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Birth: 7
Jul 1884 Johanka,
Poland
Death: 14
May 1952 Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania
Occupation: Silk
Weaving
Father: Ferdinand
LEHMAN
Mother: Christina
GINTER
Mr. Gotthelf
F. Lehman of Bethlehem, Pa., passed on to be with the Lord on Thursday, May 14,
1952, at the age of 68 years and 10 months. As he had expressed the desire just a week before at an old
friend's funeral, that when his time came he wanted to go suddenly, so he entered
into the joy of the Lord 'in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.'
Mr. Lehman
was born on July 7, 1884, in Poland.
While a youth, still in the homeland, he was born again and was baptized
at the age of 17. He came to the
United States at the age of 25, settling in Philadelphia, Pa., and joining in
the Pilgrim Baptist Church. IN
1911 he was united in marriage to Irma Maletsky by Dr. William Kuhn.
He was a
member of the Calvary Baptist Church, Bethlehem, Pa., for the past 35 years
where he rendered faithful and efficient service as a Sunday School teacher,
deacon, trustee and treasurer.
Having retired only recently, he completed his lifetime work of silk
weaving. He loved plants and
flowers, and most of his spare time was spent in his garden."
(A note from
my wife's first cousin.) "I spent a day at the National Archives in
Washington, D.C. I was searching
for a record of Gotthelf's entry through the INS records. I found he arrived in New York, on the
ship "Scharnhorst' on March 17, 1909.
Even though
I show both Gotthelf Lehman and Irma Maletsky as born in Poland, neither of
them were really Polish. Both of
their families only spoke German.
You must also be a historian in order to help in your research of your
family tree. Poland's borders, as did Germany's and the surrounding countries,
fluctuated over the years as various battles and wars were won and lost, and it
was not unusual for Poland and Austria, etc., to have a large portion of their
population being German.
Gotthelf
also told my mother about his experiences in the Army. At the time he turned 18 or 19 years
old, Poland did not have a standing Army.
All males were required to join either the German or Russian Army and
serve the required term. Gotthelf and a group of his friends visited the local
German Army post and upon seeing how poorly the troops were treated by their
officers, decided to join the Russian Army. Gotthelf eventually became a quarter master responsible for
securing food for his troops and served in the Crimea (near Turkey). He had to cross the border every week
into Turkey to obtain food, and he always said that the Turks had the prettiest
women he had ever seen. In
Bethlehem he worked in the Bethlehem Silk Company as a silk weaver.
NOTES (by Fred Coffey):
Gotthelf is shown on the manifest as Gotthelf Lehmann, but
he is found in the Ellis Island index as Galthelf Schumann, age 27. He arrived
on March 6, 1909. He was age 24 when he arrived, and gave his occupation as
spinner. He was able to read and write, and his nationality was given as
Russian. (Understand that he came from an area that is now in Poland. However
in the 1700's Poland had been split up between Russia, Prussia, and Austria.
When Gotthelf left in 1909, Poland did not really exist as a political entity.
Therefore he had to say he was Russian. After WWI Poland was reborn as an
independent country.)
Gotthelf gave his race/people as German, with his last
residence in Russia. His city of birth was Johanka. His nearest relative is his
father Ferdinand Lehmann, who remained behind in Russia, in Johanka. His final
destination is Philadelphia. His passage to New York was paid for by himself.
The amount of money he has in his possession is illegible (appears to be less
than $50). However he did travel in a second class cabin (i.e., not steerage).
He is going to join his step-brother* Wilhelm Tripke at 2831 Water Street in
Philadelphia. He is not a Polygamist, and not an Anarchist. His
health is good, he is not deformed or crippled, he is 5'4" tall, fair
complexion, blonde hair, grey eyes, has no marks of identification.
*The word on the manifest is clearly "step"
brother. However my info is that Gotthelf and Wilhelm both had Christina Ginter
as their mother, but different fathers. That would make them "half"
brothers. Did Gotthelf make a mistake (German was his native language, not
English), or do they actually also have different mothers?
THE SHIP: The Scharnhorst sailed from Bremen, Germany on
March 6 and arrive in New York on March 17, 1909. She was built by J.C.
Tecklenborg, Geestemunde, Germany, 1904. 8,287 gross tons; 453 feet long; 55
feet wide. Steam triple expansion engines, twin screw. Service
speed 13 knots. 2,029 passengers (114 first class, 115 second class,
1,800 third class). Built for North German Lloyd, German flag, in
1904 and named Scharnhorst. Bremerhaven-Australia service and later
Bremerhaven-New York service. Laid up 1914-18. Became Allied reparation ship in
1918. Given as reparations in 1920 and renamed La Bourdonnais. Le Havre-New
York service. Scrapped in Italy in 1934.
INFO FROM 1920 CENSUS, PENNSYLVANIA,
LEHIGH CO:
Gotthelf
(indexed as Gothilf) is age 35 and Irma is 28. They own their home and have a
mortgage. Living at home are children Alice age 4, Irma age 2, Albert age 1.
Gotthelf entered the country in 1910 and was naturalized in 1919. Irma entered
in 1903, it is not clear if she has been naturalized. Nobody has been attending
school, but everybody (including the kids!) can read and write. The adults can
speak English, but none (!) of the kids can. Gotthelf and Irma are listed as
born in Russia and as speaking Russian(!!). Gotthelf is a wage worker as a
ribbon weaver in a silk mill.
Living with
them is a boarder, "Arellia Malosky", age 24, who is working as a
ribbon weaver. That would be Irma's sister, Aurelia "Laura" Maletsky.
INFO FROM 1930 CENSUS, PENNSYLVANIA,
LEHIGH CO:
Found the
entire family, despite the best efforts of the census taker and the transcriber
to create confusion -- Gotthelf was recorded as Gathelf and transcribed as
Gathly, Irma as Irgma and Irgina, Alice as Alios and Alia, Irma as Irama and
Iraina, Albert as Albert and Albert.
Anyway, they
were recorded as owning their own home, worth $5500, and they had a radio. The
family ancestry was ŇPolandÓ. Gatthelf was employed as a silk weaver in a mill.
Their original language is listed as Polish (I donŐt think that is true) and
their year of immigration is quite illegible.
WW-II DRAFT REGISTRATION:
Registered
22 Apr 1942. Lived at 435 2nd Ave, Bethlehem, Lehigh Co., PA. Gave
birth place as "Johanka, Poland". Works for Bethlehem Silk Co.
THE TRIPKE CONNECTION:
As noted
above, Gotthelf indicated on the ship manifest that he was going to join his
step-brother (half-brother?) Wilhelm Tripke in Philadelphia. In the hope that the
"Tripke Connection" will eventually lead to understanding his origins
in Poland, I offer the following notes on Wilhelm Tripke and his family:
Wilhelm
appears to have traveled to the US at least 3 times, between 1905 and 1923. One
of his trips coincided with Gotthelf's arrival in 1909 (but on different ships),
and this suggests he was apparently helping Gotthelf get settled. However it
appears that Wilhelm did not bring his own family until 1923. Since his second
son was not born until 1914, he MUST have made at least one more trip? Would
love to understand the story of his life between 1905 and 1923!
He is first
found on the passenger list for the ship Chemnitz, arriving in Baltimore in
March 1905. He is age 28 (born abt 1877), reports this as his first arrival in
US. He is married, his occupation is "weaver", he is from Johanka in
Russia, his people are German, and is going to join his brother-in-law Louis
Ramminger/Runninger at 2831 Water Street, Philadelphia. (Compare home,
nationality, occupation, and destination to those for Gotthelf in 1909!)
Wilhelm
entered again on 9 Mar 1909 (that's 3 days after Gotthelf arrived –
perhaps Wilhelm went back to recruit family members to come?), on the ship
Zeeland. He reports his nearest relative as his wife Auguste Tripke, left
behind in (Kadiz?)
He arrives a
third time, indexed as Wilhelm "Trepke", on 22 Sep 1923. Poland now
exists as an independent country, and he claims to be "Polish", and
was born there. This time he is travelling with his wife Augustyna (age 42),
and sons Artur (age 15) and Hebert (age 9). When asked about his nearest
relative in Poland, he names "brother, Frederyk Nater". And they are going
to Bethlehem, PA. (Maybe he's going to stay with Gotthelf this time?)
1930 CENSUS: William,
Augusta, Arthur and Herbert are all found in the 1930 census for Philadelphia.
They were all born in Poland, all immigrated in 1924 (actually their ship arrived
in 1923), their language was Polish (I think the census taker made an invalid
assumption – they were German), and all except Augusta work as weavers or
knitters. William and Arthur have been naturalized; Augusta and Herbert are
still aliens. Rough ages show William born about 1876, Augusta 1881, Arthur
1908, and Herbert 1914.
(MEMO: I made
an effort to track their sons, and "Herbert" was easiest. The SSDI
says he was born 7 Jan 1914, died 1 Nov 1997 in Chalfont, Bucks Co., PA. He is
found in several "Chalfort" directories. Address match shows his wife
was "Ruth Tripke", and SSDI shows she was born 9 Jun 1917 and died
Oct 1993 in Chalfort. He enlisted in the army as a private on 18 Nov 1942,
indicated he was single, with dependents, had 3 years of high school, and his
occupation was "unskilled, in manufacture of textiles". I have some
info on Herbert's descendants, but will not publish here because it involves
living persons.)
Marriage: 17
Apr 1911 Pompton
Lakes, NJ
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Spouse: Irma
MALETSKY
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Birth: 7
Mar 1892 Poland
Death: 14
Jul 1966 Baltimore,
Maryland
Father: Anton
MALETSKY (1859-1942)
Mother: Amelia
SCHWERTNER
Misc. Notes
"Mrs.
Irma Lehman, of Linthicum Heights, Maryland -
Mrs. Irma
Maletsky Lehman was born in Poland on March 7, 1892, and passed away on July
14, 1966, in the Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore, following a brief
illness. She was 74.
At an early
age, while still in Poland, she accepted Jesus as her personal Savior. In 1904, the Maletsky family immigrated
to America and finally settled in Pompton Lakes, N.J. It was there that she married Gotthelf F. Lehman on April
17, 1911, with whom she spent nearly 42 blessed years. The young couple moved to Philadelphia
for a few years, then on the Allentown, Pa., and finally to Bethlehem in 1920. Here they joined the fellowship of
Calvary Baptist Church."
"My
mother was told by her mother (Irma Maletsky) that when her family moved into
Poland (probably from Austria) that their last name was changed to Maletsky
from Klein (both names translate to English as "small") in order to
give their name a more Polish sound.
Also her family converted to Baptist from Catholic, probably during her
father's lifetime, and they were persecuted by the Polish Catholics for this.
My mother
also remembers the name Dunskevolle (?), Poland, and believes it was located
near Kalisz, Poland and might be where her mother was born. (Note - Albert Lehman says it was near
Lodz, Poland.)
Note from F. Coffey:
We have a
painting done by "S. Malesky
-- 1964". Carol thinks
this may have been a brother of Irma?
In any case, this confirms a note from Albert Lehman Sr. that some of
the relatives use the spelling "Malesky" instead of
"Maletsky".
See notes
with Anton Maletsky (her father) for more information about Irma. One puzzling
question is her date of birth (1892 according to her obituary): Immigration
records show she was 9 when she entered the US in January 1904. That would
suggest a birth date in 1895, give or take a year.
Children
Gotthelf F.
LEHMAN (7 Jul 1884 - 14 May 1952) & Irma MALETSKY (7 Mar 1892 - 14 Jul
1966)
Arthur LEHMAN (? - )
Irma Virginia LEHMAN (19 Jul 1916 - ) & Harold J. LARASH
Kenneth E. LARASH
Alice LEHMAN (23 Sep 1915 - ) & Carl Heinz LESCHE
Virginia LESCHE
Robert LESCHE
Nancy LESCHE
Albert
Llewellyn LEHMAN (30 Nov 1918 - 14 Jan 1995) & Carolyn Josephine WAMSER (10
Oct 1918 - )