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Sam Pollak and Julia Wollner of Austria and NY
Updated August 14, 2007
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Samuel Pollak was born in Austria-Hungary about 1840, son of Jacob Pollak and Charlotte (Deutsch) Pollak. Sam and his brother Ignatz (Ignatius) Pollak came to the US about 1867. They went to Milwaukee and around 1868 founded the first "Dollar Store" -- Pollak's Dollar Store in Montgomery, Alabama. Sam was in charge of the NYC business. Pollak's Store later became known as The Fair, The Montgomery Fair, and ultimately as Dillards.
On 8 Nov. 1874 Sam Pollak married Julia Wollner, daughter of Koppelman and Caroline Fleischman Wollner.
Initially Jewish, Sam Pollak and Julia Wollner Pollak converted to Protestantism while in NYC. Julia's siblings and parents remained Jewish as her parents and numerous siblings are buried in Salem Fields Jewish Cemetery, NYC and her brother, Leopold Wollner, is buried in Waldheim Jewish Cemetery, near Chicago.
Sam and Julia had 6 children- Albin J. (1875), Rudolf Robert (1876), Alice Leal (1877), Wilma Vera (1879), Irma (Connie)(1882) and Semele (1884). Sam Pollak drowned tragically at Long Branch, NJ on July 29, 1883 before his entire family. His body was never recovered.
Ignatz, later known as Ignatius, became executor of Sam's estate. Ignatz Pollak was a prominent Jew in Alabama; he lived first in Mongtomery and then in Cullman, Alabama, where he built a mansion Borkenau. There is an excellent article about Ignatius Pollak by Dr. Sylvia Morris in the Alabama Review. Ignatius died during WWI in 1915 and was supposed to be buried in the Pollak Family Cemetery in Vienna, however, the War prevented this. The location of his remains is unknown. His wife, Helene Kohn, and his daughter, Charlotte Pollak (a gifted painter, who happened to be deaf) are buried in California, and his son, Robert, who graduated from Harvard in 1913, is buried in Neva. Neither of his children ever married to my knowledge.
Koppelman Wollner, sometimes known as Koppel, came to NYC from Austria in the early 1860's and lived on Canal Street. His wife, Caroline (Fleishman) Wollner, and several of her children--including Julia, Theresa, Moritz and others came from Austria to NYC also around 1867. Koppelman Wollner ran a successful sausage business, K. Wollner and Sons with his sons, Henry, William, Leo and Moritz, until his death Dec. 14, 1884 at 65 Canal St.
Julia's mother, Caroline Fleischman Wollner, lived to be 96 and died in NYC on 125 W. 117 St. on Dec. 31, 1909.
Leopold Wollner, Julia's brother, married Zerliene Jacobsohn in 1879 in NYC. Leopold and Zerliene moved to Chicago about that time. Zerliene died in 1890 and Leo married Dora Sachs, who lived only 11 months after her marriage; 4 months later he married Rosie Schlenger. Leopold Wollner, butcher, became a cloth cutter; he died in Chicago in 1928.
Julia's sister, Kate Wollner, married an Englishman, Solomon Mitchell Grouse in 1872 in NYC. They had 10 children and lived in NYC and Brooklyn. Many of the Wollners are buried in Salem Field, Brooklyn, NY.
Julia Wollner Pollock was last living at 640 Riverside Drive with her daughter, Wilma Pollock. She passed away at her home on 6 January 1939. She was cremated at Ferncliff, but the location of her ashes is a mystery.
Albin and Rudy Pollak, both successful oilmen, moved to California in the early 1900s. Rudy died in San Francisco in 1929, and Albin died in Napa, CA in 1967.
Alice Leal Pollock was a successful actress and writer, who died in 1957 in Philadelphia. Wilma Pollock, who was a social worker and nurse, and wrote the Upps of Suffolk St., died on Riverside Dr., NYC June 1948.
Irma (Connie) McCoy married Paul McCoy in NYC on Feb. 9, 1909, and lived most of her married life in Bronxville, NY, where they raised two sons and a daughter. (See my McCoy web page for more.)
Semele, named for her father, Samuel, was born almost 9 months after her father's drowning.
Please contact me about the Pollak (Pollock) or Wollner families!
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Family Photos
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- Koppelman Wollner's death certificate. (703 KB)
Koppelman Wollner, father of Julia Wollner Pollak, died on Dec. 14, 1884 at 65 Canal St., where he ran his restaurant in NYC.
- Julia Wollner Pollak with her grandson, Rue (11 KB)
Julia and her grandson, Rue, son of Rudy Pollak, in California about 1922.
- Marker of S. Mitchell Grouse & Kate Wollner Grouse (264 KB)
Kate Wollner, sister of Julie Wollner, married Solomon Mitchell Grouse in 1872. They are both buried in Salem Fields, Queens, NY. Solomon. This photo of their markers was taken on 3 March 2003. Note, that Kate Grouse's dates: March 6, 1853-Oct. 9, 1935, most likely shaves a few years off her real age.
- Koppel Wollner in the NYC 1870 Census (68 KB)
Koppel Wollner's name was misspelled as Koppel Vollmer. He is in the 10th Ward, 8th District, on p. 357. Koppel and his wife Caroline are both listed as 48 years old. He and Heinrich and Leopold are sausage makers. They were all born in Austria. Their children living with them are Heinrich, William, Leopold, Moritz, Minna and Therese. Unaccounted for are Julia, Kate and Rose.
- Albin J. Pollak/Pollock with his wife Louise (53 KB)
Albin Jay Pollak with his second wife, Louise Meyer Sprouls, in the 1920s.
- Irma Pollock (later Connie McCoy) about age 16 (68 KB)
Irma Constance Pollock, was the daughter of Samuel and Julia Wollner Pollock. She was born in April 1882 in NYC and died in Feb of 1891! She graduated from Hunter College in NYC, married Paul McCoy in NYC in 1909, and was a scintillating and gregarious woman until the day she died.
- Diagram of Wollner graves at Salem Fields Cemetery (203 KB)
This is a diagram of the Wollner Plot at Salem Fields Cemetery, 775 Jamaica Ave., Brooklyn, NY. Here are buried Koppelman and Caroline Wollner, and their children--Henry, William, Theresa, Maurice, Kate, and Minnie. Also buried are Kate's husband Sol Mitchell Grouse and two of their daughters, Bella and Sarah Estelle Grouse. With Minnie Wollner is her husband Herman Cohn. Rosa Wollner who was William Wollner's wife for a very brief time before his death.
- Robert Raphael Pollak, nephew of Sam Pollak (14 KB)
Robert Raphael Pollak, the son of Ignatius Pollak (Sam Pollak's brother), graduated from Harvard in 1902. This is his yearbook picture. Robert moved to California and Nevada, and worked for many years on mining projects with his cousins, Rudy and Albin Pollak. Robert died in Mina, Nevada in 1948.
- Albin Pollock from The Underworld Speaks (155 KB)
Albin Jacob Pollock wrote an interesting book, The Underworld Speaks, published by the FBI to help people spot gangsters by the way they spoke. Note Albin's rather interesting signature below his distinguished portrait.
- Stone of Leopold & Rosie Wollner, Waldheim Cem. IL (438 KB)
Leopold Wollner (Yiddish name of Leiv Asher, son of Yaakov) died age 78 on 20 Jan 1928; Rosie Schlenger, his wife, died, age 52, in 1915. They are buried in the Austrian Galacia section of Beth Israel Congregation in Waldheim Cemetery, 1400 S. Des Plaines Avenue, Proviso (Lake Forest) Illinois near Chicago. Leopold was a butcher with his father, Koppelman (Jacob or Yaakov) in NYC and then a cloth cutter in Chicago, where he lived for about 50 years. Rosie was his third wife--she made it to 52. His other wives, Zerliene (Carlina) and Dora died in their 30's and 20's.
- Solomon M. Grouse and Katie Wollner Grouse (35 KB)
Katie Wollner and her husband, Solomon Mitchell Grouse, on their 25th wedding anniversary in 1897 in Brooklyn, NY
- Rudolf Robert Pollak, son of Sam and Julia (47 KB)
Rudy Pollak was a successful oil prospector and a dapper dresser.
- Pollak Picnic in California Early 1920s (71 KB)
Julia Pollock, dressed in black, with her sons Rudy and Albin and her daughter Irma (Connie) McCoy; Connie's daughter Carol is hidden in the shadows up front and Rudy's son Rue is also in the front.
- A picture of Pollak of Company, Montgomery (7 KB)
Pollak and Company, initially Pollak's Dollar Store, was a dry goods business in Montgomery Alabama run by Samuel Pollak/Pollock (of NYC) and Ignatius Pollak of Montgomery. This picture is taken from a map of Montgomery, located in the Alabama State Archives. Photocopy provided to me by Marcia Collier.
- Kate Wollner Grouse Death Certificate 7818 (330 KB)
Kate Wollner Grouse, wife of Solomon Mitchell Grouse and sister of Julia Wollner Pollak, died on 9 Oct. 1935 in Brooklyn at the age of 83 years 7 months and 3 days. According to her certificate she was a housewife, born in Austria who came to the US 60 years ago in 1865; her parents were Koppelman Wollner of Austria and Caroline Fleischman of Austira. Kate Wollner Grouse is buried in the Wollner Plot in Salem Fields, Brooklyn, NY
- Upps of Suffolk Street by Wilma Pollock (232 KB)
Wilma Pollock was a successful journalist. She wrote her only novel about a Jewish matchmaker, Kuppelman Upp,in 1935.
- Advertisement for Pollak & Co. (644 KB)
A newspaper advertisement from 1877 for Pollak and Company Dry Goods in a Montgomery, Alabama newspaper.
- Solomon Mitchell Grouse death cert died 1939 (1129 KB)
Death certificate # 19228 of Solomon Mitchell Grouse, widow of Katie Wollner Grouse. He died in Brooklyn State Hospital on 21 Sept. 1939; his residence was 1755 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn. He is buried in Salem Fields Cemetery. He was born on 8 Dec. 1847 in England and had been in the US for 75 years. He was an Auctioneer for 55 years and had last worked in 1933. His father's name was Joseph and his mother's maiden name was Rebecca Jacobson according to Dorothy Grouse, daughter, who was the informant.
- Death certificate of Caroline Fleischman Wollner (314 KB)
Caroline Wollner, mother of Julia Wollner, lived to be 96 years and 8 months old. She had apparently lived in NYC for 41 years when she died!
- Part of Ignatius Pollak Article (944 KB)
Page one of the article on Ignatius Pollak by Dr. Sylvia Morris in the July 2002 issue of the Alabama Review.
- Wilhelm Wollner death cert. 1879 (1245 KB)
Wilhelm Wollner, brother of Julia Wollner, died age 35 yrs., 6 mo. and 25 days on 5 Nov. 1879 in NYC (Certificate 332624). He was a butcher, who had resided in NYC for 11 years, making his date of immigration 1868. His parents were born in Hungaria Austria and he died at 230 E. 53rd St, in the 19th Ward of NYC. He was buried at Salem Field Cemetery on 6 Nov. 1879. One can still see his memorial stone.
- Sam Pollock and his wife, Washington DC c. 1880 (121 KB)
Sam Pollock, a guest of the Holly Tree Hotel kept by Oscar and Lizzie 1879 to 1884, 514 and 18 9th St. NW, Washington DC. Mrs. Samuel Pollock. These cartes de visites were kindly sent to me by Mrs. Judy Schwank of Kentucky who found them in an antique store. We don't know if this is our Sam and Julia, but Mrs. Pollock strikingly resembles her daughter Alice Leal Pollock, the actress.
- Sol & Kate Wollner Grouse Family in 1897 (180 KB)
This is a beautiful souvenir photo of Solomon Mitchell Grouse, his wife, Kate Wollner Grouse, and their nine children taken for their Silver Anniversary in 1897. This picture was kindly given by me by Charles Grouse.
- Katie Wollner's marriage certificate (207 KB)
Katie Wollner married Solomon Mitchell Grouse (Grous), an Englishman, in 1872 in NYC. They had 9 children living with them in Brooklyn in the 1900 NY Census.
- Alice Leal Pollock, actress and writer (91 KB)
Alice Leal Pollock, daughter of Sam Pollock and Julia Wollner, was a successful stage actress who won the Belasco Award for Theater in 1908. She wrote the first libretto in English (Cleopatra) for an opera performed at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. She bears a striking resemblance to her mother.
- William Grouse birth 30 Aug 1880 (420 KB)
Birth certificate 300309 NYC 1880. Unnamed male Grouse, 5th child, born 30 August 1880 to Katie "Walmer" Grouse and Saul M. Grouse, of 512 E 89th St., NYC. Katie's age was given as 30, birthplace Austria. Saul is listed as a butcher, age 33, born in Austria. The certificate was filed 10 Dec. 1880. (Kate Walmer, really Wollner, is Julia Wollner Pollak's sister.) Saul's name is normally given as Solomon Mitchell.
- Irma (Connie) and Paul McCoy's 50th Anniversary (48 KB)
Irma (Connie) Pollak married Paul McCoy on Feb. 9, 1909 in NYC. Here they are at their 50th wedding anniversary in the home of their daughter, Carol McCoy Auer, in Bronxville, NY
- Wilma Vera Pollock, Author and Social Worker (25 KB)
Wilma Vera Pollock, daughter of Sam Pollock and Julia Wollner, graduated from Barnard College in NYC. She became a social worker and wrote the Upps of Suffolk Street (a Yiddish farce) based on some of the families she worked with in settlement houses in NYC. She never married and died on Riverside Drive, NYC in June of 1948.
- Cemetery Stone of Koppelman Wollner in Salem Field (91 KB)
Here lies {K Wollner} died in 67th year of life on the 14th of Decemter 1884. This photo of Koppelman Wollner's stone was made by Carol P. McCoy in the Salem Fields Cemetery, off Jackie Robinson Parkway (Cypress Hills Road) in Queens, NY on 3 March 2003. According to the Salem Field Records, Caroline Fleischman Wollner, his wife, who died in 1909 at the age of 96, was buried next to him. Unfortunately since she outlived the Wollners, she has no marker.
- Rudolph Pollock, son of Samuel and Julia Pollock (47 KB)
A dashing and smiling Rudy Pollock as a young man. He was a successful oil man who mined for oil in California in the early 1900s.
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