Monday, October 12, 2015

The Moving Marienhoffs, Take 2

Earlier, I showed the extreme distances that Yitzchok/Isaac Marienhoff and his son Binyamin/Benoit traveled during the 19th century.  The same sort of traveling was done by Binyamin's first cousins, siblings Louis and Jules as well.

Jules Marienhoff Antwerp Police Registration, June 1892 (page 1)

Jules Marienhoff Antwerp Police Registration, June 1892 (page 2)
Jules Marienhoff had been born in Bogontschar near Poltava, Russia,on June 15, 1861.  His wife was Isabelle Zeeghmann, born in Alexandrie, Governorate of Kherson, Russia, on March 10, 1864.  They had been married in Alexandrie in 1883.  Their children were Ester (born 1884 in Alexandrie) and Raoul (born 1891).

Jules' father was Liévin (possibly Leib?) Marienhoff, born in Goldingen, Governorate of Courland, Russia (modern-day Kuldīga, Latvia) in 1825, and his mother was Ida Klemptner, born in Goldingen in 1835.

Jules was a mechanic--and before coming to Antwerp, he had lived in London!

Jules had presented an excerpt from his birth record, issued in Bogontschar on June 4, 1875, which was left in his possession.  There is an additional commenting noting that Jules' wife and children remained in Alexandrie.

Jules' brother Louis also was registered in Antwerp, having arrived in June 1892 as well.
Louis Marienhoff Antwerp Police Registration, June 1892 (page 1)
Louis Marienhoff Antwerp Police Registration, June 1892 (page 2)
Louis Marienhoff had been born in Goldingen (Kuldīga) in 1853.  On June 16, 1882, he married Marie-Frederique Donne (which doesn't sound particularly Jewish or Russian) who was born in 1860 in Lougarske, Poltava, Russia.  The couple had four children, all born in Poltava:
  • Erswolf (like Hersh Wolf), born 1883
  • Malka, born 1888
  • Benyamin, born 1890
  • Abraham, born 1891
Louis' parents were the same as Jules' given above.  However, Louis hadn't come from London; he had been living in Lougarske, Bogontscha, Poltava in the Russian Empire.

So how far did the brothers move in the first years of their life?  (I have lost them after their time in Antwerp, so they may have moved on from there as well.)
Jules Marienhoff's Travels
Jules was born and moved around in Poltava Province.  He then was in London for some period of time--over 1500 miles away!  He then moved onto Antwerp, another 200 miles' worth of travel.
Louis Marienhoff's Travels
Louis initially moved 800 miles from where he was born in Kuldīga to Poltava--and then another 1300+ miles onto Antwerp.

The scope of the brothers' 19th century travels is surprising and well beyond what most people nowadays would have expected.
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