THE SOLOMON FAMILY
The Solomon
Family (circa 1903). Taken by Isaac
Perkoff, St. Petersburg Studio, 186 Commercial
Road, London
L to R: Anna, Jacob (my grandfather), Isaac, baby May
The
Solomon family immigrated to NYC from
somewhere in Russia. We believe that originally his surname was
“Pissaresky” and at some point he changed it to Solomon. Most in the family say they came from a
shtelt near Vilna, Lithuania. Isaac’s burial society
was the Wilner Society which suggests residence in or near Vilna. Family legend has it that Isaac was studying
to be a rabbi (note: one of the oldest and most famous centers for Judaic Study
in the world is in Kaunas
near Vilna). Isaac did not enjoy his
studies and became a tailor.
Isaac (Yitzhak) was born in Russia on February 22, 1880. His father was Samuel Solomon and his mother
was Miriam Silverblatt. This is
according to Isaac’s Social Security Application. He may have “Americanized” the names because
on Isaac’s gravestone, he is the “son of Slomo Zalmen the Levite.” Isaac married Anna Zalmonovitch in Russia
about 1900 and they moved to London England
where my grandfather Jacob was born in
1901. In 1903, Mamie (May) was also born
in London. Soon after, Isaac left London for NYC. I could not find his arrival in NYC on the Ellis Island Website. It is possible that he arrived under his old
name and it is so misspelled it will be hard to find. His granddaughter, Renee Goldberg said Isaac
told her that when he arrived at Ellis Island
the authorities could not pronounce his name.
They asked Isaac who is father was and he replied,”Slomo Zalmen.” So they changed his surname to Solomon.
Anna (Chana) always told Renee
that her birthday was on the first seder night of Passover one year after
Isaac’s birth year. That would make her
birth date Wednesday, April
13, 1881. Her arrival to Ellis Island is recorded.
She departed Southhampton England
on March 19, 1904
on the SS St. Louis and arrived in the Port of NY
at Ellis Island on March 27, 1904. The manifest notes that she was pregnant
(with Sammie), and she was with her children, “Jake” age 3 and “Millie” age 11
months. Her contact in NY was listed as
her husband Isaac who was living at 38
Montgomery St., NYC.
They
lived in Brooklyn NY for the rest of their lives. They had three more children in the United
States. Samuel (1904 – 1991), Florence (1909 – 1979),
and Bella (1915 - 1984).
Isaac
died on April 21, 1949
in Brooklyn at age 69, and he is buried in Mt.
Lebanon Cemetery in Queens. His death
certificate says his date of birth was April 20, but I think they confused
this date with his date of death.
Anna
died of a ruptured appendix on December 27 1950 in Brooklyn at age 70. She is buried in Mt.
Lebanon next to Isaac. (see her death certificate).
See
their inscriptions of the Ellis island Wall of Honor.