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b: c.1866, Russia m: 1889 Russia Mollie Skversky i: December 17, 1901 d: July 12, 1946, Philadelphia,PA Hebrew name(s): Yosef HaCohen b: c.1869, Russia m: 1889 Russia i: August 27, 1905 d: December 6, 1936, Philadelphia,PA Maiden name: Benn Hebrew name(s): Malke |
b: August 1, 1890, Russia m: August 2, 1909 Philadelphia,PA Abraham Yorker i: December 13, 1905 d: November 9, 1953, Philadelphia,PA Maiden name: Skversky Nickname(s): Feige Hebrew name(s): Chaya Feige |
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b: December 15, 1891, Russia m: 1919 Philadelphia,PA Bertha Squires m2: Freda Squires i: August 27, 1905 d: August 1969, Philadelphia,PA Original last name: Skversky Middle name: M. Nickname(s): Abe,Albert,Abram |
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b: September 21, 1894, Russia m: 1920 Philadelphia,PA Bessie Skversky m2: Francis Skversky i: August 27, 1905 d: March 1979, Philadelphia,PA Nickname(s): Sam Hebrew name(s): Salmen |
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b: 1898, Russia m: 1918 Philadelphia,PA Jack Goldberg i: August 27, 1905 d: 1977 Maiden name: Skversky Hebrew name(s): Sorke |
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b: August 26, 1899, Russia m: 1928 Philadelphia,PA Martha Squires i: August 27, 1905 d: July 1983, Philadelphia,PA Original last name: Skversky Nickname(s): Maurice Hebrew name(s): Moische |
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b: 1902, Russia m: 1921 Philadelphia,PA Jimmy Corbman i: August 27, 1905 Maiden name: Skversky Hebrew name(s): Rochel |
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b: July 14, 1906, Philadelphia,PA m: April 21, 1929 Philadelphia,PA Samuel Hofberg d: December 1982, Philadelphia,PA Maiden name: Skversky Nickname(s): Jean |
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b: 1910, Philadelphia,PA m: 1933 Philadelphia,PA Ann Skversky d: June 1982, Ft. Lauderdale, FL |
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The Skversky story is one of your typical tales where the father comes first and spends a few lonely years earning enough money to afford to bring his wife and children over. Josef Skwirsky, father of (great-)grandma Fanny, deparated Liverpool on 12/4/1901 and arrived in his new home, Philadelphia, on 12/17/01. His hometown, difficult to read on the manifest, is Chornobai, near Zolotonosha in Poltava gubernia in Ukraine. Upon arrival, he met was by his brother-in-law, M. A. Benn.
Indeed, Marcus A. Benn was the older brother of Joseph's wife, Mollie. In fact, on 9/1/1901, he ws the one who opened an account in Rosenbaum Bank of Philadelphia to purchase a ticket of passage for his brother-in-law. The 1900 census says Marcus came over in 1890.
Joseph left behind his 5 children, the youngest of whom was 1-2 years old, and a wife who must've been pregnant since the last child arrived sometime the following year.
Three-and-a-half years later on 5/30/1905 Joseph opened accounts in Rosenbaum Bank to purchase tickets for:
All seven set sail from Hamburg on 8/5/1905 on a ship called "Nottingham." Of their origins, the ship record says they are Russians from Czernotoj. They disembarked at Liverpool, the second of the ship's three ports of arrival.
There, they were supposed to have boarded a ship called "Haverford" destined for Philadelphia. This record says that their last residence was Crornswicz, and that they going to join Malke's husband Jossel Skwersky, who lives at 534 South St. in Philadelphia. There is also a note I can't decipher that appears to list Malke's maiden name, Benn. Anyway, they were crossed off that ship. Why?
They ended up taking the "Friesland" on 8/16/1905. This ship's manifest makes clear why they didn't board the previous ship. Where's Feige? She is not on this boat with the rest of her family! She must've been too sick to sail the previous week—and this week as well!
They arrived minus one in Philadelphia on 8/27/1905. Joseph was reuinted with the wife and four children he hadn't seen for three-and-a-half years, plus he met his youngest daughter, three years of age, for the first time.
But poor Feige, his oldest daughter, could not board a ship until 11/29/1905, arriving in Philadelphia to reunite with her family on 12/13/1905. She was only 15 and left alone for over three months! Clearly her mother felt the pain as acutely as any Jewish mother would; in the section of the manifest where they sometimes add notes about the relative responsible for meeting the passenger, it says, "Mother called."
Joseph and Mollie had two more children born in Philadelphia—Jennie (born ~1906) and Edward (born ~1910). (Great-)grandma Fanny married fellow Russian immigrant Abraham Yorker about four years later.
Rhea wrote me, "I've often heard that something happened in England on the second leg of the journey from Russia. My grandmother, Sarah (now I find out Sorka) was ill and not allowed to accompany the rest of the family to Philadelphia." Interesting that she already knew this story—but wrong sister!
Regarding the actual name of the town they are from: at last I know it is Chornobai. The two pink pointers in the map below relate to the Skversky family. Click on the pointer for more information.
View Davis-Yorker Family -- Towns in the Ukraine in a larger map
BTW, Grandmom said that her mother pronounced Yiddish differently from what's become the standard pronounciation (the Litvak dialect). She said "kee-gel" for kugel, for example. And indeed, this is the Ukrainian, or Southeastern Yiddish dialect, spoken by people from the region I've traced the Skverskys to.
Here is where they all ended up in Philadelphia. The green tacks are the Skversky parents & siblings; the yellow are Fanny & Abe. A few of the Skversky siblings end up in N. Philly, and Grammy's favorite Aunt Sarah in Ashland, so zoom out to see the full view.
View Davis-Yorker Family -- Addresses in Philadelphia in a larger map
(Explore historical Philly maps here.)
| Question | Answer-in-progress | People |
|---|---|---|
| Are any of the Zolotonosha records in the FHC relevant? | ||
| What happened to Fannie in Liverpool? | No records in Liverpool about this |
| c. 1866 | Birth of Joseph Skversky |
| c. 1869 | Birth of Mollie (Benn) Skversky |
| 1889 | Marriage of Mollie Skversky & Joseph Skversky |
| 1890-08 | Birth of Fannie (Skversky) Yorker |
| 1891-12 | Birth of Abraham Squires |
| 1894-09 | Birth of Samuel Skversky |
| 1898 | Birth of Sarah (Skversky) Goldberg |
| 1899-08 | Birth of Morris Squires |
| 1901-09 | Ticket to Philadelphia purchased |
| 1901-12 | Immigration of Joseph Skversky |
| 1902 | Birth of Rose (Skversky) Corbman |
| 1905-05 | Ticket to Philadelphia purchased |
| 1905-08 | Immigration of Mollie Skversky, Fannie Yorker, Abraham Squires, Morris Squires, Sarah Goldberg, Rose Corbman, and Sam Skversky |
| 1905-08 | Immigration of Mollie Skversky, Fannie Yorker, Abraham Squires, Morris Squires, Sarah Goldberg, Rose Corbman, and Sam Skversky |
| 1905-08 | Immigration of Mollie Skversky, Abraham Squires, Morris Squires, Sarah Goldberg, Rose Corbman, and Sam Skversky |
| 1905-12 | Immigration of Fannie Yorker |
| 1906-07 | Birth of Jenny (Skversky) Hofberg |
| c. 1909 | Fanny & Abe around the time of their wedding |
| c. 1909 | Fanny Skversky c. 1909 |
| 1909-08 | Marriage of Fannie Yorker & Abraham Yorker |
| 1910 | Birth of Edward Skversky |
| 1910-04 | Address of Yorkers |
| 1910-04 | Address of Skversky family |
| 1910-05 | Birth of Sarah (Yorker) Bekoff |
| 1911-04 | Joseph Skversky Petition for Naturalization |
| 1914-09 | Birth of Samuel Yorker |
| 1917-06 | WWI draft registration for Abraham Skversky |
| 1917-08 | WWI draft registration for Samuel Skversky |
| 1918 | Marriage of Jack Goldberg & Sarah Goldberg |
| 1918-09 | WWI draft registration for Morris Skversky |
| 1919 | Marriage of Bertha Squires & Abraham Squires |
| 1919 | Birth of Fannette (Goldberg) Eskin |
| 1919-01 | Birth of Edward Yorker |
| 1920 | Birth of Stanley Squires |
| 1920 | Marriage of Bessie Skversky & Samuel Skversky |
| 1920-01 | Address of Skversky family |
| 1920-01 | Address of A. Skversky family |
| 1920-01 | Address of Yorker family |
| 1920-01 | Address of Sarah Golberg family |
| 1921 | Marriage of Jimmy Corbman & Rose Corbman |
| 1921 | Birth of Martin Corbman |
| 1921-01 | Birth of Dorothy (Yorker) Davis |
| 1922 | Dorothy Yorker in 1922 |
| 1922 | Birth of Herbert Goldberg |
| c. 1924 | Yorker family c. 1924 |
| 1926 | Dorothy Yorker in 1926 |
| 1927 | Birth of Robert Goldberg |
| 1928 | Marriage of Martha Squires & Morris Squires |
| 1929 | Birth of Robert Squires |
| 1929-04 | Marriage of Samuel Hofberg & Jenny Hofberg |
| c. 1930 | Fanny Yorker and children c. 1930 |
| c. 1930 | Birth |
| 1930-04 | Address of M. Squires family |
| 1930-04 | Address of A. Squires family |
| 1930-04 | Address of Skversky and Hofberg families |
| 1930-04 | Address of Sarah Goldberg family |
| 1930-04 | Address of Yorker family |
| 1930-08 | Marriage of Martin Bekoff & Sarah Bekoff |
| 1931-07 | Birth |
| 1931-08 | Birth |
| 1933 | Marriage of Ann Skversky & Edward Skversky |
| c. 1933 | Birth of Marion Skversky |
| c. 1933 | Birth of Marsha Skversky |
| c. 1934 | Yorker family photo |
| 1935 | Birth |
| 1936-12 | Death of Mollie Skversky |
| 1937 | Marriage of Minnie Yorker & Samuel Yorker |
| 1938-05 | Birth |
| 1940-06 | Birth |
| 1940-12 | Birth |
| 1941-08 | Marriage of Dorothy Davis & Max Davis |
| 1942-04 | WWII draft registration for Samuel Skversky |
| 1943-10 | Birth |
| 1943-10 | Birth of Alan Eskin |
| 1944 | Death of Herbert Goldberg |
| 1945 | Marriage of Edward Yorker & Ruth Yorker |
| 1945-01 | Birth |
| 1946-07 | Birth |
| 1946-07 | Death of Joseph Skversky |
| c. 1948 | Fanny & Abe in the mid-to-late 40's |
| 1948-03 | Birth |
| 1948-10 | Birth |
| 1949 | Marriage of "Babe" Corbman & Martin Corbman |
| 1950 | Fanny Yorker in the late 40s |
| 1951-12 | Marriage of Renee Hofberg & Robert Hofberg |
| 1953-10 | Birth |
| 1953-11 | Death of Fannie Yorker |
| 1956-11 | Birth |
| 1959-12 | Death of Martin Corbman |
| 1969-08 | Death of Abraham Squires |
| 1977 | Death of Sarah Goldberg |
| 1979-03 | Death of Samuel Skversky |
| 1982-06 | Death of Edward Skversky |
| 1982-12 | Death of Jenny Hofberg |
| 1983-07 | Death of Morris Squires |
| 1986-11 | Marriage of Charlotte Yorker & Samuel Yorker |
| 1987-08 | Death of Sarah Bekoff |
| 1995-12 | Death of Edward Yorker |
| 2004-12 | Death of Dorothy Davis |
| 2009-08 | Death of Samuel Yorker |
