History (Part 1)
Tracing the history of the Lemanowitz Family and their arrival in America has been quite a challenging experience. But, it’s been an experience that I’ve throughly enjoyed. As was typical of many families who came to America from Eastern Europe, there are many inconsistencies with respect to spelling of names (first and last names), ages, and the year that an individual came to America.
As a result, the history will always be a work in progress. It takes a lot of detective work, as well as some guess work, assumptions, and a lot of luck. However, after reviewing as many of the available records as I can find, spending a ridiculous amount of time at sites such as ancestry.com, engaging in frequent emails and conversations with my sister, Donna, my cousins, and asking my mother, Gladys, what must have seemed like a never ending barrage of questions, I’ll attempt to tell this story--with the knowledge that there will be a never ending amount of updates, changes, corrections and addendums over time as I find new information.
I began the “Home” page of this site with the sentence: “ In the beginning, or at least the beginning of this site, there was Jacob and Rose Lemanowitz.” Well, maybe not. Whether you want to call the family name Lemanowitz, Leminowitz, Lemanovitz, Lemanowicz, Lemanoff, Lemanow, Lementz, or any one of the other variations of “Lemanowitz”, the story of this family in America begins with the father of Jake Lemanowitz, Simon. As was the case with last names, when doing searches, first names often vary from document to document. At one point in time, his name is listed as “Samuel", "Salmon", "Salman", etc.
It appears that Simon was born in Russia (or somewhere in Eastern Europe) around 1850. He came to America in the 1880’s. At this time, it appears that Simon made 3 trips to the United States, in 1886, 1889, and 1895. He was accompained by his oldest son, Morris, on the 1886 trip. There is another document showing Morris traveling by himself to the US again in 1897. It's not known why each of them made multiple trips back and forth.
When Simon (accompanied by Morris) left Russia for America in 1886, he left behind his wife, Fannie, as well as their children, Jacob, Katie, Harry, and Lizzie. The 1900 U.S. Census indicates that the family was once again living together at this point in time in Philadelphia. It appears that, as noted further down on this page, Jacob departed for the US in 1895 and arrived later that year. (The 1900 census indicates 1896 but 1895 seems to be correct.) Fannie, Harry, Katie and Lizzie followed in 1898, per the 1900 census. (I have learned that census data often has information such as that which differs from documents such as ship logs. I assume that this can be attributed to census takers relying on reports from the family members--many of whom spoke little or no English.) One other interesting fact is that the 1900 census also shows that Fannie must have had another child who died at some point prior to the 1900 census. The 1900 census appears to identify Morris as Isaac. I have to wonder if there was some confusion, perhaps related to Isaac Epstein who is noted further down on this page to have been the witness on Morris' Naturalization Petition in 1902. Was he in the home when the census taker was interviewing the family? But based on his age and other data, I'm confident that it is Morris, and not Isaac, that was living with the family.
In the course of my tracing this history- I uncovered a bank account that had been opened to pay for passage to the US. This account was opened in August 1895 for "Juse Jainkel Lemanowitz." For a period of time, I didn't think much of it, until I learned that I could send for a copy of the purchase record. What I found, convinced me that it was actually purchased for my maternal grandfather, Jacob Lemanowitz. When I received the copy, I found that "Juse Jainkel Lemanowitz" was a 17 year old. His ship set sail for the US from Hamburg, Germany in October 1895, arriving in Philadelphia on November 10, 1895. (The 1900 census indicates that Jacob arrived in 1896 at the age of 17.) A few other things have convinced me that this was really Jacob. The person who made the purchase for the tickets "A. Smith" lived 704 S. 6th Street in Philadelphia. As I noted above, from at least 1900, the Lemanowitz family lived at 739 S. 6th Street. When I mentioned this information to my mother, she smiled, telling me that her dad was sometimes called "Yankel"--a Yiddish form of "Jacob." By the way, A. Smith also purchased a ticket for "Nachame Epstein." Perhaps A. Smith, was a neighbor who was able to read and write English, and assisted the Lemanowitz and Epstein Families in making the purchase and application for the immigration passage. ?? By the way, a special thanks to the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, and in particular to a volunteer from there, Beverly, who found the record I requested, and helped me connect the dots to figure out that Juse (Jude) Jainkel (Yankel) Lemanowitz, is my maternal grandfather.
Nachame Epstein, was a 19 year old female when they sailed. They both sailed on the ship, S.S. Patria. They both appear on that ship's manifest, although the Lemanowitz name has an error in the way it was transcribed from the handwritten manifest. It appears in the Ellis Island records as "Jude Leucanowicz." The “wicz” is a Polish spelling. My mother does tell me that her father spoke Polish, as well as Russian, Yiddish, etc., in addition to English. Who knows how the name ended up on the manifest. However, Jude's name and Nachame's name are side by side on the ship manifest, just as they were when the passage was booked, so I'm certain that they’re the same people. By the way--I'm not sure if this is just a coincidence, or a connection to Nachame, but on the Naturalization Petition for Morris (1902)--the witness is "Isaac" (signed as "Ike") Epstein. (It's funny when you notice a name on one document and are sure you've seen that name elsewhere--and then sure enough, there it is.)
On the Immigrant Passage Record for both Jacob Lemanowitz and Nachame Epstein, there is a column for their home address. For both of them, the town is listed as “Wilna.” I knew that this sounded familiar, and when I went back and looked at the WWII Draft Registration Record for Harry Lemanowtiz, his hometown is listed as Wilnov, Russia (aka Vilna). That town, has many variations in the name, and has quite a storied history--be it as part of Lithuania, or under the rule of the Czar, as part of the Russian Empire. This link will take you to a great site about “Vilna.” It tells the story of the history of that town, as well as the Jews who lived there. The ship manifest from the SS Patria lists a residence for both “Jude” and Nachame as “Oschmiany” which I have found to be also listed as “Oshmyany”, as well as other versions of that name. It does not appear to be all that far from Vilna.
Jake became a United States Citizen in November 1903. His brother, Harry, filed a “Declaration of Intention” to become a United States Citizen in June 1917, and became a United States Citizen in May 1923. In a somewhat surprising discovery, I learned that Harry formerly changed his last name to “Leminoff” at the time that he became a United States Citizen. You’ll see another reference to the family using “Lemanoff” in the page, “History (part 2)” at the time of the 1920 Census. Oddly, I have not found any other time that Harry used “Leminoff” after 1923--not even on his World War II draft registration card or even on a social security death record index I saw from 1972. In Harry’s Declaration Of Intention of 1917, he also states he is married to his wife, Ida. This, along with his World War I draft registration card, are the only references I have found to Harry having been married. (My mother, Gladys, was also unaware that he had been married until I showed her these documents.) By the way, on the Documents page, you’ll see US Census records, draft registration cards (World War I and War II). This site also has another page related to immigration and citizenship information.
Morris Lemanowitz (the oldest child of Simon and Fannie) petitioned to become a United States Citizen on January 13, 1902. However, on that petition (also available on the Immigration and Citizenship page) his last name is listed as “Lemanow.” I have confirmed that he is Morris Lemanowitz because his home address is the same that Jake used on his petition and the one I’ve seen on a couple of the older censuses. (739 S. 6th Street.) That address (or addresses very close, such as 735 S. 6th Street) also shows up on other documents. This was helpful in my being able to confirm certain facts about the family. Those facts often were initially somewhat in doubt due to variations in the spelling of the last name, slight variations in dates of events, etc. However, seeing that address on S. 6th Street was a constant from 1900 through at least 1920.
By the time of the 1910 census, Jake had married his first wife, Hannah Berkman Lemanowitz (who is also referred to as “Anna”--which I assumed was an error.) They were married on March 12, 1905.
In 1910, they were living with their daughter, Sylva (“Sylvia”), who had been born in December 1905. The 1910 census shows us that they lived on the same block--possibly next door to Simon and Fannie, who were living with their sons, Harry and Morris (all with the name spelled “Lemonovitz.”) Katie and Lizzie are not listed as members of the household, so it would be safe to assume that they had might have married and moved out of the home. Jake and Hannah would soon have two more daughters together, Sarah (“Sally”) born in 1911, and Esther born in 1915. Hannah died from a pulmonary embolism shortly after Esther’s birth.
As you will see in this site’s page: Finding “Simon” and “Fannie” Lemanowitz, which I added in June 2011, I recently discovered Hannah’s death certificate and grave site. Pictures have been added to the Documents & Memorials page. I was always told by my mother that Hannah died shortly after the birth of Esther, who was born in 1915. The story was told that Hannah had developed blood clots in her leg. Sure enough, when I looked at the death certificate of Hannah, she died in March 1915 (the month/year of Esther’s birth), with cause of death listed as “Pulmonary Embolism.”
-Robert Westle
1886 passenger list showing Salmon (Simon) & Moses (Morris) Leminowitz
1889 passenger list showing Simon Leminowitz
Passenger list showing Moische Lemanowicz 1897 on line 4