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Herbert S. Eisenstaedt (b. 1887)
Herbert lived at 4519 Forrestville Avenue in Chicago with his
parents and brother.* His body was discovered at Sheldon's
funeral home and identified by an M. Eisensteadt (possibly
his cousin, Moses Eisensteadt). Herbert was buried at Rosehill
Cemetery in Chicago.
Herbert was one of two sons born to Leopold (1854–1923) and
Caroline "Carrie" Spiro Eisenstaedt (1858–1945). Leopold
was a brother and employee of Isidor, Solomon and Rudolph
Eisenstaedt of Eisenstaedt Bros.
Eisenstaedt Bros manufactured and wholesaled neckties, handkerchiefs, hosiery and
mufflers, operating in the seven-story Metropolitan building at the corner of 230-232 Market
St. and Jackson Blvd in Chicago. Leopold was an salesman for the firm, as
was Mary O'brien Wagner's husband, Charles Wagner. The
company was the oldest necktie manufacturer in
Chicago, founded prior to the 1871 Great Chicago
fire and rebuilt thereafter. The last
reference I found to the firm was in 1922 by which
time the founders had passed and Leopold was
president. He died the following year.
Herbert's surviving brother was Joseph Eisenstaedt, probably
named after his grandfather. Joseph graduated
from Northwestern in 1909 and became a physician and
dentist, serving his internship in 1910 at Cook
County Hospital.
According to his WWI draft card, Joseph was of
medium height and build with brown eyes and black
hair, which may be the only clue as to Herbert's
appearance.
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Mary Anna O'Brien Wagner (b. 1859)
Mary married in 1880 when she was twenty-one years old. Her husband was
necktie salesman, Charles S. Wagner (1856–1912), a
fellow New York native. Over the next twenty-three
years she bore five children, of which four were
living at the time of her death (including Nellie who in 1900 had married a Judd).
Mary's body was identified by
her husband, Charles, at Rolstons funeral home and the funeral
was held on January 3, 1904 in their home at 629
Sedgwick street. Burial was at Calvary
Cemetery in Chicago. If there ever was one, there is
no longer a marker at her grave site.
Mary Anna and Charles's
youngest child, Grace, was eleven at the time of her
mother's death. The others were seventeen to
twenty-one years old.
In the years after the fire
Charles brought a $10,000 wrongful death suit against
Fuller Construction on
behalf of his wife. The only claimants to receive
settlements were those who sued Fuller, and
there were thirty-five of those, but it isn't known
how many suits were brought against Fuller.
Five years after the fire Charles married again, to
the widow of William E. Bany, Mary Portugal Bany.
Mary had two daughters.
Because I've grown to expect Iroquois victims to go unrecognized in the obituaries
of their parents years after the fire, I feel compelled to note when the opposite
happened. When Herbert's mother Carrie Eisenstaedt passed, Herbert was listed
as having been one of her two children. Leopold was gone by then so the
obituary was probably prepared by Joseph (1885–1957), Herbert's older brother.
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Discrepancies and addendum
Eisenstead was spelled in many ways,
including Eisenstadt, Eisenstad, Eisenstaedt, Eisensted, Eisenstedt, Eisensteadt, Eusenstadt, Aisenstadt,
Eisenstacht and Isenstadt and a half dozen of those spellings appeared as Herman's last name in Iroquois victim lists.
* Mistakenly reported as 4959 Forestville in some 1903/4 lists.
The 3,000 sq. ft. structure was built in 1886.
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