Beregszasz Hungary

The European hometown of William Schoenberg has been identified.

(Thank you, MG!)

William filed his Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States on April 18, 1917. This document was also known as "First Papers." In William's Declaration, we find the following statement:

"I was born in Bergsas Hungary on the 25th day of March anno Domini 1882."

Declaration of Intention signed by William Schoenberg
April 18, 1917 in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey

Close-up of the town of birth place and date of William Schoenberg-
Bergsas, Hungary on the 25th of March, 1882
as written on his Declaration of Intent

Indexes and images for naturalization papers for Hudson County, New Jersey are available through Family Search, but only until the year 1907. William was not found in this collection.

For $3 the Hudson County Clerk searched their collections for 1907 forward.

Website of the Clerk of Hudson County, New Jersey
explaining procedures for obtaining copies of naturalization records

Within a week, the Clerk returned William Schoenberg in their index.

Index of Declarations of Intent
Hudson County, New Jersey
William Schoenberg, Volume 61, Number 30031

These Declarations of Intent for Hudson County are housed in the State Archives in Trenton.

Website of New Jersey State Archives
Form to order naturalization records for certain counties.
The records are not searchable through this website.

I was going to the Archives in person so I did not order the record online. At the Archives, I received a copy of the one page Declaration of Intention. As stated on the document, the Declaration becomes invalid after seven years. William did not complete the citizenship pathway within seven years. If he did so later I do not know as of this writing.

So where is this place? It is currently in Ukraine and is called Berehove, but looks a little different in the Ukrainian version of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Modern-day map showing the location of Berehove, Ukraine,
formerly Beregszasz, Hungary

Borders changed after William was born in Beregszasz, Hungary. The town was in Checkoslavakia between the world wars. As a result, the name is spelled many different ways in various languages.

There are many men named William Schoenberg. The William on the Declaration provided a birthdate of March 25, 1882. This matches the birthdate provided by the target William on his draft registration card for the World War in Hoboken, Hudson County on September 12, 1918- about a year and a half after the Declaration of Intent.

Draft Registration Card for World War I
William Schoenberg of Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey.
Collection at Ancestry

Was March 25, 1882 really William's birthday? I don't know yet. Records for this time period in the area of Bereg are online at FamilySearch. Unfortunately, I have not found an index. Browsing these records produces a few people using the surname Schoenberg or variant spellings.

Images for the Bereg area, formerly of Hungary, are online at FamilySearch.
They cannot be downloaded. Screenshots are blurry.

At MyHeritage, I plugged in the place Beregszasz and the surname Schoenberg and immediately found a ship record for Cilli and Esther Schoenberger. They arrived in New York on April 2, 1908.

Manifest of Alien Passengers
SS Rotsdam from Rotterdam to New York 1908

According to this ship record, Cilli, age 19, and Esther, age 18, were sisters from Beregszasz. Their father was David Schönberger. They were to meet up with their brother, William Schoenberg, of 295 Terrace Ave, New York. (Actually in Jersey City, New Jersey.)

Close-up of the relevant entries for Cilli and Esther Schoenberger

How do we know this William was the target person? In 1909, William's son, Sam, was born at 295 Terrace Avenue in Jersey City.

Birth certificate of William Schomberg July 29, 1909
295 Terrace Avenue, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey
Collection available on microfilm at the New Jersey State Archives

As of this writing, I do not know what became of Esther.

Cilli, also spelled Cillie and Celia, married Morris Niederman in Manhattan in 1916.

Marriage record of Morris Niederman and Cillie Schönberg
Manhattan, New York City, New York
May 21, 1916.
Her parents- David Schönberg and Lalie Mermelstein.
Collection online at New York City Department of Records and Information Services

From this document we see that the names of Cillie's parents match the names of William's parents on his marriage record from 1902 to Szera Scherer.

Marriage record of William Schonberg and Szera Scherer
Manhattan, New York City, New York
April 9, 1902.
His parents- David Schonberg and Lalie Marmorstein.
Collection online at New York City Department of Records and Information Services

Using variant spellings of the surname Schoenberg and the place name Beregszasz produces many potential leads. Of note was Benjamin Schoenberg (1901-1974).

Petition for Naturalization signed by Benjamin Schoenberg
December 29, 1921 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York
Eastern District of New York.
Collection online at Ancestry

Benjamin Schoenberg was born in Beregszasz in 1901 to David Schoenberg and Maria Haupt. His birthplace is from his Petition for Naturalization. The names of his parents are from his marriage record in Manhattan in 1929 to Leah Drasdo (1895-1986).

Marriage record of Benjamin Schoenberg and Leah Drasdo
August 29, 1929 in Manhattan, New York City, New York.
Collection online at New York City Department of Records and Information Services

Esther Rosenberg was a witness on Benjamin Schoenberg's Petition for Naturalization. They both gave their address as 1241 Avenue U in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. They were siblings. Esther died in 1948 in Brooklyn. On her death certificate, her parents were listed as David Haupt and Mary Haupt. Her father's surname is incorrect. He was David Schoenberg, not Haupt.

Death certificate of Esther Rosenberg
Died March 23, 1948 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.
Parents- David Haupt and Mary Haupt. [Probably should be David Schoenberg.]
Collection online at New York City Department of Records and Information Services

Esther Schoenberg and Harry Rosenberg (1883-1924) had at least three children: Sadie (1913-????), Lillian (1917-2007), and Morris (1922-2011). Lillian married Sidney Weinberg in 1937 in Manhattan. She listed her mother's name as Esther Schoenberg, not Haupt. I am a DNA match in the second to third cousin range with a child of Lillian and Sidney.

Marriage record of Sidney Weinberg and Lillian Rosenberg
January 24, 1937 in Manhattan, New York City, New York.
Collection online at New York City Department of Records and Information Services

Morris Rosenberg married Elaine Gellers (1922-2009) in 1946 in Brooklyn. He provided his mother's name as Esther Schoenberg, not Haupt.

Marriage record of Morris Rosenberg and Elaine Gellers
November 27, 1947 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.
Collection online at New York City Department of Records and Information Services

Much more research is needed. Identifying the hometown was a vital component to move this quest forward.

Towns of Origin in Hungary

Was Rose Roth (1907-1964), wife of Theodore Marmorstein, related to Theodore's mother, Emilia Roth?

Marriage certificate, New York City, May 4, 1929.
Theodore Marmorstein, son of Emilia Roth and Bernard Marmorstein,
married Rose Rother, daughter Helen (Annie) Bercholtz and William Roth.

Someone raised the question upon reading the article about the two marriage ceremonies of Theodore and Rose.

The answer is I do not know, but I don't think so.

Roth is not an unusual name. Just because people share a surname does not mean that they are related.

The Roths were from the country of Hungary. Identifying a hometown will tell us if a relation was geographically possible.

Emilia (mother of Theodore Marmorstein) filed a Petition for Naturalization in 1935. Her information included her birthplace of Abony, Hungary on July 16, 1877.

Petition for Naturalization
Emilie Marmorstein 1935
Collection at Ancestry

William Roth (father of the bride Rose) filed an application for a passport in 1922. His information included his birthplace of Gönc, Hungary on April 18, 1869.

Application for Passport
William Roth 1922
Collection at Ancestry

I visited Jewish Gen to locate these towns. Their Communities Database is vital for locating present-day towns or areas that may have undergone name changes over the generations.

Abony, Hungary
Communities Database of Jewish Gen

Gönc, Hungary
Communities Database of Jewish Gen

I mapped out these two towns. Using modern roads, these two towns are over 200 kilometers apart and about three hours away.

Distance between Abony and Gönc in Hungary
Google Maps

I think it is unlikely that these two Roth lines are related on their most recent lines.

Legible Writing, a Rare and Wonderful Find

The marriage record for Carl Robert Bossert and Pauline Mathilda Maier is the clearest and most detailed I have found.  It's as if the writer wanted to convey legible information to future viewers.

We have full names of both parties.  The bride's birthdate is given, which was not directly asked.  Full names of both sets of parents are given:  Johannes Bossert, Johanna Kukle; Friedrich Maier and Mathilda Heiss.  We also get the hometowns in Germany:  Remsheim and Oberenzingen, both in Württemberg.  The marriage date is clarified:  "July fourth (4) 1897."  You don't find this often.

JewishGen helps you locate places in Europe, even if the name or borders have changed

I attempted to find these locations on a map.  My current theory is that the bride is from Oberensingen, which is now in Nürtingen in the district of Esslingen in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

The groom's location is trickier.  I don't find Remsheim.  On a subsequent marriage record, Robert Carl listed his birthplace as Wimsheim.  This I can find, about 30 miles northwest of Oberensingen.  Wimsheim is in the district of Enz in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Wimsheim and Oberensingen are in southwest Germany near Pforzheim and Stuttgart.

Using Cemeteries to Track Moves

Laura Winterton was one of my great grandparents.  She was born in 1891 in Matawan, Monmouth County, New Jersey to William Winterton and Catherine Dunn.  Around 1905, her family moved to Newark in Essex County, New Jersey.  In 1910, Laura Winterton married Howard Lutter.  Three generations later, here I am.

Laura died in 1962 in Newark from complications of diabetes and multiple sclerosis.  She was buried in an unmarked grave in Hollywood Cemetery in Union (Union County, New Jersey).  

Recently, I visited family gravesites for the first time in Monmouth County, New Jersey.  Although I do not live far from these cemeteries, I had never visited, probably because these graves were among the few recorded and photographed when genealogy started on the internet.  Visit Interment.net and DistantCousin.com for user-submitted records.  I concentrated on visiting graves that nobody had photographed and posted online, of which there were plenty, and I uploaded my pictures and notes to FindAGrave.

Ancestors of my great grandmother
[Chart created in Excel and modified in Paint]

Green Grove Cemetery in Keyport

William Winterton (1862-1932) and Catherine Dunn (1865-1944), parents of Laura, died in Newark, but are buried in Keyport.

William's parents, John R Winterton (1831-1890) and Sophia T Walling (1835-1906), are buried in a plot shared with Cuttrells, located near the corner of Green Grove Avenue and Hurley Street.

Sophia's parents, William Walling (1803-1870) and Ellen Euphemia Imlay (1807-1895), are also at Green Grove in a family plot.

Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn

John Winterton's parents, Samuel Winterton (1800-1877) and Sally Johnson (1802-1882), relocated to Monmouth County from New York City in the 1850s.  Samuel died in Keyport and Sally in Raritan, but they are both buried at Greenwood Cemetery in New York.  Their burials are searchable at the cemetery's website.

Rose Hill Cemetery in Matawan

At Rose Hill are Laura Winterton's maternal grandparents, Ezra Dunn (1821-1898) and Hermoine Dunlop (1827-1900).  This is a small cemetery.  I was able to find the graves based on the pictures already online.

I marked the GPS location of the graves on FindAGrave.

FindAGrave.com

Google maps, connected by FindAGrave

I am still working on Ezra Dunn's parents.  According to his death certificate, Ezra's parents were Nathaniel Dunn and Sarah.

Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Matawan

Hermoine Dunlop's father, Joseph Dunlop, was buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery.  This trip illustrates why you want to visit grave sites, rather than just look at pictures or transcriptions online.

In memory of Joseph W DUNLOP who died Apr 26, 1852,
aged 55 years, 2 months, and 4 days.

In the 1850 federal census in Raritan (Monmouth County, New Jersey), we have:

Joseph W. Dunlop, age 54, born in Pennsylvania;

Margaret Dunlop, age 53, born in New Jersey;

some of their children and boarders.

I located a marriage record in 1824 in Monmouth County for Joseph Dunlop and Margaret Little.  I need more evidence to decide if this is the marriage record for this couple.  A trip to the cemetery makes this marriage record more plausible for fitting into my tree.

FamilySearch.org
New Jersey, County Marriages, 1682-1956

I did not see a gravestone for Margaret; however, two Little graves and one Dunlop are next to Joseph Dunlop.  This placement could indicate a relationship.  You cannot see this positioning from online transcriptions or individual pictures of the stones.  (Well, now you can with my labeled picture.)

"The grave of William Johnston, son of Joseph W. and Margaret Dunlop,
died Nov 17, 1832, aged 3 years, 7 months, and 24 days."

"Frances, daughter of Robert and Margaret Little,
who departed this life April 30th, 1839,
aged 20 years, 6 months, and 8 days."

"Robert Little, a native of the Billis, near Virginia, County Cavan, Ireland,
who emmigrated to America A.D. 1807,
and departed this life October 29th, 1821,
in the 37 year of his age.  
For many years an active merchant in this place."

If this Little grave has a connection to Margaret, wife of Joseph Dunlop, then I will have a great link to the hometown in Ireland.  This would also be the first Irish ancestor found in my father's tree.

Finding a German Hometown

One of the benefits of testing the DNA of family members for genealogy purposes is meeting other researchers online to exchange information and expand the family tree.

A genetic match to cousins of my paternal grandmother provided me with a fantastic link, providing me with a German hometown.  (Thank you D. L.)  My cousins' Wrage line had me chasing alternate spellings in New York because of the silent W and the German pronunciation.  Without a specific place or town in Europe, finding and identifying the correct Wrage family in a German area in 1850 (if it even was Wrage in Europe) was futile.

1869 Passenger List- Hermann Wrage and son, Hermann Wrage.
This was not the older Hermann's first trip to New York.
New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, database online Ancestry.com

The genetic cousin alerted me to a wonderful book online (The History of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, New York, from 1853-1903 by Hugo W Hoffmann at GoogleBooks) containing a picture of the immigrant Hermann Wrage, along with his birthplace, father's name, and a glimpse of his life as a soldier in Europe and then a pastor at the Church in New York.

Hermann Wrage  1831-1882

Hermann Wrage was also a published author of grammar and language books.  The advertisements for his books can be found in newspapers in the 1870s and 1880s and the actual books today are online at GoogleBooks.

Very importantly, I found out Hermann's town of origin in Europe:  Flensburg.  This is so much more helpful than working with "Germany" or "Prussia" as the place of origin.  Flensburg is currently in Germany on the northern border with Denmark.  Genetic cousins of Danish heritage in the DNA databases could be related through this Wrage branch.

Google Maps

Hermann Wrage's hometown, Flensburg, is in Germany, but next to Denmark.

23andMe: Genome of Cousin B. D.

The match on chromosome 1 with Danish and Swedish ancestry could be related through B. D.'s Wrage branch.

Next I searched for the surname "Wrage" for a geographical genealogy.  The surname is concentrated in the present-day State of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany, near Denmark.  This is the area of Hermann Wrage's stated hometown, Flensburg.  I can expect to find more records here.

GeoGen Surname Mapping for surname WRAGE

Another great feature at GeoGen is the Name Graph, which provides alternate spellings for a surname.  Wrage might appear with or without the W, and could even start with a vowel.  Finding and confirming records on this line will be tricky at times, especially if the family was Danish and became German before coming to New York.

Alternate spellings for surname WRAGE