The Gottlieb family is named for four siblings, three of whom immigrated to the USA around 1900, all descendants of a single couple. The couple were Lejbko Herszk Gotlib (Louis) and Neszka Jenta (Nettie) Piekarska. Leib Hersh and Neszka Jenta lived in the town of Sokoly, in Lomza Gubernia, in the Bialystok Province of the Russian Empire. They were married in 1859, in Sokoly.
Leib Hersh's father was named Moszk. We believe that Moszk died in 1867. Leib Hersh's mother was named Estera. Neszka Jenta's father was named Jankiel. Neszka Jenta's mother was named Szyfra; we believe she died before 1894.
It is likely that Leib Hersh had a brother named Chaim, who married Jenta Perkanowicz in 1876, in Tykocin, also a town in Lomza Gubernia. We have not yet traced descendants of Chaim.
The region they lived in was part of the Russian Empire. Bialystok was the name of their province, and its capital was also named Bialystok. It is now part of Poland.
In 1914 there were 60 gubernias; a gubernia was an administrative district. Fifteen of the gubernias were in the Pale of Settlement, the western edge of the Russian Empire to which Jewish residence was restricted from 1794 to 1917. Lomza is pronounced Wam-sha in Polish.
Sokoly was a train stop on the Bialystok-Lomza line; nearby towns were Lomza, Szczuczyn (pronounced sh-toot-chin), and Wysokie Mazowieckie. Lomza was located about 80 miles northeast of Warsaw and about 50 miles west of the city of Bialystok. Most of the residents of Lomza, Jews, were craftspeople. It was destroyed by the Germans after 1943; some residents were shot and others were transported to the Bialystok Ghetto.
The three Gottlieb sons who immigrated to the USA were Harry, Julius, and Moses. All three lived in Cleveland, Ohio as adults, and are buried there. No one has been able to find records of entry in the Ellis Island database, although we have specific dates.
We are aware of many other Gottlieb families, including a large group in Savannah, Georgia. At present we are unaware of any direct relationship between our family and the others.