ISRAEL TENNEBAUM and RACHEL KAMINSKY

Israel Tennebaum was born in April 1852 in Rovney, which he wrote was "a town in Russian Poland". But, there are many small towns or shtetls with names sounding like Rovney. So, there is no certainty as to whether this was in a Rovney in Belarus, in Poland, in Russia, or in the Ukraine. (Search for "Rovney" here for a complete list of possibilities.)

Israel Tennebaum's wife Rachel Kaminsky, whom he married in Russia about 1874, was also born somewhere in the same general area about the same time. To read about Rachel's sisters and brother, click here. And if you would like to browse the Tennebaum branch of our family tree, be sure to visit our Kaminsky Kasle Tennebaum Family Tree home page for a guided introduction and quick links to popular pages.

Since Rachel Kaminsky's family was from Sarney, which is only about 51.8 miles from Rivne (pronounced Rovne in Yiddish) in the Ukraine, it seems very likely that Israel Tennebaum was born in Rivne in what is currently in the Ukraine.

If you know or are a member of the Tennebaum family, please note that we are not listing the names of people if they or their siblings are still living, in order to protect the privacy of the living. If you find any errors, or have more information you would like to see added to this page, please do contact us.

The birth dates reported in the US Census Records for both Israel and Rachel Tennebaum and their children in 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 are quite inconsistent with each other, as well as with the ages and dates found in the 1891 Canadian Census, and in World War I Draft Registration Cards and official government death indices. I have thus chosen not to report precise dates below unless we are fairly certain they are accurate. If anyone has more definitive information about when and where any of the Tennebaum children were born, please contact us about this.

Part of the confusion over birthdates is probably due to the fact that Jewish immigrants often knew their birth dates according to the Hebrew calendar, as being on, or a certain number of days from, a Jewish holiday. When asked for their birthday, they often would refer to the Hebrew calendar, figure out what Gregorian date that was in the current year, and give that Gregorian date as their birth date.

According to the 1910 US Census, Israel and Rachel had a total of 11 children, only 7 of whom were living in 1910. According to the 1891 Canadian Census, they had three of their children in Russia before immigrating from Russia to Canada. These children were their daughter Leah, born about 1874, their son Charles, who was born about 1877, and their daughter Esther, who was born about 1879.

The 1891 Canadian Census record of the family in Winnipeg shows them as Israel and Sarah Tenabaum, confirming that Rachel sometimes went by Sarah, and explaining why the Canadian Birth records sometimes show the children's mother to be Sarah. We also found a wide variation in how Tennebaum was spelled in the birth records of their children. We found it spelled as Tennenboume, Tenenbum, and Tennebaum for the four children we found listed in the Canadian Births database.

LEAH TENNEBAUM

Their eldest daughter Lea Tennebaum is supposed to have been born in Russia about 1874 or 1875. According to Canadian records, she married Charles Rabbinovich on December 4, 1894 in Winnepeg. She passed away shortly thereafter in San Francisco, California in January 1895.

CHARLES TENNEBAUM

The Tennebaum's eldest son, Charles Tennenbaum, married Pauline Rosenberg in the early 1900's, and the young couple had two children, both born in California. Their son Irving, destined to become the renowned author Irving Stone, was born on July 14, 1903 and passed away on August 26, 1989. Irving's sister, Sarah Kate Tennebaum, was born to Charles and Pauline on April 21, 1909, and passed away at about the age of 14 in February 1923.

ESTHER TENNEBAUM

Israel and Rachel's other Russian born daughter, Esther Tennebaum, married Jacob Weinstock in Winnipeg, and had three children before she passed away at age 22 in September 1901 in Winnipeg, shortly after the death of their one month old child.

Esther and Jacob's first child, Leah or Lena Weinstock, who was born in California in 1898, is shown as living with her father, brother, step-mother Ethel, and half sister Juliette Weinstock in California in the 1910 US census. By 1972, Leah Weinstock was married to James Moore Reed and living in Daly City, California, but we do not know how long they were married or if they had any children. Jim Reed passed away in 1984 and Leah Reed passed away in 1994, both in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Esther and Jacob's second child, Louis Weinstock, was born in Winnipeg in 1899, and married and had a family in New York. Louis Weinstock passed away in July 1987 in Pound Ridge, New York.

We do not know exactly when the Tennebaum family moved to California, but it clearly was in the 1890's. Even Esther Tennebaum Weinstock had her first child, Leah, in California in 1898. We do not know whether she had the baby on a visit to California, or she and her husband had moved to California and then back to Winnepeg where they had their second child Louis in 1899, and remained until she had their third child and passed away in 1901.

JAMES TENNEBAUM

Rachael and Israel's son James J. Tennebaum who, according to US records, was born somewhere between 1878 and 1883, was listed with them in the 1891 Census as Moses Tenabaum, and as having been born about 1884 in Winnipeg. He moved to California with the rest of the family in the 1890's. He apparently never married, and passed away in San Francisco in 1943.

ROSE TENNEBAUM

According to the 1891 Canadian Census, his older sister Rose Tennebaum was the first sibling born in Mannitoba, and was born by 1881. However, some US records show her to have been born as late as 1885. She married Arthur Oppenheimer in 1908 and had two sons, Sigmund and Manley Oppenheimer, each of whom married and had families.

SIMON TENNEBAUM

Sam or Simon Tennebaum, also known as Harry Tennebaum and "Kid Tenney", was born in 1886, and passed away, without marrying, in 1906 from injuries sustained in a boxing match in San Francisco, California. There were many, many articles in the San Francisco newspapers about his unfortunate death, many decrying the way boxing matches were run at the time.

DORA TENNEBAUM

Dorothy, also known as Dora or Dorah Tennebaum, was born in 1888. In 1907, Joseph Levin married Dora Tennebaum and they had five children in San Francisco, four of whom survived to adulthood. Joe Levin owned a big scrap metal and junk yard in San Francisco. They owned a big white corner house on Ocean Avenue. Dora Levin passed away in 1968 and Joe Levin and passed away in 1974.

BESSIE TENNEBAUM

Bessie Tennebaum, according to official Canadian records, was born in Winnipeg on December 1, 1890. She married Albert Joseph Titus about 1918, and they also had a family together. Albert passed away in 1949. At some point later, Bessie married Herbert Lachman, who passed away in 1969, and she passed away in San Francisco in 1981.

MARY TENNEBAUM

Although Mary Tennebaum thought she was born in California until much later in her life, Bessie's sister Mary was also listed in the Canadian records as having been born in Winnipeg. Mary Tennebaum was born December 23, 1892, and married Max Harry Cohen in 1917. For more information about the genealogy and descendants of Max and Mary Cohen, click here.

DONALD TENNEBAUM

Israel and Rachel's son Daniel Donald Tennebaum was born in Winnepeg, Mannitoba in January 1888, and married Alice Bettman Kaufman in 1935.

FRANK TENNEBAUM

Israel and Rachael are also said to have also had a son Frank, who died at birth in Winnipeg in 1891.

MORE ABOUT THE TENNEBAUMS

According to later records, Israel and Rachel were apparently naturalized in 1897, but their children James, Donald, Bessie, and Mary were not naturalized until 1906, and Charles was not naturalized until 1911. According to the 1900 Census in San Francisco, Israel and Rachel, along with their children Charles, James, Simon, Dora, Donald, Bessie, and Mary, immigrated to the United States in 1895, and this is consistent with information on Rachel's death certificate.

Israel was apparently a self-employed second-hand and crockery dealer, whose business did quite well. He is reported to have bought food which he and the family took to feed people in Golden Gate Park after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.

Rachel had lost contact with her siblings, but was reunited with her sister Faiga Gittel Kasle in the 1920's, and you can read more about this and see a picture of the two sisters by clicking here.

Israel Tennebaum passed away in Belmont, California, near San Francisco, on October 5, 1922, at about the age of 72, and his wife Rachel passed away in San Francisco, California on February 10, 1931, at about the age of 77. Both were buried in the Hills of Eternity Cemetary in Colma, California.

REFERENCES

1. Interviews with family members
2. Canadian Census Records for 1891 and 1901, available at http://ancestry.com by subscription, and possibly online for free at some Public Libraries.
3. United States Federal Census Records for 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930, available online (by subscription and at Public Libraries) at Ancestry.com and at Public Libraries through the Heritage Quest Census database.
4. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925, available temporarily for free, and then by paid personal subscription, and always for free at subscribing public libraries at http://ancestry.com
5. World War I Draft Registration Cards, available online at http://landing.ancestry.com/military/titles.aspx?html=ww1draft by subscription, and occasionally for free from Ancestry.Com's special offers
6. Pedigree Chart created by Steven and Daniel Oppenheimer
7. California Birth Index 1905 to 1995, database at Ancestry.com available by subscription and for free at Public Libraries.
8. California Death Index 1940 to 1997, at http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi?cj=1&o_xid=0000584
9. Social Security Death Index, formerly available online for free at http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com, now available by paid subscription on Ancestry.com's Social Security Death Index or for free from subscribing public libraries.
10. Province of Manitoba | Database Searches http://web2.gov.mb.ca/cca/vital/Query.php
11. Social Security Application of Leah Reed
12. Birth Certificates for Mary Tennebaum and Bessie Tennebaum
13. Death Certificate for Rachel Tennebaum
14. Records from Hills of Eternity Cemetary, Colma, California
15. Records from Salem Cemetary, Colma, California

Revised December 14, 2011

This page is http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thecohens/tennebaum.html

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