Samuel (Schiman) Kalt was born May 10, 1878 (or possibly 1877) in Grodek Jagiellonski, Austria, (now Horodok (or Gorodok), Ukraine). Grodek was about 20 miles from Lemberg (now Lviv). While in Europe, he met Fannie Steckler and became engaged to her there. The Steckler family lived in Krakow, and Samuel had moved to Krakow before he came to the United States. Apparently he worked in Berlin for a time, as well.
According to one source, he left Europe to avoid being drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army. He left Europe on March 16, 1902, sailing on the S. S. Patricia from Hamburg, along with Fannie's brother, Israel Steckler. He arrived in New York on March 29, 1902, and was detained at Immigration for 2 days because of "no money and poor physique". On his immigration record, he is listed as "Schiman Kalt". On the Hamburg passenger lists (a list of all passengers emigrating from Hamburg), he is listed as "Simon Kalt". After clearing immigration, he was met by Sheindel Steckler (Fannie's mother), who lived at 326 Stanton St. in New York.
|
| Samuel and Fannie Kalt, early 1900's |
Samuel married Fannie (Feyga) Steckler March 29, 1903 in New York. Their marriage certificate lists the ceremony as performed by David Monkos(?) of Lechom Mischne(?). E. Mandel is listed as a witness. The address for Samuel on the marriage certificate (March, 1903) was 326 Stanton St, NYC--this is the same address that he went to when he arrived--so, apparently he lived with the Stecklers until the wedding.
In 1903, their first child, Shirley Bernice was born in New York.
Samuel and Fannie moved to Detroit in about 1904 or 1905. When he arrived in Detroit, Samuel took a job as a foreman with the J.D. Candler Roofing company, which was located at 177-179 High St., between Beaubien and St. Antoine. (High Street is now Vernor Highway).
After arriving in Detroit, their second child, Sidney, was born on July 4, 1905.
In 1907, Samuel started his own business. The 1908 Detroit city directory lists "Kalt, Samuel, Tinner, 364 Adelaide". In that year, he filed his declaration for U.S. citizenship, and their third child, Jacob Eugene (Jack), was born.
The 1909 directory lists Samuel's home address as 226 Rowena (between Erskine and Benton) and business address as 492 St. Antoine. (Rowena Street no longer exists; what was Rowena Street became the portion of Mack Avenue between Russell and Woodward).
In about 1909, Samuel fell of a roof and was in a coma for several weeks (according to his son Saul). In 1910 or 1911, the business moved to 599 1/2 St. Antoine, and in 1912 both home and business addresses were 806 St. Antoine, between Willis and Canfield. Apparently this was a house with a shop behind it; the business office was on the ground floor of the house. In November of 1911, their fourth child, Max, was born.
Samuel was a charter member of Congregation Beth Abraham, which was originally located on Winder, between Hastings and St. Antoine. He built and donated the gate for Beth Abraham cemetery, and also built the roof for the cemetery bulding.
In 1913 Samuel incorporated United Cornices an Roofing. The 1913 city directory lists Samuel as President, Fannie as Vice President and Charles Wolfgang (Fannie's brother) as Secretary/Treasurer. The business was located at 759 Beaubien, between Leland and Alexandrine.
The 1914 city directory lists "Kalt, Sam--Tinning, cornices, skylights, gutters, conductors, roofing felt, ready roofing, repairing promptly done, architectural work a specialty". On September 2, 1914, a fifth child, Charles, was born. In February of 1916, their 6th and last child, Saul Richard, was born.
 |
Charles and Saul Kalt, early 1920's |
The 1917 directory lists "Kalt, Sidney (sic)--General Roofing Contractor, "Roofs that never leak". (This is obviously a misprint, since Sidney was 12 years old at the time).
In 1920 or 1921, Detroit renumbered many of its addresses and the listing for Samuel Kalt was renumbered to 4240 (Residence) and 4222 (Business) St. Antoine, with the business apparently moving from Beaubien back to St. Antoine. The house, which is no longer standing was located in what is now the Detroit Medical Center, near Harper Hospital.
Sometime between 1920 and 1923, the family moved to 261 California Ave (at Oakland) in Highland Park. Business was doing well, as this was a large house with a 3 car garage. The family owned a Cadillac at this time. This house is no longer standing--there is currently a Chrysler plant where the house stood.
By 1923, the name of the business had been changed to "Kalt Company Roofers". At its peak, the company employed 40-50 workers (possibly up to 80-90), but more often the number was around 10 or 15. The company did mostly commercial roofing. In addition to roofing, they built cornices and skylights. Some of their jobs included reroofing of the Masonic Temple and the Whittier Hotel in Detroit, as well as roofing for properties owned by the Massachuseets Mutual Life Insurance Company.
During the late 1930's the company also manufactured steel tanks for chrome plating companies, and refurbished steel tumbling tanks for laundries
Samuel had been diagnosed as a diabetic in his 30's and subsequently had to eat most of his meals at a clinic. In the late 1920's, he retired from the business, due to health problems. Presumably most of the business operations were taken over by Sidney. In 1927, his brother Isaac arrived from Europe, but stayed only a short time with them in the house on California Avenue before moving to New York. According to my mother, Isaac was very religious and did not feel that Samuel was "religious enough".
In about 1927 or 1928 the family moved to a house at 1533 Atkinson, between Byron and Wilson. (Click here for a picture of the house today). The business address at this time was listed as 4226-4228 St. Antoine. During this time, the Kalt Company added another building next to the original one.
During the late 1920's and early 1930's, the Purple Gang had "hung out" in the area where the Kalts lived. One of Shirley's friends was dating a member of the Purple Gang, but her (Shirley's friend) parents wouldn't let him pick her up at their house, so he would come to the Kalt house to meet her.
By 1931, several of the children were working for the company. In the 1931 city directory, Sidney was listed as General Manager, Shirley as a bookkeeper, and Jack and Max were listed as "collectors". In 1936, Charles was listed as "assistant supervisor". During this time, Max ran roofing crews, while Sidney and Jack did estimating.
| The Kalt family at wedding of Sidney Kalt and Bee Schreier. Left to right: Max, Charles, Fannie, Saul, Samuel, Sidney, Shirley, Bee, Irvin Sirkin, Jack. |
In 1932 or 1933 the family moved to 4001 Clairmount (near Holmur). (Click here for a picture of the house today). Apparently business did not do well during the Depression and they had to sell the house on Atkinson (for much less than they paid for it) and rent the house on Clairmount. A few years later they moved to 9245 Wildemere (between Joy and Chicago). Sidney, Jack, and Charles each had married in 1935 or 1936 and moved out. The 1937 directory lists Max, Saul, and Shirley (and her husband Irvin Sirkin) as living in the house on Wildemere. (Click here for a picture of the house today). The 1939 directory lists Max, Jack, and Sidney as working for "Kalt Company, roofers".
 |
Samuel and Fannie Kalt, late 1930's |
In 1938 Samuel suffered a heart attack, and in December 1940, suffered another. In 1941 he had a third heart attack and died at 8 PM on October 20, 1941, at Harper Hospital. He was buried at Beth Abraham Cemetery in Ferndale on October 22, 1941.
In 1943, Fannie sold the house on Wildemere and bought a duplex at 2969 Elmhurst. (Click here for a picture of the house today).In December, 1945 she entered Harper Hospital, and died there at 4:45 AM on January 27, 1946. The cause of death was listed as 'Gastric reaction(?) for gastric obstruction and chronic cholecystitic (inflammation of gall bladder)'. She also suffered from acute glomerular nephritis. She was buried on January 28, 1946 at Beth Abraham Cemetery
|
| The Kalt family in 1951: Left to right: Saul, Joan, Charles, Pearl (pregnant with me), Shirley, Sidney, Bee, Laura, Jack, Eva, Max. |
Joni Kalt recalls that during the early 1950's the company's office was a small office with two desks and a safe on the second floor and was "old, dirty, and musty", and had never been remodeled. Apparently the city was going to build a freeway through the site and the brothers were waiting for the city to buy the land.
By 1952 or 1953, the Kalt Company was not doing enough business to support 3 brothers, and Jack left the company to go to work with Saul at the Roger Steel Co. Max and Sidney remained with the Kalt Company. In 1956, Jack came back to the Kalt Company.
In 1960 Charles and Jack died within one week of each other, on January 31 and February 7. After Jack's death, Max and Sidney sold the Kalt Company and Max moved to Sherman Oaks California.
| Shirley Bernice Kalt, b. November 24, 1903, New York; d. May 06, 1995, Miami, FL |
| Sidney M. Kalt , b. July 4, 1905, Detroit, Michigan?; d. February 25, 1965, Detroit, Michigan |
| Jacob Eugene (Jack) Kalt , b. January 23, 1908, Detroit, Michigan; d. February 07, 1960, Detroit, Michigan |
| Max Kalt , b. November 28, 1911, Detroit, Michigan; d. April 27, 1987, Sherman Oaks, CA |
| Charles Allen Kalt , b. September 2, 1914, Detroit, Michigan; d. January 31, 1960, Detroit, Michigan |
| Saul Richard Kalt , b. February 17, 1916, Detroit, Michigan; d. July 21, 2007 |
Go to Main Kalt Page
This page last updated on 06 May 2010
