each family line that I have re-

searched in each newsletter. In

addition, I hope to include current

news about family members, with

their permission of course!

Please do not take offense or feel

excluded if I neglect to include

someone/something. It is not

purposeful. However, I would like

to know so I can right the wrong.

I hope that this newsletter will

become a collaborative effort. If

you would like to share news that

you have, current or genealogical,

PLEASE do not hesitate to send it

to me for inclusion in a future

newsletter. Conversely, if you DO

NOT wish to be included or do not

want a copy of future issues,

please notify me. My email is:

holman472@sbcglobal.net

�Deb�

As a way to honor my mother,

Doris Lichtenthal Falcone, on the

first anniversary of her passing, I

have decided to begin sharing the

results of my many years of family

history research.

I hope to publish this newsletter

twice yearly, but let’s just hope I

actually finish this first one!

I have a habit of delving deeply

into a given subject for a certain

period of time and then putting it

aside while I pursue a different

topic. Sometimes I return to a

project and continue my work.

Other times, a project will get rele-

gated to the dreaded “back

burner” never to see the light of

day. Another problem is that I

prefer to wait and share “finished”

projects.

Unfortunately, the afore-

mentioned character traits often

result in me being the only person

ever to see what I have been

working on.

I fear that may happen to my ge-

nealogical research if I do not

begin sharing what I have. With

that in mind, I hope to begin shar-

ing some of what I have learned

about our family over the past 5+

years.

My plan (which can change at any

time) is to feature one member of

In the years before my dad, Alan

Samuel, passed away we had

several conversations about our

family history. He was very excited

about the information I was un-

covering.

We were discussing the family

“tree” and how complicated it had

become due to divorces, remar-

riages, adoptions, and other com-

plications of contemporary family

life.

I shared my idea that we had

more of a “pumpkin vine” as op-

posed to a “tree.”

Dad had an even more accurate

description of our family: a

“bramble bush”“bramble bush”“bramble bush”“bramble bush”

I couldn’t agree more!!

Logo courtesy of: “Bramble Bush: The Quarterly

Newsletter of the Historic Genealogical Society of

Marion County Arkansas

http://www.argenweb.net/marion/

bramblebush/2004_01.html

Our favorite photo! In the kitchen of 61 Goebel Road

probably 1968-ish.

W h y A m I w r i t i n g T h i s N e w s l e t t e r ? “The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof”

�Richard David Bach�

F a m i l y t r e e o r … ? ? ?

A n E x p l a n a t i o n f o r t h e n e w s l e t t e r

l o g o

E D I T E D B Y D E B S A M U E L H O L M A N

Who We Are and

How We Got That Way

December 2, 2012 Volume 1, Issue 1

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Pedigree Lines or Family History?

2

I Don’t Do This Alone! 2

What Work Has Already Been Done?

2

Fun Facts About Doris 3

Doris May Lichtenthal 4-11

What Would You Like to Learn?

12

The Year That Was...2012

12

Where to start? Which

branches to include? Blood-

lines? Families? Spouses?

Partners? Significant others?

It would be easy to place the

“blame” for our bramble

bush solely on my dad and

his four marriages. But- let’s

be honest- there are several

complications to our tree in

our parents’ generation.

Interestingly, most of our

generation, the “boomers” in

the family, have remained

steadfast in their relation-

ships. (There may be a story

to explore there…)

IMHO (in my humble opinion)

if you live with one of us for a

significant amount of time,

you’re PART OF THE FAMILY.

It’s too late...you can’t get

out. You’re in for good.

Some genealogists research

only bloodlines, or pedigrees.

I consider myself more of a

“family history” researcher.

Following bloodlines gives

one a very narrow view of a

person’s family. I want to

know who the people were,

where they lived, what they

were all about.

To that end, I plan to include

all those who have a connec-

tion to our family regardless

of how that connection may

have been made.

On my paternal side, I have researched the SAMUEL line back

to Moshe Jacob Samuel and his wife, Esther (I don’t have

definitive proof of her name though) Moshe’s son was Laza-

rus, born 1795 in England. (still looking for the Irish connec-

tions!)

I have some info on the BYK and KESNER lines as well.

Language barriers and war have made work on my maternal

side more challenging. The earliest LICHTENTHAL I have

found is Hirsch, possibly born in Poland in 1814.

Thanks to the work of Sandy Klapper, I have the SPIEGEL line

back to 1803, with the birth of Josef in Poland.

The WEISS branch has been quite challenging. I have hit a

“brick wall” trying to prove the parentage of a “supposed” half

-brother of Rosa and Sophie.

On the HOLMAN/SMITH/GOODGION/SETCHEL side, I

have gleaned facts from “Our Archipelego”, a family his-

tory written by William Holman in 1976, but have not yet

gone much further.

I have not delved too far into the FALCONE branch as

yet. A fact that needs proving is the birth date of Vera

Stella Falcone. Anyone have her actual birth certificate?

And then there are spouses of my siblings…..and of

those of our children!!! Nothing done there yet…..please

support all healthcare reform so I can afford to retire in

June of 2013. Really—it’s in YOUR best interest so I can

get this work done!

Over the past 5-6 years, I have networked with wonderful

people. I have yet to find anyone (with the exception of Tho-

mas Speeger, who has not responded to my requests for

contact) who hasn’t been willing to share what they have

learned.

I have connected with “cousins” all over the world: Ian Sam-

uel in Australia, Maurene Bencal in Texas, Mark Goldsmith

in New York, Sandy Klapper in Maryland, Enid Oppenheim in

Poughkeepsie, Kent Belvin in CT, and Miles Robert in New

York to name just a few.

I also attend monthly meetings of the Jewish Genealogy Soci-

ety of CT. Websites I frequent include Jewishgen.com and

various genealogical discussion groups.

Our family tree can be viewed at:

http://my.rootsmagic.com/dholman

The tree can also be seen at: Ancestry.com - “The Samuel–

Holman Bramblebush-Official”

I have also done some work on Geni.com and Myheri-

tage.com. You may need to be “invited” by me to view

these sites though. Just send me a message if you are hav-

ing trouble accessing the sites.

I store ALL information as I find it on my hard drive, using a

program called RootsMagic. As time permits, I update the

online trees with the newest information.

P e d i g r e e l i n e s o r F a m i l y H i s t o r y ?

W h a t W o r k H a s A l r e a d y B e e n D o n e ?

P a g e 2

I D o n ’ t D o T h i s a l o n e !

The “Margaret Evans” Aaron Samuel and his family emigrated from England to Hoboken, NJ on this ship.

Arrival: 1857

W h o W e A r e

Across 5. Doris’ favorite city was _______. 7. In 1959, Doris’ doctor told her to “get out of t he house” to avoid going crazy. She decided to take a class in _____. 8. In high school, Doris was in the school orchestr a. She played the ______. 9. One of Doris’ greatest qualities was her sense o f _____. 10. Doris’ hair was often styled by her mom, in a s tyle similar to the famous child star, Shirley ______. Doris hated that hair style! 13. Doris’ favorite nail polish color was “Linkin P ark after _____”

Down 1. Doris’ favorite holiday was _____, because she l oved the colors. 2. Doris met her second husband, Al Falcone when sh e was at a store to buy _____. 3. Doris learned to ______ while she was in Japan. 4. In 1958, after her third child was born, the fam ily moved to a ranch style home in Hamden because Doris was sick and tired of living i n a home with _____. 5. Doris’s childhood dog, a cocker spaniel, was nam ed _____. 6. After graduating from Katharine Gibbs, Doris got a job as a _____ at General Foods. 11. Even after 60 years, Doris would have nightmare s about her high school years at New Rochelle High. One recurring nightmare was that she would forget her ______ combi-nation. 12. When she was a child, Doris wanted to go to Ame rica because she loved ______.

� Answers in next issue �

F u n F a c t s A b o u t D o r i s

P a g e 3 V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1

Left-to-Right Lucy Steinbach , Doris’ best friend in Vienna,

Rose Lichtenthal, Doris

1935 –Vienna

P a g e 4 W h o W e A r e

The following eight pages were created by me as part of an online course I took on creating family scrapbook pages.

Some of you may have received this last year around the time of Mom’s birthday. I thought it would be a very appropriate addi-

tion to our first newsletter.

�Deb�

P a g e 5 V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1

P a g e 6 W h o W e A r e

P a g e 7 V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1

P a g e 8 W h o W e A r e

P a g e 9 V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1

P a g e 1 0 W h o W e A r e

P a g e 1 1 V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1

be very happy to know that the home she loved will

continue to be a place of love and laughter.

Other news from the past year is that we acquired

a new family member—the four-legged kind.

“Doggy Chance” (as Meg’s daycare kids call him) is

a chocolate lab, about two years old now. While I

am definitely NOT a dog-lover, he’s not a bad one—

I guess I’ll let Scott keep him.

Work-wise, I’m still teaching in Hamden at our

alternative high-school during the day and at the

adult high school on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

Scott continues to work at AAA. Luckily for me, he

enjoys spending his non-work time cleaning and

grocery-shopping. (I’m sure Scott would have

something different to say on that subject, how-

ever…)

Perhaps the next newsletter will feature wed-

dings...it seems to be a topic of great interest

lately ;-) Right, Betsy? For those who may not

know….my baby sister will wed Donald Michael

Joseph on July 26, 2013. Haha, Mike!!! It’s in the

newsletter….now you HAVE to go through with it,

FOR REAL!

Okay….so I don’t make phone calls. I rarely email.

I definitely don’t send cards. But I amamamam going to

take advantage of this space to share news of

our family from the past year.

Two of the most important events in my life oc-

curred this past year (give or take a few weeks)

Just before the end of 2011, on December 2, we

lost the matriarch of our family. It has been a

difficult year for all of us as we try to adjust to a

world without Omi.

In direct contrast to the void left by Mom’s pass-

ing, was the joyous occasion on July 7, 2012.

We were thrilled that so many family members

were able to join us to celebrate the wedding of

Caitlin Holman and Matt Hardy. The setting was

almost as gorgeous as the bride! As I write this

today, the Hardys are celebrating their first

Thanksgiving in their new home.

Also celebrating their first Thanksgiving are

Meghan Holman and her boyfriend, Andrew Jefts.

Meghan and Andy have been working like crazy,

renovating the house at 61 Goebel Road. They

have done a marvelous job. I know Mom would

This part of the newsletter will be reserved

for questions people want answers to as well

as what topics I am currently working on.

Please email me any questions/ideas you

have.

I have hit a few “brick walls” in my research

and am currently trying to answer the follow-

ing questions:

1. Who was the mother of Lazarus Samuel?

2. Why did the Samuels leave England in

1857? (although I do have a suspicion about

the reason.)

3. Do we have ANY Irish heritage?

4. Did Emanuel Weiss marry twice?

5. Why did Herman Spiegel emigrate from

Romania to Austria?

T h e y e a r t h a t w a s . . . 2 0 1 2 . . . i s h

WHAT WOULD YOU

LIKE TO LEARN?

The Newlyweds: Caitlin and Matt Hardy L-to-R

Scott, Meghan, Caitlin, Matt, Deb

July 7, 2012

FOUR GENERATIONS L-to-R

Edgar Samuel, John Samuel, Alan Samuel, Barnett Samuel Approx. 1933