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.
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)
