Other Kessler Children

In addition to Edith and Morris, Abe also had the following siblings at different parts of his life:

• Lippman was born in July 1887 in Galicia, Austria.  He died tragically on May 24, 1908, at age 20 in New York during a murder/suicide. From what we can tell, his name was never mentioned again in the family. As the oldest child, he saw many of his baby siblings perish. Did he also feel deserted by his father who left for the United States at least one year before Lippman and his mother did? There is no excuse for what he did, but we have no idea how circumstances affected his mental health.
  
  Although he is buried in Mt. Zion Cemetery in Maspeth, New York, no headstone had ever been erected for him. It is as though the family completely erased him from their memory.
  
  What was going on in the United States in 1908? Teddy Roosevelt was President, the first 700-pound “electric ball” fell at midnight in Times Square, the Ford Motor Company unveiled the Model T, the Wright Brothers successfully demonstrated the airplane they invented a few years earlier, the department store Sears started selling “kit” homes in their mail-order catalog for $650 and, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina which was seen as a forerunner to World War I, and more. Even with all of these major events, newspapers all over the world published the story about Lippman Kessler and his horrific act. Each one recounts the story differently, and the article from Australia completely mixed up the story. The NY Times article is the most comprehensive and contains the most facts of what occurred.
  

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• Herman was born on July 4, 1891, in Lviv, in Galicia. Samuel and Bertha were then living at 15 Bernadyńska St. where their son’s circumcision also took place. Sadly, Herman’s death is also record and the little boy died on August 5, 1894 in Brody.
  
• Benjamin (twin) was born on February 18, 1899, in New York.  He died on September 17, 1900, at 1 year and 7 months old

• Israel Mordche (twin) was born on February 18, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York.  Israel died on June 25, 1899, at 4 months old.

• Frederick was born on May 11, 1902, in Brooklyn, New York.  He died on May 1, 1904, at almost 2 years old.

The four Kessler children who did not survive in the United States are all buried in Mt. Zion Cemetery in Maspeth Queens, New York. Their gravesites can be found at:

• Lipmann: Location 26R-4-0002-157, Society, Brotherhood
• Benjamin: Location 26R-4-157, Society, Brotherhood
• Israel: Location 26R-4-157, Society, Brotherhood
• Frederick: Location 26R-4-157, Society Brotherhood
• 1908 historical information from:
  • https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/year/1908
  • https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1908-7683115/
  • https://uk.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/presidents-of-the-united-states/