On June 10, 1945, my cousin Theodore Roth (1907-1967) married Yetta Mansfield (1912-2004).
Theodore was a son of Bertha Weiss Roth and merchant Bela Roth, whose first wife was my great-grandmother's sister. Yetta was a daughter of watchmaker Isadore Manfield and his wife Sadie Friedman Manfield. On their marriage documents, the groom said he was born in Hungary, the bride said she was born in Austria. But in other documents, including the Census, she and her parents and one brother were shown as being born in Poland. Huh?
NYC voter register lists naturalization
When Yetta registered to vote in 1942, along with her sister Sylvia, they were required to list their place of birth and indicate naturalization. Yetta told officials that her birthplace was Poland, while Sylvia said her birthplace was Canada, as shown above. Both said they were naturalized under their father Isadore's documentation in 1931.
Next step: Finding Isadore's naturalization. Actually, it wasn't very difficult.
NY Naturalizations: Bronx and Queens
I went to the free NY Naturalizations website, which is maintained by the Bronx and Queens County Clerks, and plugged in the name of Isadore Manfield. There were 2 results for this name. The first was a painter who arrived earlier in the 20th century and had no family. Not the man I was searching for.
The second listing was a watchmaker born in Poland, married with four children...including Yetta, her sister Sylvia, and two other children. Definitely my guy, and the papers were a gold mine of details! This Isadore Manfield was naturalized in 1931, renouncing any citizenship from Poland and Austria.
Thanks to all these documents, I have lots more information about Yetta's background. She and Theodore had one son, Edward. Thinking of them on the 80th anniversary of the Big Apple wedding of Theodore and Yetta.
Yetta's birth place makes sense to me. In 1912, Poland was still divided between the Russian, Prussian, and Austro-Hungarian Empires, so while she would have considered herself ethnically Polish and the family likely still believed in Poland as a country, technically, she was born in Austria.
ReplyDeleteI admit, in my own database, I list my ancestors as having been born in Poland and not Russia. The three partitions were not of Poland's choosing, so to my mind, weren't legitimate.
Totally agree with you, Tess, and I also show Poland as Yetta's birth place. TY for reading and taking the time to comment.
Delete