• HOME
• Family American SURNAME
  • Ruben CHARGO
  • Charles GOLDENBERG and GARFINKEL
  • Solomon GREENBERG
  • Abel HAMMERMAN
  • Abraham MILLER
  • Benjamin MILLER
  • Harry SHANKMAN and SKOLNICK
  • Louis TUROW
• Historical DOCUMENTS
  • U.S. Naturalizations
  • U.S. Census Data
  • War Draft Registrations
  • Immigrant Ship Passenger Manifests
  • Immigrant Ship Photos and Information
  • Family Documents
  • Family Relationship Charts
  • Cemetery Records
• Photo Gallery

Family Benjamin & Lena MILLER 

(MELAMED & SHARGORODSKY)

Ben & Lena MILLER  (MELAMED & SHARGORODSKY)

	Lena, Julius (Navy), Herman, Ben Bernard holding Robert and Vera with Ronald circa 1946
Benjamin and Lena MILLER

Benjamin and Leah (Lena) nee Shargorodsky (CHARGO) MILLER (MELAMED) lived in the "Pale of Settlement" area of Russian Empire.  Ben's father, Boruch Mordechi MELAMED, was in the steel/metal fabrication business.  Ben's grandfather, Barukh Gdalev MELAMED, was most likely also involved in the family business. He was registered to vote in the 1906 Russian election (Read Barukh Gdalev's information and his registration data during the 1906 election). No information has been found regarding Lena's family occupation in Russia. Ben's older brother emigrated to N.Y. (c1910-1913) staying with the Kapust family in New York City before returning to Russia.

Ben MILLER, born 1885 as Berel MELAMED in the town of MOZYR, Administrative District of MINSK, Providence of MINSK, of the Russian Empire ruled by Tzar Nicholas II. This area since 1991 is now the Republic of Belarus. This chart may help illustrate the governmental relationships during the time Ben was growing up.

Ben was a Sephardic Jew, decending from ancestors who originally came to Russia after being expelled from Spain in 1492. Mozyr's 1897 population was 8,000 with 5,600 Jewish. Ben was born in 1885 and this Mozyr brewery, built in 1885, gives a sense of how prosperous the town was at the time.

The 9 district cities of the Minsk Gubernia correspond with the nine districts: Minsk, Pinsk, Rechitsa, Borisov, Bobruisk, Slutsk, Novogrudok, Mozyr, and Igumen. Ben Millers mother's maiden name is listed as Shaina KARPMAN on his social security application.

Ben's wife, Lena, was born Chaja Leja Shargorodsky in the shetl Ivankov in the same area; see a map showing the location of this area. Her mother's maiden name was MELTZER or WEISBERG. Ben worked for years, after arrivng in American, trying to borrow passage money to bring Lena to America; he could not get a loan. Lena remained in Europe until 1920 when she arrived at Ellis Island and rejoined Ben in Chicago. Her manifest notes that her nearest relative in Europe was her father-in-law Mr. MELAMED living in Proschitnie, Poland (Possibly Prostyn, Poland located 50 miles NE of Warsaw which is the village next to the Treblinka extermination camp). 

Ben and Lena were married in Kiev in 1913 (most likely not the city of Kiev). View the Family Documents page to see Lena's citizenship application forms, Polish passport, and other documents to see what genealogy information can be gained. Lena and their daughters (one who was killed by a cow, as Ben told his grandson Robert), were living with Ben's family until she could start her journey to America; It was 7 years after he arrived in America. Lena also spoke Polish and Yiddish and Russian and English but was not literate by our standards.

In 1925 he filed a Petition for Naturalization as Benjamin MILLER. He had filed a petition in 1919, but one of his witnesses was not valid, often due to not being a US citizen. Ben had to refile.It is not known exactly when or why Ben changed his name from MELAMED to MILLER. Conjecture would be that while in 1917 after moving in with, or perhaps while living with, his cousin Louis MILLER, he changed it. His WWI Draft Registration Card shows Ben MILLER; and Ben MILLER is his name on the 1920 Census.

Ben was a draftsman working for his father, in Russsia. His father built metal water towers and bridges as told by his son Julius. Ben was drafted into the Czar's Army where he played in the band (Read about the Russian Jewish draft) . . . . and saw his first airplane. Read about the Russian Air Force planes he most likely saw. Benjamin MILLER, Berel MELAMED on his ship manifest, departed Europe from the port of Liverpool, England, arriving in America on the ship S.S. Canada, via Port of Quebec, Canada and via Port Huron, Michigan on August 3rd, 1914, just as World War I began. Ben's ship manifest listed his age as 26 and occupation as locksmith. Also traveling with Ben was his wife's brother, Chaim Leib SHARGORODSKY (Hyman CHARGO). They took the train from Michigan to St. Paul, Minnesota where Chaim's brother Ben Chargo was living (Ben had arrived in 1913, the year before). Ruben did not arrive in America until 1916.

In 1917, according to his WWI draft registration card, Ben worked as a sheet iron worker for the H.W. Caldwell company, 17th & Western Ave, Chicago, which was owned by Link-Belt Company.

The 1920 census listed Ben MILLER and his occupation as repairman at tire shop However, the line below lists metal worker, shop. It is probable that the census worker put Ben's occupation on the wrong line since his 1917 occupation was sheet metal worker.

He was a draftsman at Link-Belt and evenually became the head draftsman. He left Link-Belt to open his American Soda Fountain Company building and repairing soda fountains which were very popular at the time.

In 1923, Ben's 1923 Chicago City Directory Listing shows his American Soda Fountain business address on 1025 Blue Island.

The 1930 Chicago phone directory listed Ben MILLER as a hotel clerk and also listed his home address, 1023 N. Harding, and phone. Family stories indicate the hotel clerk listing was for the family who rented an apartment in the two-flat building where Ben lived and which Ben owned (Ben never worked as a hotel clerk). Ben opened the "American Soda Fountain Service" at 1736 W. Van Buren Avenue in Chicago. 

He later opened Ben Miller's Soda Fountain Service at 3843 West Ogden.

Ben was a 50 year Mason (see his membership documents). Ben corresponded with his family in Russia, including sending packages, until after WWII when he was advised by a brother, then a local Commissar, that the American letters and packages were gaining too much attention by the authorities. The families never communicated again. The Miller family grew. Read stories about Ben and Lena.

There is a small genealogy mystery. Family lore is that Ben's brother came to America but did not like it and returned to Russia. A manifest for the ship S.S. Megantic, sailing from Liverpool on July 18, 1914 arriving in Quebec July 26, showing a Zurle MELAMED Zurle crossed-off, not admitted. This was either really Ben who missed this boat, or Ben's brother. The similarities: Both listed with same age, eye color, occupation, destination, wife, relative in Russia; the only significant difference is Ben's height 5' 4 1/2" and Zurle 5' 6". It is most probable that Zurle is a miss-translation of Berle, which is common when original documents are transcribed; Ben (Berle) did not sail on the ship Megantic; we may never know why he delayed the week. Most probable was that Ben was waiting for his cousin Chaim Leib SHARGORODSKY to arrive, or become available for the trip (Perhaps Chaim was detained for processing).

THE BEN MILLER family

• Benjamin MILLER, Berl MELAMED Arrived 19, Quibec, Canada, age 26 on manifest; occupation: Locksmith. Married 1913 in Kiev, Russia to Lena SHARAGORODSKY. They had three children: Bernard, Julius, and Herman.

• Lena MILLER nee SHARAGORODSKY, (Chaja Leja MELAMED on manifest), Arrived 1920, New York, Ellis Island, Age 33 on the manifest.

• Bernard Morton (1921-1953) was born in America, married Vera SHANKMAN in 1941. Bernard was in the Illinois Militia during WWII. They had 3 sons. Bernard died of a heart attack in 1953. Vera wrote a column for the Jewish magazine, Sentinel; Read some of her articles describing many aspects of Jewish life.

• Julius. Born in America. married Shirley GREENBERG. They had five children, two sons and three daughters. Shirley's father was a house painter per 1930 census. Read the Greenberg family history.

  Note: The history of the Greenberg family from Russia - their ship manifest name was Grunberg. The family originated from a town in the Ukraine called Mogilev-Podolsk.

• Herman. Born in America. married Beverly BECK, they had a son and daughter.