Nathan (Nute) Kupersmith
1876-1952
Gittel Zimmerman's brother, Nathan Kupersmith, was born in Djikow, Austria in 1876.
Their parents were Simon Kupferschmied and Reisel Dominitz.
According to Feiwel Alter, “the Kupfersmiths were butchers and involved in
cattle dealing in Djikow. There were a number of different families there, all related.” 1
Nathan and his wife Lea Gartenhaus had an infant, Chaim, born in 1898 in Dzikow who
died in 1899 in Dzikow at age 9 months. Nathan immigrated to the US in July 1899 at
age 23. He reported his last residence to have been in Tarrast, Austria. 2
Nathan settled in New York, and was soon joined by his wife Lena (Gartenhaus), (born
1875 in Galicia) daughter of Chaim and Molly Gartenholtz; they had three children born
in New York:3
Harry, born February 20, 1902 at 154 Ridge Street, Manhattan4
Louis, born Jan. 4, 1908 at 61 Clinton St., Manhattan5, and
Molly, born April 15, 1911.
In 1904 Nathan’s cousin Hersh Kupferschmidt, age 24, came from Dzikow to New York
and stayed with them. 6
Nathan worked as a tailor. In the 1910 Census the family lived at 242 Rivington Street,
and Nathan reported he was an ‘operator’ in a pants shop. In the 1915 NY State
Census Nathan, Lena and the 3 children lived at 129 Pitt St., NYC; Nathan worked as a
tailor. In the 1920 Census the family lived at 292 Stanton Street. In 1919-1922 the
family lived at 292 Stanton St., on New York’s Lower East Side. Nathan’s relatives
called him "Nuta".
1
Email from Murray Alter to S.Kranz.
Manifest of Alien Immigrants" for the S.S. Statendam, sailing from Rotterdam and arriving New York July
1899. Nathan Kupferschmidt also reported his passage was paid by, and he was going to join, his
brother-in-law J. Hirsch, (see 1920 Census for Hirsch) and that he was in possession of $2.
2
3
4
Information from Nathan's application for citizenship papers, filed 1919 and 1922.
Harry Kupersmith: NYC Birth Certificate 1902; Dates of military service August 31-1919 to September
6, 1922 from USArmy records: Private, 63rd Artillery Battalion.; died Jan. 1956, interred Long Island
Veterans Cemetery.
5 Louis Kupersmith:
Social Security registration 1937, living at 1395 Lexington Avenue, NYC, occupation: driver, born Jan. 4,
1908 in NYC. Parents: Nathan and Lena Kupersmith. SS #131-07-9802.
Death certificate: died March 29, 1980 in Manhattan, Kansas, age 72. Wife: Ethel Kupersmith. Buried
Highland Cemetery, Wichita, Kansas.
Son: Leonard Kupersmith, Joplin, MO. Louis’ widow lives in Wichita, KS.
6 S.S. Pretoria, March 6, 1904, Hersh Kupferschmidt, age 24, going to cousin Nathan K., 215 Rivington
St.
Nathan became a citizen in 1922 (August 24, Supreme Court of New York). A witness
to his petition for citizenship was Isidor Zimmerman, his nephew.
Lena Kupersmith died June 19, 1923 at home at 292 Stanton St. of tuberculosis, and
was buried at Mt. Zion Cemetery in the Oleczyser Society plot.
In the 1940 Census, Nathan, his second wife Bessie, and daughter Mollie are living on
Lewis Street, on the Lower East Side. Nathan is working as a pants presser, and Mollie
is working as a bookkeeper in a law office.
Harry Coopersmith was born in 1902 at 154 Ridge Street; Annie Silberman was the
midwife. Harry enlisted in the US Army at the age of 17 and served for three years
(1919-1922). He returned to New York City, where in 1924 he married Nettie, who was
born in Austria, came to the U.S. in 1920, and was three years older than Harry. They
had three sons: David (b. 1925), Lawrence (b. 1926), and Samuel (b. 1928)7, all born
in New York. In the 1930 Census the family lived at 291 Stanton Street on the Lower
East Side, and Harry gave his occupation as taxi driver. In December 1936 when
Harry filed his application for a Social Security number, the family lived at 221 Rivington
Street and Harry said he worked for the WPA at Boro Hall, Brooklyn.8 Harry died Jan.
1956, is buried in the Long Island Veterans Cemetery.
Louis Kupersmith was born Jan. 4, 1908 at 61 Clinton Street. Annie Silberman was
again the midwife. Louis worked as a postal worker in NYC. Married Ethel in 1943.
Louis died in Manhattan, Kansas in 1980. He had one child:
Leonard, born 1947 in NY, graduated from Brooklyn College (BA) and holds a
Ph.D. in English from Kansas State U. in Manhattan, KS. Leonard moved from NYC in
1968 to Joplin, MO. From 1970-74 he lived in Manhattan Kansas. From 1974-1991 he
lived in Wichita, KS; and from 1991-1993 he lived in Traverse City, Michigan. In 1993
he moved back to Joplin, MO where he still lives. Married in 1969 in Joplin, MO, had
two sons born in Manhattan:
Christopher (29) lives in Bloomington, Indiana; BA in English from IUBloomington; and
Andrew (27) lives in Seattle, has a BA in Economics from the U. of Kansas, Phi
Beta Kappa.
Leonard moved to Wichita, taught at Wichita Collegiate School and became
head of school in 1986. Divorced in 1990, married Nancy that year. Helped found an
independent school in Missouri in 1993 where he is now school head. Louis and his
wife moved to Kansas, where Louis died in 1980.
Leonard writes: “I had a bar mitzvah. Grew up in Brighton Beach and Bensonhurst,
went to Lafayette High School. Molly committed suicide; Harry had a heart attack –
both while I was a kid. My dad took Molly’s death hard, especially for someone who
7
I have found a Samuel Coopersmith, born in 1928, in the SSDI. He died Jan. 1981 in Rosedale,
Queens.
8 SS application Dec. 26, 1936. SS# 111-05-0149.
seemed closed. I am Louis’ only child; he came to Kansas to be close to me and my
family while I pursued my Ph.D. in English at Kansas State U. I was only five when
Nathan died and did not become well acquainted with him prior to his death. My mother
lives in Wichita, kvetching most of the day.”
Selma Rosenberg (Nathan’s great-niece) writes: "Nathan later married Bosha
(Bessie).9 After many years they separated and he came to live with my uncle Aaron.
This arrangement didn't work out very well and he left after a short while. Don't
remember too much after that.”
Nathan died in Bellevue Hospital on Nov. 12, 1952 and is buried in the Oleszycer
Society plot at Mt. Zion, as are Lena and Bosha.
Frieda Rudman (Frieda Kupferschmidt Zimmerman’s granddaughter) remembers:
“Nuta was not gregarious. He was a tailor, and lived on the lower East Side. We used
to visit them quite often with my mother, usually on Saturdays. Nuta’s first wife I always
thought of as a ‘poor thing’. The second wife was superior to Nuta, she was welldressed, her home was immaculate, she was very loving to the family and we were
always treated very well there. I was friends with Molly who was an unhappy child.
They did nothing about her leg after a childhood accident, and she grew up with this
psychological problem about it. I tried to make dates for her with my friends but when
they saw her leg they were not interested. Molly committed suicide, I think in her late
30’s. Harry was the older brother, but never came around. I think he enlisted and was a
soldier. Louis was nice, but we were not close.”
Frieda Rudman (Nathan’s great-niece) remembers: "Lena was dark and small, and hard
working. Gittel's brother Nathan, who we all called Nuta, was short and had an accident
that injured his upper lip. Nuta was not a very successful person, he worked as a tailor
and they lived on the Lower East Side. He was a happy-go-lucky person who was
married to a lady who died; she was not a happy person. The oldest boy liked to travel,
and went into the Navy. Louis was a nice kid. Molly and I were friendly when I was a
teenager. We would go to dances on Delancey St. together, and double date. Bosha
was very fastidious, but she and Molly never got along. Molly was an unhappy person,
stemming from her embarrassment about her leg not being normal. I remember once
we double dated and went to a Chinese restaurant. I ate pork for the first time. I was too
embarrassed to tell the boys I was kosher, and I was ashamed to tell my mother I had
eaten pork. After Molly got married we lost touch with each other. Molly used to visit
Fanny."
Selma Rosenberg remembers: "Molly married Harry Hersensen;10 they lived in
Brooklyn. She didn't work. She had an unhappy life. Before her marriage, she had been
in a car accident and her leg was crushed. She was very self-conscious about this.
9
From the 1933 NY City Directory: Kuppersmith: Nathan (Bessie), tailor, 85 Lewis St.
Also listed: Louis, 85 Lewis Street. (Nathan's brother-in-law Max Zimmerman died in 1928 at 54 Lewis
St.)
10
I found a Brooklyn marriage certificate for Harry Hershenson for Mar 1, 1930; and a Florida death certificate for
Harry Hershenson, died 22 Dec. 1977 at age 73.
Wore pants and long skirts always. She had plastic surgery, which was not successful. I
recall she recuperated at my mother and father's house for a couple of weeks.
"Harry Kupersmith had two boys. His wife was in a mental institution as a result of trying
to self-abort a pregnancy.
“I remember visiting Nathan and Bosha's place practically every Saturday when I was a
little girl and as a teenager. Bosha would feed us all kinds of goodies (stuffed derma,
stuffed cabbage), and always ended up with French coffee. I believe it was boiled milk
which had formed a skin and was floating on top. Everyone loved it and I couldn't stand
the looks of it--let alone the taste."
According to Roslyn Fingerman (Nathan’s great-niece), Louis married and had one son.
“Molly married late, no children, committed suicide. Harry married and had children; he
was a tailor on the lower east side.”