Our Ancestors

Oscar Reinstein (1827-1900), our Helen Eisner's maternal grandfather, died after he fell off a street car. His demise made several San Francisco newspapers.  The San Francisco Call of Monday September 17, 1900 ran the story with the sensational headline, “Aged Oscar Reinstein Prophesies his Death”. The tantalizing sub-heading read, “While Seeking Pleasure He Jumps or Falls from A Car and is Fatally Injured.” The San Francisco Chronicle, not to be outdone, included a portrait of our Oscar falling backwards off the street car.

The day of his death, Oscar left his home unaccompanied to go to the beach. He was changing street cars at Stanyan and Waller Streets when he was seen falling. The San Francisco Call reported “he struck heavily on the pavement, and within an hour was dead.” 

Despite headlines and illustrations designed to capture readers’ attention, an autopsy showed Oscar suffered a heart attack. The medical examiner, “developed the fact that Mr. Reinstein died of heart disease. The only injuries he received from the fall were some slight bruises and lacerations to the face.” 

A young woman who was employed as a domestic servant in Reinstein’s home told the newspapers, “Mr. Reinstein was past 76 years and was very deaf. For that reason he never left the house unless someone accompanied him. He must have gone out quietly today, for none of us heard him. His words to me this morning were prophetic. He was unusually despondent, and told me that he knew he did not have long to live. Within a few hours he was dead. His words of the morning were true.”

The two newspaper reports and obituaries paint a picture of our second great grandfather. Oscar Reinstein was an immigrant success story, and he became a prominent San Franciscan. The Chronicle described him as “a pioneer citizen and father of J. B. Reinstein, one of the Regents of the University of California.”  In his senior years, Oscar “was active and thought nothing of walking from his residence to the Park. With exception of a few fainting spells, he gave little evidence of his advanced age.” 

The San Francisco Examiner obituary reported Oscar as “a native of Germany, aged 74 years 10 months and 2 days.” He was born in Posen on November 17, 1827. This region, located in the Polish corridor, has in different historical periods been part of Poland, Prussia, and Germany.

Oscar left Central Europe, immigrating to California during the Gold Rush. The Reinstein surname means “pure stone”, a fitting moniker for a newcomer heading to gold country. Oscar was a merchant, selling goods to the miners. Previously, we learned the Reinsteins settled in Visalia in the southern Central Valley. However, one news article explained that the Reinsteins first came to Michigan Bluff, California.

The original town was called Michigan City, founded by gold miners in 1852. The village, located in the Sierra foothills, has an elevation of 3500 feet. It is in Placer County, just a few miles from Forestville. Oscar Reinstein sold his wares to the very first settlers in this small Gold Rush town. Coincidentally, Leland Stanford also ran a store in in Michigan Bluff, until the California industrialist went on to bigger commercial and political successes.

The Reinsteins only stayed a couple of years in Michigan City, before moving to Visalia. Our great grandmother, Lena Reinstein was born in the valley town shortly before the family found permanent residence in San Francisco.

In 1867, Oscar Reinstein became involved in wholesale clothing manufacturing in The City. In addition, he opened a merchandise business in Gold Hill, Nevada. There, he formed a partnership with M.P. Wolf, who later married his daughter Adeline. They established a second location in Bodie, California. According to the Chronicle article, “In 1883, Reinstein retired from business, and since that time had been living quietly at his residence, 906 Ellis street.”

The Chronicle also reported on our patriarch's final wishes contained in several documents,

I particularly request that my body be cremated: that the ashes be put in an urn and placed between the graves of my two wives. Let the undertaker prepare my body for cremation, dressed in a full suit and place it in a plain coffin, which can be taken into the parlor for inspection. There will be no need for anyone to watch my remains. Let the house be shut up as usual. I especially request that no minister or rabbi deliver any discourse. Let the I.O.O.F. conduct the funeral rites. I desire none of my family to wear mourning, as I always disliked this outward show. The I.O.O.F. will pay my funeral expenses. No flowers. No outward show.

If Oscar was a no-nonsense type of person, it also appears his Jewish roots were less important than his membership in the I.O.O.F, the International Order of Odd Fellows. According to their literature, the Oddfellows was a non-political, non-sectarian fraternal organization whose purpose was to “visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan.” The organization was dedicated to the “principles of friendship, love, truth, faith, hope, charity, and universal justice.” Oddfellows was involved in charitable projects and activities, and sought to “promote good will and harmony amongst people and nations … holding the belief that all men and women regardless of race, nationality, religion, social status, gender, rank and station are brothers and sisters.”  No doubt, Oscar would be proud his secular, egalitarian, creed is well established among many of his descendants. 

According to his obituary, Oscar Reinstein’s remains were taken to the Odd Fellows’ cemetery in San Francisco for cremation. The newspapers reported all of Oscar’s kids were in attendance for his modest ceremony, including our great grandmother, Lena Reinstein Eisner and our great uncle, J.B. Reinstein. The Odd Fellow’s cemetery was closed in the 1920’s, and presumably Oscar Reinstein’s remains were transferred to the Hills of Eternity Memorial Park Cemetery in Colma, where they rest today.

The San Francisco newspapers not only publicized Oscar Reinstein’s death in 1900; over a year later they reported fractures between the Reinstein children over Oscar’s estate. A December 8^th, 1901 article from the San Francisco Call revealed that Lena, who was executor of her father’s will, was suing her brother Jacob (J.B.) Reinstein, “to recover monies and property in his possession, which she claims was part of her father’s estate.” The dispute involved payment of a life insurance policy to J.B. and the division of real estate on Ellis street. This article showed that we are like many other families, with siblings squabbling over an inheritance.

Further evidence of that our family icons were fallible, came ten days later in a December 17th, 1901 headline in the San Francisco Call:" Claims Regent Assaulted Him - Policeman Arrests Attorney Reinstein for Drunkeness.” The article stated, 

To be arrested for drunkeness and battery is a distinction which the average Regent to the State University seldom has thrust upon him. Regent J.B. Reinstein was unfortunate enough to run afoul of Patrolman Collins at 10 o'clock Saturday night, the result being he was ignominiously carried to the O’Farrell street police station in a wagon and booked at that place on the charges mentioned.

Not only was our esteemed great uncle booked on a drunk and disorderly, but the newspaper reported, “Woman Figures in the Case and Mystery is Thrown Around It” The second paragraph of the article stated, 

There is considerable mystery about the arrest of Reinstein and it was quite evident yesterday that every effort was taken by the attorney and his friends to keep the matter secret. That a woman was connected with the escapade in some manner seemes likely, but the arresting officer now makes statements concerning the affair, which differ materially from the admissions made by him to Prisonkeeper Riley at the police station at the time the double charge was placed opposite Reinstein’s name. 

Oh goodness: a woman, escapades, and changing stories. The article goes on to say the arresting officer refused to press battery charges. J.B. argued he wasn't drunk but suffering from neuralgia — pain from nerve damage. The judge dismissed the case. And the mystery woman, remains a mystery.

The turn of the century articles about the Reinstein family humanize our ancestral heroes; they show them made of flesh and not of marble. Our Oscar was indeed an immigrant success story. His children, J. B. and Lena, were by all accounts accomplished individuals but not without their frailities and foibles. Despite his dramatic demise, I like to think of my second great grandfather enjoying his final San Francisco years, walking to parks and riding street cars to the beach.

Dave Forrest

September 2023