Carol & Max Sandfield
Carol was the daughter of Eli (Elias) Wiener and Selma Adele Loewenstein Wiener. The Wiener line traced back to Germany, where her grandfather Samson Wiener emigrated from Baden-Baden and met Caroline Forsheimer aboard ship, later marrying in Mississippi in 1860. Her mother's family, the Loewensteins, came from Obrigheim, Germany, and settled in Waco, Texas, where her grandfather Isaac ran a store called the Arcade. Carol was born in Keltys, Angelina County, where her father was in the lumber business and the family were the only Jews in town. Wanting a Jewish community for her children, Selma moved the family to Shreveport in 1916, where Carol grew up among many cousins.
Carol attended Newcomb College in New Orleans, and in 1931 the Wieners moved to Dallas. She worked at the First National Bank downtown from 1933 to 1939, mostly as a file clerk in the credit department. During wartime she met Max Sandfield, who had come to Dallas in 1941 with the service command and was introduced to her by friends. He proposed quickly, and they married on July 9, 1943, at her parents' home, with Rabbi David Lefkowitz officiating. The couple lived in several Dallas homes before settling on Wentwood, where Max, an architect, built their house. They raised five children: Norman, Joan, Robert, Carolyn, and Byron, several of whom became collectors and dealers.
Max Sandfield was born in Lithuania in 1903 and came to America at about thirteen months old, raised in San Antonio by parents Ben Zion and Bertha Rosenberg Sandfield. He studied architecture at the University of Texas and MIT, earning his degree in 1925, then worked in Boston and New York before the Depression brought him home. Carol devoted decades to volunteer work with the Temple Emanuel Sisterhood, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Red Cross, and the Temple Emanuel archives. The Sandfields treasured family stories, including remarkable coincidences of relatives meeting across the country, and Carol recorded their genealogy so future generations would remember where they came from.
Full Transcript
I'm Carolina Sanfield with my husband Max, want our children to know about our ancestors and descendants. This is January 1987 and we're talking in our home in Dallas. First Norman has traced our family tree with over 1,000 individuals on the computer We're able to go way back I, as I said, am married to Max Sanfield We have five children, two in-laws, one ex-in-law, and four grandchildren Norman Lee is the oldest Joan Jackson divorced from Stephen Jackson, now in Denver, formerly from Houston Her children are Keith Stewart, now in Pittsburgh, and Laura Elise, who prefers the name Laurie, now a high school junior. Robert Eli, a lawyer in Houston.
Carolyn Birnbaum is married to Peter Mark Birnbaum from New York City, living in Atlanta, Georgia. He is a lawyer. She is a computer analyst. Byron James is married to Jacqueline Gale Harrison. At the time they married, she worked at Channel 8 TV. He is a stamp dealer. They have two sons, Zachary Benjamin, born 1982, and Aaron, born 1984. Jacqueline and I were born in Angelina County, Texas, many years apart. Norman is 41 Joan is 39 Robert 38 years Carolyn 35 and Byron 33 It's interesting to me Carol that your children are all well so many of your children are collectors Yes Well you see that started in from collecting to going into the business That's interesting Now you ready for me to go on?
No, we're on Now, ancestors I the daughter of Elias Known as Eli And Selma Adele Lowenstein Wiener On the Wiener side we go back to 1791 A wolf wiener who changed his name from Wurm W or Germanized it My grandfather, Samson, 1834-1899, came to the United States from Baden-Baden, Germany. on the ship he met a young lady this was 1950 or 1957 I'm not sure when and the young lady's name was Caroline Forsheimer 1836-1912 who with a sister was being brought over by her uncle Hirsch from Wittenberg, Germany Caroline went to Mississippi with her sister we always knew as Aunt Nanny and who never married.
Samson went to his Uncle David in Buffalo, New York. He left there and slowly made his way to Mississippi. He and Caroline married in 1860, living in various towns in Mississippi. Carol, where did they marry? Where did they get together to marry? Somewhere in Mississippi they were married, but I'm not sure what the town knew. Their oldest son, Isidore, or Ike, married three times. Had one son by his first wife, a stepson with whom we have lost contact by the second, and a daughter and son by the third. At one time, Uncle Ike was a telegraph operator. He ended up as a dentist. His youngest son is named Boy.
when the boy was born Uncle Ike and his wife wanted to name him Isaac and Ike's mother was there at the time and she said Ike you never liked your name why should you give it to your son let's just put down here boy and when the young man is old enough he can select his own name well he's been boy for over 78 years Their second son, Uncle Willie, and their third son, Sam Jr., married three sisters, having two sons by each. Their second daughter Rachel died at 18 years of age of scarlet fever The other three daughters were Tilly Sophie and Yetta My grandfather, Samson, worked for the railroad in various positions, which may be why he moved to different towns.
my father's my mother's father Isaac Loewenstein also was a German he came to New York City married Caroline or Carrie Neubauer who must have been born in this country he was a successful flour merchant and my mother always spelled the word F-L-O-W-E-R so we know it was not the grain I believe there was a fire in which he lost everything He and his family moved to Waco, Texas. Why that city, I don't know. And had a small general store called the Arcade. My mother worked there for a while and then later in Sanger Brothers. Isaac's family goes back to Mendel Levi, one of 12 brothers who changed their names, some to Berg, some to Loewenstein.
Mendel was born in about 1680, died about 1740. In this country, some descendants spelled the first name Loewenstein, L-O-E-W. Others dropped that first E. My sister Selma knew a man in Pittsburgh who did not use the E, so they did not claim relationship. A few years ago, when Norman told his aunt where the Lohensteins came from, Obergrim, O-B-R-I-G-H-E-I-M, Oberheim, Germany, she compared notes with the man and found we were distant cousins. His son had gone to Germany and taken pictures in the town, names on buildings, although now there are no Jews living there. and the family living in the Loewenstein home in Oberkham have the original Loewenstein frying pan Quote my sister Selma In Waco my grandmother Carrie was known as a nurse At a time when there were no trained nurses, she helped when there was sickness.
My mother said she doubtfully saved some very sick patients. But she wasn't trained at all. Oh, there was no training in those days. It was just one lady helping the sick. Both grandfathers were in the Civil War. Samson in the Confederacy, in and out of the Army, Isaac in the Union, on the Union side. Eli lived in Celtis, Texas, a little town in East Texas. Celtis? K-E-L-T-Y-S. And Selma lived in Waco. but both of them had relatives in Shreveport so when there was a wedding in Shreveport both of them were invited and that's where they met and after the wedding no matter where Eli went traveling for the lumber company he managed to stop by Waco so in two or three months he asked her to marry him and they were married in November 1906.
Turn it off. After I graduated from college in Newcomb I was able with my father's help to find a job, a position or whatever at the First National Bank downtown in Dallas. There were no branch banks. And I worked there for six years, most of the time in the filing, in filing in the credit department. One time when Norman was in junior high, Max took him to a course in Fort Worth to help him decide what direction his course should take him what subjects he should take. It did not help Norman. But Max took the same program and found that being an architect was right.
In 1941, the Second World War was in progress. I was staying in Dallas, living with my parents, and maybe once a year going to visit my sister Selma in Pittsburgh. and Max was in San Antonio working for the Corps of Engineers and for some reason he decided to leave the Corps of Engineers and come to Dallas and work for the 8th Service Command. As soon as he got here, he called four or five of his friends who were living and married in Dallas and asked them to introduce him to some young ladies. so each of them introduced him to alright they volunteered anyway each one introduced him to a different young lady and because of war time each of the young ladies was glad to see a new face and somebody who was going to be here a while and Max says that Carol Wiener was the only one he came back to for a second and a third and a fourth date and he came to town in March he met me a month later in April he asked me to marry him on June the 1st and I wasn't shy but I didn't say yes right away I waited until June the 3rd to say yes and the we were married in July you lost no time in July, a little war time And I was married July the 9th from my parents' home.
There were about 26 guests, and Max and me and the rabbi. Where was their home then? On 4321 Overhill Drive in Holland Park. In Holland Park right now. And who was the rabbi? Rabbi David Lefkowitz. When, as soon as I knew Max and I had chosen a date, I told my father to go ask Rabbi Lefkowitz if he would marry us And I wasn conscious of the fact that rabbis have vacations and it just so happened that he was going to be in town on that day so he agreed to marry us And a friend, Vivian Talal, did the singing, and it was a hot, hot, hot afternoon.
110 degrees. and I didn't know how hot until the next day when I was on my honeymoon and my honeymoon was in Colorado my mother sent us a clipping telling us it was 110 degrees my gosh now I will tell some stories that are about the Sandfields and the Loensteins and maybe about the Wieners Grandpa Isaac Loenstein had the eight daughters the eighth one was the eighth birth were twins but the boy died at birth so there really were just eight girls my mother was the seventh of the eight and it is said that my grandfather cried the last two or three times the daughter was born because he was disappointed there was no boy when the girls got older and Isaac wanted to call one of his daughters.
He would go down the list. And that's the way my children learned all their great aunt's names. Nettie, Bertie, Celia, Violet, Bella, Lily, Selma, Clara. Which one are you? And I find that sometimes, not quite as often, but sometimes I go Norman, Joan, Robert, Carolyn, Byron. Wait a minute. I remember now which one I wanted to talk about. Cute. Many years ago, I think it must have been in the 1920s, my Aunt Tilly and her husband, Al Meese, and their two children, Caroline and Al Jr., drove from Wisconsin to California. And out of Los Angeles, they were taking a trip or a tour, and they had a flat tire.
In those days that was a pretty bad situation So my uncle and his son got out to fix the tire And about that time a car with a California license drove up and it was a lady with two older young men her sons. She found out what the trouble was, and she said, well, my sons will help your husband fix the tire. Why don't you come over and sit in my car? So, Aunt Tilly and this lady from California sat in the car and talked. They found out they were both Jewish, and we began Jewish geography, I guess. I didn't use that word in those days.
Somewhere the conversation came that this lady in California, originally was from New York, and had lived in Fort Worth for a number of years, exactly lived in Waco for a number of years, and now was living in California with her children. and Tilly said oh in Texas I had two brothers who lived in Texas now they both live in Shreveport, Louisiana the lady in California said Shreveport, Louisiana I have three sisters who live in Shreveport, Louisiana maybe your family, no my family the one sister is Bella married to Louis Abramson, a doctor, a very fine doctor. The other one is, the youngest one is Clara Lieber, married to Philip Lieber.
He's in the, I think, the banking business or the savings and loan business. And then Lily is married to Jake Kaufman and he works for the treasurer of the Temple. And then there's Selma who's married to a man named Eli Weiner. And Aunt Selma said, Aunt Tilly said, Selma Weiner, Eli's my brother. And that's the way my Aunt Tilly met my Aunt Nettie Stiefel in California. More recently, Carolyn, who was living in Atlanta at the time and working for a computer company went to Charlotte North Carolina to do some installation for her company where they did for doctors and Dennis they sent out the bills and she had to prepare the computer for that and it was a Sunday and the building she was in she saw the name Lefkowitz David well she knew that our rabbi or a deceased rabbi was David Lefkowitz senior so she assumed this was David's son so no his grandson it was not David it was his grandson so she next day Monday she went up and went into his office and said she wanted to talk to Dr.
Lefkowitz she didn't uh it wasn't a case of being a patient she just wanted to talk personal and when she spoke to him and identified herself he was very glad and very gracious and then he said oh your mother related to Philip Lieber and Carolyn admitted that said well he died yesterday so that's the way Carolyn luckily had been notified by another relative but that's the way Carolyn learned and she called me I could have learned from Charlotte rather than from Shreveport. Rabbi Lefkowitz's grandson. Grandson. He's a doctor. These are wonderful small world stories. Just a few years ago, Joan was working in, I mean playing Duplicate Bridge, and she's still doing, and she won a chance to go to France.
So she left Dallas, flew to New York, and from New York took a plane to France. in New York she was going to meet her partner on the plane from Dallas to New York the lady next to her began talking like we all do and she said one thing led to another and the lady said she's taking bridge lessons from a Mrs. Wales in Dallas and Joan said oh I took from Mrs. Wales years ago when I was in high school. When you go back, would you tell her I said hello? But she won't know my name, Jackson, or tell her Joan Sandfield sends her regards.
And this lady said, are you related to Max Sanfield? And Joan admitted that too. And she said, well, Max designed a house for my husband and me in Magnolia, Arkansas, and also for my husband's parents. And Joan said, oh yes, I know, I've seen the pictures or drawings in Daddy's office. She knew all about it. And I'm not sure about this story. Carolyn wrote down that Norman had a friend who is a relative. I think what this applies to is that one of Norman's college friends, Steve Wells, went to law school in Dallas at SMU and became very friendly with a boy whose last name was Block.
And when Steve and Norman brought this young man, Block, over to our house and I was introduced to him, I said, I'm wondering if you're a relative of ours, a distant relative through my grandfather's Uncle David in Buffalo, New York. It was so. And what was his name? His first name? Block? I don't know. I don't remember now. Carolyn married, I said, Peter Birnbaum from New York City. And as soon as his mother learned about that, she said, we have relatives in Dallas. I was a My name is Goody, G-O-O-D-I-E. That's my legal name, although it wasn't my given name. And I'm related to Saul Goodell, who's also, and therefore the name originally was Goodellsky, I think.
So Carolyn, through her husband, is related to Saul Goodell. The World's Fair was held in San Antonio a number of years ago. Max and I and Carolyn stopped in Austin to see Joan and then went on to San Antonio. And there we met a girl named Janie Kleineman who is the granddaughter of Maxie cousin But it was just through a friend of Joan's that we met. It was very accidental. And you didn't know. Until we got to talking. One time, Joan was up in Pittsburgh visiting her husband's in-laws who lived out of Pittsburgh. And of course, she called Aunt Selma. Aunt Selma said to come into town somewhere or other.
Joan had a chance to go to the opera or to go to the symphony. And as she was going up the steps, she heard someone say, Joan, Joan Sanfield. And as she turned around, it was her cousin Jim, Selma's youngest son, who didn't know Joan was in the neighborhood and was at the same symphony. But he recognized her and they had a fun time together. my sister Selma laughingly says that she goes on her niece's honeymoon when Nancy Weiner married Leon Mello they went to New Orleans Selma and Alan Berkman came down for the wedding they went on to New Orleans after the day or two later they took them out to dinner when Sandy Kahn married George Nachman they had planned to go to Mexico for their honeymoon Selma said to Carol and Max Sanfield we want to go to Mexico do you want to go too so the Birkmans and the Sanfields made plans to go to Mexico City and we left right after the wedding and got there a day or two before Sandy and George.
And accidentally, the three couples were in the one above the other. The Nackmans were above the Berkmans who were above the sandfields And of course the sandfields and the Berkmans took the Nackmans out for a meal or two Where was this You were above them Out of Mexico City I mean where were you above them One, two, three. In the rooms. In the rooms. In the rooms and the hotel. The hotel rooms. About 1960, Norman went to a scout jamboree in Colorado. Max and I and the four children in our station wagon drove there to meet him the last day or two. picked him up and went on into Los Angeles.
And in the hotel where we were staying, there was an advertisement that if we wanted to use our own car, a driver would be sent and the driver would use our own car. Well, with seven people in the car, it was easy to use our station wagon. So that's what we did. and the man was pointing out this and that and the other and we were having fun he didn't look at the gas tank Max didn't look at the gas tank and I didn't look at the gas tank all of a sudden the car went blank so then this man who was driving he didn't know too much about the town But we were looking around trying to decide whether to go forward or backwards to get some gas.
And a car drove up with two ladies in it. And they said, what's the trouble? And we said, we're out of gas, and we're trying to find out where we're going to get the gas. And ordinarily, two ladies would not offer a man to get in a car with him. But one of the ladies looked out and said, Are you from Dallas? Aren't you Carol Sandfield? And it was somebody who was living in Los Angeles, but who had lived in Dallas. She was Beryl Rosenthal's ex-sister-in-law. And so because of that she took Max and the driver to get some gas And that the end of that story That wasn that nice There are some other stories here but these are ones Carolyn is going to have to tell me about She said, for instance, let's go back.
When I worked at the First National Bank, which was the only paying job I ever had, I worked from November 1933 to December 31, 1939. And except for one week, I always worked in the credit department as a file clerk. And the fact that I had taken Latin, French, and Greek meant that I knew my vocabulary backwards and forwards and I could file beautifully. this was during wartime just in the middle of the wartime and when I left there I was living at home with my parents because that's what all girls did in those days and I continued there but then I went into volunteer work I did some volunteer work for the Sisterhood of Temple Emanuel for the Council of Jewish Women for the Red Cross and some of my work, I might be working four days a week, one day for two days for one organization and one day each for the other.
It varied. And I enjoyed doing volunteer work, which I still do. Right now I am doing volunteer work for the National Council of Jewish Women, Dallas Section, at the Encore. And I'm also on the board. I've been on the board often on different times. I also do some volunteer work at Temple Emanuel at the archives as a file clerk. When Max and I first married, it was wartime, and rooms, apartments, and such were hard to find. So, for the first few months, my parents were in Colorado on vacation. Max and I lived in their home. After they came back, they wanted to get rid of us.
We moved and we finally found an apartment, no, it was a house in East Dallas on Martell. A man and his wife had lived there. I don't know where she was living now, but he was in service in Italy, therefore they didn't need the house. And we lived there for just about a year. And when Norman was born in September of 1945, we were still there. and the war had ended just before Norman's birth. So the lady heard that her husband was coming home and she wanted the house back. Well, accidentally, the timing was such that people were beginning to build because the war was over.
So Max found a house on Stanford, 5427 West Stanford. that was there were three houses built by the same builder and we could have our choice of any one of them well all of them had one bath so and 1200 square feet and 1200 square feet so I chose just blindly the one with the three bedrooms they're all small and then we lived there Joan was born there. Robert was, I mean, he was born in the hospital, but we were living there when he was born and when Carol in. And by that time, Max decided we needed a little more space. And this house did not lend itself to expansion.
So we went roaming up and down to find a lot. And we finally found the lot on Wentwood where we now live, and Max built a home here. and we ended up with three bedrooms, two and a half baths, which was one and a half bath extra blessing. But since then we have added quite a number of square feet to the house and we have enjoyed living here. and Max says that this is going to be the house he's going to be living in when he dies because he doesn't want to move. I don always agree with him but that all right It a beautiful house We will do that We admit it a beautiful house We admit it fits out soon but there will come a time when I get tired of worrying about the grass being cut or the man to fix the plumbing or whatever.
And therefore, that's when I would want to move. Carol, let's talk a little bit about your job and what it paid. Yeah, and also I think the children might be interested in hearing what you all paid for rent in those days. Well, what we paid for rent on Martell, I don't remember. On Martell? I don't think we'd have any records left of that. But when I worked at the First National Bank, I started $30 or $35. We were paid twice a month, so $30 or $35 for two weeks. I was earning a little bit more at the end of the time, but it wasn't that much more.
Your father says that when he started in Boston, he also was earning about $30 or $35 a month or a week. A week. I think it started off about $35 a week. See, I was paid $30 or $35 every two weeks. And the best he earned in New York before he left there was $75 a week. That was a good salary. And it was a good salary. Of course, he did share an apartment with some friends, several friends. He would have been horrified to rent an apartment by himself. I think there were six or seven of us there, all of us working, and we were friendly enough with each other to spare this one apartment, which was a pretty good, nice-sized apartment, in a triangular apartment house that was on the corner of 96th Street and Riverside Drive.
Nice. And I can remember that well. Well I got pictures now that I could show you that were taken from the window of our apartment Looking out across the lake there the river the river across the river was New Jersey you know and they were building a bridge across from the Dallas side over the other Correction. They were built at Correction from the New York side to New Jersey. And it was the Washington Bridge. It was the Washington Bridge. It was the Washington Bridge. And I have a picture of that that if I look for, I can find it, I'm sure. That shows that when you saw some of the...
on both sides, well, at least on one side, some of the pictures you can see, I think it was just one side of the structure that was built right on the edge of the water, and you saw the cards going across the circle there, and the actual bridge part, which went straight on across down here, that wasn't even in there yet. They didn't have that until the other was often. That's about 60 years ago or so. Maybe a little less than 60. I'm going to add some more information. If you're to repeat, that's fine. I was born in Teltis, Angelina County, Texas, where my father was in the lumber business.
We were the only Jews in the little town. Before my parents married, my father had taught Sunday school one year in the Baptist Church. In the nearby town of Lufkin, there were a few Jewish families, but my mother wanted her children to raise their community where we could go to temple and Sunday school. In 1916, when I was three and my younger sister Selma were a few weeks old, we moved to Shreveport, Louisiana. My father had a married brother, Sam, and mother had three married sisters, Bella Abramson, Lily Kaufman, and Clara Leaver living there. So we had cousins near our ages and made friends easily.
All my schooling was in Louisiana, and so I went to Newcomb College in New Orleans. My father was still in the lumber business in Keltis, so he commuted there and back to Shreveport several times a month, leaving on a Monday and returning on Friday. Excuse me Carol His business was still in Keltis and then did he not have a business in Shreveport Oh he didn did he People did not use long telephones as much as Naya and if he wanted to be president, take care of business. He was president and finally chairman of the board of the Angelina County Lumber Company. Some summer, Mother and the children would drive with him to Lufkin for a short visit, Mother seeing friends she had known since her marriage.
In 1931, we Wieners moved to Dallas during my sophomore year at Newcomb. All of us were delighted. We made many friends quickly. Daddy was president of two congregations, B'nai Zion in Shreveport and Manuel in Dallas. He was president of B'nai Zion when I was confirmed. Mother was active in the sisterhood in Shreveport, and I remember one year she saw that the Sunday school had ice water each week. That was an accomplishment because we didn't have running faucets. At one time, she was president of the high school PTA. In Dallas, the four Wieners met their future spouses. Isabel married Herbert Kahn and had an adopted daughter, Sandy Nackman.
Selma met Alan Berkman, who had been in Harvard Law School when she was at Wellesley College. Evidently, they had mutual friends and had been to the same parties, but had not met until on a blind date in Dallas after graduation. They had lived in Pittsburgh for 48 years, had five children and 12 grandchildren. Samson met Fan Gardner of Jackson, Mississippi. She was first thing doing winter vacation. They have two children, six grandchildren, and two step-grandsons and two step-granddaughters. They were married 47 years when he died last April. When Norman was old enough, he went to kindergarten while we were still on Stanford. and then we had moved to Wentwood and he went to private first grade at Mrs.
Farners, half a block and around the corner from home. All his siblings went to Mrs. Farners nursery, kindergarten and our first grade, depending upon the month of birth. Byron even rode his a tricycle to Mrs. Faunus and parked it outside. All of the children transferred to Robert S. High Elementary School. Robert was not doing well at school, not up to his potential, as teachers say. It was decided to send him to St. Mark's School beginning at fifth grade. Joan and Norman were told each could go to private school if he or she wanted. Norman decided to continue on in Highland Park. After graduation, he attended and graduated from Vanderbilt University.
After thinking the idea over, Joan decided to go to Hockaday. After graduation, she went to Washington University in St. Louis, where she met Steve and where she eloped and then the Hedge family. Robert attended Princeton University. Carolyn also went to Hockaday and then to Emory University. Byron decided he wanted to go to private school out of town. He applied to five, was accepted by all, and chose Desert Sun School in Iloisle, California. All five sand fields took national tests like going into private schools or SATs and did well on them. Byron more or less counseled himself about college and chose Northeastern University in Boston. That was not a good choice.
the second year he went to still in Boston he went to a photography school which was supposed to be a two year course and he didn't like it so he came back home and he was finally after being dropped out for two or three years went to community college Richland and from there he went to University of Texas in Dallas. And he was a year ahead of his sister Joan, who had moved back to Dallas a number of years after her divorce. And she also went to Richland and then to University of Texas at Dallas. And I'm very pleased. I don't know if they are pleased.
Byron graduated cum laude and Joan graduated the next year at Magnum laude I know that if they had just gone on to four years of schooling right after high school neither one of them would have graduated with honors And Joan has been working at Sanger Harris's for several years with the statistical department. She quit this last fall, except she's been asked back several times, but she's supposed to be here to quit just before Sangus was told they were going to change their name to Joschus. No, not Joschus. No, Foley's. To Foley's. but the thing is all five of the Sandfield children and at present just my oldest grandson Keith are very good in math and very good with computers and we don't know where that will leave alright after Norman graduated from Vanderbilt he went to Washington University in St.
Louis for graduate school, MBA. In between his two years there, he had to serve in the armed forces. He was in the Air Force, and he did very well. He went in, but he was just a sergeant. He wasn't in long enough for them to make him an officer. But he was stationed in Kansas for a while, and he went out over to Germany and England once a year. And while he was there, he would go take a weekend vacation to France or someplace at one time, to Italy, I think, just to see the sights while he was over there. And then when he came back and finished his MBA, he found a position in Chicago.
with the, uh, uh, and, uh, that position, Carolyn was in Chicago at the same time. That position lasted about two years and when he left there he decided to go into business for himself selling Netsky because he had collected them and had learned had acquired very good knowledge of Netsky and similar items I guess in all his travels he learned a lot. Yes, but most of it was just from collecting. Meanwhile, Robert, who also collected and who loved to travel, he's the one who wants to travel. He'll tell people where to go. he now sells he was an attorney he went to the University of Texas in Austin to law school and he worked for a Houston firm in patents and copyrights and then he decided he'd had enough of that so he now sells antiques or contemporary artifacts from Nepal and he and Norman sometimes traveled together collecting for both of their businesses.
He still has clients in the field of law. Yes. They came to him when they knew he had left. He was the one who worked at this company he was with, and then when he decided to quit was just right after they told him that in the next few months he'll get to be part of a group there and have a higher wage. Be a partner. Huh? He'd be a partner. A partner. I have one more story and that's it. After you tell that, you'll say the same thing. That all right Okay Ready I have one more family story In Selma Berkman living room is a beautiful oil painting of the Carrie Loewenstein family when she was small and she and her three sisters I believe and one brother and so happened that a family member had that picture and knew that Selma would like it and saw when this person died saw that Selma was given this picture and the funny thing is that Uncle Eddie is in girls clothes we know that's Uncle Eddie because his picture face and the size and all that and it seems that at one time there were men who went around the country painting pictures and they would have a canvas already ready with two two girls or three girls or four girls and two men and children and therefore they would take the canvas out and just put the faces in and therefore when this came, whoever this painter was, he didn't have one that had a boy in it so Uncle Eddie is put there in girls clothes that's the end of that this is March 1987 Since I spoke before, Max had a heart attack, he's doing fine, he's been home for some time, but he decided he didn't want to talk about his family.
So I am telling you about the Sandfields. Max Sandfield was born in Lithuania, January the 28th, 1903. He came to this country when about 13 months old and was raised in San Antonio. He was the third child of Ben Zion and Bertha Rosenberg Sandfield. His brother died before he was born. Ben Zion came to the United States twice as he had two brothers here, one in Houston, one in San Antonio. his trip. He married and had a son in Europe. His wife died. Then he met Bertha. He was in the timber business, cutting trees in the winter, floating them downriver in the spring. He had a business argument with a brother who never came to this country.
Because of that argument, he returned to this country, to San Antonio, worked with brother Abe, and then started his own business, a small but successful retail business, one of the biggest small stores. For Labor Day, he sold the most overalls to the railroad employees. Bertha and her two children came by boat to Galveston in 1904. Lil, or Lily, was two years plus and maxed 13 months. I believe this was part of the time when Rabbi Henry Cohen met boats and helped immigrants go to their destinations. Bertha bragged that she knew Rabbi Cohen. The three arrived in San Antonio in the evening and were met at the railroad station by A.
As Ben, the sign was dropped, was too busy. She set up housekeeping in a house with a vacant lot between the store and house. Most of her possessions were left in Russia. As everyone said, the streets aligned with are paved with gold. she would not need anything. She did bring a samovar, which I am very proud to own, and a second one Caroline owns. Maybe the candlesticks in the dining room also came with her. Bertha was just a short time, and she realized she should have brought more. Bertha Rosenberg was born in Corlin, I believe, and had a brother. Before Bertha moved, he married and had children.
His wife brought a maid with her. Lots of people in the old country did that. Sometime during the First World War, contact was lost and it was assumed the family died. Bertha's father had remarried and he had several children. The stepmother and at least two daughters moved to South Africa. Mother Sandfield kept up a correspondence with them. one in Cape Town, one in Johannesburg. One family lives in Israel And Robert Sandfield met them Lil kept up the correspondence and went on around the world crew saw the family The ones in Johannesburg drove to Durham to spend the day with Lil and Artie In Cape Town there was a big party, and the barons met many relatives.
It was afterwards that Mother Sanfield died. Lil and Artie left the ship to fly home for the funeral. After Lil died, I began a correspondent with Naomi Block of Cape Town, whose grandmother, I believe, was Bertha Sandfield's stepmother. Naomi came to visit in May, came to Dallas, about three years ago. It was fun meeting her, but we have not written much since. Bertha's father was in the jewelry business and acted like a rabbi for the small community. Whenever a Jewish stranger came to town, he was invited to eat at the Rosenberg home. They were comparatively well to do, having several servants. One maid was a washerwoman, washing the clothes at a town location, washing at the bottom of the stream or river, then moving higher and higher for each rinse.
The clothes were carried home and dried at least in the winter in the attic. Maybe they froze on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday everything was ironed. Of course the family kept kosher. On Friday food was cooked and put in a special oven where it was kept hot to last until Saturday evening. this information about Bertha's father took place in Lithuania whether he ever got to South Africa I don't know Naomi Block didn't indicate that he did Bertha Sanfield when she was in San Antonio helped in the store as the two children grew they also helped although Max never liked selling When Max was five and a half years old, his mother sent him to school.
A day or two later, he was sent home as another child, already six, was late enrolling. And Max had to give up his seat. He re the next September and continued in school which he liked He graduated from Main Avenue High School May the 28th 1919 at the age of 16 years and 5 months Lil had stayed out a year and graduated with her brother. She had no desire to continue her education. Bertha had learned about colleges and sent Max to Austin for his freshman year. Once in a while, she would cook a chicken dinner, Lil would put it on the train, and Max would receive it about an hour later.
One year was enough. Max did not know what he wanted to do, although his father was willing for him to work in the store. So he stayed out for a year. Bertha kept suggesting professions. What mother doesn't want her son to be a doctor or a lawyer? And other businesses. Finally, Max at a party met an architect. He did not know about an architect. He listened, asked questions, and went to the man's office the next day. decided he would study architecture. But he had to return to the University of Texas for some extra courses in the summer and one year. He met and was friends with Irving Weber, who was older and graduated that summer, with a BS and an MS.
Irving, who dated Lill, said he was going to MIT, the best university in the country, and suggested Max Fowler. Max did so. He liked Boston. He learned about snow and ice. The architectural school was across the river from the university, so he did not know many other students. He took a French class. After an architectural course, he had to rush, catch a streetcar, and run to the French class. I assume he was late a few times. On June 16, 1925, he received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. He started work the day before graduation with a firm. left for the ceremony, and then went back to work.
His mother and sister came to Boston to see him at this time. His father had been sending him a monthly allowance. When he was given his first paycheck, he sent his father's check back, writing that he wouldn't need it. His father was upset. After a year, Max moved to New York City, working for several firms and liking it. Then came the Depression of 1929. Mending buildings were left unfinished No one needed architects Max was the last draftsman to leave his firm He returned home where he opened an office in the Marlon Building By unused office furniture previous tenants had left in the Marlon Building Although he had some work, it was not enough to pay office expenses.
So he moved to his mother's home. His father had already died. When World War II started, he worked for the U.S. engineers. He applied for a commission, but was turned down as if Boston had won him to leave. In March 1941, he moved to Dallas with the Ace Service Command. He dated several young ladies whom his friends from San Antonio talked about, but the only one he had a second, third, or any other date with was Carol Wiener. Starting in April. Chi Chi and I Victor introduced him and the two couples have been close friends ever since he was in and out of town on government business but by June the 1st he asked Carol to marry him she accepted on June the 3rd and the ceremony was July the 9th in the Eli Wiener home with about 24 guests present Rabbi David Lefkowitz married them a fine meal was held afterwards at the Adolphus Hotel.
Because of wartime problems, it was hard to find a hotel which would serve a meal after 1 p.m. Our honeymoon of a week was in Colorado. We lived in the Wiener House that summer and Selma and Eli were on vacation. We rented a house on Martell that fall. Houses and apartments were hard to find. Apartment managers had long waiting lists. We lived there just over a year until our landlord returned from overseas. Max's sister, Little Sanfield, married Artie Barron in 1945. They had met at our wedding. Artie and she started the wholesale toy business, then retail. Toy World in Windward, then a branch on Preston, and one in North Park Shopping Center.
Everybody knew their business and liked them. The Joan and Robert and Norman and Carol Ann worked extra help at Toy World on Preston. For approximately 50 cents an hour. For approximately 50 cents an hour. They were delighted. We were delighted. The Baron sold the business to Cullum and Burrum in 1967 and enjoyed traveling. Artie died about nine years later. That summer, she remet Irving Webber from Tulsa. He was a gentleman who Max knew with the University of Texas and who had suggested, who had dated Lil once or twice. Irving's wife had died just before Artie. He gave her a fast courtship and they married in September of 1977 or 78.
enjoyed a happy life. She died January the 29th, 1982. Irving took himself to Golden Acres. He met a lady, Lena, and married for the third time. He died at 91 years old in 1986. April 1987. After listening to the tape, I realized I had not said much about my father, Eli Weiner, although I mentioned his siblings. Eli was born March the 22nd, 1876, a hundred years after the USA was founded, in Winona, Mississippi. As he was the eighth child and his brothers left home early, he always felt that his sisters had raised him. When he was ready for school, his father told the head teacher that if Eli misbehaved, he should be whipped, and his father would also correct him that evening.
I don't know if this happened often. The first few grades there were taught by a lady teacher, his last few years by a man. A brilliant teacher like a professor of higher learning. Eli was taught Latin and higher mathematics. When that teacher left and a new one came, the new man said, all who have gone so far in math step forward this year you continue all who have gone so far in latin step forward and you will continue this year but eli had been taught more than the new teacher could go So his schooling ended and he was about 12 or 13 years old He worked in a store in the town Once in a while if he went to another town to visit and walked down the main street, an owner of a store standing outside would say, Are you a wiener?
I know your sister Sophie, or your brother Sam. Evidently the wieners looked alike, and all the Jews in Mississippi knew one another. At 14 years of age, he came to East Texas to work for his brother Sam in the lumber business. After a few months, his mother sent him money to go to college. I believe he was the only sibling who did, but his sister Tilly, Caroline Fisher's mother, taught in a Texas school. Eli went to Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, a Methodist school before SMU. He boarded in the home of the widow of the first president. She was afraid he would correct and convert the other boys to Judaism and warned him not to do so.
Every time a visiting Methodist minister came to the school, he wanted to see the Jewish student. Eli was the only Jew except for one boy who had converted to Christianity. So Mr. Weiner, age 14 or 15, was introduced to the minister who began to ask questions about his belief. Eli had to defend his religion, what he had been taught by his parents and sisters. Not a very formal education, but he did splendidly. Eli made excellent grades. His son Samson may have his report cards. A few years ago, Robert Sanfield stopped in Georgetown and was given copies of his reports. Eli stayed in school one year only as his eyesight was not good later he bought his first glasses by going into a store and picking them off of a table Eli returned to Kelton working for the lumber company for over 50 years he roomed and boarded at various ladies homes Dr.
E. Taylor Clark sometimes was at the same table each was tall and long arms. Sitting at the ends of the table, they passed the food to each other without bothering the men on the sides Dr Clark was the doctor for the lumber company and delivered the three wiener girls During the years Eli became interested in various businesses in Celtics and Lufkin He helped found the telephone company which later was the Lufkin Exchange Evidently, he looked like a minister in Lufkin. Eli liked to dance and attended many parties, some on the second floor of a building. As he was coming up the steps, one of the young people would think it was the minister.
and several of his congregation would try to hide, knowing dancing was not approved. In 1906, Eli met Selma Lowenstein at a three-part wedding. He, his brother Sam, a widower, and another bachelor surrounded Miss Selma and enjoyed talking to her. She had a dry sense of humor. Eli said, These two friends say they will be coming to see you. Maybe they will, but definitely I will be in Waco. That wedding may have been in June. Eli went to Waco often. He and Selma became engaged in August on the 12th and were married on November 20, 1906. He didn't waste much time, did he? Eli built a home for Selma.
Both of them enjoyed living in Kelters. Their friends were the Curse, the Hendersons, and Dr. Mrs. Clark. I assume there were a few others, but those were the closest. In Lufkin, to which Selma sometimes went by walking the railroad ties, they knew the Abrams and the Franks, maybe the only other Jewish people. If Selma and Eli wanted to go to a dance after Samson was born, they would leave the baby with Mrs. Frank, whose daughters, Rose and Mamie, would babysit. When Selma came to Caldus as a bride, she did not know about cooking, as she had been a career woman. Those are the 1980 words.
But Eli said not to worry, she could have a maid. She did. The maid knew less than Selma. Once, at the beginning, Selma was going to cook rice for company. She put a lot in the pot, and as it cooked, it swelled and swelled, overflowing. She talked about that for years. As I said earlier, Selma insisted her family move to Shreveport so her children could attend religious school. Eli commuted back and forth. Everyone was happy. My mother Selma Lowenstein Weiner took the middle name Adele She was born in New York City December the 22nd 1882 Always when she said where she was born, her voice softened as though she was bragging.
For some reason she was not confirmed even though her father had been on the temple board. she was graduated from her high school. Selma always bragged about how smart her husband was, indicating she was not as smart. But she was very smart, although not knowledgeable in accounting or languages. She spoke German because her father had a governess who taught his daughters German. They spoke to each other in that language when they did not want the children to understand. When very small, she and her family moved to Waco where her father had a store. She and her sisters worked there. Then, I guess after her father died, she worked at Sanger Brothers.
After she became engaged to Eli Weiner in August, she and he chaperoned her sister Lily and Lily's friend Jake Kaufman on a trip to Texas State Fair in Dallas. At that time, Lily and Jake became engaged and was announced at Selma's November wedding. Selma's sister Bella married Dr. Louis Abramson of Shreveport and her younger sisters visited her often that is why Selma was invited to August Loeb's wedding my sister Isabella and I said no matter how many weddings we attended we did not meet gentlemen in whom we were interested when Selma was pregnant with her first child she stayed at Bella's home Her son, Samson, was born in Uncle Louis' North Louisiana Hospital.
But for her other children, Selma stayed in Kelters, and the three girls were born in the front bedroom. Years later, Isabel and Herb Kahn decided if they went to Europe, Isabel needed a passport. She wrote to the proper State Department in Austin and found there was no record of her birth or her sisters. She wrote to Dr. Clark, the attendant physician. If we filled out the proper forms, he would sign them. He did. Luckily, Isabel decided to do this while Dr. Clark was still living. We moved from Celtis to Shreveport when little Selma... about six weeks old. Samson attended school in Celtics for one or two years.
Selma Ray Kahn-Nachman was adopted by my sister Isabel and her husband, Herbert Kahn, after ten years of marriage from Hope Cottage. Isabel died May 19, 1964 when Selma Ray was in confirmation class. Herb remarried Marjorie Prentzke, whom he knew from years ago. He died July 26, 1974. Since I started this tape, I learned Selma Ray, now Sandy since her senior high school year, was looking for her biological mother. She just found her brother, Mike Arnold, learning her mother died about seven years ago. Sandy and Mike are delighted with each other. He has a wife Linda and two sons, one in high school, one at SMU.
Sandy and George Nachman, a lawyer, have been very happy.