The Philadelphia Saligmans 

From left are Robert Saligman, Anna Konovich Saligman, Mary Saligman, Isadore Saligman (seated), Hyman Seligman, Martin Saligman, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Seligman, Fannie Tullman Seligman, Louis Seligman, Dora Seligman, Harry "Herschel" Seligman (seated), Joseph Seligman, Gussie Levin (front), Sadie Seligman, Mary Seligman Levin, Abraham Levin, Jeanne Levin.

Opposite: A page from the Blitzstein Bank Passage Order Book, 19 Dec 1905, recording payment for steamship tickets for five family members.

◄

Why Isadore Saligman (1880-1946) chose to spell his surname with an "a" when all of his siblings remained Seligmans is unclear. The first in his family to emigrate, he arrived at the Port of Philadelphia from Antwerp in 1902 and made the city his home.

Between 1903 and 1905, he applied three times to the Blitzstein Bank in Philadelphia to purchase steamship tickets to the U.S. for his
relatives. First for sister Sadie (ca. 1888-?),then for his brother Louis (ca. 1889-1932) and sister Lizzie (1892-1968) and finally for his parents and the rest of his siblings, Joseph (1893-1983), Hyman (1897-?) and Dora (ca. 1898-?).

Isadore found his bride, Anna Konowich (1884-ca. 1934) at the Jewish farming colony in Alliance, New Jersey and they had six children, including Philadelphia philanthropist Robert Saligman. He founded Queen Knitting Mills, a manufacturer of ladies' knitwear. 

 ►