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Straus Historical Society Inc.
Post Office Box 416
Smithtown, NY 11787-0416
Phone: 631-265-0383
FAX: 631-724-4487
Email Us
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Lazarus and Sara Straus Family
Lazarus Straus, son of Isaac and Johanette Straus, was born in Otterberg Germany in 1809. He was the oldest of fourteen. In 1838 he married a cousin, Davora (Fannie) Levi. The couple had one daughter, Karoline. Fanny died in 1843 and Lazarus married his first cousin Sara the following year. They had five children, Isidor, Hermine, Nathan, Jakob Otto and Oscar. Jakob died when he was a year and a half.
Lazarus and Sara Straus |
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Following the Revolution of 1848 and the economic difficulties that ensued, Lazarus immigrated to the United States in 1852. He arrived in Philadelphia but was persuaded that rural Georgia would provide better opportunities. The Kaufman brothers who were in Oglethorpe GA, set him up as a pushcart peddler. Peddlers not only brought necessary goods to the plantation owners and their families, they also brought news from one widely distributed plantation to the others. On Court Day in the county seat of Talbotton, Lazarus found the place he wanted to settle. He opened a dry goods store and by 1854 he felt sufficiently successful to send for his family. When Lazarus and Sara immigrated to the United States, Lazarus' teenage daughter Karoline decided to stay in Germany with relatives.
Isidor and Ida Blun Straus,
taken about 1910 |
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Isidor's privately published autobiography gives us a glimpse into their lives in Talbotton and later in Columbus GA where they moved in 1863. The Strauses became successful merchants. At the close of the Civil War, Columbus was burned and Lazarus decided to move his family north. They settled in New York, opening L. Straus & Sons, importers of china, porcelain, glassware and crockery. In 1873 Nathan convinced Rowland H. Macy to allow them to open a concession in the basement of Macy's store on 14th Street. By 1884 the Strauses were part owners and by 1896 they were sole owners of R. H. Macy's & Co.
Isidor continued to run Macy's until his death, along with that of his wife Ida, on the "Titanic" in 1912. He served in the House of Representatives in 1894-5 and was a founder of The Educational Alliance in New York City. He belonged to many philanthropic organizations and was active in city politics.
Nathan and Lina Gutherz Straus,
taken on their 50th wedding
anniversary, 1925 |
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Hermine married Lazarus Kohns of Coblenz Germany. Lazarus became a vice president of L. Straus & Sons where he was highly respected by all.
Nathan used his boundless energies to develop outside sources for the family business. He traveled to Europe on buying trips where he met and married Lina Gutherz. He became interested in the pasteurization of milk after a cow on his farm died of TB. He built and paid for pasteurization laboratories first in New York, then all over the US and finally around the world. He built a TB "Preventorium" and became a Zionist during the early part of the 20th century. He built the Jerusalem Health Center and labored for the Hebrew University. He was Commissioner of Parks in NYC and head of the Department of Health.
Sarah Lavanburg Straus |
Oscar S. Straus |
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Oscar had little interest in merchandising and, with the support of his brothers, became a lawyer. He served as Minister to Constantinople, Ambassador to Turkey, Secretary of Commerce and Labor, a founder and president of the American Jewish Historical Society and was a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. He was the author for several books including Roger Williams, The Pioneer of Religious Liberty and Under Four Administrations.
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