Anna Braunhart was the second girl (and the third child of Alexander and Helene Braunhart) to immigrate to America. At age 19, by herself, she made the voyage from Germany to America.  As her sister Martha did earlier, she worked in the home of Max Markheim and Cecelia Braunhart Markheim, Anna's cousin.  She met her future husband, house painter Harry Airman Tulman, in a paint store owned by her sister Martha and her husband Bernard Sternbach as he shopped for supplies.  They were married in 1915 and stayed together for 43 years until Harry's passing in 1958.

Together, Anna and Harry opened a hardware store.  While Harry continued painting houses for a living, Anna ran the business while raising 4 children.  Anna taught herself English by reading newspapers.  She learned the real estate business and went on to buy and manage several apartment buildings while also making money in the stock market. Overall, Anna was very accomplished for a self-taught immigrant.

The following quotes from her children and grandchildren describe this remarkable woman:

• A contributor to a Jewish organization, she traveled frequently to Washington, DC in her efforts to bring German relatives to the US.
• Anna taught herself English by reading the New York Times, Post, and Daily News. She continued reading them daily until July 1, 1986, when she was hospitalized. One month later, on August 1, she passed away at age 96-1/2 in her home of more than 60 years at 8411 21st Avenue in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, an apartment building she once owned.
• She made sugar cookies from scratch. While she often overcooked or burned them, her appreciative family and friends still found them to be delicious. Instead of a cookie cutter, she used the lid of a mayonnaise or instant coffee jar.
• She always served fruit, insisting that every visitor eat one, even if it was close to overripe.
• Anna owned several apartment buildings, including one with 37 units and another with six. Three of Anna's children lived with their own families in the apartments for years.  She also provided German family members who immigrated to America with units from the time they arrived until they found jobs and established their new lives. Anna and Harry also purchased a family summer home near Monroe, NY in the 1940s, which provided many years of enjoyable country life for their children, grandchildren, and extended family.

A few years before she passed away, Anna summed up her philosophy of how to live an honest life when she said in a taped interview:

"I believe that you have to live a good life and enjoy as much as you can and be honest and fair and square to everybody. You should honor your father and mother and everybody belonging to you. Don't take anything that's not yours. If you can't do good for somebody, don't ever do them any harm. That's the best way to be."

From granddaughter Martha Lesnitzer Zucker’s interview with Anna B. Tulman, taped in Brooklyn on August 31, 1983:

Early Days in America
My father had to go to the mayor, they call it "to give consent" that I could go to America because I wasn't old enough to go without it. I think it must have been in 1909.

One day Harry Tulman came for a can of paint and asked me for a date and that was that. When I had my bunions removed, he came every day to see me in the hospital. We went to City Hall and got married. The Goldsteins, who were friends of Harry’s, made a wedding party for us in their house at 33 Chestnut St., in Brownsville. 

My husband was a painter and didn't make much. One day I said to him, "let's look for our own store." I had $200.00; we looked for a store and found one on 18th Ave. The walls weren't finished and it was wet from the plaster but we had nowhere to go so we slept across the street. There was a shoe store, the name was Horowitz, so we slept over there and we paid them rent. When our store was finished, the walls still wet, we moved in over there, behind the store.   Whenever anybody came and they asked for something, I wrote down what they asked for and then I ordered it.  I have a big story to tell.

Anna’s Parents
My mother was a very good woman who had a hard life. She had 11 children, including a baby boy who died. My father was well educated.  I used to send money home to them. They didn't need it too much because my father used to be like a lawyer. People came to him who were in trouble of some kind - with their husbands or they had money problems. My father used to go right to court with them. He was like a lawyer here. He was very much educated.  

His brother, Samuel Braunhart, was a state senator in San Francisco who was often in the newspaper. There was a big fire in San Francisco in 1906. My brother Jacob, who came to America with Martha, was there with my uncle when the fire broke out. Jacob carried my uncle out but he died after in the hospital.  My father had another brother. His name was Bernhard. He had a wife and a son.  

Child Rearing
I hope you have the best life anybody could have, and after a while you'll have a family. You make your children to order, not by accident. I didn't know at that time how happy I was when I had those twins at the same time. I would wish it to anybody if they want to. So maybe if I had them at the beginning, maybe I wouldn't have any more children, but it's better it happened that way. 

Before I had Mildred we didn't plan to have any children yet because it wasn't our time. So then the war came and they said, "Mrs. Tulman, you have a business and you have no children, so your husband's gonna be first to go to war." That's what they told me. So I thought to have children because I didn't want my husband to go..... I had to start to have children before they would take my husband. And then, I had Mildred.

My husband loved us and he took Mildred everywhere. Wherever he went, they know her better than him. Then I worked hard and he worked hard painting. He used to come home all sweaty from work and give me the money to buy material that the people wanted. He worked hard. Maybe if he didn't work so hard he would have lived longer. 

But then we had to be in the store, I had servants for the children. My husband went to Pennsylvania to pick up the servants. To Cementon I think it was. I used to order, I used to pack, I used to climb up and put the stock away and all and my husband used to work and bring in the money. I like to sleep in the morning so my husband opened up the store and he used to holler, "ANNA, where's this? where's that?” because he had to work and I put it away, so I used to tell him I know upstairs where the things were. 

I had Mildred and Muriel about 3 1/2 years apart. I said to my husband that I must have another child and name it after my mother. I want my mother's name, so he obliged me and God blessed me with twins. I didn't know that was a happy day. That was the happiest day of my life. Helene and Stanley. But Helene was alright. She was a beautiful baby. But Stanley, I think he must have weighed a pound and a half. So at that time they had home nurses. My husband got one for me and she used to take care of me and take care of the children. I couldn't nurse. I never nursed my kids. Helene took the food but Stanley was so weak that he couldn't even take the food so the woman said to me, "the girl eats but the boy don't wanna eat," so I went up and I stood there with a spoon about a half an hour and I fed him till he took it down. So when the doctor came and he saw Stanley, he laughed to beat the band. He couldn't get over that Stanley's living. That's how weak he was. And I think you should have a son like Stanley.

Raising a Family
I believe in having a family. You don't want to be without children. Have them while you're young.  You have friends and you have patience and you have everything. When they grow up, you take a rest. 

God
I believe there's a God in heaven, I do believe. And He watches over you.

I recently discovered a reference to a book by Edward David Luft, entitled  "The Naturalized Jews of the Grand Duchy of Posen in 1834 and 1835."  The book contains a list of Posen Jews who had limited citizenship rights conferred upon them, i.e., were "naturalized," in 1834 and 1835.

Most Posen Jews were not eligible for "naturalization," and Luft estimates that only 5.5% of Posen's Jews were naturalized. Luft's book also contains an English translation of the Prussian decree that legislated the repressive conditions that Jews were subjected to.  For example, even "naturalized" Jews could not vote in Prussian elections or hold elective office outside the Jewish community.  Moreover, to be "naturalized," a Jew had to possess significant assets (either owning a farm large enough to support the family, or a plot in the city (debt-free) worth 2,000 Reichthaler, or having 5,000  Reichthaler in savings) or receive a waiver of the asset requirement for a "patriotic endeavor for the state."  Jews who did not possess such assets were subject to deportation unless they could prove they were permanent residents of Posen province since June 1, 1815.  An allegation by a Jew that he had lived in the Province since before June 1, 1815 was almost never challenged until after 1835, and then very rarely.

Our Lewin Jacob Braunhart was identified as a "Lehrer"  (teacher or professor).  He was also identified as living in Schubin and was naturalized on August 8, 1834.

Actually my ex-cousin-in-law once removed, but who's counting? Hal Borne (born Cecil Harold Steinborn) was a bandleader and composer of popular music, best known as the music director for RKO Studios for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers from 1931-1940. Later, he was the band leader for the Tony Martin and Ginger Rogers' touring shows. He also wrote the music for one of the last Marx Brothers movies "The Big Store" and was a songwriter ("Tenement Symphony", "I'm Building Up to an Awful Letdown"). Here is a photo of Fred, Hal, and Ginger on the set of "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" in 1939: 

He was married to my father's cousin Gloria Metzner, whose stage name at that time was Gloria Dea.  She was a child magician; dancer in the Earl Carroll's Vanities in Hollywood and the Billy Rose Aquacade at the San Francisco World's Fair; and later an actress in several movies and serials.  She and Hal were married in the 1940s.  Here is a photo of them together in 1945: 

I have always wondered about the World War I draft card for my grandfather Mervyn Raphael Marks.  There have always been two things that bothered me about it.

The first bothersome entry was that he identified himself as a "farmer."  The second was that he had sole support of his mother, Mollie Raphael Marks. He had not yet married my grandmother, Celia Heyman.  That happened in 1918.

Let's take a look at these two "facts."  First, below are the two pages of his draft card:

I'm sorry, but unless I am terribly mistaken, my grandfather was not a farmer.  He was a salesman.  And although his parents according to the 1910 census were not living together (I could not find his father anywhere), I do believe that they were together in 1917 (his father Joseph Marks, died in 1919).

In reviewing the rules for deferment for World War I, about 50% of the men who registered in the first registration (men 21 to 31 years old), received deferments, and sole support of a parent and critical agriculture employment were two factors in receiving a deferment.

So did Grandpa lie to get out of the draft? His son is still alive, but I don't think this would be something that one would be proud to admit to one's son. On the other hand, maybe his parents were separated and he did work on a farm - but I doubt it. I don't think I will ever know. 

My grandmother, Celia Heyman Marks, was a whiz at the typewriter.  Because she mostly used manual typewriters all her life (she was born in 1894), she had incredibly strong fingers and hands.

The story goes that at the New York World's Fair in the early 1900s, she broke one of the first electric typewriters (which were first mass produced in 1902) because she typed so fast. On a manual typewriter, I know she exceeded 125 words per minute for an extended period.  I believe the world record is 147 wpm for an hour.

There was much more to my grandmother - she was smart as a whip and loved word games.

Here she is and below her photo is a photo of her typing medal in 1909 from the Wood's Brooklyn School of Business and Shorthand.

My great aunt, Martha Heyman, was married twice, once to Harry Christopher, and once to Leo Metzner. It is fascinating to me that her first marriage to Mr. Christopher lasted less than 3 months: 

Fortunately, her second marriage (and final one) to my great Uncle Leo Metzner lasted over 50 years (unfortunately she passed 2 months after their golden anniversary).  They changed their last name to "Day" in the 1940's: 

So who knows what lies ahead after a wedding, sometimes pain, sometimes bliss, sometimes both! 

Samuel Braunhart, my great great great Uncle, who held several elected political posts between 1880 and his death in 1906 in San Francisco, was a feisty and outspoken sort, who often got into spats with his colleagues.

Politics in America today has nothing compared to a hundred or so years ago.  But to have a pistol drawn on you?  Wow!

On this Mother's Day we remember our deceased Braunhart mothers. Some of us knew you and all of us wish we had met you. 

Sara Braunhart Bernstein - Mother of Amalie, Ernestine, Cecelia, Hattie, Max and 2 others unknown 

Helene Baszynska Braunhart - Mother of Moritz, Jakob, Anna, Martha, Theodor, Carl, Selma, Cecelia, Julius, Philipp, Frieda, Caesar, and one unknown 

Anna Braunhart Tulman - Mother of Mildred, Muriel, Stanley, and Helene 

Martha Braunhart Sternbach - Mother of Leo, Harold, and Regina 

Hedwig Bukofzer Braunhart (Wife of Carl) - Mother of Hanna and Heinz 

Ilse Gass Hart (Wife of Jacob) - Mother of Erna, Margaret, and Herbert 

Else Schmalenbach (Wife of Phillip) - Mother of Horst, Gisela, and Bernhard 

Frieda Braunhart Brunn - Mother of Henry and Miriam 

Cecelia Bernstein Markheim - Mother of Arthur, Robert, Minnie, Pauline, Leo, and Edith 

Hedwig (Hattie) Bernstein Fried - Mother of Leo 

Ernestine Bernstein Heyman - Mother of Celia, Martha, Arthur, Robert, Leo, and Mynette 

Dorka Asch Braunhart (Wife of Julius) - Mother of Lothar and Lilly  

Unfortunately we do not have photos of the following Braunhart mothers: 

Rosa Levison Braunhart – Mother of Harry

Amalie Bernstein Brock - Mother of Teresa, Regina, and Eric

My father, Robert Joseph Marks, had a terrific sense of humor.  When faced with an adversary, his motto was "kill them with kindness". He took pleasure in combining humor with getting a dig at someone who was giving him a bad time.

Bill Fiset, the columnist for over 35 years at the Oakland Tribune, who regularly wrote human interest stories, memorialized my father's interaction with the Sequoyah Country Club and Castlewood Country Club in the following story:

My dad's cousin - Gloria Metzner, who went by the stage name Gloria Dea when she was in the movies in the 1940 and 1950s, started her entertainment career as a magician.  Her father, Leo Metzner, performed in local circles as "The Great Leo."

The following are two articles, regarding Gloria's magical exploits - one at age 7, and one at age 11.  She later took her act to The Hotel El Rancho Vegas, the Las Vegas Strip's first casino resort.