Ginsburgh mystery

Here's a genealogy dilemma. only read it if you are a genealogy wonk and don't mind your head spinning.

Here’s the story that my 90 year old aunt Elgie tells me:

Elgie: “My grandfather Jacob Lester (1879-1954) came from Poznan but he didn’t come over until he was a teenager.  My great grandfather came over right after the end of the civil war.  But there was only enough money for one fare.  He had a wife Dina (Mitnick) and two sons, age 4 and 2.  The younger son was Moses or Moishe.  Then later, he sent for the three of them.  But my grandfather was already a teenager so he was too old to go to school.  I remember he had a thick accent.  But I remember he shared a two family home with his brother Uncle Mike.”

Sandy: Do you remember a great uncle Samuel, Oscar or great aunt Celia? 

Elgie: No, never heard about them.

Commentary:  I think my great grandfather’s name was Abraham Isaac Ginsburgh (1834-1924)  I got the name and the dates from a picture of the headstone from a cemetery in Greece, NY, a short distance from Rochester.  He could have come over in the late 1860s or 1870s.  His eldest son Jacob was born in 1870 so if his father came in 1874, Jacob would have been 4 years old.  According to the 1910 census, Jacob immigrated in 1884.  That would make him 14.

He’s in the picture above on the occasion of his retirement.  Those are the dates of his employment not his life.  The occupation is obscure.

Who’s Uncle Mike?  Not Jacob’s brother but his brother in law Michael Hervitz who indeed did live next door in the 1910 census.

The burning question?  In my family tree, I have a bunch of siblings to Jacob Lester (who went by Lester), Samuel, Celia and Oscar.  I’m beginning to think that, though they are lovely people with wonderful descendants, they are not related to me (former relatives).  I don’t think they are Jacob Lester’s siblings.  Remember my aunt didn’t remember their names.  I can find no Samuel though there is a Solomon born in 1872, that sounds like he could have been the younger brother.   Celia was born in 1882 before Dina got back; Dina would have been 44 when she gave birth.

My aunt did not know the name of her great grandparents, I think I do know and I inserted them into the story.

Oscar was born in 1887; Dina would have been 49.  He died in 1911 at the age of 24.  Elgie would not have remembered him as he died before she was born.  There is a 1910 record which shows an Oscar living with and Isaac and Diana Ginsburg and the dates match up.  But the census record shows him being born in Russia.  It does not hang together well enough.

I don’t know where I got this sibling group in the first place.  Phil Sapiro, my fourth cousin from Liverpool has this group with some discrepancies.  But it’s not close to his main line.

There is another Oscar Ginsberg in the next generation born 1912 but he’s the son of Samuel in this other group.  That would make sense for Samuel to name his son after his recently deceased brother.

Then there’s the matter of name spelling.  Ginsburgh, Ginsburg, Ginsberg.  I can dismiss names on the census. They usually get it right on headstones and death records. My family always spelled it Ginsburgh which is unusual.  The name on my great great grandfather’s stone is Ginsburgh.   In Oscar Ginsburg’s death record, it’s spelled Ginsburg.

It’s hard but I have to conclude that this group is not related to me.