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Asaph and
Ezra
Two young brothers were discussing their futures on
their father's Saskatchewan farm...the year was about
1923. The oldest, Asaph had just returned from
Texas. A trip in which he had married his bride Otilla Malusha
Laubhan, in a very short courtship, and his future was heavy on his
mind. His previous employment off the farm was as a part-time
brakeman for a Canadian Railroad, plus a short time job, helping his
new brother-in-law Alex Laubhan in his butcher shop in Texas.
Ezra, on the other hand had no off the farm experience, and was
newly married to his childhood sweetheart Linda Dregger of Canora
Saskatchewan. The next year's conversations would be all about
the future.....British Columbia offered the newcomer many
opportunities, and that seemed to be "first choice".
That was not the first choice however for
Tillie.....who now was the mother of a baby boy, born George
Reginald in March 1924.....her choice was Texas, to be with her
family, and that was the persuader for Asaph....After all, times
were good on the farm in Texas, a new town was growing....there
would be opportunity..(the sign on the outskirts called it The City
of Opportunity)....so peace in the family was possible, and a
decision was made.....Texas. There was already talk
of a grocery store, and the possibility that the German trade in the
area would welcome a German merchant. Ezra would be needed and
welcome in that event. Ezra had one advantage
that was not so evident, but was of consequence later....he had
been born a U.S. citizen, in Kansas in 1901...
So, it came to be: Ehrlich Brothers
groceries....Follett, Texas....1925
1925 not only began the business, but the second baby,
a girl Joanna Faye.....born on Main Street in uptown Follett
Texas to her 26 year old father and 21 year old mother, in her
Grandmothers shoe-shop living quarters.
The attending doctor was 46 year old Dr. W. F. Markley,
who later would become a best friend and benefactor to the
brothers.....Joanna was born in the USA, but I suspect she was bred
in Canada......things were happening....good things
But a little heartache also.....it is 1926, and the
first-born to Ezra and Linda, Laura Blanche dies at age 6 months
from respiratory problems....the first of what would be many bumps
in the road for the Ehrlich Brothers in their new Texas
lives....
The short period of time that followed was filled with
inside and outside events.....Most would agree, there was lots of
turmoil in the world, but few places had any more than what would be
called the "Dust Bowl", enveloped in a world crisis of
depression. What a place to start a business, and start
families....but that is to be the fate of these two unsettled born
in Russia/born in Kansas brothers.......with Biblical
names.....Asaph and Ezra. The next few years are a roller
coaster, with more early downs than ups, but eventually back to
normal air.
Asaph and Otilla's third child arrived.....Bernice
Evangeline.....(perhaps a literary influence), and two years later
1930, a third sister Joyce arrived, and the family was growing as
was the grocery business, and the addition of machinery to the
mix. DeLaval Cream separators and Oliver farm equipment were
adding to the growing business success, as well as a new house on
Bruce Street, paid for in cash in 24 months (two payments of
$550). 1932 was the year of the famous Charles Lindberg's baby
kidnapping trial....also the birth of Maurice CHARLES Ehrlich...1934
was not so glorious as four year old Joycie succumbs to
complications of scarlet fever....the dangerous years young children
faced before anti-biotics....1935, The winds are blowing
dust, the depression is now raging, and another child is
born...Laubhan J.......but hope is for the next
year.......surely next year will bring a change and
relief.
Meanwhile, Ezra and Linda have also built on Bruce
street, and have added a girl and boy to their family....Florine and
Lyman, born short years apart in the late 20's and early 30's....and
Linda's sister, Hertha has arrived from Canada to
assist the new family and business....All of this enthusiasm
and all of this hard work and planning would end up on the floor of
the little grocery store on Main Street in Follett in 1937....end up
as credit slips for groceries and farm equipment from families long
since gone from the scene in search of a new life
elsewhere. The legal judgements against the Ehrlich Brothers
from the likes of Boss Gloves, Rainey Davis Mercantile, Golden Light
coffee etc....would last until 1943, when Asaph paid them, and the
long road back was just beginning.
I mentioned Dr. Markley early in the story.....he and
Ezra were to become particularly good social friends early on....The
doctor had a small private pool room, and Bobbie Ann Searcy
Ehrlich's father Robert Searcy recalled stories of the two
playing pool.....Ezra was to bring part of the
refreshments...limburger cheese. Bobbie Ann was a part of the
story also, having been born in 1933 in the small building that
had been the Doctor's office in Ivanhoe Oklahoma until
1917. I discovered a notation made in Dr. Markleys' late
1938 entries.....loan to Ezra Ehrlich....$5.00.....I mention it
because it exemplifies how drastic the times had become.....the
depth of a national tragedy......Money was almost extinct, and now
what?
The Asaph and Ezra story continues today in the lives
of their immediate families.....who all would seem through the use
of higher education have achieved quite a lot. The
purpose of this story is just to convey a little more of the
story....I hope you enjoy....
P.S. The information herein is part heresay, and part
from information of abstracts, old records..etc....but the gist of
the story is what is intended....
Sincerely, Maurice Ehrlich
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