I know that I haven't posted here in awhile - frankly, it's been hard to get motivated to write when no one has posted any comments. I had hoped that people would add their information, memories and thoughts - oh, well!
Anyway, in a couple of hours I fly out to Salt Lake City, home of the most incredible library for genealogy research - the Mormon's Family History Library. This is my third year there - I go with the ladies that I meet with monthly to talk genealogy. They've been going for years and have the routine down pat. We stay right next door to the library so we don't have to waste anytime getting there when it opens!
This trip I hope to at long last find my maternal grandparent's marriage certificate. Now that I know that their first-born, Germaine, was born in the city of Lieges, I can search there for Henri and Cecile's marriage. The prevailing memory was that they were married in Brussels, so I've spent lots of time looking there and the surrounding communities, plus Antwerp. Wish me luck! I am also hoping to find the youngest 2 Jelen siblings (Bernard and Anna) birth records. I now have a specific birth date for Bernard from his naturalization papers so I can narrow my search. Anna, on the other hand, will be harder as her age varies depending upon what document you look at. I'm going with the 1901 Scottish census as the best estimate, which would put her birth in 1894.
I am also going to do some research on my father's line. I will be spending time looking at records in Krakow for the Kollender family (my dad's mother's family). Polish records are such a chore especially the ones during the Russian empire. I'll need to get someone to write out Kollender in Cyrillic for me to help in the search.
I hope to post a few entries from SLC. The weather this year is fair - around 45 - 50 F with no snow forcasted.
Showing posts with label Jelen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jelen. Show all posts
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Jellen Family Tree
Here's a traditional family tree showing Issac and Rachel and their children. I created this tree using my genealogy software which I then imported into Photoshop so I could save it in jpeg format which is the only image format that Blogger will allow me to upload. I cannot figure out how to get it larger so get out your magnifying glasses!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
The Unknown Jellen
Am I the only one who had never heard that our grandmother Cecile had a brother Jack? I wonder if my mother even knew that he existed because when I had asked her some years ago about the names of her maternal aunts and uncles, Jack’s name was not mentioned. Ironically, I now know more about Jack than any of the other Jellen siblings, including my very own grandmother. I found a wealth of information in Jack’s application for British citizenship, plus being a journalist and writer, I have been able to find a lot about him.
Jack was born Jacob on July 22, 1888 in Antwerp, Belgium. He went by the name Jacques after the move to Brussels, and upon moving to Glasgow became Jack. He then enrolled at the Glasgow Atheneum of Music and attended that school for 3 years. (More about the musical Jellen’s in a future post!)
In 1910, at 22 years of age, he left to visit his brother in Brussels and worked at Fischer Freres (Fisher Brothers). It’s possible that the brother was Simon as his wife’s maiden name is Fisher. Jack didn’t stay very long in Belgium and returned to Scotland after only two months.
Later that year, in August, 1910, he changed careers and became a junior reporter for the Spectator and moved to County Down, Ireland. He returned to Glasgow in April of 1911 and became a reporter for the Shetland Times for 10 months. In January of 1912 he moved to Edinburgh and joined the Evening Dispatch and moved to London to serve as their Parliamentary Representative at the House of Commons.
In 1914, Jack applied for naturalization so he could serve in the British Army during WWI. Character and morality are qualities that are researched as part of the naturalization process. This yields a number of interesting observations and comments about Jack. Here are some of them:
“Memorialist (Jack) appears to be a respectable man, and produced five testimonials testifying that he is a capable reporter, thoroughly trustworthy, and invariably shows the Scotsman tenacity of purpose when assigned a difficult or apparently hopeless enterprise”. One of his references said that Jack was “…born in Belgium, but was brought up and educated in this country, and is an Englishman to all intents and purposes excepting for the accident of his birth”.
Jack became a naturalized British subject on December 14, 1914 and as expressed in his application, joined the Royal Army Service Corps before the year was out, serving in the Ypres Salient. While a Private, Acting Staff Serjeant, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in October, 1916 by the King of England. In 1919, he received the Medaille d’Honneur avec Glaives en Bronze from France for distinguished services rendered during the course of the campaign. He rose in rank to that of staff sergeant-major and was mentioned twice in war dispatches. I was able to obtain a copy of an article that Jack wrote in 1960 about his WWI experiences. The article was entitled “A Clerk in the First World War” and appeared in the August 1960 issue of the Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. This article goes into much detail about his war experiences and includes his observations on the various military commanders he came in contact with, along with descriptions of the action and everyday activities, including the time he held the King George V’s hat, while he was attending a dinner near the front.
After the war, Jack returned to the London staff of The Scotsman. His knowledge of French and German was the impetus for specializing in writing about foreign affairs and eventually became a diplomatic correspondent for the paper.
On December 20, 1924, at the age of 36, Jack married Lilian Dorothy Ely, a widow one year younger than himself. Lilian had a son Gerald who was 8 years old when Jack and Lilian married. Jack and Lilian later had a son, Alan on March 3, 1927.
Jack served in the Home Guard during World War II from its inception and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel as an assistant advisor on the Home Guard to the GOC, London District. During WWII, Jack was in charge of the Home Guard for the Houses of Parliament.
Jack was elected chairman of the Parliamentary Press Gallery in 1945. This mostly ceremonially post, entailed presiding over the annual luncheon. As Chairman, he was responsible for sending a message from the Press Gallery to Winston Churchill to salute him as the “architect of victory”. The Chairman’s gavel, made of oak from the bombed House of Commons, was used for the first time by Jack. The Press Gallery, adjacent to the House of Commons was also severely damaged by bombing during the Blitz of 1941.
According to his obituary, oil painting had been a long-time interest of Jack’s. An article published in The Scotsman on October 23, 1948 reviewed an art show at the Imperial Institute put on by the Army Art Society. It read, in part, “If Lieut.-Colonel J. Jellen, for example, had painted his tiny unpretentious ‘Pagham Rife’ on the scale of a Van Gogh he might have given even greater pleasure than he has done with his calm study of peaceful river under a friendly sky.”
His wife, Lilian, died on March 29, 1961 at the age of 72. 3 Jack died eleven years later of a heart attack on April 29, 1972 in Surrey, England.3 He was just 2 months shy of his 84th birthday.
Jack was born Jacob on July 22, 1888 in Antwerp, Belgium. He went by the name Jacques after the move to Brussels, and upon moving to Glasgow became Jack. He then enrolled at the Glasgow Atheneum of Music and attended that school for 3 years. (More about the musical Jellen’s in a future post!)
In 1910, at 22 years of age, he left to visit his brother in Brussels and worked at Fischer Freres (Fisher Brothers). It’s possible that the brother was Simon as his wife’s maiden name is Fisher. Jack didn’t stay very long in Belgium and returned to Scotland after only two months.
Later that year, in August, 1910, he changed careers and became a junior reporter for the Spectator and moved to County Down, Ireland. He returned to Glasgow in April of 1911 and became a reporter for the Shetland Times for 10 months. In January of 1912 he moved to Edinburgh and joined the Evening Dispatch and moved to London to serve as their Parliamentary Representative at the House of Commons.
In 1914, Jack applied for naturalization so he could serve in the British Army during WWI. Character and morality are qualities that are researched as part of the naturalization process. This yields a number of interesting observations and comments about Jack. Here are some of them:
“Memorialist (Jack) appears to be a respectable man, and produced five testimonials testifying that he is a capable reporter, thoroughly trustworthy, and invariably shows the Scotsman tenacity of purpose when assigned a difficult or apparently hopeless enterprise”. One of his references said that Jack was “…born in Belgium, but was brought up and educated in this country, and is an Englishman to all intents and purposes excepting for the accident of his birth”.
Jack became a naturalized British subject on December 14, 1914 and as expressed in his application, joined the Royal Army Service Corps before the year was out, serving in the Ypres Salient. While a Private, Acting Staff Serjeant, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in October, 1916 by the King of England. In 1919, he received the Medaille d’Honneur avec Glaives en Bronze from France for distinguished services rendered during the course of the campaign. He rose in rank to that of staff sergeant-major and was mentioned twice in war dispatches. I was able to obtain a copy of an article that Jack wrote in 1960 about his WWI experiences. The article was entitled “A Clerk in the First World War” and appeared in the August 1960 issue of the Journal of the Royal United Service Institution. This article goes into much detail about his war experiences and includes his observations on the various military commanders he came in contact with, along with descriptions of the action and everyday activities, including the time he held the King George V’s hat, while he was attending a dinner near the front.
After the war, Jack returned to the London staff of The Scotsman. His knowledge of French and German was the impetus for specializing in writing about foreign affairs and eventually became a diplomatic correspondent for the paper.
On December 20, 1924, at the age of 36, Jack married Lilian Dorothy Ely, a widow one year younger than himself. Lilian had a son Gerald who was 8 years old when Jack and Lilian married. Jack and Lilian later had a son, Alan on March 3, 1927.
Jack served in the Home Guard during World War II from its inception and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel as an assistant advisor on the Home Guard to the GOC, London District. During WWII, Jack was in charge of the Home Guard for the Houses of Parliament.
Jack was elected chairman of the Parliamentary Press Gallery in 1945. This mostly ceremonially post, entailed presiding over the annual luncheon. As Chairman, he was responsible for sending a message from the Press Gallery to Winston Churchill to salute him as the “architect of victory”. The Chairman’s gavel, made of oak from the bombed House of Commons, was used for the first time by Jack. The Press Gallery, adjacent to the House of Commons was also severely damaged by bombing during the Blitz of 1941.
According to his obituary, oil painting had been a long-time interest of Jack’s. An article published in The Scotsman on October 23, 1948 reviewed an art show at the Imperial Institute put on by the Army Art Society. It read, in part, “If Lieut.-Colonel J. Jellen, for example, had painted his tiny unpretentious ‘Pagham Rife’ on the scale of a Van Gogh he might have given even greater pleasure than he has done with his calm study of peaceful river under a friendly sky.”
His wife, Lilian, died on March 29, 1961 at the age of 72. 3 Jack died eleven years later of a heart attack on April 29, 1972 in Surrey, England.3 He was just 2 months shy of his 84th birthday.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
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.
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.
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