Non-puzzling puzzle

I realize that I already have my own blog, but have never used it as such. Tonight is the night. While I have not finished creating a complete blog where my friends and family can gather and wonder about me. I will get there. Baby steps for me. In the meantime, we will start with Chapter One.

Topics run around in my head at all times similar to my hero Hedley Lamarr who said : "My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives."

I do not have a picture of the Manchester home yet, but above is the home where I grew up, though the picture was taken in 2011.

My grandfather, Hyman Chapnick (a transliterated name often shown as Herman) was born in an area of Poland that was disputed by the surrounding countries, but that did not matter to him as none of those places considered Jews citizens. The only highlight of his childhood which I heard about, when he contracted polio as a boy. They dug a hole in the yard (front, back??) And each morning they would carry him to the hole, place the afflicted leg in it and then bury it so he could not move his leg. I have no detail about bathroom activities eating etc., but each night they would carry him into the house and put him in bed, with each following day the same. He walked with a distinct limp by the time I met him, but by then he mostly sat in a chair and brooded.

His family produced a number of tailors, and at about age 10 or 11 he was apprenticed to an established tailor. As one of eight children, seven boys one whom had a fraternal twin sister, having חיים leaving home with someone else feeding him was not a bad thing. But this is not about grandpa, it is about my immediate family.

My father  was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home (sort of, more about that later) and was raised in Springfield Massachusetts, Manhattan, Chicago, Brooklyn while his father sought work. There were also apparently rough patches between Hyman and "Leona" her American name. She was only 16 and he was 28, which led to some of that travel. Grandpa finally made good in New York working in a shop on Park Avenue with one of his brothers or cousins and accumulated enough money to move the family to a house in Connecticut.

They  moved with Morton (Unc to us), dad's only sibling (maybe?)  to Manchester Connecticut, near where my grandmother's family lived and thrived and not far from New Haven where many related family lived. I have some lovely photos of the tailor shop and the young boys growing up in a nice town where they were picked on by Protestants and Catholics equally accepting, but those stories must come after we arrive in the smaller  small town, Putnam, Connecticut, where they all ended up after my grandfather's tailor shop went under as part of the bank crash of 1933. 

My father had this house built on a lot next to the Johnson sisters, who taught piano, violin and singing. This is almost ironic since everyone in the small town in Blazing Saddles was named Johnson, though none were black. This is where my father, Ralph "Roy" Chapnick brought us up and taught us

about life...his version. He could look serious, but except when he lost his temper, he made us laugh. He loved sports and all the Chicago teams, which was a challenge since we lived in an area where the fan base were rabid Red Sox or Yankee fans.  He married a beautiful smart shikseh (non-Jewish girl) just as WWII was ending and together they banged out three boys in three years. Here is an awful picture taken on their 25th anniversary. I have more and better I promise.

To prove the existence of children here we are outside the house in 1961, with Dad hanging on to David, Barry scowling and I am the handsome one. Kennedy was president and Jackie the first lady, and here my mother is channeling that look. We were all Democrats. 

Time to research Chapter 2 and find more pictures. Thanks for listening.

Chapter 2:

So I left off with unanswered questions about the move to Putnam, and my ancestors' time in Manchester Connecticut. I was told by my father that my grandfather and grandmother moved there to get the boys away from the violence of the city.

I was told by my brother David that in his conversations with Jean Shiner the family had been moving back and forth across the country but when brought the family back to New York he had some success in Manhattan in Tailor shop on Park Avenue. One of Hyman's brothers was also a tailor who worked in the shop on Park Avenue and his daughter, Jean, was David's source of information. Her father was the brother with the fraternal twin who's name was Michael in New York but his Yiddish name was Abbash. 

To supplement what little I have learned from family I have been supplementing my knowledge using 23 and me and Ancestry.com. Since it seems Grandpa arrived in 1896, I have read the census information for 1900, 1910 and found no Chapnick, nor similar name. The 1920 census told a different story as it located Herman and Niona (Leona) Chapnick living at 26 Birch St. Manchester, Connecticut ! Yay.

Since my uncle was born in 1903 and Dad was born in 1906 they would be teenagers then, and so they were.

Naturally when they got to Manchester, my grandfather opened his tailor business. My uncle is the tall one with a sort of blank scowl but since he was 16, he had on long pants. My father was the smiling cutie pie wearing knickers. Grandpa did not look thrilled to be  in the picture either. As you can see they were surrounded by fabric and clothing in various stages. You can make the picture bigger when you download it. Then you can decide if you see David, Barry or I in their faces or if you see your self.

1920 Census

Click here and you will be redirected to the page from Ancestry which confirms what I have said, and again you can make the various information bigger once you download. 

Notable aspects are that they were renting and had moved their recently. Moving on, the generic part of Hyman (Herman's) history reads:Hyman Chapnick was born on September 17, 1875, in Poland. He had two sons with Leona Greenberg Chapnick between 1903 and 1906. He died on April 11, 1958, at the age of 82, and was buried in Manchester, Jamaica.

Hyman’s family

Children

Morton H. Chapnick

+ 1 child

Selected person

Hyman Chapnick

Spouse

Leona Greenberg Chapnick

Parents

Unknown father

Unknown mother

Hyman’s map

Show mapBirth: 17 Sep 1875 • Poland; Burial: Manchester; Obituary for Hyman Chapnick (Aged 83): 13 Apr 1958 • Hartford, Connecticut; Obituary for Hyman Chapnick (Aged 83): 13 Apr 1958 • Hartford, Connecticut; Residence: 1930 • Manchester, Hartford, Connecticut, USA; Residence: 1906 • Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA

Life Events

17 SEP

1875

Edit

Birth

Hyman Chapnick was born on September 17, 1875, in Poland.

17 Sep 1875 • Poland 

1896

AGE 21

Edit

Arrival

1890

29 NOV

1903

AGE 28

Birth of son

His son Morton H. was born on November 29, 1903, in New Haven, Connecticut.

Morton H. Chapnick

1903–1976

29 November 1903 • New Haven, Connecticut, USA

22 AUG

1906

AGE 30

Birth of son

His son Ralph H was born on August 22, 1906.

Ralph H Chapnick

1906–1973

22 Aug 1906

1906

AGE 31

Edit

Residence

Hyman Chapnick lived in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1906.

1906 • Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA

1930

AGE 55

Edit

Residence

Hyman Chapnick lived in Manchester, Connecticut, in 1930.

Marital Status: Married; Relation to Head: Head

1930 • Manchester, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

11 APR

1958

AGE 82

Edit

Death

Hyman Chapnick died on April 11, 1958, when he was 82 years old.

So this brings us to the 1930 census:

1930 Census 

Same deal as before but some major changes:

1.    Owns the home.

2.    Value of the home $14,000.00 which becomes more than $250,000.00 in current dollars.

3.    His bankbook, which I must get out my files showed he had $33,000.00 in the bank in 1930 - $855,000.00.

That is how he sent one son to medical school, and one to law school. 

But that is Chapter two, Before I forget.