When Rudolph Packheiser arrived in America from Bialystok, Russia in July 1902, his passenger manifest [1] listed his final destination as his Brother-in-law, Ed Mealwitz in Boston, Mass. Although a little tough to read, I believe the information scribbled into the tiny box on the form (starting in the middle of the box on the far right..I used a magnifying glass...on the computer screen!) says:
br.i.l. [brother-in-law] Ed MealwitzNotice the box on the far left? It say $13, the amount of money he had when he arrived.
290, 8 str or 8th, S? [South], Boston Mass
Checking the 1902 Boston city directory we find Edward Mealwitz [2] and 290 Eighth street turns out to be his correct address:
Of course Rudolph is not listed in the 1902 City Directory, or even the 1903 directory, perhaps because of the lead time required to gather the data and publish these volumes. His first appearance in the Boston City Directory is in 1904. He is listed as a Silk Dyer and his home is at
25 Union av J P. J P stands for Jamaica Plains, which is located on the south side of Boston. It was originally part of Roxbury but was annexed by Boston in 1874. By the turn of the century it hosted a large Irish and German immigrant population.
1904 [3] & 1905 [4] City Directory Listing
According to real estate websites Zillow and Realtor, the house below is located at the address 23-25 Union Ave, Jamaica Plains (Boston), MA. The multi-family house was built in 1900. I am not sure if this is the same house The Packheiser family lived in or if the addresses have changed, but this gives you an idea of the neighborhood as it looks in 2013.
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1906 City Directory Listing [5]
The Packheiser's moved in late 1905 or early 1906, perhaps because of the birth of their daughter Helen on July 22, 1905. (More on Helen Later).
Their new address (B) was nearby, on Brookside avenue, only about 1/3 of a mile from their original address on Union Av (A). Ed Mealwitz, on E 8th street (C) was about 5 miles away. These Google maps help put their residences in perspective for anyone familiar with Boston.
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1906 Address Today:
According to real estate websites Zillow and Realtor, this is the house at the address 103 Brookside Ave, Boston, MA 02130. The duplex house was built in 1905. Rudolph Packheiser is listed in the city directory as living here in 1906, one year after it was built, which means he moved into a relatively new house or maybe even built it himself. Birds eye views of the neighborhood reveal that this is one of the last standing family homes in what is now a largely commercial neighborhood. |
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Source:
2- www.Fold3.com,Publication Title: City Directories for Boston, Massachusetts, 1902, Edward Mealwitz, Publisher: Sampson Murdock and Co,Page Number: 340
3- www.Fold3.com,, Publication Title: City Directories for Boston, Massachusetts
State: Massachusetts,1904, Full Name: Packeiser, Rudolph, Publisher: Sampson and Murdock Company,
Page Number: 1363.
4- www.Fold3.com,, Publication Title: City Directories for Boston, Massachusetts
State: Massachusetts,1905, Full Name: Packeiser, Rudolph, Publisher: Sampson and Murdock Company,
Page Number: 1396.
5--www.Fold3.com,, Publication Title: City Directories for Boston, Massachusetts
State: Massachusetts,1906, Full Name: Packeiser, Rudolph, Publisher: Sampson and Murdock Company,
Page Number: 1421.
Research time:
In order to keep track of my time and give readers an idea of how long it takes to locate, research and document Genealogical information, I am tracking my time for each blog post. I found everything for this post online at the $ubscription website Fold3 and also using other free internet sources and my Packhiser family history notebook, where I record everything I am finding. I spent about 5-6 hours working on this posting.
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