Morris (Yechiel Meyer) Goldberg

By Gary Howard GOLDBERG (grandson of Morris GOLDBERG):

Some of you may have wondered how Jewish immigrants, and in particular our ancestors, came to America. There were no jet planes in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Well, they made a transatlantic crossing by ship -- most came by passenger ship (as did the GOLDBERGs), but some also came by freighter or cargo ships. Back then Dramamine, Bonine and Seabands were not available, so many of them became seasick and also suffered from a variety of other illnesses. Some immigrants left their ancestral town (Przedborz in the case of our ancestors) to avoid religious persecution, others for better paying employment and others because they heard about "America the land of opportunity." I suspect some of you may have wondered - as I have - how long it took for a transatlantic crossing in late 1800 or early 1900. It took Gitel (aka Gitla or Kate or Katie) GOLDBERG, the first wife of Harris Wolf (aka Tzvi Ze'ev) GOLDBERG, about thirteen to fourteen days to make the crossing (this was no two week Carribean cruise). Gitel traveled with her four children, in 1897, from Przedborz, Poland or Wloszczowa, Poland to their Port of Departure, which was Amsterdam, by train or maybe by horse and wagon or maybe even by foot, or maybe a combination of all three. Her traveling companions were her children, Malke (aka Maggie) GOLDBERG, Kopel (aka Jacob) GOLDBERG, Meier (aka Morris, Meyer) GOLDBERG, and Froim (aka Fred) GOLDBERG. Can you imagine traveling for fourteen days with four children - a four year old, a seven year old, a nine year old and an eleven year old. After arriving at their Port of Departure from their shtetl some immigrants had to wait for their ship to arrive, or paper work to be completed, or passage paid for or an illness to resolve before leaving for America - some waited days, others waited weeks and some even months before they were able to depart. I don't know how long Gitel GOLDBERG and her children waited in Amsterdam before departure - but I do know that they sailed from Amsterdam on November 23, 1897 on board the S.S. Werkendam (Holland America Line) and arrived in New York Harbor on December 6, 1897.

It was not unusual for the husbands to come to America first and then send passage to the wife and children after obtaining a job and housing. So, I assume that Harris came to America prior to Gitel and their children.

http://www.maggieblanck.com/Immigration.html (General information)

http://www.mattivifamily.com/immigration/journey_to_america/journey... (More general information)

http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?140530 (Actual photo of The S.S. Werkendam and some stats)

RESIDENCES:

Przedbórz, Radomsko County, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland (1888)

550 Bergenline Avenue, West New York, Hudson County, New Jersey (1909)

791 Van Wagenen Place, North Bergen, Hudson County, New Jersey (1910)

120 Nineteenth Street, West New York, Hudson County, New Jersey (1920)

128 Park View Place, Weehawken, Hudson County, New Jersey (1930)

11 Brighton 10th Path, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York (January 25, 1967)