52 Ancestors: Another Language – Joseph Steen

This week’s prompt for the challenge is Another Language.  Not sure where to start or what to write, my brain churned for an inspiration.  While I assumed that many of my ancestors spoke another language since they came from Poland, Germany, and other countries in Europe, I don’t know that any of them spoke or understood another language.

But wait – being 50% Ashkenazi Jew meant there was sure to be some Hebrew or Yiddish, right?  And then I remembered that my 3x great grandfather, Joseph Steen, was buried with a beautiful Hebrew inscription on his headstone.



And, fortunately, I have a transcription.

Moshe Yosef 

HERE LIES
A noble and a faithful devoted man to God
Died on the eve of Shabat on 15 Av and was buried on 17 Av.
A man of integrity and honesty,
Hard worker and with clean hands and heart.
Never gossip nor lying.
From this world you departed but peace with God you found.

While I don’t know specifically that Joseph or his family spoke Hebrew, it was obviously important enough for them to inscribe his headstone with the words in Hebrew.

Joseph was born in Poland in about 1826 or 1827 and emigrated from Posen to England in about 1850.  With him when he emigrated were his wife, Hannah Plotzky, and his daughter, Rebecca (my 2x great grandmother).  Another child was born before they found their way to New York where son Samuel was born in 1855.  Shortly thereafter, the family moved to Santa Cruz where Joseph opened a bath house and five more children were born.

I don’t know much about Joseph’s short life.  He was enumerated in 1860 in Santa Cruz where he lived next door to Louis Schwartz, Rebecca’s future husband and my 2x great grandfather.  And next door to Louis and his business partner, Solomon Fisher, was the Barnet family.  I have a lot of research to do on this family but I do know that daughter Grace graduated from Santa Cruz High School with my great grandmother, Bertha Schwartz, and served as a bridesmaid in Bertha’s wedding to Abraham Gunzendorfer.  As I’ve started to research them, I found someone with a family tree on Ancestry that also shows up as a DNA match for me.  So maybe, just maybe, I’ll find that the Barnet family is in some way related to my family.

Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data - 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records

In 1863, Joseph was listed on the IRS Tax Assessment List.  I have zero experience with this type of list so it’s all Greek to me.

Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.Original data - National Archives (NARA) microfilm series: M603, M754-M771, M773-M777, M779-M780, M782, M784, M787-M789, M791-M793, M795, M1631, M1775-M1776, T227, T1208-T1209.

Uh-oh, he’s back on the list in October, 1864.  Is this a good thing or a bad thing?


Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.Original data - National Archives (NARA) microfilm series: M603, M754-M771, M773-M777, M779-M780, M782, M784, M787-M789, M791-M793, M795, M1631, M1775-M1776, T227, T1208-T1209.


In 1864, Joseph lost a stock certificate of 10 shares of stock.  I sure wish I knew if this was ever found.

Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel, 12 Nov 1864, Sat, page 3

And then his life was cut short.

Santa Cruz Weekly Sentinel, 4 Aug 1866, Sat, page 2

Consumption is an old term for wasting away of the body, particularly from pulmonary tuberculosis.  It has been said that tuberculosis was known as a “good death” as the slow progress of the disease allowed the patient to arrange their affairs.  I can’t imagine a 39 year old man with a young family facing the task of arranging his affairs.

To read the story of how I found Joseph’s grave (the same cemetery as my father!), click HERE for my #2 genealogical find of 2012. 

מנוחה בשלום, יוסף
Rest in peace, Joseph.

More Details About a Wedding

I just can’t get enough of reading newspaper accounts of my ancestors’ weddings,  There is always so much to learn, especially when the article is filled with names of the bridal party, parents and guests.  And if there is enough detail, you can almost picture exactly what it looked like.  Or as my dad would have said “now I can visualize it”. 

So even though I've previously read and blogged about the engagement and wedding of my great grandparents, Bertha “Birdie” Schwartz and Abraham “Abe” Gunzendorfer, I couldn't get over the amount of information in this article from a Santa Cruz newspaper (Santa Cruz Sentinel?) on or about 9 Sep 1894 that I found stashed in the boxes of stuff my grandmother held on to all these years.





How ‘bout that – it was A Stylish Wedding!  Not just stylish but also filled with so many interesting facts.

I’d read about the bridal party in another article but this had new information.  Where before I only knew the Flower Girl and Ring Bearer were her niece and nephew, this goes on to say that they were Hazel Steen, daughter of Samuel and Rachel (Letter) Steen, and Colemann (Colman) Schwartz, the son of Louis and Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz.  Samuel was the brother of Rebecca Schwartz, Birdie’s mother, and Colman was Birdie’s brother.  Both children would have been about 10 at the time of the wedding. 

Colman Schwartz c. 1890

I knew that the bridesmaids were Dena Steen (sister of Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz and Birdie’s aunt), and Jennie and Bella Steen (daughters of Jacob and Pauline (Jacobson) Steen and Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz’ cousins), but the mention of Grace Barnet is new information.  Grace graduated with Birdie from Santa Cruz High School in 1890.  I’ve tried to find ancestors of Grace but from what I can tell, she never married so doesn’t seem to have left too many ancestors behind.  I need to ramp up my search.

The groomsmen were Chas. Berg (not sure who this is), M. A. Steen (Meyer Steen, brother of Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz and Birdie’s Uncle), Adolf Gunzendorfer (Abe’s brother), and Milton Schwartz (Birdie’s brother).

Milton Harry Schwartz 28 Feb 1894

Rabbi Jacob Nieto was a well known Rabbi in the area and much has been written about him and his importance to the Jewish community at the time.

Rabbi Jacob Nieto photo courtesy of Magnes Museum

Many toasts and telegrams were read, a few of which seem so very sentimental based on the author.

“Cause and effect, responsibility of the cause; we desire his apologies for bringing us here, F. Gunzendorfer”  I’m not quite sure what this means but this was Ferdinand Gunzendorfer, Abe’s father and my 2nd great grandfather.

“Our Birdie, she has flown into a cage; let us hope that she will be an exception to the rule that those who are in want to get out, Joe Schwartz”  Joe was Birdie’s older brother.

“Present at her birth, witness of her childhood, participant at her festivities, J. Steen”  I would like to think J. Steen was Joseph Steen, Birdie’s maternal grandfather, but since he died in 1866 this can’t be him.  So I’m guess it is Jacob Steen, Joseph’s brother.

Jacob Steen c. 1880

“Another uncle, thoughtful and humorous, Sam Steen”  Samuel was Rebecca (Steen) Schwartz’ brother and Birdie’s uncle.

“A good example well set should be followed, J. Guzendorfer”.  “The only bachelor left, may he soon join the Benedicts, Adolph Gunzendorfer”  These were two of Abe’s brothers, Adolph and Jacob.  No mention of his oldest brother, Gustave Gunzendorfer.  Was he there?

Several Barnet family members were mentioned.  S. Barnet (Grace’s father, Samuel), Z. Barnet (Grace’s brother, Zacharius), Bertha and Emma Barnet (Grace’s sisters), H. Barnet (Herman, Grace’s brother).  It makes me think that the Barnet family must have been very close to Birdie and, perhaps, the entire Schwartz family.  Santa Cruz was a pretty small town back then and since the Jewish population was probably quite small, it makes sense that everyone worshipped together and were close friends.

Whenever I think of this beautiful affair, it saddens me to know that Birdie’s father, Louis Schwartz, died in 1893 so wasn't able to see his only daughter marry.  I wonder if her older brother, Joseph, walked her down the aisle or maybe one of her many uncles.  No matter who it was, I can imagine Birdie had an emptiness without her father.

I’m so thankful I ran across this article - I think it’s becoming apparent that I come from a very, very long line of packrats.