Joseph German (1885 - 1959)

Born 10 Sep 1885 in Mezhirichi, Rivne Uyezd, Volhynia Guberniya, Russian Empire

Son of Wolf Herman and Brondal Lapedes

Husband of Esther-Bayla (Goretsky) German — married 28 Jul 1912 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Descendants

Died 26 May 1959 at age 73 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Louis Kessler [send private message]

Biography

Joseph was born in 1885 in Mezhirichi. His parents died when he was very young and his grandmother raised him. The family name may originally have been Herman in Russian.

Joseph German migrated from the Russian Empire to Canada.

Joseph came to Canada alone about 1906. His grandmother of 82 years was said to have put him on the ship.

When Joseph arrived, he stayed with Reuben and Lizzie Ornstein and their family in their home at 244 Jarvis in Winnipeg. The Ornsteins were not relatives, but were one of many Jewish families emigrating to Winnipeg and were providing a place for young Jewish immigrants.

Manitoba promised a piece of land to anyone willing to farm it that was coming to Winnipeg. Joseph got some land on Belmont Avenue in what is now north Winnipeg but then was Selkirk. He got a few cows and started to sell milk and so became a milkman.

Joseph married Esther Goretsky in 1912 in Winnipeg.

Joseph was naturalized (became a Canadian Citizen) on June 1, 1914.

Joseph did not enjoy being a milkman. In 1918, he was still listed as living at 533 Belmont Avenue but his occupation was shown to be a junk pedlar.

So sometime between 1918 and 1921, he sold the farm and bought two houses at 522 and 524 Flora Avenue. They lived at 524 and rented out 522. Joseph then started working as a cattle buyer. Joseph would leave Manitoba and go to small towns in Saskatchewan near the Manitoba border that included Wapella and Rocanville and buy a load of cattle and have them shipped back to Manitoba where he sold them at the Winnipeg Stock Yards. He came home in the caboose, which did not cost any money because it was with the cattle. He would leave for two weeks, come home for two or three days, and then leave again. For that reason his children did not get to see much of their father.

In 1926 he was living in Winnipeg with wife Esther and 6 children.^[1]

Esther died in 1934. After she passed, the older children mostly took care of the younger children.

Joseph passed away in 1959 at age 72. He is buried in the Bnay Abraham Cemetery in West St. Paul, Manitoba.

Research Notes

• I was told that Joseph stayed with an Ornstein family on Stella Avenue in Winnipeg when he arrived who sponsored him at their house. I could only find them in the 1906 Census living on Jarvis Avenue (2 blocks south of Stella) with a person living at their house named "Leon Hermon" listed as a boarder age 20. He is listed as from Romania and so are the Ornsteins. Despite the inconsistencies, I believe this is the correct Ornstein family at that this Leon is Joseph.

• I was under 3 years old when my grandfather Joe passed away. I do remember him sitting in the big chair in the living room of our house bouncing me up and down on his knee. Kessler-2015 04:30, 9 July 2021 (UTC)

• Possible Alien Certificate, Joseph German in the U.S., Records of Aliens Pre-Examined in Canada, 1904-1954, Name: Joseph German, Nationality: Canadian, Age: 36, Birth Date: abt 1885, Pre-Examination Date: 7 Jul 1921, Pre-Examination Location: Montreal, Québec, The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Head Tax Certificates (Form 524, Nonexempt Aliens) Surrendered upon Admission to the United States; National Archives Microfilm Publication: A4086; NAI Number: 3000094; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004; Record Group Number: 85, Ancestry.com. U.S., Records of Aliens Pre-Examined in Canada, 1904-1954 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Free Ancestry Image

Sources

1. ↑ "Canada, Prairie Provinces Census, 1926," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPL2-SPV3 : 24 September 2020), Joseph German, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; citing Census, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa.

• Census Canada 1906 of Reuben Ornstein and family, Leon Hermon, Gilfia Penga https://1drv.ms/u/s!AoxUJ3_EXYNOk_ERXYK_bA7FaxeSrQ?e=1kRW4G
• Census Canada 1916 of Joseph Jarman and family and Abe Gorish https://1drv.ms/u/s!AoxUJ3_EXYNOk_EQ4TSxepHu_2_BTg?e=exNGUy
• Hendersons Directory 1918 of Joseph German https://1drv.ms/u/s!AoxUJ3_EXYNOkdtidFW3Vc5i7J_eIQ?e=ozi84m
• Census Canada 1921 of Joseph German and family https://1drv.ms/u/s!AoxUJ3_EXYNOk_BpvhEIGgb06CtdSQ?e=62mH1H
• Gravestone 1959 of Joseph German, BillionGraves https://billiongraves.com/grave/Joseph-German/17010161
• Personal knowledge of Peggy (Girman) Kessler (1924-2008)

• Paternal and Maternal relationships are confirmed with an AncestryDNA test match between Louis Kessler and his second cousin. Their most-recent common ancestors are Wolf Herman and Brondal Lapedes, their great grandparents. Predicted relationship reported by AncestryDNA: Extended Family based on sharing 162 cM across 12 segments.