EDWARD WEISS - APPLICATION TO ORPHANAGE AND CONFIRMATION OF ADMISSION - NOVEMBER 1906

DOCUMENTS:
weiss-edward-new-york-hebrew-orphan-asylum-application-1906.jpg see the form on the right
weiss-edward-new-york-hebrew-orphan-asylum-ledger-1906.jpg

CLOSE-UP VIEW OF LEDGER:
   weiss-edward-new-york-hebrew-orphan-asylum-ledger-1906-zoom.png

NOTES:

• These touching documents reveal a family in crisis, due to the illness of David Weiss. [Note: David was the grandfather of Ruth Schwartz, who died before Ruth was born.] Because of his illness, David was no longer able to work and support his three youngest children (Esther, Sadie, and Edward). David had been widowed twice; his second wife, Anna, had died about nine years earlier.
• The documents also reveal how David's grown children stepped in to help their father and younger siblings. The first document is an application to admit ten-year-old Edward Weiss (who was Julia's younger half-brother) to the orphanage; the second is a ledger confirming his admission. He lived there for about two years and eight months (as we know from a later document showing he was discharged in July 1909, once his older brother William was able to take care of him).
• Here's a copy of the (modern) transcription of the ledger, copied from ancestry.ca

  Name: 	Edward Weiss
  Record Type: 	Admission
  Admission Date: 	30 Nov 1906
  Age: 	10
  Birth Date: 	abt 1896
  Birthplace: 	New York
  Previous Residence: 	456 E 10 St
  Father: 	David Weiss
  
  Original data: Records of the New York Hebrew Orphan Asylum, 1860-1934.
  

• Here are my notes about these documents:
  • Under "Remarks" the form says: "Application by sister Esther living at 456 E. 10 St. c/o Holzman. Father unemployed and unable to work because of heart trouble. Was patient in [N.Y.? = hard to read] Hospital. Has not worked for a year. Jacob lost 3 fingers in accident. Unemployed. Father living with married daughter Mrs. Schwartz, husband cutter - 3 children. Remainder of family with Mrs. Holzman, husband [? = hard to read] maker 2 children."
  • "Mrs. Schwartz" and "Mrs. Holzman" refer to Edward's older half-sisters, Julia (Weiss) Schwartz and Regina (Weiss) Holzman.
  • Under "Names and Ages of Brothers and Sisters" it lists three of Edward's half-siblings (Julia, Regina, and Jacob) and two of his full siblings (Esther and Sadie):

    Julia Schwartz 30 [under "Married" it says "yes"]
    Regina Holzman 27 [under "Married" it says "yes"]
    Jacob 23 [under "Employed" it says "printer"]
    Esther 15 [under "Employed" it says "ruffler $3.50") [presumably this meant she was employed in the clothing industry making ruffles and that $3.50 was her wage?]
    Sadie 13 [under "At School" it says "yes"]

  • Naturally the form does not list Edward's oldest half-sister, Rose, since according to Gladys Kaminsky's family history, Rose had died the year before (1905). But it also omits his half-sister Bertha (who around this time married her sister Rose's widower) and his brother William (who would have been around 18 years old?).
  • The occupation of Morris Holzman (Regina's husband) is given in the 1910 census as pipe maker, so the hard-to-read word before "maker" is probably "pipe."
  • Edward's date of birth is given as Oct. 23, 1896.
  • The form indicates that Edward's father David Weiss [who was also Julia (Weiss) Schwartz's father] was born in Hungary in 1844 and arrived in the U.S. (and in N.Y.) in 1882; his occupation is "tailor" and for earnings it says "unemp."
  • The form indicates that Edward's mother Anna [who was Julia (Weiss) Schwartz's stepmother] was born in Hungary in 1859 and died of cancer 6/8/1897. There are question marks for the year she arrived in the U.S. and in N.Y. (But given Anna's and David's 1885 marriage certificate, when she was 19, we would expect Anna's year of birth to be 1865 or 1866?)
  • On the form, next to "How received" there's a note: "11/21/06 - admitted".
  • "Present residence of parent" is given as "456 E. 10 St. c/o Holzman" [which would indicate David was living with his daughter Regina); but above that there's a crossed-out address: "213 Franklin St. [? point? = hard to read] c/o Schwartz". Although there is a 213 Franklin St. in Manhattan, the address on the form must be 213 Franklin St in Brooklyn, because that was Benjamin's and Julia's address at the time of the 1905 census.
  • 456 E. 10th St. was also the address where David was living at the time of the 1900 census with six children (including his then unmarried daughter Regina), and at the time of the 1905 census with five children (no longer including Regina); so perhaps the fact that David is now at the same address, "c/o Holzman", indicates that Regina had moved back in with her husband (Morris Holzman)?
  • See 456 E. 10 St. today (on the Lower East Side of Manhattan).
  • See 213 Franklin St., Brooklyn today in Google Maps.
  • The ledger indicates that Edward was admitted on Nov. 30, 1906, aged 10. Since all the admission dates are at the end of them month, presumably this was an official date and he was actually admitted on the 21st as noted on the application form?
  • Edward's admission to the orphanage has an "expiration date" of 10/22/12. Judging by other ledger entries from the orphanage, the expiration date was the day before the child turned sixteen.