52 Ancestors - Favorite Find - Jack Seneft

 As soon as I saw this prompt, I immediately thought of one of my favorite ancestors. My grandfather's uncle Jack. He's one of the side-relatives that I'm utterly fascinated by, even though I have few truly solid pieces of info about him. I don't know the order of Jack and his siblings for certain, I don't know when they moved from what is now Poland to England, or how old he was at that time. I don't even know his birth name, as he was Jewish, and Jack is most definitely an anglicization of another name. My presumption is that his name was Jacob, but I've found nothing that proves that for certain. Even his surname's spelling varies depending on time and record. The two I've seen most often are Seneft and Senefft, though at least this I can attribute to immigration and Hebrew spelling.

So if I know so little about him, why is he my favorite ancestor? Because we share a birthday. Jack was born September 13, 1891, 78 years before I was born. And despite how little I know about him, that makes me very happy.

Jack Seneft was born in what is now southeast Poland in a town called Shendeshov (also known as Sedziszow Makopolski). He was the second youngest of five siblings. I believe he and all his siblings were born in that town, which means the family likely emigrated to England sometime between 1892 and 1899, as the first is the birth year of his youngest sister, and the last is the date that my great-grandfather, one of his elder brothers, apparently served in the English military, according to my grandfather's draft registration paperwork. My great-grandfather was eight years older than his younger brother Jack. I have no information on the siblings' relationship to each other. I don't know that my grandfather even met his uncle Jack.

Which leads me to a story that I cannot prove, but have assumed for a little while now. When my grandfather's family came here from France, one of his uncles was supposed to come to Ellis Island to speak up for them so they could enter the country. He never showed up. Luckily, another family they knew from Germany saw them and stood for them so they were allowed to enter. I have no proof aside from the fact that he lived in New York, but I believe that Jack was that uncle. There were others who were in the country, but none of them were blood relations, and I don't think they lived near the harbor, so Jack would have been the closest, and makes the most sense. I do find it sad that the only story I can attribute to Jack is this story, where he may have forgotten to help my grandfather and his family. 

So what do I know about Jack? Well, his birthdate and location, which come from his naturalization record. I know he was one of five children, as one of the few Census records I have for his parents lists her only having five children. I also know that he worked for his eldest brother, Isaac Senefft in England as a tailor, which was a very common trade for Jewish immigrants. I know that he came to America, boarding the Lusitania (yes, that Lusitania) in Liverpool, England in 1911, and arrived in March of that year in New York. I know he wasn't the first in his family to come to America. His elder sister, Anne, had married and moved to America with her husband, settling in Memphis, Tennessee, so she was how he was able to enter the country. I know she came before him as her husband is listed on Jack's entry of his passenger list as his contact. And while I'm not entirely certain, I am fairly sure he lived in greater New York City until his death in 1948.

He's a fun find. Before I found his death record in New York, I had only a name. Not even a birth date or location. I like to imagine a young man, alone in New York and loving it, away from the structure of family keeping him in a box. From what I have been able to determine, he never married. Single and loving it. He was definitely a New Yorker at heart. And I'm very glad I found him.

If anyone has photos of him, I'd love to finally see his face. And if you have any information on this man, I'd love to know more about him.