ISRAEL ELLIS

64 Forsythe Street in Manhattan (according to Len Abrams)

349 Pennsylvania Avenue (home address)

Brooklyn, N.Y.

TELEPHONE GLENMORE 7369

ATTORNEY AT LAW

116 NASSAU STREET

NEW YORK

TELEPHONE BEEKMAN 5357

Dear Rhoda:-

Your letter requesting a spicy letter from me received and as you seem to like it I will endeavour to have your wishes gratified. I suppose you received my letter warning you against boat rides which I supplemented by phone yesterday morning. Long distance called us Wednesday night between 10:30 & 11 asking us, as the Radio announcer says "Please Stand by" and we did stand by but no call from the little (d'X?) who instead of her standing by the telephone she chose to take a walk in some of the dark roads & byways-- Meanwhile we waited & waited and no word from the "Lady Jane" walking in the dark Lane - Ma was certainly scared & all of us worried - Moral: When you phone at night time stand by the phone & postpone walking until you get your party or don't call at all. Had you written a letter calling for the fancy stuff you would have received it just the same.

I took the bundle yesterday morning to G.P.O. in Park Row, insured it & suppose you already received it.

Last Sunday night after 9 o'clock your darling Ma leaves me alone and runs away to Coney Island on the BoardWalk so that if you read in the papers about a separation action entitled Ellis vs. Ellis, don't be surprised.

We are all well & hope you are enjoying yourself very much. My best regards to Jack, "Reb" & her husband.

Your father

I. E

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March 5th, 1928.

Mr. Jack Ellis,

c/o Emil K. Ellis,

152 West 42nd Street,

New York City.

Dear Jack:

Not knowing your office address, and as the chances are that a letter addressed to you at home will never be delivered, due to the great care your mother takes of the mail, I am sending this letter to you at the above address, as you are quite a frequent visitor there.

I note that the great song writer has been re-warded with the handsome dividend of $.03 and I am wondering whether the firm of Irving Berlin, Inc will mail you a check.

Be that as it may, I may derive some satisfaction from this incident, because I expect this will put a damper upon your enthusiastic nature of singing and writing songs, for it seems that you are just as great

a success in writing songs as your brother Emil is in buying and putting on the market, a number of patented articles.

The difference being, that while you may be forwarded a dividend of $.03, he, you and the rest of the crew that went into the patent business lost quite a few dollars.

This recalls my warning to Emil last summer about the Bridge in Argentina, as I believe some people were endeavoring to sell him that bridge.

Trusting in the future you will desist from singing and writing songs resulting in $.03 dividends and wishing you success in other undertakings, I am

Your father Israel Ellis

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To the Editor of the New York Times:- 1902

Sir:-

Mr. Robert Hoe in defending the action of his employees in front of the Hoe factory yesterday afternoon at the time of the funeral procession, volunteers the statement that his employees were not to blame and that only a piece of cotton waste was thrown from the factory windows, which, he claims, caused the riot. I would like to ask Mr. Robert Hoe whether he really means what he says and whether he expects the public, the un-biased, uprejudiced public, to believe his version of the story how said riot was caused? Does he expect that fair-minded peole will give credence to his ....that a piece of cotton waste, a harmless soft,.....(Missing sections)

...their sorrow for and sympathy with the dead have taken the liberty of throwing from the windows a quantity of bouquets, so to speak, in the shape of complimentary names, reminding the processionists that they were Jews &c., and in the shape of various missiles which after leaving their hands were changed into pigs of iron, a supply of which has been I presume ready on hand, their object, of course being, to make an everlasting impression upon the heads, minds and memories of the processionists so that they should never, never forget their sympathy and kindness.

It was really too bad that the sympathetic employees were so high up on the factory floors that it was

impossible to express to them personally the thanks they deserved for their sympathy, manhood and chivalry

and as there seemed to be no...... (missing section)

of the flowing liquid from some of the hose in use at the factory and the supply thereof has beenso lavish that

the Street looked as if a big rain storm has just ended. However, this celebration was not to last long for an

intruder, a party that had no business there, came down upon the scene....

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MEMORIES OF PAPA by Rhoda Teitler

I have to reach back into the things that stand out most in memory. Much is forgotten and the pictures that form me remain the same.

I guess even as a youngster I must have been a worrier, and my worries centered on Papa when it was time for him to come home from his office in the evening. There I was, standing on the stoop, my eyes riveted on the two blocks along Pennsylvania Avenue leading to the Elevated trains. I would recognize Papa's walk immediately. He had an air, no doubt about that. Head high and a good stride. There were times when he was quite late but he explained that he went to Raven Hall at Coney Island for a swim. (I don't actually know whether he knew how to swim) or cooling off or surf bathing, the most likely.

When Papa settled a case we all knew it as soon as he walked into the house. He came home with all sorts of goodies--something for each one of us--cigar bands, candy, pieces of Porcelain for the Dutch shelves in the dining room. (Mama would much have preferred the cash instead of the chatchkas!) Papa also like to collect buttons--all types. The small drawers in his rolltop desk were full of buttons and when Papa wasn't around, we played with them and I believe Charlotte still has some.

Papa was an extremely meticulous person. I have a picture before me of Papa washing a glass and holding it up to the light to see if there were any spots on it. The glass was used for tea and Papa would sip the tea through a lump of sugar he had in his mouth. He also enjoyed a schnaps on a Friday evening.

I don't recall any kind of demonstrative affection from Papa. He did teach me to play chess, to read Hebrew (for Holiday praying) and there must have been a lot of talk about music and opera because a lot of names of people in those arts have sunk into memory. Recently I read "The Early Years" by Artur Rubenstein and was surprised at all the names he mentioned that I must have heard in my early years at home.

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Charlotte Ellis told me this about her father, Israel:

"He was so honest, the judges called him "Honest Ellis". When I needed a topic sentence for school he gave me this:

"Honesty and integrity are the bulwarks of society. If we don't have that there will be chaos." She never forgot that sentence.

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Some of Israel's notes in his notebook:

Drunkard in Church

Liquor worst enemy of mankind. Yes--but love your enemy as yourself. ""Look-- but not swallow it."

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Judge: You are accused of stealing a horse from the stable.

Prisoner: I did not do it. The horse followed me.

Judge: How could he follow you, he might have run away?

Prisoner: Oh, no, he could not run away. I held him tight on a rope.

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ISRAEL ELLIS - Petitions for Naturalization - September 4, 1891

Russian Common Please Court, NY County. 9 Orchard St NYC

Occupation: Student Date Of Arrival: July 28, 1886

Bundle #690 Record #209

THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN BY FRANCESCA BLUMENTHAL 2009

ISRAEL ELLIS, our grandfather. Born 1867. Died 1928.

Emigrated to US in 1884. A benevolent tyrant. (See Emil) Attorney at Law. Letters in the Times. Letter from Theodore Roosevelt. Brought home things for children every night. (8 children!) My mother Rhoda at 7 wrote a school composition "Most interesting person I know is my father". Papa. She was embarassed when he saw it and tore it up. A lifetime later she found it among family papers, taped together. He had kept it. He had a stern eye. Forbade Charlotte to take dancing lessons. But she did, in secret. See above.

Both grandparents seem to have been adored by their children. Spoken of with great affection, even though my uncles mentioned a few times that when the boys misbehaved,

Israel would give "such a SMACK!", they said it with pride and affection.