The Israel Ruben “Sam” CHARGO family

Israel Ruben “Sam” CHARGO, the son of Max Shargorodski, was probably born 1865 in Berdychiv, Kiev, Russia.
On documents, Ruben and his children listed ‘born in ‘Rosaki’ or ‘Russaki’ which could have been Rechytsa since on documents ‘Rosaki and Russaki’ was spelled phonically.  In 1920 Lena bought ticket to New York in Danzig, Germany living her last residence:  Retchitsa.  Both Ben Miller and Lena were founders of the Retchitzer Aid Society Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois, where they are buried.

View maps showing the location of this area

By 1821 Tsar Alexander I ordered Jews to take surnames. These, as a rule, originated from the names of places where Jews lived (Vinnitsky from Vinnytsia, etc.) or from their occupation–e.g. Masnik (butcher). if correct, that would place the Shargorodskys in Shargorad in 1821.

In 1913 Sam (Srul Schargoroski on the ship manifest), age 48, arrived in Galveston, TX from Bremen, Germany with his sons Ben (Beril) and Harry (Hersch). They probably came to Galveston as part of a program for getting Jews to America; read about the historical background of why Jews came to Galveston.

However, Sam was DEBARRED (Not Admitted) to the U.S. while his sons were admitted. It is not know why he was refused entry. Sam was sent back to Bremen, Germany, and from there he made his way to South America and eventually returned to America via Ellis Island in 1916. It is not known when Sam departed Galveston, TX returning to Bremen, Germany. While in South America he was a member of the Baron de Hirsch relocation program which was located at the small town of Carlos Caseras, near Buenos Aires, Argentina. View maps of Carlos Caseras Sam lived in Argentina for 3 more years before departing again for America in 1916.

Records list variations of Sam and Ruben:  The 1920 Census lists Sam living with his son Hyman in St. Paul, MN.  Sam’s wife, Tillie, arrived in America in 1924, at Ellis Island from Southampton, England.  The 1930 Census lists the household: Sam, Tillie, and their children Morris and Ester.  The Census forms indicate Sam filed his first papers.  Millie’s Naturalization records list her as Ruben (Mrs Tillie) CHARGO: Minnesota Naturalization Records Index, County: Ramsey; Reel: 25; Code: 72; Volume: 47; Page: 75

For a more detailed article on Jewish immigration to the US via Galveston, Texas:

Galveston and Palestine: Immigration and Ideology in the Early Twentieth Century by
Gur Alroey  .. . the aim of this paper . . . a focus on the migration policies which characterize the immigrants to Palestine and Galveston; . . . an exploration of the demographic composition of the Jewish immigrants who debarked in Galveston between 1907 and 1914 compared to the composition of immigration to Palestine during the same years; . . . .  Galveston-Immigration

Sam CHARGO arrived at Ellis Island, from Argentina, in 1916 at age 51. His occupation on the ship manifest was listed as farm laborer. According to the ship manifest he lived for more than a year in Carlos Casares, (Read about this Jewish agriculture settlement in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina), before joining his son Hyman CHARGO in St. Paul, Minnesota. Sam arrived permanently in America in 1916. Read an explanation from a US government historical office of how Ruben, and other debarred emigrants, eventually were able to arrive and stay in America. Ruben Chargo was listed as a ‘junk dealer own account’ on the 1930 census.

On the same day that Congress declared war on Germany, President Woodrow Wilson announced a set of regulations, controlling the activities of “alien enemies.” The regulations specifically identified “alien enemies” as German males, fourteen years or older, who resided in the United States but who had not been naturalized as citizens. In November of 1917, the President issued a proclamation which required alien enemies to register with the Department of Justice and carry a registration card on their person at all times. By 1918, alien women were also required to register. Those who failed to register were threatened with internment. Indeed, more than 6,000 alien enemies nationwide were placed in internment camps between 1917 and 1920, many of whom failed to register. The registration requirement was but one on many official and unofficial anti-German activities that occurred during World War I on the home front.

In February 1918, the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety passed the Alien Registration Act.  This legislation ordered all unnaturalized aliens to register and make sworn declarations about themselves, their immediate family members, and their property holdings.  This act allowed the Commission to gather information on all non-citizens during World War I, but it also encouraged many immigrants to start–or finish–the naturalization process.  Each “alien enemy” was issued a registration card with photograph and identifying information, which he was required to have on his person at all times. He also needed permission from the local registrar to travel or change place of residence. Certain areas were also off-limit zones as deemed by the military. The Armistice was declared on November 11, 1918, and all regulations on enemy aliens were lifted December 25, 1918.

Each Alien Registration and Declaration of Holdings Form gives the following information:

• Registrant’s name
• Address and length of residence there
• Age
• Place and date of birth
• Occupation
• Marital status
• Port of entry and date of arrival in the United States
• Naturalization status
• Names and ages of living children
• A male registrant’s draft status
• Names and relationships of male relatives participating in World War I and the country served
• Information on the ownership, location, value, sale, and transfer of real and personal property (within and outside of Minnesota)

Below is a recap of the data contained in the Alien Registration forms filled out by Sam, Harry, Hyman, and Ben. And, information contained in the Naturalization papers of Sam (Rubin).

View Alien Registration Forms (PDF files):
Alien Registration Form – Sam CHARGO 1918
Alien Registration Form – Harry CHARGO 1918
Alien Registration Form – Hyman CHARGO 1918
Alien Registration Form – Ben CHARGO 1918
Ruben (Sam) CHARGO Naturalization Papers 1920-1922
(Declaration of Intent (hand & typed); Petition for naturalization; Oath of Allegiance)

1.  Ruban (Sam) lists his birthday:  Born Rosaki, Russia May 1, 1860 (Dec of Intent and on Petition for Naturalization). Born Russia, (can’t read) 20th, 1858 (Alien Registration)
Comment: Often birthdays were made up and sometimes forgotten.

2.  Ruben’s brother-in-law, Ely LEVIN, and Ruben’s nephew, Sam LEVIN, were in the Russian Army.

3. Sam Chargo, and the boys, indicated they might not become citizens and might go back to Russia where they had family.  Remember that Tillie, Morris, and the girls – Freda and Rossa – were still in Russia.

4.  Rubin’s Naturalization Petition (dated 1922) listing his family status:
Chaim, living in St. Paul, MN born 1887 in Russia
Leah, living in Chicago born 1890 in Russia
Frieda, living in in Russia born 1894 in Russia
Ben, living in St. Paul, MN born 1896 in Russia
Harry, living in Detroit, MI born 1898 in Russia
Rissel (Rossa) , living in Russia born 1900 in Russia
Ester, living in Russia born 1904 in Russia
Moses (Morris), living in Russia; going to school  born 1906 in Russia
Tillie resides in Kiev. born in Russia; month & day unknown 1862

Sam’s wife Tillie, ‘Tilia’ age 60 on her manifest, arrived at Ellis Island from Russia, via Southampton England, January 1924 accompanied by Moise ‘Morris’ her teenage son. According to the ship manifest she was born c1864 in Lytyshy, Russia. Both Tillie and Morris were detained on arrival for a special inquiry and each spent several days in hospital before they were admitted. Moise (Morris) was listed on the manifest with the occupation of mill worker.  Morris later told stories of life in Europe.

Morris sent his father a post card in 1923 from Riga, Europe when they were delayed by the 1921 Quota Law which severely restricted entry to America. Select this link to view their Ukrainian passport; stamps include one from Virbalis, Lithuania December of 1923 and one from Dover from near the same time.  Morris’ Russian passport has the family name as Shargorodska.
Passport N° 5821.
The bearer of the present passport, citizen of the Socialist Soviet Republis of Ukraine, Shargorodska Tila Gersheovna, 60 years old, and her son Moses, 15 years old, are travelling to America.
This passport is valuable during one year (12 months). On the strength of that and for a free passage, the passport is delivered with the apposition of the seal of the Commissioner of the People to the inner affairs.
Kiev, September 1923, 21th.

Morris, about 1980 – when he was about 75, told his son Harold that he (Morris) had Chargo relatives living in South America.

The following information lists Shargorodsky’s buried in the Buenos Aires Liniers cemetery. It is the first Jewish cemetery in the city, used during 1st half of the XX century. On the tombstone of Michal Rimsky and Feige Scharagrodsky is Berdichev inscription. Berdichev is 90 miles from Kiev. These are possible relatives. And it is being assumed that Ruben was also born in Berdichev.

1. Moshe Scharagrodsky
…….. 2. Gedalie Scharagrodsky b.1854 ¿Berdichev? d.1909 Carlos Casares m. Menie Jaritonsky
…….. …….. 3. Feigue Scharagrodsky b.1878 ¿Berdichev? d.1952 Buenos Aires m.Mijail Rimsky
…….. …….. 3. Berl Scharagrodsky b. ¿Berdichev? d.1961 Carlos Casares m.Ana Elbirt
…….. …….. 3. Surke Scharagrodsky b. ¿Berdichev? d.Argentina m.Polak
…….. …….. 3. Tzetze Scharagrodsky b.¿Berdichev? d.Argentina m.Aaron Nisenson.

Another probable relative from Argentina, Berta Silvia Schargrosky, believes that her great-great grandfather moved to America. Her father was Samuel Schargrodsky and mother was Rosa Flomembaum. Her father lived in Carlos Casares a town of Buenos Aires where Sam lived when he was in Argentina. Berta’s grandfather was Jacobo Schargrodsky, and her grandmother was Esther Wainfeld.

The 1950 Buenos Aires, Argentina phone books lists 7 Schargorodsky entries . . . possible relatives.

Morris CHARGO (Shargorodsky) said one of his sisters had eye problems and was prevented from entering the country due to glaucoma. The other sister stayed with her so that she would not be alone. Morris corresponded with his sisters until the war; after the Nazis invaded Russia they were never heard from again. Morris’ and Tillie’s 1924 manifest has a notation that the sisters were their nearest relatives living abroad (Kiev, Russia). Sisters Freda and Rose probably never left Europe; they perished during the Holocaust by the Nazi’s at the Babi Yar extermination near Kiev in 1941.

Sam & Tillie had six children living in America.

THE CHARGO Family Children

Lena (Chaja Leja SHARGORODSKI) 1888 – 1968. Arrived on Ellis Island, NY in September, 1920 to join her husband Ben Miller (Beryl MELAMED) in Chicago.  They were married in Kiev, Russia 1913.  She had a daughter in Russia that was killed when stepped on by a cow.  They had three boys in Chicago:  Bernard, Julius and Herman.  Lena was a housewife who left a legacy that included being a wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother . . . and great cook.  See Ben Miller family.

Lena Miller’s (MELAMED) Polish Passport page 1 of 2 The French says Passport for Melamed, Chaya Leja Profession is left blank. Nationality Jewish.

Lena Miller’s (MELAMED) Polish Passport page 2 of 2 Date of birth: 1888 Height: medium Face: oval Hair: Chestnut Eyes: Grey Mouth: Normal Nose: Normal Going from: Warsaw To: America This passport is good until February 4, 1921

Hyman CHARGO (Chiam Lieb SCHARGORODSKI) 1893 – 1964 – Arrived 1914, Port of Quebec, Canada; Manifest age 25. 1930 census occupation: Cattle dealer, own account. married Nina RICE. They arrived on one of the last ships to leave Europe as WWI began. Hyman CHARGO, born Chaim Leib SCHARGORODSKY, arrived in America at age 25 in 1914 accompanied by his brother-in-law Ben Miller (Berl MELAMED). Chaim was in the Czar’s army according to this c1912 post card from his army unit that he sent his parents; it’s not known if Ben was in the same army unit. PBS, the Public Broadcasting System, produced a 3 part history of Prohibition that explained how almost the entire nation was involved with violating the Prohibition laws. Everyone drank, made or bought bootleg booze. Unfortunately, some like Hyman were caught; most were not. We should be proud that one of the family was a part of our Nation’s history. Most know that the Prohibition laws were repealed after being adjudged a total failure. The law made it legal to stock-pile booze before the law went into effect . . . and most rich individuals and organizations purchased twenty year supplies! It was only the average person who was made to suffer. The bootleggers played a vital role in providing alcohol to the everyday folk. Cousin Herman Miller remembers Hyman was a bootlegger during prohibition. Hyman was most likely delivering booze to Chicago between 1931 (post parole from Leavenworth) to his arrest in 1937. There are many research related ‘facts’ to validate compared to Herman Miller’s recollections of the Chicago booze deliveries that apparently were never part of Hyman’s several arrests (1929, 1930, 1937).  The three arrests all related to Minnesota arrests based violations of liquor laws, not Chicago arrests.  However, the 1937 arrest probably was related to the Chicago deliveries. Additional research is needed based on the currently known facts. 1. The March 15th 1929 newspaper article, below, of Hyman’s arrest states he pleaded guilty on that date . . . . so he must have been arrested earlier.  What happened following his arrest? E.g. What details may exist in arrest records and court documents?  What happened to the other man arrested who owned the farm, and tended the still (Emil BESKAR)?  And who were the other two men that were Hyman’s co-bootleggers that are noted in the newspaper article?  And where was the other farm that the still equipment was to be moved, and who owned it? The 1930 US Census listed Hyman as a ‘cattle dealer, own account’ which I’m guessing could be related to the farm where the still was located or the farm where the still equipment was to be moved . . . . or neither of them! 2.  The January 21st, 1930 arrest that led him to Leavenworth was not related to the 1929 arrest.  A Leavenworth document stated ’Never arrested before’ which is contradicted by his 1929 arrest.  Who was Alex Tabalich who ordered the booze on behest of the Federal agents? 3.  The January 26th, 1937 arrest that led him to the workhouse sentence is most likely the one related to my Uncle’s recollections.  Herman Miller would have been about 8 years old in 1937 and so apparently Hyman was delivering booze to Chicago during this era.  Herman  related remembering, as a child, Hyman patting him on the head, and that he had visited Hyman ‘in prison’ which had to be the Minneapolis workhouse during a family trip visiting Chargo relatives. This 1929 newspaper article reports on the arrest of Hyman at the location of his still operation that was on a farm about 140 miles from St. Paul, Minnesota. This is the location of the farm where Hyman made his moonshine  Apparently while awaiting trial on his 1929 arrest for bootlegging, on January 21st, 1930 Hyman collected the booze, drove from St. Paul to Chicago and parked his car around Taylor Street (old Maxwell street area, now Univ of IL campus). He left the car with the booze and took a streetcar to Ben & Lena Miller’s house (Herman’s parents), 1023 N. Harding. The next day Hyman returned to his now empty car and drove back to St. Paul, Minnesota.  Apparently his neighbors turned him in. Hyman was arrested and served six months in the U.S. Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1930 (April to December when he was paroled); and which is different from the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, which is a military facility located on the adjacent army post in Leavenworth, Kansas.  He was arrested again in 1937 for violation of the National Revenue Act – a bootlegging charge – and served 4 months at the Minneapolis City Workhouse. Note the miss-spelling of his name on the finger print card (Charge). Documents copied from the original that are stored in the National Archives, Kansas City, Missouri, tell the story. View the story details and documents of his 1930 prison experience (PDF). In January 1937 a Saint Paul, Minnesota grand jury found that Hyman and his son Samuel, on January 26, 1937, concealed 5 gallons of moonshine whiskey in Hyman’s 1931 Chevrolet.  Hyman pled guilty and in March 1937 was sentenced to 4 months in the Minneapolis City Workhouse, and a $200 fine.  The charges against Samuel were dropped.  All the details are in this PDF: Hyman-CHARGO-1937-Workhouse. Married Nina RICE.   According to Harold Chargo, Nina & Hyman didn’t know when they were born so they just picked March 15 for both their birthdays and made him a year older.  Nina Rice’s family was either rejected, or did not emigrate to America.  Nina’s sister ester Ester accompanied her, and her brother Sam was already in America.   Nina’s parents photo below: Hyman & Nina’s 4 children are listed below.
Son	Melvin 1917 – 1983  Married Mary BARAM. Melvin had 4 children, Stephen, Allan, Robert and Sheryl.
Son	Samuel 1919 – 1986   Sam’s birth certificate.
Son	Sylvan 1925 – 1944. Sylvan enlisted in the Army August 20, 1943 at Fort Snelling, MN. His enlistment record indicated he was single, with one year of college and skilled occupation in fabrication of textile products. Historical records located at Camp Fannin, TX record the following: CHARGO, Sylvan, PFC,  serial number 37575756.; Dates and unit at Camp Fannin, TX: Fall-Winter 1943-1944, B/55/11.; Date and place of death: 7/15/1944, Normandy, France.; Unit at time of death: Company M, APO 15186.; Circumstances: Three men in a machine gun platoon were on patrol at night. Their assignment was to wipe out an enemy machine gun nest. As the three approached the enemy in the dark with hand grenades as their weapons, two machine guns opened fire and Sylvan was the only one directly in their path. One of the other men was wounded, the third one unscratched.; Burial: La Cambe, Normandy, then St. Paul MN, West Side Hebrew Cemetery.Army record informationCamp Fannin website (reference): campfanninrollofhonor.comThe East Texas Historical Society has information relating to the letters Sylvan wrote to to a local lady named Mrs. Mary Lois Whiteman.  ” . . . . the highlight of Lois’s life was World War II. Camp Fannin , an army training camp, was built near Tyler , and Lois became a surrogate mother for many of the enlisted men. The home at 815 South Broadway served as a salon, hospitality center, and a select, quasi-USO for presentable young men who missed their homes and mothers. After their deployment, many corresponded with Lois Whiteman and updated her on their progress. She kept all their letters, and the house became a virtual military archive.”She wrote Sylvan a letter on D-Day, June 6, 1944. It was returned with the handwritten notation “Deceased 7-15-44. Sylvan had also written Mrs. Whiteman a letter on D-Day, and it is printed along with several others in Mrs. Groff’s book titled The Fitzgerald House (see page 2) . REFERENCE: http://www.easttexashistorical.org/v3/programs/terry/terry_2008_fitzgeraldhouse.htm
Son	Harold 1927 – 2008 Harold loved to fish.  Article in the Minneapolis Star newspaper: CHARGO-Harold-FISHING-May_14,_1973
Ben CHARGO (Beril SHARGORODSKI) 1894 – 1956 – Arrived 1913, Port of Galveston, TX age 20 per manifest. 1914 age 24, per 1920 census and occupation: Presser, Wholsale Fur Co. 1930 census occupation: Junk Peddler. married Annie TANKINOFF who was born in Minnesota per 1930 census, but referenced in the Minnesota Naturalization records.  Annie’s brother, Alex George Tankenoff, 101, passed away Thursday, January 26, 2006. He was born May 3, 1905. Alex grew up on the west side of St. Paul. He was a self-made man who dropped out of school as a teenager to work in a meat packing plant to help support his parents. He purchased the Bloomer Brewery and ran that from 1937-1946. He built Hillcrest Shopping Center and ran that from 1948-1970. Alex operated 12 finance offices in Minnesota from 1951-1963. He was founder of the Minnesota Chapter of Anti-Defamation League, Vice President of the Board of Trustees at Hillel at the University of Minnesota, and President of Hillcrest Country Club. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Mollie (Oglansky); brothers, Ben and Izzy; and sister, Anna Chargo. Ben’s children are listed below.
Daughter	Jeanne
Daughter	Adeline 1920 – 1974
Daughter	Betty
Lena CHARGO (Chaja-Leja SHARGORODSKY) Born Ivankov, Russia September 20, 1888 – 1968 – Arrived 1920, New York, Ellis Island; Manifest age 33; occupation: wife. married Benjamin MILLER. Ben Miller (Melamed) Family c1945 Ben, Lena nee Shargorodsky (Chargo), Julius (in uniform), Herman, Bernard & Vera nee Shankman, with sons Robert & Ronald
Son	Bernard 1921-1953
Son	Julius 1925-2016
Son	Herman 1929-2019
Morris CHARGO (Moise SHARGORODSKI) 1908 – 1982 -Arrived 1924, New York, Ellis Island; Manifest age 15, occupation: Millworker.   Restrictive immigration laws prevented his leaving Europe in 1923.  He sent this postcard to his father. 1930 census occupation: Junk Peddler, own account. married Sophie GERSHENOVIZ nee PLOTNICK, who arrived 1913 via Canada with her mother and siblings. Sophie Chargo, Morris’ wife said that Moris was not 15 when he came to America, rather he was 18. Apparently they lie about his age in order to facilitate his entrance. Secondly, Ruben, who was also called Yisrael and Tillie had 8 children. Freda and her sister both returned to Europe after one of them was diagnosed with glaucoma on arrival. They both perished at Babi Yar and neither had married, according to Sophie. Sophie had been in communication with them until the early 1940’s. WWII Army enlistment records indicate Morris enlisted May 14, 1945 at Fort Snelling, MN and was a private.Read a genealogy article about Morris’ life from the Kandi Express, a Minnesota genealogy society, publication.Read a story about Morris’ wife Sophie written by her great granddaughter. Morris hosted a radio show and in 1949 gained notoriety when he joked about circus animals on the loose and caused a local panic.  Newspaper articles from the Minneapolis Star with Morris Chargo stories. Radio Man in ‘Dutch’ With Wife, Willmar CHARGO-Morris-Page-1-February_11,_1949_ Radio Man in ‘Dutch’ With Wife, Willmar; page 2 CHARGO-Morris-Page-2-February_11,_1949_ 1949 Incident Recalled CHARGO-Morris-February_27,_1968_ Larry Batson’s Column CHARGO-Morris-February_17,_1979_ Willmar’s Night of Tigers . . . .  Recalled . . . . CHARGO-Morris-February_12,_1977_ Morris’ Obituary CHARGO-Morris-OBITUARY-December_15,_1982_ Morris and Sophie’s children are listed below.
Son	Edward Minnesota Star Newspaper articles: Marriage to Roberta CHARGO-Edward-Roberta-MARRIAGE-January_3,_1955 Edward’s Store in the news CHARGO-Edward-STORE-January_13,_1991
Son	Harvey
Daughter	Joan
Ester (Esther SHARAGRODSKI) CHARGO. b 1907 – – Arrived 1924, New York, Ellis Island; Manifest age 17, occupation: Domestic.1930 census occupation: Dressmaker, Factory.
Harry CHARGO (Hersch Schargorodski). 1898 – 1946. – Arrived 1913 Port of Galveston, TX age 16 per passenger manifest.  He lived in Cleveland, Ohio, working as a butcher for Swift & Co.  He married Elizabeth KLUTH on January 15, 1927  and had a daughter Nancy (1930), and son Jack (1934). Sources: 1930/1940 Census; marriage license.
Freda CHARGO. – Entry denied Rose CHARGO. – -Entry denied (Tillie & Morris’ 1924 manifest notes that the sisters were residing in Kiev).