Lucille, Daniel, Isabel and Rachel share ancestors from eight families with the surnames Rauh, Adler, Finsilver, Brown, Lissauer, Huebschman, Newman and Zinner. This website traces their histories and presents stories, documents and images of many of their members.
  THE RAUH FAMILY   The earliest ancestor of whom we have knowledge in the Rauh family was Wolf of Küps; Küps was the town in Bavaria, Germany where he lived. In those times, Jews often had no last names and were identified by their village. Wolf was your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, and he was born about 1695 – well over 300 years ago. We know he had at least two sons, and that one took the last name of Mack and the other the last name of Rauh, though we don’t know why. You are related to an enormous number of Macks and Rauhs and their descendants. Wolf had a son named Koppel Rauh, a grandson named Salomon Koppel and a great-grandson named Koppel Salomon Rauh...    CONTINUED    THE LISSAUERS   All your Grandma Marian’s ancestors were born in a part of Hungary that became Czechoslovakia after World War I and then Slovakia in 1993. Your great-great-great-great-grandparents were Simon Lissauer and Bertha Turk. Their son, Adolph Lissauer, lived with his wife, Rose Holstein, in a small village called Budulov, formerly Bodollo. They had nine children; your great-great- grandfather, Charley Lissauer, was the second oldest. Simon and Charley were the first to emigrate to America to “test the waters.” The rest followed in 1887, sailing in steerage from Rotterdam to New York on the S.S. W.A. Sholten. Rose and Adolph Lissauer were orthodox Jews and lived with their children...  CONTINUED
   THE ADLERS    Bernhard Imanuel Adler, your great-great-great-great-grandfather, is the earliest known Adler, a surname that means "eagle."  He was born in Oedheim, Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany.  In 1854, he sailed with his wife, Sarah Elsas, and five of his six children from Le Havre, France to New York aboard the S.S. Union.  Sarah’s ancestors were Pinchas Benedickt (your ninth great-grandfather), Isak ben Pinchas, Pinchas Benedikt, Salomon Benedikt and Isak Salomon Elsas, Sarah’s father. You can detect old Jewish naming patterns, where a person’s name was followed by his father’s name. Isak ben Pinchas means Isak, son of Pinchas, and Pinchas Benedikt means Pinchas, son of Benedikt, etc....  CONTINUED   THE HUEBSCHMAN FAMILY   Moses Hirsch Huebschman, your great-great-great-great-grandfather, was born in Hanosovce nad Toplou, Austria-Hungary in 1807.  Hirsch was probably his father’s name because Moses began to use Hirsch as his middle name in 1862, undoubtedly the year of Hirsch’s death.  The records for this family are the most complete of all the Hungarian ancestors, because they survived the destruction of World War II.  Huebschman is a German name and means “pretty” or “handsome man.” Moses married Rachel Friedman who was born in Circ, a small village on the northern border of Slovakia and Poland.  Rachel could read but not write.  Female children typically had no education at all. Moses was a mohel, performing ritual circumcisions ... CONTINUED
THE FINSILVER FAMILY   Buzzy and Donald Brown knew that their real grandmother was Esther Finsilver, the wife of their grandfather, David Brown, and that she died when their father, Albert, was only three. But they knew little else. Some investigation revealed that Esther died in Cincinnati at age 23 from accidental poisoning. She is buried in the Walnut Hills Jewish Cemetery in Cincinnati. Grandma Tillie Brown, the second wife of David Brown, was the only grandmother Buzzy and Donald knew. Esther was born in Detroit, Michigan, the second of 14 children of Harris and Rachel Finsilver, and granddaughter of Shlomo Finsilver and his wife, Faegele, the earliest known ancestors in that family. Harris and Rachel came to America...   CONTINUED  

 THE NEWMANS   The story of your great-great-great-grandfather, Moritz Newman, born in 1824, is somewhat of a mystery.  He appears in the 1857 census for the village of Licartovce, Slovakia (formerly Licsert, Austria-Hungary). Living with him were his wife, Sarah Heimowitz, and three children, Mathilde, Herman, and Adolph.  The house was located on “royal” property, which means the land was owned by the crown, perhaps a duke. Moritz, who worked as a day laborer, was born in Bohdanovce, Slovakia (formerly Bogdany, Austria-Hungary) as was his eldest son, Herman.  Four of his 11 children died young. Four were born in Licartovce and the birth town is unknown for the two youngest, including your great-great-grandmother, Catherine Newman, born in 1869 or 1871.  Then Moritz disappears, and no death or emigration records have ever been found...  CONTINUED

  THE BROWNS   Jacob Brown, your great-great-great-grandfather, and his wife, Emma Korb, came to America in the late 1860s.  Little was know about their homeland until your grandfather had his DNA tested. Buzzy’s 67-marker DNA matched a Joe Rosensheim of Virginia whose father came to the United States in the early 1900s from Belarus.  The match makes it likely they are related on Buzzy's father's side at most five generations back in time, so we are pretty sure Belarus was also the homeland of Jacob Brown.   Emma Korb’s records say she was born in Prussia, now part of Germany.  Jacob and Emma must have lived in Elizabeth, New Jersey, because that is where their eldest child, your great-great-grandfather David Brown, was born...    CONTINUED   THE ZINNER FAMILY  Herman and Hani are the earliest known Zinners, and Herman’s last name was actually Czin. Because a grandchild born in 1883, was named Herman. we know he must have died before then, since Jewish custom forbade naming a child after a living person. Their son, Israel Zinner, at times called Isadore Czin, your great-great-great-grandfather, was born in the village of Huncovce in Slovakia, which was part of Austria-Hungary at the time. He was a glazier, which means he worked with glass, and he had at least four wives. The first was Resi Pauker, your great-great-great-grandmother, who was born in the village of Dravce. Israel and Resi had nine children, five of whom died young, and Resi died at age 42. Their third child was Frieda Zinner... .CONTINUED  
To protect the privacy of living individuals mentioned in this website, the site is password-protected, but descendants of any of the families mentioned in it are welcome to view it. If you wish to explore the site, please request a password by sending an e-mail describing your interest in these families.
Home ▪ Rauh Family ▪ Adler Family ▪ Brown Family ▪ Finsilver Family
Lissauer Family ▪ Zinner Family ▪ Huebschman Family ▪ Newman Family ▪ All Exhibits