Ellen Rubenstein Chelmis

My great grandfather, Moishe Rubenstein (1868-1946) married Shendel Yagalnitzer (1864-1960) whose family had an inn in a neighboring town. They settled in Verbovets, some 50 miles away from Shendel's family, where Moishe had a grocery and dry goods store and the family lived in the back of the store. Moishe was a very learned and well respected man. He would go to shul everyday, sometimes twice a day. Shendel made a universal salve that she used for everything, external and internal. All of the Rubenstein children knew Yiddish and some Russian. Jacob "Little Jake" (1894-1988), my grandfather, emigrated in 1910 and upon arrival went to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to work for his uncles Louis and Frank as a traveling merchant; he married Esther Wexler, had two sons, Paul (1921-1990), my father, and Edwin (1929-1999). Abraham (1889-1968) served 4 years in the Russian Army, emigrated in 1922 with his wife, Pessie Powerstein, children Philip (1914-1990) and Sidney (1918-1964), and his daughter Touraine (1922-1994) was born on the way over; the ship was "La Touraine," thus her name. Isaac (1892-1969) emigrated before WWI, worked in the south and met his wife, Rebecca Hirsch, in Laurel, Mississippi. Moishe, Shendel and the rest of the family escaped to Romania after the pogroms in 1920, fearing for the safety of the remaining children. Rose (1903-1964), using a cousin's passport, came to the US in 1921, met Philip Perlman on the ship and married him later in Baltimore. Moishe, Shendel and the last three children came to the US in 1922, settling in Baltimore. Sarah (1905-1991) married Jacob Polsky who had a wholesale men's and ladies' wear business in Milwaukee. Samuel (1906-1970) married Della Wexler (Little Jake's wife's sister) and was a merchant; they had a daughter, Shirley. Thelma (1910-1983) married Jacob Goldberg, a merchant from Jerusalem; they settled in Baltimore.