1972: Jerome Sternberg Sr. Dies

On January 2, 1972, in Savannah, GA, Jerome Sternberg Senior died at the age of 81.  He was buried January 3, 1972 in Lot 1694 in Laurel Grove North Cemetery in Savannah.

Below is the burial record from Laurel Grove Cemetery.

I do not have access to his death certificate, so I can't say how he died. But the certificate could be obtained from Georgia vital records. Here is the VA's record of death and burial that includes information about his time in service:

1952-1955: Jerome Remarries

Sometime between 1952 and 1955, Jerome married Loretta M. Floyd of Savannah. I haven't been able to find a marriage record for these two, but there is a Savannah Directory entry that shows Loretta as Jerome's wife in 1955, but in 1951, Jerome is listed without a wife and in 1953, Loretta is still Loretta Floyd. Below is the 1955 listing showing them as married,

and the 1953 listing of Loretta, one of the many Floyds in the Savannah Directory that year. 

Loretta and Jerome stayed married until his death in 1972, as far as I have been able to determine. Then she lived another 30 years, dying February 7, 2002 as Loretta Sternberg. Below is her brief obituary that appeared in the Savannah Morning News:

Loretta Sternberg

Guyton - Loretta Sternberg, 94, died Tuesday, Feb. 5 at Westview Nursing Center. She was a homemaker and a member of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Survivors: her niece and nephew, Carolyn & Cecil Zeigler of Guyton and numerous great nieces and nephews. Thomas C. Strickland & Sons Effingham Chapel (912) 754-6421

September 3, 1940: Annie Lamon Sternberg Dies

On September 3, 1940, Annie Lamon Sternberg, Jerome's wife, died at age 37. I have not found any records of what she died from. Unfortunately, her son Jerome Jr. was only 16 years old and his sister, Ida, was 18; it must have been difficult for all of them. There was quite an age difference between Jerome and Annie. He must have believed she would outlive him, but instead he lived another 32 years, eventually remarrying in his 60s.

Below is a death notice from the September 28, 1940 edition of The Bulletin of the Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia, a publication of the Diocese of Savannah.

Their proofreading leaves something to be desired. Their daughter's name was Ida, not Eda, and according to the Georgia Death Index, Annie died on September 3rd, not August 3rd. And something seems to be left out in the list of brothers. I think that N. Tucker refers to her sister Nettie, so it's nice to know whom she married.

1930-1940 The Depression Years

The thirties were not too bad for the Sternbergs. They stayed in Savannah and it appears that Jerome was employed during that time. The 1934 Savannah City Directory shows Jerome (and Annie) living at 1234 East 42d Street.

Below is a photo of the house that is currently at that address. Whether it was the house they lived in is not certain; one source I read said the house was built in 1935, so it's possible it's the same house.

In 1934 Jerome was working as a salesman for Libby, McNeill & Libby Company. We know that company today as Libby, maker of canned foods.

In 1936, Jerome's father, Jacob Sternberg, died in Jacksonville, FL on October 30th. He was buried in Savannah, in the Laurel Grove Cemetery.

I have no other documents from the thirties, but the 1940 census shows Jerome as working full time for a different employer, this time as a timekeeper for a housing project. He is no longer living at the house pictured above, but is still living in Savannah.

Throughout his adult life, Jerome rented rather than owned his housing. I think people didn't buy houses so much back then. And considering how often the Sternbergs moved, it's probably just as well. But despite the frequent changes in residence and employment, and the fact that he had only a 6th grade education (see 1940 census), I think Jerome was quite successful!

1930: Jacob Retires and Moves to Florida; Jerome Stays in Savannah

Throughout the twenties, Jerome had some kind of sales or merchandising position, often with his father, Jacob. In 1928, Jacob was selling school supplies, and apparently owned the business with his son, Jerome. Jacob's brother, Simon, was working there too, it seems. Below is the 1928 Savannah City Directory listing for the Sternbergs.

By 1930, however, Jacob had retired to Jacksonville, Florida and was living there with his daughter Blanche and her family. Her husband was the owner of an auto dealership.

Jerome was still in Savannah in 1930, and was a salesman for a meat products company. He had two children by then, Ida and Jerome Jr. It's not clear what happened to the school supplies business, J. Sternberg & Son, but the stock market crash of 1929 may have had some impact on it.

1920s: Jerome Marries and Starts a Family

In the 1920 census for Savannah, Jerome is living with his sister, Blanche, and her husband, Jake Simon, and their two daughters, Emma and Adele. Also living with them is Jerome and Blanche's father, Jacob Sternberg, who is now a widower, his wife having died in April of 1919.

Jacob now owns an ice cream store and Jerome works there, selling ice cream. Jerome's brother-in-law, Jake Simon, is a retail merchant in a grocery store.

So is spite of the fact that they change businesses frequently, the Sternbergs are still merchants!

Meanwhile, Jerome is still single, and since Ann Lamon, his future wife, is living in a convent in 1920, it's likely he hasn't met her yet. But in 1930, he says he's been married for 9 years, so it must be that he meets her in 1921. I have not been able to find a marriage record for them, however, so we can only speculate.

In 1923, Jerome appears for the first time with a wife (Annie) in the Savannah City Directory. And it also appears that he and his father are in a fruit retail business now, J. Sternberg & Son. Below is a copy of the directory listing.

By this time, Jerome and Ann had their daughter, Ida, and Jerome Jr. was on the way. 

1918: Jerome Sternberg Goes to War

Jerome Sternberg was inducted into the Army on May 6, 1919, a little more than a year after the US entered World War I by declaring war on Germany. Below is a copy of his World War I Service Card that details his time in the Army.

As you can see, he was first assigned to the 157th Depot Brigade, located at Camp Gordon (now Fort Gordon), in Georgia. According to Wikipedia,

The role of the Depot Brigades was to receive and organize recruits, provide them with uniforms, equipment and initial military training, and then send them to France to fight on the front lines. The Depot Brigades also received soldiers returning home at the end of the war and completed their out processing and discharges.[1]

Jerome went from there to Bakery Company 330, where he served overseas from June 10, 1918 to June 26, 1919. He was promoted to PFC in July of 1918. He was discharged on demobilization, July 12, 1919.

Though he was involved in no battles and received no wounds, his role was important to the war effort. Bakery Companies were charged with baking bread for the troops, and while at war, they baked bread in the field. The website SeaBeeCook.com provides this explanation:

According to 1916 edition of the Manual for Army Bakers, the bakery company baked bread for the troops in the field and in garrison. Since the bread ration in 1916 consisted of 18 ounces per man, the company could produce almost 34,000 pounds of garrison bread each day.

In wartime, companies were established at the rate of one per Army division. However, they were not considered as an organic organization within the division. As a unit of the Quartermaster Corps, bakery companies reported to the commander of the line of communications. One or more companies could be located at a permanent or semi-permanent camp to provide bread for nearby troops. If needed, a company could be divided into sections or units to bake bread for smaller troop concentrations. (SeaBeeCook.com)

Below is a YouTube video from the National Archives that shows troops baking bread in France during WWI:

The caption provided by the uploader for this video reads:

National Archives description: "Biscuit dough is rolled, biscuits are punched, and baked bread and biscuits are packed for shipment at Bagnolet, France. Bread dough is mixed, ovens are loaded and unloaded, bread is loaded on trains, and flour is carried from storage rooms into mixing rooms at Dijon, France."  National Archives Identifier 25016

One of the men in this video could have been Jerome Sternberg!

One sad note: Jerome's mother, Ida Rogers Sternberg, died April 18, 1919, only a few months before Jerome returned home from the service.

1917: Jerome Sternberg Registers for the Draft

Jerome Sternberg registered for the draft on June 5, 1917. The draft registration card gives us a lot of information about the person who filled it out.

For instance, Jerome was 26 at the time of registering, but he had, according to him, already served in a state militia (what we would call National Guard now) for a year as a private in the Infantry.

He was living in Macon, GA at the time, working for Simons Company, a merchandise brokerage firm. He was, in fact, an assistant manager for the company, according to the Macon City Directory for 1917, which also lists his parents as living with him at the time. He is still single, and claims his mother and father are dependent on him for sole support.

The registration form also tells us a little about what the person looked like. Jerome was of medium height and build, and had brown eyes and black hair.

Below is a copy of the 2-page form.

1906: Jerome Sternberg Appears in the Savannah Directory

Between 1900 and 1910, according to the Savannah City Directory, the Sternbergs worked in retail operations, whether it was in Moritz's jewelry business, or some other store.

In 1906, Jerome (age 16) appears for the first time as an individual in the Savannah Directory, working at E. Myers Co in some unspecified capacity. The following year, he has a job title, Clerk, for the Rosenheim Shoe Company. In 1908, he's been promoted (I'm guessing) to Inspector for the shoe company, and is still listed at that job in 1909.

In 1910, however, he is not living in Savannah, nor are his immediate family members (Jacob, Moritz, Simon, Isaac). Instead, we find Jerome in New York City, living with his aunt and uncle, Celia and Max Hartman, and working as a clerk in an office. His uncle was a leaf tobacco broker at the time. Below is a recent photo of the building they lived in at 43-45 W 129th St, in Manhattan. There were 12 families living on six floors.

Uncle Moritz, however, is living in Jacksonville, Florida in 1910, where he owns a jewelry store. Living with him are his daughter Etta and her husband and child.

It's interesting to speculate on what might have happened to make the Sternbergs leave Savannah that year, but maybe it was just a better opportunity elsewhere.

The Sternbergs in the Early 1900s

In the 1900 census, the Sternbergs are shown as living at 109 Taylor Street in Savannah. Jerome is nine years old and his sister Blanche is 10. Their father, Jacob, is working as a jeweler (for his brother, no doubt), Ida, Jerome's mother, does not work, and the children are both in school. They have a servant--a white woman, Louise Alexander, aged 19. I mention her race because looking at the census records of the time, I see that black servants were common among the Sternbergs' neighbors.

There are a couple of discrepancies with this census record--not unusual in records of the past. One discrepancy is the place where Jerome is born. This census says he was born in New York; however, later, on his WWI draft registration form, he says he was born in Savannah. Since I have found no birth record for Jerome, I can't say for sure which is correct.

Another discrepancy is Jacob's age. But I will get back to that when I discuss Jacob.

In 1905, according to the Savannah City Directory, the Sternbergs were living at 225 East Taylor Street, along with Jacob's brother Simon, who also worked in the jewelry business where Jacob was still a manager. Here is the listing as it appeared in the directory:

Sternberg & Co, watchmakers and jewelers, was located at 117 W. Broughton St. That space is now occupied by a Michael Kors outlet store. Below is a recent photo of the building.

From Google Maps Street View

November 10, 1890: Jerome Sternberg is born

Jerome Sternberg was born November 10, 1890, in Savannah, Georgia (or possibly New York City), to Jacob Sternberg and Ida Rogers. He was their second born after Blanche, who was born in October 1888.

At the time of his birth, Jerome's parents lived in Savannah at 182 South Broad Street. But since South Broad Street no longer exists, we can't tell whether the original building still stands. Below is a clipping from the Savannah City Directory of 1890:

As you can see from this listing, Jacob, Jerome's father, was the manager of M. Sternberg & Brother, owned by Moritz and Simon Sternberg, sellers of "watches, jewelry, etc." Moritz and Simon were Jacob's brothers, so theirs was a family business. Moritz was the oldest brother. A year earlier, in 1889, Moritz was the sole owner of the jewelry store, so in 1890, Simon's partnership was relatively new.