Yehuda Lev Rabyn (Louis Reuben)
Yehuda Lev Rabyn haLevi יהודה לײב בן משׁה זלמן הלוי (aka Leib, Louis, Reuben, Ruebin, Rubin) (pictured at left with his son Samuel in Ashley, ND, 1918) was born in Tiraspol, Ukraine, on 15 March 1868 (or 1871) to Moshe Zalman Rabyn haLevi. He married Mirel Chaplik in 1891. They lived in Zakharyevka (Zakharivka, today's Frunzivka, at 47° 20'N & 29° 46'E), where he was a grain merchant. He arrived in Philadelphia on the Oxford American Line from Liverpool on 22 February 1905. Mirel and the children arrived on 6 May 1906 in Baltimore. They homesteaded near Ashley, in southern North Dakota, on 80 acres they received as a grant and 80 additional acres that they purchased. Yehuda Lev's brother, Karl Reuben (aka Cupel Rubin) (c. 1872 – c. 30 July 1959), and his wife Fannie Goldstein (Feiga bat Eliezer Mikhael; daughter of Eliezer Mikhal Goldstein & Sasa Rivkah Mondel) (c. 1882 – Janaury 1948) homesteaded nearby in northern South Dakota. Sometime after Mirel's death, Leib returned to Philadelphia and married Fannie (Feiga) Gersen (1872 – 31 December 1965), daughter of Hirshel & Tzippa, who by family tradition was a "cousin." Yehuda Lev died in Philadelphia, PA, on 26 February 1953.
The name Rabyn was originally pronounced "Robbin" and in America was spelled Reuben, Rueben, Rabyn, Ruben and Rubin. Most descendants spell the name Reuben; a few spell it Ruben.
Pictured at right: Brothers Philip Reuben (top) & Samuel M. Reuben, c. 1918
These are the children of Yehuda Lev and Mirel.
- Samuel Mordecai Reuben (Shelomo Mordekhai) (15 August 1892 – 18 November 1963). Samuel married Gertrude "Big Gert" Tilsen
- Esther Nesa Reuben (Ester Nesa) (30 January 1894 – April 1984). Esther married Edward N. Tilsen
- Mollie Reuben (Malka) (15 April 1896 – April 1965). Mollie married Max Tilsen
- Philip M. Reuben (Pinhas) (15 March 1898 – 10 July 1967). Philip married Edythe Robertson
- Rose Reuben (Rahel) (25 May 1900 – 20 September 1971). Rose married Emmanuel "Mike" Isreal Mann
- Morris Reuben (Moshe) (14 October 1904 – ?). Morris married Peggy, and Esther Rosenblum
- Sylvia Reuben (22 February 1909 – 1 February 1977) was born in Ashley, ND. Sylvia married Ben Albert Marvy
- Benjamin Reuben (Binyamin) (2 September/10 October/27 October 1910 – 11 November 1918). Benjamin was born in Ashley, ND, and died there during a flu epidemic
Three of the Reuben children married Tilsens, creating a special relationship between the two families.
Explore a
Reuben Family Tree
Blitzstein Bank account record opened by Louis Reuben on 2 February 1906 to pay passage for his family to join him in Philadelphia Page 1 Page 2
Louis's Declaration of Intention filed in Ashley, North Dakota
Louis's Petition for Naturalization filed in Ashley, North Dakota
Louis's Death Certificate
Mirel Chaplik's Tombstone in the Ashley Jewish Cemetery, Ashley, North Dakota
Fannie Garsen's Death Certificate
Louis & Fannie's Tombstone in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Benjamin Reuben's Birth Certificate from McIntosh County, North Dakota
Benjamin Reuben's Tombstone in the Ashley Jewish Cemetery, North Dakota
Karl Reuben's (aka Cupel Rubin) Memorial Table (presumably) at Congregation Raim Ahuvim, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
For more information contact Jon-Jay Tilsen at jjtilsen@beki.org
