Steward Samuel Flaschen

by Evan Daniel Flaschen

(extracts from a comprehensive history of his family compiled by Evan)

Steward Samuel Flaschen was a nice Jewish boy born into a nice Jewish family in 1926. His father was a pharmacist. What changed Steward’s trajectory, as it did for so many of his generation, was government funding of his education beyond high school.

Steward’s family could not afford college but the Navy could, followed by the G.I. Bill for WW II veterans. The Navy first sent him to (the now-defunct) Alma College, and then to Miami University of Ohio. He then went to the University of Illinois, which was required to accept war veterans, but ended up back at Miami of Ohio, where he got master’s degrees in both chemistry and geology. He taught at Miami for a year or two, where he met our mother, “the smartest woman in my [graduate] physical chemistry class.” On to University of Colorado in Boulder to start his Ph. D. in geology and to study German and Russian. He was not impressed with Colorado, however, and successfully applied for a geochemistry fellowship at Penn State, courtesy of the Office of Naval Research, where “Doctor Dad” completed his Ph. D.

He was recruited by Bell Telephone Laboratories out of Penn State, and the rest is (Flaschen) history. What we remember most, however, is his personal passions. He never missed a child’s sports event; he loved to ride his Wheel Horse tractor; every weekend he took the neighborhood kids to the Farm Shop for ice cream; his grandchildren clamored for his “peanut parties” (“don’t eat the flatfoots,” which he got from his mother, referring to peanuts with a flat end); his “bee picnics”; his insistence that his children travel not only throughout the US but also throughout Europe. In short, his family was everything. And, of course, he did all this and more with the remarkable Joyce Hilda Davies.

Here is a pretty darn impressive interview with Steward about his education and professional accomplishments, with an occasional amusing interjection from Joyce. As was typical with our father, who never liked to talk about himself, we learned things from this interview that we never knew, which was also the case at his memorial service when his friends and colleagues spoke about him. To give you an idea of Steward’s effect on so many people, we had to hold the memorial service in a hotel ballroom to accommodate all who wanted to attend.

https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Steward_Flaschen

I have found very little on Steward’s ancestors, and I think I have figured out why.

First, they were Ashkenazi Jews who lived in shtetls in Eastern Europe. “Ashkenazi” is not a Jewish denomination like, say, Hasidic Judaism; they are a Jewish diaspora population who originally settled along the Rhine River in the Middle Ages, then gradually migrated to Eastern Europe as a result of religious persecution. They were left alone in Eastern Europe by the national authorities until the 1800s and their custom was oral histories—passing family stories from one generation to the next—rather than written records.

Second, when they did have a need for a surname, it was typically patronymic. For example, Steward would have been Steward ben Hyman, and John and Sheryl would have been John ben Steward and Sheryl bat Steward. Even then, there was little need to employ the patronymics because everyone knew everyone else in these small villages anyway. (P.S. Thomas’ middle name is a patronymic—“Bevan” means “son of Evan” in the Welsh tradition, which is where much of my mother’s family came from.)

Third, when Ashkenazis finally did adopt fixed surnames, it was only in response to an edict from the Holy Roman Emperor in 1787 that compelled Jews to adopt German surnames, even if they were not German. As the Austro-Hungarian Empire expanded in the 19^th century, this edict applied to acquired territories, with Jews in some parts of Eastern Europe (likely where the Flaschens came from) not being required to adopt surnames until as late as the mid-1800s. When they did adopt surnames, while many adopted names based on their villages, others simply used their occupation. For example, “Kaufman”—a name in Deborah Nordwall’s ancestry, see Part VII—translates to “salesman.”

So now we know why our Eastern European ancestors adopted the name “Flaschen”. They were required to use a German name even though they were not from Germany, and the relevant father must have been involved in bottle-making (think “flask” in English). And now we also know why, unfortunately, we can’t trace the Flaschens or their Ashkenazi spouses earlier than the mid-1880s.

PARENTS

Steward’s parents were Hyman Herman Flaschen (1902-1945), and Ethel Leviton (1898-1983); Steward’s sister was Caroline (sometimes spelled Carolyn in records). I have no pictures of Hyman and only a few of Ethel. Hyman and Ethel were both born in Chicago. Hyman went by the name Herman; he worked as a pharmacist. Ethel apparently worked as a seamstress before her marriage. As far as I can tell, her formal schooling ended early—not unusual in those days, especially for women. Herman, on the other hand, completed college with a pharmacology degree, which was also unusual in those days for the non-wealthy.

GRANDPARENTS

Herman’s father was Samuel Flaschen (1864-1910), b. Łańcut, Austria (now Poland) (Austro-Hungarian Empire), who worked as a grocer. Samuel was the second husband of Rose Heischober (1869-1934), b. Błażowa, Austria (now Poland) (Austro-Hungarian Empire). She worked in Samuel’s store until he died, and she married for a third time. The immigration records for Samuel and Rose are referred to in section V below.

Samuel’s occupation was generally listed as grocer. Rose worked in the store with him. He came from Łańcut, another town that is now in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of Poland.

The first owner of the town was Otton Pilecki, who was given the Łańcut estate by the Polish king, Casimir III the Great, in 1349, as a reward for his service. Jews began to settle in Łańcut in the 16th century: the earliest mention of a settler is 1554.

In 1772, after Poland's First Partition, Łańcut became part of the Habsburg Monarchy where it remained until 1918 when it became part of independent Poland. In 1939 there were 2750 Jews in Łańcut. From 1942 onwards the German occupiers began transportation and murder of the Jewish community; very few of the community survived.

Rose Heischober was first married in Błażowa to Harris Cooper, b. Austria, and we often visited or were visited by various Cooper children—our uncles and aunts (along with our Aunt Caroline of course—Steward’s only sibling).

Rose and Harris arrived at Ellis Island about 1888 (son Benjamin was born in Austria in 1887, while son Thomas was born in Chicago in December 1888), but I cannot find a record of her arrival. We know about the year because of the 1910 federal census; we know about Ellis Island because Steward bought a plaque for her on the Ellis Island Wall of Fame.

There are far too many contemporary Harris Coopers for me to find any information about him, other than that he was born in Austria and died abt 1894, as his last child with Rose was born in 1891 but she is listed as a widow (living with son Hyman) in 1896. Harris and Rose’s children were:

Benjamin Cooper (1887-1962), b. Błażowa, married to Gertrude Cohen in 1921. Benjamin was a cloth cutter for a tailoring shop at least as early as 1910. In 1942, he was a cutter at B. Kuppenheimer & Co., a clothing company that was eventually bought by Hart, Schaffner & Marx. Benjamin and Gertrude had 2 children.

Thomas Francis Cooper (1888-1956), b. Chicago, married to Mary Josephine O’Donnell (1891-1956), b. Chicago. Thomas was a policeman from 1917 to 1950, retiring as a sergeant with 17 creditable mentions and 8 extra compensations. Thomas and Mary had 4 children.

Joseph W. Cooper (1899-1950), b. Chicago. Joseph married Wilhelmina (Wilma) Brooks (1902-1981), b. Little Chute, Wisconsin, in the 1920s. He worked with his brother as a cloth cutter at B. Kuppenheimer & Co. I do not believe Joseph and Wilma had any children.

Abraham (Abe) Cooper (1891-aft 1970), b. Chicago, married to Elsie Boberg (1897-?), b. Illinois. I am not actually certain that Boberg was her maiden name or a first husband, as they were both in the 50s when they married.

Samuel was Rose’s second husband and, after he died in 1910, she was married a third time to Bernard Finder (as his second wife). In 1920. Rose and Bernard’s household included: Ben, Thomas, Joseph and Abe Cooper; and Sarah and Hyman Flaschen. To complicate the records, the Cooper and Flaschen children sometimes adopted the Finder surname or, at least, record-keepers assumed that Finder was their surname.

Rose might have had an older brother, Nissen, based on an 1896 immigration record.

Various records for our Eastern European ancestors indicate births in Austria, Poland, Hungary, and Prussia. Given the shifting alliances that formed the Habsburg Empire, Prussian Empire, Austrian Empire, and Austro-Hungarian Empire, those birth locations can only be considered as approximate. As Steward put it in the oral history referred to below, his family immigrated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with one grandmother speaking Hungarian (presumably Aynie, see below) and the other speaking German (presumably Rose), and that’s all he knew. His parents were “in America now” and did not have any interesting in discussing the world they left behind.

Rose came from Błażowa, a town that is now in Rzeszów County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, with a current population of 2,121.

Błażowa was a shtetl. In the early 14th century, it was part of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. In 1340 Błażowa was annexed by Polish King Kazimierz Wielki [Casimir III the Great], who created the Sanok Land. In 1772, after the first partition of Poland, the whole Sanok Land was annexed by the Habsburg Empire, and became part of Austrian Galicia in which it remained until late 1918. Błażowa returned to Polish hands as part of the Second Polish Republic (1918-1939).

"On 26 June 1941 the Jews of Błażowa, numbering about 930, were forcibly moved to the Rzeszów Ghetto. They joined Jews from nearby villages and shared their fate. Some were shot on the streets of Rzeszów, others deported to forced-labour camps or shot in Glogów Forest or transported Belzec extermination camp (between 7 and 18 July 1942) where they were gassed on arrival.”

Ethel’s father was Elijah Morris (Eli) Leviton(sometimes Levitan) (1864-1931), b. Russia. Elijah arrived in the US about 1884 but I cannot find a Castle Garden record for him (Ellis Island did not open until 1892). His occupation is described as: a dry goods dealer in 1900, the owner of millinery shop (maker/seller of women’s hats) in 1910, and a dry goods salesman in 1920. I am guessing that this was all his same store, just described differently. The records indicate that he did not attend school, although it is not clear whether this includes whatever education he may have received in Russia.

Elijah Leviton is described in census records as being from Russia, that’s all I know. He might actually have lived near Rose and Samuel, as the partition of Poland referred to above included Russian annexation of part of the Polish territory. In 1889 in Chicago, Elijah married Aynie (Anna) Klein (1872-1951), b. Hungary (Austro-Hungarian Empire). Aynie was working in Elijah’s store in 1910. By 1940, as a widow, she worked as a seamstress making dresses. Her formal education ended after 6^th grade.

I don’t know which town Aynie Klein came from, other than she is noted as being from Hungary or Austria, depending on the census record, and she spoke Hungarian. Presumably a town like Błażowa or Łańcut that belonged to different countries depending on the year and, in their day, the dictates of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As for immigration, Aynie arrived with her parents at Castle Garden in 1880.

Eli and Anyie had 9 children in total, including Ethel. It has been quite difficult to track down the “right” children, as there were many Levitons and Levitans in Chicago, many of whom had the same surnames as Eli and Aynie’s children. However, I am finally confident that the others were:

Lillian Leviton (1891-1974), b. Chicago, married to Joseph Nierman (1887-1972), b. Seyny Russia (now Poland). They stayed in Chicago and raised Melvin (1920-1980) and Cyril (1924-2005), both of whom served in World War II and had families of their own.

Samuel (Sam) Leviton (1893-1977), b. Chicago. Sam served in France in World War I. He married Florence Simons abt 1927 and they had 2 children together, Sheldon (1928-1936), b. Berwyn, and Estelle Ruth (1929-2000), b. Oak Park. Shortly, after Sheldon died, the family moved to Los Angeles (where Florence had lived when she was younger), and then on to Santa Barbara.

Fay Leviton (1894-1980), b. Chicago. Fay was divorced by 1940 but I cannot locate a record of her former husband or any children.

Tillie Leviton is confused in some family trees as Lillian (Tillie) Leviton, but they were separate daughters, with Tillie born in Chicago in 1896. She lived with Aynie until she died, then moved in with her sister, Lillian, in Miami later in life, However, when she died there in 1971, she was buried with many other Leviton’s, Flaschen’s and Cooper’s in the Waldheim Jewish Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois. Lillian’s obituary refers to Tillie as “Betty,” I am not sure if that was Tillie’s nickname or a scrivener’s error given that Tillie had died 3 years earlier.

“Uncle Harry” Leviton (1901-1978), b. Berwyn, was “a former justice of the peace in Berwyn and a longtime Chicago attorney.” In 1930, he married “Aunt Martha” Roth (1910-1997), b. Charleston, South Carolina, and they had one child together, Elijah Michael Leviton, who died in 2013.

Rose Leviton (1902-1986), b. Chicago, was known to her family as “Gyppy”. She was married to Josef Thomas (Joe) Feinberg, (1909-1994), b. Suwalki in what was then known as “Russian Poland”. Joe owned a series of Cinderella Shoes in the Miami area. Their son, Eli Michael, is raising his family in Miami.

Charles R. (Charley) Leviton (1906-1999), b. Berwyn, fought in World War II. I cannot locate a record of any family.

Howard Leviton (1909-1994), b. Chicago, also fought in World War II. I cannot find any family records for him, either.

Our Klein/Flaschen Immigrants

The Kleins first appeared in Chicago census records in 1880, so they must have come through Castle Garden. Aynie was born about 1872, which narrowed my search to 8 years, assuming the Kleins arrived in New York. As you would expect, there were a great many Anna Kleins (no Aynie Kleins) and Johann (or John) Kleins who arrived at Castle Garden during the relevant time period, making the immigration search a real challenge.

After endless searching of Castle Garden records for many possible spelling variations, and after cross-checking all the Johann, Aynie and Juliana Kleins, and spelling variations thereof, I believe I have found the correct information. The ship “Braunschweig” arrived at Castle Garden on April 8, 1880. It departed from Bremen, Germany, and its passengers included an Anna Klein, a Johan Klein, and a Juliana Klein (see below). They appear to be a family and their listed ages are consistent with the birth years for “our” Anna, Johann and Juliana. Their “province of last resident” is indicated as Prussia, and their “country of birth” as Germany, both of which would be consistent with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

This is not 100% dispositive but pretty darn close, as I could find no other records that were in the ballpark, but recognizing that most Castle Garden records went up in flames.

I remember my father showing me passenger names on the Ellis Island Wall of Honor, and I remember some Hebrew writing after their names, which he translated for me. I have located Wall of Honor entries for both Samuel Flaschen and Rose Heischober Cooper (search for their names at the below link). Oddly, both listings are identified as having been donated by one “Evan D. Flaschen,” but that was Doctor Dad, always deflecting attention away from himself. Perhaps my father wanted to cement my connection with my Flaschen ancestors?

https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/search-woh

And thus did our Flaschen ancestors arrive, speaking German, Hungarian, Yiddish, and possibly Polish.