Tony Hanson
My wife and I walk for exercise and recreation, and have come to love the Dreyfuss Club Point area at White Rock Lake. It is home to a variety of waterfowl, including a pod of Great White Pelicans that migrate to the area every fall.
There is also a memorial plaque dedicated to Sol Dreyfuss located there, and after seeing it countless times over the years I finally decided to do a little research to learn what Sol had done to deserve such an honor.
History
I started with Google and found several historical articles that helped me begin to paint the picture of his life (most of those are in listed as References below). Next I turned to newspaper archives and was rewarded with a blizzard of articles. Part of this was due the fact that Sol traveled extensively in his role as owner of a minor league baseball club and he was the subject of numerous newspaper articles across the country for many years. I also quickly realized that that the name “Sol Dreyfuss” has been associated with many prominent, successful merchants and business owners throughout the United States.
The Sol Dreyfuss who inspired the plaque in Dallas was the son of Gerard Dreyfuss and Julia Hurst. Gerard emigrated to the United States in 1871. He initially lived in Shreveport, Louisiana where a cousin offered him his first retail job in a small general store. He moved to Dallas about 1879 where opened a men’s furnishing store (Hurst and Dreyfuss) on Main street in partnership with A.K. Hurst. They merged in the 1880s with E. M. Kahn and Company [1, 12].
Gerard married Julia Hurst in 1884. Sol was born in their residence on Jackson Street on 12 August 1885.
The Sol Dreyfuss biography published by the Texas State Historical Association [1] states that Sol attended Bryan Street High School. It would have been known then as the Central High School, a wooden structure on Bryan Street between Pearl and Hawkins. It was the former Dallas Female Academy [14], purchased by the city in 1884. After undergoing renovations (classes were conducted rented space at Elm and Akard street during this period), it issued its first diplomas in 1887. It was replaced in 1908 by the building that still stands today at 2214 Bryan street [11].
After he graduated from High School Sol worked with his father, and in 1911 they established Dreyfuss & Son, a men’s merchandise store at the corner of Murphy and Main street. The grand opening was held on 1 August 1911. They established a good reputation and sold only top-quality clothes. By 1929 they had expanded to a second store and made plans for a new building.
The new store was built at Ervay and Main and opened for business on Monday, May 5, 1930, at which time Gerard stepped away from the day to day operations and left the management of the business to Sol. They added a women’s department in 1940, and (after Sol’s death) added a branch at the NorthPark Mall in 1965 and another at Six Flags Mall in 1970. The Dreyfuss & Son name was retained until 1973.
In 1920 Sol was one of the founding members of the Salesmanship Club in Dallas [2] which supports education and therapeutic programs for youths. They are also a longtime sponsor of the Byron Nelson PGA golf championship.
In 1927 Sol offered a $12,000 purse [about $180,000 in today’s dollars] which enticed the Professional Golf Association to hold the 1927 PGA Championship at the Cedar Crest Country Club, the first time it had ever been played outside the Northeast or Midwest [3].
Sol married Mrs. Ruth Whiting in Dallas on 22 March 1928. She had a daughter (Jo Ann) from a previous marriage.
He purchased the Dallas Baseball club (the Steers) [1] the same year. He was quite active in managing the team but apparently struggled to make the club profitable and sold his interest in 1938.
Sol was involved in many other businesses and civic activities. He was on the board of directors for the Republic National Bank and the Pollock Paper Company (Lawrence S Pollock, president of the company, was married to Sol’s sister Hortense) [4].
He served as a director for the Hope Cottage Pregnancy and Adoption Center, the oldest nonprofit, non-faith-based adaption agency in Dallas (established in 1918). He was also active in the Red Cross and the Community Chest [1].
The Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) rented the former Dreyfuss family home at 2831 South Ervay beginning in 1939. The Dreyfuss Foundation deeded the property to the Dallas Community Trust with the provision that the VNA would receive the proceeds from the sale of the property when it was sold. These funds helped the VNA purchase their own building at 4604 Greenville Avenue in 1967 [1, 5].
Sol purchased a 1936 era Civil Works Administration building at White Rock Lake and converted it into the Dreyfuss Club which he made available to his employees. The city of Dallas purchased the structure for $1,500 on 29 October 1942 [13]. It became a popular location used for dances, receptions, weddings, and other events [6].
Sol died in Dallas on 27 May 1951.
The plaque was installed at White Rock Lake in April 1968.
Four carved stone urns were salvaged from the building at Main and Ervey by the Historic Preservation League of Dallas when it was demolished in 1982: they are now located at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden on Garland Road [9].
Sadly, the Dreyfuss Club was destroyed by a fire in 2006.
Genealogy
My initial search for information about Sol Dreyfuss produced an overwhelming and confusing flood of newspaper articles and records from the United States, France, and Germany. Once it became apparent that I was dealing with many different men with the same name I began assembling family tree segments to sort them out and identify information related to “my” Sol Dreyfuss.
His father’s 1922 passport application provided a wealth of information about the family and its roots in the Alsace region of France. It is probable that many of the United States branches of the Dreyfuss family are distantly related (although I have not been able to document any relationships). Madelene Kohn married a different Sol Dreyfuss (this one was born 9 September 1866 in Alsace, France) and she made at least 8 trips to Europe to (according to her passport application) visit family. Garrard Dreyfuss, his daughter-in-law Ruth Smith Dreyfuss, and her daughter Jo Ann Dreyfuss traveled with Madelyn on one of her trips in 1932.
One of the things that caught my attention during my research was Sol’s marriage in 1928. He was 42 years old, a successful businessman and a member of a prominent family. His sister’s wedding in 1919 was reported in Dallas and Baltimore [10] newspapers. And yet an extensive search failed to reveal any public mention of this marriage. The only record found was their 1928 marriage license. Intrigued, I dug deeper.
The marriage license identified his wife only as “Mrs Ruth S Whiting”. Clearly, she had a previous marriage: Perhaps the lack of fanfare around her marriage to Sol was due to social or religious stigma associated with her previous marriage?
According to the 1930 Federal Census, Ruth and her father were born in New York, and her mother was born in Ohio. It also identified Jo Ann Dreyfuss (born in Indiana) as Sol’s 9-year-old stepdaughter.
I came across an entry in “The Alumni Record, Winston-Salem NC, November 1936, Salem Academy, Salem College” [7] that mentioned a November 3rd meeting held in Dallas that was attended by “Mrs Sol Dreyfuss (Ruth Smith)”. I have not been able to find another Ruth Dreyfuss in Dallas, but I have been equally unsuccessful in identifying any family connection to the Salem Academy or the Salem College.
I was successful in finding a birth certificate for a Jo Ann Whiting born in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was born 17 November 1920 (which fits with her being listed as 9-years-old on the 1930 Census). Her father was identified as Ivan Richard Whiting, and her mother was (wait for it): Ruth Smith!
More research revealed a 19 January 1920 marriage between Ivan R Whiting and Ruth S Snyder (not Smith!). According to the license, Ruth was born in Brooklyn, New York to H.E. and Margaret Smith. She identified Indianapolis, Indiana as her home.
Herman E Smith (her father) was enumerated in the 1920 census in Indianapolis, Indiana: He was born in New York. Also enumerated were his wife (Marguarite, born in Ohio) and daughters Ruth (divorced, born in New York) and Dorothy.
Curiously, the enumeration occurred on January 22, three days after the marriage of Ruth to Ivan Whiting. And she was identified as divorced. Maybe divorced from someone name Snyder? Yup!
Ruth Alexandria Smith married Louis Rathen Snyder on 27 October 1915 in Marion County, Indiana. The index records her father as Herman Eds. Smith and her mother as Margaret R Quimlaw.
So how did Ruth end up in Dallas married to Sol Dreyfuss?
It turns out that her parents were married in Collin County, Texas in 1899, so they had roots in the area. They were living in Indianapolis in 1924, but were living with their daughter Dorothy (also divorced by this time) at 3827 Bowser Avenue in Dallas by 1928. So, it appears that the family moved to Dallas sometime between 1924 and 1928.
There is no indication that Sol and Ruth had any children of their own. Ruth died in Dallas on 21 December 1944.
Sol is buried with his wife, parents, and sister in the Temple Emanu-El Cemetery in uptown Dallas.
Jo Ann Whiting Brown (his step-daughter) died in Houston, Texas on 23 May 2002 [8].
You can view information about Sol Dreyfuss and his family (and genealogical references) on the Family Search Family Tree ( https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GWMV-RF9 ).
References
[1] “Dreyfuss, Sol (1885 – 1951)”, Lisa C. Maxwell, Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas[2] “An Inside Look at Dallas’ Legendary Salesmanship Club“, Art Stricklin, D CEO, April 2009
[3] “Divots Throughout Dallas – Reviews of Golf Courses” (Blog), Sunday September 9 2012
[4] “Pioneer Jewish Texans”, Natalie Ornish, The Great Merchants, Page 150
[5] “Wheels for Meals“, Robert C Carpenter, Dallas Morning News, 18 March 2007
[6] “Lost Dallas”, Mark Doty, Page 82
[7] The Alumnae Record, Volume 61, Number 451, Salem College (Winston-Salem, N.C.), January 1938, “Here And There Among The Alumnae, Dallas, Texas”, Page 3288, column 2
[8] Joan Dreyfuss Brown Obituary, Houston Chronicle, 24 May 2002
[9] “Dreyfuss & Son Co“, About Us – Dallas County History (Blog)
[10] “Pollock – Dreyfuss“, The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 01 October 1919, Wednesday, Page 10, Column 6, Near the bottom of the page.
[11] “Dal-Tech High School Collection” Accession Number MA84-8, Texas/Dallas History & Archives, Dallas Public Library 1515 Young St Dallas, TX 75201
[12] “Dreyfuss & Son Store, Main & Ervay Streets, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas” – HABS No. TX-3125, Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Washington DC
[13] Dallas, Dallas County Commercial Deed, Volume 2382, Page 168, 29 October 1942
[14] “Dallas Female College” – William L. Crawford, The Quarterly, Volume 25, Number 4, December 1979: Page 224