"1) Firstly, William was
known as "Bill" and never would have allowed himself
(nor would Boris have allowed him) to be referred to as "Billie"
2) William denounced his inheritance. He signed over his portion
of Boris's
estate to his mother, Sarah, with his mother, Sarah, as the
administrator (I have the original of this document).
3) In addition to Dr. Elliot Sagal (of blessed memory), Sarah
attempted to
influence the early education of several children of the Mandelbaum
family.
Her efforts were met with mixed reactions.
"I speak with some authority, as my grandfather, Joseph
Mandlebaum (note
difference in spelling, which occurred when my grandfather settled
in NM,
after he and his brother left the family in Chelsea, MA) was
the younger
brother of Sarah Mandelbaum Sidis. I have done a rather extensive
family
history of both the Mandelbaum family and the Kripov (Americanized
to Rich)
family, which were mother and father to Sarah.
"The total sum of Boris' estate (that portion that was acknowledged
for taxes)
was $50,000.00, of which Sarah received one half and each of
the children
received one fourth. Even $12,739.09 was a goodly sum of money
in 1925. You
will hear that Sarah lost all of her money (including Helena's
portion, of which
Sarah had control) in the market crash of 1929. Do not believe it. She
parlayed
her (and Helena's) holdings into several pieces of Miami real
estate. The question
is what happened to Sarah/Helena's fortune upon Sarah's death? Helena died as a
pauper on Long Island just a few years ago.
"For what they may ever be worth, I have the legal history
of title of the
Sidis Institute and current pictures of what it looks like today.
"Another mystery: I have often been told that both Boris and Sara were
buried
on the grounds of the old Sidis Institute. The grounds have been
broken up
into a multitude of homesites (although the original house remains).
I have
wandered many of the homesites, but find nothing that would resemble
a
gravesite. I also do not know where Bill was interred."
Sarah M. Sidis' Grandnephew,
11&12Oct1999