A GENEALOGY

BY ETHEL ANISMAN

1978

I think I can trace my maternal family tree back 175 years. Krivozor (officially shown on maps as Krivoye Osero ed.), a town of about 1000 people, 95 miles N.W. of Odessa in the Ukraine, Russia, is where the tree first took root.

At the request of the town elders, Great Grandfather Berel was the first one to settle there. The people of Krivozor were all Jewish and had been self governed by their Kabal for many years. When this practice was suppressed by the Russian government, they became Russian subjects, and thus were under Russian rule. It became imperative that they find someone who was well versed in Hebrew and Russian.

This was as rare as one could imagine. The Jews of Russia, and particularly of that town, did not assimilate in those days and therefore could not read, write, or speak Russian. The townspeople appointed a committee to go and find such a person: Traveling was extremely difficult at that time. After searching far and wide for months, they met Grandfather Berel in a town near the Dneister River called Kamentz-Podolsk, Russia.

They were very much impressed with his intelligence and strong personality. They persuaded him and his pretty bride of just a few months to come and live in Krivozor.

As a youngster, Berel had learned Russian by sneaking over to the church and sitting on the back door steps with the Priest who tutored him. The Jews, by their own volition, were forbidden to go near a church in those days.

Berel was 18 years old when he and Grandmother Shifra came to Krivozor. He soon became their scribe, advocate, advisor, and interpreter. He also had a nice singing voice and became the cantor in the synagogue.

Berel and Shifra had two sons and one daughter. Sheindel, the daughter, was married to Ephriari who came from Tulchin. She died in her thirties. There were no children.

The older son, Noosa, married Raiza from Tirospol and they had 3 children - Moisha, Chiam (probably Chaim ed.)and Lazer. They lived in Tirospol.

The younger son was Hershel. He married Chia (others give this name as Chaya ed) from Balta. She was a tall, self-sufficient girl who lived to be 94 years old.

It was just about then that the Russian Government decreed that everyone must have a surname. Berel chose Kotikofsky after the Puritz, the chief landowner of Krivozor.

Hershel Kotikofsky inherited most of his father’s talents and became the town correspondent. He held this position until he died of a stroke at the age of 67.

He and Chia had eight children - seven sons and one daughter. It is down the direct lineage of Hershel Kotikofsky that I am writing this genealogy.

Hershel's oldest son Vovek (also written Vovick ed) married Channa from Bapolia. They had five sons and seven daughters, some of whom were beauties.

Vovek was an outgoing man. He enjoyed entertaining friends and neighbors. The somavar was always going. He was a Singer sewing machine agent. Vovek and his two older sons, Abba and Berel, would travel to the neighboring villages and towns to sell their wares.

Two other sons became clerks. The youngest son, Chiam (Chaim? ed) and his wife Milla and their son Norman immigrated to America and settled in St. Paul Minnesota in 1920. Norman is a novelist and had some best sellers. He wrote EAGLE AT MY EYES in 1946. His pen name is Norman Kalkoff (actually Katkov ed).

Vovek's daughters Golda, Rachel and Perel married salesclerks. Faga and Zlota married men who owned large laundries. Toba married an out of town merchant. Shifra came to America with her husband and lives in California.

Hershel and Chia's second son was Shmeil (probably Shmiel ed). He married Leah from Tridubas, Russia and had four sons and three daughters. He was a wheat speculator who lived below the poverty level most of his life.

His oldest son Volka married Anna, a dressmaker and they immigrated to America in 1901. Volka was the first-one of the Kotikofsky clan to leave Krivozor. At that time, Krivozor had grown to a population of about 4,000.

In America, Volka and Anna went to work in a dress factory. Conditions were bad. After a few years of hardship, they started their own manufacturing business and did well. They had one son, Harry, and four daughters.

The oldest daughter, Sadie, married Dr. Fred Feldman whose parents, incidentally, were both born and raised in Krivozor. Sadie and Dr. Feldman met at a dance sponsored by the Krivozor Lodge in Brooklyn. The Lodge, or Ferein as it was called, consisted of a few hundred members in 1920. Most of the members were Krivozor Landsleit. It still exists today but with a very small membership. Many of the landsleit have since died. For many years, however, the Lodge would engage a Krivozorer doctor for a flat fee. The members were entitled to use his services gratis. Some members paid a nominal fee to the doctor as a tip. When these doctors became successful, they quit the Lodge.

Shmiels second son, Shia, came here in 1902. He married Esther and had two sons and two daughters. Itzak was the third son of Shmiel and Leah. He married Jennie Rubin and had three sons and three daughters. Shmeil's youngest son was Chiam. He was killed in a pogrom incited by the neighboring peasants who were both cruel and stupid.

Shortly after this episode, Shmeil, then 65 years old, his wife Leah, his daughters Toba, Ethel, and Shifra and their husbands all came to America via Canada. That was in 1922.

Hershel Kotikofsky's third son was Moisha. He married Sheva from Krute. She came to him with a very substantial dowry. They soon established themselves in a lucrative men's clothing store. Of all Hershel's children, only Moisha became wealthy. Ironic enough, he was the least charitable of all.

Moisha and Sheva had two sons and two daughters. When Sheva was 45 years old, she died from a stroke. Moisha remarried soon after. His wife was a typical stepmother. The two sons, Yosel and Lieb, couldn't take it and immigrated to America.

The older son, Yosel, married Dora and bought a grocery store in Harlem. They both worked very hard to pay off the mortgage. It was a struggle. He would walk up four flights of stairs to deliver an order of 6 rolls for 5c,a pound of butter for 8c, a bottle of milk for 10c, and a can of salmon for 12c. Any type of canned goods had to be opened by the grocer before delivery. People just didn't own can openers even though they only cost 10c a piece.

Sometime later, Yosel sold the grocery store and moved to Philadelphia, bought a dress shop and did very well. He has a son and a daughter.

His brother, Leib, became a waiter. He married Fran and had two sons. Leib also lived in Philadelphia. He was a diabetic and became blind shortly before he died in 1972.

The fourth son of Hershel and Chia was Simcha. A nice, easy going fellow, he married Rachel from Vosnesensk and had four sons and two daughters.

He was also in the men's clothing business but not quite as successful as his brother Moisha. Simcha shared his profits with his children, Yosel, Berel, Hershel and Avrom. Also with his daughters Luba and Sheva and their husbands. They never left Krivozor.

Next is Hershel's fifth son, Yosel. He married Freida from Orel and had three sons and four daughters - Berel,-Hershel, and Shimmen, Sonia, Anna, Bessie, and Luba. He too, was a Singer Sewing Machine agent. He would entertain his customers with little anecdotes and jokes but could still drum up enough business to support a family of nine.

He decided to immigrate to America. In August of 1914, they all landed at Ellis Island. They barely beat the quota that had just been clamped down on all foreign immigration into this country. This was just before World War I broke out.

Berel, Sonia, Hershel and Anna went to work in a sweatshop. Yosel became a dealer in fabric remnants for a while and later became a dress salesman.

Berel, the oldest, married Anna Dukoff and had a son and a daughter. At around 30 years of age, Berel developed cancer and died shortly after (believe he actually died of pneumonia ed).

Harry left the sweatshop and went to work for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. He did very well. He married Rose and has two daughters and four grand daughters. He is now retired.

Sonia became a salesclerk and married Abe Bank. They have a son and a daughter and three grand children.

Anna worked at skirts until she married Jack. There were no children. Anna died at age 63.

Sam went to grammar school for 5 years and became a traveling salesman and did well. He married Selma and has a son and a daughter and three grandchildren. He is retired now.

Bessie married Sol and has a son and a daughter and three grandchildren. Sol died of cancer in 1968.

Luba, the youngest of Yosells children, had tuberculosis of the spine and died at age 30. Yosel lived to be 76 and Freida to 86.

The sixth son of Hershel and Chia was Elia. He married a beautiful girl from Yelesevetgrad. They settled in her home town and had three sons - Berel, Zeilik and Moisha. Elia was a gentleman and a scholar. He died in his fifties, the only son of Hershel and Chia not to enjoy a long life.

Hershel's youngest son was Shia. He served in the Russian Army for two years. He learned to play the clarinet while in the service. He played by ear and did so very well. This was to be a source of income for him for many years. He played mostly at weddings and at Krivozorer Lodge affairs. Shia married Sara and sailed for America shortly after. They had four children - Betty, Shirley, Harry and Martha. Shia lived below the poverty level for many years. He got $3.00 for playing at a wedding all night. Conditions improved greatly when his children grew up and began to work.

Betty worked as a floor walker in Klein's Department store on 14th Street in New York. She married Hy Levine who was in the shoe business. They had no children. He died of cancer in May of 1959.

Shirley married Sidney, a shoe salesman and died of a heart attack at 58. Her husband died soon after. There were no children.

Harry married Lillian and has one daughter and two sons. He worked for the custom house for many years. At one point, he tried the stationery business. That failed and he is now retired.

Martha was Shials youngest. She married Carl Wolf, a dentist and has 2 sons and 2 grandchildren. Dr. Wolf died of cancer.

So much for the seven sons of Hershel and Chia Kotikofsky: all respectable and honest men. All but one enjoyed longevity. The Kotikofsky clan has grown to be one of the largest and most respected families of Krivozor, a town of about 5,000 in 1905. Each and every one of them was proud to be a Kotikofsky.

Hershel and Chia had one daughter - Sheindel. When she turned sixteen, her mother announced to her that she was engaged to marry Pincus Anisman. That was the order of the day.

Pincus was the second son of Shimmen Shloima and Etta Anisman. They owned the only inn in Krivozor. When the peasants and farmers came to the county fair to sell their wares, they stopped at the inn over night and sometimes even longer. The horses were also fed and tended to. All this gave Shimmen Shloima a good living.

Pincus had three brothers - Favel, Berel, and Leib, and one sister, Mollka. Favel married Sheva from Poltara and had five children. He became a wealthy tree merchant and moved to Balta. Berel worked with his father. The youngest son, Leib, tried to stop two gendarmes from arresting a neighbor by fighting with them. The two gendarmes whisked Leib and the neighbor away, never to be seen or heard from again. Molka married a Rabbi and had two sons. They lived in poverty most of their lives. They never left Krivozor.

Pincus and Sheindel were married two months after their betrothal. They had two daughters and four bons - Tcba, Fruma, Velvel, Shia, Lazar, and Shimmen Shloima.

The oldest daughter, Toba, married Moisha Zbarofsky from Uman, Russia. They had one daughter, Ethel. When Ethel was 10 months old, Moisha left them. He went back to Uman to work as a bookkeeper in his uncle's department store. His parents discouraged him from returning to his family. He didn't,

When Ethel was 17 months old, Toba died of pneumonia at 22 years of age. Moisha was not informed of this tragedy because he had left them. He did, however, learn of his wife's death by accident many months later and remarried soon after. With the aid of his rich uncle, he established his own business and became a wealthy merchant. When the Russian Revolution of 1917 broke out, he fled to Israel. It was rumored he bought a hotel there. Nothing more was heard from him again.

The oldest son of Pincus and Sheindel was Velvel. He was a talent, with a beautiful, cultured baritone voice. He could transpose and read music at first sight. He was well versed in Russian and Hebrew and was the town correspondent and town Notary Public. Velvel paid three Rubles a year for a license to be a notary public. This was a very ornate piece of metal with the Czar's insignia on it.

In order to avoid the draft, Velvel decided to immigrate to America. In August of 1904 Velvel, later known as William, came here and settled in Brooklyn. He moved in with Landsleit (townsmen) and paid $4.00 a week for room and board. He lived there for one year.

A week after his arrival, he went to work in a sweatshop. Labor was unorganized. There was a depression from 1904 to 1908. Times were very bad. The first week William had to pay the boss three dollars to teach him how to operate the machine and how to sew the sleeves into the men's shirts. The next week he was paid $3. William was not exactly cut out to do this kind of work. He sewed and ripped and sewed and ripped. You were not paid for ripping; you were just paid for sewing. That was known as piece work. Several years later he made $7. or $8.00 a week. He worked from 7:30 am to 6 pm 6 days a week. After work, William went to night school to learn English.. He did very well. For the High Holidays, he sang in a choir and got $75.00 for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

In 1910, he joined the chorus of the Manhattan Opera Company. (This was not sponsored by the city.) William sang in light operas like Naughty Marietta with Madam Trentine, H.M.S. Pinafore with Da Wolf Hopper and The Mikado. Also in Grand Opera, like Traviata. Il Trovatore, Aida and Carmen. The City Opera Co. had a very aggressive impresario called Salmaggi. He would take them out on the road as far south as Texas and as far north as Montreal, Canada.

Sometimes for a stretch of weeks, sometimes for one night stands they traveled a great deal. Mr. Salmaggi wasn't always lucky, however. Everything depended on the success at the box office. At times, he was forced to close down ahead of schedule and the entire company was stranded without funds to return to New York. They each paid their own fare back. His pay was $20.00 a week. William sang well enough for the Metropolitan Opera Company but they had a closed shop - Italians only. The Met paid $35.00 dollars a week as starting pay. Several years later, William got a position as a cantor for the High Holidays in an out of town Orthodox Synagogue. For this, William received $500 for the three days. The next year he was re-engaged by the same synagogue for $700 for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Some time later he decided to become a cantor in a Conservative temple. He got $2,000 for the whole year. He also earned some extra money for officiating at different functions at the temple. He held this position for a number of years and retired at age 65. He died October 16, 1954 at the age of 74.

The second son of Pincus and Sheindel, was Shia. At 20, he was drafted into the Russian Army. After serving two years, there was friction between Russia and Japan over Port Arthur. Pincus sensed trouble and with the possibility of war ahead, he decided to contact an agent who, for a bribe, would get Shia across the Russian border into Romania.

Pincus packed a bag with a change of clothing for Shia, who had gone on leave and met his father in Zhitover. They boarded a train going to Romania. Shia got into the clothes his father brought him and threw his uniform out of the window of the speeding train. When they reached the border line, they were met by the agent. Shia was then put aboard a train headed for Germany. From there he went to America.

He came here in 1903 and went to work in a sweatshop for $3.00 .a week. Shia didn't relish the idea of working in a sweatshop six days a week. When his brother William came here in 1904, he borrowed $500.00 from him with the hope of making a killing in the construction business. Brownsville was being built up then. He bought a horse and wagon and bought bricks from the brick manufacturers and sold and delivered them to the builders himself. Shia had no business ability at all and in one year he lost the $500. Both he and William were bankrupt after that. Shia went back to the sweatshop where he worked till he retired.

In 1910, he married Ida Sokoloff and had one son, Harry, and two daughters, Ethel and Evelyn.

Harry became a fireman when he couldn't get a position as a teacher after he graduated from N.Y.U. He married Florence and has two sons, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren. He and Florence are divorced now.

Ethel married Herman Donawitz, a furrier and has three sons and two grandchildren. Evelyn married Emanuel Leibowitz, a restaurateur. They have one daughter and three sons. Also, they have two grandchildren.

Shia died in 1964. He was 83 years old. His wife, Ida, is in a nursing home with both of her hips fractured. She is 89.

With the Russian Japanese War just about ending and a political revolution promulgated and financed by the East Side Socialists of New York, in effect, there was much unrest in Russia in 1905. The revolution collapsed and the notorious Kishenev Pogrom of 1903 had seen the death of hundreds of Jews. Russia was not a choice place to live in.

Pincus was a wheat and grain speculator who was not always successful. If he had several good years, they were generally followed by several bad ones. Something like the Pharaoh dream that Joseph interpreted in Egypt.

At one point, Pincus ran for mayor of Krivozor. He was defeated by a very aggressive and crooked politician. Pincus was a man of integrity and honesty. He found it difficult to support a family of six. Conditions being such as they were, the only daughter and son in law of Hershel and Chia decided to immigrate to America.

They sold their house and furniture and sailed on the SS Compania via England to America in a matter of weeks. On August 20, 1905, Pincus, Sheindel, Lazar, Fruma, Shimmen'Shloima and Ethel landed at Ellis Island.

They were met by the two older sons Shia and William, who were here since 1903 and 1904 respectively. William and Shia had not prepared living quarters in advance so the entire family went to a landsman and were given a meal and overnight shelter. The next day, an apartment was rented at 621 Stone Avenue, Brooklyn, NY for $11. a month. This was a two bedroom, two floor walkup apartment.

On that same day, Pincus and Sheindel bought a table and six chairs for the kitchen. Also, 4 folding beds, one double bed, some inexpensive china and moved right in.

Down bedding, sterling silver flatware and a beautiful somavar came along with the family baggage on the SS Compania. Some priceless oil paintings were left behind. It was too difficult to cart them along. Incidentally, this furniture was the mainstay for many years to come. The samovar was sold a few years later for $3.00. Who knew? As I write this, the samovar is worth $400.00. It looked like a mass of gold.

A week after their arrival, Pincus, at 52, went to work in a sweatshop cleaning threads of mexils shirts. He stood on his feet from 7:30 to 6PM, 6 days a week. For this he was paid $3.00 a week. Years later, when he could produce more he made up to $7.00 or $8.00 a week. This was known as piece work. These were depression years. 1905-6-7-8.

Every so called GREENHORN was exploited by the manufacturer. The foreman was always a slave driver or he couldn't keep his job. The shops had one pot belly stove in the middle of a large loft. In the winter, you wore your coat while you worked - it was that cold.

Labor was still unorganized in Brooklyn. On the East Side in Manhattan, the unions were beginning to shape up with some strong and effective leadership.

The winters were brutal. The apartment was very cold. There was a coal stove in the kitchen with a water boiler connected to it. The only source of heat in the entire apartment was that coal stove. Each tenant was allotted a bin for coal in the cellar. Each one took turns to carry 2 pails of coal at a time up three flights. When you burned the stove, the boiler became hot. When you stood by the boiler with your back, the rest of you was still freezing. You slept in hats and anything you could wear. The windows had artistic designs by nature and they were iced up.

All winter, people had colds. Many had pneumonia. Tuberculosis was always prevalent. A visit to a doctor's office was 50c. One doctor charged 25c and 50c for a house call. A prescription of medicine was 20c and 25c - depending on the pharmacist. Drug stores were open all night. Many people died young from hard work, lack of heat and lack of food.

There were no hospitals in Brownsville. Food was dirt cheap. Milk 5c/quart (loose milk from a can) Butter - 6c for a 1/4 lb. Bread 2c/ lb. Meat - 10c. If you asked for liver for a cat there was no charge. Fish 5c/lb. Money was tight and even these prices seemed high at the time.

In spite of conditions, such as they were, the Anisman family ate well. Grandma Sheindel would make delicious knishes, stuffed cabbage and jams sometimes made of fresh roses with filberts. That was a treat of treats.

Some ten years later, Pincus left the shop and became a costume (? ed) peddler. He sold merchandise to landsleit and anyone else who wanted to buy things on time. He sold mostly white goods, like sheets, quilts, blankets, sweaters and sometimes a ton of coal. His customers paid off their debts on the installment plan. - 25c a week. It took months for him to see a 50c profit on a ton of coal which cost $5.00 a ton then.

He contracted with a manufacturer to make long, black, ribbed, silk capes at $4.00 a piece. His profit was 50c a piece. They were beautiful. They had fringe at the bottom and open slits for the arms.

Pincus died of Uremia 6n June 18, 1927. Sheindel died of a stroke November 19, 1928.

Louis was the third son of Pincus and Sheindel. He had a beautiful, trained baritone voice and could transpose and read music at first sight. He was also well versed in Russian and Hebrew. Louis was 15 when he came here with the rest of the family in 1905. In a week or two, he too, went to work in a shirt factory. He wasn't exactly cut out for this kind of work. He ripped more

than he sewed. The starting wage was $3.00 a week. He never made more than $10.00 a week in the shop. For the High Holidays, he got $75.00 for singing in the choir

of a temple. He knew enough music to lead the choir. In the evening he went to night school and became quite educated. He was very well read - from Greek mythology to American Classics.

Louis bought a cello, expecting to become a virtuoso. That was physically impossible. He worked hard all day and was too tired at night to play.

In 1910, he joined the City Opera Company and sang with his brother William who had joined the company a few months earlier. on the road, they shared the same hotel room. In 1919, Louis decided to become a cantor in a Conservative temple. He studied for six months with a very prominent cantor of Temple Emanu-El - the most exclusive temple in New York.

For the next few years, he sang in out-of-town Conservative synagogues for the High Holidays. The first year he got $500.00 for the three days. The second year he got $700.00 and the third year he was paid $800.00.

In 1927, he got his first yearly position as a cantor of the beautiful Conservative temple, Beth El on B 121st St. in Belle Harbor, New York. His starting salary was $2,000.00 a year. He stayed on as the cantor of that temple until he retired. He had much to contend with from the very selfish and domineering Rabbi Gordes, who is still around.

Louis married Sophie in 1929. There were no children. He died of cancer, April 20, 1961.

Fannie was the only daughter of Pincus and Sheindel Anisman. When she came here she was 13 years old and went to work in a sweatshop with the rest of the family. She was also paid $3.00 a week for working as a machine operator. Fannie learned to sew sooner and faster than her brothers and therefore earned more in a shorter time. Soon, she was making $12.00 a week.

(By the way, the machines were not electric. They had a treadle and were called foot powered machines. You used both feet to run them.)

In the evening, Fannie went to night school and learned to read and write English very well. December 2, 1916 was the day of her marriage to Joseph Bratman. He was in the wholesale and retail herring business. He was in business with his brother Frank.

Joseph was 10 years old when his mother Tzeitel, died of pneumonia in Teplick, Russia. He had an older brother, Frank, who went to live with his maternal grandmother, Baba Morchicha and two younger brothers, Sam and Barney and one sister, Mollie. (Ironic enough, all of these five children had three children of their own after they were married.)

Within the year, Joseph's father, Peretz, remarried. His second wife was Sara. Shortly after, Joseph was sent to a nearby town as an apprentice in the dairy business. He was a strong boy with a very pleasant personality and was liked by everyone.

He was well taken care of by the owners of the dairy company. He would often visit his grandmother Morchicha who was in the dried fish (Bacala) and herring business. When her husband Mordicai Umansky died she took over. She was a shrewd business woman and took care of herself nicely. When Joseph came to visit, he would help out in the store and learned the business. He liked that.

His older brother Frank, vowed that someday they would both be in that business together. He was living with Baba Morchicha and helped in the store. He knew the business.

Peretz Bratman had three children by his second wife - Jennie, Nat, and Irving. Fannala was born in Brooklyn years later. Peretz found it too difficult to support a family of nine and decided to immigrate to America by himself. In 1908, he arrived in New York.

He rented a store, bought a machine, and learned to do tucking and plaiting on women's blouses and skirts. He did this work for a blouse manufacturer and did quite well.

Within two years, he saved enough to bring his entire family to America. Steerage passage was very inexpensive then. Joseph and the rest of his family landed at Ellis Island in the summer of 1910.

Joseph worked for his father for a few months and then quit. He then went to work for his cousin, Mr. Hershenoff who had a wholesale grocery business. Joe did not like to be confined. After working there for a few years, he was set against the grocery business.

Julius Umansky was Tzeitel's brother and only son of Joe's grandmother, Baba Morchicha. He lived in New York with his wife Bulah and son, Dr. Marc Umansky. ( They are all deceased now) . Julius or Uncle Umansky, as he was called, was in the installment business and did very well. He mostly sold gold and diamond jewelry on time.

Julius and his wife Bulah were very good to his sister Tzeitells children. It was with a loan from Julius Umansky that Joseph and Frank started the wholesale and retail herring business at 594 Blake Avenue Brooklyn, New York.

This was a cellar store with a stand at street level where the herring was sold. They would rent a horse and wagon for the wholesale deliveries and for carting the herring they bought to the cellar store. Joseph and Frank would go to the docks onto the boats to inspect and taste the herring before they bought. People came from all sections of Brooklyn and bought dozens of herring at a time. Business was good.

The Jewish people ate herring like it was going out of style. Not only as an appetizer, but as an entree with black olives, sliced onions, and tomatoes on pumpernickel bread with butter. My, was that good! The best shmaltz herring was 5c - incredible but true. They were the only herring merchants far and wide.

Three years later Frank contracted Spinal Meningitis and died within a week. He left his wife Sara, daughter Becky, and sons Nat and Ben.

From here on in, Joe took over the wholesale business and worked very, very hard. He did his wholesale business on a bicycle. He would close the cellar store for a while and make his deliveries to the grocers with a pail of herring on each side of the bicycle. He was so good at his business that a reporter wrote a commendable article about him in a leading newspaper - "The Incredible Joe" he called it.

Sometime later, he bought a truck and learned to drive. He got Zeida Peretz to work for him and paid him $35.00 a week. Peretz worked in the cellar store and was very good for the retail end of it. All the customers liked him.

When World War II ended, Joe's son Alex came home and soon after went to work for his father. Alex drove the truck and did practically everything else. At that time they were selling olives and canned goods wholesale. Alex worked for Joe for several years and then went into business with Jack Levine. They now have a tire business in California.

Joseph retired a few years later. He sold his house and moved to California with his wife Fannie in 1964. Joe died in December of 1974 at 85. Fannie died of cancer in September of 1964 at 72. Joseph and Fannie had three children - Clara, Alex, and Tobie.

Clara married Jack Levine and has two beautiful daughters. Linda married Larry Siegel and has a beautiful son, Jason - named for Joseph. Paulette is with a publishing company. They all live in California.

Alex married Elaine Herberg and has two very special twins. Marc married Maureen and has a gorgeous baby boy, Michael David. Marc is an attorney. Sheryl is a beautiful girl who teaches school.

Joseph's youngest child is Tobie. She married Herman Michelson, a restaurateur. They have two beautiful girls, Lynn and Wendy. Lynn married Jeffrey Goodman, an optician and they have a son, Ethan. He was named after his great grandmother Fannie. They live in Brooklyn. Wendy married Bob Lindner and has a gorgeous baby boy, Joseph. Bob is in the luggage business. They live in Queens.

Pincus and Sheindel had four sons of whom Jimmy was the youngest. He was 11 years old when he came here with the rest of the family. He went to public school and worked three hours a day after school trimming threads off men's shirts. For this, he got 35c a day. The shop was 2 miles from the house. There was a trolley car but the round trip was 10c so Jimmy usually ran at least one way - he was a fast runner. He even won a few medals for track in school.

When he graduated from grammar school, he got a letter of recommendation to the Western Union Co. from the principal of the school. He started as a clerk while learning telegraphy and earned $5.00 a week. He had to buy his own bug (telegraph machine) for $12.00 from the Western Union Co. W.U. took a dollar out of his pay for 12 weeks.

Jimmy became one of the best telegraphers in the country. During WWI, he was asked to go to England and transmit from a London office. He claimed exemption because of his parents. They were old and needed his support. He was granted an exemption.

In 1927, Jimmy was transferred to the C.N.D. - Commercial News Department. They handled the New York Stock Exchange quotations, the commodities market, merchant marine market and others. Jimmy was kept very busy. In spite of innovations, inventions, ticker tape, facsimile machines and others, telegraphy was still going strong.

Jimmy covered most of the important sports events in New York. He would sit in the Press Box with the sports reporter who would announce and Jimmy would send across the country to all the applicants. Fights, ballgames, horse shows, and election returns were just some of the news events he transmitted across the country. The applicants cities and universities - would pay a fee for the hook up and service that was something like cable TV. There was no TV at that time.

At age 40, Jimmy was made a supervisor of the C.N.D. There were 50 people in the department. Jimmy was well liked in his department.

Some time later, when the new machines became very accurate, the telegraph machine became obsolete in the C.N.D. The new machines were more economical and quicker. The Western Union was not the best company to work for. They were strict with their employees. Jimmy punched a clock to the last day, even as a supervisor.

Jimmy died of cancer on Aug. 6, 1959. The New York Times and Evening Telegram carried big articles in their obituary sections written by their sports writers.

Jimmy was married to me. I am Ethel, the daughter of Toba and Moisha Zborofsky. I was raised by my maternal grandparents Pincus and Sheindel after my mother Toba died. They brought me here with the rest of their family in 1905. They showered me with love and devotion for which I am ever grateful. I reciprocated to my utmost.

I went to public school and studied music privately. When I was 13 years old, I became a piano teacher. My first pupil was a friend of the family. She paid me 25c a lesson which lasted about an hour.

Jimmy and I had two fine children - Paul and Tobie Jean. Tobie Jean married Eugene Wolfson, an attorney and has three beautiful children. They are Jodi Sue -16yrs. old, Gregory Randolph - 14years old, and Jonathan Carter - 9 yrs. old. They live in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

Paul married Dorie Hammerschlag from Pine Bush, New York. They have a gorgeous baby boy, Jeoffrey James Anisman. Paul got his doctorate in linguistics and teaches. They live in Kensington, Maryland.

I am proud to write this genealogy of my ancestors. Without any research, I have written it as best as I could by using my memory and from hearsay, that I heard all my life. I am also very proud of my family tree - from the first Great Grandfather Berel Kotikofsky to my youngest Grandchild, Jeoffrey James Anisman.