Jellen Family History Overview

My maternal great-grandfather Izryk (Issac) was born on March 4, 1858 in the town of Ostrow, Lomza gubernia (province), Poland to Chaim Jankiel Herrkoovica Jelen and Chana Radjevitz. My maternal great-grandmother Rochl (Rachel) Zibolar was born on March 1, 1857 in the town of Czyzew, Lomza gubernia to Wolf Zibolar and Jetta Kowalta. Czyzew is located approximately 67 miles north east of Warsaw and directly east of Ostrow. Rachel and Issac were married in 1876 in the town of Ostrow. (This link takes you to an old Polish map of these towns - http://http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/digkonyv/topo/200e/40-53.jpg - Ostrow is on the far left side of the map just south of 52 degree 50 min - go straight east and you'll run into Czyzew. )
In 1881, 2 million Jews began to emigrate in response to the pogroms that started when the assassination of Alexander II was blamed on the Jews. Later that same year, Rachel and Issac’s first child, Cecile (my grandmother) was born on July 15, 1881 in Czyzew, Poland. Szymon (Simon) was born 3 years later on July 7, 1884 in Bialystock. The birth place of both Cecile and Simon are a bit controversial as both listed Belgium on all documents. I will discuss this at length in a future post!

Around 1885, the Jelen family immigrated to the Flemish city of Antwerp, Belgium. Antwerp had a robust Jewish community that Polish Jews were well aware of in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Issac and Rachel had to register as foreign nationals at the Bureau des Etrangers. This is most fortunate since their file includes numerous valuable documents such as Issac’s birth certificate, and forms that include details on both Rachel and Issac’s parents, along with the birth place of their two children, Cecile and Simon.

Their third child, Charles, was born on August 3, 1886 in Antwerp. The name listed on his birth registration was Christianus; a very unusual name for a Jewish boy of Polish heritage! Two years later, Jacob (who later became Jacques and then Jack) was born on July 22, 1888. Sometime during 1890 – 1891, the family moved again to the Brussels area, possibly to Anderlecht. Their “file” followed them, though no new information seems to have been added.

I am assuming that Issac and Rachel’s last two children were born in the Brussels area, though birth registrations have yet to be located. The documentation I have shows that Bernard was born on February 15, 1892 according to his naturalization papers and Anna was born around 1894.

The Jelen family immigrated, yet again, around 1894 to Scotland, settling first in the inner-city Jewish community of Gorbals in Glasgow. Rachel took the name Rosa or Rosalie. The family moved to Edinburgh sometime after 1910. It was sometime after the move to Scotland that a second l was added to their surname, hence Jelen became Jellen from that time forward. I have not been able to determine whether my grandmother Cecile emigrated with the rest of the family. Issac, and Rosalie are listed on the 1901 Scottish census along with their children Simon, Charles, Jacob, Bernard and Annie. Only Cecile is missing from the census record.

Cecile met her husband Henry Reichman in Belgium and immigrated with their three daughters to the United States in 1912. Simon met his wife in Scotland, and they immigrated with two sons to the United States in 1916. Jack Jellen moved south to England around 1912 and lived near London until he died in 1972. Charles, Bernard and Anna remained in Edinburgh until their deaths in 1948, 1971 and 1970 respectively.

Issac died from heart failure on December 15, 1921 at the Jewish Hospital in Prestwich, Manchester, England at the age of 63. Rachel (Rosa) Jellen was 77 when she died on November 14, 1937 in Edinburgh of heart failure. She was living with her son Bernard at the time.