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