Hi folks,

I am trying to trace my maternal grandmother's father's family. My great-grandfather was Louis Newman, but he was born in Paris in 1893 as Leon Nemirovsky. (I'm guessing they just Americanized...) I know that his father was generally known as Jacob, but both Louis' gravestone (the Hebrew) and a certified copy of his French birth certificate name his father as Samuel Jacob. His mother was Miral or Mirlia, nee Fish, later known as Mary.

I have plenty of information on Louis - he died in 1968 and is buried in Union Field Cemetery, Ridgewood, Queens, NY, in the Niagara Society. I recently found records for Mary: she was born in 1869 ("Russia"), married Samuel-Jacob-Samuel when she was 20, and died in 1942, also buried in Union Field (though I don't know the location). I also found her in the 1930 Census, living with her daughter Sadie and her husband, and listed as widowed.

If anyone can help me figure out ANYTHING at all to trace Jacob, I would greatly appreciate it. I know nothing about his family, no idea when he was born or died (except obviously before 1930), where he's buried (I wrote an email to Union Field which they haven't answered yet), etc. All I can offer is that he and Mary were originally from somewhere in Jewish "Russia" (probably meaning Ukraine or Poland or something) and moved to France to escape a pogrom, apparently returning to "Russia" for a short time before immigrating here in 1905-1906. They had (at least, MARY had) six kids according to her NY Times obit: Morris (can't find anything on him), Sadie (b. 1892 in France, married Morton Ginsberg and died in FL), Louis, Nat (I believe, if I have the right one, b. 1894 in Poland), Jeanette (b. abt. 1900 in France, married Isadore Siegel), and Sam (can find nothing).

Any help either as to where he might have come from or what happened to him?

Thanks.

Jess