From “Proud Heritage Volume II ” by DCPA. This 317 page hardcover book is now available online.
Leopold Arons (1822-1889) came from Germany and, in December 1872, married Otelia Wohl (1848-1940), who had ridden the first train into Dallas when the tracks opened. They were married by Justice of the Peace, J. D. Kerfoot. Louis was a fruit and vegetable dealer, and lived at 10 North Market Street, between Main and Commerce. Otelia, a native of Poland, was deaf. She and Louis had four children: Rosa, Emil, Meta, and Jacob.Louis died in 1889 and was buried at Emanu-El Cemetery. Otelia’s brother, Max Wohl, operated a clothing store on Elm Street in Dallas.
Daughter, Meta, was a dressmaker for Sanger Brothers, and died in 1949 in a fire at her home, 2703 Worthington Street. Her sister, Rosa (1874-1954), married Emil Lewin (1872-1928), who came from Germany in 1884 and became a naturalized citizen. He worked as a butcher for his brother Ludwig in Dallas, and was later in the oil business in west Texas. Rosa and Emil had six children: Helen, Leo, Ernestine, Harold, Morris, and Mildred Lewin. Ernestine later recalled attending San Jacinto School and Forest Avenue High School in Dallas. She received her B.A. degree at SMU in 1922, and a degree from Smith College in Massachusetts in 1924. She later studied at Columbia University’s New York School for Social Work, and became a psychiatric social worker with the Child Guidance Center. She became Director of Social Services for the Los Angeles Child Guidance enter before retiring in 1967.
Emil Arons (1875-1944), son of Louis, worked for Sanger Brothers in Dallas. In 1912, he married Ida Morrison (1880-1938) of Henderson County, Texas. They lived at 1417 Peabody Street in south Dallas. Ida was a Charter Member of the Council of Jewish Women. Emil and Ida had two sons: Eugene, who died young, and Wallace (1918-1974). Wallace was a member of Temple Emanu-El, and had a daughter, Jean, who married Jay Teblum and lived in Richardson, Texas.
Jacob Arons, son of Louis, left Dallas as a teenager and lived in New York and California, where he was an early movie extra. He died of cancer.
By Frances James, Dallas, Texas
