Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: Genealogy Report: Descendants of Yacob Schneider

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Descendants of Yacob Schneider

Generation No. 2

2. BESSIE (BOSA RIVA)² SCHNEIDER (YACOB¹) was born March 1869 in Panevezys, Lithuania, and died August 27, 1950 in 14th Elul, Philadelphia, PA, USA. She married NATHAN-ISRAEL MELMED 1894 in Lithuania, son of SOLOMON MELAMED and FREIDA EDELMAN. He was born July 1871 in Panevezys, Lithuania, and died March 03, 1938 in Brixton Cemetery, Johannesburg, SA.

Notes for BESSIE (BOSA RIVA) SCHNEIDER:

I. The Schneiders were a poor family who lived near a factory a few miles from the Melmed's house in Panevezys
(in Pusalotas).

II. According to the 1900 USA census, Bessie lived at 714 South Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA with her mother, husband, and son, Solomon (Simon).

III. Bessie was taken care of by the Ponevizer Beneficial Association (Stephen S. Wise Beneficial Association).

More About BESSIE (BOSA RIVA) SCHNEIDER:
Burial: August 28, 1950, Lot C-21, Line 2, Grave 55, Har Juhuda Cemetery, 8400 Lansdowne Avenue, Upper Darby, PA, USA
Emigration: Bef. 1900
Immigration: 1899, USA

Notes for NATHAN-ISRAEL MELMED:

I. Nathan served in the Russian army.

II. Possible ship which brought Nathan Israel Melmed to USA, as found in the following web site:

http://istg.rootsweb.com/1800/lahn18881222.html

Immigrant Ships
Transcribers Guild

SS Lahn

District of the City of New York, Port of New York
...
said Steamship at Bremen
and Southampton from which port said Steamship has now arrived
...
Sworn to this December 22, 1888
...
H. Hellmers is Master, from
Bremen and Southampton burthen 3097 61/100 Brit.???*
...
Columns represent: Name, Age Sex, Calling, The country of which they are citizens, Intended destination or
location, Location of compartment or space, Number of pieces of baggage, Transient or in transit or intending
protracted sojourn, and an unlabeled column. (perhaps origin of journey?)
...
Passengers taken on board at Bremen
...
495
496 Israel Melamed 20 m painter Russia U. St. of A. Steerage II
497
...
(NOTE: the age is correct. He might have been a painter then. could it be him???)

III. According to the US census of 1900, he lived at 714 South Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA with his wife, mother-in-law, Leibai, and son, Solomon (Simon).

IV. Nathan was a carpenter, peddler, and insurance salesman. He lived for a short time in Woodbine, NJ, USA, helping to build a Jewish community sponsored by Baron Hirsh.

V. Nathan signed a "Certificate of Declaration of Intention" to become a US citizen on September 2, 1902, in the United States District Court, Eastern District of PA, renouncing his loyalty to the Czar of Russia, of whom he was then a subject. He was 29 years old at the time, and lived at 336 Montrose Street, Philadelphia, PA.

VI. Nathan signed a petition to become a US citizen, petition number 11,536 on December 27, 1904, in the United States District Court, Eastern District of PA. He lived at 1225 South 6th Street, Philadelphia, PA at the time.

VII. Nathan became a citizen on May 1, 1905, State of PA, Eastern District of PA, US Circuit Court, Philadelphia, PA., Certificate of Naturalization Number 11,526 (either 11,536 or 11,526 is correct). He lived at 1225 South 6th Street, Philadelphia, PA at the time. His character witness was "B. Saidel", residing at 1223 South 6th Street. Bernard Siadler shows up in the 1900 census as a boarder at Nathan's apartment on 714 South Randolph Street.

[For information relating to the United States Circuit and District Courts, contact the National Archives &
Records Administration - Mid-Atlantic Regional Branch, 9th & Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19107 (215-597-3000). ]

[According to the federal naturalization laws, any court of record within the United States had the power to
conduct naturalization proceedings. These proceedings usually involved two steps. A man, (or, very
rarely, a woman,) visited the court to swear or affirm his intention to renounce his allegiance to his native
country and monarch. This was known as the Declaration of Intention. After a waiting period of three
years, later reduced to two years, he could enter any court in the country, produce a copy of the
declaration, prove that he had resided in the United States for a period of not less than five years, have a
person vouch for his character, and present a petition for full citizenship. This paper is known as the
Naturalization Petition. If he fulfilled all of these obligations, the court would issue a certificate of
citizenship and would retain, as part of its records, the applicant's copy of the declaration and the petition
for naturalization. The court would not retain a copy of the actual Certificate of Citizenship. This belonged
to the newly enfranchised citizen. ]

[The petition for naturalization, important as proof of your ancestor's successful bid to become a citizen of
the United States, contains no genealogical information before 1906. It will state the date and court before
which the applicant made his declaration, the applicant's desire to become a citizen, a voucher from an
existing citizen as to the applicant's moral character, date of the petition, and the applicant's signature or
mark. ] see http://www.phila.gov/phils/Docs/Inventor/natz.htm

VIII. What follows was written by Shayna Barlas nee Melmed, as part of "The Melmed Annals", Written and Compiled by Jos Aronson in 1988.

      Freida and Solomon Melmed's second child was a son named Israel Nathan, or Nathan, born in Panevezys, Lithuania in 1868. Nathan was a young man when his father died. His mother was left with many small children. To help his family, Nathan went to work in a factory several miles away from home [probably near Pusalotas]. Every morning he had to rise long before dawn and walk to work. In order to ensure at least one good meal a day, it was arranged for him to have lunch at the home of the Schneiders, a poor Jewish family who lived close to the factory [in Pusalotas].

      One day Nathan went for lunch so sick that he could not eat. When the family called for a doctor, it was discovered that Nathan had smallpox. The doctor quarantined the entire household. The family was beside itself. One daughter, Bessie, said she was not afraid and she offered to nurse him back to health. After a long illness Nathan finally recuperated, and to show his gratitude, he offered to marry Bessie. Nathan's mother was against the marriage because they were very different in personalities. The marriage took place anyway, and Nathan Melmed married Bessie Schneider. Thus began our branch of the family. Simon Melmed, their oldest son [b: 1895] related much of the family history on a tape made in 1980 when Simon himself was 85 years old.

      Years ago in the old country, when a boy became a man, he had to enlist in the army. He went away for a couple of years and sometimes never returned. To escape the draft, all of our family left Lithuania. Nathan, after he was married, visited South Africa alone, but decided to try America. He settled there. He made plans for his wife to bring his young son Simon and his mother-in-law, Mrs. [Leiba] Schneider, to Philadelphia where he met them. They settled in a small house with three rooms one on top of the other. They lived there for a while. A daughter Jane was born in 1900.

      Although he was a carpenter by trade, Nathan could not get work because he would not work on Saturday. He finally got a job with a Jewish company that outfitted him to become a peddler in the outlying communities near Philadelphia. [It was pointed out by a Philadelphia researcher, Hary Boonin, how dangerous it was to be a peddler in those days. Peddlers were often murdered for their money.] He could not speak the language, but that was no problem. He only had to learn to make change. Every item was marked. When he knocked on a farm door and the farmer saw his wares, he wanted to know if Nathan was selling needles, pins, buttons or other items. Nathan need only learn three magic words - "Look in basket". With this he could do business.

      As the years went by, each group from each European community stuck together. Within these groups they organized free loan societies. Gradually these groups formed lodges. They joined together to help one another if someone was out of work or needed a burial. Nathan suggested that they take out insurance as a group, just enough for burial. That is how he got involved in his future business - insurance.

      Nathan was the first president of the Panevezys Lodge. He was given a medal that his grandchildren have today. As these lodges came together they formed one lodge out of all, it was called Brith Shalom No. 1. Nathan Melmed was part of it. This was the beginning of the international organization Brith Shalom.

      At that time, the early twentieth century, Baron Hirsch, a great Jewish philanthropist, gave a lot of money to help Jewish immigrants all over the world form Jewish communities including homes and factories. Everything was run and owned by Jewish people. Nathan got a job in Woodbine, New Jersey, as a carpenter building homes for this model Jewish community. It is still in existence today. The family stayed there for a while, but his wife Bessie preferred the city. They returned to Philadelphia around 1901, and [eventually] moved to 428 Moore Street in South Philadelphia where other children, including Elizabeth [b: 1902], David [b: 1905] and Ned [b: 1909] were born. [It is doubtful whether Elizabeth and David were actually born in 428 Moore Street.]

      At that time, Philadelphia was building a recreational area in the heart of Fairmount Park called Woodside Park. Everything in this amusement park was made of wood - the slides, merry-go-round and roller coaster. Nathan became a carpenter building this fun spot. There is an ironic twist to this. Years later when they tore down Woodside Park, they built an apartment building called Brith Shalom House on the site. The residents were all members of Brith Shalom. Both Simon and David, two of Nathan's sons, as active members of Brith Shalom Lodge No 1, moved there for their retirement years.

      Nathan began to work among his "landsmen" selling insurance. He felt someone had to do it. This became his lifetime work, selling insurance to the Jewish community, specializing in those that could not speak English. He worked as a Metropolitan Life Insurance agent.

      Nathan enjoyed playing chess. Many Saturdays were spent at home playing chess with his friends. Ned, Nathan's youngest son, was barely tall enough for his head to reach above the table when he began observing his father's weekly chess games. One Saturday, Nathan was detained somewhere and his chess partner was disappointed. He came to play but no one was there. Ned looked at the older man and challenged him to a game. To this man's amazement, Ned beat him. The man left in a fury.

      Zionism was instilled in Nathan's children at an early age. Both Jane and Simon belonged to a group of Jewish teenagers who got together weekly to pray, recite poetry, sing and discuss Zionism. They sold flowers to raise money for Palestine. The group called itself the "Nightengales". Nathan did not like their name, he felt there was nothing Jewish about it, so they changed their name to South Philadelphia Hebrew Association, or SPHA's.

      A few years later, there were some boys from the neighborhood who played basketball for the YMHA in town. At that time the YMHA was dominated by German Jews who looked down their noses at the Jews from East European countries. Simon's group asked these boys to play basketball for them and make a team for their SPHA's. The boys agreed on one condition, they get new uniforms. The newly outfitted SPHA's eventually became professionals. They won numerous national championships. As a team, they are enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Later, the SPHA's formed the basis of the Philadelphia Warriors basketball team and later they were sold to San Francisco, where they still play basketball today.

      Nathan and Bessie were of very different temperaments. She made few friends and preferred staying home. Nathan on the other hand loved people, parties and being in the middle of a good time. He had a fantastic sense of humor and enjoyed spreading good cheer.

      At a party, Nathan would often start an original song. Those at the party would sing a little chorus. Using the time it took for the group to sing the chorus, Nathan would think of what he would sing for the next verse. In 1919, Nathan published an original piece of music called "Unzer Eigenland" - "In Our Own Land". Although the sheet music never really sold, the words showed that he was really ahead of his time. In the song he predicted a Jewish land where people would farm their own land, where Jewish universities would thrive, where Jews would come from all over the world to help the land grow, and how having our own land would make us a very proud people.

      When Nathan's children were grown, he felt they could take care of their mother and he left America and returned to his brothers in South Africa. There he lived for several years. He was well liked by his family and friends. His children, however, were very disappointed and never really forgave him for leaving home. He died of a stroke in 1938, never seeing his children again.

IX. Added by Jos Aronson in 1988.

      I was a schoolboy when Nathan came to South Africa and carry with me a lasting impression of the "Smiling uncle who came from far away America".

      Initially he lived with A.P. and in retrospect I now can appreciate the love and affection they showed for each other. Being the eldest and second eldest in the family they must have grown up together as pals, so that their reunion after so many years was a very natural one. I had never seen A.P. laugh as heartily as he did whenever he was in Nathan's company. In no time he integrated with the rest of the Melmed and Aronson families and made many new friends. As was his custom, he was always the centre of laughter and song at Simchas and I can still remember one of his songs that proved most popular - "Az Ich Vol Geven Der Borai Olam -" (If I was the Creator of the Universe, Do You Know What I Would Have Made?) and there followed a succession of humorous verses which always had everybody in stitches of laughter.

      After a relatively short stay in Cape Town, he moved to Johannesburg where he pursued his business as an insurance agent with his, by now, famous card "Keep Smiling - Nathan Melmed". He endeared himself to the Rabinowitz's who were family of A.P.'s wife and who deeply mourned him when he passed away.

X.
Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2000 09:25:12 -0800
From: "Harry D. Boonin" <hdboonin@erols.com>
To: Barbara and Mark <teacher03@earthling.net>
Subject: Re: a little of my grandfather's story

      It is a beautiful story, and - as far as I know - very accurate. Brith Shalom records are still stored in the basement of their building. They may have some records dealing with your grandfather, who knows. They have a lot (rooms full) of records. I asked them to donate the records to the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, but I got off onto other things and I do not know if they did.

      All that is written rings true about Philadelphia. At one place a house, with three rooms, one above the other, is mentioned. These are the famous "Trinity" houses of South Philadelphia, the Trinity being the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Remember, this area - below Washington Ave.- before 1900 was predominately Irish Catholic. The Jews took it over after the "Real Estate Boom" of 1900. By 1905 it was already heavily Jewish, the results, I think, of all the Jews who came after the pogroms of 1903 and 1905. Remember, 1906 was the high water mark for Jewish immigration into Philadelphia and into the United States.

More About NATHAN-ISRAEL MELMED:
Cause of Death: Stroke
Census 1: 1900, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Census 2: 1910, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Immigration: 1898, USA
Naturalization: May 01, 1905, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Occupation 1: 1900, Carpenter
Occupation 2: Peddler
Occupation 3: 1910, Insurance Salesman (Metropolitan Life)
Residence 1: 1900, 714 South Randolph Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Residence 2: Abt. 1900, Woodbine, New Jersey, USA
Residence 3: September 02, 1902, 336 Montrose Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Residence 4: 1904, 336 League Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Residence 5: December 27, 1904, 1225 South 6th Street, Philadelphia
Residence 6: May 01, 1905, 1223 South 6th Street, Philadelphia
Residence 7: 1909, 428 Moore Street, Philadelphia
Residence 8: October 11, 1928, 2529 South 10th Street, Philadelphia
Residence 9: Abt. 1930, Cape Town, SA
Residence 10: Abt. 1931, Johannesburg, SA

More About NATHAN-ISRAEL MELMED and BESSIE SCHNEIDER:
Marriage: 1894, Lithuania

Children of BESSIE SCHNEIDER and NATHAN-ISRAEL MELMED are:

4.	i.	SIMON (SIMEON)³ MELMED, b. August 25, 1895, Panevezys, Lithuania; d. May 05, 1982, 13 Iyar, St. Joseph's Manor, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
5.	ii.	JANE (SHAYNA TENTA) MELMED, b. 1900, Philadelphia, PA, USA; d. 1947, Allentown, PA, USA.
	iii.	ELIZABETH MELMED, b. 1902, Philadelphia, PA, USA; d. 1951, NY, NY, USA; m. ISADORE KAPLAN.

Notes for ELIZABETH MELMED:

I. AUNT ELIZABETH MELMED KAPLAN 1902 - 1951 (as remembered by Lea Harriet Melmed, September 17, 2000):

We were such lucky kids growing up, and we didn't even know it. We lived in a home with a father, mother, grandmother, aunt & whoever visited us and slept over. In the house next door to us lived another grandmother, an uncle, and the most loving aunt any child could ever wish for.

Aunt Elizabeth was always cheerful. She anticipated our needs, ready to be playful or ready with hugs and kisses or wonderful stories, her stories were so vivid that it ws like a movie, she was better than the radio.

She was a devoted daughter and took care of Bubba Bessie. She got married late in life to Uncle Iz Kaplan, a man that our mother introduced her to. He loved and adored her, as everyone else did.

After their wedding, they moved to N.Y. , The Bronx. We kids were devastated, no more running next door for hot oat meal and love. But Aunt Elizabeth did not forget about us. We would spend every holiday break and summer with Uncle Iz and Aunt Elizabeth. They had a one bedroom apartment on the 4th floor. 1429 Charlotte Street, Apt. 4 E. The first apartment Shayna, Rookie and I were ever in, I think. We would unload ourselves, and sleep in the same bed with uncle Iz and Aunt Elizabeth. Usually there would be a cousin sleeping on a cot in the living room, most times it was Yehuda Sussman or his sister Freeda Sussman, sometimes both. Aunt Elizabeth was a wonderful cook, all the traditional Jewish dishes. Uncle Iz was a health nut, far advanced for those years, he lifted weights and ate Dannon yogurt, but he loved Aunt Elizabeth so much that he ate her kuguls and so forth.

Every trip to N.Y. was an adventure that we talked about until our next trip to N.Y.

Aunt Elizabeth died from breast cancer at the age of 49. I was 9 years old. Fifty years have past, I can still see her smile and hear her happy giggle, and the funny thing she did with her wrists, sort of like clapping them, and I can still feel that special love that she gave me. I still miss her and I'm sure I always will. I'm sure that all who remember her will agree with me. Only one Aunt Elizabeth to a lifetime. If you are as lucky as we were.

More About ELIZABETH MELMED:
Census: 1910, Philadelphia, PA, USA

	iv.		BABY SISTER MELMED, b. Abt. 1903, Philadelphia, PA, USA; d. Abt. 1903, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
	v.		DAVID LEIB MELMED, b. March 15, 1905, Philadelphia, PA, USA; d. August 14, 1981, 14 Av, West Park Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Notes for DAVID LEIB MELMED:

I. David was layed to rest with the help of the Wise Willig Lodge.

More About DAVID LEIB MELMED:
Burial: August 16, 1981, Lot E-22, Line 2, Grave 3, Har Juhuda Cemetery, 8400 Lansdowne Avenue, Upper Darby, PA, USA
Census: 1910, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Social Security Number: Bef. 1951, 182-09-6212, PA
Unveiling: October 17, 1982

	vi.	LOUIS MELMED, b. 1905, Philadelphia, PA, USA; d. 1905, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
6.	vii.	NED MELMED, b. December 31, 1909, 428 Moore Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA; d. June 24, 1960, 426 Moore Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
	viii.	FRANK MELMED, b. 1913, Philadelphia, PA, USA; d. 1920, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

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