Need help unraveling a mystery and maybe a mess I caused.

Douglas44938

I've been on the hunt trying to build out the family tree and I'm afraid I may have mixed up two people. This is the link to her page
Elise Hannah Leavitt Levy (1896–Deceased) • Person • Family Tree

I need help figuring out if this (now-combined two people) are in fact the same person.

TLDR:
The Benjamin Leavitt listed on this page had a son (Abram Leavitt) with a woman named Rebecca Levy and a daughter named Elise Leavitt (Whose birth certificate I cannot find). I thought this Elise was the same as that one. However, upon looking at the father (Hyman Levy) of Louis Groner (Her husband), I am now under the impression they are two separate people.

I would greatly appreciate any help in unwinding the mess I made and if one felt so inclined, to help find more information on the other Elise Leavitt, daughter of Benjamin Leavitt and sister to Abram Leavitt and Rafael Leavitt.

Re Searching

There is no doubt that the family in the 1905 census is the same one as the 1900 census. The presence of Ida Aeschlimann in both is quite conclusive.

There is a candidate burial record for Benjamin Leavitt in Passaic in 1901
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLT-23ZS

This might account for a remarriage of Elise's mother although I cannot locate a marriage record between J Henry Rowley and a bride named Leavitt between 1901 and 1905.

Records of interest:

1920 New Jersey Census
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4YZ-3ZD
This record has confused the indexers.
Elise is married to Louis Groner, has been indexed as married to William because of the order.
Daughters Louisa 3 and Charlott 1y7m

1945 Florida Elise Groner
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNF6-C2V
Children Louise 28 and Elaine 21

From the above it seems quite clear that Elise Groner was born in the right place and is the right age to match Elise Leavitt present in the 1900 and 1905 censuses, and the Elise H Groner in the 1940 Florida census.

The death record of Alexander Leavitt and the baptism of Abe Leavitt in 1883 support the hypothesis that Elise's father Benjamin was married to Rebecca Levy before marrying 'Lulu'

From the above, it appears that Elise Leavitt is probably the same as Elise Hannah Levy Leavitt and the use of Levy in her surname implies that her blood mother was Rebecca Levy, and her step mother was 'Lulu'

To prove this to meet the Genealogical Proof Standard you would need to locate Elise's baptism record, the marriage of her parents, the death of her mother, the marriage of her father to her step-mother, and confirm that the death of her father above is the correct one.

Overall, it seems that your concerns are realistic, but on balance there is a good chance that you will eventually succeed in getting the proof.

Douglas44938

Thank you in advance!

Re Searching

@Douglas44938

These Items of interest present more confusion:

Baptism of Gertrude Leavette in 1893 Massachusetts. Parents Benjamin Leavette and Eliza Sorell
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQXQ-QYD

Baptism of Gertrude Leavette in 1893 Massachusetts. Parents Benjamin Leavette and Eliza Sarell
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DZNF-6Q6Z

Other records for this family present the mother's surname as Surell, Sorel, Sonel and even Soul, and in the marriage of their daughter Carrie, her christian name is shown as Elize.

These records present a surname with tantalising similarity to the mother's name Syrell in Elise Hannah Leavitt Levy's marriage record.

Eliza/Elize Sorrel Leavette died in 1898, and this Benjamin Leavette is shown as unmarried in the 1900 Census in North Adams, Berkshire Mass. with his widowed daughter Mary Foote and her children. Then later also as a widower. His connection to the family in New Jersey seems unlilkely.

This confusing situation is not unusual in research. Frequently the method is more about using the records to prove who is not the right person to match your target individual than it is about finding the key record that is conclusive. In many cases the conclusive piece of evidence might not exist and you will need to build a case showing that of all possible candidates, A, B ,D and E etc can be excluded and C is the only one that matches X.