CHILDREN: The Illinois Census of 1900 states that Haskell and Sarah had at least eleven children but seven were living in 1900. The reference to only seven children living does not seem to be accurate as shown by the research of a grandaughter of Haskell's. Long after the 1900 census, LILLIAN BERGER and her grandaughter, BRENDA SUE WESTCOTT, listed names of eight living children of Haskell and Sarah, showing several with their Hebrew names. (All shown below.)

Click on link at top of page to Haskell Berger. There are photos there following the paragraphs of several of the children and their families.

UPDATED INFORMATION FOR MEYER BERGER

MEYER HILLEL BERGER Meyer appears to have been the eldest child of Sarah and Kasper/Haskell Berger. Due to a variety of dates given for his birth it has taken extra research but the year narrows down to about 1864. Meyer was born at Lipsk, Poland and when grown spent time between Poland and the U.S. Meyer married Rebecca, surname unknown, when he was just 18, in 1881-1882. In 1903, when he was about 39, he seems to have made his first trip to this country alone. He arrived June 4, 1903 at Baltimore, Maryland on the ship Brandenburg from Bremen, Germany. His occupation was a joiner (carpenter). His destination was listed as Chicago, going to his father, K. Berger who lived at 282 W. Lake Street. The ship manifest showed his age as 45 which would have made his birth date about 1847 and that was found to be inaccurate. (br> The Illinois Census of 1910 has not been found for Meyer for he had returned to Poland by 1906 where his daughter Dina was born in 1907. It is possible that the 1903 trip was just for a visit with his father and mother. The next time we find Meyer living in the U.S. was in 1918. Meyer's son, Harry, was living in Chicago and on his draft card he showed Meyer H. Berger as his closest relative who was living at 1129 O’Brian Street. In 1921 Rebecca arrived with their daughter, Dina who was still living with her parents in 1930 at age 23.
According to the research of Lillian Berger and her grandaughter, Brenda Sue Westcott, who were cousins of Meyer, he and Rebecca had the following children and possibly others: ISADORE BERGER born about 1883. He married his cousin, ANNA BERGER, daughter of SAMUEL K. BERGER and MARY. In the 1930 census Isadore was shown working as a druggist in his own store in Chicago. He was shown to be age 47 and to have arrived in this country in 1904, a son HARRY LAZARUS BERGER was b.c. 1885-6. He and wife Jeannette had a grocery store; a daughter DINA and a daughter SHAYNDALE who is thought to have married Sid Goldstien, and possibly a daughter named ESTHER. At this time no more is known of SHAYNDEL, DINA or ESTHER.

LEAH or LEHINDA BERGER was a red-head born in 1862 in Russia. She married MOSES DUNSKY/DALSEY. Moses was from Grodno, Belarus and Leah and Moses lived there and raised much of their large family there until 1881 when they came to Chicago. Grodno was just a short distance from Lipsk, Poland. Moses Dalsey/Dunskey was a cousin of Abraham Berger's wife, Leah Loseman Berger. Moses and Leah had 12 artistic children interested in music, art, architecture. One of their children was DAVID DALSEY born about 1903 who invented the process that made instant mashed potatoes which he sold to the French Company. Another son was HARRY DALSEY who was the architect for the Gold Coast Suites also known as the Wilmar Hotel, Abby Residential Hotel and later as the Chicago East Apartment Hotel. It was located at 11 West Division Street on the Near North Side.( From: http://skyscrapers.com/re/en/wm/bu/117274.) Other children were HATTIE, JULIUS, ETHEL, BERTHA, SAMUEL, FANNY, ROSE, ALECK, MINNIE, SIDNEY and STELLA. Many of the children from this marriage never married. Several of them lived together for many years in Chicago.

SAMUEL K. BERGER was born about 1866 in Russia and arrived in the US in 1885 at the age of 19 or 20. He married PELTA MARY COHEN and he was a glazier. The records of Samuel's daughter, Lillian show the following children's names: LILLIAN FRIEDA, ANNIE, MANDEL S., ETTA, ARTHUR H., DAVID MEYER, MAX, ROSE "CELIA", SOL, EDWARD, and LOTTIE. The names given at different census times varied quite a bit.
The Fed. Census of 1910 in Illinois shows a Samuel Berger in Chicago who was 44 years of age and had the following children living at home, all born in Illinois: MANDEL b. 1889, LILLIAN b. 1890, ETTA b.1892, ARCHIE b. 1894, ROSE b. 1895, LOTTIE b. 1897, DAVID b. 1899 and MAX b.1901.
Samuel owned the S.K. Berger Glass Company with his father, Haskell, in downtown Chicago at the end of the Loop on Lake Street. Samuel was in the Illinois National Guard in 1898. At first, before 1900, Samuel was living on 60th and Carpenter in Englewood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Later, before 1910 he and Mary moved to a building on Harrison St. in Chicago. It was a flat in an apartment house. He was fairly well off and may have owned the building. After he left the Englewood residence it seems his father, Haskell moved there. Some or all of Samuel's sons and at least one son-in-law were working as glaziers when they matured. It is interesting that Samuel was still quite young when he came to this country and that his father, Haskell evidently followed him in 1890. His mother, Sarah, arrived in 1891 with his sister, Hannah and three of his brothers. Samuel had an uncle, Lazarus Berger, who came to Chicago from Poland about 1869-1870 who may have been instrumental in Samuel's decision to choose Chicago as well. There are two references to Samuel K. Berger in the following: The "American Jewish Year Book Chicago (1926) B'nai Samuel Berger, 4026 Van Buren. Rabbi, Solomon Levy. Pres., Samuel K. Berger." And "Ahavas Achim Chicago City, 3437 Ogden Av., Rabbi, J. Goldberg. Pres., Samuel K. Berger." There is a Social Security listing of the death of Samuel K. Berger on July 9, 1935 in Cook County, Illinois.

ABRAHAM ISAAC BERGER also known as Avrum Isak was born about 1870 in Poland / Russia probably at Lipsk. He married LEAH RACHEL LOZMAN. She was born in 1872. The spelling of her surname is uncertain. Abraham was 6' tall and a cabinet maker-carpenter. He disliked working indoors and spent a lot of his working years at shipyards in the East, particularly in Philadelphia. Shortly after their marriage in Poland Abe was drafted and became a soldier in the Russian Army. He had a sabre fight and cut off his opponent's ear. He was arrested and held. He wrote for help to his father in Chicago to buy him out of the army and Haskell complied. Abe arrived in the U.S. from Bremen, Germany on the S.S. Oldenberg Jan. 21, 1899 after a two week voyage. His original departure was from his village of Lipsk which was then a part of Russia. His occupation was listed on the manifest as a joiner. His age was shown as 29. Leah joined him with their first two daughters, Minnie and Bessie, later that year. She must have arrived by Oct. or Nov. 1899 as their first son, Ezra "Edward" was born July 9, 1900 in Chicago. Abe spoke German, Polish, Russian and Yiddish. Leah learned to speak English in Chicago. Because he had the ability to understand and speak several languages, Abe was called to Ellis Island quite often to translate for new arrivals. But his work was mostly as a union carpenter. He was likely a member of the carpenter’s union Local 504 because this was the only local in Chicago open to Jews. These were years of strife and strikes as the the unions were forming. Abe often got caught up in the turmoil and was a strong union advocate. This made it economically hard on his family.
Abe and Leah had six children: MINNIE BERGER Born 1896 and BESSIE BERGER born 1898 in Russia. The rest of the children were born in Chicago including: EZRA "EDWARD" MANDEL BERGER Born 1900, HARRY ARTHUR BERGER Born 1902, JULIUS BERGER Born 1904 and FAYE BERGER Born 1907. Abraham died June 27, 1927 in Chicago of pneumonia. Leah died March 14, 1917 after a ten day stay in the Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago. Cause of her death was listed as miocarditis with complications of diabetes. Abraham married again and the family was broken up as this second marriage didn't last long. The name of the second wife has been lost. Abe has not been found on the census for 1920 but one clue to his residence at that time might come from the draft notice dated Sept. 12, 1918 for his son, Edward. It states that Abe was living at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. Abe may have taken a job there as a carpenter right after the Proving Grounds were first starting in 1917. He was there the year after his wife, Leah, had died. It is known that he returned to Chicago where he died in 1927. Abe was buried at the Waldheim Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.

LOUIS LEIB LAZAR BERGER was born in Lipsk,Poland / Russia in 1875. Louis arrived in Chicago with his mother and three other siblings in 1891, to join his father, Haskell, who had come the year before. They had departed from Hamburg and came to U.S. through Liverpool, England. Louis' wife to be, ROSE LIPSCHITS, arrived in 1894. Their marriage is listed in the Cook County, Illinois marriage index of 1897. They had been married 14 years in 1910 and he was 35 years old. Two daughters are shown on the 1910 Census report. JENNIE was nine and ETTIE was seven. The census shows that they all came from Russia and all spoke Yiddish. However, the children must have been born in this country according to their listed ages and the marriage date. Louis was a carpenter and Rose worked in a stationery store. Naturalization papers of Louis show that he was sponsored by his older brother, Samuel K. Berger. He applied in 1893 and was granted citizenship in 1895. Louis had to place his "mark" on the papers of 1893 but by 1895 he was able to sign his name, although it was obviously very awkward for him to do so. His final naturalization papers show he was living at 124 Dekoven St. in Chicago. The 1910 census shows Louis and Rose living at 2018 Polk Street. In 1917-18 they lived at 1805 Hastings Street, according to his draft notice. It appears this move was into the former apartment of MENDEL YAGLOVSKY and REBECCA BERGER YAGLOVSKY, double cousins of Louis'. Mendel was his mother Sarah's nephew. The 1920 census shows them living at 1514 West Hastings Street. Also shown on the draft notice form is that Louis was employed at Swift and Company as a carpenter at the N.S. yards, which were probably the stock yards. Louis was described as having a medium build, medium height with gray eyes and gray hair. On the same form Louis said his birth day and birth year were unknown but stated he was born in the month of April. In 1930 he and Rose lived at 1522 Hastings Street.

SIMON "SAM" BERGER was also known as Samuel "Schimmen" Aaron Berger was born in Poland / Russia. According to the Illinois Census of 1900, this second one in the family to have the name "Sam" arrived in Chicago with his mother and three siblings in 1891. He is shown to have been born May, 1876. He is listed in the census of 1900 as a clerk. He is said by his nephew, Edward Berger, to have lived to be 92 years of age so his death would have been c.1968. He married MARY(?). Sam was a glazier with the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. for 50 years. Their two children were Ruth and Hilbert. In 1920 Sam shows in the Illinois Census as S.A. Berger, age 44. It states he arrived in this country from Russia in 1890 and was naturalized in 1895. He and Mary, age 32, have a daughter, Ruth who is 16 and a son, HILBERT BERGER who is 14. Mary was born in Illinois but her parents were from Russia. Daughter RUTH BERGER was working as a stenographer for a soap company. They owned their home on Brian Place in Chicago. This may be the same residence where his father, Haskell, had lived with Sarah in 1900. That address was on O'Brien Street. Hilbert "Sonny" and his wife, BESS BERGER had one daughter. His sister, Ruth married LEO BLOCK in 1939. Leo had a twin brother, SAMUEL BLOCK. Samuel and another brother, WILLIAM BLOCK opened a department store in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1910 called Block Brothers. Leo joined them in 1912 and the store was prosperous and popular for many years and was finally closed in 1965. Ruth was widowed in 1977 and died at age 97 on August 29, 2000 leaving a gift of $1.5 million dollars to various charites and another large amount to family members. This was published in the Kenosha News, August 21, 2001 along with photos and a nice article about her life. She and Leo had no children.

HANNAH "ANNA" BERGER also known as "Channe" or "Chanie" was born about 1877. She married SAMUEL BROWDE and had seven children. According to the Illinois Census of 1910, Sam Browde was a time keeper in a cutlery office in Chicago. He and Anna spoke English. The family lived on what looks like Edgemont Ave. There is an announcement Feb. 14, 1897 in the Chicago Tribune of a marriage license issued to Annie Berger and Scholem Broud. Ages 23 and 21. Hannah, shown on the 1910 census as Annie, is 33 years old. They arrived in USA, Sam in 1890 and Annie in 1891. Anna, with three brothers and her mother came to US together to join Haskell who had arrived in 1890. Differing from the census report is information provided by their daughter, Lillian that Samuel arrived in this country in 1885 and Annie arrived in 1889. Lillian also states that Sam was born in 1875 and Annie was born in 1879. However the ship manifest shows the year of arrival for Anna and all was 1891. All Anna and Sam's children were born in this country. It is interesting to note that Sam Browde's working in a cutlery office is probably due to Anna's connection to her cousin, Minnie Bonowitz Reiffel. Minnie married Phillip Reiffel who was a silversmith in Chicago. He supplied cutlery to the railroads and was also involved in manufacturing musical instruments. He had a very successful business. LILLIAN was born 1898. AARON, an architect, was known for designing the Lodge at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois. He was born in 1900. CHARLOTTE was born in 1904 and died in 1933. JACOB was born in 1905 and died 1907. JAY was born in 1908 and EVELYN was born in 1912. MARVIN was the youngest born in 1915. On September 17, 1922 Hanna "Anna" supplied the information of Haskell, her father, on his death certificate. At that time the Browdes were living at 2237 Washburne Ave. in Chicago and Haskell died at their home. It is probable that he had been living with them at the end of his life. His name did not show in the 1920 census of Chicago, Ill. Anna signed her name on the certificate as Mrs. Anna Browde. Hannah "Anna" died March 9, 1941 when about 62 and about 10 years before the death of Samuel Browde.

PHILIP,PHIL,PHYVAL,FEIWEL BERGER was the youngest child of the family. His birth was c.1877 in Poland / Russia probably at Lipsk. The Illinois Census of 1900 shows that he arrived in this country with his mother, Sarah, his sister and two brothers in 1891. His father, Haskell had come in 1890. Philip married ROSE (?) about 1909. The Illinois Census of 1910 shows Philip and Rose are living with his father, Haskell and Haskell's second wife, Gitel. (Sarah had died in 1909.) They are living at 60th and Carpenter St. This had once been the residence of Samuel K. Berger, Philip's older brother. Philip and Rose had been married less than one year in 1910. In 1917 They took Abraham's youngest daughter, FAYE BERGER to live with them for a while after her mother died. Faye, born in 1907, was unhappy living with her uncle and his wife and didn't stay with them long. Philip was a cigar maker and he and Rose had no children of their own but adopted or at least raised two boys who became scientists, according to the memory of Edward Berger, a nephew of Philip's. In the Illinois Census of 1930 Philip is shown as age 50 and to have arrived from Russia in 1893. Actually the ship's manifest has been located and he arrived in 1891 with his mother and three siblings. Two young boys are listed as living with Philip and Rose. They are LEO GOLMAN age 4 years and 11 months and BARRY GOLMAN age 3 years and (?) months. They are listed as lodgers and the children of parents born in Russia. It is possible that these are the boys Philip and Rose raised. Philip died about 1941.

LOCATIONS: Sarah arrived in Chicago in 1891 a year after Haskell had come. Chazkel "Haskell" is listed as departing on 24 Oct.1890 from Hamburg for North America via Liverpool (not clear as to actual arrival data). His residence was "Lilpsk" Dobrowe,Russia. He was traveling alone. Chaie "Sarah" Berger left on 29 August 1891 and she had 4 children with her: Channe, Feiwel, Leib, and Schimen. Their residence listed as Lipsk. They too arrived in America from Hamburg via Liverpool. Both Sarah and Haskell were about 50. The children's Americanized names became Anna, Philip, Louis and Simon who was also known as Sam but not to be confused with his older brother Samuel K. Berger.
The 1900 census shows Haskell and Sarah living at 25 O'Brien Street along with their sons Philip and Simon "Sam". This was in the West township of Cook County, Illinois. Hannah "Annie" and Louis both had married in 1897 so were not living with their parents. In 1903 Haskell's son Meyer Hillel Berger arrived in Chicago. The ship's manifest showns that he was going to the residence of his father, K. Berger, at 282 West Lake Street in Chicago. Eventually Haskell and Sarah made their home in Englewood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, at 6057 Carpenter St. where Sarah died in 1909. This home had previously been the residence of Samuel K. Berger, Haskell's son. Sarah died in 1909 and Haskell remained in Illinois the rest of his life. Sometime before or during 1922 Haskell moved in with his daughter Hannah "Anna" and son-in-law, Sam Browde at 2237 Washburne Ave. Chicago, where he died.

DEATH: Here is the Social Security death record of Sarah Yaglovsky Berger.
Illinois Death index BERGER, SARAH 06/05/1909 CHICAGO 72 YR U 00002031 COOK COUNTY. Sarah died about age 65-66. Someone has written 65 in a place on the certificate where there is no space for the age detail. The cause of her death was shown on the death certificate as "Softening of the Brain" which followed a cerebral hemmorage four days before she died. Duration of the problem was said to be 2 years. The age at death of 72 appears to be wrong on the death report. This shows Sarah was born in 1837 but the census records of Illinois in 1900 show Sarah was born May 1843 which fits with her children's ages best and also with the date of her marriage shown as 1860 in the 1900 census report.

NOTES:

Hasksell and Sarah's grandson, EZRA "EDWARD" MANDEL BERGER recalled a trip from Chicago to his grandparent's home in Englewood. They rode a train part way. "In 1903, the Englewood Elevated Railroad Company, sponsored by and later absorbed into the South Side 'L', was created to build the long planned branch into the growing Englewood neighborhood."..."The line opened in 1905." (From http://www.chicago-l.org/history/4line.html) About this time, Abraham took little Edward who was about 4-5 on the train to the end of the line and continued to walk from there to Haskell's home which was at 60th street and Carpenter. Ed recalled it seemed to him to be a long walk from the end of the line to his grandfather's and he rode on his father’s shoulders. So they must have made this trip just before the extension was finished. Abraham was taking Edward to see his grandmother, Sarah who was ill. His grandmother was lying on a couch. Edward was not allowed to get too close to her but she saw him, raised up on her elbow and smiled at him. He thought she was dying but Sarah lived on until 1909.

MANY THANKS TO ALL LISTED BELOW.

She is not a family member but FAYE CORNET is a very generous volunteer who helped find the early records of Samuel K. Berger when this search began. Also information of several of the Berger family members was contributed by CECIL BROWDE of Chicago, the widow of Marvin Browde, from photos and family notes. Another source was the research of LILLIAN BERGER and her grandaughter, BRENDA SUE WESTCOTT who several years ago completed a long list of descendants of Kasper and Sarah Berger. Lillian and Brenda were descendents of Samuel K. Berger. For much additional information from his own research and for giving me the data collected by Lillian and Brenda Westcott, I thank SHELDON ISENBERG, a relative of Sarah Yaglovsky Berger, wife of Haskell. ROBERT KOLBER has done much Berger research for his wife, ANNE KOLBER who is a descendant of David Berger. He has donated much valuable family information of Haskell's brother, David and his family as well as that of Haskell and Sarah. CHERYL ZELMAN, another relative of the David Berger line has also added much to the work which is still in progress.

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