What became of Sarah Scherer?

Sarah Scherer, her first husband, William Schoenberg, and their seven children were all together in the 1925 New York State Census in Brooklyn. Sarah was 44 years old, or born about 1881. William was 43 years old, or born about 1882. The children ranged in age from twelve to 22.

1925 New York State Census
178 Throop Avenue, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

By 1930, Sarah was a "widow," though the disposition of William has not been determined as of this writing. What became of her after the 1930 census was a mystery until the estate papers of Regina Phillips popped up on FamilySearch thanks to their full text search.

The names of Sarah's children appeared in accountings. Sarah's name was misspelled.

Estate of Regina Phillips, 1932, late of Queens County, New York

Sarah was described as Regina's niece. I guess that the connection is through Sarah's mother, Rosa Rubenstein (1853-1924), but the specific relationship is not clear as of this writing.

Parents and spouse of Regina Rubinsons (1870-1932)

Parents and maternal grandparents of Sarah Scherer (1881-19xx)

In 1890 in Manhattan, New York, Regina Rubinsons married Samuel Phillips (1870-1929). Her parents were Elias Rubinsons and Fany Goldberger.

Marriage certificate of Samuel Phillips and Regina Rubinsons
July 8, 1890 in Manhattan, New York.
Groom's parents- Israel Phillips and Amali Hönig.
Bride's parents- Elias Rubinsons and Fany Goldberger.

Samuel Phillips predeceased his wife in 1929. They had no surviving issue when Regina died in 1932.

Death certificate of Regina Phillips
died May 27, 1932 in Manhattan, New York.
Father- Edward Robinson. Mother- Dora Chonowksy.

The names of Regina's parents had morphed from Elias Rubinsons to Edward Robinson and from Fany Goldberger to Dora Chonowsky.

Regina's estate documents mention a change in Sarah's surname from Schoenberg to Koppel, along with the address 518 Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Koppel was the married name of Sarah's youngest daughter, Beatrice.

No marriage record for Sarah Scherer or Schoenberg to Mr Koppel was found in New York City, New York State, or New Jersey.

Using FamilySearch's search text function, Sarah's application for naturalization popped up. She filed twice- once under the name Sarah Koppel in 1942 and again under the name Sarah Mendlinger in 1946.

Declaration of Intention of Sarah Koppel
signed February 4, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York.

Declaration of Intention of Sarah Mendlinger
signed November 21, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York.

These documents are great because she provides a birthdate and place (April 15, 1881 in Sobolj, Megye, Hungary), date of immigration, marriages, and children. These are not necessarily accurate.

Plus we get a picture of Sarah!

Picture of Sarah Scherer attached to her 1942 Declaration of Intention

On the 1942 petition, she wrote that she married Jacob Koppel on June 15, 1931 in Brooklyn. I don't see this in the index of marriages.

On October 10, 1931, Sarah's youngest daughter, Bertha (called Beatrice in the naturalization document), married Bernard E Koppel, the son of Jacob Koppel and Lizzie Friedman.

Marriage certificate of Bernard E Koppel and Bertha Schoenberg
October 10, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York.
Groom's parents- Jacob Koppel and Lizzie Friedman.
Bride's parents- W [Aaron?] and Sarah Scherer.

Bertha, later called Beatrice, was born August 25, 1913 in Jersey City. The surname was misspelled "Schomberg" on the birth certificate.

Birth certificate of Bertha Schomberg
August 25, 1913 in West New York, Hudson County, New Jersey.
Father- William Schomberg. Mother- Sara Scherer.

On October 28, 1931, a correction was submitted to change the surname from Schomberg to Schoenberg. Four months earlier, mother Sarah had supposedly married Jacob Koppel. Yet she signed "Sarah Schoenberg" and not "Sarah Koppel" on the request for the correction.

Correction to birth certificate of Bertha Schomberg to Schoenberg
signed October 28, 1931.

A record does exist for Sarah's marriage in 1943 to Kopel Mendlinger. (Not the same person as Jacob Koppel.)

Marriage license of Kopel Mendlinger and Sarah Koppel
married January 10, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York.

Although marriages for Brooklyn in 1943 are supposedly all scanned and available online, this one was not. I ordered it through the mail. Cost was $18 and turn-around time was two months.

Available marriage records supposedly online at
New York City Department of Records and Information Services

Sarah's place of birth was Tisa Dop, Hungary. This is Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary.

Map of Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary on map of Europe 2025.

Sarah listed one prior marriage to Jacob Koppel. She omitted her first marriage to William Schoenberg. How did that marriage end? Did William die? Disappear? Divorce?

Sarah's marriage history as reported on her license to marry 1943

What became of Sarah Scherer? I do not know. I did not find a death record for her in New York City. 

Notes about the birth records of the children as listed on Sarah's petitions for naturalization:

Sarah had seven children that I discovered. The first, Dora (1903-1934), was deceased by the time of Sarah's petitions, which only asked about living children.

The second child was born February 2, 1905 in Manhattan. "Lena" was originally the name, but "Sadie" was written in read above the crossed out Lena. This is probably for Sadie, but where is Lena's birth certificate? Lena was child number 3.

Birth certificate of Lena [crossed out] Sadie Schönberg
born February 2, 1905 in Manhattan, New York.
Father- William Schönberg. Mother- Sarah Scherer.

I did not find a birth record for Abraham, child number 4. He could not not have been born on January 16, 1909 because the fifth child, Sam, was born July 29, 1909.

Birth certificate of Sam Schomberg born July 29, 1909
in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey.
Father- William Schomberg. Mother- Sarra Scherer.

Catherine, child number 6, was born February 21, 1911 in Jersey City, not February 2, 1912.