Harry and Abraham—brothers, mates, and partners
Harry Sophian and his brother Abraham emigrated to the United States from Kyiv or Kiev (Russia at the time, Ukraine today). They traveled on the SS Edam, out of Rotterdam to the Port of New York, arriving on the 25th of June, 1891, according to their citizenship applications. They were young. Harry was almost 9 years old and Abraham was 7. They were the two youngest of Morris and Delia Sophian’s five children, Meyer, Jennie, Rosie, Harry, and Abraham.
Harry and Abraham entwined their lives together. They married the two youngest daughters of the Felix family (Jane and Estelle), who emigrated at the same time from Wart, Poznań, Prussia (Poland today).
Both couples, with their young families in tow, migrated west to Kansas City together. The research to date, has not revealed exactly when they came. Abraham came first. Then Harry. Then the rest of the families. Abraham had visited KC when he came to consult on a meningitis epidemic underway. He became tied to the City when he found a business partner here, Dr Frank Hall to build a serum and vaccine production company, Sophian-Hall-Alexander Biologics, in 1912.
Harry came to see if he could grow his own career too, probably 1916. Although he had brokered real estate in New York City, he had never been a builder-developer. Harry stepped up his game, and built his first apartment house, the Georgian Court, here, on Armour Boulevard and Gilham Road. It opened 1917.
And then their families joined them and moved into Harry’s new building, the Georgian Court. When Harry built the Sophian Plaza, a couple of years later, again they moved in together.
Harry and Abraham registered for World War I military service on the same day at the Troost Avenue post at ages 34 and 35 years old. They registered for World War II military services on the same day as well, albeit at different locations (Abraham had moved to Kansas by then.) Their daughters attended the same private grammar school in Kansas City, Notre Dame de Sion. Their daughters both graduated from Smith College. Their real estate enterprises involved both their financial investment. As much as they found their own paths in life, Harry and Abraham were supportive brothers, mates, and partners.
The Side Stories
So let us tell you a few stories. See the links below.
Sophians: Kyiv to New York-1891: We tell the story of their emigration, on the SS Edam, from Russia and the pogroms.
1900: The Abject Squalor of their First NYC Home: The Lower East Side of Manhattan, the intensely crowded neighborhood of Jewish emigres, was their first home, in the shadow of the Williamsburg Bridge.
1905: The Sophians Move North to Harlem: A review of Census records from 1900 to 1905, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 for the Sophians and Felixes show a remarkable journey from the squalor of the tenements to a better life. From these homes, they started their education and careers. Harry became a real estate man. And Abraham became a physician and a nationally regarded expert in immunology and infectious disease. In part these stories are of Jewish migration and settlement in New York City, in part they are stories of westward migration in the US, and in part they are the stories of the American dream.
1907 and 1911—Two Sophian Brothers, Two Felix Sisters, Two Marriages: The Sophian family moved to the northern parts of Manhattan, and so did the Felix family. Harry and Abraham met Jane and Estelle Felix. They married and started their families there.
1900-1920: NYC Apartment House Living—From Squalor to Elegance. We tell the story of the physical/neighborhood experience of Harry. We describe the flourishing apartment house building in NYC at the time (4,000 buildings in eight years) and architectural styles. He brought that world view to Kansas City. (You will find this link, under the “Building” tab.)
Fast forward. Harry and Abraham’s lives and their families’ lives took many turns. Some exciting. Some tragic. We will tell these stories too. (But give us some time. We have these early stories to tell first.)
