History of the Shotnesses

Bubba Noble – Ray (Elcha-Rasa Shotness)

Family history tells us that Bubba Noble was originally Rachel Shotness. Uncle Lou told us that her name was actually Elcha-Rasa, and that the name Shotness, originally Shachness, was an adopted name. The family name was something like Gantmacher.

In 2018 Doodie Taylor wrote "You are quite right they did come from the Ukraine, I remember being told the area was called Bessarabia - Comnitz Padolk. The spelling may not be correct. By the way Schotness was not the real name. David Schotness came over on a false Passport which was of Polish origin. The name was either Guntermucher or Goldmier. As I understand the reason for the false Passport was that he was wanted by the local authorities for his left wing views."

I tried to find out more about the Jewish Cabinet Makers Union and whichever avenue took I drew a blank.

I still assumed that the change of name was because they had to travel on a ‘bought’ passport that was in the name of Shachness. Unlike Leah, Beckie and Jessie, the two older children, Ray (Bubba) and Levy were born abroad.

For a long time I’d been trying to find Gantmacher genealogical records for Rachel, or Elka- Rasa, or for David or Martha (our great grandparents). No luck. So for some reason I thought I’d check out Shachness. My luck was in. I found Buba’s birth record – not as Gantmacher but as Shachness.

The JewishGen record was: