A Nov. 28th Baltimore Jewish Times article about the connection between the National Library of Israel and the Jewish community of Baltimore featured a circa 1880s picture of a regal-looking gentleman identified only by his first initial and last name, K. Baum.
Yochai Ben Gedalia, director of Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People located in the library, posed a question to readers: does anyone know Mr. Baum’s full name and know more about his story?
The article caught the eye of Susan Ansel, a member of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Maryland. Like the dedicated genealogist she is, Ansel dove into archives online to uncover information about Baum’s life.
The Baltimore Jewish Times can now proudly report the name of the man in the picture was Karschman Baum. According to Ansel’s research, he was born in Bavaria in 1837, came to Baltimore sometime before his 21st birthday, and lived in the city until his death in 1910.
He had two children with his first wife, who died in 1878, and four more with his second.
Consider the find another success for the Society, which presents monthly Zoom meetings where speakers discuss genealogy-related topics, such as Jewish orphanages to records in Ukraine to surprises in DNA results. Approximately 30-40 members watch each session, listening to speakers and learning how and where they can further the research that brings them together.
The group was so pleased with the research Ansel did that they placed the Baum picture and story on the front cover of their January newsletter.
The Central Archives had reached out for help identifying Baum because staffers knew nothing about him other than the name of the photographer who took the picture, George Mueller.
The Archives has several thousand Baltimore-related items in its collection. Gedaliah explained there are many for which the Archives has little or no information, and staff at the Center cannot explain why these items are related to Charm City.
Ansel forwarded the information she found to Ben Gedalia and the Central Archives, who used it as a springboard to make more photographic discoveries.
“By drawing on the full range of digital and physical resources available through the CAHJP, and with the valuable information provided by Susan Ansel, we were able to identify many of the key individuals in Karschman Baum’s life. Several of the images were made at the threshold of the era of mass studio photography (mid-19th century),” Ben Gedalia told the Baltimore Jewish Times.
He added, “This conveys how important it was to the Baum family to document their family’s lives and milestones as they unfolded.” One delightful photograph shows 2-year-old Emanuel Baum posing in a dress or studio-provided costume. On the back of the photo, Emanuel’s mother writes this is her son and he was born on June 20, 1868.
Written on the back is the word “Memento.” The photo was sent by Isaac and Sophia Baum in Maryland to Sophie’s parents in Germany.
Susan Ansel joined the Jewish Genealogical Society of Maryland in 2012 to delve into the legacy of her husband’s great-grandfather, a Mr. Galinsky who allegedly lived to be 117 years old. Ansel and her husband were cleaning out his mother’s house after her death and found a Baltimore Evening Sun article dated November 17, 1911, that made the unverified age claim and shared Mr. Galinsky’s story. He lived for 30 years in a section of Baltimore County called Ya’azor, where Jews of Russian descent gathered to live together. Ansel and her husband have a DVD, made many years ago that that recorded the members of the community discussing their lives in Ya’azor.
Ansel says would-be genealogists interested in the Genealogical Society’s activities should check out the group’s website.
Meanwhile, Ben Gedalia has a continuing interest in seeking out more information about the collection of the Central Archives of the History of the Jewish People, especially those items that have a Baltimore connection. Feel free to check out their website – and plan on spending some time there because the material can be fascinating.
Paula Minsk is a freelance writer.
