The Ochs family
Tillie’s family of Świrz
Tillie Bald was born an Ochs (also written Oks, Aks and Ax) in Świrz. Two Ochs brothers came to New York before her: David Ax, born at Świrz in 1877 and naturalized in 1910, and Elkunah (Elkuny) Ochs, who died in Manhattan in 1920.
David’s 1904 marriage and Elkunah’s 1920 death record both name their parents: Shapse (Shabsai) Ochs and Freide (Frieda) née Schleider. Elkunah’s death certificate has now been seen in the original: “Elkuny Ochs”, a carpenter of 124 Goerck Street, born 20 July 1886, son of Shapse Ochs and Frieda Schleider. The ties to Tillie are firm: Isaac Bald’s 1907 passenger list calls David his brother-in-law, David witnessed Isaac’s 1931 petition, Elkunah lies in the same Mestretyn plot as Isaac and Tillie, and Tillie’s Find a Grave biography, written by a descendant, names Elkunah as her brother. Her sons’ marriage certificates of 1926 and 1933 give her maiden name as Ochs. So Shapse and Freide, graded likely before, are now CONFIRMED as Tillie’s parents.
A “Frieda Ox” buried on 28 June 1908 in the same Mestretyn plot is possibly Tillie’s mother; nothing yet ties that burial to her. “Mestretyn” is not a town: it is “me-Stretyn”, “of Stretyn”. The society is the Chewra Ateres Jehuda Zwee me-Stretyn, from Stratyn, the home of the Stretyn Hasidic circle, with plots at Mount Zion, Beth David and Mount Hebron.
The Świrz books themselves have now been read, page by page. Szapsa Ochs, a merchant of Świrz, died there on 6 December 1919, aged 75. Name, town and age fit Tillie’s father, so this is likely him (Likely). The entry calls him the ritual husband of Pesie Ochs: he had married again. Pesche Oks, “ritual wife of Schaps Oks”, a daughter of Nuta and Ryfka Oks, died in 1920.
Tillie’s mother was possibly the Freide Oks, daughter of Nute and Heni Malke Oks, who died in Świrz on 13 September 1887 aged 35 (Possible). Her age fits, and in 1898 Tillie named a daughter Scheindel Freide, after someone no longer living. Against it, the New York records call the mother Freide Schleider. If Freide’s father Nute and Pesche’s father Nuta were the same man, Shapse possibly married two sisters in turn.
Two generations further back there is possibly an older Oks couple: Szapse and Taube Oks, labourers of Świrz, born in the late 1700s. Their son Nuta died in January 1910 aged 93, and their daughter Scheindel in April 1898 aged 85. Tillie’s father and Tillie herself carry their names, Shapse and Taube, which suggests, without proving, that they were Tillie’s great-grandparents (Possible).
Other Ochs and Oks entries in the same books, such as the marriage of Luser Ochs, son of David and Gittel, to Chaje Warem, are possibly collateral kin. No civil marriage of Isaac Bald and Tillie Ochs appears in the Świrz marriage book, which fits a religious wedding registered only through the children.
At a glance
| Shapse (Shabsai, Szapsa) Ochs | b. c.1844 · d. 6 Dec 1919, Świrz Confirmed |
|---|---|
| Freide (Frieda) Ochs, née Schleider | great-great-grandmother of the three sisters (father’s side) Confirmed |
| David Ax (Ochs) | b. 25 Apr 1877, Świrz Confirmed |
| Elkunah (Elkuny) Ochs | b. 20 Jul 1886, Austria · d. 20 Jan 1920, Manhattan · Mount Zion Cemetery, Maspeth: Mestretyn society, 13L-16-179 Confirmed |
| Tillie (Toba Miriam, Taube) Bald, née Ochs | b. 28 Aug 1875, Świrz · d. 11 Jun 1950, Bronx · Mount Zion Cemetery, Maspeth: Mestretyn society, 13L-16-33-179 Confirmed |
| Pesche (Pesie) Ochs, née Oks | d. 1920, Świrz Possible |
| Szapse Oks of Świrz | b. c.1780s–1790s Possible |
| Taube Oks of Świrz | b. c.1780s–1790s Possible |
| Nuta Oks | b. c.1817 · d. January 1910, Świrz Possible |
| Scheindel Oks | b. c.1813 · d. April 1898, Świrz Possible |
Records and stones
Living relatives appear by name and relation only.