Two Levy Property Sales in France

Over twenty years ago, I hired a researcher in France to locate where Phoebe Levy's family came from. Phoebe Levy was the wife of Aaron Cerf, and they married in California. All I knew is that the Levys came from the Alsace-Lorraine area of France, probably near Metz. People often say, however, they are from a large city, even if they really came from a village, because the city is more well known.

The researcher was lucky, finding two real estate sales in the archives of Metz that matched the name of the father, Leopold Levy, and the names of his children. The town where the property was located was Metzervisse, 25 kilometers north of Metz.

The first sale occurred in 1859, and it is reported in French.

A summary of the most important information given by the registration of the sale is that on April 13, 1859, Libmann, known as Leopold Levy, a grocer, living in Metzervisse, sells property in his name and answering for his seven children:

1. Emmanuel Levy, of age, a salesman, living in California.
2. Pauline Levy, of age, in service (a domestic), living in Paris.
3. Barbe Levy.
4. Fanny Levy.
5. Estelle Levy.
6. Mayer Levy.
7. Sarath Levy.

The five names of the youngest children were minors and living in Metzervisse. 

The price received for the property is 275 francs. The property is described as a vegetable garden situated in Metzervisse and belonging to him, and to his seven children as heirs of their late mother, Catherine Boeles [who died on September 20, 1849]. Also mentioned is that Leopold Levy has a new wife, Fleurette Crehange.

The first son is always named Emmanuel, though he changed his name to Emile after emigrating. There was no daughter named Phoebe, but she is the daughter named Barbe, which is French for Barbara. The researcher said the explanation was possibly that she was really called Phoebe by her family, which is more Jewish, but that name wouldn't have been accepted as a given name by the employees of the registration at birth.

The second sale, occurring in 1891, was reported in German and in a gothic script that is not very easy to read. Between 1870 and 1919, the departements of Moselle, Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin were German. Before 1870, many Jewish families emigrated to the United States because they were loyal to France and didn't want to live under German rule. In the new country, they often formed French social clubs. The 1891 sale shows the residences of the Levy children, who had all emigrated to the U.S. except for Sara.

A summary of the most important information given by the registration of the sale is that on December 28, 1891, Sara Levy, an unemployed woman, the separated wife of Sylvain Bonn, a tradesman living in San Francisco, she living in Metzervisse, sells property in her name and as a proxy of:

1. Emmanuel Levy, a tradesman in San Francisco.
2. Pauline Levy, the wife of Simon Abraham, a tradesman, living at 28 1/2 Washington St., Portland, Oregon.
3. Barbe Levy, the wife of Aron Cerf, a tradesman, living in Ukiah, Mendocino County, California.
4. Fanny Levy, the wife of David Lobree, living in Middletown, Lake County, California.
5. Mayer Levy, a tradesman living in San Francisco.
6. Estelle Levy, the wife of Leonce Loeb, a tradesman living in Sehome, Washington.
7. Victorine Levy, the wife of Leon Levy, a merchant, living at 1517 Webster St., San Francisco.

The property is sold for the price of 900 francs. It was originally purchased by their parents, Leopold Levy and Catherine Boeles, on January 20, 1836, from David Morhange and his wife, Madeleine Weil, of Metzervisse. [Leopold Levy died on February 26, 1890, in Metzervisse.]

Victorine is the daughter of Leopold Levy with his second wife. She was called Victoire at her birth on April 3, 1851.

Sara was married in Metzervisse on March 9, 1875, and her two children were born there in 1876 and 1878. U.S. records indicate that her husband and at least one of her sons emigrated just prior to the sale of this property. Sara stayed behind as the representative of the family for the property sale, and possibly she was also a caregiver for her elderly father prior to his death. Her father's second wife, Fleurette, died on July 1, 1874, at 50 years of age. She was the wife of Libmann Levy, 69 years of age, a grocer living in Metzervisse. [Fleurette was the daughter of the late Oury Crehange and the late Sara Fribourg.] After the property sale, Sara Levy Bonn went to the U.S.

The researcher told me he was only able to find the village and the correct family because they had made property sales, which were important enough to be indexed in the Metz archives. Otherwise, the only option would have been to search more than 700 towns, each one having its own books for registrations of births, marriages, and deaths. We were lucky.

References:

April 13, 1859, Register 429 Q 221, pages 2 (both sides) and 3, Direction des Services D'Archives, Departement de la Moselle, Hotel du Departement, 9 place de la Prefecture, Metz.

December 28, 1891, Register 429 Q 832, pages 176 to 179 (both sides) Direction des Services D'Archives, Departement de la Moselle, Hotel du Departement, 9 place de la Prefecture, Metz.

Various birth, marriage and death records from the registration book in Metzervisse, Moselle, Lorraine, France.