

A few thoughts -- and since I don't know what avenues you've exhausted already or how familiar you are with various genealogic resources, please forgive me if these suggestions sound obvious to you...
1. Do you know if Barnett and Pessa's grave stones have Hebrew inscriptions? Their parents' (or at least fathers') names may be included there. (If you don't read Hebrew, but can post a clear photo, I or someone else should be able to help you decipher it.)
2. Do you know if either of them had siblings? I see some other Capcans of similar ages (or at least, similar death dates) listed in the Jewish Rootsbank (http://www.jewishroots.uct.ac.za/). Their grave stones may also have information, even if Barnett's and Pessa's don't.
3. If you don't know about any siblings, cemetery records and/or obituaries nad/or probate records may name relatives. A local librarian may be able to help you search for obituaries.
4. I did a quick search of JewishGen's records for Lithuania (where a majority of SA Jews have origins), and there were some records for similar-sounding names (though usually with different spellings, like Kaptzan or Kopczan or Copkin). I didn't see any Barnetts or Pessas among them, but I only did a quick skim, and there may yet be relatives there. If you are able to identify any siblings or relatives of Barnett and Fruma, JewishGen's All Lithuania Database might help you make some connections. (www.jewishgen.org)
5.If you're willing to test your DNA, you may be able to locate relatives that way. If you can identify reasonably-close (but previously unknown to you!) relatives, that may help you identify other names/families of interest.
Best wishes!
Hi. Thanks. 2) above. The only Capcan on the list that is not in my tree is POLLY. Don't know who she is. I have found Barnett's grave at Wespark so will pop there and take pics of his stone. Am not sure what will be on it but hopefully there might be more clues. Do not know where Pessa is buried. It also looks as if my greatgrandfather was married more than once.
I found an excerpt from the history of the Jews where it refers to him as a founder of the community of Middleburg in the Cape as well as a record of him serving as a saddler.
I have tried to find out more about the community of Middleburg - especially where the Jewish community were buried. There doesn't seem to be a Jewish cemetery.
When I started my tree nearly two years ago, I never expected the Capcan side of the family to hit a brick wall.
Going public now is the only hope I have of getting past the brick wall as my appeal on my tree to family has fallen on deaf ears.
Carolyn - Nice to read your posts and your efforts to find info. I do not see in your personal profile where you currently reside ??? However, from the gravestone of your son, you appear to live in a community with a significant Jewish community. RE: the inscriptions on any of your grave stones,
1) check with your local Jewish Funeral home / burial society or any of your local rabbis. All of them should be able to assist you and even maybe help with any specific or unique part of the inscriptions.
2) where is the closest Jewish Communal organization to where you specific family members came from. They should be able to assist you in finding the Jewish Cemetery you are looking for. One of the very FIRST activity than any Jewish community does is to acquire and maintain a cemetery. The challenge should only be in finding its exact location.
Good luck, RGS
Thanks, Private User .
I've added Pessa Fruma's Yiddish name and a profile for her father with his Hebrew/Yiddish name (for which I sent you a manager invitation) as well.
Caroline Desire Ann Lewin , if you can get a better picture of Barnett's grave that shows his Hebrew name at the top, we can translate that for you, too.
Meanwhile, I found something very interesting for you...
You'd recorded that Pessa Fruma's maiden name was Hendler. I found a record of a Karl Hendler coming to the U.S. from South Africa -- where his contact was his uncle, B. Capcan in Middelburg, Cape Colony [!]. He was going to another uncle, B. Roddy in Cameron Texas. Here is the record (which stretches over 2 pages; Karl is on line 19. I'll make a profile for Karl and post the images there so you don't have to register for a FamilySearch account): "New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JJS6-3Q9 : 30 January 2018), Karl Hendler, 1914.
As it happens, I know exactly who that B. Roddy in Cameron, Texas is -- Borukh Roddy -- because he happens to be a cousin of mine! His sister Tsipe Hendler married Zundel Yovel Hendler.
According to the ship mainfest, Karl Hendler was from a town called "Binchi" or "Benchi", which I don't recognize -- but it may be a mistranscription of Birzhi (= Birzai, Lithuania), where parts of the Hendler family originated. Most of the Hendlers who stayed in Europe were killed in the Holocaust.
Now...Zundel Hendler, who married my Rode cousin, was the son of one Samuel Hendler . Could he be the same Shmuel Hendler as your great-great-grandfather? That Shmuel also had a daughter named Pessa Fruma Capcan ...born in 1868, who could plausibly be your great-grandmother Pessa Fruma. [!]
Updates:
I've worked out that Karl Hendler, who traveled in 1914 from his uncle Barnett Capcan's place in SA to his other uncle Borukh Roddy's place in Texas = Samuel Kalman Hendler . (I guess "Karl" was based on "Kalman".) He was indeed born in Biržai, Lithuania.
Based on the relationships and dates, I am also fairly convinced now that Samuel Hendler = Samuel Hendler,
and thus that your great-grandmother Pessa Fruma Capcan = Pessa Fruma Capcan
If you agree and others don't see any problems with it, I will merge them.
It looks like Fruma Hendler's original birth record from 1868 has been microfilmed, and I may be able to find it for you, but it will take a while (as it will require sifting through a lot of images).
You may be interested in joining or following https://www.geni.com/projects/Jewish-Families-from-Bir%25C5%25BEai-... -- the project page has some links with more information about the town of Biržai.
...and more good news: I just found a record of Barnett and Pessa's marriage in Birzai, Lithuania!
It is in the LitvakSIG Lithuania Marriages and Divorces Database available through JewishGen (www.jewishgen.org). There may be an original available, but that will also require sifting through a lot of scanned images.
The index gives the following information:
Ber Volf (son of Icyk) KABCEN, age 22, of Birzai
married
Pese (daughter of Shmuel) GENDLER, age 20
in Birzai on 13 October 1889 (in the Julian calendar) or 30 Tishre (in the Hebrew calendar).
The rabbi was Pinkhes LINTUP and the witnesses were Zalmen Aron SOLOVEICHIK and Gabriel REBE.
So we don't lose it, here's the record info: Microfilm # 2290696 / Item # 5 Archive/Fond LVIA/1226/1/1960/79
Link to scanned images: https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/GStoDGS.php?GS=2290696
There are additional records for the Capcan / Kabcen family in JewishGen...I'll add them as I have a chance.
The "extra" 3 children (whose were added based on Lithuanian revision lists and birth records) most likely correspond to existing profiles. However, the names/dates of birth didn't match up with the existing profiles well enough for me to be sure who was who. If we can get pictures of that generation's grave stones or records from the Chevra Kadisha, we may be able to match them based on their Hebrew/Yiddish names. If there are other records that would allow us to double-check birth dates, that could help, too.
(It's also possible that one or more children died in infancy and 10 survived.)
So, for example, it seems possible or even likely that Ray Helper (Rafel)(Capcan) is the same as Ray Helper (Rafel)(Capcan) but I didn't want to merge them until I had some more information to confirm/refute.
(I wish it were possible to edit comments instead of having to post again, but...)
I was able to merge Annie Ethel Hirschfield with "Gene Etel" based on a burial record I found in JOWBR (at JewishGen).
My hunch is that:
Ray Helper (Rafel)(Capcan) = Ray Helper (Rafel)(Capcan)
Eva Grusin = Eva Grusin
and
Lena Hilda Steele = Lena Hilda Steele
as well, but it would be nice to have some additional evidence, especially when (as in the case of Eva / Tsipe Chava) the recorded births are 5 years apart.
I was able to find a Brazilian tourist visa for Lena Hilda Steele which gives her birth year as 1903, rather than 1883 [!] as previously recorded in her profile, which makes the idea of her being Lena Hilda Steele much more plausible! (Also, her mother would only have been 15 in 1883, which -- while not impossible -- seems unlikely.)
I agree.....I know my grandfather always told me 5 of the children were born in Lithuania and 5 here. 1 boy, 4 girls, 1 boy (Max), 4 girls. He always looked after the 4 girls younger than him. I know that the oldest helped send Max to Edinburgh to do medicine with a threat that if he failed a year he would have to come back to South Africa.
What I need to do is scan a whole wack of photos and upload them somewhere are ask people if they know who or what they are. The old black and whites that tug at the heart.
I really appreciate your hard work. I could definitely not have done this without you.
Hi Caroline,
I'm glad you were able to visit his grave and take a photo.
The stone says:
[in the star] P"N
[Hebrew abbreviation for "Here lies..."]
Berel Vulf son of Yitzchak Reuven
Died caf-alef Elul tav-shin-tet"zayin LF"K
[21st of the Hebrew month of Elul in the Hebrew year 5716, corresponding to 1956, according to the minor way of counting]
TNTzVH
[Hebrew abbreviation for "May his soul be bound up in the bonds of eternal life."]
There is [https://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/tombstones.html a good beginner's guide to reading Hebrew tombstones at JewishGen].
If folks are in a mood to arrange a discussion with the Birzai Society’s genealogist on open questions, I’m happy to arrange such a discussion.
We are meeting with another group who put together extensive trees on the Lun/Lund family, work done many years ago by Betty Brudnick.
I don’t check this very often, but I’ve shared the records the Birzai Society genealogist created with folks who I’ve connected to through here. I also have a dropbox of records snd collected trees we’ve been aggregating over the past three years.
We also had a family reunion last summer of descendants of Milton Hendler, Sam Hendler, Nathan & Rhea Hendler, and Ethel Hendler Shade. Louis Hendler, Hilda Hendler and Moshe Hendler’s descendants were invited but could not attend. We’ve tried to connect with distant cousins and it has been a lovely aspect of this work. Many of the older cousins recalled seeing each other as kids but had lost touch.
Please feel free to reach out if any questions to ehendler@gmail.com.
We’d love to have a zoom with any “new cousins.”
Thanks! Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth
I’m responding here for the benefit of others in this thread.
I see your post from 2020 citing Ber Volf and Pessa as Charles Hendler’s parents.
I’m pretty sure that’s not so- I have lots of BerVolf’s original papers.
Perhaps he was Pessa’s brother?
I’m still trying to work out who her parents were…. She’s not listed as one of Shlomos children in the Hendler/Roddy tree…