STORY: Jacobson Odyssey

The following was constructed from several lengthly phone conversations with Victoria Jacobson Cromwell in 2011.

Once upon a time in a village in far away Turkish Armenia a beautiful young women lived in dutiful marriage with a significantly older man. She had born two strong sons to this significantly older man and was dutifully raising them when a fast talking American of Armenian birth came to town. "I am a wealthy man in America, but I am in need of a wife to spend my fortune. Come with me and we will walk the golden streets together."

Apparently the beautiful young woman found this offer inviting, even after she discovered that the fast talking stranger was only willing to pay passage for one of her two sons. It was decided that the younger son, David, would be ticketed, and the older son, John, would stow away. David would sustain John during the long voyage by sneaking food to him.

This evolving family arrived at New York City in 1891 - perhaps one of the last to disembark at Castle Garden (Ellis Island opened for business soon after). By means unknown they found their way to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and made Fairfield County their home for the rest of their lives.

David proved to be an able student and eventually qualified to attend Yale in some capacity. (I have had no luck finding a record of this attendence) He rode his bicycle from Bridgeport to New Haven to attend Yale until his academic ascendance abruptly ended at age 21 in a battle lost to disease (probably pneumonia).

John's star rose not so high but burned much longer. In 1906, immediately after attaining the legal age of 21, John applied for citizenship and it was granted. Before 1910, John returned to Constantinople to find a bride. There he married Margaret Babikian and their first child, Marie, was born.

The new family returned to America in the Winter of 1912-3. John could not deal with the excretory excesses of the newborn and so Margaret prepared 44 diapers to last them for the duration. After each changing John would dutifully and gingerly propel the fouled nappy to the stern quarter and preside over its burial at sea.

On the Origin of the Jacobson name

My notes show that June Reopel thought she remembered that the name may have sounded like "ya-go-bi-an" in Armenian. And that the person in line ahead of them was named Jacobson, and that sounded close enough, so they adopted it. (I have done some research that shows that Hagobian would be the Armenian equivalent to Jacobson, so that is consistent.)

Victoria Jacobson Cromwell remembered another story:

John somehow got off the boat and made his way to a street corner in New York. There he met two young boys who offered him a smoke. While they were indulging, a policeman stopped and questioned them. John (perhaps concerned about the legal consequences of stowing away) posed as a member of the family and his new friends took him to their home. Their family name was Jacobson, so he took that name for himself.

The first story seems more plausible, the second more interesting.

Time passes and we are nearing the end of the 1920s

It is not clear if John and David's mother (her name may have been Rose or Rosa) ever married her fast talking mate. It is not clear under what name they lived in Bridgeport. Victoria remembers visiting her "grandparents" in their corner apartment located "catty corner" from Warren G Harding High School. She thinks he used the given name ???.

I have searched street directories in the area for homes having Rose and ??? living within and have not yet been successful.

A Work in Progress - above completed 2012 OCT 27

Following Update Begun 2023 MAY 23

We have a pretty good handle on the history of John Jacobson in America from his naturalization papers, trip to Turkey, birth records of his children, and presence in US Census records. With regard to David, their mother, and the "step-father", the opposite is true. I have been unsuccessful in finding any immigration or naturalization records for them. I have found no mention of them in census records, and I have yet to locate any marriage or death records for them. While I have not exhausted all avenues of inquiry, as yet, I have decided that the effort is too great to be pursued at this time, and so am declaring this a Brick Wall and placing further research on the back burner.

Before doing so, I want to document some findings that should bring things up to date:

We are fortunate that the City of Bridgeport has a quite complete set of city directories available on-line for years before 1895 to after 1930. The following table summarizes my findings regarding the Jacobson name in Bridgeport during that time period. (I did explore some surname alternatives, but only pages containing Jacobson are reported here.)

1895: no listing 1896: no listing 1897: Jacob, coachman, 186 Stratford Ave 1898: same 1899: Jacob, saloon, 673/5/8 Washington 1900: same 1901: same 1902: same 1903: Jacob, removed to Denmark David, H + E Silver, 1519 Seaview
I chose to assume that all listings for Jacob thru 1903 are for the same man and he is NOT Armenian.

Also note that David appears in city directories before John!

1904: David, H + E Silver, 1519 Seaview 1905: David, W Bros, 309 Bunnell 1906: David, ---, 319 Bunnell Jacob, H + E Silver, 319 Bunnell John, Am G, 319 Bunnell
1906 is year of John's Naturalization, and his address is 319 Bunnell!!! This key entry establishes this entry as OUR John Jacobson, and supports linkage to David and Jacob. (NOTE: "Am G" is American Graphaphone - also matching naturalization)

1907: no listing 1908: no listing 1909: no listing 1910: no listing 1911: no listing 1912: no listing
Note that this period conforms roughly with John's sojourn in Turkey - could the family have reverted to another surname?

(Emma was born in 1912 at 189 Hallam St. Her birth surname was recorded as "Gepcapsons")

1913: Jacob, barber, 1896 Seaview 1914: same 1915: John, S Mfg, 195 Holly (no Jacob)
David born 1913 at 300 Hallett - surname recorded as Gepsons.

1916: David, mach, 110 Holly Jacob, Am G Co, 437 Broad John, restaurant, 1536 Seaview, lv 110 Holly
Last reference to David.
Dorothy born at 110 Holly - surname recorded as Tacelson/Tacslson

1917: Jacob, Am G Co, 192 Nichols John R A + A Co, 173 Pixlee 1918: John R A + A Co, 173 Pixlee 1919: Jacob, Jacobson Bros, 548 State, lv173 Federal (with Phillip, Electrical and Plumbing Contractors) John R A + A Co, 173 Pixlee 1920: Jacob, Jacobson Bros, 548 State, lv173 Federal (with Phillip, Electrical and Plumbing Contractors) John R A + A Co, 173 Pixlee 1921: David, ---, 1129 Stratford Ave (not ours, living with Irving) (no Jacob) John, mach, 173 Pixlee 1922: John, mach, 173 Pixlee
More about Jacobson Bros later

1923: Jacob(Rose), H + E Silver, 267 Prince John(Anna(?)), mach, 173 Pixlee 1924: David (not ours) Jacob(Rose), H + E Silver, 267 Prince [Jacoposon] John(Marg), elect, 238 Hewitt 1925: Jacob(Rose) rem to Stratford [Jacopson] John(Marg), elect, 238 Hewitt 1926: [Jacoposon] John(Marg), elect, 238 Hewitt 1927: [Jacoposon] John(Marg), elect, 238 Hewitt 1928: [Jacopson] John(Marg), elect, 238 Hewitt 1929: [Jacoposon] John(Marg), elect, 238 Hewitt Mrs Rosa, 1915 Seaview 1930: John(Marg), elec, 238 Hewitt 1931: same going forward
Maybe Jacob died in Stratford, but not found in state death index. (Could he have returned to Turkey?)
No Rose found after 1929, but no death found in state index!
After 1929 John stopped using a modified name in the directories.

Jacobson Bros

When I found the reference to Jacobson Bros (1919-1920) I did a slipshod dive into the New Haven directories. I do not think my findings are conclusive, but they are somewhat intriquing.

1910: Jacob P, chauffer
1911: Phillip, New York Elec Const, lv 1 Sylvan
1912: Phillip, New York Elec Const, lv 1 Sylvan
1913: Phillip, elec, lv 1 Sylvan
1914: Phillip, elec, lv 1 Sylvan
1915: Phillip, Broadway Illuminating, lv 22 Hurlburt
1916: Phillip, elec, lv 22 Hurlburt
1917: Phillip, Roosenstock and Jacobson, lv 22 Hurlburt
      Jacob, plumber, 46 1/2 Hurlburt
1918: Phillip, elec contractor, lv 607 Elm
      Jacob rem to Bridgeport
1919: Phillip, elec contractor, lv 607 Elm
1920: no further references found

The Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer
Wed Dec 01 1920

There are gaps in Jacob's time in Bridgeport that could fit the New Haven listings, so I dug a bit into Phillip and found that he was born 1881 DEC 20 in Russia, and served in the Russian artillery. That does not seem a good fit for a brother of our Jacob.

Revisiting Victoria's Story

I must be grateful to Victoria for introducing David and setting the general background. I do think, however, that some of the details can be questioned.

Birth Order: If John was the older brother, then why does David show up first in the directories? Clearly John was 21 in 1906. David is already in the workforce three years prior.
David Dead at 21: David appears to be in the workforce in 1904 and in 1916, so how could he be dead at 21?
David Cycling to Yale: I wrote to Yale records office and they found no evidence of a David Jacobson. If there was a relationship with a Jacobson (Phillip) in New Haven, I could see David cycling there to work or visit.
Arrival in 1891: On his naturalization petition, John reported arriving in 1900 at New York. I have found no evidence of the family in America prior to 1900, but this does not disprove Victoria. I have yet to find the immigration records.
Living Near Harding High School: None of the addresses found in the directories are near Harding HS. It is north of route 1 and all the Jacobson addresses are south and east.