#185 Berl "Barnet" Cohen◊ ( Joseph Cohen◊ )
Other names for Barnet: Barney Cohen◊, Benjamin Cohen◊, Bernard Cohen◊.
Barnet was born 26 Feb 1858/1870 in Pinsk, Russia. He died 26 May 1936 in New York City, New York from pulmonary edema. He was buried 29 May 1936 in Mt. Hebron Cemetery, Flushing, Queens Co., New York.
He is in the group picture «here».
His birth year varies quite a bit according to the census records and his death certificate:
- On the 1910 Census his birth year is Abt 1862.
- On the 1820 & 1830 Censuses his birth year is Abt 1858.
- On his death certificate his birth year is 1870
We find him and his family, minus Mildred and Sore, on the 1910 Federal Census of Manhattan, New York. He is working as a tailor. He is listed as immigrating in 1905 and still has alien status. He is listed as Barrney Cohen and spoke Yiddish. Note that the census lists all members of the family as immigrating in 1905, which we know to be untrue.
On the 1915 New York Census he is listed as Barnett and shown with Bessie, Kief, Julius, Sadie, Rose, Sophie, Ida, and Gussie.
By the 1920 Federal Census they have moved to the Bronx. He is now recorded as Benjamin Cohen and is no longer working. He still has his alien status, as does everyone still living at home: Bessie, Julius, Rose, Sophie, Gussie and Edith.
On the 1925 New York Census he is listed as Barnet and shown with Bessie, Rosie, Goldie, and Edith.
The 1930 Federal Census shows Barnet, Bessie, Rose, Goldy and Edith living at 751 Crotona Park North, Bronx.
They owned a radio, which was unusual at the time. Either it was obtained from the predecessor to J & K Cohen Furniture, or from William Relkin, who was a salesman in a radio store, per his 1930 census. Barnet and Bessie were not employed (they were 72 and 68 at the time); Rose, Goldy and Edith (who were 27, 24 and 24), were employed as bookkeepers. Barnet and Bessie did not speak English, but Rose, Goldy and Edith did.
Barnet was referred to as Bernard in Sadie's 1941 death certificate.
Henry, Yetta, David and Joseph Cohen lived upstairs from them in their two-family house.
He was originally buried at Mt. Hebron, in Flushing as shown on his death certificate. After the Beryl Sabot Family Circle bought the Cedar Park property, he was disinterred and brought there on November 19, 1939.
∞ Barnet married #184 Basche Gute "Bessie" Basewitz◊. She is the daughter of Henry & Dora (Sabath) Basewitz. She is an ancestor in the Basewitz Line.
Marriage notes |
They married 1881 in Russia.
The 1910 Census shows them married for 27 years. This is inconsistent with the 1930 Census, which would place the marriage date at Abt 1881. They celebrated their 50th Anniversary in 1931, so I've used 1881 as the date. |
Other names for Bessie: Gute Basertz◊, Bessie Cohen◊.
Bessie was born 1862 in Pinsk, Russia. She died 30 Nov 1942 in New York City, New York Co., New York. She was buried 1 Dec 1942 in Cedar Park Cemetery, Paramus, New Jersey.
She is in the group picture «here».
Bessie is sometimes listed as Gute, which appears to be her middle name based upon her death certificate.
Family story has it that Bessie's parents, Henry Basewitch and Dora Sabath, died when she was young, and she was raised by an aunt and uncle. Her last name is spelled in various places as Bussowitz and Bessavitch and Basewitch and Bassewitch. Much of this is simply shifting from Yiddish and Russian to English pronunciations and Cyrillic to Roman letters. Basewitz, which appears on the 1922 marriage certificate of Julius, is used. Bessie's last name was spelled Basovitz in Sadie's 1941 death certificate.
Her first name is also in question since immigration records list her as Basche, she went by Bessie in the United States, but Mildred's 1906 marriage certificate lists her mother as Gute Basertz.
Bessie immigrated on 2 Apr 1907, arriving aboard the S.S. Rijndam of the Holland America Lines out of Rotterdam. She is listed as Basche Cohen and is being met by her husband, Berl Cohen. Her birth place and place of origin are given as Pinsk, Russia. Pinsk is now part of Russia.
The passenger list and associated records are «here».
Bessie is traveling with five daughters which, at first glance, would correspond to her five youngest daughters. However, matching the entries to their American-named counterparts shows this is probably not true. Some of the ages don't line up too well. The passenger list gives us children born: 1897/8, 1900/1, 1902/3 and two born 1905/6.
Starting at the youngest, the twins are fairly easy. The passenger list shows Ithe and Golde who are born in 1905/6, and these agree nicely with Edith and Goldie born in 1906. The next three are a bit more problematic. Based upon later documents such as census and death certificates, we would expect birth years working backward of 1901, 1899 and 1895. The last, Sadie's birth year, is the most troubling since it isn't close to any of the dates on the passenger list. Birth years did creep forward for some of the women in later documents but that isn't the explanation here as Sadie's birth year is earlier on her death certificate, not later.
One possible explanation, of course, is that the passenger manifest is simply wrong by a few years for each of these three girls, but not the others.
Another possible explanation comes from the names. When looking at the Americanization of eastern European names, there is an observable tendency to maintain the first letter or the general sound of the name. So, Judel often becomes Julius, Welwel becomes William and Bluner becomes Bella. We see it here where Basche becomes Bessie, Golde becomes Goldie and Ithe becomes Edith.
If we speculate that Sadie is not on this list — perhaps she came over earlier with her older siblings — Rassel could become Rose, keeping both the initial letter and general sound. Rassel is born 1897/8 while Rose has generally been listed as 1899 based upon the 1920 Census. However, the 1910 Census shows Rose as born 1897/8. Sonie, who is born in 1900/1 on the passenger list, could become Sophie, who is usually listed as born in 1901.
That leaves the daughter indexed as Ivee Cohen in Ancestry.com. This is clearly a mis-transcription. The first letter is nothing like the way the clerked formed an "I" and looking at spellings of "Ave" on the page, the subsequent letters are not "ve". I would guess the name to be Sore Cohen. On the passenger list she is born in 1902/3. I've tentatively added an entry for her as one of Bessie's children along with some discussion.
Bessie and the children were detained on arrival as "L.P.C." This was the code for "Likely Public Charge"...i.e., concern that the state might have to take care of the individuals. In this case, it was because Edith was sick. There's some initial confusion when we read the Record of Aliens Held for Special Inquiry because it reads, "Cohen, Basche & 4 ch." in the Name column. In the Number of Persons column it read "5". However, in the sections on hearings and releases, everyone but Edith is named so we must assume that it means four children in addition to the one in the hospital, rather than including the one in the hospital.
The healthy members of the family were all given release: Rassel, Sonie and Sore on 3 Apr, Basche and Golde on 5 Apr. However, Basche and Golde stayed in the hospital to care for Edith, who was released on 1 May. Since they stayed, they were served meals which would be charged back to Holland America since the government considered the steamship lines responsible for the cost of unhealthy passengers. It's uncertain what Edith's ailment was; there are some codes such as "164Z" written and some text that I cannot decipher. These may be medical codes or simply stenographer's notes referencing a notebook.
The 1910 Federal Census of Manhattan lists her as Barsche Cohen. According to this census, she did not speak English.
She shows as Bessie on the 1920 Federal Census of the Bronx. Her immigration year is incorrectly shown as 1905, matching her husband's.
On the 1930 Federal Census, they are still in the Bronx. Only Rose, Goldie and Edith are still living with them.
On the 1940 Federal Census, we find Bessie living with Sophie, now Sophie Sielman. Bessie still has alien status, but her daughters have become naturalized.
Bessie's cause of death was not shown on her death certificate. Her birth year is given as 1872 on this document.
Children of this relationship:
| #178 | F | i | Mildred "Millie" Cohen | (Abt 1884–16 Dec 1924) |
| #177 | M | ii | Henry Cohen | (15 Aug 1885–22 Jul 1957) |
| #190 | F | iii | Ida Cohen◊ | (1 Oct 1888–5 Feb 1980) |
| #176 | M | iv | Keeve Cohen | (18 May 1889–15 Jul 1968) |
| #179 | M | v | Judel "Julius" Cohen | (16 Dec 1891/1894–25 May 1965) |
| #175 | F | vi | Sallie "Sadie" Cohen | (15 Dec 1895–7 Oct 1941) |
| #173 | F | vii | Rassel "Rose" Cohen | (23 Dec 1897–12 Sep 1975) |
| #174 | F | viii | Sonie "Sophie" Cohen | (1901–19 Feb 1961) |
| #792 | F | ix | Sore Cohen | (Abt 1902/1903–Deceased) |
| #172 | F | x | Itke "Edith" Cohen | (7 Dec 1906–7 Nov 1986) |
| #171 | F | xi | Golde "Goldie" Cohen | (7 Dec 1906–3 Feb 1986) |
1910 U.S. Census, Manhattan Ward 12, New York Co., New York, Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Roll: T624_1014; Page: 20A; Enumeration District: 0329; FHL microfilm: 1375027
1915 New York State Census, Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Election District: 14; Assembly District: 26; City: New York; County: New York; Page: 55
1920 U.S. Census, Bronx Assembly District 7, Bronx Co., New York, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Roll: T625_1140; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 382; Image: 679
1925 New York State Census, Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Election District: 05; Assembly District: 07; City: New York; County: Bronx; Page: 56
1930 U.S. Census, Bronx, Bronx Co., New York, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Roll: 1483; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 523; Image: 592.0; FHL microfilm: 2341218
1940 U.S. Census, New York, New York Co., New York, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Roll: T627_2674; Page: 17A; Enumeration District: 31-2053
Barnet Cohen, death certificate, no. 65895 (26 May 1936) Bureau of Records, Dept. of Health, Manhattan Boro, City of New York.
Bessie Gute Cohen, death certificate, no. 23857 (30 Nov 1942) Bureau of Records, Dept. of Health, Manhattan Boro, City of New York.
New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Year: 1907; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715; Microfilm Roll: 858; Line: 10; Page Number: 34
New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Year: 1907; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715; Microfilm Roll: 858; Line: 19; Page Number: 76
Line Generation: 2
Relationship: Great-Great-Grandfather