txjhs.org · Press in support of Hollace Weiner’s book, Legendary Lone Star Rabbis. The second approved request is to The Institute of Texan Cultures for a traveling exhibit on

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Rose Epstein Maas, right,on August 7, 1913 in Galveston.

L-R: Rose Epstein, Mrs. MeyerEpstein, and Goldie Epstein.

Beila Buchwald Maas and FavishMaas. Favish Maas was anAustrian-born pacifist under thereign of Franz Joseph. He objectedto compulsory service and left forAmerica with his buddy, Isaac Zinn.They both left their wives and sonsin Europe and came to Galveston,Texas, where they became peddlersand earned enough money to bringtheir families over. Isaac Zinnremained in Galveston; the Maas’moved to Houston just before the1900 storm. They opened a store atHamilton and Canal called the“Five Points Grocery Store.” Theybecame the parents of five children.They are the grandparents ofGertrude Maas Toro, who submittedthese photos.

Rose Maas, fourth from left, bottom row. Weatherford HighSchool Graduation, 1903 or 1904. She was born in Decatur,

Texas in 1886 and married in 1908.

Next Board Meeting – Sunday, July 18, 10:00 A.M. -3:00 P.M.Houston-Hilton Hobby Airport

See insert for details and reservation form.

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From the TJHS President

Please Note:The Texas Jewish Historical

Society and the editorial staff of thisnewsletter cannot guarantee theaccuracy or authenticity of any article.This is the responsibility of eachcontributor, so please direct yourquestions, comments and/or correc-tions to each author directly.

The Texas Jewish Historical Society Newsletteris a publication of the Texas Jewish Historical Society, P.O. Box 10193, Austin, Texas 78766-0193

Helen Wilk (Corpus Christi).....................................................................................................President

Jack Gerrick (Fort Worth)...........................................................................................Managing Editor

Walter Fein (San Antonio)..................................................................................................Proofreader

Nell Hall (Fort Worth)..........................................................................................................Proofreader

Geri Gregory (San Antonio).....................................................Layout, Design and Distribution

Our wonder-ful 20th annualgathering in FortWorth was filledwith a wide varietyof interestingprograms and adelightful array ofsocial events.

Once again we came together toincrease our knowledge of TexasJewish history and enjoy the fellow-ship that is such an important aspectof every meeting. Fay Brachman,Jack Gerrick and Annette andHoward Lackman are to be con-gratulated and thanked for arrangingan outstanding weekend. Please readtheir report on page 3 of this News-letter for more details.

This year we took some timeduring the gathering to recognize andthank each of our Past Presidents asthey received their Past President’spins. We recalled their leadershipand the role each one played inbringing us to the 20 year mark.

The first recipient of ourcollege student scholarship, GregMeyer, was a wonderful addition toour gathering. He brought unidenti-fied old photos from Hillel at TexasA&M and was able to add identitiesand dates to many of them. At theboard meeting he told us how muchhe appreciated the opportunity toattend our gathering as our guest, howmuch he had learned, and that hehoped we would continue to offer thisscholarship in future years. Seems

like a really good idea! He alsojoined TJHS.

Recently TJHS received fourGrant requests that were reviewed byour Grant committee. After presenta-tion to The Board, two of the re-quests were approved. The firstaward is to Texas A&M UniversityPress in support of Hollace Weiner’sbook, Legendary Lone Star Rabbis.The second approved request is toThe Institute of Texan Cultures for atraveling exhibit on Jewish immigrationthat will be coordinated with ourShalom Y’all exhibit in November,December, 1999 and January 2000.

As I continue my presidency,I want to thank every officer andboard member for his/her activeparticipation. I feel that we are awonderful team and I am so pleasedthat every officer and many boardmembers are remaining on that team.We do have six new board membersto whom I extend my warm welcomeand look forward to working togethertoward our goal of preserving anddocumenting the history of the Jewsof Texas.

Our summer Board meeting isscheduled for Sunday, July 18, from10 A.M. - 3 P.M. at the Hilton Hotelat Hobby airport in Houston. Asalways, the meeting is open to allmembers and you will find a registra-tion form in the center of this News-letter. This business meeting will bedevoted to evaluating the past yearand discussing future plans andprojects. On October 16 and 17 we

TJHS is seeking some air-conditioned storage space for ourfiles containing our records andtapes. We need occasional accessand a convenient location in a majorcity, i.e., Houston, Dallas, FortWorth, Austin or San Antonio. Wewill probably have 2-3 four-drawerfile cabinets, so even a large closetmight serve the purpose. ContactHelen Wilk at (361) 991-1118.

We Need StorageSpace!

will be meeting in Corsicana...detailslater.

When you are a part of TJHSyou find yourself achieving an impor-tant purpose, surrounded by interest-ing, delightful people who share thatvision.

Warm Texas Regards,

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This card is available foranyone wishing to honor or memori-alize an individual through ourendowment fund. Upon receipt ofyour gift the Society will respondwith this acknowledgement. To themembers who have sent in funds inthe past, thank you on behalf ofTJHS. To all those who will sendfunds in the future, please send yourgift to:

Texas Jewish Historical SocietyP.O. Box 10193Austin, Texas 78766-0193

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Texas Jewish Historical Society Donor Cards

The 20th annual Gathering ofthe Texas Jewish Historical Societywas held in Fort Worth, Texas, onApril 30-May 1, 1999, at the RadissonHotel, and was attended by over 100members of the Society and manylocal people who visited variousprograms and seminars. Some ofthe visitors were so impressedwith the Society that they filled outmembership applications and paidon the spot.

The meeting was chairedby Fay Brachman and JackGerrick of Fort Worth, withHoward & Annette Lackman ofArlington doing the programming.Many local members on variouscommittees helped make thisGathering one of the best. Thanksto everyone who helped!

Registration began onFriday morning with an afternoonsession entitled, “Begin to climb yourJewish Family Tree,” by noted gene-alogist David Chapin, of Austin. Thesession was very enlightening and verywell attended. Later in the afternoon,members went on a walking tour ofthe Bass Performance Hall and wereguided by its General Manager, PaulBeard, personally. The Hall is consid-ered one of the 10 best in the world, soit was an honor to be so privileged.

The highlight of Fridayevening’s Shabbat dinner was alecture by Mr. Michael Pollak on”Kai-Feng China and Texas Jewry; aSpiritual Link.” Mr. Pollak is an

acclaimed historian and shared thediscovery of an ancient ChineseTorah. The Torah was viewed at thedinner in one of the very few times ithas been out of the SMU BridwellLibrary. The Torah is hundreds ofyears old and priceless.

Saturday morning’s firstsession, titled, “The Jewish Impact onSmall Texas Towns,” was moderatedby Jack Gerrick with panelists BuddyFreed, Jim Stein, Leon Toubin, Max

Stool and Herb Silverberg, all of whomgrew up in small towns.

The second seminar waspresented by Susan King on thesubject, “Preserving Our History For

Future Generations.”Lunch was spent with John

Giordano, Conductor of the FortWorth symphony, who discussed,“Jewish Contributions to the ArtsAround The State.”

The third seminar was led byShirley Schuster with a panelconsisting of Herb Schwartz, DavidLuskey, Ted Mack and CarolMinker. They discussed “JewishEntrepeneurship in Fort Worth.”

Later in the afternoon themembers took a bus tour ofhistorical Jewish North Side andended up with a walking tour ofthe historic stockyards, after

which dinner was held at a localrestaurant. Hollace Weiner chairedthe program titled, “How Jews Shapedthe North Fort Worth Economy.”Those on the panel included SamRosen, Edwin Cohen, Leon Brachmanand Phillip Sheinberg. This concludedprogramming for the Gathering.

Sunday morning was com-prised of a general business meetingand election of officers.

Report on the 20th Annual Gathering in Fort Worth, TexasApril 30-May 1st 1999

Bridwell Library Curators withKai-Feng Torah, written on sheepskin.

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was born Helen KarenGoldman in Portage,Wisconsin in 1939. Mypaternal grandparents,David and Meryl Goldmancame from Russia. Myfather was born in Russiaand came to this country at

about age three. My maternal grand-mother, Anne Sorkin Katchem wasborn in Ukraine and immigrated to theU.S. with two brothers when she wasaround fourteen years old. They neveragain saw their parents or a sister whoremained there. Charles Katchemwas from Poland and apparently fledto save his life. He was responsiblefor blowing up a bridge leading to hisshtetl to prevent the Cossacks fromriding into the village.

When my maternal grandfa-ther died, my grandmother, Anne, anda single aunt, Sophie, moved in withmy family. When Sophie married, Iwas five years old. My grandmotherand I became roommates. She was awarm, loving, quiet woman and a greatinfluence in my life. I learned Yiddishfrom her, helped her bake and felt herunconditional love. She continued to livewith my mother until she died at age 92.

My parents, Morris AbrahamGoldman and Lillian KatchemGoldman, knew each other growing upin Minneapolis. There were marriedthere in 1932. They moved to Portage,Wisconsin, population around 10,000,and purchased and ran a small drycleaning business. My brother, Rohnand I were born there. My father’sparents had moved to Detroit, whenmy grandfather became ill and askedmy father to move there and help runthe business. It was a coin-operatedjukebox business called Motor CityMusic Co. Eventually my father andhis brothers split up the business. Myfather called his business Morris MusicCo.

Northwest Detroit, heavilyJewish, provided the environment formy growing years. I attended publicschool four blocks from my home. We

belonged to B’nai Moshe Synagogue, aconservative congregation. I attendedSunday School and the United HebrewSchool. I was very involved in syna-gogue activities. I attended Juniorcongregation Sabbath services duringwhich only the young people partici-pated. I was also an active member ofthe drama club, which put on produc-tions for the entire congregation.

Bat Mitzvah was not availableto me at that time. I attended Sundayschool through the year of Confirma-tion, but did not attend theConfirmation ceremonybecause I felt that mostof my classmates wereonly going in order tohave a big party tocelebrate. I was some-thing of a maverick and itis interesting that myparents did not try topersuade me to attend.

In high school Iwas involved withforensic contests fordrama and public speak-ing. My Jewish activitieshad shifted from thesynagogue to BBGwhere I was president ofmy chapter the year thatLarry and I became engaged. Thesummer of 1955 Larry Wilk wasbetween his freshman and sophomoreyear of Medical School at the Univer-sity of Michigan. I was between mysophomore and junior year of HighSchool. Larry first met my brother,then met me through my brother. Iwas 16 and he was 22! I told mybrother after two conversations withLarry that I had the feeling I wasgoing to be Mrs. Larry Wilk! It seemstotally crazy and incredible when I lookback on it.

I completed high school inAugust 1956 by attending summerschool. That fall I began college atWayne State University in Detroit andspent my freshman year planning ourwedding and writing daily letters to

Larry. We married at Beth AbrahamSynagogue in Detroit on July 7, 1957.I was 18 and Larry was 24. We livedin Ann Arbor while Larry finishedMedical School, internship & resi-dency, and I attended the University ofMichigan for my sophomore year. Idid not complete college, because wedecided to start a family, and in thosedays it seemed mutually exclusive.One of the only regrets I have is nothaving completed college.

Our three oldest children wereborn while we livedin Ann Arbor.Charles (Chuck) in1958, Patricia(Patty) in 1961 andAndrew (Andy) in1963. Afterfinishing his ortho-pedic residency in1963, Larry joinedthe U.S. Army tocomplete a commit-ment for two yearsof service. Hisorders were forFort Hood, Texas.We packed up ourPontiac stationwagon, after addingair conditioning, and

drove to Texas with a four year old, atwo year old and a three month old anda dog. What a trip!

We enjoyed Texas so muchthat we decided to stay. In 1965 wemoved to Corpus Christi where Larryset up his practice. After four years Ibegan to work in the office. I couldplan my schedule to be home when thechildren got home from school andparticipate in their activities. It hasbeen a long and successful partner-ship. In 1970 our special bonus child,Carol, who is so proud of being theonly native Texan in our family, wasborn.

My activities have includedSisterhood and Temple Beth El Board,Nueces County Medical Auxiliary, TheCorpus Christi Symphony Guild,

Helen WilkA Biographical Sketch of Our President

A new feature is being added to the newsletter with this publication. Since we are a historical organization, we thought itonly fitting that we should know more about the history of those that serve us. The following is from an interview with our President,Helen Wilk.

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Brandeis University NationalWomen’s Committee, The NationalConference for Community andJustice (formerly the National Confer-ence of Christians and Jews), Camp-fire leader, PTA and Band Boosters. Iwas asked to research the history ofour Temple and perhaps produce apamphlet. After two years of inten-sive research, we published OurGolden Years - The History of TempleBeth El Corpus Christi 1928-1983. Itwas a fascinating project and I washooked on Texas Jewish History. In1989 I was invited to become a boardmember of TJHS and have served asMembership Chair, Oral History Chair,Parliamentarian, Vice-President andPresident. In 1997 Davie Lou Solkaand I co-chaired the Corpus ChristiAnnual Gathering and in 1998 WalterFein and I co-chaired the San AntonioAnnual Gathering. I was asked towrite an entry in the Handbook ofTexas about Rabbi Sidney A. Wolf. I

am extremely proud to be among thedistinguished authors in this compre-hensive six volume work.

I have earned a reputation asa community activist because of twoevents. In 1978 a group of peoplewanted to place a statue of Jesus onour Bayfront on public property as alink to the name of our city, whichtranslates as Body of Christ. Beingopposed to this, I became embroiled inan effort to prevent it. The citycouncil finally refused the offer.Within the last couple of years a statueof Jesus has been placed on theShoreline Boulevard property of theFirst United Methodist Church. Thoseof us in opposition to the statue onpublic property asked that the statuebe placed on private property usingprivate funds and that was the finalsolution, although about 20 years later.

An effort by anti-abortioniststo place a statement in the city charterto state that “life begins at conception

Helen Wilk, Continuedand ends at natural death,” became areferendum that was placed before thevoters in 1991. I became the spokes-person for the opposition who believedthis statement was based on religiousbeliefs and was inappropriate in theCharter of our city. The voters agreedwith us and overwhelmingly defeatedthe proposition. As this had greatnational impact, I was interviewed byABC and NBC Radio News and theelection results made newspapers allover the country. I was proud of thecitizens of this city I love and glad Ihad led them to an important victory.

I am proud to lead the TexasJewish Historical Society, filled withinteresting people who share a com-mitment to document and preserve theunique history of the Jews of Texas.As I said at the time of my election, I amhonored that you have asked a Natural-ized Texan to serve as President.

Edited by Jan Siegel Hart

Lone Star Syna-gogues still shine in somesmall towns, as found bySherry Zander and herhusband. “You do notexpect to find Hebrew inthe middle of the hillcountry, but it’s there.”Small town synagogueswere a way to connect tothe past even though manyof these houses of worshipare now closed and atestimony to small Jewishcommunities that wereoptimistic enough toestablish roots in the stillunsettled wilds of Texas.

Many Synagoguessuch as the now faded Greek-Revivaltemple Freda in Bryan were built onland donated by non-Jews. Others,such as Temple Mizpah in Abilenewhich was dedicated by an EpiscopalPriest, were too small to have a rabbiwhen they opened. Although Texas’Jewish population has always clusteredaround urban centers, synagogueswere usually welcome in small towns.Building a house of worship guaran-

teed a stable population which helpedto settle a community.

Actually, Jews have been inTexas since the territory belonged toMexico. Several fought alongside SamHouston, and at least one Jewish manand his two sons died at the Alamo.Anthony (Avram) Wolf, a widowerfrom England, served as a private inthe artillery.

After the Civil War, more

Jews began moving to thestate. With expansion ofrailroads they settled atrailheads to open stores –and eventually synagogues.Decades after they werebuilt many small townsynagogues are barelyhanging on. Many othershave been taken over bynon-Jewish congregations.Temple Freda is now hometo a Latin PentecostalChurch. When the Syna-gogue opened in 1913, itserved Jews from a 100-mileradius.

One explanation of it’sname is that it was named in

memory of the deceased wife of thecongregation’s president – unusualbecause very few synagogues arenamed for people, let alone women.Another version told to Lena TapperAron Frost by her father, is thatTemple Freda was named for hergrandmother.

First in a series of Texas Templesby Sherry Zander

Texas Temples by Sherry Zander (as printed in the Dallas Morning News)

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ack Gerrick asked me if Iwould speak to youabout my growing upJewish in Crystal City,Texas. Of course, Iam honored to be hereand have the privilegeof telling you a bit

about how it was way back then. WhenI say “way back then,” I’m talking aboutwhen Herbert Hoover became Presi-dent. He and I made inaugural ad-dresses together, March 4, 1929.

A question I have been askedmany times over the years is “Whereis Crystal City, Texas?” Crystal City isa small town southwest of San Anto-nio, north of Laredo, east of EaglePass and south of Uvalde. Anotherquestion is “Why were you born inCrystal City, Texas?” This one iseasier to answer. That is where mymother was at the time! One greatthing about being from Crystal City,Texas is you don’t get asked a lot ofJewish Geography questions. Thereally big question is, “How and whywas your family living there?”

There is a very logical expla-nation. When the Jews were comingfrom Eastern Europe around the turnof the century, immigration was fairlyopen and lax, except for situations ofquestionable health. As Jews havelearned to do from the beginning, wetake care of each other. I once readthat when pirates captured a ship, ifthere were Jews aboard, they werenever killed, but taken hostage. Piratesknew that other Jews would ransomthem quickly. In the case of an immi-grant Jew whose health was not quiteup to par, the Hebrew Immigrant AidSociety (HIAS) stepped in and didwhat they had to do to help. In thecase of my father’s first cousin, onceremoved, who was a small frail man,HIAS got him out of Ellis Island andsent him to Laredo, Texas and told himhe was a bookkeeper. Laredo andPhoenix share a hot, dry climate whichhelps a respiratory weakness. UncleMorris settled in Laredo and became abookkeeper. When he became finan-cially able, he went to New York and

married my father’s sister, Libby, andbrought her back to Laredo.

My dad came through EllisIsland and lived in New York for awhile. He wasn’t born in Texas, but hegot here as quickly as he could. Hecame to Texas around 1910 to visit hissister and fell in love with the area andstayed. Before World War I, he had asmall dry goods store in Laredo, butwhen the war started, he and two ofhis friends enlisted. The friends were

Max Pomerantz and George Levy ofSeguin. They served in France withthe AEF.

After the war, he returned toLaredo and to his business. He openedadditional stores in Cotulla, Dilley andCrystal City. For whatever reason, heclosed the stores in Laredo, Cotullaand Dilley and made Crystal City theirhome. This is why my mother was inCrystal City when I was born!

The Great Depression of the1930s wiped out my father’s dry goodsstore, as it did so many other busi-nesses. He remained in Crystal City,working for a merchandise jobber whotook over the assets of the store.About 1934, John Nance Garner,Franklin Roosevelt’s first vice-presi-dent, owned a bank in Crystal City.Mr. Garner had repossessed a canningfactory on the outskirts of town andsuggested to my father that he take itover. Dad said he knew nothing of thecanning process but Mr. Garnerinsisted that since Dad was Jewish and

Jews could do whatever they wantedto do, he would succeed in the canningindustry. He did succeed, not only incanning spinach, but in canning severalother vegetables grown in the area.

Growing up as I did in CrystalCity in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, I wasexposed to much of the Jewish historyof that area. Several years ago, I wason the U. J. A.’s Southwest RegionCampaign Cabinet. In a discussion ofhow we could reach out to Jews insmall towns, a member of the boardsaid that it wasn’t worth the effortsince Jews who lived in small townsdid so to hide. It took great personalrestraint to control my anger while Ipointed out that Jews can’t hide insmall towns - they have to live in largecities to hide. My experience was thatwe were accepted or rejected forwhat we are.

Jews I knew in small townswere proud to be Jewish and ratherthan trying to hide or assimilate, theytended more to advertise theirJewishness. Otherwise, why wouldthere haw been a Freed PackingCompany or Dalkowitz’s and Pullen’sin Crystal City, or Zinberg’s Furniturein Carrizo Springs, Goodman’s Shoesin Laredo, M. Schwartz’and GoldbergFurniture in Uvalde or I. Comer’sFeed Store in Hamilton? There weremany others who proudly includedtheir names in their businesses in thosesmall towns and at a time when the KuKlux Klan was most active.

In Eagle Pass, Mr. SamSchwartz was the mayor when he wastold that the Klan was going to paradedown main street in all of their hoodedglory. Mayor Schwartz asked theGovernor to assign a Texas Ranger toEagle Pass to assure the peace andquiet of the town. Mayor Schwartzthen issued a proclamation that anyoneseen in the streets of Eagle Passwearing a mask would be shot onsight. The Texas Ranger sat in themiddle of the street, rifle across his lapand waited for a masked Klansman toshow. None did!

Some comedian once quippedthat there were no Jewish cowboys. I

Jews in Small Texas Townsby I.L. “Buddy” Freed

(as delivered from a Panel at the 1999 Annual Gathering in Fort Worth)

The Panel,“Growing up Jewish in SmallTexas Towns,” L-R: Max Stool (Del Rio),

Herb Schwartz (Hempstead),Buddy Freed (Crystal City) and Jack

Gerrick, Moderator (Pharr).

Dallas and be with our Jewish friends.Driving back to Crystal City fromDallas I told my mother that I wouldnot have Sandra one day repeat thatsame lament. Crystal City was a greatplace to grow up and live but it wouldnot be where I would raise my chil-dren. I have never regretted mydecision to come to Fort Worth, but Ihave never forgotten what it was liketo be a Jewish boy in Crystal City.

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For those of you who did notattend the Spring 1999 Gathering inFort Worth, I feel you missed an eventthat was extremely informative, andpresented some aspects of JewishHistory in Texas which have not beencovered in the past. Fay Brachmanand I were co-chairs of the Gatheringalong with a truly dedicated committee,and it was indeed a labor of love. Weall enjoyed the functions and especiallythe visiting, fellowship and newfriends. Over 120 members attendedthe seminar and tours.

Most of the state was repre-sented at the Gathering, however, withas many members as we have in theSociety, it appears we could have hada better turn out, inasmuch as the maineffort is to preserve our JewishHeritage in Texas. Which brings me tothe question, “What’s happened toDallas?” Other than 3-4 people, no oneelse came to the Gathering fromDallas. Other events have also seen apoor turn-out. There is still much to bedone in the recording of our history.

In order to continue researchand oral histories, I feel it behooves usall to pay our dues on time. A greatdeal of time and energy is beingdevoted to retaining members and inthe recruitment of new members. Ifyou have not paid your dues, and wishto continue receiving this newsletter,please send them in now with theapplication printed elsewhere in thisissue. I hope to see many moremembers in future meetings inasmuchas many exciting events later this yearand next are in the planning stages.

Letter Fromthe Editor

TJHS SponsorsJunior Historian

EssayFor the past three years,

Texas Jewish Historical Society hassponsored an award in the Texas StateHistorical Association annual JuniorHistorians of Texas History Fair essaycontest. The past two years we havehad entries in both the junior and thesenior division. This year, there wasonly one entry in the senior division.

The winner was “Dr. RayKarchmer Daily: ‘The Eyes of Influ-ence,’” by Miss Janice Cooper, whoattends Eisenhower 9th Grade Schoolin Aldine ISD near Houston. MissCooper told of Dr. Daily’s immigrationfrom Lithuania as a child, her difficul-ties of obtaining a medical educationyet becoming the first Jewish womanto graduate from a Texas medicalschool. She also told of her successand achievements in the field ofophthamology and innovative proce-dures which she introduced.

Miss Cooper also told of Dr.Daily’s participation in the women’ssuffrage movement and civil rightsefforts, and service to Houston byserving on the Houston IndependentSchool District School Board, hersuccessful effort to create whateventually became the University ofHouston, and her defeat when sheproposed free lunches for poor chil-dren in the Houston schools.

We congratulate Miss JaniceCooper and are honoring her with a$100 prize.

– Marvin Rich, Chair

wonder how one could meet hisqualification? Not to be Jewish, but tobe a cowboy? I have known manyJews in the cattle business. My fatherowned over 5,000 acres of land and2,000 head of cattle when he died. I tookthe operation over and ran it for severalyears before moving to Fort Worth.Charlie Gurinsky Cattle Company in SanAntonio prospered in the cattle businessas did Freedman Brothers and Siegeland Block in Houston. M. Schwartz ofUvalde was very big in the sheep andgoat business. Abe Mehl, SylvanGurinsky, Abe Moses and many othersI cannot recall, made their living fromfarming and ranching. Here in FortWorth, the Rosenthal families were inthe meat packing business. Cowboys?Perhaps the comedian’s definition of acowboy is a bit fuzzy.

In those old South Texas days,Jewish families frequently met inUvalde, Crystal City, Laredo or EaglePass to celebrate holidays or simchas.Our Jewish community spread overmany miles, but we were close. Livingin a small town during the years that Idid was rewarding. I enjoyed growingup there and I loved farming andranching. For the year of my BarMitzvah, I was enrolled in a boardingschool in San Antonio so I could betutored and prepared. My Bar Mitzvahwas at Agudas Achim, where I spokethose traditional words, “today I am afountain pen”.

I grew up in the non-Jewishatmosphere of Crystal City. It was notreally until I got to Texas A&M andinvolved myself with Hillel that I beganto become truly aware of myJewishness. After college I returned toCrystal City a few months before myfather’s death. He died in the NixHospital in San Antonio. After hisdeath, I heard my mother say morethan once that had he lived, they weregoing to move to San Antonio to bewith their Jewish friends.

Just before Sandra and Imarried, my sister’s mother-in-lawdied suddenly in her home in Hobbs,New Mexico. She was buried inDallas. During the shiva, I heard herhusband repeat the same words mymother had spoken five years before -next year we were going to move to

Jews in Small Texas Towns, Continued

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ost of us don’tconsciously note theend of an era, evenwhen the faces ofthe cities, the pulseof daily routine, andevery aspect,practically, of our

daily lives seem to be changing. Butwhen the Stock Show and WorldChampionship Rodeo left the FortWorth Stockyards, my father recog-nized the finality of what was happen-ing and mourned the passing. The cityleaders insisted it was to make theStock Show bigger and better. SamSheinberg heard the death knell of theStockyards. “It’ll never be the sameagain. They’ve ruined us. TheStockyards will keep going downhill.It’s all played out, now,” he said with asigh.

Early in the century, when heopened his first tiny store in downtownFort Worth, he already had an eye onthe Stockyards. At that time heenvisioned it – raw and energetic andworking class – as the ideal spot forhis business. At the first opportunity,several years before the beginning ofWorld War I, he rented the shop onExchange Avenue that was to be hislivelihood, his dream, almost hisobsession, for the rest of his life. Tohim, a young immigrant on his ownsince he was thirteen, goals were clearand straightforward: to make a living,to bring other members of his family toAmerica, to operate his own business.Hard-working, sober and shy, hesomehow found his niche in therambunctious frontier atmosphere ofthe Stockyards.

And in his pessimistic laterprediction, made near the end of theforties, he was also right. Armour’sand Swift’s packing houses wereclosing. No longer would ExchangeAvenue reverberate, as it had in thepast, to the clatter of high-heeledcowboy boots and horses’ hooves. Orreek of strong manure when a bigshipment of cattle came in. (“It’s not a

Samuel Sheinberg’s StockyardsWhere the West Began

bad smell to me!” he always insisted.)New excitements and new entice-ments he could never have conceivedof would one day bring tourists to gapeand even to walk stiff-leggedly in theirown new and absurdly expensiveboots, but it would never again be whatit had been.

“Samuel Sheinberg, TheWorking Man’s Friend” was the mottoon my father’s store stationery. Hislittle store was dark and narrow anddeep, the second store front on theblock. In front of the display windowsand in the entry way, every day he putout the “show”– tiny children’s boots,novelties, colorful handkerchiefs –samplings of the merchandise. Thewindows themselves were crammedfull. He believed in having lots ofstock and in showing what he had.

Inside the store, hat boxes andboot boxes were stacked to the ceiling,and bandanas and handkerchiefsdangled from twine. The slow-turningceiling fans were the only coolingsystem, the only heating came fromthe radiant gas stove back by the bootsand shoes.

Work pants and blue jeanswere stacked in tall mountains ontables through the center aisles of thestore. Lots of merchandise, but SamSheinberg prided himself in knowingexactly where everything was andexactly what he had.

Business often was very slow.But during the Stock Show, he de-pended on “getting well” every year.Ah, the Stock Show was the greatadventure. During that ten-day period,cars were parked blocks away,because North Main and ExchangeAvenue were crammed with cowboyson horseback and on foot and withvisitors of every kind – gaudily dressedand garishly made-up women, schoolchildren, gnarled cattle and horsedealers, families. When we weresmall children, my mother took us tosee the animals on exhibit, to eat thepink and fluffy cotton candy. Later,we went with friends to the wild and

exuberant World Championship Rodeoheld in the Coliseum adjacent to theCommission Buildings. Each year, wewere decked out in colorful new bootsand hats – the one time that we werethe sartorial envy of our schoolmates.

This was the only periodduring which my father did not comehome to dinner in the middle of theday. He settled for hot tea and toastat the counter of the drugstore nextdoor to the store. Mother would drivehim to work every morning during theStock Show, leaving him off three orfour blocks away to avoid the conges-tion. He would telephone her at nightwhen he was ready to close. This wasnever until he was convinced that nolate stragglers might still wander in tobuy something.

Saturday nights, even whenthere was no Stock Show, he stayedopen late. We often waited for him inthe car, parked in front of the store,listening to the Salvation Army Bandbravely playing and singing on thecorner, as careening, drunken Stock-yard characters reeled and shoutedand occasionally scuffled around them.

Father didn’t know how to dobusiness as it is transacted in today’sworld. His merchandise was literallysold at one price for each customer.He mentally gauged what he thoughtthe traffic would bear and managed toconvince many a satisfied customerthat he had gotten a real bargain fromlittle old Sam, who called him “myFriend’” and always paused beforequoting a price, “just for you.” It wasalways lower than the one marked onthe tag. Sheinberg’s carried no officialcharge accounts, but that did not applyto regular customers, workers at thepacking houses who needed workpants before pay day or a shirt or afew handkerchiefs. There were plentyof verbal agreements. And yet,Samuel Sheinberg was not often thevictim of a bad debt.

During World War II, whenmerchandise became increasingly hardto get and the demand was great, he

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would send each of us individually toone of the big stores downtown whenthey got in a large shipment of shirts orblue jeans or work pants. We wouldbuy the limit in sizes he needed to fillin. Not really enough to do muchgood, but my father always hated toturn customers away because hedidn’t have what they wanted. Eventhough he made no profit, he believedit was better to sell them than to havecustomers walk out, empty-handed.

“Then you at least build goodwill – and who knows? Maybe youcan convince them they should buy apair of socks or some handkerchiefs orsomething else while they’re in thestore.”

Two events broughtSheinberg’s store a certain amount ofcelebrity. The first took place in thelate thirties, when Fort Worth was inavid competition with Dallas’ TexasCentennial celebration, a great andexciting celebration, of its own. Itincluded in one large complex a rowdy,old west type night club, called PioneerPalace, with rollicking and sometimesrather bawdy floor shows, as well as aglamorous, more sophisticated theater,called Casa Manana, which featured arevolving stage and was housed in acircular, domed building. CasaManana became a showcase forelaborate Billy Rose extravaganzas.All in all, quite an audacious andcolorful fair it was, for mid-Texasduring the late years of the GreatDepression. Paul Whiteman and hisorchestra came to Casa Manana, andhe immediately got caught up in theFort Worth “cowtown” spirit, declaringthat he wanted to dress the part of thereal cowboy. He was directed to theStockyards, where he could shop in thereally authentic atmosphere, and hepicked Samuel Sheinberg’s little store.There was certainly nothing preten-tious or touristy about it!

“My little Jew Friend,” hecalled my father--even addressing hisorders for replacements for the hatsand boots and western wear he and hisorchestra personnel purchased, with

this salutation.Whiteman seemed to enjoy

wrapping my father in a great bearhug, evidently amused at the incongru-ity. After all, the orchestra leader wasa giant of a man and Sam Sheinbergwas a very small one, less than fivefeet six inches tall. Whiteman alsochuckled and joked about the disparityof this little merchant, pale of skin,always immaculately dressed in abusiness suit, dress shirt and traditionaltie, surrounded by the jeaned andbooted characters of the Stockyards.

The other special notice thestore received grew from an issue ofHoliday Magazine during the forties.That issue featured Texas, and othercolor photographs of Fort Worth’sStockyards focused in the foregroundon the store front, with its sign,“Samuel Sheinberg” prominentlyvisible – as well as the crowdeddisplay windows and the “show.”Letters soon began coming from allover the country, addressed vaguely tosuch destinations as “Sheinberg’sCowboy Store, Stockyards, Texas.”However, in those less complicateddays, my father seemed to receivethem all, no matter how they wereaddressed. Most were orders for realten gallon hats or a genuine cowboybelt or even boots.

Even with this concreteevidence of the marvelous power ofadvertisement, Samuel Sheinbergnever advertised, never ran a promo-tion or sale, in the more than fiftyyears that he was in business. Peoplecertainly tried to convince him. Hisown family argued and reasoned withhim, but he was obstinate.”Bubkes!”he would utter contemptuously. “Whohas the time or money to waste onsuch things? I know my customersbetter than you do. They don’t needthat kind of foolishness.”

In the same manner herejected suggestions that he renovatethe store, that he put in air conditioningand heating. “My customers would beuncomfortable – get suspicious. Toofancy for my kind of business!” hedeclared.

And so, until his death in late1968, his store – and he – remainedunchanged in a changing world.

The Livestock ExchangeBuildings, hub of the commerce of hisera, no longer houses the offices ofcattle and horse and mule commis-sions. Now there are red tile roofsand Spanish arches enclosing artgalleries and expensive law offices.

The old Swift packing housethat hired so many workers duringthose first forty-five years of thecentury is today a trendy restaurant,displaying as focal point of its decorthe homey artifacts, the tools, furnitureand old signs from the past.

A giant frontier type amuse-ment center is being built on ExchangeAvenue, encompassing the area inwhich Sam Sheinberg did his businessall those years. And just behind theback of his store sits “Billy Bob’s,” theworld’s largest Country and Westernnightclub.

“Wouldn’t he be surprised andamazed at all the new money invested,the new interest in the Stockyards?Wouldn’t he be excited?” we wonder,peering at the fiberboard false fronts,the plastic replica of the Old West thatthe region has now become. Or wouldhe, in fact, be rather sad? As abusinessman, he would be glad for theeconomic recovery, obviously, but thisempty, make-believe facade of afrontier has little of that dignity whichhas grown from essential humanvitality. When it was an actual way oflife, the Stockyards was alive andunselfconscious – rough, but certainlygenuine.

That era of the Stockyards,where once the west began, that verytime of little stores run by immigrantsworking twelve hour days to maketheir American dream come true, thatsimple, unpretentious way of life –poorer, less comfortable, less sophisti-cated than what we enjoy today,obviously – is erased by time andprogress and the inevitability ofchange. But something unique andspecial flourished then, and it isimportant that we not forget.

– Gloria Sheinberg SwannSedona, Arizona

Samuel Sheinberg’s Stockyards, Continued

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t the turn of the centurythere was a villagein the vast expanseof Ukraine with aname something like“Chotorov.” The

story begins there with the marriage ofEva Sharagrodsky and Menasha Stulwho were in their teens when theymarried in 1874. Eva and Menasharaised eight children, six sons and twodaughters. All immigrated to theUnited States, although at differenttimes and by different routes. Foursons, in order of seniority - Marx, Max,Dave, and Nathan - settled in the vastexpanse of West Texas. They werenot persons of historical importance,and, until now, they do not grace thepages of any books or journals. Whatfollows are four word portraits, onefor each brother, written by his de-scendants.

Del Rio Nestled near the southwest-

ern edge of the Edwards Plateau, andat a confluence of contrasts in geology,topography, religion, and nationalcultures. This colorful community inthe arid, rocky terrain of the EdwardsPlateau owed its existence to the SanFelipe Springs, a huge fissure in theground that gushed millions of gallonsof crystalline pure water a minute.This allowed for a network of irrigationcanals that snaked through the townand on to a rich alluvial plain betweenDel Rio proper and the Rio Grande.A colony of Northern Italian immi-grants settled on this fertile ground andestablished the first winery in Texas.

MaxMax arrived in America

around 1904. He went to Chicagowhere he studied and became alicensed pharmacist. He decided tosettle in California and while travelingon the railroad passed through Del Rio.

At the time he was playing cards witha Del Rio resident. His card-playingfriend invited him to visit for a fewdays and finish the game. The ‘visit”lasted 50 years!

One unique thing about DelRio is its location on the Mexicanborder. Max saw this as an opportu-nity and like many Jewish immigrants,became a peddler. Del Rio’s sistercity is Acuna. Max was fortunate thatthe chief of Acuna’s customs depart-ment, who levied tariffs on importedmerchandise, befriended him and gavehim a standing invitation to dinnerevery Saturday night. Almost 100years have passed, but the customchief’s family still receives a discounton purchases at the store Maxfounded.

In 1905 Max established theGuarantee, a full line department store.Merchants on the border had longtaken advantage of Mexican nationalsby selling them inferior products forhigher prices. The English and Span-ish words for Guarantee are verysimilar. The name signified Max’swarranty of quality merchandise to hiscustomers. By 1915, during thepolitical upheavals in Mexico, Max’sreputation for integrity had risen to thelevel that Mexican citizens entrustedtheir money and valuables to Max sothat Pancho Villa and his bandits couldnot steal them.

Max had excellent relation-ships with his employees, most ofwhom worked with him for manyyears. It wasn’t so much that theyreceived more pay, it was that theywere given more respect. Simply put,Max valued their opinions and gavethem the opportunity to act on them.

Max’s relationship with hiscustomers was perhaps unique for thetime. This is demonstrated by onestory. He called a meeting and told hisemployees that he was very upset bywhat he had seen. A poor Mexican

woman came into the store followedby a wealthy Anglo. The clerks gavetheir attention to the Anglo. “Why?!”,Max asked. The clerks responded thatthe Anglo had more money. Maxreplied both had the same self-worthand that the first to come in was thefirst to be served.

A few years passed and Maxmarried Anna Ratner. She was animmigrant from the Russian-Polishregion. They had three children. Maxand Anna built a two-story home andfilled it with art, fine furniture and agrand piano. It was a home full ofvigor. There were always additionalpeople staying in their home, rangingfrom salesman, to landsman, torelatives. One stayed for two years.They all had one thing in common.Each had an opinion on every topicfrom whether there was too muchpepper in the soup to the President’slatest announcement. And eachexpressed himself in a heated and loudmanner.

Max and Anna joined both theOrthodox and Conservative syna-gogues in San Antonio. It was a threehundred mile round trip over less thangood roads. But they attended everysignificant Jewish occasion and theirtwo sons had their Bar Mitzvahs there.

During the 1910’s Maxrealized that Del Rio had untappedretail prospects. He decided tobecome a real estate developer. Firsthe had to get Main Street paved. Thisprovoked a fight from the old guard.He was, however, successful andshortly afterwards he traveled to NewYork and leased property to F. H.Woolworth, J.C. Penney, MontgomeryWard and S. H. Kress. Max’s realestate accomplishments were notunimpressive for a small, dusty isolatedtown on the Mexican border.

Max had an understandingrelationship with his tenants. One ofhis tenants was a small restaurant and

Kasha, Kugel, and Pinto BeansOne Way Tickets from West Ukraine to West Texas

Editors note: This is the story of four brothers. They immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe at the turn of thecentury. Their story is not unique in that regard. The story is unique in the lives and times that it intersects. The lives of the Stoolbrothers intersected with Texas history during the years of the oil boom, the dust bowl, the World Wars, a Texas Governor andMexican generals and villains.

he called his family together andannounced that they were going to theranch. And they did. The nextweekend he made the same announce-ment. However, Anna said once wasenough. And so Max sold the ranch.

In 1930 Anna became ill withleukemia. The best physicians were

in New York City. In orderfor Anna to be treated Max,in the middle of the GreatDepression, moved his entirefamily to New York. Hisconfidence in his employeeswas confirmed as theymanaged his affairs duringhis two-year absence. Theirstrong affection for Annawas self-evident. Fiftyyears after her death theystill spoke of her kindness tothem.

Max always contrib-uted to charities, both largeand small. He felt he had anobligation to do so. Thirtyyears after Anna’s death, hefunded major improvementto the local hospital inAnna’s memory.

Five years afterAnna’s death Max marriedMarion Block. She wasGerman born and lived inWaco, where she had beenwidowed. Max met andwooed her. She brought herlove of culture to Del Rio.

In 1946 Max finallymoved to California. He andMarion lived in Beverly Hillsfor twenty-five years. Hefilled his days with horseracing, cards and art auc-

tions. When everyone started vaca-tioning in Europe, he didn’t. He said itwas too hard to get here to go back.

NathanWhenever someone would ask

Nathan Stool where he came from hewould do a quick analysis and replyeither Poland or Russia depending on

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during difficult economic times theproprietor was unable to pay any rent.In lieu of rent Max ate breakfast thereevery morning. The proprietor latermoved the restaurant to Acuna and itbecame Mrs. Crosby’s, the historictourist destination.

Max didn’t mind paying taxes.Where he came from, he said,“You paid taxes and receivednothing in return. Here youdo.” He also said, “If youdon’t want to pay your taxes,you can leave.”

In the 1920’s the KuKlux Klan became active inDel Rio. While anti-Semitismhad not been a problem, theKlan stirred up what wereperhaps forgotten passions.Max fought them politically.One day members of the Klanentered the Guarantee andthreatened Max. He kept agun by the cash register andfor the first and only time hewent and got it. The Klanmembers left. Max said,“They chased us out of onecontinent, they won’t chase usout of this one.” Matters grewmore tense and for a shortperiod, Max had to move hisfamily to San Antonio. TheKlan was soon defeated. Afew years later, the GrandDragon’s son went to work forthe Guarantee.

Summers in Del Rioare very hot and in the 1920’sthe only air-conditionedbuilding was the PrincessTheatre. Max spent severalafternoons a week there. Oneof his astute young employees ob-served this pattern and decided that he,too, would go to the movies. On hisfirst attempt, he followed Max by tenminutes into the theatre. When hiseyes adjusted to the darkness, he sawhe was sitting right in front of Max.Midway through the movie Max left.The employee, knowing he would befired, stayed until the movie ended.On his way back to the Guarantee he

saw Max, whose only comment was,“Terrible Movie!” Max then walkedback to the Guarantee with him.Sixty-five years later, the once youngemployee still remembers the lesson.

Ranching was the primaryeconomic activity in Del Rio. One ofthe regional land barons asked Max

why he didn’t have a ranch likeeveryone else, and Max replied that hedidn’t know anything about ranching.His friend said that if Max bought theland and paid for the livestock that hewould select the livestock and managethe ranch. So Max became a rancher.The ranch was 40 miles from Del Rioon an unpaved road with less than aluxurious house on it. On the firstweekend after he became a “rancher”,

Kasha, Kugel, and Pinto Beans, Continued

Marx and Lena Stool’s wedding photograph.

Continued on Page 12

brother and he and Lottie started whatwas to become the story of the original“Texas Wandering Jews.”In their long marriage Nathan andLottie moved 32 times. Living andworking in many small west Texas andeastern New Mexico towns. Theylived in Hobbs and Portales, NewMexico as well as San Antonio, SanAngelo, Lubbock, Abilene, Dallas,Galveston and many other thrivingTexas towns. They would open astore during the cotton picking seasonor in an oil boom town or he would buystock to liquidate in going out ofbusiness sales. During the Depressionhe had become an expert in bank-

ruptcy. If a store was for sale be-cause of debt he would organize thelocal merchants to make low bids sothat the owner would be able to buyhis stock back and remain in business.Nathan loved the business and loved tohaggle. It was no fun without thehaggling. Of course the worst was forsomeone to haggle and then not buy.Lottie took care of the cash register,when she wanted something she wouldring up the cash and take her cut.They spoke Yiddish in the store whenthey didn’t want the children, clerks orcustomers to know what they weresaying. If a salesman came to townand there was no hotel he was invitedto stay at the house and sleep on thecouch and probably was entertainedwith a game of Dominoes.

In Hobbs, N.M. the familylived behind the store and next to ahotel. It turned out the hotel was nohotel. It was a brothel. Nathan

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how he perceived the political interestsof the questioner. Nathan Stool cameto the United States in 1911 fromRussia. Nathan was the youngest ofeight children. His parents, Menashaand Eva and three of their otherchildren remained in Russia whenNathan came to the U.S. Nathan wasaround 15 years old when he fledRussia. It was not a good time for ahealthy young man to be in Russia andhe fled conscription into the Czar’sArmy. Nathan entered the UnitedStates through the Port of New York.He briefly visited his sister Bessie andher husband Morris Gootner in Bostonbefore making his way to Chicagowhere his brother Marx and hisfamily were living. Soon he leftfor the adventures of Texas andMexico following another olderbrother, Max.

Nathan first became apeddler in Mexico and sold Jesusstatues in small Mexican towns.He learned to speak Spanish andfrom Spanish he learned to speakEnglish. He made his way bymaking friends with the localMexican merchants and socializedwith them playing cards even withthe notorious Pancho Villa. Hisbrother Max had already settled in DelRio and had started a store and afamily. Nathan opened a business inDel Rio.

On a visit to Chicago Nathanmet Lottie Fromstein on a streetcar.Upon returning to Del Rio he corre-sponded with her and proposed bymail. He had a local banker write toher saying he was an honest man.Lottie traveled by train to Texas. Bythe time she arrived Nathan hadenlisted in the Army, as this was a fastway to become a citizen. In Novem-ber 1918 he arrived in France a privatein the U.S. Army. Lottie was left inDel Rio with her new family and thestore to run. Nathan returned fromWWI and was informed by his wifethat she did not wish to make Del Rioher home. By this time Nathan’sbrother Dave and his young family hadcome from Russia and Nathan turnedhis store and business over to his

sometimes had to be the peacemakerbetween the proprietor and his wife.In Abilene there was a woman whosename was Mrs. Fugita who was notable to get a job during WWII becauseof her Japanese surname, her husbandwas American- born Japanese.Nathan and Lottie hired her as aseamstress when no one else would.Their hospitality was well known andwhen their daughter, Sybil was marriedin Abilene at The Wooten Hotel therewere over 300 guests. In Lubbock thestore was at one end of a building andthe other end was vacant. A youngman in Lubbock wanted to start amovie house; Nathan loaned him the

money to start the picture showand rented him the space at theend of the building. Times weretough and sometimes the youngman couldn’t pay the rent butNathan was not one to worryover small details like that andforgave him the rent until timeswere better. This turned out tobe a great investment for Nathanbecause the young man wasPreston Smith who later becameGovernor of Texas. A touchingevent shows the measure ofNathan’s generous and energetic

character. An elderly Jewish bachelordied in a small New Mexico town,leaving no one to make necessaryarrangements. Nathan assumed therole of a one-man Chevra Kadisha(burial society). There were complica-tions. The only undertaker in thesoutheastern corner of New Mexicohad fallen victim to the debilitatingeconomy; his shop was closed by thebankruptcy court. Nathan called thebankruptcy judge with an urgentrequest that the undertaker be allowedtemporary access to his mortuary. Bytelephone and auto travel he gatheredtogether someone with a semblance ofrabbinic credentials, and a handful ofJewish men, less than a minyan, andled the cortege to the proper place ofinternment.

Nathan and Lottie’s childrenwere born in San Angelo. Nathan wasone of the founders of Temple Israel inSan Angelo. When W.W.II started


“Times were tough and sometimesthe young man who rented from

him couldn’t pay, butNathan was not one to worry oversmall details...the young man wasPreston Smith who later became

Governor of Texas.”

of the Texas frontier where some menstill carried pistols, the streets wereunpaved and bandits still made foraysinto the area. One raid occurred on aranch near Marfa. It was by Fran-cisco “Pancho” Villa, who came fromMexico with his men. Although Villadid not come into Marfa, the citizenswere ready for him. Some men postedthemselves on tops of buildings and onwater towers with firearms andammunition. In 1917 General John J.Pershing, who later headed the Ameri-can Expeditionary Force in Europeduring WWI, came through Marfa onhis way to New Mexico, seekingPancho Villa.

Marx did not have enoughmoney for fixtures for his new clothingstore. He used cartons in which themerchandise was shipped for atemporary measure. He did prosper.While he was in Marfa, Marx acquireda hotel in Presidio, a remote town onthe Texas-Mexican border, and amotel. A banker told him that themotel was a passing fad and would notsucceed. His family did grow with thebirth of another daughter, Bertha and ason, Max.

In the early 1920s, Marxmoved to Pecos, Fort Barstow wasnearby. In 1926 Ida finished HighSchool and attended Sul Ross Collegein Alpine. Ida took flying lessons fromFrank Hines in Alpine. She may havebeen the first Jewish woman in Texasto fly.

In the 1930s Marx expandedhis clothing business with stores in SanAngelo, Monahans and Odessa, Heclosed the store in San Angelo whenthe sheriff discovered that one of hisemployees attempted to load a truckwith his merchandise. He closed theother two stores when the managerswere drafted into military service inW.W.II.

When his children were young,Jewish holidays meant traveling 60 to70 miles to be with family. Holidaysrotated from town to town and familyto family. The farewell cry might be

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Nathan moved his family to Abilenewhere there was an Army base, CampBarkley. There were only eightJewish families in Abilene at that time.They organized and founded TempleMizpah so that the Jewish soldiersstationed on the base had some placeto come for Jewish holidays. Nathanwas also involved in the early years ofCongregation Shearith Israel in Lub-bock and served as President of theCongregation in the mid-fifties. Heand Lottie were also involved withCongregation Beth Jacob in Galveston.Nathan was not a very observant Jewbut identified with the Jewish commu-nity and helped make a Jewish com-munity wherever he was. His lastyears were devoted to fundraising forthe United Jewish Appeal. He wasvery effective as he knew all themerchants in small towns and had anidea about how much money theycould afford to donate.

Nathan and Lottie moved toGalveston because their daughter andher family lived there. Lottie becameill and died. Nathan went back on theroad. He was lost without Lottie. Hetraveled the state of Texas visiting hisrelatives and friends, he traveled toIsrael and he made new friends, ladyfriends who resembled Lottie. Nathanwould buy and drive cars until thewheels fell off. This was not becausethe cars were old; the cars never got achance to get old. It had more to dowith the way Nathan drove. Nathansmoked cigars and on occasion hadtrouble clearing the car when he threwthe cigar out the window; this madefor an incendiary experience when hewas driving down the highway with theback seat on fire.

Nathan would arrive unan-nounced at a relative’s home, go tosleep on the couch at night and whenthe family got up in the morning hewas gone with no trace except forsome salt all over the kitchen andperhaps a missing tie, or the familywould go to bed at night and whenthey awoke in the morning they wouldfind Uncle Nathan asleep on thecouch, he had arrived in the night andjust made himself at home. Due to his

driving skills he did once lose hisdriver’s license. That was the goodnews. The bad news was, PrestonSmith was the governor of Texas andmuch to the families’ dismay he gotNathan a NEW drivers license.

Preston Smith remembersNathan as a man who cared about hiscommunity and his family and was anhonest and hard working man and mostof all he remembers him as his friend.

In 1976 Nathan Stool bought anew car and drove from Houston toGalveston. He was in congestiveheart failure and renal shutdown. Hedrove himself to the hospital and diedin Galveston in October 1976. Therewere 70 miles on the car and notransmission. Nathan lived the lastyears of his life in hotels, he had acouple of suits, some shoes, a box offamily photographs and was a legendin West Texas.

MarxMarx came to the United States in1905, during the time of the Russo-Japanese War. He first went to hissister, Bessie, and then moved on toChicago. As a young single person,Marx went to Colorado and worked insugar beet fields. In the old countrysugar beets and sugar was the primarybusiness activity of the community.His stay was limited, he went on toCalifornia, worked in a mine and finallyreturned to Chicago.

There he met a young Russianémigré, named Lena Novick. Theymarried shortly afterwards. Marxworked in a clothing factory. Theyhad two children, Ida and Rae. Lenabecame very angry with Marx oneevening, because he was out lateplaying cards with fellow countrymen.That spat may not have been thecause but shortly afterwards the familymoved to Marfa, Texas in the year1914.

Marfa, in far west Texas, wason the Southern-Pacific railroad lineand the site of a military establishment,Camp Marfa, which later became FortD.A. Russell. The area was still part



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“Next year at Uncle Dave’s” insteadof “Next year in Jerusalem”. Onetime Passover coincided with thecircus being in town. So, of course,Jews traveling with the circus wereinvited to the family seder. Amongthose who came was the fat lady.There was barely enoughgefilte fish to go around.

Marx’s last storewas in Wink, Texas, wherethere was still an oil “play”.He closed the store in the1950’s. Marx kept in touchwith the outside world andthe Jewish world throughForvets, a Yiddish newspa-per published in New York.

The RescueThe overthrow of the

Czarist regime in 1918plunged the Ukraine into totalanarchy. For years, theCommunists battled withbitterly loyalist, anti-Commu-nist forces, White Russiansand Cossacks, and withPolish troops trying to regainterritory that had once been apart of the Polish kingdom.Roving bands of thugspillaged the countryside. TheCommunists attacked kulaksand anyone of wealth orproperty. But all combatantshated the Jews. Conditionshad become intolerable forDave and his family.

Back in America,Marx, Max and Nathan conferred. Bythen Max was wealthy, Marx wasmodestly prosperous, Nathan less so.They pooled their resources, and sentMax, who possessed the cunning andfortitude for the task, on a rescuemission to Warsaw. He sent a courierinto Ukraine, with money and instruc-tions. The mission was successful.Max was reunited with Menasha andEva; their daughter and son-in-law,Rae and Meyer; Dave, his wife Estherand their infant daughter Elizabeth.They obtained Polish passports and leftfor America.

Warsaw was awash with

jewels, art treasures, and familyheirlooms that fleeing Russians sold tofinance their journey westward. Maxhad a refined eye for such things. Oneobject he brought back was an oilpainting, on a small slab of polishedgranite, that depicted in exquisite detail

a winsome Slavic beauty in colorfulfolk costume.

When Max and the newimmigrants landed at Ellis Island. Maxwas prepared to deal with problems.He knew from Del Rio that many ofthe immigration inspectors wereMasons. So he made sure he wore hisMasonic pin and gave “the” hand-shake. He cemented his relationshipwith his new acquaintances withEuropean liquor. As prohibition was ineffect he found himself with newfriends. And no problems developed.

Dave

Dave came to Del Rio andtook over Nathan’s small building thatstraddled an irrigation canal. Hiscapital consisted of a fistful of Czaristrubles and about $50 American. Heinvested all of it in a stock of surplusArmy goods, which he cleaned and

repaired, and from there onslowly built up a creditableestablishment of his own.

In those days mostmerchants restocked theirshelves with orders given totraveling salesmen, drummers,and from wholesale houses insome nearby city. Dave wasnot content with such limitedresources. He was, to borrowa term from the Frenchculinary world, a forrageur,that is, a skilled and dedicatedindividual whom the grandchefs dispatch to the country-side to coax the finest fruitsand vegetables from stubbornFrench farmers. Davescoured the garment districtsand wholesale centers inDallas, Kansas City, St. Louis,Chicago, and New York tofind the best sources for stapleitems, and for special buys ofodd lots of irregular merchan-dise, seconds, out-of-season orout-of-style clothing.

The Star Store, or LaEstrella, was an emporium ofrenown that could put one inmind of the SmithsonianInstitution or the decorative

arts section of the MetropolitanMuseum. A geologist tramping acrosssnake-infested ranch land would beproperly fitted with knee-high, lace-up,engineer boots. If a Mexican womanin mourning fancied a finely wrought,black lace mantilla from Spain, shewould find a nice selection. Mosquitonetting. Men’s romeo shoes. Anembroidered Japanese kimono. Men’swork clothing for any trade or craft.Almost anything could be retrievedfrom the complex of counters, shelves,display cases, and bins. The center-piece of the store, like the Mona Lisain the Louvre, was the stretch of


Dave and Esther Stool, with sons Max and Joe

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shelves, over six feet high, crammedwith bolts of fabric, from the plainestdomestic or sheeting, to the finest ofsilks and cottons.

Service to customers knew nobounds. An unlicensed undertaker in aMexican barrio would call Dave’shouse on a Sunday night to requestimmediate delivery of a yard and halfof white satin to line the casket of aninfant that had to be interred early thenext morning.

A ranch hand coming intotown for a few days semi-annualvacation would make The Star Storehis first stop. He could cash his checkfor six months wages, $180, andreplenish his wardrobe with aStetson hat, boots, perhaps a silkshirt in pink or dusty rose,trimmed in purple or green, that aseamstress had fashioned fromremnants that Dave found onDelancey Street in New York’sLower East Side. The purchasesmight come to $20. The secondleg of his vacation was in VillaAcuna, Del Rio’s sister city inMexico, where the customerplanned an extended visit to thesprawling red light district, on theoutskirts of the town, officially desig-nated by ordinance as the Zone ofTolerance. The customer wouldbudget, say $60, for this excursion andleave the remaining $100 on depositwith Dave.

In two days a street urchinwith a runny nose would appear,bearing a paper that requested “SenorEstul” to release the remaining fundsto the courier. Dave would quiz thebewildered child regarding the where-abouts and condition of the cowboyand, if satisfied with the answers,would give the boy an envelope with$20 or $30. In another day or so thecustomer would return, his newclothing rumpled, collect the balancedue him and thank Dave for havingkept this sum intact.

Few sales were made as apurely straightforward commercialtransaction. The interaction with acustomer was occasion for a socialevent, with banter of family or weather

or politics. The dealings with travelingsalesmen could be complex. Davemight hide in the rear of the storewhen the man appeared in the frontdoor with his sample cases. Or Davemight welcome him if he were avalued supplier, and especially if hewere staying the night and availablefor a game of pinochle.

Tales of The Star Store couldunfold endlessly, like a new bolt of 32"percale. One episode demands spacein the record. Hundreds of thousandsof non-Jews, maybe millions, fledRussia, to far corners of the earth.Villa Acuna was the final destinationfor a Ukrainian Christian, Ivan

Corchenuk, who had a small store ofhis own. Although the man had leftthe same land for the same reason,Dave had little contact with him. Oneday Corchenuk appeared in The StarSore with a big, strapping, bassoprofundo Cossack, also a resident inMexico, who needed a new suit.There the trio stood before the large,pull-out suit racks, chatting effortlesslyin their native Ukrainian tongue.

A witness to this strangetableau could only wonder whatthoughts flitted through their minds.Twenty five years earlier, the Cossackcould have been party to the pogromsthat plagued the Jewish populace. Aband of Cossacks would charge theirhorses through the Jewish quarter of atown, wielding sabers against terrifiedwomen and children. The Corchenuksof the community would have beenunmoved. But at this time in thisdistant place, the despised zhid wasthe superior personage, and master ofthe situation. On the level playingfields of America, great changes were

wrought on old social orders.One characteristic defined

Dave; he never ceased to think ofhimself as a Russian. In Del Rio heplanted fruit trees, so he could mashsour green plums to ferment in abarrel. Geese strutted in his backyard. He scratched mournful Slavictunes on a violin, made little doodle-sketches of peasant life. In the early1960s he booked passage to visit hishomeland. As he embarked on thispoignant, fateful journey, he carriedwith him invisible baggage that,unbeknownst to him, was the object ofkeen attention in the counter intelli-gence apparatus of Moscow.

Del Rio was home to LaughlinAir Force Base, where theStrategic Air Command main-tained U-2 reconnaissanceaircraft, the fabled spy plane ofthe Cold War. Persians from theShah’s air force and Chinesefrom Chiang Kai Shek’s Nation-alist Army went there to learnabout reconnaissance flights overSiberia. One could imagine that,in Moscow, a KGB officer

studied a map of Southwest Texas,with a heavy red circle around DelRio, Texas.

In Moscow, Dave had theservices of an Intourist guide, apleasant woman. She must haveexperienced some discomfiture asescort to the customer-guest whodelivered a lecture on the wonders ofAmerica to any Muscovite whocrossed his path. Dave’s wife Esther,shy, withdrawn, but observant, noticedthat wherever they went, a man -always the same man - lingerednearby. Dave and Esther took a trainto Kiev. The presence of the KGBagent in the dining car was unmistak-able. Esther would give him a silentgreeting with a nod or a smile. Theman would lower his eyes to the boiledchicken on his plate.

The local authorities in Kievwere unable or unwilling to help Davetravel to Chotorov. But an unexpected



“Few sales were made as apurely straightforward commercialtransaction. The interaction with acustomer was occasion for a social

event, or banter with family, orweather or politics.”

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diversion awaited him. Although Kievwas off the beaten path for tourists,another American had registered atthe same hotel, an officer fromLaughlin Air Force Base, travelingabout Europe on leave. The threeAmericans met in the lobby. The hoteldining room was host to a party of five,Dave, Esther, the American Air Forceofficer, and two KGB agents.

Back in Moscow, the KGBcolonel’s ash tray overflowed withcigarette butts. He plunged an orangemap tack into the red circle around DelRio, signifying a higher level of surveil-lance.

Friends and relatives in DelRio could be forgiven for thinking thatEsther’s narrative of this bizarreencounter in Kiev might be the productof an addled imagination. But the AirForce officer on returning to Del Riorenewed his acquaintance with Daveand confirmed the story in every detail.

Now that most of the KGBarchives are open, it would be interest-ing to see the reports of this incident.The field agents might have saidsomething like this:

Thorough searches of theirhotel rooms and luggage revealed nocameras, radio equipment, maps,binoculars, notebooks or otherparaphernalia. Maybe the womancarries something in the purse thatshe clutches to her person. The idiotIntourist guide gave us nothinguseful. She tearfully confessed thatshe accepted a tip from the man, forwhom she had developed an affec-tion. She should be put in for thesternest reprimand.

The waiter in the dining roomof the Kiev hotel was helpful. Byhovering attentively at the table of thethree Americans, he was able to relayto us much of their conversation. Wethink that “Mrs. Crosby’s Cafe” is acode word for the U-2 aerodrome,and that “Tortillas Portugesas” mustrepresent the aircraft.

But Comrade Colonel, I musttell you bluntly that, unless headquar-ters has something we do not have, itis impossible to make any sense of themission that the CIA assigned to these

three operatives.

The Star Store was in goodhands with one of Dave and Esther’ssons and they could travel and see theworld.

CommentaryThe four brothers bore little

physical resemblance to each other,and shared few personality traits.Each was a competent merchant who,by ingenuity and hard work, was ableto start with a pittance, selling notionshouse to house, or displaying goods onpacking cases, and develop a respec-table retail establishment. The bed-rock of their very being was to assuretheir families a decent home andcommunity. Most important to themwas the value of education. Theyencouraged their children to pursuetheir own education and their childrenbecame successful in their own fields.Max retired and spent much of hisretirement years in Beverly Hills,California. Nathan had no fixed placeof abode: for all practical purposes hiscar was his home. One could followhis travels by the trail of half-con-sumed Bering Coronas. Marx closedhis business and moved to nearby ElPaso: in West Texas a distance of oneor two hundred miles is nearby. Daverelocated to an apartment in SanAntonio, which continued to be a baseof operations for travel, his last journeybeing to Hawaii. Last, but not least,they had a consuming passion forpinochle, a European card game that tothis day remains a mystery to theirdescendants.

The children of the Stoolbrothers are: Ida Stool Mason, RaeStool Abramsom, Bertha StoolDonosky, Max Stool, Willi Stool, JoeStool, Goldie Stool Giss, ElizabethStool, Max Stool, Joe Stuhl, NewsomStool, Sylvan Stool and Sybil StoolTarnower.

This history was lovinglywritten by and with help from: JoeStuhl, Max Stool, Evelyn StoolWaldron, Sylvan Stool, Lea Donosky,Alexander Steele, Michael Stool andKenneth Giss.

Kasha, Kugel, and Pinto Beans, Continued TJHS Recordsand Archives

For those of you are notaware, especially new members, thesociety maintains a vast amount ofinformation, records, and researchdated from 1884 to 1998 at TheCenter for American History at TheUniversity of Texas at Austin inAustin, Texas.

Everything in our archives arecataloged and indexed and availableto members for research. Many of theitems are family histories whichinclude oral audio cassettes, photo-graphs, interviews, and videos. Also,keep in mind that the society haspublished a book entitled Deep in theHeart: The Lives and Legends ofTexas Jews, depicting our history inbook form.

With the advent of theInternet and the current genealogycraze featured in many nationalpublications in trying to find “Roots”perhaps a great place to start wouldbe at our archives in Austin. Some-time we forget the past work mem-bers of the society have done in orderto preserve our Jewish Heritage inTexas. There is still much work to bedone,, but that is why the Society wasformed.

NewsletterDeadlineThe deadline for the next

issue of the newsletter is Sep-tember 1, 1999. All articlesshould be sent to Jack Gerrick,4308 Sarita Dr., Ft. Worth, TX76109, or faxed to him at (817)924-5595.

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A Portion of Confederate MemorialDay and Grave Rededication Services

Hebrew Rest Cemetery, Waco, Texas, April 25, 1999as presented by Ima Joy Gandler of Waco

Permanent Jewish settlers were in Waco in the early 1850s.The Hebrew Benevolent Association, Waco’s first Jewish communal

organization, bought land July 20, 1869. The first recorded burial was that monthand was that of Bessie Lyans, age 1 yr, 6 months. Only five burials wererecorded in the 1870s.

Until the 1880s there was no resident rabbi in Waco. Learned Jewishlaymen officiated at funerals before that and still do when there is no rabbiavailable.

As Waco’s Jewish community grew, other local Jewish agencies tookover taking care of the poor and the sick. In April 1931 the Hebrew BenevolentAssociation became the Hebrew Rest Association, the owner and administratorof Hebrew Rest Cemetery. September 1, 1965 Hebrew Rest Cemetery wasconveyed back to the Hebrew Rest Association which still takes care of thiscemetery.

The burial ground was rededicated on its hundredth anniversary October19, 1969. A State of Texas Historical Marker at the front gate was dedicatedApril 6, 1986. This was the first of the Waco Jewish Federation Texas Sesqui-centennial Committee’s events.

Graves of early Jewish settlers are among those located here. As in anycemetery, you will find items of interest. In this one there is a statue of a dog onthe grave of Emanuel Domnau and buried here is Caroline Hyam Labatt, consortof A. C. Labatt.

You will also find the graves of Jews who served in the ConfederateStates of America Army.

Emanuel Moses was born April 18, 1840. It is known that he served inthe Confederate Army. CSA marker is on his grave. He does not have amilitary marker, as no military records have been located. He had been in thecigar and tobacco business prior to his death at age fifty-six on March 6, 1897.

Samuel Heineman – Pvt. Co B Columbus Guards was born in PrussiaApril 10, 1834. His obituary stated that he came to Waco in 1887, had retiredfrom an active business life and was a familiar figure on the streets of Waco, ashe rarely missed his daily walk to town. Within a half a block of his home hewas struck by a streetcar at 12th and Washington. He died that day April 6,1921, which was four days before his 87th birthday.

Alex Alexander – Sgt. Co I First Texas Heavy Artillery was bornSeptember 9, 1836 in Recovo, Germany, came to Texas, enlisted in the Confed-erate Army in Palo Pinto County. At end of the war, he re-entered the mercan-tile business in Stephenville and was in that business in Waco from 1888 until heretired in 1895. He represented the First Ward in the Waco City Council foreight years, belonging to the fire department when bucket brigades were utilized,was prominent in Masonry for over fifty years, was president of the HebrewBenevolent Association for eighteen years and one of its trustees for twentyyears. He was a member of B’nai B’rith and was at one time a member of theOdd Fellows. He died in Waco February 1, 1908.

General Felix H.

RobertsonCamp No. 129

Sons of Confederate VeteransWaco, Texas

Confederate Memorial Dayand Grave Rededication Services

April 25, 1999(This portion of the service will takeplace in the Hebrew Rest Cemetery)

1. Rifle guard processional2. Welcome of guests-Charles Oliver,

Commander, Waco Camp, SVC3. History of Cemetery - Ima Joy

Gandler, Archivist4. History of Pvt. Samuel Heineman-Co

B, Columbus Ga. Guards-I. Gandler5. Rededication of marker for Pvt

Heineman-Daniel Bounds6. Rifle salute-7th Tex. Infantry7. History of Sgt. Alex Alexander, Co I,

1st Tex Hvy Art-Ima Joy Gandler8. Rededication of marker for Sgt.

Alexander-Frank Israel9. Rifle salute-7th Tex. Infantry10.The confederate soldier-Ken Luttrell

and Harold Johnston11.Dixie12.Tattoo

(Final part of service to takeplace in First Street Cemetery)

1. The first Confederate Memorial DayRonita Miller

2. Prayer by Chaplain Jim Shannon3. Tolling of bells and laying of flowers

and wreaths4. History of Pvt. W.D. Chambers, CO.

L, 21st Texas Cavalry5. Rededication of marker for Pvt.

Chambers-Cary Bogan6. Yellow Rose of Texas7. Rifle salute-7th Tex Infantry8. Tattoo

Sponsored by:1. Sons of Confederate Veterans Felix

H. Robertson, Camp #129. Waco,Texas

2. Temple Rodef Sholom3. Congregation Agudath Jacob

“It was a great trip.” “It wasa lot of fun!” Those were the senti-ments echoed by all 27 members ofthe Texas Jewish Historical Societyafter returning from a five-day stay inNew Orleans, highlighted by sight-seeing in the city and nearby Louisi-ana towns. The bus tour originated inHouston on February 28 and returnedon March 5.

The tour, directed by Don andGertrude Teter of Baytown, and ImaJoy Gandler of Waco, was oriented tovisit historical sights in Louisiana thatwere influenced by Jewish settlers.

The first tour stop was madein Beaumont to pick up 5 membersbefore the bus continued to Livonia,Louisiana. It was in Livonia, nearBaton Rouge, that the group got theirfirst introduction to Cajun cooking, atJoe Dreyfus’ store restaurant, housedin what was formerly the Dreyfusfamily store. Members of theDreyfus family visited with tourmembers, relating family history. Atour of the old family home, now aBed & Breakfast operation, revealedJewish family life as lived in the earlypart of the century in rural Louisiana.

Moving on to Baton Rouge,the tour visited Temple B’nai Israel,where the Rabbi and a congregantrelated the 140-year history of theTemple, and took the group on a tourof their beautiful building.

The next stop was a hotel, inNew Orleans’ Garden District, whichwas home for the five-day stay.

Jill Kaplan, a tour guide, witha background in the history of NewOrleans, and well-versed in the JewishHistory of the area, took over direc-tion of the tour the first day in NewOrleans. The morning was spent witha walking architectural tour of part ofthe famous Garden District.

Visits were then made to

Temple Sinai, The Jewish CommunityCenter, Touro Synagogue and theGates of Prayer Temple. All of theseSynagogues have a long and proudhistory of serving the Jewish commu-nity in New Orleans. And members ofthe Congregations were pleased to tellof the histories of the Congregationsand give tours of their buildings. TheTexas tour was fortunate to share thePurim Celebration with the Gates ofPrayer Temple during their visit.

The following day, the groupvisited a cemetery where all burialsare made above ground level, a custommade necessary in New Orleans,because of the high water table in thecity.

Visits were also made to theoutstanding and beautiful art museumin the park, and to the famous LongueVue House and gardens, built byEdgar Bloom Stern and his wife Edith,daughter of Julius Rosenwald, theSears magnate. The 8½ acres ofgarden and their beautiful home werea delight and have been donated to thecity of New Orleans. The day wascompleted with a visit to a Cajuncooking school for a demonstration ofCajun Cooking. Dinner was served atthe school.

Day 3 was started with awalking tour of the French Quarter,high-lighted with a visit to theHermann-Grima House, which had itsorigins prior to the Civil War, andreflected the living conditions of thatperiod. The Jewish background of theHermann family added to the interestof the home.

The balance of the day wasfree for tour members to roam theFrench Quarter. Many membersfound their way to the antique shopson Magazine Street and the shops andstalls in the French Market.

The next day the tour returned

to the French Quarter to visit the oldU. S. Mint and to view the NewOrleans Jazz and Mardi Gras costumeexhibits. Many visited the Pralineshops and Market stalls.

Friday was departure time andon the way to Houston the Tourstopped in Lafayette, Louisiana for avery interesting visit. The JewishCemetery there dates back to 1820 onland given by the State Government tothe Jewish Community. Dirt wasbrought in to build the land up to enableburial at ground level. The cemetery,which is still in use, is kept withbeautiful flowers and trees adding tothe beauty. Of special interest was alarge human figure with an out-stretched hand that adorned one graveplot. The Congregation in Lafayettemaintains a building, but depends on avisiting rabbi to serve their needs.

The next stop was at theGates of Prayer Temple in NewIberia, Louisiana. This building, datingback to 1903, also depends on avisiting rabbi.

Continuing toward Houston,the tour passed through Kaplan,Louisiana, named for Abram Kaplan, aJewish land owner and business man.

Travel time on the bus wasspent watching movies, visiting,noshing, making new friends andrenewing old friendships.

Previous tours have beenmade to Natchez, Jackson andVicksburg, Mississippi, and other citiesin Mississippi and Memphis, Tennes-see.

– Don Teter

Report of Bus Tour to New Orleans & Louisiana

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Texas Jewish Historical Society Annual Membership� YES! I am enclosing my dues payment to the Texas Jewish Historical Society for the 1999-2000 membership year.

� $36 – Annual Member � $50 – Supporting Member � $100 – Sponsor� $250 – Sustaining Member � $500 – Benefactor � $1,000 – Patron

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Contributions to the Texas Jewish Historical Society are tax deductible within the limits of the law.Please clip and send with your check to TJHS, P.O. Box 10193, Austin, TX 78766-0193.

Help! New Directory Underway!

Has your address changed?What about your Area Code or phone number?Has your name changed? Do you want your nameto appear differently on the TJHS mailing label?Please let us know. We’d really appreciate your help.Please fill out the form below and send toGeri Gregory, 327 West Lullwood Avenue,San Antonio, TX 78212.Thank you, and please print.

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Texas JewishHistorical Society

WebsiteTexas Jewish Historical Society

P.O Box 10193 Austin, TX 78766Telephone - (281)276-9693

E-Mail address - [email protected] Site address:

http://www.neosoft.com/~tjhs/

The Texas Jewish HistoricalSociety draws its membership fromacross the State of Texas, borderingstates and across our great nation.TJHS supports a wide-rangingagenda. Quarterly Board Meetingsare held at points of particularinterest, an extensive newsletter ispublished regularly, and a speakersbureau is maintained. A variety ofresearch projects are facilitatedthrough the Jewish Archives in theBarker Library, or supported directlysuch as “Virtual Restoration ofSmall-Town Synagogues in Texas.”

We are very proud of ourorganization and ask you to look usup and celebrate the joys of Texashistory.

January 1, 1999 to May 15, 1999

Welcome New Members!This & That. . .

�� P.O. Box 10193Austin, Texas 78766-0193

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

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SAN ANTONIO, TXPERMIT NO. 1868

We are sad to report the deathof Perry Kallison of San Antonio,husband of past President FrancesKallison. Perry Kallison was 95 yearsold, a native of San Antonio and widelyknown throughout South Texas as aresult of a radio show he started in1936. Our prayers are with theKallison family.

We also note the recent deathof TJHS member Nathan Siegel, ofDallas, husband of Min and father ofJan Siegel Hart, TJHS memberFrances Wasserman of CorpusChristi, wife of Ray Wasserman,Morris Novit, of Dallas, and MiriamBorschow Chodorow, Ima JoyGandler’s mother, of Dallas.

We have had a request by aMr. Steve Axelrath of Littleton, Co.(303) 741-3860 trying to locate familymembers in Texas. Anyone knowingany information about the followingfamily’s names, please contact himdirectly. Yudkin—Hershfield—Olenick—Shappiro. One of thestories he related was his GrandfatherElias Hershfield had a relative that hadbeen a shopkeeper in Austin, Texasand that he was murdered by adrunken cowboy because he wouldn’textend credit to the man. During theGreat Depression, two women fromTexas visited Connecticut and theirnames were May & Perle Davis.

These women were related in someway to one of the families above. CallSteve if you have any information.

Gary Baum, Fort WorthGreta and David Beckerman,

Fort WorthLoretta Friedman, HoustonSusan King, HoustonMiriam Labovitz, Fort WorthCol. Hannah Sue Margolis

(Ret.), San AntonioGregory Meyer, Fort Worth

Lester (Butch) Novy, HoustonBayla and Dick Simon (Handler),

Fort WorthSharon Snyder, Fort WorthPat and Sam J. Susser, Corpus

ChristiEllis and Helaine Turner,

Bethesda, MarylandM.O. (Sonny) and Zell Wizig,

Waco

New Membersare Invited . . .

We request the help of ourmembers to encourage individuals tobecome members of the Texas JewishHistorical Society. Your assistance ininviting family, friends, neighbors, andcolleagues to become members of theSociety helps us fulfill our mission,providing programs here in Texas, aswell as to those Texans living out ofstate.

Membership also makes agreat gift for any occasion. You canhelp by calling Phyllis Hirsch at (817)737-8202.

FutureMeetingsThe Summer Board

meeting is scheduled for Sunday,July 18, at the Houston HiltonHobby Hotel, 10-3 pm. ContactBeverly Beck at (713) 667-4065.

The Fall Board Meetingwill be October 16-17, inCorsicana. Look for further detailsin the next newsletter.

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Texas Jewish Historical Society 1999-2000-2001

Board Members Ending in the Spring of 2001

OfficersHelen Wilk (Corpus Christi)......................................................................PresidentJack Gerrick (Fort Worth)............................................................Vice-PresidentCharles Hart (Temple) .................................................................Vice-PresidentIma Joy Gandler (Waco)..............................................................Vice-PresidentMitzi Milstein (Longview)....................................................Recording SecretaryDavie Lou Solka (Corpus Christi) .................................Corresponding SecretaryMickey Graubart (Houston) ................................................................TreasurerHoward Lackman (Arlington) ...............................................................ArchivistMarvin Rich (Houston) .............................................................ParliamentarianBlanche Sheiness (Alice)..........................................................................Historian

Suzanne Campbell (San Angelo)Sam Harelik (Waco)Phyllis Hirsch (Fort Worth)Rosalind Horwitz (Beaumont)Annette Lackman (Arlington)Naman Lipinsky (Waco)R. D. Moses (Fort Worth)Mina Parven (Austin)Vickie Vogel (La Grange)Cynthia Wolf (Beaumont)

Dorothy Harelik (Hamilton)Ruth Heidenheimer (Cisco)Leo Hoffman (Dallas)Eileen Kessner (Plano)Marvin Leshin (Corpus Christi)Selma Mantel (Houston)Bill Naxon (Dallas)Julien Rosenthal (Houston)Merilee Weiner (Houston)Sherry Zander (Dallas)

Board Members Who Have One Year Remaining on Their Term

Norma Albert (McAllen)Beverly Beck (Houston)Ann Goodman (El Paso)Dave Hoff (Midland)Patti Maltz (Austin)Charles Nathan (Houston)Mimi Toubin (Brenham)James Alexander (Dallas)Florence Blum (Houston)Lynn Greenberg (Houston)

Frank Kasman (Midland)Allen Mondell (Dallas)Ben Pfeffer (Houston)Edward Winkler (Fort Stockton)Glenda Alter (San Antonio)Walter Fein (San Antonio)Nell Hall (Fort Worth)Edwin Katten (Waco)Herman Morris (Fort Worth)Norma Skibell (Lubbock)

Share the Pleasure ofHistorical Texas Synagogues

with Someone Special!Send Historical Texas Synagogues note cards when corresponding with friends or relatives.

Each pack contains color prints, two each of five different synagogues - 10 cards and 10 envelopes.

Package A contains:

Temple Beth-El, Corsicana

Temple Mizpah, Abilene

Temple Freda, Bryan

Temple Beth Israel, San Angelo

Schwarz Family Synagogue, Hempstead

Package B contains:

B’nai Israel, Galveston

Temple Emanuel, Beaumont

B’nai Abraham Synagogue, Brenham

Sinai Hebrew Congregation, Jefferson

B’nai Israel, Victoria

Only $10.85 per pack! Each pack of note-cards is cellophane wrapped. Give them to friends andfamily! It is a great gift at a great price! © 1998 Texas Jewish Historical Society.

Order Form

Name:_____________________________________________________________________________

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Quantity: ____Pack A at $10.85 ea. _____Pack B @ $10.85 ea.

Discount to shops (40%)

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Total Enclosed: $____________________________________Make check or money order payable to: The Texas Jewish Historical Society and send with form to: TJHS,

c/o Charles B. Hart 2509 Redwing Drive, Temple, TX 76502 Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Retail shops receive a 40%discount with a minimum order of any 10 packs. A Texas Resale Certificate must be included with order.

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Documents

txjhs.org · Press in support of Hollace Weiner’s book, Legendary Lone Star Rabbis. The second approved request is to The Institute of Texan Cultures for a traveling exhibit on