Family Story Finder

The sweep of family history across the generations

Arson! The Paechter family store is targeted
  • 1898 -

In 1898, Paechter’s Kaufhaus in Tiegenhof came under repeated anti-Semitic arson attacks.  

Sidney Kessler and American Spirits
  • -

Walter Ruby's boss in the liquor business became an influential figure in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Stan finds love outside of a 20-block radius
  • April 1946 - June 1947

Home from the war, Stan Ruby was a graduate student in physics at Columbia University. Helga Ringel was a smart, pretty war refugee from Berlin

Wild goose chase—an accident in Jersey City
  • -

A newspaper clipping placed Walter Ruby on the scene of an automobile wreck in Hudson County, N.J. Not every lead pans out.