X61 Y 88 W 528 H 33
Gotts Surname Family History
130 - Morris Gotts/Gottz from Kovno
Whilst many Gottses have originated from England, this is a family where the name has the same sound, but a different source:
- Morris 4858 ‘Gottz’ is listed in the US 1910 census in Atlantic City, Precinct 4, New Jersey, USA, b 1880 in Kovno, Russia with his family:
- Lena Cohen 4859 Levin wife born 1882 in Kovno, Russia
- Samuel David 4856 b 1904 Atlantic City
- Julius 4860 b 1906 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Rosie 4861 b 1908 Philadelphia
- Esther 4862 b 1911 Philadelphia
- Lewis/Luis 4863 b 1913 Atlantic City, New Jersey
Kovno was part of Russia, but is now in Lithuania: see right, bottom centre. It was set up as a governate of Russia. It was in the Pale of Settlement, an area where Jews could legally reside and avoid the Pogroms, but it was not an easy life and many fled abroad. See Wikipedia
So it is possible Morris had family in USA already.
1920 census
From this census we see the whole family, and whilst the family was renting their house both Morris and Lena were naturalised and could read and write. Morris is listed as bottling soda water, and working for himself, so he appears to be doing well. The census records that they had come to USA in 1900.
Samuel David in WW2
Samuel married, though we don’t know when, and had at least one son Allen Gerald in 1929. By 1943 he was old enough to be drafted into the army.
His draft card shows where he was living, and also notes his father Samuel David as the next of kin.
We can also see several members of the family being buried in the Jewish cemetery King David Memorial Gardens, Fairfax County, Virginia. Findagrave has recorded some of these, and someone, presumably a family member, has added the family tree to Ancestry. Click on the links below to see them. It does record where Morris and Lena were buried.