Isaac FRANKLIN ^{3 4}

   Other names for Isaac were Ike, Isaak and Isaac FRENKEL.

  General Notes:

Isaac was Samuel Franklin's uncle. Isaac's son Morris was born in Virginia in March, 1883.

Isaac founded Isaac Franklin & Son, which was run by his son Morris Franklin after Isaac died. The company survived as the Isaac Franklin Fishnet Co. into the 1970s at a location in West Baltimore. ^{4 10}

  Research Notes:

In 1890, Isaac lived at 2008 Christian St., Baltimore, Md. Next door to Isaac, at 2006 Christian, was a Jos Franklin, blacksmith, and his wife Mollie, grocer. These are most likely Isaac's brother and sister-in-law. And there were at least two other residents at 2008: Jos Kalinsky, tailor, and Isador B. Samler, salesman. Jos Kalinsky may very well be the same person as the Joseph Karlinsky listed at Yaazor on the plat of 1909 and as Joseph Kellinsky in the census of 1920. Benjamin Rodbell actually uses this spelling in the notes for his talk about Yaazor. Unfortunately, the city directory gives mainly heads of households.

The Census of 1900 has Isaac's status as "widowed" crossed out and replaced with "married," tending to indicate that the Sarah listed was his second wife.

The Census of 1920 has Isaac's age as 56.

Isaac's death certificate has his age as 74 changed to 75 as of June 9, 1936.

Isaac's tombstone has 1861 for his year of birth. ^{5 6 11 12}

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Immigration, 1882, Virginia?. ^{1 13 14 15} According to the census of 1900 and the SS-5 of Morris Franklin, Isaac's first son was born in Virginia. Hence Isaac may have arrived there before moving to Baltimore. He came from Ukraine, possibly Ekaterinoslav where his nephew, Samuel, lived. The census of 1920 has Isaac's immigration as 1885.

2. Residence, 1883, "Water Beach", Middlesex County, Virginia. ^{6 14} Isaac's death certificate has him resident in Baltimore for 50 years, making his move there about 1886.

A search of the Middlesex County censuses for 1880 and 1900 reveals an amazingly (racially) integrated community of farmers and oystermen, with a few sailors and workers at the "fish factory" mixed in. One can only assume that Isaac was manufacturing oyster tongs and the like at one of the blacksmith shops that existed before and after the early 1880s in the area. How he managed to land in this corner of the Chesapeake Bay remains a mystery.

3. Residence, 1887, 5 N. Front. ¹⁶ Isaac was a blacksmith.

4. Residence, 1888, 1243 Sargeant, Baltimore, Md. ¹⁷

5. Residence, 1889, 2008 Christian St., Baltimore, Md. ¹⁸

6. Naturalization, 1890, Baltimore. ¹⁵

7. Residence, 1890, 2008 Christian St., Baltimore, Md. ¹¹

8. Residence, 1892, 2000 Christian St., Baltimore, Md. ¹⁹

9. Residence, Jan 6, 1893, 621 W. German St. ²⁰

10. Residence, 1893, 222 E. Pratt, Baltimore, Md. ²¹

11. Residence, 1896, Cambridge, Maryland. ²²

12. Residence, 1900, 169 Muir Street, Cambridge, Md. ¹ ED #37, sheet 8B.

13. Business, 1900, 30C Market St., Cambridge, Md. ^{1 23 24 25 26 27 28}

"Brocato Forge...

"An old-fashioned blacksmith type forge was surviving in 1967 at Cambridge. The owner was Joseph Brocato, Jr.; and before him, Joseph Brocato, Sr.; Isaac Franklin; and Sid Holland. The shop was at least 100 years old and was the only in the County. The forge was a specialized shop, manufacturing and repairing equipment and fittings used on various types of boats; for example, oyster tongs; also parts for farm equipment and forgings for local industries." --The Dorchester Fact Book

Joseph S. Brocato, Sr., came to Maryland in 1897 from Cefalu, Italy, where he was a blacksmith. He moved to Cambridge sometime thereafter and went to work for Isaac Franklin. He later bought the forge from him. He is not listed in the Dorchester County Census for 1900. He is, however, listed in the census of 1910 as the owner of his own shop, implying that Isaac had already left by then. Joseph lived on Academy Street. In 1920, he lived at 319 Maryland Avenue and was engaged in dredge work.

Partial chronology of the owners of Brocato Forge:

Sydney E. Holland: born Sep, 1852. In 1920, Sydney lived at 123 Locust St. in Cambridge and was the owner of another blacksmith shop.

Mrs. Sydney (Stella M. [AKA Estella M.] Robinson) Holland: born May, 1868, married 1888, died Jan, 1925.

Isaac Franklin: born 1861, married 1883, died 1936.

Joseph S. Brocato, Sr.: born 1876, died Sep, 1950, buried Cambridge Cemetery, son of Joseph Samuel and Rosina Brocato.

Joseph S. Brocato, Jr.: born August 30, 1909, died March 31, 1994.

Mrs. Joseph S. (Willie M. Thomas) Brocato, Sr.: born Nov 20, 1889, married 1907, died November, 1967.

Mrs. Joseph S. (Beulah Estelle Fitzhugh) Brocato, Jr.: born Jun 20, 1912, married Apr, 1934, died Jun 14, 2000.
_____

14. Residence, 1902, 525 S. Charles, Baltimore, Md. ²⁹

15. Business, 1902, 422 E. Pratt (rear), Baltimore, Md. ²⁹

16. Residence, 1903, 525 S. Charles, Baltimore, Md. ³⁰ Isaac was a manager.

17. Residence, 1904, 525 S. Charles, Baltimore, Md. ³¹

18. Business, 1904, Isaac Franklin & Son, 406 E. Pratt, Baltimore, Md. ³¹

19. Residence, 1905, 127 W. Hill. ³²

20. Business, 1905, 516 E. Cross, Baltimore, Md. ³²

21. Business, 1906, 647 Light St., Baltimore, Md. ^{33 34} "Marine, Oysterman's and Canner's Hardware, Etc. Inventors of Patent Crab Net Boas [Bows]." This is a reference to US Patent #803,160, "Crab-Net Frame," applied for on April 15, 1905. The patent was issued to Isaac on Oct. 31, 1905. It was witnessed by E. Walton Brewington and J. Alex. Hilleary, Jr. The illustrations were witnessed by Milton C. Lenoir and Watts T. Estabrook. His attorney was H. S. Brewington.

22. Business, 1907, 647 Light St., Baltimore, Md. ³³ Isaac was in the hardware business.

23. Business, 1908, Isaac Franklin & Son, 647 Light St., Baltimore, Md. ³⁵

24. Business, 1909, Isaac Franklin & Son, 647 Light St., Baltimore, Md. ³⁶

25. Residence, 1910, 103 E. West St., Baltimore, Md. ^{13 37} ED 405, sheet 1A.

26. Business, 1910, Isaac Franklin & Son, 647 Light St., Baltimore, Md. ³⁷ Isaac was a blacksmith, "Wagon wks"

27. Residence, 1911, 800 S. Sharp, Baltimore, Md. ³⁸

28. Business, 1911, Isaac Franklin & Son, 647 Light and 103 E. Hill, Baltimore, Md. ³⁸

29. Residence, 1912, 41 E. Hill, Baltimore. ³⁹

30. Business, 1912, Isaac Franklin & Son, 647 Light, Baltimore, Md. ³⁹

31. Residence, 1913, 41 E. Hill, Baltimore. ⁴⁰

32. Business, 1913, Isaac Franklin & Son, Blacksmiths, 103 E. Hill, Baltimore, Md. ⁴⁰

33. Residence, 1914, 41 E. Hill, Baltimore. ⁴¹

34. Business, 1914, Isaac Franklin & Son, Iron & Galvanizing Works, 103 Key Hwy., Baltimore, Md. ⁴¹ "Manufacturers the Isaac Franklin Patent Crab Bows, Oystermen Fittings, Etc." The store and office was at 647 Light St. The telephone number was South 374-M.

35. Business, 1915, Isaac Franklin & Son, Iron & Galvanizing Works, 103 Key Hwy., Baltimore, Md. ⁴² "Manufacturers The Isaac Franklin Patent Crab Bows, Oystermen Fittings, Etc."

36. Residence, 1916, 41 E. Hill, Baltimore. ⁴³

37. Business, 1916, Isaac Franklin & Son, Ironworks, 103 Key Hwy., Baltimore, Md. ⁴³ The hardware store was at 647 Light St.

38. Residence, 1917, 41 E. Hill, Baltimore. ⁴⁴

39. Business, 1917, Isaac Franklin & Son, Ironworks, 103 Key Hwy., Baltimore, Md. ⁴⁴

40. Business, 1917, Isaac Franklin & Son, Hardware, 647 Light, Baltimore. ⁴⁴

41. Residence, 1918-1919, 41 E. Hill, Baltimore. ⁴⁵

42. Business, 1918-1919, Isaac Franklin & Son, Galvanizing Works, 103 Key Hwy., Baltimore, Md. ⁴⁵

43. Business, 1920, Isaac Franklin & Son, Shipsmiths, 103 Key Hwy., Baltimore, Md. ⁴⁶

44. Residence, Jan 10, 1920, 39 E. Hill St. ¹⁵ Isaac was a shipsmith. ED #371, sheet 8B.

45. Residence, 1920, Johnnycake Road, Baltimore, Md. ^{2 4 47 48 49 50 51 52 53} The property (lot 24) consisted of 5.75 acres running south from Johnnycake Road toward but not reaching the Patapsco River (known as Patapsco Falls at the time) and was purchased in October of 1919 from Joseph Goldman for $800. The mortgage was held by Nicholas Poehlman until June 24, 1924. The area was called Yaazor, was a development of the Hebrew Colonial Society of Maryland of Baltimore City, and consisted of 351 acres. The latter resulted from the activities of a group called Am Olam, "a utopian agricultural movement" from the Ukraine with origins in the same events that led to the great exodus after 1881, when the absolute autocrat, Czar Alexander III, ascended the throne. The property was owned by Charles M. Daugherty in 1877. The founders of Yaazor bought it from Elizabeth E. Baker in 1903 for $14,500. Joseph Goldman was still living there at the time of the 1920 census, which gives Joseph's age as 11. His father, Jacob, was head of household. There may be some kind of recording error here.

According to the "American Israelite" of Sept. 28, 1905, most of the inhabitants of Yaazor came from the same province in Eastern Europe and were farmers in their own country. According to Jeffrey Knisbacher, the Morsteins and possibly the Weinsteins came from "the Kamenetz Podolsk area in SW Ukraine." Many of the residents were tailors before becoming farmers.

According to the plat of 1909, the owners of property were, from west to east on "Johnny Cake" Road:

Abraham Weinstein (lot #25), Joseph Goldman (##24,24a), Abraham Rodbell (##23,22), Hannah Goodman (#21), H Belorusselz (#20), Jacob Kremer (##18,19), Joseph Karlinsky (#17), Max Weinstein (#16), Aaron Rosenstrauch (#15), Wolf Singer (##13,14), Samuel Lafayette (##12,12a), Louis Weinstein (##10,11), B Weinstein (#9), M Weinstein (#8), Solomon Weinstein (##7,7a), William Morstein (##5,5a,6,6a), Joseph Amorky (##4,4a), Michael Amorky (##3,3a), William Housman (##2,2a), Louis Housman (##1,1a), and Samuel Sant (no number, not on the road).
_____

According to the 1910 census, the inhabitants of Yaazor were, from west to east on "Johnny Cake" Road:

Tobias Goodman, Hannah (wife), Alfred (son)

Julius Blank, Minnie (wife), Bertha (daughter), Samuel (son), Rosa (daughter), Morris (son), Bennie (son)

Jacob Kremer, Margaret [AKA Mollie] (wife), David (son), Abe (son), Isadore (son), Esther (daughter), Hanna (daughter), Belle (daughter), Meyer [AKA Myer] (son), Sarah (daughter), Bernard (son)

Abraham Weinstein, Sarah (wife), Julius (son), Benjamin (son), Fannie (daughter), Solomon (brother)

Wolf Singer, Tillie (wife), Jake [AKA Jacob] (son), Harry (son), Mollie (daughter), Pearl (daughter), Rosa (daughter) [Rosa later married Julius Weinstein], Dora [AKA Dorothy] (daughter), Jessie (daughter), Sophie (daughter-in-law [Jake]), Sarah (daughter-in-law [Harry]), Isadore (grandson [Jake]), Rebecca (granddaughter [Jake]), Samuel Kup... (cousin), Sadie Kup... (cousin)

Samuel Lafayette, Mollie (wife), Morris (son), Julius (son), Rosa (daughter), Sarah (daughter), Abraham (son)

Louis Weinstein, Katie (wife), Morris (son), Julius (son), Rosa (daughter), Sophia (daughter-in-law [Morris])

? Seidman, Sadie (wife), Lewis (son), Harry (son), Ida (daughter)

Samuel Sant, Anna (wife), Ida (daughter), Isadore (son), Clara (daughter), Anna (daughter), Hyman Alexanberg (boarder)
_____

According to the 1920 census, enumeration district 3, sheet 10 (using its spellings), the inhabitants of Yaazor were, from east to west on "Johnny Cake" Road:

Alexander Paliski (truck farmer), Carey (wife)

Abraham Bazensky (truck farmer), Rose (wife), Ida, Dora, Harry, Isadore, Morris, David

John Salisky (general farm laborer), Marie C (wife), James H (house carpenter), Samuel B (shipyard bolter), Caroline M, Harry H, Edward D

Louis M Weinstein (dairy farmer), Katie (wife), William Green (hired man)

Solomon Weinstein (retired?), Anna (wife)

Bessie Wilk, Ida (tailor), Rose

Joseph Kellinsky [Karlinsky (plat of 1909), Kalinsky (Benj C Rodbell)] (hotel "pianoist"), Bessie H (wife), Isabelle E Reidell (aunt)

Harris Billerrussitz [Belorusselz (plat of 1909), Belarusitz (Benj C Rodbell), Bilerrussitz (WWI draft registration for his son Benj.)] (dairy farmer), Emma (wife)

Harry Talrekmen (truck farmer), Gertrude (wife), Morris, Rose, Mary, Meyer (nephew)

Harry Tabickman [Tabackman (Benj C Rodbell)] (dairy farmer), Beckie (wife), Goldie, Joseph, Rosie, Sylvia

Jacob Goldman (shirt ...), Fannie (wife), Harry (medical doctor), Joseph

Abraham Weinstein (dairy farmer), Sara (wife).
_____

According to the 1930 census, ED 34, sheets 13A and 13B (using its spellings), the Jewish inhabitants of Yaazor were, from east to west on "Johnny Cake Road":

Wolf Singer, Toba (wife)

Abe Weiner (produce), Jennie (wife), Morton (son), Sarah Weiner (sister-in-law [wife of Abe's brother]), Eli Hanover, 8 (boarder), Bernard Hanover, 11 (boarder), Julius Silverburg, 9 (boarder), Morris Win..., 13 (boarder)

Lewis Tacsman (proprietor of grocery store), Sarah (wife), Morris Gofar, 13 (boarder), Morris Lamsteler, 12 (boarder), Celia Lamsteler, 12 (boarder), Jacob Levin, 10 (boarder), Norman Midelson, 8 (boarder)

[I can't help wondering if the children listed here are somehow related to the Daughters of Hannah Orphanage where Isaac Franklin's son Harry worked in the '20s and '30s.]

Abraham Rotbell (father of Benjamin Rodbell), Rachel (wife), Annie (saleslady at department store)

Isaac Franklin (blacksmith), Sarah (wife), Nathan (blacksmith helper), Gertrude (daughter-in-law), Samuel Jabofsky (brother-in-law, salesman of miscellany).
_____

Benjamin Charles Rodbell (1898-1990) added the following names he remembered from Yaazor:

Gelman, Plotkin, Finkelstein, Goldstein, and Levine.

Benjamin is buried at United Hebrew Cemetery near Sulphur Spring Road.

An article on Yaazor in the Baltimore Sun for December 1, 1991, is based on an interview with Rachmiel Tobesman and his mother Marian, as well as a description by Benjamin Szold Levin for the Jewish Historical Society. Others interviewed were Morris Gordon and Molly Rubin. Benjamin Rodbell is also mentioned. The article refers to an earlier one from 1906 that says the only languages spoken at Yaazor were Russian and Yiddish. At present it is not clear whether Benjamin Levin ever completed the oral history he was planning on recording.

In June of 2007 an article appeared in the Baltimore Jewish Times called "The Lost Colony," by Gilbert Sandler. This article was partially based upon an article from the same publication in 1980 by Janice Levitt and on the speech given by Benjamin Rodbell to the Baltimore Hebrew College. Sandler has Benjamin as "Isaac Rodbell." The article also quotes from Ann Rodbell Fleisher, apparently the sister of Benjamin, the Anne Rodbell of the 1930 census. Though Abraham Rodbell appears on the plat of 1909, the Rodbells only show up as residents of Yaazor in the census of 1930, their primary residences being otherwise in the city of Baltimore, though Benjamin's draft registration of September 12, 1918, has him and his father living on Johnny Cake Road with an Ellicott City RFD box number. Sandler further quotes from Rodney Plotkin Klein, one of the few people in the article with pleasant memories of Yaazor, though my cousin, Robert Franklin, also has pleasant memories, as does Myrian Teitelbaum, with the exception of a run-in with a crazy rooster. Apparently Rodbell is responsible for the largely negative view of the community taken by later "historians." Though conditions were certainly harsh, I have to wonder if they were any harsher than the life in the Ukraine the elder residents had left.

There are other inconsistencies in the article. Sandler claims that many of the farms did not front the main road, leading to hardship in foul weather, though the plat of 1909 clearly shows that virtually all of them fronted on Johnnycake Road. In fact, the layout of the community was quite peculiar in that most of the farms consisted of long narrow strips of land lined up side by side along the road. Only by buying multiple strips could one hope to have a manageable farm.

46. Residence, 1922, 39 E. Hill, Baltimore, Md. ⁵⁴

47. Business, 1922, Isaac Franklin & Son, Shipsmiths, 647 Light St., Baltimore. ⁵⁴

48. Residence, 1923, Johnnycake Road, Baltimore County, Md. ⁵⁵

49. Business, 1923, Isaac Franklin & Son, Shipsmiths, 647 Light St., Baltimore. ⁵⁵

50. Residence, 1924, Woodlawn, Maryland. ⁵⁶

51. Business, 1924, Isaac Franklin & Son, Blacksmiths, 647 Light St. and 103 Key Highway, Baltimore. ⁵⁶

52. Residence, Sep 9, 1925, "Ellicott City", Maryland. ^{57 58} Ellicott City included areas farther north than the current tourist trap on Main Street and apparently also included, at least in popular description, the area to the east across the river in Baltimore County, the location of Yaazor where Isaac lived. Though Donald E. Pitzer claims that there was another settlement near Ellicott City in Howard County founded by the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society, there is little evidence in any of the censuses beyond a smattering of farm workers and a rare farm that was Jewish owned. Most Jews in Howard County were merchants, especially sellers of drygoods and shoemakers. As one can see from the photograph of the "swimming hole" linked on my main page, there is a house on the banks of the Patapsco River on what appears to be the Howard side of the river. Could this be part of the mysterious settlement known informally as "Ellicott"? More likely, "Ellicott" was simply another name for Yaazor and the JAIAS was another contributor to the Yaazor project or even an alternate name for the Hebrew Colonial Society, about which virtually no information has survived.

53. Residence, 1926, Woodlawn, Maryland. ⁵⁹

54. Business, 1926, Isaac Franklin & Son, Blacksmiths, 647 Light St. and 103 Key Highway, Baltimore. ⁵⁹

55. Residence, 1927, Woodlawn, Maryland. ⁶⁰

56. Business, 1927, Isaac Franklin & Son, Blacksmiths, Hughes and William. ⁶⁰

57. Residence, 1928, Johnnycake Road, Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Md. ⁶¹

58. Business, 1928, Isaac Franklin & Son, 137 E. Hughes, Baltimore, Md. ⁶¹

59. Business, 1930, 137 E. Hughes, Baltimore, Md. ⁶²

60. Residence, Apr 24, 1930, Johnnycake Road, Baltimore, Md. ² ED #1, sheet 13B.

61. Business, Apr 24, 1930, Johnnycake Road, Baltimore, Md. ² Isaac was a blacksmith.

62. Residence, Jun 9, 1936, Levindale/Hebrew Home for the Aged, Belvedere & Greenspring Ave, Baltimore. ⁶

Isaac married Sarah, daughter of Mordke and Unknown, in 1882 in [Ukraine], Russian Empire.¹ (Sarah was born in Apr 1864 in Russia,¹ died on Jan 6, 1893 in Baltimore, Maryland ⁶ and was buried on Jan 8, 1893 in the Old Moses Montefiore section of United Hebrew Cem, Sulphur Spring Rd, Baltimore ⁷.)

Isaac next married Sarah Annie JABOSKY, daughter of Itsyk JABOSKY and Dorothy, in 1893 in Maryland.² (Sarah Annie JABOSKY was born in 1874 in Russia,^{2 5} died on Jan 22, 1956 in Baltimore, Md ⁵ and was buried on Jan 23, 1956 in United Hebrew Cem, Sulphur Spring Rd., Baltimore ^{5 6}.)

  Marriage Notes:

The census of 1910 has Isaac and the second Sarah married for 15 years. ¹³