Jewish Data Times Issue 1 September 2003

Jewish Data Times – Focused on records and images posted at www.jewisdata.com Issue Number 1 September 2003 1. New records from the Jewish Cemeteries in Kingston, NY. 2. New records from the Jewish Cemetery in Gloversville, NY. 3. Declaration of Intention documents from Fulton County, NY. 4. A few tips on how to search the database. 1. Approximately 2,600 records and images derived from the Kingston, NY Jewish Cemetery have been posted. This includes sections from the following Congregations: Agudas Achim, Ahavath Israel, Emmanuel, and the Workman's Circle. To visit this cemetery it is required to drive through sections of a non-Jewish Cemetery at 75 Montropose St. The earliest tombstone is that of a young girl named Hanah Silverstein who died in 1886. The first adult to be interred there is a woman called Hulda Harris who died in 1897 at the "age of 34 years and 16 days". The first person who lived to a ripe age was Abraham Goodman who died in 1907 at the age of seventy years old. These numbers suggest that the Jewish community began with young people in the 1890's. Many of the tombstones in this cemetery are flat instead of standing, and the severe winter weather has taken a toll on many of the monuments. Some of the monuments are only 20 years old, but they are worn out and difficult to read. Many of the monuments in this Cemetery are in English only, and very few are in Hebrew only. There are some monuments state where the person was born, such as Solomon Appel (died in 1910) inscribed as having been born in Posen, Germany. Some of the early Jewish families who are interred in the cemetery are Ellis, Friedman, Moda, Rice, and Silverstein. To view any of the records mentioned here, enter the name in the search field, and then enter "Kingston" in the record location field. 2. We have completed posting the approximately 1,800 records and images derived from the Knesseth Israel Cemetery in Gloversville, NY. The Cemetery is located at the end of Clyde St. and it has two entrance gates. We observed a strange custom practiced by visitors to this cemetery. A number of them leave coins on the tombstones. The oldest tombstones are that of a young infant girl named Annie Steidle who died in 1886, and a woman named Jetta Lesser Lebenheim who died the same year, "aged 52". The first man buried there was Adolph Ruben in 1887. Some of the early Gloversville families were Barnett, Bleecker, Feldman, Frank, Galinsky, Lebenheim, Pozefsky, Robb, Rosenberg, Sack, Sally, and Zuckerwar. It seems like their spiritual leader was Rev. Abraham Zuckerwar who lived until 1937. The following records enhance information on the Jewish Community of Gloversville. 3. Approximately 400 records and images from the Declarations of Intention documents filed by Jewish people from Fulton County, NY have been posted. Almost all of them lived in the city of Gloversville. The majority of them were born in either Warsaw (Russia at the time), or Wilno (a.k.a. Vilna). These Jews came to this Country and settled in Gloversville to be part of their booming glove industry. Their occupation is stated as a "glove cutter" "glove maker", "glove worker", or "salesman". To name a few of them: Louis Siegel, Sam Glick, Pinchas Winerman, Abram Kletzky, Leepo Zalkind, Jacob Kaplan, Joe Gordon, Harry Block, and one woman- Ida Swirsky. Several of the Jewish people are listed as barbers, and Joe Chazen and Sam Cohen are listed as butchers. Of course some of them had other occupations such as Wolf Edelman- "Junk dealer", or Joseph Kalbfeld- "watches and diamonds". Some of them were not so comfortable with English, such as Elias Schwartz, a "leather worker", born in Austria, who signs his name in Hebrew. Matching the documents to the cemetery records, it is quite clear that many of the Jewish families who came to work in the glove industry did not remain in Gloversville for the rest of their lives. We plan to post more of these records in the future. 4. Tips: A. When searching for a name, you can limit your search by entering the city name in the "record location" field. This applies only to cemetery records, because their respective Counties identify documents. B. Sometimes names are spelled differently on the same document. For example Morie Nagle from Fulton County, NY is listed as above, but he signs his name as "Morie Nagel". Therefore, if you don't find the name you're looking for, try entering fewer letters in the last name field, for example "Nag".