Mendel Kaplowitz (1864)

Mandle Kaplowitz
Born	1864 Poland or Russia
Spouse	Esther Kaplowitz (m. 1886) «Did not recognize date. Try slightly modifying the date in the first parameter.»"Marriage: Esther Kaplowitz to Mendel Kaplowitz (1864)" Location: (linkback:http://jimlindstrom.com/mediawiki/index.php/Mendel_Kaplowitz_(1864))
Children	Lena Kaplowitz (b. 1889) Julius Kaplowitz (b. 1891) Marie Kaplowitz (b. 1894) Rose Kaplowitz (b. 1897) Sarah Kaplowitz (b. 1901) Phillip Kaplowitz (b. 1904) Eugene Kaplowitz (b. 1909)

Children Lena, Julius, Marie and Rose were born in Poland/Russia. Sarah, Phillip and Eugene were all born in Illinois.

Mandle was naturalized between 1900 and 1910.. (Possible match for Mendel's naturalization papers.)

Immigration

After traveling from his home in Lodz, Poland (along the eastern border with Belarus), Mendel sailed the port of Antwerp, Belgium, aboard the S.S. Southwark on August 20, 1898. He arrived at Ellis Island eleven days later, on August 31..

According to the ship's manifest, Mendel was Russian, white, married, 34 years old, and last living in Lodz.

The ship's manifest says that his fare was paid by his sister in Chicago, to whose home he was headed. An address is scribbled near this: 562 Wabash Ave. It is unclear who the sister is. (If you search for her in the census -- If the address were South Wabash, that would be in Chicago's first ward (in 1900); were it North Wabash, that would be Chicago's 24th ward. It is likely the sister is married and no longer going by Kaplowitz, though.)

Historical Records

• Mandle (age 35) and Esther (age 34) and children Lena (age 10), Julius (age 9), Marie (age 5), and Rose (age 3) and a boarder (Sam Farbovesky, age 59) in Chicago, Illinois in the 1900 Federal Census. The family came from either Russia or Poland. It appears that Mandle came in 1898 and the rest of the family came a year later, in 1899. The parents were married in 1886. Unsure who Sam is -- possibly Esther's father? Mandle is a day laborer, and Lena and Julius are in school.
• Lena (age 21), parents Mandle (age 46) and Esther (age 46) and siblings Julius (age 18), Marie (age 15), Rose (age 13), Sarah (age 9), Phillip (age 6), and Eugene (age 1) live in Chicago, Illinois in the 1910 Federal Census. Mandle was listed as an expressman. Esther was not working. Lena and Marie were hairdressers and Julius worked in a tailor shop. Rose and Sarah had attended school in 1909 (the others--aged 15, 18 and 21--had not). Notes from Karen Feldberg:
  • Lena was listed as "Lillian", and her sister Sara was listed as "Sylvia". I can only guess that the person giving the info had a thick Yiddish accent and the census taker didn't understand what was said. Lena was 21 & still living at home. She must've married Grandpa John shortly thereafter, as Uncle Al was born to them in 1911.
  • Kaplowitz is mistakenly spelled KOplowitz on this form.
  • Their country of Origin is listed as Russia, as Poland was controlled by Russia at that time.
  • Great-grandpa Mendel's occupation is listed as 'expressman' and odd jobs. Mort says an 'expressman' would've been a package delivery man..i.e., Railway Express. When Grandma Lena was a child immigrant, I know that her father was a peddler with a horse & wagon. Also, when they first came to the U.S. (1898), Lena was 10 & they lived behind their store---a grocery (I think)...with dirt floors and of course, an outhouse in the back.
  • If you've ever visited Mt. Vernon or Monticello, to see how THOSE guys lived 100+ years earlier is remarkable, compared to what the Kaplowitz's early years were like in Chicago. (But, better than in Poland!)
  • Their address was 1004 W. Fourteenth St, just south of the Loop. Coincidently, it is about a mile from where my father's Rabinovich family lived on 13th Street----before my dad was born.