The two marriages of Fannie Landes

Fannie Landes, daughter of Moses and Bertha, married Albert Paltiel from Canada in 1907. Fannie and Albert had two children, Joseph and Harry, before Albert passed away in 1909. Five years after Albert passed away, Fannie remarried, and her new husband, Adolph Goldenberg, helped raise the children. The information I have about the Paltiels of this generation came from the family history written by my grandfather’s brother, Mortimer (“Morty”) Landes, as well as a family tree document provided to me by my father.

The information led to census listings and a search for likely marriage certificates. The certificates for Fannie’s two marriages arrived earlier this week, and I’m relatively confident the certificates pertain to the Fannie Landes who is my great grandfather’s sister. Yet, there is still some confusion surrounding Fannie’s mother’s maiden name.

I mentioned that on the death certificate for Bertha Landes, her father and mother are listed as Martin Goldenberg and Bertha Goldenberg. Goldenberg is the last name of Bertha’s son-in-law, Adolph, the second husband of Fannie, so my first assumption was that Adolph might have reported the information incorrectly. I previously had information indicating Bertha’s maiden name is Jereslawitz. Both marriage certificates received this week for Fannie Landes, like Bertha’s death certificate, contradict what I thought I had known.

The first marriage certificate, for Albert Paltiel and Fannie Landes pictured above, lists Fannie’s parents as Moses Landes and Birth (I’m assuming this should be Bertha) Goldenberg. The second marriage certificate, for Adolph Goldenberg and Fannie (Landes) Paltiel pictured below, indicates Fannie’s parents’ names are Moses Landes and Bertha Goldberg.

About the certificate for Paltiel/Landes:

Albert Paltiel was a business man — a non-specific occupation if I’ve ever heard one — living in New Liskeard, Ontario, which was recently combined with neighboring towns to create Temiskaming Shores. His father, Zeide, matches information I’ve had previously, but his mother’s name is a little difficult to decipher. It looks like, and in the Family History Library is indexed as, Ray R. Chora, but my information indicates her name would have been Rebekah Cohen.

About the certificate for Goldenberg/Landes:

The names of Adolph’s parents appear to be Solomon (Goldenberg) and Emma Marcus. Adolph is a hatter at the time of this marriage, and this matches the census records, where he is listed as a hatter or a blocker. A blocker, which I had to research, is someone who makes wooden blocks used in the hat-making process. On this certificate, Fannie’s parents are listed as Mosses (Moses?) Landes and Bertha Goldberg. Note that one witness to this marriage is Joseph Lustig, Fannie’s brother’s wife’s father.

What I’ve noticed is that the two sources that indicate Fannie’s mother Bertha’s last name is Jereslawitz or an alternative spelling as the two records associated with Joseph Landes. The records associated with Fannie Landes indicate her last name is Goldenberg or Goldberg. Is it possible we are dealing with different families, both with a Moses and Bertha Landes? It seems unlikely. I tend to follow the Occam’s razor philosophy of genealogical research. The simplest explanation is likely correct. In this case, the simplest explanation is that someone didn’t know — or thought he or she knew but was wrong — Bertha’s maiden name.

Although I had been sticking by the first records I found pertaining to Bertha’s parents, the records that list her maiden name as Jereslawitz, I’m now more inclined to follow the direction of the records that also include Bertha’s parents’ first names. In every case found so far, when Bertha’s parents’ first names are included, the maiden name is listed as Goldenberg (or Goldberg). Add this with the fact that more records indicate Bertha’s son Martin married Paulina (Pearl) whose last name was listed several times as Jaruslavitz (with alternative spellings), I’m led to believe there was some kind of knowledge of the existence of that as a maiden name, but faulty memory caused it to be applied to Bertha incorrectly.

To the right is the new family tree based on the latest records, including the death certificate for Bertha Landes and these two marriage certificates. It would be nice to find some way to reconcile these discrepancies with more confidence. I’ve now been in contact with my father’s cousins as well as a Paltiel descendant, so it will be interesting to see if they have any additional information or knowledge to clarify this question and others.