Remembering Aaron and Phoebe Cerf

Leo Rosenberg Alexander (born Leon Morris Rosenberg) was eleven years old when his grandfather Aaron Cerf died in 1908. His memory of Aaron Cerf provides us all with some insight into his grandfather's personality and  a glimpse of what life was like in the early 1900's.

Aaron Cerf

When asked to describe Aaron Cerf, Leo said, "Grey hair. His face had a beard and all. He looked to me like, and I have always thought, he was a Spaniard. Just a typical type. He had a very narrow face." With a swat on his hindquarters, Leo continued, "He used to use the newspaper on it. Go by and naughty...and whack, he'd hit you with the newspaper." Wondering whether he was teasing or serious, Leo responded, "He was serious, very serious. We respected him greatly. I think we all have a sense of humor, too. Just in business things, everything is very serious with us."

Center house is 2102 Bush Street, San Francisco, where Aaron Cerf and family lived from about 1903-1908

According to Leo, when Aaron and his family lived at 2102 Bush Street, San Francisco, the house was only two stories high. An upper level was added sometime later. Aaron lived in the whole house with his wife, Phoebe, and their children, Bernard, Lucien, Emile, Felice, and Arthur until they married and lived elsewhere.

Phoebe Levy Cerf

The wife of Aaron's grandson, Al Rosenberg, was named Adele Gross Rosenberg. When we asked her what stories she remembered about her husband's grandparents, she replied, "The stories were that they made their own wine down in the basement, that their home on Bush Street was sort of the center of the family even after the grandfather died and the mother was there and Arthur was there until she died, I guess. It was the center of their family existence. They were a very devoted family, they really were." Adele confirmed the family was very proud of their French background.

Leo Rosenberg Alexander as a child

Cousins Leo Rosenberg Alexander and Al Rosenberg

Leo also said, "I remember on Sundays or on Saturdays I would go to the synagogue on Bush Street. It was the French colony. They were practically all French because there was quite a colony in their district. But I had to go on Saturdays with my mother, and with my father when he was not busy. You had to kiss the grandmother and the aunts, and I hated it. Early French, the men were downstairs only, and the women were upstairs on the balcony [which is gone now]. It really was old. The carpet was red. [In conversations] they mentioned a lot of Cerfs that were cousins, but I was too small to get in to listen to it. [The women] had coffee klatches, as they called it, for the afternoon to do a lot of sewing and things like that. We had to get out and look from outside in and wait so we could get some cookies."

Sisters Clotilde Cerf Rosenberg, Felice Cerf Hofman, and Clarisse Cerf Rosenberg

Even after the grandparents had passed away, Aaron and Phoebe's daughters and daughters-in-law continued the coffee klatch tradition. Adele, who was Clotilde's daughter-in-law, remembers, "Clotilde and Clarisse were sisters and they were always together and with Regina [Bernard's wife]. They had a whole little coffee klatch type of thing. But Clarisse was sort of the matriarch. I have kind of a classic story to tell about that. Clarisse, Camille [her daughter], and Leo [her son] gave us a Dresden sort of a bowl for a wedding present. It was one of these with a figure holding a bowl and it was for fruit or whatever. Lots of little flowers and that sort of thing were on it. And I was having the whole family for an evening. I was only eighteen when I got married, so I was not very up on these things. Anyhow, I had a cleaning man that came who wanted to wash this dish. I had not unpacked it. It had come while Al and I were on our honeymoon, and my mother had put it on a sideboard. And there it was. And I said 'No, you better not touch that. I will do it.' And I took it, and I put my hand under it. And, of course, it was in two pieces. And so, of course, the whole thing fell and went into smithereens, and they were coming that evening. And there was always that sort of, almost a fear of Clarisse, invoking her displeasure. And so I didn't know what to do. So I called Ida [my brother-in-law's wife] and she said I had received a lot of duplicate gifts and taken them back. Why didn't I go down and buy another one. So I went down. No two were alike, but that wouldn't make any difference, and I bought another one. It cost $25. In 1925 that was a lot of money. Anyhow, we lived on the top floor of a walk-up apartment house and there were three flights of stairs to go up. And this was sitting in the dining room. By the time Clarisse got up to the apartment, she plastered herself down in the living room and never moved the whole evening. So she didn't know whether I had it or I didn't have it. Of course, I kept it."


References:

Interview with Adele Gross Rosenberg, March 28-29, 1992, San Mateo, California.

Interview with Leo Rosenberg Alexander, December 22, 1991, Watsonville, California.

San Francisco in 1906 and 1915

Our ancestors living in San Francisco between 1906 and 1915 were undoubtedly impacted by the 1906 earthquake and the 1915 World's Fair. These are interesting topics to ask people about, as family stories may have been passed down.

While no stories have surfaced about any Cerfs being forced to live in tents in Golden Gate Park after the earthquake, they did share housing with relatives after being temporarily forced out of unsafe areas.

One story came up in an interview with  Leo Rosenberg Alexander, a son of Louis Rosenberg and Clarisse Cerf who took his wife's surname of Alexander. Aaron Cerf's two daughters were married to two Rosenberg brothers, Louis and Ben. These brothers had a men's store in Ukiah with another brother, Harry. They had plans to have a chain of stores. According to Leo, something happened in Mendocino County and Ukiah, and people who had lived there a long time and were in business there left the area. "It was sort of a panic up there. And the Rosenbergs and the Cerfs and everybody else, they left Ukiah. And the Cerfs went into Oakland, and the grandfather [Aaron Cerf] opened a wood and coal store in Oakland [moving to San Francisco before 1906].... And then my father, Harry and Ben opened a store on Kearney Street [in San Francisco]. The fire and earthquake wiped them out. The whole thing was wiped out. They had insurance with a German insurance company. They never paid it, any of it."

A few years after San Francisco was partially destroyed by the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco beat out New Orleans for the honor of hosting the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, providing much-needed revitalization. This world's fair, running from February 20 to December 4, celebrated the completion of the Panama Canal and commemorated the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean by the explorer Balboa. The fair covered 635 acres of what is now the Marina area. It was considered a huge success. There is an interesting website on the Panama Pacific International Exposition that gives a lot of historical information about the fair. Read about its history, identify family heirlooms on the souvenirs page, and take a look at photos and postcards of the fair.

Here is a photo of a son and grandson of Aaron Cerf visiting the fair. The son is Arthur Cerf and the grandson is Leo Rosenberg Alexander.

Two of these well-dressed gentlemen were Arthur Cerf seated on left
 and Leo Rosenberg Alexander standing on left
 at the Panama Pacific International Exposition.

References:

Interview with Leo Alexander on December 22, 1991, in Watsonville, California.

The Panama Pacific International Exposition website at http://www.sanfranciscomemories.com/ppie/.

Marcel E. Cerf Memorabilia

Marcel E. Cerf might have been a bit of a packrat, and I for one am glad.  He saved boxes of memorabilia related to the Cerf family and his law practice, which were donated to the Bancroft Library at U.C. Berkeley upon his death. Before describing what information is available in the Marcel E. Cerf Collection, l will tell you briefly about his life.

Marcel E. Cerf passport photo

Marcel E. Cerf, 1877-1935, was one of eight children born to Ernest and Bobbette Hirsch Cerf in San Luis Obispo, California. After graduating from U.C. Berkeley in 1897 and Hastings Law School in 1900, Marcel practiced general law in San Francisco. In 1913, he was appointed by California Governor Hiram W. Johnson as a Judge of the Superior Court of San Francisco. Two years later, he retired to private practice after apparently failing to win re-election. He later became an assistant professor of law at Hastings Law School.

In 1935, Marcel was recommended for a federal judgeship by United States Senator William G. McAdoo. Marcel and his wife, an heir to the Colton Estate (of Union Pacific Railroad), traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Roosevelt. A few hours before the meeting, Marcel suffered a stroke, dying about three weeks later at home in San Francisco.

The Marcel E. Cerf Collection

This collection is divided into nine units, most of which relate to Marcel’s law practice, his investments, and his judgeship. There are two units, which ended up being four cartons, that I found interesting enough to look through when I visited in 1991. My description includes the notes I made as I went through the cartons. At the time, I wasn't planning on publishing these notes; they are sometimes sketchy, though I hope some of this will be helpful to anyone who wants to access the material.

Carton 1

Unit I, composed of Carton 1, deals with the business affairs of Marcel's father, Ernest Cerf; his uncle, Moses Cerf; and A. Blochman and Company, during 1863-1893, in San Luis Obispo, California. Carton 1 contained mostly bills, ledgers, receipts, and deeds. Specifically, I took notes of the following:

Carton 1 Notes

·         Various promissory notes and statements of account for customers of IXL Lime Co. of Santa Cruz, for which Blochman and Cerf were listed as agents.

·         Statements of merchandise sold to Ernest Cerf, etc., 1893.

·         Deposit slips for Commercial Bank, SLO, 1891.

·         Delivery slips of Pacific Coast Steamship Co., 1891.

·         Receipt from The Tribune, SLO, for an advertisement dated June 29, 1892, cost of $.50.

·         City of SLO tax receipts, 1892.

·         Pacific Coast Matzo Bakery, 323 Front St., SLO, 50 lbs. matzos for $5.

·         Bank statement for Ernest Cerf, May 10, 1893, Commercial Bank, SLO, balance in account $433.77, most checks payable to “myself.”

·         Papers for Lazarus M. Kaiser, including member papers for Odd Fellows Lodge, Chorro Lodge No. 168, 1872.

·         Papers for Solomon Kaiser, Knights of Pythies, for membership section 147.

·         Papers of Moses Cerf, 1872.

·         Power of attorney of A. Blochman to Moses Cerf, 1870.

·         Many deeds, approximately 50, recording purchases by Ernest Cerf from the SLO Tax Collector who was selling land for nonpayment of taxes by former owners.

·         Other deeds and mortgages of property purchased and sold in San Luis Obispo County.

·         Several land grants for school purposes from the State of California to Bryce Patrick and others (why this was in there, I don't know).

·         Grant in 1874 of 150,000 acres for agricultural college purposes in SLO, and for 40 acres for use by A. Warner Rose.

·         Deed for land purchased in Santa Barbara County called Rancho Los Alamos for $8,000 in 1875.

·         Letters about mines and mining to Ernest Cerf.

Carton 31

Unit VIII contains six boxes (cartons 28-33), dealing with personal items related to Marcel’s work and the Cerf family. Carton 31 is listed as containing “items of personal interests to the Cerf family, receipts, bills, check stubs, newspapers of election and sports, history with names of brothers Cedric and Barry appearing, who also attended the Univeristy of California, one a football captain, organizer of Associate Students.  Packet of personal and business correspondence (1907-1914). Some unidentified lists of names.” My notes from investigating Carton 31 are:

Carton 31 Notes

·         Lots of newspaper clippings on events.

·         Correspondence from Mr. Sinsheimer, San Francisco, to E. Cerf at San Francisco and at Tesla, Alameda Co. (1905).

·         Letter from Ernest Cerf from SLO in 1891 to Ma chere Rosalie, written in French.

·         Letter Ernest Cerf wrote on October 24, 1896, to his employer, A. Schilling and Co., from Mexico about selling tea, spices, etc.

·         Deed for sale of property at Steiner St., San Francisco, from Bobbette Cerf and Ernest Cerf, her husband, to Fanny Rothschild for $7,000.

·         Letter of July 3, 1914, from law offices of Loeb and Loeb (Joseph P. Loeb and Edwin Jacob Loeb) to Marcel.

·         A. McAlister and Co., SLO, letter dated August 22, 1913, to Marcel regarding land in the Estate of Ernest Cerf.

·         French Consulate document of 1872 regarding Mr. Cerf.

Carton 32 

Carton 32 contains “early pictures of San Luis Obispo, California, California Missions, and miscellaneous picture postcards. Box of titles on Hawaiian Islands with lists of same titles and scrap book on Islands. Folder of miscellaneous maps of California counties, properties and railroad; items of a trip to New Zealand with University of California football team, also a few University of California school mementos."

Carton 32 Notes

·         Old postcards from France circa 1930’s and letters describing country markets.  Looks like someone wanted to write a book or an article. These were sent to Barry Cerf, 2207 Dwight Way, Berkeley.

·         Photographs of Tesla Coal Mine, Alameda, CA, 1903.

·         Four photos that look like early pictures of the San Luis Obispo Mission with a bell tower.

·         Photo of the Bank of SLO by R.R.R. Holmes, Artist.

·         Postcards (various scenes) sent to E. William Cerf, Esq. (Marcel’s brother, Emile William Cerf), to address in care of Cerro de Pasco Smelter, La Fundicion, Peru, South America, 1909. One was from Marcel and one from brother Cedric.

·         Photo of man with a note at the bottom, “Joseph S. Conte.”

·         Photo of brother Cedric and rugby team in Australia with a note at the bottom, “The Wallabies” 1908-9.

·         Postcard of Coast Line U.S.M. Stage Co., by Lewis, Monterey St., SLO.

·         Photo of the interior of Second New Jerusalem Church, Lyon and Washington Streets, San Francisco, Rev. Joseph Worcester.

·         U.C. Berkeley 1909 Junior Class Day, address by Mr. Cedric Salma Cerf, President of class.

·         Souvenirs of Cedric’s trip to Australia.

Carton 33 

Carton 33 contains “folders of unidentified lists of persons, names and addresses; several scrap books. Two scrap books of Judge Cerf’s, showing his campaigning for re-election in 1914 and his court decisions (1913-1916)."

Carton 33 Notes

·         Ledger of A. Blochman and Co.

·         Folder F, wedding reception of Ernest Cerf and Bobbette Hirsch, September 6, 1874.

·         Demand Note of Blochman, Jr., for $25,326, dated May 1889, payable to Joseph Weil.

·         Ernest Cerf’s appointment as Master Mason of King David’s Lodge No. 209, October 7, 1873.

·         Estate of Lazare Landeker, Ernest Cerf executor.  [More on this in a future blog]

·         Deed selling property at Higuera and Marsh from Alice Landeker to Luigi Marri and Ernest Cerf for $5 on February 23, 1884.

·         Statement of Galeta Lands, various parcels, totaling $4,322.27, in a box labeled Blochman.

·         Tax receipts for San Luis Obispo and Kern Counties.

·         Letterhead of A. Blochman and Co. with associates marked on in upper corners: Blochman and Cerf, San Francisco; Zederman and Co., Nipomo; Kaiser Bros. and Co., Santa Maria; and A. Weill and Co., Los Alamos.

·         Subscription to build San Luis Hotel Co.

·         Deed dated February 28, 1873 from David Mallagh to A. Blochman and Moses Cerf for $3,000.

·         Patent for Land to John Harford dated May 1, 1869.

·         Complaint in the case of Blochman vs. Goldtree.

·         Agreement of February 11, 1873 between Blochman, Cerf, and Mallagh.

·         Letter dated January 26, 1873 from Mallagh.

·         Lease of Blochman, Cerf, and Goldtree Bros. to Goodall, Nelson and Perkins of People’s Wharf for five years for $250 per month, dated January 2, 1874.

Visiting Bancroft Library to view the Collection

The Marcel E. Cerf Collection is located in a library storage facility in the city of Richmond. If you want to see the collection, contact the Bancroft Library in advance. If visiting during the school year, it is advised to arrive early in the day as there can be waiting lists to get into the reading room. Photocopies of documents have to be ordered as many of the items are very fragile.

I spent the better part of one day going through the above four cartons. There were so many items in the cartons, and I may have missed some items of significance. My notes only highlight the items I found personally interesting.

References:

Marcel E. Cerf Collection, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Photo and newspaper clipping found on Ancestry.com.