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In 1865 Nathan Eisendrath was one of the top Jewish
earners in Chicago with a total capital of $100.000 and more in
1866.
Nathan had started sending financial support to
Dorsten quite soon after he arrived in America and he wrote enthusiastically
to his parents and siblings about the new country. In 1856 his sister
Adelheid came to Chicago. In the following years she was followed
by her brothers Cosman, David, Levy, Benjamain and Moses with their
families of up to 10 children. Over the next 20 years all the other
members of the Eisendrath family emigrated to America with the exception
of the oldest son Baruch who moved to Amsterdam. Thanks to the extensive
business interests of their brother, they all quickly found work.
They were soon integrated and mostly worked in the industries in
which they had been successful in Dorsten. For example, David, Moses
and Levy Eisendrath had all worked as tanners in Dorsten. In 1864
Moses had bought several lots outside the town of Dorsten in order
not to subject the general public to the unpleasant odours emitted
from his tannery and irritate or cause disadvantage to anyone. After
just a few years he started a successful leather factory in the
U.S.A. David Eisendrath was one of the first entrepreneurs to tan
leather
In 1852 Nathan Eisendrath married Helene Fellheimer in Pittsburgh.
Helene also came from a family of German immigrants. The first Eisendrath
born in the USA is named Benjamin Washington Eisendrath. His whole
family grows rapidly but also the fact that 9 siblings all move
there with their spouses and children is noteworthy. When Eva Wolff-Eisendrath
arrived in Chicago in 1880 a big party was held in German style
with lots of food and drink. At the turn of the century the family
already consisted of 200 members. Today the awareness of the unity
of the family is still reflected in the good contacts between the
family members. For many years there was an “Eisendrath Cousins
Club“ which met once a month and once a year the whole extended
family met. In 1933 the Cousin Club had some 3000 members. In September
1933 the Club wrote
to German President Paul von Hindenburg to complain about the
treatment of “Germans of the Jewish faith”.
In 1867 Nathan Eisendrath travelled to Europe again
with his family for the first time. His son Benjamin Washington
started attending a boarding school in Brussels. He made business
contacts all over Europe. His journey also took him to Westphalia,
to Dorsten where he was born.
Weil & Eisendrath Tanners (view from an envelope)
The couple Nathan Eisendrath and
Helene Fellheimer
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