Goldfoot Genealogy

 Nadene Goldfoot                                      

This morning, I'm thinking about my family;  1st cousin, Don and how part of his youthful life was spent with our Bubbie, our grandmother Zlata Goldfoot nee Jermulowske/i.  Bubbie, or Hattie, a name on the census for her that I never heard in connection with her, was born in Lasdijai, Suwalki, Lithuania which was on the border with Poland. 

What am I remembering?  Measuring my height against hers.  She was so short.  Bubbie eating her favorite;  boiled potatoes with pickled herring.                        

 Also, my memory goes back to being at the house when all of us were there and being told that the Martians had landed and that my father was going to drive us to the mountains to escape them. That was radio news of the moment.  All of the family were in shock and awe.  It could be we were together for Yom Kippur .

She immigrated to the USA as a teen-ager, around age 17 and arrived in the USA in 1903-I believe.  Zlata was born on January 11, 1886 and died December 9, 1950 in Portland, Oregon. She was the daughter of Joshua Charles "Hatzkel" Isaiahel Jermulowskie and his first wife, if my genealogy searches are correct, Esther   "Essie" Decatsky Decad Frank.  Being I have found a DNA match to a very nice man with the surname of Decad makes me think that this is correct.  Joshua's Essie died and he married again and gave Zlata more siblings.  Now, of course, Decatsky is not coming up on FTDNA for my checking but I did find this:  the 1940 U.S. Census.

As it turned out, Zlata never went to school as she was illiterate.  She couldn't read or write in any language, and only spoke Yiddish.  Evidence is that she was home as the baby sitter taking care of her siblings.  All of them did become literate.  There was from Esther  (Essie) ;   Bessie, Jennie and Louis of the 1st marriage, and then there was from Deborah (Dora);  Lilly, Charles and Alice of the 2nd marriage.  I've also found an unknown;  Abram Owsej Ajzykowicz Jermulowski who I wonder since born in 1898, if he's a sibling, too.  He was born in Bialystock, Poland.  Maybe he's a cousin.  Also, the tradition in Judaism is that when a wife dies, she is replaced with her sister.  Were Esther and Deborah sisters?  I need DNA tests to tell.  Most likely not.                        

  Zlata's children include two PhDs with Don and his MS in the grandchildren with  most all being college graduates.  Don had gone on to be head of all the hospitals in Oregon except those in Multnomah County in their economic issues.  That was quite a responsibility.  He had to travel all over Oregon and check on their situations to keep them out of the red.

Don was the one who learned to really speak Yiddish with Bubbie.  He recalls favorite sayings with her to this day, part of the far distant memory that we all have.  We tend to remember the past but forget to take our pills in the morning.  If anyone heard Bubbie's favorite stories, it would have been Don, and he has told me a few.  He adores repeating the Yiddish he did learn from Bubbie.  It gives him his place in line with the Jewish people, if you can understand that.  Though his life didn't follow the Jewish culture as much, he did have that part of his childhood to remember.  

Bubbie, as it was, lived with her last child, Ann.  Ann was born several months after her father,  Nathan Goldfoot,  had died in a horse and wagon accident in SE Portland.  He had the horse and wagon, given to him by a Jewish group who helped the immigrants provide a living for their family.  As it happened, he was not used to handling horses.  His peddler experience was by foot.  So one time the horse was frightened by a noise, came to a halt and this threw Nathan Abraham Goldfoot out of his seat and he hit his head, was knocked out and never did wake up again.  All this occurred on a Friday.  Bubbie did not find out till a friend came the following Monday and told her he was dead and at St. Vincent's Hospital.  She went through  trauma herself, Shabbat and pregnant with 3 babies and a missing husband.  

Ann was born November 11, 1912 and her father had died July 19, 1912, 4 months before.  Can you imagine the state of mind that Bubbie was in?  She already had Charlie, Moshe (my father) and Essie-Elsie and had suffered earlier the death of her 3rd child, a boy-Abraham, who died in infancy at 5 months and 10 days in 1909, the year after my father's birth.  He evidently died of crib death though he slept with his parents in a feather-bed.  

Ann married possibly the last Jew to leave Germany, Werner Oster, who got out in May 1939.  Germany entered Poland in June 1939.  It was not an easy thing for his family to get him out, either.  He had already been picked up and kept in Aushwitz just before it became the Holocaust center of death.  He was picked up for hitting a cow with a stick on the path to the slaughter house of his father's.  It was a stick used to keep them on the path, a leading stick-not a stick used to hurt the animal.  The Germans used any reason to pick up Jews. After a horrendous experience of torture, he was able to return home then.  But his family had to figure that he would be the only one to survive.                                     

Ann had my 5 female cousins for Bubbie to care for as they appeared; Harriett, Darlene, Francis, Rose and Sandra.  They got to live with her and Don who was also there as a brother figure during several of the years.  His mother, Elsie, worked, and during those times, he was with Ann when not in school.

Werner was under great stress all the time as a butcher with my father in that he kept tabs on his family through a radio receiver that was against the law to use as I understand it.  Imagine trying to lead a normal life when your parents and then 16 year old sister's lives were threatened and eventually taken, of course.  Though Werner had been a great athlete in his teen years, it was so hard on him.  That would have also been transferred onto my aunt Hammie (Ann) as well.                                            

Life.  Even though we physically escaped the Holocaust, it left its mark on all of us Jews.  One wonders, wonders about what brought our Bubbie to America in the first place in 1903 and thankful, so thankful that it did.  I didn't even mention that she wound up in Council, Idaho, a little mountain town with some of her sibling members and new husband, Nathan. 

 She was even working washing dishes and such in a restaurant in Cuprum, Idaho.  Cuprum is an unincorporated community in Adams County in the U.S. state of Idaho. The community is located 27 mi (43 km) northwest of Council. Council is a beautiful spot.  Cuprum is Latin for “Copper,” an apt description as this remote part of Idaho likely still has huge untapped copper deposits. Several mines were in the area, leading to the need for a town. A hospital was built here in 1897, and a Post Office was established the same year on December 1st.  Cuprum is now a ghost town and hard to get to.   *Note* Two wheel drive accessible only in summer months. Kleinscmidt Grade is an historic road known for it’s steep grade.  From Ontario, Oregon head north on US-95 North for 44 miles. At the town of Cambridge Idaho, take a left on to ID-71.....How did she get there?  Probably by horse and buggy. 

She was married in November 20, 1905 in Boise, Idaho to Nathan Goldfoot of Council, Idaho, where her sisters Bessie was married to Sam Criss and Jennie was married to Harry Criss and Louis Jermulowske was single and living in Council in 1901 or 1902.  He didn't marry until 1908 and that was in Portland, OR.  She probably lived in Cuprum, Idaho with her sisters, a small mining town close to Council before she married Nathan.  You should see the certificate!  The spelling was so bad that unless you knew the facts, you couldn't translate it.  Sheltered Zlata, suddenly being thrust into cowboy-land or gold-mining land;   cleaning up from them.  

As a teacher, I laugh at the thought of my father and his brother Charlie diving under a bed to escape the broom attack of their mother in Portland.                    

Before Elsie was born, Charlie 4 and Moshe (Dad) 2, perhaps

Dad and Charlie were out  selling newspapers when dad was 4 and Charlie 6 to earn money for them all.  She was a teen-aged mom who was at the mercy of a 6, 4 and 1 year old and the broom was her only aid. The boys were even dismissed from Hebrew School for their antics.  Gosh, how did my father ever produce me,, the perfect school-child?  I don't know.  Must have been my mom's genes.    

Labels: Bubbie, Cuprum, Germany, Goldfoot Family, Idaho, Jermulowske Family, Martians, Oster Family, Robinson family

# posted by Nadene Goldfoot @ 12:02 PM 0 comments

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

                               

Nathan Abraham Goldfoot b: August 5, 1871 in Telsiai, Lithuania. 

Ann, Zlata and Ann's daughter, Harriett, 3 generations

Bubbie, my father, Maurice and myself 1934

She had such a rough life.  She never learned to read or write in Lazdijai, nor did she learn in Idaho or Oregon.  She continued to speak only Yiddish. She immigrated in 1900 at age 14, so young, but she still remembered so much about her Jewish customs and religion.  She may have been taken care of by her stepmother, who married Joshua in 1888 when she was 2 years old.  I've often wondered who Deborah was;  Esther's sister or another Jewish woman in Lazdijai.  The children of both women have been very close.    

Her mother, Esther (Essie) Decatsky died most likely in childbirth, or at least the same year that Zlata was born, January 11, 1886, the 4th and last child by Essie. Her older siblings were Bessie b: 1877, Jenny b: 1881 and Louis Jermulowske b: 1883.  

Her father, Joshua Charles "Hatzkel" Isaiahel Jermulowskie, born in 1850 in Lazdijai, remarried in about 1882 to Dora Leah "Deborah" Unknown. Their children were Lilly b: 1889, Charles b: 1895, and Alice in 1896.  I have found an Abram Owsej Ajzykowicz Jermulowske b:1898 who may have been a brother none of knew about, or maybe a cousin.  

Zlata married Nathan Abraham Goldfoot, original surname of Goldfus, of Telsiai, Lithuania. Her records were in Poland, however.   They met in Council, Idaho but had to marry in Boise, Idaho, and even at that it was a civil marriage with their names badly misspelled on the certificate.   One of Zlata's brother-in-laws had bought much land that turned out to be the center of Council, Idaho.   How they got to Council had to have been by train.  The Oregon side of the railroad was originally built by the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company from 1888 to 1890 from La Grande, Oregon to Elgin Oregon,   The Idaho side of the railroad started out as the Idaho northern railway which was built starting in 1900 from Nampa, Idaho to Emmett, Idaho.  

 Council to is on the highway to Lake McCall, a beautiful resort.  I hope they got to see it, somehow.  I've been there many times on TVCC teacher retreats and just for my own recreation.             

Zlata had been living in Cuprum, Idaho from 1903-1905 first while her sisters were in Council, Idaho.  It was a little mining town.   Zlata, age 17,  got a job in Cuprum washing dishes.  Cuprum (Latin for copper) Idaho was a mining town in the 1890's. The people of Cuprum petitioned the U.S. to become a town. President Taft  issued a patented land grant, granting the town site of Cuprum on April 23, 1909. The photo above is of four miners from Cuprum. The one sitting next to the dog is our Ancestor Great Great Great Uncle Joseph E. Salsbrey on the Jones side. He signed the Petition  Below to get the land grant for Cuprum to become a town. He owned two plots of land there . Note on back of photo said Arkansas Dump I was told that was the name of the mine they are standing in front of. Joseph is the Great Uncle of  Mildred, Orville, Mary and Alice Jones.

I did find a David Gersz Jermulowski Aronowicz born about 1800 in Poland.  and who died in 1868 in Szczuzyn, Lomza Gubernia, Bialystok Province, Poland.  I thought maybe he was the father of our Joshua.  

A Ryva Leia Unknown Iermulowski b: 1841 before Joshua could have been his sister, or married to a Jermulowske. She was born in from Virbalis, Vilkaviskis, a REFUGEE.  It's sad to realize that there were other battles going on way back in  these days and more refugees.    

 Council, Idaho was the new home for the immigrants, as the older sisters had married  the Criss brothers.  Bessie had married Samuel Criss and Jenny had married Harry Criss.  Three couples then evidently lived in Council.  I can just imagine the great Shabbats they had together.    

From Council, Idaho History site: Sam and Harry Criss were Jewish peddlers who came first to Council with packs.  Soon they brought packages or bundles of fabric, thread, needles, scissors, and similar items necessary to make dresses and suits.  About 1898 they settled in Council and opened a store.  Harry Criss moved to Weiser in 1913 and opened a store in the Weiser Hotel.  In 1915 Sam Criss's store burned and he opened in a temporary location, but he soon had a new store.  He married Bessie Jermuloski.  He died in 1933 and Mrs. Criss moved to Portland.  She died August 13, 1955, at Richmond, Virginia, but she is buried in Portland.  From Matilda Moser manuscript.  Adams County Leader, April 1, 1915,    

I found Harry, Jenny, and Sam on the Council, Washington, Idaho 1900 census, district 108.  He said he was born June 1869 and was 30 years old.  She was born in June 1881 and was 18 years old.  Sam was 35 born in Sept 1865.   Harry came over in 1889, Jenny in 1899, and Sam in 1877.  Harry had been in the states for 11 years, Jenny for one year, and Sam for 22 years.  Jenny was from Poland/Germany, and so were both her parents.  Harry was born in Poland/Germany, father born in Poland/Russia and mother Poland/Russia.  Sam was born in Germany, and parents Poland/Russia.  Harry was renting but Sam had 0 for owning.  Sam was single.   

 From Council, Idaho History site: Sam and Harry Criss were Jewish peddlers who came first to Council with packs.  Soon they brought packages or bundles of fabric, thread, needles, scissors, and similar items necessary to make dresses and suits.  About 1898 they settled in Council and opened a store. 

2/25/16  In the   book about Idaho in Council museum, LANDMARKS-A General History of The Council, Idaho Area by Dale Fisk, page 66:  Two traveling merchants named Abe Cohen and Sam Criss served the area.  They began coming to the Council Valley at least as early a 1894, selling clothing and dry goods.  Their weekly ads in the newspapers declared: 

COHEN 7 CRISS  the traveling merchants will sell you goods and strange to relate they DON'T WANT ANY CASH!  But prefer to take chickens, eggs, butter, hots, and such things, allowing the highest market price for everything, and they come right to your door and get the produce and deliver the goods.  

By 1898 Cohen and Criss had a store in Council.  Yes, another Jewish man was living in Council, a Cohen.  The two men were devout Jews and would close their store on Jewish holidays.  They were known as the "Jew peddlers" in their traveling days, and their store became known as the "Jew Store."  For most people there was no animosity behind these titles.   Sam had a store in 1898 and was in partners with an "Abe" Cohen in Council, Idaho.  

Weiser, Idaho, another town that the Criss brother lived in.  1893, Street in Weiser, "Idaho, Gem of the Mountains," by Herbert C. Gregg, offical souvenir of the World's Fair - archive.org

              Salubria, now listed as a Ghost Town in Idaho

  I did find an Emanuel Cohen on the 1900 13 June  census living in Salubria, Washington County, Idaho. Emanuel was born in 1863 in Poland/Russia and was a merchant, age 37 living alone, divorced.  I also found a Mauice/Manuel/Mauer Cohen on the 1900 -17 June census in Salubria b: March 1881 age 19.  He was born in England but parents were born in Poland (Russia) and he was a salesman.  He could be the oldest child of Emanuel Cohen living in his own place. Salubria was a little mining town not far from Council.  "The community of Salubria was established where the first wagon road entered the valley from the south..a little over a mile SE of the present site of Cambridge.  They had a post office in 1870.  The town started with the first store in 1885.   He immigrated in 1889, born in February 1863 in Poland and was 37 years old.  He was a merchant.  Could it be they had the wrong given name?   I just checked with the author and it is Emanuel B. Cohen and not Abe.  I found an Emanuel B. Cohen who died in August of 1959 in Broward, Florida.  He would have been 96 years old.  An Ida B. Cohen died January 1958 in Broward, Florida.  It must have been his wife.  I did not find Emanuel on any other censuses.  

        Northern Idaho 

I did find an Abraham Criss also on the 1900 census in Saluberia, Washington County, Idaho census.  Abraham Criss b: June 1852 Russia age 47 married 18 years "1872"; merchant, immigrated 1870  Flora was his wife and was 38 yrs old, born in 1862 (couldn't read)  and had 3 children.     

I found an Abraham Jarmulowske b: Oct 26, 1869 Germany arriving in NY on Oct 10, 1888.  Naturalized Dec 31, 1897, a merchant.  

I found a Sender Jarmulowske b; Russia, a banker, living at 223 Henry Street in New York, who was naturalized on April 21, 1880.  

I found a Harry Jermalowske marrying on 23 Oct 1892 in New York City, Rch (Rochester?)  

***I found a C Laorande Jermulowake, in 1853, LaGrande, Oregon-Yay!  Paydirt!  This is our Jermulowske.C for Charles, listed in the city directory with $415 besides his name. Charles was born: Serock, Poland "Zurok", Russia, Lazdijai, "Lastha" Suwalki, Russia/Poland/ Lithuania May 15, 1895.     

Sarah Criss b:  December 1861 Russia age 38; immigrated 1880

1. Harry Criss  b:June 1882 Texas  age 17; salesman

2. Jessie Criss b: September 1890 Idaho age 9

3. Hattie Criss b: November 1893 Idaho age 6 daughter

They were also on the 2 June 1880 census in Livingston, Polk County, Texas:

Abraham Criss b: 1854 Russia age 26 clerk in store

Sarah Criss age 19 clerk in store

They were boarders with Ferdinand Bishop and family.

Newspaper: Abe Criss of Cohen and Criss has gone to Portland and San Francisco to purchase ...

Abraham Criss died according to newspaper dated 3/22/1901.  He dropped dead in a Railroad car just as the train pulled into Weiser.  He had suffered from heart trouble for years.  

I also found a Flora Criss, widow, age 57 on the Brooklyn, Kings, N.Y. 1920 census from Poland/Russia speaking Yiddish living with her two sons, Harry age 35, foreman in shoe factory, and Jessie, age 29, clerk in a post office.   Sarah could have been Abraham's sister.  She was not with Flora and the two sons.

7/21/05  On death information of Idaho, Harry was born 5/20/1878 and d: 1/7/1933 in Nampa, Canyon County, Idaho. Here are sons. 

Front Street on right, 1910  

 

On the 1910 census of 265 Arthur St, Portland, Oregon, Nathan and Addie and 2 sons, Charlie 4 and Moshe 2 and 3 neighbors.  

Nathan Goofoot b:1872 38 and Addie,32,   junk peddler.  Son Charles was listed as a daughter, Emil age 4, and my father, correctly as Moses (on the birth certificate) age 2. (Both spoke only Yiddish) By 1920, Addie was listed as Ettie, a widow, in same house on Arthur St, age 40 with her 4 children.  Nearby at 681 2nd Street lived her sister-in-law, Dinah Jermulowske, listed as married to Louis and spent a lot of time in Weiser, Idaho as an animal hide dealer, Dinah was the cheeriest happy ready to dance lady, great fun.  Louis came over to this country on June 5, (10th according to Declaration of Intention) 1904.  This was district 3, Port 00, Reg no . A5834982 .  He came over while his sisters Bessie and Jenny were here already.  He joined them.  He went to Council, Idaho where they lived.  He married Dina in Portland in 1908, but by 1910 they were in Council with Ezra, age 1 yr 8 mo.  Ezra was born in Oregon. On the 1910 census Louis's name was transcribed as Lsanis.   Louis Jermolowske was a Council merchant... Council, Idaho, store at same time as Criss Bros who came in 1910, 1912.  

1. Zalek Rotstin b:1877 and Sarah, age 33, carpenter 

2. Morris Schnitzer b:1870 age 40 and Becky, junk dealer, by 1920, lived on SW First Street.  Wife was Bertha.  

3. Ben Weinstein b:1868 and Sophie, age 42, junk peddler

Reference:

https://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.com/2020/04/our-jermulowske-family-with-founder.html

Labels: Bubbie, Goldfoot, Zlata Addie Jermulowske

# posted by Nadene Goldfoot @ 12:58 AM 0 comments