Updates: Mini Reunion planned in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in
early June 2008
Mini Reunion planned in Upstate, NY in July 2008, including Cooperstown and
Bethel
Two new Klein babies are expected in 2008: one in Arizona and one in
Florida!
Look for the following Kleins on Facebook: Alyson Clark,
Lisa Young, Rich Klein, Sue Aldoroty, Ellen Posa, Dara Greenberg, Emily
Sachs and Nathaniel Rotta. We have also recently located a few descendents
of Sara Halpert and Esther Halpert. Names to follow soon.
Back row, l-r: Roseanne Klein, Melissa Crane, Renee Young, Evan Sachs, Connie Sachs, Bob Annenberg; 2nd row from back: Brett Young; Alyson Young; Ed Sachs, Gerri Rotta; Charles Rotta; 3rd row from back: Paul Klein, Bob Young, Alice Klein Young, Eleanor Klein Sachs, Barbara Klein Annenberg, and Nathaniel Rotta; Seated in front: Brian Sachs, Derek Sachs, Laura Sachs, Liliana Klein, Emily Sachs and Jason Rotta
Emanuel Klein, lower left, with his sister, Esther and brother David
This website attempts to tell the story of Emanuel Klein and Kate Halpert Klein, their seven childen, and their many descendents.
Our story begins in what was known as Austria-Hungary, where Emanuel Klein was born in Ungvar (now "Uzhorod" and located in Ukraine) in 1867. History notes that Ungvar was under Hungarian rule until the year of Emanuel's birth, when it was taken over by Austria-Hungary. Ungvar, as of 2006, sits on the far western border of the Ukraine, just over the far eastern border of Slovakia and just north of today's Hungary. The Ungvar region was and remains northeast of Budapest.
Emanuel had a brother, David, and a sister, Esther -- and possibly other siblings still being researched.
Kate Halpert Klein was born to Kalman Halpert (1845-1922) and Fradel Weiss on June 18, 1871 in Dubroka, a village just southeast of the Ugvar and appears to be part of the greater Ungvar region. Kate had two sisters: Sarah (1873-1940) and Esther (born 1875) . There has been much talk about the Kleins and Halperts in Budapest as well but most records and interviews focus mostly on Ungvar and, to a lesser extent, on Dubroka, which may also be Debrechen. (Kalman Halpert later married Hannah and they had six children: Martin, Marcus, Tillie, Rose, Fannie and David. )
Emanuel was age 20 when he embarked for America. Kate was 17 when she arrived in New York. We know that their first steps in America were taken at Castle Garden, on the tip of Manhattan, which preceded Ellis Island as the gateway to America for immigrants from 1855 until 1892.
It's unclear whether Emanuel and Kate met in Europe or in New York, but we believe that Emanuel arrived in November 1887 via Germany, just a few months before one of the worst blizzards in NYC history, and Kate arrived in 1888.
Kate's parents settled on the Lower East Side and we understand that Kalman Halpert was a rabbi or cantor and had a horse stable.
Sarah Halpert married Henry M. Grossberger and settled in Cleveland. Esther Halpert married ___Berger, and settled in Philadelphia. There was also a brother, Harry. (Each of the Halpert sisters had seven children).
It was in the backyard of 25 Avenue C where Kate Halpert Klein gave birth to Henry J. Klein, the first of seven children, who was born February 2, 1892. Henry would be followed in order by Ed (July 3, 1893), Irwin (June 9, 1895), Fred (March 28, 1899), Will (January 5, 1901), Helen (September 22, 1907) and Alice (December 5, 1911).
The Kleins later moved from 25 Avenue C to 188 Jerome Street in East New York, Brooklyn, just off Atlantic Avenue. They later would move back to the Lower East Side, near 3rd Street and Lewis Street. They moved yet again, circa 1914, to 865 and 845 Whitlock Avenue in the Bronx near the original Hunts Point Market and just beyond the Manhattan border. (They lived there when the original Yankee Stadium (the House that Ruth Built) was being built in the early 1920's a few miles away).
The seven Klein children were very close, addressing each other as "Brother" and "Sister" followed by their first names throughout their lives. Kate Klein died November 16, 1916 at the age of 45 after battling breast cancer. A beautiful tombstone sits in Mount Hebron cemetery (Flushing, NY) with loving words from Emanuel and the kids. Tragically, "Sister" Helen also died of breast cancer in 1936 at the age of 29. An equally beautiful tombstone sits next to her mother's at Mount Hebron. Emanuel died in 1931. (He is also buried at Mt. Hebron in the Zion S&B Society section at Block 7, Path 20, Section i, Line 10, and Grave #3).
Brother Ed died in 1957; Brother Fred in 1960; Brother Will in 1979; Brother Irwin in 1984, Brother Henry (the oldest) in 1996 and sister Alice (the youngest) in 2006. Ed and Will are buried at Mt. Hebron; Henry is buried at Mt. Ararat on Long Island.
This website was created as a celebration of all their lives in the 19th and 20th centuries as well as their descendents, who today live in the 21st century.
This site was launched December 5, 2005 to coincide with the 94th birthday of our beloved matriarch, Alice Klein Young.
Finally, we dedicate this homepage to the memory of Helen Klein, 60 years after her death, who wrote eerily to Alice to "never forget her" long before she became ill. While gazing into her innocent, child eyes through many photos, I felt her presence in a most powerful way.
Helen never had the chance to have children or live to see her nieces and nephews, their spouses, and their children and grandchildren grow up. But we can see that she adored her baby sister Alice -- and she likely softened up the household of tough, Hungarian men!
From looking at her photos and visiting her grave, I can never be certain that her spirit alone moved me to chronicle our family history. I do know that her spirit is with me and a part of her is certainly in all of us.
--Rich Klein, December 2005 (updated slightly in July 2006)
