Chapter 1 - Sam & Ida Rappaport
Their Origins
Both Mom and Pop came over from "the old country", Russia, just after the turn of the century. We don't know the exact dates of when they immigrated to this country. Although Mom referred to herself as a Vilnageberne, one born in the city of Vilna, she called her home town "Aleksutt." Pearl had some notes that say that Mom was born in Kovnov, on April 20, 1887. Kovnov, or Kaunas, in Lithuania is about 60 miles from Vilna. We had thought she came from a small town near Vilna in what is now Lithuania. When she came to this country we think she came alone, and came to Rochester where her Uncle Sam Liberman was living. Uncle Sam was probably her sponsor. Pearl's notes say that Mom arrived in this country in February or March of 1904.
Pop was from Kishinev in Bessarabia, in what later became part of Romania and is now Moldava. According to Pearl's notes Pop's birthplace was Orheiv. There is a city Orgeyev about 30 miles from Kishinev, which may have been Pop's birthplace. He arrived in this country in August 1903. Pop may have left Russia with cousins of his. His trip to the US was by way of England. (We seem to remember him saying he got on the boat in Liverpool.) He arrived in New York and we believe that is where he learned to be a butcher. We don't know when he left New York, or why he came to Rochester. We think that when he came it was because he was told there was a job for a kosher butcher in Rochester
Mom and Pop married in Rochester in 1907
Mom and Pop both had to attend school to learn the English language and American history in order to become American citizens. They both read and wrote English, and they spoke English well. With their friends and relatives they mostly spoke Yiddish. With us, it was either Yiddish or English. With strangers, they spoke English. Pearl's notes indicate that Pop was naturalized in Rochester in March 1910, seven years after having arrived here. Mom would have been naturalized some time after that, a seven year residence being a requirement for citizenship.
For an immigrant couple, they did pretty well. They worked, they worked very hard. We were always well fed and clothed - including during the Depression of 1930-32. (In fact, we cannot recall any period when Pop was out of work.) There certainly was enough food on the table. Pop sent enough meat and chicken for us, and when other family members were in difficulty there would be enough for them as well.
Pop owned the two-family house on Gorham St, numbers 20 and 22, and the adjacent two-family house on Martin St, numbers 2 and 4. He also owned a small house on Longacre Rd in Irondequoit that was rented out. We had an automobile, or a "machine" as Pop called it. This was at a time when owning your home, or having an automobile was not the usual thing. It certainly wasn't the usual thing for Gorham St. But, while they owned their home, they had a "machine", they had a telephone, they worked hard, and they didn't take much time to enjoy life.
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