Fairfield Road, Edgeware, circa 1959

(Dad) Raymond Dunn, Fairfield Avenue, Edgeware, London, circa 1959.

First Cousins: Dunns, Grays & Comens,

December 1997, North London

The Dunn Family, a century ago in Chile

   The Dunn Family, Chile, circa 1910.  
 
This picture was very kindly donated to me by Henry Poirier, the grandson of the Henry Poirier who set up a trading post in Punta Arenas in the late 19th Century. It was given to me on the occasion of the Dunn-Romanofsky-Poirier family reunion which I organised in 2011, which was held at the West London Synagogue, near Marble Arch on Sunday 24th July, 2011.

The parents are: Simon, Rebecca, my Great Grandparents. The children are (L-R) Robert, Sophie, Mary and Millie. Note the Hebrew script on the back of the photograph.

Millie was the oldest, born in London in 1898. She had a sister Bella, (perhaps Isabel) who died in infancy in 1901. The first boy to be born was Robert (Roberto), born 1902, in Punta Arenas. Next up was Sophie (Sofia), born in 1905, followed by two more sisters, Mary (Ana Maria) born 1906 and Frances born 1908, also known as Fanny (Francesca). The baby of the family was David, born 1911, my Grandfather.

This summary is copied from the excellently put together Pat Brit (British in Patagonia) site of researcher and historian Duncan Campbell, who lives somewhere out there, and has made it his passion to document the presence of the British in this remote region of the world.

I got in touch with Duncan in the April of 2011, and he created this page on his site for our families.

Source: http://patbrit.org/bil/supp/c0304.htmhttp://patbrit.org/bil/supp/c0304.htm

Simon DUNN (originally DON); b. c1875, Vilnius district, Lithuania into Jewish family; c1895 to Britain; 1901 Whitechapel, London; tailor; c1902 family emigrated from London (Whitechapel) to Punta Arenas; shopkeeper, furrier, trading in Indian goods; 1913 family returned on the Orita to Britain; settled in East Ham, London
m. c1895 Vilnius, Lithuania
Rebecca ("Rivella") ROMANOFSKY, sister of Sarah (below) and Golda (below); b. c1876 Vilnius(?), Lithuania into Jewish family; c1895 to Britain; c1902 with family to Punta Arenas; 1913 returned with family to Britain
Children:
1. Millie (Mabel Emilia); b. c1898 London; m. 1916 St. Austell to Norman H (Max) MAY
2. Bella; b. c1900; d. 1901 Whitechapel
3. Robert; b. c1902 Punta Arenas; m. 1922 Kingston to Gertrude F WHITE (Kliman/Kleiman/Clayman)
4. Sophie (Sofia); b. c1905 Punta Arenas; m. 1928 Poplar to Alexander KRITZ
5. Mary (Ana María); b. c1906 Punta Arenas; m. Maurice HORN
6. Frances (Fanny); b. c1908 Punta Arenas; m 1932 London to Maurice JACOBS
7. David; b. 1911 Punta Arenas; m. 1938 Clapton Synagogue, East London to Yetta HURST (Herscovitch/Herskovitch)

 

The Curio Shop in Chile

These two pictures were kindly emailed from California by Helen Brenner-Sabo of San Diego. She is a great Granddaughter of Joseph 'Jose' Leszerovich Levy the Bootmaker and Fur Trader and his wife, my great, great aunt, Golda Levy nee Romanofsky, from Punta Arenas Tierra Del Fuego, Chile...

The Levy's left Chile for New York in around 1917. From there, they made their way to California, where the Dunn's would have gone to from London, if it hadn't been for the outbreak of the First World War.

This photo shows Henry Poirier's Curiosity Shop 'Peleteria Magallanes' - Magellan Furstore which was run by our ancestors Simon and Rebecca Dunn, and 'Rivella's (as she was known) two sisters Golda and Sara, with their respective husbands, Joseph 'Jose' Leszervich Levy and Henry Poirier, formerly known as Herman Birnbaum. 

They lived in Punta Arenas Tierre Del Fuego in Chile over 100 years ago. The sign at the bottom reads 'Speciality Seals, Otterlions and Fox Skins etc..

The passage below was brought to my attention by historian Duncan Campbell of www.patbrit.org It seems to be describing the curio shop owned by Henry poirier, and run by Simon and Joseph and their families.

1913 Excerpt from "To hell and back; my trip to South America", G J Morrill, Chicago, 1914

"The electric lights of the city lured our launch through the shipping to the pier and we made a hurried hike by warehouses and dingy broad ways to the Plaza. The band concert was over, but the South wind-instruments blew music. The church was closed and the only person around was a statue. The "Sarah Brown" mansion was dark. Like moths we were attracted by the light of a curio store. As we entered a little lady left the supper table and came to meet us. She spoke English and when we did with an American accent she tried to sell us a sample of every souvenir she had in stock. The place was packed with vicuna, guanaco, otter and silver fox skins and stuffed pigeons, penguins, albatross and armadillos. Two traders came in with a big rawhide bundle of skins. The natives catch the game with a boleta. It is a long leather thong with a stone at each end, a kind of sling or lariat, which they throw at the feet of the animal. I picked one up, but it was over an English pound and I threw it at her feet, and bought a long bone spearhead which some Tierra del Fuegian used to catch a fish or to crack a bonehead enemy's skull. I use this savage weapon to cut the leaves of magazines and newspaper articles written by ossified and thick-skulled editors. I paid for this and the postcards with my last Chilean pesos."

The above photo is of Helen's great grandparents Joseph 'Jose' Levy (b. 1871, d 1944) and wife Golda (nee Romanofsky, *B.M.D. info not known).  They are with their 3 of their 5 daughters, Bertha (b. 1896, d. 1975) Rebecca (b.1898, d. 1898, whose twin sister Mary died in infancy) and Mary (b. 1899, d.1967 named for her sister). The other sisters not born at the time this photograph was taken around 1909, are Anita (b. 1910, d. 1967) and Helen (b. 1913, d.1961) .

 The summary below is copied from the excellently put together Pat Brit (British in Patagonia) site of researcher and historian Duncan Campbell, who lives somewhere out there, and has made it his passion to document the presence of the British in this remote region of the world.

I got in touch with Duncan in the April of 2011, and he created this page on his site for our families.

Source: http://patbrit.org/bil/supp/c0304.htmhttp://patbrit.org/bil/supp/c0304.htm

LEVY—ROMANOFSKY

Joseph ("Jose") Leszerovich LEVY; b. 1871 "Russia" into Jewish family; to Britain; bootmaker; 1907 emigrated with family to Punta Arenas; shopkeeper; 1917 family moved to New York, USA; d. 1944

m. 1895 Mile End, London

Golda ROMANOFSKY, sister of Rebecca (above) and Sarah (above); b. c1869 "Russia" into Jewish family; to Britain; 1907 emigrated with husband to Punta Arenas; 1917 with family to New York, USA

Children:

1. Bertha; b. 1896 London; d. 1975

2. Rebecca; b. 1898 London

3. Mary; b. 1899 Barkington (Essex?); d. 1967

4. Anna ("Anita"); b.  1910 Punta Arenas; d. 1967

5. Elena ("Helen"); b. 1913 Punta Arenas; d. 1961

More Distant Dunns Discovered!

Transcript of email dialogue between Stanley Hartog and myself between 19th and 24th August 2011 with photographs later added on for illustrative purposes:

Hi Benjamin.

Ruth gave me your e-mail address.

My wife, B was a Dunn .... a third or fourth cousin to Ruth ..... never been able to work out the exact relationship !

Ruth tells me you have a Dunn family tree. Perhaps we can help each other.

B's father was David Dunn (siblings ... Milly, Nathan and Gelson (Gus)). Her grandfather was Harris Dunn (married to Betsy Levene).
Harris had 2 brothers .... Jacob & Lazarus. Their father was Moses Isaac Dunn (married to Fanny Sefton). Moses's father was David Dunn.

The gravestone inscription reads: In Memory of our dear father

  Morris Isaac Dunn who died 18th April 1896, aged 63. May his soul rest in peace.

Hopefully you can fit this into your tree.

Yours 'expectantly'

Stanley

Hello Stanley,
It is so lovely to hear from you! I was hoping Ruth had passed on my info to you.
When I read an old letter to my dad, which was written by Mary Horne (nee Dunn) around 1987, I came across the names Harris and Lazerus Dunn, a grocer and a master tailor. That was in September 2008. I have been wondering what became of them both since.

So your wife is one of descendants of Harris? Wow! I am a great grandson of Simon Dunn, originally Don.





He was a cousin of Harris, Lazarus and Jacob.
My grandfather was David Dunn, who was born in Punta Arenas, Chile in 1911. He married Yetta Hurst (Herscovich) back in 1938.







Yetta and David Dunn, 1938.
(Bridesmaid: Lillian Lonsdale,
Flower girl Dianne Jacobs)

Until now, the furthest back I had managed to go back with my Dunn ancestors was Simons father, Emanuel Don. But now it would appear that Emanuels father was the same David Dunn (Don) that you have in your records, father of Moses Isaac. That would make Moses and Emanuel brothers, would it not?

This is quite incredible that I now know who my great-great--great grandfather on the Dunn side was!

Thanks for getting in touch!

I also run a blog on Dunn family history, The Dunn Saga, which contains the letter from my dads Aunty Mary, Ruth and Stephens mum.

If you are on facebook, you are welcome to join our group, Descendants of Emanuel Don, as honourary members! I may have to changeu it's name now, as I have gone back one more antescendant!

Take care,

Benjamin Dunn

www.thedunnsaga.blogspot.com

On Aug 21, 2011, at 10:26 AM, STANLEY HARTOG

Benjamin

Thank you for replying so quickly.

Although you are obviously related to my wife, the relationship itself may not be so clear.

You jump to the conclusion that Emanuel (your great great grandfather) and Moses were brothers. This may be true ..... BUT, Moses may have been Emanuel's uncle, as Emanuel seems to have been born in mid 1850's, and Moses in about 1834. This is the problem I have been having all along. Do you have any more information that could clarify this, please ?

Hopefully

Stanley

Hi Stanley
I have done some calculations, from what you deduce that Emanuel was born in the 1850's, I would suggest he was born by at least 1842. He married for the 3rd time, aged 45 to a bride of 19, according to the letter below. My great grandfather Simon came to London from Vilna around 1895 however, not as the letter states in 1865/75. He was most likely born about 1875.
Emanuel and his wife, known so far only as S. Dunn had the first of four children, Harry E Dunn by January. 1888. Therefore they probably married in 1887 or late 1886. He was 45 by then, so 1842 seems a likely birth year.
His first wife is not named. His second, my great great grandmother was Riva Don nee Abelsson. This I know from the research of Las Vegas based distant cousin Jackie Shrout. She did lots of research around 1999. My great grandparents (included on three pictures below in various phases of their life) Simon Dunn and his wife Rebecca/Rivella were first cousins. Therefore Riva Abelsson was the daughter of an Epstein woman, I think Zlotta, without checking my chart. Either way Emanuel appears to have also married his cousin, as both are shown on my 36 page family tree (which goes back to Chaim and Golda Epstein, circa 1780) as cousins too.

So Emanuels 3rd wife, would have been born around 1868, give or take a year, if she was 19 in 1886/87. Meaning Simon was about 12 when his dad remarried, to the step-mother he did not get on with, and later ran away from.

Moses and Emanuel, if they were brothers had a closer age gap than you first reckoned, if Moses was born circa 1834, and Emanuel some 8 or 9 years later in 1842/43. But then again the possibilty of them being nephew and uncle is there, considering women could have a 25-30 year "career" bearing children, from say 18 to 48, when the oldest is 30 and the youngest a babe in arms!

I'll leave you to mull it over, in the meantime have you seen the website which is run by Jose Gutstein, from Cuba? It's atwww.gutstein.net and he has a section on Dons/Dunns etc including Lithuanian census transcripts and New York Ellis Island Immigration records. I did see an Isaac Dunn/Don and a Moshe Dun there earlier. Maybe these were your wife's ancestors?

Hope it helps

Ben

Ben

Thanks for detailed reply. Where did you get the information on Emanuel Dunn's marriages ..... do you know where they took place ?
Morris (Moses) and Emanuel were probably brothers .... but it's still not conclusive. Simon was definitely born 1874/5... he died in 1943 at age 68.
He was Emanuel's OLDEST son. If Emanuel was born in 1842, he would have been 32 when his fist child was born ..... very unusual in those days, but possible.

I've attached a picture of Morris (Moses) Isaac Dunn's gravestone ....... at Edmonton Federation Cemetery.


It seems that your great granparents, Simon & Rebecca, are buried at East Ham Cemetery. I'll take pictures next time I am there, and send them on to you.






Rebecca and Simon with their youngest son David and his nephew Warner, their first Grandchild.

Still puzzling !!!

Stanley

The Pale of Settlement

This map gives some indication as to the expanse of the region known to us as 'The Pale of Settlement'.


In 1791, Catherine the Great, Czarina of Russia created a zone of residence - some called it a zone of containment for the Jews.
This territory comprised more than 38,000 square miles (more than 1 million square kilometres), west of Russia stretching between the Baltic and Black Seas. The Jews called it "the Pale," and most were restricted to this area until after the Russian Revelolution of 1917.
This region, east of Berlin and west of Moscow, was disputed territory for many years and included lands that today are known as Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belorussia, and Ukraine. But names of countries hardly mattered to the Jews.

ONE COULD BE BORN IN CZARIST RUSSIA, THEN LIVE IN GERMAN TERRITORY, BECOME A POLISH CITIZEN , THEN BECOME LITHUANIAN, MOVE BACK TO GERMAN CONTROL, AND FINALLY BECOME A CITIZEN OF A SOVIET REPUBLIC - AND NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE WHERE YOU WERE BORN!

It was home to nearly all the world's Jews - in 1880 around 4 million Jews lived in the Pale, out of a world population of 7.7 million (another 2 million Jews lived outside the Pale but in Eastern Europe).
They lived in "nameless" Shtetls (small villages) such as Jagielnica, Kaisiadorys and Trakai, as well as Dorphs (larger towns) like Zasliai, Landau and Brody, and cities such as Lodz, Warsaw, Minsk, Bialystok, Vilna and Lvov. They shared a rich culture and a relgion, and a language - Yiddish....

From the book, 'Jewish Americans' by Robert Stein, published by Barrons/ Ivy Press Ltd, 2002.



http://rights.ivypress.co.uk/resource/?pid=1755

Location:Huddersfield Rd,Dewsbury,United Kingdom

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses...

Coming to America: Statue of Liberty Poem...

Also known as the Statue of Liberty poem, New Colossus and its famous last lines have become part of American history. Here is the sonnet originally written by Emma Lazarus, in its unedited entirety:



New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Location:New York City