My grandfather
Samuel Buyer, son of Louise Stein and Edward Buyer
On the Stein side
- Stein and Grunbaum families in
Ceradice, Bohemia and New York
On the Buyer side
- includes Beier/Bayer/Buyer, Feldman,
Weisskopf, Loewy, Reich and related families in Kasejovice, Bohemia, New York, and California
The Bayer/Buyer family lived in Kasejovice, southwestern Bohemia, south
of Pilsen, where there had been Jewish families from the
1500s.
A word about Jewish names: hereditary surnames as we
know them today
were not in common use by Ashkenazic Jews prior to 1787. People
used a
given name followed by a place name or their father's name (as in David
ben
Gurion, David son of Gurion), or other variations. In an attempt
to
assimilate the Jewish population, and gain administrative control, in
1787 the
Austro-Hungarian Emperor Josef decreed that all Jews would assume legal
surnames.
The early records of Kasejovice (see The Jews of Kasejovice
below)
show a number of Jewish families, including, in 1719, a Lobl
Samuel, Marek
Samuel, and Herman Samuel, merchants. In 1785, the Jewish census
of
Kasejovice lists a Josef Samohel (Samuel), who, according to edict,
took the
surname Bayer. It would appear that this Josef Samuel was our
ancestor
Samuel Bayer. However, it is not completely clear, given the
varied ways
that earlier Jews named themselves, whether the Samuels of 1719 were
related.
The Bayers were shopkeepers (piece goods) in Kasejovice. The
Bayer family
occupied cottage #2 next to the Jewish school. A Samuel Bayer,
perhaps the
son of Josef Samuel/Bayer, married Theresa Feldman. A Markus Feldmann
is listed in the FAMILIANT BOOK of Region Prachensky, villages of
Prachatice, Protivin, Precin, Rozmital, Lnare (same listing as
Bayers). This was the list of Jewish males authorized to marry.
Other related families found in early documentation of
Kasejovice include the
Löwys, Feldmans, Freuds, Rosenfelds.
A brief vignette posted to the BohMor mailing list by Celia
Male about Kasejovice:
"We get a glimpse into the extent of
festivities in this era in this account: On Good Friday 10 April 1799,
a Judenball was held in Kassejowitz {Hugo Gold: Juden und
Judengemeinde, Bohmens, Brunn-Prag 1934 p. 263]. This was Purim ball
[not a wedding] with music and dance. To hold it on Good Friday was
strictly forbidden [Hofdekret 5 March 1796/Verordnung 15 Feb 1799].
Jakob BASCH of House XVII, the householder, pleaded ignorance. Others
who were indicted inc. Isak FREUND, Ezekiel ORENSTIL, Gabriel NEUMANN
and the Rabbi [three day's house arrest!]. The five musicians were
arrested for 12 hours. Even the poor district police commissioner was
threatened with the loss of his job if he forgot to report a similar
breach again!"
Edward Bayer emigrated to New York sometime before 1873.
At some point he
changed his name to Buyer. It is unclear just when this occured. His 1873
marriage license with Louise Stein lists his surname as "Bayer." There is a listing in the 1870 census for Paterson, NJ, for an
Edward Buyer, born Austria, age 28, retail fancy store, with partner
Bernard Pesseles.
The Stein and Grunbaum families were from Saazer Kreis in Bohemia. Louis Stein Buyer and her brother Albert Stein were born in Tscheraditz, now known as Ceradice near Zatec (see Albert Stein passport applications). Louise and Albert's father Samson Stein was a door-to-door peddler in Tscheraditz in the mid-1800s.
RECOMMENDED LINKS:
Weidenthal Family
