Z-, Zub-, Zubkis from Uman (with excuses to Rav Nachman), And A Possible 5th Great Grandfather

After discovering that the Zubata family from Buki (in the Uman district) could be connected to my Zubkis family, I ordered what was advertised on FamilySearch to be the "Uman District Revision List, 1811-1813."  When it came in, I was disappointed to see how few pages there were (although a bit of me felt relieved that I wouldn't have to sound out very much Old Russian).

There was only one family that looked like it might be a version of Zubkis, so I took photographs and uploaded it to Genealogy Translations.  There, Inna, Jody and Natalia helped me to confirm that I was indeed reading it correctly--and may have gone back another generation.

Berko Zubkis & Family; Uman; 1811 Russian Empire Revision List

Zobati/Zubata to Zoupcoff? A New Trail....

Last month, I wrote a post about the Zoupcoff family, in which the patriarch (Max) had been named as an uncle to my great grandmother's first cousins, the Supcoff brothers.  I mentioned how I hadn't been able to find this branch's ship manifests.  I challenged readers to find them--and took the challenge up myself to look again.  So I guess I win the genealogy points I advertised, since I found them.

Instead of searching under various spellings of Supkoff and Zubkis, I decided to try searching by first names.  From her gravestone, I know that daughter Sophia's Hebrew name was Shifra (the least common of the 3 Zoupcoff children born in Europe).  Looking for matches to the first name S*hifr* which arrived in 1906 (based on the 1910 census) and who were born between 1902 & 1904 (given her 1903 birth year) gave only 23 results.  I looked through each and found one which precisely matched the Zoupcoff family:

Zubata Family Ship Manifest; 1906

Ancestor Deep Dive: Rochel Brandman Sanshuck

My great-great-great grandmother, Rochel Brandman Sanshuck, was born about 1832 in what is now Krasnoye, Vinnitsa, Ukraine (then Podolia Guberniya).  Her parents were Yaakov and Tzipra Brandman.

Rochel had at least 3 siblings:

1. Dov Ber Brandman, born about 1828, died April 9, 1844 in Krasnoye
2. Golda Brandman, born about 1830, died November 15, 1852 in Krasnoye
3. Pinchas Leib Brandman

On November 9, 1849, Rochel married Aryeh Leib Sanshuck in Krasnoye.

Leib Sanshuck & Rochel Brandman Marriage Record in Hebrew; Krasnoye; 1849

Esther Rutner Joshowitz--As Remembered by Her Granddaughters

I've done multiple Ancestor Deep Dives, tracing direct ancestors through documentation.  But there are some who actually remember these people--so I've asked them to share their memories.  Here's the first of several.  Thanks to my mother's first cousins, Barbara Lockspeiser Jaffe and Judy Lockspeiser Rosenbaum, for sharing their memories of my great-grandmother (their grandmother), Esther Rutner Joshowitz.  A deep dive into Esther's life can be found here.

Judy Lockspeiser Rosenbaum
I have some memories of visiting  my grandmother on Sundays.  We lived on 4222 Upview Terrace in Pittsburgh.   My parents would pack us ( my brother Marty, sister Barbara  and me, Judy) up into the car and we made the trip to McKeesport and spent Sunday afternoons.

Esther Rutner Joshowitz with husband Josef, 1947

Canadian Soupcoffs, Eh? (After a Stop in Pittsburgh)

Yet another branch of the Supkoff-but-spelled-differently family that I'm sure is connected but I don't know how--the Canadian Soupcoffs.

Frank Soupcoff (sometimes Soupkoff and Supkoff) was born about 1882 in "Russia;" his Hebrew name was Efrayim.  His father's name was Moshe based on the inscription on his tombstone; his mother may have been Rebekah (according to an unsourced website).

In 1903, Frank married Rachel Lebovitz; both were then living in Pittsburgh. Here it notes that Frank was born in Austria, although all other sources have him having born in Russia.

Frank & Rachel Soupcoff Marriage License; Pittsburgh, PA; 1903

Dr. Jacob Soupcoff/Lorenz, Insurance Fraud Organizer, Gambling House Proprietor--and Physician

Jacob Soupcoff (later Lorenz), born around 1869, was a son of Morris and Mollie Soupcoff and a sister of "beautiful Jewess" Anna.  He came to America in approximately 1886.  He became a physician--but seems to have a record of getting into legal problems.

Jacob Soupcoff Petition for Naturalization; Pittsburgh, PA; 1894

In 1894, Jacob petitioned to become a US citizen.  But the very next year he made nationwide news for insurance fraud.  Jacob and his co-conspirators would find accidents reported in the local newspaper and then claim that they had been injured in those accidents.

New York Post, May 10, 1895

Anna Soupcoff Lewis King Kehr, the "Beautiful Jewess"

Anna Soupcoff, one of the daughters of Morris and Mollie Soupcoff, made national headlines after she eloped with the son of a millionaire.

In 1900, Anna was an 18-year-old girl living with her family in Pittsburgh.  She had been born in February 1882 in "Russia," arrived in the United States in 1887, and was a "box maker," likely in her father's Keystone Box Company.

1900 United States Census; Pittsburgh, PA; Annie "Soupcof" (line 85)

But 8 years later, Anna left her family and headed west--and made the front page of the New York Press: