Samuel Henry Narva

Hebrew Name: Shown as Shlomo Chaim ben PInchas on his tombstone in the Jewish cemetary in Warwick, RI. His tombstone also recites that is wife, Reva, is Rivka bat Eliezer Naftali. RLN 4/15/2013

Social Security Number 035-05-0630. On his application, he shows his employer as Service Shoe Store, one of the shoe stores owned and run by his first cousins', Morris and Jack Narva's, business, The Self Service Shoe Store, 2 Washington St., Artic, RI. RLN 2/19/2019 But the 1930 Census shows his occupation as "Shoe Store Proprietor." RLN 5/30/2021

Like his cousin, Jacob/Jack Narva, Sam was not scrupulous about his year of birth. The passenger manifest of the SS. Nieuw Amsterdam, on which he arrived in New York, NY on March 23, 1909 shows his name as Schlama Narwa [Shlomo] and his birth date as 1886. The same form shows his age as 23, his relative in Europe as Minkus Narwa, and the relative he is joining in the USA as his cousin, Morits Narwa. .His draft registration card shows his correct birth date, but in the year 1885. Perhaps, I speculate, he was engaging in the Jewish tradition of lying to the authorities to avoid conscription. His registration shows he lived in Boston and worked as clerk at Gilchrist's retail store, His draft card for the subsequent year, 1918, indicates that he was confined to hospital with tuberculosis in Cleveland, Ohio. Finally, it appears that in the WWII era he filed a third registration card indicating that he was married to Reva Narva and now worked at the Service Shoe Store, 27 Washington Street, West Warwick, RI and lived at 260 Gallatin St., Providence, RI. RLN 1/10/2016

Other interesting information shown on his passenger manifest from 1909 is his ethnicity [German] and his place of birth [Dyino] which i equate to Duninow, Poland, RLN 3/12/2019

During the course of rereading old correspondence on the history of the Narva family, I noted an email from Sam Narva's son, Marshall Narva, dated January 2, 2000, in which he wrote,"I knew that relatives were lost in the Holocaust, but I did not know their names or talk about this with Judith [Wasserman]. I can remember my father trying to contact relatives through the Red Cross. I remember him telling me that he was from Plock." RLN 2/19/2021

Another tidbit from my recent review of old files:

• According to the 1926 Providence City Directory, Sam Narva, Morris’s first cousin, lived at 215 Webster Avenue, Providence in 1926 and listed his occupation as Manager. Reva is shown as Sam’s wife, and he is shown as the Manager of the Self Service Shoe Store in Olneyville, RI. , one of the stores in the growing chain of Morton’s Shoe Stores founded by his first cousins Morris and Jacob/Jack.

• In 1927 the city directory lists Sam as living at 42 Warrington St. in Providence. This is significant because in the early 1920’s Morris and Anna had moved to 118 Warrington St.

• The 1928 Providence City Directory lists Morris, Sam and Max.

• Reva is listed in her own rights as President and Treasurer of “One Dollar Eighty-Eight Hat Shops” In the 1932 Directory. RLN 12/29/2021