Simon Jellen

Similar to Cecile, Simon believed that he had been born in Belgium, as he too listed Brussels on all U.S. documents. (More on this later!) However, I have evidence that he was born in Bialystock, Poland on July 7, 1884. (His death certificate lists his birth date as June 4, 1884). It’s highly likely that his name was originally Szymon, a more typical Polish name.

Simon was a master cabinetmaker. Later, after he immigrated with his family to the U.S. Simon turned from making furniture to selling furniture. Simon married Leah (Lily) Fisher on June 12, 1907 at the South Portland Street Synagogue in Glasgow, Scotland. Interestingly, Leah, who was born in Russia, was employed as a tobacconist, the same trade as Simon’s father Issac. Could Simon and Leah have possibly met through his father?

Their first son Joseph was born on March 6, 1908 and Morris was born 5 years later on April 26, 1913. They remained in Glasgow until January 1916 when Simon, Leah, Joseph and Morris all immigrated to the United States, leaving from the port of Liverpool. According to the ship manifest, they were joining his sister, Cecile Reichman who was living at 302 East 100 St. in New York. They entered the U.S. through Ellis Island, but it is not known how long they stayed, if at all, in New York. By 1920, the family was living in San Francisco, California. There Simon opened a furniture store. Their daughter Evelyn was born on March 14, 1924. The family later moved to Los Angeles around 1925 and in 1930 were living at Alsace Ave. Simon opened another furniture store. Here's a picture of Simon and Cecile taken at Simon's house in L.A. around 1943.

Simon died at the age of 56 on December 27, 1950 of a heart attack. Lily died on March 1, 1963 at the age of 81.