Biography of Ruby Berman (earlier draft)

Ruby was born either in Odessa or in a town near Odessa called Czeslawa, on May 16, 1899. His original last name was not Berman but Baraban, as it appears on documents when he and his family members arrived in America. The clerks at Ellis Island spelled it Baraban but it could have sounded like Barabon, Barabam, or even Barabin.

In Hebrew, Baraban means son of a Rabbi (Bar Raban) and in Russian it means "drum, drummer or rhythm." (according to Alexander Beider's Dictionary of Jewish Names from the Russian Empire.) This surname was most often found in records from the towns of Zhitomir, Tarashcha, Balta, and Kiev.

Most of Ruby's family moved to America between 1910 and 1920. Why?

Ruby's father Sam/Simcha died in Russia and perhaps the family was looking for a new beginning. Also, and more likely, at the turn of the century, there was growing anti semitism in Russia - specifically the famous pogroms in Odessa in 1905. Most of the Jews were emigrating in search for a persecuted free life.

All three of the passenger records for Ruby and his siblings list "Odessa" as home town and his mother Sure/Sara and Ruby say they originally came from "Odessa/Cherson" -- Cherson was the entire district in which Odessa was a single town, but there was also a town called "Cherson" too.

Many people wrote the district they were from as opposed to the city so it bears more exploring. Eva (Chane) indicates that she is from "Odessa" and that the relative she left behind is "S. Barabam" at "home" which could be her father, Simcha, or her mother, Sarah. On the manifest Sarah indicates that she left her "brother, Abram Krumberg, living in "Nikololfeff, Kiev" which could be a street address, but most likely refers to the seaport town of Nikolaev, Ukraine.

Sarah writes that she was born in Nikolaev, so odds are that is accurate and will be helpful in trying to track down the family in Russia/Ukraine. Nikolaev (opens in a new tab) is a lovely place today.

Although Ruby reported on his marriage record (opens the file in a new tab) that his mother's maiden name was "Greenberg," it's possible he remembered incorrectly, or the clerk at Ellis Island writing down her information heard wrong and wrote Krumberg instead of Greenberg. Highly possible... She was probably saying it in Yiddish, and the person writing it was probably Dutch. Lost in translation. Still...you never know.

If she were, indeed, coming to stay with an "uncle" then he would have been (most likely) married to her mother's sister since his name was not Baraban. He also might have been a family friend, as was first written on the manifest, but she might have thought that "uncle" sounded better to tell the Ellis Island officials. [WHAT IS THE NAME SHE RECORDS?]

Ellis Island officials were very wary of immigrants becoming "public charges" and detained almost everyone who was not met by someone reputable who could vouch for them. Single women traveling alone had even more difficulty. They could be detained for several hours or several days and you'll see on the manifest sheets of the detainees the number of meals they were fed and who eventually came to fetch them.

But Sarah, interestingly, also lists her current home as "Odessa, Cherson" (Cherson in smaller print) which is, most likely Kherson (opens in a new tab), Ukraine today:

It is possible that both Simcha and Sarah were originally from Nikolaev where they met, married and then moved to Odessa (or an area near Odessa) where their children were born. Simcha died sometime after 1899 (if Ruby was the youngest child) and at some point Sarah either moved to Cherson, or perhaps they always lived in Cherson, but used "Odessa" as the district where they were born.

Avram, Ruby's brother, writes that he was born in Odessa, but his most recent home was in Czeslawe, where his mother lived. These may be variants of the same place or could be the town of Zaslav, currently Izyaslav. [WHY DO WE THINK THIS IS CONNECTED TO ZASLAV, IS IT NOT POSSIBLY THAT CZESLAWE MEANS CHERSON?]

Baraban is not a common name, so some of these families may be related as cousins. For example, during the same years of emigration there's a Friedel Baraban, age 51, with a son, Abram, 14 who is also from Cherson, and has left his wife Rifka behind to travel to the US (Philadelphia), so one might assume that two Baraban families living in Cherson at the same time with sons named Abram, might be related, i.e. Friedel might be a brother to Simcha, and Abram was the name of their father, etc. [WHO WOULD LIKE TO CHECK WITH THIS FAMILY IN PHILADELPHIA?]

There are also outbound records that the Holland America line kept which can be researched that often show where the ticket was purchased, where the person lived, etc. if you are interested. A bit more complicated because they are on microfiche at certain libraries.

It's certainly possible that some of your distant cousins kept the Baraban name and never modified it to Berman.

Eva (Chane) Barabom - arrives in 1912

Eva, Ruby's eldest sister, was the first member of the family to emigrate from Russia to the U.S. Her real name was Chana (possibly Czarna, Chaya). Born in Odessa, Eva arrived (line 29) (opens the file in a new tab) at Ellis Island in 1912, on the S.S. Cedric out of Liverpool. She was age 23, traveling alone and registered (opens the file in a new tab) in Ellis Island. She is detained (line 53) (opens the file in a new tab) at Ellis Island.

Eva wrote she was to stay with her uncle, Schare Kipurss c/o Goldberg at 633 Stone Ave in Brooklyn. (Alternate spelling is Scheri Kipni, who might also have been a friend and not a relative.) [WHO WOULD LIKE TO RESEARCH THIS] Eva had a daughter Claire.

Eva appears in the census of 1920 (opens the file in a new tab) and census of 1930. (opens the file in a new tab) Eva got married in 1926 to Benjamin.

In the ship manifest that lists Eva (Chava) also listed is the Kipniss Family and they were ALL going to the same address. Everyone in this family was born in Odessa. This means that either Kipness or Goldberg (at the Stone Ave. address in Brooklyn) were most likely related to Baraban family. (On manifest they are #5-13). [WHO WANTS TO TRACK DOWN KIPNISS FAMILY?]

In the manifest and the Detained Alien record (opens the file in a new tab) for Taube Kipniss, we see she is going to her husband, Scharl (sp?) and her children: Ester, Abram, Frumie, Chase, Marcha, Sissel, Chare. Note that Frumie and Chase appear to be twins.

The person she "left behind" was her mother "Schera Grunberg." Since Greenberg was Sara's maiden name, then if Taube (later, Toby?) was her sister, that would explain how Eva would be traveling to her "uncle." This means that Taube's father, named "Greenberg" was Sara Greenberg Baraban's brother. [WHO WANTS TO TRACK THESE PEOPLE DOWN?]

If true, this would open up a whole new branch of your family as many of Taube's children have naturalization records as noted by the numbers handwritten on the manifest, and we can also track down her death record. But checking all of these "theories" is important.

Eva had a Russian and Yiddish accent. Eva Berman married Herman Schwartz shortly after arriving in the United States and had 3 children: Sidney, Ruth and Helen. (Sidney married Sadie and had 2 children: Ted and Fran. Ruth married Sol Wechter and had 2 children: Ted and Arlene. Helen married Newt Greene and had 2 children: Michael and Michelle.) In late 1921, Eva's husband Herman died while Eva was pregnant with Helen. In 1926 Eva married Benjamin Harmelin and in 1929 Claire was born. (In 1951 Claire married Sam Schneir and moved to Florida. They had 3 children: Sharon, Larry and Brian. Eva is buried in Florida, Mount Sinai off Opa-locka Blvd.

Avram Baraban - 1913

Ruby's older brother Avram (Abram, Avrum) followed about a year later, age 20, arriving (line 13) (opens the file in a new tab) at Ellis Island on June 24, 1913. He writes he is going to stay with "his sister, Ch. Barabam" who is living at 415 Watkins Street in Brooklyn according to the passenger manifest, which was written when he boarded the ship in Rotterdam.

Avrum arrives in NY and is detained (line 65) (opens the file in a new tab) at Ellis Island. His sister Eva picks him up at Ellis Island while she is actually living at 350 Christopher St., in Brooklyn. He says his last residence was Czeslawe, Russia where he left his mother, S. Baraban behind. Avrum, now possibly called Abraham, Abe or even Allan. Avrum supposedly died in California in or about 1917.

Unknown brother

Family lore is there was another brother. Was there?

Sure & Ruven (Ruby) Baraban - 1914

The next year, Ruby - 16 years old - travels with his mother Sure (Sara) who is 50 and widowed on a ship called the Rotterdam (ship manifest lines 8 & 9 (opens the file in a new tab)) seen below and arrive at Ellis Island on May 9, 1914. The boat they were on was called the Rotterdam, sailing from Rotterdam, ?Holland?. A total coincidence that his wife to be, Gertrude, took the exact same ship within a year or so of his traveling on it. Kismet!

The picture to the right is the actual S.S. Rotterdam that Ruby and his mother Sure traveled on and his wife Gertrude a year later. It was built by Harland & Wolff Limited, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1908. 24,149 gross tons; 667 (bp) feet long; 77 feet wide. Steam quadruple expansion engines, twin screw. Service speed 17 knots. 3,575 passengers (520 first class, 555 second class, 2,500 third class). Two masts and two funnels. Built for Holland - America Line, Dutch flag, in 1908 and named Rotterdam. Rotterdam-New York service. Laid up for most of World War I. Broken up in Holland in 1940.

Sare reports they have come to join her son, Avrum, now living at 1618 Washington Avenue in the Bronx according to the manifest. When they arrive they are also detained (line 231) (opens the file in a new tab), and on the detention sheet it is written that they were picked up by Sara's son and daughter "Abram & Chawe" now living at 1747 Piskin Ave. in Brooklyn. [Very often the address people knew their relatives lived at when they purchased their transatlantic ticket had changed by the time they arrived in the US. Recent Jewish immigrant moved around a lot, sometimes to avoid paying overdue rent.]

Certificates of passenger records for all Baraban (Berman) members are found here (opens the file in a new tab). Sara died of a heart attack at the beach in Brooklyn, NY. As mentioned, her husband Simcha (Sam) died in Europe. Sondra (Berman) Schor was named for Sara.

Ruby marries his first wife Sadie [WHAT IS HER LAST NAME?] and has a daughter Betty, and then gets divorced in [WHAT YEAR?] [WHERE IS THE DOCUMENTATION FOR MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE?] Sadie and Betty both appear in the census of 1930. (opens the file in a new tab) It must have been very hard for them to be a divorced woman, a single parent, during the depression.

The old draft then repeated this heading and paragraph a second time, slightly shorter: Ruby marries his first wife Sadie [WHAT IS HER LAST NAME?] and has a daughter Betty, and then gets divorced in [WHAT YEAR?] [WHERE IS THE DOCUMENTATION FOR MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE?] Sadie and Betty appear in the census of 1930.

Betty grew up in NY and married Robert Klein. Rachelle (Lesin Mark) was the only child they had together - she is currently an artist. After Betty's divorce from Robert (they lived in Yonkers) Betty heads towards Los Angeles. On the train heading west, Betty, traveling alone, became friendly with a group of people living in Salt Lake City and got off the train there, liked it, and decided to settle there.

Sadie takes her baby granddaughter Rachelle and follows. Betty--through contact with the local Jewish community--made it known she was looking for a husband, and found Arnold Lesin that way. Arnold had escaped from Transcarpathian Slovakia/Hungary prior to WWII, but his wife and children perished there during the Holocaust. He and Betty traveled back there to make sure his daughter hadn't survived. Arnold marries Betty, adopts Rachelle, and they have two more children, Debra Lesin [WHAT IS DEBRA'S CONTACT INFO?] and Eric Lesin. Arnold Lesin was a land developer and businessman. They moved to California. Sadie's name, when she died, was Trager. Eric along with his wife Navy Lesin have an adopted daughter, Gisela. Eric died in [WHAT YEAR] and Debra still lives in Los Angeles.

Rachelle doesn't know too much about the Berman family history, as Betty didn't have contact with her father once her parents were divorced. [DOES RACHELLE HAVE THE ORAL HISTORY THAT BETTY GAVE HER?]

In 1928, Ruby petitions (opens the file in a new tab) (another petition copy (opens the file in a new tab)) for naturalization certificate and received this copy (opens the file in a new tab) of his arrival to the States and receives his naturalization certificate (opens the file in a new tab).

Ruby marries Gertrude Buchner/Becker. [WHAT IS HER LAST NAME?]

They get a civil marriage certificate (opens the file in a new tab) in Newark, NJ on March 3, 1931 and then, again, a few weeks later in a religious ceremony on March 29th in Brooklyn.

If Ruby was divorced in New York, it would have (most likely) been on grounds of adultery even if that was not the case. NY law made it impossible for people to simply divorce because they weren't getting along anymore and didn't want to stay married.

Once an absolute divorce was obtained, the blamed party couldn't legally marry in New York state anymore, but if they married out of state the marriage was recognized in New York.

This is why a lot of people went to Reno, or Mexico, to divorce. And these laws didn't change until 1967! There are many articles in the Brooklyn Eagle about local residents getting Reno divorces right and left. Here's an excerpt from an article on this topic explaining more:

Where the final judgment dissolving a marriage is entered prior to 9/1/67, the innocent party may marry again without restriction, but the party guilty of adultery is prohibited from marrying again during the lifetime of the spouse unless permission of the court is obtained 3 years following the date of the final judgment. A marriage entered into in New York in violation of this prohibition without the court's permission is void. (See GN 00305.160D.1.). However, a second marriage entered into in a State outside of New York after entry of the final decree even if with the express purpose of evading the New York restriction would be recognized as valid by New York and by other States, since this restriction has no extraterritorial effect. (See GN 00305.155 for validity of remarriage in States which have adopted the Uniform Marriage Evasion Act.)

Prior to 9/1/67, New York also prohibited the party guilty of adultery from remarrying in that State for a period of 3 years following the divorce, even though the divorce was granted in another State. A marriage in New York within 3 years following the divorce was void even though such marriage was not prohibited by the divorce decree or by the laws of the State in which granted. However, if the marriage was entered into in another State, this provision of New York law had no application.

Based on the naturalization records it appears that Robert was still married as of 1928 and remarried less than three years later. Even if he wanted to petition the court, it would have been too early to do so, hence the move to Newark for the civil marriage followed by the religious marriage in Brooklyn.

Oddly enough, Ruby states in this civil marriage document that this is his first marriage and he is not divorced. [HOW DO WE GET HIS DIVORCE PAPERS RELEASED EVEN THOUGH 100 YEARS HAVE NOT PASSED?]

Gertrude arrives (opens the file in a new tab) on the ship the Rotterdam, Holland America Line, sailing from Rotterdam, Holland - July 22, 1911. The Passengers sailing with her are:

• Ruchel Buchner age 28,
• Malka (Mollie) age 6, and
• Gittel (Gertrude) age 1.

They state they are from Mezibocz -- leaving no relations behind in Russia. She (WHO IS SHE, RUCHEL?) is going to husband, Abram Buchner, 15 Suffolk St, NYC.

Is Gertrude's original maiden name Brecher or Buchner or Becker?

It's odd that Ruby Berman wrote on his naturalization papers in xxxx that he, too, traveled on the ship "Rotterdam" from Rotterdam. Coincidence? He also put his date of arrival in the US (May 16th) as the same date he was born on--which on this petition is May 16, 1899, even though he was probably born after that. Again...people just made up stuff and no one checked, they just took your word for most of it. Gertrude appears in the 1920 census (line 8) (opens the file in a new tab). She always remained an alien (opens the file in a new tab) and never became naturalized because ...?

• Ruby's Occupations: Laundryman, Boxer, Boxing Promoter, Smoke Fish Salesman
• Year Married: ?
• Children: Renee, Sondra, Arnold (Arnie)

Ruby dies (opens the file in a new tab) in 1946 (heart attack) & Gertrude dies (opens the file in a new tab) on August 26, 1961.