The son of Yehuda Leib Wolik, Uscher arrived in Philadelphia aboard the SS Waesland, from Liverpool, on November 11, 1900 from "Sarny," age 45, as "Urshel Wolok," just one of many variations of his name that would change with almost every future document.

He was probably *born 1852-1855 (See death cert. below) in the shtetl of Okhrimovo in the midst of the massive Russian Pale of Settlement in Kiev province. Okhrimovo (various spellings including "Ochremaver" & sometimes pronounced & noted as "Grimewe" ). It was also often referred to as "Sarny near Uman" to distinguish it from the much larger, more historic Sarny much farther west.

Uscher arrived with two companions, both in their 20s, also Russian Jews from the same region. Together all hree of them came with a total of seven (7) dollars.

They had bought their own tickets, and a Philadelphia shoemaker, Henry Grunberg, had arranged to take them all in, until they'd secured jobs of their own. Grunberg was said to be Uscher's cousin, and the same--or an in-law--to the younger men.

Uscher was also a shoemaker, and reported that he had a wife and four children back home in Russia. (Actually, he had five, but his oldest daughter, Blume, was married & probably living with her husband by then.)

All of these facts are taken from the one-page "Special Inquiry" report that port officials had conducted about Uscher and his companions, Schmiel Chanin and Schmiel Pelzman. They had even called in & interviewed Henry Grunberg. Perhaps the most interesting, awkward but also worrisome detail was the fact that Uscher was wearing a truss. But he explained that it was because he was injured--which might have led to rejection of his entry to America--but worn to prevent possible injury from all of the standing he did as a shoemaker.

Wife Tzirel/Cirel and the five children, plus son-in-law and grandchild, later arrived, in two groups-- in 1903, then 1905--when Asher was living at 410 Mountain St in South Philadelphia.

Also early in 1905, "Nocham Golisarski," a 24-year-old carpenter also from the "Sarna" hometown, arrived in Vermont, probably via Canada, with his destination listed as the 1506 S. 7th St home of his "father-in-law "Osar Wolik" in Philly. This young man was very likely Jacob Golisarski (later Goldberg), who did end up living with Uscher and was there in August when his wife, Bluma, Uscher's daughter arrived with the rest of the Wolik/Golisarski family.

In the 1910 Census, Uscher was listed as a "fruit store proprietor," now living just around the corner at 1620 S. 7th St. with "Zirel" and son Max--who would become Martin. By this time, Uscher's name had also been a bit Anglicized in the census as "Abraham Wolleck." By then, his eldest child, Leib, age 24, was married and known as Louis E. Wallace.

In March 1914, Uscher's death certificate further finessed his name, referring to him, in one final inaccuracy, as "Oscar Wallace," the same name that would be bestowed upon his grandson born 20 months later. Even more confusing, Uscher's original tombstone read "Asher Wollock."

*Also, Uscher's death certificate reports his age as 59, three years younger than other documents and his tombstone, indicate.

[FYI: Most Russian surnames that sounded like Vlach or Wolick basically derived from the German word meaning "foreigner/stranger," referring to any immigrant from Romania's Wallachia region, or from another southern Romance country.]