In October 2020, I stumbled across some records of interest to my Rubinson-Robinson cousins, and perhaps my Rothschild cousins, too.
My great-grandparents Emma Rothschild and Maurice Rubinson's 1899 marriage was arranged in Oskaloosa, Iowa, 40 miles southeast of Des Moines. My great-uncle Sam Rubinson, himself a family historian, explained that bride and groom were both related to Oskaloosa resident Morris Gould. I realized long ago that Emma was a first cousin to Morris's wife Ida, who is buried in a plot in Chicago with Emma's brother Kalman and whose monument actually says she was a Rothschild. As for Maurice's connection to the Goulds, that was still a mystery.
Wandering around the Ancestry website this past Saturday, I stumbled on several family trees that included Morris Gould under his original name Moshe Gold. His father was Jacob Gold and his mother was Devorah Garber. Devorah's father was Benjamin.
The name "Benjamin" gave me pause. Maurice's father's father was supposed to be Benjamin Rubinson. My great-uncle Ben Robinson must have been named after him.
A few years ago I searched Benjamin Rubinson on the Jewish Genealogy site (JewishGen.org). The only good search result was Benjamin Rubinovich of Vilkiya, Lithuania, who lived from 1824 to 1914. He was old enough to be the father of Rubin Rubinson, Maurice's father. In addition, some of the other Rubinson's in Des Moines, said to be related, had documents in Ancestry that said they were from Vilkiya.
There was just one problem. Uncle Ben Robinson was born in 1910. How could he be named for his great-grandfather who was still alive? For that reason, I was willing to consider a Ben with a different last name.
I knew from experience that some families in the 1800s had alternate last names. Some last names are known as "patronymics." They originally referred to a father's name. Think of "Johnson" or "Davidson" or even "Rubinson." Other last names were derived from a place name or an occupation. "Garber" means tanner in Yiddish, and it is related to the German word "Gerber."
The Golds and Garbers lived in Cekiske, Lithuania, which is maybe ten miles from Vilkija. JewishGen has many translated vital records from Cekiske, including Benjamin Garber's death record, which tells us he lived 1806-1889, and he was the son of Rubin.
Another record is for Taube Garber, who lived 1811-1898 and who was the widow of "Benyamin Rubinovich" whose "paternal name was Rubin." This was an unusual notation, as if someone reporting Taube's death felt it was important to emphasize it.
By the way, Uncle Sam did say that Maurice's grandmother was "Tobey." I felt I was getting close to a big discovery, and when I checked the Garber birth records for Cekiske, there it was: Moshe Leib, born June 28, 1871, to Rubin (son of Benjamin) and Chaya. This was a perfect match for Grandpa Maurice, whose Americanized middle name was Lewis.
But how do we know for certain that it's not some wild coincidence that these Garbers had identical first names to my Rubinsons? I looked at the other families in Cekiske descended from Benjamin and Taube, and then I looked at Ancestry. Maurice had a cousin Aaron "Gerber" who sailed to Philadelphia in 1913. When the immigration officer asked Aaron to name the relative he was going to meet, Aaron said, "my brother Simon Rubinson." Sure enough, there was a Philadelphian who identified himself to the draft board as "Simon Garber Rubinson."
Simon himself immigrated to New York City in 1904. Asked at Ellis Island to name his nearest US relative, Simon said: Morris "Rubinsohn" of 142 Madison Street. I immediately recognized that address as belonging to Morris and Emma from about 1903 to 1907.
There you have it. Grandpa Morris was born Moshe Garber in Cekiske, Lithuania, in 1871, and he really lived to be 92. His Aunt Devorah was actually Morris Gould's stepmother, but for all intents and purposes, Moshe Garber and Moshe Gold were two cousins growing up in the same small town. When Garber smashed the glass under the wedding canopy in Oskaloosa, he was "Morrice L. Rubinson." Morris Gould was the witness.
I still think our Garbers were related to the Rubinovich families of Vilkija. All were descended from an original Rubin who lived in the late 1700s and early 1800s. After reading up on the Jews of Cekiske, I think it is very possible that Benjamin and Taube moved there from Vilkija in the mid-1800s. When Benjamin was a child in the 1810s, surnames were not yet required, so he was simply Rubin's son.
1871-1963
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