Meyer Gershenowitz married Toba Besser, my grandmother’s sister.  Email from Howard Mirsky:

David:Well, I looked over the links you sent and was very impressed.  I’m pretty certain that this is a real connection.   Here’s the story:

Meyer is one of 5 children from Czestochowa.  (Spellings vary with documents.)

1.    Harry Gershanowitz
2.    Meyer (Max) Gershenowitz
3.    David Gershanowitz
4.    Chaje  Gershanowitz
5.    Ida Gershanowitz

Harrry is my grandfather.  He immigrated in 1907.  He and Perl Rand had 3 children, Helen, Irving, and Gertrude (Gigi). Gigi is named after her grandmother, Gittl.   I’m Helen’s son.  (Harry also had 2 prior children by his first wife, Esther Rothman.  She died and left him with the 2 children to raise.)

Meyer as you already know had 4 children.  He arrived with his sister, Chaje, also in 1907, and they went to his brother, David Gershanowitz, already here at Metropolitan Ave.  You also know that on the ship manifest he gives his mother’s name as Gittl, back home.

David is the mystery brother.  Just tonight (12/11) I called Gigi in Fla.  She said David had a candy store in Brownsville, and that he had 2 children, Irene and Lou.  Irene lived in N.Y. and went into the hat business.  The family saw her.  David moved to the Washington area sometime after the war.  I can find no trace of him.

Chaje Gershanowitz.  She married Louis Pearlman.  They had several children.

Ida Gershanowitz married Max Friedman.  He was in the umbrella business.  They had 3 children, Gilbert, Irving, and Sam.

Below are the graves at Mt. Judah  You can see that the dates may vary a little from the ones you have.  On Toby’s stone the translation of the first line is:  “Here lies Tova, daughter of Yitchok.”  Similarly on the other it says: “Israel Meyer, son of Yitchok Moshe”

Would it be O.K. if I showed the wedding picture of Meyer to my  aunt, since she remembers them?  By the way, she could remember no one from Toby’s (Toba’s) side.

He also looks very much like my grandfather.  Take a look below:

Harry Gershanowitz sometime between 1907 and 1914

Attached to this in my mother’s handwriting is: “Max Gershanowitz, papa’s brother”

FYI: My mother Helen married Bernard Mirsky.  Two children, Jay and Howard.  Each have 2 girls.

RE: Family story, found here.  Yes, I saw that.  I know that story, too.  Meyer took custody of the children, a boy and a girl, my aunt remembered.  He already had 4 children and couldn’t keep them.  They went to David Gershanowitz’s son, Lou (my aunt isn’t 100% sure of the name).  There, as your aunt remembered, too, they couldn’t fit in and were lost to the family.  This probably occurred in the Washington / VA area, since that’s where David’s son, Lou had lived since the war.

Best regards,  Howard