Minnie Teilhaber and Abraham Rubin

Abraham Rabinowitz, later Rubin, was born in 1888-1891 in Chopovichi, in what was then the Kiev gubernia in the Russian Empire. His parents were Herschel and Hinda Rabinowitz.

Abraham arrived in NYC on February 7, 1913, aboard the SS Fuerst Bulow out of Bremen. His passenger manifest describes him as a merchant. He'd paid his own passage and was headed to join his cousin Eli Kedowsky, who lived at 79 Columbia Street in NYC. When Abraham's younger brother Chatzkel arrived in NYC a year later, he said he was headed to join Abraham at 79 Columbia Street. I don't know if Abraham actually lived there or if this was just an address of convenience.

On June 10, 1917, Abraham married Minnie Haber in Manhattan. This is the earliest date for which I have documentation of him using the last name Rubin.

According to the marriage record, Minnie was born in 1895 in "Gelszia" (Galicia) in the Austrian Empire. Her parents were Sam Haber and Sophia Tre...N. However, in both the 1920 and 1930 US Censuses, Minnie's mother was recorded as living with the younger couple. In 1920, her name was recorded at Lottie - not Sophia - Harba and in 1930, as Lottie Pilehaber. These discrepancies led me to dig further into Minnie's family. I'm fairly sure that the family name was Teilhaber and that they came from Czernowitz, in the Bucovina region of the Austrian Empire. Minnie's father's name was anglicized as Sam, Simon and Cecil. It may have originally been Süsse. Minnie's mother's first name was Sprintse, and her last name at birth was something like Tresser.

Minnie immigrated to Quebec in or about 1907 and lived in Montreal for a couple of years. She also crossed the border at St Albans, Vermont, on November 2, 1909, going to join her older brother Gabriel in NYC. She gave her profession as seamstress. As of 1910, she was living with her mother and siblings in Manhattan and working as an "operative" in a waist sweatshop (i.e. a sweatshop that made women's shirts, not a fitness club that helped members sweat off weight attain slimmer waists). In July 1912, Minnie went back up to Montreal, returning to the States on April 23, 1913, to move back in with her mother.

Minnie and Abraham had a son, Sidney, born March 16, 1918. By 1920 they were living at 188-190 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. Abraham was working as a woolens merchant. A daughter, Frances, was born August 14, 1920.

On January 27, 1922, Abraham declared his intention to become a US citizen. He gave his last name as Rabinowitz, his date of birth as December 20, 1891, and his place of birth as Kiev. The family was still living at 188-190 2nd Avenue.

On November 28, 1923, a bankruptcy sale was held for Nathan Sapkovsky, trading as Nathan's Department Store at 193 1st Avenue. The assets to be sold at auction included general merchandise, notions, dry goods, toys, furniture and fixtures. This wouldn't be of interest except that two years later, on December 16, 1925, the New York Times reported that a petition for bankruptcy had been filed against Abraham Rubin, dress goods, 193 1st Avenue. The amounts involved in the petition were small: $57 owed to Sam Sbunsky, $465 owed to E Markowitz and $161 owed to Samuel Glauberman. However, the fact that the business was said to have about $2,000 in assets and about $10,000 in liabilities showed how much trouble it was in. A bankruptcy sale was held on December 28, 1925, to auction off said assets: dress goods, woolens, silks, cash register, fixtures, etc. The discharge of the bankruptcy was reported by the Times on May 27, 1926.

It doesn't seem unlikely that Abraham Rubin took advantage of Nathan Sapkovsky's misfortune to open his own business at 193 1st Avenue some time after late November 1923. The question is, is this Abraham Rubin "our" Abraham Rubin? The name wasn't an uncommon one in New York.

193 1st Avenue is the address that Hersch "Rabinovich," arriving in the States from Argentina on March 24, 1924, gave for his "brother" Abraham Rubin. That wouldn't mean much except that Hersch's description - age, trade, physical characteristics - is quite similar to that of Abraham's sister's husband, Herschel Gittelman. I haven't been able to find an immigration record under the name of Herschel Gittelman, but I know he was in NYC no later than May 1925. If Hersch Rabinovich is Herschel Gittelman, this makes it certain that "our" Abraham Rubin owned the shop at 193 1st Avenue.

(Just as a note, when Abraham's brother Hyman (Chatzkel) registered for the draft in WWI, he reported that he owned a business at 193 1st Avenue. In the 1920 US Census, he reported that he had his own dry goods store. So the store may - or may not - have passed from Hyman to Nathan Sapkovsky to Abraham.)

On January 25, 1929, Abraham petitioned for citizenship, this time giving his name as "Abraham Rubin formerly known as Abraham Rabinowitz." For his address, he supplied 79 Columbia Street, which was actually the address of Eli "Louis" and Sarah Kedofsky. Louis and Sarah also served as his witnesses. Abraham took the oath of allegiance to the US on March 17, 1930. By the time the 1930 US Census records were collected on April 2, the Rubin family was living at 724 Fox Street in the Bronx. Abraham was working as a custard peddler.

Minnie's mother Sprintse passed away in Manhattan on May 18, 1934. Her death and burial records managed to get her name reasonably correctly. Her death record refers to her as Sprince Teilhaber, born 1863, the daughter of Benjamin Traeler. She was buried as Sprintze Teilhaber in the Baron Hirsch Cemetery on Staten Island, where Minnie's older sister Sophie is also said to be buried.

I wasn't able to find records for the Rubins in the 1940 US Census. However, the issue of the Brooklyn Eagle published February 27, 1941, reported that a marriage license had been issued for Sidney Rubin of 199 Orchard Street, Manhattan, and Florence Fishbein of 214 Avenue N, Brooklyn.

When Abraham registered for the WWII draft in or about 1942, he again gave his date of birth as December 1891 (no day was specified) and his place of birth as Kiev. He gave his residential address at 199 Orchard Street in Manhattan and said that he owned an interiour decorating business at the same address. Abraham's brother Hyman also said he worked at the same address, except that he described it as a dry goods business owned by his wife Ida.

I haven't been able to find a WWII record that I can definitely link to Sidney. There's a Sidney I Rubin of the right age, birth place and marital status who enlisted on July 31, 1943. This Sidney had two years of college and experience in manufacturing hats and caps. There's also a Sidney Rubin who was living Brooklyn and registered for the draft there. Unfortunately, most of his registration record is missing, so I don't know his age, his address or if he was married. What I do know is that he was 6' tall, weighed 168 lbs and had grey hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion. Also, he was missing one limb. This one sounds a bit tall for one of "our" Rabinowitzes, and few men in their mid-twenties already have grey hair.

I haven't been able to find any information on the Rubins after 1942.