CHAPTER 1
Growing Up in the Abel Dreyfous Household
N 1944,
AT THE AGE OF 87, Felix J. Dreyfous wrote the outline of his autobiography,
although he never filled in the details. The good works and loving deeds that he performed for his family and community
established a legacy of selfless service that now, a half-century later, can be recounted with care and devotion
for the generations still to come. Through his energetic and tireless efforts, he achieved much in his lifetime.
Some might praise his many accomplishments and "public honors," wrote his first grandchild, Carol Dreyfous
Eiseman. She, on the other hand, remembered him vividly as he, undoubtedly, would be contented to have been remembered--as
a "serious, dignified man," but one with whom his granddaughter was completely comfortable. She loved
his solid dependability. "I knew what to expect," she wrote. "Every night of the week, summer and
winter, Grandpa had to have his soup. Whenever there was creamed spinach and mashed potatoes for dinner, Grandpa
mixed them together. After dinner, he had a demitasse. He would save a little of the ice cream he had for dessert
to put in his coffee."
Many years later, Carol could still picture the dining room of her grandparents'
home in Audubon Place, where the "glass domed French clock" that chimed the hours sat in its appointed
place upon the white marble mantelpiece. Only her grandfather "could wind the clock to keep it running,"
she said, but she believed that in his habits and values, Felix J. Dreyfous was even "more predictable"
than his beloved French clock. That "consistency," Carol maintained, gave her a "feeling of security."
The traits Felix Dreyfous exhibited as a grandfather he undoubtedly developed as a child. He was born, as he noted
with precision, on "February 17, 1857, at the corner of Florida Walk (then Marigny Canal) and Elysian Fields
Street where my parents for a time attempted to operate a soap factory under unfavorable circumstances." Felix
was, literally, the child at the center of his family, the fourth of seven brothers and sisters. His father, Abel
Dreyfous, had immigrated to the United States from Belfort, Alsace, twenty-three years earlier, and his mother,
Caroline Kaufman Dreyfous, born at Ingenheim Rheinich, Bavaria, had emigrated from Germany as a child.
Abel was born in 1815, the year that Napoleon met his final defeat at Waterloo and the Congress of Vienna met to
reestablish the European balance of power. As a textile manufacturer, Abel's father Emanuel provided a good living
for his family, and Abel grew up in relatively comfortable circumstances. Evidently Emanuel had been of some financial
help to Napoleon because the emperor made him a gift of a complete set of Chinese export china. When Ruth Dreyfous
and her family visited Marie Levy, a French descendant of the family in Paris during the inter-war years, Marie
still had one of the plates. She and Ruth got along famously; the language barrier between them made no difference,
and before Ruth departed Marie presented her with the plate. The timing of this meaningful gift was especially
poignant. When the Germans occupied France several years later during World War II, Marie deserted her apartment
and fled south to avoid the Nazis. Unfortunately, she never returned. When her companion entered the Parisian apartment
at the end of the war, she found it empty; everything had been confiscated. The plate and a small pitcher that
Marie gave Ruth are the only heirlooms from that side of the family.
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