It was the early 1920s in St. Louis, Missouri. Six-year-old Zelma was sitting on her front porch when her father suddenly walked out of their house, patted her lovingly on the head, and said to her, “Tell your mother I’m going out for a cigarette.” He never came back.
That man was Morris Moin. He was my great-grandfather. And we still don’t know what happened to him.
My grandma – the then six-year-old Zelma – died in 1970 when my dad was 11, so I never had the good fortune to meet her. But throughout my life, I’ve heard about the mystery of her father’s disappearance – a mystery that had never been solved. As I got older, I grew more and more intrigued. Why did a father just vanish? What happened to him? Where did he go?
My own father had passed away when I was 24, so I couldn’t talk to him about any information he might know. Luckily, my Uncle Rob, my dad’s brother, is as interested in family history as I am, so we decided to work together to try solve the mystery.Â
Uncle Rob helped fill in many of the family history details for me. When my dad died in 2011, Uncle Rob was nice enough to make us a family history book, complete with pictures and details of my paternal side of the family. Through him, I learned that Morris had emigrated from Russia in 1907 (my dad’s side of the family is Jewish, so it is possible he emigrated due to the prevalent anti-Semitism at that time), married my great-grandmother Beckie Finkelstein in 1910, and then went on to have four children in St. Louis:  Max (b. 1912), Julia (b. 1914), Zelma (b. 1916, my grandmother), and Esther (b. 1918).Â
Shortly after Esther was born, the family lore goes, Morris disappeared, never to be seen again. According to my Uncle Rob, however, a mystery man did show up at his Grandma Beckie’s funeral – keeping to himself at the very back of the service and talking to no one. Could that have been Morris?
Combing the Records…
I quickly turned to FamilySearch and Ancestry to see what documents I could find. On FamilySearch, I found Morris Moin’s Declaration of Intent to become a citizen, filed in Missouri in 1910. This document was amazing! It stated that he was born in Libau, Russia (now Liepaja, Lativa) in September 1889, listed his St. Louis address, gave us the name of the ship (Campania) that he arrived on, as well as the port where this ship left from and the date it arrived in New York, not to mention his occupation, personal description, and more. A gold mine!
I was also able to find a 1910 marriage license for Morris and Beckie, which was fascinating to see as well.
As I was searching, I noticed another Morris Moin, a Morris Moin in New York, whose records kept popping up on both FamilySearch and Ancestry as well. But more about that later…
While I did find some great records, I still couldn’t find anything about Morris’ disappearance on either site. What to do next?
Time for the Newspapers…
Since I couldn’t find any juicy details on Ancestry and FamilySearch, it was off to the newspapers! I logged on to Newspapers.com and typed “Morris Moin”, along with an appropriate date and location range, in the search box. I couldn’t believe what I saw next.
UNDER ARREST – FOR FORGERY
While it was hard to read the clearly anti-Semitic language in the above newspaper article, especially about someone possibly related to me, I felt a flicker of intrigue – was this our Morris Moin? Was this why he disappeared? Because he was arrested? Being a genealogist, I know you should never assume, as people can have the same name at the same time in history. But Taylorville, Illinois is not far from St. Louis, Missouri – and St. Louis is even mentioned as the city where he was arrested. The dates of the arrest – 1921 – would line up with Zelma’s memory of her age at the time as well. And – and this is perhaps the most important – it said this Morris Moin was a produce agent.Â
That rang a bell – I remembered seeing somewhere that Morris was a fruit merchant at some point in his life. Sure enough, I typed his name again in the Ancestry search box, and found his 1917 draft card, with “fruit merchant” as the occupation – I think that counts as a produce agent, don’t you?
Being relatively certain that I had the right Morris Moin – the occupation, location, and date all made sense – I continued looking through the papers. And the twists just kept coming as 1921 went by.
His Wife Knew He Was Arrested?
Now the above clipping was intriguing to me – if the fact that he was arrested was the reason he disappeared, why did his wife come to help, as the May 21, 1921 article above stated? That didn’t really make sense. But it didn’t stop there.
So he was going to have a trial in August…let’s see what happened…
“Was Called in Court and Failed to Appear”
He failed to appear in court! Was this when Morris disappeared for good? Was this the moment Zelma remembered? You would think so, but the newspapers seemed to say otherwise…
1922: He’s Still in St. Louis!
In July 1922, about a year after this case, our Morris Moin appeared to run for “Socialist Committeeman” in Ward 4 of St. Louis. In this case, we can be sure that this aspiring committeeman is our Morris Moin, as it lists his address, 1410 Blair Ave., which is the address that matches his draft card above.Â
Two questions arose from this find:
- If he was arrested the year before, in 1921, and had all that “bad press” so to speak, how could he run for office?
- Was the arrest and the bond default not the reason he disappeared after all? Did he disappear after 1922?
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In 1922, Zelma, born 1916, would have been six. This is the age she told my Uncle Rob that she was when her father disappeared. So maybe it was 1922 and not 1921.Â
 Is Your Grandfather My Grandfather?
But the plot thickens. A few years ago, my Uncle Rob received an e-mail from a woman named Carol Moin Aaronson, granddaughter of a Morris Moin of New York – likely the New York Morris Moin I kept seeing on FamilySearch and Ancestry. She wrote the following, referencing a conversation she had with my relative, also a Carol Moin, a granddaughter of our own St. Louis Morris:
Now, the fact that her grandfather was also a Morris Moin, that he came to the United States in 1907, just like our Morris, and that he, according to her, was “hiding something” and they didn’t know where he was between 1907 and 1920, would very much make us think that it was the same man.
However, the years don’t exactly match up – we have our Morris Moin being arrested in Illinois in 1921, and then running for committeeman in 1922. According to Carol, her grandfather was in New York getting married in October of 1920. And then his child, her father, was born a year later, in October 1921. Was this the same Morris, going back and forth from St. Louis to New York? Or was it a completely different man?
Checking the Records
I then went back to FamilySearch to look at the records of the New York Morris Moin more carefully. The below 1940 New York census lists Carol’s grandfather as a 56-year-old man. This would put his birth date as 1884, which is five years earlier than the 1889 birth date on the naturalization record for my great-grandfather Morris. So that’s one possible (assuming these details are correct) difference between the two.
I then found New York Morris Moin’s petition for naturalization. Here, we see different dates of entry into the United States. According to the naturalization documents, our Morris arrived on the vessel Campania on the 20th of January, 1907; New York Morris arrived on the vessel Eturia on the 17th of June, 1907.
Finally, St. Louis Morris lists his birth place as Libau, Russia; New York Morris lists his birth place as Dvinsk, Russia.Â
With all these differences, I am leaning towards the idea that this is a different man. Both men do list Libau as their last place of residence before emigrating on the naturalization records, but that seems to be a port city, so perhaps that is just where they were when they were preparing to depart.
Time for DNA
As any good genealogist would do, I knew I needed to check my DNA matches. In her letter (page not shown here), Carol Moin Aaronson had mentioned some of her other family members – maybe one of them would be a match and we could then prove that her Morris and our Morris were likely the same man. While I found my Uncle Rob high on my match list (!), I saw none of the first and/or last names Carol had mentioned.
Perhaps no one in their family has tested, but the lack of DNA matches seemed to also be a point for New York and St. Louis Morris being two different people.
What Now?
So, where does this leave us? Still with a mystery on our hands! Our St. Louis Morris Moin likely disappeared around 1922 – where did he go? Why did he leave? What happened to him?Â
We hope to solve the mystery someday. If you have any ideas for us, feel free to let us know in the comments!
6 Responses
Fascinating! Your investigation inspires me. I’ve also got a mystery ancestor, my paternal grandpa’s grandfather. My grandpa’s memoir says his father’s father was on the Saxon court (a judge? a local court?), but was imprisoned when Prussia took over Saxony and disappeared. But I’ve found nothing to substantiate that. And other notes from my mother and a second cousin say he was a Braumeister who was a drunk. German marriage records of several of his children (on Archion) say he “died in America” or “died in Amoy, China.” But I also found several newspaper legal notices when his wife petitioned for divorce based on desertion. I finally found one of these notices on the divorce case that says he left on a particular date to go to Buenos Aires! When they said America, I had just assumed the United States! Anyway, I’m at a loss after that, so far. I definitely have a paper trail on a man who is listed as the father of my great-grandfather, but is it the same man as the one who was a political prisoner? I would love to get to the bottom of this. Thanks for an interesting mystery story.
Wow, that is a lot of different places where he could be! I assumed United States too when I started reading your note, but you’re right, I guess we shouldn’t always assume that. Good luck with your mystery! Sounds like you are hot on the trail!
Yet another mystery regarding an ancestor. I just was digging deeper into my paternal great-grandfather Fredrich Wilhelm Bohle (1837-1907). He immigrated from Stettin in 1850 and settled in San Francisco. I was doing some research in the newspapers and came across some articles in The San Francisco Call that he had been arrested for stealing from rich people with real estate scams. Then there seems to be a plot twist where someone comes forward and claims to be impersonating him. I’m still trying to figure this out. My grandfather never talked about him. All that I have ever known is that my great-grandmother kicked him out because he was a drunk. He was living with my great-uncle Albert when he died. Much more to come……..
Wow, another fascinating story! Definitely keep us updated!
A document from November 8, 1923 states for the NY Morris Moin “said petition was denied on grounds of incomplete verification” (“New York City, New York, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9M8-LK5S?view=fullText : Jan 21, 2025), image 316 of 988; New York. County Court (New York County). And (Film Number/Image Group Number: 005411543).
Also, how many of the original family tested DNA against the NY family? Are there any unknown paternal matches with another name?
If I were a criminal trying to gain citizenship, knowing I am wanted in another state, I would not use my real name. If he did flee I would be looking for potential matches with a different surname.
Such an interesting story! I hope you publish the findings if there is ever a solution.
Oooohhh, fascinating – the “incomplete verification” sounds fishy! Thanks for looking that up!
Just my uncle and I have tested so far. No unknown paternal matches that we know of yet.
Thanks for the tips! Really appreciate it!