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�THOMAS WOLFE
A Writer's Life
�Thomas Wolfe feeding a chipmunk at the rim of Crater Lake, Oregon, June 2 0 , 1 9 3 8 .
Photo courtesy of the Thomas Wolfe Collection, Pock Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
�THOMAS WOLFE
A Writer's Life
Revised E d i t i o n
TED MITCHELL
With a Preface by James W. Clark Jr.
Raleigh
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
Division of Archives and History
Published in Cooperation with the
Appalachian Consortium, Boone
�The Appalachian Consortium was a non-profit educational organization
composed of institutions and agencies located in Southern Appalachia. From
1973 to 2004, its members published pioneering works in Appalachian studies
documenting the history and cultural heritage of the region. The Appalachian
Consortium Press was the first publisher devoted solely to the region and many of
the works it published remain seminal in the field to this day.
With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National
Endowment for the Humanities through the Humanities Open Book Program,
Appalachian State University has published new paperback and open access
digital editions of works from the Appalachian Consortium Press.
www.collections.library.appstate.edu/appconsortiumbooks
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. To view a
copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses.
Original copyright © 1999 by the Appalachian Consortium Press.
ISBN (pbk.: alk. Paper): 978-1-4696-3810-2
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-4696-3812-6
Distributed by the University of North Carolina Press
www.uncpress.org
�Dedicated to
Aldo P. Magi, in testament to his considerable gifts as a writer,
editor, and generous friend to all readers of Thomas Wolfe. The
integrity of his work and his dedication to every aspect of
Thomas Wolfe's life and literature will always evoke my deep
gratitude and admiration.
�Contents
Foreword
ix
Preface
xi
1
Asheville
1900-1916
2
3
1
Chapel Hill
1916-1920
23
Harvard, New York University, Europe,
Look Homeward, Angel
1920-1929
4
37
Brooklyn and Of Time and the River
1930-1935
5
6
53
"I Have a Thing to Tell You" and
"Return" to Asheville
1936-1937
65
The Last Voyage, the Longest, the Best
1938
85
Appendix A:
Ancestry of Thomas Wolfe
105
Appendix B:
Publications of Thomas Wolfe
109
Acknowledgments
115
Index
117
�This page intentionally left blank
�Foreword
N
o FIGURE HOLDS a place more significant in the history of
North Carolina literature than the fiction writer Thomas
Wolfe of Asheville, North Carolina. A n author of
tremendous energy, rich imagination, and powerful rhetorical
style, he was arguably the first novelist from North Carolina to
become a major voice in American literature.
Ted Mitchell's Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life explores Wolfe's
life and career from his birth in the North Carolina mountain
community of Asheville in 1900 until his early death in 1938.
Mitchell, a historic site interpreter at the Thomas Wolfe Memo
rial State Historic Site in Asheville, is an expert on Wolfe and has
written extensively on his subject. A native of Detroit, Michigan,
he was educated at Northwood University in Midland, Michi
gan, prior to coming to western North Carolina. Thomas Wolfe:
A Writer's Life also includes a preface by another Wolfe author
ity, James W. Clark Jr., a professor of English and director of the
Humanities Extension/Publications Program at North Carolina
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
X
State University and a former president of the Thomas Wolfe So
ciety.
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life originally appeared in an ear
lier edition published by the Thomas Wolfe Memorial State His
toric Site, and the Historical Publications Section gratefully
acknowledges that organization's assistance in issuing this sec
ond edition, which contains new material by the author. The
Historical Publications Section is also pleased to include this ti
tle as the second volume in the series on western North Car
olina published jointly with the Appalachian Consortium of
Boone, North Carolina. In his famous novel Look Homeward,
Angel and other works, Thomas Wolfe vividly portrayed aspects
of life in the mountains of North Carolina in the early twentieth
century. By jointly publishing this edition of Thomas Wolfe: A
Writer's Life, the Appalachian Consortium and the Historical
Publications Section endeavor to keep that portrait alive for
thousands of North Carolinians and visitors to the Old North
State.
Joe A. Mobley, Administrator
Historical Publications Section
September 1999
�Preface
T
HOMAS W O L F E of Asheville, North Carolina, wrote exten
sively about himself, his family, and hundreds of associ
ates in four long novels and a number of short stories.
Who has not heard some version of Wolfe's semi-autobiograph
ical performances in work after work? His deliberate manner of
developing the legend of himself in fiction is unmistakable.
Both Eugene Gant and George Webber, the major characters
identifiable as the author, still have currency among readers in
this country and abroad. For Wolfe's fiction has been widely
translated, and a few of his stories or chapters from the novels
appear in classroom anthologies with regularity. More than 80
books about his literary canon have been published. Reviews
and critical essays total over a thousand. Both the legend of
Thomas Wolfe and some of the characters he created live well in
our time.
As an author known for representing much of his own life in
fiction, Wolfe also has continued to be of considerable fascina
tion to biographers. Ted Mitchell's account of the Asheville
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
xii
native's life as literary art brings to more than a dozen the num
ber of separate, broadly biographical treatments of this powerful
figure who died September 15, 1938, at age 37.
Thomas Wolfe was the youngest child of William Oliver
Wolfe, a Pennsylvania stonecutter known as the marble man,
and Julia Westall Wolfe, a second-sighted, purse-lipped woman
of the North Carolina mountains. Tom never married. His
favorite in the family was brother Ben, also a bachelor. The
other Wolfe children who lived to adulthood did marry. Effie
and Frank produced offspring. Fred and Mabel did not.
Tom was destined to become famous for his romantic yet
chastening depictions of his brothers and sisters among the rest.
Whether his astonishing memory or his gradually emancipated
imagination played the more considerable part in this expand
ing drama, the fiction writer who had wanted to be a playwright
never quite decided himself. Some critics have said that Wolfe
was often more conscious of his storytellers than he was of his
stories.
His own creative challenges and solutions suggest the artis
tic predicament of his father. The marble man could not carve
an angel acceptable to his own vision. He loved literature and
recitation; but his family, his only real audience, was not always
appreciative. Still it is clear that W.O. Wolfe's apt memory of lit
erary passages inspired his private performances. Tom remem
bered Papa's stagecraft. The shrewd mother of the future author
used her sharp memory for business matters as an access to real
property, most notably city lots and the boardinghouse she pur
chased in 1906 and operated as the Old Kentucky Home for
much of the remainder of her busy life.
Wolfe's own special uses of memory, like his father's and
mother's, were powerful and sustained. Not a frustrated private
performance, not pieces of private property, Wolfe's memory
was proof. A n d not just page proof. He gave public proof that
the dreams of youth are the promises of our lives, our golden
weather. There, also, is his abundant proof that we know a face
�Preface
xiii
or fact or place or personal pleasure for the first time when we
remember it. He teaches us to remember in order to know. He
employs memory as proof in the grand, often redundant syn
theses of his Gant and Webber materials. This abundance of
details comes and returns without apology but with the sure
sense that our time-tossed world does have a still center. The
swirling swarm of his remembered hometown life, for example,
is anchored by a tall granite monument, a core of changelessness in the public square. While we must try to get along to
gether, each of us is a proud, lonely little world.
In 1929 the narrative voice of Look Homeward, Angel sug
gested its long foreground to all readers. Wolfe's notebooks and
letters have provided insights and further confirmations since
then. During the Depression people in the United States and in
England found Wolfe's first book quite hopeful. Readers in the
Soviet bloc and Europe later championed the vitalism of its
characters. As an experiment in literary modernism, Wolfe's
work allowed people involved in complex, simultaneous actions
to make sense to readers. In this way his readers undergo an
apprenticeship in modern reading as the protagonist Eugene
Gant is learning how to live. Gothic techniques and James Joyce's
pioneering methods combine in Eugene's mind with classical
learning and popular culture from his crib to college. In Wolfe
the streams of consciousness run clear.
Yet voracious everyday living is life to Wolfe. Appetite may
seem at times to be all there is. His patron and mistress Aline
Bernstein; Maxwell Perkins, the Scribner's editor who loved
Wolfe as a son—sternly and dearly; and the redoubtable literary
agent Elizabeth Nowell who could also edit: all tasted his bitter
sweet success and failure. Others of equal literary power and
influence did not appreciate his work or champion it, however.
Of Time and the River came out in March 1935 as some crit
ics expressed the opinion that Wolfe was a one-book writer. He
had had his own doubts—plus worry and depression. But his
material and his associates sustained him. Travel, especially
�xiv
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
travel in Germany, bolstered him too. His early and lifelong love
of trains enlarged to embrace ocean liners. O n the Olympic in
August 1925 he first met Mrs. Bernstein. Employed by Wolfe
from 1933 until his death in 1938, Miss Nowell became his first
important biographer in 1960 after editing a volume of his let
ters. She was especially incisive in presenting him in the whirl of
literary New York and the frenzy of his creative binges and hang
overs. Max Perkins was Wolfe's designated executor and estate
trustee, always his conservator.
This famous editor was not the person who put Wolfe's
posthumous novels into shape and into print, however. Those
controversial tasks fell to Edward Aswell of Harper and Brothers.
Wolfe had begun to work with Aswell in 1937-1938. The Web
and the Rock (1939) and You Can't Go Home Again (1940) have
led a continuing line of new titles by Wolfe, some published as
recently as the 1990s. His short fiction has been issued in a stan
dard edition by Scribner's, and several of his plays are now in
print. The Thomas Wolfe Review is published semiannually by
the Thomas Wolfe Society, an international organization with a
broad membership. In Asheville an annual festival is held each
fall in honor and memory of the sensitive local boy whose
home, his mother's boardinghouse, is now a North Carolina
state historic site. Collections of Wolfe materials are in private
hands as well as in Asheville archives and the valuable holdings
of Wolfe's two alma maters. Since their separate publications,
his major books have never been out of print. Foreign language
editions are available today in Europe and Asia.
As a native of western North Carolina with an absorbing in
terest in himself and language as well as the South, Thomas
Wolfe spent much of his adult life elsewhere, New York and
Europe in particular. For seven years after he became a literary
personality, he did not come back to Asheville at all. His career
can actually be characterized by his longing for home and his
perplexing avoidance of home. Perhaps it was not avoidance,
though. Look as he might, he could not find his true home
�Preface
xv
standing anywhere on the earth for him to enter and settle
down. His far wandering is represented and celebrated in his
writing, his true abode. His protagonists Eugene Gant and
George Webber provide his enduring proofs in their separate
and different enactments of Wolfe's vaunted memory and
increasingly agile imagination. Long live Thomas Wolfe's
storyland.
James W. Clark Jr.
�This page intentionally left blank
�1
Asheville
1900-1916
Born to Mr
& Mrs.
W. O. Wolfe, a son.
—Asheville Daily Citizen
Thomas Clayton Wolfe, four months
o l d . " . . . the tiny acorn from which
the mighty oak must grow, the heir
of all the ages, the inheritor of un
fulfilled r e n o w n . . . " (Look Home
ward, Angel, 34.)
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collec
tion, University of North Carolina Library at
Chapel Hill, and the Estate of Thomas Wolfe.
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
2
T
HOMAS CLAYTON W O L F E was born on October 3, 1900, at
92 Woodfin Street, Asheville, North Carolina, the last of
W.O.
and Julia Wolfe's eight children. Although his
name did not appear in print when the Daily Citizen
routinely reported the event, he was named Thomas after his
maternal grandfather, Thomas Casey Westall, and great-great
grandfather, Thomas Westall. He received his middle name,
Clayton, from a spiritualist clergyman, William Clayton Bow
man,
whom his mother admired. His father descended from
hardy Pennsylvania German-Dutch-English farmers; his mother
Thomas Wolfe's "Altamont"—Asheville, North Carolina—as it appeared in 1902 when he was a
child. "I think no one could understand Thomas Wolfe who had not seen or properly imagined the
place in which he was born and grew u p / ' Wolfe's editor, Maxwell Perkins, wrote in 1 9 4 7 .
"Asheville, North Carolina, is encircled by mountains. The trains wind in and out through labyrinths
of passes. A boy of Wolfe's imagination imprisoned there could think that what was beyond was all
wonderful—different from what it was where there was not for him enough of anything." (Harvard
Library Bulletin, Autumn 1947: 2 7 5 - 2 7 6 . )
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
�1900-1916
3
was a third-generation North Carolinian of Scots-Irish-English
stock. Thomas Wolfe was proud to claim that "One half of me is
great fields and mighty barns, and one half of me is the great
hills of North Carolina."
1
Wolfe's father, William Oliver Wolfe, was born on his father's
farm in Adams County, Pennsylvania, on April 10, 1851. A l
though his gravestone at Asheville's Riverside Cemetery reads
"BORN AT GETTYSBURG PA,"
he was born in rural Latimore
Township, three miles from York Springs and 17 miles northeast
of Gettysburg. He was the seventh of Jacob and Eleanor Jane
(Heikes) Wolf's nine children. His father died when W.O.
was
nine, and his mother struggled with the Herculean hardships of
maintaining the family farm.
As there were already several stonecutters in the Wolf and
Heikes families, W.O.
Civil War
was persuaded by his mother after the
to become a stonecutter. At 15 he apprenticed himself
to Hugh and Martin A. Sisson, who ran a stonecutting shop in
William Oliver Wolfe, age 2 4 .
Thomas Wolfe's father was famil
iarly known as "W.O." and depicted
fictionally as "W.O. Gant" in Look
Homeward, Angel and Of Time and
the River.
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collec
tion, University of North Carolina Library at
Chapel Hill, and the Estate of Thomas Wolfe.
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
4
Baltimore. In the evenings W.O. delighted in the plays of Shake
speare. At a height of 6'4" and possessing an oratorical booming
voice, he could well have become an actor. Over the years he be
came a highly skilled artisan, as several existing examples of
marble doorstops and paperweights he carved for family mem
bers attest. He could carve "The dove, the lamb, the smooth
joined marble hands of death, and letters fair and fine—but not
the angel." In Look Homeward, Angel Thomas Wolfe used the
2
simpering marble angel from Carrara to symbolize his father's
frustrated dreams and ambitions.
While still a teenager, W.O. learned of job openings in the
South. In 1869 he was hired to trim the South Carolina state
capitol in Columbia that had been damaged during the Civil
War. By 1870 he had moved to North Carolina to work on con
structing the state penitentiary in Raleigh. He quickly prospered
and entered into a partnership with John Cayton as a marble
cutter in a shop on the corner of South Blount and East Morgan
Streets. During these happy days of prosperity and success, W.O.
added the "e" to his last name for a more elegant "Wolfe." His
halcyon days ended on October 9,1873, when he married Hattie
J. Watson, marking the first of three troubled marriages. A l
though the couple separated less than 15 months later, the di
vorce suit was not settled until 1876. Both charged sexual
incompatibility and filed for annulments, claiming their mar
riage had never been consummated.
O n March 25, 1879, W.O. married the tubercular spinster
Cynthia C. Hill, eight years his senior. Later that year he ar
ranged a move to Asheville, a mountain community well known
for its treatment of tuberculars. Cynthia went ahead to Asheville
and opened a millinery shop on College Street, and ironically,
Julia Westall was Cynthia's first customer. W.O. closed his
Raleigh shop and joined Cynthia in Asheville. His second mar
riage lasted less than five years: Cynthia died of tuberculosis on
February 22, 1884, in the house W.O. had built for her at 92
Woodfin Street.
�1900-1916
5
Hattie J. Watson, the first of W.O. Wolfe's three
wives. In divorce proceedings she charged W.O.
with impotence and "brutal violence/' both ver
bal and physical. W.O.'s violence established a
pattern that would repeat itself during his mar
riages to Cynthia Hill and Julia Westall.
Cynthia C. Hill, W.O. Wolfe's second wife, " a
gaunt tubercular spinstress, ten years his elder,
but with a nest egg and an unshakable will to
matrimony." (Look Homeward, Angel, 5.)
Cynthia was actually only eight years older than
W.O.
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, University
of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill, and the Estate of
Thomas Wolfe.
Photo courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Cultural
Resources.
Despite his alcoholism, W.O.
Wolfe was a hard worker and a
good provider for his family. By the time he married Julia Westall on January 14, 1885, he had already established a successful
monument shop on the edge of Asheville's public square.
Thomas Wolfe admired the fact that his father was largely a selfeducated man. Along with the broad rhetoric he affected,
W.O.
could recite soliloquies from Shakespeare, as well as the poetry
of Gray and Poe.
Julia Elizabeth Westall was born on February 16, 1860, in
Swannanoa, nine miles east of Asheville. Her ancestor, Peter
Penland, had been a captain under George Washington during
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
6
the French and Indian War;
Thomas Wolfe's great-great-great-
aunt, Elizabeth Patton, a Swannanoa native, was the second
wife of frontiersman Davy Crockett. Julia was born a year before
the Civil War
began and grew up on her father's farm during the
hard years of Reconstruction. She was but one of Thomas Casey
and
Martha Penland Westall's 11 children. Julia's grasping and
parsimonious nature was greatly influenced by the deprivations
she shared with her family on the Westall farm in Swannanoa.
"The
poverty and privation of these years had been so terrible
that none of them ever spoke of it now," Thomas Wolfe recorded
in Look Homeward, Angel, "but the bitter steel had sheared into
their hearts, leaving scars that would not heal."
3
Although Julia's childhood was spent in near poverty, she
managed to enjoy mountain pastimes: she played the violin,
Julia Westall Wolfe in 1882 during her
teaching days in the western North
Carolina mountains. Thomas Wolfe's
mother was depicted fictionally as
"Eliza Gant" in Look Homeward, Angel
and Of Time and the River.
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection,
University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill,
and the Estate of Thomas Wolfe.
�1900-1916
7
attended church, hymn sings, country dances, and quiltings.
She was such an excellent marksman with a rifle that she later
claimed "the boys didn't want to shoot with me when I was a
girl." She attended a one-room school in Swannanoa for four
4
years and then did not go to school again for eight years. A l
though Julia acquired only two more years of formal education
at the Asheville Female Seminary and Judson College in Hendersonville (both really high schools), she bluffed her way into
jobs as a country school teacher and began saving her wages to
buy
property. Real estate speculation would soon rule her life. A
shrewd, tough woman of slightly less than middle height (5'4"),
her impoverished youth would provide her with independence
and fierce determination. She supplemented her teaching in
come by becoming a book agent, taking orders from door to
door, sometimes riding from town to town on horseback.
On
October 18, 1884, Julia entered W.O.
Wolfe's monument
shop and met the recently widowed tombstone maker for the
first time. Julia was looking for a prospective customer rather
W.O. Wolfe's monument shop at 22 South Pack S q u a r e — " a two-story shack of brick, with wide
wooden steps, leading down to the square from a marble porch." {Look Homeward, Angel, 17.)
Photo courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.
�8
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
than a husband, but W.O. fell in love with her at first sight, and
they were married three months later. At their first meeting she
solicited a Civil War novel, Thorns in the Flesh—a title that
proved all too prophetic for the couple's turbulent marriage. Ju
lia's marriage was slated for unhappiness from the beginning.
When W.O. proposed to her, she was still in love with young Mark
Lance, although she had long ago stopped seeing him. She told
W.O. that she would never love another man as she had once
loved Lance, but that did not discourage W.O. from marrying her.
Julia Wolfe was an enterprising and resourceful woman who
worked hard to improve her family's economic position. She
never quite approved of her husband's vocation as a tombstone
maker: people, she felt, did not die fast enough. Becoming a wife
and mother did not curtail her industry. She stopped teaching,
but began accepting boarders at the Woodfin Street house and
became even more obsessed with wheeling and dealing in the
real estate market of the growing resort town. By the time of
Thomas Wolfe's birth, Julia was "almost never at home" and all
but "completely absorbed in her real estate speculations."
5
Thomas Wolfe lived the first six years of his life at 92 Woodfin
Street, the frame and plaster house his father had built for
Cynthia in October 1881. Julia later complained she was getting
both a secondhand house and a secondhand husband. Woodfin
Street was the birthplace for all eight of W.O. and Julia's children:
1. Leslie E. Wolfe ("Leslie" in Look Homeward, Angel)
2. Effie Nelson Wolfe Gambrell ("Daisy Gant Gambell")
3. Frank Cecil Wolfe ("Steve Gant")
4. Mabel Elizabeth Wolfe Wheaton ("Helen Gant Barton")
5. Benjamin Harrison Wolfe ("Benjamin Harrison Gant")
6. Grover Cleveland Wolfe ("Grover Cleveland Gant")
7. Frederick William Wolfe ("Luke Gant")
8. Thomas Clayton Wolfe ("Eugene Gant" in Look Home
ward, Angel and Of Time and the River; and "George
Webber" in The Web and the Rock and You Can't Go Home
Again)
�1900-1916
9
Thomas Wolfe's birthplace, 92 Woodfin Street, Asheville, July 4 , 1 8 9 9 . Pictured left to right: uniden
tified servant, Effie, Mabel, Frank, Grover, Fred, Ben, W.O., and Julia Wolfe.
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill, and the Estate of Thomas
Wolfe.
Julia Wolfe with Leslie, the first of her eight chil
dren. Leslie died of infant cholera at the age of
nine months. "I thought the end of the world had
come when Leslie died," Mrs. Wolfe later stated.
(The Marble Man's Wife, M.)
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, University of
North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill, and the Estate of Thomas
Wolfe.
�10
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
" . . . the maidenly Daisy/' Effie Nelson Wolfe Gambrell. "She was a timid, sensitive g i r l . . . industrious
and thorough in her studies
She had very little
fire, or denial in her
" (Look Homeward, Angel,
45.)
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe Collection, Pack Memorial
Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
Frank Cecil Wolfe, W.O. and Julia's third child and the
eldest of the five Wolfe brothers.
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe Collection, Park Memorial Public
Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
Mabel Elizabeth Wolfe Wheaton. "She has more human greatness in her than any woman I've ever
known," Thomas Wolfe wrote of his sister in 1 9 2 5 . (Letters, 80.)
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill, and the Estate of Thomas
Wolfe.
�1900-1916
11
Benjamin Harrison Wolfe. Thomas Wolfe stated that "the Asheville I knew died for me when Ben
d i e d . . . . I think that his death affected me more than any other event in my life." [Letters, 178.)
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill, and the Estate of Thomas
Grover Cleveland Wolfe, 1 9 0 3 . "This was Grover—the
gentlest and saddest of the boys." (Look Homeward,
Angel, 55.)
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe Collection, Pack Memorial
Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
Frederick William W o l f e — " h e was Luke, the unique,
Luke, the incomparable: he was, in spite of his garrulous
and fidgeting nervousness, an intensely likable per
s o n — a n d he really had in him a bottomless well of
affection." [Look Homeward, Angel, 121.)
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, University of North
Carolina Library at Chapel Hill, and the Estate of Thomas Wolfe.
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
12
" T o m , " ca.
1907.
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill, and the Estate of Thomas
Wolfe.
A complacent and silent infant, Thomas Wolfe later re
ported "Moo"
him
was his "First articulate speech." W.O.
6
had carried
into the orchard behind the family home and Tom had
begun imitating the sound of a cow near a neighbor's fence. "He
can
talk," W.O.
boasted to Julia, "he said Moo." The proud father
7
told the story over and over, getting Tom
to repeat the sound for
every visitor to the house that day. The infant grew into an adult
with splendid recall. "I have tried to make myself conscious of
the whole of my life since first the baby in the basket became
conscious of the warm sunlight on the porch," he later wrote,
"and
saw his sister go up the hill to the girl's school on the corner
(the first thing I remember)." He recalled the Hazzard's great
8
house on the hill to the east of the family home and the day that
his head was almost crushed by a horse pulling a grocery
wagon. Although he was not seriously injured in the accident,
he always bore a small scar on his forehead he called "the mark
of the centaur."
9
In April 1904 Wolfe traveled with his mother, sister Mabel,
and
brothers Fred, Ben, and Grover to St. Louis. Planning to mix
business with pleasure, Julia rented a large house at 5095 Fairmount Avenue to operate as a boardinghouse for visitors from
Asheville to the World's Fair. She called it "The North Carolina."
The
oldest children, Frank and Effie, remained in Asheville with
�1900-1916
13
their father (although Frank soon joined Julia and the other chil
dren). Another motive of Julia's for going to St. Louis was to re
move herself and the children from W.O.'s increasing outbursts
and
alcoholic rampages. Like her fictional counterpart, "Eliza,"
Julia's "enormous patience was wearing very thin because of the
daily cycle of abuse."
10
Once settled in St. Louis, Grover and
Fred were sent to work at the Inside Inn, a hotel built for the fair.
Julia's venture was cut short on November 16 when Grover died
of typhoid fever contracted while working at the fairgrounds.
The
family immediately returned to Asheville, where Julia was
disconsolate and could not help blaming herself for taking the
family to St. Louis.
Julia's hopes had actually been fastened on Grover, whom
she considered the brightest of her children, rather than Tom,
but after Grover's death, she grew more and more possessive of
the last of her eight children. By now Tom
had already experi
enced an unusually prolonged infantile relationship with his
mother. He nursed until he was three-and-a-half. He slept in the
same bed with her until he was nine and older. His Little Lord
Fauntleroy curls, stylish at the turn of the century, but usually
shorn when a boy entered school, were not cut until Tom was
Thomas Wolfe with second cousin Mary Louise Wolfe,
New Orleans, February 2 4 , 1 9 0 9 . Julia Wolfe kept
Tom in curls until he was nine, wanting to keep him
her baby as long as possible. A few days before he
died in 1 9 3 8 , as he lay on a hospital bed at Johns
Hopkins Hospital, Julia kissed him on the forehead
and reminded him, "You're my baby." And even
five years after his death, Julia told an interviewer,
"Tom will always be my baby; he will never seem
grown up to me."
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe Collection, Pack Memorial Public
Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
14
nine. The curls symbolized Tom's childhood, which Julia would
never be willing to relinquish. In Look Homeward, Angel Wolfe
described the "agony and humiliation" his curls cost him.
11
Only
after he contracted head lice from one of the neighborhood
boys, did his mother relent and allow his curls to be clipped.
On August 30, 1906, hoping to cash in on Asheville's tourist
trade, Julia purchased a boardinghouse called Old Kentucky
Home at 48 Spruce Street. Only two blocks from the family
home, the "dirty yellow"
12
Queen Anne house was comprised of
18 rooms. (Ten years later Julia would add 11 more.) The house
was built in 1883 by prominent Asheville banker Erwin E. Sluder,
and
by 1906 a "malign influence"
13
pervaded the rooms and
halls. In Look Homeward, Angel Wolfe described "the bleak hor
ror
of Dixieland"
14
and claimed the house possessed "All
comforts of the Modern Jail."
the
15
Old Kentucky Home ("Dixieland" in Look Homeward, Angel), 48 Spruce Street, Asheville. Julia
Wolfe purchased the boardinghouse from retired minister Reverend T. M . Myers, who gave the house
its name in honor of his home state.
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, University of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill, and the Estate of Thomas
Wolfe.
�1900-1916
15
As noted, Julia had accepted boarders at 92 Woodfin Street
to supplement the family's income while the children were
growing up. Despite Grover's death, Julia's St. Louis venture had
been profitable, and now she hoped the Old Kentucky Home
would prove to be the money-maker she envisioned. She took
only six-year-old Tom with her when she moved into the board
inghouse that fall. Her other children remained with their father
at the family home, with both Effie and Mabel sharing house
hold duties until they married. Julia's need for money came first:
"When she bought this boardinghouse in [1906], she more or
less left us," Tom's sister Mabel later explained. "She was busy
with her boarders."
16
Deprived of privacy and security, the move into the Old Ken
tucky Home began a bewildering new era of Thomas Wolfe's life.
Although he often shared a bedroom with Julia, he was, more
often than not, shuffled "from room to little r o o m "
17
wherever
there was space, to make room for his mother's paying guests.
And not only was he moved at random, but when the Old Ken
tucky Home filled with summer tourists, he was sent back to the
Woodfin Street house. He later described himself as "a vaga
bond since I was seven—with two roofs and no home."
18
Although family life began to disintegrate after his removal
to the boardinghouse, Wolfe experienced a release from his dis
mal existence when he entered Orange Street School in 1906. He
would attend the elementary school from 1906 to 1912, the first
to sixth grades. Although he was too young for the city's regula
tion age of six to begin school, when he tagged along one day
with his neighbor Max Israel, his teacher, Elizabeth Bernard, al
lowed him to stay.
19
Despite "the misery, drunkenness, and disorder" within
20
the Wolfe households, Tom's childhood was not an altogether
unhappy one. The backyard at 92 Woodfin Street with the play
house W.O. had built for the children was a veritable paradise of
cherry, plum, and apple trees. The family home reverberated
with noise and laughter, dominated for the most part by W.O.'s
�16
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
earthy humor and rhetoric. Tom long remembered the roaring
fires his father built in the parlor and how at the dinner table
W.O. heaped Tom's plate with food. He enjoyed visiting his
father's monument shop, admiring the haunting marble angels
on the porch, and obtaining change from his father to purchase
treats. Tom loved reading, curling up on the lounge in the parlor
of the family home, or sequestering himself in the privacy of the
playhouse to read book after book. W.O. often took Tom to the
movies on the square or to Riverside Park for the amusements,
but Tom's most gratifying pastime was to bury himself in the
books at the public library after school—reading more books,
the librarian claimed, than any boy in North Carolina.
Tom also journeyed throughout the South on trips with his
mother. Julia usually leased the boardinghouse during the win
ter months and made several trips out of state for her health,
real estate speculation, or for Tom to see something of the coun
try. From 1907 to 1916, mother and son traveled to Florida (St.
Petersburg, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Palm
Beach), New Orleans, Hot Springs, and—in 1913—to Washing
ton, D.C., to attend the first inauguration of Woodrow Wilson.
As usual Tom was treated as an infant, having to share a room
with his mother, as well as witness her constant parsimony. Tom
later described meals made from leftovers Julia had taken from
restaurants: "Humiliation over her stinginess—the incessant
wrangling—and the rolls and bread in the bedroom."
21
In 1911 John Munsey Roberts became principal of Orange
Street School. To compare progress of students from grade to
grade as well as recruit students for a private school for boys he
and his wife were planning to establish soon, Mr. Roberts held a
writing competition. Because his wife, Margaret, had never heard
of any of the students, Mr. Roberts took the papers home and
asked her to help him select the best one, knowing her judgment
would be unprejudiced. After reading 60 or more papers, she
suddenly came to Tom Wolfe's. Looking up, she declared to her
husband, "This boy, Tom Wolfe, is a genius! A n d I want him for
�1900-1916
our
school next year."
17
22
This marked the first time
anyone referred to Wolfe
as a genius. After more
than a little persuading by
Mr.
Roberts, W.O.
agreed
to pay the tuition of $100 a
year, and Thomas Wolfe
became the first student
enrolled in the North State
Fitting School. He later
described his four years
(1912-1916) at the Robertses' school as "the hap
piest and most valuable
years of my life."
Biographer
23
Andrew
Turnbull aptly described
Margaret
Margaret Roberts as "the
Photo courtesy of Margaret Rose Roberts.
H i n e s
Roberts in 1901 at the age of 2 5 .
fairy godmother of Tom's
youth." A major influence upon Wolfe's life, Mrs.
24
Roberts nur
tured his talent as a writer and awakened in him a love for fine
literature. He had read indiscriminately before meeting Mrs.
Roberts, but, as he later stated, "It was through her that I first
developed a taste for good literature which opened up a shining
El Dorado for me."
25
Because of Mrs.
Roberts's affection and
compassion for the young, awkward Wolfe, she became the
invincible mentor he called the "mother of my spirit."
In an emotion-charged letter written to Mrs.
26
Roberts in 1927
while he was writing Look Homeward, Angel, Wolfe revealed his
feelings about his teacher:
I was without a home—a vagabond since I was seven—with
two roofs and no home. I moved inward on that house of
death and tumult from room to little room, as the boarders
came with their dollar a day, and their constant rocking on the
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
18
porch. My overloaded heart was bursting with its packed
weight of loneliness and terror; I was strangling, without
speech, without articulation, in my own secretions—groping
like a blind sea-thing with no eyes and a thousand feelers to
ward light, toward life, toward beauty and order, out of that
hell of chaos, greed, and cheap ugliness—and then found you,
when else I should have died, you mother of my spirit who fed
me with light.
27
In 1914, while attending the Robertses' school, Wolfe took a
paper route for the Asheville Citizen. Although his studies were
demanding, his parents wanted him to learn the value of
money. From his 14th to 16th year, he rose from his bed at four
in the morning to deliver newspapers, finishing his route only in
time to have breakfast before going to school. His body craved
sleep, but he loved the wonder of the dawn breaking upon Asheville's surrounding hills. At school he continued to read omnivorously and, despite his tendency to stammer, he excelled in
debate (because of his tenacity, his team always won). During
his four years at North State School, he received instruction in
Latin, Greek, English, history, mathematics, and German. How
ever, it was his study of literature with Mrs. Roberts that he loved
best. Mrs. Roberts guided him through The Cloister and the
Hearth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry V, King Lear, the
Romantic poets, and—among numerous other books—the Old
Testament.
O n May 13, 1916, North State School participated in the
Shakespearean pageant commemorating the tercentenary of
Shakespeare's death. "I [was] Prince Hal," Wolfe recorded in The
Autobiographical Outline, "the tights from Philadelphia—four
inches too short. . . , " J.M. Roberts's sister, Emma, a math
teacher at the school, substituted the remnants of a clown
costume for the inadequate tights. The audience roared with
laughter at the sight of Wolfe's preposterous appearance and
the sensitive, self-conscious boy was slow to recover from his
humiliation.
2 8
�1900-1916
19
A month before the end of Wolfe's four years at the Rob
ertses' school, he won the bronze medal of the Independent
Magazine's citywide school essay contest celebrating the ter
centenary with "Shakespeare: the Man." Wolfe tore the Chandos
portrait of the bard from the newspaper announcing the contest
and nailed it to the wall, scrawling below it, "My Shakespeare,
rise!" Mrs. Roberts persuaded Tom to recast "Shakespeare: the
Man" in oratorical form for the student declamation contest,
which he also won. O n June 1, 1916, Wolfe graduated from
North State School with several awards, but not with the highest
honors. "In other than literary works, other boys with fine minds
and regular habits of study far surpassed Tom in the classroom,"
Mrs. Roberts later wrote. "We knew that this was not because he
could not learn those subjects; they simply did not fire h i m . "
29
At the end of the summer, Wolfe and his family engaged in a
heated debate over where he was to go to college. Tom preferred
the University of Virginia or Princeton, but his father insisted on
the state university at Chapel Hill. W.O. believed the University
of North Carolina would prove valuable for connections that
would be important for the career in law and politics he en
visioned for his son. "You're a North Carolinian and you'll go to
North Carolina," W.O. told Tom. "Go to work if you don't go to
North Carolina." Tom grudgingly accepted his father's dictum,
and on September 10, 1916, expressed his disappointment to
his brother-in-law Ralph Wheaton:
30
I arrived at my decision to attend our state university last
Wednesday night. Perhaps I should say forced instead of ar
rived. For that was what it amounted to. For I had held out for
the University of Virginia in spite of the family's protests. But
when no reply came from the University of Virginia, I con
sented to go to Carolina. Two days later a letter did come from
Virginia telling me to come on. However, it was too late. But,
nevertheless, Carolina is a good school, and perhaps every
thing is for the best.
31
�20
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
NOTES
1. The Letters of Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, C. Hugh Holman and
Sue Fields Ross, eds. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1968), 162.
2. Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, Angel (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929), 4-5.
3. Ibid.,13-U.
4. R. Dietz Wolfe, M.D., "The 'Gams' Remembered," Thomas Wolfe
Reviewl'.l (Spring 1983): 29.
5. Elaine Westall Gould, Look Behind You, Thomas Wolfe (Hicksville,
NY: Exposition Press, 1976), 34.
6. Thomas Wolfe, The Autobiographical Outline forLook Homeward,
Angel, Lucy Conniff and Richard S. Kennedy, eds. (Thomas Wolfe
Society, 1991), 4.
7. Richard Walser, "The McCoy Papers," Thomas Wolfe Review 5:1
(Spring 1981): 4.
8. The Letters of Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, 43.
9. Look Homeward, Angel, 44.
10. Ibid., 48.
11. Ibid, 89.
12. Ibid., 127. Exterior paint research of the Old Kentucky Home
in 1997 revealed that the house was once painted a dull, medium
yellow.
13. Ibid., 128.
14. Ibid., 217.
15. Ibid., 225.
16. Lou Harshaw, Asheville: Places of Discovery (Asheville, NC: Bright
Mountain Books, 1980), 118. Note: In this interview, Mabel incor
rectly gives the date of the purchase of the Old Kentucky Home as
1907.
�1900-1916
21
17. Look Homeward, Angel, 137'.
18. The Letters of Thomas Wolfe, Elizabeth Nowell, ed. (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1956), 123.
19. Julia Wolfe and Elizabeth Bernard claimed that Wolfe was five-anda-half when he started school; Wolfe's sister Mabel claimed he was
five years,fivemonths. Although September 1906 is most certainly
when Wolfe formally began the first grade, it is possible he began
school informally five or six months earlier, tagging along with Max
Israel.
20. Look Homeward, Angel, 225.
21. The Autobiographical Outline, 8.
22. Margaret Rose Roberts to Ted Mitchell, ALS, 7 pp., April 16, 1995.
23. David Herbert Donald, Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe
(Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1987), 25.
24. Andrew Turnbull, Thomas Wolfe (New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1967), 13.
25. The Letters of Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, 23.
26. Letters, 123. Mrs. Roberts was portrayed as "Margaret Leonard" in
Look Homeward, Angel.
27. Ibid., 123.
28. The Autobiographical Outline, 27.
29. Margaret Roberts, "An Uncommon Urchin,' Thomas Wolfe: A
Memoir—I," Thomas Wolfe Review 14:1 (Spring 1990): 12.
30. Richard Walser, Thomas Wolfe Undergraduate (Durham, NC: Duke
University Press, 1977), 5.
31. Letters, 2-3.
�This page intentionally left blank
�2
Chapel Hill
1916-1920
By God, I shall spend the rest of my life getting my
heart back, healing and forgetting every scar you
put upon me when I was a child. The first move I
ever made, after the cradle, was to crawl for the
door, and every move I have made since has been
an effort to escape.
—Look Homeward, Angel, 505
Thomas Wolfe, age 1 6 .
Photo courtesy of the North Carolina Department
of Cultural Resources.
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
24
D
RESSED neatly in a Biltmore homespun suit, Thomas
Wolfe boarded the early morning train for Durham
and then, by auto, his final destination of Chapel Hill.
By train he finally escaped his tumultuous family;
his love for trains and journeying to new places never abated.
He was three weeks short of his 16th birthday and already 6'3"
tall when he arrived at the University of North Carolina on Sep
tember 12,1916, the first day of registration.
Despite the fact that his father was paying the bills and
planned a career in law for him, Wolfe decided to continue the
literary studies he had begun at the North State School. Besides
Greek, Latin, and English, he enrolled in required courses of
algebra and trigonometry O n September 23 he reported to
the Dialectic Literary Society to seek membership. Housed in
Old West Hall, the Di, as it was known, trained students in debate
and public speaking. The walls of the third-floor hall where the
society was located were lined with portraits of former members
who had achieved fame in the history of North Carolina (such as
statesman and Civil War governor Zebulon Vance). The ritual of
initiation required new members to speak before the audience.
A week after his embarrassing initiation into the Di, Wolfe wrote
his brother Fred:
I was the first called on. The society hall is lined with the pic
tures of the distinguished men once belonging to this society.
The portrait of Zeb Vance hangs right over the rostrum. In my
little talk I told 'em I was both happy and proud to be in such
distinguished company. I ended by telling 'em I hoped they
would have the pleasure some day of seeing my picture hang
beside Zeb Vance's.
1
Although D i Society members laughed at this naive pronounce
ment, Thomas Wolfe's portrait hangs in the D i hall today.
"He belonged, perhaps, to an older and simpler race of men:
he belonged with the Mythmakers," Wolfe brashly proclaimed
in Look Homeward, Angel "For him, the sun was a lordly lamp
to light him on his grand adventuring. . . . He exulted in his
�1916-1920
25
Thomas Wolfe's favorite freshman course
was Greek, taught by William Stanly "Bully"
Bernard ("Edward Pettigrew 'Buck' Benson"
in The Web and the Rock). A particularly de
manding instructor, Bernard led Wolfe
through Homer, Plato, and Euripedes and in
stilled in Wolfe a love for Greek culture and
philosophy. The study of ancient Greek under
Bernard greatly influenced Wolfe's first two
novels in which he made extensive use of
Greek philosophy and myth.
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, Univer
sity of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
youth, and he believed that he could never die." But his first
2
year at Chapel Hill was also filled with loneliness and pain. Be
sides the humiliating D i speech, within his first few weeks at the
campus, he was made the dupe of several jokes. He listened at
tentively to a sermon in chapel by a sophomore with a fake
beard. He prepared studiously for an examination on the con
tents of the college catalogue. "He was conspicuous at once not
only because of his blunders," he recorded in Look Homeward,
Angel, "but also because of his young wild child's face, and his
great raw length of body, with the bounding scissor legs." Re
3
gardless of his painful self-consciousness, Wolfe was quick to
move into the mainstream of campus activity. He helped orga
nize the Freshman Debating Club, mixed with upperclassmen
on an equal basis, and despite his literary portrait of the intro
verted freshman Eugene Gant, was quite gregarious on campus.
The
university library contained 75,000 volumes, and Wolfe
loaded his arms with books (whether they were required read
ing
or not) and spent much of his free time reading in his room.
He
also tried out for the track team but eventually gave up; his
�26
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
participation in athletics was confined to horseshoe pitching
and baseball catching. He eagerly attended smokers and bull
sessions with his fellow students, and in the spring of 1917, as
the United States entered World War I, he drilled for military
training five evenings a week.
When Wolfe returned home at the end of his freshman year,
he was more determined than ever to leave Chapel Hill, despite
the intellectual nourishment he had received there. He now
wished to continue his education at Princeton. Although he
corresponded with the registrar at Princeton, at the end of the
summer his father told him that he would have to return to the
University of North Carolina or give up his studies altogether.
The summer of 1917 was, for the most part, an ambiguous
one for Wolfe. Once home, he was expected to go to work. He
was paid $15 a week as Ralph Wheaton's office boy in the Ashe
ville office of the National Cash Register Company. The stress of
the war affected nearly everything and everyone. His brother
Fred had enlisted in the navy, while his brother Ben had been
rejected for the draft because of his weak lungs. Mabel had mar
ried the previous year and had moved to Raleigh, but she had
returned with her husband, Ralph Wheaton, to 92 Woodfin
Street, where she cared for her slowly dying father.
Although Wolfe was promiscuous that summer with women
of dubious virtue boarding at the Old Kentucky Home, he fell
hopelessly in love with one of his mother's summer boarders,
Clara Paul, from Washington, North Carolina. Portrayed as
"Laura James" in Look Homeward, Angel, Clara was five years
older than Wolfe, and his desperate love for her was one-sided.
Accompanied by her 11-year-old brother, Ray, who was recover
ing from a recent illness, Clara was visiting the mountains for a
brief vacation before her wedding to a young soldier. Although
Clara was wearing the soldier's engagement ring and a wedding
date had been set, it did not discourage 16-year-old Thomas
Wolfe from falling in love with her.
Wolfe's infatuation for Clara Paul remained unrequited and
�1916-1920
27
he later claimed he never got over her. "Did
you know I fell in
love when I was sixteen with a girl who was twenty-one," Wolfe
wrote Margaret Roberts in 1924. "Yes, honestly—desperately in
love. And
I've never quite got over it. The girl married, you know:
she died of influenza a year or two later. I've forgotten what she
looked like, except that her hair was corn-colored." Two weeks
4
after Clara Paul left the Old Kentucky Home, she married
Wallace M . Martin, eventually became the mother of two sons,
and
then died in 1920.
Clara Elizabeth Paul, ca. 1 9 1 3 , four
years before she met Thomas Wolfe.
"A nice young boy, here, the son of
my landlady, has a crush on me,"
Miss Paul wrote from Julia Wolfe's
boardinghouse in 1917. "Of course, I
told him right away that I was en
gaged. I explained that I could never
return his feeling. I was real sorry for
him. But he seemed to understand.
He'll get over it, I feel sure." (Thomas
Wolfe Undergraduate, 34.)
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe Collection,
Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North
Carolina.
Wolfe reluctantly returned to Chapel Hill for the fall term,
but then, unexpectedly, began three of the happiest years of his
life. Although his freshman year was not an entirely happy one,
his sophomore year revealed a remarkably divergent Thomas
Wolfe. He had escaped the tumult of his family in Asheville, and
his growing recognition as a Big M a n on Campus was a source
of unbridled joy.
"I suppose I'm a greater surprise to myself than to anyone
under the sun," he wrote his mother on October 31,1917. "I am
changing so rapidly that I find myself an evergrowing source of
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
28
Henry Horace Williams ("Vergil Weldon" in
Look Homeward, Angel). Thomas Wolfe
wrote Margaret Roberts in 1921 that she was
one of "only three great teachers in my short
but eventful life." The other two teachers
(both at Chapel Hill) were Horace Williams,
head of the Department of Philosophy, and
Edwin Greenlaw, head of the Department of
English. Williams was well known for his con
tentious nature and eccentricity. Wolfe en
rolled in Williams's Philosophy 15, " A Study
of Forces That Shape Life," and soon found
himself embroiled in wrestling with a diverse
variety of philosophical truths.
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, Univer
sity of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
interest. Sounds egotistical, doesn't it? College life does more
things for one than I would have ever dreamed." In 1935 he re
5
called: "About this time, I began to write. I was editor of the col
lege paper. . . . I wrote some stories and some poems for the
magazine of which I was also a member of the editorial staff.
The War was going on then; I was too young to be in service, and
I suppose my first attempts creatively may be traced to the
direct and patriotic inspiration of the War."
6
"A Field in Flanders," a patriotic poem, was Thomas Wolfe's
first published effort, appearing in the November 1917 issue of
the University of North Carolina Magazine. The byline read
"Thomas Wolfe," but he also used "Thomas Clayton" and
"T.C.
Wolfe" for other college publications. The March 1918 issue of
the Magazine contained his fervent poem, "The Challenge," and
his first published work of fiction, "A Cullenden of Virginia," a
tale of heroism in World War I.
On
March 25, 1918, Wolfe was initiated into Pi Kappa Phi,
a new social fraternity that sought members on the basis of
�1916-1920
29
leadership and scholarship. He began attending a round of
fraternity dances and in April joined Sigma Upsilon, a literary
fraternity. O n May 3 he joined Omega Delta, a fraternity that
promoted the intellectual and aesthetic side of college life and
focused on the production of plays. By then he had been ap
pointed one of three associate editors of the college annual,
Yackety Yack and on May 17 was named associate editor of the
y
Tar Heel the weekly student newspaper. He would become
f
managing editor in his junior year and editor in chief in his
senior year, 1919-1920. He enjoyed playing the role of "un
washed genius" and grew neglectful of his appearance. His hair
was seldom cut, he arrived late to class, often wearing clothing
he had outgrown or worn out. "A genius doesn't have to be im
maculate," he contended.
7
Rather than return home after his sophomore year in 1918,
Wolfe sought a civilian war-job at Langley Field, Newport News,
Virginia, as a time checker. He found himself still thinking of
Clara Paul, then living in nearby Portsmouth with her husband,
but never mustered the courage to call on her. He worked at
The second of Thomas Wolfe's great male
teachers was Edwin Greenlaw ("Randolph
Ware" in The Web and the Rock). During
Wolfe's final three years at Chapel Hill, he
always enrolled in one of Greenlaw's classes.
In his junior year Wolfe enrolled in Greenlaw's
English 2 1 , a course in composition based on
daily events and current affairs. Greenlaw's
students experimented with writing about the
world around them, a training that Wolfe
would utilize as a novelist.
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, Univer
sity of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
�30
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
Langley Field until July 4, when, consumed by bedbugs and
mosquitoes, he resigned his job, although penniless. Fortu
nately, his brother Fred, stationed at Norfolk, rescued him from
near-starvation. That summer he also tried his hand as a car
penter but was fired on his first day because of incompetence.
In September Wolfe went to Asheville for a brief visit before
returning to Chapel Hill for the fall term. W.O.,
ill with inflam
matory rheumatism and prostate cancer, had moved from the
Woodfin Street house into a large back bedroom of the Old
Ken
tucky Home. Tom's brother Ben, who had been working as the
circulation manager for Winston-Salem's Twin City Sentinel,
had
also returned to Julia's boardinghouse. Tom found his
brother in a bitter, despondent mood. Ben had been rejected for
military service, possibly because of inactive pulmonary tuber
culosis. He blamed his mother for his condition because she
accepted tuberculars at the Old Kentucky Home, defending
them blindly—as long as they paid their room and board.
Wolfe had returned to Chapel Hill for only a few weeks when
he received the news of Ben's desperate illness. Their sister Effie
Ben Wolfe's death, elegized in took Homeward, Angel, provided the most evocative passage in
the novel:
"We can believe in the nothingness of life, we can believe in
the nothingness of death and of life after d e a t h — b u t
l
who can believe in the nothingness of Ben ? Like Apollo,
L
who did his penance to the high god in the sad house
m
of King Admetus, he came, a god with broken feet,
into the gray hovel of this world. And he lived here a
stranger, trying to recapture the music of the lost world,
trying to recall the great forgotten language, the lost
faces, the stone, the leaf, the door."
—Look Homeward, Angel, 557
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collec
tion, University of North Carolina Library at
Chapel Hill, and the Estate of Thomas Wolfe.
�31
1916-1920
and
her children had visited the Old Kentucky Home and had
spread Spanish influenza. Julia sent Tom
a telegram asking him
to return at once, that Ben had pneumonia. Tom took the train
to Asheville, arriving at the Old Kentucky Home in the early
morning. Resentful of Julia's parsimony and blaming her for ne
glecting him during his illness, Ben refused to allow her inside
the sickroom. "Get out! Out! Don't want you," Ben tells his
8
mother in Look Homeward, Angel Only shortly before he died,
after he lost consciousness, did Julia take her place at the bed
beside him. According to his death
certificate, Ben died at four o'clock
in the morning, October 19, 1918, of
"Pneumonia following Influenza."
Thomas Wolfe later stated that "the
Asheville I knew died for me when
Ben
died. I have never forgotten him
and
I never shall. I think that his
death affected me more than any
other event in my life."
9
After Ben's funeral Wolfe re
turned to Chapel Hill. Earlier that
September he had joined the newly
organized
Carolina
Playmakers,
Frederick H . Koch's course in playwriting. Koch emphasized the im
portance of writing "folk plays," and
Wolfe was an eager participant. The
Thomas Wolfe in The Return of Buck prime purpose of the Playmakers
Covin, 1 9 1 9 . The little play contained was to produce and promote origi
traces of Wolfe's innate poetic genius:
nal plays depicting North Carolina
the mountain outlaw has returned to
life and people. Wolfe returned to his
certain death to place violets over his
mountain roots—his first play, The
fallen comrade's grave.
Return of Buck Gavin, was hastily
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe Collection,
Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North
Carolina.
written in three hours at one sitting,
and
was one of the first plays to be
�32
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
presented by the Playmakers. It was produced on March 14 and
15, 1919, and because no actor could be found to convincingly
portray Buck Gavin, the tall mountain outlaw, Wolfe himself was
enlisted to play the title role.
Wolfe continued writing one-act plays for the duration of
his time at Chapel Hill. His second play, Deferred Payment, was
published in the June 1919 issue of the Magazine. Two more
plays would be published: The Streets of Durham, or Dirty Work
at the Cross Roads (University of North Carolina Tar Baby, 18
November 1919), and Concerning Honest Bob (the
Magazine,
May 1920). In later years Wolfe grew ashamed of these early
efforts, explaining, "I had not learned to work, and what I wrote
did not represent the best in me." Another effort, the folk play
10
The Third Night, was produced by the Playmakers on December
12 and 13,1919 (with Wolfe once again in the cast).
Wolfe's crowning glory as a student at Chapel Hill occurred
in the spring of 1919, when, along with six others, he was elected
to the honor society the Golden Fleece, the highest honor that
could be bestowed at the University of North Carolina. At the
Frederick H. Koch, founder of the Carolina
Playmakers. "I shall never forget his first per
formance/' Koch later wrote of Wolfe's por
trayal of Buck Gavin. "With free mountain
stride, his dark eyes blazing, he became the
hunted outlaw of the Great Smokies. There
was something uncanny in his acting of the
part—something of the pent-up fury of his
highland forbears." (Carolina Folk-Ploys, Sec
ond Series, 40.)
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, Univer
sity of North Carolina Library at Chapel Hill.
�1916-1920
33
Thomas Wolfe with other members of Pi Kappa Phi at the University of North Carolina, 1 9 1 9 - 1 9 2 0 .
Wolfe standing, top row, center.
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe Collection, Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
end of this, his junior year, he won the university's esteemed
Worth Prize in Philosophy for his essay, "The Crisis in Industry,"
a study examining the labor problems that followed the signing
of the Armistice. The essay was printed as a pamphlet by the
university.
When Wolfe returned for his senior year, he found himself
busier than ever. As editor in chief of the Tar Heel, he slept little
more than five hours a night in order to juggle all of his activities.
"I hate to leave this place," he wrote on May 17, 1920, a month
before graduation, to Lora French, a girl he had romanced in
Asheville. "It's mighty hard. It's the oldest of the state universi
ties and there's an atmosphere here that's fine and good. Other
universities have larger student bodies and bigger and finer
buildings, but in Spring there are none, I know, so wonderful by
half."
11
Both W.O.
and Julia went to their son's graduation and
attended several closing exercises, although W.O.
was too weak
to attend the commencement ceremony on June 16.
That summer Wolfe declined a teaching job at the Bingham
Military School, a private preparatory school in Asheville, wor
rying that he would risk sacrificing a writing career to become a
"small-town pedant."
12
Once again his family began arguing
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
34
about his future. W.O. was still insistent upon his son becoming
a lawyer, although by now he was growing too enfeebled to care.
"Don't bother me with it," he told Tom.
13
But now Tom had set his sights on graduate study at Har
vard. He had been urged to attend Harvard by Frederick Koch
who had himself studied playwriting under George Pierce Baker
in his renowned 47 Workshop. Wolfe was convinced that his
dream of becoming a dramatist would be realized at Harvard
and he besieged his mother to pay for his first semester, even
suggesting the money be deducted from his father's will. Julia
relented and agreed to pay his way for the first year. She in fact
ended up paying for all three of his years at Harvard. However,
as Tom soon found out, his mother was rarely eager to part with
money, and her checks were often delayed or arrived at the last
minute.
Wolfe applied in August 1920 for admission to Harvard's
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and was accepted in a let
ter dated September 13. He traveled first to Baltimore, where his
father was receiving radium treatments at Johns Hopkins Hos
pital. Wolfe noted that his father's life seemed to be "hanging on
by one rusty hinge, but hanging—As all the doctors: 'He will not
live through the night' but generally he lives through the week—
the doctors say it's extraordinary." After saying good-bye, Tom
14
boarded the train for New York City, where he visited for several
days, and then went on to his final destinations of Boston and
Cambridge. He later mythologized his transition from the South
to the North in his second novel, Of Time and the River:
Down in the city's central web, the boy could distinguish
faintly the line of the rails, and see the engine smoke above the
railroad yards, and as he looked, he heard far off that haunting
sound and prophecy of youth and of his life—the bell, the
wheel, the wailing whistle—and the train.
Then he turned swiftly and went to meet it—and all the
new lands, morning, and the shining c i t y . . . .
15
�1916-1920
35
NOTES
1. Letters, 4.
2. Look Homeward, Angel, 391.
3. Ibid, 394-395.
4. Letters, 66.
5. 77ze Letters of Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, 4.
6. Thomas Wolfe, The Autobiography of an American Novelist, Leslie
Field, ed. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983), 104.
7. Thomas Wolfe Undergraduate, 41.
8. Look Homeward, Angel, 547.
9. Letters, 178.
10. Elizabeth Nowell. Thomas Wolfe: A Biography, (Garden City, NY:
Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1960), 47.
11. Letters, 8.
12. The Letters of Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, 7.
13. The Autobiographical Outline, 58.
14. Ibid., 44.
15. Thomas Wolfe. Of Time and the River (New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1935), 86.
�This page intentionally left blank
�3
Harvard, New York University,
Europe, Look Homeward, Angel
920- 929
Do you know, all that really matters right now is
the knowledge that I am twenty-three, and a
golden May is here. The feeling of immortality in
youth is upon me. I am young, and I can never
die. Don't tell me that I can. Wait until I'm thirty.
Then I'll believe you.
— The Letters of Thomas Wolfe, 68
Thomas Wolfe at Harvard, ca. 1 9 2 0 - 1 9 2 1 .
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection, University of North
Carolina Library at Chapel Hill, and the Estate of Thomas Wolfe.
�38
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
T
HOMAS W O L F E entered the Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences at Harvard University in September 1920. For
three years he enrolled in the same playwriting course,
English 47, with George Pierce Baker ("Professor James
Graves Hatcher" in Of Time and the River). Baker had instructed
a score of playwrights and directors who then embarked upon
successful careers on Broadway. (Eugene O'Neill was a 47 Work
shop alumnus.) Wolfe's Harvard years were frequently lonely,
although he often saw his uncle Henry A. Westall and his aunt
Laura in nearby Medford, spending many Sundays and holidays
with them. He became close friends with Baker's assistant,
Kenneth Raisbeck, who shared with Wolfe his knowledge of art
and Boston nightlife. Wolfe indulged in several romances in
Boston and Cambridge ("The brooding romance in my heart—
In love with every waitress" ), but he no longer possessed the
gregariousness of his student days at Chapel Hill.
1
Wolfe flung himself fervently into his work as a playwright.
Baker's 47 Workshop became "the rock to which his life was
anchored, the rudder of his destiny, the sole and all-sufficient
reason for his being here." His first play finished at Harvard
was a folk play about North Carolina, The Mountains. He had
started the play at Chapel Hill, and once again, perhaps still
under Frederick Koch's influence, began writing about his
mountain environment. Baker was proud of Wolfe's submission
and told the class that Wolfe had accomplished in one act what
three-act plays had failed to do. A trial performance of The
Mountains was presented at the 47 Workshop's rehearsal room
before members of the class on January 25, 1921. Baker was so
impressed that he encouraged Wolfe to write a three-act version.
2
By the end of his first year, Wolfe completed—with high
grades—three of four courses required for a Master of Arts de
gree: English 33 (American Literature), English 47, and elemen
tary French. He needed an additional course to complete his
M.A., but in no hurry, he planned to return to the 47 Workshop
in the fall. During summer vacation he considered working his
�1920-1929
39
Professor George Pierce Baker in 1920. Thomas
Wolfe wrote his mother that Baker "is the great
est authority on the drama in America and in
the last six years he has developed in this class
some of the best dramatists in the country
several of whom have plays on Broadway now.
I was in the depths of despair at the time but
his talk has lifted me up again." (The Letters of
Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, 13.)
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe Collection, Pock
Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
way across the Atlantic aboard a transatlantic steamer as a
stoker, but finally decided to enroll in summer school. Just be
fore the fall term began, he learned that his mother had again
taken his father to Johns Hopkins Hospital for radium treat
ments. He joined them at Baltimore and persuaded Julia to
finance one more year of graduate work.
On
October 21 and 22, 1921, the 47 Workshop staged The
Mountains at the Agassiz Theatre at Radcliffe College. The pro
duction was not a success, and Wolfe was both disappointed
and
angered by the criticisms. The most frequent criticism was
that the audience found it depressing, to which Wolfe re
sponded to Baker, "If the audience is depressed over my play, I
am
depressed over my audience."
3
In early February 1922 Wolfe received a note from the sec
retary of the graduate school informing him that he would
receive his M.A.
with distinction once he completed the French
requirement. Although his first attempt to pass the French exam
was unsuccessful, he succeeded in May. When the term was
over, he had completed the four courses required for the degree,
�40
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
and received credit for two more. His second year in the 47
Workshop did not count for the degree, because not more than
one composition course counted, but by now Wolfe's hopes,
dreams, and ambitions were fastened on becoming a successful
playwright.
Although Wolfe received his M.A. degree in June 1922, he
planned to return in the fall to work with Professor Baker for
one more year. A few days before commencement, Wolfe was
suddenly summoned to Asheville where his father was dying.
Wolfe left Cambridge on June 19. When the train stopped at
Morganton, 50 miles east of Asheville, he bought the early edi
tion of the Asheville newspaper and learned of his father's death.
W.O. had died of cancer shortly after midnight on June 20, in the
Old Kentucky Home. Getting off at the Biltmore depot, Wolfe
ran weeping along the platform, informing his waiting sister
Mabel, "You don't have to tell me. I read it in the paper."
4
Matters were unsettled after W.O.'s death, but Wolfe man
aged to secure his mother's support to enroll in the 47 Workshop
for a third year. During the summer in Asheville, he began writ
ing Niggertown, which later became Welcome to Our City. The
new play would focus on "Greed, greed, greed," he wrote Mar
garet Roberts, "deliberate, crafty, motivated—masking under
the guise of civic associations for municipal betterment. The
disgusting spectacle of thousands of industrious and accom
plished liars, engaged in the mutual and systematic pursuit of
their profession. . . ." The town of "accomplished liars" Wolfe
called "Altamont."
5
Wolfe returned to Harvard in September and rented a room
at 21 Trowbridge Street. According to a member of the 47 Work
shop, Wolfe submitted the first acts of six different plays to
Baker. By December 1922 he had finished the prologue and first
act of Niggertown and was at work on the second act, hoping to
finish the entire three acts by Christmas.
On May 11 and 12,1923, the 47 Workshop staged Welcome to
Our City at the Agassiz Theatre. The curtain went up at 8 P.M. and
�1920-1929
41
did not go down until midnight. The 10-scene play was "the
most ambitious thing—in size, at any rate—the Workshop has
ever attempted," Wolfe wrote his mother, "there are ten scenes,
over thirty people, and seven changes of setting." That spring,
6
in a letter to Professor Baker, Wolfe stated his lofty theatrical
ambitions: "I have written this play with thirty-odd named char
acters because it required it, not because I didn't know how to
save paint. Some day I'm going to write a play with fifty, eighty,
a hundred people—a whole town, a whole race, a whole
epoch—for my soul's ease and comfort."
7
Welcome to Our City was not a success and did not win the
award for best play written in the Workshop that Wolfe had
hoped for. However, Professor Baker was well aware of Wolfe's
talents and continued to encourage him to persist in writing
plays. (Baker was disappointed when Wolfe started teaching in
1924.) Wolfe was encouraged by Baker's opinion that he should
cut Welcome to Our City and submit it to the Theatre Guild. "I
know this now," he wrote his mother, "I am inevitable, I sincerely
believe. The only thing that can stop me now is insanity, disease
or death."
8
In August Wolfe revised Welcome to Our City and submitted
it to the Theatre Guild. He returned to Asheville to await the
Guild's decision (which did not come for four months—he later
claimed he was "on the verge of madness and collapse" while
9
waiting). After a long visit with his family, in November he took
a job in New York City, soliciting donations from North Carolina
alumni for the Graham Memorial Building at the University of
North Carolina. He did not enroll in the 47 Workshop that fall.
By late 1923 he had served his apprenticeship under Baker and
while waiting for a professional production on Broadway, he
realized he would have to support himself. In December the
Theatre Guild declined Welcome to Our City, although they
informed Wolfe that they would reconsider if he tightened and
shortened it. But Wolfe made little attempt to revise and re
submit the play.
�42
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
Through the Harvard appointment office, Wolfe learned of a
new opening at a branch of New York University, Washington
Square College. O n January 10, 1924, he wrote Homer A. Watt,
chairman of the English Department, admitting that he had no
teaching experience and intended to devote his life to playwriting. Watt was impressed with Wolfe's earnest manner and felt his
work with Professor Baker constituted enough credentials.
Wolfe began teaching at Washington Square College on Febru
ary 6,1924, and continued intermittently until January 17,1930.
Wolfe was assigned three courses in English composition.
He was promised 90 students (although 104 were accepted),
eight to ten hours of classroom work, and 26 hours a week of
theme reading. His first year's salary was $1,800 and this was
raised the following year to $2,000. As his students could attest,
Thomas Wolfe was a severe marker. During his first year, he gave
only three A's to 104 students, six B's, 53 C's, 21 D's, nine F's, and
two "absent" marks when only grades of C or better counted as
grades for graduation. Wolfe accomplished little creative work
while teaching, finding it impossible to teach and write at the
same time. For the most part his time was consumed by correct
ing papers.
In March Wolfe decided to travel to Europe after the summer
term was over. Professor Baker had convinced him that travel
ing in Europe and absorbing its culture was necessary for his
training as a writer. Wolfe's initial plan was to take a leave of
absence from teaching and write undisturbed while traveling
through Europe for two months. He resolved to write 1,500
words a day while abroad. He maintained his resolve but did not
return to teach until the fall of the following year.
On October 25 Wolfe sailed aboard the Lancastria for his
first of seven trips to Europe. He caught his first glimpse of
English soil on November 4, the little harbor town of Plymouth,
but his destination of London was still 200 miles away. He made
good use of the ocean journey by recording his thoughts, obser
vations, and memories. This manuscript would grow over the
�1920-1929
43
next five months as he extended his stay in Europe. He titled it
"Passage to England." It soon became a profane blend of fact
and fiction containing numerous unsavory details about Ashe
ville. "Passage to England" was not published during Wolfe's life
time, but a small, innocuous excerpt, "London Tower," appeared
in the Asheville Citizen on July 19,1925.
Wolfe spent November in England, then continued to Paris.
On his third day in Paris, his old valise containing the uncom
pleted manuscript of Mannerhouse was stolen. He had been
working on the play for more than a year. The manuscript, he
wrote his mother, "had become a part of me. I don't think you
can understand my feeling quite, but nothing has hit me as hard
as this since papa's death." The manuscript was the only one
10
in existence, and Wolfe had no alternative but to rewrite it. Fin
ished the first week of January 1925, the new Mannerhouse he
claimed was "'bigger and better' than the old one—I believe the
best thing I've ever done."
By the time this photo was
dated and stamped, Decem
ber 2 2 , 1 9 2 4 , Thomas Wolfe
possessed a deep baritone
voice and had reached a
height of 6 ' 6 " . His extreme
height intensified his painful
self-consciousness: "The world
this man would live in is
the world of six feet six/' he
later wrote, "and that is the
strangest and most lonely
world there is." (Complete
Short Stories, 241.)
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina
Collection, University of North Caro
lina Library at Chapel Hill, and the
Estate of Thomas Wolfe.
11
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
44
As early as November 1924, Homer A. Watt was attempting
to lure Wolfe back for the semester beginning in February 1925
and ending after summer school in September. Watt offered a
salary increase of $200, but Wolfe was enjoying his adventures in
Italy, England, and France too much and was in no hurry to re
turn to teaching. However, by June 1925 when he was nearly out
of money and knew his mother would not continue to support
his travels, he negotiated with Professor Watt. Watt asked Wolfe
to report by September 21 and informed him recitations were to
begin the next day. Wolfe was assigned nine hours of freshman
English and an introduction to literature for teachers.
Wolfe left Europe in late August aboard the Olympic. O n
August 25, the day before he was to arrive in New York, he met
Aline Bernstein, a renowned New York City stage and costume
designer. Nineteen years older than Wolfe, and married, Mrs.
Bernstein became his mistress for the next five years and the
great love of his life. She supplied Wolfe with not only the emo
tional support and belief in his talent that allowed him to write
Look Homeward, Angel, but financial assistance as well. She was
married to a wealthy stockbroker, Theodore Bernstein, and had
raised two children, but was no longer maintaining an exclusive
sexual relationship with her husband.
Aline Bernstein, ca. 1930s.
" M y tender and golden love,
you were my other loneli
ness, the only clasp of hand
and heart that I had,"
Thomas Wolfe wrote Mrs.
Bernstein in 1928. "I was a
stranger, alone and lost in
the wilderness, and I found
you." (My Other Loneliness,
194.)
Photo courtesy of the Aldo P. Magi
Collection.
�1920-1929
45
Wolfe resumed teaching in September and by October had
developed a close relationship with Mrs. Bernstein. For a year
and a half, it would be near perfect for them. During the winter
of 1925-1926, Wolfe moved into a loft at 13 East Eighth Street
that Mrs. Bernstein also rented as a studio while still maintain
ing her Park Avenue residence with her husband and children.
During their many talks, Wolfe and Mrs. Bernstein shared their
childhood reminiscences. Urged on by his mistress, Wolfe wisely
decided to abandon playwriting and instead write an autobio
graphical novel.
On June 23 Wolfe boarded the Berengaria for Europe. Mrs.
Bernstein had offered to finance the trip once his teaching
duties were finished. She also promised he could give up teach
ing and she would support him until he was ready to return to
New York. By the time he sailed, Mrs. Bernstein had already de
parted for Europe on business; they were reunited in Paris. They
traveled through France and England, and in Paris, Wolfe began
writing notes and phrases for the novel about his life that he first
called "The Building of a Wall." He began jotting down ideas in
a plain tablet and later a hardcover composition book. After
completing these notes, he began writing in large accounting
ledgers supplied by Mrs. Bernstein, who believed this was the
only way Wolfe could keep track of what he had written. He
eventually filled 17 ledgers. He wrote in longhand, favoring
Eberhard Faber Blackwing pencils. He believed his hands were
too big and unwieldy to operate a typewriter and hired typists or
secretaries to type his manuscripts.
On December 22 Wolfe ended his trip and sailed home
aboard the Majestic. He settled back into the Eighth Street stu
dio he shared with Mrs. Bernstein and for six months continued
working on his novel. After a third trip to Europe in July 1927, he
resumed teaching at New York University. He moved out of the
Eighth Street loft and into a more spacious apartment at 263 W.
Eleventh Street, once again sharing space with Mrs. Bernstein.
Here, on March 31, 1928, he completed the manuscript now
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
46
called "O Lost." After several attempts to market it herself, Mrs.
Bernstein submitted the mammoth manuscript (via her chauf
feur) to literary agent Madeleine Boyd. Mrs. Boyd was wildly en
thusiastic, and after reading only one-third of the novel, jumped
to her feet, shouting, "A genius, I have discovered a genius!"
12
Nonetheless, she warned Wolfe that cuts were needed. O n May
20 Wolfe engaged Mrs. Boyd as his literary agent. Despite Mrs.
Boyd's discovery of a genius, it would take seven months to find
a publisher. Meanwhile, Wolfe began working on a new novel,
"The River People," which he planned to be a more conven
tional, commercial book, a love story about a wealthy young
painter and an Austrian girl. This contrived plot did not hold his
interest, although he continued working sporadically on it for
most of 1928.
O n June 30 Wolfe sailed aboard the Rotterdam, landing at
Boulogne, and then visited France, Belgium, and Germany. O n
September 30 he was injured in Munich during a drunken brawl
with German revelers at the Oktoberfest. He was hospitalized
until October 4, spending his 28th birthday as a patient. His
nose was broken and he suffered several deep head wounds as
well as a few small facial wounds. But then his fortunes
changed. In what was certainly the most momentous event of
his life, he received a letter in Vienna from Maxwell E. Perkins,
legendary editor at Charles Scribner's Sons, asking him to return
to New York to discuss "O Lost."
Maxwell Perkins never forgot his first meeting with Thomas
Wolfe on January 2, 1929: "Wolfe arrived in New York and stood
in the doorway of my boxstall of an office leaning against the
door jamb. When I looked up and saw his wild hair and bright
countenance—although he was so altogether different physi
cally—I thought of Shelley. He was fair, but his hair was wild,
and his face was bright and his head disproportionately
small."
13
Perkins did not commit Scribner's until all details
could be agreed upon, and made a number of suggestions for
Wolfe to consider over the following days. The wait was not long:
�1920-1929
47
Maxwell Evarts Perkins ( 1 8 8 4 - 1 9 4 7 ) .
"Mrs. Ernest Boyd left with us, some
weeks ago, the manuscript of your
novel, ' 0 L o s t / " Perkins wrote Thomas
Wolfe on October 2 2 , 1 9 2 8 . "I do not
know whether it would be possible to
work out a plan by which it might be
worked into a form publishable by us,
but I do know that, setting the practical
aspects of the matter aside, it is a very
remarkable thing, and that no editor
could read it without being excited by it
and filled with admiration by many pas
sages in it and sections of it." [Editor to
Author, 61.)
Photo courtesy of the North Carolina Department
of Cultural Resources.
on January 7 Wolfe and Perkins met, and Perkins agreed to pub
lish "O Lost." The contract was signed on January 9. Wolfe kept
the contract in his inner breast coat pocket with the advance for
$450 pinned to it (a 10 percent commission had already been
paid to Madeleine Boyd). He walked around the city, taking the
papers out, gazing at them tenderly, sometimes kissing them.
He walked 80 blocks before realizing how far he had gone.
Wolfe, who had resumed teaching while revising the manu
script, proposed to revise and correct 100 pages at a time and
deliver 100 pages every week. Over the next four months, he
worked closely with Perkins. The original manuscript totaled
1,114 pages and contained 330,000 words. Although during the
initial revision it was reduced by 95,000 words, Wolfe added
5,000 more with new transitions. The net reduction was roughly
90,000 words with a total of 147 cuts.
In April the editorial staff asked Wolfe to select a better title.
Wolfe jotted down dozens, including "The Buried Life," "The
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
48
Thomas Wolfe, summer 1 9 2 9 ; pub
licity photo by Doris Ulmann for Look
Homeward, Angel. As he corrected
proofs for Look Homeward, Angel,
Wolfe wrote a preface at Scribner's
suggestion to protect himself from
lawsuits. In the note "To the Reader"
he insisted that his book was " a fic
tion, and that he meditated no man's
portrait here." In truth, the resem
blance between living persons and
fictional characters was rarely
accidental.
Photo courtesy of the North Carolina Depart
ment of Cultural Resources.
Childhood of Dr. Faust," "Remembering Home," and "The
Search for the Lost Boy."
Finally, after several lists, we find "Look
Homeward, Angel." In his notebook he wrote, "Put into final
scene of book: 'Look Homeward, Angel, now, and melt with
ruth/ "
14
Although Wolfe intended to work the quotation from
Milton's "Lycidas" into the novel, he never succeeded in em
ploying the quotation in the final manuscript.
On
September 7 Wolfe made a short visit to Asheville, his
last until 1937. He found the city full of interest in his forthcom
ing
"We
book but could not avoid the usual tensions in his family.
get one another crazy—I've been here a week and I'm
about ready for a padded cell," he wrote Maxwell Perkins on
September 14. Although Wolfe told Perkins "My
what it's all about,"
15
family knows
in truth, he discussed little about Look
Homeward, Angel with anyone. Whether, as he later claimed,
Asheville's hostile reaction to the novel was a complete surprise
is open to dispute. After he left his family behind, on the train
�1920-1929
49
going north, he forlornly jotted down in his notebook: "Shall I
ever come back to my home, ever again?"
16
Wolfe returned to New York and resumed teaching. Look
Homeward, Angel was published on October 18 and caused an
uproar in Asheville. The novel was condemned from street cor
ner to pulpit and banned from the public library. Wolfe received
anonymous letters "full of vilification and abuse, one which
threatened to kill me if I came back home, others which were
merely obscene. One venerable old lady, whom I had known all
my life, wrote me—in an extraordinary letter which ran to eight
pages, which never stopped once to draw a breath—that she
wondered how I could have such a crime upon my soul, and
added that although she had never believed in lynch law, she
would do nothing to prevent a mob from dragging that 'big over
grown karkus' across the public square."
17
There are more than 200 characters in Look Homeward, An
gel, all easily identifiable citizens of Asheville. "The only reason
we weren't tarred and feathered was because Tom didn't spare
us in the book,"
18
Wolfe's sister Mabel later stated. Margaret
Roberts was so angered by the derogatory portrait of her hus
band that she fired off an angry letter to Wolfe, declaring, "You
have crucified your family and devastated mine." She did not
19
write to him again for seven years. "It is long, exciting, and has a
number of very stark passages," Mrs. Roberts reported shortly
after Look Homeward, Angel was published. "The book is about
Asheville people, some of it true, and some fiction, but all con
vincingly written, and so localized that any inhabitant of Ashe
ville can identify every spot and person."
20
Surprisingly, the novel elicited praise from both the Ashe
ville Citizen and Asheville Times (and received rave reviews from
nearly everywhere else). Wolfe's family reacted with a mixture of
bewilderment, pain, and humiliation. When Julia Wolfe received
the novel, she sat down to read it at once, sometimes laughing,
sometimes crying. "I suppose I stopped to eat my dinner, but
read til three o'clock in the morning," she claimed, "almost
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
50
finished the book." While Julia and Mabel were horrified by
21
the novel's contents, they remained loyal to their son and
brother, neither making public their criticisms. Fred Wolfe was
amused by his portrayal as the stutterer, "Luke." But Frank Wolfe
admitted he was ready to commit murder if Tom returned to
Asheville. (Frank was portrayed as the dissolute "Steve Gant.")
The year 1929 had been momentous for Thomas Wolfe,
although some of the success of the novel was tainted by
Asheville's adverse reaction. By the end of the year, there was
much for which he could be thankful, especially his relationship
with Maxwell Perkins. "Young men sometimes believe in the
existence of heroic figures, stronger and wiser than themselves,
to whom they can turn for an answer to all their vexation and
grief," Wolfe wrote Perkins on Christmas Eve. "Later, they must
discover that such answers have to come out of their own
hearts; but the powerful desire to believe in such figures per
sists. You are for me such a figure: you are one of the rocks to
which my life is anchored."
22
NOTES
1. The Autobiographical Outline, 63.
2. Of Time and the River, 130.
3. Letters, 20.
4. Nowell, 65.
5. Letters,^.
6. The Letters of Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, 38.
7. Letters, 41.
8. The Letters of Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, 42.
�1920-1929
51
9. Letters, 58.
10. The Letters of Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, 83.
11. Ibid., 85.
12. Madeleine Boyd. Thomas Wolfe: The Discovery of a Genius, Aldo P.
Magi, ed. (Thomas Wolfe Society, 1981), 3. Note: Despite
Madeleine Boyd's "discovery of a genius," Margaret Roberts must
be rightfully credited for first proclaiming Thomas Wolfe a genius
(see pp. 16-17 of this volume).
13. Maxwell Perkins, "Thomas Wolfe," Harvard Library Bulletin 1:3
(Autumn 1947): 271.
14. The Notebooks of Thomas Wolfe, Richard S. Kennedy and Paschal
Reeves, eds. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,
1970), I, 330.
15. Letters, 203. Note: Wolfe's sister Mabel has stated: "I never
dreamed—and this opinion I voice for my family: Mama, Fred,
Effie, Frank—what would be in the book." (Nowell, 143.)
16. Notebooks, I, 370.
17. The Autobiography of an American Novelist, 17-18.
18. Nowell, 150.
19. George W. McCoy, "Asheville and Thomas Wolfe," North Carolina
Historical Review30:2 (April 1953): 207.
20. Ted Mitchell, "Margaret Roberts Writes to Her Daughter's Room
mate," Thomas Wolfe Review 18:2 (Fall 1994): 70.
21. Thomas Wolfe's Letters to His Mother, John Skally Terry, ed. (New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1943), xxviii.
22. Letters, 213.
�This page intentionally left blank
�4
Brooklyn and Of Time and the River
1930-1935
To be a stranger; always to be a stranger
—The Notebooks of Thomas Wolfe, II, 537
Thomas
Wolfe,
Febru
ary 1 9 , 1 9 3 5 ; passport
photo.
Photo courtesy of The North Car
olina Collection, University of
North Carolina Library at Chapel
Hill, and the Estate of Thomas
Wolfe.
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
54
L
OOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL proved both a critical and com
mercial success, and Maxwell Perkins was eager for
Thomas Wolfe to produce a new novel as soon as pos
sible. After consulting with Charles Scribner III, Perkins
offered to subsidize Wolfe by paying him a $4,500 advance on
his next novel—the advance to be paid in monthly installments
of $250, beginning February 1. Although Wolfe would not draw
his first royalties from Look Homeward, Angel until spring 1930,
on the strength of the advance Perkins arranged, he resigned his
teaching post, effective February 6,1930, and never worked as a
teacher again.
During the spring evenings of 1929, as Perkins and Wolfe
worked on editing "O Lost," Perkins's influence upon Wolfe grew
so great that he replaced Aline Bernstein as Wolfe's mentor. At
the end of 1929, Perkins suggested that Wolfe, without inform
ing Mrs. Bernstein, apply for a Guggenheim fellowship, which
would enable him to go to Europe and write in isolation with
financial security. Wolfe had grown more alienated from Mrs.
Bernstein as his fame grew and, in turn, Mrs. Bernstein grew
more possessive of him. In March 1930, when he informed her
that he had been awarded the Guggenheim and would leave
alone for Europe, Mrs. Bernstein felt betrayed for she had been
willing to support him while he worked on his new novel. As he
prepared to go to Europe, he was determined to exercise his in
dependence and end his relationship with her. Once he reached
Europe, he broke off all correspondence, much to Mrs. Bern
stein's dismay and pain.
Wolfe sailed aboard the Volendam on May 9. Arriving in
Paris on May 19, he spent several weeks moving from one hotel
to another before finally settling down to work on the manu
script he called "The October Fair." He met and befriended
another of Maxwell Perkins's authors, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Wolfe
liked Fitzgerald at once, considered him a talented writer, but
was distressed at how Fitzgerald was dissipating his career
with alcohol. However, Wolfe was pleased when Fitzgerald
�1930-1935
55
telegraphed that he had finished reading Look Homeward, Angel
in 20 consecutive hours. Wolfe hoped that Fitzgerald would re
pent and lead a better life thereafter. Wolfe himself was a heavy
1
drinker, an abuser of alcohol for all of his adult life, but exercised
restraint when writing. "It would be very easy for me to start
swilling liquor at present but I am not going to do it," he wrote
Perkins on July 17,1930. "I am here to get work done, and in the
next three months, I am going to see whether I am a bum or a
man."
2
That summer Wolfe traveled in Switzerland before settling
in London in October. He was having "second book trouble" and
recorded in his pocket journal, "I am all broken up in fragments
myself at present and all that I can write is fragments. The man
is his work: if the work is whole, the man must be whole." Along
3
with his chronic depression, he was feeling guilty for deserting
Aline Bernstein so ruthlessly, especially since he was using her
early life and memories of New York for another projected
novel, "The Good Child's River." (Wolfe frequently worked on
several projected novels at one time.)
At the end of February 1931 Wolfe sailed home on the
Europa. In March he discovered that Mrs. Bernstein had suffered
an emotional and physical breakdown and was hospitalized.
She partially blamed Wolfe for his callous treatment of her.
"Apparently to love you as I do is an insanity—I am having a
great fight in my self," she wrote from New York Doctors Hospi
tal in March. "The way I love you will never stop, but I know now
that you will no longer have me nor hold me dear. It is impossi
ble for me to cope with every day life for a little while. You know
not what you do."
4
In March Wolfe rented the first of four apartments in Brook
lyn, once again repeating his habit of moving from one apart
ment to another, rather than settling in a permanent home. He
moved into 40 Verandah Place and settled down to work steadily
on a variety of material (usually standing while he wrote, using
the top of a refrigerator for his desk). He continued working on
�56
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
"The October Fair" and "The Good Child's River," and over the
following year worked on new projects as well: "A Portrait of
Bascom Hawke," "The Web of Earth," "No Door," and the
aborted novel "K-19."
In November 1931 Wolfe rented a third-floor apartment at
111 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn, where he lived until August
1932. His definitive break with Aline Bernstein occurred here in
mid-January 1932 when Julia Wolfe visited. When Mrs. Bern
stein called on Wolfe to bring money he had requested for a
loan, a bitter fight ensued. Wolfe began arguing with Mrs. Bern
stein about a lawsuit involving Madeleine Boyd's embezzlement
of his German royalties and illogically blamed Mrs. Bernstein
for introducing him to Mrs. Boyd. Entering into the fray, Julia
Wolfe denounced Mrs. Bernstein's love for Wolfe and humiliated
her by attacking her relationship with her husband. Both Julia
and Wolfe bodily removed Mrs. Bernstein from the apartment.
Mrs. Bernstein responded to the "horrid cruel phrases of
your mother and yourself" with a blistering letter: "I had five
one hundred dollar bills in my purse yesterday, which you asked
me to bring you Monday morning," she wrote on January 14.
"When I left you today, I took one out and threw it over the
Brooklyn Bridge, I thought if they cannot understand how I love
you, here is something to appease the Gods your people wor
ship." She claimed she would continue over the next four days to
throw a hundred-dollar bill over the bridge into the river, "just
to show God I don't come from Asheville." Mrs. Bernstein and
5
Wolfe did not meet again for two years. Julia Wolfe never forgave
Mrs. Bernstein for loving her son: "If there had been less of her,"
she once complained, "there would have been more of him."
6
But during this period of turmoil, Wolfe's literary career,
once lagging with no successor to his first novel, resumed with
two important publications. In April 1932 his novella about his
uncle Henry Westall, "A Portrait of Bascom Hawke," was pub
lished in Scribner's Magazine. This first publication since Look
Homeward, Angel tied for first place in a $5,000 short novel
�1930-1935
57
competition sponsored by Scribner's Magazine. In May he fin
ished another novella for Scribner's Magazine, "The Web of
Earth," based on a long and complex story Julia had told him
during her Brooklyn visit. After working hard all summer, he
took a few days off at the beginning of October and visited his
father's relatives in York Springs, Pennsylvania, meeting several
people who remembered W.O.
In late October, overworked to
the extent that he "just gave
out completely," he wrote
his mother he "had never
been so fagged out men
tally, physically, and every
other way. I got on a boat
and
went
to
Bermuda,
which was a bad thing to do
because the place is terribly
expensive,
like it."
and I did not
7
In April 1933 Wolfe de
livered a large portion of
"The
October Fair" to Max
well Perkins, changing its
name to "Time and the
River" (the "of" was added
later), a title, he explained,
meaning
"Memory
Change." In May
8
and
he signed
a contract with a deadline
of delivering the complete
manuscript on August 1,
1933.
spent
However, once
his
advances
he
for
"Time and the River," he
quickly began running out
of money.
Thomas Wolfe on vacation in Vermont, 1 9 3 3 . In
September Wolfe took a much needed vacation to
Vermont with author Robert Raynolds. "We have
done considerable tramping around on country roads
also, eating at farmhouses, and going wherever we
wanted to go, and I feel better than I have felt in
months/' Wolfe wrote Julia Wolfe from Montpelier
on September 13. (The Letters of Thomas Wolfe to
His Mother, 2U.)
Photo by permission of the Houghton Library, Harvard University,
and the Estate of Thomas Wolfe.
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
58
In
November, at Perkins's suggestion, Wolfe gave several
pieces from his manuscript to Elizabeth Nowell, a young woman
who had left the editorial staff of Scribner's Magazine for an
apprenticeship in the literary agency of Maxim Lieber. Miss
Nowell was to edit and cut the manuscript and sell the stories to
magazines other than Scribner's. Miss Nowell avoided becoming
the mother figure that Margaret Roberts and Aline Bernstein
had
been and she did not allow a romantic relationship to de
velop. "Tom was always horny as hell," Miss Nowell later re
membered, "and you had to keep him at arm's length." Miss
9
Nowell became an important force in Wolfe's literary develop
ment, teaching him about editing and focusing his work. Her
frequent sales of Wolfe's work greatly boosted his low morale
and financed him through the Great Depression.
The
deadline for delivering "Time and the River" lapsed in
August 1933, but on December 14 Wolfe delivered the last batch
Elizabeth Nowell with her daughter
Clara, in 1 9 4 3 . Thomas Wolfe never
regretted engaging Miss Nowell as
his literary agent, and she soon be
came one of his closest friends and
confidants. Even Wolfe's death did
not end Miss Nowell's commitment
to him. In 1956 she produced the
painstakingly researched The letters
of Thomas Wolfe. Two years later,
racing with time and her impending
death, she worked on the final chap
ters of her Wolfe biography from her
hospital bed, mailing revisions to her
15-year-old daughter, Clara, to type
and mail to Wolfe's last editor,
Edward Aswell.
Photo courtesy of Clara Stites.
�1930-1935
59
of rough draft. He was aware that much needed to be added to
and subtracted from his manuscript and he wished for more
time to arrange and sort out the material. Perkins advised Wolfe
to concentrate on the first portion of the manuscript (the pro
tagonist leaving the South for Harvard) and to postpone the love
story for a later volume. The protagonist reclaimed the name
"Eugene Gant," and the new novel continued Eugene's adven
tures first begun in Look Homeward, Angel
When Of Time and the River was published in 1935, it was to
have been the second in a series of six books of which, Wolfe
claimed, the first four had already been written and the first
two, Look Homeward, Angel and Of Time and the River, pub
lished. The title of the whole work, when completed, was to
have been Of Time and the River.
After working alone until late afternoon, Wolfe went into
Manhattan and met Perkins every evening to cut the manuscript
and to fill in gaps as well as expand episodes. In September 1934,
without Wolfe's knowledge, Perkins sent the last half of Of Time
and the River to the printers while Wolfe was at the Chicago
World's Fair. When informed by Perkins that proof was already
coming in, the horrified Wolfe told his editor, "You can't do i t . . .
the book is not yet finished, I must have six months more on
it."
10
Perkins answered that if he were to allow Wolfe six more
months, after that he would demand another six months, and
then six months more, and the book would never be finished to
the author's satisfaction. Wolfe later complained to Perkins that
"the book, like Caesar, was from its mother's womb untimely
ripped—like King Richard, brought into the world 'scarce half
made up.'"
11
When Of Time and the River was published on March 8,
1935, Wolfe had already left for Europe aboard the He de France.
During the ocean voyage, his spirits "sank lower and lower,
reaching, I think, the lowest state of hopeless depression they
had ever known."
12
Once he reached Europe, he received a
cablegram from Perkins reassuring him: "Magnificent reviews,
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
60
somewhat critical in ways expected, full of greatest praise."
13
But Perkins's cable did not reassure Wolfe, and upon arriving in
Paris, he wandered around the city, drinking heavily. "In Paris I
couldn't sleep at all," he later wrote Perkins, "I walked the streets
from night to morning and was in the worst shape I have ever
been in in my life." He then proceeded to describe a night
marish hallucination he had experienced:
I came home to my hotel one night—or rather at daybreak
one morning—tried to get off to sleep—and had the horrible
experience of seeming to disintegrate into at least six
people—I was in bed and suddenly it seemed these other
shapes of myself were moving out of me—all around me—
one of them touched me by the arm—another was talking in
my ear—others walking around the room—and suddenly I
would come to with a terrific jerk and all of them would rush
back into me again. I can swear to you I was not asleep—it was
one of the strangest and most horrible experiences I've ever
had. *
1
Wolfe could no longer control his paranoia and fears, and
on March 13 sent the following telegram: "Dear Max: To-day if I
mistake not is Wednesday March thirteenth. I can remember
almost nothing of last six days. You are the best friend I have. I
can face blunt fact better than damnable incertitude. Give me
the straight plain truth." Perkins cabled the next day: "Grand
15
excited reception in reviews. Talked of everywhere as truly great
book. All comparisons with greatest writers. Enjoy yourself with
light heart." Perkins's answer satisfied Wolfe and a letter from
16
Perkins with excerpts from the reviews followed.
After traveling in England and Holland, Wolfe arrived in
Berlin on May 7, where he was lionized as a great new American
writer. He lived like a prince, spending the German royalties due
to him but prohibited by Nazi monetary restrictions from leav
ing the country. His German publisher, Ernst Rowohlt, arranged
for newspaper interviews, magazine articles, photos, and invi
tations to lavish parties.
�1930-1935
61
Thomas Wolfe in Berlin, May
1935. "Byron, they say, awoke
one morning at the age of
twenty-four, and found himself a
famous man," Wolfe wrote in his
essay Writing and Living. "Well,
I had to wait some ten years
longer, but the day came when I
walked at morning through the
Brandenburger Gate, and into the
enchanted avenues of the faery
green Tiergarten, and found that
f a m e — o r so it seemed to
m e — h a d come to me." [The
Autobiography of an American
Novelist, 140.)
Photo courtesy of the North Carolina De
partment of Cultural Resources.
Upon leaving Germany, Wolfe traveled to Denmark before
sailing home aboard the Bremen on June 27. By the time he
arrived in New York on July 4, the success of Of Time and the
River was assured. He was surprised to find a crowd of reporters
waiting at the dock to interview him. Maxwell Perkins was also
waiting there. Unfortunately, Perkins had news of the trouble
that would cause Wolfe to abandon the continuation of his pro
posed Of Time and the River series: Aline Bernstein had called
on Perkins while Wolfe was abroad and told him that she would
do everything in her power to prevent the publication of the
new manuscript if she was portrayed as a character in it. Ac
cording to Perkins, Wolfe "did
and
not seem to take this too seriously,
asked me if that was all. A n d when I assured him it was, he
said, 'Well, then, now we can have a good time/ "
17
After his bags were checked at the Hotel Lexington, the jubi
lant Wolfe showed Perkins the Eighth Street loft where he had
�62
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
written so much of Look Homeward, Angel That evening, Wolfe
and Perkins were joined by their friend Belinda Jelliffe. The trio
went to the top of the Radio City building and later the roof
restaurant of the St. Moritz where they looked down upon the
city. This happiness was recalled a month before Wolfe's death
in the last letter he ever wrote.
Wolfe grudgingly abandoned Eugene and the beautiful
Esther on the last pages of Of Time and the River, on the ocean
liner where they had just met, as the ship was "given to the dark
ness and the sea."
18
He then began his next fictional project,
which he called "The Hound of Darkness." It would be about
nighttime in America. He wanted to present a series of scenes
representative of American life taken simultaneously through
the country on a single night. Wolfe never finished "The Hound
of Darkness," but during the following three years he wrote large
chunks of lyrical material for it that later found places in what
became The Web and the Rock and You Can't Go Home Again.
The essence of the proposed novel was embodied, however, in a
short piece, also called "The Hound of Darkness," which ap
peared in the February 1,1938, issue of Vogue (under the editor's
title, "A Prologue to America").
From July 31 to August 7, Wolfe participated in the sixth
annual Writers' Conference at Boulder, Colorado. (Robert Frost
and Robert Penn Warren were among the participants.) Wolfe
delivered a paper adapted from a long preface he had written
for Of Time and the River that Perkins had persuaded him to
excise. The talk was later revised and published in serial form in
The Saturday Review of Literature and in book form by Scribner's
on April 21, 1936, as The Story of a Novel
The Boulder talk was an overwhelming success, and Wolfe
continued on a vacation to the West Coast in the highest of
spirits. He visited Hollywood where he briefly considered work
ing as a screenwriter, and traveled to San Francisco, a city he
had wanted to see since he heard of his father's adventures
there. He returned east by way of St. Louis and visited the house
�1930-1935
63
where 12-year-old Grover died. He met its owner and pointed
out the room where his brother died. This visit inspired his
powerful novella The Lost Boy. Although Wolfe had described
Grover's death in Look Homeward, Angel, he now gave the
tragedy a more complete treatment.
Wolfe returned to New York the last week of September and,
before settling down to work, began looking for a place to live in
Manhattan. He had achieved what he set out to accomplish in
Brooklyn and needed to learn more about New York City for his
next book. On October 1 he moved into a three-room apartment
on the 14th floor of 865 First Avenue, with a magnificent view of
the East River. The apartment was only two blocks from the Per
kinses' town house at Turtle Bay where he was always welcome
and where he spent a large amount of his free time over the next
two years.
On November 24 Scribner's published Wolfe's collection of
short stories, From Death to Morning. The 14 stories were not
favorably received and sold only 5,392 copies during the book's
first year in print. However, by December 1935, Of Time and the
River had sold 40,000 copies, and Thomas Wolfe was jubilant.
He invited several of his old friends from Chapel Hill to a party
at his new apartment on Christmas Eve. It was both a celebra
tion of the success of Of Time and the River and a belated housewarming. Always sentimental about Christmas, Wolfe reached
up to the ceiling of his living room and scrawled with a black
crayon, "Merry Christmas to all my friends and love from Tom."
As Elizabeth Nowell later remembered:
The message stayed there on the ceiling for the two years that
Wolfe lived at 865 First Avenue, and often, when he was pacing
up and down, he'd glance up at it and smile. It was a symbol of
his new-found happiness, his increasing freedom from the
morbid supersensitivity of his own ego, and his greater love for
all his fellow men.
19
�64
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
NOTES
1. Letters, 250.
2. Ibid., 240.
3. Notebooks, II, 494.
4. My Otter Loneliness: Letters of Thomas Wolfe and Aline Bernstein,
Suzanne Stutman, ed. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1983), 322.
5. Ibid., 340-341.
6. Roy Wilder Jr., "Here Are Mother's Memories of Tom Wolfe," Char
lotte Observer, October 29, 1950.
7. The Letters of Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, 192.
8. Letters, 279.
9. Beyond Love and Loyalty: The Letters of Thomas Wolfe and Eliza
beth Nowell, Richard S. Kennedy, ed. (Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina Press, 1983), xxi.
10. The Autobiography of an American Novelist, 80.
11. Letters, 446.
12. The Autobiography of an American Novelist, 82.
13. Letters, AM.
14. Ibid., 438.
15. Ibid., AM.
16. Ibid., AM.
17. Nowell, 279.
18. Of Time and the River, 912.
19. Nowell, 294.
�5
"I Have a Thing to Tell You"
and "Return" to Asheville
1936-1937
And I have come back now; I have come home
again, and there is nothing more that I can say. —
All arguments are ended: saying nothing, all is
said then; all is known: I am home.
—"Return"
Thomas Wolfe in front of the Yancey County
Courthouse, Burnsville, North Carolina, August
1937.
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe Collection, Pack
Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
66
N MARCH 17, 1936, while on a brief trip to Boston,
O
Wolfe telegraphed Maxwell Perkins: "Wrote book be
ginning. Goes wonderfully. Full of hope." He gave his
1
new book the tentative title "The Vision of Spangler's
Paul," and it later was consolidated into what became The Web
and the Rock and You Can't Go Home Again. His hero's name,
"Spangler," came from Spangler's Run, a stream that ran near his
father's birthplace in Pennsylvania; "Paul" was adopted from the
name of the Apostle. Wolfe considered using a quotation from
The Acts of the Apostles on the tide page: "And Paul said, I would
to God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were
both almost, and altogether such as I am—except these bonds."
2
As a legend at the beginning of the new book, Wolfe also in
tended to use a quotation from War and Peace: "Prince Andrei
. . . turned away.... His heart was heavy and full of melancholy.
It was all so strange, so unlike what he had anticipated."
3
Another great creative cycle had begun: one night soon after
Wolfe plunged into "The Vision of Spangler's Paul," a neighbor
of the Perkinses, Nancy Hale, at three or four o'clock in the
morning, heard a deep chant growing louder and louder. She
looked out the window and saw Wolfe marching down the
deserted street with his tremendous stride, chanting, "I wrote
ten thousand words today! I wrote ten thousand words today!"
4
Wolfe worked intermittently on "Spangler's Paul" for the next
two years, his last creative cycle broken only by his death.
But soon came the beginning of the end: literary critic
Bernard DeVoto published his infamous essay/review "Genius
Is Not Enough" in the Saturday Review of Literature on April 25,
1936. Purportedly a review of the recently published The Story of
a Novel, the article was an unwarranted and vicious attack on
Thomas Wolfe. DeVoto's harsh criticisms plagued Wolfe the re
maining two years of his life and contributed largely to his deci
sion to leave Maxwell Perkins and Scribner's. DeVoto accused
Wolfe of being "astonishingly immature" as a novelist, offering
5
the charge that Wolfe could not work without Perkins's help:
�1936-1937
67
"The most flagrant evidence of his incompleteness is the fact
that, so far, one indispensable part of the artist has existed not
in Mr. Wolfe but in Maxwell Perkins. Such organizing faculty and
such critical intelligence as have been applied to the book have
come not from inside the artist, not from the artist's feeling for
form and esthetic integrity, but from the office of Charles Scrib
ner's Sons."
6
Wolfe eventually came to the decision that he would have to
leave Perkins and what DeVoto called "the assembly-line at
Scribner's" in order to prove he could write his books without
7
anyone's help. But there were other reasons for Wolfe's final
break. During the winter of 1935-1936, Wolfe had two quarrels
with Perkins. The first was over his announcement that he
wanted his royalties and advances in a bank account instead of
being held in custody at Scribner's. (A bank account was soon
established for him.) The second was over royalties from The
Story of a Novel The actual amount of money he was to receive
from the book, he believed, had not been made clear.
Another reason for the breach was a series of legal difficul
ties and lawsuits in which Wolfe was involved and for which he
was unfairly inclined to blame Perkins. The first suit had been
brought by his agent for Look Homeward, Angel, Madeleine
Boyd. Mrs. Boyd claimed that besides her commission for Look
Homeward, Angel, she deserved a commission on Wolfe's other
publications. The second was Aline Bernstein's threat of a law
suit if "The October Fair" was published with a portrayal of her
in it. Wolfe also unfairly blamed Perkins for exposing him to
other libel suits, including one filed by the Dorman family from
whom Wolfe had rented his apartment at 40 Verandah Place in
Brooklyn. Marjorie Dorman and her family were suing for libel,
claiming Wolfe had portrayed her as "Mad Maude" and depicted
insanity in their family in "No Door." The fourth suit was one
that Wolfe filed against a young manuscript dealer, Muredach J.
Dooher, for withholding manuscripts Wolfe had given him to
sell and later had demanded their unsuccessful return.
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
68
Still another cause for Wolfe's break was Perkins's opposition
to Wolfe writing about the staff at Scribner's. Wolfe had long
been fascinated by Scribner's and, during his many conversa
tions with Perkins, his editor told him not only about the history
of the firm, but details about the private lives of staff members.
When Perkins discovered in the spring of 1936 that Wolfe had
begun writing about a publishing house called "James Rodney &
Sons," he realized his highly confidential and intimate details
about his associates were in danger of being revealed. Perkins
had little objection to being written about himself, but he felt—
not altogether logically—that if Wolfe published anything de
rogatory about the staff, it would be his duty to resign.
Exhausted by the complexity of his problems with Perkins,
Wolfe needed a vacation. Of Time and the River had been pub
lished in Germany in April and was a huge critical and commer
cial success. But because of Nazi restrictions against exporting
money, he could not obtain his royalties unless he spent them
in Germany. When a German magazine, the Seven Seas, offered
him $150 worth of free passage on the Europa in exchange for an
article or two about Germany, he could not resist the tempta
tion. He boarded the Europa on July 23,1936, for his seventh and
last trip to Europe.
Wolfe went straight to Berlin. During the previous year in
Germany, he had been too busy enjoying his fame to acknowl
edge the problems of Hitler's regime, but he now detected in
creasing terrorism and could no longer ignore the atmosphere.
This year, as his friend Ambassador William Dodd remarked,
"only the horses seemed happy" in Germany.
8
The previous year, Wolfe had heard "some ugly things" but "I
did not see anyone beaten, I did not see anyone imprisoned, or
put to death, I did not see any of the men in concentration
camps, I did not see openly anywhere the physical manifesta
tions of a brutal and compulsive force." Nevertheless, in 1936,
9
despite an even greater welcome, he could not ignore an un
mistakable darker side: "It was the season of the great Olympic
�1936-1937
69
Games," he wrote, "and every day I went to the stadium in Ber
lin. And,
just as that year of absence had marked the evidence of
a cruel and progressive dissolution in the lives of all the people
I had known, so had it also marked the overwhelming evidence
of an increased concentration, a stupendous organization, a tre
mendous drawing together and ordering, in the vast collective
power of the whole land."
10
Outside the stadium the spectacle was overwhelming. Wolfe
witnessed enormous masses waiting for the arrival of their
leader—the "Dark Messiah"—as Wolfe dubbed Hitler. Ambas
sador Dodd's daughter, Martha, told of the afternoon that Wolfe
sat with her in the diplomatic box. When American athlete Jesse
Owens "won a particularly conspicuous victory, Tom let out a
war whoop," she recorded in a book of reminiscences. "Hitler
twisted in his seat, looked down, attempting to locate the mis
creant, and frowned angrily."
11
Miss Dodd explained it was
the Nazi attitude that Negroes
were unqualified to enter the
Olympic games.
Shortly before the Olym
pics began, Wolfe fell in love
with tall, blond Thea Voelcker,
who had been assigned by a
German newspaper, the Ber
liner Tageblatt, to do a drawing
of him to accompany an inter
view. When the drawing was
published, he was offended by
the caricature, complaining it
Thea Voelcker's "Schweinsgesicht" drawing of
gave him a "Schweinsgesicht"
Thomas Wolfe, which accompanied an inter-
(swine's face). Eventually his
view in the August 5 , 1 9 3 6 , issue of the Ber-
anger abated, and a brief but
liner Tageblatt.
Photo courtesy of the Aldo P. Magi Collection.
tempestuous love affair began.
The affair ended after quarrels
�70
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
during a trip in the Austrian Tirol. However, they continued to
correspond after Wolfe returned to New York. "Else von Kohler"
in You Can't Go Home Again is based on Thea Voelcker.
O n September 8 Wolfe left Berlin by train for Paris. At the
border, crossing into Belgium at Aachen, he witnessed the arrest
of a fellow passenger, a nondescript Jewish clerk. The bullying of
the clerk by the Nazis inspired Wolfe's novella "I Have a Thing to
Tell You," which was posthumously enlarged and consolidated
into You Can't Go Home Again. He began writing of the clerk's
brutalization in Paris, telling Elizabeth Nowell on September 16,
"I've written a good piece over here—I'm afraid it may mean
that I can't come back to the place where I am liked best and
have the most friends, but I've decided to publish it." He was
12
warned by his German publisher not to publish the novella or
his works would be banned in Germany. Although Wolfe himself
tended toward anti-Semitism acquired during his youth, this
border arrest made him realize that not only was the Jewish clerk
being brutalized, but all of humanity. The revelation marked a
new maturity for Thomas Wolfe:
He lifted his eyes to us, his pasty face, and he was silent for a
moment. And we looked at him for the last time, and he at
us—this time, more direct and steadfastly. And in that glance
there was all the silence of man's mortal anguish. And we were
all somehow naked and ashamed, and somehow guilty. We all
felt somehow that we were saying farewell, not to a man but to
humanity; not to some nameless little cipher out of life, but to
the fading image of a brother's face.
13
"I Have a Thing to Tell You" was published in three install
ments in the New Republic in 1937, and consequentiy, Wolfe's
works were banned in Germany for the duration of Hitler's
regime. As much as Wolfe loved Germany, after "I Have a Thing
to Tell You," he could never go back. As soon as he returned to
New York, he wrote to the Seven Seas and asked them to release
him from his promise. He returned the check for $150, which
they had credited against the cost of his passage.
�1936-1937
71
By October 1936 Wolfe's conviction that he would have to
leave Scribner's was increased by Perkins's unfavorable reaction
to Wolfe's recent short story "No More Rivers." The major diffi
culty was that Wolfe portrayed Scribner's editor, Wallace Meyer,
as an easily recognized character. Wolfe also included satirical
vignettes that reflected upon other members of the firm.
Perkins and Elizabeth Nowell convinced Wolfe to revise the
story (although it was not published during his lifetime), but
from that time forth, Wolfe began avoiding stopping by Scrib
ner's to see Perkins and pick up his mail, instead having it for
warded to his First Avenue apartment. Wolfe drafted a formal
letter of release, stating he had discharged all of his obligations
to Scribner's and was no longer under contract to them.
The severance from Scribner's was not quite complete when
Wolfe left to go to New Orleans for New Year's and for a much
needed vacation. (His longer statements of severance were
packed in his suitcase when he left New York in late December.)
He arrived in New Orleans on January 1,1937. It took only a day
or two for the news to get around that Thomas Wolfe was in
town, and he was soon engulfed by fans and friends. The most
important event of his excursion was meeting advertising man
and bibliophile William B. Wisdom, a great admirer of Wolfe's
writing. After Wolfe's death, Wisdom purchased Wolfe's man
uscripts and personal papers and donated them to Harvard
University.
Leaving New Orleans on January 11, Wolfe stopped in Biloxi,
Mississippi, for a rest before going on to Atianta. From Atlanta
he returned to North Carolina for the first time in seven years.
But because of confusion with his brother Fred during a tele
phone conversation, he did not disembark when the train
stopped in Asheville. Wolfe had indicated to Fred that he wanted
to return to Asheville. But when Fred suggested he meet Tom in
Spartanburg, South Carolina, instead of coming direcdy to
Asheville, Tom thought his family did not want him to come
home. Julia Wolfe later claimed that Tom kept saying repeatedly
�72
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
over the phone, "Are you ashamed of me? Don't you want to see
me? Are you ashamed of me?" Tom soon wrote Fred, "I should
14
have liked to come to Asheville and intended to do so, but when
I called you up from Atianta there seemed to be some excite
ment and confusion about my coming, or whether I wanted to
come or not, so I was too tired to argue the point and decided to
pass my visit up until some other time."
15
Wolfe then visited Southern Pines where he stayed with
author James Boyd. After a night in Raleigh, he spent several
days in Chapel Hill at the University of North Carolina, enjoying
a warm reunion with faculty and friends. But once back in New
York, he soon found himself embroiled in more difficulties with
Scribner's. He had mailed one letter of severance from New
Orleans even though Maxwell Perkins had attempted to con
vince him that Scribner's was still interested in publishing him.
Wolfe did not entirely relinquish his friendship with Perkins and
saw him on occasion socially. He continued to sit for a portrait
by Perkins's son-in-law, Douglas Gorsline, all the while express
ing his grievances against Scribner's and Perkins. Finally, during
one of their quarrels, an exasperated Perkins declared, "All right
then, if you must leave Scribner's, go ahead and leave, but for
heaven's sake, don't talk about it any more!" Later, Wolfe's
16
resentment became so heated that the two men came close to
actual blows. Fortunately, Wolfe's attention was diverted by a
tall, attractive woman who threw her arms around him and
said, "This is what I came to New York to see!"
17
In March Wolfe was ill with influenza for a week. When his
fever persisted, he went to a physician. Neither the identity of
the physician nor his actual diagnosis has been discovered.
However, Elizabeth Nowell has reported that X rays were taken
of Wolfe's lungs at this time and revealed an old tubercular scar
on his right upper lobe. Wolfe told Miss Nowell he had been to a
physician and "there's something the matter with my lung,"
18
but refused to talk about it. Despite this intimation of mortality
(Wolfe had long had a terror of tuberculosis), he worked hard
�1936-1937
73
from February to the spring of 1937 on "The Vision of Spangler's
Paul" as well as a number of short stories.
By April Wolfe was ready for another vacation and decided
to set out on his long-anticipated return to Asheville. He made
his journey in short stages, first visiting his father's home, York
Springs, Pennsylvania, where in Latimore, he copied inscrip
tions from gravestones in Gardner's Church cemetery. He jour
neyed down the Shenandoah Valley, stopping in Roanoke,
where he purchased a copy of Gone with the Wind (which he
called an "immortal piece of bilge" ). He was "loafing" and in
19
20
no hurry to reach Asheville: "I am dreading Asheville a little," he
wrote Elizabeth Nowell from Roanoke on April 28, "but I think I
will be ready for it in a few days."
21
Wolfe arrived in Bristol, near the Tennessee-Virginia state
line on Thursday, April 29, and registered at the General Shelby
Hotel. Several Bristolians visited him in his hotel room. "One
has to go away," he told a reporter from the Bristol News, "before
he learns how deeply he is attached to his own people and own
country."
22
He met novelist Anne W. Armstrong, who offered
him a secluded cabin on her properly so he could write in peace
that summer. Wolfe declined the invitation but considered it for
future use. He departed the following evening, Friday the 30th,
and stopped in Yancey County, North Carolina, for a few days to
look up Westall relatives.
Wolfe registered at the Nu-Wray Inn in Burnsville and
placed a call from a phone booth in the lobby to his family to
determine if it was "safe" to return to Asheville. Once settled, he
began making inquiries about his mother's family and encoun
tered everywhere people who claimed to be relatives. "Every
body's kinfolks here," he soon found out.
23
On Saturday night, May 1, between 10:30 and 11:00, Wolfe
stepped out of the Gem City Soda Shop on Main Street in Burns
ville and into an altercation between Otis Chase, Philip Ray, and
James O. Higgins. When Wolfe saw Ray pull out a pistol to fire at
Higgins, "I got behind an automobile and after that some shots
�74
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
were fired but I did not see who fired the shots," Wolfe later tes
tified at the trial held that August. "I couldn't say definitely how
many shots were fired but I would say three or four. I heard a
bullet hit two tires, or at any rate you could hear the sound of air
going out of the tires. I don't know that a bullet hit one of the
tires on the automobile I was behind, but it was either that one
or the one next to me."
24
Although none of the feuders were
killed that night, a week later, on May 8, when Ray and Higgins
met again on the same spot as the previous shooting, Ray shot
and killed Higgins. Wolfe was later subpoenaed to testify as a
witness to the earlier altercation.
Before leaving Burnsville, Wolfe visited his great-half-uncle,
John B. Westall, on the South Toe River, and listened to his rem
iniscences of the Civil War batde at Chickamauga. When Wolfe
returned to New York, he fictionalized his great-uncle's reminis
cences into "Chickamauga," which he rightfully considered one
of his best short stories.
Wolfe arrived in Asheville on Monday, May 3. From the bus
station, he took a taxi to the Old Kentucky Home, where, in
short order, he and his mother were photographed on the porch
of the shabby, gaunt house. For days the telephone rang as wellwishers and friends called to welcome him home. At one time,
there were as many as six people waiting to see him. During the
next few days, Wolfe walked through Asheville, visiting many
old and familiar places. He went to see his birthplace at 92
Woodfin Street and followed one of the paper routes he once
carried. But he made little apology for Look Homeward, Angel
"If anything I have ever written has displeased anyone in
Asheville, I hope that I will be able to write another book which
will please them," he told a reporter for the Asheville Citizen.
25
Wolfe rented a cabin from cartoonist Max Whitson in nearby
Oteen, planning to work all summer in it, hoping for seclusion.
He later wrote his brother Fred, "I don't think anybody quite un
derstood when I was home just how tired I am and how much I
need now a period of quiet and seclusion. But I do need it very
�1936-1937
75
Thomas Wolfe and his mother Julia on
the porch of the Old Kentucky Home,
May 1 9 3 7 . One of Wolfe's objectives
for making the trip to Asheville was to
see if he could help his mother untan
gle her financial troubles with Wachovia
Bank. Mrs. Wolfe speculated wildly on
real estate during the '20s, and after
the stock market crashed in 1 9 2 9 , she
found she had over-speculated and
could no longer pay her mortgages or
taxes. Wachovia Bank was now suing
her for the foreclosure of deeds of trust
she had executed to secure payments.
Photo by Elliot Lyman Eisher; courtesy of The
Thomas Wolfe Collection, Pack Memorial Public
Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
badly, and that is the reason that I have taken the litde cabin out
near Asheville in the hope and belief that I can get it there."
26
Wolfe's self-imposed "exile" had ended in triumphant vic
tory, although not to the extent of his fictional rendering of the
event: "The only ones who are mad today are those you left
out!" Although most of the feathers Wolfe ruffled in 1929 had
27
been smoothed out, many of the victims of Look Homeward,
Angel were slow to forget or forgive what Wolfe had written
about them and their families. As late as 1938, many Ashevillians were still not ready to bury the hatchet even when Thomas
Wolfe was buried.
Before leaving on May 15 for New York, Wolfe was asked by
his friend George W. McCoy, a journalist for the Asheville Citi
zen, to write an article about his feelings at being home again.
Wolfe readily agreed, and the evocative prose-poem "Return"
appeared in the May 16,1937, issue of the Citizen.
Wolfe returned to New York for six weeks to prepare material
for Elizabeth Nowell to sell to magazines as well as to pack his
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
76
manuscripts for his stay in Oteen. "I am bringing a great amount
of manuscript with me and shall work on it this summer,"
28
he
wrote his mother. His main concern was his massive work-inprogress. "There is an immense amount of it, millions of words,
and although it might not be of any use to anyone else, it is, so
far as I am concerned, the most valuable thing I have got," he
29
wrote Fred Wolfe on June 26.
Leaving New York on July 1 and arriving at the Biltmore sta
tion outside of Asheville the next day, Wolfe went directly to the
Oteen cabin. O n the afternoon of July 10 a photographer hired
by the Asheville Citizen-Times paid a visit to the cabin and found
Wolfe with his shirt sleeves rolled up, tie discarded and collar
open, writing longhand. Wolfe explained that his new book
would be "a chronicle to the modern Gulliver."
30
He hired a
black man called Ed to cook and help with the chores at the
cabin. Ed was an excellent
cook but was usually intox
icated and could never re
member Wolfe's last name,
often calling him "Mr. Fox."
There were several re
unions with his family in
Asheville and at the cabin.
Friends and curiosity seek
ers flocked to Oteen, and
Wolfe wrote to a correspon
dent, "It's pretty hard to
tell you what I shall do
about staying here in Ashe
ville. I wanted to
come
back: I thought about it for
years. . . . But my stay here
Thomas Wolfe in his cabin at Oteen, summer 1937.
Photo by W. Frank Clodfelter; courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.
summer has really re-
t h i s
s
e
m
b
l
e
d
a
three-ring circus.
I think people have wanted
�1936-1937
77
Judge Philip Cocke, Thomas Wolfe, and an unidentified woman in front of the Oteen cabin, July
1937. Wolfe accomplished little in the cabin except the third draft of "The Party at Jack's/' This
novella was about a fire that disrupted a party at Aline Bernstein's apartment at 2 7 0 Park Avenue,
at which artist Alexander Calder entertained the guests with a circus of mechanical animals and dolls.
"The Party at Jack's" would render Wolfe's growing sense of social injustice by contrasting the harsh
realities of the working class and the luxury of the more privileged class.
Photo by permission of the Houghton Library Harvard University, and the Estate of Thomas Wolfe.
to be and have tried to be most kind, but they wore me to a
frazzle. M y cabin outside of town was situated in an isolated
and
quite beautiful spot, but they found their way to it
The
"
3 1
first week of August, a Buncombe County deputy sheriff
located Wolfe in Oteen and served him with a subpoena to
appear on August 16 in Burnsville as a state's witness to the
shooting he witnessed in May.
Wolfe went to Burnsville on the
16th and spent the night at the Nu-Wray Inn.
He testified on the
17th. By the time the trial was completed on the 20th, his testi
mony had been discredited by one of the defense attorneys. He
wrote Hamilton Basso on August 21:
I had to attend a murder trial in Yancey and testify. It was
a fascinating and thrilling and exhausting experience. I got off
fairly lightly compared to some of the witnesses, but I was
�78
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
denounced by one of the defense lawyers in his final plea to
the jury as the author of an obscene and infamous book called
"Look Homeward, Angel," who had held up his family, kin-folk,
and town to public odium, and whose testimony, I therefore
gathered, was not to be taken into account.
32
After the trial, Wolfe returned to Asheville and got roaring
drunk. The pressures of the trial as well as his growing dissatis
faction with Asheville had pushed him over the edge. "Do you
wonder that sometimes this past summer I went berserk?" he
33
later asked Anne W. Armstrong. It took two officers to subdue
him, and he spent the night in the city jail. He was released the
following morning after he sobered up, and no charges were
filed. There is little wonder that he wrote Margaret Roberts, "A
prophet may be without honor in his own country, but he is also
without privacy." The prodigal's victorious return was, for all
34
intents and purposes, brought to an abrupt conclusion.
Soon after his day in court, Wolfe left the Oteen cabin and
moved into the Battery Park Hotel in downtown Asheville. He
gave his secretary strict instructions not to reveal his where
abouts to anyone—including his mother. There had been too
many disturbing contacts with his family that summer and he
needed to work in undisturbed peace and quiet. With more pri
vacy than the cabin afforded him, he finished the third draft of
"The Party at Jack's," but he was now more depressed than ever
and drinking heavily He later claimed he was as near to a break
down as he had ever been.
One of the last things Wolfe did before leaving Asheville was
to visit his friend J. Y. Jordan at his office six floors high in the
Jackson Building in the city square. Wolfe looked out the win
dow, gazing at the hills and mountains encircling the city, as
though he would never again set eyes on them. He left on Sep
tember 2, carrying under his arm the 80,000-word manuscript
he had written since July, "The Party at Jack's."
Wolfe stopped for several days in Bristol, Tennessee, relaxing
in the cabin Anne W. Armstrong had offered him. At the end of
�1936-1937
79
the visit, Mrs. Armstrong drove him to Marion, Virginia, where
he spent two days with novelist Sherwood Anderson, one of his
literary idols. Before returning to New York, Wolfe stopped at Bal
timore and recounted his woes to newspaper editor R.P. Harriss
of the Baltimore Evening Sun: T v e been down home at Ashe
ville, and I found that being forgiven was almost worse than
being damned. Did you ever have just too much hospitality?"
35
After giving up his First Avenue apartment, Wolfe moved to
various hotels, finally settling at the Hotel Chelsea at 222 W. 23rd
Street. He rented room 829, a two-room suite with an anteroom
for his typist. He stayed alone much of the time and communi
cated with almost no one except Elizabeth Nowell. He kept his
whereabouts a secret, even from his family. His break with
Scribner's now became publicly known. Before leaving Ashe
ville, he had called several publishers asking whether they would
be interested in publishing his future novels. "My name is
Wolfe," he would blurt out, often intoxicated. "Would you like to
publish me?"
36
Some thought it a joke, others were concerned
about his leaving Scribner's. His search for a publisher would
continue for the remainder of the year. As the weeks went by, he
grew convinced that no publisher wanted him. His troubles
with Scribner's were "deep, grievous, and I fear, irreparable."
37
O n December 1 Wolfe attended a dinner at socialite Mary
Emmet's for the Sherwood Andersons. Also attending the party
was Ella Winter, the widow of Lincoln Steffens. When the party
was over, Wolfe walked Ella Winter home, pouring out his griev
ances against Perkins as well as what he had found on his trip to
Asheville. As Miss Winter recalled, "He started telling me about
his horror at going back to his home and what he found there,
and I just said, 'But don't you know you can't go home again?' He
stopped dead and then said: 'Can I have that? I mean for a tide?
I'm writing a piece . . . and I'd like to call it that. It says exactiy
what I mean. Would you mind if I used it?' I laughed and told
him that I didn't 'own' it any more than I'd own any other
thought." From that time on, Wolfe became obsessed with the
38
�80
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
phrase "You can't so home appin »v
a revolutionizing d i s c o v e ^ n T h
self. Recognizing 2
aspect of his
7
K
me^ZkheZ
his work in progress
P
r
o
d
a
i
^ it to friends as
m
* ^
3
N
"** *****
^
*
C
°
n
s
i
d
e
r
D
°
to
*
a
V E R
T 0
*°°«
s
H
^
« t i t l e for
. . . the whole book might almost be called "You
Can't Go Home Again"—which means back home
to one's family, back home to one's childhood, back
home to the father one has lost, back home to
romantic love, to a young man's dreams of glory and
of fame, back home to exile, to escape to "Europe"
and some foreign land, back home to lyricism, sing
ing just for singing's sake, back home to aestheticism, to one's youthful ideas of the "artist," and the
all-sufficiency of "art and beauty and love," back
home to the ivory tower, back home to places in the
country, the cottage in Bermuda away from all the
strife and conflict of the world, back home to the
father one is looking for—to someone who can
help one, save one, ease the burden for one, back
home to the old forms and systems of things that
once seemed everlasting, but that are changing all
the time—back home to the escapes of Time and
Memory. Each of these discoveries, sad and hard as
they are to make and accept, are described in the
book almost in the order in which they are named
here. But the conclusion is not sad: this is a hopeful
book—the conclusion is that although you can't go
home again, the home of every one of us is in the
future: there is no other way.
— The Letters of Thomas Wolfe, 711-712
�1936-1937
81
Edward C. Aswell. "I will be associated
with a young man just exactly my own
age, who is second in command/'
Thomas Wolfe wrote of Aswell. "I think
it is going to turn out to be a wonderful
experience—I feel that the man is
quiet, but very deep and true: and he
thinks that I am the best writer there is.
I know he is wrong about this, but if
anyone feels that way, you are going to
do your utmost to try to live up to it,
aren't y o u ? " {Letters, (>%.)
Photo by Fabian Bochrach; courtesy of Dr. Mary
Aswell Doll.
Wolfe negotiated with various publishers, finally settiing on
Harper & Brothers. He was elated by his new editor, Edward C.
Aswell, a fellow southerner from Tennessee, also a Harvard
graduate, and six days younger than Wolfe.
Wolfe spent Christmas with Edward and Mary Louise Aswell
and
their infant son Edward Duncan in Chappaqua, outside of
New York. There were a dozen people at the party. "We really did
have a swell Christmas out at Ed Aswell's—I think it was the best
one I have had since I was a kid,"
Wolfe wrote Elizabeth Nowell
on December 29. As they finished dinner, Mrs.
Aswell whispered
to Wolfe asking if it would be all right to announce that Harper's
was to be his publishers. He readily agreed. "So we got out your
bottie of champagne and Mary Lou told them," he wrote Miss
Nowell, "and I tried to say something and Ed tried to say some
thing, and neither could very well, and everyone had tears in
their eyes, and I think they meant it, too."
39
On December 31 Wolfe signed a $10,000 contract with Har
per's for a novel, "The Life and Adventures of the Bondsman
�82
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
Doaks." He received an advance of $2,500 on that day, with the
balance to be paid in three installments of $2,500 each on Feb
ruary 1, March 1, and April 1,1938. After signing the contract, he
wrote Mary Louise Aswell, "The final grim technical details of
business and contract signing have been attended to, and now I
am committed utterly, in every way. It gives me a strangely
empty and hollow feeling, and I know the importance of the
moment, and feel more than ever the responsibility of the obli
gation I have assumed." Then, on the last day of a particularly
momentous year, he added:
But I guess it is good for a man to get that hollow empty feel
ing, the sense of absolute loneliness and new beginning at dif
ferent times throughout his life. It's not the hollowness of
death, but a living kind of hollowness: a new world is before
me now; it's good to know I have your prayers.
40
�1936-1937
83
NOTES
1. Letters, 496.
2. Acts 26:29.
3. Letters, 527.
4. Nowell, 300.
5. C. Hugh Holman, The World of Thomas Wolfe (New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1962), 88.
6. Ibid, 88.
7. Ibid, 89.
8. Notebooks, II, 822.
9. Jfeitf., pp. 905-906.
10. JfoW.,911.
11. Martha Dodd, Through Embassy Eyes (New York: Harcourt, Brace
and Company, 1939), 212.
12. Letters, 541.
13. The Short Novels of Thomas Wolfe, C. Hugh Holman, ed. (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1961), 274.
14. Raleigh News & Observer, October 29,1950.
15. Letters, 609.
16. Nowell, 375.
17. Ibid, 377.
18. Ibid, 378.
19. Letters, 747.
20. Ibid., 615.
21. Beyond Love and Loyalty, 57.
22. Brato/ Afeu/s, April 30, 1937.
23. The Complete Short Stories of Thomas Wolfe, Francis E. Skipp, ed.
(NewYork: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1987), 552.
�84
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
24. No. 146, Eighteenth District, Supreme Court of North Carolina, Fall
Term, 1937, State v. Philip Ray and Otis Chase, Record on Appeal,
20. Note: Wolfe's words here are not necessarily verbatim, but an
approximation of his testimony.
25. Asheville Citizen, May 4, 1937.
26. Letters, 621.
27. Complete Short Stories, 556.
28. The Letters of Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, 282.
29. Letters, 619.
30. Asheville Citizen-Times, July 11, 1937.
31. Letters, 653.
32. Ibid., 650.
33. Anne W. Armstrong, "As I Saw Thomas Wolfe," Arizona Quarterly
2:1 (Spring 1946): 8.
34. Letters, 740.
35. R.P. Harriss, "A Memoir of Thomas Wolfe," Baltimore Evening Sun,
September 16,1938.
36. Nowell, 392.
37. Letters, 655.
38. Nowell, 410.
39. Letters, 696.
40. Ibid, 698.
�6
The Last Voyage, the Longest, the Best
1938
Live a little now, I entreat you; for we are as the
men of former time—no different, and in the end
we, too, shall turn our faces to the wall, and the
light will go out; and we shall go into a place
where there is darkness,—nothing hut darkness.
—The Letters of Thomas Wolfe to His Mother, 60
The last clear photo of Thomas Wolfe;
July 4 , 1 9 3 8 , Seattle, Washington,
two days before the onset of his fatal
illness.
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection,
University of North Carolina Library at Chapel
Hill, and the Estate of Thomas Wolfe.
�86
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
A
T THE BEGINNING of 1938, Wolfe launched into inten
sive work on his new novel. During his visit to Ashe
ville in 1937, he decided to write about the scandal
surrounding the failure of the Central Bank and Trust
Company. He began devising ways his huge "October Fair"
manuscript could be consolidated into his "Bondsman Doaks"
book. He hired a typist, Gwen Jassinoff, and dictated material to
her as she typed. He began assembling new and old material
that would take Doaks through the Depression in both "Libya
Hill" (his new fictional counterpart for Asheville) and New York.
He wrote Aswell that he had decided to consolidate the material
he had written for "The October Fair," "Spangler's Paul," and
"Bondsman Doaks" into a complete biographical chronicle. He
chose a new title, "The Web and the Rock," as well as a new
name, George Webber, for his protagonist. "Let his name be
Webber," he jotted down in his notes for the manuscript.
1
O n March 31 Professor F. A. Cummings of the Department of
English at Purdue University wired Wolfe, asking him to speak at
the annual Literary Awards Banquet at Purdue on May 19, in
West Lafayette, Indiana. Wolfe was pleased with the honorarium
of $300 and accepted the offer. He decided to make Purdue the
first stop on his second trip to the West, planning to travel
through the Northwest to soak up local color.
By May 9 Wolfe had given large sections of his manuscript to
Elizabeth Nowell to read. Miss Nowell persuaded Wolfe to allow
Edward Aswell to familiarize himself with the manuscript. Just
before Wolfe left for Purdue on the evening of May 17, Aswell ar
rived at Wolfe's suite at the Hotel Chelsea to collect the massive
manuscript and found Wolfe still busy sorting it out.
Gwen Jassinoff and Wolfe had already prepared a long out
line to help identify the manuscript that comprised the two
huge bundles Aswell later left with under his arms. The manu
script totaled more than 4,000 typewritten pages and contained
over 1,200,000 words. When Aswell later prepared it for posthu
mous publication (as three volumes, The Web and the Rock, You
�1938
87
Can't Go Home Again, and The Hills Beyond), he used only the
enormous bundles he had taken from Wolfe. The three large
wooden packing crates full of material Wolfe had acquired since
he first began writing had been turned over to his executor,
Maxwell Perkins, soon after Wolfe's death. Wolfe all-too-accurately described himself as "a vagabond writer with two tons of
manuscript."
2
Wolfe boarded the train on May 17 at 9 P.M. After the talk at
Purdue and a vacation through the West, he planned to return
to New York and locate a place out of town to spend the summer
and
keep on with his work. However, he was never to return to
work on his massive manuscript. He had worked furiously the
last three years with the half-repressed fear that he would die
before he accomplished the
work he had set out to do.
"His
enemy was Time," he
wrote of George Webber. "Or
perhaps it was his friend.
One
never knows for sure."
3
Wolfe's Purdue speech,
"Writing and Living," was a
triumph. He gave a well-pre
pared account of his career
and
revelations of his devel
oping social consciousness.
With several teachers and
their wives, he rode to Chi
cago, spending "two very
pleasant days together, eat
ing,
drinking, driving all over
Chicago." After this relaxing
4
Thomas Wolfe, ca. 1 9 3 7 - 1 9 3 8 . According to
weekend, he boarded the
Gwen Jassinoff, Wolfe's typist in 1 9 3 8 , the photo-
Burlington Zephyr for Den-
graph was taken at the Hotel Chelsea.
ver. There he had a reunion
Photo courtesy of Clara Stites.
with friends he had met in
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
88
1935 at the Writers' Conference in Boulder. His friends did every
thing they could to show him a good time and Wolfe enjoyed
himself so thoroughly that he extended his visit from one day to
a week.
After brief stopovers in Cheyenne and Boise, Wolfe arrived
in Portland on June 8. He was invited to join an experiment in
tourism by Edward Miller, Sunday editor of the Portland Oregonian and Ray Conway, an executive in the Oregon State Motor
f
Association. Miller and Conway asked Wolfe to be their literary
passenger as they toured 11 national parks by auto in a twoweek period. The excursion was meant to prove that all of the
Thomas Wolfe with his traveling companions, Ray Conway and Ed Miller, Logan Pass, Glacier
National Park, June 2 9 , 1 9 3 8 . Wolfe described his itinerary to Elizabeth Nowell:
We leave here Sunday and head south for California stopping at Crater Lake on the way down;
we go down the whole length of California taking in Yosemite, the Sequoias and any other
national parks they have; then we swing east across the desert into Arizona to the Grand
Canyon, etc., north through Utah, Zion and Bryce Canyons, Salt Lake, etc., then to the Yellow
stone, then North to the Canadian Border, Montana, Glacier Park, etc., then west again across
Montana, Idaho, Washington, then Rainier Park, e t c . — i n other words a complete swing
around the West from the Rocky Mountains on, and every big national park in the West.
—The Letters of Thomas Wolfe, 769.
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe Collection, Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
�1938
89
Western national parks could be visited within an average twoweek vacation. The trip was conceived for travel promotion and
proved to be a grueling drive. Wolfe eagerly accepted the invita
tion, believing it an excellent opportunity to absorb the West.
"The West is the American horizon," he told Edward Miller.
5
The excursion began on June 20 at 8:15 A.M., leaving Port
land for Crater Lake. For 13 days and 12 nights Wolfe and his
companions traveled in a white Ford conspicuously displaying
"Oregon State Motor Association" on its sides and trunk. Miller
and Conway took turns driving (Wolfe had never learned to
drive), while Wolfe sprawled out in the back seat. He kept a rec
ord of his impressions in a 6" by 9" ledger, doing most of his writ
ing at night in lodges. By the time their journey ended at Mount
Rainier on July 2, Wolfe had witnessed "the pity, terror, strange
ness, and magnificence of it all." Wolfe and his companions
6
drove into Olympia, where they had lunch and a sentimental
parting. Miller and Conway gave him the maps and old tour book
they had worn black, and wrote their names in it. They had trav
eled 4,632 miles. That afternoon Wolfe caught a bus for Seattle.
Upon registering at the New Washington Hotel in Seattle,
Wolfe received a wire from Edward Aswell: "Dear Tom: Your new
book is magnificent in scope and design, with some of the best
writing you have ever done. I am still absorbing it, confident
that when you finish you will have written your greatest novel so
far. Hope you come back full of health and new visions."
7
O n July 4 Wolfe watched an Independence Day parade with
James and Theresa Stevens. Stevens, well-known in Seattle liter
ary circles, was the compiler of Paul Bunyan stories and had met
Wolfe during a short visit to Seattle Wolfe had made in June.
After the parade, Wolfe and the Stevenses drove to the home of
Ivar and Margaret Haglund in A M , one of the oldest sections of
Seattle. Three photographs taken of Wolfe that afternoon were
the last clear photos made of him.
On July 5 Wolfe left for Victoria and Vancouver in British
Columbia. He planned to be gone for a day or two and was eager
to return and have his "Western Journal" typed. Sometime
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
90
during this trip on the coastal steamer Princess Kathleen, he
shared a pint of whiskey with a "poor, shivering wretch," and
8
contracted a respiratory infection that soon activated the dor
mant tuberculosis in his right lung. O n the afternoon of July 6 he
began experiencing chills, pain in his lungs, and a high fever. He
left Vancouver by train and returned to Seattle, remaining in the
New Washington Hotel for five days before seeking treatment.
In June James Stevens and his wife had given a party to in
troduce Wolfe to some of the literary people of Seattle, and now
Sophus Winther of the University of Washington asked Wolfe to
a party in return. When the evening of the party, July 9, arrived,
Wolfe was ill, but because he was the guest of honor, he felt he
had to make an appearance. He arrived at 10 o'clock, wild-look
ing with a severe cold; no one realized how dangerously ill he
was. Two days later, Wolfe phoned Theresa Stevens and asked
her for the Winthers' phone number, telling her his cough was
much worse and Mrs. Winther had promised to give him a
cough remedy. Mrs. Stevens told him he didn't need a cough
remedy—he needed a doctor. She persuaded him to see their
family physician, Dr. E.C. Ruge. Dr. Ruge found Wolfe was suf
fering with a hacking cough and a fever of 102, and diagnosed
pneumonia.
Dr. Ruge told Wolfe he needed hospitalization, but Wolfe
dreaded hospitals. Dr. Ruge, a well-known general surgeon,
diagnostician, and psychiatrist, had established a private sana
torium, Firlawns, 12 miles from Seattle at Kenmore. Wolfe agreed
to be admitted there rather than at a big Seattle hospital. A l
though desperately ill, he managed to maintain his sense of hu
mor: "They haven't yet made up their minds whether I'm Jesus
Christ or Napoleon," he told a visitor after observing Dr. Ruge's
9
mental patients. However, at Firlawns, Wolfe received the inten
sive care he needed. By July 14 the crisis seemed to have passed
and his fever, which once reached 105, now dropped to 100.
"Doctors say I'm out of danger now," Wolfe wired Edward Aswell
on July 15. "Will write when I feel stronger."
10
�1938
91
When Wolfe continued to have recurrent fevers, Dr. Ruge
wired Wolfe's brother Fred to come. When Wolfe seemed unable
to make a complete recovery, Dr. Ruge sent him to Providence
Hospital in Seattle the first week of August so X rays could be
made of his lungs. The X rays revealed a consolidation of the
upper lobe of the right lung, which Dr. Ruge and the X-ray spe
cialist at Providence diagnosed as an old tubercular lesion. When
violent headaches and periods of irrationality began, the doctors
suspected a brain tumor or abscess.
Wolfe remained at Providence under the care of Dr. Charles
E. Watts after Fred Wolfe dismissed Dr. Ruge. Thomas Wolfe had
been terrified of tuberculosis since his boyhood and did not
want to hear, as he did from Dr. Ruge, that he was now one of
the dreaded lungers. Dr. Watts diagnosed pneumonia, not tu
berculosis, and Wolfe felt safer with the less ominous diagnosis.
On August 12 Wolfe's fever shot up to 103. As his situation be
came desperate, he was uplifted by a warm letter from Maxwell
Perkins. Overcome with longing for their old friendship, Wolfe
insisted upon sitting up in bed and writing an immediate reply.
(The text of this letter to Maxwell Perkins—the last letter Wolfe
ever wrote—is reprinted on page 92.)
Wolfe's sister Mabel arrived in Seattle on August 19 to relieve
Fred, who needed to return to his job. When Mabel appeared in
his room, Wolfe blurted out, "Well, what do you think? Have you
come out here to tell me I'm going to die?" When Mabel tried to
reassure her brother, he said, "I have these headaches, Mabel,
awful headaches."
11
His headaches increased in severity, and
dilaudid had to be administered so he could sleep.
Wolfe believed if he could leave the hospital he would im
prove and decided to rent an apartment with Mabel for a week
or two before going on to Dr. Russel Lee's clinic at Palo Alto to
complete his convalescence. He asked Mabel to rent an apart
ment at the Spring Hotel Apartments he had admired before his
illness because of its magnificent view of Puget Sound. O n Sep
tember 4 Mabel packed her brother's bags and paid his bill,
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
92
H
H
H
^
H
Aug
1938
Dear Max: I'm sneaking this against
orders—but "I've got a hunch"—and
I wanted to write these words to you.
—I've made a long voyage and
M
been to a strange country, and I've
^ ^ ^ ^ V
s
•I I .
Maxwell Perkins.
N
e
e
n
the dark man very close; and I
don't think I was too much afraid of
him, but so much of mortality still
,
clings to me—I wanted most desT
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe
Collection, Pack Memorial Public
Library Asheville, North Carolina.
.
1
.
1
. J . - H J
J
T
P
y
>
thought about you all a 1000 times,
e r a t e l
t
0
l l v e
a
n
d
s t l U
do
a
n
d
1
and wanted to see you all again, and
there was the impossible anguish and regret of all the work I
had not done, of all the work I had to do—and I know now
I'm just a grain of dust, and I feel as if a great window has
been opened on life I did not know about before—and if I
come through this, I hope to God I am a better man, and in
some strange way I can't explain I know I am a deeper and a
wiser one—If I get on my feet and out of here, it will be
months before I head back, but if I get on my feet, I'll come
back.
—Whatever happens—I had this "hunch" and wanted to
write you and tell you, no matter what happens or has hap
pened, I shall always think of you and feel about you the way
it was that 4th of July day 3 yrs. ago when you met me at the
boat, and we went out on the cafe on the river and had a
drink and later went on top of the tall building and all the
strangeness and the glory and the power of life and of the
city were below—
Yours Always
Tom
—Harvard Library Bulletin (Autumn 1947): 278
�1938
93
eager for his release. But before Wolfe was released, Dr. Watts
conferred with her: "Mrs. Wheaton, I want to talk to you. You
know this has not been any ordinary case of pneumonia. I've
just looked in Tom's eyes and it looks to me as if there's a choked
disk there. I would almost bet my life on it. I want to call in a
good eye man, and I want to have another set of X rays taken the
first thing tomorrow morning."
12
Dr. Watts asked that Mabel have Annie Laurie Crawford, a
young registered nurse who had befriended Wolfe and Mabel at
Providence, accompany Wolfe the next day for the X rays. Miss
Crawford had grown fond of Wolfe and had been helping as if
she were his private nurse, spending hours of her off-duty time
offering reassurance. Miss Crawford had been head nurse at
Highland Hospital in Asheville and knew some of Wolfe's Westall cousins, and it was a comfort to Wolfe and Mabel to have
someone from home nearby.
The next day Wolfe did not recognize Miss Crawford when
she arrived to take him for X rays. After the X rays, Wolfe slept
while the doctors broke the news to Mabel. The physicians be
lieved Wolfe had an abscess or a tumor of the brain. They rec
ommended he be taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore
where the best brain surgeon in the country, Dr. Walter E. Dandy,
could examine him. Dr. Watts suggested Mabel take Miss Craw
ford on the train to care for Wolfe and, if needed, give morphine
injections for his headaches. He released Wolfe from Providence
and allowed him one night in the Spring Hotel Apartments.
Wolfe, Mabel, and Miss Crawford left Seattle by rail on the
Olympian. For four days Wolfe endured the trip across the con
tinent, experiencing periods of irrationality and headaches.
They changed trains at Chicago where Julia met them. Testing
Wolfe's rationality, Mabel asked if he recognized the woman
hurrying toward them on the platform. "Mrs. Julia E. Wolfe of the
Old Kentucky Home!" he greeted his mother and kissed her.
13
Arriving in Baltimore on September 10, the entourage was
met by an ambulance sent by Johns Hopkins Hospital. Wolfe
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
94
was drowsy when admitted to the hospital but tried to co
operate. Family members provided the data for his admission;
he was too confused and ill to supply dependable information.
Edward Aswell visited Wolfe in the hospital's Marburg Building
and reassured him how wonderful his manuscript was. Aswell
remembered: "And he began talking to me very lucidly, very
clearly, and suddenly he stopped in the middle of a sentence,
and it was as though a shade had been drawn on a scene you'd
been looking at. The shade came down, everything went blank.
He sat there for a moment, not looking around wildly or any
thing, just blank. The shade then went up. He resumed the sen
tence in the middle, exactly where it was."
14
After Dr. Dandy examined Wolfe, he ushered Aswell, Julia,
and Mabel into an empty room and told them, "I want to tell
you about your son and brother. He's a desperately sick man. I
doubt if there's a thing that can be done for him. I've just exam
ined him—there's so much pressure in his head, it's hard as a
rock. Now if it's cancer, the case is hopeless. A n d if it's multiple
tuberculosis, it's hopeless—there's absolutely nothing we can
do. There's only one chance: if it's an abscess or a tumor—and it
depends a great deal on where it is—if it's right here," he pointed
to the back of his head, "there may be some hope." Mabel asked
what her brother's chances were. "They're ninety-five per cent
against him," Dr. Dandy answered. "But if he had only one
chance in a million, we ought to try to save him: he has that
right." Dr. Dandy recommended that trephining be performed
15
to decrease pressure on Wolfe's brain—the pressure was so great
it was bulging his eyes. Also, trephining would make it possible
to put air in the brain for X-ray diagnosis.
The trephining procedure was performed that afternoon.
When the right ventricle of Wolfe's brain was tapped, fluid
spurted three feet. According to Dr. Dandy's medical report, "It
was perfectly clear fluid, but contained 230 cells, 75% mononu
clears This was enough to make the diagnosis of tuberculosis."
16
For a short time, Wolfe's headaches were relieved. "They've fixed
�1938
95
it, Ed, they've fixed it," Wolfe told Aswell. But relief was tem
17
porary Dr. Dandy knew the only remaining hope was that
instead of many tubercles there might be only one, a tubercu
loma, which could be removed.
Aswell returned to New York to break the news to Harper's;
and Elizabeth Nowell, Fred Wolfe, and Maxwell Perkins came to
the hospital. Aline Bernstein wanted to come but was dissuaded
by Perkins who knew Mrs. Bernstein's presence would disturb
Julia Wolfe. "Julia is here, and we don't know what she would do
if she sees you," Perkins told Mrs. Bernstein. "I really think it's
better for Tom if you don't come."
18
The surgery was scheduled for September 12. Wolfe's family
and friends remained in a small waiting room near the operating
room. At the family's insistence, Annie Laurie Crawford watched
the operation and served as a buffer between hospital staff and
family. Dr. Dandy performed a cerebellar exploration, looking
for a large tubercle that might be causing the obstruction to the
flow of cerebrospinal fluid and therefore increasing the pressure.
If this could be found and removed, the pressure might be re
lieved. Unfortunately, during surgery, Dr. Dandy discovered
"Over the right lobe of the cerebellum were myriads of tuber
cles" and determined "Obviously there was nothing that could
be done."
19
The wound was closed with sutures of layered silk.
"He didn't operate," Annie Laurie Crawford told Wolfe's fam
ily and friends. "They opened up Tom's skull, and Dr. Dandy took
one look and laid the scalpel down." Dr. Dandy then came into
20
the waiting room, still in his white suit and skullcap. "The case
is hopeless," he grimly told everyone. "He has miliary tubercu
losis of the brain. His brain is simply covered with tubercles—
there must be millions of them there." The family exploded with
grief and shock. "He may live for six weeks more," Dr. Dandy
told them when they calmed down, "and we can keep him fairly
comfortable. But it's absolutely hopeless. If he can die now, with
out recovering from the operation—as he may within the next
three days—it will be much better." Dr. Dandy diagnosed that
21
�96
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
Wolfe had contracted tuberculosis of the lung at some time in his
youth. The lung cured itself, sealing the tubercles inside. When
he contracted pneumonia in July, the lesion had reopened and
the tubercles suffused his bloodstream and infected his brain.
Wolfe remained in the neurosurgical recovery room and did
not return to the room he had been admitted to in the Marburg
Building. For three days and nights, he lay in a semicoma. Eliza
beth Nowell later recalled: "His head was swathed in great white
bandages, his eyes were shut, his breath came stertorously
through half-opened mouth, but perhaps a spark of conscious
ness still was in h i m . "
22
According to hospital records, Wolfe
regained consciousness and talked with family members on
September 13. The following day, lapsing into unconsciousness,
he called for "Scotch!" and had imaginary conversations with
his New York editors.
The nurses urged Mabel to try to communicate with her
brother. "Tom!" she would cry out, "Tom! Can you hear me?
Answer me! Tom! Tom!" Finally, Wolfe answered with infinite
patience and weariness, as if already talking to her from another
world: "All right, Mabel. I'm c o m i n g . . . . "
2 3
A blood transfusion was given to him but to no avail. Wolfe
died on Thursday morning, September 15, at 5:30. His death cer
tificate lists the immediate cause of death as "tuberculosis men
ingitis" with contributing "pulmonary tuberculosis." However,
pneumonia developed following the major surgery and, like his
brother Ben, Wolfe died "drowning . . . in his own secretions."
24
He died so suddenly there was little time to call those who had
waited so loyally near him. (Of Wolfe's family and friends, only
Annie Laurie Crawford witnessed his death.) "At the end—the
very end—nothing but silence—there will be silence, lonely si
lence in the end," he had written earlier. Julia, Mabel, and Fred
25
arrived five minutes after Wolfe died. Beside himself with grief,
Fred implored the doctors to do something: "Bring him back, for
ten minutes, five minutes, one minute! I want to talk to him!"
"You do not understand," Mabel told Fred. "Tom is dead."
26
�1938
97
Julia Wolfe's face as she left the hospital was "white, almost
like marble," her granddaughter Virginia remembered, "her
black-brown eyes were frightened."
27
Julia did not sleep that
night, but sat at a window in the rooming house across from
Johns Hopkins, watching the hospital, refusing to go to bed.
(Tom,
she later insisted, had died of a brain abscess following
pneumonia—tuberculosis was never mentioned.)
A coffin large enough to hold Wolfe's body could not be
located in Baltimore, so the undertaker had one made to order.
On September 16 the king-size coffin was loaded onto a baggage
car
before Wolfe's family boarded the train. Elizabeth Nowell
and
Edward Aswell noticed that the family Pullman car was K-
19, the car Wolfe usually took to Asheville.
On
Saturday morning, the 17th, the train climbed up
through the hills and mountains Wolfe had loved so much and
arrived at the Biltmore station at 9:15. His body was taken to the
Brownell-Dunn Funeral Home directly across the street from the
Old Kentucky Home where final touches were provided. After an
hour, his remains were moved into the front parlor of the dilap
idated house he had always hated. Surrounded by floral tributes,
he lay rigid in the pink padded, satin-lined casket, rouged and
embalmed, his face white and expressionless, the line of his
mouth unnatural and set. His nicotine-stained hands were
Julia Wolfe, shortly before her death in 1 9 4 5 . Julia
outlived Thomas Wolfe by seven years. Despite the
fact that Wolfe's doctors diagnosed that he had con
tracted tuberculosis in his youth, Julia refused to admit
that her son had died of the disease. Maxwell Perkins
firmly believed that Wolfe had contracted tuberculosis
in Julia's boardinghouse, where her mania for money
made her careless about the boarders she accepted.
Photo courtesy of The Thomas Wolfe Collection, Pack Memorial
Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
�98
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
waxen, the callus on his finger tangible evidence that writing was
indeed hard work. A n ill-fitting black wig hid the incision on his
shaved skull. The hair was plastered down, sleek and smooth,
and shined like patent leather. Mabel placed a red rose in the la
pel of his blue serge suit, although she knew her brother would
not approve. The coffin, draped with transparent pink cheese
cloth to keep the flies away, lay only a few feet from the piano
where Mabel had entertained during the house's salad days.
News of Thomas Wolfe's death stunned the community.
Hundreds of friends and admirers called that day. Julia stood by
the coffin, tearless, incessantly describing every minute detail of
her son's final illness to anyone who would listen. Mabel, reeking
with whiskey, stood near Julia, contradicting her mother's sto
ries, and often weeping into her handkerchief. Maxwell Perkins
went in to look at Wolfe, "who, thank God, did not look in the
least like Tom," Perkins later remembered, "so I didn't much
mind what I had dreaded." Frederick Koch, Wolfe's playwriting
28
instructor at Chapel Hill, attempted to find violets for Wolfe.
Koch remembered how Buck Gavin had gone searching for vio
lets to put on the grave of his partner. For hours Koch scoured
the city but could not locate the violets he thought so appropri
ate for his former student.
O n Sunday afternoon, September 18, at 2:45, Thomas Wolfe
left the Old Kentucky Home for the last time. The crowd gathered
in front of the house overflowed from the yard to the sidewalk
and street. As pallbearers J.Y. Jordan, Paul Green, Albert Coates,
Frederick Koch, Jonathan Daniels, Hamilton Basso, W.O. Wolfe,
Jr., and Henry Westall carried the coffin out of the parlor, Mabel
began screaming hysterically. She later admitted she could not
remember anything for the next two weeks. Pressed to the limits
of her endurance, she did not attend her brother's funeral.
"Brief, but impressive funeral services"
30
29
were held at First
Presbyterian Church where Wolfe had attended Sunday school
as a boy. The church was full a half-hour before the three o'clock
services began, and the crowd extended to the church's balcony
�1938
99
and lawn. Rev. Robert E Campbell, the former pastor, officiated,
assisted by the present pastor, Rev. C. Grier Davis. "Abide with
Me" and "Crossing the Bar," hymns chosen by Mabel, were sung.
Dr. Campbell told the assembly, "I wish I had something definite
to say about his religious life. As there was a restlessness and
lack of definite form in his intellectual and emotional processes,
it is natural to conclude that the same was true of his religious
beliefs and aspirations." Campbell illustrated his contention
with a quotation from Of Time and the River: "Where shall the
weary rest? When shall the lonely of heart come home? What
doors are open for the wanderer? And which of us shall find his
father, know his face, and in what place, and in what time, and
in what land?" But when atheist Margaret Roberts sensed Dr.
31
Campbell was attempting to add religious connotation by capi
talizing "his" and "father" with special emphasis, she wanted to
say, "Not capitals! No capitals there!" ("Father" and "His" were
32
capitalized in the Asheville Citizen's reportage of the funeral.)
As the funeral cortege passed through the business district,
people along the streets stopped and bowed their heads. Men
took off their hats. Hundreds attended the interment at River
side Cemetery. At the end of the rites, Julia Wolfe's tired face was
seen pressed against the window of her limousine, and, as the
car rolled away, she watched the grave as long as she could.
Thomas Wolfe's net estate was assessed at $10,305. Cash at
the time of his death totaled $8,653. Royalties accrued on his
books were estimated at $6,009. Deductions for administrative
and funeral costs of $2,026 and debts of $2,331, incurred during
his final illness, reduced the total. Wolfe's will named Maxwell
Perkins as executor of the estate.
The fate of Wolfe's massive unfinished manuscript was then
in the hands of Edward Aswell. Only a day after Wolfe's death,
the Asheville
Citizen reported that Wolfe's last manuscript
would "continue the story of the Gant family began in 'Look
Homeward, Angel.'"
33
Before Wolfe had left for Purdue, he de
termined that The Web and the Rock would require at least an-
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
100
other year of work. Although many chapters had been com
pleted, others remained in first or partial draft, and several had
yet to be written. Some of the sections were still in Wolfe's hand
written scrawl—typists would have to guess at some of the pen
ciled words. In addition, the protagonist of the book had as
many as six different names. In some chapters, which often
weaved between first and third person, the protagonist had sev
eral brothers and sisters, while in others, he was an only child.
After Wolfe's death, Aswell and Perkins realized that because
the novel was ten times the size of the average novel, there
would be a small reading public for anything of such propor
tions. Allowed to use only the two enormous bundles Wolfe gave
him in May 1937, Aswell dealt with the problem by dividing the
manuscript into two novels: The Web and the Rock and You Can't
Go Home Again, and a collection of stories and fragments, The
Hills Beyond, He standardized names, blended or omitted char
acters, and, to prevent lawsuits for libel or invasion of privacy,
changed the names or altered the descriptions of minor charac
ters. Although Aswell took liberties in reshaping and recasting
dozens of passages, as well as writing the summary notes ap
pearing in italics between the sections of each novel, by no
means could he be considered the author of Wolfe's posthu
mous novels, as some critics have charged.
Maxwell Perkins and Edward Aswell were asked by Wolfe's
family to supply a suitable epitaph for Wolfe's gravestone. Per
kins chose a quotation from Look Homeward, Angel; Aswell, one
from The Web and the Rock. Although only one quotation was to
be on the stone, Wolfe's family could not decide which to use, so
they used both:
" T H E LAST VOYAGE, T H E LONGEST, T H E BEST."
LOOK HOMEWARD, A N G E L
"DEATH B E N T T O T O U C H HIS C H O S E N S O N W I T H
MERCY, LOVE A N D PITY, A N D PUT T H E SEAL OF H O N O R
O N H I M W H E N H E DIED."
T H E WEB A N D T H E ROCK
�1938
101
Thomas Wolfe's grave, Riverside Cemetery, Asheville, North Carolina.
Photo courtesy of The Thomos Wolfe Collection, Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
NOTES
1. Notebooks, II, 954.
2. Letters, 764.
3. Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again (New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1940), 388.
4. Letters, 766.
5. Notebooks, II, 963.
6. Ibid., 987.
7. Letters, 774.
8. Ibid., 776.
9. Donald, 456.
10. Letters, 776.
11. Nowell, 428.
�102
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
12. Ibid., 429.
13. Ibid., 434.
14. Ibid., 436.
15. ZfoW.
16. Medical reports, Johns Hopkins Hospital, September 10 and 12,
1938.
17. Nowell,437.
18. Carole Klein. Aline (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), 316.
19. Medical reports.
20. Nowell,438.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid., 438-439.
24. The Autobiographical Outline, 41.
25. Notebooks, II, 616.
26. Charlotte News, July 30, 1939.
27. Virginia Gambrell Wilder to Ted Mitchell, telephone interview,
April 23,1996.
28. Nowell,439.
29. See Joanne Marshall Mauldin, "'Peace to His Ashes and Sorrow for
His Going': Thomas Wolfe's Funeral," Thomas Wolfe Review 18:1
(Fall 1994): 31. This article is a definitive and fascinating account
of Thomas Wolfe's funeral.
30. Asheville Citizen, September 19,1938.
31. Ibid. In the early 1930s Wolfe claimed to be an atheist: "I do not
think that I have believed in God for fifteen years. Sometimes it
seems that I never believed in him save when I was a little child,
saying my prayers, mechanically, at night." Turnbull, 327.
32. Turnbull, 321.
33. Asheville Citizen, September 16,1938.
�Carrara angel from the tombstone shop of W. 0 . Wolfe in Asheville. "It was sculpted from the
finest white Italian marble that money could buy/' Wolfe's father told the daughters of Margaret
Bates Johnson, who purchased the statue for their mother's grave in 1 9 0 6 . The statue stands in
Oakdale Cemetery, Hendersonville, North Carolina.
Photo by Ted Mitchell.
�Thomas Wolfe's funeral, September 1 8 , 1 9 3 8 , First Presbyterian church, Asheville.
Photo courtesy of the Thomas Wolfe Collection, Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North Carolina.
�APPENDIX A
Ancestry of Thomas Wolfe
Paternal Ancestry
Nothing has been learned of the parentage of Thomas Wolfe's
paternal grandfather, Jacob Wolf He may have been descended
from or in some way related to Hans Georg Wolff or Hans Bernhard Wolff immigrants who arrived in America in 1727. He may
have been a distant cousin of George Wolf governor (1829-1835)
of Pennsylvania. Thomas Wolfe's paternal grandmother, Eleanor
Jane Heikes, was of Dutch and German ancestry.
I.
Jacob Wolf was born about 1807 in Adams County, Pennsyl
vania; he died 17 August 1860. Married on 12 April 1838 to
Eleanor Jane Heikes (13 July 1817-26 July 1913). They had
nine children:
1. Augusta Louisa Wolf (1838-ca. 1915).
2. George Alexander Wolf (1839-1901).
3. Sarah Ellen Wolf (1841-1864).
4. Huldah EmelineWolf (1844-1858).
5. Susan Rebecca Wolf (1846-1867).
6. Wesley Emerson Wolfe (1848-1915).
7. WILLIAM OLIVER WOLFE (Thomas Wolfe's father. See
below.)
8. Elmore Elsworth (or Elmer Emerson) Wolf (1853-1894).
9. Gilbert John (or John Gilbert) Wolf (1858-1921).
II. William Oliver Wolfe (10 April 1851-20 June 1922). Married
three times: Hattie J. Watson on 9 October 1873; Cynthia C.
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
106
Hill (1842-1884) on 25 March 1879; Julia Westall (16 Febru
ary 1860-7 December 1945) on 14 January 1885. No children
from W.O.'s first two marriages; eight children with Julia
Westall Wolfe:
1. Leslie E. Wolfe (19 October 1885-14 July 1886).
2. Effie Nelson Wolfe Gambrell (7 June 1887-11 November
1950).
3. Frank Cecil Wolfe (25 November 1888-7 November 1956).
4. Mabel Elizabeth Wolfe Wheaton (25 September 1890-29
September 1958).
5. Benjamin Harrison Wolfe (27 October 1892-19 October
1918).
6. Grover Cleveland Wolfe (27 October 1892-16 November
1904).
7. Frederick William Wolfe (15 July 1894-8 April 1980).
8. Thomas Clayton Wolfe (3 October 1900-15 September
1938).
Maternal Ancestry
I.
Richard (or Andrew) Westall. Origins England or Scodand.
II. Thomas Westall (sometimes referred to as William McGillis
Westall), born in England or Scodand, about 1775; died circa
1834. Married Mary Brittain Westall (20 July 1787-27 No
vember 1864) about 1804 (divorced in about 1812). One son.
III. William Brittain ("Billy") Westall (15 November 1805-22 No
vember 1882). Married Matilda Penland Westall (30 June
1799-21 June 1841) on May 31, 1827. Six children from this
marriage:
1. Samuel James Westall (1828-1897).
2. Thomas Casey Westall (1830-1903).
�Appendix A: Ancestry of Thomas Wolfe
107
3. Clarissa A n n Westall Horton (1832-1921).
4. William Lysander Westall (1836-1864).
5. Noble Bachus Westall (1838-1924).
6. Matilda Jane Westall (1841, died shortly after birth).
William Brittain Westall's second marriage in 1841 was to
Eliza Madelyn Angel (20 April 1820-19 November 1898) in
1841. There were 13 children from the second marriage:
1. John Baird Westall (1842-1937).
2. Henry Clay Westall (1843-1845).
3. Julia Catharine Westall (1845-1846).
4. Andrew Henson Westall (1846-1914).
5. Mary Elizabeth Westall (1848-?).
6. William Lysander Westall, born Winfield Scott Westall
(1849- ca. 1876).
7. Rebecca Katie Westall (1850-?).
8. Robert Penland Westall (1853-1874).
9. James Poteat Westall (1854-1915).
10. Theodore Westall (1856-1925).
11. Sarah A n n Eliza Westall (1857-1911).
12. Zebulon Vance Westall (1859-1890).
13. Nancy Louisa Westall (1859-1953).
IV Thomas Casey Westall (9 May 1830-28 June 1903). Married
Martha A n n Penland Westall (31 March 1833-27 July 1899)
on 31 January 1853. Eleven children:
1. Henry Addison Westall (1854-1947).
2. Samuel William Bacchus Westall (1855-1863).
3. Sarah Matilda Westall (1857-1877).
4. JULIA ELIZABETH WESTALL (1860-1945).
Wolfe's mother.)
(Thomas
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
108
5. James Manassas Westall (1861-1943).
6. William Harrison Westall (1863-1944).
7. Lee Johnson Westall (1866-1884).
8. Mary Rebecca Westall (1868-1885).
9. Thomas Crockett Westall (1870-1940).
10. Horace Greely Westall (1872-1902).
11. Elmer Capen Westall (1874-1941).
(Sources: Julia and the Westalls Beyond: The Maternal Ancestry
of Thomas Wolfe, Deborah A. Borland, 1992; Thomas Wolfe's
Pennsylvania,
Richard Walser, Croissant & Company, 1978;
"Thomas Westall and His Son William," Richard Walser, Thomas
Wolfe Review, (Spring 1984,): 8-18.)
Thomas
Wolfe's
great-half-uncle,
John B. Westall ( 1 8 4 2 - 1 9 3 7 ) , as a
Confederate soldier. Wolfe fictionalized
his uncle's reminiscences of the Civil
War battle at Chickamauga into a short
story, "Chickamauga." However, in the
story, Westall was made more countri
fied. "Grandfather didn't talk the way
the speaker does in the story, though,"
Westall's grandson, Bruce Westall, later
remembered. "He was very precise and
careful; he never said 'hit' for 'it.'"
(Thomas Wolfe Review, Fall 1982.)
Photo courtesy of The North Carolina Collection,
Pack Memorial Public Library, Asheville, North
Carolina.
�APPENDIX B
Publications of Thomas Wolfe
Separate Publications
The Crisis in Industry, University of North Carolina, 1919.
Look Homeward, Angel, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1929.
Of Time and the River, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935.
From Death to Morning, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1935.
The Story of a Novel, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936.
A Note on Experts: Dexter Vespasian Joyner, House of Books, Ltd.,
1939.
The Web and the Rock, Harper & Brothers, 1939.
You Can't Go Home Again, Harper & Brothers, 1940.
The Hills Beyond, Harper & Brothers, 1941.
Gentlemen of the Press, Black Archer Press, 1942.
Thomas Wolfe's Letters to His Mother, Charles Scribner's Sons,
1943.
Mannerhouse, Harper & Brothers, 1948.
. . . The Years of Wandering in Many Lands and Cities,"
u
Charles S. Boesen, 1949.
A Western Journal, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1951.
The Correspondence of Thomas Wolfe and Homer Andrew Watt,
New York University Press, 1954.
The Letters of Thomas Wolfe, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1956.
The Short Novels of Thomas Wolfe, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1961.
�110
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
Thomas Wolfe's Purdue Speech: "Writing and Living/' Purdue
University Studies, 1964.
The Mountains, University of North Carolina Press, 1970.
The Notebooks of Thomas Wolfe, University of North Carolina
Press, 1970.
A Prologue to America, Croissant & Company, 1978.
London Tower, Thomas Wolfe Society, 1980.
The Proem to "OLost," Thomas Wolfe Society, 1980.
The Streets of Durham, Thomas Wolfe Society, 1982.
K-19: Salvaged Pieces, Thomas Wolfe Society, 1983.
Welcome to Our City, Louisiana State University Press, 1983.
Beyond Love and Loyalty: The Letters of Thomas Wolfe and Eliz
abeth Nowell, University of North Carolina Press, 1983.
My Other Loneliness: Letters of Thomas Wolfe and Aline Bern
stein, University of North Carolina Press, 1983.
The Train and the City, Thomas Wolfe Society, 1984.
Holding on for Heaven: The Cables and Postcards of Thomas
Wolfe and Aline Bernstein, Thomas Wolfe Society, 1985.
Thomas Wolfe Interviewed, 1929-1938, Louisiana State Univer
sity Press, 1985.
The Hound of Darkness, Thomas Wolfe Society, 1986.
The Complete Short Stories of Thomas Wolfe, Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1987.
The Starwick Episodes, Thomas Wolfe Society, 1989.
Thomas Wolfe's Composition Books: The North State Fitting
School 1912-1915, Thomas Wolfe Society, 1990.
The Autobiographical Outline for Look Homeward, Angel,
Thomas Wolfe Society, 1991.
�Appendix B: Publications of Thomas Wolfe
111
The Good Child's River, University of North Carolina Press, 1991.
The Lost Boy, University of North Carolina Press, 1992.
Thomas Wolfe's Notes on Macbeth, Thomas Wolfe Society, 1992.
[George Webber, Writer]: An Introduction by a Friend, Thomas
Wolfe Society, 1994.
The Party at Jack's, University of North Carolina Press, 1995.
Antaeus, or A Memory of Earth, Thomas Wolfe Society, 1996.
Passage to England: A Selection, Thomas Wolfe Society, 1998.
First-Appearance Contributions to Books, Magazines,
and Newspapers
"A Field in Flanders," University of North Carolina
December 1917.
Magazine,
"To France," University of North Carolina Magazine, December
1917.
"The Challenge," University of North Carolina Magazine, March
1918.
"A Cullenden of Virginia," University of North Carolina Maga
zine, March 1918.
"To Rupert Brooke," University of North Carolina
May 1918.
Magazine,
"The Drammer," University of North Carolina Magazine, April
1919.
"An Appreciation," University of North Carolina Magazine, May
1919.
"Deferred Payment," University of North Carolina
June 1919.
Magazine,
"Russian Folk Song," University of North Carolina
Magazine,
May 1920.
�112
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
"The Creative Movement in Writing," Tar Heel June 14, 1919.
"The Streets of Durham, or Dirty Work at the Cross Roads," Uni
versity of North Carolina Tar Baby\ November 18,1919.
"Concerning Honest Bob," University of North Carolina Maga
zine, May 1920.
"The Return of Buck Gavin," Carolina Folk-Plays, Henry Holt &
Company, 1924.
"London Tower," Asheville Citizen, July 19, 1925.
"An Angel on the Porch," Scribner's Magazine, August 1929.
"A Poetic Odyssey of the Korea That Was Crushed," New York
Evening Post, April 4, 1931.
"A Portrait of Bascom Hawke," Scribner's Magazine, April 1932.
"The Web of Earth," Scribner's Magazine, July 1932.
"The Train and the City," Scribner's Magazine, May 1933.
"Death the Proud Brother," Scribner's Magazine, June 1933.
"No Door: A Story of Time and the Wanderer," Scribner's Maga
zine, July 1933.
"The Four Lost Men," Scribner's Magazine, February 1934.
"The Sun and the Rain," Scribner's Magazine, May 1934.
"Boom Town," American Mercury, May 1934.
"The House of the Far and Lost," Scribner's Magazine, August
1934.
"Dark in the Forest, Strange as Time," Scribner's Magazine, No
vember 1934.
"The Names of the Nation," Modern Monthly, December 1934.
"For Professional Appearance," Modern Monthly, January 1935.
"One of the Girls in Our Party," Scribner's Magazine, January
1935.
�Appendix B: Publications of Thomas Wolfe
113
"Circus at Dawn," Modern Monthly, March 1935.
"His Father's Earth," Modern Monthly, April 1935.
"Old Catawba," Virginia Quarterly Review, April 1935.
"Only the Dead Know Brooklyn," New Yorker, June 15, 1935.
"Polyphemus," North American Review, June 1935.
"In the Park," Harper's Bazaar, June 1935.
"The Face of the War," Modern Monthly, June 1935.
"Gulliver: The Story of a Tall Man," Scribner's Magazine, June
1935.
"Arnold Pendand," Esquire, June 1935.
"Cottage by the Tracks," Cosmopolitan, July 1935.
"The Bums at Sunset," Vanity Fair, October 1935.
"The Bell Remembered," American Mercury, August 1936.
"Fame and the Poet," American Mercury, October 1936.
"I Have a Thing to Tell You: (Nun will ich ihnen 'was sagen)."
New Republic, March 10, 17, 24, 1937.
"Mr. Malone," New Yorker, May 29, 1937.
"Oktoberfest," Scribner's Magazine, June 1937.
"'E, A Recollection," New Yorker, July 17, 1937.
"April, Late April," American Mercury, September 1937.
"The Child by Tiger," Saturday Evening Post, September 11,
1937.
"Katamoto," Harper's Bazaar, October 1937.
"The Lost Boy," Redbook, November 1937.
"Chickamauga," Yale Review, Winter 1938.
"The Company," New Masses, January 11,1938.
"A Prologue to America," Vogue, February 1, 1938.
�114
Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
The Third Night: A Play of the Carolina Mountains, The Carolina
Playbook, September 11,1938.
"Portrait of a Literary Critic: A Satire," American Mercury, April
1939.
"The Party at Jack's," Scribner's Magazine, May 1939.
"A Western Journey," Virginia Quarterly Review, Summer 1939.
"Three O'clock," North American Review, Summer 1939.
"The Winter of Our Discontent," Atlantic Monthly, June 1939.
"The Golden City," Harper's Bazaar, June 1939.
"The Birthday," Harper's Magazine, June 1939.
"Enchanted City," Reader's Digest, October 1939.
"The Hollyhock Sowers," American Mercury, August 1940.
"Dark Messiah," Current History and Forum, August 1940.
"Nebraska Crane," Harper's Magazine, August 1940.
"So This Is Man," Town and Country, August 1940.
"The Promise of America," Coronet, September 1940.
"The Hollow Men," Esquire, October 1940.
"The Anatomy of Loneliness," American Mercury, October 1941.
"The Lion at Morning," Harper's Bazaar, October 1941.
"The Plumed Knight," Town and Country, October 1941.
"Old M a n Rivers," Atlantic Monthly, December 1947.
(Sources: Thomas Wolfe: A Descriptive Bibliography, Carol John
ston, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1987; "Thomas Wolfe: A
Publishing Chronology," Aldo P. Magi, Thomas Wolfe Review
(Fall 1983): 14-20.)
�Acknowledgments
F
OREMOST, I express my gratitude to Steve Hill, manager of
the Thomas Wolfe Memorial since 1979, who made this
book a reality. Without his idea for a concise Thomas Wolfe
biography, this book would not have been written.
As always, I am indebted to Aldo P. Magi for his extraordinary
kindness. He is an outstanding advisor and friend, and I deeply
appreciate his generosity of spirit and his constant willingness
to assist. That's why this book is dedicated to him.
Dr. Richard Knapp's sound counsel guided the manuscript
from its first stages to the final draft. His efficient and generous
help improved this book by 100 percent. I cannot thank him
enough for his advice.
I am especially indebted to Philip P. Banks of Pack Memorial
Public Library, Asheville. He was always eager to help me locate
materials from numerous sources. I am also grateful to the staff
of the Houghton Library at Harvard University, especially Leslie
Morris and Melanie Wisner. I am grateful to Alice R. Cotten and
Jerry Cotten at the Wilson Library, University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill, for their attention to minute details.
David Strange provided the design and composition of the
first edition, upon which this revision is based. As always, I am
grateful for his advice as a counselor and his remarkable talents
as a designer. His enormous generosity of time and talent will
always be appreciated.
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
116
I am grateful to the following individuals for answering my
questions and sharing their knowledge of Thomas Wolfe:
James W. Clark, Jr., Walter E. Dandy, Jr., M.D., Mary Aswell Doll,
Elizabeth Evans, Richard S. Kennedy, John L. Idol, Jr., Steven B.
Rogers, Webb Salmon, Herbert M . Schiller, M.D., Clara Stites,
Morton I. Teicher, and John Ware, M.D.
Many thanks to Deborah A. Borland, whose expertise and
professionalism assisted so greatly in the preparation of this
book.
I am especially grateful to T i m Barnwell, John Beaver, the
late Paul Gitlin, Kimberley Hewitt, Joe A. Mobley, Chris Morton,
Zoe Rhine, Susan Weatherford, Ralph Williams, and A n n Wright,
for their assistance.
I would also like to thank for their support: my parents, Ilias
and Edna Mitchell; my brother, Rick Mitchell and his family;
and friends Zeb Baker, Connie Bostic, Matthew J. Bruccoli, Pat
Conroy, George Darden, Tina Gambrell, Walter R. Graham, Jr.,
Allan Gurganus, Jan Hensley, Secretary Betty Ray McCain, Wes
Morrison, Henry Rollins, Anne W. Taylor, Chris Wexler, and the
late Virginia Wilder. M y Sunday afternoon visits with the late
Margaret Rose Roberts contained some of the most moving
memories of my life.
M y greatest debt, however, is to Joanne Marshall Mauldin,
certainly one of the finest Wolfe researchers in the country. Not
only have her painstakingly researched articles set an example
for Wolfe scholarship to come, but her fierce devotion to main
taining accuracy and clarity has been an inspiration to me.
Without Joanne Mauldin's help, this would have been a different
volume altogether.
Finally, Todd Bailey has proved to be all that a friend can be.
Life is lighter with his presence.
�NDEX
A
Anderson, Sherwood, 79
Armstrong, Anne W. 73, 78, 79
Asheville: pictured, 2; as por
trayed by Wolfe, 49-50, 74-75
Asheville Citizen, 18, 49. 74, 75,
76
Asheville Female Seminary, 7
Asheville Times, 49
Aswell, Edward C , xiv, 81, 86-87,
89, 94, 97; pictured, 81
Aswell, Edward D., 81
Aswell, Mary Louise, 81, 82
B
Baker, George P., 34, 38, 40, 41;
pictured, 39
Basso, Hamilton, 77-78
Battery Park Hotel, 78
Berengaria, 45
Bernard, Elizabeth, 15
Bernard, William S.: pictured, 25
Bernstein, Aline, xiii, xiv, 44-46,
54, 55, 56, 58, 61, 67, 95; pic
tured, 44
Bernstein, Theodore, 44
Bingham Military School, 33
Bowman, William C. 2
Boyd, James, 72
Boyd, Madeleine, 46, 47, 67
Burnsville, N.C., 73-74, 77-78
c
Charles Scribner's Sons, 46, 68,
71,79
Concerning Honest Bob, 32
Carolina Playmakers, 31-32
Cayton, John, 4
"Chickamauga," 74
Cocke, Philip: pictured, 77
Conway, Ray, 88, 89; pictured, 88
Crawford, Annie L., 93, 95, 96
Crockett, Davy, 6
Cummings, F. A., 86
D
Dandy, Walter E., 93-96
Deferred Payment, 32
DeVoto, Bernard, 66-67
Dialectic Literary Society, 24
Dixieland boardinghouse, 14. See
also Old Kentucky Home
Dodd, Martha, 69
Dodd, William, 68
Dooher, Muredach J., 67
Dorman, Marjorie, 67
E
Ed (cook), 76
Emmet, Mary, 79
Europa, 68
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
118
F
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 54-55
Forty-seven (47) Workshop, 39-40
French, Lora, 33
From Death to Morning, 63
Frost, Robert, 62
G
Gambrell, EffieW, 8, 12-13, 15;
pictured, 10
Gant, Eugene, xi, xiii, xv, 25
Gem City Soda Shop, 73
Gone with the Wind, 73
Gorsline, Douglas, 72
Greenlaw, Edwin: pictured, 29
Guggenheim fellowship, 54
H
Haglund, Ivar, 89, 90
Haglund, Margaret, 89, 90
Hale, Nancy, 66
Harper and Brothers, 81-82
Harriss, R. R, 79
Harvard University, 34, 38
Hazzard house, 12
Heikes family, 3
Higgins, James O., 73-74
Hill, Cynthia C , 4; pictured, 5
Hills Beyond, The, 86-87
Hitler, Adolph, 69
"Hound of Darkness," 62
/
"I Have a Thing to Tell You," 70
He de France, 59
Independent Magazine, 19
Israel, Max, 15
/
Jassinoff, Gwen, 86, 87
Jelliffe, Belinda, 62
Jordan, J.Y, 78
Joyce, James, xiii
Judson College, 7
K
"K-19," 56, 97
Koch, Frederick H., 31, 34, 38;
pictured 32
L
Lancastria, 42
Langley Field, 29-30
Lee, Russel, 91
Lieber, Maxim, 58
"London Tower," 43
Look Homeward, Angel, xiii, 4, 6,
14, 24-25, 47-50, 54-55, 59
M
McCoy, George W., 75
Majestic, 45
Mannerhouse, 43
Martin, Wallace M., 27
Meyer, Wallace, 71
Miller, Edward, 88, 89; pictured,
88
Mountains, The, 38, 39
Myers, T. M., 14
�Index
N
Nazis, 68-70
New Republic, 70
New York University, 42
Niggertown, 40
"No More Rivers," 71
North State School, 18,19
Nowell, Elizabeth, xiii, xiv, 58, 63,
71, 72, 79, 81, 86, 95, 97; pic
tured, 58
Nu-Wraylnn, 73, 77
o
Of Time and the River, xiii, 34,
57-63
Oktoberfest, 46
Old Kentucky Home, 14, 15, 26,
30; pictured, 14
Olympic, xiv, 44
O'Neill, Eugene, 38
Orange Street School, 15, 16
Oteen cabin, 74-77; pictured, 77
P
"Party at Jack's, The," 78
"Passage to England," 43
Patton, Elizabeth, 6
Paul, Clara E., 26-27, 29; pic
tured, 27
Paul, Ray, 26
Perkins, Maxwell E., xiii, xiv, 4648, 50, 54, 57-63, 66-68, 71, 72,
91-92, 95; pictured, 47, 92
Pi Kappa Phi, 28-29; pictured, 33
"Portrait of Bascom Hawke," 5657
Princeton University, 26
119
Purdue University, 86-87
R
Raisbeck, Kenneth, 38
Ray, Philip, 73-74
"Return," 75
Return of Buck Gavin, The, 31-32
Riverside Park, 16
Roberts, Emma, 18
Roberts, JohnM., 16-17
Roberts, Margaret H., 16-18, 27,
40, 49, 58, 78; pictured 17
Rotterdam, 46
Rowohlt, Ernest, 60
Ruge, E. C , 90-91
s
Saturday Review of Literature, 62,
66
Scribner, Charles, III, 54
Scribner's: See Charles Scribner's
Sons
Scribner's Magazine, 56-57, 58
Seven Seas, 68, 70
Sluder, Erwin E., 14
"Spangler's Paul," 66
Stevens, James, 89, 90
Stevens, Theresa, 89, 90
Story of a Novel, The, 62, 66, 67
Streets of Durham, or Dirty Work
at the Cross Roads, The, 32
T
Tar Heel, 29, 33
Theatre Guild, 41
Third Night, The, 32
Thomas Wolfe Review, xiv
�Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
120
Thorns in the Flesh, 8
Tuberculosis, 72-73, 94-96
Turtle Bay, 63
u
University of North Carolina, 2426, 27-29, 41
University of North Carolina
Magazine, 28, 32
V
Volendam, 54
Vance, Zebulon, 24
Voelcker, Thea, 69-70
Vogue, 62
w
Warren, Robert Penn, 62
Washington Square College, 42
Watson, Hattie J., 4; pictured, 5
Watt, Homer A., 42, 44
Watts, Charles E., 91, 93
Webber, George, xi, xiii, xv, 86, 87
"Web of Earth, The," 57
Web and the Rock, The, xiv, 62,
66, 86-87
Welcome to Our City, 40-41
Westall, Henry A., 38
Westall, John B., 74
Westall, Julia E.: See Wolfe,
Julia W.
Westall, Laura, 38
Westall, Martha P., 6
Westall, Thomas C , 2, 6
Wheaton, Mabel W., xii, 8, 15, 49,
50, 91, 93-94, 96, 99; pictured,
10
Wheaton, Ralph, 19, 26
Whitson, Max, 74
Williams, Henry H.: pictured, 28
Winter, Ella, 79
Winter, Sophus, 90
Wisdom, William B., 71
Wolf, Eleanor H., 3
Wolf, Jacob, 3
Wolfe, Effie N.: See Gambrell,
EffieW.
Wolfe, Benjamin H., xii, 8,12, 3031; pictured, 11,30
Wolfe, Frank C , 8,12-13, 50; pic
tured, 10
Wolfe, Frederick W., xii, 8,12,13,
50,71-72, 74-75, 91, 95; pic
tured 11
Wolfe, Grover C , 8, 13; pictured,
11
Wolfe, Julia W., xii, 2, 5-8,12-15,
16, 31, 33-34, 39, 49-50, 56, 57,
93-97; pictured, 6, 9,75
Wolfe, Leslie E., 8
Wolfe, Mabel E.: See Wheaton,
Mabel W.
Wolfe, Mary Louise: pictured, 13
Wolfe, Thomas C : pictured, 1,12,
13, 23,31,33, 37, 43, 48, 53,
57, 61, 65, 69, 75, 76, 77, 85,
87, 88
Wolfe, William O.: xii, 2-5, 7-8, 12,
15-16, 19, 30, 33-34, 40; pic
tured, 3
Y
YacketyYack,29
You Can't Go Home Again, xiv, 62,
66, 70, 79-80, 86-87
�ABOUT THE AUTHOR
was a historic site interpreter at the Thomas Wolfe
Memorial State Historic Site for more than thirteen years, and was
a prolific writer in regards to the life and works of Thomas Wolfe.
Mitchell produced more than thirty books and articles on the subject
including, Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life and Windows of the Heart: The
Correspondence of Thomas Wolfe and Margaret Roberts. Mitchell was
the director of the annual Thomas Wolfe festival in Asheville, North
Carolina. He was the face and personality of the Wolfe Memorial site.
He passed away on December 6, 2008, at the age of 59.
TED MITCHELL
�
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Thomas Wolfe: A Writer's Life
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<span>The first novelist from North Carolina to become an influential voice in American literature, Thomas Wolfe was an imaginative and persuasive fictional writer. Hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, Thomas Wolfe is best known for his vivid portrayal of life in the mountains during the twentieth century. Published in 1999, </span><em>Thomas Wolfe: A Writer’s Life</em><span> explores Wolfe’s life and career spanning from 1900 until his early death in 1938. The author, Ted Mitchell, was a historic site interpreter at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site in Asheville. An earlier edition of this work was published by the Thomas Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site without the interpretation of Mitchell.</span><br /><br /><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1aFWLS9QXyeJ4T60EvAxR2ltTxWJJEjAo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Download EPub<br /><br /></a><a title="UNC Press Link" href="https://www.uncpress.org/book/9781469638102/thomas-wolfe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UNC Press Print on Demand</a>
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Novelists, American--20th century--Biography
North Carolina--Biography
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PDF Text
Text
Peggy Dotterer Interview
This is J ane Efird with Marlene Deaton for the Appalachian Oral History Project ,
July 17 , 1975 .
W ' re speaking with Mrs . Peggy Dotterer at her home in Hot Springs ,
e
North Carolina .
Q.
I just want you to start telling us about the history of the Hot Springs
and who first built the hotels around hre .
A.
Ah , this is history as I have gotten it from my family and my grandparents
and ah, it is not authentic as far as dates nor bave I ever researched all this .
These are just fond memories of a past era .
And my life began in Hot Springs when
I was , came back here when I was about ah , a little over two years old .
first home here was in the old Hampton Cottage .
time .
And my
And I lived there a very short
My father was ill and my father died there .And my mother was the youngest
daughter of the Rumbos .
And so , I ah) my roots are pretty deep in Hot Springs from
ah family ties and from the fact that I have lived here .
And whenever I ' ve gone
away from here , I have been irrevetably drawn back by what I can ' t t ell you exactly .
So, I have seen it from partially the hey- day and I have also listened to glowing
tales of days that came before my time on in to very sad to say , when we no longer
can be classed as a tourist town of any kind .
was the famous Mountain Fog Hotel .
many people , summer after summer .
And it was ah , still being visited by a great
And it was the type of tourism that we no longer
have . You came and you brought your trunk .
was small .
And you spent the summer .
they do now , one night stands .
close friends .
And you came by railroad train when I
Ah , you didn ' t move from place to place like
And these people came so often that they became quite
And the hotel now as I visualize it , from this standpoint , was a great
big rambling ah , wooden structure a.r:rl the front
road station .
And the first hotel that I remember
and it faced the rail-
Because that was the center of arriving and leaving .
And then , it had the
two wings tbat went back and the middle was kind of a courtyard and on the back wing
near the bay was the big ballroom and there were very gay activi ties there .
D:l.ncing
every night , orchestras brought in to be there all summer and the thing , one of the
things tlB.t was featured besides the gay social life was the curative waters of the
mineral springs . And those mineral springs are not looked upon now as they were then
�2
but that was the era of the farm , when people were very eager to go to places of
that nature and they believed greatly in , mm, the curative powers when they don ' t
anymore .
And then ah , I was twelve years old when the end of the hotel as a real
thriving tourist business of that era which is a very beautiful memory to me . of what
people did and what they were like in the life there.
to an end by the beginning of W
orld W I.
ar
And ah , that ah , was brought
And my uncleJ by that time, was running
it because my grandfather was quite elderly and he had divided the ownership of it .
And he felt that there would certainly be no tourist business here and so he made
a lease with the government for the German Prisoners to be interned here .
And the
most interesting part that stands out in my mind from them coming , they had a
wonderful German band and it sat down on the lawn there and played all the gorgeous
German music of the Blue I.anube and all the waltzes and Strauss W
altzes .
not only heard it from them but it echoed off of the mountains .
And you
And the officers
were interned in , in the main hotel and the sailors ah , they were merchant marines
who were taken .
golf link .
An
They were interned across the road in what had been a part of the
ah , that of course went on through the war and then when the war
was over , it was an army hospital for a short time .
have the real old fashioned ah , summer hotels .
Rlt never , never again did we
And it had been the heart of the town .
And of course , there were future attempts for tourism here because we were on 25- 70 .
And that for a time was the main road .
And it was for a good many years .
all the traffic from the mid- west through to Florida .
It brought
And we lBd ah , a season of
winter people on their way down to Florida and on their way back .
Bu~as
were built , fewer and few people , fewer people came this way at all .
And it ' s very
sad really for me to have seen it go into the decline that it ' s in now .
very definitely the last stroke was the opening of I- 40 .
highways
But , it
And we tried very hard to
ge1j, bring the roads through here , but it was a sort of a political deal with who
we tried and they got I- 40 and it completely took , took the through traffic away from
us .
And even t he motel down there that was the motel of the town then ah , is now ,
it ' s grew but you don ' t see too many people there .
And the ah , cafe that was ah ,
the best one that we had is now is a liquor store , an AB:: store .
nice place , eating place there .
That was a real
And for a time we had no eating place and now we
�3
have a sort of a one down town here which ah , doesn ' t stay open very regularly and
isn ' t patronized much.
And there is really no ah , r esemblance whatsoever t o this
town as I lrn.ew it when I was growing up .
rooted here and loved it very much.
Tennessee .
My
And my family was always very ah , deep-
And there was a very_close tie in with Greenville ,
f amily had come from there .
Jr ., the president ' s son .
Ah , one of my aunts married Andrew Johnson
And the Greenville people patronized Hot Springs and for
many years they drove a railroad train over here and had an annual picnic long after
Hot Springs .l:ad faded away as being ah , a real tourist center .
They still came and
ah , had their picnic down in the old hotel grounds like they had always done .
then that passed interval .
It wasn ' t done anymore .
And
So I , I can ' t ah , I can ' t see
that we have much hope for tourism as we have knownit , but there may come a time when
this will be a sort of a retirement center .
And about the only thing we have to
off er now is very lovely soenery , ,very quiet atmosphere , and very nice all- year- round
climate .
Of course , we don ' t get terribly cold here and ah , our SUilllllers are just as
nice with a very cool m
ountain night .
And yet just ah , when or who we will attract
ah , enough of people to change the place drastically , I ' m not sure whather it will
talce a long , long time or not .
Q.
And now can you think of anything that you ' d like to.
W
ell, ah , you said that you remember some fond stories that your grandparents and
your parents told you .
Could you start , you :Im.ow , tell ing us some of those about
the ah , the old , the tourist business so long ago?
A.
Well , the tourist business long ago was just possibly , as I remember it , is
m
uch as stories passed onto me .
I must say the greatest number of stories ever passed
onto me were the things t hat went on during the civil war because that w
growing up , that was still very vital in their minds .
had happened a
d t here
I was
The epis odes were things that
are two stories of Civil W days .
ar
And one of them was that
ah, my grandmother was living in a little cottage back upon the hill and my grandfather
had gone off and he was on the Confederate side and so she was there with the children
and she ah , the soldiers were coming .
They were on the other side and we had trouble
here apparently with what they call bushwackers , deserters anything .
the mountains and they simply came in as marauders .
They hid
~ut
They weren ' t fighting for any
in
�4
cause.
They were, it was just a good chance f or outlaws to express themselves .
And
so when she heard of them coming , she was really a very gallant lady , and she went
out , got an old colored man to help her , and she went out and burned the bridge t hat
led over to the hotel .
Then , another story is , is when they were they came and they
were taking everything they had and she had taken up the floor in the rarlor and had
a horse in there that she loved very much .
They were going to lead the horse away
and she threw her arms around the horse's neck and the man went off with her hanging
onto the horse for dear life .
And so , the young officer on the Union side said · well ,
if the lady loves the horse that much , give it back to her . "
So , she saved it .
Then ,
this other story they used to tell was that there was a battle f ought down at the Hotel
Grand .
I guess you ' d call it a squirmish .
And the ah , this young Union soldier was
was killed and he was fatally wounded and he died in my grandmother ' s arms .
They
were out trying to help both sides .
You were
That was the way of war in those days .
out killing, but you were you had a heart f or the other
~ide
as people , human beings .
And so , when he died in her arms , he had lovely golden sort of curls and she cut off
some and sent them to his mother .
And it was a life-long friendship by way of never
meeting but writing back and forth t o each other always .
And as far as as tourism
was concerned , I think that this description that I have in this article is about the
way it was and the way ah, the first way I remember it and I say in here in order to
describe the life tl:at centered about the second hotel , we quote from a , of a , from
an article written by one of the writers in that
the
Carolina used to publish.
rom t:be pamphlet tl:a t
I say although many came for the curative
value of the water , many others of tbe South ' s elite came summer after summer to enjoy
the gay social life and whether that would be gay social life today I ' m not sure but
that was their type of gay social life .
And I go on to say mountains
has become famous and I can remember the thing that stands out in my mind , something
that people loved then and I don ' t know whether they ' d love it now or not and that
was t he amateur theatricals .
W were al ways having ah , somebody getting up amateur
e
theatricals to be put on the stage of the ballroom and I can well , the thing I re-
�5
member was a man sitting in a chair , ah, smoking his pipe and remembering his
former sweetheart .
And I can remember that I was with a sweetheart number; number
1 when I was about five years old.
W walked out on the stage and stood there.
e
And of course, he lad what his memories were recited, in some kind of verse that
had be en written local .
And I can remember all these theatricals, sort of brought
in a local picture of life around here .
And they used to have people in the hotels
that were called the entertainment and they not only ran t he hotel , but they felt
responsible f or keeping t he guests very well entertained .
And we did have horse-
back riding and there were trails around here and there ' s an old road on the mountain back of the cabin I used to live in , that was called Dead Park Road .
originallY, I remembered is wide enough for a buggy to go
OL
And
and the people from the
motel would be taken out buggy riding up on the mountain and ah , ah around the hotel
there were things like ah
i g watermelon cuttings where the where they would pick
the watermelons in the garden dovm here , put them in a wagon and then the man would
ride into the center and then we ' d have a watermelon cutting and all the guests would
be there .
gether
thing .
And so it was the type of entertainment t!at would bring the people torather than everybody going out like they do now and doing their
-Own
It was an era of ah, enjoying social activ planning social activities of rather
a grandiose nature,
I ' d say .
many ideas like
The
Bapt~st
people weren 't really sold over to too
I can remember these beautiful evening dresses and they had
the dresses had trains on them and there was a loop
int~
d of, on the edge of· the
dress and the ladies put these over their wrists and that lifts the train and then
they waltzed and I was very small and used to sit on the back porch and and look
-
in at what was going on and I thought that was the most beautiful thing I ' d ever
seen, all these ladies holding their
running in t he fields with
One of the young ladies just asked me if I knew ah could remember any.. of the ah
sgrt· of famous people or
famous ~ to~me
mind is O' Henry , the author .
people and the one that stands out in my
And he had married a lady from Asheville and he
�6
came down here on his second honeymoon because he ' d already been married before .
And I remember , I don ' t know i f this is out of place, but I remember they served
mint julips up at my house and there were quite a l arge crowd that came and participated in this event and so I got to see the real live O' Henry .
And we had good
friends that came but as f or really famous people, I ' m not sure that I can remember .
Let me think i f I can remember anybody .
W had a great many New Orlean ' s
e
people-the far south people because I guess t hey found this so delightful for summer .
Q.
You don ' t have to tell us about famous people but any certain people that
you you know were good, just real good friends with or anything like that .
A.
You see , I was pretty young and ah , so my friends were some of the children
down at the hotel and I missed that very much after there was no more hotel because
that ' s where I f ound all my playmates .
It ' s been s o many years ago I ' m not sure I
can remember anybody by name particularly but I do remember the that people talked
about later by the family.
And they had , evidently , become close personal friends
and they were mostly far south people and I wish I could could remember better , but
you don ' t remember too well when you ' re my age .
Q.
Tell us about ah the first inn and then when the second one was built , and
each of the owners - ah, how the ownership passed down through the generations .
A.
The f irst that made this part of the country famous was t he era of the drovers .
Do you know anything about the drovers?
W
ell, ah , by way of the Buncombe turnpike
which went through here , M
adison County, through Hot Springs , they used to drive the
there were pigs and turkeys and those were the two most famous things that you heard
of being driven through down to Charleston , South Carolina , down t o the coast and
probably in between .
And inns were spotted all through Madison County because of
the drovers and you see that was a profitable thing .
they also had to provide feed for the animals .
turkeys and pigs .
The man stayed in the inn and
I ' m sure they had cattle as well as
And t he local farmers could sell the grain . So , I guess I would
say that probably Madison County was as prosperous in the drovers era as it was , ha s
ever been since .
And the first inn that I ever heard of was run by the Neilsons .
And I knew descendents of that fami l y w were G
ho
arretts and the one of the Garretts
�7
that I knew real well was named William Neilson so, I ' m certain of the tie in there .
And that was not on the present site of the present hotel , it was down the river a
ways on the other side .
And then the first hotel that I ever knew of here , whether
it was built by the Pattons or bought by the Pattons , I ' m not certain because I ' ve
seen it written both ways .
And all of our history , even though it had been written
down in late years , perhaps isn ' t absolutely authentic as to ownership , but we always
seemed to be quite proud of the fact that the man who later became the Civil War
governor of North Carolina , Governor Vance, was a clerk at our hotel .
And the first
hotel was the one that my grandfather bought and he bought it from the Pattons .
And
I never have known why but the deed says "the Pattons and Grand Master Rascal ," and
what a grand master was I ' ve never known .
So , the days when my grandfather first
bought it was just prior to the Civil War and so after the Civil War was when its
greatest development came .
And then he came back after the Civil W and
ar
hotel and a resort of those days .
the sta e coach line .
South Carolina .
, opened up the hotel as a resort
So , his chief interest then was the hotel and
And he ran a stagecoach from Greenville , Tennessee to Greenville ,
Of course, it didn ' t carry many passengers at one time and the most
famous stories that have passed around the ·family about the stagecoach were that they
didn't keep up the road very well and it was on the old Buncombe Turnpike which WBnt
down by the river .
It was full of great big boulders and they ' d have floods and
nobody would fix up the road and it was pretty rough on the passengers and the stagecoach.
And so , Grandfather mounted the stagecoach one day with an axe in his hand
and he cut down the toll gate because he said he had paid enough tolls for them not
to use any of it to fix up the road .
So , then , there became an agreement whereby
he kept up the road and didn ' t have to pay any toll.
And his main interest was getting
a railroad through here and it took a good many years to get it through Hot Springs .
It came as far as W
olf Creek , Tennessee and then they ' d have to come on from here
by a horse-drawn vehicle .
And it was very rough terrain we had that made it difficult
to put a railroad all the way through here .
But , about the late 18e0 1 s , and I have
the exact date somewhere because somewhere I rave a letter that he wrote from Greenville ,
s .c.
to my grandmother and he says that last night they got the railroad through which
�8
means he ' d been to a meeting .
And so, of course , it was the days of the railroad
when people tourists moved by railroad that was my early childhood that was most
impressive to me and I can remember looking out of the windows with my aunt and seeing
how many people got off the afternoon train and the Negro porter would have the ,q ags
up in the car and the people all came strolling down the main road under the trees
to the hotel .
It was a very long walk , but you might say they arrived by railroad
and then by f oot .
grea t deal .
And that didn ' t last for much of my life , but it impressed me a
And I spent a great deal of my lif'e around the hotel because my grand-
parents lived there and of course it was wonderful for a child to be able to go into
his grandfather ' s hotel dining room and eat whatever you wanted to .
And we had a
great long family table and this old Nigger man tl:nt we all called Uncle Simon waited
on tables and Uncle Simon always went around behind us fussing about what we did and
didn ' t eat .
And so , but , all of this was way back in my early childhood and I didn ' t
get very much of it before VAVI came along and that was the end of that .
The present
building t hat we have down that we have down here now the present brick building has
never been used except temporarily as a small inn which was never. r.un very long by
anybody and it ' s n ever been very successf ul .
center came t o i ts end wi th WWI .
To me, t he Hot Spr ings as a tourist
It might have gone on a little while longer had
the building not burned in t he 1920 1 s , but my thought is that it would have terminat ed anyway because lifestyles were changing •
Automobiles were coming in and I
n ever considered it at all the same t ype of tourist resort when the automobiles came
and the boarding "houses and the motels .
didn ' t even have bathrooms in them .
Of course , t he f irst tourist cabins , they
They were just little well ,
The firs t ones I remember , it was just a little log building , but suprisingly enough
people traveled in those days and they weren ' t v ery particular about it and then of
course , motels became j ust like expensive hotels .
To give you a little of t he history of the place , now this i.s. not authentic history ,
this is as I got i t from my family .
The Indians used to meet here to use the water .
It was a meeting place of various tribes of Indians . And they were discovered , we ' ve
a lways been told , and then the story is of t wo men , the scouts , who were watching
�9
for the Indians and they were had gone on out
around .
a~ad
to see if there were any Indians
This was during the time when I guess they had squirmishes with Indians , and
they discovered them near Hot Springs .
But , it had been known , as far as I ' ve always
been told , by the Indians long , long before that and I wouldn ' t doubt at all but what
it had not been used by the Indians
becau~ e
even though they say now days that you
can get in the bathtub and get just as much benefit , I ' ve always felt that mineral
water of the type we !ave is really very superior .
than Hot Springs , Arkansas .
the hotel was going on .
It was always rated even better
W certainly saw some very interesting cures here when
e
I well remember a family friend that they lifted off the
train on a stretcher and he took the baths and before he left at the end of that
summer he danced in the ballroom .
And he became a lifelong family friend and would
come back and visit us even when there was no longer a hotel here .
are curative values I can assure you .
And so , there
And my family , my mother and my aunt always
felt that whatever you had , if you ' d just go down and take a bath and drink the mineral
water there you ' d be fixed up fine and so the two things the things they emphasized
then were the curative values and then they went in big for the type of entertainment
that people liked then and enjoyed .
The widows were not too terribly
though they were much more so than they
are now , but they developed a scheme by which in the month of February , I think from
Christmas on , it was probably pretty slow . : You see , the fall was very lonely here .
It would sort of linger along til perhaps November and I guess they didn ' t mind the
slow season in there when they didn ' t have people .
And then they ' d contacted some
people in Akron , Ohio and rented them an entire wing of the hotel .
filled it themselves with their friends .
Thereby , they
In February was mild then and the early
winter was the part that was cold and so they used to help out that way .
you would get picked up because April was quite a warm spring month .
And by March
So , I don ' t
think they had to struggle through too many winter mont hs and then I imagine that
they had a few people that came and went regularly such as the Drummins who used to
go through the country
the country store and they always had to put up some-
where , And Hot Springs had a good m
any boarding houses back in those days for people
�10
that did not stay at the hotel .
And right back of this house , right over there
there ' s a famous old boarding house run by Lancefords .
in the summertime even after the days of the hotels .
accomodations all over town .
then .
And ah , it used to fill up
And there were boarding house
And Hot Springs doesn ' t look at all now what it looked
So that main street ' s become acrossed with bridges of that was where people
lived and the stores and the post offices and whatever other business buildings like
the livery stable which every town had one then .
t'ha railroad station when I
was growing up .
Ah , somewhere in my possessions and I ' m not sure where right now because things
are kind of mixed up , I rave a little book that you just called a brochure that were
mailed out and I would say the greatest advertisement was word of mouth and I think
people became more familiar with a place because somebody went there that liked it .
.
\
Ah , because people didn ' t rave radios , t . v . s , and barely even newspaper advertisements .
M
ost advertising , I ' d say the greatest, by word of mouth .
Ah , well , the efforts were made you see by the building of superior court
here .
And all along , through the year , as I described to you a little bit ago ,
in those days .
there were
Trat was
And I remember we didn ' t have a lot of automobiles travelling here as early as they
did other places because our roads weren ' t very good around here .
I know when
I learned to drive a car in 1925 there wasn ' t a paved road around here anywhere.
The road over this mountain that you came over was practically single-laned and
a dirt road and the first road I remember didn ' t even have
It was just a dusty road .
rock
The dust maybe hid you in the summertime .
So, the efforts
have been here to encourage tourists , but the ah , things just haven ' t worked out .
If we had maintained a steady tourist travel it wa.ild have certainly required ah,
very good roads that we don 't have because when the railroad travel went out entirely
at all.
Ah , people moved only by automobiles , tourist travel .
can understand what I thought it was .
And you
�11
No, I don ' t remember .
Ah , of course, I was very young during the days of the
hotel and it was all very glamorous to me and I thought it was lovely .
And I
ah, thought it was quite beautifully run because my grandfather ran it I guess .
And it was a tie-in with the family and this house that we ' re sitting in right
now was built by my grandfather in 1868 and it has been completely remodelled .
But , you can look over there and see a picture of it as it was .
And as it was,
as I lived in it as a child and in fact until not too many years ago before it was
remodelled like it is now .
It was my grandfather ' s home .
My
mother was born here .
And ah , it has never been, except for rented for a short period of ti.me a boarding
house while the family lived in Asheville a little while during the days of
southern
company, the Civil W aftermath and it ' s always been mentioned
ar
by the family . It was never owned by anyone else .
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews
Description
An account of the resource
In 1973, representatives from Appalachian State University (ASU) began the process of collecting interviews from Watauga, Avery, Ashe, and Caldwell county citizens to learn about their respective lives and gather stories. From the outset of the project, the interviewers knew that they were reaching out to the “last generation of Appalachian residents to reach maturity before the advent of radio, the last generation to maintain an oral tradition.” The goal was to create a wealth of data for historians, folklorists, musicians, sociologists, and anthropologists interested in the Appalachian Region.
The project was known as the “Appalachian Oral History Project” (AOHP), and developed in a consortium with Alice Lloyd College and Lees Junior College (now Hazard County Community College) both in Kentucky, Emory and Henry College in Virginia, and ASU. Predominately funded through the National Endowment for the Humanities, the four schools by 1977 had amassed approximately 3,000 interviews. Each institution had its own director and staff. Most of the interviewers were students.
Outgrowths of the project included the Mountain Memories newsletter that shared the stories collected, an advisory council, a Union Catalog, photographs collected, transcripts on microfilm, and the book Our Appalachia. Out of the 3,000 interviews between the three schools, only 663 transcripts were selected to be microfilmed. In 1978, two reels of microfilm were made available with 96 transcripts contributed by ASU.
An annotated index referred to as The Appalachian Oral History Project Union Catalog was created to accompany the microfilm. The catalog is broken down into five sections starting with a subject topic index such as Civilian Conservation Corps, Coal Camps, Churches, etc. The next four sections introduced the interviewees by respective school. There was an attempt to include basic biographic information such as date of birth, location, interviewer name, length of interview, and subjects discussed. However, this information was not always consistent per school.
This online project features clips from the interviews, complete transcripts, and photographs. The quality and consistency of the interviews vary due to the fact that they were done largely by students. Most of the photos are missing dates and identifying information.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records, 1965-1989
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1965-1989
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview.
Efird, Jane
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed.
Dotterer, Elizabeth
Interview Date
7/17/1975
Location
The location of the interview.
Hot Springs, NC
Number of pages
11 pages
Date digitized
9/16/2014
File size
8.11MB
Checksum
alphanumeric code
8df455f77e2183ea64b8c3af6459e207
Scanned by
Tony Grady
Equipment
Epson Expression 10000 XL
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Copyright for the interviews on the Appalachian State University Oral History Collection site is held by Appalachian State University. The interviews are available for free personal; non-commercial; and educational use; provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Appalachian State Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records; 1965-1989; W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection; Special Collections; Appalachian State University; Boone; NC). Any commercial use of the materials; without the written permission of the Appalachian State University; is strictly prohibited.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
AC.111 Appalachian Oral History Project Records; 1965 - 1989
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Identifier
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111_tape300_ElizabethDotterer_transcript_M
Title
A name given to the resource
Interview with Elizabeth Dotterer [July 17, 1975]
Language
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English
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Document
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Efird, Jane
Dotterer, Elizabeth
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/195" target="_blank">Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Hot Springs (N.C.)--Social life and customs--20th century
Community life--North Carolina--Hot Springs--History--20th century--Anecdotes
Description
An account of the resource
Elizabeth Dotterer talks about growing up in Hot Springs, North Carolina, where many tourists would come and stay over the summer. She explains: "It was the type of tourism we no longer have. You spent the entire summer." After the outbreak of WWII the nature of tourism changed. Dotterer reflects fondly on working at the hotels and spending time with the summer tourists. She explains that the opening of the I-40 highways had a big impact on tourism as well.
Andrew Johnson Jr
Asheville
automobiles
Buncombe Turnpike
cars
Civil War
drovers
Elizabeth Dotterer
formal balls
German band
German prisoners
Greenville
Hampton Cottage
Hot Springs
hotel entertainment
Hotel Grand
Madison County N.C.
Mountain Fog Hotel
Native Americans
railroad
Tennessee
tourist business
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/4677969cec89efc2b40c0d6b2b6aca06.pdf
1147d1eb5868ffc21c2d7e10ac6012f8
PDF Text
Text
�������������������������
Dublin Core
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Title
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Andrew Jackson Greene Collection
Description
An account of the resource
The Andrew Jackson Greene Collection consists of more than 160 diaries written by Greene who describes Watauga County's education system, including Appalachian State Teachers College, cultural and religious life, and agriculture from 1906 to 1942. <br /><br /><strong>Biographical Note.</strong> Andrew Jackson Greene (March 2, 1883-August 12, 1942) was a life-long resident of Watauga County, North Carolina and instructor in several Watauga schools including Appalachian State Teachers College (A.S.T.C). Greene worked as a farmer, public school teacher, and college professor. Greene was an enthusiastic diarist maintaining regular entries from 1906 to the day before his death. He also recorded A.S.T.C. faculty meetings from January 9, 1915 to May 3, 1940. He married Polly Warren, and they had three children, Ralph, Maxie, and Lester.
Contributor
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Greene, Andrew Jackson, 1883-1942
Source
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<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/190">AC.105: Andrew Jackson Greene Collection</a>
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1906-1942
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No Copyright - United States</a>
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Number of pages
25
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Title
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Diary of Andrew Jackson Greene, Volume 27 [September 1, 1917 - November 14, 1917]
Creator
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Greene, Andrew Jackson, 1883-1942
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="Andrew Jackson Greene Collection, 1906-1942" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/190" target="_blank">Andrew Jackson Greene Collection, 1906-1942</a>
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1917
Extent
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23.6MB
Language
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English
Identifier
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105_027_1917_0901_1917_1114
Description
An account of the resource
This diary includes entries from September 1-November 14, 1917. Greene wrote each day about his work, the weather, and events within the community, especially church events. People mentioned in this diary include Mr. Walker Tatum, B.B. Daugherty John Morgan, Rev. Mr. Adams, and Rev. Mr. Clark. Places mentioned through this diary include Asheville, Blowing Rock, Boone, Watauga County, Camp Jackson in Columbia SC, and many more.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Watauga County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--20th century
Baptists--Clergy--North Carolina--Watauga County
Greene, Andrew Jackson, 1883-1942
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No Copyright – United States</a>
Format
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Diaries
Is Part Of
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<a title="Andrew Jackson "Greene collection" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/39" target="_blank"> Andrew Jackson Greene collection </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Watauga County (N.C.)
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
<a title="https://www.geonames.org/4497707/watauga-county.html" href="https://www.geonames.org/4497707/watauga-county.html" target="_blank"> https://www.geonames.org/4497707/watauga-county.html</a>
Appalachian Training School
Asheville
B.B. Daugherty
Blowing Rock
Boone
Camp Jackson
Columbia SC
John Morgan
Mr. Walker Tatum
Rev. Mr. Adams
Rev. Mr. Clark
Watauga County N.C.
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/db5bcaf0924d87be27234850012891d3.pdf
eb9707e3cdc523327667d791b59c2c5f
PDF Text
Text
In Nineteen Five
I became alive
and what I found
around this town
Was joy and tears
for 50 years.
I. Origins1
In 1799, my great-great grandfather [surname?] was a chicken farmer in the town of
Pushalot, in the state of Lithuania, in the Soviet Union.
It was a hard life in the town of Pushalot. The winters were nine months long and
unendurably cold. The summers were hot and rainy. There were occasional pogroms or Russian
Cossaks rampaging through the streets terrorizing the countryside, gypsies stealing everything in
sight, including sometimes even children, and always there was the threat of Siberia.
My ancestors, like most Jews, were very poor, hard working and suffering. My greatgreat grandfather bought eggs from all the chicken farmers, packed them carefully on a wagon,
covered them with straw to keep them cool and fresh and rode many miles to Kovna, Vilna and
Riga to sell the eggs at the big city markets.
In 1825, my great grandfather served as a rabbi in Pushalot.
In 1872, my grandfather opened a kretchma in Pushalot. A kretchma is a Russian inn
somewhat like out modern motels, only they didn’t have swimming pools or air conditioning. It
was a place travelers could stop for food or drink or spend the night.
One day a Bolshevik on horseback stopped at the Inn and drank a lot of vodka. He got
fresh with my grandmother, who I understand was a good looking girl in those days. My father,
a teenage boy, picked up a piece of stove wood, hit him on the head and knocked him out. That
was an awful crime in Russia for a Jewish boy. My grandfather made a temporary settlement
with the Russian and gave him 50 rubles.
My father thought that they may send him to jail or Siberia, so he stole his way across the
border into Germany. He didn’t like Germany, so he left Germany and made his way to South
Africa.
He went to work as a house painter in Johannesburg. He became ill from the lead
poisoning in the paint. There were no United Way or Federate Jewish Charities down there, but
someone took pity on him and nursed him back to health. He sold cigarettes and sandwiches at a
stock exchange and he finally opened a resturant.
1
Cite reference
�In 1898, right before the English-Boer War, my father sold his resturant for gold coins,
got a money belt, and went down to Cape Town. He had a cousin in Australia and a brother in
Jacksonville, Florida. By a flip of a coin he came over to Jacksonville, Florida.
In Jacksonville, Florida, he went to night school to learn to read and write English.
Just Think . . .
“Just think,” said Leo Finkelstein, pawnbroker extraordinary, to the writer yesterday,
“but for the fall of a coin ‘heads up’ in South Africa nearly fifty years ago, I would be selling
kangaroos today in Australia.” We looked at Leo, who was giving such a strange answer to an
ordinary question as to the state of business, but he seemed to be in good health and there was
nothing in his manner to indicate a sudden stroke or something. Then he continued: “yessir,
when my father (Harry L. Finkelstein) was a young man, and many years before I was born, he
was in business at Johannesburg, South Africa. He had been in England and was getting tired of
South Africa, so when an Englishman came along and gave him (my father) the choice of going
to Australia with him, or of visiting the United States, my father tossed up an English shilling:
‘heads for America, tails for Australia’. It came down with heads up, and that is why I am
running a poor man’s bank in Asheville, instead of being a kangaroo millionaire in Australia”.
Then Leo added the information that his father never regretted the fact that the coin fell
for America. “He often told me as a boy”, said the young man, “that he would rather live in
Asheville than any place on earth”.
-from unknown newspaper dated 1935
The History of Macy Meisal Slott’s Family As Told By The Patriarch Himself
Just in case you don’t recognize me, I am your grandfather patriarch, Zaida Macy
Meisal. Some of you are named after me: all the Miltons, Michaels, Morrises, Mays, Michels,
Melvins and Matthews . . . All named after me, and I am flattered that your parents held my
memory in such high regard. My wife was named Faga and all of you Fannies, Fagas,
Florences, Frances were named after her. Our parents made the Chiddach between Faga and
me before we ever met each other. Boy, were we scared! But, little by little we became
acquainted and we had eight children, four boys and four girls. Our first born was a girl. We
named her Michla. She married a man named Itzic Schemer and they had eight children, four
boys and four girls, Michla and Itzic did not leave Pushalot, our home shtetl. But many of their
children did go to America. I am flattered and delighted to see here tonight descendents of their
sons, Berra Hirsha, Fivah, Helman, and Velval, and their daughters, Faga Cohen and Malcha
Rose. . . Many of Michla’s family live in Jacksonville and are well known to each other. It is
especially wonderful to see so many from out-of-town: form Texas, Faga’s children- Ben Cohen
and his wife Marjorie, Ely Cohen and his daughter Sandra, Frank Cohen (Fort Worth’s 1975
Physician of the Year) and his wife Sara, daughters, Ann Prenovitz and husband Jacob of
Boston, Sary Zimmerman and husband Raymond of Texas. . . Will you all stand so the eyes of
Jacksonville can gaze into the eyes of Texas. More of Michla’s out of town family through son
Helman, Ben Schemer and his wife Helen, Ft. Lauderdale, FL Willaim Schemer and his wife Val,
�Miami. Through son Fivah, all from Miami, all from Miami, Maurice Schemer and his wife
Dorothy, Stephen Schemer and his wife Esther, Isadore Schemer and his wife Laura, Fannie
Siegel and her husband Irvin. Through son Berra Hirsha Dorothy Legum and husband Irving
and son Terry, Richmond, VA. Lynn Legum from Philadelphia, PA, Cheryl Lebeau and husband
Jerry, Atlanta, GA, Lee Shemer and wife Lil, Newport News, VA. Through son Helman, Barbara
Zwerin and husband Harley, Clearwater, FL. Through daughter Malcha Rose, Etta Drashin and
husband Bob, St. Augustine, FL. The oldest descendant here tonight is Minnie Morgenstern, 86,
who just beat Max Rose, 85.
Our second child was also a girl and we named her Etta. She married Yudi Carmel.
They brought their three boys and three girls to America in 1899. All of my children were
wonderful but my Etta was an exceptional person. She was the most unselfish, charitable,
kindliest, energetic person of her time. She brought many of our family to America. She
provided for them in every way until they could help themselves. She shared her worldly goods
and love with everyone. She was a regular saint, you should pardon the expression. Children of
her daughter, Esther who is 94 and living in Baltimore, and daughter Fannie, who just passed
away at the age of 96 and children of her son Frank, have come a long way to be with us tonight.
From VA, Macy Carmel and his wife Rose, Melvin Carmel and his wife Sylvia, Percy Carmel,
Miriam Carmel, Harriet Kirsner, Mildred Fox, Louis Richman and his wife Tznia and their three
daughters. Helda Kirsner from Charlotte, NC. From Baltimore, MD, Harriet Hackerman, Dolly
Hackerman Asbell, Milton Hackerman and his wife Mildred.
We don’t know exactly how Melvin and Kay Zweig of Chevy Chase, MD and Lester and
Eileen Gordon of St. Petersburg, FL fit into the family. If they are not Michpaucha, we certainly
wish they were. . . .Will all please stand.
My next child was Rossa. She was married to Sarya Sherman, and they had five boys and
two girls. Rossa’s children came to this country but Rossa passed away in Pushalot as a very
young woman. From Hallandale, FL, Ruth (Cissy) Serman Levy who is the daughter of Rossa’s
son Harry and Her Husband Sam is here representing that branch of our family..... Please stand.
Our fourth child, finally we had an ingelleh and could make a Bris. We called him Itzic.
He had two boys and two girls, all of them came to this country and the families of his sons
Harry and Abe and daughters Malcha Kramer and Faga Foor are represented here this evening.
Irvin Slott and wife Lois from Bethesda, MD. William Foor and wife Carol, Miami, FL. Elise
Foor Haas, husband Frank, Boynton Beach, FL, Renee Slott Montaigne, son Jeffrey, Atlanta,
GA. Dr. Marvin Slott, Gainesville, FL. Please stand.
Our next daughter we named Miriam and she married Mayer David Cohen. My, was I
proud to have a Cahan in the family. They had four boys and four girls, and all came to live in
America. Some of their family live here in Jacksonville, and others have travelled thousands of
miles.. Sadie Cohen and Florence Levin, Baltimore, MD. Dr. Eileen Cohen, PA. Bessie Cohen
Eisenstat and husband Berry from Atlanta, GA. Carl Proser and his wife Helen from Greenville,
SC. Helen Sloat Samuel, Sacramento, CA. Lisa Sloat, Miami, FL. Please stand.
Then we had another boy and we named him Herschel. He called himself Harry, and
�Harry was some sport. He took the last name of Goldman when he came to this country. Our
name in the old country was Zloty. It is a Lithuanian coin made of gold. All of our family took
the name of Slott to make it more acceptable in America, but Harry took the last name of
Goldman, represented by the gold coin. He came to Jacksonville, in 1887 because there was
another Pushaloter family here named Finkelstein but they are not Mishpocha, just Landsleit.
He [Harry Goldman?] built a big business, was a city councilman and very active in the local
community. He brought and helped to establish many of our family to Jacksonville. He had two
boys and two girls. His reputation and accomplishments earned him recognition and
biographical history is on record in the Florida Archives in the History of the State of Florida.
Our next child was Lippa. He called himself Lippman Slott in America and had three
boys and five girls and lived in Chicago where he established a meat packing business that his
descendants still operate.
Our last child was also a boy whom we named Shopsal. He was everyone’s favorite. He
came to America but returned to Pushlot to be with Faga and me. I needed him in the business.
It is touching to think that we perhaps have family who still live in Lithuania now and are
not known to you in America or maybe only the ones who have survived are you in America.
You must certainly count your blessings and bless the memory of your parents who had the
initiative and gedult to leave the tiny, familiar world of Pushalot to risk their lives and future to
establish a new life and hope in America.
It was a hard life in Mein Shtetle Pushalot, in a country then called Litta or Lithuania to
you. The winters were nine months long and unendurably cold. The summers were extremely
hot and rainy. The Goyim barely tolerated us and there were occasional pogroms, or Russian
Cossaks rampaging through the countryside or Tzygainer, gypsies stealing everything in sight
including sometimes even children, and always there was the threat of Siberia.
Like most Jews, we were very poor, hard-working and suffering. My business, I bought
eggs from the chicken farmers and packed them carefully in my wagon, covered them with straw
to keep them cool and fresh and rode many viorts, miles to you, to Kovna, Vilna, Ponivis, and
once in a while to Riga, to sell eggs in the big city markets. I hated the long horse drawn wagon
ride and hated being away from my Fagalaand Kinderlach all week from Monday to Friday and
often what life would be like, if I were a rich man!
But we had good times too in Pushalot. We went to schul a lot. The kinder went to
Cheder a lot, our wives benched a lot, we blessed after each meal, we sang songs a lot, we had
Bar Mitzvahs and we had weddings. I’ll never forget the Chasinah of our first daughter Michla.
What a wedding!
After that wedding did we have trouble with our next two daughters, Etta and Rossa.
They were so jealous that Michlas had a husband, they nagged us to consult the Shotchun to
negotiate a Shiddach for them. I immediately had to set aside the Nadan, the dowry for those
two and consult with the Yenta.
�But my children were restless. . . They had heard geshichtes about in America. The land
of milk and honey with streets paved with gold. No risks seemed too great to escape the agony of
serving in the army of the Russian Tzar or the pogroms of the Cossaks. They would not be
denied. No obstacles were too great to stop them. . not even the forged visas, not leaving home
in the night stealing across unpatrolled borders, enduring the forty-five days rough ocean
voyage in steerage class, subsisting on salted herring and black bread to arrive in America.
Here in the land of milk and honey.
This is the land of milk and honey
This is the land of sun and song,
And this is a world of good and plenty,
Humble and proud and young and strong,
And, this is the place where the hopes of the homeless,
And the dreams of the lost combine.
And, this lovely land is yours and mine.
So my children and their children came to America, destitute but determined. They
tasted and endured the bitterness of poverty, desperation, and disappointment with dignity,
spirit, hopefulness and perseverance to seize the opportunities and glory in the freedom of
Columbus’ Medina. . .Our America! Not all of my children could have biographical histories of
their lives published in the archives of records, but everyone of them, Michla, Etta, Rossa, Itzic,
Miriam, Harry, Lippa, and Shopsal have their accomplishments and noble characteristics
inscribed in the hearts of the families and friends whose lives they touched.
I am going to fade out of your sight. . .and leave you with just your memories. . .
Origins of the Pawnshop
The Pawnshop was originated in China 3,000 years ago.
established in Bavaria in 1557[?]
legally adopted by France during the 18th century
London became enchanted with the money-making plan a few years later and it wasn’t
long before Pope Leo IX publicly expressed his approval.
Five Brothers Finkelstein
Five brothers came to the United states at the beginning of the 20th Century and opened
pawnshops:
Louis Finkelstein at Florence, SC
Moe Finkelstein at Columbia, SC
Chas. Finkelstein at Wilmington, SC
Neal Finkelstein at Jacksonville, FL
My father, Harry Finkelstein at Asheville, NC.
II. The Dawn of the Twentieth Century in Asheville
�In 1900, my father became ill and the doctor in Jacksonville told him the only place to go
to get cured would be the mountains. He came up to Asheville, and Doctor Smith told him he
would die of anything except what they sent him to Asheville for, so that he might as well go
back to Jacksonville. He like Asheville so much he decided to stay here.
In 1903, he opened a pawn shop at 23 South Main Street (now Biltmore Avenue). He
married Fanny Sherman from Newport News, Virginia, and they made their home in an
apartment on Ashland Avenue.
In 1905, my father became a citizen of the United States.
Among the organizations he joined were the Asheville Board of Trade (now The
Asheville Chamber of Commerce), the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Suez Temple of the Oramatic
Order of Khorosson, Lodge #1401 BPO, Elks, Mt. Herman Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite
Masonic Lodge, Oasis Temple of Shriners, Congregation Bikur Cholim (now Beth Isreal), and
Congregation Betha-Ha-Tephila.
So, in Asheville, North Carolina, the Twentieth Century began with:
-The pawnbroker named Finkelstein.
-S. H. Friedman, who operated a furniture store. He came to Asheville from
Maryland, where he peddled tinware. His son, Nat Friedman, later operated the
Susquehana Antique Co.
-A Jewish lawyer by the name of Goldstein.
-A Jewish plumber by the name of A.J. Huvard. He married E.C. Goldberg’s sister. E.C.
Goldberg ran a news stand next to the Imperial Theater on Patton Avenue for years.
-A Jewish dentist by the name of I. Mitchell Mann.
-Harry Blomberg’s father who came to Asheville in 1887. He operated the Racket Store
on Biltmore Avenue for many years.
-The Palais Royal Department Store operated by Morris Meyers for 40 years. He was a
charter member of Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila and he came to Asheville in 1887.
-The Bon Marche Department Store operated by Solomon Lipinsky.
-A Jewish postman who delivered mail by the name of Barney Seigle. I was particularly
interested in Barney because he had a sister by the name of Ester, who was in my class in
high school — a beautiful and affectionate student.
-An industrialist named Seigfred Sternberg.
-Dan Michalove, who worked at the first movie houses in town and finally advanced to
Vice-President of Paramount Pictures and was put in charge of all their theaters in
Australia.
-Lou Pollock, who operated a shoe store at the corner of South Main and Eagle Streets.
He once ran a shoe sale for $.98 a pair.
-Leo Cadison, who came here for his health, operated a ladies clothing store on Pack
Square, finally moved to Washington, D.C., and became an attorney by act of Congress.
He was a speech writer for the Attorrney General of the United States.
-An orthodox Rabbi by the name of Londow.
-Morris Myers served as Exalted Ruler of the Old Elks Lodge #608.
�In 1883 Jews were arriving to become pioneers in the Asheville community. Some came
to make a better livelihood and for opportunity. The moderate climate and mountain air attracted
others to Asheville, a growing medical haven for the sufferers of chronic respiratory diseases.
Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila
August 23, 1891, twenty-seven men met in Lyceum Hall and adopted a constitution for
Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila. Among the charter members were the Blomberg, Lipinsky, and
Zagier families. It is noted that the dues were $10 a year, payable in advance. Lyceum Hall was
the first home of the Congregation. It was rented from a fraternal order for $75 a year.
Congregation Bikur Cholim
Rabbi Londow became the rabbi for Congregation Bikur Cholim whose articles of
incorporation were filed in the Court Clerk’s office in February 1899. The incorporators were
J.B. Schwartzberg, A. Blomberg, Sam Feinstein, S.H. Michalove, A. Shenbaum, M. Zuglier, and
R.B. Zagier.
Since the community could not pay Rabbi Londow a decent wage, he operated a Jewish
grocery store on the side. He was a kindly old gentleman with a big beard, wore his hat around
the grocery store at all times except when a lady called him on the telephone. He would remove
the hat during the conversation and put it back on his head after the phone call.
I remember a big barrel of herring in the center of the store. Plain herring were 5 cents
each and milk herring ten cents.
A newly married lady in the Congregation once called Rabbi Londow and complained
that a duck she bought from him was old and too tough to eat. Rabbi Londow asked what she
expected him to do --- look down the duck’s mouth and count its teeth!
The first religious services of Bikur Cholim I remember attending were on the second
floor of a building at the corner of Patton Avenue and Church Street. It was early in the life of
Bikur Cholim that the congregation split up due to a big argument. Half of the members formed
another congregation and called it Anshei Hashuron. They rented a second floor of an apartment
house at the corner of Central Avenue and Woodfin Street. However, through the efforts of the
impartial moderates, a compromise was reached and a permanent division averted.
Nevertheless, the apartment was kept for a religious school. It was here I received my
first Hebrew lesson. Rabbi Fox was teaching us the four questions to ask at our Passover meal.
At this time my father would attend all the board meetings of Bikur Cholim. He would
come home upset and nervous. Dr. Smith suggested he not attend any more Synagogue meetings
due to his high blood pressure.
Rabbi Fox was active on the 9th and 10th degrees of Scottish Rite Masonry. After his
death I assumed his parts in these degrees and I am still on the degree teams.
�Orthodox rules and Hebrew School
75 to 100 years ago there were two synagogues in Asheville. My family belonged to the
orthodox.
The orthodox had strict rules for obeying the Sabbath which began Friday at sundown
and ended Saturday night. The members of Bikur Cholim who owned an automobile would put
them in the garage on Friday evening to observe the Sabbath and wouldn’t take them out until
Saturday after sun down. Most of the members lived within walking distance of the Synagogue.
To obey the Sabbath correctly you were not allowed to operate a business, spend money, smoke,
strike a match, work, cook and many other activities were forbidden. Remember this was about
100 years ago.
You weren’t supposed to tear paper. Now if you had a bathroom with paper on a roll,
you tore the paper off for Friday in case it may be needed for the Sabbath.
The same rule applies to outhouses with old Sears Roebuck catalogues.
As far as I know none of these rules are observed today.
In 1911, erection of a house of worship was started on South Liberty Street for
Congregation Bikur Cholin. Although it wasn’t completed until 1916, the Hebrew School
moved there in 1912. When I was 11 years old I attended Hebrew school conducted by the rabbi
on Saturday morning in the edifice of the synagogue. The sanctuary contained nothing but pews
and a coal stove for heat. The basement was used for storage and rest rooms. In the winter time
the rabbi fixed the stove for a fire Friday so that it could be lit Saturday morning to produce heat
for the Hebrew class.
Since the rabbi shouldn’t light a fire or spend money on the Sabbath, he arranged for a
boy in the neighborhood to light the fire Saturday morning. He placed a dime under a prayer
book Friday and told the boy where to get a dime after lighting the fire on Saturday.
Even in those days educational institutions had trouble with rebelling students. One real
cold morning the boy didn’t show up to light the fire. We were attending Hebrew class in
sweaters, coats and overcoats and it was awful cold. I asked to be excused and coming up from
the basement I reported to Rabbi Redunsky that the plumbing must have frozen as there was
water leaking in several places. The Rabbi went to see about it. I advised the class that there
were no broken pipes and suggested that we leave the building --- which we did --- not to return
until warm weather.
For your information, there was no water leaking.
While my sisters Rosa and Hilda and I were still children and our parents were out of
town for health reasons, Doctor Schandler’s father Dave Schandler, would invite us over to his
house for meals, especially on Passover and other religious holy days.
About this time when our house at 213 Broadway was being built, I was sliding down a
�sloping board and got a big splinter in my rear end. My father couldn’t get it out so he took me
to Dr. Mann, the dentist, and he got it out --- no charge.
The building of the Synagogue was completed in 1916 and the day before the eve of
Rosh-Hashonah a fire completely destroyed the building. Mrs. Rosenfeld had a Jewish Boarding
House next door and she cried and complained that she had just cleaned her house for Yontiff
and smoke had dirtied the place up. The Masonic Temple was offered to us to use for the High
Holy Day Services and we accepted.
After the fire that destroyed Bikur Cholim Synagogue on South Liberty Street the second
floor of the Sondley Building on Broadway was rented for the use of the congregation. A
member of the congregation, a young man, forgot he had made a date with a waitress in the
Langren Hotel and attended the meeting of the congregation. The lady waited in front of the
Masonic Temple with a gun and took a shot at him after the meeting when he was leaving the
building. She missed. After going to Hebrew School in the building we would stop and examine
the hole the bullet made in the front wall of the building.
The Cemetery
In those days Asheville was a place that offered a cure for tuberculosis. Many
sanatoriums were located in the hills around town. A Jewish man died in one of the sanatoriums
and had no money or family. No cemetery in town would bury him unless someone paid $100
for the grave. It was then that nine Jewish men formed the “West Asheville Hebrew Cemetery
Association Inc.” My father was the first president. In their bylaws it was stated that anyone of
Jewish faith could be buried there. The price of a grave was $100 and if there was no one to pay
it there would be no charge. The cemetery changed it’s name some years later to “Mt. Sinai
Cemetery” and sometime after to “The Lou Pollock Memorial Park.” After father died, Lou
Pollock became president. After his death, I was the vice-president and assumed the duties of
the president. I conferred with David Adler and set up a meeting between the directors of the
cemetery and members of Beth Israel. The ownership of the cemetery was transferred to Beth
Israel.
The following names of the nine founders can be seen on a plaque at the entrance to the
cemetery bearing the date 1916: Sam Feinstein, Isaac Michalove, Lou Pollock, S.W. Silverman,
Sender Argentar, Rabbi Elias Fox, Dave Schundler, Barney Pearlman, Harry Finkelstein.
Benevolent Societies
Around this time my father felt that some homemade chicken soup would help the Jewish
patients in the sanatoriums. A number of Jewish women set up a kitchen and once a week hot
chicken soup was made available to the Jewish patients and to others who requested it.
Rabbi Fox acquired business interests in Asheville and served as part-time Rabbi. He
was associated with a local butcher who made kosher meat available. He would go by the homes
of members and kill the chickens.
In 1917, some of us young Jewish boys decided that we ought to have a YMHA or a
Community Center in Asheville. Rabbi Fox met with us and suggested that we form a YMHA.
�He said a community center was for the community only, but a bigger and better organization
would be a YMHA because it extended from coast to coast. He told us a story about when he
first came to this country and wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge. He found a man who could
talk Yiddish and after looking at the bridge he asked why they built the bridge with a lot of little
cables instead of one big cable. The man explained to him that if one or two cables broke it
would not harm the bridge, but if there was one big cable and it broke the bridge would fall in.
Rabbi Fox said that therefore us boys should be little cables and hold up the YMHA we were
going to form.
Mr. Sternberg and Mr. Leavitt
Seventy-five years ago there was no United Way in Asheville. There were many local
charitable organizations sponsored by churches, synagogues, houses of worship, also the
YMCA, the Salvation Army, the Elks Lodge and the Jewish Ladies Aid Society. Lion Joe
Sternberg’s father was active in civic, religious, fraternal organizations in Asheville. At that
time he was collecting donations for the “Ladies Aid Society” of Asheville. He went to see Mr.
Leavitt who operated a ladies ready to wear store on South Main St. near Pack Square. He
wouldn’t donate more than $5 and this didn’t please Mr. Sternberg.
Mr. Sternberg was the owner of the building in which Mr. Leavitt operated his store. He
found Mr. Leavitt violated the terms of his lease because he sublet a portion of the store for a
shoe department. Mr. Sternberg told Mr. Leavitt that he would have to give the Ladies Aid
Society a suitable donation or vacate the building because he had violated the terms of the lease.
They selected three men to determine what amount Mr. Leavitt should give the Ladies Aid
Society. It was agreed that the amount they decided would be satisfactory to Mr. Sternberg and
Mr. Leavitt.
Mr. Sternberg selected a man to represent himself. Also Mr. Leavitt picked out the
second man. They needed a man to represent both of them and finally selected my father. The
committee decided that Mr. Leavitt should donate $500 to the Ladies Aid Society.
------ In 1936, the movements in founding a Jewish Community Center and to organize
Federated Jewish Charities in Asheville was started by Julius Levitch through B’nai B’rith. In
1947 a testimonial dinner was held for his outstanding service to the Jewish Community.
----- On July 25, 1923, the Emporium Department Store owned by Jack Blomberg at the
corner of Pack Square and South Main Street was destroyed by a major fire. It was feared that
the entire block of Eagle Street would be destroyed. Many of the Jewish merchants who
operated clothing stores in the block brought their insurance polices and books to the pawnshop
across the street and requested that we put them in our safes which were two of the largest
moveable safes in town. These two safes are now located at 21 Broadway.
My father and the Sheriff’s Department
In the early days of the century, my father would give each member of the Buncombe
County Sheriff’s department cuff links for a Christmas present.
In appreciation, the Sheriff would always send my father a gallon of corn whiskey. We
�always thanked the Sheriff for his gift even though none of my family drank corn whiskey.
Flanders 20
About 75 years ago the Studebaker Corporation made two automobiles - the Flanders 20,
20 horsepower and the Emf. 30, 30 horsepower. My family owned a Flanders 20.
To start the engine you used a hand crank in front of the auto. You lowered the spark
control lever because if you didn’t, you might get a kickback on the crank and get your arm
broken.
If you had a flat tire, you had to raise the wheel with a hand jack, take the tire off and fix
the inner tube with patches that you always carried with you. You had a hand pump to inflate
the tire again.
Some owners of the Flanders 20 bragged that sometimes they could drive up the hill on
South Main Street (now Biltmore Ave.) from Depot St. to Pack Square in high gear and they
didn’t have to shift to a second gear.
There was a dirt road to Hendersonville. Some of it was red clay that would become
slick when it rained. One small section of the road became very slick due to its location. There
was a man there with a mule. For a small fee he would hitch the mule to the front of the auto
and pull you out of the bad place with the help of the engine of the car.
We were invited to a wedding in Hendersonville by Mr. Lewis whose sister, Rose, was
getting married to a young attorney named Joe Patece. He practiced law in Asheville for many
years. We took our Flanders 20 to the wedding with a couple of our friends. We had no trouble
as it didn’t rain. Coming back to Asheville we got a flat tire near Skyland and stopped to fix it.
We noticed a lot of berries growing near the road and we all began to eat them. A farmer
saw us and accused us of stealing his berries. He took out a warrant for my father. The trial was
to be heard by a Justice of Peace in Skyland. My father employed a young lawyer by the name
of Bob Reynolds. Bob Reynolds in later years became a U.S. Senator.
The Justice of Peace office was too small to hold the crowd that came to the trial so it
was held under a large oak tree outdoors. I heard that Bob gave a great speech to the crowd and
the Justice of the Peace ordered my father just to pay the farmer a small amount for the berries.
The moral of this event is: Don’t eat wild berries beside an old road. You are liable to
have more troubles than a stomach ache.
Beginning to work
When I was eight years old, I started selling newspapers. I wasn’t doing very good so my
father gave me job in the pawnshop at 50 cents per week. I had to save 25 cents of it. I was to
work when there was no school activity or important events pertaining to my education. I was
given Saturday afternoon off to go fishing and Saturday morning to see a serial movie at the
�Galaxy movie house on pack square.
Many people left their musical instruments as collateral for loans I tried out my musical
ability on a guitar, a ukulele, a violin and a saxophone. I took violin lessons from Mr.
Popatards, piano lessons from Mrs. Cliphant. My mother insisted that I practice on the piano
one hour a day.
School
In 1911, I started school at Montford Avenue Grammar School.
In 1922, I went to UNC-Chapel Hill for 2 days, and had to come home to run the
pawnshop.
In the February 1922 graduating class in Asheville High School, there were 5 boys and
14 girls. Therefore, each boy was expected to take 3 girls to the Senior Class Dance of February
1922. Things were better when we had a dance for the entire school. There were three Jewish
girls in the total 1922 class — Madeline Blomberg, Eva Sternberg, and Ester Seigle.
I was the only student to take an automobile to school in 1922. It was a Paige make with
a “bathtub back” model. I was the business manager of the “Hillbilly,” the school monthly
magazine. I was given any study hall period off that I wanted to collect for ads that appeared in
the magazine, so I would take my auto and a girl to help me from the study hall. After collecting
for one ad we would ride over to the Charlotte Street Drug Store and participate in ice cream
sodas for the balance of the study hall period.
Asheville Dixie Jazz Band
In 1921, Jr and a violin player from Lewis Funeral Home, Frank McCormiak, formed the first
musical outfit Asheville High School ever had.
Below is a poem from an issue of the 1921 school paper, “The Hillbilly.”
The Dixie Jazz Band
Boys and girls, have you heard the news,
A new way to get lively without any booze,
Just come around and give us your hand,
We’re the members of the “Dixie Jazz Band.”
We play and play and never get weary,
We’ll jazz you up and make you cherry,
We’ll make you dance and never set still
You’ll have to shimmy, against your will
The drummer is a drummer by trade,
The fiddler is a musician, self-made,
The flute is the best you’ve ever heard,
The mandolin sounds like a mocking bird.
Leo Finkelstein
�Pisgah 1922
In reporting from my historical records on Lion Joe Sternberg, president of our club in
1960-61, I’ve talked about his father, old man Sternberg and Joe’s sister, Eva.
I reported that Lion Joe and I were seniors in the 1922 class of Asheville High School.
Now, Lion Joe’s mother, Mrs. Sternberg, phoned me and advised me that she was entertaining
Joe and three other members of the 1922 class with a trip to the top of Mt. Pisgah. Eva
graduated in 1921 but wanted to go with them. Her mother asked if I would like to go and look
after Eva if she went, and I told her that I would be delighted.
They all picked me up the next morning and Mrs. Sternberg drove us to the home of Mr.
& Mrs. Rufus O’Kelly who lived at the base of Mt. Pisgah in her 7 passenger Mormon
automobile. We had lunch of possum and sweet potatoes.
There was one dirt road (one way) to the top of Mt. Pisgah, 5 miles long. An auto had to
go up in the morning at daylight and was allowed to come down after 1 PM until dark. We hiked
to a cleared section. Mr. O’Kelly chaperoned the trip and built us a large bonfire and was fixing
something to eat.
Eva was unpacking some things and I noticed a large bottle of Bromo-Seltzer. I asked if
she expected someone to have a headache. She said, “No, I opened a pint bottle of father’s
bottled whiskey, took half of it and filled the Bromo-Seltzer bottle. Now you and I can have a
drink before we eat.”
“That’s a good idea,” I said, “but what is your father going to say when he finds out?”
She said, “no problem. I filled the empty half of the whiskey bottle with water.” At nighttime
she and I sat around the fire drinking a few drinks of Bromo-Seltzer.
----- On Sundays in 1925, the Jewish crowd of teenagers and somewhat older boys and girls
would gather at the home of the Sternbergs on Victoria Road. The Sternbergs had four children:
Eva, Joe, Johanna, and Rose. One of the older girls in the crowd was named Jennie. One day I
asked her how she managed to be so popular among the boys, and her answer was, “Well, I’m
not so pretty, but I’m catchie”.
----- I dated Eva and one night I called at the house to take her out and her father yelled to us
from the second floor of the house “Don’t you go to no road houses,” and Eva replied “What’s
the matter papa --- you afraid we are going to find you there!”
William Jennings Bryan
On July 7, 1896, William Jennings Bryan delivered the “Cross of Gold” speech and won
the Democratic party nomination for Vice President of the United States.
In 1900 he was nominated again for Vice President.
In 1908 he was nominated for President of the United States.
Later in life he moved to Asheville and his home was at the corner of Evelyn place and
Kimberly Avenue--just a few houses away from where Lion Jack Cole now lives.
�Mr. Bryan asked by father to order him a special made double barrel Parker shot gun with
28" barrels modified and choke bores, and a 23/4 inch drop.
After receiving the gun he wrote my father a letter of thanks. I had this letter in my
historical files and it disappeared. Now I don’t know whether to blame it on the Democrats or
Republicans.
The Emporium Fire of 1923
On July 25, 1923, the Emporium Department store owned by Jack Blomberg at the
corner of Pack Square and South Main Street was destroyed by a major fire. It was feared that
the entire block of South Main Street (Biltmore Avenue) would be destroyed
Many of the merchants who operated clothing stores in the block brought their insurance
policies and books to Finkelstein ‘s pawnshop across the street and requested that we put them
in our safes which were two of the largest moveable safes in town. The two safes are now
located at 21 Broadway.
Sewing Machine Mystery
A sewing machine was brought in for a loan. The next day some ladies from a church
walked in from a church society identified the machine and claimed it had been stolen from the
church. The pawn ticket was hunted.
“What’s the name on the record?” one of the women inquired.
It was read off.
“What!” Shrieked the group in unison. “That’s the name of our pastor!”
And, the mystery was cleared up. The fact that someone else had pawned the machine
giving the reverend’s name.
III. Asheville in the 1930's
Lions Club
I remember when I became a member of the Asheville Lions Club in 1930. The club had
16 members and I was the 17th. Our meetings were held at the S.W. Cafeteria on Patton Ave. In
a meeting room on the second floor. A good meal could be had at a cost of less than one dollar.
I remember when the club’s membership reached 100 held a stag party at the ski club on
top of Beaucatcher Mountain. Out of 100 members we had 97 attend. Three were absent on
account of being out of town The club was operated by Boyd and Albertine Maxwell and their
daughter was the hostess Albertine was a professional dancer and she did a ‘snake dance’ to
entertain the party. Lion Dan Furr fixed us a special drink consisting of a assortment of fluids
that we called “Scrape the bottom.” We had a big spaghetti dinner. The cast of the evening was
$1.50 per member. The young lady who was hostess, in appreciation of me bringing the Lions
Club there for a party, taught me to dance the “Charleston,” a new dance that had just started.
I remember when I drove my new automobile to the Stag Party with Lion John Thayer.
The automobile was an Terraplane Sedan that Lion Johnnie Groome sold me. It had an electric
�gear shift controlled by buttons on the steering wheel. It also had a stick shift in front of the
center of the front seat that could be used when the electric shift failed to work. Going down
Beaucater Mountain in the Terraplain, Lion John Thayer who had drank a substantial amount of
Scrape the bottom,” acted funny, yanked the gear shift stick loose and threw it out of the car into
the woods of Beaucatcher mountain. The next day Lion John and I searched the woods, found
the stick shift and replaced it.
I remember when the club held a “womanless wedding” at a Ladies Night Banquet
March 14, 1939 and Lion Dan Furr was the flower girl.
I remember when in 1939 the club presented a pair of lions to the city zoo and a few
weeks later a baby lion was born. It was named “Leo.”
I remember when an alarm clock was placed at the speaker’s table at the club meetings
set to alarm at 2 o’clock with a sign: OUR MEETING CLOSES A 2 O’CLOCK AND WE DO
NOT APPRECIATE DIRTY JOKES.
I remember when Jack Cole was president of the Asheville Lions Club. We held a ladies
night banquet at the Battery Park Hotel. Lion Jack invited a U.S. Congressman, Lion Roy
Taylor, to make a talk for the gathering. It took Lion Jack 20 minutes to introduce Congressman
Taylor. Roy Taylor in response said that there must be a mistake. “It looks like Lion Jack Cole
was to give the address and I should have introduced him.”
I remember when City Manager Burdette announced to City Council that the police
department’s new traffic bureau will begin operating and that ordinances will be strictly
enforced. Mr. Burdette left no doubt in the minds of a Lion’s Club committee who called to
complain about the parking problem.
I remember when Lion Joe Dave announced that the club delivered five pigs to the
Candler Pig Club in connection with the Chamber of Commerce’s plan for improvement of
water in North Carolina’s livestock through cooperation of civic clubs.
I remember when in 1938 at a Lions Club golf Tournament I promised to give a prize for
the winner of the first flight. I wrote a check for $1,000 and since I won the first flight, I
presented the check to myself.
I remember when Lion Roy Phillips, advertising director of the Asheville Citizen-Times
talked to me as President of the Lion’s Club and wanted the Club to sponsor a Turtle Race and
buy a page ad in the newspaper. I told him to present it to the board of directors that I wouldn’t
take the responsibility of investing in a turtle race. He told me I couldn’t be a good president of
the club and let grass grow under my feet. I told him that he wasn’t talking to one of his
advertising salesman that he was talking to me as President of the club and if he wanted a turtle
race to present it to the board of directors at their regular meeting. There was no turtle race.
I remember when I was dating a nice young lady in Asheville by the name of Pearl.
Pearl was hostess in a restaurant I used to eat at. The Lions Club was giving a Ladies Night
�dinner and Governor Hoey was to be our speaker. I was told that I couldn’t bring Pearl.
Governor Hoey’s daughter was coming to the dinner and I’d have to set with her at the
speaker’s table. It was an uneventful monotonous dinner and when it was over I told the
governor’s daughter good night and I went to see Pearl.
I remember when a member missed over two meetings Lion Charles Berryman who
operated a funeral home would send his ambulance to bring the member to the meeting.
I remember when a member missed over three meetings without an excuse. Lion Judge
Sam Cathey would send a police car to present the member with the following summons:
[City of Asheville etc etc]
I remember when I had a phone call from my golf caddie named “Cris” on a Saturday
and advised me that Lion Judge Cathey had given him 30 days in jail for fighting and that he
wouldn’t be able to caddie for me Sunday. That was a disaster for without “Cris” I just couldn’t
play a good game of golf. I called Lion Judge Cathey and advised him of the situation and he
told me he would reduce Cris’s sentence from 30 days to one day and for me to go down to the
jail and get him.
I remember when I was invited to Lioness Hudson’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. She
called me the day before and said that Lion Judge Cathey had put her cook in jail and she had
no one to cook the dinner. I called Lion Judge Cathey again and told him about it. He arranged
for Lion Hudson’s cook to cook over Thanksgiving dinner.
I remember when Lion Judge Cathey was named the National Handicap Man of the Year
and several of us Lions went to Washington with him receive the award from President
Eisenhower.
I remember when mimic political campaign speeches by members of the Lions Club were
featured at the S.W. Cafeteria during their meeting. In the comic program, four members
representing four political parties made “pleas” for support of their candidates for president.
Lion Schorr urged the club to vote for Herbert Hoover, Lion Roy Phillips upheld Franklin D.
Roosevelt, Lion Nat Friedman asked that William D. Upshaw be given the club’s support and I
talked at length on Norman Thomas, socialist candidate.
I remember when Lion Dan Stewart, Lion Charlie Miller and I went to Havana, Cuba for
an International Convention. We drove to Miami and took the boat to Havana. After the
convention - trying to get back to Miami we found it was going to be three days before we could
get passage on the boat. I didn’t want to wait three days in Havana so I phoned my girl friend
Reggie who was secretary to the Mayor of Miami Beach. She told me she would take care of the
situation and for me to go down to the boat office and they would give me passage on the next
boat to Miami. She told the boat office they needed me as a witness in a court case, so I spent
the night in a big chair in the lounge of the boat that night going to Miami. Reggie and I met
Lion Stewart and Lion Ch. Miller in a couple of days and took them fishing.
�I remember when on July 10, 1940 the Lions club held a meeting which was described by
Lion C.E. Hudson as “in truth the most gratifying gathering of all times in Asheville, of its
kind.” It was described by the Asheville Citizen as the largest and most representative civic
organization gathering in Asheville in recent years. It was an inter-club banquet and first
annual award of the Asheville Lions Club to the most useful civic club member in the city of
Asheville, 1939-1940.
The idea of this banquet was presented to the Civic Club Union by Lion Jim Divelbiss
and myself. They assisted the Lions Club and picked Robert Lee Ellis of the Coca-Cola bottling
Company as Asheville’s most useful civic club member in the 1939-40 year. He received a
bronze plaque from the Lions Club which he said he would cherish as long as he lived.
More than 300 persons representing every civic organization in the city attended the
banquet at the Battery Park Hotel. I got Gov. Sholtz of Flirda to make the principal address
.
Prohibition’s Waning Days
It was in 1933, after Franklin Roosevelt was elected president of the United States, that
the Volstead Act was repealed and it became legal to sell beer with an alcoholic content on
October 1st. I was president of a mens social club, and it became my duty to get beer to serve to
the members. This was a difficult job as none was available from distributors around Asheville.
1933 was the year of the Great Depression and Rabbi Goodkowitz bought a second hand truck
from Harry Blomberg and was doing some hauling on the side to supplement his income from
Bikur - Cholim. Rabbi Goodkowitz said he would go to Baltimore and get us a load of beer as
he personally knew the owner of the Valley Forge Beer Company there. I gave him six hundred
dollars of the club’s money and he left on a Monday to be back on Thursday. He didn’t show
up, but came in the following Monday. The delay was due to the truck breaking down on the
trip. Of course I was somewhat concerned but the club had a truck load of Valley Forge Beer
available.
Leo Cadison saw me and advised that he had talked to the United States Senator Robert
R. Reynolds, and the members were starting a campaign to sell the beer before October lst.
Captain Fred Jones of the Asheville Police Department and a member of the house
committee said he would not recommend selling it before the legal date.
At the club that week, I noted about 150 members were present instead of the usual 40.
Under “good and welfare” Senator Reynolds, a great orator, spoke in favor of selling the beer
and said that we were all brothers in a non-profit and charitable organization, and it would be
legal to sell it. Others who spoke in favor of selling the beer were Judge Philip Cocke, State
Senator; A. Hall Johnson, Superior Court Judge; Dan Hill, Postmaster; Marcus Erwin,
U.S.Attorney; Zeb Mettles, Superior Court Judge; Charles McRae, local attorney; and Leo
Cadison. Leo Cadison made a motion that we advise the House Manager to put the beer on ice
so that we could drink it after the meting. I advised Mr. Cadison that I could not accept a motion
�of an illegal nature but under Robert’s Rules of Parliamentary procedure he could appeal my
decision. He appealed and I advised that the question to be voted on would be “Shall the
decision of the chair stand” and there would be no discussion. The vote was unanimous against
my decision (which suited me) and I instructed the secretary to take everything out of the
minutes pertaining to beer, also to advise the house manager to put the beer on ice so we could
have it after the meeting. He said that it was too late to advise him because the beer had been on
ice for the past two hours.
How to Finance a Pawnshop in a Depression
It was the Depression of the 1930's. Our loans averaged $10 and we made them as low as
50 cents. The demand was great on loans on diamonds and jewelry. The top loan on a ½ carat
diamond was $50 and $200 on a good grade carat.
I was running out of money. I saw Perry at the Morris Plan Bank and we agreed to rent a
lock box at the Wachovia Bank. Both of us would have a key to it. I would hypothecate the
large size diamond and jewelry loans. The ways that worked is I would make the loan, get the
cash from Perry on a 90 day note, and put the jewelry in the lock box as security. If the customer
came to redeem his jewelry I advised him that jewelry was at the vault at the Wachovia for
safekeeping and I would get it for him.
This was working very well as the bank was making the legal rate of 6% on 90 day notes
which were paid in 30 to 40 days with no refund for unearned interest. I was doing OK also. I
charged interest at legal rates plus other expenses incident to the negotiations of the transactions.
Then Mr. Wolcott comes to town. He took over the Morris Plan Bank and organized the
Bank of Asheville. Perry, the new cashier at the Bank of Asheville, came to see me and said,
“Mr. Wolcott advised that the bank wasn’t a pawnshop and to tell Finkelstein to pay off those 90
day notes.” It looked like I was going to have to stop making large jewelry loans and try to meet
the 90 day note.
But a miracle happened. A girlfriend of mine in the 1922 class of Asheville High School
married a man from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who later committed suicide. She came back to
Asheville to live. She saw me and wanted to know if I could help her out. She said she was left
a sizeable amount of life insurance and did I know of a safe place where she could invest some
of it and get a decent return.
I helped her out.
Police Chief Beavers
On the program of the Asheville Lions Club on July 8, 1992, Chief of Police Beavers
talked about prostitution in Asheville and how the APD was trying to cut the activity down.
I believe there may be a better way to cut the activity down.
In the year 1900 Asheville had a population of 14,694. My historical records indicate at
that time the red light district was known as the Eagle Terrace and was operated by a lady known
�as “Queen Elizabeth.” There were no problems.
The Banov family in Charleston, SC, are part of my kin folks. Doctor Banov was a
health physician for Charleston County, SC for 35 years. That was the longest any county health
physician stayed in office. In talking to him I found out that the red light district in Charleston,
SC, was a large house known as the “Red Brick” on Bensford St. The prostitutes had to have a
health certificate from a local doctor renewed every 90 days, frame it, and hang it on the wall by
her bed.
They had Police Protection.
In 1933 I was president of a fraternal order in Asheville. I had a good friend, Lt. Frank
Hagan of the local police dept. who was also a member. We decided to drive down to
Charleston, SC, for a convention. While in Charleston he said that he would like to go to the
“Red Brick” on Bensford Street and get information for the Asheville Police Dept. on how they
operated. I asked him how he expected to get in the place. He said “Don’t worry, I’ll get us
admitted.”
We went down to the “Red Brick” and Frank knocked on the front door. A lady opened a
peephole in the door to look at us and Frank said “Back again.” We were then admitted to a
large living room with red curtains. We picked out two of the girls in the living room and
invited them to have a seat with us and have a drink. The only drink available was a coca-cola
and the cost was 25 cents per drink. We asked them if their services would be available to
members of a convention and they said that they were. The cost of a short stay would be $3 and
for $5 a client could spend the night.
I gave the girls $3 each and advised them that all we wanted to do was talk and get
information for the convention - they were completely satisfied.
Now why don’t we get Chief Beavers to get someone like “Queen Elizabeth” to rent a
place like a small hotel, or a large home with red curtains, or a place suitable for a whorehouse
like the “Red Brick” in Charleston, SC. Serve soft drinks and ice cream at reasonable prices and
furnish police protection.
He might even get Lion Penland and me to open a pawnshop next door so that if a man
didn’t have enough money to finance his trip to the place, he could pawn his watch or his gun.
Don’t think all this would be legal, but its a thought anyway.
Streetwalking
A young lady friend of my family would pawn a diamond pen for $50.00. She was always
months past due on the redemption of it. I felt sorry for her and I didn’t let her pay any interest
or charges on any loan after her first loan.
After pawning it several times, she came in for a loan on the pen. She asked for one
hundred dollars. I told her that a hundred dollars was more than we could loan on it, that I
would loan her $50.00 again. She said that she needed a hundred dollars and what was I trying
to do, make a “street walker” out of her!
�The Preacher and the Bible
I helped a preacher financially conduct his Sunday’s services. Back in the depression
days of the 1930s there was a preacher who pawned his Bible every Monday morning after
Sunday’s services and redeemed it on the following Friday or Saturday for the next service on
Sunday. I made the original loan of $10 and advised the preacher that he could get it out at a
charge of $1 anytime in 30 days or if needed he could wait three months at no additional charge.
In checking the records I found that he had pawned the Bible weekly on many occasions.
On the next Friday morning when he came after his Bible I told him he didn’t owe anything on it
that he had paid more carrying charges that the original loan. I told him to put that $10 bill he
had next to the Ten Commandments in the Bible and the next time he needed $10 to take it out
and put it back in the Bible after Sunday’s service. Just don’t bring the Bible back here for a
loan. He didn’t.
John
I had a black man working for me by the name of “John”. There were street cars
available to ride from his home to work.
I was a law in Asheville that blacks had to ride in the back seats of the street car and the
whites rode in the front seats.
One day “John”n was riding in a front seat and wouldn’t move to the back of the bus.
He was arrested by the Asheville Police Department. I sent my lawyer, Mr. Fortune, to the
police court with him and he was fined the costs of the case.
A man redeemed a large size radio he pawned. After taking it home he advised us that
three of the tubes were missing. “John” kept the storage room where radio pledges were stored.
I sent a police detective to John’s home advising him of the situation. He checked the
numbers on John’s radio tubes and told “John” that the numbers on his radio tubes were the
same as the numbers that were on the missing tubes of our customer’s radio. John admitted
stealing the tubes.
We supplied new tubes for our customer’s radio. “John was fired from his job at the
pawnshop. I understood that he kept his usual custom of delivering sermons at his church on
Sundays.
I wanted to replace “John” so an employment agency sent me a young man named
“George”. I put George in the storage area for guns that were left as collateral on loans. He
stole a pistol and after an investigation, he returned it and I fired him.
Overcoats
During the depression of 1933 the pawnshop had 800 overcoats left at the beginning of
the summer. The loans were from $3 to $7 each, and 80% of the loans were past due. There was
a problem of moths. We put mothballs in the pockets of all overcoats and sprayed them with
DDT.
After the overcoats became more than 3 months past due we had them dry cleaned. We
made a contract with the cleaners to pick up and return lots of twenty at 50 cents each. The
owner of the cleaning company came in the shop and said that he wanted to buy an overcoat for
his chauffeur. He tried on one and liked it so much that he said he would keep it for himself and
give his to his chauffeur.
�It was during 1933 that we had only male clerks working in the pawnshop. There were
days when my father and I were both absent from the pawnshop due to health and other reasons.
When the overcoat pledges were past due and ready for the cleaners they were hung in a room
on the second floor of the pawnshop. Sometimes I would notice a couple of overcoats on the
floor of the pawnshop.
The electric lights went out on the second floor where the overcoats were. An electrician
was called to correct the trouble. It was found that the clerks would invite street walkers to
come up to the room at times when my father and I were absent. The electrician found a hole in
the floor where the wires were broken. In fixing the broken wires, he pulled about 50 dirty
handkerchiefs and other items that caused the trouble.
Murders in Pawnshops and Helping Sheriff L. Brown
You have probably read in the Citizen-Times about Mark Lane who was killed in a
shooting during an armed robbery. His father, Ronald Lane, and he were co-owners of the
Leicester Pawn Shop.
In a former historical report I talked about Reggie, secretary to the Mayor of Miami
Beach, who helped our delegation get faster transportation back to Florida from the International
Lions Convention in Havana, Cuba. Lion C.A. Miller was on that trip. Later Reggie’s brother
was killed in a holdup in his pawnshop on Flager Street in Miami. A lot of people classify a
pawnbroker as a shylock. Those pawnbrokers I have known are kind people and are a asset to
any community they operate in.
Of course you can exclude me.
In November 1934 Sheriff Lawrence Brown of Buncombe County came to see me and
said that he needed help. Beacon Manufacturing Company at Swannanoa was having labor
trouble and a group from South Carolina was coming up to prevent the employees from going to
work. He wanted to rent twenty 12 gauge shotguns to be used by special deputies to guard the
entrance to the plant.
I rented him twenty 12 gauge Harrington, Richardson shotguns for $1 each. He was
successful in guarding the plant and they never fired a shot. The sheriff phoned me and said that
he wanted to bestow upon me the honor of being a deputy sheriff and to come over and bring a
photo for an identification card. I told him I didn’t know anything about enforcing the law. He
said that was okay, to come over and he would swear me in and take out insurance on me.
I asked him if it was life insurance. He said, “No, it was liability insurance and if I did
anything wrong as a deputy sheriff that they would furnish me legal assistance in court.” I was
sworn in November 15, 1934.
I got a phone call the next morning from Mr. Seely, Manager of the Grove Park Inn. He
said that he needed a gun for his watchman, a 38 Saturday Night Special with a 4" barrel.
Sheriff Brown told him I could supply what he wanted. I told him I had it in stock and he asked
me to bring it out to the Inn. I got in my dilapidated Ford touring car, drove to the front entrance
�of the Inn and started to go in, when the Bell Captain stopped me.
He asked “What are you doing here?”
I replied “I have a gun for your watchman and Mr. Seely asked me to bring it out to him.”
“Well,” he said, “you take that gun to the back door. They have a barrel of money back
there and they will pay you for it.”
This was during the depression of the 30's and I had quoted Mr. Seely top price, and I
was going to do anything legal to complete the sale so I went to the back door.
Now I am happy to announce that at the present time I am allowed to go in the front
entrance to the Inn.
Guns and a Grandfather Clock
A friend of mine had a valuable antique clock about 6 feet tall. He said that he was
leaving home for a month and there was a lot of larceny going on. He would like to leave it with
me for safekeeping. I told him to put it in the storage area on the second floor of the shop.
A couple of days later a customer comes in and wants to buy a shotgun. It was summer
time and since hunting season didn’t open until fall I wondered why he wanted a shotgun. My
salesman said all the shotguns and shells were stored on the second floor and he would take the
customer up there. A little later I heard a big loud bang from the second floor. The salesman
came running down and said that the customer had committed suicide with a shotgun.
I called the Police Department and Dr. Baer, the coroner. Will Hampton, solicitor of
police court and the chief came over. I went to the second floor with them and we found the
customer passed out on the floor. I didn’t see any blood and upon examination we found part of
his clothing blown away under one arm and he wasn’t injured. It’s almost impossible to reach
the trigger of a 31" barrel shotgun when you have the muzzle at your chest. Evidently the
customer must have tried to reach the trigger and the muzzle slipped under his arm when the gun
fired.
I remembered the grandfather clock and found that the discharge from the gun blew some
of the plaster out of the wall about a foot from the clock. The clock was okay.
Dr. Baer asked for a pen. He said that he wanted to find out if the man really passed out.
He jabbed him several times with a pen and the man didn’t move. He really passed out. The
chief said that the man had violated a law and he would take charge of him.
The lesson from this event is: Don’t try to commit suicide - if you do you are liable to
get arrested.
A secretary’s thoughts
My name was Margaret Owen in 1936, when I was Leo Finkelstein’s secretary. It was
�the first job I ever had and he really taught me how to be office help. It was an exciting time to
work on Pack Square, which was the hub of Asheville’s business world at that time.
I remember that Mr. Finkelstein would lend me out to do typing for some of the Jewish
organizations he was participating with at that time. I worked for Lou Pollock when he was
head of the Jewish Cemetery, and Mr. Gustav Lichtenfeld and Sigred Sternberg when they were
working on getting Jewish people out of Germany. I wrote some of the letters which were
instrumental in bringing some of the early German Jews to Asheville, who then went on to
become very valuable citizens of Asheville, I know of Herbert Schiftan and his family, and Alfred
and Irmgard Lichtenfels. There were probably others that Mr. Finkelstein was responsible for
that he remembers, but I have forgotten.
I was in the store when the internees of Germany and Japan who were billeted at Grove
Park Inn came in, and Tom Wolfe came in to visit his friend, Bob Bunn. I was standing out front
one day when General George Marshall walked by on is way to the City Hall which was the Air
Force Headquarters as that time during World War II. We all were out front one day when
President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Asheville to dedicate the Great Smoky National Park.
Mr. Finkelstein was more than a friend to many of the ethnic community of that time. I
believe that he was the contact for visiting rabbis, Jewish transient people who needed help and
communicated with them in Hebrew. All the employees learned to understand and communicate
(somewhat) by talking to each other in Yiddish.
Mr. Finkelstein played at least ten or twelve instruments, demonstrating in order to make
a sale or loan.
The Silver Shirts
In the 1930's William Dudley Pelly operated the “Silver Shirts,” a Nazi like organization
in a building across the street from the Jewish Community Center on Charlotte Street. He
published the “Liberation Weekly,” anti-Semitic literature with a circulation of eight thousand.
In a parade, I was playing the saxophone with the Asheville Shrine Club Marching Band,
and William Rosenfelt was carrying the American Flag. Pelly in his “Liberation Weekly”
published a story that we were disgraced by a Jew with a big nose carrying the American Flag.
Pelly was arrested by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department in 1941 for selling
unregistered stock. He was found guilty through the efforts of Julius Levitch, a young Jewish
lawyer by the name of Alvin Kurtus, and a local attorney named R.R. Williams.
Unnamed
William Rothenberg was a patient at the V.A. Hospital in Oteen. He moved to Asheville
to live, married Freda Gross. I gave him a job as salesman in the pawnshop. He would go back
to Oteen for treatments but was asked to stop. He got to drinking and was separated from his
wife.
A railroad watch from our display board was missing. A Taxi driver told me that
William Rothenberg went the watch to the other pawnshop in town by him and he pawned it
there for $20.00.
I checked the serial numbers on the watch and they were the same as the ones on our
watch. I asked Rothenberg about it and he said that he won it in a poker game the night before
�at the Langren Hotel. I checked with Fred Bradley, the night manager of the hotel and he
advised me that there was no poker game in the hotel that night.
Rothenberg got the drinking and Judge Cathey put him in jail with a sentence of 30 days.
Judge Cathey released him from jail after I promised to send him to Miami, FL where his ex-wife
was living. I bought him a bus ticket and told him not to return to Asheville. He did not return.
IV. I Am A Dime
I was born in the early part of the twentieth century at the United States Mint in
Philadelphia, put in a roll with forty-nine other dimes and shipped to the Southern State Bank on
Depot Street in Asheville, North Carolina, of which Mr. S. Sternberg was president. Mr.
Sternberg had a son, Joseph, who later became president of the Asheville Lions Club.
Mr. Sternberg took me and the forty-nine other dimes to his beautiful estate on Victoria
Road in order to participate in a ten cent limit poker game with some of his friends. Someone
tipped off the police that a game was going on. The home was raided and Mr. Sternberg gave
the names of the players as Mr. Aleph, Mr. Baze, Mr. Gimmel, Mr. Dolad, Mr. Hay, Mr. Vove,
Mr. Zion and Mr. Hess. The “Asheville Citizen” carried a story after the trial that an attorney
appeared in Police Court for Mr. Aleph, Mr. Baze, Mr. Gimmel, Mr. Dolad, Mr. Hay, Mr. Vove,
Mr. Zion and Mr. Hess and paid their fines. Very few people knew that Aleph, Baze, Gimmel,
Dolad, Hay, Vove, Zion, and Hess are the first eight letters of the Hebrew Alphabet.
I got separated from the other dimes that came to Asheville with me. I found myself in
the pocket of Chief Bernard of the Asheville Police Department. It was in November, 1906, that
the Chief phoned Uncle Harry, the pawnbroker, and said that ne needed firearms and
ammunition to equip a posse of fifty men in order to hunt Will Harris, a desperado. Will Harris
had shot and killed five men, of whom two were city policemen. Uncle Harry furnished the
posse with guns and ammunition, taking only the names of those receiving firearms. It was
reported that Will Harris spent the night in a barn in Buena Vista. The posse surrounded him in
a field near Fletcher and killed him. His body was brought to an undertaking establishment at
21 South Main Street, and hung out of the second story window in the building in order to show
the people that he had been killed and quieten them down. The next day, the Chief called
Uncle Harry and asked if all the firearms had been returned. Uncle Harry said they had and
commented that the people of Asheville were honest and good citizens. (Now, Thomas Wolfe,
famous author and native of Asheville used this event for a story published in the Saturday Evening Post
September 7, 1937. He also used it in a chapter in his book “The Child by Tiger.”
2
Bob Terrell, writer for the Citizen-Times talked about this event at one of our meetings.
In 1968 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Washington required a record of every
pistol, rifle, revolver that we received and disposed of, as well as the model, caliber, serial number and
manufacturer. I recently checked the shop that I retired from 25 years ago and they have records of
2
Move note here on Thomas Wolfe etc.
�33,000 transactions since 1968 on hand.)
The Chief took me to Mr. Pappa’s Cafe on South Main Street, bought his lunch which
consisted of a ten cent bowl of soup, a good supply of free crackers and catsup.
Mr. Pappa’s brother operated the “Candy Kitchen” on Haywood Street. They were
making a lot of stick candy in the shape of walking sticks, colored red and white. The cafe
owner bought a half dozen walking sticks from his brother, using me as part payment. He said
that he was going to put the candy on his Christmas tree.
The next day Mr. Pappas, who lived on North Main Street, was coming to town in a rain
storm. North Main Street was paved but all side streets were not. They had stepping stones in
order to get across. Mr. Pappas slipped on a stepping stone, getting his shoes all muddy. He
stopped at the Pack Square Shoe Shine Parlor, got a shoe shine for five cents and gave the
shine boy a five cent tip.
The next thing I knew I was placed in a deposit for the Wachovia Bank and I stayed in
their vault until the year 1913. Uncle Harry picked me up to use in his petty cash. His son
asked for his weekly allowance and I was given to him with four other dimes. The son boarded
a South Main Street streetcar on Pack Square with a fishing pole and a can of worms. He got
off
at the Swannanoa River and walked a hundred yards toward the French Broad. In a couple of
house, he caught a nice string of hog suckers, horney heads and perch out of the beautiful clear
waters of the Swannanoa River. On his way home, he gave me to the conductor, received five
cents change and a transfer to the North Main streetcar in order to go home.
The Conductor carried me around a few days and then gave me to a lady on the
Riverside “open air” streetcar that ran to Riverside Park. Riverside Park was owned an
operated by the Asheville Power and Light Co., the same people who owned the street car
company that was finally gobbled up by Lion Smith’s Carolina Power and Light Co. This lady
gave me to her husband who went down to the Elk’s Club and lost me in a rummy game to a
distinguished looking attorney they called “Judge Cocke.” After the card game the “judge” sat
around talking to brother Elks and drinking beer. He was famous for his knowledge of North
Carolina, its people and places. He even talked about the house of ill repute in Asheville at the
turn of the century known as the “Eagle Terrace” run by a lady called “Queen Elizabeth.”
The next morning, Attorney Cocke defended a man in Police Court who was charged
with stealing a pair of shoes and pawning them because he couldn’t wear them on account of
being too small. The court ordered the man to leave town that day. The man said he was
hungry and didn’t have any money. So Attorney Cocke gave me with other change to him. The
man went down to the Asheville and East Tennessee Railway Company station at the corner of
North Main and College Streets. They operated an electric vehicle between Asheville and
Weaverville. The man smelled hot dogs cooking at D. Gross’s Hot Dog Stand next door, so he
spent me for a hot dog and a coca-cola. Mr. Gross raised and educated a family of thirteen
children from the money he earned at his hot dog stand.
Mr. Gross carried me around until Saturday night when he went to Liggett’s Drug Store
for some headache powders. He stopped in front of the drug store to listen to the Salvation
Army band while they were having a preaching and musical session.
He put me in a pot they were using to get donations for their annual Christmas party.
�The Salvation Army bought a second-hand truck from Lion Fred Brown to be used in delivering
food and clothing to the poor people in town. I was used in this transaction. Lion Brown took
me to a Lions Club meeting, where he used me to pay the dime he was fined by the “Tail
Twister” for falling asleep during the program.
The Tail Twister’s wife took possession of me and bought some ribbon at the Palais
Royal, a large department store on South Main Street, operated by Mr. Morris Myers.
I circulated around Asheville until 1918, and again, found myself in possession of Mr.
Sternberg. He had a large junk yard and warehouse on Depot Street that bought and sold
hundreds of cowhides. On all of his advertisements he carried the slogan “We buy anything and
sell everything.” A circus came to town and didn’t have enough money to leave. They applied to
Mr. Sternberg who was president of the Southern States Bank on Depot Street for a loan of
$200. Mr. Sternberg made the loan and took the elephant as collateral. He complained he was
losing money on account of the elephant eating so much. Otto Buseck who owned Middlemont
Gardens at that time raised his own flowers at a hot house in Candler. He helped Mr. Sternberg
out with the elephant - he bought the manure from him.
The next thing I recall was four o’clock on the morning of November 11, 1918. The fire
bell started to ring at the firehouse. The Armistice of World War I had been signed. People
gathered on Pack Square and built a huge bonfire. A fire truck came out of the firehouse to
shine its spot light on the American flag flying at the top of the Pack Square flag pole. People
were bringing their guns from home to the Square and shooting live ammunition into the air in
celebration.
The fellow who owned me brought a double-barrel shotgun to town and bought some
black powder shells from Otis Green Hardware Store. (Mr. Green years later became Mayor of
Asheville). The Chief of Police soon asked all stores selling ammunition to quit selling it as he
was afraid someone would accidentally get shot.
Mr. Green took me to the Southern Railway passenger station and bought a ticket to
New York from Pat Mulvaney, ticket agent. Frank Mulvaney, a brother to Pat, was a chief clerk
for the railroad. He later became councilman for the City of Asheville.
Pat took me to the Union News Company’s news stand in the station and bought two
five cent cigars. Later an engineer from the railroad bought a “Billboard” magazine, and I was
given to him in change for a dollar. He took me to the Glen Rock Hotel across the street, and I
was used in paying his bill. The clerk at the hotel bought some ice cream at Finley’s Drug Store
next door.
Mr. Finley gave me to his son, Bob, who took me to Montford Avenue School. Bob in
later years became the Supreme Court Justice for the State of Washington. Bob, on leaving
Montford Avenue School one day, took me to Mr. Book’s Grocery Store on Cherry Street and
bought some cookies. The people across the street from Mr. Book’s Grocery Store had a lot of
cherry trees on their land and they would pay boys from the school ten cents a quart to pick
cherries. Lion Carol Rhinehart picked a quart of cherries and received me in payment.
Lion Carl Rhinehart lost me in a marble game at school to Jack Roberts, who took me
home to 219 North Main Street. A creek ran parallel to North Main Street and emptied into the
French Broad. Jack found muskrats were running up and down the creek, so he recruited some
of the neighborhood boys who acquired steel traps and caught and sold the muskrat hides to St.
�Penick and Company, at the corner of North Main and Lexington.
The next thing I recall I was in the pants pocket of Lion Bill Michalove, who took me to
the Galaxy Theater on Pack Square in order to see a serial movie called “The Black Hand.”
Bill’s brother, Dan, was manager of the Asheville Theaters, and he finally became Vice
President of Paramount Pictures, with headquarters in Australia. Since Bill had an “in” at the
theaters in town, he would, on occasion, take his teen-age boy friends back stage at the
Majestic Theater, located at the corner of College and Market Streets, to view the chorus girls at
close range. Tommy Elkins, the stage manager, would keep a close watch on the boys in order
to see that they behaved themselves.
It was in 1922 when I was used as part payment for a second hand Jeffery automobile
bought by Harry Blomberg. Harry took his Jeffery Auto to Asheville High School on Oak Street.
Someone dropped me on Market Street and I rolled down a storm sewer. I stayed there for a
long time and one day a man from the city’s water department found me and used me in a
donation to the Democratic Party of Buncombe County.
The chairman of the Party put me in a 10 cents slot machine at a social club.
The player who won me at the slot machine would always put me back, hoping to win
more. I circulated in and out of the slot machine until 1950, when Lion Dr. Feldman won me.
Dr. Feldman had a reputation of never buying anything unless he could get it wholesale. Dr.
Feldman put me in the zipper change section of his pocketbook, and now I haven’t seen the
light of day for twenty years.
V. Jewish Jitter Bugs3
A bug is an insect. A Jitter Bug is an insect that jumps from place to place. A Jewish Jitter Bug
is a professional bum, claiming Jewish faith— jumping around from city to city — living off the
sympathy of his misinformed brothers - other Jews.
For twenty years, I have seen this bunch of crooks take from $300 to $400 a year out of my
community. I have learned their stories, their approach, their methods, and in fact, I can tell one just by
the sight of him. I have seem them go north in the summer-time, and south in the wintertime. I have been
awakened at all hours of the night by them, tracked down on Sundays and holidays. I have to put up with
them coming in my place of business, with no courtesy to me, or respect for my customers. I have to
watch them go away most always with a dissatisfied growl for what help they get, and seldom do I hear a
“Thank You”. I have to battle their high-powered maneuvers of artistic chiseling without the help or
appreciation of the Jewish Community in which I live.
Who are these people? Why, they are Jews — sure, they are a bunch of professional racketeers
that cost the Jewish public about one million dollars per year. If a Jew gets to a city and is broke - why,
the other Jews are supposed to help him out. What he is or what he does or where he comes from - don’t
make any difference - as long as he is a Jew that is all that is necessary. That is what you might think —
but I don’t!
There is not one Jewish transient in five hundred worthy of any help at all. They travel from
place to place using the fact that they are Jews to prey upon other Jews. Many of them are ex-convicts,
3
Cite reference
�some just ordinary bums, and all of them liars.
In this army of rogues, you will not find one who has a friend or relative who they could obtain
help from. I have offered to wire to any person for hundreds of them, but they will tell ;you that all their
friends or relatives are broke, or that they wouldn’t think of asking any of them for money. Common
sense will tell you that, if a transient is worthy, there must be someone in this world who will help him to
some extent. I am sure if any of you gentlemen were to find yourself broke in some far off place, that you
would have at least one friend or relative to whom you could wire for help. These swindlers don’t want
to get help from friends or relatives. They are just traveling around, enjoying life in a peculiar way, and
living on the Jewish public, their so-called brothers.
So, when these Jewish Brothers of ours come to town, what are we supposed to do with them?
The only sensible thing we can do is to get rid of them as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
The most common type of transient is the ordinary bum who claims that he has a job in a nearby
city. All he wants from you is a couple of meals in a good restaurant, a room with a bath in a clean hotel,
transportation to the place he is going, and maybe a pair of shoes, a couple of shirts and an overcoat. In
order to get rid of this man quickly you must start talking before he does. So when I spot one, I start
talking first. I ask him if he wants some help, and as soon as he says “Yes” I hand him a half-dollar, a
meal ticket to a nearby restaurant, and tell him to get the hell out of town as fast as he can. Most of them
will take this and leave because they know, through their grapevine system, that this is all they can get.
This system even informs them where to go to when you get to a town, and that is why nobody see the
majority of these people, except myself. Some of them insist that they have a special story to tell you
about their hard luck, and that they re different from the rest. These stories would make some of you
break down and weep, but to me these stories are just a bunch of fabricated lies.
Then, we have the group of transients who are physically disabled. Some are partially blind and
crippled. They will claim to have tuberculosis, nervous indigestion, high blood pressure or what-not.
Some will claim to have a combination or complication of diseases, or an assortment of ailments. If I am
convinced that the transient is really ill, then I buy him transportation to the nearest point, and get him out
of town as fast as I can. These people are never given cash for their transportation. A check is written to
the Bus Station for their ticket, and the Bus Station has instructions to issue a ticket stamped “No
Refund”.
This method was adopted after I found out some cashed their tickets back in, in order to get cash,
and bummed rides out on the highway to get to where they were going.
A decent looking, elderly lady once appealed to me for help. She stated that she was almost
blind, and was traveling with her son who was so crippled he couldn’t walk. She told me that she and her
son had come in on a bus late the night before, and were at a small hotel near the bus station. She advised
me that her son was ill in bed, that she was out of funds, could not pay her hotel bill, had nothing to eat,
and no way to get to a nearby city where her son was going to enter a hospital. “A worthy case, at last!”
I thought. I took her name, and ask her to come back in an hour, and I would see what I could do for her.
I inquired at the hotel, and found that nobody by the name she gave me was there. I asked her about this
when she returned, and she said that she did not use her real name since it was Jewish, and she didn’t
want people to think she was Jewish. I called the hotel again and inquired about the new name she had
given me, and the hotel informed me that the two of there were register there, but that her son seemed
healthy, and was in and out of the hotel all day long. Asking her about this, she explained that her son
went out only when he had to go to the drug store for medicine. It was cold and raining outside, so I
called the hotel, and told them I would pay their bill, gave her enough for food, bought her two bus
tickets, and gave her instructions to get out of town, by night without fail. It wasn’t long before I
received a phone call from a Jewish person in town stating that this old lady had called on him, and pe
proceeded to cuss me out for not giving her any help. To make a long story short--she called on three
more persons in the city with the same story - that I would not help her. A couple of hours later I went by
the hotel where she was staying and found that she had checked out and left in her room many pieces of
clothing that had been given to her by these people she had called on in the city.
�Then we have the rabbis. They are a wonderful type of transient to deal with. They usually get
to town on Friday, so you have to keep them over “shabbos”. That means an expense of two nights
lodging and meals for a whole day. In fact, all the transients who arrive on Friday are “very religious”
and won’t travel on Friday night or Saturday. I’ve had many rabbis promise to send me back the money I
gave them, and never yet has one of them sent back a penny. In fact, of the hundreds of promises that
I’ve had from all kinds of transients to return money given them, never has one kept his promise.
The president of the orthodox congregation once phoned me, and told me that a rabbi was at this
house m and that this rabbi was a very fine person, a scholar, and a gentleman, a man is in need, and
suggested that I give him $5. I was just ready to leave my house, and I informed the president that I did
not have time to interview the rabbi myself, but that if he thought the man was worthy, to give him $5,
and I would return that amount to him later. I happened to pass by the president’s house just as the rabbi
was leaving there, and I took a good look at him. The next morning, the same rabbi was at my place of
business, wanting to know if I took care of the Jewish transients. He wasn’t a rabbi anymore, and he had
changed his name. I told him to come along with me, and I would take him to the man who could help
him. He got into the front seat of my automobile, and wanted to know where we were going, and when I
told him we were going to see the president of the orthodox congregation, he jumped out and ran. I ran
after him, and caught him on Patton Avenue. He started yelling like I was going to murder him, and a
crowd started to gather, so I let him go, and he ran away again. I haven’t seen him since.
Another Rabbi once appealed to me for help, and he claimed to be a brother-in-law of the rabbi in
Greenville, SC. Knowing the rabbi in Greenville personally, I didn’t believe he would send a brother-inlaw of his out of the state to chisel the public, so I phoned long distance to inquire about the man. The
rabbi in Greenville informed me that this transient had worried the community there a couple of days
before, that he was no relation of his, but claimed to be a brother-in-law of the rabbi in Columbia. This
man’s system was to claim relationship to a rabbi in a nearby city, in order to get help. I gave him $.50
and a meal ticket, and told him to get out of town before dark. He didn’t leave, instead he called on other
Jews in the city with the same story, and collected around $5 by noon the next day. I finally contacted
him, and told him again to get out of town, which he refused to do. So, I had the police department pick
him up, and put him in jail. In about an hour, I went over, and talked to him in jail, and he changed his
tune quite a bit. He was ready to leave town, so we let him out and this time I gave him fifteen minutes to
disappear--and he did!
Another rabbi once called on me, and stated that he was a representative of a Jewish institution
somewhere in Europe, and wanted a donation for it. I explained to him that we had a Federated Jewish
charities here to help him, and he would have to make his request through them. He kept insisting that I
give him a donation personally, and I kept refusing him. He finally gave up, proceeded to cut me out in
Yiddish, in a extremely loud voice — and this wasn’t all — he spit on the floor, slammed the door as hard
as he could as he went out. I felt like killing him, and I think it would have been justifiable homicide.
I could tell you many tales of my experiences with these human vultures, but one I remember in
particular, was the time when a local judge phoned me, and told me that he would have to try a young boy
by the name of Goldberg for vagrancy. He asked me to recommend to him what to do with the boy. I
went over to see the defendant, and he happened to be one of the transients I had helped a few days
before. He had ordered a sandwich at a small restaurant on the outskirts of town, refused to pay for it, so
the restaurant man had him arrested. I told the judge of my experiences with the Jewish transients and
asked him to make an example out of this boy, so he gave him thirty days on the road. In sentencing the
boy, the judge told him that from now on every Jewish transient that was brought before him would get a
road sentence. Then I really got criticized by the Jewish community for putting Jewish Boys on the
Chain-gang. I was shown a copy of his criminal record from the FBI a few days later. He had been
convicted of all kinds of offenses from stealing a bicycle to highway robbery. After the boy got out, he
came to see me again, and feeling sorry for him, I bought him a ticket to Charlotte, and informed him that
I would see that every transient from now on coming into Asheville would get a road sentence. Before
that time, we had from ten to thirty transients per month appealing for help. It was interesting to note that
�we didn’t have another transient come into Asheville, for six weeks after the boy left, and for a long time
after that, appeals for help were 50% of what they had been before that.
It is my sincere recommendation that every Jewish transient, coming into Asheville, be put in jail
for a certain length of time. This is the only way to cure this evil. Of course, the Jewish community
wouldn’t stand for anything like that, they would rather give these damned hoodlums a few hundred
dollars every year.
Then, we have the transients coming through in family groups. These groups consist of a mother
and father, with one or more children. They usually arrive in a dilapidated old automobile. Most of the
time, the automobile needs some repairs before they can leave town in it; it never has any gasoline and
usually needs a couple of quarts of oil. These parties are expensive and hard to handle, because you can
hardly send small children on their way without a night’s sleep and proper food.
Of course, I have some deserving cases, but I don’t class these with the transients. For instance, a
man once came in to see me, with the story that he had tuberculosis, and he had come down here from
Detroit as his doctor had recommended this climate to him. He expected to get a job as an elevator boy,
or something of the sort, and he was under the impression that the climate here would cure him while he
worked. Well, the man was broke, and was waiting for some financial help from his brother whom he
had written a few days before. I gave the man $4 and he promised to pay me back as soon as he heard
from his brother. He came back the next day. He had heard from his brother. He showed me the letter
and his brother enclosed $10 which was all that he could send. He told me that he was unable to find
work, and was going to start back for Detroit. He offered me the $4 I had given him. I asked him how he
expected to get back to Detroit on $7, and he told me that he would have to hitch-hike. I told him to keep
the $4, and wish him the best of luck, and while I am not a doctor, I was under the opinion from his looks
that his health would never permit him to hitch-hike back home and get there alive.
So for twenty years, I have dealt with the bunch of beggars, coming from North, South, East, and
West. They have become a part of my life, and if I could get out of this job right now, I am sure I would
miss this horde of gangsters that hop around from place to place like a bunch of grasshoppers in a clover
patch.
VI. War Years4
Pilot on 023
On admission to the Air Force in 1943 I was interviewed as to what activity I had in a
business or profession, also what experience I had in religious, fraternal or civic affairs. I told
them I was just a clerk in a pawnshop.
I didn’t tell them that I once:
was president of a cemetery.
was an owner of a company that built floats and decorated the town for the first
Rhododendron Festival in Asheville.
supplied the Asheville Police Dept. and the Sheriff’s Dept. with guns and ammunition.
4
. A more complete account of Leo Finkelstein’s experiences during World War II is
found in his Letters from Leo: Letters to the Asheville Lion’s Club (Center for Appalachian
Studies: Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, 1996)
�I didn’t tell them anything about my civic, fraternal, religious or social activities.
I was sent to Tishomingo, Oklahoma for training in the Oklahoma State College for
Agriculture to be an air force clerk in engineering. After graduating from the clerk’s school in
Tishomingo, I felt I would have an easy life in the Air Force being an engineering clerk. But my
duties from Tishomingo to the islands in the South Pacific were:
kitchen police
mess hall fireman
mess hall garbage director
cleaning chickens
policing grounds
digging ditches
hauling poles
hauling fire wood
hauling coal
fighting forest fires
assorting merchandise at warehouse
assorting salvage merchandise
smashing tin cans
hauling water
finance clerk
detail clerk
runner for headquarters
stacking lumber
cleaning rifles and machine guns
building roads
repairing bridges
laying concrete
operating gasoline pump
telephone operator
making inventories of supplies
acting C. Q.
pulling weeds and grass
watering trees
loading and unloading trucks
loading and unloading freight cars
loading barracks bags on boats and trucks
cleaning hatches on boats
latrine orderly
painting machinery
communications clerk
and finally engineering clerk for the 394th Squadron, 5th bomb group of the 13th Air
Force.
Getting a good grade on my education at Tishomingo and experience in travel to the
South Pacific I thought I was ready to do my job.
�My first difficulty was when A pilot comes in to see me after a combat mission on a B-24 Bomber number 023 and
said that he failed to put on his reporting form #Y that the tachometer indicator occilates
excessively, would I please write it in the form for him. I told him I would.
You know, I didn’t know what the h--- he was talking about and I couldn’t even spell it.
Tokyo Rose
Tokyo Rose was an American girl broadcasting from a radio station in Japan during
World War II. Her broadcast was received by the 13th Air Force in the Admiralty Islands
located in the South Pacific area.
She played recorded American music in her broadcast. She advised us that our wives and
sweethearts were dating the 4 F’s - the men who stayed out of military service and they would go
to drive inns for hamburgers and coca-colas.
She also said that the Japanese would be waiting for our B-24 bombers scheduled for a
mission in the morning with anti-aircraft guns and fighter planes.
Radios were scarce on the island. I wanted to listen to Tokyo Rose so I wrote home and
requested a small radio to be shipped to me. They advised that the smallest radio weighed too
much to be shipped overseas by parcel post but they would take it apart and ship it in two
packages which was acceptable at the post office.
The radio department of the 5th Bomb Group said they would be glad to put the radio
together for me. When I received the shipment in two packages I gave it to them. They repaired
it the best they could. I found that when I turned it on it would work for about a minute and then
quit receiving. They couldn’t find the trouble.
One day I took a screw driver, tightened all the screws and thought I found the trouble. I
put the radio on the table in the tent, started it receiving and in one minute it stopped. I was
disgusted - I hit the radio, knocked it off the table. It hit the floor, bounced about 2 feet and
started playing. It was okay from then on.
In about a week Captain Gardner in the engineering department sent word that he wanted to see
me as soon as possible. I thought I had fouled up on keeping his engineering records but he had this to
say:
Corporal Finkelstein we are having trouble repairing the radio on airplane No. 022 and we
understand that you are the only one in the 394th Squadron that can solve our problem. Will you help us?
I forgot what I said, but I couldn’t figure out how to knock an airplane off the table.
Topless Women
�Now if you read the morning paper, you noticed headlines on the front page: “Topless
Night Club Opens in Asheville.”
Well, you didn’t need a night club to see topless women on those South Pacific Islands
during WWII. The trouble was they would move all the women to another island close by the
island we occupied. We built a motor boat made of two airplane belly tanks and a small power
unit so that we could go over and see the women at another island.
I didn’t go over to see the women. I wasn’t afraid of them, but I was afraid the boat
might sink.
Sergeant Joe
In 1944, Sergeant Joe, the mess sergeant in my outfit in the 13th Air Force located in the
South Pacific during World War II, received a shipment of canned corn. Instead of using it for
chow, he built a still in a fox hole and made corn whiskey out of it. Joe ran a road house in
Greenville, South Carolina before the war and in a neighborly spirit he invited me to drink what I
wanted of the corn whiskey and he helped me trade watch bands for coca-cola syrup and ice
cream from a Navy C.B. outfit located near by.
After the war, he operated his road house in Greenville again. He came to see me and
advised that they had arrested his partner for hauling whiskey in Buncombe County and wanted
to know if I could help him. I told him that I knew the Chief of Police and Sheriff Brown and I
would be glad to see what the situation was. He told me they couldn’t help as it was the Federal
authorities that arrested his partner. Thinking of how to get him a light sentence I asked Joe if
his partner was in the armed forces and he said that they had turned him down because he has a
heart murmur. I told Joe to send him to Dr. Feldman and I’d get the report from him as to his
heart murmur. Dr. Feldman told me he had a heart murmur and as Federal Physician he would
advise Judge Warlick about in federal court. At the trial Joe’s partner went scott free. Later he
came to see me with a roll of hundred dollar bills and wanted to pay me for getting him off. I
refused the money and told him that Joe had helped me out during the war and what I did was a
favor to Joe. Later he brought me six fifths of Scotch for a present, which I kept.
While overseas, besides having corn whiskey made by Joe and medical alcohol diluted
50% by water and flavored with burnt sugar, we were able to buy bonded whiskey from the
flying personnel who didn’t drink their ration. Price was $60 per fifth. They were looking for
souvenirs so I wrote Lion Nat Friedman to send me a Japanese hare-kari knife from his antique
store. He sent me a similar one. It was a circular shape Turkish knife with Turkish letters on it.
My cost was $4. It looked like a hare-kari knife. I gave it to Sergeant Joe and asked him to see
if he could trade for a Fifth of bonded whiskey. He reported later that he couldn’t get a fifth of
whiskey for it but he did get two fifths for it.
Sgt. Smokey Joe’s home is just a little bit south of Asheville, NC. He was mess sergeant
for the 394th squadron, a good guy, and a GI who could sympathize with all the other GI’s who
had to eat the food he prepared.
�Before the war Smokey Joe owned a road house on the highway going south from
Asheville and after talking to him I found that I had patronized his institution on numerous
occasions during my younger years. Since we were practically neighbors in civilian life, we felt
that we should continue over there as good neighbors and so we were. There is no better friend
in the army than a cook because when you get hungry, he is the only man who can help you out.
In passing I might mention that Smokey Joe, Starvin Marvin and I have on numerous instances
enjoyed eating surplus stocks of food from the Mess Hall.
Smokey Joe told me about Sheriff Brown, in Asheville, taking his automobile away from
him once because the sheriff had found some whiskey in it that he was transporting to his road
house.
Now Smokey is fighting to get his freedom - his freedom to go home and dodge Sheriff
Brown some more, and there is Starvin Marvin who wants to go home and see his wife and two
year old boy, a child that he has never seen, and so it is with me - I want to go home - I just want
to go home.
WWII Diary
I had nothing to do while recovering from a recent surgery so I found my WWII diary
and read the following:
Before the war, I thought being the army would be a thrilling adventure - but now I know
Sherman was right.
Before the war, I thought the Air Force was a mechanized force - but now I wonder what
the Hell I’m marching for.
Before the war, I thought the Asheville Citizen was a volten newspaper - but now I enjoy
reading one four days old.
Before the war, I would drink a cocktail before dinner but now I drink milk with my
dinner.
Before the war, I would sometimes go to be at 4 am but now I get up at 4 am.
Before the war, I was particular about what girl I took out - but now I’m not so
particular.
Before the war I struggled over a golf course - but now I struggle over an obsticle
course.
Before the war, I used to shine at a dance - but now I shine my shoes.
Before the war, I cussed at a golf ball - but now a sergeant cusses at me for not being on
the ball.
�Before the war, I didn’t have much religion - but now I pray for a furlough.
...
Soon after a prayer for a furlough, the Red Cross advised me that a business associate of
mine had committed suicide and I had been granted a two weeks emergency furlough for a trip
home.
VII. After the War
Sgt. Smokey Joe
After the war Smokey Joe opened his road house again near Greenville, SC. He came to
see me and advised that they had arrested his partner for hauling whiskey in Buncombe County
and wanted to know if I could help him out.
I told him I knew the Chief of Police and Sheriff Brown and I would be glad to see what
the situation was. He told me they couldn’t help as it was the Federal Authorities that arrested
his partner. Thinking of how to get him a light sentence, I asked Joe if his partner was in the
armed forces and he said that they had turned him down because he had a heart murmur. I told
Joe to send his partner to Lion Dr. Feldman who was Federal Physician and I would get a report
from him as to his heart murmur.
Lion Dr. Feldman told me he had a heart murmur and as a Federal Physician he would
advise Judge Warlick about it in Federal Court. At the trial, Joe’s partner got a suspended
sentence. Later he came to see me with a roll of hundred dollar bills and wanted to pay me for
getting him off. I refused the money and told him that Joe had helped me out during the war and
what I did was a favor to Joe. Later he brought me six fifths of scotch for a present which I kept.
Corn Whiskey at Road House
Before the war, road houses would hide the corn whiskey they served their guests in a
container under a bed. When the sheriff’s dept. would raid the joint, they usually wouldn’t look
for it there. One night they found it and an article appeared in the Asheville Citizen that the
sheriff’s dept. confiscated a gallon of whiskey hid in a container at a road house.
J im Dwelbiss and Beaver Lake
Returning home from World War II, I was interested in building a house to live in.
Jim Dwelbiss, president of the Asheville Lions Club 1941-1942, said that he had a lot
across the street from his home on Westwood Road in Lakeview Park and if I would build a one
story house so he could see Beaver Lake over the roof of my house, he would give me a good
deal. I acquired the lot and built the house. He told me that as a resident of Lakeview Park I
should take on some activity for the benefit of the park.
He took me to the annual meeting of the property owners and I was elected as one of the
three commissioners - no salary. When I met with the other two commissioners they told me I
�had charge of the lake and fishing and they would back me up in anything I wanted to do. I got
phone calls.
I got a phone call from a resident and he says “Stop the fishing, the fish are diseased.” I
contacted the game warden from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and we found a service
station by the creek that furnished the lake with water that had put old oil from automobiles in it
and it had killed a few fish.
I get a phone call from a lady that an awful looking man wearing overalls was fishing. I
asked her did she expect him to wear a tuxedo.
I get a call advising that two women indecently dressed were near the dam of the lake. I
found them to be the wives of the two commissioners sun bathing.
I found two men swimming in the lake, which was against the rules. They told me they
would swim and that I couldn’t stop them. I told them to swim if they wanted to and that a
sewer line had broken and was emptying in the lake and would probably get typhoid fever - they
stopped swimming.
I found a group of women in bathing suits at the lake near Glenn Falls Road with a
photographer. I found them to be local beauticians getting their picture with the lake in the
background. They were using the picture on a cover of a program for a State Convention of
Beauticians in Asheville.
Fishing in the lake was allowed for licensed property owners only. I saw a man standing
at the edge of the lake for 30 minutes just looking. On investigation I found he had a line tied to
his belt that ran down the inside of his pants leg over his shoe into the lake. On the line he had a
float and a baited hook. When the fish would bite and pull the float under he would kick his leg,
hang the fish, pull it in and nobody would know he was fishing.
I appreciated what Lion Dwelbiss had done by getting me elected to be fish
commissioner of Beaver Lake.
But I got a call that I was going to be elected president of Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila
and that construction would be started soon on a temple at Liberty and Broad Streets. I thought
I could use some religion so I didn’t run again for commissioner of Lakeview Park and I took up
my duties as president of Beth-Ha-Tephila. I completed the building of financing of the new
temple in two years.
I was tired out and hoped that maybe I could get some rest by being fish commissioner
again at Beaver Lake.
Sternberg Hunting Rats
�Joe Sternberg was president of the Lion’s Club in 1960-61. His father Seigfred
Sternberg, came over to the U.S. at the turn of the century, procured a horse and wagon, drove
around western North Carolina buying cowhides and junk. He finally opened a junk yard on
Depot Street and became one of the largest cowhide dealers in the United States. Lion Joe was
my classmate in the A.H.S. class of 1922. He would rent a freight car on the local freight train to
Murphy and buy cowhides at the stations where the train stopped.
I was watch inspector for the Southern Railway and would travel on the same train, give
the employees a certificate that in my opinion the watch they had wouldn’t vary over 30 seconds
a week.
Going west you could go as far as Waynesville by auto and then by train to Murphy.
Lion Joe Dave, president of the club in 1932, was construction engineer for the Sternberg Co.
who supplied steel for the construction of buildings. Later he organized the Dave Steel Co.
Old man Sternberg did well financially and became president of the Southern State Bank
on Depot St.
He became active in civic, religious and fraternal affairs in Asheville. He built a big
home on Victoria Drive. He didn’t like the help he was getting in Asheville so he imported a
young beautiful maid from Germany. The maid went down to get an item at the garage and
found Mr. Sternberg there. Mr. Sternberg got fresh with the maid, the maid picked up a 22
caliber rifle that I sold him and shot him. The wound wasn’t serious.
The next morning a news item appeared in the Asheville Citizen with the head line:
“Sternberg Wounded While Hunting Rats in the Garage.”
Irving S. Cobb and Grove Park Inn
About sixty years ago my friend Fred Bradley was night clerk at Grove Park Inn. He
would tell me about the operation of the Inn. A guest would find his home town newspaper at
his breakfast table. If he paid for anything, what change, if needed, would be given to him in
uncirculated money.
The only entrance to the Inn’s grounds was a large gate off of Macon Ave. The gate was
closed at 10 PM as the noise from any automobile going in and out would disturb the guests.
Irving S. Cobb, famous humorist, was spending a couple of days at the Inn. A little after ten
o’clock one night he tried to get his auto into the Inn’s grounds. He found the gate locked. He
had to park his car on Macon Avenue.
He walked to the Inn and complained loudly about it. He was advised that the Inn didn’t
welcome any unusual noises after 10 PM. In a little while he came down to the lobby from his
room carrying his shoes, nothing on his feet but his socks, walked very quietly to Fred Bradley,
the night clerk, and whispered to him “I want to check out.”
�In a couple of days a news item appeared in the Asheville Citizen written by Irving Cobb
with the headline: “The Bunk of Buncombe.”
Read news article from Citizen-Times on suicide
This reminded me of a historical event years ago when I was selling guns. A customer
said he wanted an inexpensive pistol to keep in his home and he just obtained a permit to buy it.
I sold him a 22 cal. Iver Johnson pistol. This type gun was later known as a “Saturday Night
Special.”
When I completed the sale I said “Thank you mister.” He said “Don’t call me mister, I’m
a doctor. You call me doctor.” I said, “Thank you doctor.” He took the gun home and
committed suicide with it.
Now: I got to thinking if he bought the gun today he would have to make application to
get a permit and wait two or three days for the permit to be issued. Maybe if he had to wait that
long for a permit, he might have changed his mind about the suicide.
Then: As a doctor I wondered why he didn’t write a prescription for some high powered
sleeping pills, take several of them and just go to sleep and not wake up.
I think I got an explanation. If any of you had to buy prescription drugs today, you know
now expensive they are. And if they were that expensive back then when this happened, I guess
the doctor felt he could save money by committing suicide with a “Saturday Night Special.”
Problems in Water and Sewer Systems
If you’ve read the newspapers lately, you know that the city of Asheville has problems in
their water and sewer systems.
I had some personal problems, so I phoned doctor #1. The lady answering the phone said
that she would advise his nurse. His nurse was busy with a patient and the nurse would phone
me later. The nurse phones me in about an hour. I asked the nurse if I was supposed to talk to
her in a dignified way or call everything by its right name. She said to do what I think best, so I
tell her what’s troubling me and that it had the color of Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola, I don’t know
which.
She said she would talk to the doctor and call me back. She calls back and says I ought
to see doctor #2 who is a specialist with my troubles. He has a Rotto Rutter. I found out a Rotto
Rutter is a gadget used by plumbers on home work.
I see doctor #2 and he advises that he can’t find anything of a serious nature wrong. I go
back to doctor #1. He makes several tests. He tells me to go back to doctor #2, that he is going
to advise him of what he found and would ask him to make a complete examination.
Back in doctor #2's office, an assistant brings in a machine for examination. He tells me
that this machine is a new one, and it don’t hurt like the old one. After the examination, the
�doctor makes an appointment for me to go to the hospital for a I.V.P. examination and bring the
x-rays back to him. I take the x-rays back to doctor #2's office and the doctor says that they look
pretty good, that all I need would be surgery and a 2 to 3 days stay in the hospital or it may be 6
days.
I go back to the hospital for pre-admission tests and they do all the same tests that were
done two or three times before and the nurse asked me a lot of personal questions. She asked if I
had a BM. I knew that AM meant from midnight to noon and PM meant the time from noon to
midnight. So I figured out the BM meant a BAD MORNING, so I told the nurse that I had a BM
for about a week.
I was told to report for surgery the next Wednesday at 6:30 AM, somewhat earlier than I
usually get up. I get a phone call from doctor #2's nurse Tuesday night advising that the doctor
is ill and would be unable to do the surgery and it would be postponed.
Later I get a phone call that the surgery had been rescheduled for March 2nd at 1 PM. I
had 5 days to review the situation and I think I was mentally, physically, and maybe financially
ready for surgery.
End of Report. I now feel good.
SINS OF THE SANCTIMONOUS SUMMIT, OR
Shall I live and laugh or cry and die with a prayer, or
Laugh and live or cry and die
Sylvia dn I decided to go into the Summit, a retirement home, for our golden years of life.
We soon found out that the golden years of life are just gold plated- the gold wears off and you
find yourself in a situation of assorted problems.
I was in the WWII battle in the South Pacific but I found that it was a cinch compared to
the “old age” battle in the Summit.
Some of the residents here are physically disabled and some are mentally disabled. I am
92 years old and I find that all the residents over 90 years of age are both mentally and
physically disabled.
In moving to apartment #108, I asked if I could bring my piano. I was advised that my
apartment had sound proof walls and it would be OK. A femal resident in an apartment near me
said that she enjoyed listening to me practising but please don’t play before eight o’clock in the
morning-- “it’s liable to disturb my sleeping.”
The Summit was described to me as a “country club” retirement home with beautiful
grounds, good entertainment and delicious food. In the so-called “country club retirement
home,” I am still looking for the golf course and a swimming pool.
�The department serving food is the best outfit here. The meals are delicious but I’ve
never been offered a cocktail before dnner. The strongest drink I’ve ever had here has been ice
tea. Some day maybe we will have an entree of a Maine Lobster or a wild duck on toast.
I couldn’t figure out my monthly bill. I was told that the adding machine I had was an
antique and what I needed was a calculator and computer to get the correct amount. I was
advised that the easiest thing for me to do was to write a check for the amount listed as
BALANCE on my statement. That would be satisfactory with the Summit.
I never worry about paying my bills to the Summit-I’ll let them worry. If I go broke, I’ll
just go next door to the Veteran’s Hospital where I can get in any time since I have a disability
discharge from WWII.
The 1997 elections are over and I’m glad I’m a Democrat because I don’t like what the
Republicans will do with my benefits I get form Medicare and other government agencies to help
pay the Summit. The Democrats are not so hot either. They lowered interest rates so much on
my government bonds so now I have to cash them in order to have enough money to buy drugs.
Memory
My memory is getting worse. In leaving, my apartment I find the following has
happened:
#1 I forgot to turn the water off in the kitchen and the floor was flooded with water.
#2 I forgot to turn the stove off and the coffee pot was melted.
#3 I forgot to turn the lights off.
#4 I forgot to take my hearing aid with me.
#5 I forgot to take my walking cane with me.
#6 I forgot to take my reading glasses with me.
#7 I forgot to take my teeth.
#8 I forgot to go to the bathroom--for my pills.
I put a sign by the door where I leave the apartment listing the eight things I am supposed to do
before leaving. Most times, I forget to look at the sign.
Surgery payment
My doctor advised me that I needed major surgery and that he would like to talk to me in
his office. He wanted to know how I was going to pay my bill. I told him that a former doctor in
his establishment would accept Medicare, also other Insurance benefits and send me a bill for
what he didn’t collect. I would then send him a check.
�He advised that there were deductions on my insurance during the first part of the year
and wanted to know if I had considered them. I told him I didn’t know, but I would write him a
check now if he wanted it.
“Oh no,” he said. “I’ll take the check after the surgery.”
I answered, “I think you are making a mistake. If you take my insurance payments you
will get paid in thirty days. If you wait??? take my check and I die, it will take you a year to
collect from my estate.
He said, “You are wrong. I’m not going to let you die.”
So now, I’m looking forward to the future with many years of fears and tears. Suffering
from: Memory loss, over-reacting, trouble with eating, sleeping and weeping, co-ordination,
irritation, and constipation.
Prayer, or Humor, or What?
I wondered what the most beneficial to me - PRAYER, or HUMOR, or WHAT? Is it time
for me to laugh, cry or die?
I sent copies of my WWII Diary [page ???] to two preachers that responded as follows:
From preacher #1:
Dear Leo:
Thanks for the great piece. I enjoyed it! My best to you and Sylvia.
From preacher #2:
Thank you so much for that great “letter home from WWII.” It’s very funny! Actually it
really made my day after shoveling snow. I too could use a furlough. All my best to you and
Sylvia.
Later both preachers asked for permission to use my thoughts in sermons.
Maybe I should have been a preacher instead of a pawnbroker.
Finis
I had the honor of serving as president of Beth-Ha-Temphila in 1948 and 1949 during the
building and financing of the new temple at Liberty and Broad Streets.
I was Master of Ceremonies for the 50th Anniversary Banquet program of Beth-HaTehphila in 1941.
I also presided at the 75th Anniversary Banquet in 1966.
I have put in my application to preside at the 100th in 1991.
Unless we are Indians, our ancestors came from Foreign Lands. I am thankful they did
�what they did so that I could have the privilege of growing up in a city like Asheville, enjoy this
great country of ours---a land of religious freedom and opportunity.
GLOSSARY FOR THE GOYIM
brisgoyim-
�
Dublin Core
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Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
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Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
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Title
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Leo Finkelstein: Personal History
Date
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1998-01-30
Language
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English
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107_01_LeoKathy
Subject
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Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998--Family
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998--Anecdotes
Jews--North Carolina--Asheville--History
Description
An account of the resource
Leo Finkelstein provides an account of his family's past, starting in 1799 in Lithuania and ending with his life in Asheville.
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PDF
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<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
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Text
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42 pages
Coverage
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Asheville (N.C.)
Spatial Coverage
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https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
America
ancestors
Asheville
autobiography
Depression
Flanders
goyim
Jews
Lithuania
pawn shop
Pisgah
Prohibition
World War II
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/d7c7ac7c778387364efa612ed109077e.pdf
5461277badfa5745b489f3e66b9782bc
PDF Text
Text
In Nineteen Five
I became alive
and what I found
around this town
Was joy and tears
for 50 years.
I.Origins1
In 1799, my great-great grandfather was a chicken farmer in the town of Pushalot, in the
state of Lithuania, in the Soviet Union.
It was a hard life in the town of Pushalot. The winters were nine months long and
unendurably cold. The summers were hot and rainy. There were occasional pogroms or Russian
Cossaks rampaging through the streets terrorizing the countryside, gypsies stealing everything in
sight, including sometimes even children, and always there was the threat of Siberia.
My ancestors, like most Jews, were very poor, hard working and suffering. My greatgreat grandfather bought eggs from all the chicken farmers, packed them carefully on a wagon,
covered them with straw to keep them cool and fresh and rode many miles to Kovna, Vilna and
Riga to sell the eggs at the big city markets.
In 1825, my great grandfather served as a rabbi in Pushalot.
In 1872, my grandfather opened a kretchma in Pushalot. A kretchma is a Russian inn
somewhat like out modern motels, only they didn’t have swimming pools or air conditioning. It
was a place travelers could stop for food or drink or spend the night.
One day a Bolshevik on horseback stopped at the Inn and drank a lot of vodka. He got
fresh with my grandmother, who I understand was a good looking girl in those days. My father, a
teenage boy, picked up a piece of stove wood, hit him on the head and knocked him out. That
was an awful crime in Russia for a Jewish boy. My grandfather made a temporary settlement
with the Russian and gave him 50 rubles.
My father thought that they may send him to jail or Siberia, so he stole his way across the
border into Germany. He didn’t like Germany, so he left Germany and made his way to South
Africa.
He went to work as a house painter in Johannesburg. He became ill from the lead
poisoning in the paint. There were no United Way or Federate Jewish Charities down there, but
someone took pity on him and nursed him back to health. He sold cigarettes and sandwiches at a
1
Cite reference
�stock exchange and he finally opened a resturant.
In 1898, right before the English-Boer War, my father sold his resturant for gold coins,
got a money belt, and went down to Cape Town. He had a cousin in Australia and a brother in
Jacksonville, Florida. By a flip of a coin he came over to Jacksonville, Florida.
In Jacksonville, Florida, he went to night school to learn to read and write English.
II. The Dawn of the Twnetieth Century in Asheville
In 1900, my father became ill and the doctor in Jacksonville told him the only place to go
to get cured would be the mountains. He came up to Asheville, and Doctor Smith told him he
would die of anything except what they sent him to Asheville for, so that he might as well go
back to Jacksonville. He like Asheville so much he decided to stay here.
In 1903, he opened a pawn shop at 23 South Main Street (now Biltmore Avenue). He
married Fanny Sherman from Newport News, Virginia, and they made their home in an
apartment on Ashland Avenue.
In 1905, my father became a citizen of the United States.
Among the organizations he joined were the Asheville Board of Trade (now The
Asheville Chamber of Commerce), the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Suez Temple of the Oramatic
Order of Khorosson, Lodge #1401 BPO, Elks, Mt. Herman Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite
Masonic Lodge, Oasis Temple of Shriners, Congregation Bikur Cholim (now Beth Isreal), and
Congregation Betha-Ha-Tephila.
So, in Asheville, North Carolina, the Twentieth Century began with:
-The pawnbroker named Finkelstein.
-S.H. Friedman, who operated a furniture store. He came to Asheville from
Maryland, where he peddled tinware. His son, Nat Friedman, later operated the
Susquehana Antique Co.
-A Jewish lawyer by the name of Goldstein.
-A Jewish plumber by the name of A.J. Huvard. He married E.C. Goldberg’s sister. E.C.
Goldberg ran a news stand next to the Imperial Theater on Patton Avenue for years.
-A Jewish dentist by the name of I. Mitchell Mann.
-Harry Blomberg’s father who came to Asheville in 1887. He operated the Racket Store
on Biltmore Avenue for many years.
-The Palais Royal Department Store operated by Morris Meyers for 40 years. He was a
charter member of Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila and he came to Asheville in 1887.
-The Bon Marche Department Store operated by Solomon Lipinsky.
-A Jewish postman who delivered mail by the name of Barney Seigle. I was particularly
interested in Barney because he had a sister by the name of Ester, who was in my class in
�high school — a beautiful and affectionate student.
-An industrialist named Seigfred Sternberg.
-Dan Michalove, who worked at the first movie houses in town and finally advanced to
Vice-President of Paramount Pictures and was put in charge of all their theaters in
Australia.
-Lou Pollock, who operated a shoe store at the corner of South Main and Eagle Streets.
He once ran a shoe sale for $.98 a pair.
-Leo Cadison, who came here for his health, operated a ladies clothing store on Pack
Square, finally moved to Washington, D.C., and became an attorney by act of Congress.
He was a speech writer for the Attorrney General of the United States.
-An orthodox Rabbi by the name of Londow.
-Morris Myers served as Exalted Ruler of the Old Elks Lodge #608.
In 1883 Jews were arriving to become pioneers in the Asheville community. Some came
to make a better livelihood and for opportunity. The moderate climate and mountain air attracted
others to Asheville, a growing medical haven for the sufferers of chronic respiratory diseases.
Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila
August 23, 1891, twenty-seven men met in Lyceum Hall and adopted a constitution for
Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila. Among the charter members were the Blomberg, Lipinsky, and
Zagier families. It is noted that the dues were $10 a year, payable in advance. Lyceum Hall was
the first home of the Congregation. It was rented from a fraternal order for $75 a year.
Congregation Bikur Cholim
Rabbi Londow became the rabbi for Congregation Bikur Cholim whose articles of
incorporation were filed in the Court Clerk’s office in February 1899. The incorporators were
J.B. Schwartzberg, A. Blomberg, Sam Feinstein, S.H. Michalove, A. Shenbaum, M. Zuglier, and
R.B. Zagier.
Since the community could not pay Rabbi Londow a decent wage, he operated a Jewish
grocery store on the side. He was a kindly old gentleman with a big beard, wore his hat around
the grocery store at all times except when a lady called him on the telephone. He would remove
the hat during the conversation and put it back on his head after the phone call.
I remember a big barrel of herring in the center of the store. Plain herring were 5 cents
each and milk herring ten cents.
A newly married lady in the Congregation once called Rabbi Londow and complained
that a duck she bought from him was old and too tough to eat. Rabbi Londow asked what she
expected him to do --- look down the duck’s mouth and count its teeth!
The first religious services of Bikur Cholim I remember attending were on the second
floor of a building at the corner of Patton Avenue and Church Street. It was early in the life of
Bikur Cholim that the congregation split up due to a big argument. Half of the members formed
another congregation and called it Anshei Hashuron. They rented a second floor of an apartment
�house at the corner of Central Avenue and Woodfin Street. However, through the efforts of the
impartial moderates, a compromise was reached and a permanent division averted.
Nevertheless, the apartment was kept for a religious school. It was here I received my
first Hebrew lesson. Rabbi Fox was teaching us the four questions to ask at our Passover meal.
At this time my father would attend all the board meetings of Bikur Cholim. He would
come home upset and nervous. Dr. Smith suggested he not attend any more Synagogue meetings
due to his high blood pressure.
Rabbi Fox was active on the 9th and 10th degrees of Scottish Rite Masonry. After his
death I assumed his parts in these degrees and I am still on the degree teams.
Orthodox rules and Hebrew School
75 to 100 years ago there were two synagogues in Asheville. My family belonged to the
orthodox.
The orthodox had strict rules for obeying the Sabbath which began Friday at sundown and
ended Saturday night. The members of Bikur Cholim who owned an automobile would put them
in the garage on Friday evening to observe the Sabbath and wouldn’t take them out until
Saturday after sun down. Most of the members lived within walking distance of the Synagogue.
To obey the Sabbath correctly you were not allowed to operate a business, spend money, smoke,
strike a match, work, cook and many other activities were forbidden. Remember this was about
100 years ago.
You weren’t supposed to tear paper. Now if you had a bathroom with paper on a roll, you
tore the paper off for Friday in case it may be needed for the Sabbath.
The same rule applies to outhouses with old Sears Roebuck catalogues.
As far as I know none of these rules are observed today.
In 1911, erection of a house of worship was started on South Liberty Street for
Congregation Bikur Cholin. Although it wasn’t completed until 1916, the Hebrew School
moved there in 1912. When I was 11 years old I attended Hebrew school conducted by the rabbi
on Saturday morning in the edifice of the synagogue. The sanctuary contained nothing but pews
and a coal stove for heat. The basement was used for storage and rest rooms. In the winter time
the rabbi fixed the stove for a fire Friday so that it could be lit Saturday morning to produce heat
for the Hebrew class.
Since the rabbi shouldn’t light a fire or spend money on the Sabbath, he arranged for a
boy in the neighborhood to light the fire Saturday morning. He placed a dime under a prayer
book Friday and told the boy where to get a dime after lighting the fire on Saturday.
Even in those days educational institutions had trouble with rebelling students. One real
�cold morning the boy didn’t show up to light the fire. We were attending Hebrew class in
sweaters, coats and overcoats and it was awful cold. I asked to be excused and coming up from
the basement I reported to Rabbi Redunsky that the plumbing must have frozen as there was
water leaking in several places. The Rabbi went to see about it. I advised the class that there
were no broken pipes and suggested that we leave the building --- which we did --- not to return
until warm weather.
For your information, there was no water leaking.
While my sisters Rosa and Hilda and I were still children and our parents were out of
town for health reasons, Doctor Schandler’s father Dave Schandler, would invite us over to his
house for meals, especially on Passover and other religious holy days.
About this time when our house at 213 Broadway was being built, I was sliding down a
sloping board and got a big splinter in my rear end. My father couldn’t get it out so he took me
to Dr. Mann, the dentist, and he got it out --- no charge.
The building of the Synagogue was completed in 1916 and the day before the eve of
Rosh-Hashonah a fire completely destroyed the building. Mrs. Rosenfeld had a Jewish Boarding
House next door and she cried and complained that she had just cleaned her house for Yontiff
and smoke had dirtied the place up. The Masonic Temple was offered to us to use for the High
Holy Day Services and we accepted.
After the fire that destroyed Bikur Cholim Synagogue on South Liberty Street the second
floor of the Sondley Building on Broadway was rented for the use of the congregation. A
member of the congregation, a young man, forgot he had made a date with a waitress in the
Langren Hotel and attended the meeting of the congregation. The lady waited in front of the
Masonic Temple with a gun and took a shot at him after the meeting when he was leaving the
building. She missed. After going to Hebrew School in the building we would stop and examine
the hole the bullet made in the front wall of the building.
The Cemetery
In those days Asheville was a place that offered a cure for tuberculosis. Many
sanatoriums were located in the hills around town. A Jewish man died in one of the sanatoriums
and had no money or family. No cemetery in town would bury him unless someone paid $100
for the grave. It was then that nine Jewish men formed the “West Asheville Hebrew Cemetery
Association Inc.” My father was the first president. In their bylaws it was stated that anyone of
Jewish faith could be buried there. The price of a grave was $100 and if there was no one to pay
it there would be no charge. The cemetery changed it’s name some years later to “Mt. Sinai
Cemetery” and sometime after to “The Lou Pollock Memorial Park.” After father died, Lou
Pollock became president. After his death, I was the vice-president and assumed the duties of the
president. I conferred with David Adler and set up a meeting between the directors of the
cemetery and members of Beth Israel. The ownership of the cemetery was transferred to Beth
Israel.
�The following names of the nine founders can be seen on a plaque at the entrance to the
cemetery bearing the date 1916: Sam Feinstein, Isaac Michalove, Lou Pollock, S.W. Silverman,
Sender Argentar, Rabbi Elias Fox, Dave Schundler, Barney Pearlman, Harry Finkelstein.
Benevolent Societies
Around this time my father felt that some homemade chicken soup would help the Jewish
patients in the sanatoriums. A number of Jewish women set up a kitchen and once a week hot
chicken soup was made available to the Jewish patients and to others who requested it.
Rabbi Fox acquired business interests in Asheville and served as part-time Rabbi. He
was associated with a local butcher who made kosher meat available. He would go by the homes
of members and kill the chickens.
In 1917, some of us young Jewish boys decided that we ought to have a YMHA or a
Community Center in Asheville. Rabbi Fox met with us and suggested that we form a YMHA.
He said a community center was for the community only, but a bigger and better organization
would be a YMHA because it extended from coast to coast. He told us a story about when he
first came to this country and wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge. He found a man who could
talk Yiddish and after looking at the bridge he asked why they built the bridge with a lot of little
cables instead of one big cable. The man explained to him that if one or two cables broke it
would not harm the bridge, but if there was one big cable and it broke the bridge would fall in.
Rabbi Fox said that therefore us boys should be little cables and hold up the YMHA we were
going to form.
Mr. Sternberg and Mr. Leavitt
Seventy-five years ago there was no United Way in Asheville. There were many local
charitable organizations sponsored by churches, synagogues, houses of worship, also the YMCA,
the Salvation Army, the Elks Lodge and the Jewish Ladies Aid Society. Lion Joe Sternberg’s
father was active in civic, religious, fraternal organizations in Asheville. At that time he was
collecting donations for the “Ladies Aid Society” of Asheville. He went to see Mr. Leavitt who
operated a ladies ready to wear store on South Main St. near Pack Square. He wouldn’t donate
more than $5 and this didn’t please Mr. Sternberg.
Mr. Sternberg was the owner of the building in which Mr. Leavitt operated his store. He
found Mr. Leavitt violated the terms of his lease because he sublet a portion of the store for a
shoe department. Mr. Sternberg told Mr. Leavitt that he would have to give the Ladies Aid
Society a suitable donation or vacate the building because he had violated the terms of the lease.
They selected three men to determine what amount Mr. Leavitt should give the Ladies Aid
Society. It was agreed that the amount they decided would be satisfactory to Mr. Sternberg and
Mr. Leavitt.
Mr. Sternberg selected a man to represent himself. Also Mr. Leavitt picked out the
second man. They needed a man to represent both of them and finally selected my father. The
committee decided that Mr. Leavitt should donate $500 to the Ladies Aid Society.
�------ In 1936, the movements in founding a Jewish Community Center and to organize
Federated Jewish Charities in Asheville was started by Julius Levitch through B’nai B’rith. In
1947 a testimonial dinner was held for his outstanding service to the Jewish Community.
----- On July 25, 1923, the Emporium Department Store owned by Jack Blomberg at the
corner of Pack Square and South Main Street was destroyed by a major fire. It was feared that
the entire block of Eagle Street would be destroyed. Many of the Jewish merchants who operated
clothing stores in the block brought their insurance polices and books to the pawnshop across the
street and requested that we put them in our safes which were two of the largest moveable safes
in town. These two safes are now located at 21 Broadway.
Flanders 20
About 75 years ago the Studebaker Corporation made two automobiles - the Flanders 20,
20 horsepower and the Emf. 30, 30 horsepower. My family owned a Flanders 20.
To start the engine you used a hand crank in front of the auto. You lowered the spark
control lever because if you didn’t, you might get a kickback on the crank and get your arm
broken.
If you had a flat tire, you had to raise the wheel with a hand jack, take the tire off and fix
the inner tube with patches that you always carried with you. You had a hand pump to inflate the
tire again.
Some owners of the Flanders 20 bragged that sometimes they could drive up the hill on
South Main Street (now Biltmore Ave.) from Depot St. to Pack Square in high gear and they
didn’t have to shift to a second gear.
There was a dirt road to Hendersonville. Some of it was red clay that would become slick
when it rained. One small section of the road became very slick due to its location. There was a
man there with a mule. For a small fee he would hitch the mule to the front of the auto and pull
you out of the bad place with the help of the engine of the car.
We were invited to a wedding in Hendersonville by Mr. Lewis whose sister, Rose, was
getting married to a young attorney named Joe Patece. He practiced law in Asheville for many
years. We took our Flanders 20 to the wedding with a couple of our friends. We had no trouble
as it didn’t rain. Coming back to Asheville we got a flat tire near Skyland and stopped to fix it.
We noticed a lot of berries growing near the road and we all began to eat them. A farmer
saw us and accused us of stealing his berries. He took out a warrant for my father. The trial was
to be heard by a Justice of Peace in Skyland. My father employed a young lawyer by the name of
Bob Reynolds. Bob Reynolds in later years became a U.S. Senator.
The Justice of Peace office was too small to hold the crowd that came to the trial so it was
held under a large oak tree outdoors. I heard that Bob gave a great speech to the crowd and the
Justice of the Peace ordered my father just to pay the farmer a small amount for the berries.
�The moral of this event is: Don’t eat wild berries beside an old road. You are liable to
have more troubles than a stomach ache.
School
In 1911, I started school at Montford Avenue Grammar School.
In 1922, I went to UNC-Chapel Hill for 2 days, and had to come home to run the
pawnshop.
In the February 1922 graduating class in Asheville High School, there were 5 boys and 14
girls. Therefore, each boy was expected to take 3 girls to the Senior Class Dance of February
1922. Things were better when we had a dance for the entire school. There were three Jewish
girls in the total 1922 class — Madeline Blomberg, Eva Sternberg, and Ester Seigle.
I was the only student to take an automobile to school in 1922. It was a Paige make with
a “bathtub back” model. I was the business manager of the “Hillbilly,” the school monthly
magazine. I was given any study hall period off that I wanted to collect for ads that appeared in
the magazine, so I would take my auto and a girl to help me from the study hall. After collecting
for one ad we would ride over to the Charlotte Street Drug Store and participate in ice cream
sodas for the balance of the study hall period.
Pisgah 1922
In reporting from my historical records on Lion Joe Sternberg, president of our club in
1960-61, I’ve talked about his father, old man Sternberg and Joe’s sister, Eva.
I reported that Lion Joe and I were seniors in the 1922 class of Asheville High School.
Now, Lion Joe’s mother, Mrs. Sternberg, phoned me and advised me that she was entertaining
Joe and three other members of the 1922 class with a trip to the top of Mt. Pisgah. Eva graduated
in 1921 but wanted to go with them. Her mother asked if I would like to go and look after Eva if
she went, and I told her that I would be delighted.
They all picked me up the next morning and Mrs. Sternberg drove us to the home of Mr.
& Mrs. Rufus O’Kelly who lived at the base of Mt. Pisgah in her 7 passenger Mormon
automobile. We had lunch of possum and sweet potatoes.
There was one dirt road (one way) to the top of Mt. Pisgah, 5 miles long. An auto had to
go up in the morning at daylight and was allowed to come down after 1 PM until dark. We hiked
to a cleared section. Mr. O’Kelly chaperoned the trip and built us a large bonfire and was fixing
something to eat.
Eva was unpacking some things and I noticed a large bottle of Bromo-Seltzer. I asked if
she expected someone to have a headache. She said, “No, I opened a pint bottle of father’s
bottled whiskey, took half of it and filled the Bromo-Seltzer bottle. Now you and I can have a
drink before we eat.”
�“That’s a good idea,” I said, “but what is your father going to say when he finds out?”
She said, “no problem. I filled the empty half of the whiskey bottle with water.” At nighttime
she and I sat around the fire drinking a few drinks of Bromo-Seltzer.
----- On Sundays in 1925, the Jewish crowd of teenagers and somewhat older boys and girls
would gather at the home of the Sternbergs on Victoria Road. The Sternbergs had four children:
Eva, Joe, Johanna, and Rose. One of the older girls in the crowd was named Jennie. One day I
asked her how she managed to be so popular among the boys, and her answer was, “Well, I’m
not so pretty, but I’m catchie”.
----- I dated Eva and one night I called at the house to take her out and her father yelled to us
from the second floor of the house “Don’t you go to no road houses,” and Eva replied “What’s
the matter papa --- you afraid we are going to find you there!”
William Jennings Bryan
On July 7, 1896, William Jennings Bryan delivered the “Cross of Gold” speech and won
the Democratic party nomination for Vice President of the United States.
In 1900 he was nominated again for Vice President.
In 1908 he was nominated for President of the United States.
Later in life he moved to Asheville and his home was at the corner of Evelyn place and
Kimberly Avenue--just a few houses away from where Lion Jack Cole now lives.
Mr. Bryan asked by father to order him a special made double barrel Parker shot gun with
28" barrels modified and choke bores, and a 23/4 inch drop.
After receiving the gun he wrote my father a letter of thanks. I had this letter in my
historical files and it disappeared. Now I don’t know whether to blame it on the Democrats or
Republicans.
III. Asheville in the 1930's
Prohibition’s Waning Days
It was in 1933, after Franklin Roosevelt was elected president of the United States, that
the Volstead Act was repealed and it became legal to sell beer with an alcoholic content on
October 1st. I was president of a mens social club, and it became my duty to get beer to serve to
the members. This was a difficult job as none was available from distributors around Asheville.
1933 was the year of the Great Depression and Rabbi Goodkowitz bought a second hand truck
from Harry Blomberg and was doing some hauling on the side to supplement his income from
Bikur - Cholim. Rabbi Goodkowitz said he would go to Baltimore and get us a load of beer as
he personally knew the owner of the Valley Forge Beer Company there. I gave him six hundred
dollars of the club’s money and he left on a Monday to be back on Thursday. He didn’t show up,
but came in the following Monday. The delay was due to the truck breaking down on the trip.
Of course I was somewhat concerned but the club had a truck load of Valley Forge Beer
�available.
Leo Cadison saw me and advised that he had talked to the United States Senator Robert
R. Reynolds, and the members were starting a campaign to sell the beer before October lst.
Captain Fred Jones of the Asheville Police Department and a member of the house
committee said he would not recommend selling it before the legal date.
At the club that week, I noted about 150 members were present instead of the usual 40.
Under “good and welfare” Senator Reynolds, a great orator, spoke in favor of selling the beer and
said that we were all brothers in a non-profit and charitable organization, and it would be legal to
sell it. Others who spoke in favor of selling the beer were Judge Philip Cocke, State Senator; A.
Hall Johnson, Superior Court Judge; Dan Hill, Postmaster; Marcus Erwin, U.S.Attorney; Zeb
Mettles, Superior Court Judge; Charles McRae, local attorney; and Leo Cadison. Leo Cadison
made a motion that we advise the House Manager to put the beer on ice so that we could drink it
after the meting. I advised Mr. Cadison that I could not accept a motion of an illegal nature but
under Robert’s Rules of Parliamentary procedure he could appeal my decision. He appealed and
I advised that the question to be voted on would be “Shall the decision of the chair stand” and
there would be no discussion. The vote was unanimous against my decision (which suited me)
and I instructed the secretary to take everything out of the minutes pertaining to beer, also to
advise the house manager to put the beer on ice so we could have it after the meeting. He said
that it was too late to advise him because the beer had been on ice for the past two hours.
How to Finance a Pawnshop in a Depression
It was the Depression of the 1930's. Our loans averaged $10 and we made them as low as
50 cents. The demand was great on loans on diamonds and jewelry. The top loan on a ½ carat
diamond was $50 and $200 on a good grade carat.
I was running out of money. I saw Perry at the Morris Plan Bank and we agreed to rent a
lock box at the Wachovia Bank. Both of us would have a key to it. I would hypothecate the
large size diamond and jewelry loans. The ways that worked is I would make the loan, get the
cash from Perry on a 90 day note, and put the jewelry in the lock box as security. If the customer
came to redeem his jewelry I advised him that jewelry was at the vault at the Wachovia for
safekeeping and I would get it for him.
This was working very well as the bank was making the legal rate of 6% on 90 day notes
which were paid in 30 to 40 days with no refund for unearned interest. I was doing OK also. I
charged interest at legal rates plus other expenses incident to the negotiations of the transactions.
Then Mr. Wolcott comes to town. He took over the Morris Plan Bank and organized the
Bank of Asheville. Perry, the new cashier at the Bank of Asheville, came to see me and said,
“Mr. Wolcott advised that the bank wasn’t a pawnshop and to tell Finkelstein to pay off those 90
day notes.” It ooked like I was going to have to stop making large jewelry loans and try to meet
the 90 day note.
�But a miracle happened. A girlfriend of mine in the 1922 class of Asheville High School
married a man from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who later committed suicide. She came back to
Asheville to live. She saw me and wanted to know if I could help her out. She said she was left
a sizeable amount of life insurance and did I know of a safe place where she could invest some of
it and get a decent return.
I helped her out.
Police Chief Beavers
On the program of the Asheville Lions Club on July 8, 1992, Chief of Police Beavers
talked about prostitution in Asheville and how the APD was trying to cut the activity down.
I believe there may be a better way to cut the activity down.
In the year 1900 Asheville had a population of 14,694. My historical records indicate at
that time the red light district was known as the Eagle Terrace and was operated by a lady known
as “Queen Elizabeth.” There were no problems.
The Banov family in Charleston, SC, are part of my kin folks. Doctor Banov was a health
physician for Charleston County, SC for 35 years. That was the longest any county health
physician stayed in office. In talking to him I found out that the red light district in Charleston,
SC, was a large house known as the “Red Brick” on Bensford St. The prostitutes had to have a
health certificate from a local doctor renewed every 90 days, frame it, and hang it on the wall by
her bed.
They had Police Protection.
In 1933 I was president of a fraternal order in Asheville. I had a good friend, Lt. Frank
Hagan of the local police dept. who was also a member. We decided to drive down to
Charleston, SC, for a convention. While in Charleston he said that he would like to go to the
“Red Brick” on Bensford Street and get information for the Asheville Police Dept. on how they
operated. I asked him how he expected to get in the place. He said “Don’t worry, I’ll get us
admitted.”
We went down to the “Red Brick” and Frank knocked on the front door. A lady opened a
peephole in the door to look at us and Frank said “Back again.” We were then admitted to a
large living room with red curtains. We picked out two of the girls in the living room and invited
them to have a seat with us and have a drink. The only drink available was a coca-cola and the
cost was 25 cents per drink. We asked them if their services would be available to members of a
convention and they said that they were. The cost of a short stay would be $3 and for $5 a client
could spend the night.
I gave the girls $3 each and advised them that all we wanted to do was talk and get
information for the convention - they were completely satisfied.
�Now why don’t we get Chief Beavers to get someone like “Queen Elizabeth” to rent a
place like a small hotel, or a large home with red curtains, or a place suitable for a whorehouse
like the “Red Brick” in Charleston, SC. Serve soft drinks and ice cream at reasonable prices and
furnish police protection.
He might even get Lion Penland and me to open a pawnshop next door so that if a man
didn’t have enough money to finance his trip to the place, he could pawn his watch or his gun.
Don’t think all this would be legal, but its a thought anyway.
The Preacher and the Bible
Back in the depression days of the 1930s there was a preacher who pawned his Bible
every Monday morning after Sunday’s services and redeemed it on the following Friday or
Saturday for the next service on Sunday. I made the original loan of $10 and advised the
preacher that he could get it out at a charge of $1 anytime in 30 days or if needed he could wait
three months at no additional charge.
In checking the records I found that he had pawned the Bible weekly on many occasions.
On the next Friday morning when he came after his Bible I told him he didn’t owe anything on it
that he had paid more carrying charges that the original loan. I told him to put that $10 bill he
had next to the Ten Commandments in the Bible and the next time he needed $10 to take it out
and put it back in the Bible after Sunday’s service. Just don’t bring the Bible back here for a
loan. He didn’t.
Overcoats
During the depression of 1933 the pawnshop had 800 overcoats left at the beginning of
the summer. The loans were from $3 to $7 each, and 80% of the loans were past due. There was
a problem of moths. We put mothballs in the pockets of all overcoats and sprayed them with
DDT.
After the overcoats became more than 3 months past due we had them dry cleaned. We
made a contract with the cleaners to pick up and return lots of twenty at 50 cents each. The
owner of the cleaning company came in the shop and said that he wanted to buy an overcoat for
his chauffeur. He tried on one and liked it so much that he said he would keep it for himself and
give his to his chauffeur.
Murders in Pawnshops and Helping Sheriff L. Brown
You have probably read in the Citizen-Times about Mark Lane who was killed in a
shooting during an armed robbery. His father, Ronald Lane, and he were co-owners of the
Leicester Pawn Shop.
In a former historical report I talked about Reggie, secretary to the Mayor of Miami
Beach, who helped our delegation get faster transportation back to Florida from the International
Lions Convention in Havana, Cuba. Lion C.A. Miller was on that trip. Later Reggie’s brother
was killed in a holdup in his pawnshop on Flager Street in Miami. A lot of people classify a
pawnbroker as a shylock. Those pawnbrokers I have known are kind people and are a asset to
�any community they operate in.
Of course you can exclude me.
In November 1934 Sheriff Lawrence Brown of Buncombe County came to see me and
said that he needed help. Beacon Manufacturing Company at Swannanoa was having labor
trouble and a group from South Carolina was coming up to prevent the employees from going to
work. He wanted to rent twenty 12 gauge shotguns to be used by special deputies to guard the
entrance to the plant.
I rented him twenty 12 gauge Harrington, Richardson shotguns for $1 each. He was
successful in guarding the plant and they never fired a shot. The sheriff phoned me and said that
he wanted to bestow upon me the honor of being a deputy sheriff and to come over and bring a
photo for an identification card. I told him I didn’t know anything about enforcing the law. He
said that was okay, to come over and he would swear me in and take out insurance on me.
I asked him if it was life insurance. He said, “No, it was liability insurance and if I did
anything wrong as a deputy sheriff that they would furnish me legal assistance in court.” I was
sworn in November 15, 1934.
I got a phone call the next morning from Mr. Seely, Manager of the Grove Park Inn. He
said that he needed a gun for his watchman, a 38 Saturday Night Special with a 4" barrel. Sheriff
Brown told him I could supply what he wanted. I told him I had it in stock and he asked me to
bring it out to the Inn. I got in my dilapidated Ford touring car, drove to the front entrance of the
Inn and started to go in, when the Bell Captain stopped me.
He asked “What are you doing here?”
I replied “I have a gun for your watchman and Mr. Seely asked me to bring it out to him.”
“Well,” he said, “you take that gun to the back door. They have a barrel of money back
there and they will pay you for it.”
This was during the depression of the 30's and I had quoted Mr. Seely top price, and I was
going to do anything legal to complete the sale so I went to the back door.
Now I am happy to announce that at the present time I am allowed to go in the front
entrance to the Inn.
Guns and a Grandfather Clock
A friend of mine had a valuable antique clock about 6 feet tall. He said that he was
leaving home for a month and there was a lot of larceny going on. He would like to leave it with
me for safekeeping. I told him to put it in the storage area on the second floor of the shop.
A couple of days later a customer comes in and wants to buy a shotgun. It was summer
�time and since hunting season didn’t open until fall I wondered why he wanted a shotgun. My
salesman said all the shotguns and shells were stored on the second floor and he would take the
customer up there. A little later I heard a big loud bang from the second floor. The salesman
came running down and said that the customer had committed suicide with a shotgun.
I called the Police Department and Dr. Baer, the coroner. Will Hampton, solicitor of
police court and the chief came over. I went to the second floor with them and we found the
customer passed out on the floor. I didn’t see any blood and upon examination we found part of
his clothing blown away under one arm and he wasn’t injured. It’s almost impossible to reach
the trigger of a 31" barrel shotgun when you have the muzzle at your chest. Evidently the
customer must have tried to reach the trigger and the muzzle slipped under his arm when the gun
fired.
I remembered the grandfather clock and found that the discharge from the gun blew some
of the plaster out of the wall about a foot from the clock. The clock was okay.
Dr. Baer asked for a pen. He said that he wanted to find out if the man really passed out.
He jabbed him several times with a pen and the man didn’t move. He really passed out. The
chief said that the man had violated a law and he would take charge of him.
The lesson from this event is: Don’t try to commit suicide - if you do you are liable to get
arrested.
The Silver Shirts
In the 1930's William Dudley Pelly operated the “Silver Shirts,” a Nazi like organization
in a building across the street from the Jewish Community Center on Charlotte Street. He
published the “Liberation Weekly,” anti-Semitic literature with a circulation of eight thousand.
In a parade, I was playing the saxaphone with the Asheville Shrine Club Marching Band,
and William Rosenfelt was carrying the American Flag. Pelly in his “Liberation Weekly”
published a story that we were disgraced by a Jew with a big nose carrying the American Flag.
Pelly was arrested by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department in 1941 for selling
unregistered stock. He was found guilty through the efforts of Julius Levitch, a young Jewish
lawyer by the name of Alvin Kurtus, and a local attorney named R.R. Williams.
IV. I Am A Dime
I was born in the early part of the twentieth century at the United States Mint in
Philadelphia, put in a roll with forty-nine other dimes and shipped to the Southern State Bank on
Depot Street in Asheville, North Carolina, of which Mr. S. Sternberg was president. Mr.
Sternberg had a son, Joseph, who later became president of the Asheville Lions Club.
Mr. Sternberg took me and the forty-nine other dimes to his beautiful estate on Victoria
Road in order to participate in a ten cent limit poker game with some of his friends. Someone
�tipped off the police that a game was going on. The home was raided and Mr. Sternberg gave
the names of the players as Mr. Aleph, Mr. Baze, Mr. Gimmel, Mr. Dolad, Mr. Hay, Mr. Vove,
Mr. Zion and Mr. Hess. The “Asheville Citizen” carried a story after the trial that an attorney
appeared in Police Court for Mr. Aleph, Mr. Baze, Mr. Gimmel, Mr. Dolad, Mr. Hay, Mr. Vove,
Mr. Zion and Mr. Hess and paid their fines. Very few people knew that Aleph, Baze, Gimmel,
Dolad, Hay, Vove, Zion, and Hess are the first eight letters of the Hebrew Alphabet.
I got separated from the other dimes that came to Asheville with me. I found myself in
the pocket of Chief Bernard of the Asheville Police Department. It was in November, 1906, that
the Chief phoned Uncle Harry, the pawnbroker, and said that ne needed firearms and
ammunition to equip a posse of fifty men in order to hunt Will Harris, a desperado. Will Harris
had shot and killed five men, of whom two were city policemen. Uncle Harry furnished the
posse with guns and ammunition, taking only the names of those receiving firearms. It was
reported that Will Harris spent the night in a barn in Buena Vista. The posse surrounded him in
a field near Fletcher and killed him. His body was brought to an undertaking establishment at
21 South Main Street, and hung out of the second story window in the building in order to show
the people that he had been killed and quieten them down. The next day, the Chief called
Uncle Harry and asked if all the firearms had been returned. Uncle Harry said they had and
commented that the people of Asheville were honest and good citizens. (Now, Thomas Wolfe,
famous author and native of Asheville used this event for a story published in the Saturday Evening Post
September 7, 1937. He also used it in a chapter in his book “The Child by Tiger.”
2
Bob Terrell, writer for the Citizen-Times talked about this event at one of our meetings.
In 1968 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Washington required a record of every
pistol, rifle, revolver that we received and disposed of, as well as the model, caliber, serial number and
manufacturer. I recently checked the shop that I retired from 25 years ago and they have records of
33,000 transactions since 1968 on hand.)
The Chief took me to Mr. Pappa’s Cafe on South Main Street, bought his lunch which
consisted of a ten cent bowl of soup, a good supply of free crackers and catsup.
Mr. Pappa’s brother operated the “Candy Kitchen” on Haywood Street. They were
making a lot of stick candy in the shape of walking sticks, colored red and white. The cafe
owner bought a half dozen walking sticks from his brother, using me as part payment. He said
that he was going to put the candy on his Christmas tree.
The next day Mr. Pappas, who lived on North Main Street, was coming to town in a rain
storm. North Main Street was paved but all side streets were not. They had stepping stones in
order to get across. Mr. Pappas slipped on a stepping stone, getting his shoes all muddy. He
stopped at the Pack Square Shoe Shine Parlor, got a shoe shine for five cents and gave the
shine boy a five cent tip.
The next thing I knew I was placed in a deposit for the Wachovia Bank and I stayed in
their vault until the year 1913. Uncle Harry picked me up to use in his petty cash. His son
asked for his weekly allowance and I was given to him with four other dimes. The son boarded
a South Main Street streetcar on Pack Square with a fishing pole and a can of worms. He got
off
2
Move note here on Thomas Wolfe etc.
�at the Swannanoa River and walked a hundred yards toward the French Broad. In a couple of
house, he caught a nice string of hog suckers, horney heads and perch out of the beautiful
clear waters of the Swannanoa River. On his way home, he gave me to the conductor,
received five cents change and a transfer to the North Main streetcar in order to go home.
The Conductor carried me around a few days and then gave me to a lady on the
Riverside “open air” streetcar that ran to Riverside Park. Riverside Park was owned an
operated by the Asheville Power and Light Co., the same people who owned the street car
company that was finally gobbled up by Lion Smith’s Carolina Power and Light Co. This lady
gave me to her husband who went down to the Elk’s Club and lost me in a rummy game to a
distinguished looking attorney they called “Judge Cocke.” After the card game the “judge” sat
around talking to brother Elks and drinking beer. He was famous for his knowledge of North
Carolina, its people and places. He even talked about the house of ill repute in Asheville at the
turn of the century known as the “Eagle Terrace” run by a lady called “Queen Elizabeth.”
The next morning, Attorney Cocke defended a man in Police Court who was charged
with stealing a pair of shoes and pawning them because he couldn’t wear them on account of
being too small. The court ordered the man to leave town that day. The man said he was
hungry and didn’t have any money. So Attorney Cocke gave me with other change to him. The
man went down to the Asheville and East Tennessee Railway Company station at the corner of
North Main and College Streets. They operated an electric vehicle between Asheville and
Weaverville. The man smelled hot dogs cooking at D. Gross’s Hot Dog Stand next door, so he
spent me for a hot dog and a coca-cola. Mr. Gross raised and educated a family of thirteen
children from the money he earned at his hot dog stand.
Mr. Gross carried me around until Saturday night when he went to Liggett’s Drug Store
for some headache powders. He stopped in front of the drug store to listen to the Salvation
Army band while they were having a preaching and musical session.
He put me in a pot they were using to get donations for their annual Christmas party.
The Salvation Army bought a second-hand truck from Lion Fred Brown to be used in delivering
food and clothing to the poor people in town. I was used in this transaction. Lion Brown took
me to a Lions Club meeting, where he used me to pay the dime he was fined by the “Tail
Twister” for falling asleep during the program.
The Tail Twister’s wife took possession of me and bought some ribbon at the Palais
Royal, a large department store on South Main Street, operated by Mr. Morris Myers.
I circulated around Asheville until 1918, and again, found myself in possession of Mr.
Sternberg. He had a large junk yard and warehouse on Depot Street that bought and sold
hundreds of cowhides. On all of his advertisements he carried the slogan “We buy anything
and sell everything.” A circus came to town and didn’t have enough money to leave. They
applied to Mr. Sternberg who was president of the Southern States Bank on Depot Street for a
loan of $200. Mr. Sternberg made the loan and took the elephant as collateral. He complained
he was losing money on account of the elephant eating so much. Otto Buseck who owned
Middlemont Gardens at that time raised his own flowers at a hot house in Candler. He helped
Mr. Sternberg out with the elephant - he bought the manure from him.
The next thing I recall was four o’clock on the morning of November 11, 1918. The fire
bell started to ring at the firehouse. The Armistice of World War I had been signed. People
�gathered on Pack Square and built a huge bonfire. A fire truck came out of the firehouse to
shine its spot light on the American flag flying at the top of the Pack Square flag pole. People
were bringing their guns from home to the Square and shooting live ammunition into the air in
celebration.
The fellow who owned me brought a double-barrel shotgun to town and bought some
black powder shells from Otis Green Hardware Store. (Mr. Green years later became Mayor of
Asheville). The Chief of Police soon asked all stores selling ammunition to quit selling it as he
was afraid someone would accidentally get shot.
Mr. Green took me to the Southern Railway passenger station and bought a ticket to
New York from Pat Mulvaney, ticket agent. Frank Mulvaney, a brother to Pat, was a chief clerk
for the railroad. He later became councilman for the City of Asheville.
Pat took me to the Union News Company’s news stand in the station and bought two
five cent cigars. Later an engineer from the railroad bought a “Billboard” magazine, and I was
given to him in change for a dollar. He took me to the Glen Rock Hotel across the street, and I
was used in paying his bill. The clerk at the hotel bought some ice cream at Finley’s Drug Store
next door.
Mr. Finley gave me to his son, Bob, who took me to Montford Avenue School. Bob in
later years became the Supreme Court Justice for the State of Washington. Bob, on leaving
Montford Avenue School one day, took me to Mr. Book’s Grocery Store on Cherry Street and
bought some cookies. The people across the street from Mr. Book’s Grocery Store had a lot of
cherry trees on their land and they would pay boys from the school ten cents a quart to pick
cherries. Lion Carol Rhinehart picked a quart of cherries and received me in payment.
Lion Carl Rhinehart lost me in a marble game at school to Jack Roberts, who took me
home to 219 North Main Street. A creek ran parallel to North Main Street and emptied into the
French Broad. Jack found muskrats were running up and down the creek, so he recruited
some of the neighborhood boys who acquired steel traps and caught and sold the muskrat
hides to St. Penick and Company, at the corner of North Main and Lexington.
The next thing I recall I was in the pants pocket of Lion Bill Michalove, who took me to
the Galaxy Theater on Pack Square in order to see a serial movie called “The Black Hand.”
Bill’s brother, Dan, was manager of the Asheville Theaters, and he finally became Vice
President of Paramount Pictures, with headquarters in Australia. Since Bill had an “in” at the
theaters in town, he would, on occasion, take his teen-age boy friends back stage at the
Majestic Theater, located at the corner of College and Market Streets, to view the chorus girls
at close range. Tommy Elkins, the stage manager, would keep a close watch on the boys in
order to see that they behaved themselves.
It was in 1922 when I was used as part payment for a second hand Jeffery automobile
bought by Harry Blomberg. Harry took his Jeffery Auto to Asheville High School on Oak Street.
Someone dropped me on Market Street and I rolled down a storm sewer. I stayed there for a
long time and one day a man from the city’s water department found me and used me in a
donation to the Democratic Party of Buncombe County.
The chairman of the Party put me in a 10 cents slot machine at a social club.
�The player who won me at the slot machine would always put me back, hoping to win
more. I circulated in and out of the slot machine until 1950, when Lion Dr. Feldman won me.
Dr. Feldman had a reputation of never buying anything unless he could get it wholesale. Dr.
Feldman put me in the zipper change section of his pocketbook, and now I haven’t seen the
light of day for twenty years.
V. Jewish Jitter Bugs3
A bug is an insect. A Jitter Bug is an insect that jumps from place to place. A Jewish Jitter Bug
is a professional bum, claiming Jewish faith— jumping around from city to city — living off the
sympathy of his misinformed brothers - other Jews.
For twenty years, I have seen this bunch of crooks take from $300 to $400 a year out of my
community. I have learned their stories, their approach, their methods, and in fact, I can tell one just by
the sight of him. I have seem them go north in the summer-time, and south in the wintertime. I have
been awakened at all hours of the night by them, tracked down on Sundays and holidays. I have to put up
with them coming in my place of business, with no courtesy to me, or respect for my customers. I have
to watch them go away most always with a dissatisfied growl for what help they get, and seldom do I
hear a “Thank You”. I have to battle their high-powered maneuvers of artistic chiseling without the help
or appreciation of the Jewish Community in which I live.
Who are these people? Why, they are Jews — sure, they are a bunch of professional racketeers
that cost the Jewish public about one million dollars per year. If a Jew gets to a city and is broke - why,
the other Jews are supposed to help him out. What he is or what he does or where he comes from - don’t
make any difference - as long as he is a Jew that is all that is necessary. That is what you might think —
but I don’t!
There is not one Jewish transient in five hundred worthy of any help at all. They travel from
place to place using the fact that they are Jews to prey upon other Jews. Many of them are ex-convicts,
some just ordinary bums, and all of them liars.
In this army of rogues, you will not find one who has a friend or relative who they could obtain
help from. I have offered to wire to any person for hundreds of them, but they will tell ;you that all their
friends or relatives are broke, or that they wouldn’t think of asking any of them for money. Common
sense will tell you that, if a transient is worthy, there must be someone in this world who will help him to
some extent. I am sure if any of you gentlemen were to find yourself broke in some far off place, that
you would have at least one friend or relative to whom you could wire for help. These swindlers don’t
want to get help from friends or relatives. They are just traveling around, enjoying life in a peculiar way,
and living on the Jewish public, their so-called brothers.
So, when these Jewish Brothers of ours come to town, what are we supposed to do with them?
The only sensible thing we can do is to get rid of them as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
The most common type of transient is the ordinary bum who claims that he has a job in a nearby
city. All he wants from you is a couple of meals in a good restaurant, a room with a bath in a clean hotel,
transportation to the place he is going, and maybe a pair of shoes, a couple of shirts and an overcoat. In
order to get rid of this man quickly you must start talking before he does. So when I spot one, I start
talking first. I ask him if he wants some help, and as soon as he says “Yes” I hand him a half-dollar, a
meal ticket to a nearby restaurant, and tell him to get the hell out of town as fast as he can. Most of them
will take this and leave because they know, through their grapevine system, that this is all they can get.
3
Cite reference
�This system even informs them where to go to when you get to a town, and that is why nobody see the
majority of these people, except myself. Some of them insist that they have a special story to tell you
about their hard luck, and that they re different from the rest. These stories would make some of you
break down and weep, but to me these stories are just a bunch of fabricated lies.
Then, we have the group of transients who are physically disabled. Some are partially blind and
crippled. They will claim to have tuberculosis, nervous indigestion, high blood pressure or what-not.
Some will claim to have a combination or complication of diseases, or an assortment of ailments. If I am
convinced that the transient is really ill, then I buy him transportation to the nearest point, and get him
out of town as fast as I can. These people are never given cash for their transportation. A check is
written to the Bus Station for their ticket, and the Bus Station has instructions to issue a ticket stamped
“No Refund”.
This method was adopted after I found out some cashed their tickets back in, in order to get cash,
and bummed rides out on the highway to get to where they were going.
A decent looking, elderly lady once appealed to me for help. She stated that she was almost
blind, and was traveling with her son who was so crippled he couldn’t walk. She told me that she and her
son had come in on a bus late the night before, and were at a small hotel near the bus station. She
advised me that her son was ill in bed, that she was out of funds, could not pay her hotel bill, had nothing
to eat, and no way to get to a nearby city where her son was going to enter a hospital. “A worthy case, at
last!” I thought. I took her name, and ask her to come back in an hour, and I would see what I could do
for her. I inquired at the hotel, and found that nobody by the name she gave me was there. I asked her
about this when she returned, and she said that she did not use her real name since it was Jewish, and she
didn’t want people to think she was Jewish. I called the hotel again and inquired about the new name she
had given me, and the hotel informed me that the two of there were register there, but that her son
seemed healthy, and was in and out of the hotel all day long. Asking her about this, she explained that
her son went out only when he had to go to the drug store for medicine. It was cold and raining outside,
so I called the hotel, and told them I would pay their bill, gave her enough for food, bought her two bus
tickets, and gave her instructions to get out of town, by night without fail. It wasn’t long before I
received a phone call from a Jewish person in town stating that this old lady had called on him, and pe
proceeded to cuss me out for not giving her any help. To make a long story short--she called on three
more persons in the city with the same story - that I would not help her. A couple of hours later I went by
the hotel where she was staying and found that she had checked out and left in her room many pieces of
clothing that had been given to her by these people she had called on in the city.
Then we have the rabbis. They are a wonderful type of transient to deal with. They usually get
to town on Friday, so you have to keep them over “shabbos”. That means an expense of two nights
lodging and meals for a whole day. In fact, all the transients who arrive on Friday are “very religious”
and won’t travel on Friday night or Saturday. I’ve had many rabbis promise to send me back the money I
gave them, and never yet has one of them sent back a penny. In fact, of the hundreds of promises that
I’ve had from all kinds of transients to return money given them, never has one kept his promise.
The president of the orthodox congregation once phoned me, and told me that a rabbi was at this
house m and that this rabbi was a very fine person, a scholar, and a gentleman, a man is in need, and
suggested that I give him $5. I was just ready to leave my house, and I informed the president that I did
not have time to interview the rabbi myself, but that if he thought the man was worthy, to give him $5,
and I would return that amount to him later. I happened to pass by the president’s house just as the rabbi
was leaving there, and I took a good look at him. The next morning, the same rabbi was at my place of
business, wanting to know if I took care of the Jewish transients. He wasn’t a rabbi anymore, and he had
changed his name. I told him to come along with me, and I would take him to the man who could help
him. He got into the front seat of my automobile, and wanted to know where we were going, and when I
told him we were going to see the president of the orthodox congregation, he jumped out and ran. I ran
after him, and caught him on Patton Avenue. He started yelling like I was going to murder him, and a
crowd started to gather, so I let him go, and he ran away again. I haven’t seen him since.
�Another Rabbi once appealed to me for help, and he claimed to be a brother-in-law of the rabbi
in Greenville, SC. Knowing the rabbi in Greenville personally, I didn’t believe he would send a brotherin-law of his out of the state to chisel the public, so I phoned long distance to inquire about the man.
The rabbi in Greenville informed me that this transient had worried the community there a couple of days
before, that he was no relation of his, but claimed to be a brother-in-law of the rabbi in Columbia. This
man’s system was to claim relationship to a rabbi in a nearby city, in order to get help. I gave him $.50
and a meal ticket, and told him to get out of town before dark. He didn’t leave, instead he called on other
Jews in the city with the same story, and collected around $5 by noon the next day. I finally contacted
him, and told him again to get out of town, which he refused to do. So, I had the police department pick
him up, and put him in jail. In about an hour, I went over, and talked to him in jail, and he changed his
tune quite a bit. He was ready to leave town, so we let him out and this time I gave him fifteen minutes
to disappear--and he did!
Another rabbi once called on me, and stated that he was a representative of a Jewish institution
somewhere in Europe, and wanted a donation for it. I explained to him that we had a Federated Jewish
charities here to help him, and he would have to make his request through them. He kept insisting that I
give him a donation personally, and I kept refusing him. He finally gave up, proceeded to cut me out in
Yiddish, in a extremely loud voice — and this wasn’t all — he spit on the floor, slammed the door as
hard as he could as he went out. I felt like killing him, and I think it would have been justifiable
homicide.
I could tell you many tales of my experiences with these human vultures, but one I remember in
particular, was the time when a local judge phoned me, and told me that he would have to try a young
boy by the name of Goldberg for vagrancy. He asked me to recommend to him what to do with the boy.
I went over to see the defendant, and he happened to be one of the transients I had helped a few days
before. He had ordered a sandwich at a small restaurant on the outskirts of town, refused to pay for it, so
the restaurant man had him arrested. I told the judge of my experiences with the Jewish transients and
asked him to make an example out of this boy, so he gave him thirty days on the road. In sentencing the
boy, the judge told him that from now on every Jewish transient that was brought before him would get a
road sentence. Then I really got criticized by the Jewish community for putting Jewish Boys on the
Chain-gang. I was shown a copy of his criminal record from the FBI a few days later. He had been
convicted of all kinds of offenses from stealing a bicycle to highway robbery. After the boy got out, he
came to see me again, and feeling sorry for him, I bought him a ticket to Charlotte, and informed him that
I would see that every transient from now on coming into Asheville would get a road sentence. Before
that time, we had from ten to thirty transients per month appealing for help. It was interesting to note
that we didn’t have another transient come into Asheville, for six weeks after the boy left, and for a long
time after that, appeals for help were 50% of what they had been before that.
It is my sincere recommendation that every Jewish transient, coming into Asheville, be put in jail
for a certain length of time. This is the only way to cure this evil. Of course, the Jewish community
wouldn’t stand for anything like that, they would rather give these damned hoodlums a few hundred
dollars every year.
Then, we have the transients coming through in family groups. These groups consist of a mother
and father, with one or more children. They usually arrive in a dilapidated old automobile. Most of the
time, the automobile needs some repairs before they can leave town in it; it never has any gasoline and
usually needs a couple of quarts of oil. These parties are expensive and hard to handle, because you can
hardly send small children on their way without a night’s sleep and proper food.
Of course, I have some deserving cases, but I don’t class these with the transients. For instance,
a man once came in to see me, with the story that he had tuberculosis, and he had come down here from
Detroit as his doctor had recommended this climate to him. He expected to get a job as an elevator boy,
or something of the sort, and he was under the impression that the climate here would cure him while he
worked. Well, the man was broke, and was waiting for some financial help from his brother whom he
had written a few days before. I gave the man $4 and he promised to pay me back as soon as he heard
�from his brother. He came back the next day. He had heard from his brother. He showed me the letter
and his brother enclosed $10 which was all that he could send. He told me that he was unable to find
work, and was going to start back for Detroit. He offered me the $4 I had given him. I asked him how he
expected to get back to Detroit on $7, and he told me that he would have to hitch-hike. I told him to keep
the $4, and wish him the best of luck, and while I am not a doctor, I was under the opinion from his looks
that his health would never permit him to hitch-hike back home and get there alive.
So for twenty years, I have dealt with the bunch of beggars, coming from North, South, East, and
West. They have become a part of my life, and if I could get out of this job right now, I am sure I would
miss this horde of gangsters that hop around from place to place like a bunch of grasshoppers in a clover
patch.
VI. War Years4
Pilot on 023
On admission to the Air Force in 1943 I was interviewed as to what activity I had in a
business or profession, also what experience I had in religious, fraternal or civic affairs. I told
them I was just a clerk in a pawnshop.
I didn’t tell them that I once:
was president of a cemetery.
was an owner of a company that built floats and decorated the town for the first
Rhododendron Festival in Asheville.
supplied the Asheville Police Dept. and the Sheriff’s Dept. with guns and ammunition.
I didn’t tell them anything about my civic, fraternal, religious or social activities.
I was sent to Tishomingo, Oklahoma for training in the Oklahoma State College for
Agriculture to be an air force clerk in engineering. After graduating from the clerk’s school in
Tishomingo, I felt I would have an easy life in the Air Force being an engineering clerk. But my
duties from Tishomingo to the islands in the South Pacific were:
kitchen police
mess hall fireman
mess hall garbage director
cleaning chickens
policing grounds
digging ditches
hauling poles
hauling fire wood
hauling coal
fighting forest fires
4
. A more complete account of Leo Finkelstein’s experiences during World War II is
found in his Letters from Leo: Letters to the Asheivlle Lion’s Club (Center for Appalachian
Studies: Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, 1996)
�assorting merchandise at warehouse
assorting salvage merchandise
smashing tin cans
hauling water
finance clerk
detail clerk
runner for headquarters
stacking lumber
cleaning rifles and machine guns
building roads
repairing bridges
laying concrete
operating gasoline pump
telephone operator
making inventories of supplies
acting C.Q.
pulling weeds and grass
watering trees
loading and unloading trucks
loading and unloading freight cars
loading barracks bags on boats and trucks
cleaning hatches on boats
latrine orderly
painting machinery
communications clerk
and finally engineering clerk for the 394th Squadron, 5th bomb group of the 13th Air
Force.
Getting a good grade on my education at Tishomingo and experience in travel to the
South Pacific I thought I was ready to do my job.
My first difficulty was when A pilot comes in to see me after a combat mission on a B-24 Bomber number 023 and
said that he failed to put on his reporting form #Y that the tachometer indicator occilates
excessively, would I please write it in the form for him. I told him I would.
You know, I didn’t know what the h--- he was talking about and I couldn’t even spell it.
Tokyo Rose
Tokyo Rose was an American girl broadcasting from a radio station in Japan during
World War II. Her broadcast was received by the 13th Air Force in the Admiralty Islands located
�in the South Pacific area.
She played recorded American music in her broadcast. She advised us that our wives and
sweethearts were dating the 4 F’s - the men who stayed out of military service and they would go
to drive inns for hamburgers and coca-colas.
She also said that the Japanese would be waiting for our B-24 bombers scheduled for a
mission in the morning with anti-aircraft guns and fighter planes.
Radios were scarce on the island. I wanted to listen to Tokyo Rose so I wrote home and
requested a small radio to be shipped to me. They advised that the smallest radio weighed too
much to be shipped overseas by parcel post but they would take it apart and ship it in two
packages which was acceptable at the post office.
The radio department of the 5th Bomb Group said they would be glad to put the radio
together for me. When I received the shipment in two packages I gave it to them. They repaired
it the best they could. I found that when I turned it on it would work for about a minute and then
quit receiving. They couldn’t find the trouble.
One day I took a screw driver, tightened all the screws and thought I found the trouble. I
put the radio on the table in the tent, started it receiving and in one minute it stopped. I was
disgusted - I hit the radio, knocked it off the table. It hit the floor, bounced about 2 feet and
started playing. It was okay from then on.
In about a week Captain Gardner in the engineering department sent word that he wanted to see
me as soon as possible. I thought I had fouled up on keeping his engineering records but he had this to
say:
Corporal Finkelstein we are having trouble repairing the radio on airplane No. 022 and we
understand that you are the only one in the 394th Squadron that can solve our problem. Will you help
us?
I forgot what I said, but I couldn’t figure out how to knock an airplane off the table.
Topless Women
Now if you read the morning paper, you noticed headlines on the front page: “Topless
Night Club Opens in Asheville.”
Well, you didn’t need a night club to see topless women on those South Pacific Islands
during WWII. The trouble was they would move all the women to another island close by the
island we occupied. We built a motor boat made of two airplane belly tanks and a small power
unit so that we could go over and see the women at another island.
I didn’t go over to see the women. I wasn’t afraid of them, but I was afraid the boat
might sink.
�Sergeant Joe
In 1944, Sergeant Joe, the mess sergeant in my outfit in the 13th Air Force located in the
South Pacific during World War II, received a shipment of canned corn. Instead of using it for
chow, he built a still in a fox hole and made corn whiskey out of it. Joe ran a road house in
Greenville, South Carolina before the war and in a neighborly spirit he invited me to drink what I
wanted of the corn whiskey and he helped me trade watch bands for coca-cola syrup and ice
cream from a Navy C.B. outfit located near by.
After the war, he operated his road house in Greenville again. He came to see me and
advised that they had arrested his partner for hauling whiskey in Buncombe County and wanted
to know if I could help him. I told him that I knew the Chief of Police and Sheriff Brown and I
would be glad to see what the situation was. He told me they couldn’t help as it was the Federal
authorities that arrested his partner. Thinking of how to get him a light sentence I asked Joe if
his partner was in the armed forces and he said that they had turned him down because he has a
heart murmur. I told Joe to send him to Dr. Feldman and I’d get the report from him as to his
heart murmur. Dr. Feldman told me he had a heart murmur and as Federal Physician he would
advise Judge Warlick about in federal court. At the trial Joe’s partner went scott free. Later he
came to see me with a roll of hundred dollar bills and wanted to pay me for getting him off. I
refused the money and told him that Joe had helped me out during the war and what I did was a
favor to Joe. Later he brought me six fifths of Scotch for a present, which I kept.
While overseas, besides having corn whiskey made by Joe and medical alcohol diluted
50% by water and flavored with burnt sugar, we were able to buy bonded whiskey from the
flying personnel who didn’t drink their ration. Price was $60 per fifth. They were looking for
souvenirs so I wrote Nat Friedman to send me a Japanese hare-kari knife from his antique store.
He sent me a similar one. It was a circular shape Turkish knife with Turkish letters on it. My
cost was $4. It looked like a hare-kari knife. I gave it to Sergeant Joe and asked him to see if he
could trade for a Fifth of bonded whiskey. He reported later that he got two fifths for it.
Sgt. Smokey Joe’s home is just a little bit south of Asheville, NC. He was mess sergeant
for the 394th squadron, a good guy, and a GI who could sympathize with all the other GI’s who
had to eat the food he prepared.
Before the war Smokey Joe owned a road house on the highway going south from
Asheville and after talking to him I found that I had patronized his institution on numerous
occasions during my younger years. Since we were practically neighbors in civilian life, we felt
that we should continue over there as good neighbors and so we were. There is no better friend
in the army than a cook because when you get hungry, he is the only man who can help you out.
In passing I might mention that Smokey Joe, Starvin Marvin and I have on numerous instances
enjoyed eating surplus stocks of food from the Mess Hall.
Smokey Joe told me about Sheriff Brown, in Asheville, taking his automobile away from
him once because the sheriff had found some whiskey in it that he was transporting to his road
house.
�Now Smokey is fighting to get his freedom - his freedom to go home and dodge Sheriff
Brown some more, and there is Starvin Marvin who wants to go home and see his wife and two
year old boy, a child that he has never seen, and so it is with me - I want to go home - I just want
to go home.
VII. After the War
Sgt. Smokey Joe
After the war Smokey Joe opened his road house again near Greenville, SC. He came to
see me and advised that they had arrested his partner for hauling whiskey in Buncombe County
and wanted to know if I could help him out.
I told him I knew the Chief of Police and Sheriff Brown and I would be glad to see what
the situation was. He told me they couldn’t help as it was the Federal Authorities that arrested
his partner. Thinking of how to get him a light sentence, I asked Joe if his partner was in the
armed forces and he said that they had turned him down because he had a heart murmur. I told
Joe to send his partner to Lion Dr. Feldman who was Federal Physician and I would get a report
from him as to his heart murmur.
Lion Dr. Feldman told me he had a heart murmur and as a Federal Physician he would
advise Judge Warlick about it in Federal Court. At the trial, Joe’s partner got a suspended
sentence. Later he came to see me with a roll of hundred dollar bills and wanted to pay me for
getting him off. I refused the money and told him that Joe had helped me out during the war and
what I did was a favor to Joe. Later he brought me six fifths of scotch for a present which I kept.
Corn Whiskey at Road House
Before the war, road houses would hide the corn whiskey they served their guests in a
container under a bed. When the sheriff’s dept. would raid the joint, they usually wouldn’t look
for it there. One night they found it and an article appeared in the Asheville Citizen that the
sheriff’s dept. confiscated a gallon of whiskey hid in a container at a road house.
J im Dwelbiss and Beaver Lake
Returning home from World War II, I was interested in building a house to live in.
Jim Dwelbiss, president of the Asheville Lions Club 1941-1942, said that he had a lot
across the street from his home on Westwood Road in Lakeview Park and if I would build a one
story house so he could see Beaver Lake over the roof of my house, he would give me a good
deal. I acquired the lot and built the house. He told me that as a resident of Lakeview Park I
should take on some activity for the benefit of the park.
He took me to the annual meeting of the property owners and I was elected as one of the
three commissioners - no salary. When I met with the other two commissioners they told me I
�had charge of the lake and fishing and they would back me up in anything I wanted to do. I got
phone calls.
I got a phone call from a resident and he says “Stop the fishing, the fish are diseased.” I
contacted the game warden from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and we found a service
station by the creek that furnished the lake with water that had put old oil from automobiles in it
and it had killed a few fish.
I get a phone call from a lady that an awful looking man wearing overalls was fishing. I
asked her did she expect him to wear a tuxedo.
I get a call advising that two women indecently dressed were near the dam of the lake. I
found them to be the wives of the two commissioners sun bathing.
I found two men swimming in the lake, which was against the rules. They told me they
would swim and that I couldn’t stop them. I told them to swim if they wanted to and that a sewer
line had broken and was emptying in the lake and would probably get typhoid fever - they
stopped swimming.
I found a group of women in bathing suits at the lake near Glenn Falls Road with a
photographer. I found them to be local beauticians getting their picture with the lake in the
background. They were using the picture on a cover of a program for a State Convention of
Beauticians in Asheville.
Fishing in the lake was allowed for licensed property owners only. I saw a man standing
at the edge of the lake for 30 minutes just looking. On investigation I found he had a line tied to
his belt that ran down the inside of his pants leg over his shoe into the lake. On the line he had a
float and a baited hook. When the fish would bite and pull the float under he would kick his leg,
hang the fish, pull it in and nobody would know he was fishing.
I appreciated what Lion Dwelbiss had done by getting me elected to be fish commissioner
of Beaver Lake.
But I got a call that I was going to be elected president of Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila
and that construction would be started soon on a temple at Liberty and Broad Sts. I thought I
could use some religion so I didn’t run again for commissioner of Lakeview Park and I took up
my duties as president of Beth-Ha-Tephila. I completed the building of financing of the new
temple in two years.
I was tired out and hoped that maybe I could get some rest by being fish commissioner
again at Beaver Lake.
Sternberg Hunting Rats
�Joe Sternberg was president of the Lion’s Club in 1960-61. His father Seigfred
Sternberg, came over to the U.S. at the turn of the century, procured a horse and wagon, drove
around western North Carolina buying cowhides and junk. He finally opened a junk yard on
Depot Street and became one of the largest cowhide dealers in the United States. Lion Joe was
my classmate in the A.H.S. class of 1922. He would rent a freight car on the local freight train to
Murphy and buy cowhides at the stations where the train stopped.
I was watch inspector for the Southern Railway and would travel on the same train, give
the employees a certificate that in my opinion the watch they had wouldn’t vary over 30 seconds
a week.
Going west you could go as far as Waynesville by auto and then by train to Murphy. Lion
Joe Dave, president of the club in 1932, was construction engineer for the Sternberg Co. who
supplied steel for the construction of buildings. Later he organized the Dave Steel Co.
Old man Sternberg did well financially and became president of the Southern State Bank
on Depot St.
He became active in religious and fraternal affairs in Asheville. He built a big home on
Victoria Drive. He didn’t like the help he was getting in Asheville so he imported a young
beautiful maid from Germany. The maid went down to get an item at the garage and found Mr.
Sternberg there. Mr. Sternberg got fresh with the maid, the maid picked up a 22 caliber rifle and
shot him. The wound wasn’t serious.
The next morning a news item appeared in the Asheville Citizen with the head line:
“Sternberg Hunting Rats in the Garage.”
Irving S. Cobb and Grove Park Inn
About sixty years ago my friend Fred Bradley was night clerk at Grove Park Inn. He
would tell me about the operation of the Inn. A guest would find his home town newspaper at
his breakfast table. If he paid for anything, what change, if needed, would be given to him in
uncirculated money.
The only entrance to the Inn’s grounds was a large gate off of Macon Ave. The gate was
closed at 10 PM as the noise from any automobile going in and out would disturb the guests.
Irving S. Cobb, famous humorist, was spending a couple of days at the Inn. A little after ten
o’clock one night he tried to get his auto into the Inn’s grounds. He found the gate locked. He
had to park his car on Macon Avenue.
He walked to the Inn and complained loudly about it. He was advised that the Inn didn’t
welcome any unusual noises after 10 PM. In a little while he came down to the lobby from his
�room carrying his shoes, nothing on his feet but his socks, walked very quietly to Fred Bradley,
the night clerk, and whispered to him “I want to check out.”
In a couple of days a news item appeared in the Asheville Citizen written by Irving Cobb
with the headline: “The Bunk of Buncombe.”
Read news article from Citizen-Times on suicide
This reminded me of a historical event years ago when I was selling guns. A customer
said he wanted an inexpensive pistol to keep in his home and he just obtained a permit to buy it.
I sold him a 22 cal. Iver Johnson pistol. This type gun was later known as a “Saturday Night
Special.”
When I completed the sale I said “Thank you mister.” He said “Don’t call me mister, I’m
a doctor. You call me doctor.” I said, “Thank you doctor.” He took the gun home and
committed suicide with it.
Now: I got to thinking if he bought the gun today he would have to make application to
get a permit and wait two or three days for the permit to be issued. Maybe if he had to wait that
long for a permit, he might have changed his mind about the suicide.
Then: As a doctor I wondered why he didn’t write a prescription for some high powered
sleeping pills, take several of them and just go to sleep and not wake up.
I think I got an explanation. If any of you had to buy prescription drugs today, you know
now expensive they are. And if they were that expensive back then when this happened, I guess
the doctor felt he could save money by committing suicide with a “Saturday Night Special.”
Problems in Water and Sewer Systems
If you’ve read the newspapers lately, you know that the city of Asheville has problems in
their water and sewer systems.
I had some personal problems, so I phoned doctor #1. The lady answering the phone said
that she would advise his nurse. His nurse was busy with a patient and the nurse would phone
me later. The nurse phones me in about an hour. I asked the nurse if I was supposed to talk to
her in a dignified way or call everything by its right name. She said to do what I think best, so I
tell her what’s troubling me and that it had the color of Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola, I don’t know
which.
She said she would talk to the doctor and call me back. She calls back and says I ought to
see doctor #2 who is a specialist with my troubles. He has a Rotto Rutter. I found out a Rotto
Rutter is a gadget used by plumbers on home work.
I see doctor #2 and he advises that he can’t find anything of a serious nature wrong. I go
back to doctor #1. He makes several tests. He tells me to go back to doctor #2, that he is going
to advise him of what he found and would ask him to make a complete examination.
�Back in doctor #2's office, an assistant brings in a machine for examination. He tells me
that this machine is a new one, and it don’t hurt like the old one. After the examination, the
doctor makes an appointment for me to go to the hospital for a I.V.P. examination and bring the
x-rays back to him. I take the x-rays back to doctor #2's office and the doctor says that they look
pretty good, that all I need would be surgery and a 2 to 3 days stay in the hospital or it may be 6
days.
I go back to the hospital for pre-admission tests and they do all the same tests that were
done two or three times before and the nurse asked me a lot of personal questions. She asked if I
had a BM. I knew that AM meant from midnight to noon and PM meant the time from noon to
midnight. So I figured out the BM meant a BAD MORNING, so I told the nurse that I had a BM
for about a week.
I was told to report for surgery the next Wednesday at 6:30 AM, somewhat earlier than I
usually get up. I get a phone call from doctor #2's nurse Tuesday night advising that the doctor is
ill and would be unable to do the surgery and it would be postponed.
Later I get a phone call that the surgery had been rescheduled for March 2nd at 1 PM. I
had 5 days to review the situation and I think I was mentally, physically, and maybe financially
ready for surgery.
End of Report. I now feel good.
Finis
I had the honor of serving as president of Beth-Ha-Temphila in 1948 and 1949 during the
building and financing of the new temple at Liberty and Broad Streets.
I was Master of Ceremonies for the 50th Anniversary Banquet program of Beth-HaTehphila in 1941.
I also presided at the 75th Anniversary Banquet in 1966.
I have put in my application to preside at the 100th in 1991.
Unless we are Indians, our ancestors came from Foreign Lands. I am thankful they did
what they did so that I could have the privilege of growing up in a city like Asheville, enjoy this
great country of ours---a land of religious freedom and opportunity.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
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Title
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Leo Finkelstein: Personal History (draft)
Date
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1997-10-16
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English
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107_01_LeoAsheville
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Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Jews--North Carolina--Asheville--History
Asheville (N.C.)--History
Description
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Finkelstein explains his family's past, beginning in Lithuania and ending in Asheville, North Carolina.
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<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
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PDF
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<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
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<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
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Text
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29 pages
Coverage
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Asheville (N.C.)
Spatial Coverage
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https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
America
ancestors
Asheville
autobiography
Depression
Flanders
goyim
Jews
Lithuania
pawn shop
Pisgah
Prohibition
World War II
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/d084059d6c9829c71043ed306c3ee95f.pdf
5f53148a42e7bc5f8de3ac437eb88ac7
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998--Family
Jews--North Carolina--Asheville--History
PDF Text
Text
In Nineteen Five
I became alive
and what I found
around this town
Was joy and tears
for 50 years.
Origins
In 1799, my great-great grandfather was a chicken farmer in the town of Pushalot, in the
state of Lithuania, in the Soviet Union.
It was a hard life in the town of Pushalot. The winters were nine months long and
unendurably cold. The summers were hot and rainy. There were occasional pogroms or Russian
Cossaks rampaging through the streets terrorizing the countryside, gypsies stealing everything in
sight, including sometimes even children, and always there was the threat of Siberia.
My ancestors, like most Jews, were very poor, hard working and suffering. My greatgreat grandfather bought eggs from all the chicken farmers, packed them carefully on a wagon,
covered them with straw to keep them cool and fresh and rode many miles to Kovna, Vilna and
Riga to sell the eggs at the big city markets.
In 1825, my great grandfather served as a rabbi in Pushalot.
In 1872, my grandfather opened a kretchma in Pushalot. A kretchma is a Russian inn
somewhat like out modern motels, only they didn’t have swimming pools or air conditioning. It
was a place travelers could stop for food or drink or spend the night.
One day a Bolshevik on horseback stopped at the Inn and drank a lot of vodka. He got
fresh with my grandmother, who I understand was a good looking girl in those days. My father, a
teenage boy, picked up a piece of stove wood, hit him on the head and knocked him out. That
was an awful crime in Russia for a Jewish boy. My grandfather made a temporary settlement
with the Russian and gave him 50 rubles.
My father thought that they may send him to jail or Siberia, so he stole his way across the
border into Germany. He didn’t like Germany, so he left Germany and made his way to South
Africa.
He went to work as a house painter in Johannesburg. He became ill from the lead
poisoning in the paint. There were no United Way or Federate Jewish Charities down there, but
someone took pity on him and nursed him back to health. He sold cigarettes and sandwiches at a
stock exchange and he finally opened a resturant.
�In 1898, right before the English-Boer War, my father sold his resturant for gold coins,
got a money belt, and went down to Cape Town. He had a cousin in Australia and a brother in
Jacksonville, Florida. By a flip of a coin he came over to Jacksonville, Florida.
In Jacksonville, Florida, he went to night school to learn to read and write English.
In 1900, he became ill and the doctor in Jacksonville told him the only place to go to get
cured would be the mountains. He came up to Asheville, and Doctor Smith told him he would
die of anything except what they sent him to Asheville for, so that he might as well go back to
Jacksonville. He like Asheville so much he decided to stay here.
In 1903, he opened a pawn shop at 23 South Main Street (now Biltmore Avenue). He
married Fanny Sherman from Newport News, Virginia, and made their home in an apartment on
Ashland Avenue.
In 1905, my father became a citizen of the United States.
Among the organizations he joined were the Asheville Board of Trade (now The
Asheville Chamber of Commerce), the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Suez Temple of the Oramatic
Order of Khorosson, Lodge #1401 BPO, Elks, Mt. Herman Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite
Masonic Lodge, Oasis Temple of Shriners, Congregation Bikur Cholim (now Beth Isreal), and
Congregation Betha-Ha-Tephila.
So, the Twentieth Century began with:
1.
The pawnbroker named Finkelstein.
2.
S.H. Friedman, who operated a furniture store. He came to Asheville from
Maryland, where he peddled tinware. His son, Nat Friedman, later operated the
Susquehana Antique Co.
3.
A Jewish lawyer by the name of Goldstein.
4.
A Jewish plumber by the name of A.J. Huvard. He married E.C. Goldberg’s
sister. E.C. Goldberg ran a news stand next to the Imperial aTheater on Patton
Avenue for years.
5.
A Jewish dentist by the name of I. Mitchell Mann.
6.
Harry Blomberg’s father who came to Asheville in 1887. He operated the Racket
Store on Biltmore Avenue for many years.
7.
The Palais Royal Department Store operated by Morris Meyers for 40 years. He
was a charter member of Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila and he came to Asheville
in 1887.
8.
The Bon Marche Department Store operated by Solomon Lipinsky.
9.
A Jewish postman who delivered mail by the name of Barney Seigle. I was
particularly interested in Barney because he had a sister by the name of Ester, who
was in my class in high school — a beautiful and affectionate student.
10.
An industrialist named Seigfred Sternberg.
11.
Dan Michalove, who worked at the first movie houses in town and finally
advanced to Vice-President of Paramount Pictures and was put in charge of all
�12.
13.
14.
their theaters in Australia.
Lou Pollock, who operate a shoe store at the corner of South Main and Eagle
Streets. He once ran a shoe sale for $.98 a pair.
Leo Cadison, who came here for his health, operated a ladies clothing store on
Pack Square, finally moved to Washington, D.C., and became an attorney by act
of Congress. He was a speech writer for the Attorrney General of the United
States.
An orthodox Rabbi by the name of Londow.
It was in 1883 Jews were arriving to become pioneers in the Asheville community. Some
came to make a better livelihood and for opportunity. Morris Myers served as Exalted Ruler of
the Old Elks Lodge #608. The moderate climate and mountain air attracted others to Asheville, a
growing medical haven for the sufferers of chronic respiratory diseases.
Congregation Beth-ha-Tephila
It was on August 23, 1891, twenty-seven men met in Lyceum Hall and adopted a
constitution for Congregation Beth-Ha-Temphila. Among the charter members were the
Blomberg, Lipinsky, and Zagier families. It is noted that the dues were $10 a year, payable in
advance. Lyceum Hall was the first home of the Congregation. It was rented from a fraternal
order for $75 a year.
Congregation Bikur Cholim
Rabbi Londow became the rabbi for Congregation Bikur Cholim whose articles of
incorporation were filed in the Court Clerk’s office in February 1899. The incorporators were
J.B. Schwartzberg, A. Blomberg, Sam Feinstein, S.H. Michalove, A. Shenbaum, M. Zuglier, and
R.B. Zagier.
Since the community could not pay Rabbi Londow a decent wage, he operated a Jewish
grocery store on the side. He was a kindly old gentleman with a big beard, wore his hat around
the grocery store at all times except when a lady called him on the telephone. He would remove
the hat during the conversation and put it back on his head after the phone call.
I remember a big barrel of herring in the center of the store. Plain herring were 5 cents
each and milk herring ten cents.
A newly married lady in the Congregation once called Rabbi Londow and complained
that a duck she bought from him was old and too tough to eat. Rabbi Londow asked what she
expected him to do --- look down the duck’s mouth and count its teeth!
The first religious services of Bikur Cholim I remember attending was on the second
floor of a building at the corner of Patton Avenue and Church Street. It was early in the life of
Bikur Cholim that the congregation split up due to a big argument. Half of the members formed
another congregation and called it Anshei Hashuron. They rented a second floor of an apartment
house at the corner of Central Avenue and Woodfin Street. However, through the efforts of the
impartial moderates, a compromise was reached and a permanent division averted.
�Nevertheless, the apartment was kept for a religious school. It was here I received my
first Hebrew lesson. Rabbi Fox was teaching us the four questions to ask at our Passover meal.
At this time my father would attend all the board meetings of Bikur Cholim. He would
come home upset and nervous. Dr. Smith suggested he not attend any more Synagogue meetings
due to his high blood pressure.
Rabbi Fox was active on the 9th and 10th degrees of Scottish Rite Masonry. After his
death I assumed his parts in these degrees and I am still on the degree teams.
Hebrew School
In 1911, erection of a house of worship was started on South Liberty Street for
Congregation Bikur Cholin. Although it wasn’t completed until 1916, the Hebrew School
moved there in 1912. Hebrew classes were scheduled every Saturday through the winter. The
only heat we had was from a large coal stove in the center of the sanctuary. The stove was
prepared for a fire to be lit on Saturday morning before the Hebrew class met. Since the Rabbi
wouldn’t light a fire on the Sabbath he arranged for a neighborhood boy to come in and light it.
He would place a dime under a prayer book and after the boy had lit the fire he would tell the boy
to get the dime
75 to 100 years ago in Asheville. Now about that time there were two synagoges in Asheville.
My family belongs to the orthodox. from under the prayer book.
The orthodox had strict rules for obeying the sabbath which began Friday at sundown and ended
Saturday night. So if you owned an automobile you put it in your garage Friday evening and took it out
Saturday night after sundown. You walked to religious services at the synagogue on the sabbath. To
obey the sabbath correctly you were not allowed to operate a business, spend money, smoke, strike a
match, work, cook and many other activities were forbidden. Remember this was about 100 years ago.
You weren’t supposed to tear paper. Now if you had a bathroom with paper on a roll, you tore
the paper off for Friday in case it may be needed for the sabbath.
The same rule applies to outhouses with old Sears Roebuck catalogues.
As far as I know none of these rules are observed today.
When I was 11 years old I attended Hebrew school conducted by the rabbi on Saturday morning
in the edifice of the synagogue. The sanctuary contained nothing but pews and a coal stove for heat. The
basement was used for storage and rest rooms. In the winter time the rabbi fixed the stove for a fire
Friday so that it could be lit Saturday morning to produce heat for the Hebrew class.
Since the rabbi shouldn’t light a fire or spend money on the sabbath, he arranged for a boy in the
neighborhood to light the fire Saturday morning. He placed a dime under a prayer book Friday and told
the boy where to get a dime after lighting the fire on Saturday.
One real cold morning the boy didn’t show up to light the fire. We were attending Hebrew class
�in sweaters, coats and overcoats and it was awful cold. I asked to be excused and coming up from the
basement I reported to the rabbi that the plumbing must have frozen as there was water leaking in several
places. The rabbi rushed downstairs to investigate the troubles and the Hebrew class rushed out of the
synagogue not to return until warm weather.
For your information, there was no water leaking.
Even in those days educational institutions had trouble with rebelling students. The boy
that was to light the fire didn’t show up. It was very cold that day. I asked to be excused and
went downstairs. When I came back I reported to Rabbi Redunsky that the pipes had froze and
broke. The Rabbi went to see about it. I advised the class that there were no broken pipes and
suggested that we leave the building --- which we did --- not to return until warm weather.
The member of Bikur Cholim who owned an automobile would put them up Friday
afternoon to observe the Sabbath and wouldn’t take them out until Saturday after sun down.
Most of the members lived within walking distance of the Synagogue.
The building of the Synagogue was completed in 1916 and the day before the eve of
Rosh-Hashonah a fire completely destroyed the building. Mrs. Rosenfeld had a Jewish Boarding
House next door and she cried and complained that she had just cleaned her house for Yontiff
and smoke had dirtied the place up. The Masonic Temple was offered to us to use for the High
Holy Day Services and we accepted.
The Cemetary
In those days Asheville was a place thar offered a cure for Tuberculosis. Many
sanatoriums were located in the hills around town. A Jewish man died in one of the sanatoriums
and had no money or family. No cemetery in town would bury him unless someone paid $100
for the grave. It was then that nine Jewish men formed the “West Asheville Hebrew Cemetery
Association Inc”. My father was the first president. In their Bi-Laws it was stated that anyone of
Jewish Faith could be buried there. The price of a grave was $100 and if there was no one to pay
it there would be no charge. The cemetery changed it’s name some years later to “Mt. Sinai
Cemetery” and sometime after to “The Lou Pollock Memorial Park”. After father died, Lou
Pollock became president. After his death, I was the vice-president and assumed the duties of the
president. I conferred with David Adler and set up a meeting between the directors of the
cemetery and members of Beth Israel. The ownership of the cemetery was transferred to Beth
Israel.
The following names of the nine founders can be seen on a plaque at the entrance to the
cemetery bearing the date 1916:
Sam Feinstein
Isaac Michalove
Lou Pollock
�S.W. Silverman
Sender Argentar
Rabbi Elias Fox
Dave Schundler
Barney Pearlman
Harry Finkelstein
Benevolent Societies
Around this time my father felt that some home-made chicken soup would help the
Jewish patients in the sanatoriums. A number of Jewish women set up a kitchen and once a
week hot chicken soup was made available tot he Jewish patients and to others who requested it.
Rabbi Fox acquired business interests in Asheville and served as part-time Rabbi. He
was associated with a local butcher who made Kosher meat available. He would go by the
homes of members and kill the chickens.
In 1917, some of us young Jewish boys decided that we ought to have Y.M.H.A. or a
Community Center in Asheville. Rabbi Fox met with us and suggested that we form a Y.M.H.A.
He said a community center was for the community only, but a bigger and better organization
would be a Y.M.H.A. because it extended from coast to coast. He told us a story about when he
first came to this country and wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge. He found a man who could
talk Yiddish and after looking at the bridge he asked why they built the bridge with a lot of little
cables instead of one big cable. The man explained to him that if one or two cables broke it
would not harm the bridge, but if there was one big cable and it broke the bridge would fall in.
Mr. Sternberg and Mr. Leavitt
Seventy-five years ago there was no United Way in Asheville. There were many local charitable
organizations sponsored by churches, synagoges, houses of worship, also the YMCA, the Salvation
Army, the Elks Lodge and the Jewish Ladies Aid Society. Lion Joe Sternberg’s father was active in
civic, religious, fraternal organizations in Asheville. At that time he was collecting donations for the
“Ladies Aid Society” of Asheville. He went to see Mr. Leavitt who operated a ladies ready to wear store
on South Main St. near Pack Square. He wouldn’t donate more than $5 and this didn’t please Mr.
Sternberg.
Mr. Sternberg was the owner of the building Mr. Leavitt operated his store in. He found Mr.
Leavitt violated the terms of his lease because he subletted a portion of the store for a shoe department.
Mr. Sternberg told Mr. Leavitt that he would have to give the Ladies Aid Society a suitable donation or
vacate the building his store was in because he had violated the terms of the lease. They selected three
�men to determine what amount Mr. Leavitt should give the Ladies Aid Society. It was agreed that the
amount they decided on would be satisfactory to Mr. Sternberg and Mr. Leavitt.
Mr. Sternberg selected a man to represent himself. Also Mr. Leavitt picked out the second man.
They needed a man to represent both of them and they finally selected my father. The committee decided
that Mr. Leavitt should donate $500 to the Ladies Aid Society.
Rabbi Fox said that therefore us boys should be little cables and hold up the Y.M.H.A. we were
going to form.
After the fire that destroyed Birur Cholim Synagogue on South Liberty Street the second
floor of the Sondley Building on Broadway was rented for the use of the congregation. A
member of the congregation, a young man, forgot he had made a date with a waitress in the
Langren Hotel and attended the meeting of the congregation. The lady waited in front of the
Masonic Temple with a gun and took a shot at him after the meeting when was leaving the
building. She missed. After going to Hebrew School in the building we would stop and examine
the hole the bullet made in the front wall of the building.
In 1911, I started school at Montford Avenue Grammar School.
In 1918, I went to U.N.C. for 2 days, and had to come home to run the paawnshop.
In the February 1922 graduating class in Asheville High School, there were 5 boys and 14
girls. Therefore, each boy was expected to take 3 girls to the Senior Class Dance of February
1922. Things were better when we had a dance for the entire year. There were three Jewish girls
in the total 1922 class — Madeline Blomberg, Eva Sternberg, and Ester Seigle.
I was the only student to take an automobile to school in 1922. It was a Paige make with
a “bathtub black” model. I was the business manager of the “Hill Billy”, the school monthly
magazine. I was given any study hall period off that I wanted to collect for ads that appeared in
the magazine, so I would take my auto and a girl to help me from the study hall. After collecting
for one ad we would ride over to the Charlotte Street Drug Store and participate in Ice Cream
Sodas for the balance of the study hall period.
Around this time Mr. Sternberg had a large junk yard and warehouse on Depot Street. He
bought and sold hundreds of cow hides. On all his advertisements he carried the slogan “We buy
anything and sell everything”. A circus came to town and didn’t have enough money to leave.
They applied to Mr. Sternberg who was president of the Southern State Bank on Depot Street for
a loan of $200. Mr. Sternberg made the loan and took the elephant as collateral. He complained
he was losing money on account of the elephant eating so much, but was helped out when Mr.
Buseck, who owned Middlemont Gardens bout the manure from him.
On Sundays in 1925, the Jewish crowd of teenagers and somewhat older boys and girls
would gather at the home of the Sternbergs on Victoria Road. The Sternbergs had four children:
Eva, Joe, Johanna, and Rose. One of the older girls in the crowd was named Jennie. One day I
asked her how she managed to be so popular among the boys, and her answer was, “Well, I’m
not so pretty, but I’m catchie”.
�I dated Eva and one night I called at the house to take her out and her father yelled to us
from the second floor of the house “Don’t you go me no road houses”, and Eva replied “What’s
the matter papa --- you afraid we are going to find you there!”
One night Mr. Sternberg invited some of his men friends over to his home to participate
in a small limit poker game. Sone one tipped off the police that a game was going on. The home
was raided and Mr. Sternberg gave the names of the players as Mr. Aleph, Mr. Baze, Mr.
Gimmel, Mr. Dolad, Mr. Hay, Mr. Vove, Mr. Zion, and Mr. Hess. The Asheville Citizen carried
a story that an attorney appeared in police court for Mr. Aleph, Mr. Baze, Mr. Vove, Mr. Zion,
and Mr. Hess and paid their fines. Very few people knew that their names were the first eight
letters of the Hebrew Alphabet.
It was in 1933, after Franklin Roosevelt was elected president of the United States, that
the Volstead Act was repealed and it became legal to sell beer with an alcoholic content on
October 1st. I was president of a mens social club, and it became my duty to get beer to serve to
the members. This was a difficult job as none was available from distributors around Asheville.
1933 was the year of the Great Depression and Rabbi Goodcowitz bought a second hand truck
from Harry Blomberg and was doing some hauling on the side to supplement his income from
Bikur - Cholim. Rabbi Goodcowitz said he would go to Baltimore and get us a load of beer as he
personally knew the owner of the Valley Forge Beer co. There. I gave him six hundred dollars of
the clubs money and he left on a Monday to be back on Thursday. He didn’t show up, but came
in the following Monday. The delay was due to the truck breaking down on the trip. Of course I
was somewhat concerned but the club had a truck load of Valley Forge Beer available.
Leo Cadison saw me and advised that he had talked to the United States Senator Robert
R. Reynolds, and the members were starting a campaign to sell the beer before October lst.
Captain Fred Jones of the Asheville Police Department, and a member of the house
committee said he would not recommend selling it before the legal date.
At the club that week, I noted about 150 members were present instead of the usual 40.
Under “good and welfare” Senator Reynolds, a great oriator, spoke in favor of selling the beer
and said that we were all brothers in a non-profit and charitable organization, and it would be
legal to sell it. Others spoke in favor of selling the beer were Judge Philip Cocke, State Senator,
A. Hall Johnson Superior Court Judge, Dan Hill, Postmaster, Marcus Erwin U.S.Attorney, Zeb
Mettles Superior Court Judge, Charles McRae local attorney, and Leo Cadison. Leo Cadison
made a motion that we advise the House Manager to put the beer on ice so that we could drink it
after the meting. I advised Mr. Cadison that I could not accept a motion of an illegal nature but
under Robert’s Rules of Palamentry procedure he could appeal from my decision. He appeared
and I advised the question be voted don would be “Shall the decision of the chair stand” and
there would be no discussion. The vote was unanimous against my decision (which suited me)
and I instructed the secretary to take everything out of the minutes pertaining to beer, also to
advise the house manager to put the beer on ice so we could have it after the meeting. He said
that it was to late to advise him because the beer had been on ice for the past two hours.
�In the 1930's William Dudley Pelly operated the “Silver Shirts”, a Nazi like organization
in a building across the street from the Jewish Community Center on Charlotte Street. He
published the Liberation Weekly, anti-semetic literature with a circulation of eight thousand.
In a parade, I was playing th esaxaphone with the Asheville Shrine Club Marching Band,
and William Rosenfelt was carrying the American Flag. Pelly in his “Liberation Weekly”
published a story that we were disgraced by a Jew with a big nose carrying the American Flag.
Pelly was arrested by the Buncombe County Sheriffs Department in 1941 for selling unregistered
stock. He was found guilty through the efforts of Julius Levitch, a young Jewish lawyer by the
name of Alvin Kurtus, and a local attorney named R.R. Williams.
On July 25, 1923, the Emporium Department Store owned by Jack Blomberg at the
corner of Pack Square and South Main Street was destroyed by a major fire. It was feared that
the entire block of Eagle Street would be destroyed. Many of the Jewish merchants who operated
clothing stores in the block brought their insurance polices and books to the pawnshop across the
street and requested that we put them in our safes which were two of the largest moveable safes
in town. These two safes are now located at 21 Broadway
While my sisters Rosa and Hilda and I were still children and our parents were out of
twon for health reasons, Doctor Schanddler’s father Dave Schandler, would invite us over to his
house for meals, especially on Passover and other religious holy days.
About this time when our house at 213 Broadway was being built, I was sliding down a
sloping board and got a big splinter in my rear end. My father couldn’t get it out so he took me
to Dr. Mann, the dentist, and he got it out --- no charge.
In 1936, the movements in founding a Jewish Community Center and to organize
Federated Jewish Charities in Asheville was started by Julius Levitch through B’Nai B’Rith. In
1947 a testimonial dinner was held for his outstanding service to the Jewish Community.
In 1944, Sergeant Joe, the mess sergeant in my outfit in the 13th Air Force located in the
South Pacific during World War II, received a shipment of canned corn. Instead of using it for
chow, he built a still in a fox hole and made corn whiskey out of it. Joe ran a road house in
Greenville, South Carolina before the war and in a neighborly spirit he invited me to drink what I
wanted of the corn whiskey and he helped me trade watch bands for coca-cola syrup and ice
cream from a Navy C.B. outfit located near by.
After the war, he operated his road house in Greenville again. He came to see me and
advised that they had arrested his partner for hauling whiskey in Buncombe County and wanted
to know if I could help him. I told him that I knew the Chief of Police and Sheriff Brown and I
would be glad to see what the situation was. He told me they couldn’t help as it was the Federal
Authorities that arrested his partner. . Thinking of how to get him a light sentence I asked Joe if
his partner was in the armed forces and he said that they had turned him down because he has a
heart murmur. I told Joe to send him to Dr. Feldman and I’d get the report from him as to his
heart murmur. Dr. Feldman told me he had a heart murmur and as Federal Physician he would
�advise Judge Warlick about in Federal court. At the trial Joe’s prtner went Scott Free. Later he
came to see me with a roll of hundred dollar bills and wanted to pay me for getting him off. I
refused the money and told him that Joe had helped me out during the war an d what I did was a
favor to Joe. Later he brought me six fifths of Scotch for a present, which I kept.
While overseas besides having corn whiskey made by Joe and medical alcohol diluted
50% by water and flavored with burnt sugar, we were able to buy bonded whiskey from the
flying personnel who didn’t drink their ration. Price was $60 per fifth. They were looking for
souvenirs so I wrote Nat Friedman to send me a Japanese hare-kari knife from his antique store.
He sent me a similar one. It was a circular shape Turkish knife with Turkish letters on it. My
cost was $4. It looked like a Hare-Kari knife. I gave it to Sergeant Joe and asked him to see if he
could trade for a Fifth of bonded whiskey. He reported later that he got two fifths for it.
I had the honor of serving as president of Beth-Ha-Temphila in 1948 and 1949 during the
building and financing of the new temple at Liberty and Broad Streets.
I was Master of Ceremonies for th e50th Anniversary Banquet program of Beth-HaTehphila in 1941.
I also presided at the 75th Anniversary Banquet in 1966.
I have put in my application to preside at the 100th in 1991.
Unless we are Indians, our ancestors came from Foreign Lands. I am thankful they did
what they did so that I could have the privilege of growing up in a city like Asheville, enjoy this
great country of ours---a land of religious freedom and opportunity.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein: Personal History and Asheville Jewish Community History
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1997-09-14
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_01_Fam
Subject
The topic of the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998--Family
Jews--North Carolina--Asheville--History
Asheville (N.C.)--Anecdotes
Description
An account of the resource
Finkelstein describes his family's past, beginning in 1799 in Lithuania and ending with his life in Asheville, North Carolina, as well as some of the history of the Jewish community in Asheville.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
10 pages
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
America
ancestors
Asheville
autobiography
Depression
Flanders
goyim
Jews
Leo Finkelstein
Lithuania
pawn shop
Pisgah
Prohibition
World War II
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/2fda6cab6cdb2a1254bab3450bde4461.jpg
80ee420dec822c8360c8698171bbabb9
Omeka Image File
The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files.
Width
1490
Height
2126
Bit Depth
8
Channels
1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Harry and Fannye Sherman Finkelstein Wedding Photograph
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1904
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_cd2_12_wedding_A
Subject
The topic of the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998--Family--Photographs
Description
An account of the resource
A photograph of Harry and Fannye Finkelstein's wedding.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
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JPG
Photographs
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Asheville (N.C.)
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
1904
Asheville
Fannye
Finkelstein
Harry
Jewish
Sherman
wedding
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/57d3bcbfeb8d996eb9d993db71f8e519.pdf
77547c4f99a5d784544bdabf41265364
PDF Text
Text
ge Of Easy Credit Maki11g It Rough
By ED SPEARS
Citizen Staff Writer
nshops, once a widelysource of money for
sQll with a pressing
, are having to adapt
nging times to survive.
in the bigger cities
Iling by the wayside.
lladelphia, where 75 to
~wnshops nourished in
f30s, nly 21 are in
ion today.
in Asheville, where
pawnshops
on c e
ed, two remain active:
Inc.
at
7
Pack Square, and
Reliable Loan Office, 8%
Biltmore Are.
Neither u t i 1 i z e s the
traditional three hanging balls
symbol as an o u t s i d e
identification. "Too rn u c h
danger that they would fall
and hit somebody in the
head," explained Leo
Finklestein, who operates
what is believed to be North
Carolina's oldest pawn shop,
founded by his father in 1903.
"The day of the old-time
hockshop is over," said
Finklestein, looking back ta
the time when his storage
area contained false teeth,
surgical appliances, as many
as 800 suits of clothing and
2nd Generation
Flinkelstein, left, carries on the business
by his father in downtown .sheyme. e
500 overcoats (hocked with
the arrival of warm weather),
and oddities such as an
electrical checker board.
Once, around 1912, a circus
carne to town and went broke
Finklestein said. His father
took trunks full of abbreviated
costumes, a stuffed tiger and
lion. "They finally got the
money up and sent for them,"
he said. "In those days we'd
take any kind of portable
security."
In the era before credit
cards and the proliferation
of banks and other lencting
agencies, pawnshops w e r e
utilized by persons from <!11
walks of life in need of a
loan from 10 cents to $500.
"People with any credit
rating at all can get a loan
today," Finklestein said .. " But
even with that, our 'business
has increased every year.
Much of this increase is
in the sale of new merchandise. Fink 1 est e in's
specializes in sporting goods,
jewelry, musical instruments
and luggage.
But a tour of his storage
areas rn a k e s it quickly
evident that plenty o f
Ashevilleans come by f o r
loans on items from today's
so-called affluent society.
Row after row of pledges
are stored: portable television
sets, typewriters, sewing
machines, radios, cameras,
jewelry, binoculars, p o w e r
tools, fishing outfits, golf
clubs, some luggage, pistols,
shotguns and rifles, sets of
silverware
and
m ovi e
projectors. A number o f
guitars are held under loan
- but no band instruments'
(when the child got tired
of playing it, the parent
wouldn't redeem it) . . .
" and nn
nra
l.otbil'!'l .....
ta _r...,.
go to the bank for $5 or $10.
Our loans average about $10,"
Finklestein said.
Pawnbrokers work closely
with the police and are little
used in the disposal of stolen
articles, Finklestein s a i d .
Less
than one-tenth of
one per cent of his' company's
transactions have involved
stolen goods. Householders are
advised to keep records of
serial numbers of appliances,
etc., that might be stolen to
assist in their recovery.
Pawnbrokers date back to
China 2,000 to 3,000 years ago.
Their legal foundations were
set up by the ancient Romans
and Greeks. In medieval
ages, laws prohibited the
charging of interest on money
loaned, but pawnbroking was
· exempt and carried on by the
Jews and Lornbards. The
three-ball symbol denoted a
Lombard merchant.
Pawnbroking became a
recognized business in the
United States in the 18th Century, and in World War I
was a main source of consumer credit.
Brokers are required to
hold pledges at least three
months before offering them
for sale to others. Where a!'rangernents are made, many
pledges are held for longer
periods. About 80 per cent
are redeemed.
·
In the latter part of the
19th Century, Harry L.
Finklestein was one of five
brothers . who left Russia-he
to South Africa; the other
four to the United States.
Neal, the oldest brother,
opened a pawnshop i n
Jacksonville, F1la. The others
worked for him until they
learned the business, then
founded shops in Columbia
and Florence, S. C., Wilrn-
nPawnshop s
Asheville's Fi.rst Pawnshop
Harry L. Finklestein opened the first paw nshop
in Ashevme and what is beHeved to be the first in
North CaroHna in 190,3. Located at 23 Biltmore
Ave., the late Mr. Finklestein is pictured at the
right in the entrance to his store.
to leave South Africa, and of it," he recalled. He has
by a flip of a coin decided managed the business since
to emigrate to Arne ric a his father died in 1929, also
rather than Australia.
taking an active part in the
While working for Neal, civic affairs of the comHarry was advised by doctors munity.
to live in the mountains, so
Although the pawnshop tohe opened the pawnshop in day is much different than
Asheville in 1903. Leo, his on- i~ . pa.st .. gener~tions, __!inkle_ ..._ _ _ _ _ _ nn ..
ly son, began working in the
BOB TERRELL .
<
<.
~~ ---------~----~
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_cd2_11_pawnsh
Subject
The topic of the resource
Pawnbroking--North Carolina--Asheville--History
Description
An account of the resource
A newspaper clipping explaining the struggles of Asheville's first pawnshop after getting loans became significantly easier.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Title
A name given to the resource
Age of Easy Credit Making it Hard on Pawnshops, Asheville Citizen-Times
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Asheville (N.C.)
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
Asheville
credit
Finkelstein
loans
pawnbroking
pawnshop
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/5b01145da18aab88dcd35a09056e7fdf.pdf
6b45f6196433d69ee611194c2da2c21c
PDF Text
Text
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Those Asheville North Ca'lina Blues (Sheet Music)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1925
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_cd2_06_09_ThoseAshevilleNorthCalinaBlues_sheetmusic_M
Description
An account of the resource
Those Asheville North Ca'lina Blues" sheet music from 1925 written by Frank B. Cook. Places such as "Eagle Street" and "Beaver Lake" are mentioned.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Asheville (N.C.)--Songs and music
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Cook, Frank B.
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Notated music
PDF
JPG
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Asheville (N.C.)
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
1925
Asheville
blues
Frank B. Cook
sheet music
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/7832adbcc8a9a1d016a10bcd47e61468.jpg
15e13645345a6a4c1eff4f6cc95599d1
Omeka Image File
The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files.
Width
3179
Height
2372
Bit Depth
8
Channels
1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Group Photo, Party of Asheville, NC, Jewish Community, circa 1920
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_cd2_04_fancy_A
Subject
The topic of the resource
Jews--North Carolina--Asheville--History--Photographs
Description
An account of the resource
A group photo of the Asheville Jewish community.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
JPG
Photographs
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Asheville (N.C.)
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
1920
Asheville
Community
Jewish
party
photograph
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/c3f3d62e5d7c6cc4afdf4560ade05b81.jpg
767b468c09292c61f524401b7ef65fdd
Omeka Image File
The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files.
Width
3000
Height
2388
Bit Depth
8
Channels
1
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Group Photo, Costume Party of Asheville, NC, Jewish Community, circa 1920
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1920
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_cd2_03_dressupparty
Subject
The topic of the resource
Jews--North Carolina--Asheville--History--Photographs
Description
An account of the resource
A group photo of a Costume Party held by the Asheville Jewish community.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
JPG
Photographs
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Asheville (N.C.)
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
1920
Asheville
clown
costume
dress-up
party
photograph
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/177186ec3cb7d11f308c226d81787667.pdf
a8672aa3584fc00186da610075f0abb3
PDF Text
Text
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_cd2_02_cover
Subject
The topic of the resource
Asheville (N.C.)--Songs and music
Description
An account of the resource
A program cover of Those Asheville Blues.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Title
A name given to the resource
Those Asheville Blues (Program Cover)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
Asheville
blues
cover
music
program
theater
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/3aa89d226e50a5923edb3341e792c054.pdf
f456f6c59754557fdc6ee4a0589d00c1
PDF Text
Text
WEATHER
and mild. Map and details on Page 7.
THE ASHEVILL----..olll!
Dedicated to the U pbuilding of Western North
Year • No. 292
1Oc Daily
Ashevi lle, N. C. 28802, Friday Morning, October
Julie Nixon Of The GOP
The younger daughter of Richard M. Nixon, Republican prres1candidate, held a microphone in one hand and a red rose
' othe~r Thursday as she spoke in the rain on Pack Square
a GOP :mlly and camP'ai.gn headquarters opening. The red
julie Nixon and other GOP dignitaries and candidates stnod
l
upon covered the bed of a traile~· owned by a house-wrecking firm.
Among tJhose with her wer~e {L·R): Stuart Harvey, Sen. Bruce B ~~
Briggs, Mrs. Robert A. Griffin, David Eisenhower, W. Scott Harve' ~..~'
Buf,ord Neal, Eddie English, Jesse Ledbetter, GroveT Redmon il
1
1
David Sentell. (Staff Photo by Ewart Ball III)
4
--~~--~~ 1· ~
·----~--------------------~------------------------------~--J
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_cd1_08_nixon
Description
An account of the resource
A clipping from the Asheville Citizen Times showing Julie Nixon standing in front of the Finkelstein loan office.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Eisenhower, Julie Nixon
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
JPG
Photographs
Title
A name given to the resource
Julie Nixon in front of Finkelstein Pawnshop, Asheville Citizen-Times
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
circa 1970
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Text
1970
Asheville
Citizen Times
Finkelstein
Julie Nixon
loan
newspaper
office
Politics
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/a8dc2ac25eaea7885e5f6336eba07e41.pdf
ace6681be8543e482132e38615ed99fa
PDF Text
Text
Retired Pawtib~oker
Enjoying Slow;;""~~~e
.
..
By PAUL G. CLARK
People in need of cash brought
Staff Writer
in suits, coats, books, cameras and
It's been 10 years since Leo all kin_ds of musical instruments to
Finkelstein retiied as the busy loan serve as collateral. Finkelstein
broker at Finkelstein's, Inc., the would hold the items until the ownwell-known pawnshop on Pack ers returned for them or, if they
Square, but he's still keeping busy.
didn't, until they were sold.
·· Clyde Osborne, a reporter for
Not that the 78-year-old has
pressing business anymore, he said, The Asheville .Citizen, interviewed
but with his house at Beaver Lake him in 1980. Finkelstein recalled a
to look after and his piano playing minister who hocked his Bible durfor the singing group, the Sancti- ing the Depression. The preacher
·rnonious Seven, he manages to fill arrived at the shop each Saturday
LEO FI_ KELSTEIN
N
_his days.
to claim it for Sunday's service, and
then would return it on Monday.
· The store closed for the Jewish
1 ,. __ •• ."You can find things to do if
' -~- you look for .them,~' he said recent· Finkelstein began working .in . ~p!Jdays Rosh Hashana ·and .Yom
t·· -~· lv,·:.'< I
little cooking and.some .th~)itore when he .was 6 years9Id. . f.(iPP,~f;. arid F!n,k,elstein said·'·B.as·•,: iepair~· wtn~ h()1lse::!i::.. . .~ .··· . .. . o:·~,.~:r .wanted to' g<LouL and sen .· :s~Wcoritinues .the tradition. fjlli{el;,
·
· ·· No yardwork,thpugh. "1 super- _ newspa~rsi'but Dad:lold .me,:'you ':~t.¢iil.saidheasked-himwhy.> ~~;-,/;.:
that,"he chuck]e'd. ·
come · ii( here and J'U·::~y(;"
i:f ;~::\'L_ ''You gotfiobo(iy~of my re.~gion
The Sanctimonious·· Seven, so job,' " he said. .He took 'OVer the here," Fifikelstein'Said. .•.::;,::c; : - - ._.·_
, - named because of the religious di- store when his father died in•l933~·"• .· .-·_ Bassett replied,-"I'm:not'··
goiJ}g
._ _
, versity among the group of Lions
His father, Harry f'inkelstein; ·_,to ch:'mg~my luck."
_ ·_: ''c-r· ..
-•-"'·Club musicians;· performs occa~ was born in Russia, then moved to
· ·
_,,_ 'c ~ · ·- ··
.
.. 1 . ·-·sionally, and that keeps his toes
Germany in 1890 and later to South -.
' ' : '"'>~tapping.
· , .
: · _ . .. . Africa. Near the turn of the cenj· ,..;
. Once an avid hunter and fish, tury, he came to theUnitedSta.t~~~t
. erman, he no ·longer fishes-in Bea-. locating in Jacksonville, Fla: "i ;;,,. ' 1 •'> :~
~ Lake .. He said he prefers ''the · .-.._ A doctor, diagnosing tuberculoO "':]
er
.
•
·
-" ~path ,of least resistance" :-:-fishing
sis; suggested he moye to A~he.v.ille..-.'
in commercial pol'lds.
· : because of its clean aic. - ' ··
• , ~~ used to play..golfand.~ol> •---- ·-_-.S ~:fie}'e~h, as. ~~e,~$aris histole ., .t.lmp~, but Poth those...actlVl .. c,":f·Y••··cc•>·•-,-,, ,..
·. ,_,. -~.._ .__.., .
ties nave fallen, b~:.t_!~~ -~~ys_idf. ~ :.::-"'-' "';,;:.., -~~~'"'1~P~,,.ftnlq~l~t~in ~x,_,,pp~):!_~fl.~- · ·· ·
"I JUSt take 1te~sy--an_ct wata,n ::--\V~at Is ,beliey¢,d to ~At.~"""~!_41t_~ ...
TV and read the newspapers,'' h~ frrst pawnshop•at-23 Biltmore Ave>• __ }
said. _ _ _ _
·
_. · r,,nue. Later he ·exiJlmde<i by opening ,_(
:.
· ' ·• · Th~t's 'qiiite a change from the a"-.ctrY goods shop and hardware _. ;~
way .things .used to be: Before he store next door.
-·
'
sold his sto~k in the shopto present
-. , In 1933 he moved to Pac]5
owner H.G. "June'' Bassettin1973, Square and changed the operation's .
· h.~ -over'saw-the daily traffi~·:·or ll:i~ , name~ ·rrom._(\Shevil).e ·• P~_w.IJ and ,.•• ~
..
pawnsh_ p.- ·-.o·
o
,.;, ~- _ ->_:;···;; . : , LQ~n~Sho~}o"FitikelS.:~<:iri~s;-In_c. · ,,...,.._ .,_~;I
, ·
--~ ·
do a
you
'4
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Retired Pawnbroker Enjoying Slower Pace, November 15, 1983
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-11-15
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_cd1_07_leocli
Description
An account of the resource
A newspaper clipping about Leo Finkelstein's life after he retired and a brief overview of his career as a pawnbroker.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Pawnbrokers--North Carolina--Asheville
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
JPG
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Image
1983
Asheville
Bible
Depression
Harry Finkelstein
Leo Finkelstein
retired
Sanctimonious Seven
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/2c86652603ef47516c8574ac1c44906b.jpg
5e842cea0388d584fe38ecdefc4400ca
Omeka Image File
The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files.
Width
322
Height
238
Bit Depth
8
Channels
3
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Group of Children in front of Car, Asheville, 1910s
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
circa 1910
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_cd1_06_kids in car
Subject
The topic of the resource
Asheville (N.C.)--Photographs
Children
Automobiles
Description
An account of the resource
Photograph of a group of children in front of a car in Asheville, North Carolina.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
JPG
Photographs
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Asheville (N.C.)
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
1910
Asheville
car
children
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/88d965a8d311b1e27c8fe32da66aa2dd.jpg
4502dab52e2083c16a0ad0a15e2d43e0
Omeka Image File
The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files.
Width
726
Height
1244
Bit Depth
8
Channels
3
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
State Convention Badge for Leo Finkelstein, 1933
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1933
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_cd1_02_button
Subject
The topic of the resource
Elks (Fraternal order). Lodge No. 608 (Asheville, N.C.)
Freemasonry--North Carolina--Asheville--Congresses
Description
An account of the resource
A purple convention badge for Leo Finkelstein, identifying him as "Exalted Ruler" and "Asheville: In the Land of the Sky."
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
JPG
Badges
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
1933
Asheville
badge
Convention
Exalted Ruler
Land of the Sky
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/64ec645e9fab036c5bf23a7c49ccd612.pdf
30bde7c2a880b48720489c071d06b6c1
PDF Text
Text
ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES, ASHEVILLE,
N. C., SUNDAY, MARCH 26. 193!)
icked China Now Greatet
astonished delegation, that the pasto
of the church was listed as pawner
of the instrument. It later developed,
though, that the thing wasn't as
bad as It had first seemed, for the
thief had simply given the minister's
name instead of his own when he
negotiated the loan.
Headache of all p awnbrokers are
visitations from persons with har
luck stories all out of proportion to
the value of the articles they have t d
offer. Sometimes their acts are so
well staged that even men seasoned
by years of experience to casting
skeptical eye on all such maneuver
are "taken in" by them.
There was the woman, for Instance,
who came Into Mr. Finkelstein's
shop not so very long ago with a
little boy and some almost worthless
article she wanted to pawn. She
needed a certain sum of money - a
sum several times more than the
article was worth-In order to obtain Immediate medical attention for
the little bey, who was suffering
from epilepsy, she told Mr. Finkelstein.
Boy Throws Fit
Mr. Finkelstein t h o u g h t
smelled a mouse somewhere and
just on the point of refu sing 't he whitlh used
Joan when the llttle boy fell to the en*ance of
floor and began writhing In the most to chicken
realistic exhibition of pain you'd pearlng. N
ever have the misfortune to witness. here uses t
It was all so awe-Inspiring that the
Different
money the woman asked for, was ent reasons
Immediately counted out and the balls ffom "t
two left the store.
but the mo
Mr. Finkelstein discovered a few balls had c
days ater that the act was o 1e the eu-l.lrely ..too
woman and the little boy had staged The mej;al 1
time after time-and with consistent very annoy!
success. There was really nothing at from their
all wrong with he child.
with consld
Mrs. Sender Argentir, whose hus- suspecting -h
band owns and operates Uncle Sam's
Som
Loan shop, Asheville's only other The grad
pawn shop, has watched a long and three gold
Interesting cavalcade of loan-seekers number of cl
come and go tn the score of years she place In pa
has stood behind the counter of her decade or t v
Biltmore avenue store. And the thing and still oth
that has Impressed h er most over But. In s
that span of years Is the revolution pawn shop
which h as taken place in the senti- small city's
ment attaching to marriage vows.
museum. T1
"It used to be that we didn't hesl- may not be ~
tate to loan almost any sum of t - ·
rior c
money on a ·.1edding ring, for we
ops frbm
knew It would always be redeemp..-."·.Dellll concern
she recalled. "Now a woman rents room you wi
to think no more of pawning--and Ients ot blac
never reclaiming-such a ring than platf01'11111 a
she would of pawning and leavl~~ a and grandfa
cigarette tray or vacuum cleaner
from among
Sign or The- Times
· tlon ot over
Another sign of the times, pa .,... hunting boot
brokers wlll tell you, is the fact tha t
·- ~
women now visit pawn shops with
as llttle feeling of restraint as they
would visit a corner grocery. Fif· '
SOMEBODY PAWNED-AND FORGOT-HIM-Gathering dust on the third floor teen years ago the sight of a woman
would h ave
Leo Finkelstein's Pack square pawn shop is a big black bear on a roller skate platform entering such a placemuch gossip occasioned almost as
as
somebody back in the dim days of the p ast left at the shop as security for a small loan. the .sight of that same woman pushe bear, at which Mr. Finkelstein is casting a more or less how-did-you-ever-get-here look ing aside the swinging doors of a saloon and step'(Jing ln.
the picture above, is only one of a number of "freak" securities which have collected at Pawnbrokers accredit this Change
partly to the "new f reedOm" tor
pawn shop since it was established more than three decades ago.
women and partly to the fact that
pawn shops In recent years have
than It would be to store ther1. away come to be recognized as honest and
or leave them lying around their legitimate business concerns with a
homes as a bait for break-In artists," veJY definite service to perform f or
'Mr. Finkelstein explains.
the community.
The .r~~i~lar tr!Q_.QL o~E_-~~
One of the most regular customerc
Mr. Finkelstein has ever had, though,
was a certain colored minister of the
gospel. Each Monday morning this
embarrassed
pulpitter
are golfers, hunters and fishermen financially
who pawn their golf clubs, hunting would bring in his Bible, pawn it for
rifles and fishing tackle at the close a dollar, leave it in "hock" throughof each season with almost clock- out the week and redeem it on Saturday afternoon just in tlme to prelike regularity.
pare his sermon for the coming day.
And, without once looking at a His patronage continue for several
or consul tirrg a U:a·
Icalendar Mr. Fllkelstein would be months, and never once during that
Jll\[l\fiE SCHUL'l'Z
mometer,
time did the good fellow miss his
big black bear on the roller able to tell, with almost scientific weekly Monday and Saturday visits
platform seemed just a little accuracy, when warm weather ar- to the p awn shop.
c!
in its environment rives and makes its departure in
Another colored minister, through
LVan~,a-s•z;ea radio sets and assort- Asheville. The arrival is marked by
Instruments. But so, for a deluge of overcoats and winter no choice of his own, also slipped
into the picture once. A sewing ma, did the pair of barber's furs, which are usually left In "hock"
the
the grandfather clock until the first chilly !breezes of late chine was accepted at next shop one
afternoon. Early the
mornin[
b arely discernible among fall begin to whip around street a delegation of incensed "sisters" o1
n~~~~:~~~;~ confused agglomera.tion corners.
one of the city's negro church es de1->
fishing tackle, hunting
Some Wealthy Pawners
scended on the establishment and
and
watches.
Some of these coats and winter complained that the machine had
the dark brown eyes of Leo wraps are pawned by persoru with been stolen from the Ladies Aid
however, there was no more money jingling in their pockets ~ewing room of their church.
In the variegated spec- than there Is In Mr. Finkelstein's
Barrowed :!\arne Also
During almost a score of years cash register.
Mr. Finkelstein dug out the pawn
the pawnbroker a;ge business he
"They've decided It's cheaper and ticket which had been issued for the
learned to expect almost any
under the sun- and a few ~~~~~u2~~ ~:e ~~;::;r ~~~;~ l~!~n~~~ch.:;;d a~c~~~,;.~~o,~e~~d, t;~
besides that- t o be brought
Pack square shop as security
Joan. And his exp ectation s
been in va.tn. ·
third floor of the sliop his
establish ed more than a quara century ago are enough
and curious pieces of merto start a miniature mu· j
without once drawing on out_s.our~~or specimens. Mr Fin-
awnsh Ops H ere C Ould
.
Furnlsh Good Museum
==================
Things Put Jn
Hock By Seekers
Of Loans
I
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Pawnshops Here Could Furnish Good Museum (Newspaper Article)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1939-03-26
Language
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English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_cd1_01_bear
Description
An account of the resource
This Asheville Citizen-Times article featuring Leo Finkelstein reports on the life of a pawnbroker, including bizarre items (such as a stuffed bear), rich clients who pay interest just to keep their winter coats safe over the summer, con artists, and a minister who scraped by pawning his Bible every Monday and retrieving it every Saturday evening.
Subject
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Pawnbroking--North Carolina--Asheville
Pawnbrokers--North Carolina--Asheville
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Rights
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<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
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JPG
Source
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<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Creator
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Schulz, Jimmie
Spatial Coverage
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https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Image
Asheville
bear
Bible
coat
epilepsy
interest
minister
money
museum
pawnbroking
sewing machine
wealthy
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/0f0a5ea3190bdac33246f49396336506.pdf
415d2c7c98839de94e107ca2de86fdf5
PDF Text
Text
Charles Finkelstein at Wilmington, NC
Neal Finkelstein at Jacksonville, FL
II. The Dawn of the Twentieth
Century in Asheville
And my father, Harry Finkelstein, at Asheville, NC.
n 1900, my father became ill and the doctor in
Jacksonville told him the only place ro go ro get
cured would be the mountains. He carne up to
Asheville, and Doctor Smith told him he would dir
of anything except what they sent him to Asheville
for, so that he might as well go back to Jacksonville.
He liked Asheville so much he decided to stay here.
In 1903, he opened a pawn shop at 23 South
Main Street (now Biltmore Avenue). He married
Fannye Sherman fro m Newport News, Virginia, and
they made their home in an apartment on Ashland
Avenue.
Harry and Fannyr Finkrlsuin.
Wrdding photo, cirra 1904
�In 1905, my father became a citizen of me United Stares.
"7
Q
Among me organizations he joined were me Asheville Board ofTrade (n The
Asheville Chamber of Commerce), me Fraternal Order of Eagles, Suez Temple o e
Oramaric Order ofKhorosson, Lodge # 1401 BPO, Elks, Mt. Herman Masonic Lodge,
Scottish Rite Masonic Lodge, Oasis Temple of Shriners, Congregation Bikur C holim (now
Bern !scad), and Congregation Becl!-Ha-Tephila.
So, in Asheville, North Carolina, me twenriecl! century began wid!:
~The
pawnbroker named Finkelstein.
~S.
H. Friedman, who operated a furniture store. He came to Asheville from
Maryland, where he peddled tinware. His son, Nat Friedman, larer operared me
Susquehanna Antique Co.
~A Jewish lawyer by the name of Goldstein.
~ A Jewish
plumber by me name of A.}. Huvard. He married E. C. Goldberg's sisrer.
E.C. Goldberg ran a news stand nexr ro me Imperial Theater on Patton Avenue for years.
~A Jewish
dentist by the name of I. Mitchell Mann.
~Harry Blomberg's father who came to Asheville in 1887. He operated me Racket
Store on Biltmore Avenue for many years.
~The Palais Royal Department Store operated by Morris Meyers for 40 years. He was a
charter member of Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila and he came ro Asheville in 1887.
~The Bon Marche Department Srorc operated by Solomon Lipinsky.
~A Jewish postman who delivered mail by rhe name of Barney Seigle. I was particularly
interested in Barney because he had a sister by the name of Esther, ·who was in my class in
high school - a beautiful and affi:ctionate student.
~An industrialist named Siegfried Sternberg.
~Dan Michalove, who worked at the first movie houses in rown and finally advanced to
vice president of Paramount Pictures and was pur in charge of all their rhearers in Australia.
~Lou Pollock, who operated a shoe store at the corner of South Main and Eagle Streets.
He onoe ran a shoe sale for 98 centS a pair.
~Leo Cadison, who came here for his healcl!, operated a ladies ci
ore on Pack
Square, finally moved ro Washington, D .C., and became an arrorn byA:r of ongress.
He was a speech writer for me Arrorney General of me Unired Sra
;:::::::.
<.
ews were arriving ro become pioneers in me Asheville community. Some
came ro make a better livelihood and for opporrunity. The moderate climate and moumain
air aruacred others ro Asheville, a growing medical haven for me sufferers of chronic respiratory diseases.
Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila
I served as President 1948 ro 1950. On August 23, 1891, twenty-seven men met in
Lyceum Hall and adopted a constitution for Congregation Berh-Ha-Tephila. Among me
charter members were me Blomberg, Lipinsky, and Zagier families. It is noted that me
dues were $10 a year, payable in advance. Lyceum Hall was me first home of me
Congregation. Ir was rented from a fraternal order for $75 a year.
Congregation Bikur Cholim
I served as Vice President before World War II. Rabbi Londow became me rabbi for
Congregation Bikur Cholim whose articles of incorporation were filed in the Court Clerk's
office in February 1899. The incorporators were }.B. Schwaraberg, A. Blomberg, Sam
Feinstein, S.H. Michalove, A. Shenbaum, M. Zuglier, and RB. Zagier.
Since the community could nor pay Rabbi Londow a decent wage, he operated a Jewish
grocery sto re on rhe side. He was a kindly old gencleman wid! a big beard, wore his hat
around rhe grocery store ar all rimes except when a lady called him on the telephone. He
would remove the hat during the conversation and pur ir back o n his head after the phone
call.
I remember a big barrel of herring in the center of me store. Plain herring were five
centS each and milk herring ren cents.
A newly married lady in the Congregation once called Rabbi Londow and complained
that a duck she bought from him was old and roo rough ro eat. Rabbi Londow asked her
�fo
~
In 1911, erection of a house of worship was started on South Liberty Street
Congregation Bikur Cholim. Although it wasn't completed until 1916, the Hebr w'Scl!_ool
moved there in 191 2. When I was I I years old, I attended Hebrew school conduct
the rabbi on Saturday morning in the edifice of the synagogue. The sancruary contained
nothing but pews and a coal stove for hear. The basement was used for storage and resr
rooms. In the winter time the rabbi fiXed the stove for a fire Friday so thar it could be lir
Saturday morning ro produce hear for the Hebrew class.
what did she expect him to do - look down the duck's mouth and count its teeth!
The first religious services of Bikur Cholim I remember attending were on the second
floor of a bwlding at the corner of Patton Avenue and Church Street. lr was early in the
life of Bikur Cholim thar the congregation split up due ro a big argument. Half of the
members formed another congregation and called ir Anshei Hashuron. They rented a second floor of an apanment house at the corner of Central Avenue and Woodfin Street.
However, through the efforts of the impartial moderates, a compromise was reached and a
permanent division averted.
Since the rabbi shouldn't light a fire or spend money on the Sabbath, he arranged for a
boy in the neighborhood ro light the fire Saturday morning. He placed a dime under a
prayer book Friday and rold the boy where to ger the dime after lighting the fire on
Saturday.
Nevertheless, the apanmenr was kepr for a religious school. Ir was here thar I received
my first Hebrew lesson. Rabbi Fox was reaching us the four questions ro ask at our
Passover meal.
At this time my father attended all the board meetings of Bikur C holim.rle ou d
come home upset and nervous. Or. Smith suggested he nor attend any mor~agog
meetings due to hjs high blood pressure.
.f!c-
/
e.....
Rabbi Fox was active on the 9th and I Oth degrees of Scottish Rite
ry. After his
death I assumed his parts in these degrees and I was on the degree teams until retiring in
1995.
Even in those days educational institutions had trouble with rebelling students. One
real cold morning the boy didn't show up ro lighr the fire. We were arrending Hebrew class
in swearers, coats and overcoats and ir was awful cold. I asked to be excused and coming
up from the basement I reported ro Rabbi Redunsky that the plumbing must have frozen as
rhere was water lc:alcing in several places The Rabbi went to see about it. I advised the
Orthodox Rules and Hebrew School
Sevenry-five to 100 years ago there were two synagogues in Asheville. My fam ily
belonged ro the orthodox.
The orthodox had srricr rules for obeying the Sabbath which began Friday at sundown
and ended Saturday night. The members of Bikur Cholim who owned an automobile
would put them in the garage on Friday evening ro observe the Sabbath and wouldn't rake
them out untjl Sarurday after sundown. Most of the members lived within waJkjng distance of the synagogue. To obey rhe Sabbath correcrly you were nor allowed ro operare a
business, spend money, smoke, strike a march, work, or cook. Many other activities were
also forbidden. Remember this was abour 100 years ago.
You weren't supposed to rear paper. Now if you had a bathroom wirh paper on a roll,
you ron: the paper off for Friday in case ir may be needed for the Sabbath. The same rule
applies ro outhouses with old Sears Roebuck catalogues.
As far as I know none of these rules are observed today.
ii
>
Fannyr on thr porrh ofthr
�class that there were no broken pipes
and suggested that we leave the building- which we did - not to return
until warm weather.
For your information, there was no
water leaking.
While my sisters, Rosa and Hilda,
and I were still children and our parents were out of town for health reasons, Doctor Schancl1er's futher, Dave
Schancl1er, would invite us over co his
house for meals, especially on Passover
and other religious holy days.
About this time when our house at
213 Broadway was being built, I was
sliding down a sloping board and got a
big splinter in my rear end. My father
couldn't gee it out so he cook me to Dr.
Mann, the denrist, and he got it out gue was
Harry and Fanny< Finlulsttin with childrm uo,
; o :::uilding of . 0
completed
Rouz, and Hilda
the eve of Ro
honah a fire complecely destroyed the building. Mrs. Rosenfeld had a
. / .:::.1ewish".!5i)ardiiig ousc nc:xt door and she cried and complained that she had just cleaned
~ / her house for Yon tiff and smoke had dirtied the place up. The Masonic Temple was offered
to us to usc for the High Holy Day Services and we accepted.
in(ian~:tfore
'?
After the fire that destroyed Bikur Cholim Synagogue on South Liberty Street, the second floor of
Soncl1ey Building on Broadway was rented for the usc of the congregation.
A member of the congregation, a young man, forgot he had made a date with a waitress in
the Langrcn Hotel, and attended the meeting of the congregation. The lady waited in front
of the Masonic Temple with a gun and took a shor at h~er e meeting when he was
leaving the building. She missed. After going to Heb
- oo in the building we would
ihe building.
stop and examine the hole the bullet made in the front
me
7
The Cemetery
In those days Asheville was a place that offered a cure for ruberculosis. Many sanatoriums were located in the hills around town. A Jewish man died in one of the sanatoriums
and had no money or family. No cemetery in town would bury him unless someone paid
$100 for the gravt::a. then that nine Jewish men formed ~heville Hebrew
Cemetery Associa onjnc. My futher was the first president.
e bylaws rated. that anyone ofJewish fai
e buried there. T he price of a grave was
0 and if there was
no one to pay it there would be no charge.
,S,~m te changed its name some years
later to Mt. Sinai Cerneteqt-an
after' toA'fle Ld Pollock Memorial Park. After
Father died, Lou Pollock became presiden
ih, I was the vice-president and
assumed the duties of the president. I conferred with David Acl1cr and set up a meeting
berween the directors of the cemetery and members of Beth Israel. The ownership of the
cemetery was transferred to Beth Israel.
<
The following names of the nine founders can be seen on a plaque at the entrance to
the cemetery bearing the date 1916: Sam Feinstein, Isaac Michalove, Lou Pollock, S.W.
Silverman, Sender Argenrar, Rabbi Elias Fox, Dave Schancller, Barney Pearlman, Harry
Finkelstein.
Benevolent Societies
Around this time my futher felt that some homemade chicken soup would help the
Jewish patients in the sanatoriums. A number of Jewish women set up a kitchen and, once
a week, hot chicken soup was made available to the Jewish patients and to others who
requested it.
Rabbi Fox acquired business interests in Asheville and served as part-time Rabbi. He
was associated with a local butcher who made kosher meat available. He would go by the
homes of members and kill the chickens.
In 1917, some of us young Jewish boys decided that we ought to have a Young Men's
Hebrew Association or a community center in Asheville. Rabbi Fox met with us and suggested that we form a YMHA. He said a community center was for the community only,
but a bigger and better organization would be a YMHA because it extended from coast to
coast. He told us a story about when he first came to this country and wanted to see the
Brooklyn Bridge. He found a man who could talk Yiddish and after looking at the bridge
he asked why they built the bridge with a lot of little cables instead of one big cable. The
<
�man explained to him that if one or rwo cables broke it would not harm the bridge, but if
there was one big cable and it broke the bridge would fall in. Rabbi Fox said that therefo re
we boys should be little cables and hold up the YMHA we were going to form.
Flanders 20
About 75 years ago the Studebaker Corporation made rwo automobiles - the Flanders
20, 20 horsepower and the Emf. 30, 30 horsepower. My family owned a Flanders 20.
To start the engine you used a hand crank in front of the auto. You lowered the spark
control lever because if you didn't, you might get a kickback on the crank and get your arm
broken.
Mr. Sternberg and Mr. Leavitt
Seventy-five years ago there was no United Way in Asheville. There were many local
charitable organizations sponsored by churches, synagogues, houses of worship, also the
YMCA, the Salvation Army, the Elks Lodge and the Jewish Ladies')Aid Society. Joe
Sternberg's father was active in civic, religious, and fraternal organizations in Asheville. At
that rime he was collecring donations for the Ladics...,Aid Society of Asheville. He went to
Mr. Leavitt who operated a ladie.?read)loto,.wear store on South Main Street near Pack
Square. He wouldn't donate more than $5 and this didn't please Mr. Sternberg.
7
>
If you had a Aat tire, you had to raise the wheel with a hand jack, take the rire off and
ftx the inner rube with patches t.hat you always carried with you. Y had a hand pump to
ou
inAate the tire again.
7 see
Some owners of the Flanders 20 bragged that sometimes they could drive up the hill on
South Main Street (now Biltmore Avenue) from Depot Street to Pack Square in high gear
and they didn't have to shift to a second gear.
Mr. Sternberg was the owner of the building in which Mr. Leavitt operated his store.
He found Mr. Leavitt violated the terms of his lease because he sublet a portion of the store
for a shoe deparunent. Mr. Sternberg told Mr. Leavitt that he would have to give the
Ladi~Aid Society a suitable donation or vacate the building because he had violated the
rercns of the lease. They sdecred three men to determine what amount Mr. Leavitt should
) give the Ladies'Aid Society. It was agreed that the amount they decided would be satisfactory to Mr. Sternberg and Mr. Leavitt.
There was a dirt road to Hendersonville. Some of it was red clay that would become
slick when it rained. One small section of the road became very slick due to its location.
There was a man there with a mule. For a small fee he would hitch the mule to the front
of the auto and pull you out of the bad place with the help of the engine of the car.
f
Mr. Sternberg selected a man to represent himself. Also, Mr. Leavitt picked o ut the
second man. They needed a man to represent both of them and finally sclfcted my father.
7The committee decided that Mr. Leavitt should donate $500 to the Ladies Aid Society.
7
In 1936, the movement to found a Jewish Community Center and to organize
Federated Jewish Charities in Ash.eville was started by Julius Levitch through .~:~f·
In 1947 a testimonial dinner was held for his outstanding service to the Jewi~nity.
<
Jl{y Father and the Sheriff's Department
In the early days of the century, my father would give each member of the Buncombe
County Sheriff's Deparunenr cu1f links for a Christmas present.
In appreciation, the Sheriff always sent my father a gallon of corn whiskey. We always
than.la:d the Sheriff for his gift even though none of my family drank cotn whiskey.
uo andfrimds with Flantkn 20
13
�We were invited to a wedding in Hendersonville by Mr. Lewis whose sister, Rose, was
gening married to a young anorney named Joe Patla. He practiced law in Asheville fo r
many years. We took our Flanders 20 to the wedding with a couple of our friends. We had
no trouble as it didn't rain. Coming back to AsheviUc, we got a flat tire ncar Skyland and
stopped to fix it.
We noticed a lot of berries growing near the road and we all began to ear them. A
F.umer saw us and accused us of stealing his berries. He took our a warrant for my father.
The trial was to be heard by a Justice of the Peace in Skyland. My father employed a young
lawyer by the name of Bob Reynolds. Bob Reynolds in later years became a U.S. Senator.
The Justice of the Peace office was too small to hold the crowd that came to the trial so
it was held under a large oak tree outdoors. I heard that Bob gave a great speech to the
crowd and the Justice of the Peace o rdered my father just to pay the farmer a small amount
for the berries.
The moral of this event is: Don't ear wild berries beside an old road. You arc liable to
have more troubles than a stomachache.
-;. Beginning to work
I
.o;;::.
When I was eight years old, I starred selling newspapers. I wasn't doing very good so
my father gave me a job in the pawnshop at 50 cents per week. I had to save 25 centS of it.
I was co work when there was no school activity or important events pertaining to my education. I was given Saturday afternoon off co go fishing and Saturday morning to sec a serial movie at the Galaxy movie house on Pack Square.
Many people left their musical instruments as collateral for loans. I tried out my musical ability on a guitar, a ukulele, a violin and a saxophone. I took violin lessons from Mr.
Popala.rdo and piano lessons &om Mrs. Oliphant. My mother insisted that I practice on
the piano one hour a day.
School
In 1911, I st.trted school at Montford Avenue Grammar School.
In 1922, I went to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for rwo days, and had
co come home co run the pawnshop.
Finlu!Jttini Pawnshop. Harry Finlu!Jttin on tht right
rhe~922
In
graduating class in Asheville High School, there were five boys<
and 14 girls. Therefore, each boy was expected to rake three girls co the Senior Class Dance
of February 1922. Things were bener when we had a dance for the entire school. There
were three Jewish girls in the total 1922 class - Madeline Blo mberg, Eva Sternberg, and
Esther Seigle.
I was the only student to rake an automobile to school in 1922. It was a Paige make
with a "bathtub back" model. I
t
incss man er of Tht: Hillbilly, the school
monthly magazine. I was given any study hall perio o .ro1fecc for ads that appeared in
the magazine, so I would take my auto and a girl to he p me from the study hall. Alter colleering for one ad we would ride over to the Charlotte Street Drug Score and participate in
ice cream sodas for the balance of the study hall period.
<....
�Asheville Dixie jazz Band
In 1921, I, along with a violin player from Lewis Funeral Home, Frank McCormak,
formed the fir.a musical outfit Asheville High School ever had.
Below is a poem from an issue of the 1921 school paper, Th~ Hillbilly.
The Dixie jazz Band
BDJ1 and girls, hav~ you h~ard th~ nnuJ,
A nnv way to g~t livtly without any boou,
jUJt com~ around and giv~ UJ your hand
~i-t th~ m=b= ofth~ "Dixi~ jazz Band. •
~plAy and plAy and n~vrr gtt ~aryl
~'Ujazz you
up and make you chury.
~'U makt you danu and n~vrr ut JtiU
You'U haw to 1himmy. against your will
Tht drumm~r is a drumm~r by trade,
Th~ fiddler is a mUJician, ulfmatie,
Th~ flute is th~ bat you ~''" htard,
Th~ mandalin Joundi likt a mocking bird.
w
-uoFink~lsuin
Pisgah 1922
Joe Sternberg and I were seniors in the 1922 class of Asheville High School. Now, Joe's
mother, Mrs. Sternberg, phoned me and advised me that she was entertaining Joe and three
other members of the 1922 class with a trip to the top of Mr. Pisgah. Eva Sternberg, Joe's
sister, graduated in 1921 bur wanted to go with them. Her mother asked if! would like to
go and look alter Eva if she went, and I told her that I would be delighted.
They all picked m~ up the na~ morning and Mrs. Ster~be~ove us the ho me of
'to
Mr. and Mrs. Rufus 0 Kelly who lived at the base of Mr. Prs~ Oen~n passenger
Mormon automobileJWe had lunch of possum and sweet potatoes.
There was one dirt road (one way) to the top of Mt. Pisgah, five miles long. An auto
had to go up in the morning at daylight and was allowed to come down after I p.m. until
dark. We hiked to a cleared section. Mr.
O'Kelly chaperoned the trip and built us a
large bonfire and was fiXing something to
eat.
Eva was unpacking some things and I
noticed a large bottle of Bromo-Selczer. I
asked if she expected someone to have a
headache. She said, "No, I opened a pint
bottle of father's bottled whiskey, took half
of it and filled the Bromo-Selt:zer bottle.
Now you and I can have a drink before we
eat. "'
"That's a good idea." I said, "but what
is your father going to say when he finds
out?" She said, "No problem. I filled the
empty half of the whiskey bottle with
water. " At nighttime she and I sat around
the fire drinking a few drinks of BrumoSelczer.
On Sundays in 1925, the Jewish
crowd of teenagers and somewhat older
boys and girls would gather at the home of
the Srernbergs on Victoria Road. The
FrimdJ at plAy (1-r Milton Schwamlmg, Harry
Stern bergs had four children: Eva, Joe,
Roth, William RoJmftld. Sam Roth)
Johanna, and Rose. One of the older girls
in the crowd was named Jennie Selt:z. One day I asked her how she man~e..so popular among the boys, and her answer was, "Well, I'm not so pretty, but Vm catehie."
I dated Eva and one night I called at the house to take her out and 11~-.....,~.p--~
us from the second floor of the house, "Don't you go to no road houses!" Eva replied,
"What's the matter, Papa - you aftaid we are going to find you there?"
William Jennings Bryan
On July 7, 1896, William Jennings Bryan delivered the "Cross of Gold" speech and
�won the Democratic parry nomination for Vice President of the United States.
In 1900 he was nominated again for Vice President.
In 1908 he was nominated for President of the United Stares.
Later in life he moved to Asheville and his home was at the corner of Evelyn Place and
Kimberly Avenue - just a few houses away from where Jack Cole now lives.
Mr. Bryan asked my father to order him a special made double barrel Parker shot gun
with 28" barrels modified and choke bores, and a 2 3/4 inch drop.
After receiving the ~ n he wrote my father a letter of thanks. I had this letter in my
historical files and it disappeared. Now I don't know whether to blame it on the Democrats
or Republicans.
The Emporium Fire of 1923
.......,
On July 25, 1923, the Emporium ,es>arunen;Jtore owned by Jack Blomberg at the
/
corner of Pack Square and South Main'"Street was<femoyed by a major fire. It was feared
that the entire block to South Main Street (Biltmore Avenue) would be destroyed.
Many of the merchants who operated clothing stores in the block brought their insurance policies and books to Finkelstein's Pawnshop across the street and requested that we
put them in our safes which were two of the largest moveable safes in town. T he two safes
are now located at 2 1 Broadway.
&wing Machine Mystery
A sewing machine was brought in for a loan. The next day some ladies from a church
walked in from a church society, identified the machine and claimed it had been stolen
from the church. The pawn ticket was hunted.
"What's the name on the record?" one of the women inquired.
It was read off.
"What!" shrieked the group in unison. "That's the name of our pastor!"
And, the mystery was cleared up: someone else had pawned the machine giving the
reverend's name.
�Hl AsheviHe
the 1930s
.
Ill
(ions Club
"iremember when I became a member of the
The club had 16
members and I was the 17th. Our meetings were
held at the S & W Cafeteria on Panon Avenue, in a
meeting room on the second floor. A good meal
could be had at a cost ofless than one dollar.
As{~Ue Lions Club in 1930.
I remember when the club's membership reached
I 00, we held a stag parry at the Sky Club on top of
Beaucatcher Mountain. Out of 100 members we had
97 anend. Three were absent on account of being
out of town. The club was operated by Boyd and
Albertine Maxwell and their daughter was the hostess.
Albertine was a professional dancer and she did a
"snake dance" to entertain the parry. Lion Dan Furr
fiXed us a special drink consisting of an assortment of
fluids that we called "Scrape the Bonom." We had a
big spagheni dinner. The cost of the evening was
$1.50 per member. The young lady who was hostess,
in appreciation of me bringing the Lions Club there
for a parry, taught me to dance the "Charleston," a
new dance that had just started.
I remember when I drove my new automobile to
the Stag P~ty with Lion John Thayer. The automo- <:::_
bile was a Terraplane Sedan that Lion Johnnie
Groome sold me. It had an electric gear shift controlled by bunons on the steering wheel. It also had a
stick shift in from of the center of the from seat that
could be used when the electric shift failed to work.
�Going down Bcaucatcher Mountain in the Terraplane, Lion John Thayer, who had drank a
substantial amount of "Scrape the Bottom," acted funny, yanked the gear shift stick loose
and threw it out of the car into the woods of Bcaucatcher Mountain. The next day Lion
John and I searched the woods, found the stick shift and replaced it.
I remember when the dub held a "womanless wedding" at a Ladies Night Banquet on
March 14, 1939 and Lion Dan Furr was the flower girl.
I remember when in 1939 the club presented a pair of lions to the city wo and a few
weeks later a baby lion was born. It was named "Leo."
I remember when an alarm clock was placed at the speaker's table at the club meetings
set to alarm at 2 o'clock with a sign: OUR MEETING CLOSES AT 2 O'CLOCK AND
WE DO NOT APPRECIATE DIRTY JOKES.
I remember when Jack Cole was president of the Asheville Lions Club. We held a
) ladicJnight banquet at the Battery Park Hotel. Lion Jack invited a U.S. Congressman,
Lion Roy Taylor, to make a talk for the gathering. It took Lion Jack twenty minutes to
introduce Congressman Taylor. Roy Taylor in response said that there must be a mistake.
"It looks like Lion Jack Cole was to give the address and I should have introduced him. "
I remember when City Manager Burdette announced to the C ity Council that the
police department's new traffic bureau would begin operating and that ordinances would be
strictly enforced. Mr. Burdette left no doubt in the minds of a Lions Club committee who
called to complain about the parking problem.
and if he wanted a tunic race, to present it to the board of directors at their regular meeting. There was no runic race.
:=
:::
<__
I remember when I was dating a nice young lady in Asheville by the name of Pearl.
Pearl was hostess in a restaurant I used to eat at. The Lions Club was giving a Ladies) Night
~inner and Governor Hoey was to be our speaker. I was told that I couldn't bring Pearl. C
Governor Hoey's daughter was coming to the dinner and I'd have to sit with her at the
speaker's table. It was an uneventful monotonous dinner and when it was over I told the
governor's daughter good night and went to see Pearl.
I remember when a member missed over two meetings Lion Charles Bertyman, who
operated a funeral home, would send his ambulance to bring the member to the meeting.
I remember when a member missed over three meetings without an excuse. Lion Judge
Sam Cathey would send a police car to present the member with the following summons:
C1TJ'
or Anirnt.LE
No. 131313
POLICE SUMMONS
Dot••..•..ir/ d-J.J·····-···-······· Add"'"-······-·--·--····
....
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f
I remember when Lion Joe Dave announced that the club delivered five pigs to the
Candler Pig Club in connection with the Chamber of Commerce's plan for improvement of
western)'(North Carolina's livestock through cooperation of civic clubs.
I remember when in 1938 at a Lions Club golf tournament, I promised to give a prize
for the winner of the first flight. I wrote a check for $1,000 and since I won the first flight,
I presented the check to myself.
I remember when Lion Roy Phillips, advertising director of the Al}uvi/1~ Citiun- Tim~s
talked to me as President of the Lions Club and wanted the club to sponsor a tunic race
~d buy a page ad in the newspaper. I told him to present it to the board ofiirectors, that
I would not t2ke the responsibility of investing in a turtle race. He gld me T couldn't be a
good president of the club and let grass grow under my feet. I told him that he wasn't talking to one of his advertising salesman, that he was talking to me as president of the club
vt~~:k:-:.=;~;7.,
, I N'-INr J.IMUftO
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orn-r.
I remember when I had a phone call from my golf caddie named "Cris" on a Saturday,
and he advised me that Lion Judge Cathey had given him 30 days in jail for fighting. He, ,_./
wouldn't be able to caddie for me Sunday. That was a disaster for without Cris I just coui_Y-.
~ play a good game of golf. I called Lion Judge Cathey and advised him of the siruation
"'and he told me he would reduce Cris's sentence from 30 days to one day and for me to go
down to the jail and get him.
<
�More than 300 persons representing every civic organization in the ciry attended the
banquet at the Battery Park Hotel. I got~. Sholn of Florida to make the principru<
address.
~V.£"/RAIO/C.._
I remember when Lion Judge Cathey was namea the National Handicapped Man of
the Year and several of us Lions went to Washington with him to receive the award from
President Eisenhower.
7
I remember when l was invited to Lioness Hudson's house for Thanksgiving dinner.
She called me the day before and said that Lion Judge Cathey had put her cook in jail and
she had no one to cook the dinner. I called Lion Judge Cathey again and told him about it.
He arranged for Lion Hudson's cook ~ksgiving dinner.
Prohibition's
I remember when mimic political campaign speeches by members of the Lions Club
were featured at the S & W Cafeteria during their meeting. In the comic program, four
members representing four political parties made "pleas" for support of their candidates for
president. Lion Schorr urged the club to vote for Herbert Hoover, Lion Roy Phillips
upheld Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lion Nat Friedman asked that William D. Upshaw be given
the club's support and l talked at length on Norman Thomas, the socialist candidate.
I remember when Lion Dan SteWart, Lion Charlie Miller and I went to Havana, Cuba
for an International Convention. We drove to Miami and took the boat to Havana. After
the convention, trying to get back to Miami, we found it was going to be three days before
we could get passage on the boat. I didn't want to wait three days in Havana so I phoned
my girl friend Reggie who was secretary to the Mayor of Miami Beach. She told me she
would take care of the situation and for me to go down to the boat office and they would
give me passage on the next boat to Miami. She told the boat office they needed me as a
wimess in a court case, so I spent the night in a big chair in the lounge of the boa~
?~ing to Miam~ Reggie and I met Lion Stewart and Lion Miller in a couple of days
an~k them fishing.
I remember when on July I 0, 1940 the Lions Club held a meeting which was described
by Lion C.E. Hudson as "in truth the most gratifying gathering of all times in Asheville, of
its kind.• It was described by the Ashwilk Citizm as the largest and most represenrative
civic organization gathering in Asheville in recent years. It was an inter-club banquet and
fim annual award of the Asheville Lions Club to the most useful civic club member in the
ciry of Asheville, 1939-1940.
Tbc idea of this banquet was presented to the Civic Club Union by Lion Jim Divelbiss
IDIIIIIJICI£ They assisted the Lions Oub and picked Robert Lee Ellis of the Coca-Cola
BOaJias Campaay 11 Asheville's most useful civic club member in the 1939-40 year. He
ftCiiWd • tiluale plaque from the Lions Club which he said he would cherish as long as he
lnecL
~ning
Days
It was in 1933, afrer Franklin Roosevelt was elected President of the United States, that
the Volstead Act was repealed and it became legal to sell beer with an alcoholic content on
October I st. I was exalted ruler of the Elks Club and it became my dury to get beer to
serve to the members. This was a difficult job as none was available from distributors
around Asheville. Nineteen thirty-three was the year of the Great Depression and Rabbi
Goodkowin bought a second hand truck from Harry Blomberg and did some hauling on
the side to supplement his income from Bikur Cholim. Rabbi Goodkowin said he would
go to Baltimore and get us a load of beer as he personally knew the owner of the Valley
Forge Beer Company there. I gave him six hundred dollars of the club's money and he left
on a Monday to be back on Thursday. He didn't show up, but came in the following
Monday. The delay was due to the truck breaking down on the trip. Of course I was
somewhat concerned, but the club had a truck load of Valley Forge~eer available. ~ <(
Leo Cadison saw me and advised that he had talked to United Scates Senator Robert R.
Reynolds, and the members were starting a campaign to sell the beer before October !st.
Captain Fred Jones of the Asheville Police Department and a member of the house
committee said he would not recommend selling it before the legal date.
At the club that week, I noted about 150 members were present instead of the usual
40. Under "good and welfare" Senator Reynolds, a great orator, spoke in favor of selling
the beer and said that we were all brothers in a non-profit and charitable organization, and
it would be legal to sell it. Others who spoke in favor of selling the beer were Judge Philip
Cocke, State Senator; A. Hall Johnson, Superior Court Judge; Dan Hill, Postmaster;
Marcus Erwin, U.S. Attorney; Zeb Nettles, Superior Court Judge; Charles McRae, local
attorney; and Leo Cadison. Leo Cadison made a motion that we advise the house manager
to put the beer on ice so that we could drink it afrer the meeting. I advised Mr. Cadison
that I could not accept a motion of an illegal nature but under Robert's Rules of
Parliamentary Procedure he could appeal my decision. He appealed and I advised that the
question to be voted on would be "Shall the decision of the Chair srand," and there would
be no discussion. The vote was unanimous against my decision (which suited me), and I
instructed the secretary to take everything out of the minutes pertaining to beer, also to
E
�advise the house manager to put the beer on ice so we could have it aficr the meeting. He
said that it was too late to advise him because the beer had been on icc for the past rwo
hours.
How to Finance a Pawnshop in a Depression
'7
7
7
193~
It was the Depression of the
Our loans averaged $1 0 and we made them as low
as 50 cents. The demand was great on loans on diam~d jewelry. The top loan on a
1/2 karat diamond was $50 and $200 on a good grad~
I was running out of money. I saw Perry at the Morris Plan Bank and we agreed to
rent a lock box at the Wachovia Bank. Both of us would have a key to it. I would hypothecate the large size diamond and jewelry loans. The way that worked is I would make the
loan, get the cash &om Perry on a 90 day note, and put the jewelry in the lock box as security. If the customer came to redeem his jewelry I advised him ¥~lry was at the vault
at the Wachovia for safekeeping and I would get it for h.im.
~
This was working very well as the
bank was making the legal rate of 6%
on 90 day notes which were paid in 30
to 40 days with no refUnd for
unearned interest. I was doing OK
also. I charged interest at legal rates
plus other expenses incident to the
negotiations of the transactions.
But a miracle happened. A girlfriend of mine in the 1922 cl
School married a man from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who later com
came back to Asheville to live. She saw me and wanted to know if I could help her out.
She said she was left a sizeable amount of life insurance and did I know of a safe place
where she could invest some of it and get a decent return.
I helped her out.
Streetwalking
A young lady friend of my family would pawn a diamond pin for $50. She was always
months past due on the redemption of it. I felt sorry for her and I didn't let her pay any
interest or charges on any loan afier her first loan.
After pawning it several times, she came in for a loan on the pin. She asked for one
hundred dollars. I told her that a hundred dollars was more than we could loan on it, that
I would loan her $50 again. She said that she needed a hundred dollars and that I was trying to make a "street walker" out of her!
The Preacher and the Bible
I helped a preacher financially conduct his Sunday's services. Back in e...!l!:prcssion
days of the 1930s there was a preacher who pawned his Bible every Mond mor
er
Sunday's services and redeemed it on the following Friday or Saturday for the next service
on Sunday. I made the original loan of $10 and advised the preacher that he could get it
out at a charge of $1 anytime in 30 days or if needed, he could wait three months at no
additional charge.
Then a banker comes to town.
He took over the Morris Plan Bank
and organized the Bank of Asheville.
Perry, the new cashier at the Bank of
Asheville, came to sec me and said,
•Mr. Wolcott advised that the bank
wun't a pawnshop and to tell
F"mkdstcin to pay off those 90 day
aoca. • It looked like I was going ro
haft co atOp making large jewdry
.,._ and try to meet the 90 day note.
In checking the records I found that he had pawned the Bible weekly on many occasions. On the next Friday morning when he came afier his Bible I told him he didn't owe
anything on it, that he had paid more carrying charges than the original loan. I told him to
put that $10 bill he had next to the Ten Commandments in the Bible and the next rime he
needed $10 to take it our and put it back in the Bible afier Sunday's service. Just don't
bring the Bible back here for a loan. He didn't.
LM Finlttlsuin in his paunuhop
�Overcoats
7
During q{e ~~on of 1933 the pawnshop had 800 overcoats left at the beginning of
the summer. ~e-loans were from $3 to $7 each, and 80% of the loans were past due.
There was a problem of moths. We pur mothballs in the pockets of all overcoats and
sprayed them with DDT.
I asked him if it was life insurance. He said, "No." lc was liability insurance and if I
did anything wrong as a deputy sheriff that they would fUrnish me legal assistance in court.
I was sworn in November I 5, 1934.
After rhe overcoats became more than three months pasr due we: had them dry cleaned.
We: made: a contract with the cleaners to pick up and return lots of twenty at SO cents each.
The owner of the cleaning company came in the shop and said that he wamed to buy an
overcoat for his chauffeur. He tried on one and liked it so much that he said he would
keep it for himself and give his ro his chauffeur.
Murders in Pawnshops and Helping SheriffL. Brown
You have probably read in the Citiun-Timls about Mark Lane who was killed in a
shooting during an armed robbery. His futher, Ronald Lane, and he were co-owners of che
Leicester Pawn Shop.
Earlier, I wrote of Reggie, secretary ro the Mayor of Miami Beach, who helped our delegation get fusrer transportation back co Florida from rhe lmernacional Lions Convention
in Havana, Cuba. Lion C.A. Miller was on char trip. Lacer Reggie's brother was killed in a
holdup in his pawnshop on Flager Screer in Miami. A lor of people classify a pawnbroker
as a shylock. Those pawnbrokers I have known are kind people and are an asset to any
community they operate in.
In November 1934 Sheriff Lawrence Brown of Buncombe County came to see me and
said thar he needed help. Beacon M
ring-Eompany4t Swannanoa was having labor
-;, rrouble and a group from South Car linal_was coming up c~tcvem che employees from
going ro work. He wanted ro rene
12 u
tglfns to be used by special deputies
ro guard the entrance ro rhe plane.
7
Harringro~chardson
I rented him twenty 12 gauge
shotguns for $1 each. He was
successful in guarding the plane and they never fired a shoe. The sheriff phoned me and
said char be wanted ro bestow upon me rhe honor of being a deputy sheriff and co come
over and bring a photo for an identification card. I cold him I didn't know anything about
enforcing rhe law. He said char was okay, ro come over and he would swear me in and cake
out insurance on me.
uo Finktlsuin, Dq>uty Shmff
X~
I goc a phone call che next morning from Mr. Seely, Manager of the Grove Park Inn. ~
He said that he needed a gun for his watchman, a .38 Smith and Wesson SpeciaJ/1 with a 4~
barrel. Sheriff Brown cold him I co~d what he wan red. I cold him I had ic in stock
su ply
and he asked me to bringrgz·
c o c to
nn. goc in my dilapidated Ford touring car, drove
to the from entrance of th ,k_ an
to go in, when the bell captain stopped me. < (
<..
He asked, "What arc y
oing here?"
I replied, "I have a gun for your watchman and Mr. Seely asked me to bring ic our co
him."
"Well," he said, "you rake that gun to the back door. They have a barrel of money back
~~·
there and they will pay you for ic."
~ression the~ced
This was during che
of
Mr. Seely top price, and
was going co do almost anything co complete the sale, so I went to the back door.
~
Now I am happy co announce that at the present time I am allowed co go in the fronL_
entrance to the Inn.
~
( \ ' '<.
�Guns and a Grandfather Clock
A friend of mine had a valuable an rique clock abour six fcer tall. He said that he was
leaving home for a month and there was a lot of larceny going on. He wanted to leave it
with me for safekeeping. I told him to put it in the storage area on the second floor of the
shop.
A couple of days later a customer comes in and wants to buy a shotgun. It was summer rime and since hunting season didn't open until fall I wondered why he wanted a shotgun. My salesman said all the shotguns and shells were stored on the second floor and he
wo uld take the customer up there. A little later I heard a big loud bang from the second
floor. The salesman came running down and said that the customer had commirted suicide
with a shotgun.
I called the Police Deparrment and Dr. Baer, the coroner. Will Hampton, solicitor of
police court and the chief carne over. I went to the second floor with them and we found
the customer passed out on the floor. I didn't see any blood and upon examination we
found part of his clothing blown away under one arm and he wasn't injured. It's almost
impossible to reach the trigger of a 32" barrel shotgun when you have the muzzle at your
chest. Evidently the customer must have tried to reach the trigger and the muzzle slipped
under his arm when the gun fired.
I remembered the grandfather clock and found that the discharge from the gun blew
some of the plaster out of the wall about a foot from the dock. T he dock was okay.
Dr. Baer asked for a pin. He said that he wanted to find out if the man really passed
out. He jabbed him several rimes with a pin and the man didn't move. He really passed
out. The chief said that the man had violated a law and he would take charge of him.
The lesson from this event is: Don't try to commit suicide- if you do, you are liablr to
get arrested.
.A Secwtarys Thoughts
My name was Ma~t Owen in 1936, when I was Leo Finkelstein's secretary. It was
the first job I ever had and he really taught me how to be office help. It was an exciting
time to work on Pack Square, which was the hub of Asheville's business world at that time.
I remember that Mt. Finkdstein would lend me out to do typing for some of the
Jewish organizations he was participating with at that time. I worked for Lou Pollock when
he was head of the Jewish Cemetery, and Mr. Gustav Lichtenfels and Siegfried Sternberg
when they were working on getting Jewish people out of Germany. I wrote some of the letters which were instrumental in bringing some of the early German Jews to Asheville, who
then went on to become very valuable citizens of Asheville. I know of Herbert Schifran and
his fam ily, and Alfred and lrmgard Lichtenfels. There were probably others that Mr.
Finkelstein was responsible for that he remembers, but I have forgotten.
I was in the store when the internees of Germany and Japan who were billeted at Grove
Park Inn came in, and Tom Wolfe carne in to visit his friend, Bob Bunn. I was standing
out front one day when General George Marshall walked by on his way to the City Hall
which was the Air Force Headquarters at that time during World War II. We all were out
front one day when President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Asheville to dedicate the Great
Smoky Mountain National Park.
Mr. Finkelstein was more than a friend to many of the ethnic community of char rime.
I believe char he was the contact for visiting rabbis, Jewish transient people who needed
help and communicated with them in Hebrew. All the employees learned to understand
and communicate (somewhat) by talking to each other in Yiddish.
Mr. Finkelstein played ar least ten or rwelve instruments, demonstrating in order to
make a sale o r loan.
The Silver Shirts
In the 193{)!;>William Dudley Pelly operated the "Silver Shirts," a Nazi-like organiz.a- <!_
rion in a building across the street from the Jewish Community Center on Charlotte Street.
He published the Libaation ~tkry,'tanti-Semitic literature with a circulation of eight thou- ~
sand.
0->n.--ln a parade, I was playing the saxophone with th~ Shrine Club Marching
· le
Band, and William Rosenfelt was carrying the Ameri n""i=Jag. Pelly in his Libaation Wftkry
published a story that we were disgraced by a Jew with , · nose carrying the American
flag. Pelly was arrested by the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department in 194 1 for selling
unregistered stock. He was found guilty through the efforts ofJulius Levitch, a young
Jewish lawyer by the name of Alvin Kurrus, and a local attorney named R.R. Williams.
<
�The Stolen
~tch
William Rothenberg was a parient at the V.A. Hospital in Oteen. He moved to
Asheville to live, married Freda Gross. I gave him a job as salesman in the pawnshop. He
would go back to Oteen for treatments but was asked to stop. He got to drinking and was
separated from his wife.
A railroad watch from our display board was missing. A taxi driver told me that
William Rotheuberg sent the watch to the other pawnshop in town by him, and he pawned
it there for $20.
I checked the serial numbers on the watch and they were the same as the ones on our
watch. I asked Rothenberg about it and he said that he won it in a poker game the night
before at the Langren Hotel. I checked with Fred Bradley, the night manager of the hotel
and he advised me that there was no poker game in the hotel that night.
Rothenberg got to drinking and Judge Cathey put him in jail with a sentence of 30
days. Judge Cathey released him from jail after I promised to send him to Miami, Florida
where his ex-wife was living. I bought him a bus ticket and told him nor to return to
Asheville. He clid not return.
rv. I Am A Dime
was born in the early pan of the twentieth century at
the United States Mint in Philadelphia, put in a roll
with forry-nine other climes and srupped to the
Southern State Bank, of which Mr. S. Sternberg was
president, on Depot Sueer in Asheville, North
Carolina. M r. Sternberg had a son, Joseph, who later
became president of the Asheville Lions Club.
Mr. Sternberg rook me and the forry-nine other
climes to his beautiful estate on Victoria Road in
order to panicipare in a ten cent limit poker game
with some of his friends. Someone tipped off the
police that a game was goiug on. The home was raided and Mr. Sternberg gave the names of the players as
Mr. Aleph, Mr. Baze, M r. Gimmel, Mr. Dolad, Mr.
Hay, Mr. Vove, Mr. Zion and Mr. Hess. The
Ashroilk Citiun carried a story after the trial that an
attorney appeared in Police Court for Mr. Aleph, Mr.
Baze, Mr. Gimmel, Mr. Dolad, Mr. Hay, Mr. Vove,
Mr. Zion and Mr. Hess and paid their fines. Very
few people knew that Aleph, Baze, Gimmel, Dolad,
Hay, Vove, · ,
ess are the first eight letters of <
the Hebr ~abet.
I got sep te from the other dimes that came to
Asheville with me. I found myself in the pocket of
Chief Bernard of the AsheviUc Police Depanmenr. It
was in Novemb61i'9P6, that the Chief phoned Uncle~
Harry, the pa~er, and said that he needed
firearms and ammunition ro equip a posse of fifty
men in order to hunt Will Harris, a desperado. Will
Harris had shot and killed five men, two of whom
were ciry policemen. Uncle Harry furnished the
�posse with guns and ammunition, taking only the names of those receiving firearms. It was
reported that Will Harris spent the night in a barn in Buena Vista. The posse surrounded
him in a field near Fletcher and~him. His body was brought to an undertaking estab? ishmem at 21 South Main Srr e~ hung our of the second story window in the building in order to show the people
t he had been killed and quieten them down. The next
day, the Chief called Uncle Harry and asked if all the firearms had been returned. Uncle
Harry said they had and commented that the people of Asheville were honest and good citizens.
{Bob Ton//, wriur for rh~ Citizen-limes, ta/lud about this romt at on~ ofour mutings of
Club.)
th~ Lions
(In 1968 th~ Bur~au ofAlcohol Tobacco and Fir~arms in Washington ~quir~d a ~cord of
nl"J pistol rifo, rroolv~r that w~ ~aiv~d and dispos~d of, as ~11 as th~ mod~/. calib~r, urial
numbu and manufoctur~r. I ~antly ch~ck~d th~ shop that I r~tir~d.from 25 y~an ago and thry
hav~ mortis of33,000 transactions sina 1968 on hand.)
The Chief took me to Mr. Pa~e on South Main Street, bought his lunch which
consisted of a ten cenr bowl of soup, a good supply of free crackers and catsup.
OLM>Pff$'?
1P 1
Pa~rother
Mr.
operated the "Candy Kitchen" on Haywood Street. They were
making a l<~t.gfs;ick candy in the shape of wa.lking sticks, colored red and white. The cafe
owner bought a half dozen walking sticks from his brother, using me as part payment. He
said that he was going to put the candy on his C hristmas tree.
p.~fu,ed
The next day Mr.
on North Main Street, was coming to town in a
rain storm. North Mai~;.:: ~t all side streets were not. They had stepping
stones in order to get across. Mr. P~p?~ on a stepping stone, getting his shoes all
muddy. He stopped at the Pack Square Shoe Shine Parlor, got a shoe shine for five cents
and gave the shine boy a five cent rip.
The nc:xt thing I knew I was placed in a deposit for the Wachovia Bank and I stayed in
their vault until the year 1913. Uncle Harry picked me up rouse in his petty cash. His
son asla:d for his weekly allowance and I was given to him with four other dimes. The son
boarded a South Main Street streetcar on Pack Square with a fishing pole and a can of
womu. He got off at the Swannanoa River and waiked a hundred yards toward the French
Broad. In a couple of hours, he caught a nice suing of hog suckers, homey heads and
perch out of the beautiful clear waters of the Swannanoa River. On his way home, he gave
me to the conductor, received five cents change and a transfer to the North Main streetcar
inor~e~ome.
Z
e-CondJ cror carried me around a few days and then gave me to a lady on the
Rive ·
pen air" streetcar that ran to Riverside Park. Riverside Park was owned and
operated by th~eville Power and Light Company, the same people who owned the street
car company at was mally gobbled up by Lion Smith's Carolina Powe~d Light
Company. This ady gave me to her husband who went down to the EIWClub and lost ~
me in a rummy game to a distinguished looking attorney they called "Judge Cocke." After
the card game, the judge sat around talking to brother Elks and drinking beer. He was <....
~
F.unous for his knowledge of North Carolina,
people and places. He even talked about
._.; 44
the house of ill repute in Asheville at the rum of the cenrury known as the "Eagle Terrace"
run by a lady called "Queen Elizabeth."
r
The next morning, Attorney Cocke defended a man in Police Court who was charged
with stealing a pair of shoes and pawning them because he couldn't wear them on account
of being too small. The court ordered the man to leave town that day. The man said he
was hungry and didn't have any money. So Attorney Cocke gave me with other change to
him. The man went down to the Asheville and East Tennessee Railway Company station ar
the comer of North Main and College Streets. They operated an electric vehicle between
Asheville and Weaverville. The man smelled hot dogs cooking at D. Gross's Hot Dog Srand
next door, so he spent me for a hot dog and a coca-cola. Mr. Gross raised and educated a
F.unily of thirteen children from the money he earned at his hot d og stand.
Mr. Gross carried me around unci.l Saturday night when he went to Liggett's Drug
Store for some headache powders. He stopped in from of the drug store to listen to the
Salvation Army band while they were having a preaching and musical session.
He put me in a pot they were using to get donations for their annual Christmas party.
The Salvation Army bought a second-hand truck from Lion Fred Brown to be used in
delivering food and clothing to the poor people in town. I was used in this transaction.
Lion Brown rook me to a Lions Club meeting, where he used me to pay the dime he was
fined by the Tail Twister for falling asleep during the program.
The Tail Twister's wife took possession of me and bought some ribbon a
Royal, a large department store on South Main Street, operated by Mr. Mo cis Myers.!?
)1/t'Jt:R.
I circulated around Asheville until 1918, and again found myself in poss · of Mr.
Sternberg. He had a large junk yard and warehouse on Depot Street that bought and sold
<
�FR OM R.S.U .
MEDIR SERV I CES
0:5.0 6.1998
11:04
hundrui' '''' .....,J,idt,. On -.ll ,,f hh adV\:tti&(menu, he ca.rried the slogan, "We buy any·
rl11 111!, :uul M II eve •ytluul'\: A • ircw came to town and didn't have enough monty to leave.
T hey :•pplit d :•· M1. Stc robc r~ who wu president of the Southern States Bank 011 Depot
!'It I<< t lm 11 I••:•" .,f $200. Mr. Sternberg made- the loan and took the elephant as collateral.
H e ntnl'lale,.·rl lu• ...,~~ lo•in ~ It Ioney on account of the elephant uting JO rnuoh. Otto
llu,rr k wh¢ 11\\ll c d Mtddlcneull t Gudens at th:u time raited hb own flowers at a hot house
it . c :.111dln. 11, 1 1 rlrt~ol M1. ~~~· rnherg out wirh the elephllllt- he bought tht elrphant''
1
P.
2
Lion 4
home to 2
into the P
recruited '
muskrar h
fj,,. bdl ~tllll• d '" ri 1t~ At tht' fitc house. The Armistice of World War J had bean signed.
Then
to the Gal
Bill's hrotl
President
the thc:ate
l'r11pk g;~thnu . 1111 I•H Squa1c and buih a hugC" bonfire. A firC' truck came out of the flr: ck
hl•uH to ~lut•< "' J)'lldight 011 rhe American flag fly1 at the top of the Pack Square flag
ng
1
pol, 1CC>I'k ~ ~ " 1>1 iu~m~ th1it ~u tu from home to the Square i\nd 1hootin(t livr ammuni·
girls at clc
boy& in or
111 .111\1 11' ,
'J l1c t u::Xt
"""j.: I tc·call Wfl' Jout o'clock on the morninsofNovemhcr II , 1918.
ti1oo1 IIIlO th t : j,
·lhe
Il l l'l'i~(,tfl tll'll
The fdlt •w who <lwned mr hrought 11 double~barrel shotgu11 10 town and bought some
l.!u1~ I'OW\I•·J ~loc·ll~ I rom Oti~ Green HMdware Store. (Mr Green yean lurr bee~~ me mayor
l,r 1\~lorvill~l .,.lu: ('!,ic-C of Pulice &oon asked alluorea 1elllng Rmmunition to qult selling it
~' hc w~~ 11lt.,·,, \IIIIH'11f1C: Wl'uld acddentally get ahot.
M1. <;,,.1to tuok rnt to tlu· Southem Railway pacsengu atation and bought a ticket to
Nrw Yurk f 11•ll l !'at Mulvanry, ticker agent. Frank Mulvaney, a brother to p_.t, was a chief
drrlc lor the n•llmd lit" latrt I'ICcame councilman for the City of A1heville.
1';11 wok '"' ''' 1hr Uniuu News CompAny's news 1tand in the station and bought two
bousht a Billboard magarJnc, And I wa.
~tvt 11 w ltil ot II • < h :111~(· for '' dc\llar. He took me to the Glen Rock Hotel RCroll the meet,
and I w•~ u,,.,J 111 payilll( hb h1l l. The clerk at the hotel bought some icc cream 111 Finley's
P111~ Ston· t•l">1 door
liv<· <"<"Ill •:it·.:1r' 1 :1 tt' an t'nwuc:er from the ra~lroad
..
......._.
Mr. Jr,r,lcl' ._:.1vc· ""' to ht~ M>n, Bob. who took e ~o
ntford Avenue School. Bob in
/ lat< r yt·tH lo< l:tiP,. the· Suprrntl' Court Justice for e'~atc Washington. Sob, on kavi n~
Momlot<l ~''''"ll' St 1.11ol opt liRy. took me to Mr.
' roccry Store on Cherry Street
~nd lwtJfoh~ \ (>lltl · rookie• Thr peOflle acrou the street from Mr. Book's Groc:Qry Store had
~ lut nf t:h~n )' trcr . .<Ill their land aJ1 they would pay boyt from the tchool ten cenu a
,
d
qu:trt 1 p~ ~. d~<·rnc·~. Lion Curl Rhinehart picked e quart of cherrie& and ~c~lved me in
0
JI~ )' IIH I ll
Majestic 1
It was
bought b)
Street. Sc
there for 1
used me 1
The c
Thq
more. 1 c
me. Dr. J
aale. Dr.
haven't lt4
�Lion Cui Rhinehart lost me in a marble game :1r s~:hool cu Ja.c:lt R x·•• '• wl•tl tovk .,,,.
ol'
home: to 21 ~ Norch Main Sttctr. A creek ran plllJkl ru Nm ch Main Sirccc .111 :empti(d
J
into the Pren_ch Broad. Jack foW'Id mutkra.ts were running up a11d dowfl du: •:• ct~• av ht
r~cruirc:d Scl~c: of the: nc:ishborhood boys who acquired n~cl UiipS anJ ~a u~h 1 .ojd told rlw
mulkrar hidcts ro St. Penick and Company, at the corner of Ncmh Mairl :u•cll .••..iu~Jtvn.
uy any~
to leave.
Depot
collateral.
Otto
hoc houJc:
phant's
18. The
llgned.
,f rhc: fire~
are flaa
ammunl-
.ghc some:
line: mayor
t sellinslc
T he ncsc thing I recall I waa in the pants pockc:c ot Lion Uill Mifh ~l·rv·· · whp rook "''
to the G:Vuy ·rncater on Pack Square in order to sec 11. . eri:J 'n•>vie ralltd n,,. 11/a:·• lltwd.
1
Bill's brother, Dan, was manaFr of the Asheville: The:ttcr.s, a11.J he fin;~ly I·~·· ·"" ' Viu·
Presldc:nc of Paramounr Picturet, with hc:adquRiters in Aumah<4. Sinc:c
'''' IIU• ic1 .1c
che theateu in town, he: would, on oc:cuion, take his teenage· 1-ouy fticnls l•:u k~ ra~e .1r ch ~
Majestic Thc:atc:t, Joe~ red :u d~ corner of Colle~e and M.ukn Strew. 1 ~" w •l1c ch• .
girls at dose range. 1omm)' E.lkina, the stage mlltlngcr, wou ld keep a rh~c.: w.. t. on thC'
.,
boys in order to see that they behaved themselves.
It wa, in 1922 when I waa wed 1.1 pare p:Ayment for a sc.:oud h;111d Jcll··cy ;'IIUlllluh•k
bought by Harry Blomberg. Harty took Ius Jeflcry autl) to A1hcvillc lli~• , ,.,.. ~,f on< .,~k
Srreer. Someone dropped me on Market Street :wJ I rolled dnwn :.t sc.•"' "'""~'· I ~1ayc.J
there for ;a lqng time and one day a man from the c:ity's water dt·p;~w HO•H f., .. ,,.j me .111d
used me in a donation co me Dem«ratic Patey of Buru:omhc Cl)unty.
The: c.:h a.itm<~n of rhc: P11rty put me in a 10 cent slot mad •rnc
:i<:ket co
u a chief
ughttwo
• and I wu
he meet.
t Finley's
t&t
J
tv< i.d . l ui ~
The pl~ycr who won me at the 1lot machine wl)u(J tlw.ly5 put 111c h.h ~ . l~toping 111 wrn
more. t circulated in and out of the .lot m~hine wwl 19~0, when l .io11 l l , I:,;lthn;ru w''"
me:. Dr. f'ddmm had a rcputacion of never buyin~ any thin~ unlm hr ~~~ ·lid ~~~·J it whtJ!e
sale. Dr. f'Cldman put me: in the z.ipp~r change !ecuon of hi~ 1
10Cketh• •'k· .111.1 1\tlW I
haven't seen the light of day for twenty years.
>1. &b In
on Ieavins
ry Srrcc:c
Store had
:nrs a
:dmc in
s:
'd
S 3Ji n ~3 S
~103W
·n·s·~
W O~ ~
�make any difference, as long as he is a Jew that is all that is necessary. That is what you
might think, but I don't!
There is not one Jewish transient in five hundred worthy of any help at all. They travel
from place to place using the fact that they are Jc:ws to prey upon other Jews. Many of
them are ex-ronvicts, some just ordinary bums, and all of them liars.
In this army of rogues, you will not find one who has a friend or relative who they
could obtain help from. I have offered to wire to any person for hundreds of them, but
they will teU you that all their friends or relatives are broke, or that they wouldn't think of
asking any of them for money. Common sense will tell you that, if a transient is wonhy,
there must be someone in this world who will help him to some extent. I am sure if any of
you gentlemen were to find yourself broke in some fur off place, that you would have at
least one friend or relative to whom you could wire for help. These swindlers don't want to
get help from friends or relatives. They are just traveling around, enjoying life in a peculiar
way, and living on the Je · pu ·c, their so-called brothers.
QL
- y So, when these Je "sh Bro
/ them? The only sensible
possible.
rs of ours come to town, what are we supposed to do with
ng we can do is to get rid of them as quickly and as cheaply as
The most common type of transient is the ordinary bum who claims that he has a job
in a nearby city. All he wants from you is a couple of meals in a good restaurant, a room
with a bath in a dean hotel, transponation to the place he is going, and maybe a pair of
shoes, a couple of shirts and an overcoat. In order to get rid of this man quickly you must
start talking befOre he does. So when I spot one, I start talking first. I ask him if he wants
some help, and as soon as he says "Yet I hand him a half-dollar, a meal ticket to a nearby
rataurant, and teU him to get the heU our of town as rut as he can. Most of them will take
this and leave because they know, through their grapevine system, that this is all they can
get- This system even infunns them where to go to when you get to a town, and that is
why nobody sees the majority of these people except mysel£ Some of them insist that they
have a special story ro teU you about their hard luck, and that they are different from the
rest. These stories would make some of you break down and weep, but to me these stories
are just a bunch of fabricated lies.
Then, we have the group of transients who are physically disabled. Some are partially
blind and crippled. They will claim to have tuberculosis, nervous indigestion, high blood
prasure or what-not. Some will claim to have a combination or complication of diseases,
or an assortment of ailments. If I am convinced that the transient is really ill, then I buy
40
him transponation to the nearest point, and get him out of town as last as I can. These
people are never given cash for their transponation. A check is written to the bus station
for their ticket, and the bus station has instructions to issue a ticket stamped "No Refund."
This method was adopted after I found out some cashed their tickets back in to get
cash, and bummed rides out on the highway to get to where they were going.
A decent looking, elderly lady once appealed to me for help. She stated that she was
almost blind, and was traveling with her son who was so crippled he couldn't walk. She
told me that she and her son had come in on a bus late the night before, and were at a
small hotel near the bus station. She advised me that her son was ill in bed, that she was
out of funds, could not ay her hotel bill, had nothing to eat, and no way to get to a nearby
city where her
~?In to enter a hospital. "A worthy case, at last!" I thought. I
took her name, apd asi~Jier t come back in an hour, and I would see what I could do for
her. I inquired ahhe.ho e , and found that nobody by the name she gave me was there. I
asked her about this when she returned, and she said that she did not use her real name
since it was Jewish, and she didn't want people to think she was Jewish. I called the hotel
sor,
<..___
~~~red~~~=~~~~~~~~~~~
the two of them were registered there, but that her son seemed healthy, and was in and out
of the hotel all day long. Asking her about this, she explained that her son went out only
when he had to go to the drug store for medicine. It was cold and raining outside, so I
called the hotel, and told them I would pay their bill, gave her enough for food, bought her
two bus tickets, and gave her instructions to get out of town by night without fail. It wasn't
long before I received a phone call from a Jewish person in town stating that this old lady
had called on him, and he proceeded to cuss me out for not giving her any help. To make a
long story short- she called on three more persons in the city with the same story- that I
would not help her. A couple of hours later I went by the hotel where she was staying and
found that she had checked out and left in her room many pieces of clothing that had been
given to her by these people she had called on in the city.
Then we have the rabbis. They are a wonderful type of transient to deal with. They
usually get to town on Friday, so you have to keep them over "shabbos." That means an
expense of two nights' lodging and meals for a whole day. In fact, all the transients who
arrive on Friday are "very religious" and won't travel on Friday night or Samrday. I've had
many rabbis promise to send me back the money I gave them, and never yet has one of
them sent back a penny. In filet, of the hundreds of promises that I've had from all kinds of
transients to return money given them, never has one kept his promise.
�The president of the onhodox congregation on~ phoned me, and told me that a rabbi
was at his howe and that this rabbi was a very fine person, a scholar, and a gentleman, a
man in need, and suggested that I give him $5. I was jwt ready to leave my howe, and I
informed the president that I did not have time to interview the rabbi myself. bur that if he
thought the man was wonhy, to give him $5, and I would return that amount to him larer.
I happened to pass by the president's howe jwt as the rabbi was leaving there, and I rook a
good look at him. The nt:Xt morning, the same rabbi was at my place ofbwiness, wanting
co know if I cook care of the Jewish transients. He wasn't a rabbi anymore, and he had
changed his name. I told him to come along with me, and I would rake him to the man
who could help him. He got into the front seat of my automobile, and wanted to know
where we were going, and when I told him we were going co see the president of the onhodox congregation, he jumped out and ran. I ran after him, and caught him on Patton
Avenue. He starred yelling like I was going to murder him, and a crowd started to gather,
so I let him go, and he ran away again. I haven't seen him since.
Another rabbi on~ appealed co me for help. and he claimed to be a brother-in-law of
the rabbi in Greenville, SC. Knowing the rabbi in Greenville personally, I didn't believe he
would send a brother-in-law of his our of the state to chisel the public, so I phoned long
d.isrance to inquire about the man. The rabbi in Greenville informed me that this transient
had worried the community there a couple of days before, that he was no relation of his,
bur claimed to be a brother-in-law of the rabbi in Columbia. This man's system was to
claim relationship to a rabbi in a nearby cicy. in order co get help. I gave him fifty ~nrs
and a meal ticket, and told him to get out of town before dark He didn't leave, instead he
called on other Jews in the cicy with the same story, and collected around $5 by noon the
next day. I finally contacted him and cold him again to get our of town, which he refused
to do. So, I had the poli~ department pick him up and put him in jail. In about an hour,
I went over, and talked to him in jail, and he changed his tunc quite a bit. He was ready co
leave town, so we let him out and this time I gave him fifteen minutes to disappear- and
he did!
Another rabbi onc.e called on me and stated that he was a representative of a Jewish
institution somewhere in Europe, and wanted a donation for it. I explained to him that we
had a federated Jewish charities here to help him, and he would have to make his request
through them. He kept insisting that I give him a donation personally, and I kept refusing
him. He finally gave up, proceeded to ews me out in Yiddish, in a extremely loud voice and this wasn't all- he spit on the floor, slammed the door as hard as he could as he wenr
out. I fdt like killing him, and I think it would have been jwcifiable homicide.
I could cell you many tales of my experiences with these human vultures, but one I
remember in panicular was the rime when a local judge phoned me and told me that he
would have to try a young boy by the name of Goldberg for vagrancy. He asked me to recommend to him what to do with the boy. I wem over to see the defendant, and he happened co be one of the transients I had helped a few days before. He had ordered a sandwich at a small restaurant on the outskins of town, refused to pay for it, so the restaurant
man had him arrested. I told the judge of my experiences with the Jewish t.ransients and
asked him co make an example out of this boy, so he gave him thiny days on the road. In
sentencing the boy, the judge told him that from now on every Jewish transient that was
brought before him would get a road semen~. Then I really got criticized by the Jewish
community for putting Jewish boys on the chain-gang. I was shown a copy of his criminal
record from che FBI a few days Iacer. He had been convicted of all kinds of offenses from
stealing a bicycle co highway robbery. After the boy got out, he came to see me again, and
feeling sorry for him, I bought him a ticket to Charlotte, and informed him that I would
sec that every transient from now on coming into Asheville would get a road semen~.
Before that time, we had from ten to thiny transients per month appealing for help. It was
interesting to note that we didn't have another transient come into Asheville for six weeks
after the boy left, and for a long time after that appeals for help were half of what they had
been before that.
It is my sincere recommendation that every Jewish transient, coming into Asheville, be
put in jail for a certain length of time. This is the only way co cure this evil. Of course, the
Jewish community wouldn't stand for anything like that, they would rather give these
damned hoodlums a few hundred dollars every year.
Then, we have the transients coming through in family groups. These groups consist
of a mother and father with one or more children. They wually arrive in a dilapidated old
automobile. Most of the time, the automobile needs some repairs before they can leave
town in it; it never has any gasoline and wually needs a couple of quatts of oil. These patties are expensive and hard to handle, becawe you can hardly send small children on their
way without a night's sleep and proper food.
Of course, I have some deserving cases, bur I don't class these with the transients. For
instance, a man once came in to see me with the story that he had tuberculosis, and he had
come down here from Detroit as his doctor had recommended this climate to him. He
expected co gee a job as an elevator boy, or something of the sort, and he was under the
impression that the climate here would cure him while he worked. Well, the man was
broke and was waiting for some financial help from his brother whom he had written a few
�days before. I gave the man $4 and he promised ro pay me back as soon as he heard from
his brother. He came back the ncxr day. He had heard from his brother. He showed me
the lcrrer and his brother enclosed $ 10 which was all that he could send. He told me that
he was unable to find work, and was going to scan back for Detroit. He offered me the $4
I had given him. I asked him how he expected to get back to Detroit on $6, and he cold
me that he would have co hitchhike. I told him to keep the $4, and wished him the best of
luck. While I am nor a doctor, I was under the opinion from his looks that his health
would never permit him to hitc€Juk'f_ ~~cf.~m
ynd get there alive.
~~ch~
So for twenty years, I have
bunch of beggars, coming from north, south,
east, and west. They have become a part of my life, and if I could get out of this job right
now, I am sure I would miss this horde of gangster.; that hop around from place co place
like a bunch of grasshopper.; in a clover patch.
Vli. War Years
fiiot on 023
/
"fin admission co the Air Force in 1943 I was ~
imetkwed as to what activity I had in a business or
profession, also what experience I had in religious,
fraternal or civic affair.;. I told them I was just a clerk
in a pawnshop.
I didn't tell them that I once:
-was president of a cemetery.
- was an owner of a company that built floats and
decorated the town for the fim Rhododendron
Festival in Asheville.
-supplied the Asheville Police Department and
the Sheriff's Department with guns and
ammunition.
I didn't tell them anything about my civic,
fraternal, religious or social activities.
I was sent to Tishomingo, Oklahoma for training
in the Oklahoma State College for Agriculture to be
an Air Force clerk in engineering. After graduating
from the clerk's school in TIShomingo, I felt I would
have an easy life in the Air Force being an engineering clerk. But my duties from Tishomingo to the
islands in the South Pacific were:
kitchen police
mess hall fireman
mess hall garbage director
cleaning chickens
�\
policing grounds
digging ditches
hauling poles
~ hauling fire:)vood
hauling coal
,_ fighting forest fires ~
) sorring merchandise a~house
sorting salvage merchandise
smashing tin cans
hauling water
finance clerk
derail clerk
runner for headquarrers
sracking lumber
cleaning rifles and machine guns
building roads
repairing bridges
laying concrete
operating gasoline pump
telephone operator
making inventories of supplies
accing C. Q.
pulling weeds and grass
watering trees
loading and unloading trucks
loading and unloading freight cars
loading barracks bags on boars and trucks
cleaning harche.< on boars
latrine orderly
painting machinery
communications clerk
and finally, engineering clerk for the 394th Squadron, 5th bomb group of the 13th Air
Force.
'
Gerring a good grade on my education at lishomin
South Pacific I thoughr I was ready to do my job.
'---My first difficulry was when A pilot comes in to see me afrer a combat mission on a B-24 Bomber number 023 and
said that he failed to put on his reponing form #I that the rachometer indicator occilates
excessively, would I please write it in the form for him. I rold him I would.
You know, I didn't know what the h--- he was talking about and I couldn't even spell it.
Tokyo Rose
Tokyo Rose was an American girl broadcasting from a radio station in Japan during
World War II. Her broadcast was received
by the 13th Air Force in the Admiralty
Islands located in the South Pacific area.
/
She played recorded American music in
her broadcast. She advised us that our
wives and sweethearts were daring the 4 F's
- the men who srayed our of military service - and they would go to drive-ins for
hamburgers and ~oca-colas.
She also said that the Japanese would
be waiting for our B-24 bombers scheduled
for a mission in the morning with anri-aircrafr guns and fighter planes.
Radios were scarce on rhe island.
wanted to listen to Tokyo Rose so I wrote
home and requested a small radio to be
shipped ro me. They advised that the
smallest radio weighed roo much to be
shipped overseas by parcel post but they
would rake it apace and ship it in two packages which was acceptable at the post
office.
uo in World Wor II
�The radio deparunenr of the 5th Bomb Group said they would be glad to put the radio
together for me. When I received the shipment in two packages I gave it to them. They
repaired. it the best they could. I found that when I turned it on, it would work for abour a
minute and then quit receiving. They could not find the trouble.
One day I took a screw driver, tightened all the screws and thought I found rhe trouble.
I put the radio on the table in the tent, started it receiving and in one minute it stopped. I
was disgusted. I hit rhe radio, knocked it off rhe table; it hit rhc floor, bounced about two
feet and started playing. It was okay from then on.
In about a week Captain Gardner in the engineering department sent word that he
wanted to sec me as soon as possible. I thought I had fouled up on keeping his engineering
records but he had this to say:
"Corporal Finkdstein we are having trouble repairing cqe radio on airplane No. 022
and we understand that you are the only one in the 394th Squadron that can solve our
problem. Wtll you help us?"
I forgot what I said, but I couldn't figure out how to knock an airplane off the table.
Topless WOmen
Now if you read the morning paper, you noticed headlines on the from page: "Topless
Night Club Opens in Asheville."
Well, you didn't need a night club to see topless women on those Sourh Pacific Islands
during World War II. The trouble was they would move all the women to another island
close by the island we occupied. We built a motor boar made of two airplane belly tanks
and a small power unit so that we could go over and sec the women at another island.
I didn't go over to see the women. I wasn't afraid of them, bur I was afraid the boat
might sink.
Before the war Smokey Joe owned a road house on the highway going south from
Asheville and after talking to him I found that I had patronized his instirution on numerous occasions during my younger years. Since we were practically neighbors in civilian life,
we felt rhat we should continue over there as good neighbors and so we were. There is no
better friend in the army than a cook because when you get hungry, he is rhe only man who
can help you out. In passing I might mention that Smokey Joe, Starvin Marvin and I have
on numerous instances enjoyed eating surplus stocks of food from the Mess Hall.
Smokey Joe told me that Sheriff Brown, in Asheville, took his automobile away from
hiJ? once because rhe sheriff had found some whiskey in it that he was rransponing to his
road house.
In 1944, Sergeant Joe received a shipment of canned corn. Instead of using it for chow,
he built a still in a fox hole and made corn whiskey out of it. In a neighborly spirit he
_.
invited me to drink what I wanted of the corn whiskey and he helped me trade watch
bands for coca-cola syrup and ice cream from a Navy,C.B. outfit located near by.
~
While overseas, besides having corn whiskey made by Joe and medical alcohol diluted
50% by water and flavored with burnt sugar, we were able to buy bonded whiskey from the
flying personnel who didn't drink their rauon~~were looking for souvenirs so I wrote<(
Lion Nat Friedman to send me a Jap~e har~tkari k.ti e from his antique store. He sent<:___
me a similar one. It was a-cir~ ~a~ · e with Turkish letters on it. My cost
was $4. It looked Iii<{; hare:kari lq\ife. I gave it to Sergeant Joe and asked him to see if h<
'hl:.oond~hiskey. He reported later that he couldn't get a fifth of
could trade for a fifth
whiskey for it but he did get two fifths for it.
Now Smokey is fighting to get his freedom - his freedom to go home and dodge
Sheriff Brown some more. Srarvin Marvin wants ro go home and see his wife and two year
old boy, a child that he has never seen, and so it is with me - I want ro go home - I just
want to go home.
World 'War II Diary
Sergeant joe
Sergeant Smokey Joe's home is just a little bit south of Asheville, NC. He was mess
good guy, and a GI who could sympathize with all the
~er
had to eat the food he prepared.
sergean~e 394th squadron, a
Vo
48
I had nothing to do while recovering from a recent surgery so I found my World War II
diary and read the following:
Before the war, I thought
know Sherman was right.
bein[~e army would be a thrilling advenrure - bur now I
7l
(_
�Before the war, I thought the Air Force was a mechani~d force- but now I wonder
what the hell I'm marching for.
cwfff.J
VJI[. Mter the War
lkfore the war, I thought the .AJhroi/k Citizm was a 9181ten newspaper - but now I
enjoy reading one four days old.
Sgt. Smokey joe
Before the war, I would drink a cocktail before dinner - but now I drink milk with my
dinner.
Before the war, I would sometimes go to bed at 4 a.m. - but now I get up at 4 a.m.
Before the war, I was particular about what girl I took out- but now I'm not so particular.
Before the war I struggled over a golf course- but now I struggle over an obstacle
course.
Before the war, I used to shine at a dance - but now I shine my shoes.
Before the war, I cussed at a golf ball - but now a sergeant cusses at me for not being
on the ball.
lkfore the war, I didn't have much religion - but now I pray for a furlough.
Soon after a prayer for a furlough, the Red Cross advised me that a business associate of
mine had committed suicide and I had been granted a rwo weeks emergency furlough for a
trip home.
A
~
'Jtrer the war Smokey Joe opened his road house
agam near Greenville, SC. He carne to see me and
advised that they had arrested his partner for hauling
whiskey in Buncombe Counry and wanted to know if
I could help him out.
I told him I knew the Chief of Police and Sheriff
Brown and I would be glad to see what the situation
was. He mid me they couldn't help as it was the federal authorities that arrested his partner. Thinking of
how to get him a light sentence, I asked Joe if his
partner was in the armed forces and he said that rhey
had turned him down because he had a heart murmur. I told Joe to send his partner to Lion Dr.
Feldman who was federal physician and I would get a
report from him as to his heart murmur.
Lion Dr. Feldman told me he had a heart murmur and as a federal physician he would advise Judge
Warlick about it in federal court. At the trial, Joe's
partner got a suspended sentence. Later he carne to
see me with a roll of hundred dollar bills and wanted
to pay me for getting him off. I refused the money
and told him that Joe had helped me out during the
war and what I did was a favor to Joe. Later he
brought me six fifths of scotch for a present which I
kept.
Corn Whiskey at Road House
Before the war, road houses would hide the corn
�whiskey they served their guests in a container under a bed. When the sheriff's deparunent
would raid the joint, they usually wouldn't look for it there. One night they found it and
an article appeared in the AJhroilk Citizm that the sheriff's department confiscated a gallon
of whiskey hid in a container at a road house.
jim Dive/hiss and Beaver Lake
Returning home from World War II, I was interested in building a house to live in.
Jim Divelbiss, president of the Asheville Lions Club 1941-1942, said that he had a lot
across the street from his home on Westwood Road in Lakeview Park and if I would build a
om• story house so he could see Beaver Lake over the roof of my house, he would give me a
good deal. I acquired the lot and built the house. He told me that as a resident of
Lakeview Park I should take on some activity for the benefit of the park.
He took me to the annual meeting of the property owners and I was elected as one of
the three commissioners - no salary. When I met with the other two commissioners they
told me I had charge of the lake and fishing and they would back me up in anything I
wanted to do. I got phone calls.
~
I got a phone call from a resident ~~who said "stop the fishing, the fish arc diseased."
contaCted the game warden from thtr:r<i"''ild.life Resources Commission and we found
that a service st2tion alongside the creek that fed the lake had put old oil from automobiles
in the creek. and it had k.illed a few fish.
-v
I got a phone call from a lady that an awful looking man wearing overalls was fishing.
I asked her if she expected him to wear a ruxedo.
I got a call advising that two women indecently dressed were near the dam of the lake.
'"">I found..!.- •o be the wives of the two commissioners 811.11 ilafftillg..
t"
- j\''Y<;u ~n
1 U1
•
I found two men swimming in the lake, which was against the rules. They wid me
they would swim and that I couldn't stop them. I told them to swim if they wanted to and
that a sewer line had broken and was emptying in the lake, and they would probably get
typhoid fever. They stopped swimming.
I found a group of women in bathing suits with a photographer at the lake near Glenn
Falls Road. I found them to be local beauticians getting their picture with the lake in the
background. They were using the picrure on a cover of a program for a state convention of
beauticians in Asheville.
Fishing in the lake was allowed for licensed property owners only. I saw a man standing at the edge of the lake for 30 minutes just looking. On investigation I found he had a
line tied to his belt that ran down the inside of his pants leg over his shoe into the lake. On
the line he had a float and a haired hook. When the fish would bite and pull the float
under he would kick his leg, hang the fish, pull it in, and nobody would know he was fishing.
I appreciated what Lion Divelbiss had done by getting me elected to be fish commissioner of Beaver Lake. But I got a call that I was going to be elected president of
Congregation Beth-Ha-Tephila and that construction would be started soon on a temple at
Liberty and Broad Streets. I thought I could use some religion so I didn't run again for
commissioner of Lakeview Park and I took up my duties as president of Beth-Ha-Tephila. I
completed the financing of the building of the new temple in two years.
I was tired out and hoped that maybe I could get some rest by being fish commissioner
again at Bc:av~r Lake.
Sternberg Hunting Rats
_)
Lio~ub
<('_
~
Joe Sternberg was president of the
in 1960-6 I. His father, Siegfried
Sternberg, came over to the U.S. at the tum of the century, procured a horse and wagon,
and drove around western North Carolina buying cowhides and junk. He finally opened a
junk yard on Depot Street and became one of the largest cowhide dealers in the United
States. Lion Joe was my classmate in the Asheville High School class of 1922. He rented a
freight car on the local freight train to Murphy and bought cowhides at the stations where
the train stopped.
I was watch inspector for the Southern Railway and would travel on the same train,
giving the employees a certificate that in my opinion the watch they had wouldn't vary over
30 seconds a week.
Going west you could go as far as Waynesville by auto and then by train to Murphy.
Lion Joe Dave, president of the club in 1932, was conmuction engineer for the Sternberg
Company who supplied steel for the construction of buildings. Later he organized the
Dave Steel Company.
Old man Sternberg did well financially and became president of the Southern State
Bank on Depot Street.
�He became active in civic, religious and fraternal affairs in Asheville. He built a big
home on Victoria Drive. He didn't like the hdp he was gerring in Asheville so he imported
a beautiful young maid from Germany. The maid went down to get an item from the
garage and found Mr. Sternberg there. Mr. Sternberg got fresh with the maid, the maid
-;..1 - -:,?ricked up a.22 caliber rifle that I sold him and shot him. The wound wasn't serious.
The next morning a news item appeared in the Ash~ilk Citiun: "Sternberg Wounded
While Hunting Rats in the Garage."
Irving S. Cobb and Grove Park Inn
P
About sixty years ago my friend Fred B~ night clerk at the Grove Park Inn.
~e would tell me about the operation of~ A guest would find his home town news/ paper at his breakfast table. If he paid for anyuung, what change, if needed, would be
given to him in uncirculated money.
~ounds
The only entrance to
was a large gate off of Macon Avenue. The gate ..._
was dosed at 10 p.m. as the noise from any automobile going in and o~d disrurb the
guests. Irving S. Cobb, a famous humorist, spent a co~k,_of days at ~ I A little afrer <(_
ten o'clock one night, he tried to get his auto into ~;grounds. e ound the gate <.
locked. He had to p~ car on Macon Avenue.
He walked to ~
and complained loudly about it. He was advised that th@ n
didn't wdcome any unusual noises afrer 10 p.m. In a little while he carne down to the
lobby from his room carrying his shoes, nothing on his feet but his socks, walked very quietly to Fred Bradley and whispered to him, "I want to check out."
In a couple of days a news item appeared in the Ash~vilk Citiun wrirrcn by Irving
Cobb: "The Bunk of Buncombe."
Read news article from Asheville Citizen-Times on suicide
;::::..-;::::.
~
I was reminded of an historical event years ago when I was sdling guns. A customer
said he wanted an inexpensive pistol to keep in his home and he just obtained a permit to
buy it. I sold him a.22 caliber lver Johnson pistol. This type gun was later known as a (_
"Saturday Night Special."
sai?J
"Don't call me mister,
When I completed the sale I sai:)."Thank you, mister." He
I'm a doctor. You call me doctor." I said, "Thank you, doctor." He took the gun home
and committed suicide with it.
Now I got to thinking. If he bought the gun today, he would have to make application to get a permit and wait rwo or three days for the permit to be issued. Maybe if he ~
had to wait that long for a permit, he might have changed his mind about the suicide.
c. \ "'-...
Then, I wondered why, as a doctor, he didn't write a prescription for some high powered sleeping pills, take several of them and just go to sleep and not wake up.
I think I got an explanation. If any of you had to buy prescription drugs today, you
know how expensive they are. And if they were that expensive back then when this happened, I guess the doctor felt he could save money by committing suicide with a "Saturday
Night Special."
Ashntilk BotJhruJbile with Finlulsuin's in th~ bac!tground on th~ squart, with passmga
Mluf•rtt Ytzndk mul K4thmn~ eu~. drivtr.
Phofo by Jaunia \V'dma, IllS I. PhcKo cowtay of Nonh CaroliJU Collection, Pack Memorial l.ibruy, Asheville, NC.
<
�~
'VIj....SINS OF THE
5A.NcroMioussUMMIT,
OR Shall I live and !aug?_, or
cry and die with a prayer, or
laugh and live or cry and die
ylvia and I decided to go into the Summit, a retirement home, for our golden years of life. We soon
found out that the golden years of life arc: just gold
plated - the gold wears off and you find yourself in a
situation of assorted problems.
I was in the World War II battle in the South
Pacific but I found that it was a cinch compared to
the "old age" battle in the Summit.
Some of the residents here arc: physically disabled
and some arc: menrally disabled. I am 92 years old
and I find that all the residents over 90 years of age
are both mentally and physically disabled.
In moving to apartment # 108, I asked if! could
bring my piano. I was advised that my apartment
had sound proof walls and it would be OK. A female
resident in an apartment near me said that she
enjoyed listening to me practicing but please don't
play before eight o'clock in the morning- "it's liable
to disturb my sleeping."
The Summit was described to me as a "country
club" retirement home with beautiful grounds, good
entertainment and delicious food. In the so-called
"country club retirement home," I am still looking for
the golf course and a swimming pool.
The department serving food is the best outfit
here. The meals are delicious but I've never been
�~ffered a cocktail befor~ dinner. The strongest drink I've ever had here has been i4ea.
The Sanctimonious Band
/ Some day maybe we will have an enuee of a Maine lobster o r a wild duck on toast.
I couldn't figure out my monthly bill. I was told that the adding machine I had was an
antique and what I needed was a calculator and computer to get the correct amount. I was
advised that the easiest thing for me to do was to write a check for the amount listed as
BAlANCE on my statement. That would be satisfactory with the Summit.
I never worry about paying my bills to the Summit - I let them worry. If I go broke,
I'll just go next door to the Veteran's Hospital where I can get in any time since I have a disability discharge from World War 1!.
The 1997 elections are over and I'm glad I'm a Democrat because I don't like what the
Republicans will do with my benefits I get from Medicare and other government agencies
to help pay the Summit. The Democrats are not so hot either. They lowered interest rates
so much on my government bonds so now I have to cash them in order to have enough
money to buy drugs.
b.
I played the piano with the Sanctimonious Band and we performed old
songs and new, for Lions Club Ladies Day meetings and other gatherings.
Sometimes I wrote songs similar to those that were sung by soldiers after
World War II. Fritz Abertson wrote melody notes and completed the
music for songs about Lions Club members who were veterans of World
War II.
j
-
Snapoo - Snapoo j
Oh Madame - oh Madre, your daughter i
I'd like to take her out
a date
Snapoo -snap-= . g scannie, Go-sn=
Snapoo - Snapo
i_n
Oh sir - oh sir, she · roo young
Snapoo - Sna o
Oh sir - oh sir, s is too young
She's never been ·sscd by any man's son
Snapoo - snap
, go-scannie, Go-sneeze
Snapoo - napoo
LN IINi Sylvia
Oh Mother oh Mother, I'm not too young
Snapoo - Snapoo
Oh Mothe - oh Mother, I'm not too young
I've been
cd by the Rabbi's son
Snapoo - ap-cczc, go-scannie, Go-sneeze
Snapoo - Snapoo
-
�Oh Mother - oh Mother, Shelby's awful nice
S apoo - Snapoo
/
0
other - oh Mother, Shelbtwful nice
's
An ow he's already kissed me icc
Sn
- snap-cc::zc, go-scannie, Go-sn=
Snapoo - Snapoo
Oh
~other - oh Mother, we' e leaving to eat
S~apoo- Snapoo
Oh M~er- oh Mother, e're leaving to eat
We'~e t ·ng a ride in his my jeep
Sna~a~:a:s:e~o-s
Oh
nie, Go-sneeze
Mbth~ - oh Mo
er, the moon is bright
Snapo~Sna
Oh Mod-i r oh M ther, the moon is bright
d I' stay out all night
Now Shel
, go-scannie, Go-sneeze
Snapoo - sn ~
Snapoopoo
#2 I forgot to turn the srove off and the coffee pot was melted.
#3 I forgot to turn the lights off.
#4 I forgot to take my hearing aid with me.
#5 I forgot to take my walking cane with me.
#6 I forgot
to
take my reading glasses with me.
#7 I forgot to rake my teeth.
#8 I forgot to go to the bathroom - for my pills.
I put a sign by the door where I leave the apartment listing the eight things I am supposed to do before leaving. Most times, I forget to look at the sign.
~SurgeryJ:yment
<
My doctor advised me that I needed major surgery and chat he would like to talk to me
in his office. He wanted to know how I was going to pay my bill. I told him chat a former
doctor in his establishment would accept Medicare, also ocher insurance benefits and send
me a bill for what he didn't collect. I would chen send him a check.
He advised that there were deductions on my insurance during me first part of the year
and wanted to k.now if I had considered them. I rold him I didn't know, but I would write
him a check now if he wanted it.
Memory
My memory is getting worse. In leaving my apartment, I find the following has hap-
pened:
#1 I fOrgot to tum the water off in the kitchen and the floor was flooded with water.
Tht Sam:timonious &vm, 1-r. Fath" /Wph Ntagk, l.J. Charks Long, Bm SkiUman (statttl), F. jatlt Cok,
David Albmson, Lto Finktlsuin at tht piano, Fritz Alhmsoon, D. 8/ac/nwU
�"Oh no,~ he said. "I'll rili the check after the surgery."
I answered, "I think you are making a mistake. If you take my insurance payments you
will get paid in thirty days. If you wait to take my check and I die, it will take you a year
to collect from my estate.) )l
He said, "You are wrong. I'm not going to let you <lie."
So now, I'm looking forward to the future with many years of fears and tears, suffering
from: memory loss, over-reacting. trouble with eating, sleeping and weeping, coor<lination,
irritation, and constipation.
I had something to say about hc:r in a lenc:r back home which is rc:cordc:d in my <liary
as follows:
20 Oaob" 1943
~
I can't tell you where I'm at because the censor wouldn't like it.
I can't tdl you what kind of clothes I've been issued because you would know
was going.
I can't tell you about the camp because it's against the rules.
\
I can't tdl you about my equipment; it would jeopardize my security.
Prayer, or Humor, or What?
I wondered what is the most beneficial to me- PRAYER, or HUMOR, or WHAT? Is
it time for me to laugh, cry or <lie?
"";;,
I sent copies of my World War II Diary [see
page~ to two preachers chat responded
' { as follows:
I can tell you this though - I had a date with a girl I knew in AsheviUe by the namf of
Sylvia who used to live in C hicago, who is now living in Los Angdes and who is visiting sdlne
friends in a town near here and she is JUST AS SWEET AS EVER.
After my rerum home after three: years overseas in World War II, I found her JUST AS
SWEET AS EVER.
And we got married.
From preacher #1:
Dearw:
Thanlu for the grrat pieu. I enjoyed it! My best to you and Sylvia.
I don't have hc:r now but in my estimation, her SWEETNESS WILL LAST FOREVER
with me.
Unless we are Indians
From preacher #2:
Thank yttU so much for that grrat •tmn home from World Wor ll • It's very fonny!
AawdJy it rtJZlJy 1NIIie my d4y afor shoveling snqw. I too could uu a forlough. All my best to
yttU muJ Sylvia.
Later both preachers asked for permission to use my thoughts in sermons.
Maybe I should have been a preacher instead of a pawnbroker.
7 My.:J"
I had the honor of serving as president of Beth-Ha-Tephila in 1948 and 1949 during
the: building and financing of the new temple at Libcny and Broad Suc:ets.
I was Master of Ceremonies for the 50th Anniversary Banquet program of Beth-HaTephila in 1941.
I also presided at the 75th Anniversary Banquet in 1966.
I wasJI!norary Master of Ceremonies at the tOOth in 1991.
....
.,
at SylvUis Mnnorial Service
Sylvia and I 'M:ft! married 52 years ago.
Fifiy-five ycus 310• I was in Camp Stoneman, California waiting to be shipped overseas
in World War II.
(
Unless we are Indians, our ancestors came from foreign lands. I am thankful they did
what they <lid so that I could have the privilege: of growing up in a ciry like Asheville, enjoy
this great country of ours - a land of rdigious freedom and opponuniry.
�Index
Adarru, Lee . ••...•. .. ... . .... . ........ ..... . (lntro)
Adler, David . . . . . . • . . . . • . . . • . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . I 0
Albcnson, David ............ . .... ... ... . . .... ... 59
Albcnson, Fritz ..... . ... . .... . ..... .. .. ...... 57, 59
Argcntat, Sender........... . . . ........ . •. . ...... =I I
Bacr, Dr...........•...•... . .. . .. . ............. 27
Bcin, Patti ................. . ............ . .. . (lntro)
Bernard, Chief. .. . .................... . .... . . 3 I , 32
Bcrrynun, Charles ................... • ........... 2 I
Blackwdl, D ............. . ................. .. ... 59
Blo mberg. A. ............................... .. . .. 7
Blomberg. Harry .................... . ...... 6, 23, 35
Blomberg. Jack............... . .. ...... ..... .. ... I7
Blomberg. Maddine........ ...... ..•.. . ... • . .. . .. I 5
Bradley, Fred . .............. . .. . .........•.... . . 52
Brown, Fred ......... . ....................... .. . 33
Brown, Lawrence .............. ... • .............. 26
Brown, Sheriff ............................... 46, 49
Bryan, WiU~Jennin&' . ... . .... . .............. . I6, 7
Bunn, Bob ... .. . .. . .................. . . ... ..... 28
Burdette, Ciry Manager ........... . .......•....... 20
Buscck, Otto ......•.. .. .......... . ............. 33
Cadi.son, Leo........ ........... .... •... . ...... 6,23
C...C, Katherine . .. .•.......... .. . •. . . ........ ... 52
Cathey, Sam ..... .. .. ..................... 2 1, 22,29
Cobb, Irving S.....•................ . ... . . . .. . . . 52
Cocke. Philip . . .. .. • ...... . .. ........ . ....... . .. 23
Cole, Jack ......... .. . ... .. .............. I7, 20, 59
Dave, Joe . . .. •......... . ..... . ..... . . . . . . ... 20, 5 I
Divelbiss, Jim . .......... . . . ......... ...... 22, 50, 5 I
El>cnhowcr, President •......... . ..•. . ... . ...... . . . 22
Elkins, Tommy.....•............•...... . • .... . .. 3 5
Erwin, Marcus .....•.................... • ....... 23
Feinstein, Sam .....•................. .. .... . .. 7, 10
Feldman, Or.... . ..•. . .. ..... . .... . •. .. ...... 35, 49
Finldcrtrin. Ourlcs .... . ....... •. ...... ... ... .. . . . 3
F'tnldatdn, Fannyc • .••......•.. •.•.••........ 5. 9, 10
Finklestcin, Harry. . . (lnuo), I, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11,12, 13, 14, 17, 31, 32
Finklestein, Hilcb.... ... .. . ... .. .. .. ..... . . . (lntro), 9
Finklcstein, Leo .. . . (Imro), 2, 9. 13, 15, 24, 28, 45, 46, 56. 59,60
Finklestein, Leo Jr. .... .. ...... . .... . . .. ... . .. . (lntro)
Finklestcin, Louis ....... . • •. .. . ... •...•........... 3
Finklestein, Moe ... . ........... ........ ..•..... . . 3
Finklestein, Neal ... ... ...... ..• . ........ . . ... ... . 3
Finklestein, Phyllis . .... .......•..... . • ........ (lntro)
Finklestcin, Rosa .... . ... . . . . .. . .... . .... . . . (lntro), 9
Finklcstcin, Stephen ...... ...... ........... .... (lntro)
Finklestein, Sylv~ . . ... . . . . •.. ..... (lmro}, 55, 56, 60, 6 I
Finley, Bob ..... . . .. ...• . . .. .... ....... ... ... .. 34
Finley, Mr.... .... . . ....•.......... . • ..... ...... 34
Fox, Rabbi Eliu . . . ...... . ....... . . . . .. ....... . 8, I I
Friedman, Nat . ... .. • . .. . ... .•• ..• . .•......... 6, 22
Friedman, S.H .............. • ..... • . ........... . . 6
Furr, Dan . .. . ........... • . .. . .... . . .• ... • ... I9, 20
Gardner, Captain . .... .. • ..... .......... . . . .... . . 46
Goldberg. E. C ... ..... . . . .• . .. . ........ ....... . .. 6
Goldstein............ • . . .. . ....•........ . •. . . ... 6
Goodkowitt, Rabbi .. . ........... .. .. .... . .. ..... 23
Green, Otis ... . ... . ............................ 34
Groome, Johnnie . . .... • . ..... ...•...... ...•.... . I9
Gross, Mr. . . . . . . ....... . . . • ....••...... . •.... .. 33
Hampton, Will . . . . ... • . . . . .. .... .....•....... . . 27
Harris, Will ...... . . . .•.......... • ............ .. 32
Hill, Dan ........ . .. •. ... • .................. .. . 23
Hoc:y, Governor .... ... • . . . •. .. . • ... . • ... .. .. . . . . 21
Honon, Shdby Jr.... . ........ .. • . .. . . . ... . ...... 57
Hudson, C.E. . . ..... ... . . .....•... . ....... ..... 22
Hudson, Lioness ......... ... . .... ........ . ... 2 I, 22
Huvard, A.J ........... . . ....... ........ . ....... . 6
Johnson, A. Hall .... . ....... ..... ... . ...... .. ... 23
Jones, Fred.... . ..... • .... ..... . .... ....... ..... 23
"Judge Cocke . . ... ..•... • . ......... .. .. . ....... 33
Kunw, Alvin .. ..........•........ . ............. 29
Lane, Mark ... ..... • ....•. .. .... ..... .... .. . ... 25
Lane, Ronald ........ • ...•.... • . .•.••. .. .. .. .... 25
Leavitt, Mr. . . . . . . . .... ...................... I I, I2
Lcovitah, Juliw . . .... ........ ... ............. I2, 28
Lewis, Mr. .. .. ... ... . .. . . ... .•. . .. ... .. . ... .... I3
Liggett, Mr.. ............ .... . . . ... . ... . . ....... 33
�Lipinslcy, Solomon .............• . . ................ 6
Lichrmfi:ls, Gu.sav.............................. . 28
Lichrmfi:ls. Alfred ............................... 28
Lichralfds. lrmgani . . . ..................•........ 28
l.ondow, Rabbi ......................... . ..... .. . 7
Long. Lt. Charles ...... . ... . ........•............ 59
Mann, I. Mitchdl .............................. 6, 9-\0
M=lull, George ................................ 28 (p
McCormak, Frank .....................•.........
I
MclW:, Charles . . ....... . ....................... 23
1~
Maxwdl. Albertine ....................... .. ......
Roscnfdd, Willi2m ...........•. .•. ..........•. 17, 28
Rnth, Harry ........... .... ....• ....... ......... 17
Rnth, Sam .............•.•....• . ............... 17
Rnthc:nberg. Freda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............... 29
Rnthenberg. WillWn ........... . ...... . . . .......0 29
Sehandler, Dave .......... . .......•........... -~ II
10
Schmdler, Dr...................... . ............. '9'
Schifun, Herbert ........... .. .................. . 28 ,. .
Schornstdn, Rhonda . . ........................ '(iftuQ) ' "
Ji'f'
"14.1
~~~~-::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -~~'\;
Neagle, Father Ralph .......... . ..............•... 59
Michalove, Bill . .............................. 34, 35
Michalove, Dan ........ . ............•........ . ... 6
Michalove, Isaac................................. II
Michalove, S.H...... . ............................ 7
.
Miller, Charlie A. .......................•..... 22, 25
MuiY2Dcy, Frank .......... . ..................... 34
MuiV2Dcy, Par •••.••••••••. • •••..••.••.••••••••• 34
Neagle, Father Ralph .•......................... . . 59
Nettles, Zeb.. . . . ...•..................... . ..... 23
O'Kdly, Mrs. . . ................................. 16
O' Kdly, Rufus ...... . .......................... . 16)
Oliphmt, Mrs.....•.•... . . . ............. . ....... 14
Owen, Margaret..•. . •. . ....•.................. . . 28
Pappa., Mr. ...•...... . .... . ...... ..... . ... .... .. 32
Parsons, Joe .. . .....•...... . .... .. .........•.... 57
Pada, Joe • • . • • . . . . . • • . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . Ia::: 1'1
Pada, Rosa .. .•.•. . .................. . ....... . .. -Ja: \ 4
l'1:ulman. Barney. . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . • . . . . . . II
Pdly, WillWn D. . ......... . . .. .. . • .............. 28
Phillips. Roy .•..............•........... . .. . .2(( 22 , ~ <1
Polioclc, Lou•.••• . .••. . ... . ....•... . . . .... . 6, II , 28
1
7
Popalardo, M~ . . • . ........ . . .. . ..... . .... ..... .. 14
Pope Leo IX. ...... .. . . ..... . .......... .. ...... . . 3
Rafumky, Rabbi ................................. 9
Rquolds. Bob •.......... . .•...... . ...... . . ('{ Ill, 23
Rhiodwt, Carl . . • . .. .. ...• . . .. . ..... . ... .... ... 34
~Mn. .. . ....... . . . ..... .... ..... .... .. IO
'1"\r-.c
r»CI.S , N il ( ma l'l .
Schorr, Lion ....... . . ......•. ............. ..... ~ ~
Schw.uttberg. J.B .. . ..... . .. . ..................... 7
Schwanzbc:rg. Milton .................. . .. . ....... 17
Seely, M~ ................. ................ . . 26,27
Seigle, Barney . ..........•.......... . ...........• 6
Seigle, Esther ........ . .•.....•.... . ........... 6, 15
Seltz, Jennie ................... . .......... . .....)€ I 7
Shenbaum, A. . .......................... . ... . ... 7
Sholrz, Governor ........ ... .... ........ .. ...... . 22
Silverman, S.W. ..............••................. II
Skillman, Ben ...........................•... . .. 59
Smith, Dr. .....................•......... . .... 5, 8
Smith, Lion .............•...... • ..... ..... . .... 33
Smokey Joe .............................. 46, 47, 49
Starvin Marvin .......... . .......• . ........... 46, 47
Stc:rnberg. Ev.o. •• • . • ••••.•..••••••••••••.•••• • ~. 16 > 17
1
Stc:rnberg, Joe ......... . .. ..... . .... . ... 12, 16, ~ I, 51
Sternberg. Johmna ..... • . ........• .. ....... ... .. :16 I 7
Sternberg. Mrs............. .. ........ ... .. ...... 16
Sternberg. Rose ........... . .....• :~Y-o ........... . 16 > I )
Sternberg. Siegfried ........ 6, II, 1 2,~. 28, 31, 33, 51,52
Stewart, Dan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .•... • ........ 22
Taylor, Rny .. . ................ ...... •..........2Q:' a a
Thayer, John .•. • ••••.•.•• ••. . •.• •••.••••••..~. lQ" 01\ )a~
--:;;-- arlick, Judge ........... . .................. . ... 49
w
.
Williams, RR . . .... ... • ........................ 29
Wolfe, Tom ................. . .•.. .• ....•..... . . 28
Yandle, Margaret ..... . ....... . .......•... . .. . ... 52
Zagier, RB......... ... . . . .. . ... .. .........••.... 7
Zuglier, M...... . ........ . .....•...... . ......... 7
�.·
~
\
Index
.Ad.a.Jns, 1...cc ••••••••••• • •••••••••••••••••••••~tro} \ I I
Adler, David ........... • ....................... I0 vi
Alberuon, David ......... . ...................... 59
Albertson. Fritz .............................. 57, 59
Argencar, Senda....•.......................... ~ II
Bacr, Dr.. .. .............. . .................... 27
Bcin, Patti ............ . · . · · · · . · • • • · • · · · · · · · · {lntro)- ; j1.
Bernard. Chief.........•........ . ......... . . . 31, 32
Berryman. Charles ... . . ......................... ~ 1r"'>
Blaclcwdl, D........ . ........................... 59
Blomberg. A. ....... . ........ .. . ... . ............. 7
Blomberg. Harry .... . ......• • •............. 6, 23, 35
Blomberg. Jack. .. ...... .......... .. ............. % 16
Blomberg. Maddine ...... .. ...................... 15
Bradley, Fred ••••...•.......... • . ............... 52
Brown, Fred .•..•.•••.............. . .... . .. .. ... 33
Brown, uwrcna: .. .. ............................ 26
Brown, Sheriff .......................... . .... 46, 49
Bryan, WilliamJenninss ......................... "t1;,j7 ) 1
£b
Bunn, Bob ........ .• .............. . ...... . ..... 28
Burdtttc. City Manager .. . ................. . ..... .'20if
Bused<. Ono .....•.•... . ................ . ... . . . 33 ~-
Cadison, Leo............. . .................... 6;23
Case, Katherine . ......................... ·~if .... 52
Cathey, Sam .•...... . ..... . .. . .. . .. . .. . <P.>r~ 29
.
Cobb, Irving S. . ........... . . . . . ........... . ... . 52
C.0CU. Philip .......•.. . . ............... - ~ .. ~- 23
Cole, Jad< .. •.••...•...................'J: . ~,0. 59
Dave, Joe ..•.•..•... ........ .. . ... ....... 'Pil-. -2<r. 51
Divelbiss, Jim . ... .................... . .... 22. 50, 51
Eisenhower, President .•.... . .... .. .. . ...... . ...... 22
Elkins. Tommy.•.•............. . ... . ............ 35
Erwin. Marcus ......••.......•................ . . 23
Feinstein, Sam •... . .•... . .........•........... 7, 'ffi' II
Feldman, Or. . ....•.•............. . .......... 35, 49 t...\
Ftnklcsrcin. Olarles .. .. ....... . ...............•... -,(
Fmldcsttin, Fannyc•. ~J!,(f!. f) tl N.. ·, ~ ....... 5. 9. I0 --'
\1j
.
,, .
.\') 1\ )
I ll
..,.,
·.
I
.. i ,\s·'i ~
FinkJcstcin, Harty... - · I, 2,p, 5, 6, 11,12, 1~ • 14, 17, 31, 32
.
Finklesrcin, Hilda. ... ,, ·~ ...... . •• •..... ! '· •.. (lnuo),~ 70
1
Finklcstcin, leo .... ' " 2 , 9. 13. ~ ~4. 28, 45. <16, 56. 59. 60 •
Finklcstcin, leo Jr................... . ...... . .. (fntro}- 110
Finklestein, I..Duis . •..•.•. ••.••.•• . •.••••••.•..•••• 3
Finklcstcin, Moe .................. ......... · · · · · . ~
Finklestdn, Nc:al ...•••.• . ....•.•.... . .•..•••. ......~'1tfl
Finklcstcin, PhyUis .. .1?.-t .f. . ,J.., ••••••••• •• •••••. , (l~lm)
Finklcstdn, Ro.s:l .•••••.•••• :':-. .••. .••• ••••. {t:.-l,~
Finklcstdn, Stephen ................ ~ • ....•.... ilntro}. " ~
Finklcstcin, Sylvia ......... . • .... • . (i;.uo), 55. 56, 60,61
Finley, Bob ... . ......... . ...... ... ...... ... . ... 34
Finley, Mr....... . . . ............. ... ............ 34
Fox, Rabbi flw .................. . ............ 8, II :7-t.\
/!?
Friedman, Nat ...........................•.... 6, "1;.1
Friedman, S.H... ............ . ....... . .........•. 6
(J.'J.
Furr, Dan.. . ......... . .... ... ............... ~"20.?\\ )
Gardner, Captain . ...................•. .... ...... 46
Goldberg. E.C .... . ............... . ..... . •.. . .... 6
Goldstein............................... • .... ... 6
Goodkowitz. Rabbi ........ . . ........ .......... .. 23
Green, Otis ..... . ............ . .. · · · · • · · · · · · · · · · 34
Groome, Johnnie ....•..................... . . · · · · "19.
Gross, Mr...................................... 33
Hampton, Will ......... . .... . ... .. ....... . ....• 27
Harris, W~l .. . ..... .. .... .. ................. .. . 32
0-
I
~~~~.;,~;: :: :::::: : ::::::::: ::::: :::: : ::: :~P
~b,Jr.................. .
~7-
~~=~: ~~:~·:::::::::: : ::::::: ::: ::::::: :~~~
Huvud, A.j. . .. ......... . ...... .. . ..•. ... . ...... 6
Johnson, A. Hall ............... . . . . . ...... .. . . .. 23
Jones, Fral. ......................... . .......... 23
"Judge Cock.c" .......... . ........ .. . .... . .•..... 33
Kunus, Alvin ...... • ........ ...... . . .•.•........ 29
Lane, Mark ...... . ........................... .. 25
Lane, Ronald ....... , ............... . ......... . . 25
Leavitt, M r................ .... . .....•.•. . •.. 'tt; 12
~~!.~~~-::::::: : : : ::::::: ~:::: : ::::::: -~~:! Jcf
Li~tt, Mr.............•.......•...• .• ... . ..... 33
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Poor Man's Bank Drafts, edited
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
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107_03_04_PoorMansBank_M
Description
An account of the resource
Leo Finkelstein's account of Asheville, North Carolina in the early twentieth century, how the Jewish community functioned, and pawnbroking during the Depression. Item contains photographs.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Asheville (N.C.)--History
Lions Club (Asheville, N.C.)
Jews--North Carolina--Asheville--History
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Extent
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33 pages
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Asheville (N.C.)
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
Asheville
cenutury
dawn
Depression
dime
Flanders
Greenville
Hebrew
Lions Club
orthodox
overcoat
rabbi
Silver Shirts
Tokyo Rose
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/fee4328ecf578048f02d8ab9f8f1c824.pdf
6a2a9a5a218caa28159494779699ecaa
PDF Text
Text
�������������������������������������������
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
"Lions," Lion's Club Notes and Ephemera
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_02_13_Lions_M
Description
An account of the resource
Records from Lion's Club meetings from 1998 with reports of Leo Finkelstein's health and involvement in the community. It also includes information about Leo's swing band, the Sanctimonious Seven as well as sheet music "Song of the Lions," and flyers and other ephemera regarding Doc and Merle Watson's 1983 benefit concert.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Lions Club (Asheville, N.C.)
Watson, Doc
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Sanctimonious Seven (Musical group)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
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PDF
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
43 pages
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Asheville (N.C.)
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4453066/asheville.html
1998
Asheville
Doc Watson
Lions Club
program
Sanctimonious Seven
sheet music
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/b60921e38516add54ca7baa7619de1a2.pdf
0b11408fac629f798dcc10712c4d9369
PDF Text
Text
����
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Papers
Description
An account of the resource
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville. It contains computer discs, notes, scrapbooks, book drafts, correspondence, photographs, programs, fliers, and other materials related Leo Finkelstein, his wife Sylvia, and the Lions Club, Elks Club, and Jewish Community in Asheville, North Carolina.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Leo Finkelstein Speech at UNC History Class, 1998
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1998-03-21
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
107_01_21_Speech_UNC_HistoryClass_1998_0321_M
Description
An account of the resource
This item contains notes from Leo Finkelstein's speech and his account of his family roots, from Lithuania to Asheville, North Carolina.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Finkelstein, Leo, 1905-1998--Family
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title=" In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable" href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0//" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> In Copyright - Rights-holder(s) Unlocatable or Unidentifiable </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a title="AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/192" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> AC.107 Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title=" Leo Finkelstein Papers" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/27" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Leo Finkelstein Papers </a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
1799
Asheville
Beth Ha-Tephila
guns
Harry Finkelstein
history
Lithuania
pawnshop
ruble
Will Haris