"Roiza Akerberg nee Gutman was born in Kock, Poland in 1868 to Moshe and Sara. She was a housewife and married to Herszel. Prior to WWII she lived in Warszawa, Poland. During the war she was in Warszawa, Poland.

Roiza was murdered in the Shoah.

This information is based on a Page of Testimony (displayed here) submitted by her niece, Neta Avigdor Akhituv

"

Joe Goodman's sister Esther

Joe Goodman's sister Esther Persovsky with son Archie Pearson (1950's north of Toronto)

Mokobodzki/Garwolin/Parysow

My grandfather Joe Goodman was born in Garwolin, Poland in 1882 or 1883. He took his wife’s name at some point between when he married her in Warsaw and when they emigrated to London a year or so later. His original surname was Mokobodzki (also spelled Mokobodzki, Mokobocki). The name probably derives from the town of Mokobody about 40 miles away from Garwolin.

Starting from Holocaust records I made contact with Mokobotzki descendants who live near Tel Aviv. The scion of the family was named Josef Mokobotzki, just like my grandfather. They told me this story:

Josef came from Odessa. He was a commander in the army. In a battle he saved the life of a Polish officer, who rewarded him with property, including a mill, 7 km from Parysow (a village within the town of Garwolin). The mill was in the family until the Nazis came. Josef had 2 sons and 3 daughters. The daughters married and moved to their husbands' towns. Son Efraim got the farm, the other son moved to Warsaw. Josef became a rabbi and lived at least to 1863. Efraim died in the Holocaust.

At least one detail of that story is not true. There is a mill in Parysow which was owned by a Jewish family but a different family. The mill was sold to a Gentile family around the turn of the century and several generations later is still owned by that family. A university student from that family is a historian of the local area. She knew the names of the Jewish family that her family bought the mill from.

The records from after World War II show that in 1939 the extended Mokobotzki family included farmers, mechanics, dairymen, and grocers.

Efraim's grandson Meir Mokobotzki survived the Holocaust. He moved to Israel in 1948 with year-old daughter Chaya, whom I spoke with today. He is the grandson on the form at this link http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1527901&language=en

Chaya's grandson Lior Bar gave 1770 as the year that Josef arrived in Parysow. 1870 makes more sense than 1770. He told me the mill was owned by the family for 150 years, until WW2 but the family never owned the mill, which was bought by the Gentile family in the 1890’s.

How my grandfather was related to any of these others is a mystery since there are no civil records from or before my grandfather’s time.

Chaim http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=7134817&language=en

Isaac http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=7134825&language=en

Moshe http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=7134823&language=en

Joseph http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1897264&language=en

Esther http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1387236&language=en

Ephraim http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1527901&language=en

Tzipora: http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=765334&language=en

Asher http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=780898&language=en

Brakha http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=8889174&language=en

Joseph http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=8889173&language=en

Dov http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1506974&language=en

Lea http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1016772&language=en

Yaakov http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=1105241&language=en

Rizel http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=780899&language=en

Mordechai http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=8199328&language=en

Wolf (12) http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=8199326&language=en

Judet (?) http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=3907674&language=en

Simcha (11) http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=7134825&language=en

Moshe (1) http://db.yadvashem.org/names/nameDetails.html?itemId=8199330&language=en

Jewish History Of Kurow

As noted earlier my grandmother's grandfather David Handelsman was born in 1819 in the village of Klementowice in the town of Kurow. His parents married in Klementowice the previous year. His mother Esther Sztul was from Klementowice and his father Binish Handelsman was from the main village of Kurow. I will post a separate entry about Klementowice. Following is a history of Jews in Kurow copied and pasted from https://sztetl.org.pl/en/towns/k/650-kurow/99-history/137561-history-of-community

The first Jews appeared in Kurów in the mid-16th century. For the contemporary town squire, Stanisław Zbąski, the Jewish issue was not a top priority. In 1568, the successive Kurów’s owner, Stanisław Zbąski (Stanisław’s son), allowed the Kurów Jews to set up their own independent Jewish community, kehilla.

During the wars of the 17th century, the Jewish population was decimated by the Tatars and Cossacks. In 1565, many Jews were killed by Stefan Czarniecki’s troops. In 1661, Kurów numbered 384 people, among whom there were 50 Jews (13%).

In 1668, Bogusław Jan Zbąski granted a privilege to the Kurów Jews which equaled their rights with the rights of Catholics; they were granted, amongst others, the right to occupy buildings by the town square, the right to build a synagogue, a brewery, steam baths, and the permission to trade freely. The Jews were also under protection of the town squires. The privilege was confirmed in 1713 by the Szczuk family, and in 1742 and 1782, by the Potocki family. In 1674, the town population was 361, including 61 Jews (16%).

The Jewish population lived in the south-western part of Kurów, near the town pond, in the area encircled by such streets as Głęboka, Dworska (today I Armii Wojska Polskiego Street), Stawna and Tylna. In this area, the Jewish cultural and religious life was concentrated. Around the town square, the majority of butcher’s stalls and stands were owned by the Jews. Most of them were located around the town square.

Jews also lived in the following streets: Blich, Bożniczna (today: Nowa Street), Dzika (today: Kilińskiego Street), Kościuszki, Lubelska, and Żabia. In the beginning, in Żabia Street there was a Jewish lumber and boards warehouse. On the left the Poles lived, and on the right – the Jews[1.1].

The Jewish population in Kurów was mainly engaged in trade and craft. The Jews also took their goods to neighboring fairs in Wąwolnica, Markuszów, Puławy, Ryki, Michów, Lubartów or Niedrzwica. A Jew Josef Lewkowicz had his square by the local mill, near the Kurówka River. In the same place Berek Lewkowicz ran his winery and granary. In Dworska Street, near the Old Market Square, Josef Mortkiewicz owned a butcher’s stall. On their free days, the Jews were relaxing on meadows in Dworska Street. In summertime, well-off Jews traveled to Ruda, a summer resort, for relaxation.

In the 18th century, the owner of the town at that time, Konstancja Maria Szczuka, resettled the Jew Abraham Cyrulik whose building was located on the town square. She explained her decision in the following way: “I hereby announce to all and each of you who is concerned, and in particular to the townsmen and citizens of Kurów, both Poles and Jews, that I grant the Jew Abraham Cyrulik, a citizen of Kurów, the right to build a house, and I allow him to build it opposite the market, on the empty sarczyński plot. In the place of his house, a town hall will be built - both to adorn the town, enlarge the square, and improve the proportions. In this way, Abraham Cyrulik will empty the slot where his house stood - the house that was obsolete and meant for replacement”[1.2]

The tax liabilities borne by the Jewish population towards the state were high, so the kehilla took out loans. On 15 November 1671, the Jews borrowed 1,000 zlotys from priest Józef Nieradzki, a parson of the parish church in Markuszów. In 1702, the Kurów kehilla borrowed 600 zlotys from the Kurów parson, Jan Kobus. Another loan was taken out on 24 June 1710; the loan document was recorded in the Lublin tribunal, and then signed by Wulf Jozwowicz and Mendel Berkowicz. This was witnessed by the Kurów parson, priest Michał Szajkowski. On another occasion, the Jewish commune borrowed 1,700 zlotys from priest Idzi Stanisław Lisiecki in 1715.

At the convention of senior landowners and kehilla elders in 1750, the Kurów kehilla and Lubartów kehilla were obliged to repay the debt of the Jews from the Lubelski district to Wojciech Świechowski, the Bracław Cup-bearer. The amount of loan was 10,000 zlotys. In 1758, Eustachiusz Potocki agreed that the Jews borrowed 2,000 zlotys – this money was given to priest Piotr Strykowski. There is no further information on the loans taken out by the Kurów Jewish commune during the subsequent years of its activity.

In the 18th century, the function of rabbi in Kurów was performed by: Izaak Pinkasowicz, Chaim Ickowicz and Szloma Lejbusiowicz[1.3]. In the mid-18th century, the following people lived in Kurów (amongst others): Abram Leskowicz, Jakub Szalowicz, Bereke Leskowicz, Abramowicz, Jakub Salomonowicz, Abram Markowicz, Szal Lejbowicz, Lejzer Chaimowicz, Mortka Leskowicz (merchant), Sochar Izraelowicz, Kusiel Jozwowicz, Aron Markowicz (butcher), Lewek Irkowicz (capmaker), Mortko Jeskowicz (baker), Zejler Moskowicz (tailor), Chaim Markowicz (capmaker), Mosiek Irkowicz (capmaker), Aron Dostorowicz, Berek Judowicz (capmaker), Szmal Moskowicz (tailor), Mosiek Leszkowicz, Szloma Szymonowic, Gierszonowicz, Perec Zalmanowicz and Berek Abramowicz (bookbinder)[1.4]. In 1775, there were 89 Jewish families in the town. In 1786, Kurów numbered 1,500 people, among whom there were 803 Jews (53%).

In 1806, Ignacy Potocki prolonged the contract with the Jewish community for the lease of town mills and inns, as well as for selling alcohol. The heir/squire leased to the Jews the court brewery so that they could produce beer and mead. In 1856, Kurów numbered 2,664 people, among whom there were 1,564 Jews (58%). In 1886, a great fire ravaged the town – the southern part of Kurów, inhabited by the Jewish population, burnt down (Bożnicza Street, Dworska Street and Puławska Street). In 1892, there were 4,381 residents in Kurów, of whom 2,486 (56%) were Jews.

Towards the end of the 19th century, among the wealthiest Kurów residents there were: Chaim Hindkatz, Jojna Lakser, and Mowsza Bierman. At the turn of the 19th and 20th century the synagogue district was headed by Rabbi Chil Lejzor Goldberg and Rabbi Mordko Jankiel Rabinowicz. Before World War I, the Kurów kehilla had: a synagogue (Bożniczna Street – today: Nowa Street), the old cemetery (Bożniczna Street), a bathhouse (Żabia Street), a slaughterhouse (by the bathhouse) and the new cemetery (Blich Street)[1.5].

In the inter-war period, the Jewish community was headed by two rabbis: Mordko Rabinowicz and Mojlech Guterman. At the end of the 1920s, Majer Zalcman and Icek Kirszenbaum were the ritual slaughterers, shochets.

In 1913, there were two floor laying shops run by Leberbaum Lizyk (he employed 13 people) and Lenberg Pines (he employed 8 men). In Bożniczna Street, there was a Jewish soap shop.

In 1925, there was an oil mill owned by Mendel Medkorn, a soap shop owned by Lejbuś Cukierman, and a motor mill with a power plant run by Oskar Urlich and Mordek Finkielsztajn. The mill was situated near the public bath, on the Kurówka, in Warszawska Street. The other mill was located in Puławska Street and was owned by Holcman. There was a post-office in Kurów run by Mr. Tarczyński; the letter carrier was a Jewish woman. In the inter-war period, among 36 people in Straż Obywatelska (home guards) 14 were of the Jewish origin. In this period, the Jews set up a bank in Kurów.

In 1936, the Jews owned 161 commercial venues in Kurów; only 23 were owned by the Poles. In 1939, Kurów numbered 4,365 people, of whom 2,571 were Jewish (55%).

After World War II began, in June 1942, the Germans established a ghetto in Kurów: it encompassed the streets where the Jews lived. In April 1941, 40 Jewish families from Lublin and Wąwolnica arrived to the ghetto.

During the Nazi occupation, a labor camp was established for the Jews. It functioned until the end of 1942. The Jews kept there were forced to work on hardening of the road from Kurów to Klementowice. The material for road construction was taken from the synagogue and Jewish houses destroyed in September 1939. The road was also built from Jewish tombstones, taken from the cemetery in Blich Street. The work was supervised by the German company Bauman and Losch. In 1940, the Germans set up a tannery in Kurów in which 50 people were employed, including five Jews.

On 8 April 1942, the Germans transported Kurów Jews to the railway station Puławy, and from there to the extermination camp in Sobibór. Only men capable of janitorial works were left in the town. On 13 November 1942, the second deportation was organized during which the Germans killed 36 Jews. They were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Blich Street. Another 23 people were shot at the Jewish cemetery on 19 December 1942. The Jewish population in Kurów ceased to exist.

During the expulsion of the Jews from Kurów several people attempted to escape. Those who were successful were hiding in Garbów forests, where a Jewish partisan unit was active, headed by Kaim Elizer Wurman.

On numerous occasions, the Polish population helped the Kurów Jews. Mieczysław Kutnik, risking his own life, was hiding Jewish tanners. Owing to his help a Jew called Mola Stern survived the war. Adam Turczyk was hiding Lejbuś, the butcher. Antoni Wiejak and Mr. Mazurkiewicz’s son were hiding Jews in Łęgi Nadwiślańskie. Wacław Mańko from Barłogi village was hiding a Jewish woman named Najmark, who was the daughter of the boot leather stitcher from Kurów.

One of the people who survived the times of Holocaust in Kurów was Lejbuś Wajnbuch. He did not live long though – in 1946, he was shot dead at a fair in Wąwolnica.

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Photos of Michow (courtesy of Joelle Berkowicz of France)

Grandma's father Abram Gutman's maternal grandmother Mnicha Haneft (1797-1824)

Abram's mother Tema (=Tamara) died at age 39 in 1855 when Abram was 11. Tema's mother Mnicha (=Mary, Manya, Marian) died at age 27 in 1824 when Tema was 8. The death certificate says she was 27 when she died on April 25th, witnesses Moszek Zelmanowicz Haneft, 33, and Icek Janklowicz Kraft 42. She died in Konskowola, which is where Tema married Abram's father David in 1836. Moshe Haneft was a religious leader in that town. He remarried soon after, as was the custom, and perhaps had more children but Tema is his only known offspring. Moshe died in Konskowola in 1859.

Mendel Morgenstern's second marriage - January 1, 1838 in Kock, officiated by a Gutman

So my grandmother falsely claimed that Mendel Morgenstern was her great grandfather. We know who her parents (Abram Yankel Gutman (1844-19??) and Shaindel Esther Handelsman (1844-1899)) were. Abram's parents were David Gutman (1814-1872) and Tema Haneft (1816-1855). Esther's parents were David Handelsman (1819-1893) and Perla Kawe (1821-1888). David's parents were Berek Gutman (?-1846) and Yenta ? (?-?) of Kock. Tema's parents were Moshe Haneft (1790-1860) and Mnicha ? (?-1824) of Konskowola. David's parents were Beinish Handelsman (1796-?) and Esther Sztul (?-1826). Perla's parents were Levi Kawe (1795-1871) and Dvora ? (1792-1867). Berek's parents were Icek & Mala. Esther Sztul's parents were Moshe and Rachel. Rachel's father was Juda. Juda's father was Joseph.

So Jenny Goodman's great-grandfathers were Beinish Handelsman, a merchant, Levi Kawe, occupation unknown, Moshe Haneft, a clergyman, and Berek Gutman, a baker. All of them born in the 18th century. However there was a Gutman connection to Mendel Morgenstern. Berek's brother Wolf Gutman was a clergyman, not ordained as a rabbi but acting in that capacity for the town of Kock in the 1820's. It is likely that Morgenstern was invited to move to Kock in 1829, from Tomaszow, where he was in conflict with the Jewish religious authorities. However Wolf Gutman continued to officiated at most of the weddings in Kock until his death in 1844. One of these weddings was the 1838 marriage of Mendel Morgenstern and Chaya Lipszycz (Lipszhitz).

The affidavit of that wedding is below, signed in Roman cursive by Wolf Gutman. It is extraordinary that Wolf Gutman could write Roman cursive. Almost all Jewish civil documents were signed in Yiddish at that time. Anyway it is clear that Wolf Gutman, and likely his brother Berek, Jenny's great-grandfather, were intimately involved with Morgenstern. Berek's son David, Jenny's grandfather, and David's son Abram, Jenny's father, were religious scholars and teachers. Abram and Esther married in the mid 1860's and initially lived in Michow, moved to Kock upon the death of David Gutman in 1872 (maybe Abram assumed David's position) and back to Michow in 1891.

Beinish Handelsman

Jenny Goodman's maternal grandfather was David Handelsman (1819-1893). David's parents were Beinish Handelsman (born circa 1796) and Esther nee Sztul (born circa 1800). Evidently Esther died around 1825 since Beinish was married to another woman by 1826 and had several more children with his second wife. One of these children was born in Michow in 1837, so perhaps he moved to Michow when he remarried. By the 1840's Beinish had moved back to Kurow where a son, Berek was born in 1844. David Handelsman remained in Michow for the rest of his life, in the village of Rudno where his daughter Esther (Jenny's mother) was born in 1844. David was a successful merchant and eventually his son Moshe Yankel Handelsman took over the Rudno village business while David moved to a different part of Michow and established a business there. Jenny Goodman's family resided in the household of Moshe Handelsman. Jenny's father Abram was a religious scholar and thus did not work, so the family lived on the generosity of the Handelsman clan.

The given name Beinish is pretty rare. Beinish Handelsman was born in Kurow and was the only person there with that name. In a few earlier Kurow records there was a man named Levi Biniasowicz (son of Beinish) who was a merchant of some kind. Below is a notary record from 1694 concerning Levi. Kurow had been sacked and burnt to the ground twice in the mid 1600's, first by Cossacks, then by Swedes. By 1670 it had been rebuilt and there was a small Jewish population, which was granted permissions to build a synagogue, bath, hospital, etc and also granted equal rights. Quite possibly Beinish Handelsman was related to Levi, 3-5 generations later. Impossible to know how.

Also impossible to translate this document since it is in archaic Polish.

David Handelsman, maternal grandfather of Jenny Goodman (Czarna Gutman)

He was born 12 Sep 1819 in the village of Klementowice in the town of Kurow, and died 15 Oct 1893 in the town of Michow. My grandmother was 12 at the time of his death and also living in Michow so she must have known him. His birth certificate is below, signed in Yiddish by his father Beinish Dawidowicz (Handelsman), age 24, Manes Dawidowicz (Klemensberg) and maternal grandfather Moshe Leybusowicz (Sztul). His mother is given as Esther Moskowicz (Sztul).

There was only one Jewish household in Klementowice, headed by Juda Josfowicz Klemensberg, the maternal grandfather of Esther Moskowicz. There are 15 birth, marriage, and death records of this household from the period 1810-1825, including the 1818 marriage of Beinish and Esther, and the births of two siblings of David - Rosa Czarna in 1822 and Aaron in 1825. Czarna Gutman might have been named after Rosa Czarna. There were also records of the births of two siblings of Esther and as well the deaths of two other siblings.

Manes Dawidowicz Klemensberg was the son of Dawid Manesowicz Klemensberg and Zlota Josfowiczowna Klemensberg. I reckon that Zlota and Juda Klemensberg were siblings, and that Dawid Manesowicz took his wife's surname when they married. If so then Manes Dawidowicz was a cousin of Esther Moskowicz. Juda Klemensberg is named as the head of household (arendarz) in these records. Apparently he was in the wine and liquor business. He was born about 1750 and still alive in 1825 when he legally changed his name to Brandywein.

The name Klemensberg also appears as Klemenstal and Klemenstein in the 1810-1825 records but only as Klemensberg in later records. The name is very rare, and almost all occurrences are from Kurow, with a handful from nearby towns. So it is a safe bet that the name was constructed from the village of Klementowice, and that anyone with this surname was related to Jenny Goodman.

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)

1825 Birth Of Abraham Szaia Gutman in Kock

The birth of Abraham Siia Gutman in May, 1825 to Wolf Gutman, 45 year old tavern keeper (szynkarz)and Frieda, daughter of Josef (Frayda Josfowiczowna), age 40.

So the Gutman family was in Kotsk in 1825, long before Morgenstern came. On the other hand there is no other record of Gutman births in Kock in the period 1818-1825. Two of the children of Wolf and Frieda, Shaindel Ruchla and Chil, were born during this time. Perhaps their births went unrecorded. Perhaps they were born elsewhere and the Gutman family moved to Kotsk after they were born. What is certain is that the family did not move to Kotsk to follow Menachem Mendel Morgenstern.

There is no further record of Abraham Gutman; presumably he died in infancy.

Chil Gutman (1817-1885), son of Wolf, brother of Moszek and first cousin of David

Chil, said, like David, to be a teacher, married a woman named Sarah (maiden name unknown) who was the same age and who came from some other town. There are Kock birth records of two sons, Isaac (1850) and Mordko (1858). Isaac married twice in Kock in 1870 and, after the death of his first wife, in 1899. Sarah died in Kock in 1890. Those are all the known records of Chil, his wife, and their children

Death record: 1885 Left margin: No. 8 Upper right: Vodetskii

1. [It] occurred in Town Kotsk seventh [of] July thousand eight-hundred ei-

2. ghty Fifth year at ten o'clock [of] morning. Appeared Da-

3. vid Vartovnik years Forty nine and Iosef Gershen-

4. born years Seventy five having an[deleted] scho-

5. lars in Town Kotsk residing, and announced, that

6. sixth [of] July [of] this year at two o'clock [of] morning died in

7. Town Kotsk Khil Gutman years sixty

8. seven having in Town Gutman residing son

9. [of] Vulf and Fraida Spouses Gutman._ According-to per-

10. sonal confirmation about demise [of] Khil Gutma-

11. n, act this [to] announcers was-read and as

12. they [are] illiterate [by] us only was-signed.

13. Maintaining Act [of] Civil Status

14. HVodetskii

Birth Record For Maiya Gutman

I think this must be the same person as Malya Gutman who married in 1901. I wonder what became of her.

1878 (recorded 1891)

1. [It] occurred in town Kotsk eleventh (twenty third) [of] July

2. thousand eight-hundred ninety first year at eleven o'clock

3. [of] morning. Appeared Yankel Gutman, worker, forty seven years

4. resident [of] town Kotsk, in presence [of] Perets Klerman, trader

5. thirty five years, and David Vartovnik, scholar, fif- 6. ty four years, residents [of] town Kotsk and presented

7. [to] us infant [of] female sex, announcing, that it was-born

8. in town Kotsk third (fifteenth) day [of] July month

9. thousand eight-hundred seventy eighth year, but in what

10. hour [does] not remember, from lawful his wife Shaindlya born

11. Gandelsman, forty seven years. [To] infant that was-given name

12. Maiya. Delay in completing this act followed, as

13. explains announcer Yankel Gutman, on-account-of sickness his. Act this

14. [to] announcer and witnesses was-read and then [by] us was-signed,

15. announcer said Yankel Gutman and witnesses Perets Klerman

16. and David Vartovnik [are] illiterate.---

17. Maintaining acts [of] civil

18. status A.Fal'kovskii

Birth Record For Charna Gutman

Filed 10 years after the fact. Evidently she was born in Kock, not Michow. Czarna seems like a nickname to me; since she was 10 years old that might have been what everyone called her, but her real name was more likely Hannah (Chana) since that is the Yiddish name that Jenny is usually adopted from. The similarity of Chana and Czarna is just a coincidence. 1. [It] occurred in town Kotsk eleventh (twenty third) [of] July

2. thousand eight-hundred ninety first year at eleven o'clock

3. of morning. Appeared Yankel Gutman, worker, forty seven years,

4. resident of town Kotsk in presence [of] Perets Klerman, trad-

5. er, thirty five years, and David Vartovnik, scholar,

6. fifty four years, residents [of] town Kotsk, and presented

7. [to] us infant [of] female sex, announcing, that it was-born

8. in town Kotsk on seventh (nineteenth) day [of] July thousa-

9. nd eight-hundred eighty first year but in what hour [does] not

10. remember, from lawful his wife Shandlya born Gandelman

11. forty seven years. [To] infant that was given name: Charna De-

12. lay in completing this act followed, as explains announ-

13. cer Yankel Gutman on-account-of circumstance [of] frequent his absences from ho-

14. me. Act this [to] announcer and witnesses was-read and th-

15. en [by] us signed, announcer said Yankel Gutman and witnes-

16. ses Perets Klerman and David Vartovnik [are] illiterate.---

17. Maintaining acts [of] civil

18. Status AFal'kovskii

1829 Death Of Herszel Gutman, 92 years old, in Kock

The death was reported by "Beryl Gutman, baker" so Herszel and his wife Sarah (85 at the time) were relatives of some sort. If these ages are right Herszel and Sarah were 59 and 52 when Beryl was born, so they might have been his grandparents (or even great grandparents), or Herszel a brother of Beryl's father or grandfather.

Herszel's age is further evidence that the Gutman family was in Kotsk before Mendel Morgensztern moved there.

There were three Gutman's named after Herszel. First was Josef Hersz, son of Wolf & Frieda, who lived 1831-1833. After his death Wolf & Frieda named another son Herszel, who died in Kotsk in 1874, leaving behind wife Leah, sons Wolf, Josef, and Raszka, and daughter Basia. Dawid Gutman also had a son named Herszel Mendel, who lived 1857-1858. So whatever the relationship, Herszel was beloved.

Polish text:

Działo się w Kocku dnia siedemnastego październiku tysiąc osiemset dwudziestego dziewiątego roku o godzinie ósmy zrana. Stawił się starozakonny Fiezel Rucktman szkolkik lat sześdziesiąt siedem mający i Berek Ickowicz Gudman piekarz lat trzydzieści trzy liczący tu zamieszkali i oświadczyli, że w dniu piętnastym października o godzinie 5 wieczór umarł Herszek Gudman lat dziewięćdziesiąt dwa mający zostawiwszy po sobie owdowiałą żonę Surę Wolfowną lat osiemdziesiąj pięć mającą i córkę małoletnią po przekonaniu się naocznie podpisanego o zejściu Herszka Gutmana. Akt ten stawającym, który pierwszy [??] szkolnikiem a drugi [zreciomy?] zmarłego przeczytany i przez Fiezla Ruchtman podpisany został, Berek Ickowicz Gutman pisać nie umiejący.

English translation by Brian Kaczinski

Death Certificates For Dvora Kawa (1867) and Leybus Kawa (1871)

Dvora's is in Polish. I think it states that her parents were Hercyk and Szajndla (Shaindel) and that she was survived by husband Leybus and daughter Perla. No surname given for her parents, but they might have lived before the era of surnames.

Translation from the Russian by Igor Solomatin:

Josef Friedmacher 7 Rudno Leibus Kawa

Happened in the Michow town 11/23 May/1871 at 8 am appeared Jozef Friedmacher, Peer and son of Dozorets (?), 43 y.o., and Ejzyk Ejlbaum, student, 46 y.o., residing in the Michow town, and reported that Leibus Kawa, resident of the Rudno village, widows’ day-laborer, his deceased wife was called Dwojra, daughter of deceased parents (names unknown, age unknown) of their unknown parents, 10/22 May this year at 9 pm died at the age of 75. – Upon the above witnessing of Leibus Kawa’s death this record has been read out to the present and signed by them. – Superintendent Registrar District Scribe Wikentij Kowalskij

Signed: Ejzyk Eilbaum

Josef Friedmacher

1893 Death Of David Handelsman (Russian)

Translation by Asia David Gluzman:"It happened in Michow on 15 October 1893, at 5:00 PM. Moshko Handelsman, merchant, 50 years old, living in the village Rudno, near Michow. There were two witnesses: Lazor Malts, tailor, 43 years old, living in Michow; Gershko Figenbaum, 33 years old, living in Michow. They announced that today at 8 АM, died David Handelsman, widower, 75 years old, living in village Rudno, survived by son Binish and daughter Ester Handelsman. This act was read to the present persons and then signed."

Moshe Handelsman is not mentioned as one of the surviving children; maybe Moshe was David's nephew. He also reported the death of Esther in 1899. Note the mention of a son named Binish.