Westernized Ancestral Names

My great-great grandfather was Yechiel Suttleman.  He did come to the United States, although his first two wives did not (as they had died in Europe).  On official papers in America, he used the name Charles or Charlie.  His first wife, Kreina, never left Europe or used any westernized name, same as wife #2, Chana.  But how do these three people appear on their children's records?

Death Record of Roza Zutelman Paciornik; Curitiba, Brazil; 1945

My Step Great-Great Grandmother's Arrest and Acquittal

Newspapers can be a wonderful resource to get insight into ancestors' lives, beyond the brief facts noted in census records, ship manifests and the like.

My great-great grandfather, Yechiel Suttleman, was married three times; his third wife, Ida Himelfarb Suttleman, was the only spouse who came to America.  There are lots of family stories about how the family made moonshine and had the younger kids sell it (since they'd be more likely to be let off if/when caught).  But the January 5, 1923 edition of Baltimore's Evening Sun mentioned how Ida herself had been arrested for possessing moonshine.

Suttlemans, Settlemans and DNA--The Conclusion

Earlier, I posted about a Settleman gentleman who believed that he was related to my Suttlemans--and some of the circumstantial evidence seemed to back that up.  To try to get more evidence, Mr. Settleman took a DNA test.  His initial FamilyFinder (autosomal) results didn't look very promising for a connection, but his Y results weren't in yet.  But now they are.

Mr. Settleman's Y-DNA Haplogroup

Suttlemans, Settlemans, and DNA

Earlier, I'd looked at the Settleman family, which claims to be related to my Suttleman family.  The naming patterns seemed to back up their story--Pesachs and Efrayims in both my Suttleman and this Settleman family.  Mr. Settleman also remembers meeting some of my grandfather's half aunts and was told they were cousins.  We were guessing that he would be a second or third cousin to my grandfather.  So Mr. Settleman took a DNA test to put the questions to rest.

His FamilyFinder (autosomal) results are back.  I had hoped/expected that known Suttleman descendents would be near the top--but they were not.  But how well did they match?

Mr. Settleman's matches with known Suttleman Descendants

And the Maiden Name Is....

I recently got birth records for some of my grandfather's first cousins, born in Frederick, Maryland.  They're quite different from Baltimore birth records--and almost illegible.  Birth records should be a great way to find out the mother's maiden name, since she was obviously there at the birth.  But here's the birth record for Sarah Zitelman (later Bassin):

My Endogamous Father

Nearly a month ago, I did a post on how I was able to see which of my DNA segments came from which ancestor.  I did the same thing with Kitty Cooper's Chromosome Matcher for my father's DNA and was able to see the endogamy underlying in my father's Ashkenazic DNA.

My father's DNA, on his father's side

The World's Only Jewish Christening

Harry Zitelman, my grandfather's first cousin, was born in Frederick, Maryland in 1913.  His parents were Morris (Moshe) and  Rebecca Zitelman, both of who were immigrants from near what is now Lutsk, Ukraine.

102 years ago this week, the infant Harry's bris (circumcision ceremony) made the local Frederick newspaper.  And it's clear from the article that Jewish rituals were not well-understood in Frederick!

The (Frederick, Maryland) News; October 27, 1913

Census Sunday - Zutelman Family; Boremel, Russian Empire; 1858

This is the 1858 Revision List (Russian Empire version of a census) for the Zutelman family in the town of Boremel, in what is now Rivnens'ka Oblast, Ukraine, located here.  The left page are the males in the family; the right side lists the females.

The top notes that this is from 1858, and is a revision list for Volhyn Province, Dubno County, town of Boremel.  This page contains the extended family of my great-great-great grandfather, Pesach Hirsch Zutelman.

Settleman/Suttleman Connection?

My great-great grandfather Yechiel Suttleman was the son of Pesach Hirsch Suttleman.  Born in 1850 in what's now Ukraine, Yechiel came to America in 1911.  I have significant amounts of information (both on paper and from relatives' memories) on his three wives and twelve children.  But no one ever mentioned if he had siblings himself or aunts and uncles.

There is a gentleman (with the family name of "Settleman") who knows he is related to us.  He knew Hinda, daughter of Yechiel (and second wife Chana) as his father's cousin.  His father was Efraim (Frank in America), and his grandfather he believes was Abraham.  He knows that his father had a brother Pesach.  Is this family truly related?  If so, how?

Ship Manifest; Pejsach Zutelman; Argentina -> New York; December 1923 (page 1)

Ancestor Deep Dive: Yechiel Suttleman

Yechiel Suttleman

My great-great grandfather, Yechiel Suttleman, was born about 1850 in Volhynia, Ukraine, likely in the town of Boremel or Topilya.  His parents were Pesach Hirsch and (likely) Sima Rivka.

The Muravitsa Fire of 1858

My Zitelman/Suttleman family at one time lived in Muravitsa (adjoining Mlyniv) in the Russian Empire; the town is now in the Dubno district of Volhynia, Ukraine.  My great-great-great grandfather, Pesach Hirsch Zitelman, was living there in 1858, when 11 Jewish-owned houses--including his--were burned down.

Court Transcript: State Archive of Rovno Oblast. Fond 567, opys 1, file 28

Census Sunday - Zutelman Family in 1850 Russian Empire Census

Zutelman Family, 1850 Russian Empire Revision List; Source: State Archive of Zhytomyr Oblast; Fond 118, opys 14, file 3, pages 684-685

This is the 1850 Revision List (Russian Empire version of a census) for the Zutelman family in the town of Boremel, in what is now Rivnens'ka Oblast, Ukraine, located here.  The left page are the males in the family; the right side lists the females.