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Finkel - Franklin Family from Kossovo
A family wedding photo taken in Connecticut in 1911, in which appear Chaya Epstein Finkel
( later Ida Franklin), her husband Yehuda Leib Finkel (later Louis Franklin), most of their children and grandchildren.
Our thanks to Irene Berman for sendng us this picture and the information about her family.
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Chaya Epstein Finkel was the daughter of Rabbi Yitzhak Mordechai and Rivka Epstein of Slonim or
Kossovo. Yehuda Leib's father was Dov Shlomo Finkel. One daughter of theirs, Kreine, married Schleime Maskileison and they lived in Warsaw for a short time before immigrating to Connecticut. Chaya and
Yehuda Leib and some of their children were among the founders of a Jewish farming community in Ellington, Connecticut in the first decade of the last century. The land was purchased with help from the
Baron Hirsch fund. The photo was taken in front of his house. Almost all of the above are buried in Ellington in a small Jewish cemetery founded in part by Yehuda Leib in 1913. He also helped to found
the still functioning "Knesset Yisrael" Orthodox synagogue in 1913. We have photos of both the gravestones and the synagogue as well as material that was written about the Connecticut community and the
Finkels by researchers, perhaps as theses.
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The second Chaya Epstein was the daughter of Nechemia Epstein and Kejle Lifshitz. Chaya
(later Ida) married Moshe David Stoller (later Monroe David Stoller). They immigrated to Brooklyn. Since Chaya is buried in a plot belonging to the Independent Slonimer Society in Mt. Zion Cemetery
rather than the Kossoverer Society's plot, my assumption is that she was born and raised in Slonim. Although I know that both Chayas were cousins, presumably through their fathers, I know nothing more
about their parents and nothing about Monroe David Stoller as I have not yet found any documents pertaining to him other than his first address in Brooklyn and the fact that he had died before 1917,
when the first of his grandchildren was named for him. I also assume that he may be buried in Mt. Zion, although the office workers could not find his name in their lists. Interestingly, I found
another Moshe David Stoller (Morris) buried in the Kossoverer section there as well as other Stollers and lots of Karilitzers. I did manage to find the death certificate for Chaya Epstein Stoller.
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Both Chayas and their husbands, as well as most of their children, emigrated from Kossovo.
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