Born in Trzcianka, Lodzkie, Poland in 1817, Tanchum “Thomas” Pearlstine (c.1817-1877) married Janetta “Janie Esther” Karesh (1819-1897) around 1832. In 1856, the couple and their children immigrated from Poland to the United States. During the voyage, however, two of their daughters, Miriam Rose Pearlstine (1845-1856) and Fayge Etta Pearlstine (1841-1856), died at sea. Upon arriving in South Carolina, the family initially settled in Due West, South Carolina. By 1870, however, they had moved to Midway, South Carolina. There, Tanchum worked as a merchant, Janetta kept house, and their children, Samuel Wolfe Pearlstine (1847-1922) and Chaya “Sarah Hannah” Pearlstine (1853-1903), worked as a clerk and kept house, respectively. At the time of his death in 1877, Tanchum was working as a merchant in Charleston.