Family Ties: Mahler, Volk, Wolf in 1925

Tillie Jacobs Mahler

A close look at the New York State Census data for 1925 shows just how close my Mahler relatives were to the Volk and Wolf families they married into. Literally close!

First, here's a quick overview of who's who. Tillie Jacobs Mahler, my great-grandma (left) was the mother of Henrietta Mahler (my grandma), who married Isaac Burk.* Henrietta's sister Ida Mahler married Louis Volk. Louis Volk's sister Beckie married Simon Wolf.

In the 1925 Census, look who was living at 2347 Morris Ave, Bronx, NY:

• Louis & Ida (Mahler) Volk and their young son Myron.
• Tillie Jacobs Mahler, and her grown children Morris and Dora. Tillie was Ida's mother and Louis's mom-in-law.

2400 Walton Ave., Bronx, NY

Literally around the corner in 1925, living at 2400 Walton Ave, Bronx, NY (apartment building shown at right) were:

• Simon & Beckie (Volk) Wolf and their daughters, Celia, Pauline, and Shirley. Beckie was Louis Volk's sister.

More mysteries appear in the 1915 NY Census. But more about that soon!

*Isaac and Henrietta Burk and their 4 children (including Dad!) lived at 1642 Lexington Ave. in Manhattan in 1925, so he could commute to his job as a cabinetmaker in the furniture district downtown.

Tombstone Tuesday - Meyer Mahler and Tillie Jacobs Mahler

Here are the tombstones of my great-grandparents, buried in Queens, New York. Meyer MAHLER's inscription, translated, suggests a connection to the famous Luria family (reputedly descended from King David):

Here lies the distinguished man from the branch of the fear of heaven, author of the sefer "Kanaf Ranannim," R' Meir Eliyahu son of R' Dovid Akiva, born in 5616 died 3 Shvat 5670.

The sefer mentioned here was written by Chanoch Zundel LURIA. 2022 update: This ancestor is mentioned in a footnote here, and his writings are available on antiquarian sites, among other sites.

According to Meyer's death cert, his mother was Hinde Luria. So far, I've found no other evidence of any direct link to the Lurias, but will keep looking. The Luria genealogist in Europe can't find a real connection, either (2022 update). 

Tillie JACOBS MAHLER's inscription, translated, says "Here lies Mrs. Taube Raize daughter of R'Yonah, died 11 Silvan 5712." Yonah might be Jonah, a clue to Tillie's father, Jonah Jacobs? 2022 update: Yes! 

Not MY Rachel Jacobs

Wonder of wonders, the NYC authorities turned my death cert request around in only one week, a new speed record. And now I know that I was wrong about my g-g-grandma Rachel Jacobs being buried in the cemetery plot devoted to patients from the Montefiore Home for Incurables in NYC.

The death cert I received shows a Rachel Jacobs dying in 1904 and being buried in that plot. It can't be my family's Rachel Jacobs because this one was just 56 yrs old, married, and born in US. None of that fits the profile of MY Rachel Jacobs.

I feel sorry for this Rachel Jacobs, however, because she had a cerebral hemorrhage in 1902 and finally died in 1904, having been at the Montefiore Home for 21 months, according to the death cert.

Lessons learned: (1) just because someone with the same name as an ancestor is buried within walking distance in the same cemetery as a known relative, doesn't mean he or she is in my family; (2) if the known relatives have expensive headstones and paid $ for perpetual care, but the mother of one of those relatives has a nearly impossible-to-see, insignificant headstone in a charity plot, chances are that mother is not a relative.

I'm going to have to take a different approach to finding my Rachel.

2022 update: I finally did find Rachel Shuham Jacobs in Mt. Zion Cemetery, Queens, NY. Her Find a Grave memorial is here.

Where Great-Great Grandma Is Buried

If I'm correct about where the mother of Tillie JACOBS is buried, I have more clues to my great-great grandma's life in New York. The cemetery shows her in a plot set aside for the Montefiore Home for Incurables, an institution founded in the 1880s (shown below). I was wrong, this is not MY Tillie JACOBS, see later post!

Again, thank you to wonderful, friendly cemetery personnel who are willing to help family researchers like me!

The gravestones were, alas, too worn to be read, and I searched for her a good long time before giving up. Once her death cert arrives (4-6 wks), I'll be able to confirm that this is indeed my great-great grandma. She came to the US in 1886, was shown in the Census of 1900 as living with her daughter and son-in-law and their children. Unfortunately, she died in 1904, apparently of a chronic disease (cancer perhaps?).

The 1900 Census shows great-great grandma as widowed and having 2 children, of whom 2 were living. One was obviously her daughter. The other, I think, was a son who lived in another apartment in the same tenement house. In those days, small families were rare, so my conclusion is that she was widowed early and rather than be left behind when her 2 children moved to the US, she came along. That must have taken courage, IMHO, knowing that she might never see her other relatives and friends again.

Tracing My Mahler Ancestors

Today I visited the graves of great-grandparents Meyer and Tillie MAHLER--thank you for responsive, caring cemetery staff members! They helped me locate the graves in the middle of very crowded plots and photocopied the cards on file. Although I had their death certs, I never knew the middle names of these ancestors, so this was helpful. Although they died decades apart, their stones were side by side.

Feeling like Peter Falk's Columbo, I turned back to the cemetery office before leaving and said, "Just one more thing..." This cemetery has a searchable online database and I had previously searched for Tillie's mother, Rachel Jacob (or Jacobs). I found a Rachel Jacob, but not in the same cemetery section. Almost didn't ask but as long as I was in the office, I did. All I knew was her name and that she died after 1900 (because of her appearance in the 1900 Census).

The cemetery staff checked a big ledger book and there was Rachel JACOBS, along with her death date which I would never have found otherwise. Sadly, it was impossible to find her grave stone (must have weathered away since her death in 1904) but as soon as I arrived home, I searched out and found her NYC death cert number. Yes! In approximately one month, I'll know her full name, parents, place of birth, and anything else that NYC records on death certs from that era. This was a very good genealogy day for me!

2022 update: This was NOT my Rachel Jacobs, sorry to say. But I did upload headstone photos to Ancestry, Find a Grave, and into my genealogy software.

Great-Grandma Tillie

Great-Grandma Tillie Mahler died in June, 1952 at 99 yrs old, if her death cert can be believed (informant was her son Morris, but still...). Morris says Tillie's father was Julius Yaina and I know her maiden name was Jacobs. 

Cuz Ira had this full-length photo of her. She lived to see many grandchildren married--I know because her face is in their wedding photos. Wish I could hear her stories. 2022 update: This post is linked to the Jacobs ancestral landing page at top of my blog.