John Newmark's Page

Barney Newmark's 1921 Oakland

Over the weekend St. Louis County Library shared a link to their Digital Archives on social media. It's been around since March, but I hadn't realized it.

Searching the archives, I found a reference to my great grandfather in the 1921 St. Louis City/County Auto Registrations Directory

Organized by registration number, these would be next to impossible to browse if they weren't digitized and made searchable. I knew Barney's address from city directories and census records.

Oakland, a division of General Motors, would later change its name to Pontiac. 

I've long had a photograph in my collection of my great grandfather, Barney, great grandmother Bertha, and their two sons, Melvin and Harold - standing in front of a car. There was no date on the photograph. Since there are multiple cars in the background, I surmised they were on a parking lot. But they could easily be on a sales lot as well. In 1921 Melvin would have been 9 and Harold 6. That seems about right for the photograph.

The directory only tells us the make, not the model. We don't see much of the car in the background. But assuming it's a 1921 Oakland, I have been able to find online images of a coupe, touring car, and a sedan. For a family of four, it's not difficult to guess which one they bought. 

There's no guarantee that the photograph is of them purchasing the car, but it seems likely. 

This doesn't add a lot of genealogical information, but it does provide a very likely year for a photograph. 

Amanuensis Monday: Biography of Martin Deutsch - 1963

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. 

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Solving the Blatyta Wajman (Blatt Wyman) Conundrum

I’ve written before about a conundrum between records uncovered and family lore in my Blatyta/Blatt line. I’ve uncovered a possible explanation behind the conundrum.

Family lore:

• Morris Blatt (Moshe son of Jacob) and Belle Wyman were married in Łosice, Poland.  
• They had two daughters: Blanche and Annie. 
• Belle died of a bee sting in Poland, but likely after Morris and Belle had separated/divorced. 
• Morris, Blanche, and Annie immigrated to America (St. Louis, Missouri). 
• Morris married Mollie Kellner in St. Louis, and they had two more children. 
• Blanche married Joe Wyman, and there were family jokes about whether she married a cousin.

Earlier Research:

Early in my research, I received well-cited research done by a cousin stating a Moshe (son of Yankiel) Blatyta married Chaia Beila Boksern in Losice. Yankiel is a common nickname for Jacob. When I uncovered the actual marriage record, it confirmed that this was the first marriage for both individuals.

How could Chaia Beila’s daughters be confused about their mother’s maiden name to the point that a family joke developed? Perhaps there were Wymans in her family tree, but there seemed to be some certainty that Belle was a Wyman herself. Could there be two Moshe sons of Jacob? We did not have birth records for Blanche or Anna. The records for their years of assumed birth do not appear to have survived. Even for years that records survived, the records are likely not complete.

Morris arrived in America in September 1889. In 1900 he, Blanche, Anna, his second wife, and their one son, are all living in St. Louis. (Morris and Mollie’s second child, a daughter, would be born in 1903.) Additional records uncovered there was a son of Morris and Molile who died as an infant in the intervening years.

Of course, there's an 11-year gap between 1889 and 1900. The missing 1890 census rears its ugly head.

Recent Research:

Recently I uncovered the immigration records for Blanche and Annie – in 1899. Ten years after their father. They were traveling under the Hebrew names of Breine and Chana, with Esther Winterman and her children, Yankel (Jacob), Abram, and Masche (Mary).

The manifest records them all as meeting a B. Winterman in St. Louis, with him identified as Esther’s husband, and the father of both the Winterman and Blatt children. In 1900 Esther and her children are living in St. Louis with Henry/Harry Winterman. (Confusion of first names isn’t impossible. Multiple names are common.)

We were familiar with the Winterman family. We knew them as some sort of Wyman cousins. We hadn’t yet identified how.

It’s possible if Morris and Belle really did separate as family lore suggests, the children remained with the mother. After Chaiia Bella died, it appears Blanche and Annie were raised by the Wintermans. So they could easily have viewed Esther as sort of a mother figure, even if they knew it wasn’t biological. 

According to her death certificate, Esther’s maiden name was Wyman. 

With the assistance of the cousin I mentioned in the first paragraph, we have uncovered Esther Wajman’s birth record in Polish archives, along with the birth records for two of her three children on the manifest. 

It isn’t difficult to hypothesize confusion – not on the maiden name of their mother – but a confusion of details between biological and adoptive mothers.

I still need to figure out how Esther Wyman Winterman and Chaia Beila Boksern Blatyta were related, if they were. But absent birth records for Blanche and Annie, I am more confident Chaia Beila was their mother. We may never be able to find those records, so we need to do the best we can with the records that have survived.

Timeline for Samuel Joseph Newmark 1862-1940

• 1862 - Samuel Joseph Newmark was born to Israel David & Leah in Warka, Poland 
• Dec 17, 1880 - married Rose Cantkert 
• Sept 15, 1882 - Son, Solomon born in Warka 
• March 25, 1886 - Son, Barney born in Warka 
• Dec 25, 1886 - Daughter, Nellie, born in Warka 
• March 4, 1890 - Daughter, Bella, born in Warka 
• Aug 16, 1892 - Son, Meier/Max, born in Warka 
• 1893 - Family immigrates to London, England 
• October 1893 -- Nellie and Bella enroll at Westminster Jews Free School in London. (Boys records did not survive)
• Nov 27, 1894 - Daughter, Kate, born in London 
• Aug 16, 1896 - Daughter, Cecile, born in London 
• August 1898 - Nellie and Bella leave Westminster Jews Free School (Reasons given: Required at Home/Work) 
• Aug 31, 1902 - Son, Solomon, marries Sarah Nathan at the Great Synagogue in London
• Apr 3, 1903 - Son Israel David born in London 
• Nov 30, 1903 - According to a passenger manifest, Samuel may have traveled to the US. 
• March 9, 1904 - Granddaughter, Minnie Bertha, born to Sol and Sarah in London
• March 21, 1905 - Grandson, Israel David, born to Sol and Sarah in London
• Aug 27, 1906 - Grandson Moses (Maurice) born to Sol and Sarah in London
• May 11, 1907 - With son, Barney, visited North America. Landed in Quebec. Crossed the border to the US in July. Returned to London.
• Oct 14, 1908 - With sons, Sol & Barney, arrived in the US
• March 21, 1909 - Rose and the remaining children and grandchildren arrive in the US.
• April 19, 1909 - Granddaughter Esther born to Sol and Sarah (dies as an infant)
• Jan 30, 1910 - Daughters Nellie and Bella marry Morris Fudemberg and Charles Cohen in a double wedding in St. Louis
• Feb 7, 1911 - Granddaughter Bess born to Bella and Charles Cohen
• Aug 27, 1911 - Son, Barney, marries Bertha Cruvant
• April 27, 1912 - Granddaughter Sylvia born to Nellie and Morris Fudemberg
• Aug 27, 1912 - Grandson, Melvin, born to Barney and Bertha
• Feb 6, 1913 - Daughter Kate marries Phillip Jacobs in St. Louis, MO
• Feb 7, 1913 - Son, Max, marries Dora Neustetter in Chicago, IL
• Dec 16, 1913 - Daughter Natalie born to Kate and Philip Jacobs in Chicago
• About 1914 - Daughter Cecile marries Hyman Gold in St. Louis
• April 14, 1914 - Grandson Adolph Abraham (Andy) born to Bella and Charles Cohen
• June 27, 1914 - Grandson  Nelson born to Max and Dora Newmark
• Dec 23, 1914 - Granddaughter Nellie, born to Sol and Sarah
• Sept 26, 1915 - Granddaughter Bernice, born to Cecile and Hyman Gold in St. Louis
• Dec 17, 1915 - Grandson Harold Carl, born to Nellie and Morris Fudemberg
• July 27, 1916 - Grandson Harold Irving David born to Kate and Philip Jacobs in Chicago
• April 6, 1918 - Grandson Harold born to Max and Dora Newmark
• Oct 11, 1918 - Grandson Paul William born to Nellie and Morris Fudemberg
• Feb 24, 1923 - Granddaughter Minnie Bertha dies.
• Feb 27, 1923 - Grandson Irving born to Nellie and Morris Fudemberg
• July 13, 1923 - Granddaughter Bernice born to Bella and Charles Cohen
• Jan 1927 - Son Israel David marries Clara Rubin 
• Sept 25, 1928 - Grandson Victor born to Cecilie and Hyman Gold, in East St. Louis, IL
• Dec 9, 1928 - Grandson Philip born to Israel David and Clara
• Jan 31, 1931 - Son, Max, died. (Shot by burglar) 
• March 28, 1932 - Grandson, Mark, born to Israel David and Clara
• Dec 4, 1934 - Son, Sol, died. 
• 1936 - Grandson, Melvin, marries Belle Feinstein
• 1938 - Great Grandson, ___, born to Melvin and Belle 
• July 20, 1940 - Samuel Joseph died.

The Jersey Settlers of Adams County MS

I haven't posted in awhile, but there are several entries in my drafts folder, which I will finish editing..

Recently I went in search for information on Rev. Samuel Swayze, the brother of my 5th great grandfather, Israel Swayze. My search led me down a fascinating trail. My ancestor, Israel, like many Loyalists, fled to Canada after the Revolutionary War. But his brother, Samuel, left New Jersey in 1773 for the British Colony of West Florida.

Most people, including me until recently, when asked would say Florida was a Spanish colony. And it was. But Spain traded it to Britain for Cuba in the 1760s. Britain divided it, and territory received from France, into East Florida and West Florida. 

During the Revolution, Florida mostly remained Loyal. When Britain lost, it appears they essentially abandoned their newer colony as well, so Spain retook control.

Rev. Samuel Swayze, his family, and 14 other interrelated families are known as The Jersey Settlers of Adams County, MS. (Natchez). 

1. Swayze, Rev. Samuel and wife, Hannah Horton
2. Coleman, Jeremiah and wife, Hannah (Swayze) Coleman (1733-1807)
3. Unknown and wife, Phoebe Swayze (1735-bef.1787)
4. Samuel Swayze Jr (1737-1800) and wife, Elizabeth Putnam
5. Nathan Swayze (abt.1740-1819) and wife, Bethia (Hopkins) Swayze (1747-1840)
6. Elijah Swayze (1741-abt.1814) and wife, Polly White
7. Stephen Swayze (1743-1776) and wife, Rachel Hopkins
8. Obidiah Brown and wife, Penelope Swayze (1756-1836)
9. Swayze, Richard and wife, Sarah (Horton) Swayze
10. Gabriel Swayze (1745-1814) and wife, ______ Clark
11. King, Caleb and wife, Mary Swayze
12. King, Justus and wife, Sarah (Swayze) King (abt.1740-)
13. Richard Swayze Jr (abt.1746-) and wife, Hannah Budd|
14. Cory, Job and wife, Lydia Swayze (abt.1755-)
15. Luce, Israel and wife, Deborah (Swayze) Luce (abt.1754-1828)

I’m related to several families on the list. Shared surnames include Swayze, Horton, Coleman, Clark and King. Without more information on Gabriel Swayze's wife, I am uncertain if it is the same Clark family, but there is a good chance. My fourth great-grandfather, Israel's mother-in-law was Abigail Clark Coleman. The linked website has a lot of research on the families demanding my attention.

Notable descendants of these settlers include actor, Patrick Swayze (1952-2009), and cartoonist, Marc Swayze (1913-2012), co-creator of DC's Mary Marvel.