The Maria Bernheim Weil Bishop Legacy
My brother, Jeff is unfortunately no longer able to contribute to the close partnership we shared for so many years in uncovering the very interesting history of our family. Jeff had been witing a document that he hoped would be the basis for a book between us until a chronic illness put it on hold. Years ago, we had tentatively discussed naming it Stories Never Told. Now it remains incomplete, and in raw form. Jeff's focus was the setting of a foundation for life in the United States in the nineteenth century.
It was not intended to be published as is until we had the opportunity to glaze from it the more salient points and rewrite it. Nonetheless, I can now summarize his major findings concerning certain subjects. To do this I first claimed copywrite in his name and mine in 2023 after I first realized he could not continue.
This chapter is particulaly important history and also chronicles the discovery process that we used.
Please note
This page is a work in progress and will contain a portion removed from Jeff's Chapter 9.
The Maria Bernheim Weil Bishop Legacy
CHAPTER NINE
THE LIVING HEIRS OF MARTA BERNHEIMER
Leonard had it right all along. He told us that the German family of his grandfather, Leopold Dreifuss, would not have sent 18-year-old Leopold to Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania alone in 1868 unless there already was family there to assure that the young German immigrant had the ability to sustain himself. Leonard believed that Henry Bernheim was only one of several family members already in Pennsylvania with the ability to give support to the young immigrant. He had no idea who these other family members were, but he believed they existed.
Leonard searched for other “Dreifuss” or “Bernheim” names in the area and although he did find some, he was unable to determine links to Leopold’s family. But we now understand that what Leonard believed was true. When Leopold Dreifuss came to Pennsylvania there was, in fact, a network of family waiting for him there. Henry Bernheim was only one of them.
Leonard had learned that the maiden name of Leopold’s mother was Bernheimer. The writings of I. W. Bernheim and 1870 census records suggested to him that a Henry Bernheim was living in Selinsgrove before Leopold arrived. Leonard correctly suspected that this Henry Bernheim was a close relative of his grandfather who had taken the responsibility for the care that the young German immigrant would require until he could support himself.
What Leonard Never Knew
But Leonard did not know about Maria Weil, who was an older sister of Leopold’s mother, and whose family resided in nearby Easton, Pennsylvania. Maria’s maiden name was Bernheim. Leonard may have known that Leopold’s grandmother’s maiden name was “Schnurmann” but he knew nothing of the wealthy Henry Schnurman and his family of Schnurmans who had also immigrated from Schmieheim in the early 1830s and also lived in Allentown, Pennsylvania when Leopold arrived.
Our research clearly established that Henry Bernheim of Selinsgrove was, in fact, a brother of Leopold’s mother and was therefore Leopold’s uncle, and that “Mary Weil” who lived with her three children in Easton was Leopold’s aunt.
Although “we have not yet discovered a direct proof of a family relationship between Leopold and the Schnurman’s of Allentown, we did find convincing evidence that “Herz” Schnurman, possibly one of the Allentown Schnurmans, had communicated with Mary Weil of Easton prior to 1851, and assured her that he would be willing to provide funds for the immigration of another of Leopold’s Uncles, who still resided in Baden.
The Civil War was over when Leopold arrived in Pennsylvania, and Selinsgrove, it appeared, was booming with incredible opportunities for a young immigrant if he (or she) wished to make his (or her) life there. But, for whatever reason, a life in Selinsgrove Pennsylvania was not the life Leonard’s grandfather had chosen for himself.
It may be that Leonard’s grandfather did initially live with his Uncle Henry Bernheim, Henry’s wife Richa and Henry’s then ten-year-old cousin, Ella Bernheim in Selinsgrove, or with Leopold’s Aunt in Easton, but Leopold soon moved on to Brooklyn where he chose to live his life and where Leonard’s father Joseph was born. However, it now appears that whatever relationship Leopold developed with his uncle, Henry Bernheim, and perhaps with his young cousin Ella Weis, became important for him and his three siblings who would soon make their way from Germany to Pennsylvania.
When Leopold arrived in Pennsylvania, his Aunt Mary Weil was residing about 130 miles from Selinsgrove, in nearby Easton, Pennsylvania, where she had resided for the twenty-eight years since her immigration in 1840. Mary and her first husband, Meyer Weil began the process of raising three children in Easton in the early 1840s, but Meyer died in 1851 when the children were still very young.
When eighteen-year-old Leopold first arrived in America in 1868, Mary’s oldest son, Simon Weil, a veteran of the Civil War was about 26. But Simon had chosen to leave Easton after the war, and was living now in Philadelphia. Mary and her two other children remained in Easton. Mary’s daughter, Henrietta was 22 when Leopold Dreifuss arrived and had married successful tobacco entrepreneur, Isaac Goldsmith. Mary’s other son, 23-year-old Leon worked for his brother-in-law, Isaac Goldsmith, manufacturing cigars. So it appears that although Henry Bernheim alone may not have had the resources to support the young immigrant, there were other family resources nearby that he could have drawn upon.
Leopold’s entrepreneurial Schnurman family had achieved considerable business success in nearby Allentown, Pennsylvania and the Schnurmans had dabbled in many successful enterprises there. Possibly they had been a support network for Mary and her family and for Henry Bernheim when they first chose to live in Easton, which is a stones throw from Allentown.
Leopold, no doubt, visited with Mary and her family in Easton soon after arriving in Pennsylvania, perhaps even with Mary’s son Simon in Philadelphia, but still he did not choose to make his home in either Easton, Allentown or Philadelphia. What resource was there in Brooklyn that caused Leopold to make his life there?
Leonard’s grandfather, Leopold Dreifuss chose instead to become a butcher, a field that his German father Isaac, who also dealt in cattle, would have understood, and to live his life in Brooklyn, New York. Perhaps Leopold was influenced in his chosen field by family members, yet undiscovered, who also left Germany before him and had settled in Brooklyn, New York. Perhaps Leopold did live briefly with his Brooklyn family, but in 1873 he married and set up his own household there.
It is likely that in 1874 and 1875, when Leopold’s brothers Aaron and Henry were sent by their German family to the U.S., they went to Brooklyn rather than to Pennsylvania, where their brother, Leopold was living. Perhaps they lived in Brooklyn with Leopold and his wife for a period, or stayed with other Brooklyn relatives. But they must have also visited with the other branches of their family in Pennsylvania, since the evidence suggests that they were later drawn back to Selinsgrove by business opportunities there, apparently initiated by Pennsylvania family members.
By the time Leopold’s youngest living sibling, sister Rosa Dreifuss arrived in the early 1880s, Uncle, Henry Bernheim had died and our evidence suggests that Rosa went to live, not in Selinsgrove, but in Philadelphia, where we know, her older cousin, Simon Weil already resided. Philadelphia was, at the time, a large hub for Jewish immigrants, and we found many Dreifuss and Bernheim families there.
Perhaps Rosa had support from other relatives or friends living in Philadelphia. Rosa married in Philadelphia in 1884. Clearly, she visited her brothers Aaron and Henry in Selinsgrove and her marriage certification clearly indicates that the man she would later marry, Albert Gunzberger, was living there before he and Rosa had married.
Rediscovering Our Lost Pennsylvania Family
Our research taught us a little about each of these lost branches of Leopold’s Pennsylvania family. In the process we began to understand some of the history that Leonard thought had been forever lost to our family. Leonard believed that, like his grandfather Leopold, Aaron, Henry and Rosa had immigrated directly to Selinsgrove where each sought out meager occupations or business ventures while they raised their families until each family inexplicably disappeared from Selinsgrove. The detail of their Pennsylvania lives were not shared with Leonard and became a part of the Selinsgrove mystery.
Leonard never knew what happened to the the families of Aaron and Henry Dreifuss. He was never told about the family of Henry Bernheim of Selinsgrove, or about Henry’s daughter Ellen and Ellen’s husband Sigfried Weis in Selinsgrove.
Through his research, Leonard discovered Henry Bernheim living in Selinsgrove and came to believe that Henry had been Leopold’s support in Selinsgrove. He never knew about or considered the importance of Henry’s daughter Ellen. Even Leonard’s father, Joseph may not have known about the families of Henry Bernheim, of Leopold’s aunt Mary Weil who lived in Easton, Pennsylvania or of the Schnurman family of Allentown.
Pete and I were fortunate to have met living descendants of some of these lost branches of our family, who had descended from ancestors of Leonard and who came to Pennsylvania long before Leopold and his siblings, and perhaps had played a part in making their immigration possible.
According to the story of Danville that had been passed down to our cousin, Karen Berk, (a direct descendent of Henry Dreifuss), Aaron and Henry had been peddlers along the canals in Pennsylvania and had, at some point begun their own clothing store in Danville.
Our research taught us that Henry Bernheim’s daughter Ellen grew up and married entrepreneur Sigfried Weis years after Leopold Dreifuss arrived in Pennsylvania, probably some time in the 1870s. By the time Leopold’s brothers Aaron and Henry arrived in Brooklyn, in 1874 and 1875 respectively, Sigfried’s business was already successful. We found evidence suggesting that the business opportunities that drew Aaron and Henry to Pennsylvania in early 1880 may have been created by Sigfried Weis, perhaps at the urging of his wife, Leopold’s cousin, Ellen Bernheim Weis.
We discovered Ellen Wasserman, a direct descendent of Sigfried and Ellen Weis (the daughter of Henry Bernheim) who knew nothing of the Dreifuss siblings or of their business dealings in Selinsgrove or Danville, but she shared with us what she knew about the Weis and Bernheim families of Selinsgrove.
We found nothing to indicate that Aaron or Henry had ever lived in Pennsylvania prior to 1880 when a local Pennsylvania newspaper announced that “A. Dreifuss” would become the “proprietor” of a notions business that would soon open in Mifflenburg. The 1880 census, soon found both brothers and their families living in Mifflenburg and working as notions dealers. Their Mifflenburg notions business appears to have been short lived, however, and by 1882 the brothers announced the opening of their clothing business in Selinsgrove, perhaps with the help of Sigfried Weis.
Although much about the Dreifuss family’s years in Pennsylvania, particularly in Selinsgrove may never be understood, I now believed that although our research may have answered most of Leonard’s issues, we were still missing, living testimony from the American descendants of of Mary Weil’s family who were also a direct link to Leonard’s Bernheimer family of Schmieheim.
Finding Marta’s Descendants
I soon learned that it is easier to trace back the ancestors of a living descendant than to find living descendants of a long deceased ancestor. Census records are helpful, but currently the most recent census records available go only to the year 1940 and are not helpful in discovering contemporary descendants.
From the information I had gathered about Leon and Simon Goldsmith, I realized that it was unlikely that the two sons of Mary and Meyer Weil had descendants at all since there was no evidence that either of them had married or left heirs. In the 1880 census, I found a Simon Weil living in Philadelphia, who was married, with two children, but there was nothing, other than the name, to indicate that this Simon Weil could have been the grandson of Marta Bernheimer Weil, and the fact that Simon, after his death in Philadelphia, was brought to Easton and buried with his family there, indicated that he likely had no family in Philadelphia. The fact that census records told us that the Simon Weil with a family in Philadelphia was born in Germany would also argue that the Simon Weil record we found in Philadelphia was not a descendent of the family of Mary Weil’s son.
But census and cemetery records, clearly established that Isaac and Marta Weil’s third child, Henrietta, married tobacco merchant Isaac Goldsmith and that the two had a number of children together. I was hoping to find a male child since, because of the continuance of surnames, male ancestors are more easily traced forward than females. Unfortunately, the only male child of Henrietta and Isaac that showed up in census records was an Abraham Goldsmith, who was 8 months old in 1880, and although he proved difficult to trace thereafter, he had clearly survived to adulthood. It appeared from the small stones surrounding the Weil/Goldsmith gravestone, that two additional male Goldsmith children, Solomon and Meyer, had died in childhood and were buried at the family gravesite in Easton.
The destruction of 1880 census records, possible name changes and undiscovered marriage histories are some of the reason that descendants of some of Marta’s daughters appeared lost to us. We were, however, able to trace the families of two of the daughters of Henrietta and Isaac Goldsmith and found several possible heirs.
We determined, from a review of available census records, that the following seven Goldsmith children of Isaac and Henrietta had survived to adulthood:
Hanna, born 1868
Ellen, born 1869
Augusta, born 1872
Bertha (Birdie), born 1873
Abraham, born 1879
Mirane, born 1884
Leah, born 1888
Abraham was the only male child to make this list, but his records were elusive and difficult to follow because he sometimes listed his name as Arthur or Albert or just used the initials “A.J.” However, we did ultimately determine that, although Abraham had survived to adulthood, it appears that he never married or had children. His World War I and II military registration statements both established that at the time of both filings he was living in New York City.
Neither Mirane or Leah were born prior to the time of the 1880 census, and we first learned of their birth through those 1880 records, which disclose that Isaac and Henrietta and the following five children were still living in Easton Pennsylvania at that time:
•Hanna, age 12,
•Ellen, age 10,
•Augusta, age 8
•Birdie, age 7
•Abraham, age 8 months
It is well established that 1890 census records were lost in a fire, consequently census record are missing for a period of 20 years. The next available census was in 1900 when Hanna, Ellen and August, were grown. but still lived with their parents in Easton, along with two daughters, of Isaac and Henrietta that had not appeared in 1880; “Mirane,” (possibly Marta’s namesake) age 16 and Leah, age 12.
Cemetery records showed us that Isaac and and Henrietta Weil died in 1906 and 1907 respectively, but we discovered that only a few years earlier, at the time of the 1900 census, five of their seven living children were still residing at home with their parents. Apparently still unmarried at this time were: Hanna age 32, Ellen, age 29, Augusta , age 26 , Mar(y)ann, age 16 and Leah, age 12. Bertha and Abraham were apparently no longer living at home.
In that same 1900 census we found Bertha and her recent husband “Ben Muizesheimer,” living in New York with Bertha’s brother, 20 year-old Arthur Goldsmith.
After the Death of Isaac and Henrietta Goldsmith their Children Leave Easton
In the Federal census of 1910, taken after the death of both Goldsmith parents, there was a 30-year-old male, identified as A. J. Goldsmith living in New York with four of his sisters: 40 year-old Ellen, 36 year-old Gussie (Augusta), 24 year-old Miriam and 20 year-old Leah. These five Goldsmiths appear to be the children of Isaac and Henrietta.
All five were born in Pennsylvania of a German born father and a Pennsylvania born Mother. We knew from the 1870 census that Isaac Goldsmith was born in Baden and Henrietta Weil was born in Pennsylvania so these siblings lined up fairly well to be Marta Bernheim Weil’s grandchildren. Missing from the New York home of the Goldsmith siblings in the 1910 census record, however, were only Hannah and Leah.
Their absence was explained by the obituary notice I found for “Isaac Goldsmith Sr.” posted in the “Easton Daily Argus.” This notice announced the death of an Isaac Goldsmith Sr. on Tuesday, April 13, 1906 (the date of death appearing on Isaac’s tombstone) and lists Isaac’s surviving children to be: “Arthur, Mrs. Myer Van Ullem, Mrs Van Menzesheimer, Ellen, Gussie, Miriam, Leah.” We knew from the 1900 census that Mrs. Van “Menzesheimer” was Bertha (Birdie) so by process of elimination, Mrs. Myer Van Ullem had to be Hannah.
This citation indicates that two of Isaac Goldsmith’s daughters had been married at the time of Isaac Goldsmith’s death, Bertha and Hanna. These, of course, were the two sisters not living in New York with the other siblings at the time of the 1910 census, so it appears that the other siblings were likely still single at that time.
In the 1920 census Ellen and Leah continued to share a dwelling in New York with their brother, “Arthur J.” It is unclear from this record what happened to Sisters Augusta and Marianne.
A Living Heir?
From obituary records for Isaac Goldsmith we learned that Bertha (Birdie) Goldsmith’s married name was Muizesheimer. Ben Muizesheimer, we learned, had married Goldsmith daughter, Bertha.
1900 census records led us to a direct descendent of Salomon and Ella Bernheimer of Schmieheim. We found Ben and Bertha in these census records. Ben is identified as a 31-year-old merchant and Bertha’s birth date is stated to be October 1873 which appears to match that of the “Birdie” Goldsmith, that was the daughter of Isaac and Henrietta. In 1900 census records, Ben and Bertha had a two-month-old son named Edgar living with them. Edgar appears to be the next generation, descended directly from Marta and Meyer Weil and Marta’s German Bernheimer family.
It appears that in 1900 Arthur had, only recently come to live with his sister’s New York family. A directory from Easton, Pennsylvania for the years 1899 to 1900 shows that, at that time, Arthur, Ellen and Miriam, had been listed at the same address as their father Isaac at 113 S. Forth Street, when Isaac still had his cigar and tobacco business. Arthur would have been about 20 years old at the time and does not appear to have been working for his father . Birdie is not reported in the directory and had likely already married Ben Muizesheimer. Apparently it was soon after this directory that Arthur went to New York to live with his sister Birdie and her husband.
Some of my findings were disappointing. In the 1930 census I found Arthur and his sister Ellen still living together, now on West 111th Street in Manhattan. Ellen was still not working, and was presumably being supported by her brother Arthur, a real estate salesman. Arthur was 50 and Ellen 60 in 1930. I was saddened to see that both were still single and that neither had been married.
The enumeration date for the 1930 census was April 12, 1930 and a New York death index told me that less than three months after this record was published, on June 28 of that year, Ellen was dead. The date of Ellen’s death, reported in the New York Death Index, agreed with the date of death for the “Ellen” Goldsmith buried in the family gravesite in Easton, which was inscribed in the marker at the foot of the Goldsmith tombstone.
Another Heir Lost?
But in the 1920 Census I found Dutch immigrant, Myer Van Ullem, a 55-year-old Billiard Table salesman living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his 52-year-old wife Hannah. It appears that Myer and Hannah had one daughter living with them, 15-year-old Jeanette. Perhaps Jeanette was a second heir, but unfortunately I was unable to trace this “Van Ullem” further after the 1920 census. Perhaps Myer had died or changed his name, but we lost track of him and his family after that time.
At the time of this 1920 census, only Ellen and Leah still lived with Arthur. Since I was unable to find Miriam and Gussie (Augusta) Goldsmith elsewhere in this census year I presumed that they had married but was unable to locate them with their married names. In the 1930 census, Ellen and Arthur were still living together. Leah had married a man by the name of Grover Clevland Autler in December of 1920, leaving only Ellen living with Arthur. It was in 1930 that Ellen died and was buried with her family in Easton.
Tracing the Minzesheimer Family
Birdie (Bertha) apparently married Ben Minzesheimer sometime before the turn of the century. Their son Edgar was two months old when the 1900 census was taken. In the 1910 census Ben and Bertha “Minzesheimer” were still living in New York with their now ten-year-old son, Edgar. Ben was a 41-year-old clothing salesman, and apparently a good one, since Ben and Bertha had five servants living with them.
Unfortunately, after the 1910 census, the name “Menzesheimer” (regardless of spelling) had vanished from all available records. Since this was a period of American frustration with German aggression prior to World War I, I suspected that the name had been somehow become “Americanized” and was concerned that I had lost track of the family. Fortunately, I noticed on Arthur’s World War II Draft Registration Card, which he probably filled out about 1941, that he named a Bertha Minton at 305 West End Ave, New York City as a person who would always know his address. In this way I discovered that “Bertha Minton” was Bertha (Birdie) Muizeshemer’s new name.
In the 1920 census I found a Ben and Bertha Minton living in Manhattan, New York. Ben was born in Germany and Bertha in the U.S. Ben was now a fifty-year-old salesman of lady’s ware. With Ben and Bertha lived their son, 19-year-old Edger G. Minton working as a ‘Sales manager and “cotton man.” Given the ages of this Minton family and the Bertha Minton who was named in an Edgar Minton’s World War II draft registration certificate, it appeared that I had located the family of Bertha (Birdie) Goldsmith Muizeshemer, and more clearly established that their son Edgar was, in fact, the grandson of Isaac and Henrietta Goldsmith.
A Living Descendent of Leah Goldsmith
Before I had even attempted to trace Leah’s heirs, I was directed by another researcher to an online family tree filed on Ancestry.com by a woman named Suzanne Rosenwasser, who had filed her “McLain Family Tree on the Ancestry website. This website recorded a marriage between a Grover Cleveland Autler and a “Leah Goldsmith,” of Easton Pennsylvania, who was the daughter of “Isaachar Goldsmith” and “Henrietta Weill.” This information was close enough to the information I had on Leah to bear further investigation.
I contacted Suzanne Rosenwasser, whose husband, Michael’s, mother’s maiden name, she confirmed, was “Henriette Autler,” the daughter of a Leah Goldsmith who grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania. Leah, had died only two years earlier, and had a brother, Arthur, who was also deceased. So, it appeared that this Michael Rosenwasser was a direct descent of Salomon Bernheimer through Maria (Mary) Bernheimer Weil Bishop. Leah and Grover Autler had two children, including a daughter Henriette (apparently named for her grandmother Henrietta Weil Goldsmith).
Michael Rosenwasser knew little about his Easton family, and nothing of the Jewish community in Easton or Selinsgrove or of the Weis or Dreifussfamilies. He recalled some mention of an Aunt “Birdie”, but knew nothing of the Weil family of Easton Pennsylvania. But, Michael had inherited some old family photographs that he valued but could not identify, and a “Civil War era document” he was willing to share with me.
Suzanne told me of two very old photographs, given to Michael by his mother, Henriette Autler, the daughter of Leah Goldsmith and grand-daughter of Isaac and Henrietta Goldsmith (the latter of which was probably her namesake). These “photos” were framed and painted over with oil paints, and had hung for many years in the home of Michael’s parents.
Henriette, according to Suzanne, had no idea who the people in the painted photographs were, although they were identified on the back of the frames as “Weills.” Based upon the family history that I described for her Suzanne assumed they were portraits of Isaac and Henrietta Goldsmith. Suzanne identified the images as She took the photos out of their frames, and was disappointed that there was no further identification there. Even after Susanne’s description of Michael’s family history, I was unprepared for the copies of the two oil painted photographs that I soon received from her.
“oils on daguerreotypes” - The “Weills”?
When I saw the painted female figure in Suzanne’s “oils on daguerreotype” I could see it was, unquestionably the woman in the portrait that Ellen Weis Wasserman kept on her dresser. There were some minor differences in facial features, probably as a result of the artist’s distinctive brushstrokes, (perhaps the artist knew the subjects and added distinctive touches from memory). But, given the many identical details of the two portraits, there could be no question that the wardrobe, hair treatment, facial expression and pose were identical. Even the subject’s long necklace was dictated by gravity to fall in the same manner to the right of the center stripe of the distinctive dress.
We knew when and where Ellen Wasserman’s photograph of this woman had been taken. The reverse side of Wasserman’s copy of the photograph identified the Easton, Pennsylvania photographer, “Tyler” and because of the proprietary stamp, the photograph was clearly dated to the Civil War era. In addition, Wasserman’s photo had the name S. or L. “Weil” written on the back. And yet, the identity of this woman whose image was treasured by two separate branches of our family tree for almost 150 years remained unclear. Two descendants of Bernheimer ancestors (The Weis and Goldsmith branches) had kept this image of a woman they believed to be an important part of their heritage and yet neither knew who she was or understood her history.
The Forgotten “Important Relative”
of Ellen Wasserman and of Michael Rosenwasser
Who was the woman in the two images? - Karen Franklin’s Theory
Based upon her research of the German roots of Mary Ellenbogen (Henry Bernheimer’s mother-in-law), Weis family researcher, Karen Franklin noted that she had discovered that Mary Ellenbogen’s (Henry Bernheimer’s mother-in-law) mother’s maiden name was “Sarah Weil.” Karen speculated that the “ S (or perhaps L) Weil” penciled on the back of the Weis family copy of the photo was a reference to a Weil relative from another branch of Mary Ellenbogen’s family that had also immigrated to Pennsylvania, and that this “Weil” was the forgotten but important ancestor that Ellen Wasserman kept framed in her study.
Karen’s theory was a viable explanation of why the woman in the photograph could have been considered to be an important ancestor on the Bernheimer side of Ellen’s Weis family, but it could not explain why the family of Marta Bernheimer Weil Bishop, who was not related in any way to Mary Ellenbogen, would have also so treasured this photograph that she would have had the photograph painted and framed or why Michael’s family, for more than 60 years had displayed the painting and passed it down to their descendants.
My Alternative Theory – Mary Weil Bisop
I suggest that this painting and the photograph that Ellen Wasserman keeps in her study,is a photograph of Marta Bernheimer (Mary Weil Bishop) herself. The photograph from which the painting was copied or painted over was originally taken in Mary’s American hometown of Easton Pennsylvania during the period of the American Civil War when Mary Weil Bishop would have been in her early 50s and living in Easton. It is easy to understand why Mary’s daughter, Henrietta, might have had the photo painted and framed and then handed it down to daughter Leah, who, we know, gave the photo to the family of her grandson, Michael Rosenwasser.
Leah Goldsmith was the daughter of Henriette Weil Goldsmith and the granddaughter of Marta Bernheimer. Marta Bernheimer, a daughter of Salomon Bernheimer, married Meir Weil in Pennsylvania and wrote the 1851 letter to her German family when Meir died. When we found Marta’s letter in a German Court’s records more than 150 years later, we first become aware of Marta and her family and their relationship to Leopold and the Dreifuss siblings.
Leah’s mother Henriette would have been little more than a child when this photograph of her grandmother was taken. The notations on the back of Ellen Wasserman’s copy of the old photograph appear to indicate that there were originally four copies of the photo (perhaps three of which went to each of Marta’s children) and that Ellen’s copy had originally been given to one of Marta’s son’s, either Simon or Leon (“S.” or “L.”) But perhaps the photo came into Henrietta Goldsmith’s possession when her brothers died . And perhaps Henrietta gave the duplicate copy of her mother’s image to her cousin Ella Weis in nearby Selinsgrove.
Ella Weis may have been as young as five when this photograph of her Aunt Mary was taken, but as Ellen grew up, her Aunt Mary had become the family matriarch and ultimately came to live with Ellen and her family. Perhaps she had played an important role in Ella’s upbringing. Ella was about 20 in 1878 when Mary died and would have gratefully accepted a copy of her Aunt’s photograph from her cousin Henrietta. Later in life Ella naturally would have introduced the photograph to her own granddaughter as an important and beloved relative.
But it is Ellen Wasserman’s unpainted copy of the photograph that has the original markings of photographer on the back. This copy also contains the handwritten designation “L (or S) Weil 4/4 copy.”
The painted copy of the portrait had no markings on the back, and may have been a copy made with the intention of enhancing it by painting over it, or an original painting made from the photograph. This may have been done by Henrietta, herself most likely after the death of her mother in 1878.
Salomon Bernheimer, The Family Patriarch
It was Suzanne who first noticed the resemblance between Michael’s family oil painting of his elderly male ancestor dressed in black and the photograph that Isaac W. Bernheim photograph posted in his book and described to be his grandfather Solomon Bernheimer. Although the two portraits are not identical there clearly is a resemblance. Both portray elderly men, with glasses, dressed completely in black with hair thinning in a similar manner, but with bushy white sideburns. The pose of both men appears identical, but reversed. Salomon Bernheimer was the father of Maria (Mary) Weil Bishop, Henry Bernheim and Rosina Dreifuss, the mother of Leopold Dreifuss and his sibings. Could this oil rendering represent Mary Weil’s honoring of her deceased father?
The hairlines and long foreheads of both men appear to be similar or identical and both men have long, thin faces, a strong, square chin with white sideburns and darker hair. Both have a wide black scarf under a white dress shirt.
The man in Michael’s oil painting appears to be older than the man in the photograph that IWB introduced in his book, and it would not be surprising if Michael’s family chose to honor Mary Weil’s father with an oil painting would. The image has been reversed, and the man in the portrait appears to have aged, but notwithstanding these differences, it is possible that this painting was initially based upon the photograph that IWB represented to be his German grandfather.
The painting appears to me to be of an older and more frail Salomon Bernhimer than the one in the photograph, purporting to be of IWB’s grandfather. This is indeed possible since the IWB version represents Salomon at age eighty, while Salomon died in 1864 at the age of 87.
At the time of Salomon’s death, Mary’s daughter Henrietta Weil was 16. Although it is unlikely that Henrietta ever met her German grandfather, she may have learned about him from her father and perhaps from her aunt Mary Weil. Possibly she had corresponded with her grandfather. Henrietta was likely exposed to stories about Salomon and Ella Bernheimer and their German family from her mother and possibly from Isaac W. Bernheim and the Dreifuss children after their immigration. It is my guess that it was Henrietta who had both photographs painted (or painted them herself).
The Civil War Document
No less exciting to me than Rosenwasser’s oil renderings, was the Civil War document that Susanne and Michael sent me, which turned out to be a written exemption from the March 3, 1863 Civil War draft that was granted to “Isaac Goldsmith of Easton (Pennsylvania).” The exemption from service appears to be based upon payment of an undisclosed amount of money by Isaac Goldsmith. The document is dated the 8th of October, 1863.
Given the source of the document, I believe we can assume that the exemption was granted to Isaac Goldsmith Sr, so perhaps the Tractenberg reference to an Isaac Goldsmith who had volunteered for Civil War service referred to Isaac Goldsmith, Jr., the Easton grocer.
But perhaps, the reference in Tractenberg’s book to an Isaac Goldsmith who volunteered Civil War service in response to a request of the Governor of Pennsylvania in late 1862 was referring to the Isaac Goldsmith Sr. Perhaps tobaccoist Isaac Goldsmith did volunteer early in the war, before the draft, but had a change of heart and learned that he could buy his way out of the war by March of 1863.
Lisa Breen: Another Descendent of Maria Bernheimer
Several months after contacting Susanne Rosenwasser, an inquiry I placed on Ancestry.com for information concerning Edgar Minton, (who I suspected was the son of Birdie (Bertha) Goldsmith), resulted in a communication from another Goldsmith heir. Lisa Breen, identified herself to me as the great-granddaughter of Edgar Minton, who she confirmed, was the son of Birdie Goldsmith Minzeshemer (Minton). Enid, one of Birdie’s granddaughters, (Edgar Minton’s daughter) was still alive and well and she also confirmed the relationship.
Birdie (Bertha) Goldsmith was one of the sisters of Michael Rosenwasser’s ancestor, Leah Goldsmith. Yet Lisa Breen never met, anyone from Michael Rosenwasser or his family, and knew nothing of the documents and photographs Michael had shared with me. Lisa had no photographs or documents that could tell us anything about the Goldsmith family of Easton, Pennsylvania, but the memoirs of her great grandfather, Edgar Minton had been passed down to her and she was willing to share these memoirs with me.
Edgar Minton died in 1992 at the age of 92, but during his lifetime he wrote his memoirs that attempted to tell about his family. These memoirs ultimately filled in for me much of the information about the Goldsmith family. This information agreed with census and other records we had found and gave us much personal information about the family that would have otherwise been lost.
Minton’s writings told us much about his mother (Birdie Goldsmith Minzeshemer), his Goldsmith aunts and his uncle “Art” Goldsmith. In Edgar’s memoirs he purports to have assisted, (financially and otherwise) his mother, some of his aunts, his “Uncle Art” and even the estranged daughter of his aunt Mariam (Mirane or Merian in 1930 census). He gives us colorful descriptions of each of his mother’s sisters, along with some information about each of their lives.
Just as Michael Rosenwasser’s portraits of his ancestors gave us visual images of some of the ancestors we had been researching, Edgar’s colorful portrayals of his family were, for me, verbal portraits of the Goldsmith siblings as adults. The study of genealogy is often quite sterile, in that we learn about the names of people who once lived but usually get to understand very little about their lives. With Edgar’s descriptions we were able to understand some facets of the lives of the Goldsmith family of Easton. For example, Edgar told us about Arthur Goldsmith, the only surviving son of Isaac and Hernrietta:
"My Uncle Arthur was a comparatively short man and not really stout, but along those lines. We had a good time together. Uncle Art was a lot of fun. He had come to New York before the family moved away from Easton and he lived with my Aunt Ellen. He was a salesman and sold for Einstein Wolfe who made lace and also made the seal packages, which were three to a package and were very successful. I thought my uncle did pretty well with them, but he came to live with us. He roomed with me in a very small room, so we were in very close contact and became good friends. He loved baseball and took me to all the games. I knew all the scores, what each team was doing, who the pitchers and the catchers were. I remember Christy Matthewson who was one of baseball's greatest pitchers and helped the New York Giants win any number of pennants. I loved the hot peanuts and hot dogs."
"Uncle Art and I were good friends. Later on he helped me to get my first job and when I went into business, he loaned me $2000, which I learned afterward was all he had. He never accumulated any money but he was still a great guy."
"As he got older he lived in an inexpensive apartment hotel. He got unsteady on his feet, fell and broke his arm and the doctors told me he could not work and should not live alone. I visited fourteen nursing homes in the city and they were all terrible. Finally, I found the Kingsbridge House at 235th Street. It was run by the U.J.A. and there were two buildings, one for paying guests and one for charity. The facilities are excellent, bright, clean, new and well-staffed. Also there were programs such as store manned by the patients, woodworking and painting, etc., but unfortunately Uncle Art would not get interested in any program."
" He was there a number of years at my expense. Marjorie and I visited him regularly and took him out to dinner for a change. It was quite a trip for us and very depressing as those who were not in bed, including Art, sat near the elevators and just stared into space."
Most interesting in Edgar’s writings was his recollection of his grandparents, Isaac and Henrietta Goldsmith. It is clear from his writings that Edgar understood something of his Weil and Goldsmith lineage, although some of his conclusions may have been misinformed:
“My grandparents on my mother's side were Isaac Goldsmith, born on Feb. 10, 1831, and Henrietta Weal Goldsmith, born on Sept 20, 1848. My grandmother was born in the United States and my grandfather was born in Germany. How they happened to settle in Easton, Pennsylvania I don't know, especially since there weren't many Jewish people in Easton. My grandfather started the first reformed temple in that town, because most Jews of German background are reformed. He had a cigar store on the main street and was very well known.
Because my father traveled so much, my mother and I used to go down to visit the family in Easton every time we had an opportunity. We went on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which was the only way to get down there. We took a ferry boat across to Weehawken or Hoboken and then got on the Black Diamond Express. That train went 60 miles per hour and I can still remember how impressed I was. The windows were open and the dust and dirt came in and we were all black from the coal dust. My grandparents lived on high ground on State Street right opposite a public school...
My grandparents always had a Christmas tree for me if I was down there around Christmas time, even when my father came down to join us. I can still remember how impatient I was in the morning to get downstairs to the Christmas tree and open all the gifts. I was the first grandchild in the family, so I was the idol of everybody.
My grandmother looked exactly like my other grandmother, but she was very jolly and full of fun. She was short and stocky and wore her hair in a bun at the back. My grandfather was comparatively short and had a beard and he was also very genial. I always looked forward to going down there because I was very fond of both of them. I thought my grandparents were great. My grandfather, Isaac, died on April 17, 1906. My grandmother, Henrietta, died on December 4, 1907.
“The kitchen was very large and it had a coal stove. We were a large family and all sat at the kitchen table. There was a dining room but we only went into the dining room on special occasions and the parlor was hardly ever used since it was for company only. Primarily I remember the kitchen and all the good things we had there. We made ice cream and one of my jobs as a kid was turning the ice cream in the salt. For doing that I had the privilege of licking off the flasher.
At that time there were only ice boxes to keep the food cold. The iceman had to be able to get to the back of the house where the refrigerator was, so everyone had an alley next to his house. My grandparents' best friends were people by the name of Ashton who lived right across the comparatively narrow alley from them. As a matter of fact, he was an undertaker and he and his family were friendly with us. They were over at our house constantly and I was over there all the time. They were very good friends.
Another thing I remember about Easton, Pennsylvania was the Bush and Bull store. It was on the main street where there's a memorial statue to the Union Army. We used to go to a nickelodeon which was where we paid a nickel to see a movie. This consisted mainly of a second floor, a big loft with hard folding seats. Somebody played the piano while the movie went on because these were silent movies, of course. We watched the serial type of movies like the Perils of Pauline, where Pauline would be tied across the railroad tracks or hanging from a cliff wile the piano music would go faster and faster. After the mire we would go across to a place that had ice cream and pretzels. That was quite a thrill, to go to the nickelodeon and then go across the street for ice cream and pretzels.
At the end of the street there was a candy store and I used to go down there and buy penny candy. Once the Delaware River flooded and the water came up to the candy store. It was that high. Not that it got anywhere near my grandparents' home. We couldn't go back to New York until the flood went down because the Lehigh Valley Railroad tracks were along the river.
When my grandparents passed away, the family left the Easton house and they all moved away. One daughter married and moved to Pittsburgh, another one went to Philadelphia, and my Aunt Miriam married a man named Danneberg and moved to Baltimore. Aunt Ellen moved into an apartment with my Uncle Art in New York City. On the upper floor of the Easton home there was a sewing room. They had all these girls in the family, so all the family sewed in the sewing room...”
Speculation regarding Potential Contact between Weil and Dreifuss Families
The children of Maria Weil Bishop would each have been first cousins to Leopold Dreifuss and his siblings in Danville, but it is unlikely that we will ever know what if any personal contact the cousins had with one another. It is likely that their families were in touch with one another during their lifetimes, even after the cousins left Pennsylvania. Perhaps the Weil family played a part in bringing the Dreifuss siblings out of Baden and into Pennsylvania. But whatever relationship they shared was likely lost when the cousins died.
If Leonard’s father, Isaac had any contact at all with his Easton cousins it is unlikely that this bond was maintained after Henrietta and Isaac Goldsmith died. Although the children moved initially to Manhattan, it appears that Isaac Dreifuss did not pass this information to Leonard. Too bad. I believe that Leonard and Edgar Minton would have had much in common and Edgar could have been a great mentor for Leonard as he grew up nearby in Brooklyn.
We have discussed the fact that Leopold was the link between our German family and our American family. It appears that this link vanished from our family memory bank when he died. Leopold Dreifuss may also have been a link between the families of the Dreifuss siblings and the families of his aunts, uncles and cousins who had immigrated earlier and who may have made possible the immigration of the children of Isaac and Rosina Dreifuss.
We cannot know how close Leopold was to these relatives, but when he and Marta were gone, it appears there was no one left who might have remembered the earliest of our family members to travel to this country. Leopold must have appreciated whatever support these relatives afforded to him and his siblings, that allowed them to immigrate to this country, but Leonard’s grandfather lived a hard life and had little time to pass his memories on to his children. When he died, most of these memories died with him. Marta died a few years after Leopold and apparently did not pass information on to anyone.
Somehow, Leonard understood that a portion of his family history had been lost. He took upon himself the mission of attempting to reconstruct that history. He gathered for us the stories his father had told him, together with those of Leopold’s other surviving descendants and attempted to reconstruct the history of his family’s immigration and early years in this country with genealogical evidence that remained to tell him parts of the story. The research Pete and I have added to Leonard’s quest taught us about the Weil and Weis portions of our family that were, unquestionably part of Leopold’s story. Perhaps there were other branches of the family that we did not find, possibly in Brooklyn or Philadelphia. Whatever part they may have played in our family’s history remains undiscovered, but yet appreciated by the descendants of the Dreifuss siblings who came to this country through Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania following the American Civil War .