Tuesday, October 6, 2015

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)

The gentleman with who I've been corresponding says that his father (Efraim) wanted to come to the United States, but that he had been denied a visa.  So he went to Argentina instead, where he stayed with his father's sister (name unknown).  He then came to America using his brother's name.
Ship Manifest; Pejsach Zutelman; Argentina -> New York; December 1923 (page 2)

This manifest has Pejsach Zutelman born in "Moravitza, Poland."  This is Muravitsa, which is where Yechiel's father Pesach Hirsch Zutelman lived when his house was burned down in 1858.  This looks promising.

Pejsach (or actually Efraim) was going to join his uncle "B. Pinkus" in Philadelphia.  I do not know who this is and on which side of the family he was related.  He left behind in Argentina a friend "Nowl(?) Barabis in Buenos Aires.

When Frank began the naturalization process several years later, he got his identity back.
Frank Settelman, Declaration of Intention, 1926
On Frank's Declaration of intention, he clarified that his town of birth (here "Murawica") was in Dubno district, so this was definitely the same as my family's town.

In 1930, Frank was listed as "brother-in-law" the head-of-household Paul Shulman.  Since Frank was still single at that time, that would imply that Paul's wife Sara had been a Settleman/Zutelman.
1930 United States Census; Baltimore, Maryland; Frank Settleman living with the Shulman Family
I looked at Paul's naturalization papers to see if they would give insight into Sarah.
Naftuli Shulman/Paul Zutelman Declaration of Intention, 1923
Paul's Declaration of intention was interesting.  He gives his name as "Naftuli Shulman also known as Paul Zutelman."  Could Paul Shulman actually be Frank's brother?

Paul Shulman Petition for Citizenship, 1930
On Paul's Petition for Citizenship, there was no mention of Zutelman.  However, it did give a place and date for his marriage:  January 17, 1922 in Washington, DC.

FamilySearch has indexed Washington DC marriage records.  Searching for Pauls who married Sarahs in 1922 in Washington DC yielded the following:
"District of Columbia Marriages, 1811-1950", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V64J-9Q7 : accessed 2 October 2015), Paul Zutelman and Sarah Schulman, 1922.
So it seems that Paul was the Zutelman and Sarah the S(c)hulman (or potentially something else--an unsourced online tree has her maiden name as Demb).  It would make sense that Paul was the brother Pesach under whose name Frank immigrated, but Paul came as Naftuli Szulman.  Could he have also taken another's identity for immigration purposes?


It looks like he did.  I paid a (windy) visit to Beth Tfiloh Cemetery in Baltimore:
Paul A Schulman Grave; Beth Tfiloh Cemetery; Baltimore, Maryland
Paul's Hebrew name is Pesach, not Naftuli.  And his father was Avraham Yosef, which jives with his father being Abraham.  But here's the confirmation that Paul took Sarah's name:
Sarah B Schulman Grave; Beth Tfiloh Cemetery; Baltimore, Maryland
Sarah's father's name was Tzadok.  And right next to Paul and Sarah Shulman was another Shulman couple:
Simon J Shulman Grave; Beth Tfiloh Cemetery; Baltimore, Maryland
Simon Shulman's father was Tzadok as well.  With such an uncommon name, the immediate proximity of the graves, and the fact that other clues were pointing to Paul having taking his wife's maiden name, it seems that Paul really is a Suttleman.
 
So what do we have?  Brothers Pesach and Efraim Zutelman (both born in the late 1890s) both ended up in Baltimore.  We already know that my ggg grandfather was Pesach Hirsch Zitelman.  Pesach had a brother named Efraim Yankel, as seen in the 1850 census.  So the naming pattern also points to this being the same family.

According to the 1850 census, Pesach Hirsch was born about 1817, and Efraim Yankel was born about 1819, so the Settleman brothers were about 80 years younger.  Neither Pesach Hirsch nor Efraim Yankel had sons yet as of 1850, so any son of theirs would be in his 40s when the Settleman brothers were born.  So Pesach Hirsch and/or Efraim Yankel could be the grandfather or even great grandfather of the Settlemans.  And I'm stuck on documentation for now.

So what next?  Well, I've been inspired by Israel Pickholtz's book on genetic genealogy.  I've asked Frank's son to take a DNA test, and I've also asked some of Yechiel's grandchildren who are still alive to test--two grandchildren from his first wife and one from his third.  Perhaps how much DNA is shared between the Suttlemans and Settlemans will help to solve the relationship.

I'd also like to follow through on the Argentina connection.  FamilySearch has an immigration card for a Myriak Rik, whose mother was Ester Zutelman.
Brazil Immigration Card, Myriam Rik (daughter of Samuel Rik and Ester Zutelman), 1963
I also found a listing from a Buenos Aires cemetery with multiple Zutelmans listed.  I'd love to see if any of the fathers' names match up with Abraham, father of Frank Settleman and Paul Shulman.

Any other ideas?  Please comment below!
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1 comment:

  1. Hi, I am descended from the Shulman's and can confirm your story and tell you more about what I know. Please email me
    Howard S
    hsaccount@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete