Remembering Abraham Berk and the Hebrew Sick Benefit Assn of Montreal

 

My grandfather and his older brother, Abraham Berk (1877-1962), left their home country of Lithuania around the turn of the 20th century. They stopped off with their aunt and uncle in Manchester, England, learning a new language and making extra money for their trip across the Atlantic. Both were trained in carpentry and cabinet making, both able to make a living anywhere.

While in Manchester, Abraham fell in love and married Anna Horwich (1880-1948) in 1903. By mid-1904, he was on a ship bound for Canada while she stayed behind, awaiting the birth of their first child. He found a place to live in Montreal and began working, sending for Anna and their daughter Rose in 1905. The couple soon added to their family with three more children: Lily, William, and Irving Isidore.

Incorporating the benevolent association

Redoing my research this week, I discovered a new-to-me legal notice published on Oct 31, 1919 in the Le Canada newspaper, via OldNews.com. 

Abraham Berk, contractor, was one of the people involved in incorporating the Hebrew Sick Benefit Association of Montreal. This association had already been active since 1892, and in fact it was the oldest mutual aid group of its type in Montreal. In 1919 it was being incorporated and as part of the process, the association published a legal notice about the change in status. Abraham was 42 years old at the time, and his wife Anna was 39. 

Buried in the association plot

In 1948, Anna Berk died, aged 68, and was buried in Baron de Hirsch Cemetery in Montreal, in the Hebrew Sick Benefit Association plot. Abraham was also buried there when he died on Dec 11, 1962, at age 85. 

Remembering great uncle Abraham on the anniversary of his death, a man devoted to family. 

Great Uncle Abraham Burk Sailed From . . . ?

Unsourced page - BIG rookie mistake!

Years ago, when I was starting out in genealogy, I somehow found the passenger list showing when my paternal grandfather's older brother left England and arrived in Canada.

Great-uncle Abraham Burk (1877-1962) was born in Gargzdai, Lithuania. In his early 20s, he and my Grandpa Isaac Burk (1882-1943) came to live with an aunt and uncle in Manchester, England. I found them there in the 1901 UK Census, in the household of Isaac Chazan and his wife, Hinde Ann. They were learning English and earning money to pay for their journey to North America.

My great-uncle Abraham married Annie Hurwitch (or Horwich) in Manchester in June, 1903. The next time I spotted a record for Abraham, he was living in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1904. How did he get there? When did he leave, when did he arrive? I rushed ahead to find out more, leaving no paper trail.

Avoid My Rookie Mistake

My research at that time led me to the page at top. It has no ship's name, and no date, but there is Abraham Burk, age 26, married, a cabinetmaker, "Russian Jew," with $2 in his pocket. He had left "Lancashire," and his destination was "Montreal." Yup, it's Great Uncle Abraham.

I excitedly saved only this image of a single page of the passenger list, with the quick note "April, 1904."

My big rookie mistake was not citing any sources. What ship was this page from? When, exactly, did it sail, where did it leave from, and when/where did it arrive? Where else did I search (with or without success)? Without a source or a research log, I couldn't easily retrace my steps. For years, I didn't even try. I had lots of other ancestors to chase. But this rookie mistake (not an isolated incident) has come back to haunt me during my ongoing Genealogy Go-Over.

Looking for Abraham, Page by Page

Today I spent two hours on the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) website, researching Abraham's voyage to find out where this passenger list came from so I can note a complete source and get a better picture of my ancestor's travels.

The LAC website has a key database titled Passenger lists, 1865-1922, which includes 26 ship arrivals for the month of April, 1904. Clicking page by page, I examined every ship's passenger list, in search of Abraham.

You can guess that Abraham did NOT arrive early in the month. Of course not. But eventually, after looking at many dozens of pages, I struck gold.

Liverpool to Halifax in 11 Days 

Abraham arrived on April 30th aboard the S.S. Lake Champlain from Liverpool, England, to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Compared with many of my immigrant ancestors' voyages, this was relatively brief--Abraham crossed the Atlantic in only 11 days. Leaving from Liverpool makes a lot of sense, since it is convenient to get there from Manchester, where Abraham was living.

A bit more research revealed that the S.S. Lake Champlain often sailed directly to Quebec. Why Abraham didn't go there, instead of Halifax, I simply don't know.

Genealogy Go-Over

Today, I strive to save two versions of any image I download as a source. The one directly above shows my source, typed onto the image. On my family tree, I include additional details such as web addresses so I can retrace my steps quickly and easily. Little by little, I'm cleaning up these kinds of mistakes and omissions as I go over each ancestor in my tree and hubby's tree.

Don't make my big rookie mistake. Cite your sources and add them to your family tree as you go.