Totally Stuck on Great Grandparents (Eastern Europe/Russia)
Totally stuck, cant go further back from...:
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/GP4X-VYS
and
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/GP46-F2D
or
Stella Hithrone, 20 April 1893 – September 1975
and
Samuel Smarook, 12 March 1893 – 1 June 1966
Answers
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Hi @Andrew65170.
It looks like there are trees on Ancestry worth looking into. At the very least, it looks like there's some alternate spellings.
The Poland Research Group may also be able to help you. Please consider joining the group and posting your question again there. You may find help in the Russian Empire Research group too.
I saw that Stella has an immigration record attached. This record has her cousin's address, which I think says 98 Broadway(?) in Brooklyn. It looks like the name is Konstanty Chorasy? or Chowen? Finding that person could give you a clue about Stella. The Atlantic States Research group may be able to provide strategies for that.
As for Samuel, this record might be of interest, although it's not yet online. Should that be his record, it looks like these types of records have some interesting information: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4488912
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Hi @Andrew65170 I actually did a deep dive on this for you yesterday, the new sources you’ll see attached was me. I ran out of time to write a rundown of my findings for you, but I can do so tomorrow when I’m back at my computer.
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Hi again @Andrew65170 back at my computer and able to give you some insight into my findings. First, I think a major factor in the difficulties you were having locating information on your great grandparents is due to a number of factors affecting both the spelling of their names, and what may be actual name changes. I suspect this is due to both language barriers and, possibly, to do with a desire to assimilate. The second issue is gaps in the digitisation of New York City records.
This does mean I have drawn some longer bows than I ordinarily would, and also means some of the connections are circumstantial and require further verification to be certain, but I'll spell out those connections and why I've included them.
To begin with Samuel Smarook. The "Smarook" seems to have been standardised later on in his life, as it only consistently appears in this form after 1950. Though it's possible that it was adopted slightly earlier. While the Alien Case File for Samuel Smarook (that @GFre referenced above) doesn't have a date, my understanding is that the earliest records in that collection date from about 1940 and more commonly 1944 onwards. This fits with the WWII draft registration card source I've attached, in which he is listed as "Samuel Shmarook". Note that both records record his birthday as 12 February though the years differ, 1895 for the former and 1892 for the latter.
By undertaking wildcard searches I was able to find census records for the family in 1930 (Smarrok) and 1925 (Smarak) (Both attached). In all census records Samuel appears as "Sam". The 1930 record is particularly helpful as it gives immigration years. 1912 for Sam and 1914 for Stella. It also lists another son, William, born about 1918. What's also interesting about this record is that "Russia" is given as birthplace for both Samuel and Stella but it's been crossed out and replaced by "Poland".
The 1920 census was hard to crack. I actually only found it by doing a wildcard search with Sophia's birthdate +/-1. It was incorrectly indexed under "Imovick" and attached to a consequently fictional family by the USCensusProject. In fairness the cursive lettering isn't very clear, but there is enough to tell it is a version of Smarook. Possibly "Smaruk" or "Smarock". Additionally Stella's immigration dates match. Sam's is a year different, 1913, but his occupation of baker fits. Birth location is given as Russia for both. Interestingly there is also another child, Olga aged 3 months and William isn't listed, suggesting his birthdate given in 1930 may have been incorrect or he was possibly adopted. I've amended the Index, but you'll need to merge "Sam Imovick" and his family into your great grandparents profiles. Sing out if you need assistance with this.
No luck finding Sam in the 1915 New York Census. A possible match for Stella but this is where the bow gets long.
Ideally next would be to find copies of the children's birth records to track if and when both parents made changes to their names as has been speculated online by other trees. Unfortunately the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is over a decade behind in transferring birth records to the New York City Municipal Archives for public access, which means those records are not currently available.
We can surmise however, based on the birthdate of Sophia Smarook and the arrival date of Stella to the US that the couple married sometime between 1914 and 1917. I was unable to find any record to suggest a union between a Stella and Sam with surnames within the ballpark.
However, on the 8 August 1916 a marriage license is registered in Brooklyn for the union of Stefania Chitrun and Simon Smaruck. Licence number 11675. Unfortunately those county clerk licence records haven't been digitised yet to be able to view more detail than that.
What have been digitised though, are marriage certificates issued by the New York Department of Health, and they have a marriage certificate for the union of Simon Smoruck and Sarafina Chitrun on the 5th September 1916 in Brooklyn. You can view the original here and the FS index here. I'd posit that the individual filling out the form wasn't completely on the ball, as you'll see the couple's names on the second page are completely wrong, have been crossed out and re-entered, so it's possible "Stefania" was taken down as "Serafina".
Now the assumption of change in given names is purely circumstantial and speculative at this point. Surnames are a close match, dates fit, locations fit, and this marriage record is the best match I have found. But without more definitive proof to corroborate the jump, I'm uncomfortable giving it more weight than a hypothesis.
If it does prove to be correct, it opens up a lot of research avenues for you. The marriage certificate, for example, contains the names of both sets of parents including the mother's maiden names.
It would also mean that this is likely Samuel/Sam/Simon's immigration record. Here recorded as Semyon Szmaruk, he arrived 30 May 1912 which fits with what the 1930 census stated. His father's name, Jacob, is also a match to the marriage record.
Stella's surename is only recorded as "Hithrone/Hitrone" in her children's NUMIDENT files, so it is possible that it was misrecorded. If we follow the assumption that Stella was a nickname or a name adopted after immigration then the immigration record I have attached is the most likely match. Stefania Chitrun arrived on the 3 August 1914, which fits with what Stella states in the 1920 and 1930 census records. Her father is also recorded in that record as Antoni which fits with the above marriage record.
These immigration records also give more detailed locations of origin to explore.
In the 1915 New York Census a Stephonia Chomin is living in the household of Michael Chomin in Buffalo, Erie, New York, listed as his sister-in-law and having been in the US one year. Also listed is Constantine Chomin who might sound familiar. Konstanty Chowen was listed as her cousin in her immigration record.
So a bit to digest there.
As for next steps, I would strongly suggest trying to get a copy of the Alien Case File from the National Archives that @GFre linked for you above. Those records can include details such as parents names, alias, DOB, date of arrival, place of birth and possibly marriage details. So it may be the key to proving or disproving the above possible matches. I've not dealt directly with the US National Archives myself, but it's possible they may be able to provide you with a copy for a fee. The US Federal Records Group may be able to advise you if that something you wish to pursue. The other thing you may like to explore is purchasing copies of your great-grandparents death certificates, which may also offer clues.
I hope that all helps you in continuing on in your research, do let me know if you would like me to clarify any of those details and best of luck.
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