Directions: |
Directions:What we assumed happened based on DNA testing:
Under Tsar Alexander II rule, Jewish people could not hire Christian servants, could not own land, and were restricted in travel.
Tsar Alexander III escalated anti-Jewish policies and sought to ignite "popular antisemitism", which portrayed the Jews as "Christ-killers" and the oppressors of the Slavic, Christian victims. A large-scale wave of anti-Jewish pogroms swept Ukraine in 1881. Thousands of Jewish homes were destroyed, many families reduced to extremes of poverty; large numbers of men, women, and children were injured and some killed. In 1886, an Edict of Expulsion was enforced on the historic Jewish population of Kiev. Most Jews were expelled from Moscow in 1891
Even though the persecutions provided the impetus for mass emigration, there were other relevant factors that can account for the Jews' migration. After the first years of large emigration from Russia, positive feedback from the emigrants in the U.S. encouraged further emigration. Indeed, more than two million Jews fled Russia between 1880 and 1920.
During this emigration, a Jewish girl made her way to the United States.
What we know for sure based on family stories and research:
A baby was left on the doorstep of a Catholic orphanage in New York. The note pinned to her blanket said - "My name is Elizabeth Rey. Please take care of me." She was about six days old and her birthday was November 9, 1901.
From 1854 to 1929 an estimated 250,000 orphaned, abandoned, and homeless children were placed throughout the United States and Canada during the Orphan Train Movement. When the orphan train movement began, it was estimated that 30,000 abandoned children were living on the streets of New York City.
Elizabeth was one of those children, placed on an orphan train when she was about 2 years old. The train headed south and would stop at every town it passed through and, if someone wanted to raise or adopt a child, they selected one. Elizabeth traveled to northwest Arkansas and was taken in and raised by the Besselmans but never formally adopted. They named her Bertha Elizabeth. |
Personal
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Personal
Notes: In the picture are:
FRONT ROW: Henry Besselman, Bertha Layes Rotert, Elizabeth Besselman, Marie Layes Scheualer, Henry Layes
BACK ROW: Conrad Besselman, John Besselman, Mary Besselman Layes, Charles Layes
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