Mr Simon Meisnere 1 was born in Kiev, Ukraine 2, then part of the Russian Empire, around 1878. Details about his early life remain unknown.
He was married to Sarah Jenahofsky (b. 15 January, circa 1880),3 presumably also a Ukrainian and they had three sons, all born in Kiev: Ira "Morris" (b. 1901), Raymond Bennett (1902-1977) and Harry (1903-1972).
Mr Meisnere, a tailor, boarded the Titanic in Southampton as a third class passenger (ticket number 2816 which had cost £8, 1s), giving his previous residence as 29 Houndsditch (?) in London. He was headed to New York City, perhaps with his wife and children to follow when he had established himself.
Mr Meisnere died in the sinking and his body, if recovered, was never identified.
His wife Sarah and his sons eventually made the crossing to America the following year, seemingly spending time in New York. Sarah was remarried in Manhattan on 4 October 1915 to Jacob Glaser (1888-1966), also a tailor originally from the Russian Empire who had come to the USA in 1907. She, her new husband and her sons settled in Newport, Rhode Island soon after and appeared on the 1920 census as residents of Brindley Street in Newport. Sarah--who was active in many Jewish organisations--and her husband were still residing in Newport by the time of the 1940 census and she died there on 5 June 1956 following a heart attack. She and Jacob are buried in Braman Cemetery in Newport.
His eldest son Ira ran away from home and joined the Merchant Marines and became a chief engineer for Texaco; his tanker was sunk in March 1943 and he became a prisoner of war, first in Africa and then Japan.
His son Raymond later graduated from law school and had his own private practice in Boston. He was married but had no children and later divorced before remarrying to Ida Wilsker (1900-1994). A veteran of WWII, he resettled in Newport, Rhode Island following his retirement in 1961 and died there on 15 August 1977.
His son Harry became an attorney; he was married to Lillian (1906-1985) and had two children, a daughter Elaine (1935-2014) and son Arthur Simon (b. 1937) and they lived Brooklyn, New York. Harry died in 1972.
Hi there,As it happens, there's a hebrew book from 1930 that deals extensively with Simon Meisner's death from a Jewish legal perspective. The author writes that Meisner was "a resident of our city Novopraga (New Prague) in the province of Kherson."