Gutman Group Research

RESEARCH SUMMARY AND PROJECTION

RESEARCH TO DATE

As Rachel Rose was the only one of my eight great-grandparents to have been born in England, I was able to use the standard British genealogical sources, combined with information from elderly family members, to construct an impressive tree for the Rose family. These sources were the “St Catherine’s Index” (i.e. General Record Office indexes) of births, marriages and deaths, and various census listings. Then, in December 2002, I met with a group of Rose descendants to visit family graves at Gildersome cemetery in Leeds, and I gave Hilltop cemetery the same treatment the following summer.

As well as the expansion of the Rose tree laterally, we were also able to extend it back in time, using the 1872 Brazenshky/Samuel marriage certificate, which was, in turn, found using the corresponding ketubah, of which Eileen Rothstein had a copy. I was able to track down the descendants of Albert Rose in Baltimore, MD, using my usual online resources, but there are many more questions left unanswered in this huge family. The Leventhall branch has been filled in over time, and the discovery of documentation at the National Archives that could relate to Heinrich Dobrzynski’s immigration in 1849 was an unexpected surprise. The National Archives also yielded the fascinating naturalisation papers and certificate for Joseph Leventhall.

The long-standing mystery as to the fates of Phil Rose and his son was finally solved in 2004, not least of all thanks to the determination and persistence of my research partner, Naomi Barnett, who wrote endless letters and e-mails until every avenue had been exhausted (as well as Naomi’s patience, no doubt!).

Another lost branch was that of Harry Rose, who moved to Doncaster, and whose sons, Bernard and Wallace, fought in WWII. Bernard's death certificate gave me his address at the time of death, in 1994, and I then ended up asking a private investigator to look up the current residents of that address, which turned out to be Bernard's second wife and their two children, all previously unknown to me. I have now met them at their home and been given photos and more information but, frustratingly, they had no contact with the families of Bernard's two brothers.

In the Gutman/Frydman family, the oral histories were much thinner and it was only the coincidence that Leila Vure (of the Leventhall family) knew Cynthia Davis (of the Debovitch family), that I was able to begin an amazing quest in the summer of 2002. Beginning with Cynthia, I was given one name and phone number by each person I spoke to, thus creating a trail across the entire Goodman family, as I spoke to one member of almost every branch, with complete and total success. Shirley Goodman was of immense help in compiling information on Joseph Goodman’s family, and others have all played their part and contributed information.

Morris Goodman’s fascinating World War I service records were obtained from the National Archives, and the two regiments with whom he served were both exceedingly generous in the help and support they gave me. Symcha Gutman’s naturalisation papers and certificate were also found that the National Archives.

Having discovered the Frydman surname from Morris Goodman’s birth certificate, I found Symcha and Ester Szajndl’s marriage certificate on the JRI indexes in Radom in 1871. On his naturalisation papers, Symcha gave his year of birth is 1857, but this is clearly inaccurate, given his year of marriage. It is hoped to use the extensive Radom records, particularly those available cheaply through the LDS, to build up a large Frydman tree in the same way that has been done with the Goldberg and Tyszkowski group families. I am thrilled that, finally, I have found some heimishe records for the Gutman group.

FORTHCOMING RESEARCH AND UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

The research into the Rose family contains a great many “lost” branches and mysteries. There are conflicting pieces of written evidence as to whether Abraham Rose’s Brzezinski family came from Lvov in the Ukraine or Kalisz, in western Poland, and the family has not been located on the 1871 census.

Of his children, Miriam Rose is believed to have married a non-Jewish man and moved to Bradford, and been ostracised by the rest of her family, Consequently, her line has been totally untraceable without her married surname. She is also the only member of the family for whom a birth certificate has not been identified.

The long-running search for the children of Wallace Rose, Harry's son who was killed in WWII, continues. I believe I have found marriage listings for Bernard's son by his first marriage, and Wallace's daughter, so I have some new names to work with, but the online telephone directories continue to lead me up dead ends, despite endless cold calling! I intend to go back to the private investigator who led me to Roger Rose and his family.

Contact has also been lost with the Coplin family, one of whom lives in the US, so that is another project for the future.

In the wider Samuels (Dobrzynski) family, there is the family of Lewis Samuels which has also not been traced. Lewis is listed as single, aged 22 on the 1881 census, but his descendants his not been located.

Leah Samuels’ birth certificate gave us her mother’s maiden name: Schelinski, but this and the Dobrzynski surname do not appear on the JRI indexes, as none exist for that area of Poland. A new line of approach must be taken here, possibly through local experts.

As for the Gutman/Frydman family, the most exciting prospect obviously lies with the initial findings in the Radom JRI indexes, and this must be pursued. It is expected to be exciting and rewarding, as there are vast numbers of Frydman certificates listed on the LDS microfilms. Sadly, indexes do not yet exist for the Deblin area.

Saul Marks

Rev 20 Sep 2005