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The Southern Israelite
Americas Best-Loved Jew Passes
The Story of Nathan Straus’ Life,
from Documents in the Private Family Archives
By JOSEPH BRAININ
The death on January 11th of Nathan Straus, the grand old man of
American Jewry, closes one of the most significant chapters in the his
tory of this country. It was he who lifted philanthropy into the realms
of true humanitarianism. He was the great giver who turned charity into
social reconstruction. Much can be said of Nathan Straus, the man who
forever felt the pulse-beat of humanity, and no eulogy would appear dis
proportionate. But Nathan Straus’ life, when told in sober and almost
statistical style, expresses the genuine greatness of this best-loved Jew
of America better than any lyrical apotheosis. The article by Joseph
Brainin, which is here presented, gives us an all-embracing picture of
this practical dreamer, whose memory will live forever, as long as the
great humanitarian institutions that he built will stand. Mr. Brainin’s
articles is based on material which the family of the late philanthropist
placed at his disposal that he might obtain authoritative data.—Editor.
It was not unitil the beginning of the nineteenth
century, when the Palatinate of Bavaria became,
under Napoleon, strip of France, that the .lews of
that region adopted family names. But long be
fore that the ancestors of Nathan Straus were well-
known among the Jews of Bavaria, though of
course not by the name of Straus. From father to
son the Biblical names were handed down: Jacob,
son of Lazarus, Solomon, son of Jacob—all sturdy,
hard-working landowners, respected by their neigh
bors regardless of race or creed.
The ancestor who can he regarded as the
founder of the Straus name was Jacob Lazar, later
Jacob Straus. A man of culture and education,
well-versed in the Hebrew tongue and its literature,
and speaking German and French fluently, he
played an important role in the Sanhedrin convened
by Napoleon in 1806. His sterling qualities were
so unanimously recognized that he was made one
of the Committee of Nine of that great body.
The father of Nathan Straus, Lazarus, a grand
son of Jacob Lazar Straus, had a distinguished
career which carried his name beyond the borders
of Bavaria. After the revolutionary movement of
1848, viewed with suspicious eyes by government
authorities (he did participate in the fight for con-
. stitutionalism and democracy), he embarked for
America, in 1852, at the age of forty-three. With
the proceeds of the sale of his property in Bavaria—
he had been a prosperous landowner and grain deal
er—he started a general merchandise business in
Talbotton, Georgia and two years yater brought his
family from Germany. Besides his wife there were
Isidor, a youngster of nine, Hermina, a girl of
'even, Nathan, aged six, and Oscar, only three and
a half.
The Strauses were the only Jewish family in the
town. Oscar Straus commented on this as follows
in his memoirs:
“This at first aroused some curiosity among those
who had never met persons of our race or religion
before. I remember hearing some one doubt that we
were Jews, and remarking to my father, who had
very blond hair and blue eyes, that he thought all
Jews had black hair and dark complexions.”
Lazarus Straus knew Hebrew well, being able to
read the Bible in the original. “One of my earliest
recollections is hearing my father take passages
from the Old Testament and translate them literally
for the information of visiting ministers,” writes
Oscar Straus. A fine and estical personality, a con
stant student yet detached from the practical world
was Lazarus Straus, a sturdy descendant of a line of
robust ancestors.
Mrs. Lazarus Straus, called “Miss Sara” by her
servants, in true Southern style, was a quiet, loving
woman, always busy, always help
ful. She loved flowers, and soon
developed a beautiful flower and
vegetable garden which became a
kind of practical argicultural train
ing ground for friends and neigh
bors. She was a winning, charm
ing personality, beloved by all and
adored by the servants, all slaves
who had been hired but who pleaded
that they be bought, in order to
belong to such wonderful masters.
The Strauses did not believe in
slavery, but finnally consented to
buy the slaves. Lazarus Straus,
however, prepared them for an in-
depent existence, teaching them
trades.
The Straus children were soon
sent to school. Nathan and Oscar
attended the Baptist Sunday School
of Talbotton for two years and fol
lowed the reading of the Bible with
great earnestness. Later Nathan
entered the Collingsworth Institute,
a secondary school for boys near
Talbotton.
In 1863, during the War, the
family moved to Columbus, Ga. It
might be mentioned that at the out
break of the Civil War, Lazarus *
Straus joined the Fourth Georgia Kegiment. The
eldest son, Isidor, then withdrew from school to
lend a hand in the store. Nathan Straus already
showed unmistakable signs of business talent. In
his book “Under Four Administrations" Oscar
tells this significant story:
“We were now in the midst of the Civil War,
and money, measured in gold, was worth about
five cents per dollar. My brother Nathan seemed
to be affected by this into constant scheming for
making pocket money. He was fifteen years old,
and out of school hours helped father in the store,
but he seemed to be in need of more pin money.
He finally hit on a plan that proved quite lucrative.
He collected or bought up pieces of hemp rope and
sold them to a manufacturer. Hemp was very
scarce and much needed. With the proceeds he
bought a beautiful bay pony, which he and I
prized more than any possession we ever had, be
fore or since.”
The close of the Civil War found the Straus
house ruined: all the cotton, which constituted
the family fortune, had been burned. In the early
part of 1865 the family moved to New York, with
about $25,000 in good United States money—little
more than enough to pay the creditors. Lazarus
Straus was then a man of fifty-six. He had lived
a hard life in Germany, sacrificing comfort for
convictions. In his maturity he had come to a new
world, started his existence anew, played the game
of life fairly and squarely, and due to circumstances
beyond his control found himself, after thirteen
years of toil and labor, exactly where he had started.
Illustrative of Lazarus Straus' character is the
following story from the family archives:
“Almost his (Lazarus') first act (on his arrival
in New York in 1865) was to call on his creditors
and ask for a (Continued on page 12)
Nathan Straus