Kobak

In the summer of 1997, Amy (my wife) and I were able to visit my grandparents, Hope and Jim Kobak in St. Croix.  They lived on the Carambola Resort, right on the golf course at that time.

My grandfather was an avid golfer.  Now, while working in New York, he always wore bermuda shorts, even in winter, and became known as “the guy who always wore shorts.”  In St. Croix, as you can imagine, it is hard to get notoriety for wearing shorts all the time.  So, he started playing golf barefoot.  Soon he was renowned as the “the guy who golfs barefoot.”

Amy and I had played some golf, but I wouldn’t describe us as avid golfers.  We got the opportunity to play a round of golf at the resort with my grandmother, Hope, aka Grumpsie.  I don’t know how devoted to golf Grumpsie was.  She definitely hit the ball straight, but not far, and it usually rolled along the fairway.  However, This strategy was infinitely better than my style of “hit it as hard as you can and have it slice in a totally different direction than you intended.”

We were having a fun round, when dark clouds started to amass.  This was not uncommon for early afternoon in the tropics.  We kept playing, but by the 8th hole, a massive thunderstorm ripped through the sky.  It was time to abort our golf mission!

Amy and I hopped into our cart, and tried to keep up with Grumpsie in hers.  By now, sheets of rain were pelting us accompanied by raging lightning and thunder.  We were streaming towards the safety of the clubhouse when Grumpsie’s cart slid sideways on the wet grass.  She was driving on the edge of an embankment and the cart started to tumble down into the gully below.

Now, Grumpsie was 76 years old at the time, and I don’t think she was ever known for her athletic prowess.  Yet what happened may be the most impressive athletic feat I have ever seen. As the cart started its slide down the steep hill, Grumpsie dove out of it and like a cat, landed on her feet.  As the deluge continued, the cart tumbled into the abyss. Grumpsie, without missing a beat, leapt into our cart, pointed forward and exclaimed “GO!!!”

When we returned to the clubhouse, the attendant collected our bags and graciously gave us a rain check.  Grumpsie gave him a sizable tip and said, “Oh, by the way, we left our other cart out there on the course, you may want to send someone to get it.”

I was able to confirm, through my friend in Vienna and the Jewish Genealogy Portal Facebook Group, that Klara Moretzki Kobak is indeed buried in Vienna.  She never lived or visited the United States (she does not appear in any ship passenger registries or in US census records).

So, it appears that Leon Gideon Kobak (who seemed to prefer to be called “Leo”) did indeed travel to the US in 1898.  But he did not stay (again, he never appears in any US census records).  He traveled from Havre, France aboard La Bourgogne.  He had only one bag and listed no final destination when he registered in New York (he listed his profession as “workman”).   Perhaps he was going to see his young grandchildren, Edgar (3 years old), Alma (2 years old) and the newborn, Melitta.  Regardless, Leo died in Vienna in 1917, age 71.  His widow, Klara died in 1931, age 85, and is buried in the same plot.

In fact, there are four Kobaks buried in Vienna.  In addition to Klara and Leo, David and Jakob Kobak are buried in the same cemetery.  David died in 1898, while Jakob died in 1902.  I do not know if they were related to Leo, I speculate that they were.  And I imagine they were at least related to each other (brothers? father/son?) because they, too, are buried in the same plot as each other.  I have no idea how old David and Jakob were when they died.  Perhaps Leo’s journey to America in 1898 was also linked to the death of David (maybe it was his father?).

 

Although the Kobaks appear to be a peaceful tribe, they can get quite feisty (anyone who knew Grumpsie can certainly attest to this fact). They have been especially known to get feisty when confronting injustice and have done this in many different ways, joining protest marches, forming foundations, providing legal services and even running for political office.  A few Kobaks have even served in the armed forces to focus their feistiness and stand up for their beliefs. These were the warriors.

Perhaps the most famous of the Kobak Warriors was Edward Hatch.  Hatch was the grandfather of my great-grandmother Evelyn Hubert Kobak.  Hatch is a rather well-known Civil War and Indian Wars war hero who fought along side the likes of US Grant and George Armstrong Custer.  When I knew Evelyn (aka “G-G), she told me about family members who fought in the Civil War and that sometimes family gatherings got contentious when the War was brought up (this makes sense, her mother was the daughter of a Union hero, her father’s family was from Georgia… rebel country).  Evelyn never would have met her Grandfather, the War hero he died in 1889 before she was born.

Edward Hatch was born in Maine on December 22, 1822.  He studied at the Norwich Military Academy in Vermont and joined the United States Army at the dawn of the Civil War in 1861.  Hatch was a Cavalry man, and fought the Confederates in the Western Theatre.  He suffered serious wounds after being shot in the chest during the battle of Moscow, Tennessee in 1863, but recovered.  After the war he became involved in the US Army Indian Affairs program.  Edward Hatch took command of the famous “buffalo soldiers” cavalry brigade.  He successfully secured (read: forcibly stole) territory for the United States from the Ute Nation, but in spite of his Indian slaughtering and land-stripping efforts he never could catch his nemesis and primary quarry, Mescalero Apache Chief Victorio.

Hatch had a daughter, Elisabeth “Bessie” Hatch.  She married a young West Point grad, Edgar Hubert at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.  They had a son, Edward, then a daughter, my great-grandmother, Evelyn. And then, two more sons, Robert and Harmon.

Edgar Hubert was destined to be a career military man.  He studied in the cavalry and infantry schools in the West and, most likely thanks to his father-in-law, received some pretty nice commissions during his career.  He did most of his work on the frontier, stationed in California and Arizona.

Edgar was in command of troops at various Western fortifications, much like Captain Will Parmenter of F-Troop . When the United States went to war with Spain in 1898,  he was transferred to Tampa Florida.  Ultimately he was shipped to the Caribbean for the war effort.  First he shipped to Cuba, and then as part of the invasion force to Puerto Rico.  Hubert never saw action in the war.  Shortly after his arrival in the tropics, he contracted Typhoid Fever.  From this he never recovered. Edward Hubert died in Ponce, Puerto Rico on August 4, 1898.  He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.  Hubert was only one of seven US service men to die during the Puerto Rican campaign.  He was given full military honors at burial at Arlington National Cemetery which was overseen by President William McKinley.  Evelyn was only 9 years old when her father died.

Evelyn’s Sons, James (my grandfather) and Edgar both joined the Army at the outset of World War 2.  I know that Edgar did radio operations while stationed in Sioux Falls SD.  James also served domestically in Louisiana and along the West Coast.  My father, James Jr. was born in 1944 while they were stationed in Louisiana.  My grandmother, Hope (aka Grumpsie) told the story that James’ regiment was continually being moved by train up and down the west coast.  This was done to give the appearance of massive troop movements along the coast, hopefully to deter a Japanese attack.  The Army wives and their children had to fend for themselves during this assignment.  They drove from town to town, knocking on doors to ask for lodging in order to keep up with their spouses.  She reported that in 1945, at an officers’ party (a party… of course!) amidst the revelry, a pall suddenly draped over the celebration.  They had received their orders to go to Europe during the party.  Family lore has always stated that my grandfather was in charge of navigation of troops towards Berlin in Europe.  I don’t really know much about the time in Europe, but I bet it was not pleasant. He never talked about his war experience.. can’t say that I blame him.

Finally, I found this… President Roosevelt signed the selective service act in 1942.  All men, age 18-65 had to register for the draft.  This is the registration card of Evelyn’s husband, Edgar (my great-grandfather).  He was 47 years old and ready to fight! (probably not, it was mandatory to register for the draft)

Vienna!

Klimt

Lippizaners

Sausages

KOBAKS!!!

The oldest records of Kobaks that I have found have been from Vienna.  Benedict Kobak (pictured above) was born there on November 28, 1871.  His parents were Leon Gideon Kobak (25 years old) and Klara Moretzki Kobak (24 years old).

At the time Benedict was born, the Austrian government under King Franz Joseph had been busy quelling uprisings within the Empire.  They had also recently been defeated in the Austro-Prussian War.  As a result, the government re-wrote the Constitution in 1867.  Prior to that time, there were very strict ethnic and linguistic regulations within the Austrian Empire.  In particular, Jews were very limited as to where they could live and practice religion.  At the time, they were permitted only to live in small rural villages.

That changed in 1867. Jews were allowed to live and practice Judaism anywhere in the Empire.  This led to a HUGE influx of Jews into Vienna, the center of Art, Culture and Commerce in Europe. In 1860 there were 6,000 Jews, by 1870 that number had ballooned to over 40,000.

Although I am not certain, It appears that the Kobaks (Leon and Klara) probably moved to Vienna around 1870.  They were relatively young, so they may have even moved independently with their families and met in Vienna.  I have found record of the couple having two children in Vienna, Paul and Benedict.  I have not been able to find out what happened to Paul, but Benedict grew up in Vienna and eventually emigrated to the United States.

I don’t know much about the life of the Kobaks in Vienna.  Although at this time, most of the Jews were lower to middle-class workers, mostly laborers, craftsmen and small-business owners.  In the 1870s, there was a stock market crash in Vienna that plunged Austria into a depression lasting 20 years.  As the depression lingered, it appears that the Viennese Jews, who had traditionally not been involved in stocks and money trading in Austria, began to be blamed for the market crash.  It appears a wave of anti-semitism in the previously Jewish-friendly city of Vienna reached a crest in the early 1890s.

Benedict Kobak left Vienna in 1894 as a young 23-year-old.  At the time many Jews were leaving Austria and there were large Eastern European communities building in the American midwest.  Benedict departed from Europe via the port of Hamburg on May 6, 1894.  He arrived in New York City on May 21, 1894.  He then made his way to Chicago where he became a lawyer.

Interestingly enough, aboard the same ship departing Hamburg was Frances “Fanny” Uscier.  Fanny was born in Vienna on December 30, 1876.  And was only 17 years old when she left her family in Austria.  Her father, Chiam Uscier was a Viennese Jew who never left Vienna (he died in 1898).  Fanny and Benedict were married on May 21, 1894 in New York City… the day they arrived from Europe.  It is fun to think that they met on the boat and fell in love a la Titanic.  Or, maybe even more scandalously that these two young lovers fled their families and country in order to elope.  Who knows????

Benedict and Fanny made it to Chicago by 1895 and they had their first child, Edgar A Kobak (b. April 18 1895).  Three other Kobaks, all girls, were born in Chicago to Benedict and Fanny, Alma Kobak (b. August 27, 1896),  Melitta Kobak (b. October 27, 1898) and Stella Louise Kobak (b. January 20, 1904).  Edgar was sent to study at Notre Dame Prep in Illinois.

The Kobaks lost their oldest daughter, Alma, in 1902 when she was only 6 years old.  By 1913 the Kobaks had moved to Atlanta, GA.  In Atlanta Benedict started a law practice with his partner Mr. Levy.  Edgar attended Georgia Tech and became an electrical engineer.  Edgar married Evelyn Hubert who was the grand-daughter of Union Civil War hero, Colonel Edward Hatch.

In 1918 another tragedy shook the Kobak household.  Fanny passed away at age 42.  Causes are unknown, but I speculate that she succumbed to the Spanish Flu pandemic that swept the globe killing millions in 1918.  Edgar and Evelyn were present at the funeral, but old family stories indicate that there was a severe falling out between Edgar and his father, Benedict.  In fact, my grandfather, James, Benedict’s grandson, in conversation claims he never met his grandfather, although Benedict lived until 1956 (d. December 1956, Coral Gabels, Florida).

I don’t know what the family tiff was about.  Maybe the loss of his daughter, and then wife made Benedict a bitter, depressed man? Edgar married into a successful Protestant American family, maybe that irked the European Jewish immigrant.   Regardless, something divided father and son and it was enough of a rift that it kept Benedict away from his grandchildren.  Benedict did re-marry at the ripe age of 62.  He wed Katherine Mabel Buchanan in Florida in 1934.

Benedict’s parents, Leon Gideon Kobak and Klara Moretzki Kobak also emigrated to the United States.  They left Vienna in and made it to New York in 1896.  It is unknown when Leon died, but Klara died in Virginia on March 8, 1931 at age 85. Records show her body was shipped back to Vienna and buried two days later.  This seems improbable.  I have friends in Vienna and will see if they can locate my great-great-great grandmother Klara’s grave.

So, my story of the Kobaks begins in Vienna.  Young lovers escaped to the new world to make it in America!  Benedict and Fanny would be proud to see how their brood turned out… living the American Dream thanks to them.