OLD TRENTON
I was just randomly exploring Trenton Vines on Ancestry.com, looking to fill in some missing cousin information. One very interesting link appeared. There was a news article in The Times of Trenton, on 2 February 1913, page 2, that caught my eye. Here is a copy:
Most of the names sounded familiar! I don’t know if in 1913 you needed to pay to have a social event covered by the paper, but I really think there was a good chance that The Times was more than happy to fill its pages with news of the social leaders of the city, or their children.
Just so you don’t have to look them up, or decipher the fine print, here is a footnoted version of the article. I am not going to meditate on the meanings hidden in the notice, except to say that working on this has given me a very strange feeling of time traveling back to 1913.
BIRTHDAY PARTY
Miss Fannie Lavine1 celebrated the tenth anniversary of her birth yesterday afternoon and entertained a number of her young friends. The home2 was decorated with palms and carnations. Little Miss Lavine is a member of the sixth grade of the Lutheran School. She received many beautiful and costly presents. Refreshments were served. Piano solos were rendered by her sisters, the “triplets,” Bessie, Mamie and Pearl Lavine3. Ida Alexander and Fannie Lavine also rendered solos.
The guests were: Lillian L. Vine4, Ida Vine5, Mamie Vine6, Pauline Vine6, Lillian H. Vine4, Anna Fleisher, Mamie Gordon, Rachel Malin, Dora Lavine7, Lillian Millner8, Benjamin Vine9 and Benjamin Lavine10.
FOOTNOTES:
1 Fannie, who, as an adult, went by Fay C. or Fay Z., was born on 2 February 1903 in Trenton, so the party was actually one day before her birthday; the date of the article was actually her tenth birthday. She passed away 26 January 2001. Her mother was Dora/Dvora Vine (1866-1926), daughter of Benjamin Vine of Lida, Belarus (abt. 1834-1901). Her father was Joseph/Yossel Lavine (1863-1933), son of Bernard Levin, of the Bergman family. Her paternal grandmother was Celia Vine, sister of Benjamin Vine. Joseph Lavine and Dora Vine, Fannie’s parents, were first cousins.
2 In the 1912 Trenton Directory, her family is listed at 60 Union Street. In the 1915 Directory, they have moved to 127 Jackson. Perhaps the birthday party also celebrated a new house for the family.
3Her sisters were actually triplets, born on 22 July 1898 in Trenton. Bessie passed away 24 May 1966, Mamie (or Mae) in 1979 and Pearl on 2 December 1927. Perhaps use of the term “triplets” was unusual in 1913. Or perhaps they were never referred to by their given names!
4 Lillian L. Vine and Lillian H. Vine were first cousins of Fannie and of each other. I do not know which was which. One Lillian Vine, whose middle name is unknown to me, was the daughter of Aaron (who went by Harry) Vine (1871-1932), son of Benjamin Vine. This Lillian was born 12 January 1904, and died 20 October 1918, a victim of the Spanish Flu. The other, whose middle name I have as Ruth, was the daughter of Louis Vine (1870-1944), another son of Benjamin Vine. She was born in 1907 and died 10 April 2005. Harry Vine’s wife was Sarah Rivka Berkowitz (1877-1954). Louis Vine’s wife was Sarah Millner (1879-1944), sister of my grandfather Frank. I do not know who the Lillians were named after.
5 Ida Vine was another first cousin of everyone. She was born 30 March 1905 and died 7 January 1998. She was the daughter of Isaac Vine (brother of Dora, Harry, Israel, and Louis, lived abt. 1862-1945).
6 Mamie and Pauline were the representatives of the Israel Vine (1873-1954) family. Israel was another son of Benjamin. Mamie went by Molly as an adult. Born in March, 1903, she died 1 December 1968. Pauline was born 4 January 1906, and died 5 March 1993. Their mother was Clara Lidsky.
7 Dora Lavine’s family went by “Levine”. Her father, Philip Levine, was the brother of Joseph Lavine, so Fannie and her sisters were her first cousins. But her grandmother was Celia Wein, sister of Benjamin, so all of the Vine cousins at the party were her second cousins. Dora was born 21 July 1903, and died in July, 1995. Her mother was Mamie Aroniss.
8 Lillian R. Millner was technically only a cousin of one other guest: Lillian Vine. Her father, Albert, was a brother of Sarah Millner, wife of Louis Vine of Note 3. (Since I don’t know if Sarah’s daughter was Lillian L. or Lillian H., I can’t tell you specifically which one was Lillian R.’s cousin.) Lillian R. Millner was born in September, 1907, and died 28 October 1988. Lillian’s husband was Joshua Levin, a nephew of Joseph Lavine and Philip Levine. She had to marry into the Lavine family so that Fannie/Fay and Dora would be her cousins by marriage.
9 Benjamin Vine was most likely the brother of Lillian Vine (daughter of Louis Vine and Sarah Millner). He was born in 1903 (like Fannie) and, like his cousin Lillian Vine, died in 1918 of the flu. It is just possible that the guest at the party was actually another Benjamin Vine, son of Israel and brother of Pauline. But this other Benjamin Vine was born on 12 May 1909, so he was then under four years old and would have been the youngest guest.
10 Benjamin Lavine was the brother of Fannie, star of the show. He was born 22 December 1905 and died 15 October 1973.
Fred Millner
19 December 2020
