The 1c2r cousin in this picture is Flora "Florence" Jacobs (1890-1923), the first child born to my paternal great-great uncle Joseph Jacobs (1864-1918) and his wife, great-great aunt Eva Micalovsky Jacobs (1869-1941).
Until this week, Flora was just a name from the past on my father's side of the family tree.
Flora Jacobs in the Roaring 20s
Now I can see from the photo that my cousin Flora was thoroughly modern for the 1900s, a young woman of the Roaring Twenties with cropped hair and a fashionable frock.
What an emotional experience it was to see Flora's face for the very first time. I am very grateful to the exceptionally kind photo angel who visited the cemetery and sent this closeup of Flora's gravestone. She also was thoughtful enough to post the gravestone photos on Find a Grave.
From US and NY Census records, I learned that Flora worked as a bookkeeper for a neckwear company in 1910, as a "forelady" in a garment factory in 1915, and as an operator on knitted goods in 1920. Working in New York City's garment district, she would have seen and wanted to wear the latest styles, I'm sure, gazing at her fashionable dress.
Sad to say, Flora died of rheumatic endocarditis on September 26, 1923, only weeks before her 33rd birthday. She was buried in Mount Zion Cemetery in Queens, New York, near her father (who died 5 years earlier) and sister Pauline (who died 16 years earlier).
Flora's headstone, translated by the nice folks on Tracing the Tribe/FB, indicates that her Hebrew name was Bluma--"flower." She was named for her maternal grandmother, Blume Manes Micalovsky - I found Blume's name on Eva's marriage license!
Notice the unusual wording "My beloved daughter" just above Flora's name? If I hadn't been aware of the father's death, this wording would be a hint that only one parent was alive when Flora died. The surviving siblings at the time were Louis, Hylda, and Frank Morris.
In 2020, I'm remembering thoroughly modern Flora of the last century's Roaring Twenties and honoring her memory by keeping her story alive.
No comments:
Post a Comment