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.  

Ratner family passage to America
  • July 1890 -

Abe Blokh became Abe Ratner to avoid conscription and get out of Russia. With his young wife and her mother, they voyaged from Bremen to Leeds to New York

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

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.