Bonnie Franklin died of pancreatic cancer on 1 March 2013. She was not a relative of mine, but since celebrity genealogy is all the rage…
According to Wikipedia, Bonnie was born 6 January 1944 in Santa Monica, California to Samuel Benjamin Franklin and Claire Hersch, Jewish immigrants from Russia and Romania, respectively. She married Ronald Sossi in 1967, divorced in 1970, and married Marvin Minoff in 1980, staying with him until he died in 2009.
From Geni.com, her siblings were Victoria (Kupetz), Judith (Bush), Bernard, and Richard, and her father Samuel was born “before 1964” (ya think?).
1940 and Easy California Stuff
Research began in the 1940 US census. Bonnie was not yet born, but I was hoping she wasn’t the oldest child. At 1409 Ocean Street in Santa Monica, Samuel and Clare Franklin were living with children Bernard, Richard D, and Victoria Ann, along with a servant named Nellie Young. In 1935, they all lived in Los Angeles, Samuel was an investment broker and a naturalized citizen. He and Clare were born in… Canada?
Working from home, I did the easy stuff first, turning to FamilySearch and their California indexes. I found all five children in the Birth Index. Bonnie and Judith, the two youngest were listed with the mother’s maiden name as Hersch, but Bernard, Victoria, and Richard had the mother’s maiden name of Herscovitch.
In the California Marriage Index, I found Bonnie listed with both Ronald and Marvin, and three other marriages for her siblings. Bonnie and Ronald were also in the California Divorce Index.
The California Death Index and the Social Security Death Index both list Samuel as born 1 January 1903 and died 23 February 1997. The CADI says his mother’s maiden name was Brode.
1930 Gets Trickier
A likely listing for Samuel was found in the 1930 census, this time living in the city of Los Angeles and a bank manager. He was a boarder in the home of Harry Heckler, along with 62 year old and divorced Luz Franklin and 16 year old Lawrence Franklin. Luz was born in Russia while Lawrence and Samuel were born in Canada. Samuel and Luz immigrated in 1923, Lawrence in 1928. All three were aliens.
Two naturalization index cards were found for Samuel Franklin, one in 1917 and the other in 1962. Neither matched the 1940 census claim that he was a naturalized citizen (along with the possible 1930 listing that he wasn’t), but the 1962 included the middle name of Benjamin, making it the more likely candidate.
Searching for Luz Franklin found two marriage records, in 1929 and 1931. That 1929 marriage was a short one. The Divorce Index doesn’t go back that far for me to check.
On To Clare’s Family
Switching to Clare, I found a Clare Herskowitz in the 1930 census with her parents and sister in San Francisco, and the same family again in 1920. This Clare was born in San Francisco, but her father was born in Romania. She and sister Sylvia were both found in the CABI, along with possible marriage for Sylvia.
At this point, I’m about exhausting what I can find online for free and I need to try to verify some of these records. While the 1930 censuses appear to be the same people, I want a little more proof that I’ve got the right people.
Research Disclaimer: No records were ordered and no money was expended for this research. While I believe that the information found in this article is correct, there are several assumptions made regarding the individuals included. If this was not “just for fun” but was instead my own family or a client’s, I would insist on obtaining addition