My Grandmother:
Guta Naiman Ciechanowicz / Gussie Saxon
Born: Jan. 1, 1869 Wasosz, Lomza Russia
Died: Jan. 16, 1919 New York, New York USA
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Text of calligraphy above:
Guta Neiman (Nejman, Naiman) was born in Lomza, in northeastern Poland(1),
which was then part of the Russian Empire and ruled by the Czar. The
city was situated above the Narev River, with beautiful views of open
fields and dense forests. It was a market town and the administrative
center of the province.
There are records of Guta’s ancestors living in the region before
1750, in Lomza, Wasosz and Czyzewo.(2)
There were nine children in all. Most of them left Lomza, emigrated to
the United States and settled in New York.(3)
Guta married Moszk-Herszk Ciechanowicz around 1890, when she was perhaps
20 and he was 22.(4)
Five years after their wedding, shortly after the birth of their third
child, Moszk left for New York. They did not see each other for five
years. It was summer of 1900 when she and the children travelled overland
to Antwerp, Belgium and then on the ship Westernland to America. The
ship’s manifest lists her as Gutke Czechanowicz.(5)
Because their last name was so difficult for Americans to pronounce and the
spelling varied continually, eventually they became Morris and Gussie Saxon.
(6)
They had seven more children in New York. Their home was a welcoming place
for extended family and friends. Gussie made time to attend local lectures
and plays, sometimes bringing one of her children with her.(7) She loved to
listen to opera.(8)
Gussie died in the influenza epidemic of 1918-1819.
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1)
Lomza was both the name of the town and the name of the Gubernia (province)
in the 19th century. In this case, Lomza is the governmental district
where Guta Naiman’s birth is recorded. Lomza is pronounced Wam-sha
in Polish. |
(2)
Gussie was born in the shtetl of Wasosz, where the Naiman family lived
as far back as 1806, when the birth of my great great great grandfather
Lejzor Naiman is recorded.
Wasosz |
Year |
Population |
Jews |
|
1808 |
770 |
14 |
|
1827 |
1022 |
280 |
|
1857 |
1389 |
453 |
|
1921 |
1746 |
338 |
Her mother, Golda-Leja Lavski, was born in the town of Lomza, as was Golda-Leja’s
father Samuel-Meir, who was a teacher of Torah in the Shas Society and also described
in records as a Kramarz - stall owner (1835) and trader in hardware (1857). According
to descendents stories, Samuel-Meir taught Torah to his sons and others (several
sons became well known rabbis) while his wife Hinda ran the business. Gussie’s
grandmother Hinda Gorzalczany Lavski was born in the shtetl of Czyzewo (pronounced
Chizev ) 28 miles from Lomza, where her father was an innkeeper. |
(3)
The oldest child, Joseph Naiman, married in Lomza and then immigrated
in 1891 to Eretz-Yisrael. He became a teacher of Talmud at Yeshivat
'Etz-H.ayim. He had four children and now there are many descendents
living in Israel. His oldest son and grandson were important rabbis
and authors.
There was another brother, Jankiel Michel, who I have not been able to trace
after the record of his birth - 8 Jul 1878.
Guta's
other siblings and their descendents included:
Abram
(Abraham) NAIMAN (1870 - ) & Anna Steinberg (had a clothing
store called Newman
Brothers) |
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Victor NAIMAN (1903 - 1903) |
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Barnett
Newman (1905 - 1970) & Annalee Greenhouse (he became a well
known modern artist) |
|
George
NEWMAN (1906 - 1961) (had children) |
|
Sarah
NEWMAN (1913 - ?) |
|
Goldie
(Gertrude) NEWMAN (1909 - 1978) & Phil Master (had children) |
Bejla
NAIMAN (1873 - 1875) |
Nojma
Bejla (Mamie) NAIMAN (1875 - 1923) & Morris Pollack (1879 - 1910) |
|
Sam
Pollack |
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Harry
Pollack |
Eliasz
(Ely) NAIMAN (1877 - 1941) (Cigar maker, raised Sam and Harry
after the death of their parents) |
Moszk
(Morris) NAIMAN (1880 -1972) (Mens Clothing Manufacturer) |
Estera
(Ethel) NAIMAN (1883 - 1972) & Samuel Siegel (1880 -1946) |
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Nathan (1904-1977) |
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Herbert (1906 -1965) |
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Boris (1909 -1992) & Frieda Webster (1914 -2010) |
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(4)
Guta was born 1 Jan 1869 in Wasosz and known as Gutke. Her husband
Moszk-Hersch was born 1 Apr 1868 in Goworowo. Their first child, (who
may have been named Golda Feiga and later known as Frances in the United
States), was born 2 Sep 1891 (I have not found a record of this birth).
They were probably married in 1890 or early 1891. (I have not found
a Lomza record of this marriage.) |
(5)
Transcribed from the ship’s manifest of the Westernland on
the Ellis Island web site:
Name
of Passenger |
Residence |
Year
Arrived |
Age
on Arrival |
Gutke
Czechanowicz |
Lomra |
1900 |
29 |
Golda
Czechanowicz |
Lomra |
1900 |
6 |
Leark
Czechanowicz |
Lomra |
1900 |
2 |
Leib
Czechanowicz |
Lomra |
1900 |
4 |
(How
did it happened that Moszk left Poland in 1895, and by 1900 his children
had not aged very much? Perhaps there was a reduced fare for young
children on the boat?) |
(6)
Were you wondering how the name changed from Ciechanowicz to Saxon?
Go back a step and ask about the origin of the name Ciechanowicz.
Many Jewish surnames came from the name of the town that an ancestor
lived in previously. Gussie’s
Lavski ancestors probably came from the shtetl of Lavsk (which used to be 22.3
miles NNE of Lomza). Morris’s ancestor may have come from the town of
Ciechanowiec, Poland. (Also spelled Chechanovitz. Chekhanovits, Chekhanovtse,
Tshekhanovets, Tshekhanovits.) It is 40 miles SSE of Lomza. Or before 1750
they might have come from Ciechanow, Poland. (Chechinov, Chekhanov, Chekhanove,
Tshekhanov, Ziechenau, 64.3 miles WSW of Lomza).
The “wicz” (witz, vitz, wiecz, vich, wich, vici) suffix means “son
of” in Polish and other Slavic languages. So Ciechanowicz might mean
son of someone who came from Ciechanowiec or son of someone from Ciechanow.
Transplant this Ciechanowicz family to New York, where the name no longer
has it’s original physical reference and is pronounced SIKOWITZ (remember
that TZ) and or SEIKOWITZ (pronounced Psych-o-witz). The June 1915 State
Census of NY lists the name as Sickowitz. They wanted something easier
to pronounce that sounded more American. It is a small step from Seik or
Sick to Sax, and an easy translation from owicz to son. |
(7).
To be singled out as the only child to spend an afternoon with her
mother at a theater was one of my mother’s fondest memories.
Gussie took her along to a play on the lower East Side when she was
about eight years old. |
(8).
After the calligraphy was finished, I kept asking questions. One of
my oldest cousins remembered her mother saying that Gussie loved to
listen to opera. Gussie must have listened to records on the large
phonograph that we see in old photos taken in their dinning room.
Reeva
Jacobson Kimble June 2002
Updated 2023 |