The Jews of Galveston

 The City of Galveston, sitting on the Southeastern tip of Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico, has been home to Jewish people for over 200 years. In 1816, the brothers Joa and Mora de la Porte, who were of Portuguese birth, provided the funds to build the first settlememnt of Europeans in Galveston.

This act was the first of many milestones that marked the history of the Jews in Galveston. Amongst these were the following;

1. In 1852, the residents of Galveston established the first Jewish Cemetery in Texas.
2. The first organized Jewish services were held in 1856.
3. During the time of the Civil War, most residents of Galveston left the area, however one Jewish woman, Rosanna Osterman stayed behind. She was a pioneer of Galveston and also a Civil war nurse. She helped created the first Jewish cemetery in Galveston. In 1862, she turned her home into a hospital to treat Union soldiers. Then as it became needed, she also opened it to confererate soldiers.
   
   
   
4. In 1868, Congregation B'nai Israel (photo at right) was opened as the first Jewish Reform congregation chartered in Texas, and the was only the second Jewish congregation in the state of Texas. Later in  1875, the congregation became one of the charter members of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
5. Henry Cohen, a rabbi at B'nai Israel, was one of the founders of the Galveston Movement in the early part of the 1900's. Between 1907 and 1914, the Galveston Movement worked to bring Jews who were fleeing Russia and other places in eastern Europe to Galveston. Over 10,000 Jews arrived during this time.

There are a lot of genealogical records for the State of Texas,which include Galveston island, available at FamilySearch. The best way to access these records is through the FamilySearch wiki.

Texas, Naturalization Records, 1906-1989

Another new collection that will be very helpful for those looking for their Jewish ancestors has now

been added to the collections at FamilySearch. That collection, the Texas, Naturalization Records, 1906-1989, features naturalization records held by the National Archives- Southwest Region. The majority of the collection is comprised of indexes and declarations of Intent.
This collection, which as of today has over 85,000 images will continue to grow over time as more images become available and the records are indexed.
The image below, is the Declaration of Intent for Max Cohen, who was born in Russia in 1875, and declared his intent in 1917.

This is a great source for all those whose family ended up in Texas.

Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1935

 It seems that almost daily new databases are becoming available at www.familysearch.org that will be a benefit to those researching their Jewish ancestors. One of the new databases should be very helpful to those whose families settled in the state of Texas. Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1935 is now available in the Historical Collections of FamilySearch.
So many of our Jewish ancestors entered the United States through the Port of Galveston and then made their homes in Texas. This database is not only name searchable but also includes the original images. As of now it has over 1.5 million images and 3.1 million records. Those numbers will continue to grow as the records are added to. When you search by name, a transcription of the original certificate is made available. The record below is the transcription for the 1913 birth of Moses Rosenblatt.

The transcription gives the majority of the information including names of the parents and date and place of birth. However, if you click on the view image tab, you may find additional information. For this entry the original does indeed add more details.

We now know the father was a butcher and both parents are identified as being Hebrew. It should be noted that since this database contains records from many different jurisdictions not all the records look the same or provide the same information. Regardless, it can be a very useful tool for Texas Jewish families.