Robert Lee Schiffman
| Born: | March 23, 1888, Huntsville, Alabama |
| Buried: | Maple Hill Cemetery |
| Office: | The I. Schiffman Building |
| Son of: | Bettie Herstein Schiffman |
| Son of: | Isaac Schiffman |
| Husband of: | Elsie Strauss Schiffman |
| Brother of: | Annie Schiffman Goldsmith |
| Brother of: | Irma Schiffman |
Notes:
• Family history: "Solomon and Daniel Schiffman came to the United States in 1857, Solomon to Cincinnati and Daniel to Paris, Kentucky. They moved to Huntsville before the Civil War and opened a dry goods and clothing business on the courthouse square. Isaac Schiffman, born in 1856 in Germany, came to Huntsville in 1875 to join his uncles, Solomon and Daniel. He married Bettie Herstein; their children were Robert, Irma, and Annie. In 1908 son Robert, by then grown, and son-in-law Lawrence Goldsmith joined the business, which had expanded into cotton and land leasing. Isaac died in 1910. That year, the business incorporated as I. Schiffman & Company. It still operates today at its courthouse square location." - Nilsson
• In the 1900 US Census: Isaac (Robert Lee's father) was 44 years old and the head of the house (310 West Clinton Street) His place of birth was listed as Germany and his occupation was a Dry Goods Merchant. Also in that home was his wife Bettie (39 years old), his widowed aunt Bertha Schiffman (56 years old) and his children Annie (14 years old), Robert Lee (12 years old), and Irma (10 years old) - 1900 Census
• In the 1910 US Census: Ike (Robert Lee's father) was 50 years old and the head of the house (306 Clinton St.) His occupation was listed as a banker. Also living in the house with his wife Bettie (47 years old), his son Robert (22 years old and a bank clerk), Ike's nephew (Robert's cousin), Leo (18 years old and a bank clerk), Mrs. Saul Schiffman (67 years old, probably Ike's aunt also living with them ten years earlier.) - 1910 Census
• On the Draft Registration Card he listed his occupation as supplying farmers mark coop (Business for self). He was married with wife and child. It looks like he might have claimed an exemption for a physical disability, but the writing in not clear enough to decipher. - World War I - Draft Registration Card
• East Side of Square (14) I. Schiffman & Company, Investments, Mrs. Bettie and R. L. Schiffman and L. B. Goldsmith - Record
• "Robert, was one of the first automotive dealers in the city." - Maple Hill
• "Officers of the original company (to build the Erskine Hotel) were T.T. Terry, president; M.M. Hutchens, secretary; L.B. Goldsmith, treasurer; and directors J. Emory Pierce, R.L. Schiffman and Wells Stanley." - Dickerson and Marks
• "'The Monte Sano State Park was first conceived through the initiative of a group of Huntsville citizens. J. B. Mitchell, the County Agent, was the leader. The others included John J. Sparkman, the Eighth District representative in Congress, and Robert Schiffman, a local businessman. The group was able to obtain the cooperation of Sam F. Browser, regional planner of parks and recreation for the TVA, and Col. Page S. Bunker, of the Alabama Forestry Commission.'"
The article continues to tell of the development process. " - Hill
Related Links:
• 1900 Census - As viewed through an Ancestry.com paid subscription (Originally found at http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1900usfedcen&indiv=try&h=34604155.)
• 1910 Census - As viewed through an Ancestry.com paid subscription (Originally found at http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1910USCenIndex&h=183353627&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=7488.)
• Ancestry.com - Page owned by Jen White and can be seen only with an Ancestry.com paid subscription (Originally found at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/2216997/person/7025890160.)
• Dickerson and Marks - Article titled "Russel Erskine, The Huntsville 'Boy Who Made Good'" by Geroge Dickerson and Henry S. Marks for the Huntsville Historical Review, Volume 4, #4 & 5, #1, Oct74, Jan75, Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society.
• Hill - Article titled "History of the Development of Monte Sano" by Mr. James B. Hill, Jr. for Huntsville Historical Review, Volume 34, #1, Winter-Spring 2009, Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society, page 78.
• Maple Hill - Maple Hill Cemetery, Phase One, by Diane Robey, Dorothy Scott Johnson, John Rison Jones, Jr., & Frances C. Roberts (Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society), 1995, page 80
• Nilsson - Why Is It Named That?, by Dex Nilsson, 2005, page 109
• Record - A Dream Come True: The Story of Madison County and Incidentially of Alabama and the United States, Volume II, by James Record, 1978, page 547
• World War I - Draft Registration Card - As viewed through an Ancestry.com paid subscription (Originally found at http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=WW1draft&h=21183916&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=1174.)
The Following Pages Link to this Page:
• Bettie Herstein Schiffman
• Isaac Schiffman
• Elsie Strauss Schiffman
• Annie Schiffman Goldsmith
• Dickerson and Marks
• Hill
• Irma Schiffman
• Maple Hill
• Nilsson
• Record
• The I. Schiffman Building