# Szol Balter (b.1800) <!-- AUTO:BEGIN — generated from GEDCOM; do not edit, overwritten on rebuild --> > 🔵 **Bernstein — Ozzy's side** · Relationship to Ozzy: **4x great-grandfather** ![[I504327.jpg|220]] **Born** 1800–1805 — [[Łęczna]] **Died** 02/07/1857 — [[Łęczna]] **Parents** [[Icek Balter (b.1771)]] · [[Zlota Dwojra Blufogel (b.1779)]] **Spouse** [[Brandla Mala Mendelsberg (b.1803)]] **Children** [[Estera Ruchla Balter (b.1825)]] · [[Michel Zelik Balter (b.1827)]] · [[Laja Balter (b.1830)]] · [[Icek Balter (b.1833)]] · [[Szyia Balter (b.1836)]] · [[Josef Chaim Balter (b.1838)]] · [[Zlota Dwojra Balter (b.1842)]] · [[Srul Balter (b.1845)]] · [[Jankiel Kopel Balter (b.1848)]] **Siblings** [[Berek Balter (b.1807)]] · [[Fajga Balter (d.1831)]] **📸 Media — from MyHeritage** ![[I504327_1.jpg|180]] ![[I504327_2.jpg|180]] **Documents — from MyHeritage:** [[I504327_doc0.pdf|📄 AI Biography™ - Shaul Balter]] *GEDCOM I504327 · Bernstein tree · synced 2026-07-01* <!-- AUTO:END --> ## Narrative Szol — **Szoel** Balter, who signed himself in Hebrew — was born in [[Łęczna]] about 1805, the eldest son of [[Icek Balter (b.1771)]] and [[Zlota Dwojra Blufogel (b.1779)]].[^death] His father was "Icek ha-Levi," a Levite of the Segal line who had come south from [[Siemiatycze]] and married into the propertied Blufogel householders of Łęczna; through him Szol carried both the Levite descent and a stake in the family's Łęczna property.[^father] He married [[Brandla Mala Mendelsberg (b.1803)]], and the couple raised a large family in the town — nine children are recorded, among them [[Estera Ruchla Balter (b.1825)]], [[Michel Zelik Balter (b.1827)]], [[Icek Balter (b.1833)]], [[Josef Chaim Balter (b.1838)]], [[Srul Balter (b.1845)]] and [[Jankiel Kopel Balter (b.1848)]]. He appears in the town's records as a property-holder. In the late summer of 1841 — **25 August / 6 September** — Szoel Balter, together with one Beniamin Goldblat, both of Łęczna, **sold a wooden house in the town** to Salomon Leib Rabinowicz for **1,200 złoty, or 180 silver rubles**, in a purchase-and-sale contract drawn up by the regent-notary Kwiryn Franiszkowski.[^sale] It is a small but telling glimpse: the Balters still held real property in Łęczna in the 1840s, and Szol was disposing of a house jointly with a partner. By the end of his life his circumstances were more modest. When he died his own death act styles him a **wyrobnik** — a labourer or journeyman — rather than a merchant or property-owner.[^death] He died in Łęczna at noon on **7 February 1857** (26 January by the old calendar), aged **fifty-two**.[^death] Two townsmen reported the death two days later: Icek Braunsztein, a man in his sixties, and Eyzyk Szwoc, a tavern-keeper of thirty-one.[^death] The act names his parents Icek and Złota — both by then long dead — and records that he left his **widow Brandla** and three sons, **Josef Chaim, Srul and Jankiel Kopel**; only those three sons are named among the survivors.[^death] [^death]: Death act, Łęczna, 1857 (read directly from the record image on this profile). *Starozakonny* declarants **Icek Braunsztein** (in his sixties) and **Eyzyk Szwoc**, tavern-keeper (*szynkarz*), aged 31, both of Łęczna, declared before the civil registrar that on **26 January / 7 February 1857 at noon** died **Szoel Balter**, a *wyrobnik* (labourer) resident in Łęczna, aged **52**, "son of Icek and Złota Balter, already deceased." He left a widow, **Brandla Balter**, and three sons: **Josef Chaim, Srul and Jankiel Kopel**. Age 52 in 1857 → birth c. 1805. Image: "Shaul Balter death 1857 Łęczna" (below). [^father]: [[Icek Balter (b.1771)]] ("Icek ha-Levi"), son of [[Szyia Segal (b.1740)]] of [[Siemiatycze]], married [[Zlota Dwojra Blufogel (b.1779)]] of Łęczna (daughter of [[Eyzyk Blufogel (b.1745)]] & [[Raca (b.1744)]]); the family held rear rooms and fair-time tavern rights in the Blufogel brick house on the Rynek Wygonowy (1807 arbitration). Icek died in Łęczna in 1831, his death act naming his Siemiatycze parents — the anchor for the Balter → Segal Levite descent. [^sale]: Notarial repertory of the Łęczna notary (regent Kwiryn Franiszkowski), act **no. 132**, dated **25 August / 6 September 1841**, read directly from the register scan. Entry: "*Starozakonny* Beniamin Goldblat i **Szoel Balter** z Miasta Łęczny" sold to Salomon Leib Rabinowicz of Łęczna "*Dom drewniany w Łęczny*" (a wooden house in Łęczna) for **1,200 złp = 180 rubles silver**; type: *Kontrakt Kupna i Sprzedaży* (purchase-and-sale contract). Scan: [skanoteka id 3971, plik 026, act 132](https://skanoteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=pg&id=3971&se=&sy=13&kt=&plik=026.jpg&x=0&y=797&zoom=2.5). ## Research - **1857 death act (Łęczna).** Read directly. Szoel Balter, *wyrobnik* (labourer), d. **7 February 1857** (26 Jan OS) at noon, aged **52**; son of the late Icek and Złota Balter; left widow **Brandla** and three sons **Josef Chaim, Srul, Jankiel Kopel**. Declarants Icek Braunsztein (~60s) and Eyzyk Szwoc, tavern-keeper (31). Age 52 → birth c. 1805. (Death record image on profile: I504327_2.jpg.) - **1841 house-sale (notarial act no. 132, 25 Aug / 6 Sept 1841).** Read directly from the register. Szoel Balter and Beniamin Goldblat of Łęczna sold a wooden house in Łęczna to Salomon Leib Rabinowicz for 1,200 złp (180 rubles silver); regent-notary Kwiryn Franiszkowski. Source: [skanoteka id 3971, plik 026](https://skanoteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=pg&id=3971&se=&sy=13&kt=&plik=026.jpg&x=0&y=797&zoom=2.5). - **Hebrew signature** preserved (image I504327_1.jpg) — Szol signed in Hebrew/Yiddish cursive, consistent with the family's Levite (ha-Levi) tradition. - **Parentage** confirmed by his 1857 death act (son of Icek and Złota) and reciprocally by Icek's 1831 death act (naming sons Szoel and Berek). Father [[Icek Balter (b.1771)]], mother [[Zlota Dwojra Blufogel (b.1779)]]. ## Evidence - **1857 death act (Łęczna)** — Szoel Balter, *wyrobnik*, aged 52, d. 7 Feb 1857; son of Icek and Złota; widow Brandla; sons Josef Chaim, Srul, Jankiel Kopel. His own death record; fixes death, approximate birth year (c. 1805), occupation, parents, widow and surviving sons. ![[I504327_2.jpg]] *Death act of Szoel Balter, Łęczna 1857 — labourer (wyrobnik), aged 52, son of the late Icek and Złota Balter, leaving widow Brandla and sons Josef Chaim, Srul and Jankiel Kopel.* - **1841 notarial house-sale (act no. 132)** — Szoel Balter (with Beniamin Goldblat) sold a wooden house in Łęczna to Salomon Leib Rabinowicz for 1,200 złp. Places Szol as a Łęczna property-holder in 1841. ![[SzoelBalter_1841_notarial_akt132_Leczna_housesale.jpg]] *Łęczna notarial repertory, act no. 132, 25 Aug / 6 Sept 1841 — Beniamin Goldblat and Szoel Balter sell a wooden house in Łęczna to Salomon Leib Rabinowicz, 1,200 złp / 180 rubles silver ([skanoteka scan](https://skanoteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=pg&id=3971&se=&sy=13&kt=&plik=026.jpg&x=0&y=797&zoom=2.5)).* ## Open questions - **Birth year.** Frontmatter gives 1800–1805; his 1857 death act (age 52) points to c. 1805. A birth record (Łęczna, c. 1800–1805) would settle it and confirm he was Icek and Zlota Dwojra's eldest. - **The other children.** The 1857 death act names only three surviving sons (Josef Chaim, Srul, Jankiel Kopel); the six other recorded children (Estera Ruchla, Michel Zelik, Laja, Icek, Szyia, Zlota Dwojra) had presumably died, married away, or (as daughters/married sons) were not listed among his heirs. Their fates would be worth tracing. - **The 1841 wooden house.** Which Łęczna house Szol and Beniamin Goldblat sold — and whether it was part of the Blufogel property Icek had held — is not yet established; the full notarial act (behind the repertory entry) would give the house's location and the co-owners' shares.