I have finally reached the final blog posts of my family's background before actually getting into "my lifelong childhood". I have been encouraged by your comments by e-mail, Facebook and, in person. What I've come to realize is that we ALL have interesting family stories and I encourage you to look into yours. What made your forebears go from one country to another (and perhaps several countries)? What moments of heartbreak, courage, innovation, and discovery did they bring to their stories? How did they, in fact, survive and how has it affected the way you, yourself, have turned out? These are all questions that fascinate me and have moved me to continue this project.
THE MAYERS
My grandfather Leo's parents present a dilemma for me because, unlike the Debear/Frankfort side, I have been stymied at finding out much information. Much of their story takes place in Cincinnati, Ohio, the "Queen City". Sitting on the Ohio River, it was founded in 1788. Its Jewish community was developed by immigrants from England and Germany, developing Reform Judaism in response to the Enlightenment, making their new lives in the United States. Leo's parents were Morris Mayer, born in 1856, and Fanny Phillips, born in 1854. I had always thought that Morris was born in Germany but in the 1880 Federal census, his birthplace is listed as "Ohio". The 1905 New York census has his birthplace as Germany!!) Fanny, my great-grandmother, was born in Cincinnati and I often wonder what experiences the 10-year-old Fanny might have had during the Civil War, living in a free state, right across the river from a slave state.
FANNY and MORRIS
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| Morris Mayer, my great-grandfather |
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| A young Fanny Phillips, my great-grandmother |
Fanny Phillips Mayer, my great-grandmother, grew up in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati in the second half of the 19th century and got to experience, as a child, the very close proximity of the Civil War and its battle over slavery. Fanny had one brother, Phillip...that's right, Phillip Phillips, who was about a year older than her. The great mystery is Mr. Phillips, their father, about whom I know nothing about, other that his birthplace is listed as France. Their mother, Hannah, was born in Darmstadt, Germany as Hannah Rosenthal, around 1832 and moved, with her family to Cincinnati. Somewhere along the line, she met the mysterious Mr. Phillips and married, having both Phillip and Fanny in quick succession. Whether Mr. Phillips then died or they divorced is unknown but, in April of 1859 when Fanny was only about five years old, her mother Hannah re-married Charles Bloch, also born in France, a man who was a "saloon-keeper", 13 years her senior, with four little kids of his own. By 1870, 15 year-old Fanny was growing up in this big household with her brother, four step-siblings, three boarders, and one servant! The 1880 census shows he had seven kids! Where did they come from? However, in this particular Federal Census, there was a NEW boarder, a 24 year old clerk by the name of Morris Mayer who would eventually marry Fanny, much like Leo's sister, Millie married the boarder, Robert Golden. This must have been the 1800's version of Tinder!
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| The mysterious Mr. Phillips, my great-great grandfather |
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| Hannah Rosenthal Phillips Bloch, my great-great grandmother |
Just to finish up the Bloch's, I remember my dad telling me about seeing his step-uncle, Henry ("Harry") Bloch perform on Broadway in the longest-running Broadway play, "Abie's Irish Rose", until "Hello Dolly" came along.
Hannah Bloch died in 1897 and rests in the Judah Touro Cemetery in Cincinnati. Whatever happened to "Mr. Phillips", my great-grandfather, remains unknown. Phillip and Bertha had one daughter, Pauline Phillips Ganz who married Milton Ganz, also from Cincinnati. Sometime after son Leo's birth, Fanny and Morris and daughter Millie moved to New York City.
THE MAYER KIDS
As previously posted, Fanny and Morris had two kids, my grandfather, Leo and his sister Millie. Leo married my grandmother, Hannah (Helen) DeBear, " Big Nana and had four children. The youngest child, Leroy, died in childhood of Bright's Disease, but my dad, Monroe, Florence, and Stanley lived to be important parts of my childhood. Stanley became a contractor of plumbing supplies, married Edith Micheal and had two kids, Ellen and Robert (Bob). Stanley was my easy-going uncle who enjoyed life fully, golf, many friendships, good food, and had a wonderful sense of humor. He was somewhat of a contrast to my dad, a more serious, controlled individual. I remember once, I had a date in high school and, for some reason, I couldn't get my father to lend me the family car. Uncle Stanley stepped right in and lent me his big convertible and I felt like a million dollars! I remember him for his wonderfully thick steaks that he would cook in his fireplace over a wood fire, that were charred on the outside and juicy red on the inside. It was always a treat to partake in these meals! Cousin Ellen, the same age as my sister Lois, was a dancer and would entertain the family at get-togethers. Unfortunately, she died at a much too young age and is missed by us all. Bob, after a career in banking, has become a renowned baseball historian, giving lectures, lending some of his treasured memorabilia to the Hall of Fame, as well as an active leader in the Peekskill Museum where he serves as a Trustee. An active athlete, now in his 70's, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball, having been a great baseball and softball player over the years. Bob has two children, Jennifer Mayer Kaufman and Jeffrey Mayer.
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| A young Stanley Mayer, my paternal uncle |
Florence, to me, was unforgettable. There was never a moment with her that was uninteresting or dull. She was a bright woman with many interests. I remember as a young child, going to the Masonic Temple in Mt. Vernon where the True Sisters were putting on a variety show and seeing my grandmother and her daughter, Florence, on stage, dressed up as "cowgirls" with ten-gallon hats, chaps, boots and vests, singing selections from "Oklahoma" and "Annie Get Your Gun". She and her husband, Edgar Reinhardt were civically minded, independent, and curious. I have many postcards that she sent me during her travels around the country. I always had a sense that she took a special interest in me and I, her. Their daughters, Norma Mascarotti and Judith Thoyer are a testament to what wonderful parents they were, nurturing their daughters to become very successful and independent women. Judie, now retired from a long and accomplished career in law, has delved back into becoming a very capable flautist and encouraging young students of flute in their careers with her Friends of Flutes Foundation. She and her husband, Mike Thoyer, have two children, Erinn Rhodes and Michael Thoyer.
Norma, my family historian, has provided me with much material about the Mayer clan and I enjoy our get-togethers with her when we visit New York City to see our kids in Brooklyn. Like her mom, she always has such interesting stories! She was a friend of Dick Clark in high school, the same school I went to...A.B.Davis. Norma had a successful career as a buyer for Abraham and Strauss and traveled around the world in this role. She told me she was once on a plane in the early days of skyjacking that got hijacked to Havana! She and her husband, Robert, now deceased, have a daughter, Danielle Deprisco.
Below is a photo from the 1930's of Aunt Florence and a gathering of the Mayer family at a wedding.
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| My Aunt Florence |
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| The Mayer clan... 1st row from left to right: Grandpa Leo, my mother Beatrice, my father, Monroe, Aunt Florence 2nd row: Nana Helen, Uncle Eddie Reinhardt; 3rd row:my great grandmother, Sarah Frankfort DeBear Wolff, Uncle Stanley and Aunt Edith |
NEXT: CHILDHOOD
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