Judith Shlemon

Judith Shlemon was born on July 3, 1880 in Urmia, Persia.

She first married Saul Shlemon between about 1897-1899 based on their son John Shlemon's birth date. She had two more children with Saul: Sandra Baba in about 1905 and Daisy Babian in about 1906.

She became a widow at some point in between the time Daisy was born in about 1906 and December 1912 when she arrived in the US. It seems that an Assyrian widow was not valued highly in their culture. The 3 children were supported by the Shlemon family after Saul's death, but Judith's best opportunity was to leave her three children in Persia and travel to the United States and look for a new opportunity.

According to Sari Georges, her mother Judith came to the US through Ellis Island with her late husband Saul's sister Muryum Shlemon who was also a widow. The SS Mauretania sailed from Liverpool on December 7th 1912 and arrived in New York on December 14, 1912. Line 25 of the pasneger list shows a Mariam Eshoo where she is using her father's name as her "Family Name" on the passenger list, and Line 26 shows Joodat Thoohar which is a Family Name not seen anywhere else, but the ship name and the names of the two individuals together in the year of arrival that other records say all match up with the story from Sari that she arrived on the Mauretania. Mariam's father is also listed as Eshoo Gevargis which indicates he was probably still alive in 1912.

The passenger list says that their final destination was Yonkers, NY. They eventually traveled to Chicago, Illinois, where Sari said that her mother then went to the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago because the Assyrians had a room there. According to the Carter-Westminster United Presbyterian Church, "In 1907 Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago offered them the use of their chapel for Sunday afternoon services and later built them a place of worship known as Carter Assyrian Persian Chapel, dedicated in 1913" which fits that timeline.

On January 27, 1917, two of her children, John Shlemon (about 18 years old) and Daisy Babian (about 11 years old) arrived in the United States together after a long journey from Urmia.

On May 19, 1917 she married Oshana Georges in Chicago and had two more children in the following two years, Sari and George Georges. Her daughter Sari said that Judith loved her first husband, but her second husband was convenient and that Oshana had 3 jobs to pay for his family.

Then, in 1921, Judith was reunited with her other daughter, Sandra Baba (now about 16 or 17 years old) when she arrived in the US with more of the Shlemon family.

Judith lived the rest of her live in Chicago and on June 4th 1955 she died from Cachexia of advanced carcinoma (6 months) due to carcinoma of uterus (1 year). She is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in River Grove, Illinois next to her second husband Oshana.

USA, Naturalization: "Illinois, Northern District Petitions for Naturalization, 1906-1994," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89GG-1C5Q?cc=2212212&w... : 11 September 2014), Cook County > Petitions, 1950-1954, v. 1376, no. 339401-339600 > image 49 of 865; citing U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of the Northern District of Illinois, 3/3/1905, NAID 593882; Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 - 2009, RG 21, National Archives at Chicago.

USA, Passenger List Index: "New York Book Indexes to Passenger Lists, 1906-1942," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9L4-6382?cc=2299396&w... : 10 November 2016), Roll 203 Cunard, Anchor, 1912 Sep-Dec > image 1470 of 1697; citing NARA microfilm publication T612 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

USA, Passenger List: "New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9T6-C8HW?cc=1368704&w... : 27 January 2018), Roll 1991, vol 4478-4480, 14 Dec 1912 > image 162 of 1095; citing NARA microfilm publication T715 and M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).