Tzvi Hersch “Harry” Weber

1880s

Born 30 November 1883 at house number 134 in Bołszowce (now Bilshivtsi), in the Austrian province of Galicia, and recorded at birth under his mother's surname, Klinger.

1900s–1910s

A tailor. By 1912 he was living in Rohatyn with his wife Clara and three young sons, the youngest born just six weeks before he left. He sailed from Hamburg alone on the S.S. President Lincoln on 31 October 1912 and landed in New York on 12 November with twenty dollars, to join his brother Isaak on Columbia Street, Manhattan.

1920s

Reunited with Clara and the boys when they arrived in September 1920, and had two more sons in New York. Clara died in February 1925, leaving him a widower with five children.

1930s–1940s

Worked as a cleaner and then as a presser in a ladies' dress-cleaning shop, living on East 7th, East 6th, and East 9th Streets.

later

Died sometime before 1976.

From Galicia to the Lower East Side

Tzvi Hersch "Harry" Weber was born on November 30, 1883, at house number 134 in Bołszowce (now Bilshivtsi, Ukraine), a small town in the Austrian province of Galicia. He was the son of Beril (Benjamin) Weber and Heny Malka (Anna) Clinger, and his birth was recorded under his mother's surname, as Hersch Klinger. In other documents he appears as Herman, Hamish, and Harry Weber, and in Hebrew as צבי הרש. He grew up in a large family. A younger brother, Marcus, died of bronchitis at not quite two, and another, Simon, died at home in Bołszowce in 1915, while his sister Sarah and brother Isaak eventually made their way to New York, as he would. Another brother, Simche, died of malnutrition in Bołszowce in July 1942, when Galicia was part of the Greater German Reich.

Harry trained as a tailor and married Feige Chaje "Clara" Zahler of nearby Rohatyn, where they started their family: Julius in 1906, Samuel in 1909, and Lewis in the fall of 1912 (his birth was recorded under his mother's surname, as Yechiel Zahler). Weeks after Lewis was born, on October 31, 1912, Harry sailed alone from Hamburg aboard the S.S. President Lincoln, leaving Clara and the three boys behind. He landed in New York on November 12 with twenty dollars in his pocket and went to join Isaak, who had come over in 1907, at 132 Columbia Street on the Lower East Side. The immigration inspectors recorded him as five foot eight, with brown hair and brown eyes, and able to read and write.

Eight Years Apart

Less than two years after he left, the First World War broke out. Galicia became a battleground, and for eight years Clara raised the boys in Rohatyn while Harry worked in New York. They were finally reunited in September 1920, when Clara and the children came through Rotterdam, and the family settled at 132 Columbia Street. Two more sons were born in New York: Benjamin, called Barney, in 1921, and Nathan around 1923. The reunion was short. Clara died of heart failure in February 1925, at thirty-three, leaving Harry to raise five boys, the youngest still a toddler.

A Life in the Cleaning Trade

Harry spent the rest of his working life in the garment and cleaning trade of the Lower East Side and the East Village. In 1930 he was working as a cleaner in a cleaning store and living at 272 7th Street. By 1940 he was a presser in a ladies' dress-cleaning shop, living on East 6th Street, but the work was scarce: he had worked only twelve weeks in 1939, earning $120 for the year, and just twelve hours the week the census taker came. In 1942 he was living on East 9th Street, where his son Barney also lived. His records give his language as Hebrew, most likely meaning Yiddish. He died sometime before 1976, when his grandson Robert recorded him as deceased in the family tree he compiled.