One Signature Changed My View of an Immigrant Ancestor

A single signature on a document I purchased this week has changed my view of the immigrant experience of one of my Schwartz ancestors. 

My grandpa Theodore Schwartz was from a large family in Ungvar, Hungary, a region that later was in Czechoslovakia and is now in Ukraine. 

Some documents from this region are available for free from JewishGen.org and Family Search.org, while others documents are available (some free, some at a fee) from the Sub-Carpathia Genealogy website

Grandpa's sister married a Winkler 

A quick recap: Last week, I bought a document from the Sub-Carpathia site that showed me the correct birth year of a 1c1r, Albert Bela "Voytech" Winkler (1912-1993). He was the son of Grandpa's oldest sister Rezi Schwartz and her husband, Moritz Winkler. Very sorry to say, Rezi was killed in the Holocaust--I found her son Albert's Yad Vashem testimony about her death, which led me to do more research. 

Following up on Albert, the birth document I purchased last week gave me sufficient clues to research his refugee status during World War II, find the passenger list showing his arrival, and locate his US naturalization papers. 

Connecting Winkler to Price

When Albert Winkler sailed into New York City in 1948, the passenger list showed a contact in New York City: Price, 182 E. 19th Street, in Brooklyn, New York (see excerpt here). New names I don't know.

Using the 1950 US Census, I discovered who was living at that Brooklyn address. It was Eugene Price, born in Czechoslovakia, and his wife Louise, also born in Czechoslovakia, with their 18-year-old daughter Edith Price, born in Belgium. 

Next, I opened my wallet and paid for another document from Sub-Carpathia, based on what I could see in a transcribed excerpt. The document was about the marriage of Leni Winklerova and Eugene Preisz in August of 1929. I suspected Louise Price's maiden name might be Leni Winkler, and her husband Eugene Price had been Eugene Preisz.

One document with so much significance

Once I received the document, I found the parents' names and the dates match what I already know. This proves the link between the Winkler and Price families, with Leni married to Eugene. 

The document is significant for two more reasons. One, I've found yet another branch of my family tree that survived the Holocaust, emotional in itself. Two, the document revealed a surprise witness to the marriage, a name I never expected to see.

As shown at the top, one of the two witnesses on the marriage document was Samuel Schwartz of New York in "Amerika." Maybe this was my grandpa's brother Samuel Schwartz (1883-1954), who left Hungary in 1904 to come to New York City? 

I compared the signature from the 1929 marriage document with Samuel Schwartz's signature on his own marriage document from 1909. They are nearly identical! My great uncle Samuel was at the wedding in Ungvar in 1929.

Changing my view 

Up till now, I envisioned all of my Schwartz ancestors making a one-way, one-time trip to America, seeking better economic opportunity. This was not a "birds of passage" family, with men leaving home to make money and sailing back to the homeland periodically. My Schwartz ancestors who left Ungvar settled permanently in America, became US citizens, and raised families.

My Grandpa (Theodore Schwartz, 1887-1965) ran a small grocery store in the Bronx, New York. There was little money to spare; everyone in the household worked hard to send two of the three children to college. Based on family documents and cousin recollections, it's highly unlikely Grandpa ever returned to his birthplace. He never again saw his parents or the siblings who stayed behind. His immigrant experience was a one-time trip, one-way to America.

Then I think about Grandpa's older brother, Samuel Schwartz. He also ran a small grocery store in Queens, New York, also put a son through college, became a citizen. Samuel definitely was not a bird of passage.

Yet his signature proves that he did, indeed, visit his hometown of Ungvar. (I've also found his passenger list for the return voyage.)

As a result, I now realize his immigration experience was different from that of my Grandpa. Before this, I never dreamed any Schwartz immigrant ancestors would be able to return to Ungvar after they left. Clearly, Samuel would have seen his mother, siblings, and nieces/nephews at this family wedding in 1929. A joyous reunion, I'm sure.

I'm continuing to trace the Price/Preisz family and also to try to match photo dates to these new documents! More soon.

Fixing a Mistaken Assumption by Buying a Record

Albert Winkler was my first cousin, once removed, the nephew of my maternal grandfather, Theodore Schwartz. His mother, Rezi Schwartz Winkler (1881-1944) was my grandpa's oldest sister.

I know Albert's name because he submitted Yad Vashem testimony about the Holocaust killings of his mother and other close relatives. But I knew almost nothing else about him, other than he died in May of 1993. 

Don't assume anything!

Without any proof, I made the assumption that Albert was born in the early 1900s, given that his parents Rezi and Moritz Winkler were married in 1898 and their children began arriving in 1899. At this point, the youngest child I'd found was Lili Winkler, who was born on March 20, 1912. 

Traditional sources didn't help me much in my research for Albert. Then I took a look at summaries of birth records available for purchase from the specialized site Sub-Carpathia Genealogy. 

Doing a record search on this site for "Winkler" birth records from Ungvar (now Uzhhorod, Ukraine), I found TWO Winkler children born in March, 1912. 

Father of both: Mor Winkler. Mother's maiden name of both: Schwartz. One baby Winkler was named Lili, the other baby Winkler was named Bela. A Winkler cousin confirmed that Bela was almost certainly Albert.

Paying to fix my mistake

Of course I quickly clicked to buy the records for Bela Winkler. Within an hour I had proof that he was born on March 20, 1912, the same day as his twin sister, Lili Winkler! (Twins run in the Schwartz family, by the way. Bela and Lili had twin first cousins, my Mom and her twin sister.)

As soon as I plugged in this birth date for Albert Bela Winkler (using Ancestry, MyHeritage, and FamilySearch), I had multiple results.

Never, in a million years, would I have been able to find out so much without paying for this unique record to get Bela's original name and exact birth date. Why? Because Bela had yet another name!

Bela, Albert, Voytech

As shown at the top of this post, Albert entered the United States under the name of Voytech Winkler. Not a name I've ever seen before. It only turned up once I searched for Bela Winkler with the exact birth date and residence city.

This single index card, for Albert's naturalization, gave me a wealth of information. I tracked down the passenger list, his naturalization petition, and his naturalization papers. I learned that Albert married in 1962, and his Hungarian-born wife was naturalized around the same time as Albert. There's more to discover, but already I have many more facts than I had before.

UPDATE: "Voytech" on the passenger list was phonetic...I found "Wojtek Winkler" (born in Uzhhorod) on a list of Vilna Refugees in 1940, "Polish Jewish Refugees" who had been helped out of Krakow. Now to investigate further! 

All because I invested in a unique genealogical record to fix my mistaken assumption. Now my trees show Albert Bela Winkler, 1912-1993.

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"Mistake" is this week's #52Ancestors prompt from Amy Johnson Crow.

Paying to Check Out Clues Takes Me Back A Generation

Over the years, I've gotten some intriguing clues from researchers who are investigating people in my ancestors' FAN club (friends, associates, and neighbors). Of course, sometimes it pays to actually pay for documents if I want to go beyond the clue stage.

FAN club: sailing to America together

This week, I heard from a lovely researcher whose female ancestor sailed across the Atlantic with a distant Farkas female ancestor of mine in 1914. They not only were listed one after another on the manifest, their U.S. destination was the same: they were going to Herman Weiss in New York City. Herman's wife, Ida Farkas Weiss, was my 1c3r, I knew from previous documented research. 

In further investigating the FAN club connection (Farkas-Weiss-Schwartz and more), this researcher found interesting clues in transcriptions on the Sub-Carpathia Genealogy website, devoted to Jewish genealogy in the region shown on the map above. Her finds put the site at the top of my research priorities for learning more about my Schwartz family from Ungvar, Hungary (now Uzhhorod, Ukraine).

Revisit old sources and be willing to pay

In the past, I have searched the Sub-Carpathia site, but not for several years. I should have revisited before this. Many more records have been transcribed and posted. Yesterday and today I spent hours searching the site, jam-packed with birth/marriage/death documents, gravestone photos/transcriptions, and other useful resources for researching Jewish ancestors! It includes extremely helpful and detailed suggestions for exactly how to search and what spelling variations may be found in the records from this region. 

Full original scans are available for a modest fee, and the info was so compelling that I opened my wallet to see the originals. Actually, I've already spent a small fortune buying excellent scans of various documents that mention my Schwartz family and intermarried ancestors. It's an investment that has truly paid off.

To my amazement and joy, the site has taken me a full generation back on the Schwartz side in Ungvar, and maybe even another generation back before that. 

Keep traditions in mind

The Ashkenazi Jewish tradition is to name babies after relatives who are deceased, not after the living. Also, the tradition is to inscribe the gravestone of someone who has died with "son [or daughter] of ___[insert father's first name]___". Knowing the father's name, from the gravestone, takes the line one more generation back.

I was thrilled when I found the gravestone photo of my paternal great-grandmother Hani Simonowitz Schwartz, who died on April 25, 1933 (documented date and name, awaiting death record itself). The inscription says she was the daughter of Nisen. So one of my great-great-grandfathers was Nisen Simonowitz! -- CORRECTION: Stone doesn't match original death record I received after writing this. SO according to written death record, great-great-grandpa's name was Shmuel Simonowitz. 

Another gasp when I saw the gravestone of my paternal great-grandfather Herman (Yehuda) Schwartz, who died on January 21, 1921 (documented date and details, confirmed by written original record). The inscription says he was the son of Moshe. This means I've found another one of my great-great-grandfathers, Moshe Schwartz. 

But wait, there's more: I visited JewishGen.org for more research. In the same area of the Ungvar cemetery, according to the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry, is a Moshe Schvarcz, who died in August of 1880. According to the transcription (no photo), Moshe's father's name is Yehuda Schvarcz. 

Combine personal knowledge with new info

In my Schwartz family, the naming pattern looks like this, based on the new info and what I know from relatives:

• Yehuda in the early 1800s had a son named Moshe
• Moshe in the mid-1800s had a son named Yehuda
• Yehuda in the late 1800s had a son named Tivador (my grandfather--he had brothers, but I don't know all their names yet--not found a Yehuda at this point)
• Tivador in the early 1900s had a son named Yehuda
• Yehuda in mid-1900s had a son whose middle name is Moshe. 

All of which supports (but doesn't quite prove) my theory that Yehuda Schvarcz is likely my 3d great-grandfather. Further research is in my future, and I'll open my wallet if needed.

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"Fortune" is the theme for this week's #52Ancestors challenge. Despite spending a small fortune on these ancestors who lived and died many generations ago, I consider it a worthwhile investment!