Dear Friends,
I am new to this list, but from what I saw it contains a lot of
knowledgeable and expert people. I have for some time been doing research,
for a direct descendant, on various members of the COHEN family, who finally
settled in Zutphen, Netherlands and Brussels, Belgium. But the earlier ones
came from various places in Germany, at that time Prussia or other areas.
It's often been difficult to locate the various places mentioned in the
later records, mainly drawn up in the Netherlands and in Belgium. They often
contain errors or confusions.
It seems however certain that the following persons were born at the said
town or village and at a certain year. Their furthest ancestor is Jacob
Salomon COHEN, who according to his death certificate was born in Frankfurt
Main. However, in view of the fact that this record was made in the
Netherlands, where he died in Zutphen, on 3 August 1870, and seeing the
mistakes made in other records, I have a strong doubt that indeed Frankfurt
Main is correct.
The other children were clearly born in the following places:
Abraham Jacob, 1822, Steindorf (at some time said to be in Mecklenburg, but
later located in Silesia)
Mina, 1825, Neudamm near Frankfurt Oder
Levie, 1828, Almen, Germany
Zele, 1830, Frankfurt (?)
Julia, later called Aaltje, 1834, Almen, Prussia
Martha, 1836, Almen, Prussia.
This sequence seems to indicate that at that time the family were travelling
Jews, mainly in the area of Brandenburg, Silesia and Ostpreussen. My
intention is, of course, to confirm where they were born and if possible to
find the corresponding records. Since these places, except Frankfurt, are
now either in Poland (Neudamm, Steindorf) or in Russia (Almen?), it would be
necessary to know where the relevant archives are to be found.
I hope someone can help me further and I thank all of you in advance.
Jan Bousse, Oostende, Belgium
janbousse@skynet.be