Questions are saved here with the sources they refer to. Answer when convenient. Answers are saved separately and do not change the family history automatically. This temporary section can be removed once the questions are settled.
Q-1907-CONTACT
The brother named on Saxonia line 22 (1907)
Boruch Berkman arrived in Boston on the S.S. Saxonia on March 15, 1907. Line 22 of the manifest says he was joining his brother in Philadelphia. What is the brother's name, and what is the street address?
A. Bro Szyje Phileg[?] Burman[?], 623 [?] St, Philadelphia, Pa
B. Bro Philip Berkman, 623 [street illegible], Philadelphia
C. Itzig Philip Berman (from the 2015 paid transcription)
D. Another reading or undecidable
Evidence
1907 Saxonia passenger manifest, Boston, page 171, line 22 (NARA T843 roll 104; FamilySearch image 348/397). The contact cell reads "Bro" (brother), then a given name, a second name and a surname whose letters are disputed. The address begins "623"; what follows is overwritten or struck and partly illegible. Reading A is the September 29 full-image transcription, reading B is Muse's, and reading C is the 2015 Fiverr transcription.
Line 22 contact cell at 3x · Open full sizeLine 22 name at 4x · Open full sizeLine 22 address at 4x · Open full size
Kopel Austin’s mother’s surname on his 1940 death certificate
What is the exact reading of Kopel Austin’s mother’s surname in field 15 of his death certificate?
The original certificate clearly records Kopel Austin’s death as 8 July 1940. Field 15 names his mother. The current temporary page transcribes her surname as Chigermont; on the original pixels the final strokes look more like Chigerowitz. Hyman Austin, son, was the informant. This question concerns the handwriting, not proof of earlier parentage.
Original records
Original Kopel Austin certificate, field 15, mother’s maiden name - Open full size
Do any of these Kermit Berman records refer to the same man, and is any linked to Barney Berman?
The earlier portal retained three documentary candidates, not an established identity: Kermit born 8 July 1904 in Riga, named in Abraham Isaac Berman’s 1920 petition; a Kermit born 1901, son of Isaac and Rose, married to Fannie Levin in 1936; and a Kermit born 1905, married to Annette Paltin in 1938. The latter two record claims remain to be checked against their originals. Kermit J. Berman’s 2007 biography was a further unverified lead. None is identified here as the Herman/Kerman in Barney’s 1920 household.
Original petition: supports the 1904 Riga Kermit only, not the other candidates or a relationship to Barney
