>>Our Family Story <<

Click Here for the Ellis Island Site. Now you can actually find and view your ancestors records upon their entering America through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924. See actual manifests, ships photos, etc.

An amazing site. You must register (free) to view records.

Click Here to view the Chaiken Arrivals At The Port Of New York 1893-1924

Our ancestors came to America during the peak immigration years between 1880 and 1924.

Despite the emotional pain of leaving family friends and home, these travelers hoped that their life in America would somehow be better.

They walked, used horsedrawn carriages and traveled by trains to reach the harbors where the steamships departed for America.

Before boarding their ships steerage class passengers had to take an antiseptic bath, have their baggage fumigated and be examined by steamship company doctors.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s the cost of steerage class passage was approximately $25.00 for each passenger.

Second cabin passage was $50.00 for an adult and $25.00 for a child. Second cabin passage meant private staterooms and exemption from the intense scrutiny upon arriving in New York.

Where They Lived
Most of our Chazanov ancestors settled in Philadelphia in the South Philadelphia section.

In many ways life was quite different from the villages in Russia, but in many ways quite the same. It was a clustered life, divided into sections by nationality.

The women worked hard right alongside the men and in many cases, the women did all the work while the men congregated at the synagogues.

The living conditions were crowded and not always clean. Families of five and six lived in one or two rooms.

My great grandmother and grandmother both had stalls on 4th street where they sold yarn goods and buttons. These stalls developed into viable retail businesses.

This page is in memory of Mire Chaiken Chazanoff and Manya Chazanoff Sovel, my great grandmother and grandmother. Without their hardwork and dilligence our family would not be where it is today.

#1...The Train station in Bremen, Germany where many of our ancestors departed from.

#2...Mire and Bernard Chazanoff immigrated on the S.S. Potsdam in 1907. The 547' ship held 280 first class passengers, 210 2nd cabin class passengers and 1800 steerage passengers.

#3...South Philadelphia...1910

#4...Stands (pushcarts) on 4th Street in Philadelphia

#5...1995...The mens furnishing store that Manya Chazanoff and her husband Solomon Sovel owned in the 1920s and 1930s....Today a restaurant.

This site requires the newset Flash plug-in for viewing and navigation. Click the button at left to download.