Tzvi Hersch “Harry” Weber

1880s

Born 30 November 1883 in Bołszowce (now Bilshivtsi), then in the Austrian province of Galicia, at house number 134.

1900s–1910s

A tailor. By 1912 he was living in Rohatyn with a wife and children. On 31 October 1912 he left Hamburg alone aboard the S.S. President Lincoln and landed in New York on 12 November with two dollars, to join his brother Isaak on Columbia Street, Manhattan.

1920s

Reunited with Clara and the children when they arrived in 1920; the family lived at 132 Columbia Street.

1930s–1940s

Worked as a cleaner and then a presser in a ladies' dress-cleaning shop on the Lower East Side, at addresses on 7th Street, East 6th Street and East 9th Street.

later

Died in 1976.

From Galicia to the Lower East Side

Tzvi Hersch “Harry” Weber — recorded in various documents as Hersch Klinger, Herman Weber, and Hamish Weber, alongside his Hebrew name צבי הרש — was born on November 30, 1883, in Bolszowce (now Bilshivtsi), then part of the Austrian Empire's province of Galicia and today in Ukraine. He worked as a tailor before leaving for America. On October 31, 1912, he sailed alone from Hamburg aboard the S.S. President Lincoln, leaving his wife Clara and their children behind in Rohatyn, and landed in New York on November 12 with twenty dollars in his pocket, going to join his brother Isaak at 132 Columbia Street in Manhattan. He was recorded as able to read and write.

A Life in the Garment Trade

Harry spent the rest of his working life in New York's garment industry, on the Lower East Side and later on East 6th and East 9th Streets. By 1930 he was working as a cleaner, and by 1940 as a presser in a ladies' dress-cleaning shop, earning a modest $120 a year on an irregular, seasonal schedule. Clara and the children finally joined him from Rohatyn in 1920, and the family made its home in Manhattan for the rest of his life. He died before 1976.