Education & Work – Ghertner’s in 1940

Education

  • Simon Ghertner had completed 8 years of school
  • Dora Ghertner had completed 2 years of high school
  • Lenoard Ghertner had completed 3 years of College, and he became the first of us Ghertner’s to graduate from college
  • Alven & Jean Ghertner had both completed 1 year of college
  • Gerald Ghertner had competed 2 years of college
  • Janice Ghertner had completed 2 years of college and she told me one of her classmates was Sonny Capone, son of ‘Scarface’ Al Capone

Simon, Alven & Gerald all worked at Cullon & Ghertner Printing, which Simon had co-founded with John Cullom in 1906.

All three working Ghertner’s reported to the Census that they had earned Zero income for the year ending 31 December 1939.

  • Simon was owner/manager
  • Alven (25 ?) was salesman
  • Gerald (24) was some kind of executive, the form is illegible
  • the women did not work outside the home
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Gerald and Dinah Shore, famous singer

1931 Confirmation Class

1931 Confirmation Class

Janice & Gerald

Janice & Gerald

My uncle Gerald Horace Ghertner and  Fannie Rose ‘Dinah’ Shore were in the same 1931 Confirmation Class at Vine Street Temple in Nashville, Tennessee. The Rabbi was Julius Mark (who served from 1926 to 1948). Fannie is top row, 2nd from the left; Gerald is pictured second from the right in the second row from the bottom.

Here is a well known TV commercial by Dinah Shore for Chevrolet.

 

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Em was the “Head of Household” in 1940

In the center of this page header photo is Lynton “Pappy” Scharff (1897-1985) agt the time of his Bar Mitzvah in Germany circa 1910.

As I said earlier, the 1940 US Census became available to the public last April. However not all states were indexed at the same time so to find someone in an unindexed state was akin to finding a book the library without a card catalog. Just recently, Arkansas became searchable and I zeroed in on Em and Pappy.

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RIP Eduard Scharff (1857- 1917) & Esther Marx, Pappy’s parents

Eduard Scharff

Eduard Scharff

Eduard Scharff, (b. 11 Jan 1857 in Kleinfischlingen, Rhein Pfalz, Germany) emigrated to the United Sates at age 14. Previously I’d had no information as to when EL’s grandfather passed away.

Eduard Scharff, residing in Welsh, Louisiana, USA applied for a United States Passport on 7 May 1894. Eduard stated his birth date was 11 January, 1857 and his place of birth was Rhein Pfalz, Germany; which appears to have been a reference to the Rhineland. Eduard had a rice farm in Louisiana.

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Whereabouts on April 15, 1940

From the 1940 US Census

1940 US Census - Em & Pappy

1940 US Census – Em & Pappy

Although the 1940 US Census was released to the public last April 2nd, only a few states were indexed such that we could find people without reading through the entire ‘enumeration district’ and it is a challenge to determine that. Now all 50 states 38 states are indexed and just this week, Arkansas became ‘accessible’.

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Jewish communities – Camden & Pine Bluff

Camden Cemetery @ www.isjg.org

Camden Jewish Cemetery @ www.isjl.org

In the 1800s, Jews settled in rural Arkansas near rivers, which provided reliable shipment of goods. Camden (Ouchita River) and Pine Bluff (Arkansas River) are significant for our family. Our early ancestors were merchants as were many early Jewish settlers. There were temples in Camden (see Temple Beth El Emet) and Pine Bluff (see Temple Anshe Emeth “Men of Truth”). These references from the Goldring-Woldenberg Institute for Southern Jewish Life (or ISJL) explain the founding, growth and the decline of Camden and Pine Bluff Jewish populations.

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Shor Hezkel, 2x great grandfather of my generation

Simon Ghertner

Simon Ghertner

I have Alven Simon Ghertner’s communication files with Ghertner relatives in Israel and I found the name of Shor Hezkel, who was my 2X great grandfather. Hezkel  is a name more commonly known as Ezekial. It is uncertain when the surname Ghertner was first used, as the same document listed his son as Shor Abraham. This man was Simon Ghertner’s grandfather and therefore the 2X great grandfather of my sibling and all my 1st cousins. Shor Abraham, son of Hezkel, and Pescia Abramovici were the parents of the Simon Ghertner and his siblings.

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Cousins, a brief lesson

Some of you may not be clear on how cousin relationships are expressed. Cousins are (usually blood relatives but can be adopted) relatives through grandparents. There is a standard way of expressing grandparents by abbreviating all the great great …. stuff with a number and and X so your ‘great great great grandmother’ is more simply expressed as ‘3X great grandmother’. As my grandmother married Lynton “Pappy” Scharff and “Pappy” and his first wife, Jessie Grace Block, had grandchildren (they are my step 1st cousins); however they are also blood 2nd cousins, which is a stronger bond.

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