Hazel Handforth (Boehm)

 Hazel met Abraham sometime around the turn of the 19th to the 20th century (no details, but guessing that it was in the NYC area). Abraham had already raised a family to adulthood (4 children I believe), had promised never to divorce his first wife (name unknown now, but they were probably both from Germany; Abraham was Sephardic Jewish whose family went back to before the 1492 expulsion from Spain of all Jews who refused to convert 

["conversos"] or be killed - our family of that time chose to go east, landing in Bohemia and

taking the name Sabatka, which may mean "freedom" in Czech).

 Hazel was about 20 years old, Abraham approximately in his mid sixties. Dwight was the first born of this union, Alzira the second, Rebecca (Becky) the third, Rachael the fourth -

all roughly two years apart in age, Rachael born on February 21, 1912 in Minneapolis MN.

The attending doctor was a woman osteopath (re: birth certificate that robin obtained). Abraham was a very successful real estate developer and contractor, responsible for several large and well known buildings in NYC, including the Diamond Exchange. Knowing that he was dying from cancer (type?), he included Hazel in his will with an amount of $

sufficient to keep her and her four young children going for several years. He died in the

late spring or early summer of 1912.

 Hazel, along with two male relatives (Mons and Arnolf Grinager,[cousins?] I believe, but have to look it up) and her four children, aged eight to a few months, took a train to eastern Montana, near the small town of Circle, to find three adjoining homestead properties (640 acres each). These were still available from the U.S. government; people had to live on and develop them for five years to "prove up" on the claims, which all three did.  Hazel chose to grow either wheat or sheep (or maybe both?) and managed to handle the whole homesteading experience, no doubt with some help from her nearby male relatives.

Some of Mom's (Rachael's) stories that I've taped include these vignettes: making 'skis'
from barrel staves strapped to their boots so they could ski off the roof in the winter when

the snow was so deep it would cover up to the eaves; the schoolhouse was moved around each year so that children would have chances not to have to travel that far to attend school

thus spreading the travel distance around. By the time Rachael started school, all four children traveled on the one horse (name of horse forgotten right now), with Rachael, the youngest, on the rump of the horse holding onto Becky who held onto Alzira, who held onto Dwight who guided the horse; once Rachael was taking a ride with an adult from Circle, heading back to home in the buckboard wagon. The horse bolted, the buckboard provided a sort of hiding place under the front seat where Rachael hunkered; I'm not sure whether or not the buckboard turned over, but apparently no one was hurt. The Circle neighbor helped Rachael get over the shock by giving her a rarity of the time - sweet oranges.

 Hazel was an outstanding cook; Rachael maintained that H. never seemed to sit down for a meal (and by then wasn't even hungry, having been tasting the food all along through the cooking) and then was always getting up to bring more food to the table.  In the 1920's

Hazel opened a small restaurant in west Greenwich Village, doing all the cooking. Apparently this didn't last long, as Hazel couldn't handle both the cooking and the finances (or maybe the Crash did that in - don't know).

 In between Montana was a move to Baltimore (don't know why Baltimore) for a short time that didn't work out for anyone.  During that time Dwight at age thirteen took a job delivering

mail or somesuch, and was the 'man of the house'. Hazel could no longer after that handle bringing up the three girls, so Becky and Rachael (also known as 'Rakey") went to live with

Uncle Hunter and Aunt Jessie who lived in Ossining, NY, just below Sing Sing prison from which would occasionally sound warning sirens if a prisoner managed to escape. Not sure

where Alzira and Dwight lived at this time. For a time in her teens, Rachael won a scholarship to a private high school in NYC and lived for a short, fairly happy time with Hazel. Rachael had to quit H.S. at 17 to take jobs (The Crash), one of which was demonstrating homemade candle making at department stores around the east coast, using a company car - according to her an adventurous time.

  After that I don't know where Hazel lived, but probably moved out to Long Island, married a man named (?) who was blind. robin has a signed autobiography of Helen Keller

"The Story of My Life", 1902-5, Grosset and Dunlap, The Century Company, NY; there are

a number of paste-ins - articles about Helen Keller, by Helen: "Our Great Responsibility'

published by The Community Church, Temple Beth-El, 5th Ave. and 76th St. NYC, that

promotes peace - this piece published in 1932. The book contains a Braille communication under the front cover written by a Thomas B. Martin; I don't know if this was a man that Hazel knew or was married to.

 Hazel died in her mid-70's in a sort of nursing home/hospice, on the same weekend that

Sputnick was launched. Mom and I were with her, but she had slipped into a coma while

being taken down by cancer (throat? stomach?). She was living in Central Islip, LI, NY alone, and still gardening, in fact had begun to develop a green gardenia which she was planning to sell to the Burpee Seed Co. She also kept a Weimaraner dog, maybe for protection, and her house was a monument to those who do not throw anything out; she was very conscious of conserving, a habit of many who lived through the Great Depression.

(This information supplied by Rachael H.Fisk-Gish, aka robin birdfeather, 2/1/2009)

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/54919881/family?cfpid=137...