Ezekiel Cass (Landau) Sunstein (1843 - 1913)

Born 29 Jan 1843 in Suchowola, Poland [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Tilla (Shapira) Sunstein — married 1858 in Suwalki, Poland

Descendants

Died 12 May 1913 at age 70 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: David Zuckerman [send private message] and AJ Jacobs [send private message]

Biography

Cass (Landau) Sunstein has Jewish Roots.

Ezekiel Cass Zunenstein was born in Jan or Feb 1843.^[1][2] (Note: whether he was born in late January or early February may depend on which calendar is used.) His parents were Noah Landau and Eva Rabinovitz.^[3] He was born in Suchovolia, Poland/Russia.^[3][4]

According to a letter from his son Abe to sister Daisy, he was given the surname of Zunenstein at birth to save him from military service when he came of age (at the time, the eldest son was exempt, and Ezekiel was apparently the first son of second wife.) Ezekiel sailed to America to visit relatives around 1865. He decided to stay and sent for his family to come over in spring 1870. In America, he changed his name to Sunstein.^[3][3] A variant of this story is given by Ann Sunstein in Notes below.

He was naturalized October 2, 1868; on this record he also states he is from Poland.^[5]

He married Tilla Shapira in 1858 in Suwalki, Poland. Their children were:

Son Shepsel Zunenstein

Son Abraham Jacob (AJ) Sunstein

Son Myer Sunstein

Son Solomon Sunstein

Daughter Nellie Sunstein

He married Rosa Fink in 1879.^[6]

Their children were:

Daughter Dassia "Daisy" Sunstein

Son Elias Sunstein

Son Leon Cleveland "Leo" Sunstein

Their family lived in Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. In 1880, Cass was a liquor merchant in Pennsylvania.

1880 Federal Census

Household Gender Age Birthplace

Self Cass. Sunstein M 37 Russia

Wife Rosa Sunstein F 22 Russia

Son Abraham Sunstein M 21 Russia

Son Myer Sunstein M 17 Russia

Son Solomon Sunstein M 15 Russia

Daughter Nellie Sunstein F 8 Pennsylvania, United States

Other Maggie Krenkel F 16 Pennsylvania, United States^[7]

1900 Federal Census

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

Cass Sunstine Head Male 57 Russia

Rose Sunstine Wife Female 42 Russia

Meyer Sunstine Son Male 36 Russia

Daisy Sunstine Daughter Female 18 Pennsylvania

Elias Sunstine Son Male 16 Pennsylvania

Leo Sunstine Son Male 15 Pennsylvania

Moses Pink Boarder Male 79 Russia

Maud Ferming Servant Female 25 Connecticut

Alice Gill Servant Female 22 Ireland^[2]

1910 Federal Census

Household Gender Age Birthplace

Head Cass Senstein M 66 Russia

Wife Rose F Senstein F 51 Russia

Daughter Daisy S Nolf F 47 Pennsylvania

Son-in-law Fred Nolf M 44 Germany

Son Myer E Sunstein M 45 Russia

Son Elias Sunstein M 26 Pennsylvania

Son Leon Sunstein M 24 Pennsylvania

Servant Margaret Mc Cauly F 19 Pennsylvania

Servant Annie Jareo F 24 Austria^[8]

He passed away in 1913.^[1] His obituary was published in the New Castle News, May 13, 1913, on page 4.^[9]

He was buried at West View Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States.^[10]

Notes

Census Records

• 1870 census record - Not identified in census
• 1890 census record - Unavailable, records destroyed in 1921 fire

From Ann Sunstein:^[4]

Cass was born in Suchowola, Poland (now Russia) under the name of Ezekiel Landau. So as not to serve in the Czar's army, he assumed the name of Cass Sunstein, which was supposedly that of a baby who died in infancy. He escaped in a stack of hay, so the story goes, and immigrated to the US in his teens with a few dollars in his pocket. Somehow he got some of his first family over: he had married at 14 or 15 and had a son, AJ who was only 16 years younger than he was, who later went into the liquor business with him in Pittsburgh. Married a second time in the USA to Rose Fink, who bore him three children, one of which was my (Ann's) father, Elias. He was the first male in his family not to become a rabbi and is a direct male descendent of Vilna Gaon, as was my (Ann's) father (Elias).

His business, Cass Sunstein & Co., did well enough to buy out Same Thompson Whiskey, but prohibition ended that. He sent one son, Elias, to Princeton, and one son, Leon, to Cornell; daughter Daisy did not attend college. He was shorter than his wife, Rose, and had a goatee.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Death entry, Cass Sunstein in the Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1967, Name: Cass Sunstein, Gender: Male, Race: White, Age: 70, Birth Date: 29 Jan 1843, Birth Place: Russia, Death Date: 12 May 1913, Death Place: Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA, Father: Noah Sunstein, Mother: Eva Silverman, Certificate Number: 52223, Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1968. Series 11.90 (1,905 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Free Ancestry Image
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS16-LPH : accessed 7 January 2021), Cass Sunstine, Precinct 6 Allegheny city Ward 5, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 52, sheet 9A, family 187, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,356.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Letter, A J Sunstein to sister Daisy Sunstein, 15 Nov 23. https://www.wikitree.com/photo.php/e/e7/Jacobs-2987_Research-2.pdf (also attached to this profile)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Sunstein, Ann. "A Capsule Description of Parents, Grandparents, & Great-Grandparents of Ann & Ted Kheel," written July 1984, at the request of Marti Kheel.
5. ↑ National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Indexes and Registers of Declarations of Intention and Petitions for Naturalization of the U.S. District and Circuit Courts for the Western District of Pennsylvania, 1820-1906; Microfilm Serial: M1208; Microfilm Roll: 1.
6. ↑ "Pennsylvania Marriages, 1709-1940", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2XM-VR8 : 6 February 2020), Cass Sunstine, Rose Fink, 14 Oct 1879, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States .
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MW6G-J3H : accessed 03 Feb 2014), Cass. Sunstein, Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States; citing sheet 491D, family 0, NARA microfilm publication T9-1095
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MGCY-M7X : accessed 03 Feb 2014), Cass Senstein, Pittsburgh Ward 14, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, United States; citing sheet , family 56, NARA microfilm publication T624, FHL microfilm 1375317.
9. ↑ New Castle News, 13 May 1913. Image, archived. (https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/72407183/ : accessed 07 January 2021); citing print edition, p. 4.
10. ↑ Grave markder for Cass Sunstein: Find A Grave: Memorial #20430277

See also:

• "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/SB9P-NJC : accessed 2014-02-03), entry for Ezekiel Cass /Sunstein/.
• Research of Annie Jacobs, dated November 6, 1998
• Eliyahu's Branches: The Descendants of the Vilna Gaon and His Family