by Randy Daitch & Eileen Polakoff

My great-grandmother’s maiden name was Lena Asher. I have managed to accumulate copies of many records for her, but all indicate that her place of birth was “Galicia,” “Austria” or “Poland”— with no town name given. I have no information on any possible siblings who I could research to see if their records provide clues, and since her maiden name is relatively common, I don’t know what to do next. This is the information I have:

• Marriage certificate for Lena Asher and Herman Berinzveig (aka Harry Berenzweig/Bernzweig) from New York City dated November 19, 1893, says she was 20 years old and born in “Austria.”
• New York City birth certificates for their three children. Although her name is variously spelled as “Ascher” and “Linnia,” the place of birth is always “Austria.” Youngest born in October 1900.
• Declaration of Intent from 1932 which is not entirely accurate. Says she was born October 1870 in “Galicia, Poland” and that her husband, Harry, died in Galicia, Poland, in September 1902. (JRI-Poland indicates he died in Stanislau in 1901. I don’t know why he was there or how he died.) It says that Lena’s last residence was “Galicia, Poland” and that she emigrated to the U.S. from Hamburg, Germany, although it appears that the clerk originally typed “Rotterdam, Holland.” This was typed over with a line of Xs.
• Her petition for citizenship from 1935 indicates that her immigration was June 5, 1882, on the Shidam from Hamburg.
• A search for her passenger arrival record at the National Archives revealed no such ship as the Shidam. One called the Schiedam sailed from Rotterdam (!), but it began sailing only in 1891 which seems much too late.

Other than searching through every ship that entered the Port of New York in 1882, I don’t know how to find her name on a passenger list—and even if I did find it—at that early date, the list probably wouldn’t indicate the town she came from.    Lena is buried in Mt. Hebron Cemetery in New York City in the section called “First Baranower Ladies SBS.” I don’t know if this means she was born in Baranow or if the plot chosen for her just happened to be in this section.

Deborah Peskin

Longmeadow, Massachusetts

Ancestry.com records for immigration to New York, 1820–1957, show that the steamship Schiedam was already sailing from Rotterdam to New York in the year 1880. The same ship also shows up in Hamburg emigration records for the year 1891. “Bernzweig” is the spelling of your great-grandfather’s surname that most strongly correlates with the Galician town of Stanislau (Stanislawow, Ivano-Frankivsk) in U.S. immigration records.

The Hamburg emigration records list a Hersch Bernzweig, from Stanislau, born around 1868, who emigrated to New York on December 21, 1890. This immigrant may have been your great-grandfather Harry. JRI-Poland indicates that families named Bernzweig and Ascher lived in the Stanislau suburb of Knihinin. There also were Bernzweig families in the towns of Zurawno (Zhuravno) and Bolechow (Bolekhov). U.S. World War I draft cards show two Bernzweig siblings from Jersey City born in different towns—the younger in Stanislau, the elder in Bobrka.

Ascher families appear not only in Stanislau and Knihinin, but also in Monasterzyzka and Stryj. To trace Lena Asher Bernzweig’s origins, I suggest that you begin your research with the towns of Knihinin, Stanislau, Zurawno, Bolechow, Monasterzyska, Stryj, Bobrka and Baranow.

You should also explore the possibility that “Asher” may have been an Anglicization of your great-grandmother Lena’s original surname. For example, JRI-Poland lists a Bernzweig who married an Altschuler. Perhaps “Asher” was originally a longer name, like Altschuler, that contained “Asher” within it.

One additional note: The YIVO Institute at the Center for Jewish History has burial records for a landsmanchaft (town society) in New York called Erster Knihinin Stanislauer Kranken Unt. Verein. Check those as well. (RD)

* * * * * * * *

For more than 20 years, I have been searching for my grandmother’s U.S. immigrant arrival record. I have searched at the U.S. National Archives regional offices in Waltham and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, as well as any other places I could find. Although I have learned a great deal about her and her family, I still cannot find the ship manifest with her name.

I have learned that the spelling of her name varies according to the record. My grandmother Anna/ Anya/Anka Arbitmann Sklar(awitz) was born circa 1887 and came from Lukasheva/Lukashefka, Ukraine. She died August 30, 1921, in Hartford, Connecticut.

Anna’s mother, my great-grandmother Chane (Hanna) Arbitmann from Lukasheva, entered the United States through Ellis Island on December 15, 1909, on the ship Birma from Libau. My grandfather, Isaac Sklar(awitz) from Dashow/Dashev, Ukraine, entered the U.S. via Ellis Island on July 5, 1906, aboard the ship Astoria from Glasgow. The manifest says that Isaac was going to his brother-in-law in Hartford, Connecticut. Isaac’s brother, Chaim/Hyman Sklar(ewitz) from Dashew/Dashev, entered the United States through Ellis Island on May 22, 1907, aboard the ship Zeeland from Antwerp.

In the 1910 census, the family name is now Sklar and my grandmother is listed as Anna, having arrived in 1907. The 1920 census entry says that Anna arrived in 1906. Her first child, Mary, was born in the United States on April 3, 1908, in Hartford, Connecticut. Daughter Irene was born April 9, 1909, also in Hartford.

An old family photograph of Anna and Isaac is said to be a picture of their wedding in Ukraine.

Where should I look now?

Barney Miller

Newington, Connecticut

Although you have been searching for more than two decades, the amount of information you have sent is not sufficient. But you are not alone; your letter is typical and offers a good teaching example.

To advise you adequately, I should have a copy of all documents found to date and a complete list of research done in the past. This is something I recommend that everyone do who is sending a letter to our “Experts” column. Sometimes clues are overlooked, and another pair of eyes sees new things. Although you report having conducted research in two National Archives branches, you do not say which ports and indexes of which ports you searched. You also do not say exactly which names you searched for. Given that other family members arrived via Ellis Island, it makes sense to begin with a search of those records—but a different port may have been used. Did you look for her in Boston arrival records or in the Canadian border crossings?

Although you have searched all other possible ports of entry, there are many reasons why Anna continues (and may always continue) to elude you. Her name may have been badly misspelled on a manifest somewhere or seriously misinterpreted by the volunteer who entered her name into the Ellis Island database. Carefully read Alexander Beider’s article in this issue for clues on how to try to approach that problem. Also re-read Peter Nash’s article in the Winter 2006 issue of AVOTAYNU to see his approach. For example, try searching everyone from both Dashev and Lukasheva who entered the U.S. via Ellis Island in the years 1906–08.

Another possibility is that your grandmother arrived in the U.S. before her husband. This would have been unusual, of course, but I have seen families split up even for a short amount of time, usually because of illness. Is it possible that Isaac returned to Ukraine after July 1906, and Anna became pregnant? Then, possibly, he returned to the U.S., and she either accompanied him or came alone before April 1908? Are you certain of the first daughter’s birth date? Do you have a birth certificate or just family history?

Of course, there are always manifests—or pages of manifests—ones that were lost and may never be found. At least, in your case, you have the most valuable information (her pre-U.S. place of residence) from other sources. (EP)