Barney Oscar Rich

An Enterprising Man who Took Care of His Family

Barney Oscar Rich was born 8 Oct 1883 in Starow Cinavo, Volhynnia, Russia.




Travelling under the name of Berl Reitzman, he was 17 when he arrived in New York, 18 Mar 1901 on the S.S. Potsdam (NY Passenger List). The arrival date differs in his Naturalization Record by one year, 19 Mar 1900. He left Proskurow in Podolia ( now Khmelnitzky, Ukraine ). He was going to Philadelphia to his father M. Reitzman ( NY Passenger List ) who was known as Michael Rich in the US. His father lived at 1033 S. 3rd St.

  
When I started this genealogy journey, I was really fortunate to have contact with a great granddaughter of Barney's. It is she who gave me access to many of these marvellous pictures that I have on my Family Tree. Her grandparents  had told her that Michael had been working as a Hebrew teacher, earning just pennies a day.

"A day after arriving in the US, Barney got a job delivering meat for a kosher butcher. He got beat up daily as he went through a bad neigbourhood, delivering meat. He didn't quit his job, but bought a bull whip with his first pay check. The next time he went through the neighbourhood, he whipped the kids who were tormenting him. They wouldn't steal his money, just wanted to beat hi up because he was foreign.

Barney signed up for correspondence courses as soon as he got to America. He spoke 7 languages.

 In Russia, his family lived near the water. The story goes that Barney's mom was mad at him for something and chased him into a lake or river.

Barney took care of his siblings. He saved money and brought them all over from Russia. He later put them through school.

Barney put his brother through pharmacy school and made him the pharmacist at his drug store. He never could teach him to 'turn off the lights' so he could never be left to run the shop by himself."

Barney was the owner of a drugstore






 

Rose Rich Camlot
Mollie Rich Hopkins
Bessie Rich
Ruth Rich Goldstein

Photo taken by J.A.Walk Studios - post card printing on back - labeled "Souvenir of Atlantic City" Names on back are labeled as: Barney Rich's Sisters Aunt Rose Camlot, Aunt Mollie Hopkins, Aunt Bess Polansky, Ruth (Rich) Goldstein

Atlantic City, NJ

Michael's wife Sophie arrived in Philadelphia with their children, Bessie, Morris and Rose Lillian, 7 Sep 1903 on the ship, S.S. Nottingham. The names for the family were Sossie Raich, age 38, Bessie, age 11,  Mojche, 7 and Rochel, age 5. The tickets had been bought 31 May 1903 through the Rosenbaum Ticket Agency and sent to an address in Proskurov at the home of Shmuel Wolf Kaplan. The name of the person who bought the tickets was Michael Richman.

 




Bessie was born 25 Dec 1890 in Proskurov, Russia.  Bessie worked in her brother Barney's pharmacy as a cashier   (1940 Census). 

 

She lived with her brother Morris and his family in 1940. Her grand niece, Charlene, remembers Bessie living with her family for what seemed like years. Then Bessie, Rose Rich Camlot ( Charlene's grandmother, Bessie's sister ) and Charlene's mother's sister, Bernice moved to a house in Levitttown, Pennsylvania about 1963. Bessie had a common-law relationship with someone named Barney. Bessie had a child called Arthur who died as a child.

 

Bessie died 25 May 1964 in Bristol, Bucks, Pennsylvania

  Morris was born 12 Jul 1896 in Ostropol, Volhynnia, Russia. He married Pauline, born 1903. They had 2 children , Roselle and June. Morris died Oct 1967 in Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware.


 

Mollie/ Malka was born 6 Jan 1907 in Pennsylvania, died 29 Mar 1985 in Bristol, Bucks, Pennsylvania. She married Martin J Hopkins, born 6 Mar 1904, died 16 May 1973 in Bristol, Bucks, Pennsylvania. He was an owner of a cut-rate supply store. He was also the President and Secretary of the Bristol Jewish Center, President of Mill St Businessmen's Association and Bristol Lions Club. They had one daughter Lorraine, born 14 Oct 1928, died 24 Dec 2002 in Morrisville, Bucks, Pennsylvania. She married Bill Goldfarb and they had one daughter Shelley.(Bill Lynde)

Bessie Rich
Pop Hopkins
Martin Hopkins
Mollie Rich Hopkins
Richard Handloff
Laurie Hopkins Goldfarb
Bill Goldfarb
Rose Rich Camlot

Rose Lillian ( Ruchel Leah ) connects me to this family. She married her first cousin Charlie Camlot. Click the names, Rose and Charlie to link to my other blogposts to read about them.

Barney married Fannie Goldich 5 Jan 1912 in Philadelphia. They had 3 children, Beatrice Bebe, born 11 Mar 1917 in Philadelphia, died 8 Jul 2010 in Greenville, Delaware. (Alvin I Handloff ), Ruth, born 4 Nov 1912 in Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware, died 9 May 2005, in Warrington, Bucks, Pennsylvania ( Morris D. Goldstein ), Gladys, born 25 Sep 1921 in Wilmington, Newcastle, Delaware, died 18 Mar 2005, in Delray Beach, Florida ( Harry Zutz )

Barney died 14 Apr 1965 in Delaware. Fannie died 27 Mar 1977 in Wilmington, Delaware.

Three Camlot Sisters

Where Do The Three Camlot Sisters Fit In?

What a very special treat it was to receive this picture of the Camlot sisters! Who is who and how they fit in with their brothers is the puzzle!

Sarah has wildly different ages. Her gravestone has 1881; other records have 1896 and 1899. The 1930 Census gives her age as 34. What is great about this particular census is that it has a column that gives the ages that the person was married: Sarah was 23 and Eli Saltzman was 20. The 1940 Census has her age as 41, so that would mean she was born in 1899. Her Aug 1923 Border Crossing has her age at 29, so 1896 again.

 What is even more confusing is that there is a gravestone for Sarah Saltzman, beloved sister and aunt but no mention of wife. She died 8 Oct 1959. 

Here lies

Sarah daughter of Yisroel
Died 6 Tishri 5720

May her soul be bound up in the bond of (everlasting) life.

From the Hebrew translation , her father's name was Israel, so that fits. However this woman has the age of 78, which would mean she was born in 1881. I want to trust what is on gravestones and say even though  a few parts fit, I thought at that point the conflicting age would make it unlikely that this was the gravestone of my relative.

Yet here is an obituary for Sarah Camlot Saltzman who died 8 Oct 1959 so the date actually matches the gravestone. It is strange to me there is no mention that she was a wife  and that there is such an age discrepancy. According to the obituary, she was a widow at the time she died. What is the truth?

Sophie's New York Passenger List and 1940 Census has her born in 1884. Her 1944 Naturalization Record has her name, Sosie Kamlut, and her age at 59, so that would mean a birthdate of 1885. She arrived in New York, 14 Aug 1920 at age 36 and was heading for her Uncle Michael Rich in Philadelphia.She married Samuel Cohen in 1935. However she was living with her sister and brother-in-law, Sarah and Eli in 1940 without Samuel being listed in the Census. 

Sophie's gravestone has her maiden name, Camlot and gives no mention that she was a wife, but has beloved sister and dear aunt.

Here rests Sosia or Sasia daughter of Reb Israel

Died on 18th of Sh'vat, 5722

Acronym for "May her soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life"

  

Eva's 21 Jun 1921 Ocean Arrival Record has her age as 22, so born in 1899. Her age in the 1940 Census was 36 which would give a birthdate of 1904. Eva married Carl Nitkin, 21 Nov 1929 in Montreal. In 1940 they were living in Philadelphia at 2016 N 31 St.

There is a witness' signature that my genealogy friend reads as Abraham K. Camlot. This is a mystery as we don't know of anyone by that name in the Camlot family.


A great niece of the sisters, Judie, told me that  Sarah, Sophie and Eva lived with her parents in  Montreal, at the end of their lives. Her mother's younger brother and her grandmother Gertie also lived with them. Judie wasn't born yet but her father told her the story. "One day, Sarah misplaced her false teeth. The family searched the house and they were eventually found in the teapot. All through his life, if something went missing, be it keys or a school book, my father would ask if we checked the teapot."

A Glimpse into the Lives of Sam and Charlie Camlot

A Perspective from Sam Camlot's Daughter

Hearing peoples' stories of what life was like years ago gives a fascinating glimpse of another world. At 86, Harriet shared her childhood memories with me and I am very appreciative. She talks easily about the past, giving insights on what her father and her Uncle Charlie were like.

Sam and Charlie first had a store/ drugstore in downtown Philadelphia but due to the Depression, they went bankrupt. They moved to different areas of Philadelphia after that. Harriet's family moved to Bridge St in northeastern Philadelphia and her uncle's family moved to the southwest.

Both her parents, Sam and Betty ( Singerman ) worked from 8 am to midnight 7 days a week to make ends meet. In back of their store was their kitchen and they lived upstairs. There were 2 bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. She slept in the same bedroom as her parents. There were boarders: a family with children. The boarders used the upstairs kitchen. There was one bathroom for all of them.

She was an only child. Harriet told me the additional child in the 1940 Census was a definite mistake. She then added that her father didn't have time to have had an affair.

Despite her parents working all the time, Harriet said she did not feel neglected. She would come home for lunches. Her parents were there because they were at their store.

She lived in a gentile neighbourhood. Her elementary school had 10 Jews in the whole school.

Harriet said her Uncle Charlie did not have a "cooperative wife". Rose didn't get up in the morning and Sarita, Bernice and Alvin would have to get themselves to school. The children would come in late and Sarita would have to explain why her brother was late. Their mother would get up at 2-3pm in the afternoon. Rose loved to cook. She spent the nights knitting, crocheting and sending cards to the family.

Bernice joined the army to get away. She loved it. She worked in a clerical role. Sarita was told she was too short, 4'10". She "tried to do something to stretch herself".

Harriet said her father was a giving person, Everyone loved him. If anyone didn't get along with her father, he couldn't get along with anyone.

Charlie was hard to get along with. He was bitter. He wanted to be a doctor. He studied and did exams and became a naturopath. Harriet said that he didn't have any formal education. However according to the 1940 census, Charlie had four years of college education. The 1930 Census has him listed as a "physician: industry, naturopath".

Harriet remembers her father telling her that he was in England for 6 months because he ran out of money. He was 13 and she wondered how he could have managed being by himself. I told her that a man with the name of Israel Gillman was with him.. His birthdate in his Draft Record would make him older than 13 at that time in 1910. He would have been 16. She had also heard that he crossed illegally into Detroit to avoid conscription.

Harriet said her father had a theatre at one point. Interestingly I found information that in Sept 1921 Sam Camlot, a theatre owner in Sherbrooke, along with Joseph Blitt, Bernard Gillman and Isser Singerman formed a corporation.

National Amusement Co., Limited.

Notice is hereby given that under Part I of, the Quebec Companies' Act, 1920, letters patent have been issued by the Lieutenant-Gouverneur of the Province of Quebec, bearing date thirteenth day of September, 1921, incorporating : Joseph Blitt, Bernard Gillman, ; Isser Singerman, Sam Camlot theatre owners ; all of the city of Sherbrooke, in the district of Saint-Francis, for the following purposes :

To acquire by purchase, lease or other title and to hold and own any theatres, play parks and other places of amusements where theatrical, operatic, vaudeville, moving picture performances and all other forms of entertainments of amusements may be presented, and to sell, lease, dispose of and otherwise deal with the property so acquired and held ;To carry on real estate business in all its branches

The powers specified in each paragraph are to be limited or restricted by reference to under the name of "National Amusement Limited", with a total capital stock of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) divided into two hundred (200! shares of one hundred dollars ($100 00) each. The head office of the company, will be in the city of Sherbrooke, in the district of Saint Francis. Dated at the office of the C.-J. SIMARD. 3356 Assistant Provincial Secretary.

http://www.banq.qc.ca/collections/collection_numerique/publications_gouvernementales/gazette_officielle/recherche/?keyword=camlot&ajouterHistorique=oui

Harriet's father never asked anything of her except when she had been labour for 24 hours. Her father told her that his brother came to him in a dream and asked that her son be named after him. So she named her son Charles. The second name Elliot was after the husband of her father's sister, Sarah. His name was Eli and he was a scholar and was a wonderful man.

Harriet's mother was one of 9 children. She was the first to be born in Canada. One brother was killed at 13 years old by a streetcar. Peter Singerman, her grandfather, worked at a newstand by the train station in Montreal, Quebec. He was a quiet man. Her grandmother, Bella was a midwife.

I am very grateful to Harriet for giving me some understanding of the lives of her father and uncle and their families. My hope is that there will be more people who will want to share their stories.

Another Abraham Gillick

Family of Edel Gillick Camlot

Edel/ Adel/ Etta/ Ethel Gillick, mother of the Camlots, and her husband Israel Kamlut did not immigrate.

The way I found out about Edel's family is through her nephew, Lawrence, who shared  his grandmother Nechama / Emma Gillick  Wolfson/ Wilson's memories of her siblings.

It is great when someone connects with a name or record on an Ancestry Tree. This is what happened to Deb who has spent countless valuable hours researching people from Ostropol and Staro-Konstaninen and building a Tree that connects the thousands of people with those origins.

We depend on the descendants stepping forward with what they know and remember. Piecing together all those sometimes disconnected fragments can provide so many clues in understanding relationships.

Nechama / Emma  Gillick lived with her grandson, Lawrence for 16 years and it was he who shared what his grandmother had told him many years ago. One of her sisters had been a mother to the Camlots. That would mean that Nechama was the sister of Edel Gillick Camlot. Did any family members have contact many years ago? I have yet to find out!

Nechama was born about Jan 1857 in Ostropol and died in Montreal 24 Aug 1945. Along with her sister Edel, she had 3 other siblings, a sister Tanna who had a daughter Shifra Greenfield in Vinnitsa, a sister Rose of New York and a brother Abraham. Abraham may have had the name Kally which was found to be a variant of Gillick. Their father's name was Abraham which I found out from the translation of Nechama's gravestone. Abraham was born about 1830 in Ostropol and died about 1856 in Ostropol.

It is important to sort out all the similar and same names! Deb has helped with this by sending me this e-mail. "Nechama's brother, born around 1856 ( not her father) would be Chaim Abraham and the likeliest father to Joe/ Louis/ Jacob Meir." As well she wrote, "The surname Kally was just the memory of the last name from Lawrence. He had never heard the name Gillick before. I think the name Kally never had a separate existence, just a name that sounded something like that- Kally, Gally, Gallik is not a far stretch."

 Nechama had 4 daughters: Mary, Leah, Annie and Lillian. She was married before 1890 to Barnet (Boruch) Wolfson in Ostropol but he left the family sometime during the childhood of his daughters. Nechama departed from Rotterdam on the ship, S.S. Rotterdam, 8 Jul 1902 and arrived 14 Jul 1902 in New York. Her 2 daughters Leah ( Leia )and Lillian ( Libe ) were with her. The name of a daughter M. Gold, daughter, at 220 Clinton St, New York was where they were heading. The identity of that daughter is uncertain; she may have been daughter Mary. In the 1911 Census, Nechama used the name Wilson and called herself a widow.

                                                                                   


In her daughter Anne's wedding invitation, she also used the name Wilson.











The name Wolfson was on her gravestone.








The daughters:

Mary/ Miriam Wilson/ Wolfson, born Mar 1890 in Ostropol, Volynnia, Russia. She married Joseph Hausberg about 1915 in Montreal. They had 2 children, Rose and Benny ( Boruch ). Rose was born about 1914 in Montreal and married Lewis Brook. Benny was born in 1916. Mary died 22 Jan 1936 in Montreal.

Leah was born about 1891 in Ostropol, Volynnia, Russia  and died about 1952 in Montreal.

Annie/ Chana Wilson ( Wolfson )was born Apr 1892 in Ostropol, Volynnia, Russia. She died in Montreal. She married Chatzkel/ Ezekiel Garmaise, 14 Jun 1917 in Lachine, Quebec. Ezekiel was born 1886 in Ostropol and died 10 Jan 1955 in Montreal, Quebec. They had 3 sons Boris, David and Lawrence.

Lillian/ Liba Wilson ( Wolfson ), born Apr 1893 in Ostropol, Volynnia, Russia. Her first marriage was to Abraham Levine, 19 Sep 1920 in Lachine, Quebec. She married Sam Lazar, 5 Nov 1933 in Montreal.

It would be very meaningful if someone would recognize these names and be able to offer more evidence that this is indeed the family of Edel Gillick Camlot and Abraham Gillick. What this would mean is that would link all their descendants. That would explain  how Fanny Gillick was a cousin to her husband Fred Camlot. I had heard that they were cousins.. This would offer the explanation: Fanny's grandfather Abraham and Fred's mother Edel were siblings. What also follows is that would mean that Jacob from Chicago and Louis and Joe Gillick from Sherbrooke, Quebec were first cousins to the Camlot siblings. Joe attended the Bar Mitzvah of Jack Camlot's grandson, Irving. There was a connection!

A totally other surprise and intriguing was finding that the address of Annie Wilson/ Wolfson's wedding invitation of 92 Prince Arthur Street in 1917 is the same address as another relative on my mother's side who lived at the same address in the same year of 1917. Ida Schwartz married Israel Meyer Randolph, 28 Jan 1917. The address at the time of their son Moses/ Morris' birth, born 12 Nov 1917 was 92 Prince Arthur. It would be great if some other connection would emerge from this and I could find out about this Schwartz family!

Challenges of Finding Kamlut/ Camlot Records

A Helpful Way of Discovering those Elusive Records

My dear genealogy mentor Deb came to the rescue again.

Our purpose was trying to find out more about the Gillick links. Mother of the Camlot children was Etta/ Adel Gillick and father was Israel Kamlut ( Camlot ).

Israel Camlot's birth name was Reich or Rich. To avoid going into the army, he was adopted by a Kamlut couple who didn't have any children. When his children came to North America, they changed their name from Kamlut to Camlot.

We were trying to find the Ocean Crossing Records for the oldest two Camlot brothers, Charles and Sam. Realizing that their name was Kamlut when they arrived, I tried Kam*, opening the search to many spelling possiblities.

If you have an Ancestry subscription, you search under:

Immigration & Travel, Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935

Deb wrote, "I searched the Canadian Passenger Lists for anyone whose name was Kam*t. Then I looked at everyone who was in the right age range even if it said something like Kambert. A name that is misread by the indexer can still be right for us." 

I learned that adding the *t to the Kam, came up with the records. The indexer had put "Kambot" for oldest son Chaim ( Charles ) and" Kambert" for son Shmel ( Sam ). We just learned these 2 names of  Chaim and Shmel.

Chaim ( Charles ) sailed at the age of 18 from Antwerp, Belgium on the ship S.S. Montezuma and arrived in Quebec City, 15 Jun 1909.

 

Shmel ( Sam ) sailed at the age of 17 from Liverpool, England 

on the ship S.S. Canada and arrived in Quebec City, 15 May 1910.

Israel Kamlut and Adel Gillick had 7 children

Charles Camlot's date of birth on his US WWII Draft Registration is 15 Jul 1893 in Ostropol. I was told that his nephew Charles, Sam's grandson, born 6 Feb 1953, was named after him. That would mean that Charles died before this date. Charles' granddaughter, Charlene was also named after him. He married his first cousin Rose Lillian Rich 12 Nov 1919 in Wilmington, Delaware. Rose ( Ruchel Layah Reich ) was born 24 Dec 1898 in Prokurov, Russia and died 22 Sep 1965 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Sam Camlot was born 15 Jun 1894 in Ostropol and died Aug 1967 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He married Betty ( Rebecca ) Singerman who was born 14 Jul 1903 in Montreal, Quebec and died in 1995.

Sarah Camlot was born about 1896 in Ostropol and died 8 Oct 1959. She married Eli Saltzman in 1917.

Fred ( Fridel ) Camlot was born in 1897 in Ostropol and died 4 Aug 1964 in Montreal, Quebec. He married Fanny Gillick, his cousin, 15 Sep 1933 in  Montreal, Quebec. Fanny was born 22 Jul 1909 in Salnitza, Ukraine and died 6 Dec 1981.

Sophie ( Sosie ) Camlot was born between 1894 and 1897. Each record has a different date of birth, from the NY Passenger Lists ( 1884 ), the 1940 US Census ( 1884 ), US Naturalization Records  (1885) to the 1921 Canadian Census ( 1887 ). She died 23 Jan 1962. Sophie married Samuel Cohen in 1935 in Philadelphia and was divorced before 1940. In the 1940 census, she was listed under her maiden name and was living with her sister Sarah and her husband Eli Saltzman.

Eva ( Chawa ) was born 1899 in Ostropol ( Ocean Arrival Record ) and 1904 ( 1940 US Census ). She married Carl Nitkin 21 Nov 1929 in Montreal, Quebec. Carl was born 5 May 1895 in Swisslech, Russia and died 1 Jan 1950 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was buried in Glenolden, Delaware County.

Jack ( Yankiel/ Yaakov Asher ) Camlot was born 16 Jan 1900 in Ostropol and died 18 Jan 1960. He married Gertie Grosser 9 Jul 1933 in Montreal, Quebec. She was born 21 Apr 1904 and died 23 Apr 1974 in Montreal, Quebec. 

For those arrivals between 1919-1924, search in Ancestry under:

Canada, Ocean Arrivals ( Form 30A )

Eva, age 22, and Jack, age 21, sailed together from Antwerp, Belgium on the ship S.S. Sicilian and arrived 21 Jun 1921 in Quebec City. They were heading for their brother Sam, 31 King St, Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Camlot and Rich Family

Etta Gillick Camlot, mother of  7 children and unknown Ancestral Link

 
Fanny Gillick, daughter of Yehuda Leib ( Louis Gillick) from Sherbrooke, married a cousin Fred Camlot.

Left to Right:

Jean Rosen Gillick, husband Sid Gillick, Fanny Gillick Camlot, husband Fred Camlot, my grandparents, Meyer Endler and  Sophie Gillick

 

Fred Camlot’s mother‘s name was Etta Gillick 

(her father had the name of Abraham Gillick). Etta’s husband’s name was Israel.
Israel and his wife were mentioned as parents in the July marriage record of son Jack without notes of being deceased; in Sept 1933 at son Frederick's marriage, both were noted as deceased.

Israel's birth name was Reich or Rich. To avoid going into the army, he was adopted by a Kamlut couple who didn't have any children. When his children came to North America, they changed their name from Kamlut to Camlot.

Camlot Family and Rich Family

Israel and Etta had 7 children. The oldest Charlie Camlot married a first cousin Rose Lillian Rich This leads to the mystery of the Reich / Rich origin and how they are related. Is Rose’s father Michael a brother to Israel?

Michael Rich, born in 1866, arrived 28 Aug 1896 in New York on the S.S. Normannia at age 28. He was living with his wife Sophie and daughters Rose and Mollie with boarder Sam Gillman at 440 Manton St, Philadelphia

Sophie Camlot, another of the Camlot siblings, left Antwerp, Belgium on the S.S.Lapland Red Star Line on 4 Aug 1920 and arrived on 14 Aug 1920. She gives her contact person whom she was heading for as her Uncle Michael Rich at 440 Manton St , Philadelphia

Sophie's sister , Sarah's April 1923's Border Crossing has the contact person as her cousin Maurice Rich, a son of Michael Rich.