Newsletter Grand Opening Titanic Museum Attraction Pigeon … · 2019. 11. 17. · grand opening of...

STRAUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTERAugust 2010

Volume 12 Number 1 August 2010

STRAUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.

Newsletter

"If you will it, it is no dream.""If you will it, it is no dream.""If you will it, it is no dream.""If you will it, it is no dream.""If you will it, it is no dream."

Theodor HerzlTheodor HerzlTheodor HerzlTheodor HerzlTheodor Herzl

Grand OpeningTitanic Museum Attraction

Pigeon Forge, TNWhere, you may ask, is Pigeon Forge, TN? And whywould a group for Straus family members and Joan Adler,the executive director of the Straus Historical Society,find the events there so compelling that they made thetrip to Pigeon Forge in April of 2010?

We need to go back to December 2009 to explain. WhenI received an e.mail from Colleen Douglas last Decem-ber I had no idea where this correspondence would lead.Certainly I never expected that I would be attending thegrand opening of a Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, TN.That's one of the reasons whymy work is so interesting.Something as seemingly simpleas a note from a Straus familymember asking if I would beinterested in talking with a rep-resentative of the Titanic Mu-seum in Branson, MO, couldnot have prepared me for theevents to come.

Colleen explained that she'dmet Mary Kellogg in Branson. Mary is an owner of theTitanic Museum Attraction there. Colleen was on vaca-tion in Branson with her husband Geoff and their daugh-ter Katherine when they visited the museum. When theyidentified themselves as descendants of Isidor and IdaStraus, Mary was excited to meet them. Mary later toldthem in an e.mail about her plans to open a second Ti-tanic Museum Attraction, this one in Pigeon Forge, TN.The Pigeon Forge Museum would be twice a large asthe one in MO and would have a reproduction of Isidorand Ida's sitting room cabin. Mary asked for photographsof the couple that could be put on display. Colleen put herin touch with SHS.

Pigeon Forge is 40 miles east of Knoxville, TN and verynear North Carolina's western border. It is very close toSmoky Mountain National Park. Before the opening of

the Titanic Museum, its biggest attraction (that I am awareof) was Dollywood, the amusement park build by DollyPardon. The town is a huge family tourist destination withmany other attractions like arcades, restaurants and sou-venir shops.

In our first communication I told Mary that SHS had alarge archive with many items that might be of interest toher. I attached an article which I'd written for the news-letter many years ago about the Strauses and their last tripaboard Titanic. You can find this article on the Archivespage of our website: www.straushistoricalsociety.org/

archives.php As you scrolldown the page you will find thearticle: "Many Waters CannotQuench Love."

Mary immediately put me intouch with Paul Burns, curatorfor their museum. He wasgenuinely excited to learn of anew source of Titanic relatedmaterials, especially since the

plan was to reconstruct Isidor and Ida's sitting room fortheir Pigeon Forge museum. Before long we agreed thatSHS, with the approval of our board, would lend some ofour artifacts to the Titanic Museum Attraction in PigeonForge.

Just before this period of time family member, and greatgrandson of Isidor and Ida, Bradford P. Straus of Boston,MA and Carefree, AZ, donated Isidor's wedding band toSHS. Inside this band one can find Isidor and Ida's wed-

STRAUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER August 2010

Straus Historical Society, Inc.Newsletter (ISSN 1536-9188)is published semi-annually

by the

Straus HistoricalSociety, Inc

Post Office Box 416Smithtown, NY 11787-0416

631-265-0383631-724-4487 (fax)

[email protected]://

www.straushistoricalsociety.org

SHS Board of DirectorsExecutive CommitteePaul A.Kurzman, Chair

Barbie Gurgan, Vice Chair

Mark Altschuler, Secretary

Lawrence A. Kahn, Treasurer

Board MembersAl BerrMichael H. BucknerRichard B. GerstmanM. Brett GladstoneElizabeth (Liza) LoopManfred (Fred) MosesJack Grier SchaferCaroline SeldenBarnard Sachs Straus, Jr.

Executive DirectorJoan Adler

The Straus Historical Society, Inc.is dedicated to advancing theknowledge, understanding and ap-preciation of the Lazarus Strausfamily and the historical contextin which they lived through re-search and education. You are in-vited to submit articles or ideasfor articles, calendar events, andmaterial relating to the Straus fam-ily and to their history.

The Straus Historical Society, Inc.is a tax exempt organization asdescribed under Section 501(c)(3)of the Internal Revenue ServiceCode. Contributions to the Soci-ety are deductible to the extentprovided by law. A copy of theannual report of the Straus His-torical Society, Inc. may be ob-tained from the Society or fromthe New York State AttorneyGeneral, 120 Broadway, NewYork, NY 10271.

2010, Straus Historical Society, Inc.©

A group of dedicated directors and Straus family friends has been meeting as asubcommittee of the SHS board to sort out various ideas and details to create asuccessful future SHS and community event - all of which will celebrate themany and notable achievements of the Straus family who left us such a wonder-ful legacy. That legacy continues to inspire us today. As with all importantwork in process, there are many questions and reservations, all of which requirecareful and thoughtful consideration, research and evaluation. We are pleasedto report that an encouraging general consensus is beginning to take shape.

One of the things we amateurs realized is that the guidance of an experiencedprofessional could help us in our planning. Richard and Al contacted a consult-ant organization called Cause Effective. We gave Greg Cohen, theorganization’s representative, background information on the Society and someof our thoughts on the future event. Cohen told us that we needed first to askwhere the Society should be in five years and what its goals for the future wouldbe. The answers to these important questions would impact what we do forraising funds, and for delivering a successful event compatible with the Society’sfuture goals. We've learned that sometimes we want the answers to our ques-tions before we've asked the appropriate questions.

Our initial conversation with him led to our committee, whose chairman is FredMoses, outlining these goals for the Society: 1. The achievements of the Strausfamily are sufficiently significant to warrant wider recognition than they cur-rently receive. 2. Educational activities are central to the mission of the Soci-ety. 3. The establishment of a continuing scholarship fund and a continuingawards fund in the name of the Straus family could be instrumental in servingboth the mission and the wider recognition factor. 4. The implementation ofthese goals requires the full commitment of the Society, both board membersand non-board members. 5. Full commitment can be achieved by an organiza-tional structure that will include working committees, such as programming,promotion, and advertising. 6. Fund-raising strategies will be developed inorder to ensure the success of these goals. 7. One of the strategies could be anevent, perhaps a fund-raiser dinner, at which the Straus scholarships and theStraus Medallion awards would be presented. These goals were presented at aboard meeting by our committee and were unanimously approved by the boardmembers.

At the June 28th board meeting, Greg Cohen described the development cyclerequired to fund-raise for a special event. The cycle consists of four majorsteps: 1. Identification - who do we approach 2. Cultivation - informationabout the cause to those who are identified 3. Solicitation - asking for fundsfrom those who have been cultivated 4. Recognition - of the community ofpeople who have been supportive of the cause.

During Cohen’s two-hour presentation, the board discussed identifying pros-pects that we might contact to assist us in our mission and to achieve our goals.It was a lively and productive session. Paul Kurzman was eloquent in identify-ing the unique qualities of public service and ethical responsibility shown bythe early Straus family, which distinguished them from other families in theirtime. It is a distinction that naturally applies to the Society.

We are more certain now of where we want the Society to be in the future. Webelieve that a continuing scholarship fund and an awards fund in the name ofthe Straus family will be instrumental in serving both the mission and therecognition that should be accorded to the family’s notable achievements.

Straus Historical Society Steering Committe ReportBy Manfred Moses, Richard Gerstman and Al Berr

Edited by Joan Adler


ding date, July 12, 1871. This is a real treasure. We aregrateful to Brad for thinking of us when it came time todonate this wedding ring. It has not previously been ondisplay.

As my phone conversations and e.mailed correspondencewith Paul Burns and Mary Kellogg continued, I becamemore and more at ease with the prospect of lending themSHS's materials. Their professionalism and attention todetail, as well as their eagerness to cooperate in any waythat made the board of SHS comfortable, was reassur-ing. Paul Burns followed through on all of my requestsfor amendments to the loanagreement and insurancepolicy. We had invaluable as-sistance in the formulation ofthis loan agreement from SHSboard member Brett Gladstonein San Francisco, CA and fromErica Blumenfeld, registrar ofthe Museum of Jewish Heri-tage in NYC.

As the time of the grand open-ing drew closer, Paul Burns andMary Kellogg asked if descen-dants of Isidor and Ida wouldattend their grand opening cer-emony. Paul Kurzman ofNYC, chair of SHS and greatgrandson of Isidor and Idaagreed to attend as did Barbieand George Gurgan from Aus-tin, TX. Barbie is the Straus'great, great granddaughter. Myhusband Frank and I alsoplanned to attend. Frank is anaccomplished amateur photog-rapher. He would photographthe event for SHS.

We all arrived in Pigeon Forgeon Wednesday, April 7, 2010 in anticipation of the earlymorning grand opening ceremony the following day. Al-though most of SHS's artifacts had already been shippedto Pigeon Forge, and the photographs had been e.mailed,I was carrying Isidor's wedding band which I didn't trustto the delivery services. Paul Burns and I agreed to meetWednesday evening so I could hand deliver the ring. Dueto his last minute adjustments to the displays, he didn'tfind the time. And so, on Thursday morning, at 8 AM,Frank and I boarded a special bus with some of themuseum's collectors who had also lent their materials fordisplay. Paul was thrilled to receive the ring. And I have

to admit that I was happy to be done with the responsibil-ity of delivering it.

We were amazed when the bus pulled up to a half scale,front end model of the ship, complete with iceberg at itsside. The group of collectors, Frank and I, were then givena private pre-opening tour of the museum by curator PaulBurns. We saw the thoughtful manner in which each itemwas grouped and got to experience the many interactivedisplays as we walked along the reconstruction of thisfamous ship. Of course, it was especially moving to enterthe first class sitting room of Isidor and Ida and see how

SHS's materials were ar-ranged. We had two hours towalk through the many roomsof this exhibit before it wastime for the grand opening cer-emonies. We met many peopledressed in "period" costumeswho would greet the expectedvisitors and tell them bits of his-tory about their character orabout the ship. We met Cap-tain Smith, several of the offic-ers and the two people whoportray Isidor and Ida Strausin a touring company of themusical play, Titanic. They, ofcourse, were thrilled to meetthe actual descendants of Isi-dor and Ida. Barbie, Georgeand Paul spent quite a lot oftime speaking with them andposing for photographs.

When we entered the museumat 8 AM the sun was shining.It was a perfect day for theplanned outdoor ceremony.But, when it was time to con-gregate before the platformwhere the dignitaries would sit,

we realized that we were in danger of sinking, like theTitanic. It was pouring. Only the dignitaries on the stagewould be covered by a large overhanging awning. Quicklythe staff raided the museum's store, bring each of us anumbrella with the Titanic logo printed on it. We sat insoaking wet seats while Mary Kellogg, her husband andco-owner John, various local politicians and businessmenand then Regis Philbin spoke to the assembled crowd aboutthis historic ship and how the museum in Pigeon Forgecame to be. Then a local quartet sang the national an-them and the actor who was portraying Captain Smithchristened the ship with a bottle of champagne. We were

Reproduction of Isidor and Ida Straus'first class sitting room


all soggy and relieved when it was time for the actualopening of the museum. We could finally return to theinside of this sinking ship. The first visitors were invitedguests, mostly from the media.Paul Kurzman and BarbieGurgan were interviewed bypeople from the local newspa-per and TV affiliates. WhenPaul headed to the airport thefollowing day he found no lessthan five newspapers carryingfront page articles about thegrand opening.

We spent the entire day walk-ing through the exhibits, beinginterviewed, speaking aboutthe Strauses to the invited guests and feeling quite amazedat the number of people who felt they just "had" to attend

this grand opening dayin this out of the wayplace. Although I hadlong been aware of thephenomena I call"Titanimania," Paul andBarbie were surprisedat the numbers ofpeople who came to Pi-geon Forge to see thislatest addition to the Ti-

tanic attractions. Newsreports stated that 50,000attended the openingweekend. Tickets for thegeneral public went onsale at 3 PM on openingday, April 8th, and wereimmediately sold out forthe entire weekend. Themuseum, which sold it lasttickets a 9 PM, was openwell past midnight to ac-commodate the crowds.It seems the public doesn't tire of anything relating to theTitanic disaster.

As an addendum, Barbie and George Gurgan spent a longtime speaking with the actors who portray Isidor and IdaStraus in the touring company of the play Titanic. Whenthe play opened in Nashville, they were invited to attend.It was the weekend when there was serious flooding inNashville and almost everything was shut down. Barbiewrote, 'The play was awesome and they showered the

greatest honors upon George and me. They had a pre-show preview and catered event at the downtown libraryin our honor. ... did a few of their songs for us and George

and I were asked to say a fewthings. Then, in the middle ofall that rain, we went to the the-ater and, believe it or not, ev-eryone showed up. The housewas full. They seated us at atable (it was dinner theater) witha city councilman and his wifeand the owner of the theater.They honored us again by bring-ing us up on stage, gave me abunch of roses and a certificatewith the state of Tennesseeseal, which said, as they an-

nounced this, that I was now an honorary member of theTennessee House of Representatives! ... They were sothankful and grateful that we came all the way from Aus-tin (TX) to see their show. ... After the show they had awine and cheese reception for us so that everyone couldshake our hands, meet us and get photographed with us.One of the actors handed me a painting of Isidor and Idaand the ship that he had painted upon hearing that wewere coming. ... their hospitality and reception of Georgeand me was above and beyond any expectations."

Paul, Barbie and I came away from our experience inPigeon Forge with a new appreciation of how importantthe history of the Titanic disaster is to many, many people.And we were pleased that SHS's artifacts could contrib-ute to the authenic historical displays at the Titanic Mu-seum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Copies of the entire set of photographs taken at the Ti-tanic Museum's grand opening event may be found in aFacebook album on the Straus Family Group page. A ra-dio interview with Paul Kurzman may be found at: http://www.sabrams.com/onAir/chanels/twsa/showNotes/sn2010/06/20/index.php

One of the displays -a cut-away section of Titanic's

passenger areas

Captain SmithBelow: A first class

passenger

Paul Kurzman, actors portraying Ida and Isidor Straus, Barbie Gurgan


Middletown Farm - Middletown, Monmouth County, NJThe Country Home of Herbert Nathan Straus and Therese Kuhn Straus

Ned Brown contacted me in October 2009. He explainedthat he lives in the butler's house on the former estate ofHerbert Nathan and Therese Kuhn Straus in Middletown,NJ. He was interested in learning about the history of theestate and about the Strauses. He asked for stories andphotographs. Unfortunately, at the time, the SHS archiveshad little to offer him. We had few photographs of eitherHerbert or Therese and even fewer of the estate.

Middletown Township is located in Monmouth County,NJ. It was established as a European settlement begin-ning in 1664-65 after the English conquest of NewAmsterdam. It's proximity to the shore and the NavesinkRiver made it ideal for local farmers andmerchants who could load their produceand merchandise onto ships, thereby giv-ing them easy access to the city's mar-kets. The railroad junction, completedin 1875, enabled city dwellers to get toMiddletown in a reasonable period oftime. This began rapid expansion of thearea and contributed, by the turn of thecentury, to the change from agriculturaland fishing villages to suburban estatesof the wealthy.

Herbert Nathan Straus, son of Isidorand Ida Straus, and Therese Kuhn,daughter of Edward and Millie Kuhn,were married on July 15, 1907. On Au-gust 23, 1908 The New York Times re-ported that "Percy S. Straus and Herbert M. Straus ofthe firm of R. H. Macy & Co. have purchased large tractson the Middletown side of the Shrewsbury River and willshortly begin erection of country seats. ... Herbert's tractembraces the Permly property of thirty acres." Percy'sproperty was on the southwest corner and Herbert's wason the northwest corner. It was reported elsewhere thatHerbert Nathan Straus and his wife Therese Kuhn Strausmade an initial purchase of 70 acres. Later they musthave bought additional acreage because Middletown Farmhad 100 acres when it was sold in 1949. Although bothbrothers had apartments in New York City, their NewJersey farms were pivotal in their lives. Both men hadpolo ponies that were housed in the stables on Percy'sproperty.

On May 15, 1924 Percy and Edith's brick home burnedduring renovation. Their loss was expected to reach sev-eral hundred thousand dollars as many valuable paintings,rugs and art objects that were recently brought from Eu-

rope were consumed by the fire. They were disgustedwith the manner in which the "firewatchers" destroyedtheir property, ripping up the plantings as they gathered towatch the fire. Rather than rebuild Percy and Edith de-cided to relocate to Port Chester in Westchester County,NY. Herbert and Therese stayed in Middletown. He con-tinued to stable his horses on Percy's property until 1929when the estate was sold to J. Wright Brown who built abig Georgian brick house to replace Percy and Edith'shouse.

In 1929 architect Alfred Hopkins was the country's fore-most architect of farm groups, banks and prisons. He was

hired by Herbert and Therese to buildthe new stable, garage, butler's,stableman's and gardener's houses andthe dairy complex at Middletown Farm.It is also believed that he would build aFrench Norman chateau to replace thewooden frame main house that camewith the property when Herbert andTherese bought it. Construction of thechateau was scheduled to begin follow-ing completion of the other farm groups.In preparation for this particular con-struction, the lawn was terraced andstone pillars lead up to what appears tobe the site of the planned chateau.Sometime between 1908 and 1929 theStrauses had renovated the whitewooden frame house. They continued

to live in it while their other reconstruction projects wereunderway.

We have a photograph of Jesse, Percy and Herbert onthe lawn of one of their estates. I was told this photo wastaken in Red Bank in 1920. Although only a small part ofa house is shown, it appears that the photograph was takenin front of Herbert's house at Middletown Farm.Middletown and Red Bank seem to be used interchange-ably when speaking of the farm. Executive Director ofthe Monmouth County Historical Commission, RandallGabrielan called Middletown Farm among of the county's"most artistic landmarks."

When the Strauses began their ambitious building projects,Herbert was vice president of Macy's. He was also presi-dent of the recently purchased Bambergers DepartmentStore in New Jersey. He planned his signature home at atime when there was increasing profitability in the family'sbusiness ventures. In 1929 Macy's alone had a profit of


$100 million. Once the stock market crashed late in theyear, the plans for their building projects on their countryestate were well under way. Therese justified continuingwith them in the face of criticism by explaining that shewas providing employment to many workers who wouldotherwise be on the bread lines. During this same periodthey were also completelyrenovating a New York Citytownhouse at 9 East 71st

Street that was designed byHorace Trombauer.

Sally Strong Straus, thewidow of Herbert andTherese's son Oliver, recentlyallowed me to copy Oliver'spapers and photographs.Among these photographsare images of the construc-tion projects at MiddletownFarm. The photographs weretaken January 2, 1930.

Herbert died in 1933. Therese kept Middletown Farm until1949 when it was sold at auction for a total of $116,150.Since there was no buyer for the entire estate intact, itwas broken into five sepa-rate parcels which werebought by four individuals,one person buying twoparcels. Therese insistedon a clause in the offeringstating that she wouldhave a 90 day cancellationprovision. She wanted tobe certain she approved ofthe new buyers. Thecaretaker's house on a 2.9acre lot brought in morethan any other parcel,even though all the otherswere much larger.

Ned Brown also begancorresponding with JessicaStraus, Herbert and Therese's great granddaughter. Sheis the daughter of John Herbert Straus of Watertown,MA and Beverly Bell Straus of Baltimore, MD and thegranddaughter of the late John Wendell and Anne HelburnStraus of New York City and Pound Ridge, NY. Jessicawas interested in helping Ned with information and washelpful to me as the liaison between her part of the familyand SHS.

Ned proposed that he would host a picnic on the formerStraus estate if I would invite descendants of Herbertand Therese. He felt he could only accommodate up totwelve individuals. Jessica provided me with contact in-formation for some of her relatives. Ned asked that theparticipants bring photographs, memorabilia and stories

about their ancestors. Myhusband Frank agreed to pho-tograph the estate and thepeople who attended the pic-nic.

We arrived in Middletownmid morning on Saturday,May 8th. It was a perfect daywith low humidity, scatteredclouds, a light breeze andcomfortable temperatures.Ned described his plan forour tour of the estate. "All 4parcels of the original farm

will be available for viewing. We will start at the top withthe stable, gardener's, chauffeur's, butler's houses. Movea few hundred yards to the main house. Down the longdrive and over the original stone bridge to thesuperintendent's house. Then across the road to the cow

barn complex andthe formal garden'sbehind."

We were amazedthat, although manyof the neighboringestates, including theadjoining former 100acre estate of Percyand Edith Strauswere sold off, thisone, although nowprivately owned inparcels by differentowners, still looks atit must have whenthe Strauses livedthere. We drove

through stone pillars to get to the butler's house, formerstables and the garage complex. It was like being trans-ported to another time. The French Norman style build-ings are largely intact and the landscaping seems to havebeen well preserved.

In 1949 James McConnell bought the upper level whichincludes the stable/garage/caretaker/gardener/butler com-plex. Bud, James' son, and his wife Kathy lived in the

Herbert, Jesse, Percy StrausRed Bank, NJ 1920

Clock Tower under constructtion January 1930 and today


gardener's house until about 15 years ago. When theStrauses owned it, it was the responsibility of the gar-dener to house the visiting chauffeurs so his house hasfive bedrooms. Today Bud and his wife Kathy, active pres-ervationists, live in the former 13 stall stable that they'veconverted into their living quarters. The charm and char-acter of the building was pre-served during this reconstruc-tion. The stone floor is the origi-nal as is the wood ceiling andbeams. Bud and Kathy tongueoiled the ceiling and mountedmodern high hat lighting with-out taking away any of theoriginal feel of the room. Theformer tack room is Bud'sdressing room with a roomabove it where the hay wasstored for the horses. The origi-nal stables had two guest bed-rooms for visiting grooms. Budand Kathy have made creativeuse of all the space in theirlovely home without destroyingany of the building's originalfeatures or charm.

The nine car garage with itsclock tower adjoins the stableat right angles. When Bud's family first came to see theplace, there was a Deusenburg in the garage that oncebelonged to the Strauses. He said the garage was me-ticulously clean. This garage is where Bud houses his1938 Cadillac, the car he usedwhen he learned to drive. Hetold us that all of his daughterswere married in this garage soyou can imagine how wonder-ful the space was, and remains.

By way of strange coinci-dence, Jessica Straus told usthat her grandfather, JohnWendell Straus, Herbert andTherese's son, had a 1938Bugatti that he drove from hishome in Pound Ridge, NY to the train station every dayon his way to work at R. H. Macy & Co. Once he stoppeddriving the car he kept it in the garage on his property.The car sold for $852,000 in 2007 at an antique car auc-tion. Bud is not ready to part with his 1938 Cadillac.

Bud's tour of his property included showing us the im-pressive garage doors with their bas relief sculptures.

There are carvings of Herbert and his Irish setter, Thereseand the architect, workmen building the complex and manyother scenes. Bud believes the wood is French oak andthat the doors were carved in England. Ned Brown livesin one of the "dependencies," the butler's cottage. Hecommented that it contains three bedrooms, a small

former dining room, study anda china closet. "Just as a properbutler should require." KenGersten, who joined us for thetour and lunch, lives in theformer stableman's house inthis complex. The caretaker'shouse is also located in this up-per complex as is a round, vinecovered building with a conicalroof that was designed to beTherese's personal study. Shenever used it. She told Bud'sfather that this was the "onlylemon on the place because ithas a couple of cracks and theflooring was bad. ... Theground floor was used as a toolroom for gardening equipment."Bud and Kathy converted it intoa kitchen and dressing roomsfor the pool.

The wooden frame house of Herbert and Therese wasthe next stop on our tour. This house was bought in 2003by a private individual as an investment and then put onthe market shortly thereafter. The house and property

have not sold. Today it is keptoccupied by renters. We couldnot enter the house but wereable to tour the grounds. Wesaw the terraced gardens lead-ing up to what is believed tohave been the proposed loca-tion of the Straus' FrenchNorman style chateau. MarthaBrookes Hutcheson, one of thefirst female landscape archi-tects, designed the gardens.From the front lawn one gets a

spectacular panoramic view of the rolling hills of this lovelyestate. This house is said to be on the second highestpoint on the East Coast before the Palisades.

After Herbert died Therese decided not to build herNorman chateau. She gave rooms full of furniture to theMetropolitan Museum. She also gave them furniture fromher East 71st Street house.

The gardener's houseJanuary 1930 and today

Herbert and Therese's houseat Middletown Farm


After enjoying the grounds and the view from the lawn infront of the main house, we proceeded down the drive-way toward Meadow Cottage. This long sloping road usedto be lined with rhododendrons, azaleas and pine trees.Mr. Clemens was the head gardener when the Strauseslived there. During the summer they employed nine fulltime gardeners. Al-though it is still lovely,the rhododendronsand azaleas are mostlygone as are most ofthe pine trees.

Throughout the dayfamily membersspoke of MeadowCottage, a place thatstands out becauseTherese gave awaythe flatware, table-cloths and linens fromMeadow Cottage. Each piece of flatware bears theirmonogram as well as Meadow Cottage on the obverse.Each set of linens was embroidered with their monogramand came tied with ribbon, color coded for the personreceiving it. None ofthe people living on theformer estate todayseem to know whereMeadow Cottage waslocated. It's possiblethat was thesuperintendent's cot-tage.

This cottage is locatedat the middle level ofthe estate. It was builtin 1937, the last housebuilt in this complex.When Percy's houseburned T. W. Head was the superintendent of the estate.Thomas Head was later reported to be the superinten-dent of Herbert's estate and living in this cottage. Thecurrent owners, Angela and Hendrick Bennink, have lov-ingly restored it and renamed it Griffin House. When wevisited, Angela carefully explained the pains they took tofaithfully restore their home including keeping the fleurde lis and rose motif on the ceiling and the fireplace'smantle. She's also preserved a thistle design found through-out the cottage. She told us that the architect lived in Francefor a year and brought stone workers back with him whenhe began the building projects. The huge weeping birchand sycamore trees surrounding the house were certainly

all there when Herbert and Therese lived at MiddletownFarm.

Herbert and Therese's son, John Wendell Straus and hisnew bride, spent time at this cottage after their marriage.They also spent a summer at East Cottage, the butler's

house where NedBrown now lives. Nedsaid that John paintedthe natural woodworktrim around the win-dows of East Cottage.TKS was horrified.Ned wrote that he nowstores his grand-mother's china in thesame china closetwhere John oncestored his MeadowCottage china.

The cow barn complex, complete with a few cows, islocated on the lower level. It was a working farm with apasteurizer, farm equipment building and a twelve bed-room servants' quarter. It was described as a French

Norman farm village.Herbert and Therese'sson Edward remem-bered the cow barnsbefore the reconstruc-tion project of 1929/30.He spoke of it as old,decrepit and smelly.The old barns weretorn down when thenew dairy complexwas built.

Everyone, whenspeaking about thiscomplex, described it

as spectacular. I was told Therese put more effort intothe cow barns than she did into the other buildings on theestate. They were built in the southern French style andincluded a pond. A dam on one end of the pond sits belowan arcade. Today this complex is known a Cobble Closebecause of the series of buildings that form a square andsurround a sizeable courtyard, containing a "close."

In 1949, Judge John Warren bought the cow complex.He loved living there but his wife hated it. At that time hetried to get permits to turn part of the complex into con-dos but was unable to accomplish it. Woodrow “Woody”Browne was looking for property in the area and fell in

Buildings under constructionin the upper complex January 1930

Clock tower and turret for Therese's office - January 1930


love with the farm complex. Woody eventually saw anobituary for Judge Warren in the newspapers and camedown the next day to ask Warren’s widow if she wouldsell the property to him. She did.

Cobble Close was beautifully restored by Fred Centuryand his late partner WoodyBrowne. It has been convertedinto condo units and a home forFred. Fred's tour included an ex-planation of how he converted theformer Orangery, where thetrees and shrubs, in huge tubsfrom around the estate, werestored during the winter months.This Orangery is now his sunkenliving room. We walked on thecovered arcade and saw thelovely sculptures Therese in-stalled in the pond and around thiscow complex. Lucky cows!

Ned arranged for the people living in all of these homesto open their doors to us. I truly don't know who wasmore thrilled, Herbert and Therese Straus' descendantsor the residents of these lovely homes. Each saw the visitfrom a completely different perspective. The Strauses,especially those who remem-bered Therese, began to imagineher living there. For the currentresidents, it was fun to meet thedescendants of Herbert andTherese and to show off the lov-ing reconstruction of their home.And for me, it was wonderful tobe part of the amazing coming to-gether of the past and the present.Hearing the comments of the par-ticipants as we walked aroundthe estate was very special.Something would trigger amemory that led to a story. Sev-eral people brought with thempieces of flatware with Meadow Cottage engraved intothe stems. Others told of receiving linens with the Straus'monogram embroidered on them.

Once we'd completely toured the estate and visited eachof the homes, we returned to the upper level and werewelcomed at the home of Bud and Kathy McConnell fora lovely catered luncheon. Once again we were treatedto stories about their reconstruction project as they gra-ciously shared their home with us.

Bruce and Marti Huber joined us for refreshments on thepatio of the butler's cottage and then later for lunch at theMcConnell's home. Bruce's father owned a large amountof land adjacent to the Straus property in the 1930's. Hisfamily donated much of this land in the 1970's so that itcould be preserved as county parkland. Ken Gersten, who

lives in the stableman's house,also joined us on the tour and forlunch along with his sister JoanPaley. Ned's "special friend"Christina Baxter also spent theday with us. She was a charminghostess at the butler's house. Atlunch we had an opportunity tospeak with Carol Stall. Her auntwas Therese's personal maid andher father was the head carpen-ter/maintenance person for theStrauses. Carol had many photo-graphs and stories to share.

In preparation for the article Nedplanned to write about the Strauses and their time atMiddletown Farm, he quoted something Bud McConnellsaid. "The Strauses lived here for 20 years and theMcConnells have been stewards for 50 years. Yet the

place is still known as the Strausestate. I've been blessed to livehere most of my life, and the wayI view it, I never would have hadthe opportunity without the visionand dedication to excellence ofthe Strauses."

Ned wrote two articles aboutMiddletown Farm for the NewYork Social Diary. One waspublished during the winter andthe second was published afterour visit in May. Both stories con-tain wonderful photographs of thefarm. Ned was able to includemany more photographs in his

article that I have been able to show here. You can findthe articles at: http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1498238 and http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1902831

Please contact me if you have stories or photographs toshare or if you own some of the many artifacts distrib-uted to family members by Therese Kuhn Straus. I wouldalso be interested in viewing the items at the Metropoli-tan Museum in New York City. If you have a contactthere, please advise me so we can arrange a visit.

Caretaker's House - Meadow Cottage

Pond and arcade at Cobble CloseJanuary 1930


After sitting for hours in front of my computer trying tofigure out how to start this article, I thought of some ad-vice that someone gave me recently. The Executive Di-rector of the Straus Historical Society, Joan Adler, toldme that whenever you do research or learn somethingnew, the best thing to do is just start writing about it, andyou never know where you’ll end up. So that is what Iplan on doing. I don’t know where I’ll end up, but I doknow that what I’ve learned this summer is important tome, and that I need to share my experience in this articleand who knows where it will take me.

I have been working with Joan andthe Straus Historical Society sincelate May and it has been an in-valuable experience. Not only hasJoan taught me about working withan historical society and how toarchive and use a bibliography, shehas also helped me learn moreabout my own family genealogythrough the Straus’ example. Overthe past few months, I haveworked with original documents ofthe Straus’ and have learned howto put them into an archive. Thisprocess has also helped me learnmore about the original membersof the Straus family and their contributions to Americansociety. In addition, Joan has taught me how to work withthe various people involved in the society and has shownme everything that is involved in her important job.

While much of the time is taken up by trying to get thecountless papers in order, which I love to do anyway sinceI’m a very organized person, we have had time to takelittle “field trips” around New York. Joan has taken me tothe Municipal Archives in downtown Manhattan as wellas Mamaroneck in upstate New York where Driftwoodand many other properties that the Straus’s owned arelocated. The most exciting of these trips was by far theSHS board meeting, which I attended at the end of June.

I was finally able to meet members of the family aboutwhom I had learned so much. Everyone was welcomingand kind, qualities which I have found to be commonamong the Straus family.

In addition to everything she has taught me about the Strausfamily, Joan has given me many tools to help me in myown research of my family genealogy. I have been work-ing on my family tree with my father for about a yearand, while we have learned a lot, we still have much moreto learn about our ancestors. Joan has shown me her re-search on the Straus’ as well as on her own family and

has given me ideas as to where tolook and what to look for. Before Imet Joan, I had never thought oflooking at the New York Times forarticles about my family, as my fam-ily never seemed to be newsworthy.Yet once we looked, we discoveredan article about my mother’s auntwho had been in a near fatal bus ac-cident in upstate New York. This ar-ticle alone answered many of mymother’s questions about her aunt,but also raised several more. It wasbecause of Joan’s suggestion tocheck the New York Times that wefound this article and were able to

learn much more about my family’s history.

Everything I've mentioned thus far only skims the sur-face of what I've learned this summer with Joan Adlerand the Straus Historical Society. I could probably fill thisnewsletter with all the things we've done and what I havelearned. Before this summer began, I wasn’t sure what Iwanted to do with my passion for history and I was hop-ing that a volunteer job would help me figure it all out. Icould have never imagined how amazing this experiencewould be and how much I would truly get out of it. I canonly hope that I have been able to give something backwith my own time and effort to a family that has done somuch to help others.

My Summer with the Straus Historical SocietyBy Catherine McIlvaine

A Note from Joan○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Catherine McIlvaine contacted me out of the blue. Whenshe suggested that she would like to volunteer at SHS forthe summer, I was very skeptical. What would I do withher? What could I teach her and what did she have tooffer SHS? It turns out that Catherine is a true asset. Shehas been working on the backlog of material that needs

to be archived. She seems to "get it" without much expla-nation. She is a self starter who has been a pleasure tohave in my office all summer. I am delighted she calledand even more delighted that she will be continuing towork with me during the school year as her class sched-ule permits.


2010 Calendar of Events

Saturday, September 11Book and Photography Fair

10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Saturday, October 2(Rain date: October 3)

14th Annual Art in the ParkA day-long celebration of

art, music and food10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Friends of Straus Park

Our first event of the spring season was held June 17th. Asteel band called Jah-Pan performed before a very largecrowd who came to the Park to enjoy the lovely flowers,the delightful evening and the music, (not necessarily inthat order). The band was very good and much appreci-ated. Several people commented that they had no idea asteel band could make such interesting and enjoyablemusic.

We are looking forward to our fall events, the Book andPhotography Fair and our 14th Annual Art in the Parkevents. If you've missed either of them in previous years,you've really missed two great days. Books of all de-scription are for sale at the Book and Photography Fair.You still have time to donate your unwanted books to FSP.There will be ample opportunity to refill your shelves withthe offerings at the fair. Several excellent photographerswill be showing their artistic efforts was well. Most ofthe photographs will be for sale.

We hope you will join us at these two annual neighbor-hood events. And we also hope you will consider joiningFSP. Your active participation helps to keep our neighbor-hood vibrant and our park used in the most appropriatemanner.

Information about FSP can obtained from president KateFord [email protected] or 212-666-1439.

Sketch of Memory and the reflecting pool turned flowergarden at Straus Park by SHS board member RichardGerstman (drawn on his IPad). A color version of thislovely sketch can be seen on our website in the onlinecopy of the newsletter.

Left: Straus Park Dedication Ceremony April 16, 1915Above: Early Straus Park photograph

Both photographs courtesy of the Library of Congress


Available from theStraus Historical Society, Inc.

DVD Slide Show of the Straus Family History Tour in GermanySeptember 13-19, 2006 - $20.00

DVD Video of the Straus Family History Tour in Germany Sep-tember 13-19, 2006 - $20.00

"The Autobiography of Isidor Straus" privately published bySara Straus Hess, in softcover - $40.00

"Genealogical Miscellany" a family genealogy compiled byRobert K. Straus with addenda - $40.00

Large black & white photograph of the Isidor and Ida Strausfamily taken at Elberon NJ in 1905 - $40.00

A Reminder: Witnesses to the Past by Lothar Horter andMichael Tilly, translated by Frank and Sue Kahn. This book isabout the history of the Jews in several small towns in theRheinpfalz area of Germany. A large section contains completeinformation and photographs of the Mehlingen Cemetery wheremany Straus family members are buried. - $25.00

The History of the Jews of Otterberg by Dr. HansSteinebrei, translated by Frank and Sue Kahn and Dr. AndreasJ. Schwab. This excellent publication contains a large sectiondedicated to the Straus family. Many photographs complimentthe text. This book is published in English by the Straus His-torical Society, Inc. - $35.00.

My Family: I Could Write a Book by Edith MaasMendel. This charming volume of stories about the members ofEdith Mendel's family is a must read for all those interested infamily history. Even if the people in this book are not yourdirect relatives, their appeal is universal. My Family is amplyenriched with photographs of the people and places mentioned.- $25.00

Shipping and handling is included for all items. Send your taxdeductible check to Joan Adler, payable to: Straus HistoricalSociety, Inc., P. O. Box 416, Smithtown, NY 11787-0416. You cancontact Joan by phone: 631-265-0383, fax: 631-724-4487 or e.mail:[email protected]

You Are InvitedThe board of directors of the Straus Historical Society, Inc.invites you to attend a meeting of the board. Attendance canbe in person or by conference call.

The next meeting will be held Wednesday, September 22, 2010at the office of board member Paul A. Kurzman, 129 East 79th

Street, New York at 6 PM. There is no obligation to join theboard nor to contribute to the Society. This invitation is ex-tended so that anyone interested in the SHS may have an op-portunity to participate and to share his/her views. Please con-tact Joan Adler 631-265-0383 or Paul A. Kurzman 212-452-7035for further information.

Straus Historical Society's NewsletterOffered in Electronic Version -

You Choose Your FormatBeginning with the February 2011 issue of SHS's news-letter, you can opt to receive your copy of the newsletterin a on-line version and no longer receive the print ver-sion. The choice will be entirely up to you. If you want tocontinue receiving the print version, you need do nothing.The print version will continue to be mailed to you at theend of February and August.

If you prefer to receive the on-line version only, it will benecessary to let me know. I will send it to you as soon asit is published in a PDF file that can be downloaded andread on-line or printed from your home printer. The news-letter will still be added to the official SHS website andarchived there as is customary.

We are taking this important step for several reasons.Many of you are already receiving other professional andfinancial material on-line and are familiar with this formof delivery. The cost savings to SHS could be substantialif enough people opt to receive the on-line version of thenewsletter. We are also mindful of the environmental tollof printing the newsletter. We will minimize the environ-ment impact of the inks, paper and transportation factorsby offering the newsletter on-line.

What are the advantages to you of receiving the newslet-ter on-line? First: you will receive your copy as soon as itis published. Many people tell me their newsletters areextremely slow in arriving. This is because they are mailedusing our bulk mail permit. The postman is under no obli-gation to deliver these when he/she has a full load of othermail. That has priority. The newsletter is delivered onlyon a very light mail day. Another advantage is knowingthat you are doing your part to help save the environ-ment. And, you will be saving SHS money which will thenbe available for other worthy projects.

For now, please let me know if you want to receive yourcopy of the newsletter in an electronic format. Your deci-sion is not irrevocable. If you go this route, and then de-cide you'd prefer to receive a print copy after all, youneed only contact me to let me know that you've changedyour mind. The same is true in reverse. If you receive theprint copy and then decide to try the on-line version, thatcan also be arranged.

For now, please give this some thought and let me knowwhenever you've made your decision - paper or on-line.The choice is yours.

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