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Research in Other Countries => Europe => Topic started by: colee on Monday 07 July 25 07:03 BST (UK)
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I am new to the records in Denmark, I would love any guidance as to where I might find birth, marriage, death records for the Cohen family living in Copenhagen, particularly Jacob Isaacher Cohen who was born in 1745. Jacob's father was Judah I think. They left Denmark when Jacob was small and moved to London. Thank you so much :)
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Guide to resources :
https://www.jewishgen.org/SCANDINAVIA/dk-resources.htm
Danish Jewish genealogy database, no access for non members:
http://tom.brondsted.dk/djgdb/?ged=1&lang=en
Family search catalogue search for Copenhagen :
https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/catalog/results?q.place=Copenhagen%2C%20Denmark
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Thank you fiddlerslass, particularly for the JewishGen link, I've asked the question 'over there' on JewishGen too.
There also seem to be a lot of interesting documents on family search, I'll have to get my eye in with the Danish to work out what they are.
Many thanks for the links.
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Hello Colee,
I have tried to wade through last year's thread on your Cohens, but I confess to defeat ... too little time.
I fear that it is highly unlikely that you will find a birth record for Jacob Issachar Cohen. Jewish communities did not maintain birth registers as the Christian population did. At best, there might be circumcision records from individual models. I have some Danish Jewish ancestors, and getting back past the 1803 census is very difficult.
Do you have any Hebrew records that point towards Jacob Issachar Cohen being the right man?
Justin
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Hi Justin
As you gathered, I have already done plenty of work on this Cohen family, I have a lot of records and evidence to back everything up. As a very brief summary, the man I started with is Judah Cohen who was one of Jacob's 3 sons (the other 2 Edward and Godfrey Alexander). Judah was born in London in 1782. I have his father Jacob's will which mentions these 3 sons as well as his first late wife Esther and 2nd wife Springze. They are also all mentioned in the synagogue (synagogue scribes) records which includes Jacob's marriage info.
Up until a couple of days ago, I had no concrete evidence as to where Jacob was born, I just knew from a note on his son Edward's Freedom of the City record (see attached) that Jacob was born abroad, that Edward was 'son of one of the Hebrew nation, who was not born in England'.
Another descendant in Australia (Godfrey's son John Godfrey sailed to Australia in 1835) on Godfrey's branch has also been doing a lot of research, and discovered in another branch in Australia that an original painting of Godfrey as well as a bible had been handed down. Notes in the bible stated that Jacob was born in Copenhagen in 1745. So that's what I'm trying to back up, and to see what other family members might be documented in Copenhagen.
One other extremely bizarre discovery that I made last year, which now rings possibly true, is a very long newspaper article in the Durham County Advertiser (20 Oct 1821) written 6 years after Jacob's death by a Jonathan Dawnplucker (?) which suggests that Jacob managed to con his way to obtain a doctors degree from Aberdeen in order to authenticate selling some medicine, and made a huge amount of money from it. Whoever wrote the article had a very clear vendetta against Jacob. I had dismissed it all as impossibly bizarre, but now that I have another source pointing to Copenhagen, maybe there's something in it. An old bailey record has testimony from a Jacob Cohen who says he was a slop seller in Rosemary Lane, which is where the article says he worked. There are so many small facts in the article which actually seem to add up. The article talks about a Dr Leo, which was the maiden name of his 2nd wife (according to the synagogue scribes website). I have attached the file for anyone who might have any thoughts on it!
On a first look at the Danish records on Family Search (through the link kindly posted by Fiddlerslass), it appeared that there were Jewish names among the Christian ones, although as I have no Danish I couldn't be sure what I was looking at. I also thought I saw some 1700s census records. I have written to the Jewish community in Copenhagen to see if they can help find any records.
Thank you for your continued help and interest!
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Here are the attachments that didn't load with the message.
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Hello,
I have found more time to read through the story and came across what I suspect is your family tree on Ancestry. I love a good mystery ... with the added spice of the quack Dr. Brodum.
The Hebrew letter ה (ha) before Cohen (or Levi) means 'the', i.e. the Cohen (הכוהן) or the Levite (הלוי).
Turning to Copenhagen, you will find this database of the main Jewish cemetery in Copenhagen very interesting http://tom.brondsted.dk/mosaiskebegravelser/ (http://tom.brondsted.dk/mosaiskebegravelser/) and the original book which formed the basis of the database https://slaegtsbibliotek.dk/920803.pdf (https://slaegtsbibliotek.dk/920803.pdf).
Amongst Danish Jews, men with the Hebrew name Yehuda were generally know by the Yiddish name Leib/Lejb (pronounced 'libe'), which was secularised to Levin. I have come across very incidences of the use of the name Juda. Men with the Hebrew name Yissachar were known by the Yiddish name Ber, which was secularised to Berend/Berendt/Behrend, etc.
This apparent confusion with the use of two names stems from a 12th rabbinical decree that all Jewish boys had to have a Hebrew name and a Yiddish name. There are many legally (Jewish law) defined pairs, such as those cited above.
In the search for Jacob's father, this burial of Lejb Cohen of Lissa (now called Leczno in Poland) on 3 March 1789 caught my eye. http://tom.brondsted.dk/mosaiskebegravelser/?details&id=683&kgrd=1 (http://tom.brondsted.dk/mosaiskebegravelser/?details&id=683&kgrd=1)
This chap would be the perfect candidate if it were not for the fact the Ashkenazi Jews do not generally name their children after living individuals. Jacob's son Judah, who was clearly named after his grandfather, was apparently born in 1782.
Because Yissachar and Ber are an authorised pair, it would be unusual to find an individual called Yissachar son of Ber, as was supposedly the case with the good Dr. Brodum. Generally speaking, a boy would only receive his father's given name if the father had died before the boy was born.
You may have to pay 300 Danish Kroner (£35) to find out more https://3882.foreninglet.dk/memberportal/subscribe/index/123712 (https://3882.foreninglet.dk/memberportal/subscribe/index/123712)
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Hi Justin
Thank you for all that truly interesting and helpful information about the name pairs, which as you say very sadly seems to knock off Leib Cohen of Lissa as a possible fit. Your links though are a wonderful window to Jewish Copenhagen, and I can translate the text courtesy of Google. Hours of fun thank you! It may be that all the information available is through that link which I can happily now access, and there wouldn't be any more after paying the £35 for membership. I will maybe wait another week to see what the Jewish community is able to access. But at least now I have something very concrete to start with, for which I am super grateful!
On Brodum, thank you again for reminding me about this name, I think he is a red herring as I seem to have concluded in my research before (Brodum died in 1824 aged 68 not 1815, address Great Coram Street not Whitechapel, wife Cecilia not Springze) - I should have reread my original Cohen thread where I also posted that same article, apologies for repetition. Brodum must be a different Jacob Cohen to the one I'm researching.
I think I need to nudge the relative in Australia who I've asked to look at the Bible notes which suggest Jacob was born in Copenhagen in 1745, to see what other info there is there.
Thank you so much for your help, I will keep digging :)
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Hello,
I have done a bit more research into the complex subject of naming customs. It was Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews, in particular, who normally (but not always) maintained the custom of only naming children after deceased relatives. Sephardic Jews, on the other hand, did (and do) give the names of living people to newborns. Both practices are customs; there was no Jewish law on the subject.
I would not rule out Leib Cohen at this stage.
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Hi Justin
Your insight on equivalent names is fascinating.
So can Cohen be interchangeable with Levi?
Therefore is it possible that this record on Synagogue Scribes is a daughter of Jacob's? It has Jesse/Shprintsa - daughter of privileged member (which we know Jacob was) Levi Cohen the Warden deceased (which would also fit as Jacob died in 1815).
Family Name COHEN
Forenames Jesse
Hebrew Name Shprintsa (Dau. of a Privd Member)
Event Marriage
Date 1816 [26 Jun]
Father’s Hebrew Name Levi Cohen the Warden deceased
Spouse DAVIDSON Meyer
I'm also interested in the Jonas family, as one of the brothers Godfrey married Frances Jonas. Her record on Synagogue Scribes shows her father is Jesse - what does this normally pair with?
Reference GSM 114/19
Family Name JONAS
Forenames Frances
Hebrew Name Brynla
Event Marriage
Date 1808 [27 Apr]
Father’s Hebrew Name Jesse Sapir [sofer / scribe]
Spouse COHEN Godfrey Alexander
Could this be her father?
Reference GSM 014/7
Family Name JONES
Forenames Henry
Hebrew Name Naphtali Hirtz
Event Marriage
Date 1793 [23 Oct]
Father’s Hebrew Name Yehuda from Cassel
Spouse MYERS Fanny
Jacob had a step son Solomon Cassel from his 2nd wife Springze who was married before Jacob to Dr Leib Cassel.
Maybe I'm not making much sense, but there might be connections in the names which lead me to where they come from, and I could potentially look in the Jewish records from there.
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Hello again,
Levites (levi'im) and Cohens (kohanim) are separate but related groups. All Cohens are Levites, i.e. descended from the Biblical Levi (rhymes with heavy incidentally), one of the 12 sons of the patriarch Jacob. But not all Levites and Cohens.
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2313791/jewish/Kohanim-and-Leviim.htm (https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2313791/jewish/Kohanim-and-Leviim.htm)
Jesse Cohen was the daughter of Levi Barent Cohen, a Dutch Jew. There is an article about him on Wikipedia.
Henry Jones (m. 1793) was not the father of Frances Jonas. The Hebrew names of the two men are different. Her father was Yishai (badly transliterated as Jesse).
Have to board my flight now.