Where were Louis Schwartz and Mollie Schoenberger from in Europe? Who were their parents?
The couple's second child, Hannah, was born in New York City in 1883. The mother was Minnie, not Mollie, age 23, or born about 1860, in Hungary. The father, Lewis, was age 26, or born about 1857, in Hungary. His occupation was baker.
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| Hannah Schwartz born March 24, 1883 20 Clinton Street, New York, New York. Midwife Rosa Rosenberg of 174 Suffolk Street. Images online New York City Department of Records and Information Services |
Their third child, William, was born in New York City in 1884. The surname was spelled Swartz, not Schwartz, but this could be because the midwife's name was Anna Swartz. Anna may not have been too good at spelling English; she wrote "mail" instead of "male." The mother was Bertha, not Mollie or Minnie, age 25, or born about 1859, in Hungary. The father, Louis, was age 33 years, or born about 1851, in Hungary. He was a baker.
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| William Swartz born October 8, 1884 235 Stanton Street, New York, New York. Midwife Anna Swartz of 141 Attorney Street. Images online New York City Department of Records and Information Services |
Louis Schwartz appeared in the 1884 New York City city directory in 1884 at 235 Stanton. He was a baker. This matches the address and occupation on William's birth certificate.
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| Louis Schwartz, baker, 235 Stanton. 1884 Trow's New York City, New York city directory. Database online at Ancestry |
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| Swartz Henry, tailor. Swartz Ignatz, cloaks. Swartz Maurice, cloaks. 141 Attorney. 1884 Trow's New York City, New York city directory. Database online at Ancestry |
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| Tillie Schwartz born November 28, 1900 56 Cannon Street, New York, New York. The recorder perhaps wrote the color "Brunette" for the hair instead of the skin. |
The 1905 New York State census is the earliest census for this family that I discovered as of this writing.
Mollie and Louis resided in New York City with children Willie, Philip, Henry, Harry, Max, and Pauline (called Tillie at birth).
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| 1905 New York State Census. 56 Cannon Street, Manhattan, New York |
Louis and Mollie were born in Hungary. Their birth place of their first child, William, looks to originally have been Hungary with "United States" written over this entry. The next children were born in Hungary, except the final child, born in United States.
The places of birth of the children seem unusual to me.
We do not know, as of this writing, the place of birth of the first child, likely around 1881. Hannah and William were born in New York City. Did Mollie and Louis return to Hungary and have the next four children there, from 1889 through 1894? Then they returned to the United States where they had Tillie, also known as Pauline or Pearl, in 1900.
A marriage record could provide the hometowns and names of parents, but so far, I have found no marriage record for Louis and Mollie.
The four sons born in Hungary list a town of birth on various records. The name looks like Gavitz, with or without "Nud" preceding this word. If anyone knows where this might be, please comment.
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| Draft card registration of Philip Schwartz born February 23, 1889 in Nug Gavitz, Hungary Database online Ancestry |
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| Questionnaire of military service of Henry Schwartz born October 20, 1890 in Nud Gavitz, Hungary Database online Ancestry |
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| Petition for Naturalization of Harry Joseph Schwartz born December 23, 1892 in Nud Gavetz, Hunary. Database online Ancestry |
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| Draft card registration of Max Schwartz born October 23, 1894 in Nudgavetz, Hungary. Database online Ancestry |
The death certificate is another avenue for uncovering a hometown and the name of parents. Ancestry offers two indexes for deaths in the State of Connecticut: 1897-1968 and 1917-2017. Another index 1897-2001 exists on Connecticut Open Data.
Mollie Schwartz died in Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Connecticut on March 9, 1925. Her death was recorded by the State of Connecticut and the City of Bridgeport. Both records are below. These are two separately created records. There is a chance that one has information not contained on the other. In the case of Mollie Schwartz, her parents and place of birth were no more detailed on one than the other.
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| Death certificate of Mollie Schwartz from the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut March 9, 1925 Cost $20. Turn-around time was two years via postal mail. |
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| Death certificate of Mollie Schwartz from the State of Connecticut Side 1 March 9, 1925 Cost $20. Turn-around time was one year via postal mail. |
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| Death certificate of Mollie Schwartz from the State of Connecticut Side 2 March 9, 1925 |
Mollie's father was Wolf Schoenberger, according to her death certificates. Unfortunately her hometown and mother's name were not provided.
A descendant of Mollie and Louis has an online tree with pictures. This person does not know where Mollie or Louis was born or raised.
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| Picture of Mollie Schoenberg, wife of Louis Schoenberg, as offered by the creator of this tree |
Louis died after Mollie. In the 1930 census, he was living with his daughter, Pearl, and her family in Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut.
I do not see a match for Louis Schwartz in the death index for 1930 or later in Stamford. There are people with this name who died 1930 or later.
The issue with obtaining death certificates from the State of Connecticut is that they are $20 each. You cannot view them online or in person, as I found out. I had to make many phone calls and emails to the City of Bridgeport. Connecticut allows members of certain genealogical associations to view death certificates, but a copy still costs $20.
"Sec. 7-51a. Copies of vital records. Access to vital records by members of genealogical societies. Marriage and civil union licenses. Death certificates. Issuance of certified copies of electronically filed certificates. (a) Any person eighteen years of age or older may purchase certified copies of marriage and death records, and certified copies of records of births or fetal deaths which are at least one hundred years old, in the custody of any registrar of vital statistics. The department may issue uncertified copies of death certificates for deaths occurring less than one hundred years ago, and uncertified copies of birth, marriage, death and fetal death certificates for births, marriages, deaths and fetal deaths that occurred at least one hundred years ago, to researchers approved by the department pursuant to section 19a-25, and to state and federal agencies approved by the department. During all normal business hours, members of genealogical societies incorporated or authorized by the Secretary of the State to do business or conduct affairs in this state shall (1) have full access to all vital records in the custody of any registrar of vital statistics, including certificates, ledgers, record books, card files, indexes and database printouts, except for those records containing Social Security numbers protected pursuant to 42 USC 405 (c)(2)(C), and confidential files on adoptions, gender change, surrogacy agreements and parentage, (2) be permitted to make notes from such records, (3) be permitted to purchase certified copies of such records, and (4) be permitted to incorporate statistics derived from such records in the publications of such genealogical societies. For all vital records containing Social Security numbers that are protected from disclosure pursuant to federal law, the Social Security numbers contained on such records shall be redacted from any certified copy of such records issued to a genealogist by a registrar of vital statistics.
