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Alan R. Ludmer,
U.S.A.
part 4.4
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The
Fuchs family who emigrated to the USA were
 Rachel
Fuchs (1954-1927) |
Rachel Fuchs
(1854-1927) (Rachel Fuchs photo).
Rachel was my maternal great grand mother.
For most of her life, she was the widow of a poor dairy farmer.
She raised 6 children without a husband.
Her oldest son, Saul, immigrated to South Africa
and became successful. He helped support Rachel and the remaining family
in Seduva. In 1904, Rachel, her two sons Lazar and
Israel
and her daughter Sarah emigration to
Louisville,
KY USA.
In Louisville,
she lived with her daughter Sarah Gradman and her family in until her
death. Family history says that
she was a poor uneducated farm woman who experienced a life of poverty
and hardship. Yet, despite early widowhood, she raised amazing children
under very difficult situations.
In Louisville, she may have had a relationship to
a Mr. Regowsky (?) My mom
remembers them sitting on the front porch and holding hands. Rachel is
buried at Keneseth Israel
Cemetery in Louisville as Rachel Fuchs. |
 Sarah Fuchs Gradman,
Louisville KY 1947
Sarah Fuchs Gradman.
(6/6/86-10/8/73).
(Sarah Gradman photo) My grandmother Sarah married Alec Gradman,
(1885-1931) in Louisville
in 1907. They knew each
other in Shadeva and reconnected in
Louisville.
They had 4 children David, Lillian (Libby), Katherine (Katie),
and Dorothy, my mother.
In Louisville, Alec and Sarah owned and operated
a small scrap yard. Alec's
brother was also in the scrap business. The Gradman family lived at the
yard. My mom's early memories were helping to water the mules and weigh
scrap metal.
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 Alec
Gradman 1930 Louisville, KY
After Alec died in 1931, Sarah sold the business. Uncle Saul later came
from the RSA to see Sarah and provide financial assistance.
He wanted to take my mother Dorothy (then age 12) back to Africa to be raised as a proper British Lady.
Mom declined. Sarah's
son David became financially successful and help support his family in
the years after his father's death. |
 Sarah
Fuchs USA1905
I remember Grandma
Sarah as a strong, loving, motivated and very capable person.
She was reserved, careful with her speech and displays of
emotion. She was a matriarch of
the Louisville
Jewish community and was know to all as Aunt Sarah.
She was very active in her synagogue and other organizations. She
was a wonderful baker. My mom,
who was the youngest, remembers that when she went off to the University of Kentucky, my grandmother went with.
She stayed in the dorm and audited classes. Grandma venerated
education. Three of her four children graduated collage. Mom told me
that in Lithuania,
only the boys were educated. A teacher would come regularly to the house
to give lessons. Grandma Sarah,
although the youngest and a girl, refused to make meals until the other
brothers shared their lesson. (Source Alan Ludmer).
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 Yetta and Lazar Fox
Lazar Fox
(1874 - 1950). Lazar emigrated to the USA with mother, brother Israel, and sister Sarah in 1904.
Family sources attribute his name change from Fuchs to Fox to a
US
emigration official anglicizing the Fuchs name.
He married
Yetta (d.1945)
and worked in Louisville in shoe repair.
He had his own shop where he repaired shoes and re conditioned
used shoes.
He had a small 3 story building on Preston street in Louisville.
The business was on the first floor and his wife and family lived
on the top two floors. He
had 14 children (the number varies accord to source) , all born in the
USA. Lazar and his brother
Israel
married two sisters. Many of
his descendants still live in the
Louisville
area.
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Israel
Fuchs Family. 1927.
Top L.
Fred, Libby Leon.
Bottom left Jeanne,
Israel,
Rosalie.
Israel Fuchs
(1880-1953) (Israel Fuchs photo)
Emigrated to the USA with mother, brother Israel, and sister Sarah in
1904
Worked as a kosher butcher in Louisville.
A family story says that he kept the Fuchs name because there was
already a kosher butcher named Fox in Louisville.
He had 4 children, all born in the USA.
He and Lazar married sisters. His naturalization papers show he
became a US citizen on September, 16, 1904.
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