Abraham Albert Loewenberg was born in Posen, of the Duchy of Prussia, on 30 May 1843, the fourth and final child of Raphael Itzak Loewenberg (1802-1898) and Rebecca “Rike” Schwersenski. His siblings included older brother Isidore (1834-1919), and sisters Henrietta (m. Barrett, 1829-1902) and Hannah (m. Phillips, m. Letter, 1841-1928).
Life in “The Old Country”
Not much is known about Abraham’s early life. The Duchy of Posen (now Poznan) was a geographic region controlled by the Prussian empire. The largest city within the territory was also called Posen, which was also the largest concentration of Jews in the region. The government and society were generally more tolerant of Jews in the area at this time, although Jews were not given full rights of citizenship.
Coming to America
By 1868, his mother had passed away and the family moved to Berlin. Abraham immigrated to the United States with his father and sisters to join his brother Isidor, who was an established merchant in San Francisco. Their ship, the Germania, departed Hamburg on 30 Sep 1868 and arrived in New York City on 15 Oct 1868.
Brother Isidor had emigrated to the United States circa 1853 and lived in New York City for a short period of time before leaving to make his fortune in San Francisco. Although the Gold Rush had cooled by then, the city and northern California area were still booming communities for the adventuresome entrepreneur. Isidor joined several Jewish merchants from the Posen area hoping to strike it rich. By the time his family arrived to join him, Isidor was a partner in the firm Meyerstein & Lowenberg, merchants of produce, clothing and general merchandise in the San Francisco community.
A Merchant in Honolulu
As a result of the changing economic conditions from the Gold Rush, demand increased for agricultural products, many of which were available from the Kingdom of Hawaii. Many Jewish merchants extended their businesses into the Sandwich Islands, often by employing members of their large families to oversee daily operations. Many of these families also had origins in Posen, so it is likely they knew each other in “the old country” and facilitated the establishment of their business enterprises. Names such as Phillips, Green, Hyman and Grinbaum are seen in city directories of both Honolulu and San Francisco and in storefront locations close to each other.
Most likely due to these connections, Abraham travelled to Honolulu in 1869 and became a partner with the firm M. Phillips and Co., which had had been established two years earlier. According to “An Early History of Jews in Hawaii,” the firm was an “outstanding Jewish-owned company” which exported primarily sugar, rice and coffee.
The Idaho, docked in Alaska, accessed from Wikiwand Ship manifest of the Idaho in Honolulu.
Either through the firm or on his own, Abraham managed several properties throughout the islands. Properties varied from rice and sugar plantations to buildings in the downtown area. According to the article, “Hawaii Turns to Sugar” by Carol A. Maclennan, plantations started consolidating in the late 1850’s as agriculture became more mechanized, and a role of plantation agent began to emerge. This plantation agent was a part owner in the enterprise who provided cash for payroll, capitalized the operations, and managed the marketing of the crops. It is possible Abraham functioned in this role given the number of property transactions recorded in his name and the amount of travel between islands.
Photo courtesy Fred Gregory, http://www.hawaiianstamps.com/townpostmarks.html . Note the postmarks of the islands, from May 15 to August 8, 1885. According to the website, the envelope travelled from Lahaina to Honolulu, to Kauai, to Kapaa, to Koloa and finally back to Honolulu. The correspondence never quite caught up with his itinerary!
Abraham was an active community member, with affiliations in the German Benevolent Society, the German Club and the Odd Fellows.
Photo accessed from Spitzer Family Genealogy, Advertisement from 1884 Directory of Hawaii.
Starting a Family
In 1880, Abraham married Henrietta Schottlaender (1857-1932) in Posen. Two family stories exist: one, that despite their age differences (14 years), Abraham knew Henrietta since she was a little girl; a second story tells they were distant cousins.
Henrietta (Schottlaender) Loewenberg
This photo was taken between 1880 and 1884, most likely in 1881 at the same time as the photograph of their daughter Alice (below). M. Dickson photographed many of the Hawaiian royalty.
No photo of Abraham is known to exist. His passport from the Kingdom of Hawaii lists him to be 5 feet 3 inches tall with gray/brown hair, blue eyes and medium complexion.
By 1881, Abraham and Henrietta were living in Honolulu, and their first child, Alice (m. Wedell, d. 1939), was born 8 Sep 1881.
Their second child Valentin Albert (1882-1914) was also born in Honolulu.
Returning to Posen
According to family history, Henrietta was homesick and encouraged Abraham to return to Posen by 1884. Due to their stature in Honolulu society, the Loewenbergs were bequeathed gifts of friendship from King David Kalakaua. These gifts included pottery, tapestries, and a Polynesian sewing kit, all of which remain in family possession today.
Abraham and Henrietta had four additional children: Bertha (1884-1969, m. Chaskel), Harry Richard (1887-1968), Alfred Ludwig (1889-1981), and Paul Kurt (1892-1925). As was common in the Victorian era, many upper-class Germans preferred more “English” names, as is seen in the naming of the Loewenberg children. Over time, Abraham preferred to be called Albert, especially in later years, and Henrietta’s middle name was Jenny.
The family lived at Gruenstrasse 3 in the city of Posen, in what appears to be Henrietta’s family home. Her sister Regina lived three doors down, most likely providing family support for the children while Abraham Albert was away on travel.
Although the family’s home was based in Posen, Abraham Albert frequently travelled to San Francisco and Honolulu to maintain his business relationships. By 1885, he maintained dual citizenship in Hawaii and Posen, and it is possible he had a third citizenship status in the United States.
Abraham Albert continued to travel between Posen and Honolulu for a number of years, often staying away for nearly a year at a time. (It would need an investment of time to maintain business halfway around the globe. In the 1880’s, travel from Hamburg to New York City would take two weeks; from the New York City to San Francisco via the Transcontinental Railroad would take nearly four days; from San Francisco to Honolulu another seven days. That’s twenty-five days, if one could travel non-stop, taking nearly two months to commute to and from work!)
This passport from Hawaii shows Abraham’s signature as Albert. Most interestingly, his physical characteristics are listed as 5’3”, with grey/brown hair, medium complexion and blue eyes, not traditional Jewish traits.
Whether Henrietta implored him to stay home or he simply became weary from travel, Abraham Albert eventually decided to remain in Posen and dissolved his business relationship with Michael Phillips.
His Final Years
By 1899, the Loewenberg family had moved to Berlin, possibly due to growing anti-Semitism in Posen as well as for the potential business opportunities in a larger city. They lived at 38 Gleditschstrasse in Charlottenburg. According to the family history compiled by Peter B. Loewenberg,
He had become very wealthy in Hawaii but later lost his fortune through unwise investments and speculation. After his death, his son Harry “could only try to salvage what remained of the fortune.”
Harry further recounted that the story of the Loewenberg family was amazingly similar to that of Buddenbrooks, a classic novel of German literature by Thomas Mann. The book details “the story of four generations of a wealthy bourgeois family…facing the advent of modernity; in an uncertain new world, the family’s bonds and traditions begin to disintegrate…Mann charts the Buddenbrook’s decline from prosperity to bankruptcy…” (More on this theme will be explored with the profile of Henrietta.)
Abraham died on 27 Aug 1909 of diabetes and a stroke. He is buried in Weisenesse Cemetery, in Berlin, Germany and his wife Henrietta was later buried next to him.
SOURCES
1880 Oakland, Alameda, California Census, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
Archival Resources Online, https://szukajwarchiwach.pl
A Chronicle of Our Origins, third edition, Peter C. Loewenberg, M.D & Peter B. Loewenberg, J.D.
An Early History of Jews in Hawaii, accessed through www.konabethshalom.org
California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-2017, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
California, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1850-1953, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
The Daily Gazette, 31 Dec 1877, accessed through www.Newspapers.com
Family History, as told to Dorene Church Nowatzke by Liselotte Wedell Bollmann, descendent of Abraham Albert Loewenberg
The Friend, Jan 1874, accessed through Google Books
Hamburger Passagierlisten, Volume 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 222, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
Hawaii State Archives, accessed through www.FamilySearch.org
Hawaii Grantor Land Index, Hawaii State Archives, accessed through www.FamilySearch.org
“Hawaii Turns to Sugar,” The Hawaiian Journal of History, accessed through www.evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu
Honolulu Daily Press, 10 Sep 1881, access through www.ChroniclingAmerica.loc.gov
Landesarchiv Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Deaths, 1875-1955, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
Landesarchiv Berlin, Personenstandsregister Sterberegister, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
New Jersey, U.S., Death Index, 1901-2017, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
Oakland Tribune, 26 Dec 1902, accessed through www.Newspapers.com
Oakland Tribune, 9 June 1928, accessed through www.Newspapers.com
Personenstandsregister Stereregister, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
Passports, 1845-1900, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
San Francisco City Directory, 1865, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
San Francisco City Directory, 1878, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
The San Francisco Call, 11 Feb 1898, accessed through www.Newspapers.com
San Francisco Chronicle, 18, Jan 1919, accessed through www.Newspapers.com
“Stadtarchiv der Landeshauptstadt Dresden”, Eheaufgebote/Eheregister 1876-1922, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960, accessed through www.Ancestry.com U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014, accessed through www.Ancestry.com
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