The other great-grandparent, Leah Rachel Reiss Leon, a grandmother of Grandpa Abe Marcovis, came to the US in 1886, returned to Romania, and came here for good in 1900. She died in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1913.
After a number of failed attempts to find her passenger records in ancestry.com, today I succeeded in finding both of her incoming passenger records, as well as the passenger record of Clara Leon and her eventual husband Aaron Marcovis.
"Leon" was actually the surname adopted by Leah's son Sol. In Roman, Romania, they were the family of Lev Shevach. Lev, we are told, was still alive when Leah Rachel, age 40, departed Hamburg, Germany, on November 6, 1886. With her on the Sprite to Liverpool and the Chicago, which arrived in New York November 20, were daughter Clara, age 17, and son Mutzer, or Muley, age 7. The surname out of Hamburg was "Schaffoch," but the New York passenger record said "Schaffock." The New York record also misstated the country of origin as Sweden. Both records listed the mother as simply "Rachel."
Clara would marry Aaron Marcovis, another Romanian Jew living in Des Moines, in 1888. Nothing more is known of Mutzer, except he must have been one of Leah Rachel's four deceased children as of the 1910 census.
Leah Rachel's second trip to America was in 1900. It was said that Lev had finally agreed to leave Romania but died before the time of departure. This time the passenger records for the Pretoria listed her as Lea Schewach, age 55, and with her was her daughter "Nutka" or "Butza," age 18. They left Hamburg on July 1 and arrived in New York July 14. This time, the New York record included the address of their destination, the Marcovis house at 770 9th St.
Nineteen days later, on August 2, 1900, Clara and Aaron Marcovis's first son was born. They would name him Leo, after Clara's recently deceased father.
The daughter "Nutka" or "Butza" would be known as Annie, and she would marry her first cousin Wolf Rise the next year. They, as well as Wolf's father (and Leah Rachel's brother) David Rise, are all buried at Glendale Cemetery in Des Moines. David Rise died in 1885, before Glendale was in use. It may be that his remains were brought from Romania. It may also be that he traveled to Des Moines and died before he could send for his family.
A photograph on display in the home of Clara's granddaughter Lois (Pellow) Beskind, may depict Leah Rachel.
The woman on the left looks similar to Clara in her wedding picture with Aaron. Thus, this could be, from left, Clara, Rachel Leah, young Annie, and another daughter taken before the 1886 journey. The daughter on the right would be another of the four deceased children as of the 1910 census.
