Brother Perlstein's Horn

 Brother Hyman Asher Perlstein was born on March 20, 1869, in Pune, Russia. According to his Petition for Naturalization dated June 11, 1920, Perlstein left Hamburg, Germany onboard the ship, Chester, on June 15, 1884, and arrived at the port of New York on July 25, 1884. He was a mere 15 years old. After he arrived in New York, he boarded a train and traveled to Houston to join his Uncle Hyman O. Gordon. Gordon also immigrated from Punia, Lithuania around 1870, and became prosperous in Houston, Texas. After working odd jobs, Perlstein’s uncle convinced him to learn a trade. From 1885-89, Perlstein secured a job as a blacksmith’s helper for $.25 a day. Due to the considerable number of blacksmith shops in Houston, the only way Perlstein was going to make his fortune was to go to a smaller town, open his own shop, and grow with the town. At 10:30 p.m. on August 19, 1889, Perlstein boarded the Texas and New Orleans train with a ticket to the “eastern Texas boundary.”

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Perlstein arrived in Beaumont, Texas with $21.90 in his pocket and began working in Brother Tom Ridley’s blacksmith shop on the corner of Pearl and Fannin Street for fifty cents a day. Brother Ridley was a member of Beaumont Lodge 286 and may have been influential in Perlstein petitioning the Lodge for admission in 1890, after his twenty-first birthday. In 1891, Brother Ridley sold his blacksmith shop to Brother Perlstein for $250.00 dollars. In 1891, Brother Perlstein was elected to the office of Tiler within the Lodge and one of his duties was to announce the Lodge meeting. In 1891, the telephone had not arrived in Beaumont, so Brother Perlstein handcrafted a 5 foot long horn out of tin, which he used to announce Lodge meetings. It is said that the horn can be heard across the city. Brother Perlstein would eventually become a 32nd Degree Mason and a member of the York Rite, and Knights Templar.

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Although a frugal man, Perlstein purchased Ridley’s blacksmith shop in 1891 and then began purchasing real estate at a rapid pace. He eventually sold his blacksmith business to concentrate on his growing real estate business. In 1895, the Jewish citizens of Beaumont organized Congregation Emanuel, a Jewish Synagogue, and Brother Perlstein was a founding member. In 1902, Brother Perlstein and fellow immigrant R.M. Mothner drilled for oil at the famous Spindletop oilfield located south of Beaumont and struck oil on a site where the well- known oil tycoon Captain Anthony Lucas had reputedly been unsuccessful.

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With his success in real estate and oil, Perlstein built the Perlstein Building in 1907, which at the time was the tallest building between New Orleans and Houston. Offices in the Perlstein Building were leased to some of the city’s most prominent small businesses including larger retail stores such as S.H. Kress and the 5-10-25 Cent Store. The building caught fire on 5 August 1944 and was not extinguished until the next day. Firefighting units from Beaumont, Orange, Port Arthur, Houston, and the Coast Guard assisted in battling one of the largest and most disastrous fires in Beaumont’s history. The building was a total loss and was demolished. One column remains of the Perlstein Building and is located in Perlstein Square in memory of  Brother Perlstein. Perlstein Square is the site of the demolished building and the home of Beaumont’s Art Museum of Southeast Texas.

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Brother Perlstein was involved in many business ventures throughout his lifetime. He was a civic leader and a founding member of the Jewish community in Beaumont. Brother Hyman Asher Perlstein died of kidney failure on December 7, 1948, and is buried at Hebrew Rest Cemetery in Beaumont, Texas.