Milontaler family

The Milontaler Family of Roxbury, Massachusetts consisted of Maurice and Frances Levine Milontaler, and their children, Harold and Louise. Maurice's father was the well-known Louis Millionthaler, author of "Jesus and Rabbi Fletcher." Maurice's older sister was Sarah Millionthaler Gorfinkle, mother of Bernard Gorfinkle, whose papers are located in the AJHS repository in Boston, Massachusetts.

In general, the biographies of each Milontaler family member are spotty, at best. Louis Millionthaler was born in Suwalki, Russia in 1837. His father, Reb Label, was a bardchen who entertained on special occasions and traveled extensively. When Louis was eleven, his father passed way unexpectedly after returning home from one of his trips. Within the year, his mother, Sara Mera, passed away, leaving Louis and his married sixteen-year-old sister. As a Hebrew student, Louis traveled from town to town to get his education, and at eighteen he officially became a Hebrew teacher and entered an arranged marriage with sixteen- year-old Pesha Tupass from Rartzk in 1855. By 1870, Louis had arrived in the North End and worked as a teacher, eventually making enough money to send for Pesha and their three daughters. To earn enough money to support his family, Louis became a peddler, working in Cambridge, Somerville and Charlestown, establishing a route with steady customers. At some point, Louis published "Jesus and Rabbi Fleisher," which is listed as a new acquisition for the Boston Public Library in 1908. Louis passed away on June 8, 1917. Pesha outlived him by eleven years, passing away on February 12, 1928.

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