Maternal Grandparents

I know nothing of my maternal grandparents, Abraham and Rose Poloway, before thay immigrated to the United States. They arrived prior to 1898 because my mother, Esther, was born in the United States in 1898. They lived in Southwest Baltimore in a small row house on Christian Street. Abraham earned a living by travelling downtown to the many pants manufacturers, picking up cloth which had been cut for pants, bringing it home to sew together. He was paid a certain amount for each pair he sewed together. This was called “piecework.” He rented a room across the street from his home on the second floor of Morganstern’s Bakery (later purchased by one Joseph Pariser, Grace Abramowitz’s maternal grandfather), installed a sewing machine and sewed all night. He took the finished pants back the next day and picked up more pieces. They were religious, kept Kosher and belonged to the Moses Montefiore Congregation on Smallwood Street. I was told that Abraham was President for 17 years. Abraham and Rose had six children; William (married Betty), Jake, (married Sara), Esther (married William Golberg), Celia (married Albert Stein), Gearge,(never married) and Lillian (married William Sussman). My mother did not speak much of her life prior to marriage but she did tell me that, as a child, she was given a nickel and a tin container and told to go to the corner saloon. There, she knocked on the side door, handed the man the nickel and the container, received a container full of beer, and brought it back to her father. The family moved to Frederick Avenue and Willard Street where Abraham owned and operated a small grocery at 4652 Frederick Avenue. They lived behind and above the store. We would visit every Sunday, making the long trip from Pimlico.

Celia and Albert and George lived with the parents; the rest of the children moved out as they married.

William/ Betty had Robert and Bernice. Jake/Sarah had Faye, Morton, Irving and Rhona Lee. Esther/William had Kenneth, Ruth and Marvin Bennett. Celia/Albert had Doris. Lillian/William had Iris Ann and Ronald. William Poloway was a schoolteacher and owned and operated a small neighborhood building and loan association. Jake sewed pants. Albert was a liquor salesman until Prohibition and became a clerk for Bethlehem Steel. William Sussman was a photographer for the Baltimore Sun. George worked for the B&O Railroad. Rose died before 1949 and Risa is named after her. Abraham died in 1949 and Arnold is named after him. After Rose died Abraham, Celia and Albert Stein moved to a small row house on Smallwood Street several blocks below Pratt Street. The Poloways are buried in the cemetery at Washington Boulevard and the Beltway (I-695). Many of the deceased children are buried there also.

Of the cousins, we have kept in touch only with those of Jake and Sarah; primarily because Faye and her husband, Sidney Himmelstein live close by in Florida.