ROSENTHAL, ABRAHAM (1860?–1945). Abraham
(Abe) Rosenthal, businessman, son of Rabbi Beryl (Bernard) Rosenthal, was
probably born in 1860 and raised in a small community of Latvia, though some
sources say Russia. At an early age he was enrolled in a yeshiva in Königsberg,
East Prussia, where he was trained as a hazan (cantor) and a shohet (an
approved slaughterer of animals for kosher consumption). When the brothers of
Rachel Myers of Rochester, Minnesota, were sent to Europe to find a suitable
husband for their sister-someone trained in Jewish laws and traditions-Abe was
recommended to them. He accepted their invitation for this arranged marriage.
He and Rachel were married in Rochester about 1880. At the time, St. Paul was a
center for meat packing. Abe and Rachel moved there a few years after their
marriage so that Abe could learn more about the industry. He worked in kosher
slaughter in the packing houses of St. Paul and learned the rudiments of the
meat business while there. During their time in St. Paul, Rosenthal brought
over his entire family from Europe. His father became the second rabbi of the
Sons of Jacob Synagogue in St. Paul, where Abe was cantor and shohet. Abe's
mother is buried in the synagogue cemetery there. The family subsequently moved
to Chicago for a short period. In 1900 they moved to Dallas, Texas, where Abe
had been hired by Congregation Shearith Israel as cantor. It has been said that
he also opened a kosher meat market in Dallas and later started a second market
to sell the unkosher parts of the butchered animals. Rosenthal purchased cattle
at the newly built Fort Worth
Stockyards, and his sons drove them to Dallas for slaughter. The Dallas Morning
News published a picture of the Rosenthal brothers driving
steers down Lamar Street in front of the old Sanger Brothers
store in downtown Dallas; the brothers were fined because the herd was too
large. In 1908 the Rosenthals moved to Fort Worth, where Abe remained. He
established the Packing House Market, the largest meat market in town, at the
corner of Twelfth and Houston streets. The Rosenthals had twelve children, six
of whom followed their father in the meat industry; they operated businesses in
Fort Worth, Galveston, and Houston. Abe was president of Ahavath Sholom
Congregation in 1930–31, and he often participated in the services of the
congregation as a lay leader. He died on June 1, 1945, and is buried in Ahavath
Sholom Synagogue Cemetery, in Fort Worth. In 1987 a building on the campus of
Texas A&M University was named for the Rosenthal family.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Natalie Ornish, Pioneer Jewish Texans (Dallas:
Texas Heritage, 1989).
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