As discussed in the preceding chapter, the patriarch of our branch of the Polonsky family in America was Nathan Polonsky, born around the time of the American Civil War, in Shpola, Russia. He and his wife Bessie Polonsky represent the first generation of the Polonsky family in America.
Nathan and Bessie had eight children, including three sons – Louis Isadore, Joseph, and Leon, and five daughters – Vera, Fannie, Pauline, Rachil, and Ruth, all born in Russia, between 1884 and 1907. These eight children, representing the second Polonsky generation in America, founded eight distinct branches of the Polonsky family (see Figure 8). Read More…