Herman was the son of Dov Ber Sternson (Stein or Shtyren) and Miriam (Mary) Krenza. He was one of four children that we currently know of. He was born in Russia, circa 1855. His brother, Pincus, put that he was born in Odessa. Other descendants, on FindAGrave.com, listed Odessa as the place they emigrated from.
He married Sarah Vinekur in Russia and as far as I know, they never left.
Herman and Sarah had three children that we know of:
- Esther, my great-grandmother. On various documents her surname is listed as Stern, Steren, Sternenson, She was born about 1874 in Russia in the Odessa area. She died on November 6, 1911 in Brooklyn, New York. She married Moses Aron (Morris) Feldman, the day after she arrived in Milwaukee, WI, in 1892. You can learn more about her life on the page dedicated to her.
- Samuel Stein, born about 1881 in Russia. He married Anna Weisman.
- Rose Stein, was bon on March 23, 1889 in Odessa, Ukraine, according to Find-A-Grave. She died January, 1974 in New York and was married to Abraham Antin.
You can find out more about Herman and Sarah’s children on other pages of the Feldman section. Look on Esther Feldman and under Esther’s Siblings.
Sarah Vinokur
My cousin, Estelle Eisler, had this photo. She said it was of her great-grandmother, Sarah Vinokur. I thought the woman looked to young to be Sarah, but after photo analysis, it is a possibility.
The image of Sarah was restored using MyHeritage.com photo tools in January, 2026. MyHeritage.com dated it to be taken around 1881.
The back of the photo was written in pre-1918 Russian orthography.
Decorative, ornamental stamp style is most consistent with late 19th-century (Victorian-era) studio marks, especially the 1880s–1890s.
Photographic style (oval vignette studio portrait) aligns with common practices from the late 1870s through the 1890s.
Conclusion on Date:
Taken together, the evidence suggests the portrait was most likely taken in the early 1880s, with a broader possible range of the late 1870s to mid-1890s.
Interpretive Conclusion:
If the portrait dates to the early 1880s, the woman depicted is more likely Esther’s mother than a sister. A sister remains a secondary possibility only if the photograph were taken significantly later than the stylistic and algorithmic evidence suggests.
Sources
- Photo Analysis completed by ChatGPT 5.2 in January, 2026
- Photo from the personal collection of Estelle Eisler