HE CUT A NEW HIGHWAY THROUGH THE FORESTS OF LITERATURE - Renowned Poet Lionel Joseph Known Professionally as Lionel Josaphare

I am not a particular fan of poetry, except perhaps for the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe.  Sometimes however an interesting story turns up on its own and that is the case with this month's story.   I am going to tell you about an unusual poet who lived most of his life in San Francisco named Lionel Joseph.  Before we take a look at his poetry, let's take a look at the poet.

Lionel E. Joseph was born May 26, 1876 in St. Louis, Missouri to Isaac Charles Joseph (1853-1919) and Caroline (Carrie) Bernard (1862-1920).  Isaac Joseph was a bookkeeper by trade.  He was born in Germany and came to the US on May 11, 1870.  He applied for naturalization on September 5, 1871 and became a naturalized US citizen in New York in 1876.  Caroline Bernard was born in 1862 in New York.  Isaac and Carrie were married in New York in 1875.

History does not record what Isaac and Carrie Joseph were doing in Missouri when Lionel was born.  Perhaps his time to be delivered took place when his parents were moving west.  In any case by the time of the 1880 US Census the Joseph family was firmly ensconced in San Francisco, California.  The family lived at 728 Harrison Street in San Francisco.  A modern office building occupies that spot today.  The family consisted of Isaac C. Joseph (32 years old), Carrie (22), and Lionel E. (4).  Isaac indicated his occupation was "Bookkeeper."

There was a blessed addition to the family when Carrie gave birth to a sister for Lionel, Frances Gilbert Joseph (1886-1950) in San Francisco on May 23, 1886. 

Lionel Joseph graduated from UC Berkeley with a law degree in May of 1897.  He wasted no time in hanging out his shingle, joining attorney Thomas A. McGowan on the 5th floor of the Parrott Building on Market Street in pre-earthquake San Francisco.

The Parrott Building

By 1898 Lionel Joseph, attorney-at-law decided to go out on his own, opening an office in the Claus Spreckels Building.  

As he became more well known, Lionel Joseph's name began to appear in the San Francisco newspapers on a regular basis, mostly with regard his being the attorney for the executors of estates moving through probate.  But he was moving up in the world.  The San Francisco Chronicle from September 26, 1898 in its column "Events in the Social World" reported the following:

It appears that this trip to New York was more than a vacation.  The San Francisco Chronicle from November 11, 1900 indicated that Joseph was back to San Francisco for a visit - and that he had been living in New York for "the last two years."

During this time, Joseph maintained an official residence with his parents at 1235 Geary in San Francisco.  A modern apartment building occupies that site today.  But the 1900 US Census finds him living as a "Boarder" at 55 West 92nd Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  An apartment building built in 1951 occupies that spot today.  Joseph reported that his occupation was "Clerk and Author."   Surprisingly he not only told the census taker that he had been born in California, he said that both of his parents had been born in California as well.  Of course none of them had been born in California.  Lionel said he had worked during the entire year of 1900 and that he could, of course, both read and write.   

One of the first public offerings of young Joseph was a poem published in the Baltimore Sun newspaper of December 17, 1900 entitled "Of Things As They Are:"

The excerpt refers to the poem having been first published in the Century Magazine.  The online archives for the Century are spotty and I was unable to locate that reference in the issues available online.

You will note that the poem is signed "Lionel Josaphare" not "Lionel Joseph". For some reason Lionel Joseph decided to adopt a pen-name and published under the name "Lionel Josaphare."  Perhaps he thought Josaphare sounded more poetic, hence better for a poet.  History does not record how or why he picked his pen-name.  You will see it spelled both "Josaphare" and "Josephare" but Lionel himself always spelled it "Josaphare".  

In 1901, Lionel Joseph published his first book, a book of poetry entitled "The Lion at the Well." 

It is not a large book - only twenty-four pages - and it contains just two poems: "The Lion at the Well" and "The Grasshopper and the Butterfly."  I am no judge of poetry.  Like art and music I feel that it is a very personal thing.  But here are excerpts so you can decide for yourself if you like it or not:

From "The Lion at the Well":

From "The Grasshopper and the Butterfly":

Here is a review from the San Francisco Call from July 21, 1901:

and one from the Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal from May 04, 1901:

As mentioned in the Call clipping above, shortly after the release of "The Lion at the Well', early in 1901, Lionel Josaphare published his second book of poetry, "Turquoise and Iron" later that same year.  This volume is larger - 104 pages - and contains twenty-four of his poems.  A few examples of its contents:

The reviews of "Turquoise and Iron" were mixed.  Here is one from the Deseret News from December 28, 1901:

Here is a lengthy (and not always complimentary) review from the San Francisco Call of December 8, 1901:

Here's an ad from the San Francisco Chronicle from June 1, 1902 for "Turquoise and Iron":

Between 1901 and 1903, Josaphare published frequently:

During this period Josaphare also edited a poetry magazine called The Flame.  Here's a review of "The Flame" from the San Francisco Examiner from March 15, 1903:

In 1903 he published a pamphlet entitled "Tale of a Town," or The Progress of the Trust."  It was a leaflet, printed in San Francisco, giving an account of a trust, a strike, the coming of  militia to suppress the strike, and the destruction of the little town.    

Josaphare also frequently contributed to a San Francisco newspaper called the Argonaut.  This is from the San Luis Obispo (CA) Morning Tribune from August 19, 1904:

But it was not all work for Lionel Joseph.  He managed to find time to marry Maud Coan (1886-1935) in Kings County, New York on June 29, 1904.  Strangely Lionel indicated on the documents that his last name was "Josaphare" although there is no evidence he ever officially had his name changed.  In years to come whenever Maud used her married name, she used "Josaphare". 

Maud Coan Josaphare

Lionel and Maud were blessed with a daughter, Helen Blair Josephare (1905-1972), born September 21, 1905 in Pennsylvania, where Maud's family lived.  It is not known how long Lionel and Maud lived together but it appears it was not long.  On January 19, 1908 Maud had her daughter baptized into the Presbyterian Church at the Patterson Memorial Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The Baptismal Register shows Helen's mother as "Maud C. Josaphare", but the space for the father is left blank.

Lionel Joseph came from a Jewish family.  If he was still in the picture it is unlikely that he would have allowed his daughter to be baptized.  

The great San Francisco Earthquake took place on April 18, 1906.  Lionel Josaphare had returned to San Francisco from the east coast and was living with his parents.  Their was no sign of his wife and daughter - they remained back east.  Lionel and his family all survived the earthquake and subsequent fire.  Less than one month later, on May 7, 1906, Lionel Josaphare and some of his friends gathered at Coppa's Restaurant to reminisce.  Coppa's was a well known restaurant that became legendary in the early 20th century as a gathering spot for bohemian artists and writers, especially after they decorated its walls with curious and intriguing murals.  Lionel ultimately wrote a poem about the aftermath of the tragedy and it was published in the Oakland Tribune in their May 19, 1906 edition.  Here it is:

JOSAPHARE SINGS OF BOHEMIA

In Coppa’s, on the night of May seventh, there assembled that bunch of Bohemians by which the little Italian restaurant that has survived seismic disturbance and devastating flames was made famous.  Lionel Josaphare was elected poet laureate for the occasion.  Porter Garnet wanted the job, but he was barred, owing to the fact that since the catastrophe he dropped out of journalism to become a hotel clerk.  Josaphare commemorated the occasion in these lines:

 Adieu to the earthquake, farewell to the flames –

     And twelve of us wassailed in looted sauterne

 Our hearts mid the ruins still played the old games,

     For the business of hearts is to ruin and burn.

 

‘Twas at Coppa’s, where oft we had flung the confetti.

     (We didn’t do that – I aver the thing solely

To make the line rhyme with his wiggling spaghetti –

     And also, in passing, his famed ravioli)

 

Around us, Destruction has painted in black

     The bricks and the beams of the tumble-down city,

Night gave to the scene an impressionist smack

     We pitied the smash-up and danced in our pity.

 

Why not?  In eternity beauty is tinder,

     There are graves all around us, wherever we dance.

The city had fallen wide, cinder on cinder.

     Like ghosts we returned there and laughed in a trance.

 

Of the women and men of us, there was a best

     A prettiest, merriest, bravest in brawl.

Gladdest, loveliest, brainiest, quickest in jest.

     Wisest, staunchest, and finest and greatest of all

 

Gone where the subtle, risotto-fed waiters,

     Sleek, sloe-eyed, cash registering Felix was gone.

‘Twas a donation feast eaten by the donators

     On one table only our candles three, shone.

  

But around in the shadow a phantasmagoria

     Of memories dined with us, nodded and gleamed,

Dear unknown friends and many a glory a

     Man would give half of his soul to’ve redeemed.

 

There seemed the dim cheek my own oft pinked at;

     (It’s blushing I mean) and there the blonde lass

At whose onetime glances full often I’d winked at;

     And there one to whom I’d oft lifted my glass.

 

In fancy’s far colors they spectrally sat –

     O lavenders, purples, pale greys and faint yellows!-

The women asmile with Bohemian chat;

     The maidens light-laughing at devilish fellows.

 

When erstwhile we dined at the good center table,

     We looked at those people as mere decorations;

They figured us part of the show to enable

     Them more to enjoy their inane mastications.

  

A trick of the brain!  (“Tis easy for genius,

     Though our food had been recently quite unsublime-

A diet corn-beefy, mixed pickly, sardineous.

     No matter); the vision is gone for the time.

 

Thus hedged in with flame-eaten alleys and castles.

     Full snugly at Coppa’s we mumble and laugh

The camp-fires, the sentries, the night-bugling vassals.

     Keep guard on the street; to them let us quaff.

 

Good luck to the army that took such good care of us’

     Good luck to the earthquake that brought us all here’

The sounds of our city are gone from the fare of us.

     To the music that’s left let us still lay an ear

 

So here’s to the twelve of us!  Here’s to the best.

     And the prettiest, merriest, bravest in brawl,

Gladdest, loveliest, brainiest, quickest in jest

     Wisest staunchest and finest and greatest of all.

                                                        -Town Talk

In 1906, Lionel Josaphare was asked to fill out a card about his accomplishments for the California State Library Biographical Index project.  Here's what he submitted:

 

Not bad for a thirty year old.

Lionel Josaphare resumed having his work published in book form after the earthquake.  Between 1907 and 1909 he published three volumes:

    

The full title of 'The Man Who Wanted a Bungalow" was "The Man Who Wanted a Bungalow: Being the Veracious Account of an Author Who Went Back to Nature to Get Inspiration and Reduce Expenses." 

As with his previous books, the reviews were mixed.  Here's one from the San Francisco Call from December 29, 1907:

In addition to his books, Josaphare also continued to supply poems to the newspapers.  Here's one from the Washington (DC) Evening Star from October 18, 1908:

He also tried his hand at writing straight fiction.  One of his works was called "The Fictitious History of the World."  It appeared in Overland Monthly Magazine in February of 1910.  Here is the first page:

The 1910 US Census finds Lionel Joseph still living with his parents in the "Empire Apartments" at 1040 Leavenworth Street in San Francisco.  1040 Leavenworth is a building built right after the earthquake and fire of 1906.  The building is still there, but I'm sure it looks much different that it did in 1906:

1040 Leavenworth Street, San Francisco

The family consisted of  Lionell (sic) 29 years old, his parents Isaac (56) and Carrie (45), and Lionel's sister Frances (23).  Lionel indicated that he was single, born in Missouri, and could read, write and speak English.  He said his occupation was "Journalist for a Newspaper."  One interesting item stands out from this Census:  Carrie Joseph indicated that she had given birth to three children, and all three were alive in 1910.  The only children of Isaac and Carrie that I was aware of are Lionel and his sister Frances.  Further research discovered in the 1900 US Census another daughter, Gertrude, who the census said had been born in October of 1873.  Remember that at the time of the 1900 US Census Lionel was living in New York so he was not listed on the census with his parents.

A few things don't add up here.  If Gertrude had been born in 1873 why wasn't she listed in the 1880 census listing for the Joseph family?  She wasn't dead, because she would show up on the 1900 census.  It is unlikely that the birth date of October of 1873 is correct because Isaac and Carrie didn't marry until 1875. Also, there is no mention of Gertrude in Isaac's 1919 Death Notice.  I was unable to dig up any additional information on the elusive Gertrude Joseph until she pops up again the time Lionel Joseph died in 1933.  More on that below.      

Between 1910 and 1920 Lionel Josephare's name does not appear in newspapers as often as it had in the previous ten years.  He was employed as a reporter by the San Francisco Examiner newspaper and as a "Special Writer" for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.  He did not publish any new books during the 1910s although he did publish a detailed review of "Valkyries of the Sea" by Xavier Martinez in the San Francisco Call of February 19, 1911

In 1913 Josaphare submitted an article to Harper's Weekly called "Life in Furnished Rooms."  Not a poem, Josaphare had reverted to writing prose when it suited him:

In 1916, he drew the cover for his friend Sarah Williamson's "A California Cook Book."

Early in 1918, Josaphare submitted one of his paintings called "They Shall Not Pass" to be displayed at an exhibition of art at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.  When it was rejected, he fired back with a letter (a copy of which Lionel submitted to the newspapers) to director Nilsen J. Laurvik accusing the exhibition of bias - specifically Hungarian bias.  It seems that some of the exhibit space had been given over to an exhibition of Hungarian paintings and Josaphare felt the Hungarian canvasses were taking up exhibition space that rightfully belonged to San Francisco artists.  Unfortunately I was unable to dig up a copy of "They Shall Not Pass."  

The Oakland Tribune referred to this brouhaha in their May 1, 1918 issue:

It appears that Lionel Josaphare had a large dose of the "artistic temperament" we have heard so much about. 

On September 12, 1918, Lionel Joseph registered for the Draft, as all men between the ages of 18 and 45 were required to do:

He said his name was "Lionel Joseph Josaphare," and that he lived at 936 Leavenworth in San Francisco:

936 Leavenworth Street, San Francisco

He listed his job as "Compilor" for Baker & Hamilton at 7th & Townsend in San Francisco.  The building (which was built in 1905 and survived the 1906 earthquake and fire) still stands:

Baker and Hamilton was a hardware and steel company.  Lionel's nearest relative was his mother, who lived at the same address as he did.

Sadly, Lionel's father, Isaac Charles Joseph died September 26, 1919 from chronic interstitial nephritis (kidney disease).  He was sixty-six years old.  Isaac Joseph was a Mason, so when his health began to deteriorate his family checked him into the Masonic Home for the Aged in Decoto, California.

Masonic Home for the Aged, Decoto, California

Here is his Death Notice from the San Francisco Chronicle from September 28, 1919:

He was buried September 28, 1919 in the Hills of Eternity Memorial Park - Congregation Sherith Israel in Colma, California.  He was originally buried in Plot O, Sec. 4, Lot 35, Row 2 but was moved to Plot C, Sec. 3, Lot E1/2 7, Row 2 on May 8, 1920 after his wife died so they could be buried together.  

  

The 1920 US Census for Lionel Josaphare was conducted January 3, 1920.  It shows Lionel and his mother living at 139 Grand Avenue in Oakland, California.  A large office building occupies that spot today.  Lionel's sister Frances had married Louis A. G. (Guy) Pocock in 1913 and Isaac had died in 1919 so the family was now reduced to Lionel and his mother.

Carrie Joseph reported that she was fifty-five years old and a widow with no occupation.  Lionel reported that he was thirty-five years old, single, and a "Writer for a Magazine."

Caroline Bernard Joseph died May 3, 1920 in Oakland.  She was sixty-one years old, so she must have been fibbing when four months earlier she told the census taker that she was fifty-five.  Her Death Record shows her as fifty-eight so maybe they decided to split the difference.  

She is buried beside her husband in the Hills of Eternity Memorial Park - Congregation Sherith Israel in Colma, California, in Plot C, Sec. 3, Lot E1/2 7, Row 2.  Here is their tombstone:

Photo courtesy Find a Grave volunteer FOIA

Lionel Josaphare published his last book "Christopher' in 1921.  It is a play in blank verse in five acts and 71 pages.

  

Reviews were mostly favorable as was this one from the Oakland Tribune of July 03, 1921:

By 1927 Lionel Josaphare had moved back to San Francisco - to 1455 Franklin.  An automobile repair business occupies that spot today.  Lionel registered to vote but declined to specify his party affiliation.  He listed his occupation as "Painter."

In late 1929/early 1930, Josaphare was involved in trying to establish a Bohemian artists' colony on land near Carmel, California.  The effort was unsuccessful, and newspapers reported that Josaphare was the only artist involved who never visited the site. 

I was unable to find Lionel Joseph in the 1930 US Census.  Sometime in the early 1930s Lionel moved to a rooming house at 1350 Franklin in San Francisco.  A modern apartment building occupies that spot today.  His popularity had waned over the years and as the country entered the Great Depression, those desiring to live a "Bohemian Lifestyle" were quickly replaced by those just struggling to survive.  A depression meant that people had little money for books, and even less for books of poetry.

Lionel Joseph died in San Francisco on June 2, 1933.  He was fifty-seven years old.  We know quite a bit about the circumstances thanks to the records of the San Francisco Coroner's Register available on Family Search and the records of Halsted and Company Funeral Directors available on ancestry.com.

San Francisco Coroner's Register

Halsted & Co. Funeral Record

   

June 2, 1933 was a Friday.  Lionel Joseph was in his room at 1350 Franklin Street.  Interestingly all the records refer to him by his real name of Lionel Joseph, and not his artistic name of Lionel Josaphare.  

According to the History of Case, "(Lionel Joseph) had been suffering from heart and stomach trouble for some time and was found by Cyril Truscott dead in bed in his room of #11 of #1350 Franklin Street, partially dressed, Supposed Natural Causes."  The Time of Death was indicated as 5:15 PM.  The hospital said it was informed at 5:23 (probably when the ambulance arrived).  By 6:35 PM the body was in the morgue, and it was released to the undertaker (Halsted & Co. ) at 12:03 AM the next morning.   

The witnesses to the aftermath of the death were neighbors Ellen Owen, Cyril Truscott, brother-in-law H. F. Flinn and Officer A. G. Steffen of the San Francisco Police Department.

There was an autopsy done on June 3, 1933 by Sherman Leland, MD of the San Francisco Coroner's Office.  He reported that Lionel Joseph had died from luetic aortitis causing a ruptured aneurism of the right iliac artery.  

There was an Inquest into the death of Lionel Joseph on June 20, 1933.  They determined based on the autopsy and other factors that the Cause of Death was "Natural Causes."

Here is his Death Notice from the San Francisco Examiner, June 4, 1933:

There was a funeral held for Lionel on Sunday June 4, 1933 at 11:00 AM in the chapel of Halsted & Co. Undertakers, 1123 Sutter Street in San Francisco.  Amazingly the building is still there (for now):

Halsted & Co. Funeral Home, San Francisco

The officiant for the funeral was the family's rabbi Dr. Elliot M. Burstein. I wonder how many (if any) of Lionel's poems were read at his funeral.

The next day, June 5, 1933, Lionel Joseph was cremated at Cypress Lawn in Colma, California.  After cremation, Lionel's remains were interred with his parents at the Hills of Eternity Memorial Park in Colma, Plot C, Sec. 3, S 1/2, E 1/2 of 7.  Here is the family monument.  Lionel's name has not been added:

The preparation of the body, cremation, funeral and interment cost $181.00 broken out as follows:

Casket #20                             $       47.00

Preservation of Remains                 50.00

San Francisco Tax                             3.00

Hearse to Cemetery                        15.00

Limousine to Parlors                       10.00  

Cremation                                       50.00

Funeral Notices 

(Chronicle, Examiner)                      6.00          

                                                $    181.00

Billed June 11, 1933 to Mr. H. F. Flinn, 44 Cornwall Street, San Francisco.

Lionel Joseph Josaphare - he cut a new highway through the forests of literature.  May he rest in peace.

The rest of the story:  Lionel's wife, Maud Coan Josaphare became a well-known writer and arts educator, teaching art at Lakeview High School in Chicago.  I found no record that she and Lionel ever divorced and neither remarried.  There is an entry about her on Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Coan_Josaphare

Maud died in Chicago on June 25, 1935 and is buried in Graceland Cemetery, Section A - Lot: 57 & 58, Grave: 17.

Lionel and Maud's daughter, Helen Blair Josaphare moved with her mother from Pennsylvania to Chicago, and ultimately to Los Angeles, California.  Helen was married four times:  first in 1926 to Frank Eugene Lowry, Jr. (1894-1951), second in 1934 to Ira F. Long; third in 1943 to Maurice David Reisman (1908-2000) and finally in 1951 to Nicholas J. Sidoti (1898-1971).  Helen Blair Josaphare Lowry Long Reisman Sidoti died March 4, 1972 in Long Beach, California.  The location of her grave is unknown.  

The Strange Case of Gertrude Joseph

When I started working on the story of Lionel Joseph my research told me that his parents, Isaac Charles Joseph and Carrie Bernard Joseph had two children:  Lionel, born in 1876 and Frances, born in 1886.  All of a sudden in the 1900 US Census for the Joseph family there is an entry for another daughter, "Gertrude."  The census said that Gertrude Joseph was born in California in October of 1873.  This is unlikely because Isaac and Carrie didn't marry until 1875.  Also, using Carrie Joseph's birth year of 1858, that means she was fifteen when Gertrude was born.  These scenarios are possible but unlikely; however in the 1900 US Census Carrie did say that she had three children, and all three were still alive in 1900.

Further research uncovered that a Gertrude Helen Joseph married Bert Lyons (1881-1958) in 1908 prior to the birth of their son Jack Lyons (1908-1961) who was born on March 8.  

The 1910 US Census shows Gertrude with Bert Lyons and son Jack in Alameda, California where Bert was a Candy Wholesaler.  Gertrude and Bert were divorced sometime prior to October 21, 1916 when she married Hubert Francis Flinn in Stockton, California.  At this time Jack Lyons started using the name Jack Flinn, although it is not known if he was ever officially adopted.  

Gertrude Flinn and Hubert Flinn were divorced in 1919.  The San Francisco Recorder newspaper reported that Hubert would be paying $31.25 per month alimony to Gertrude.  This brings us up to Isaac Joseph's death on September 26, 1919.  There is no mention of Gertrude in Isaac's Death Notice.  The only offspring mentioned are Lionel and Frances now calling herself "Francesca" with the last name of Pocock.  I was unable to find a Death Notice for Carrie Joseph when she died in 1920 to see who was listed.  Was Gertrude not included in Isaac's Death Notice because she was divorced?  Lionel was separated if not divorced and he was included.  Was Gertrude omitted because she married someone who was not Jewish?  Lionel's wife was a Presbyterian.  I was not able to find any evidence that Frances' husband Guy Pocock was Jewish.  Furthermore, there is no evidence that the Josephs were a particularly observant Jewish family.

Based on these findings I assumed that Gertrude was born sometime after Isaac and Carrie's wedding in 1875 and died before Isaac in 1919.  I was wrong.

The Coroner's Register entry for Lionel Joseph mentions that one of the witnesses was "Brother-in-Law H. F. Flinn of  44 Cornwall Street."  He isn't Frances' husband - his name was Pocock.  Checking the City Directory for 44 Cornwall Street I found Hubert F. Flinn and wife Gertrude Flinn.  So, the elusive Gertrude did not die before Isaac in 1919 after all.  Why then is she not mentioned in Isaac's Death Notice?  

Hubert and Gertrude Flinn reconciled at some point because they were listed as husband and wife in the 1930 and 1940 US Census. 

Hubert Francis Flinn died in San Francisco on August 9, 1948.  Gertrude Helen Lyons Flinn died in San Francisco on November 17, 1946.  Death records for each show them as having been interred in the Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, a Jewish Cemetery in Colma, California.  However, neither is listed in the online records from Hills of Eternity, nor are they mentioned in the Jewish Online World Burial Registry.  Hills of Eternity is the same cemetery where Gertrude's parents and brother Lionel are buried.   

Now you know as much about the elusive Gertrude Joseph as I do.  Remember, genealogical research may answer many of your family lore questions but may leave others unanswered.  That's what makes this so much fun!???!