Hundreds of families made up Homestead's Jewish community over the decades, but a much smaller number of family networks seeded a significant percentage of the people who were in the community for generations to come. The 40 families below, some overlapping*, account for 1,662 people (39%) who had connections to Homestead. This list is still a work in progress!
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Daughter Ida Lebovitz married the Louis Weiss possibly related to the Heppses. Adolph's second wife, Fannie, was a Jacobowitz on her mother's side and is thus a first cousin to Esther Ecker Grossman.
Benjamin & Esther Markowitz raised a large family in Homestead. Daughter Leona married Fred Kaminsky, and daughter Elizabeth married Dave Newman, brother-in-law of Hazel Hepps Newman.
Three Carpe siblings—Morris, Louis, and Esther—and their families were stalwarts in the community. Morris' son Jacob was brothers-in-law with Samuel H. Grossman.
David Jacobson's branch is one of many in the larger Samuel-Sarah Jacobson family. He had a particularly large number of descendants connected to the community.
Five Fogel siblings and their families had connections to the community. Oldest brother Morris was a charter member of the synagogue.
Siblings Joseph Freed and Jennie Freed Fischman raised their families in Homestead. Joseph was a charter member of the synagogue. His daughters Belle & Esther married Louis Fisher, David & Catherine's son, and Morris Glick, Isadore & Esther Levine Glick's son, respectively.
This is the famous Jacobson-Friedlander-Seiavitch family. Eliahu Friedlander's children and grandchildren married into the Perlman, Jacobson, Mervis, Seiavitch, and Lieberman families, making this group the most dominant of all of Homestead's Jewish families. (Families which intermarried with Friedlanders are noted with asterixes, since there is partial overlap.)
Two Friedman sisters had families in Homestead. Sarah married Herman Glick, making her branch also part of the larger Glick family (incl. Beck, Rosenbaum, Samuel Schwartz). Rosa married Harry Haupt.
The families of three Glick brothers were connected to Homestead from early on. The wife of Herman Glick, who never immigrated, was a Friedman whose sister was married to Harry Haupt. The brothers' children married into the Lasdusky, Greenstein, Beck, and Rosenbaum families; other surnames include Meitner and (Samuel) Schwartz.
Bernard Glueck came to Homestead in 1901 after years in PA and OH. His daughters married Dr. Moss and Feinberg (pawnshop), and his son Robert J. was a railroad engineer. His sister Lena married into the Braddock Blattners, from whom his niece Esther married Ignatz Fox. (Then their daughter married Victor Averbach...)
Libbie & Raphael Goldston lived in Homestead for periods later in their lives, and four of their many children's families had significant connections to the town. Their grandchildren included Mendelsohns and (Samuel) Mervises and married into the Grossman, Davidson, and Weis families.
The families of five Greenstein siblings, including their parents, lived in Homestead and joined the synagogue. Sister Julia married Jacob Berkowitz/Burke, brother Enoch married Celia Glick, daughter of Henry, and his daughter Harriet married Irving Talenfeld.
Isadore was a charter member of the synagogue, Ignatz was synagogue's historian, and parents and siblings Max, Rose Szobel, and Blanche Schermer were in the area. They are first cousins of the the Devays through their mother, Mollie Davidovitz. Igantz married into the Amshell family of Braddock, who had business affairs in Homestead in the early years.
Three Hausrath sisters and a brother came to Homestead. The sisters married into the Stahlberg, Zlotsiver, and Chetlin families.
Eight siblings started their American lives in Homestead, and four (Bernhardt, Adolph, Alex, and Fannie Keizler) spent their whole lives in the community. Samuel and Bernhardt were charter members of the synagogue. You can see photographs of some of this family here.
The families of three Hershkovitz siblings put down roots in Homestead. The branch of Hannah & Louis Schwartz was particularly substantial.
Isaac & Amelia Hertz had four children, with synagogue members amongst the children or grandchildren in all branches. Their daughter Irene married Samuel Glick, son of Henry Glick.
Isaac Mervis married Hannah Friedlander, making his descendants part of the larger Jacobson-Friedlander-Seiavitch family. They intermarried heavily with the Perlmans. Granddaughter Miriam Mervis married Morton Keisler, whose mother was a Hepps.
Sarah & Samuel Jacobson had five children whose families came to Homestead. They married into the Seiavitch, Friedlander, and Lieberman families. They were the largest group in the Jacobson-Friedlander-Seiavitch tree.
Two Krause sisters and their father lived in Homestead. Florence Krause married Samuel W. Hepps. Anna Krause married Benjamin Schwartz; surnames in this branch include Brasz, Weinberger, and (Irwin) Gross.
Solomon & Ida Siegel Lazerovitz (later Lazar) came with their large family to Homestead. There were synagogue members in two generations of their family. Ida's brother Ruben married Ida Siegman; although not Homesteaders, their son Oscar moved there when he married Eva Samuels.
Abraham Lebovitz brought his family to Homestead in the late teens, and his sister Jennie Lebovitz Mermelstein came with her husband around the same time and started her family there. Children and grandchildren include Smooke, Feldman, and Sittsamer.
Meyer Lefkowitz, who appears not to have been a Homesteader, had four children who were. Frieda married Herman Weisman, who joined the Homestead shul for a time though living in Braddock. Fannie married Nathan Eskovitz. Lena married Adolph Lefkowitz (related? unrelated?). And Morris married Esther Weisman, daughter of a different Herman Weissman.
All four branches of Chaim & Leah Lembersky's family remained in Homestead. Significant branches include the Rosenthals and Mendelsons. Son Harry married Sylvia Lipsitz, whose sister married Ben Stein, Chanina's son.
Two Magazanick sisters came to Homestead. They were married to Morris Glick and Samuel Averbach and had 7 and 8 children each. Other surnames in this family include Burechson, Zukerman, Weinberg, Jackson, and Steiner.
Three sons of Yehuda Tsvi Margolis had connections to Homestead—two settled in Homestead and raised their families there, and the third married his first cousin.
Charter member of the synagogue Max Markowitz raised a large family in Homestead. His brother Benjamin briefly joined him there; his son Jacob Markel married Gertrude Friedlander.
Five brothers and their parents immigrated to Homestead. Four of the brothers became synagogue members and two raised their families there.
Brother & sister Henry Moskowitz & Ethel Moskowitz Klein were very early residents of Homestead. Henry was a charter member of the synagogue. Henry's children married Laura Glueck, Jennie Rosen, H.S. Schwartz, and M.H. Markley. Ethel's children married Wolf Israel, Alex Hepps, and B.J. Schwartz.
Descendants of two Perlman brothers, Abraham and Louis came to Homestead, though neither brother did. Louis' wife was Friedlander, making his branch part of the Friedlander-Jacobson-Seiavitch family. Children in both branches married Mervises.
Four of five surviving Rome siblings spent some time in the community, including John Jacob Rome, who was killed fighting WWI. Their mother was Rebecca Mervis (but not sure if that makes her connected to other Homestead Mervises).
The Samuels family came to Homestead in the mid-1890s. Daughter Eva Samuels married Oscar Segal whose mother was a Siegman. Son Herman was Homestead's fire chief for many years.
Betzalel Seiavitch, who never immigrated, had four sons connected to Homestead. Two married Jacobsons, making this family part of the larger Jacobson-Friedlander-Seiavitch family.
Jacob Siegel, an early and longtime resident of Homestead, had daughters who married into the Arons and Gross (department store) families, also prominent in Homestead. A third daughter married Fannie Green Magram's brother.
Three Siegman sisters and their mother came to Homestead. Other surnames in this family include Segal and Green.
Abraham Skirball was the first Jewish resident of Homestead, and his brother-in-law Jacob Solomon was an early real estate investor in Homestead. Jacob's daughter Sadie married Israel Goldston.
Two Spiegel siblings lived in Homestead. Bertha Spiegel Lebovitz's branch is also part of the (Abraham/Jennie) Lebovitz family. Brother Herman's family lived in Homestead for a short time also.
Charles & Bessie Stein had eight children, including 6 daughters, who immigrated to Homestead. The daughters' families were Melnick, Rubin, Resnick, Weiner, Lazar, and Katz.
A number of branches of the Viess family, including the Sam Perlsteins and Numeroskys, were amongst Homestead's early Jewish residents. Mike Viess married Lizzie Grinberg.