Kuppersmith Family

KUPPERSMITH

     F.  (probably Ferdinand) Kuppersmith (1859-1920), an Alabama native, came to Ocean Springs from Mobile, Alabama.  In September 1916, he
leased the Eagle Point Oyster Company building on Front Beach.  It had been operated by Anton P. “Tony” Kotzum (1871-1916), the son of Joseph Kotzum (1842-1915).(The Jackson County Times, September 23, 1916) 

     In May 1920, Mr. Kuppersmith advertised his business as follows:

                           

                                                                                                  Retail Fish, Oysters, and Crabs

Located on the Beach Jackson Avenue.

Always Open F. Kuppersmith.

(The Jackson County Times, May 22, 1920,p. 5)
 

     It appears from Federal Census data that F. Kuppersmith was the son of Anthony Koppersmith (1831-1880+), a Prussian engineer, who settled at Mobile.  F. Kuppersmith died February 19, 1920, at Ocean Springs.  His remains were sent to Mobile for internment.  Mr. Kuppersmith was respected in the Mobile business community where he had a wholesale seafood enterprise vending oysters, fish, and produce.(The Jackson County Times, February 21, 1920, p. 5)

          William Kuppersmith (1875-pre 1930), the son of F. Kuppersmith, continued the seafood business at Ocean Springs, for a few years after the death of his father.   He was born at Mobile and circa 1901 married Lena Kuppersmith (1880-1930), a native of Alabama.  They had four children:  William Kuppersmith (1901-1980), Gladys K. Dick (1904-1990), Godfrey Kuppersmith (1910-1980), and Marie Kuppersmith (1911-1930+).(1930 Mobile Co., Alabama Federal Census R41, 4B, ED 46)

George H. Dick
     In January 1926, Gladys Kuppersmith (1904-1990) married Herman George Dick (1896-1941) of Ocean Springs, the son of Benedict Dick (1869-1904) and Louise Zeolide Seymour (1875-1903).  They had three children.  The Dick family moved to Ohio and Illinois, where he worked for the Western Union.  G.H. Dick was killed in a railroad accident at Witt, Illinois on
September 27, 1941.  He was buried in Mobile, Alabama. (The Daily Herald, January 13, 1926, p. 3 and The Jackson County Times, October 11,1941, p. 1)

     The William Kuppersmith family moved back to Mobile in the mid-1920s, and George Davis Maxwell (1881-1951) took over their Jackson Avenue business site.

REFERENCES:

The Daily Herald, "Dick-Kuppersmith", January 13, 1926.
The Jackson County Times, “Local News Items”, September 23, 1916.
The Jackson County Times, “Death of F. Kuppersmith”, February 21, 1920.
The Jackson County Times, "Fast Train Killed Herman George Dick", October 11, 1941, p. 1.