Cecelia (Steiner) Weiss (abt. 1841 - 1913)

Born about 16 Jun 1841 in Hungary

Wife of Mayer Sámuel (Weisz) Weiss — married 27 May 1863 in Pest, Budapest Hungary

Descendants

Died 17 Jul 1913 at about age 72 in New York City, New York, USA

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Biography

Cecelia was born on 16 June 1841 ^[1] in Hungary and her parents were Herman Steiner and Hannah Heller (b: 1821 Bohemia; d: 1887). ^[2]

Cecelia Steiner married on 27 May 1864 in Budapest, Hungary to Mayer Sámuel Weisz. ^[2] The couple lived at Rakos arok-Gasse #1 in the Buda section of Budapest, Hungary. Their first child died. ^[1]

Her husband travelled ahead and secured work as a Rabbi in Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. Cecelia and her children immigrated to America aboard the German steamship "Frisia", reaching New York on 03 July 1878. In America the spelling of the family name became Weiss. ^[1]

In August 1882 her husband lost his tenure at Zion and the family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA where they fell into poverty. ^[1]

In 1887 the family moved to New York City, New York, USA where they lived in a boarding house on East 79th Street. ^[3]

Despite being the wife of a Rabbi, Cecelia did not speak Yiddish. She understood German, French, Italian, Spanish and Hungarian only. Cecelia never learned English. She and Houdini communicated in German.

She was widowed in 1892.

While on vacation with her son Hardeen in Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA she suffered a stroke and passed away on 17 Jul 1913 in New York City, New York, USA. ^[2] Her funeral was delayed so Houdini could travel back from Europe to see her one last time.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} "Wild About Harry" for Cecelia Steiner Weiss with photo
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Re: Weiss family, Jewish by Catherine Eckert on 2005/Oct/28 posting on Genealogy.com forum
3. ↑ http://carrollbryant.blogspot.com/2014/06/harry-houdini-legends.html

Acknowledgements

• Steiner-414 was created on 25 May 2014 by Lianne Lavoie