Sorting out the Herman kids

Most of the information I’ve had about the sons and daughters of my second great grandfather Samuel Herman has come from my mother. I’ve written down what I was told by placing his ten children into our family tree on Ancestry.com, but once I started researching the family, I found a few inconsistencies.

The earliest federal census record for this family is the latest addition to the sources. The 1900 census lists Samuel’s occupation as a fish dealer, his date of marriage with his wife Rose, and a few other details. In combination, they give this record a very good likelihood for being connected to the Hermans in my family.

This could be a sensitive subject. Rose, Samuel Herman’s wife, had several children who did not survive. At the turn of the century, this was a common occurrence, but that doesn’t prevent the situation from being somewhat morbid and sad.

• I do know that according to the 1910 federal census, Rose had a total of seven children, four of whom survived to that year. The four children in 1910 are Gussie (Augusta), Harry, Etta, and Tobias.
• In 1905, the New York State census also included a son Joseph, four months old. Joseph must be one of the three who did not survive to 1910.
• In the 1900 federal census, a daughter named Lattie is included, aged four months. Also in 1900, the census notes that Rose had a total of two children, and only one — Lattie — has survived to the time of the 1900 census survey. As Lattie is not included in any census record from 1905 on, she passed away before 1905.
• This leaves one child of Rose, the third to not survive to 1910, as having passed away before 1900. I have not yet found a record of this child’s name.

That clears up some of the mystery surrounding the Herman family, but there are other questions. I originally believed that Samuel and Rose had a son Seymour who married Molly, a son Toby (Tobias) who married another Molly, and a daughter Tilly, but it seems that Tilly may be Seymour’s wife, and the only Molly is Toby’s wife. I was also told of a son Stanley Herman who married Adele, but I have not found any evidence of Stanley.

I’ve left Stanley and Tilly in the family tree, just in case there is some information I am missing. I doubt that Rose had any children after the birth of Shirley, the youngest child in the 1930 census. Shirley was 13 in 1930, and Rose was 57 years old by this time.

There are a few remaining questions. Who is Stanley Herman? Did Samuel and Rose have a daughter named Tilly? Did Rose’s other child born before the 1900 census survey have a name? And there are more questions pertaining to Sam and Rose’s grandchildren, many of whom are likely to still be living.