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Thanks for your suggestions! You've given me a lot to work with, here. Related to Cyanna's advice about obtaining a death certificate - it never occurred to me that my great-grandfather might have listed his father's real name on various documents over the course of his lifetime, even though I've done it myself on many occasions. I'm really glad I asked about this here. I'll let you all know what I find, though it make take a while as I'm a very busy full-time student!
Oh, and Cyanna: His "new" name was Irving Stein. I don't know if it was the first half or the second half of the name that was cut off. His wife's name was Sylvia. He was a furrier and I once heard he also did some sort of talk radio work on the side. Their last address was in Wilkes-Barre PA. Irving died in the 1980s or very early 90s but I don't know what year. I also don't know exactly what year he was naturalized. His children were William, Frieda, and Flora, all deceased. Unfortunately, that's all I have.
If anybody's up for a fishing expedition, I'd love the company. You could be responsible for restoring a family name!
Enjoy your holiday weekend, All.
My dad's family is from Wilkes-Barre. There are some great genealogy groups that can help you find info for Luzerne County. Look for marriage, death, and birth certificates. Also look for census records and obits. Sometimes the cemeteries themselves have information.
A trivial observation - most experienced genealogists will tell you names generally didn't get changed at Ellis Island. Your ancestors probably did it on their own later for their own reasons, to sound less foreign for example or to fit with other family members who had already done the same.
I beg to differ, at least in regards to my own family surnames.
On my mother's side, one of the surnames was originally "Von der Berg." At Ellis Island it was recorded as "Funderburk." We have found several variations of this surname, all of which originated at Ellis Island.
Now, whether it was the clerk or the immigrant who made/acknowledged the change, no one currently living is likely to know.
I beg to differ, at least in regards to my own family surnames.
On my mother's side, one of the surnames was originally "Von der Berg." At Ellis Island it was recorded as "Funderburk." We have found several variations of this surname, all of which originated at Ellis Island.
Now, whether it was the clerk or the immigrant who made/acknowledged the change, no one currently living is likely to know.
Ellis Island butchered the names of many immigrants.
US Census workers also did a lot of damage. Census workers used to walk door-to-door taking the census. There was no such thing as mailing out forms for people to fill out then mailing them back.
The census workers often spelled names the way they thought the sounded (which is also what they did at Ellis Island).
So when researching you'll find that Krohn becomes Crone, Schmidl becomes Schmidal, Gibbons becomes Gibbens or Gibbins, and Berenov becomes Berenoff.
Thanks for your suggestions! You've given me a lot to work with, here. Related to Cyanna's advice about obtaining a death certificate - it never occurred to me that my great-grandfather might have listed his father's real name on various documents over the course of his lifetime, even though I've done it myself on many occasions. I'm really glad I asked about this here. I'll let you all know what I find, though it make take a while as I'm a very busy full-time student!
Oh, and Cyanna: His "new" name was Irving Stein. I don't know if it was the first half or the second half of the name that was cut off. His wife's name was Sylvia. He was a furrier and I once heard he also did some sort of talk radio work on the side. Their last address was in Wilkes-Barre PA. Irving died in the 1980s or very early 90s but I don't know what year. I also don't know exactly what year he was naturalized. His children were William, Frieda, and Flora, all deceased. Unfortunately, that's all I have.
If anybody's up for a fishing expedition, I'd love the company. You could be responsible for restoring a family name!
Enjoy your holiday weekend, All.
Hello! We must be related and I'm hoping you will somehow see a reply to a post so many years later. Irving Stein is my great grandfather as well. Did you ever find anything? I was also under the impression the name changed at some point and can't find information on any of the Stein family. (And yes, same Irving - furrier, married Sylvia - children William Frieda and Flora)
Irving and Sylvia passed in the late 80s - I want to say 1988 and are buried in Conklin, NY. (pretty sure)
Census
1925 New York, Brooklyn
Stein,
Irving 24, Silvia 24, Florence 2, William 0
1930 New York, Brooklyn
Rented 1728 54th st
Stein
Irving 29, Sylvia 26, Florence 7, Wm 4 11/12, Freda 2
Children born New York, Irving&Sylvia born Russia, parents born Russia, language Yiddish, immigration 1921. He naturalized. Foreman in fur industry.
1940 New York, NY
Rented 1843. 48th st
1935 same address
Stein, Irving 38, Sylvia 38, Florence 17, Wm 14, Freida 12
Furrier, he employer, born Russia, naturalized
...
Burial
Temple Israel Riverside Cemetery, Conklin, Broome Co, NY
headstone, shared
Irving Sylvia
30 June 1901 30 December 1901
1 March 1988. 21 June 1987
Social Security death index
Irving Stein last known residence 18704 Kingston, Luzerne Co, Pennsylvania.
........
Here's the big one:
Petition for Naturalization #79788
Citizenship Intentions filed# 165636
5 January 1924 Supreme Court, Kings Co, New York
July 25, 1927 ...(some signatures July 27, 1927)
District Court, Eastern District New York
Irving Stein
1556 51st st, Brooklyn
age 26 born 28 June 1901 Belz, Russia
Emigrated 15 January 1921 from Havre, France
on the ship "La Savoy" arrived port of New York on 23 January 1921.
I renounce allegiance to
Ferdinand I King of Romania and or the State of Russia
Wife with me--Sylvia born 15 July 1901 Russia
Children Florence & William
Witnesses
Abraham Switzer, furrier, 1688. 54th st, Brooklyn
Louis Stein, merchant, 1679. 59th st, Brooklyn
....
I will see if I can locate the ship's manifest.
You can get a copy of the naturalization file from the NARA using his name & file numbers. It is worth doing because it may have photos & letters.
historyfan, Thank you for the information! I came across some of it via ancestry.com - didn't have any luck with the ship manifest myself - I believe he spelled the ship's name wrong as well based on what I did find.
Thanks also for the tip on getting the naturalization file! I will look into that.
Yes, ship appears misspelled on naturalization certificate.
I'm wondering if he & Sylvia married in New York, rather than immigrated as married couple.
Because I found a likely candidate on the La Savoie arrival 24 Jan 1921, but as a son not a husband.
Strul Steinik, single, 19
Passenger ID 100126040340
Frame 854, line 10
La Savoie
Le Havre
New York
Steinik,
Ruvin 48 married male
Ruza 45 married female
Strul 19 single male
Sura 15 single female
Nationality Roumania, Hebrew
Last place residence Otall, Roumania
Date arrival Jan 24, 1921
Thanks for your suggestions! You've given me a lot to work with, here. Related to Cyanna's advice about obtaining a death certificate - it never occurred to me that my great-grandfather might have listed his father's real name on various documents over the course of his lifetime, even though I've done it myself on many occasions. I'm really glad I asked about this here. I'll let you all know what I find, though it make take a while as I'm a very busy full-time student!
Oh, and Cyanna: His "new" name was Irving Stein. I don't know if it was the first half or the second half of the name that was cut off. His wife's name was Sylvia. He was a furrier and I once heard he also did some sort of talk radio work on the side. Their last address was in Wilkes-Barre PA. Irving died in the 1980s or very early 90s but I don't know what year. I also don't know exactly what year he was naturalized. His children were William, Frieda, and Flora, all deceased. Unfortunately, that's all I have.
If anybody's up for a fishing expedition, I'd love the company. You could be responsible for restoring a family name!
Enjoy your holiday weekend, All.
If he died as late as the 1980s-1990s, you should have no problem locating his death certificate. You might have some gold if you get it - depending on who filed it and how accurate their information is, of course.*
You may also want to try and obtain the death certs of William, Frieda and Flora to see what information you can take from them.
In the end, though, you're going to have to do what all genealogists (amateur and professional) do: take what you know, prove or disprove it, and start digging, collecting proof along the way. Don't be surprised if it's a) a work of several years and/or b) permanent brick wall due to loss or damage to records, but it's always worth the try.
Good luck!!
_______
* For my great-grandmother, her son-in-law filed the death certificate, and he confused her first husband's name with the name of her father. Big error, and one that Aunt A would never have done.
Yes, ship appears misspelled on naturalization certificate.
I'm wondering if he & Sylvia married in New York, rather than immigrated as married couple.
Because I found a likely candidate on the La Savoie arrival 24 Jan 1921, but as a son not a husband.
Strul Steinik, single, 19
Passenger ID 100126040340
Frame 854, line 10
La Savoie
Le Havre
New York
Steinik,
Ruvin 48 married male
Ruza 45 married female
Strul 19 single male
Sura 15 single female
Nationality Roumania, Hebrew
Last place residence Otall, Roumania
Date arrival Jan 24, 1921
Interesting. For two reasons...one some initial digging on the names you've found above doesn't go anywhere. You would expect some 1930 census information on ancestry for these names. I didn't spend a lot of time, but didn't find anything other than the ship manifest for Strul or Ruvin. The second interesting thing - and it's a guess, but the name Ruvin. Could that be considered Reuben or become Reuben? The reason that is interesting to me is that Irving's son - William - that was called out on the naturalization papers previously mentioned - his middle name was Reuben.
Thanks again for continuing to look - you've been VERY helpful!!
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We must be related...
