ALBERT
It was during the six years since Sam’s death that Albert earned his nickname “Cully, The Colonel”, as the head of the family.
In 1910, Cully married Bertha Hollander, and a daughter, Lucille, was born in 1921. Cully earned his living as a musician and a carpenter. He was a WWI veteran. He died in 1930 at age 44, in the Bronx, NY, of a cerebral hemorrhage.
RALPH
Ralph played cello in a band on a Cruise ship that left New York and sailed to Buenos Aires. Then, he worked in an Atlantic City, New Jersey, hotel band. While there, he fell in love with a beautiful Irish hotel maid, Ellen (Nelly) Carney. They returned to New York City, and in 1914, their first child, Robert (Bobby) Samuel Freed was born. Virginia (Jeannie) was born in 1917. Nelly died in 1937 at age 51. Ralph supported his family as a musician, dying in 1957.
RUBE
My grandfather, Rudolf (called Rube), was a sickly child, and couldn’t pass the physical examination for entry into the NYC public school system in 1898.
The doctor told Fannie that Rube’s heart was very weak, and he would probably not live to adulthood. What’s more, it was recommended that Rube move to a milder climate, perhaps near the seashore!
Fannie sent Rube to the Hudson River docks, and his education began. His brothers taught him to read and write, and he picked up odd jobs on the docks. Charming, and not a complainer, he was befriended by longshoremen from all over the world, men who taught him their languages, and about their cultures. Apparently, the doctor was right, sea air was beneficial to Rube, and by the time he was 15, he was ferrying passengers across the Hudson River in a rowboat! This was the Bubbe-Maytze (Grandmother’s Tale) told to me by Grandpa Rube and Grandma Gussie!
It is true that Rube was denied admission to school because of ill health, but another story I’ve been told is that Fannie sent Rube to live with a family in Tarrytown, New York, a city on the Hudson River.
The family with whom he lived ran a ferry service across the Hudson River, and Rube must have loved to ride, and speak, with the commuters. As for him ferrying people across the Hudson in a rowboat…well, that was unbelievable, even to a small child, but Grandpa Rube was a character larger than life, so I believed it all. More importantly, it could not have been possible for my grandfather, who could read, speak and write in several languages, quote great literature, play several instruments, paint in oils, fix all manner of engines, produce exquisitely tailored clothing, tat fine doilies, crochet a bedspread that was a work of art, cook and bake, whittle in wood, sculpt in clay, and create kites that dazzled the neighborhood, to be completely self-educated. It just doesn’t make sense on any level. It would seem logical that Rube was sent away so he could gain access to a school district, since he could not be admitted to the one in Hell’s Kitchen. He could have been five or six years old, at most, because school attendance was compulsory in New York City even at the time and Fannie would have insisted he have an education. From Jeannie Freed’s recollection, Rube spent several years with this unidentified Tarrytown family, and grew healthy. He returned to New York City and finished elementary school, probably attending until 6th, possibly 8th grade. On the 1900 census, Rube is listed as a student. He did work on the docks, to earn pocket money, and he and Ralph hawked papers on the streets of New York, Albert worked as a musician and a carpenter.
Rube and Gussie Freed were married in 1913, and their first child, Thelma (my mother) was born in 1915.They had three more daughters, Leonore, Pearl, and Sally. Rube worked as a proof reader all his adult life. He died in 1961.
CHARLES
I have been told by several relatives that he looked nothing like the rest of Sam’s sons; he had no musical talent, was not their intellectual equal, and was treated as a “stepchild” by his brothers. Several relatives speculated that Charles was not Sam’s son; but I have not been able to find any evidence that that is true. He served in World War I and as a result of mustard gas bombings, Charlie suffered with lung ailments for the rest of his life.
He married Regina Schwartz, a Hungarian immigrant, in 1919. Charlie and “Reggie” lived for a while in apartment in Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY, and in 1923, they resided on East 77th Street, in Manhattan. Charles died in 1927, age 33, in the Bronx, NY. In the 1930 census, widowed Reggie is living with her family in the Bronx, NY.
ROSE
Rose married Joseph Romoff, a monotype operator in the printing industry. In 1916, Albert was born, and by 1924, they had three more sons, Dick, Woody, and Colin. Joe died in 1948, and Rose in 1973.
LOUIS
My grandfather told me that Lou was always “critical” of others, and was difficult to get along with.
In defense of his “un-Freed like” dourness and argumentative nature, his childhood experience would have contributed to those personality traits. He was only five years old when his father died, and the household situation was dire. He was sent to the orphanage, and even there, he was separated from his sister, Nora. The isolation and trauma of that experience must have molded his world view and his personality.
I cannot find documentation to clarify how long Lou was institutionalized, or if he was abused there. Returning home when he was 11, it seems reasonable to assume that it could have been difficult to resolve the fact that he had been abandoned by his family. He did not share his experiences with them, at least not with his older brothers.
Although warm and loving, Fannie and the brothers were working to support the family, possibly with little time to nurture Lou on his return. Also, the brothers were older by a decade, and were, most likely, busy living their lives as young men.
This is, without doubt, the saddest life story in the Hungarian Freed line. But to be fair to Fannie, it must have been an excruciatingly painful decision for her to make. Only a short time after Samuel and Anna died, she delivered two of her youngest children into the arms of strangers. She had to have felt there was absolutely no other alternative.
In 1923, Louis worked as an assistant collection manager for a store on East 96th Street in NYC. In 1925, Lou joined the Typographers Union, one of the most powerful Unions in the country. In spite of having had only a second grade education, Lou passed all three tests necessary to join the union: Typesetting, Composition, and Proofreading. Lou worked as a substitute proofreader at the New York Times for a while, and then was hired at the Herald Tribune, where he worked for 35 years.
Lou and Mary Belle Ehrlich, a school teacher, were married in 1927, and their son, Stephen Paul, was born in January, 1932. Lou and Mary B moved to Miami Beach, Florida in the 1950’s. In 1962, while vacationing in Portland, Maine, Lou died of a massive coronary. Mary died in Florida ten years later.
NORA
Nora married Max Kaminsky (later changed to Kamins) in June, 1925.
The story passed down, is that when Nora brought her intended husband to meet the family, Fannie predicted that Max would not live a long life, because did not exhibit a robust and hearty appetite for the food she prepared. Fannie’s talent in the kitchen always drew rave comments, but Max did not share a love of food with the Freed’s, a mortal sin.
Nora and Max’ daughter, Fannie Helen, (nicknamed Gaygy), was born in December, 1927. Fannie Freed’s dire prediction proved correct, when Max, who owned a cigar store, died of Pneumonia in 1932, at age 33. Nora suffered a miscarriage brought on by the tragedy of Max’ sudden death, the lost child, a boy.
Nora received fifteen hundred dollars from Max’s life insurance policy, and decided to make an investment, putting the money to work in a pari-mutuel “system” she had developed, one that would help her nest egg grow. She packed a suitcase, and with little Gaygy and my mother Thelma (recently graduated from high school) serving as her Nanny, they embarked on a cruise ship to Florida. All her horse-playing brothers heartily approved the impractical plan, and the “Bon Voyage” party at the New York Pier the day of the sailing was boisterous and optimistic. My mother related what a grand time they had on the ship, and how much fun it was to stay in a hotel in the beautiful Florida sunshine. After a few months, the money was gone, and they returned to New York. Nora was destitute.
Cully’s wife, Bertha, had family in Washington, D.C., and they offered Nora a job as a hostess in their restaurant. Given an opportunity to begin life anew, Nora and Gaygy moved to a one room apartment (with an electric stove in the bathroom) in Washington, in 1934. They remained there until 1943, when at 16; Gaygy left Central High and worked for a short time as a cashier in a cafeteria. The two women decided it was time to return to New York, and moved in with Rube and Gus in Coney Island.
Nora had several opportunities to remarry, one in particular, a dramatic and tragic affair. Daniel Shubert left to serve in the “Abraham Lincoln Brigade” in the Spanish Civil War and was killed in action.
Nora was hired on as a proofreader at the print shop where Rube worked. Gaygy made a job connection through Rose’s eldest son, Albert, who worked as a linotype operator. She worked as a copy-holder, reading manuscripts aloud to the proofreader. After several years, she worked her way up to proofreader, eventually continuing as a free-lance reader for the rest of her working life. They moved to Greenwich Village, in Manhattan, where Nora lived for decades, becoming reclusive.
I loved visiting Aunt Nora, although I would not gain entry if I gave any warning. Showing up at her door, she would always let me in, and enjoyed the visit. She was so like my grandfather, Rube. Intelligent and witty, with an enormous laugh. Ironically, she had been the family member with the perfect ear for music, and became almost completely deaf over the course of her life! Nora died in 1980, at 77 years of age.
SAM
In 1921, Sam, 17 years old, was already earning money as a violinist. He took a job on a cruise ship that left New York and sailed to South America, where he met and married Myrtle, a manicurist working on the ship. When they returned to New York, they were divorced. Sam worked at the Loews Vaudeville Theater on Fordham Road in the Bronx, where he met Mary Feinstein, who sold tickets in a booth outside the theater. They were married in 1922. Sam left for Los Angeles to find work, and Mary followed. The children, Norman, Helen Fannie, and Willa Ann were raised in California. Mary died in 1973, and Sam moved to New York, marrying a childhood sweetheart, Laura, in 1974. Laura had never married, always hoping to be reunited with him. Sam was a violinist, composer, and musical director during his working life. He died in 1991 in New York City, at 87 years of age.
FANNIE
In 1920, Fannie lived with Lou, Nora and Sam on 32nd Street in New York. Five years later, while living with Rose and Joe Romoff, she died of pneumonia at age 60. She is buried in Mt. Hebron Cemetery in New York City.
It seems impossible that Fannie lived only 60 years, given the rich history and drama of her saga. She was an amazingly strong woman, withstanding the challenges of her era with dignity, optimism and a sense of humor. She triumphed over years of separation from her husband, leaving her native culture, language and family; bringing three small children safely across a continent and an ocean, living in a backwater mining town, birthing nine children, surviving the death of her spouse and a child, coping with eviction and poverty. Through it all, she passed on an optimistic worldview to her children.
To Fannie, the world was a grand place, her family “charming” people. She relished good conversation, a house full of music, food, laughter and love.
World War I, the full flower of the Industrial Revolution, Prohibition and the Roaring Twenties, the birth of American Jazz, motion pictures, and New York City’s rich tapestry of art, music and culture, provided the dramatic and exciting climate in which Fannie and the generation of Freeds she produced, thrived.
15 Feb 2009/28 June 2009