Rojza (Rose) Strzyza

Rojza Strzyza was my first "discovery" of a family member of whom I was not previously aware. She was the third child of Moshe Ephraim, born two years before my great-grandfather Benjamin.

Here is her birth record, written in Russian script. It indicates she was born on August 23/September 4, 1875 in the village of Shiski, with the birth registered in Pultusk. Father was Moshek Strzhizha (different Anglicized spelling), blacksmith, living in the village of Shiski and Mother was Sura Ryfka, née Tis. At the time of her birth, the father's age was listed as 34 (which would make his birth year ~1841) and mother's age as 35 (birth year ~1840). The ages listed on Benjamin's May 1877 birth record would have both parents born in 1841. I am guessing that Sura Ryfka had her next birthday between May & August, which is why she shows as a year older than her husband at the time.

I was unaware of Benjamin having a sister who came to the US. So my first guess was that she didn't. (Note: that turned out to be wrong.)

In the JRI-Poland index on jewishgen.org, I found the index from Nasielsk of a marriage record between Rojza Strzyza and Gersz Lejb Wiatrak.

I have not yet found the marriage record itself, but this seemed promising. The couple was married in 1896.

The birth record of Gersz Lejb is available online.

He was born in Przasnyz in 1872 to parents Jankef and Estera née Tys. I wonder whether this "Tys" and Moshe Ephraim's wife's maiden name of "Tis" could be alternate spellings from the same family -- and maybe they are related -- but this is still a guess with no proof.

The couple had 3 children born in or near Pultusk:

daughter Sure, born 1903

daughter Chaje, born 1905

son Schmiel, born 1911*

Although I have not yet located the original birth records of the children, an estimate of the birth years can be calculated from the ship manifest, show the trip taken by Rojza and the children.

Lines 8-11 list the family (surname spelled Wietrak), who gave a "contact back home" in Pultusk of Malka Wiatrak (who I think was Rojza's sister who married Gersz Lejb's brother Noech--but save that for another post). The ship departed Hamburg on February 28, 1914 and arrived directly at the port of Philadelphia on March 16. Sure is 11 (so born in ~1903), Chaje is 9 (born in ~1905), and Schmiel is 4 (born in ~1910*).

On the second page of the manifest, they indicate that they are traveling to meet their husband/father Leib Wiatrak, whose address at the time was 1528 W Susquehanna Ave.

Leib had traveled from Hamburg to Philadelphia on the Prinz Oskar, leaving May 13, 1911 and arriving May 27, 1911. He listed Rojza (spelled Rosa) as his back-home contact, and was to meet brother Israel Wiatrak of 1644 W York St, Philadelphia. This address is a short walk away from the above address. I don't know anything about this brother yet.

By the time of the 1920 census, the family had changed their surname to Silverman.

(Gersz) Lejb/Leib -> Louis

Rojza -> Rose

Sure -> Sarah

Chaje -> Eva

Schmiel -> Samuel

and had moved to 2127 N 16th St, just around the corner.

How did I connect the Pultusk Wiatrak family with the Philadelphia Silverman family? The link showed up when I was searching for any records with the name Wietrak (the spelling on the ship manifest). An index card for the naturalization of "Schmil Wietrak" showed up, with the name change to Samuel Silverman noted.

Samuel had moved to 806 W Susquehanna Ave, a 15-minute walk, crossing Broad St. After finding that card, it was easy to locate the Silvermans in many records going forward. *Note: the US Social Security Death Index lists Samuel's birthdate as September 10, 1911.

Sarah married Joseph Fox. Eva married Max Epstein. Samuel married Edith Langer. I found all 3 of those couples on the guest invitation list for my parents' 1949 wedding.