Riva-Rachel Reitman

Louis (Eliezer) Reitman, born 1837, married Riva-Rachel Bennin, born 1839, in 1857. The Louis Reitman family lived in Augustowe, in the gubernia (province) of Suwalk, Russia (now Poland). Their seven children who survivied childhood were all born in Augustowe between 1860 and 1886: Matie (Minnie), Barnett L., Dwashe (Kalie), Miriam (Mary), Dora, Morris, and Julia.

Louis and Rebecca (Riva-Rachel) emigrated from Augustowe to the U.S. in 1888 with their two youngest children Julia (2) and Morris (10). Louis and Rebecca and their young children lived first at 114 Christy Street and then at 57 Henry Street on the lower East Side. During this period Louis was a "peddler of retail hardware." In 1900 the family relocated to 3968 Third Avenue in the Bronx, where Louis opened a grocery store at that same address. Rebecca continued to operate the store after Louis' death in 1903. In 1907 Rebecca moved and opened a delicatessen/butter store at 506 Wendover Avenue (later known as Claremont Parkway) in the Bronx. It was later changed to a milk store that Rebecca continued to run until around 1912.

Louis Eliezer Reitman died of pneumonia at his home at 3968 Third Avenue, Bronx, NY on June 28, 1903 at age 66. Rebecca Reitman died at her daughter's (Mary Meltzer) home in New Rochelle, NY on February 5, 1919 at age 80. They were both buried on the Suvalk (also spelled Suwalk) Society grounds in the Acacia Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.