A Brief Biography of

Julius Gottlieb

Written by Regina “Reggie” Gottlieb

c. 1990

Julius Gottlieb was born in 1869 in Bosen, Germany, a town in the western part of the country near the Luxembourg border.

At the age of fourteen, Julius set forth on his first trip to the United States. He was fascinated with the steamship, the ocean, and life aboard ship. He kept a daily diary throughout the two-week voyage. Many years later, his daughter, Selma, translated this diary, and sent the translation (omitting only a few repetitive days) to the University of Kansas Library where it probably can be read and/or copies obtained.

Julius' Uncle George (Gottlieb Gottlieb), who was living in Pleasanton, went to Kansas City to meet Julius and accompany him on the final leg of his long journey to his new home in Pleasanton. By pre-arrangement, in case Julius and his uncle missed each other in the railroad station in Kansas City, Julius had been informed of the time and gate number where he was to board the train to Pleasanton.

Julius and his uncle did miss each other in the station in Kansas City. Uncle George finally gave up his search with considerable apprehension, boarded the designated train to Pleasanton as planned, and walked through all of the coaches looking for his nephew whom he had not seen before.

He saw only one boy on the train about the age of Julius (14), and this boy was reading the Kansas City Star. Uncle George had been informed that his nephew knew no English, so Uncle George repeated his search of the train three or four more times without success. Finally, Uncle George stopped and asked this boy, in German, his name. When the boy promptly replied, "Julius Gottlieb", Uncle George introduced himself, and said with surprise (in German, of course) that he had been told Julius could not speak or read English. Julius replied that this was true, but that he thought he could learn the language by trying to read an American newspaper!

When uncle and nephew arrived in Pleasanton, Julius was immediately made to feel at home at his uncle's (they lived in the red brick house on Park Street now occupied by Ruth Ashley Blaker). His Uncle George and Aunt Tillie had two daughters, Julia and Bertha, about Julius' age, who, no doubt, were very helpful in Americanizing their cousin. Julius lived at his uncle's for several years until he and a friend rented an apartment downtown on the floor above the Lhuillier Drug Store.

Many people who knew Julius in those early days, commented on how quickly he learned the English language, American customs, and the history, government, and geography of the United States. He soon lost his German accent, used English grammar correctly, and had a considerable vocabulary.

By assisting in his uncle's dry goods and clothing store, he also learned much about merchandise, buying and selling, customer relations (this came naturally to Julius), accounting, etc., and also about the community, including its organization and the people of the surrounding farming and mining areas.

Julius, congenial by nature, had quickly made friends with others his age. As they grew older, they spent many evenings together, on week-ends, especially, participating in tennis, baseball, picnics, carriage rides, whist (a card game), etc.

Also, as the years went on, Julius was often given much of the credit for the growth of the store into one of the largest in the county. His uncle and family eventually moved to Kansas City, leaving the management of the store to Julius. After the death of his Uncle George, Julius bought the store from the heirs.

In 1898, Julius traveled to Germany for a three months' stay to visit his family there, and also to call on his childhood sweetheart, Minna Sender, with whom he had been corresponding for the last fourteen years. As the end of his three months' visit approached, Julius, not wanting to be separated from Minna again, proposed marriage to her, and was accepted. Julius selected July 4th for their wedding, as he considered this the most important date in the history of his beloved adopted country, the U.S.A. When they arrived in Pleasanton after their marriage, Minna was quickly welcomed by Julius' relatives and friends, and the community. In time, six children were born to Minna and Julius: Ferdinand, the oldest, then Selma, Frieda, Regina, Leo, and Eleonore, the youngest.

Julius continued expanding his clothing business, gradually acquiring other stores in Kansas; first, the one in Mound City; then stores in Blue Mound, Humboldt, LeRoy, and one or two others elsewhere in the state. He sold most of the stores, keeping only three at a time.

Although Julius was very busy with the operating of his stores, he found time to participate in community affairs; for example, the School Board, City Council, Mayor 1919-21, Masonic Lodge (he advanced to Scottish Rite and Shrine, Ft. Scott Chapters), and during World War I, he was one of the "Minute Men" designated by Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. President, to promote the buying of War Bonds for financing U.S. participation in the war. Julius was greatly opposed to the Kaiser and the aggressiveness of his regime; thus, entered the War Bond drive with much inspiration and determination, giving many "pep talks" at rallies, convincing the citizens to buy War Bonds to help overthrow the Kaiser and "Make the world safe for democracy", a slogan of the time.

Minna, in spite of her busy household, also found time to participate in community activities as a member of two service clubs, the Order of The Eastern Star, and the whist club.

The children were proud of their parents, especially of their father when he was mayor. Frieda wrote in the front cover of her school books:

Steal not this book,

Instead beware!

For if you do,

I'll tell the mayor

When Julius' two-year term as mayor was about to expire, the City Council requested him to serve another term, but Minna opposed his serving again, because it had been a difficult period in Pleasanton, and the responsibilities of mayor so demanding and time-consuming. Reluctantly, Julius conceded to her wishes, and declined a second term as mayor.

Julius always enjoyed being with his family, and never discussed business matters at home. Perhaps that is the reason that none of his children had an interest in the store as a career. But, he did relate incidents at home that had happened in the conduct of the business that had an amusing or coincidental curious aspect; he was entertaining in telling anecdotes, these often when they had guests.

When the children were young, he would always bring each of the six a gift when he returned from an out-of-town business trip. When the children were grown, they realized that on seeing their father returned, they did not say, "We're glad to see you", "Did you have a good trip?" or, "How are you?"; but only, "What did you bring me?" Typical children, probably, but in later years, they felt ashamed, and wondered how their father had felt then.

Julius took the family for an automobile ride most evenings in summer, and on Sundays drove to Fort Scott, Butler, Nevada, or other towns and had dinner there. Some evenings, they drove to Mound City and stopped for a visit with the Wilsons' so that Julius could discuss business with Mr. Wilson, the manager of the Gottlieb Store there. On the way out of town, Julius would stop at Dewey's Ice Cream Parlor for their delicious sundaes and ice-cream sodas, a treat the children always enjoyed, and considered the best part of driving to Mound City. Evenings at home, the family read, listened to music (records); and the younger children played with their toys and games.

Julius enjoyed music, especially, operatic, and when he went out-of-town, often brought home records by such artists as Galli Curci, Schumann-Heink, Nellie Melba, Alma Gluck, Tetrazzini, John McCormick, Enrico Caruso, and others.

Julius Gottlieb was a religious man and had great respect for the religion of others. Whenever there was a public gathering while he was mayor, including band-concerts, he always opened the event having the audience sing "The Grand March of the Republic", his favorite hymn. He taught his children the Ten Commandments early. On the two Jewish religious holidays each Fall, Rosh Hashanah, (the New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), he stayed at home and read the prayers for those observances.

Occasionally, the store was burglarized and Julius would go there with the town Marshall in response to the burglar alarm which sounded in the telephone office, and the information relayed to Julius and the town Marshall. These were trying moments at home, as the families waited with anxiety for the news of the safety of Mr. Gottlieb and the Marshall. One time, two burglars were apprehended in the store. The Marshall shot one fatally, and captured the other, who was convicted and sent to prison. Julius risked his life for his family several times, as did the Marshall.

On the lighter side, five or six families in Pleasanton who were friends formed a club and built a club-house in Trading Post on a bank of the Marais des Cygnes River. The young children and teenagers, especially, enjoyed the club-house, sometimes spending several days with their families or a chaperoning mother or two. The young people spent their time hiking, fishing, swimming, etc. Some of the men, including Julius, seldom could spend much time at the club-house.

Julius and Minna's children all graduated from the University of Kansas; several earned advanced degrees there or at other universities. Julius himself, planned to attend the University! When Eleonore, the youngest in the family graduated, Minna was designated "Mother of The Year" at the commencement ceremonies, because she had the largest number of children who graduated there.

When Frieda's application for a teaching position was submitted to a school in Oklahoma, a member of the school board, in a meeting to judge the applicants and make the appointments, said when he read Frieda's application, "I used to live in Pleasanton, and if she is the daughter of Julius Gottlieb, she will be a fine person for this job." Frieda was appointed to the faculty position there.

Unfortunately, Julius Gottlieb did not get to see any of his six children graduate from college or enter their careers. Two weeks before the oldest of the children, Ferd, was to graduate, Julius had a fatal heart attack on May 10, 1921. He was in the prime of life, 52 years of age. He had no known heart condition; thus, his death came as a tragic shock to his family and all who knew Julius. The Pleasanton Observer-Enterprise stated in its obituary, among other remarks of homage:

"In the death of Julius Gottlieb, the community loses one of its most prominent citizens, a man widely known in all parts of the county, and also in business circles in larger cities....He had just finished a term as Mayor of Pleasanton, and his work of handling that office in a period of the most trying times ever experienced by the city was remarkable indeed. He will be missed by the business life in Pleasanton, as his counsel was often sought on important matters. He was one of the leading spirits in the Masonic Order here, and his place in that order will be hard to fill."

Short funeral services were held at the home by the Masonic Lodge and by Rabbi Myer of Kansas City. About 500 grieving friends, neighbors, associates, and relatives attended the funeral, most standing on the lawn. There was a profusion of flowers. Many attending the funeral accompanied the remains to Fort Scott on this sad journey, the "through-train" having made a special stop in Pleasanton for this purpose. Julius was buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Ft. Scott, Pinelawn, where an additional short service was conducted by Rabbi Myer.

The Reverend Hamilton, formerly minister of the Presbyterian Church in Pleasanton and friend of Julius, traveled the longest distance to attend the funeral, from his current ministry in the western part of the state, in spite of his crippled condition.

The Pleasanton Observer-Enterprise obituary of Julius Gottlieb concluded:

"All of the business houses were closed from 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. as a tribute to this prince of good fellows."

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