Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Moses (Moishe) Joseph Levine (1864-1919) immigrated to Toronto from Minsk in 1887. He was the son of Aaron and Sarah Levine (née Snider) (1832-1915). He began working as a peddler and later became a grocer. Sarah Levine (née Cass) (1876-1978) emigrated from Russia to Montreal around 1891, with her younger brother, Phillip. She then came to Toronto and initially lived with her sister, possibly Annie Smith, on York Street. Her first employment in the city was as a dressmaker. She was the daughter of Abraham Cass (1840-1897) and Rachel Rebecca Cass (née Cowart?) (1838-1903), who both immigrated to Canada in 1892.
Moses and Sarah met in Toronto and were married in 1895. They went to Midland with Moses' brother, Michael, and opened a store there. Their first daughter, Mary Soskin (1895-1990), was born in Midland that same year. However, after a few years, Moses and Sarah decided to move back to Toronto while Michael stayed in Midland with his wife, Anne Woods, and their children.
Moses and Sarah Levine first lived on Chestnut Street, then moved to Centre Avenue, then 115 Spadina Avenue near Dundas around 1903, and finally to 224 Beverley Street near College. Moses' mother, Sarah, lived with them for thirteen years. They had six additional children: Fanny (1898-1923), Anne Thuna (1899-1964), Abe (b. 1901), Harry (b. 1903), Rita (1905-1975), and Dorothy Bliss (1909-1992).
In the 1910 Toronto City Directory, Moses is listed as a grocer at 115 Spadina Avenue at Adelaide. Once he was able to, he moved into a larger wholesale grocery at 25 Jarvis Street in Toronto and is listed there in the 1920 Toronto City Directory.
The Levine family belonged to Goel Tzedec Congregation, which was located in a small church building purchased for the synagogue on University Avenue at Elm Street. A larger building was later built on University Avenue.
Moses died in 1919 after accidentally falling down an elevator shaft at his grocery store. The family closed the business shortly thereafter and the family continued to live on Beverley Street.