Media - Documenting Maine Jewry

1940 US Federal Census Data Old Orchard Beach
Where one member of the family was an East European immigrant
Data extracted by DMJ consultants (2020)

Name	date of birth	place of birth	marriage status	relation to head of household	address	occupation	industry	residence in 1935	highest grade	days worked in prior year
Fredrick Robinson	1874	Poland	m	hoh	32			Bridgeport, CT	High School, 4th year
Herman Gerrich	1886	Poland	m	hoh	5 Beach St.	Selectman	Government		High School, 1st year	52
Rebecca Goodkowsky	1867	Poland	m	wife	Cleaves St.				Elementary School, 8th grade
Joseph Goodkowsky	1867	Poland	m	hoh	Cleaves St.	Proprietor				10
Lena Robinson	1880	Odessa, Russia	m	wife	32	Proprietess		Miami, FL	College, 2nd year
Sara Usen	1883	Russia	m	hoh	4 1/2 Old Orchard St.	Manager			Elementary School, 8th grade	18
Jacob Sudenfeild	1900	Russia	m	hoh	Carl Ave.	Proprietor			Elementary School, 6th grade	25
Anna Sudenfeild	1905	Russia	m	wife	Carl Ave.	Manager			High school, 4th year	25
Morris Silverman	1880	Russia	m	hoh	4 Kinney St	Laborer			Elementary School, 8th grade	14
Rose Silverman	1884	Russia	m	wife	4 Kinney St	Proprietess			High School, 1st year	10
Goldie Silverman	1907	Maine	s	daughter	4 Kinney St				High School, 1st year
Bessie Millman	1900	Russia	w	hoh	7 Kinney St				Elementary School, 7th grade
Goldie Millman	1919	New Hampshire	s	daughter	7 Kinney St	Waitress	Restaurant		High school, 4th year
Gertrude Harrisburg	1885	Russia	w	mother	5 Flint St				Elementary School, 8th grade
Samuel Harrisburg	1900	Maine	m	hoh	5 Flint St	Proprietor			High School, 3rd year	10
Frances Harrisburg	1906	Maine	m	wife	5 Flint St				High school, 4th year
Shirley Harrisburg	1932	Maine	s	daughter	5 Flint St				Elementary school, 2nd grade
Robert Harrisburg	1935	Maine	s	son	5 Flint St
Dora Goldberg	1884	Russia	w	hoh	8 Beach St.				High school, 1st year
Sophia Goldstein	1880	Russia	m	wife	90 East Grand Ave.	Clerk			High school, 1st year	30
Ludwig Goldstein	1865	Russia	m	hoh	90 East Grand Ave.	Proprietor			High school, 4h year	30
Ida Goldstein	1914	Maine	s	daughter	90 East Grand Ave.				High school, 4th year
Harry Goldstein	1914	Maine	s	son	90 East Grand Ave.	Salesman	Boston, MA		High school, 1st year	22
Harry Fineburg	1873	Russia	m	hoh	20 Staples Street	Proprietor			Elementary school, 7th grade	26
Celia Fineburg	1883	Russia	m	wife	20 Staples Street				Elementary school, 8th grade	26
Robert Fineburg	1927	Maine	s	grandson	20 Staples Street				Elementary school, 6th grade
David Dopkeen	1877	Russia	w	father in law	70 East Grand Ave.		Albany, NY		High school, 4th year

Methodological notes :


	This data was culled from the original U.S. census manuscripts, as found on www.ancestry.com. Jews are understood to constitute an ethnic group of Eastern and Central European origin characterized by common names and occupational pursuits, as well as a distinctive language. This definition lends itself well to analysis of the data preserved in census records.
	Two primary methods were used to identify Jews:
	1. Individuals born abroad whose mother tongue is "Yiddish," "Jewish," or "Hebrew" were automatically included in the spreadsheet, as were all members of their families.
	2. For individuals born abroad whose mother tongue was another Eastern or Central European language (e.g., Russian, Polish, German), or individuals born in the U.S. with one or more parents from Eastern or Central Europe, we examined surnames, given names within a household, and occupations in light of common Jewish characteristics. This method of analysis is, of course, subject to inaccuracy, as we may have excluded Jews with uncommon names or occupations or included non-Jews whose characteristics appear Jewish. Individuals listed with the annotation "nj?" in the far right-hand column are those whose Jewish ancestry is plausible but questionable.
	This method of analysis easily misses Jewish households whose members' parents were all born in the United States. In 1930 Maine, however, such households were quite rare. Special efforts were made to identify households of this nature in Portland, where they constituted less than 1% of identified Jewish households.
	All members of a household containing a Jew are included in the spreadsheet, with the exception of Jewish lodgers and servants, who are listed individually. Household members who are evidently not Jewish (such as non-Jewish servants and some spouses or in-laws) are listed with the annotation "nj."
	Information on place of birth
	Some people replied with the name of the place when they left; others replied with the name of place when the census was taken; in other cases it just seems that it was easier for the census taker to write ‘Russia’ rather than Lithuania, Ukraine or other unfamiliar country names.
	And there is another reason to be skeptical of the accuracy of the place of birth information. Immigrants from the Pale had a very justified fear of the Russian and often local governments. One way to manage this reality was to tell government representatives what they expected they wanted to hear or what they thought would bring them the least trouble. This may well explain why a number of family members, who were clearly from Eastern Europe, may have answered ‘Maine’ or ‘New York’.

Last Updated : Jan 2 , 2021

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1940 US Federal Census Data Old Orchard Beach Where one member of the family was an East European immigrant Data extracted by DMJ consultants (2020)

Methodological notes :

1940 US Federal Census Data Old Orchard Beach
Where one member of the family was an East European immigrant
Data extracted by DMJ consultants (2020)