Solve the Mystery

Help me find more information.

Note on Isaac’s Death Certificate his mother’s name is listed as Bertha Scheidt but on his 3rd marriage certificate she is listed as Braine Cohn.
What was the name of Ida Baylis’ first husband?
Was Simon Benioff a full or half brother to Isaac and the other Benioff siblings? Simon’s mother is listed as Breone Maroz on his second marriage certificate.

Isaac Jacob Benioff

Isaac Benioff (1841-1934), was a son of Benjamin Benioff and Bertha Scheidt. Born on Nov. 25th, 1841, he had 4 brothers and 3 sisters and probably grew up in the town of Ignatovka (Russian) also known as Hnativka (Ukranian) and Anatovka (Yiddish), which is 13 miles West of Kiev. There are also stories that the family originated in Rostov. According to his obituary in the Morning Call (Allentown, PA), 19 May 1934, p 5, he became a furrier at the age of 12. Some sources (the above obituary) say he arrived in the US around 1880 but other sources say about 1886.

He started a fur business with two sons Alexander and Benjamin from one of his previous marriages (he was married 3 times, to Molly Bryness, Anne Etel Terkelman, and Ida Baylis ). One of the children of Isaac and Ida, Sarah, became ill with TB. On the advice of her doctor, Isaac decided to move the family to a rural area. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society directed them to a farm in Delaware in 1887. Sarah died in 1897. But the family continued to live near Viola, Delaware*. He became a US Citizen on May 1st, 1900 in Dover, Delaware. Isaac died at the age of 92, on May 18, 1934 in Allentown, PA of Coronary Thrombosis with coronary occlusion secondary to Arterial sclerosis.

His third marriage was to Ida Baylis (originally Yedis Pritzker Beilis). The marriage was arranged by a matchmaker. “She wasn’t able to see well enough to sew in a factory and had a job as a housekeeper for a man who tried to be too intimate with her”. A widow – in her early twenties – she had married a cigarette maker who died of pneumonia. {From “Fragments of a Memory” by Edythe Rickel Bloom}

* Information about the Benioff’s in Delaware is courtesy of Charles Salkin who has done extensive research on Jewish Farmers in Delaware.

I invite you to send me any stories, memories, letters (even if untranslated), documents and photos concerning Isaac Jacob Benioff and I will add them to this website.

Isaac Jacob Benioff (1841-1934)

Isaac Benioff's Family

Isaac Benioff (right, front) with Ida Baylis, Benioff & Herman & Shim Benioff

Isaac Jacob Benioff

Isaac Benioff Grave Beth-El Memorial Park, Whitehall, PA

Ida Edith Baylis Benioff

Edythe Rickel with her grandparents Ida Baylis Benioff and Isaac Benioff

Historical data

Translation of above from German:

Directory

List of persons who are committed to emigrate to America via Liverpool by the undersigned and with the steamship Huddersfield Captain Rather under English flag will initially be transported to Grimsby.
Departure of the Ship: 8 January, 1887

1. Surname - Binjof
2. First name - Eisig
3. Gender - male
4. Age - 39
5. Previous place of residence - Kiev
6. In the State or Province of  - Russland
7. Current Status or Profession - {can't read it}
8. Destination of the emigration, place & country must be specified - New York
9. Number of people - 1
10. These include adults and children over 10 years old
11. Under 10 years
12. under 1 year
___________

So could this be Isaac? maybe….the age puts his birth at 1848 instead of 1842. Kiev is right, New York is right. I wish I could read the profession. I had understood that he came with his sons….but maybe he did not….Also I the 1900 census says he came in 1886, Ida in 1895 and George and David in 1887 or 1889.