Nan (Lieberman) and Harry Carr

   

Cover of Mason Mint magazine (news letter of the Mason Au & Magenheimer Conf. Mfg. Co. Inc) September 1954 featuring the Trenton Tobacco Co., distributor of Mason Confectionery products.  L-R Harry Carr, Nan Carr, Alvin J. Carr[1]

     Nan Lieberman was the youngest daughter of Phillip and Bella Lieberman (more about them here and here).  Her exact birth date was always a matter of discussion in the family, and she got younger as the years passed, but she is listed with the family in the 1900 census as having been born in May of the previous year [2].  Her name then was Annie, and she continued as Anne through the 1920 census, when the family lived at 718 S. Beulah St. in a neighborhood of two story brick row houses.[3]
     Harry was the son of Louis and Fanny Cohen who had arrived in Philadelphia with their young son Joseph from Romania about 1898 (I haven't found their manifests yet).  They quickly had three more children, Harry in 1901, Herman in 1902, and Henrietta in 1909.  On his Declaration of Intention to be come a citizen in 1900, Louis said that he was living at 920 S. 5th St. in Philadelphia[4].  Like many recent immigrants, Louis moved often and worked in the garment industry.   By 1909 on his Petition for Naturalization, he listed himself as a tailor living at 8021 Suffolk Ave in South Philadelphia[5], and in April 1910 on the census he reported the family living at 1218 North Warnock St. (now part of the Temple University campus) and gave his occupation as operator in a pants manufacturing company[6].  When he registered for the WWI draft he was listed as a self employed tailor again, living at 994 N. 5th St[7].
     Around 1918, Louis moved his family to Trenton, NJ where they lived at 495 Logan St.  He soon bought Trenton Tobacco Company, a

Trenton Tobacco 806 South Broad St.
From Mason Mint Magazine.
The building is still there, and you can still
see the words Trenton Tobacco Co on the
top of the building.

wholesale business located at 177 South Broad Street in a three story store front building with an apartment above where the family lived[8].  Louis, Joseph, and Harry owned and ran the business together.   The business must have been very successful.  In 1921, Louis, Joseph and Harry invested $30,000 in the Salamandra Company, which was incorporating as a brewing business.[9]  In July 1922 Louis, Fanny, and young Henrietta travelled to Europe for six months, planning to visit Romania and Switzerland to visit relatives, England and France as tourists, and Germany and Austria-Hungary for business[10]. Also in 1922, Louis and Joseph Cohen bought a building with a storefront and apartments on South Broad Street for "upward of $50,000"[11].  Trenton Tobacco  moved from the original location to the new location at 205 S. Broad Street in 1923.  By 1923, Louis had acquired a large single family home at 8 Oak Lane in a newly built Trenton neighborhood where they lived with their children until each grew up, married, and moved out. [12]
      By the time of her wedding in Philadelphia in November, 1923, Annie Lieberman had begun to be called Nan[13].  Harry and Nan returned to Trenton where their son Alvin Joshua was born on August 18, 1924[14].  In 1930 they bought a newly built duplex at 30 Sanhican Drive[15], near Harry's parents where they lived into the 1940s.  Harry continued to work as a salesman and then manager of Trenton Tobacco.  Joseph married Gertrude Introligator about 1923.  Herman became a doctor and married Elizabeth Stein in 1930[16], and Henrietta married Nathan Levine in 1932 and moved to Philadelphia[17].  The ever growing Trenton Tobacco  moved again to 806 South Broad St. in about 1938[18].
     Alvin (known as "Sonny" within the family, and Al by others)graduated from Trenton Central H.S. in 1942[19], and in January 1944 he enlisted in the U.S. Army[20].  He served overseas in France for seven months and was severely wounded in the leg in April 1945[21].  After his recovery he resumed his studies at Lafayette College and the at University of Minnesota.  It was at this time, around 1950 when he wanted to go on to medical school and faced the widespread practice of quotas limiting the number of Jewish students in professional schools, that the family changed their last name from Cohen to the less Jewish sounding Carr[22].
    Joseph Cohen had died in 1942, and Louis in 1946[23], leaving Harry as the sole owner of Trenton Tobacco Company after he bought the remaining interest from his widowed sister-in-law[24].  Al joined the firm in 1948.  Things were going very well for the Carr family.  In 1954 they moved into a custom built home in Yardley PA across the river from Trenton.  The home featured 12 rooms, a 20' x 65' recreation room, a pool and cabana, and was decorated with marble [25].  I remember that special accommodations were made to store Nan's growing collection of antique furniture, china, and silver.  The raised dining room was secured by an ornate wrought iron gate, behind which one could see her collection of silver tea and coffee services.  One room had a full wall of lighted cabinets to store the many full services of antique china she had acquired.  She loved to open them up and let me examine everything when I visited a child.  She was a regular at high end auctions and estate sales.
     At the same time, Trenton Tobacco was growing, too.  By 1954 the business had about 1500 retail accounts and carried about 2000 different items, including tobacco and candy products, toys, watches, and shavers.  They built a new office and warehouse complex on the edge of town, increasing storage space from 6000 sq ft to 15,000 sq ft. The warehouse layout, designed by Al, had the latest innovations in stock management, designed so that filling orders was most efficient. Al said that Nan only paid social visits to the office, but that she was just as interested in the business as his father.[26]  I remember going to the grand opening when the display room was filled with candy boxes open for sampling.  I was literally a kid in a candy shop!
     Harry and Al continued to run Trenton Tobacco together.  Al married Rosalie Klinghoffer in 1961.  Harry died in 1976[27].  Nan closed up the big house and moved to a newly built condo at 860 Lower Ferry Road in Ewing until she died in 1980[28]. Al sold Trenton Tobacco Company in November of 1980, moving on to other business ventures[29].


1. "Mason Mint", Vol IX, No.4, September, 1954.  Mason Au & Magenheimer Conf. Mfg. Co., Inc.  Copy held by Mary-Jane Roth.
2.. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA,Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2004) www/ ancestry.com, Database online. Year 1900; Census place; Philadelphia Ward 2, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll:T623_1452; Page 11A; Enumeration District 40.  Record for Annie Liverman.
3.  Ancestry. com, 1920 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA,Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2004) www/ ancestry.com, Database online. Year 1920; Census place; Philadelphia Ward 1, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll:T625_1614; Page 3B; Enumeration District 21.  Record for Anne Leiberman.
4. Ancestry.com, Pennsylvania, Federal Naturalization Records, 1795-1931 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, I,c., 2011), National Archives; Washington, D.c.; ARC Title: Naturalization Petitions for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1795-1930; NAI Number 72; Record Group Number :M1522 Record for Louis Cohen.
5. ibid.
6. Ancestry. com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA,Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2006) www/ ancestry.com, Database online. Year 1910; Census place; Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll:T624_1394; Page 2A; Enumeration District 0343; FHL microfilm: 1375407. Record for Louis Cohn.
7.  Ancestry.com, U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo, UT, USA,Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2005) Registration Sate: Pennsylvania; Registration County; Philadelphia; Roll 1907612; Draft Board :10. Record for Louis Cohen.
8.  There are several sources for this information. The description of the building is from "O'Neill Property Sold for $35,000"   Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey) Sunday, February 15, 1920 p. 7.   Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source: GenealogyBank.com.  The family being resident there is from Joseph Cohen's WWI draft registration Card: Ancestry.com U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Provo UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2005) Registration State: New Jersey; Registration County: Mercer; Roll 175444; Draft Board 3. Record for Joseph W. Cohen., and well as Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2011) Ancestry.com, Trenton, NJ Record for Louis Cohen, manager of Trenton Tobacco.
9.  "Variety of Purposes for New Companies" Trenton Evening Times, June 22, 1921. p 6. Source: NewspaperArchives.com
10.  Ancestry.com, U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007) www.ancestry.com, database online.  Record for Louis Cohen.
11.  "Tobacco Company Takes New Home" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey) Sunday, November 12, 1922. p. 7.  Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source GenealogyBank.com.
12.  The 1923 date is extrapolated for several sources.  In his application for a passport cited above in 1922, Louis gives his address as 177 South Broad St.  An article about the trip gives the same address. "Will Travel Abroad for Six months" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey) Tuesday July 18, 1922. p. 8. Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source GenealogyBank.com.  Another article in early January 1924 gives the Oak Lane address for Henrietta. "Miss Cohen Honors Miss Fay Bookman" Trenton Evening Times. Saturday, January 5, 1924 p. 14. Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source GenealogyBank.com.  It is unlikely that Henrietta would have entertained in the first week of January 1924 if they had just moved into a new house that week.  Finally,  The City Directory of Trenton in 1925 gives Louis' address as 8 Oak Lane. Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011), Ancestry.com, Record for Louis Cohen.  That Louis and Fanny lived there until their deaths is attested to by their obituaries. " Mrs. Louis Cohen" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey), Wednesday July 6, 1943 p. 11, and "Louis Cohen" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton New Jersey) Thursday, June 6, 1946. p. 10 both Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source GenealogyBank.com.
13.  Ancestry.com, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951 (Provo, UT. USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2011) Record for Nan Lieberman.
14.  Ancestry.com, Social Security Death Index (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009), www.ancestry.com, Database online, Number: Issue State: New Jersey; Issue Date: Before 1951. Record for Alvin J. Carr.
15.  Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2002) www. ancestry.com, Database online, Year: 1930; Census Place: Trenton, Mercer, New Jersey; Roll:1365; Page 13B; Enumeration District : 71; Image: 929.0. Record for Nan L. Cohen.
16.  "Miss Elizabeth Stein Becomes the Bride of Dr Cohen at Pretty Ceremony Yesterday at Belmar - Interesting Notes of Various Women's Organizations" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey) Monday , July 7, 1830 p. 11. Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source: GenealogyBank.com. 
17. " Lavine-Cohen Nuptials" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey) Monday, August 29, 1932 p. 14. 
Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source GenealogyBank.com.
18. "Tobacco Company Negotiates Lease" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey) Sunday, December 11, 1938 p.22 Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source: GenealogyBank.com. 
19.  Ancestry.com, U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, Record for Alvin J. Cohen.
20.  National Archives and Records Administration, U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc.) Ancestry.com, Database on-line. Record for Alvin J. Cohen.
21.Ancestry.com, AJHS WWII Jewish Servicemen Cards, 19-42-1947 (Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. ), www.ancestry.com. Database on-line. Record for Alvin J. Cohen.
22. Personal e-mail. "RE: Long Time No Hear". Alvin J. Carr (ALCARR@compuserve.com) to Mary-Jane Roth. Wed. 30 Jul 1997. Copy held by Mary-Jane Roth.
23. Obituaries. " Rites Held Today for Joseph Cohen" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey) Friday July 17, 1942. page 16. and "Louis Cohen", Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey) Thursday, June 6, 1946. page 10. Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source: GenealogyBank.com. 
24. "Mason Mint" Op. Cit. p2.
25.  "Lower Makefield is Proud of its People and Homes" Levittown Times (Levittown, PA.) January 28, 1957. p 11.
 Source NewspaperArchive.com
26. "Mason Mint" Op. Cit. pp. 3-5
27.  " Obituary Harry N. Carr at 75, Trenton Businessman" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey) Tuesday, May 18, 1976. p 32. Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source: GenealogyBank.com. 
28. Obituary "Nan Lieberman Carr" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey) Wednesday, December 24, 1980. p 23. Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source: GenealogyBank.com. 
29. "Buyers Exchange under new owners" Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey) Thursday, July 9, 1981. p 37. Copyright NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004. Source: GenealogyBank.com.