David Benioff
(1885-1970)
Help me find more information.
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.
In about 1896 the Isaac Benioff moved his family to an 89 acre farm in Viola, Delaware. His daughter Sarah, had what might have been TB and the doctor advised them to move her to the country. They all settled into this house in Viola and although Sarah died, Isaac became the first Jewish Farmer in Delaware. Isaac would farm with his children all summer, and then return to Allentown on his own in the winter to work on the fur business. At the farm Isaac did buy muskrats and he had a “fur machine”, but most of his income was from the farm, although they did not do very well at it. They raised chickens and sold eggs by taking the train from Viola to New York.
They stayed on the farm until 1919 (from 1897-1919), when Isaac bought his son Fred’s Allentown fur business, for $250. The family left the farm at that time and moved to Allentown.
The above material courtesy of Charles Salkin who did extensive research on the early Jewish farmers of Delaware.
State of New York Certificate and Record of Death – No. of Certificate, 34808
According to Certificate and Record of Death No. 34808 (Manhattan), Annie BENIOFF was 30 years old when she died at Mt. Sinai Hospital on 24 Oct 1894 at 8:15 p.m. She was white, married, a housewife, born in Russia, and had lived in the USA and NYC for 8 years. Her father was Isaac FIERKELMAN and her mother Bashe FIERKELMAN, both born in Russia. Her usual residence had been 150 Sixth Avenue. According to W. James Barlow, MD, with the hospital, he attended to Annie from 22 Oct 1894 until her death, caused by cerebral hemorrhage and hemiplegia, with hypostatic pneumonia and pulmonary oedema contributing causes. She was buried at Mt. Zion Cemetery on 26 Oct 1894 by undertaker M. Adler, 25-26 Willett Street. (written by Elias Savada)
Annie Fierkelman (Terkelman) Benioff is buried in the Mount Zion Cemetery in Maspeth, Queens, NY in the Rostov Handwerkers Section. She is buried near Sarah Benioff, Isaac’s daughter that died as a child, in 1997. Her husband Isaac is buried at Beth El Memorial Park in Whitehall, PA with his third wife.
DirectoryList 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.
(1885-1970)
