by Ted Gup
1888 OR 1889
The years Sam Stone claims in midlife that his parents came to America and then returned to Romania, and that he was born during their visit to the United States. There is no documentary evidence to support that claim.
1902
Romania passes the Law of Guilds, barring Jews from practicing many professions. It comes on top of numerous earlier anti-Semitic pieces of legislation. In September, the United States protests Romania’s treatment of Jews. That is the same month Sam and his father set sail for America from Le Havre, France.
OCTOBER 6, 1902
Father Janne (Jacob) Finkelstein, age forty-three; eldest son, Sam, fifteen; eldest daughter, Hana Sure (Sarah), seventeen; and Moses (Morris, Mack), eleven, arrive in the port of New York and make their way to Pittsburgh to join a growing community of displaced Romanian Jews.
SEPTEMBER 1903
Sam’s mother, Hinde, age forty, and four younger children—Gusta (Gussie), eleven; Tina (Esther), nine; David, seven; and Isadore (Al), an infant—emigrate to the United States aboard the SS Ivernia, leaving from Liverpool, England, and arriving in the port of Boston. The family reunites in Pittsburgh.
DECEMBER 23 , 1907
Minna Adolph, Sam’s future wife, is born.
1910
U.S. Census for Pittsburgh makes no mention of a Sam Finkelstein or a Sam Stone, but lists his father, Jacob Finkelstein, age forty-eight, born in Romania; spouse Heldia [sic], age forty-five; daughter Goldie, seventeen; daughter Ester, fifteen; son Dave, thirteen; and son Isidor, seven.
1914
The Kenosha, Wisconsin, City Directory records that Samuel Stone, a salesman, is living at 328 Fremont Avenue and working at the Block Brothers department store.
1916
The Kenosha, Wisconsin, City Directory records that Samuel Stone is living at 375 Durkee Avenue and managing S & J Gottlieb Company Dry Goods.
1917
The Chicago City Directory lists Samuel Stone as an advertising agent living at 3000 Ellis Avenue. He works for David Seiden, who runs a millinery shop at 81 East Madison Street.
JUNE 5 , 1917
Twenty-nine-year-old Samuel J. Stone signs a military registration card in Chicago, Illinois, giving his birth date as March 2, 1888, and his birthplace as Bucharest, Romania. He lists his legal status as “Alien.” Sam serves in the U.S. infantry for two years.
1920
The U.S. Census records that Samuel J. Stone, age thirty, is a “roomer” living at 930 Tenth Street Northwest in Canton, Ohio. He is listed as emigrating to the United States in 1900, and gives his birthplace, as well as that of his father and mother, as Germany. His occupation: advertising.
1920
The Canton City Directory lists Samuel Stone as a boarder at 1121 Walnut Avenue Northeast working for the Quality Shoppe at 226 Market Avenue South.
APRIL 25, 1921
A birth certificate allegedly signed by J. H. Harkins in Pittsburgh shows that Sam Stone was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
JUNE 15 , 1921
A U.S. passport is issued to Sam Stone. It gives his place of birth as Pittsburgh and birth date as March 1, 1889. Shortly afterward, he embarks for France, Italy, Romania, Switzerland, and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
1923
Minna Adolph graduates from McKinley High School at age fifteen. Her graduation is a front-page story.
1924
Sam’s eldest sister, Sarah, and her husband, Jacob S. Berman, join Sam in Canton. Jacob goes to work for Sam.
MARCH 14 , 1926
Sam’s father, Jacob Finkelstein, dies in Pittsburgh at age sixty-seven. Shortly thereafter Sam meets Minna Adolph and they begin their courtship. Sam’s brother Mack joins him in Canton and goes to work for him.
APRIL 24 , 1927
Sam Stone marries Minna Adolph, a woman who, at nineteen, is half his age. On the marriage certificate, Sam claims to be thirty-five, not thirty-nine, and born in Pittsburgh. He gives his father’s name as “Jacob Stone,” though his father steadfastly refused to change his name to Stone.
JUNE 20 , 1929
Sam purchases a clothing store in Buffalo, New York.
1929
The stock market crashes. The Great Depression begins and Sam Stone suffers his own severe financial reversals.
1930
Sam and Minna Stone and daughters Virginia, two, and Dorothy, four months, live at 1009 Seventeenth Street Northwest in Canton. Sam lists his birthplace as Pennsylvania, and his parents’ birthplace as “Bohemia.”
1931
Sam’s brother Mack, his wife, and perhaps others steal from his inventory and open their own store—Stone Brothers—in direct competition on the same city block in downtown Canton.
1932
In an envelope are notes from Minna in shorthand and an alleged copy of Sam’s birth certificate giving the birthplace of his parents as Russia and claiming that Sam was born on March 29, 1889, at 29 Gum Street in Pittsburgh. The midwife is listed as H. Sandusky and the certificate is said to be recorded in volume 376, on pages 291-98. No such record appears in Pittsburgh’s birth registry.
NOVEMBER 1932
Mack Stone, Sam’s brother, attempts to blackmail him with trumped-up allegations of arson.
1933
Sam Stone acquires the Kibler Clothing chain, which consists of nine retail stores in Ohio, West Virginia, and Illinois.
CHRISTMAS WEEK, 1933
The B. Virdot letters and gifts are sent.
SEPTEMBER 1938
Sam Stone goes to bankruptcy court.
SEPTEMBER 15 , 1939
Sam’s mother, Hilda Finkelstein, dies at age seventy-six.
OCTOBER 1940
Sam donates fifty wool coats to British civilians and takes out a full-page ad in the Repository soliciting help for the Allied Relief Fund: “The Homeless Poor of Europe Cannot Wait.” That same month, because of the Smith Act and its provisions requiring aliens to either register or face prosecution, Sam retains an attorney and agonizes over whether to continue the ruse of citizenship or come clean.
JULY 1 , 1941
The Jews of Dorohoi, Romania, where Sam is from, are systematically rounded up and exterminated.
EARLY 1950 S
Sam retires from the clothing business and moves to Golden Beach, Florida. He enters real estate, helps develop Sunset Isles in Hollywood, and acquires the Florida Vacuum Metalizing plant.
DECEMBER 1953
Issues of Sam’s citizenship arise again as he seeks to renew his passport.
A Washington attorney advises him to avoid raising questions that might provoke suspicions about his legal status.
JANUARY 1958
A passport is again issued to Sam Stone and again he lists his birthplace as Pittsburgh.
JULY 1967
Sam returns to his native town of Dorohoi, Romania, but makes no mention of what he finds, who he sees, or what feelings he has for the town.
JANUARY 29 , 1981
Sam Stone dies after crashing into a rising drawbridge in North Miami. He is buried in Canton’s West Lawn Cemetery.
JUNE 24 , 2008
The B. Virdot letters are passed to Sam Stone’s grandson.
Index
A., Mrs. Bessie (gift applicant)
Adolph, Elias “Al,”
Adolph, Minna. See Stone, Minna Cecilia
Alien Registration Act (Smith Act)
aliens
Jews in Romania
registration in United States
suspicion and deportation of
Allen, Lottie
Aman, Ruth
Anderson, Richard E.
Atwell, Zadock and May
Austin, Mr. and Mrs. C. W.
Bailey, Dan
Bailey, Deloris
Bailey, Denzell and Velma
Bailey, Fred and Ida
Bair, Florence (later Winters)
bank failures
American Exchange Bank
&
nbsp; Dime Savings Bank
extent of
Harter Bank
loss of savings
modern-day prevention of
Reconstruction Finance Corporation assistance
barter system
Baum, Hazel
Bean, James Wilson
Beggs, Don
Beggs, Raymond and Ora
Bender’s tavern
Bennafield, Allen C., Jr.
Bennafield, Allen Chester and Emily
Bennafield, Donald
Bennafield, Leta
Berman, Hana Sure “Sarah” (formerly Finkelstein, Stone; later Shapiro)
Berman, Jacob
Berman, Zelda
Billings, Earl J.
Black, Brad
Blizzard Manufacturing Company (formerly Joseph Dick)
Blythe, Clarence
Blythe, Richard
Blythe, Ruby
Blythe, Sandra
Boyer, Margaret and John
Boylan, Clifford P.
Brenner, Clara
Brigham, Doris Jean
Brigham, Mary
Brigham, William Lewis
Brigham, William Lewis “Bill,”
Brown, Donavon and Mabel
Brown, Evan Jet
Brown, Ruth Stewart
Brownlee, James A.
Bunt, Delia
Bunt, Elizabeth (later Haren)
Bunt, Martin William
Bunt, Thelma
Burnbrier, Carl Joseph “Joe” and Maude
Burnbrier, Thomas
Burnbrier, Virginia
Burson, James
Canoyer, Rebecca J.
Canton, Ohio
Bender’s tavern
car dealerships
class distinctions
County Poorhouse
crime and corruption
decline
Dueber-Hampden watch factory
evictions
Fairmount Children’s Home
Family Services
Ford Motor Company
during Great Recession
Hercules Motor Corporation
History of Stark County Ohio
homelessness
Hoover Company
immigrant population
Jewish community
Joseph Dick Manufacturing Company (later Blizzard)
labor strikes
legacy of Great Depression
Mansfield Reformatory
medical services
Meyers Lake Amusement Park
misery and hardship
Palace Theater
population growth
prosperity
Republic Steel
scammers
scavenging for coal
Stone’s Clothes
suicides
Timken Roller Bearing Company
unemployment
vegetable gardening
Canton Poultry
Canton Repository
ad placed by B. Virdot
“Community Help” feature
on Dime Savings Bank failure
on donation of coats for wartime relief
on Minna Adolph’s academic achievements
on Stone’s generosity
Carlin, Donald
Carlin, George and Hazel “Tootie,”
Carlin, James
Carlin, Jean
Carlin, Lawrence Henry and Florence Maude
Carlin, Lheeta (later Talbott)
Carlin, Valerie
Case, Frank E.
charity, aversion to
Chiparus, Demetre Haralamb
Christmas Carol, A (Dickens)
Christmas gift. See gift distribution
Civil Works Administration (CWA)
Clark, Dorothy
Cleveland Plain Dealer
coal, scavenging for
Cohen, Meyer
Cohen, Shirley
Coldren, George D.
community, sense of
Compher, Betty Jane
Compher, Carol
Compher, Clarence Marion
Compher, Donald
Compher, Norma J.
Compher, Oscar and Harriet
Cooke, Edmund Vance
Couch, William S.
County Poorhouse
credit, purchases on
Crew, Shirley
crime
for access to security in jail
in Canton culture
desperation
Criswell, Hilda and Reuben
Cunningham, Florence
CWA (Civil Works Administration)
Davis, William and Elizabeth
DeHoff, Harold
DeHoff, Howard
DeHoff, Howard Ellsworth
DeHoff, Rachel
Dennison, Thomas
Depression. See Great Depression
DeWalt, Anna
Dick, Edward
Dick, Florence
Dick, Frank J.
Dick, Harriet
Dick, Joseph
Dick, Robert
Dick, Sally
Dick, Thomas
Dickens, Charles
Dickerhoff, Ethel
DiGianantonio, Felicia
Dime Savings Bank
Duca, Ion
Dueber-Hampden watch factory
economic downturn of twenty-first century. See Great Recession
Eger, Hersh
Evans, Willis and Minnie
evictions
Fairmount Children’s Home
family, appreciation of
Family Services
Ferruccio, Pat
Finkelstein, David (later Stone) Finkelstein, Gusta “Gussie” (later Stone)
Finkelstein, Hana Sure “Sarah” (later Stone, Berman, Shapiro)
Finkelstein, Hinde “Hilda” (later Stone)
Finkelstein, Isadore “Al” (later Stone)
Finkelstein, Janne “Jacob,”
Finkelstein, Moses “Mack” (later Stone)
Finkelstein, Tina “Esther” (later Stone, Moidell)
Finn, Samuel
First Presbyterian Church (Canton, Ohio)
Ford Motor Company
Fry, Geraldine Laura Hillman “Gerry,”
Fry, Romain “Bud,”
gift distribution
administration of
amount of
anonymity of donor and recipients
letters of request for
newspaper ad
spiritual aspect of
as tzedakah
Gipe, Lawrence
Gissiner, Betty
Gissiner, Evelyn
Gissiner, Jeffrey
Gissiner, John S.
Gissiner, Karl
Gompers, Samuel
Gray, Bill
business, “Gray the Painter,”
care of family and neighbors
family
letter of request
retirement and death
Gray, Gloria (later Hawkins)
Gray, Marjorie (later Markey)
Great Depression
bank failures
barter system
callousness toward suffering
charity and government aid, aversion to
Civil Works Administration
community, sense of
cost of goods
credit purchases
crime
evictions
family, appreciation of
hardships prior to
hoboes
homelessness
hunger
individualism and individual responsibility
New Deal
nomadic existence
pride and self-esteem
shame of poverty
small kindnesses
unemployment
vulnerability of wealthy
Works Progress Administration
Greatest Generation
Great Recession (twenty-first century)
&n
bsp; assistance to needy
auto industry bankruptcies
in Canton
versus Great Depression
self-restraint and discipline
Troubled Assets Recovery Program
Grekin, Jacob
Griffin, Dennis
groceries
cost of
purchase on credit
Groves, James E. and Mary
Gup, Ted
discovery of appeal letters
New York Times story on letters
recollection of grandfather
research into grandfather’s history
search for descendants of gift recipients
study of history
Gup, Virginia (formerly Stone; later Sharpe)
Haas, Jeffrey Earl
Haas, Tom
Hammerstein, Oscar
Haren, Bernard
Haren, Elizabeth Bunt
Haren, James
Haren, William
Harter Bank
Hawkins, Gloria (formerly Gray)
Hay, John
Hensel, George
Hercules Motor Corporation
Hillman, Geraldine Laura (later Fry)
Hillman, Olive
Hillman, Paul
Hillman, Paul, Jr.
hoboes
homelessness
Hoover, J. Edgar
Hoover Company
Hopkins, Harry
“How Did You Die?” (Cooke)
Humphrey, Roger
hunger
hunger marches
immigrants to United States
Alien Registration Act (Smith Act)
in Canton
in Pittsburgh
quotas
from Romania
suspicion and deportation of