[Clipping courtesy of Mary-Jane Roth.  I have added notations in the article at certain points to identify errors or add to the narrative. - - Emily]

Couple Married 74 Years Invite 300 to Celebrate

The Evening Bulletin

Philadelphia

Tuesday, August 11, 1970

By Kitsi Burkhardt, of the Bulletin Staff

Babies, good health and a solid share of happiness are what Jenna and Elcon Grosser say have been their mainstay for 74 years.

On Sunday, Grosser – who was born in Volinageberna[1], Lubin, Russia Aug. 16, 1870 – celebrates his 100^th birthday and his 74^th wedding anniversary.

Mrs. Grosser, is 91. She was born in Volinageberna, Vernonifca[2], Russia. They’re planning a party of Sunday, at York House North, for 300 guests.

In Russian Army

Grosser said he met his wife after he served in the army from 1891 to 1895.

“I had an honorable discharge,” he said, “and in those years when a young man finished the army, he was a valuable piece of property because he lived through the danger and had promise of a future.

“When I came out it was September, and on Rosh Hashanah I went to the synagog and my friend showed me a picture of my lovely wife.

Arrive in America

“I went in myself to see her – without a matchmaker,” he bragged. “I gave her my picture and she accepted it . . . and that’s when I began to court my lovely wife.”

He came to this country in 1889. “I came on Tuesday and two days later, on Thursday, I got a job in Philadelphia at Baldwin Locomotive[3],” he recalled. A year later Mrs. Grosser, who was 22 by then, joined him with their two children. Two more children were born in this country.[4]

“He worked a couple of years and I didn’t like it, so I went into business myself,” Mrs. Grosser said. “First I bought a store at 316 Poplar st. and sold household things . . . then later I moved on to a bigger store at 814 S. 4^th st.

Lots of Criticism

Mrs. Grosser said she got a lot of criticism for working when she had small children.

After 4^th st., the Grossers went into business together on South st. – they sold hardware and children’s furniture for 35 years.

Today the Grossers, who have seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, are still active. They use canes, but walk everywhere. Mrs. Grosser is in the knitting club and the Old Age Society at York House North, at York road and Somerville av.

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[1] Volhynia Gubernia. A gubernia was an administrative division in the Russian Empire similar to what we would call a province or county.

[2] Misspelling of Baranivka (or Baranovka) a town also in Volhynia Gubernia that is 24 miles NE of Lubin. She may actually have been born in Miropol (16 miles ENE of Lubin) and moved to Baranivka before she was married.

[3] Elcon was a blacksmith in Lubin and worked as an iron worker for Baldwin Locomotive.

[4] The Grossers had four children in the United States, for a total of six.