ROBERT SCHIFFMAN My great uncle Robert L. Schiffman born in 1888 was named for his grandfather Robert Herstein, his mother Bettie Herstein Schiffman’s father, in the Jewish tradition of naming a child after a deceased ancestor to honor and remember that ancestor. Robert was the youngest child of Isaac and Bettie Schiffman, my great grandparents, the brother of my grandmother Annie Schiffman Goldsmith and her sister Irma Schiffman. Robert grew up in a lovely Victorian house (demolished during Urban Renewal) in the 300 block of West Clinton Street, a few blocks from the old First Baptist Church. Robert lived with his parents, his two sisters and his great Aunt Bertha who moved in with the family when her husband Solomon, Isaac’s uncle, passed away in 1894. In addition to the above members of the Schiffman household, Isaac brought his nephew Leo Schiffman, his brother Gustav’s son, from Hoppstadten Germany to live with them when Leo was approximately 15 years old, around 1898. Robert was 10 at the time. Included in Robert’s file is an 1861 map of Huntsville with the Bernstein, Herstein, Schiffman and Goldsmith family landmarks noted. Also included is an ancestor chart of the 4 families. Robert is related to the Hersteins through his mother Bettie Herstein and to the Schiffmans through his father Isaac Schiffman. I assume Robert received his early schooling in Huntsville and may have gone to boarding school when he was a young man as did his sisters, Annie and Irma. Robert’s father Isaac was quite a successful businessman and took Robert into his business, I. Schiffman & Co. as a partner and vice president in 1908 when Robert was 20 years old. That same year Isaac also took his son-in-law, my grandfather Lawrence B. Goldsmith, into the business as a partner and to be secretary-treasurer for the company. Lawrence had recently married Annie Schiffman, Isaac and Betty’s eldest daughter. The business at the time included: property management of family owned parcels of real estate; a horse and buggy business that later transitioned into the automobile business; loans; investments in cotton; and a portfolio of stocks and other assets. Two years later, in 1910 Isaac died an untimely death from “acute indigestion” which was probably a heart attack. Isaac also suffered from diabetes. At the time of his father’s death, Robert at the age of 22 became president of I Schiffman & Co. and Lawrence remained as secretary treasurer. Robert lived with his mother Bettie after his father died and continued to do so after he married Elsie Steiner of St. Louis. Robert and Elsie had one daughter, Carol, who was born in 1916 in the Schiffman family home on West Clinton Street. Isaac and Bettie Schiffman’s younger daughter Irma married and moved to New York in 1910, shortly before her father’s death. Irma’s marriage did not last. After Irma divorced in 1916, her mother Bettie moved to New York to live with her. That same year, 1916, Robert’s Aunt Bertha Schiffman moved to live with her husband’s brother Daniel Schiffman’s widow, Flora Schiffman on West Holmes Street. When Leo married, he and his wife Frances moved also. Robert, Elsie and Carol remained in the family home on West Clinton until around 1922 (according to the City Directory) when they moved to Mims Court, one of the earliest apartment buildings in Huntsville. Built in 1920, Mims court is located on the corner of Clinton and Lincoln Streets. Sometime after 1922 the Schiffman house was sold. After my great great grandfather Morris Bernstein died, the Bernstein estate continued to own and rent the Bernstein house located on the corner of Gates and Green Street. In 1924 Robert and Elsie rented the Bernstein house and had it renovated in the Dutch Colonial style. The couple continued to rent the house until the Russel Erskine Hotel was completed in 1929 at which time they moved into an apartment in the hotel, a three room suite on the twelfth floor, rooms 1210, 1211 and 1212. A copy of their lease agreement signed by hotel manager Roland Meyer notes that Elsie and Bob agreed to pay $225 per month for their suite for a term of 15 months. When Robert’s Aunt Bertha Schiffman moved to live with Robert’s parents in 1894, she brought with her a fine grandfather clock that she and her husband Solomon had purchased in Cincinnati. In 1916 when Bertha moved to live with her husband’s brother Daniel’s widow, the clock remained in the Schiffman house. When the house was sold, Robert took the clock with him when he moved, first to Mims Court, then to Gates Street and finally to the Russel Erskine Hotel. On December 12, 1929 Robert signed an agreement with the Russel Erskine Hotel Company advising them that he was leaving his grandfather clock in the lobby of the hotel. The clock remained there until the hotel was sold during the 1960’s at which time it was moved to our family home on Gates Street where my parents were living. I have included a vignette on the clock in Robert’s file for further information on its history. Regarding the family business, I. Schiffman & Co., Robert’s brother in law Lawrence was responsible for the company’s property management, its farm operation, loans and investments. Robert’s responsibilities at the company in addition to being president included managing the Dodge dealership and the auto repair shop on Franklin Street, a business that had transitioned to automobiles from the buggy business that was begun by his father, Isaac. The car dealership and repair shop occupied buildings on the site where Constitution Hall Village now stands, bounded by Franklin, Gates and Madison Streets. In Robert’s file is an advertisement for Dodge cars from Dodge Brother’s Club News dated June 1935. The article includes a quote from Dr. O.J. Brooks of Huntsville Alabama, in which he says, “I purchased the first Dodge Roadster sold by I. Schiffman & Company in 1914, and have continued using Dodge cars since, having driven practically every model.” The article continues with Dr. Brooks’ compliments of the various Dodge cars he had used in his medical practice. Robert’s mother Bettie passed away in 1932, Robert was appointed her executor and to act as trustee for his sister Irma’s 1/3 interest in the estate. In 1934 the I. Schiffman business and Bettie’s other assets were combined and incorporated; the new business was named I. Schiffman & Company Inc. The company stock was divided among Isaac and Bettie’s three children—Annie, Robert, and in trust for Irma with Robert as trustee. A few shares were given to Robert’s daughter Carol and to Lawrence, my father, Annie and Lawrence Goldsmith’s son. Robert’s additional business interest was the Russel Erskine Hotel. He was one of the main investors in the venture. The hotel, an idea conceived by my grandfather, Lawrence Goldsmith, was to build a first class hotel for the City of Huntsville. Robert, Lawrence and Lawrence’s father Oscar as executor of the Bernstein estate were the largest investors along with a group of Lawrence’s friends and business associates both in Huntsville and out of town. The hotel became the location for all major events in town and was important to the generals who during the late 1930’s chose Huntsville as the site for Redstone Arsenal. Having a grand place to stay while in town and being wined and dined by the hotel owners added incentive to choose our town for the munitions center that would eventually transition Huntsville to be the Space Capital of the USA. In addition to being the executor of his mother’s estate, Robert was the executor of his Aunt Bertha Schiffman’s estate, (widow of his father Isaac’s Uncle Solomon). Bertha wrote two wills that created complications that Robert handled extremely well. (See the file on Bertha Schiffman for more information on her estate and the part Robert played as executor.) Following the settlement of Robert’s mother’s estate he worked with my grandfather Lawrence Goldsmith to incorporate the I. Schiffman business and Bettie’s extensive list of properties that she had inherited from her husband Isaac. (For more information see Bettie Schiffman’s file and also the file on I. Schiffman & Company.) Robert died an untimely death at age 48 of Hodgkin Disease at Johns Hopkins Hospital. According to his brief will, Robert left his entire estate to his wife Elsie, which included 1/3 interest in I. Schiffman & Company Inc. and ownership of the I. Schiffman Building that was bequeathed to him by his mother Bettie. Elsie was appointed executrix of his will along with Robert’s brother in law, Lawrence Goldsmith. Milton Lanier was appointed guardian for their daughter Carol, still a minor. Elsie and Carol, who was twenty at the time of her father’s death, moved to Elsie’s home town, Saint Louis, to be near Elsie’s family after Robert passed away. Elsie continued to own Robert’s 1/3 interest in I. Schiffman & Company Inc. until some years later when she sold her interest in the company to her brother and sister in law, Lawrence and Annie Goldsmith, my grandparents. She sold the I. Schiffman building she had inherited from her husband Robert to I. Schiffman & Co. Inc. Unfortunately there were few personal records for Robert. I assume with the many moves he and Elsie made from West Clinton to Mims Court, to Gates Street and then to the Russel Erskine Hotel that most of his personal papers were lost along the way. He never served in the army although he received an honorable discharge in 1917 due to a physical disability, a deformed knee that caused lameness. Robert was a member of Temple B’nai Sholom and was involved in the larger Huntsville community as well. His major contribution to Huntsville was the role he played in the establishment of Monte Sano State Park. According to the August 25, 1938 program printed on the occasion of the opening of the park, an article on the last page of the program notes that although Robert had passed away in 1936, before the opening of the park, that it was due to his inspiration and initiative along with two other men, J.B. Mitchell, County Agent and John J. Sparkman, the Eighth District’s representative to Congress who were responsible for the creation of Monte Sano State Park. Congressman Sparkman became Senator Sparkman and is remembered nationally for running for the vice presidency of the United States. Creating the park involved acquiring the land from the landowners, then working with the State Parks Dept. in overseeing the building of the improvements which included guest cottages, a lodge, a stable for horses, horse trails, picnic and recreational areas, park shelters, offices and overlooks to view the neighboring mountains and the valley below. Much of the work was done by the Civilian Conservation Corp. Robert along with his wife Elsie and other family members including his sister Annie and brother in law Lawrence Goldsmith, Sr. and Lawrence’s father Oscar Goldsmith donated to the City of Huntsville land for the city’s first night playing field, The Goldsmith Schiffman Field. Robert and the others donated the land, the CCC built the stone wall around the field and the Acme Club raised the funds for lighting. The field was named the Goldsmith Schiffman Field in memory of Robert and Annie’s mother Bettie Schiffman and Lawrence’s mother, who was Oscar Goldsmith’s wife, Bettie Goldsmith. The two ladies had recently passed away and Robert and the others wanted to make a gift to the City in their memory. This was the first major act of philanthropy made by our family. It was a wise gift for over the years many Huntsville residents have either played sports or been spectators at the field which continues today, 2017, to be used by the city for sports. Indeed, during his short life, Robert left his mark on the City of Huntsville.