Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: What Was the Great Love Story in Your Family Tree?

It's Valentine's Day today, and Randy Seaver has created a challenge related to that for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  It's Valentine's Day — a day for lovers!  We all have hundreds of love stories in our ancestry.

2.  What was the great love story of the ancestors in your family tree?  What wedding had a great story in it?  Choose one ancestral couple.  Share how they met (if known) and when and where they married.  Note how long they were married.  Highlight something that suggests affection or partnership.

3.  Share your great love story in your family tree in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

The one great love story that I know about in my family tree is that of my maternal grandparents, Abraham Meckler and Lillyan Gordon.  Bubbie (Yiddish for grandmother) told me they met on September 15, 1937 in Manhattan, but she never told me how they met.  I know they were both living in Brooklyn (half a mile from each other!), so I have no idea what they were doing that day in Manhattan.

They were married October 29, 1939 in The Bronx, even though they lived in Brooklyn.  It was a double wedding with the younger of Lily's two older brothers, Alexander Gordon, who married Roslyn Rubin.  Technically Al and Rose's wedding was recorded as October 28, 1939, so I don't know if they married before midnight and my grandparents married after midnight.  Supposedly there's a Jewish superstition about double weddings, so the dates were recorded as consecutive instead of the same.

I have been told the caterer for the wedding was Abe's older brother Harry's wife Ida Bogus, who worked in catering with her aunt and uncle, Louis Perelmuth and Anna Posner (sister of Ida's mother).  Louis and Anna had a son named Jacob who was a singer, although not famous at the time (he did become famous under the name Jan Peerce).  He sang two songs at the wedding, although Bubbie did not remember what those songs were.  She did remember that the cantor's son sang "Oh Promise Me" and "Because."

Bubbie and Zadie (Yiddish for grandfather) were married for just over fifty years, until Zadie died on December 10, 1989.  Zadie had been ill for several years but held on for the 50th wedding anniversary party, which was held in Las Vegas.  It was a big family reunion, with relatives coming from all over the country.

I always remember Bubbie and Zadie as being very in love with each other.  Among the many things Bubbie told me was that every year while they were married, Zadie gave her a big flowery card for Valentine's Day.  After Zadie passed away, I sent Bubbie cards for Valentine's Day.

The Much-sought-after Jan Peerce Connection to My Family!

Five years ago, I wrote about my maternal grandparents' wedding for a Wedding Wednesday post.  One piece of information I included in my story was my grandmother's comment many years later that the famous Metropolitan Opera tenor Jan Peerce had sung at her wedding (even though she couldn't remember what he sang, but remembered what the cantor's son sang).

Bubbie (Yiddish for grandmother, and what we always called her) said at the time that she thought the reason Peerce sang for the wedding was some connection to my grandfather's brother's wife, Ida Bogus.  Her family was involved in catering, and she was somehow connected to Peerce by family, and that's all Bubbie could remember.  She was married in 1939, so for 60 years later, that's actually remembering a lot.

After being told this, I did quite a bit of research on Peerce's family, including buying a copy of his autobiography and mining it for family history details, trying to find some connection to my family.  I have Perlmans in my family, whose original family name was Perlmutter, which is close to Perelmuth, Peerce's original family name, so that seemed the logical place for the link, even though Bubbie had said it was through Ida.  I didn't find a connection with my Perlmans/Perelmutters or with Ida, however, so I was stuck.

Then, a couple of years ago, I saw someone on one of my genealogy mailing lists with the last name Bogus.  I decided to write because I don't see the name come up often.  I explained my story, and lo and behold, she knew the answer!

The research I had done on Ida Bogus had shown that her parents were Abraham Bogus and Minnie Posner.  My new genealogy friend told me that Minnie's sister Anna married Louis Perelmuth, and they had a catering business.  And Louis and Anna were the parents of Jan Peerce!  So my granduncle's mother-in-law was the sister of Peerce's mother.  That's extended family, all right, but apparently close enough, because I believed my grandmother when she said that Jan Peerce sang at her wedding.  And after looking up more information about Peerce, he was not yet famous in 1939, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that he would sing at the wedding.

So thank you, Felice!  I was able to resolve one of my longstanding (about 25 years) genealogy questions!

But I still want to find out one day if the wedding was covered in a Yiddish newspaper that mentioned that Peerce sang.

Events in My Family Tree: June 21

I will go out a bit on my family tree, as shown by the explanation accompanying the death of Abraham Bogus.  If anyone can help me research the Bogus family and/or the connection to Jan Peerce, I would appreciate it!

Births

Georgiana Gaunt, daughter of Hananiah Selah Gaunt and Margaret S. Scott, was born June 21, 1877 in New Jersey, possibly in Burlington County.  She is my 1st cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

John Henry Talbot was born June 21, 1937.  He was the first husband of Jean McStroul, the sister of my aunt Mary McStroul.

David Alan Youssiem was born June 21, 1957 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  He was/is the husband of Shelley Robin Garfield, who is my 4th cousin.

Rhonda Fay Minuk, daughter of Julius Minuk and Esther Golub, was born June 21, 1958 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  She is my 4th cousin on my Meckler line through the Golubs.

Seth Hartley Feller was born June 21, 1969.  He is my 3rd cousin.

Haley Renee Meckler was born June 21, 2005.  She is my 1st cousin once removed.

Marriages

Russell Simcox and Eleanor Malinda Eckman, daughter of John Eckman and Martha Johnson Atkinson, were married June 21, 1919 in Burlington, Burlington County, New Jersey.  Eleanor is the grandaunt of my 1st cousin Al Lore.

Paul B. Lavin, son of Bernard J. Lavin and Mary E. Gaynor, and Mary E. Murray were married June 21, 1957 in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey.  Paul is the half 1st cousin once removed of my half-sister Laura Sellers.

Douglas Charles Bowen, son of Robert Francis Bowen and jean Drake, and Paula Donelle Harman were married June 21, 1980 in San Diego, San Diego County, California.  Douglas is the 1st cousin of my half-sister Laura Sellers.

Dean Roger Allen, son of Clarence Allen, Jr. and Grace Stagnato, and Joanne Fazio also were married June 21, 1980.  Dean is my 5th cousin once removed on my Gauntt line through the Allens.

Nora Walsh, daughter of Donald Walsh and Charlotte Perlman, and Brian Mendes were married June 21, 1987 in Rye, Westchester County, New York.  Nora is my 4th cousin on my Nowicki line through the Perlmans.

Andrew Eugene Meckler and Carla Maria Martinez were married June 21, 1997 in Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, California.  Andy is my 1st cousin.

Joel Richard Kent III and Caroline Louise Speir Thomson were married June 21, 2003 in Negril, Jamaica.  Joel is my (half) nephew.

Deaths

Abraham Bogus died June 21, 1922 in Manhattan, New York County, New York at the age of about 42.  He was the father of Ida Bogus, who was married to Harry Herman Meckler, who was my maternal grandfather's brother and my granduncle.  Ida is supposed to have been a cousin of Jan Peerce, which could explain why Peerce sang at my maternal grandparents' wedding, and I'm still working on making that connection.

Hazel Pauline Gauntt, daughter of Henry H. Gaunt and Sarah Allison, died June 21, 1968 in Alexandria City, Virginia at the age of 64.  She is my 2nd cousin 2x removed on my Gauntt line.

Lily and Abe: A Love Story

Lily and Abe were my maternal grandparents, Lillyan E. Gordon and Abe Meckler.  I knew them as Bubbie and Zadie, Yiddish for grandmother and grandfather.

Lily was born Esther Lillian Gordon on March 6, 1919 at 1575 Madison Avenue, Manhattan, New York.  Her parents were Joe Gordon and Sarah Libby Brainin.

Abe was born Abram Meckler (I think) on July 23, 1912 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.  His parents were Morris Meckler and Minnie Zelda Nowicki.

Bubbie lived in Manhattan until shortly before 1930, when her family was enumerated in Baltimore, Maryland.  In 1940, her parents were enumerated in Brooklyn at 231 Livonia Avenue, and the census taker indicated that they were living in the same house in 1935, so sometime between 1930 and 1935 they moved there.

As far as I know, Zadie lived in Brooklyn from birth through to when he and Bubbie left New York and moved to Florida in the 1940's.  In 1930 he was at 420 Junius Street with his parents.  I have not yet found his father in the 1940 census (his mother died in 1936) so don't have a possible address for 1935, assuming he was living with his father at that time.

I don't know how my grandparents met.  Bubbie told me that they met on September 15, 1937 in Manhattan but didn't give me more details.  So they were both living in Brooklyn but met in Manhattan.  In 1940 they were at 484 Livonia Avenue, Brooklyn, only a couple of blocks from her parents.  The census shows that both were living in Brooklyn in 1935.

Bubbie and Zadie were married October 29, 1939, not in Brooklyn, not in Manhattan, but in The Bronx.  It was a double wedding, of sorts.  Bubbie's older brother, Alexander "Al" Gordon, and Roslyn "Rose" Rubin were married on October 28.  I was told that Jews are not supposed to have double weddings and so Al, being older, was married first and then Bubbie and Zadie were married.  Because the dates that I was told are from the civil calendar, that would suggest that Al and Rose were married just before midnight, and Bubbie and Zadie just after.  But Judaism uses sunset as the divider between days, which could mean that sunset was the breakpoint between the two, and perhaps the consecutive secular dates were used on the marriage returns for convenience.  I probably won't find an answer to that question, or why they were married in The Bronx, now that all four of them have passed away.

Right now I can't find the name of the rabbi who performed the marriages, but I do know that Jan Peerce, the well known Metropolitan tenor, sang two songs, because Bubbie suddenly blurted that out one day.  She couldn't remember what he sang but did recall that the cantor's son sang "Because" (maybe this one) and "Oh Promise Me."

Bubbie and Zadie were in love with each other for their entire lives.  They were always so good to each other and went everywhere together.  For each of the 50 years that they were married, Zadie gave Bubbie a big, flowery Valentine's Day card.  Bubbie used to call Zadie her "little man" because she was taller than he was.

Zadie was ill for the last years of his life but lived long enough to attend the big 50th wedding anniversary party that their three children coordinated for them.  It was held in Las Vegas, and lots of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives came.  I think Zadie really wanted to go to the anniversary and held on so he could.  He died shortly after it took place.  Bubbie missed him so much after he was gone.

Wedding Wednesday

My maternal grandparents, Abe (Jewish name Avram) Meckler and Esther Leah Gordon (known as Lily), were married October 29, 1939, in The Bronx, Bronx County, New York.  Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of their marriage.

The marriage lasted 50 years, ending with the death of my grandfather.  He had been ill for some time but held on long enough for the big 50th anniversary party that was held in Las Vegas in 1989.  So many of my relatives came!  Zadie (Yiddish for grandfather) died in December.

Fifty years is a good long marriage.  Just out of curiosity, I looked up "longest marriage" and found that a Sikh couple in India had been married 90 years.  That's nothing short of amazing.

My grandparents had a double wedding with my grandmother's older brother, Al.  Alexander Gordon married Roslyn (Rose) Rubin on October 28.  I have been told that Jews aren't supposed to do double weddings (don't know if it's actually true), so Al and Rose were married just before the end of the 28th and my grandparents right after the beginning of the 29th.  I was told the changing point was midnight, but that would have made for a very long night.  On top of that, by the Jewish calendar, the day changes at sunset, so maybe it was actually earlier in the day.  I don't think I have a copy of Al and Rose's marriage certificate, so I probably need to get that to check on the story, don't I?

In 1999, when Bubbie (Yiddish for grandmother) and I were visiting my grandfather's cousin Mort, Mort showed us a basic family tree that he had put together.  He told us that the family name of Perlman had originally been Perlmutter.  I made a somewhat cynical observation that there must be a family story that they were related to the famous operatic tenor Jan Peerce, whose original name was Perelmuth (a spelling variation), and Mort said yes, indeed, that they were.  Suddenly Bubbie popped up and said, "He sang at my wedding."  We both stared at her and said, "What??"  See, Jan Peerce was already very famous by 1939, and my grandparents, although I loved them dearly, weren't anything special in New York City society.  So why would the great Jan Peerce be singing at their wedding?

And my grandmother explained that Zadie's brother Harry was married to Jan Peerce's cousin and that the two families were in a catering business together.   So we had a connection.  Maybe Harry asked his wife if she could get her famous cousin to sing at his brother's wedding?  Bubbie couldn't remember the two songs the famous opera singer sang, but she did remember what the cantor's son sang:  "Oh Promise Me" and "Because" (perhaps this one).  (But here's a recording of Peerce singing "Oh Promise Me.")

I have put a little effort into trying to verify the story but haven't gotten anywhere.  I believe I checked the New York Times and didn't find anything.  I suspect that if Jan Peerce was there the wedding would have been written up in one of the many Yiddish neighborhood newspapers that existed in New York City at that time.  Alas, I don't read Yiddish, and none of those newspapers is indexed, much less in English.  But some day I will figure it out.

I have two more photographs from the wedding, which I can't currently find due to too many boxes still unpacked after my move two years ago.  One is of my grandmother alone, and the other is of her and Rose together.  Surprsingly, I don't think I have any photo of Al from the wedding.  I should get in touch with Al and Rose's daughter and rectify that.  And maybe she also has heard the story about Jan Peerce singing at the wedding.  At least that would be more support for it being true.