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MORRIS:
 Morris was probably born about 1820's and was married to Rachel Burger (born 1826). They had 11 children, of whom 7 survived. Apparently all 7 of their children were born and grew up in Klasno. Morris died sometime between 1870 and 1880. His widow gave "Klasno" as her last place of residence when she emigrated to America in 1886 with her youngest daughter. Thus we can assume that members of Morris' family lived in Klasno at least from 1851 until 1886.

ABRAHAM:
Abraham's descendants, although they consider Hungary (and particularly Budapest) to be their place of origin, are aware that Abraham/s origins were in Poland. We have documented that he was in Klasno in 1860 and 1865, and resided in Budapest in 1886 and 1888. He was married to Bracha Mosescu of Budapest. We do not know how long he lived in Klasno, either before 1860 or after 1865. Presumably Abraham, like Morris was linked to Klasno by opportunities for earning a living as well as by family relationships. Abraham died sometime after December 1888 and is buried in a budapest cemetary.

RAPHAEL:
Raphael may have been close to Morris in age. As we have no documents relating to Raphael other than a reference to his name in his son Meyer's death certificate, we do not know what his links to Klasno may have been. He apparently died when Meyer (born 1853) was a young child, for Morris named one of his own sons, norn in 1865, Raphael. A few years later we find Meyer living near Nowy Sacz, over 50 miles' travel from Wieliczka, in an area where we have, so far, found no other Schmalhausens.

REISEL:
Reisel Schmalhausen Rottersman, born in the 1820's or 1830's, and very likely a sister of the three. She was in Budapest in 1888, and earlier had lived in a Galician town called Podlecz, whose location we are not certain of. US descendants have ben located.

Although Morris and Abraham are clearly connected with Klasno/Weiliczka, there appear to be neither records nor family traditions that might relate Raphael and Reisel to the community. But there are sufficient other clues that Klasno was the hometown of Schmalhausens for at least several generations. In Viennese Jewish records of 1875 we find a young woman named Hanni Schmalhosen who was born in Klasno, Galicia. Records in Vienna dated 1899 refer to a Therese Schmalhosen who was also born in Klasno, perhaps in the late 1870's or early 1880's.

About Klasno:
Klasno was a community set apart from the nearby town of Wieliczka. Klasno was populated with jews only due to laws at one time which did not allow jews to settle in Wieliczka. Eventually laws changed (around 1867) and many jews from Klasno moved to Wieliczka.
 Klasno was a part of Galicia. The Kingdom of Galicia was a province of Austria (and partitioned Poland) until World War I. Many jews in Galicia came from Germany. Galicia is said to have been used as a reserve for cheap labor. Income and living conditions were considered very bad compared to other areas of Europe. For an idea, the average life expectancy in the mid 1800's was 27 years for men and 28.5 years for women


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