Kremenets, Russia (now Ukraine) circa 1900
by David Tessler, 11 December 2003
Tobe and Joseph Tessler’s oldest son, Dr. Marcus Tessler, was brought over to Winnipeg, Manitoba around 1890 to teach Hebrew to the children of a Dr. Finklestein. Marcus moved to Minneapolis, thereafter and had three children, Marcia, Adelaide, and Leon.
Marcus then brought over his brothers, Israel, (my grandfather), Morris, Max, Nathan, Tom, and two sisters whose names I cannot remember. They all settled in Winnipeg, and raised their families in that city
Morris’ son Leon still lives in Toronto as of October 2003. Another brother, Beryl, stayed in Kremenets to look after the old parents. His son Marcus, still lives in Winnipeg and his son Dr. Barry Tessler lives in Vancouver. He is named for grandfather Beryl.
The family tree is full of Marcuses, Leons, Davids, and the same names seem to recur. It was rumored that there was another brother who left Kremenets and simply disappeared. Cheryl Tessler of Montreal believes it may have been her grandfather, Chaim, who came to Boston around 1908 through Ellis Island. (There was also another Tessler family who had a Benjamin Tessler arrive in Boston in 1908. Both were tailors, as were all of Joseph’s sons except Marcus who became a famous doctor in St. Paul, Minn.
Now Chaim and Benjamin may be one and the same person, or perhaps cousins.
My name is David Tessler, age 72, son of Leon, who was a son of Israel. If Joseph and Tobe had 10 or 11 children (who lived), it stands to reason they came from a family of many children, and therefore Joseph must have had many brothers, cousins , uncles etc.
I have on my computer a photograph of the family taken in 1898 in Russia. If you would like to compare it to some of your pictures, you might find the same strong family traits, bushy eyebrows and good strong nose with a specific shape. For example my father (Leon) and his cousin Leon both have interchangeable noses. ???
Anyway, my father passed away last year at 95 years of age, believing that Tessler was a very rare name, and there were very few of us left in North America. The Internet, however, has proved him wrong, and there are hundreds and hundreds of Tesslers I have found, and that doesn’t include the ones with one “S” in their name Tesler. Larry Tesler like to point out there is no double ss in the Russian language; nevertheless, here we are.