According to Lawrence Goldsmith, Robert Herstein first worked in Leesburg, VA. He married Rosa Blimline in Baltimore in 1859 at Har Sinai, one of the earliest Reform Congregations in America. Rosa was born in Baltimore in 1839, daughter of Joseph Blimline and Elizabeth.

According to his obituary, Robert had worked in Huntsville for 23 years. Therefore, he would have been in Huntsville by 1855. He was listed in the City Directory in 1859. In 1860, he was in business with a Mr. Smith in the building at the corner of East Side of the public square and Eustis street. See vignette on Robert Herstein for his history. A photograph of the building with a sign on the front reads, "Smith and Herstein" was donated to the National Museum of American Jewish History in 2011.

Robert's son-in-law, Isaac Schiffman, who married Robert's daughter, Betty, purchased this same building in 1905. It continues to be owned by the Goldsmith-Schiffman descendants.