Hi,
This is Michael. I have not done much research on the family history for a little while. I have however just recently started again - now searching for the Portuguese connection.
Cynthia, do you have any more information on the Gabays and could you tell how you are related to the Gabays?
Michael
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Michael, I have not read your reply or inquiry until now, 4 years later! My maternal grandmother was born a Gabay. In New York. Her father was Fred(erick) and his father was Henry. He was a cigar maker from the Netherlands. This is about all I know. Any relatives in that mix possible? -Cynthia
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Hello, I'm new to this. I am also a Gabay, but my family lives in Jamaica. I know there is a French connection somewhere. Not sure if your Gabay is related to mine, but would like to find more. Camille
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Good morning, Camille! As I mentioned, Henry A. Gabay was as far back as I've been able to trace the family and he came to America from the Netherlands. He married Mary Maddy who was from England. They lived in New York City, NY and raised a family and worked as tobacconist and cigar maker (I think he must have opened his own shop eventually but have not proved that yet). My grandmother, Mary Elizabeth changed her name to Ruth Espranza Gabay. She told my mother and others that there was Castillian Spanish in the family tree. Though her father was an Episcopalian, I feel that there is Jewish blood in the veins somewhere. I know from my research that a good many Gabays in the Netherlands ARE Jewish and I know that the Gabay line in Spain was also Jewish. My grandmother married a Jewish man but he did not practice his religion. Her children were raised without a family religion, but did attend Christian churches. My mother converted to Catholicism before she married my father. We are practicing Catholics. I don't know if this interests you or not. I find the religious aspect of genealogy fascinating. So, I'd like to know about the French connection with the Gabay name. Tell me your story, if you will. Cindy
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Cynthia,
I posted another message to Robert and a reply to you at that link earlier this morning.
However, reading your May, 2008 response to Michael only brings me closer to MAYBE finding the Gabay family who I am researching!
According to information that I have gathered over the past eight years,David Antoine Gabay MAY have been born in Germany with Spanish ancestry. That would stand to reason why Henry alledgedly came to America from the Netherlands. During that period of history, with the Spanish inquisition, etc, people just kept migrating further North.
David also married a woman whose parents came from England...surname Blackburn. Henry also had a daughter named Esperanza. David's death certificate says his mother's name was Esperanza.
Lots of coincidences here.
Would love to hear more from you all. I, too, have a message board, quest for Esperanza Gabay.
Thanks to you all. Nancy
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I am also looking for any gabays related to me in Jamaica mostly in the Montego Bay area. I would like to know more about your background.
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OUR GABAY TREE BEGINS IN THE NETHERLANDS - DOCUMENTED- HOWEVER, ANECDOTAL WORD TELLS OF SPANISH ORIGINS AND POSSIBLY MOROCCAN PRIOR TO THAT. ARABIAN ANCESTRY PERHAPS? SURELY MIDDLE EASTERN - POSS. JEWISH? DON'T KNOW OF FAMILY IN JAMAICA BUT DON'T KNOW A LOT BEFORE THE NETHERLAND GABAY (HENRY A GABAY) ARRIVED EARLY 1800S.
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Good morning Cyndi, Hopefully this post finds you well. It has been almost three years since my post. I do apologize for the time lapse. Life got in the way! At any rate, the French connection I mentioned is rumor in our family, no evidence. What I have found in the last year is that we indeed may have a Portuguese connection. Other Gabay family members from Jamaica who have been researching their Gabay ancestor, found my uncle and me. I believe you are right about Jewish blood. I've seen posts of Gabays in Panama and also a link between Gabays and Levys in Jamaica. These posts discuss Jewish origins of both families. Furthermore, other information suggests that there were three Portuguese Jewish brothers with the surname Gabay. Somehow either one of the brothers or a descendant found their way to Jamaica. I did not know about Gabays in Netherlands. Henry Gabay could very well be a descendant of one of these Portuguese brothers. My mother also recalls a visit to New York when she visited a jewelry store owned by a Jewish family. The proprietor told her that Gabay was a Jewish name. Though it doesn't prove anything, it is some circumstantial evidence. I've also come across some information through internet research that suggests that there was a Levitical tribe called Gabai in Israel.
Just a note...our Gabay family was also raised Catholic in Jamaica.
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I am well, thank you. I was interested to read your latest post. Since last time, I came across a few items: Gabai/Gabbai rugs being made for thousands of years in the middle east area. Learned a little Hebrew and found the term gabbai means treasurer roughly translated. Learned that many displaced Jews moved into Spain only to flee due to persecutions northward through France and into the Netherlands while others headed toward the New World, ending up in Mexico and Jamaica. They are known as the Crypto-jews in modern literature. Many are only now discovering their hidden roots. I suspect that the Gabays in my tree abandoned their faith. My grandmother's father, Fred Gabay, was a professed Christian and his daughter, my g'mother was not religious at all. She did own a Menorah and knew how to use it, I'm told, and she married a Jewish man, although he didn't practice or raise the family that way. My mom's older brother was called "Jew boy" as a youngster, I was recently informed. The other siblings seemed to be blind to their ancestry, for the most part. The youngest son, my Uncle Ed was very recently shocked to learn of the family's Jewish ancestry. Portugal-Spain, I'd love to go there and dig around in the old record books, wouldn't you? Any information on the name is eye-opening to me. Please continue to share any further revelations and I'll do the same. Be well, Cyndi
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I think we may definitely be related but not sure where the trees intersect. I would love to talk more! Cheryl
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