EXHIBITS
100 Years of Congregation Brith Sholem: Honoring the Jewish Community in Ogden, Utah: Joseph and William Benowitz and Family
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Joseph and William Benowitz and Family
Brothers Joseph and William Benowitz, born in 1878 and 1880, immigrated to the United States in 1891 as young boys with their mother, father, and siblings. They fled Czarist Russia for anti-Semitic reasons like the atrocious and deadly pogroms. Also, their parents feared their sons would be captured to fight in the Russian army, which young male Jews became a prime target for, many never returning home.
The Benowitz family landed in New York City, where Joseph began working in a factory making hats. Joseph became dissatisfied with the work he was doing, as he was not making ends meet. He was also not fond of the city, believing New York to be rather expensive. Joseph headed west with a friend to Galveston and Waco, Texas. Success was not their friend in Texas, as both Joseph and his friend could not find decent labor and struggled to make ends meet. Both returned to New York.
Joseph heard great things about St. Joseph, Missouri, and decided to try his luck in the growing manufacturing city. He got a job working at the St. Joseph Hat and Cap Company.[1] This may have been the time Joseph met his wife, Lillian Berger, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 1, 1889, and raised and educated in St. Joseph, Missouri. She married Joseph on February 21, 1913, in St. Joseph, Missouri, although they were living in Ogden, Utah, at this time.[2]
In 1907 Joseph decided to make his way further West as he became acquainted with many people in St. Joseph who spread positive rumors about the possibilities in Utah. Joseph traveled by train from Missouri to Utah, making a quick stop to stretch his feet in Ogden before hoping to settle in Salt Lake City. Considering Ogden’s Union Station was a few feet away from the constant hustle and bustle that resided on Twenty-Fifth Street, Joseph possibly perused down the busy walkways and became fascinated by such wonderous sights. Twenty-Fifth Street was surely a sight to see as it was a hodgepodge of all sorts of people, businesses, and a unique and mischievous places for leisure. According to Joseph’s son, Ralph Benowitz, “my dad told me, and he would laugh when he said it, there were 30 brothels, and 30 saloons and 30 clothing stores.”[3] What also may have motivated Joseph to stay in Ogden were the many Jew-owned merchant shops he passed while walking up Twenty-Fifth Street towards Washington Avenue. Joseph quickly forgot about the idea of traveling to Salt Lake City and decided to settle in Ogden, Utah.
Joseph found a spot at 172 Twenty-Fifth Street and opened his first store, Benowitz Brothers, shortly after his arrival to Ogden in 1907. His brother, William, came to Ogden with his family soon after Joseph settled there ,and both brothers operated the merchant store.[4]
The Benowitz brothers held a successful business on Twenty-Fifth Street, catering to business attire first for railroad laborers and then business attire for men once the railroad labor ended around 1910. The brothers opened another store location at 320 Twenty-Fifth Street sometime before the late 1930s and altered the shops name to B.B Clothing Store, and then B & B Clothing Store sometime later. Ralph recalled that the Great Depression hurt his father and uncle’s business for a time, but they managed to carry on and the B & B Clothing Store survived until the early 1980s. During the 1930s, Ralph worked with his father in the store. Ralph suggested to his father that they should start selling more fashionable men’s attire along with the business clothing they were selling. Joseph listened to his son and B & B Clothing Store began to sell dressy attire for boys and men. At that point, there were very few Jew-owned clothing stores in the area as many Jewish families left.
Just like other early Jews of Ogden, Joseph and William Benowitz were heavily involved in sustaining a Jewish community in the area. Both brothers held positions to promote the building of the synagogue and participated in fundraising socials and events. Joseph Benowitz even held a position as president of Congregation Brith Sholem. Joseph passed away from heart ailments in 1961.[5]
William Benowitz married Mollie Lieberman on May 27, 1907, in St. Joseph, Missouri, before arriving and settling in Ogden. William and Mollie had two daughters, Marion and Evelyn, and one son, Burton Benowitz.[6] Evelyn married Joseph Rosenblatt around 1930 and moved to Salt Lake with her husband. William Benowitz died in 1950 due to heart problems.[7]
Joseph and Lillian Benowitz had two daughters, DeVora and Esther, and one son, Ralph. Esther tragically passed away at the age of sixteen on September 16, 1931. DeVora Benowitz married Jack Lyon of Maryland in 1945 and had two children; Elaine Barbara and Jay Morris. Jack settled in Ogden after being discharged from the Air Force while stationed at Hill Air Force Base. He worked as a manager of B & B Clothes Shop during the 1950s. Jack opened his own clothing store, Jack Lyon Clothier, in June 1968 at 2305 Washington, specializing in men’s apparel. The shop was very successful and led Jack to open another retail business selling both men and women’s apparel, The Clothes Gallery at 1150 Washington.[8] Both DeVora and Jack were also prominent members of the Jewish community of Congregation Brith Sholem. Jack was president of the congregation in 1968.
In 1978, DeVora and Jack moved to Florida to be closer to Jack's mother and sisters. DeVora passed away in 2012 and Jack passed away in 2020, two months shy of his 105th birthday.
