Jacobena “Bena” Loeb Fauble

1846 – 1929

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Click here to view a PDF version of Jacobena Loeb Fauble’s biography.

Jacobena “Bena” Loeb Fauble was born in 1846 in Bechheim, Germany, to Isaac Loeb (click here to view his biography) and Johanna Belfort Loeb. According to her headstone, she was born on March 18, 1846, but according to her obituary, she was born on August 31, 1846. She had three siblings: Amelia Loeb Newman (click here to view her biography) and Simon Loeb of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and later Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Frederica Loeb Bloom of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

According to her obituary in the Democratic Watchman, Bena immigrated to the U.S. with her parents at the age of seven in approximately 1853. Her family temporarily settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, before moving to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, where, according to her obituary, she resided for more than seventy years.

In either 1864 or 1865, Bena married Martin Fauble (click here to view his biography), also originally from Germany, of Bellefonte. Martin and Bena had nine children: Hannah Fauble (click here to view her biography), Adolph Fauble (click here to view his biography), Blanche Fauble Schloss, Jennie Fauble Seel, Ella Fauble (click here to view her biography), Joseph “Joel” Fauble, Mable Fauble Noll, Ida Fauble Tausig, and Rose Fauble Housman. Three of their children, Hannah, Ella, and Rose, preceded Bena in death.

During their marriage, Martin, as early as 1865, partnered with Simon Lyon (click here to view his biography), a Bellefonte butcher, in a butchering business on Bishop Street. In an unknown year, they dissolved their partnership and Martin began working as a clerk at S. and A. Loeb, a clothing and dry goods store, in Bellefonte. Bena’s brother, Simon Loeb, and cousin, Adolph Loeb (click here to view his biography), owned the store. Martin worked as a silent partner in S. and A. Loeb until 1887, when he opened his own clothing store, the Rochester Clothing House, in the Ammerman building on Bishop Street. In 1888, Martin moved his clothing business to a room in the Reynolds Bank Building on Allegheny Street. In 1892, Martin moved the business across Allegheny Street into two rooms in the Brockerhoff house block. According to Anderson’s Directory and Reference Guide of Bellefonte, State College, Howard, and Milesburg, Penna. 1911-1912, the rooms were located at 13 and 15 South Allegheny Street. Between 1892 and 1894, the name of Martin’s business changed from the Rochester Clothing House to Fauble’s. By 1900, the business was named M. Fauble & Son.

On August 21, 1891, the Democratic Watchman reported Martin Fauble purchased the home of Dr. C. S. Dorworth at 20 East High Street for $4,500. Bena, Martin, and their family moved from their residence on Bishop Street, which according to the Greevy and Renner Directory of Lock Haven, Bellefonte, and Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, 1874-75, was located on the corner of Bishop Street and Ridge Street, an area the earliest Bellefonte Sanborn maps do not show, where the family had resided for nearly 20 years.

Bena and Martin’s oldest son, Adolph, helped Martin run the Fauble’s store in Bellefonte while their youngest son, Joseph, was involved in the clothing business in Monongahela City, Pennsylvania, and later Ashland, Ohio. Their oldest surviving daughter, Blanche, served as the head nurse of the Jewish maternity ward of the Mount Sinai hospital in Philadelphia in the early 1900s. Their second oldest surviving daughter, Jennie, studied stenography and typewriting and worked as the official stenographer for two Pennsylvania governors, Hastings and Pennypacker, in Harrisburg. She stopped working when she married. Bena and Martin’s daughter Mable, a pianist, studied music in Berlin for nine months in 1896 and 1897 under the “most eminent German masters.” Their youngest daughter, Rose, graduated from Dickinson College and worked as an English instructor at the Bellefonte High School for a couple years before marrying. She also studied with her sister, Mable, for six months in Germany.

Bena and Martin were married for more than 45 years when Martin, according to his obituary in the Democratic Watchman and the Centre Reporter, died at the age of 65 on August 17, 1910, of heart failure related to arterial sorosis and kidney troubles, which he developed six to eight weeks prior. His funeral was held at the Fauble home on East High Street, and he was buried alongside two of his children, Ella and Hannah, who preceded him in death, in the Rodef Shalom Cemetery in Bellefonte.

According to the Democratic Watchman on August 26 and September 1, 1910, Bena and Martin’s two sons, Adolph and Joseph, were appointed the executors of Martin’s estate. The estate, valued at $73,000, comprised of life insurance, bank stock, interest in the Fauble’s store, and other investments. In his will, Bena was to live off the entire income of the estate. Following her death, the remaining income would be divided among their children. According to her son, Adolph Fauble’s, obituary in the Centre Reporter, Adolph continued the Fauble business after his father’s death until he retired in approximately 1937.

According to the 1920 census and her obituary in the Democratic Watchman, Bena continued to live in the Fauble family home on East High Street after Martin’s death. In the 1920 census, two of her children, Adolph Fauble, who lived with his parents in all the subsequent census records, and Blanche Fauble Schloss, whose husband died in 1909, lived with her. Mary Errko, a servant, also lived with Bena.

Throughout her life, Bena was involved with the Bellefonte hospital. She served on the Women’s Auxiliary Board as well as the Ways and Means committee on the Aid Society of the Hospital. On May 15, 1903, the Democratic Watchman reported Bena donated one pair of pillows and a half dozen towels to the Bellefonte Hospital on donation day.

According to her obituary in the Democratic Watchman, Bena died at the age of 83 on August 19, 1929, at her home on East High Street in Bellefonte due to “…advanced years.” The paper continued, “…[Bena] had been declining in her health for several months and the end of her long and useful life came to peaceful close.” She was remembered as “…a woman of unusual character in that to almost the end of life’s journey she held a keen interest in everything…she was specially devoted to her home where her gracious hospitality and personal charm was always evidence.”

On September 1, 1929, Bena was buried alongside her husband and two of their children, Ella and Hannah, who preceded her in death, in the Rodef Shalom Cemetery in Bellefonte.

Miscellaneous Stories

On April 11, 1902, the Democratic Watchman reported on the wedding of Martin and Bena’s daughter, Blanche Loeb Fauble, to William Wolf Schloss. The paper reported, “…the entire first floor of the Fauble home, on east High street, was artistically decorated with Easter lilies, smilax, palms, and ferns.” Rabbi J. Leonard Levi of Pittsburgh officiated the wedding.

On October 20, 1905, the Democratic Watchman reported Martin and Bena’s daughter, Ida, married Edwin Forest Tausig of Harrisburg at the Fauble home on East High Street in Bellefonte. The ceremony was performed by Rabbi Klein of Altoona.

On June 29, 1906, the Democratic Watchman reported Bena left with a “…party of friends from Harrisburg,” including her daughter and son-in-law, Ida Fauble Tausig and Edward Tausig, on a month’s long tour of Yellowstone Park and the resorts of the Rockies.

On August 3, 1906, the Democratic Watchman reported Martin and Bena’s daughter, Jennie Fauble, married William Edward Seel of Harrisburg in the St. Patrick’s pro-cathedral rectory.

On August 17, 1906, the Democratic Watchman reported Bena had been confined to her home on East High Street for a few days after suffering from a severe attack of rheumatism.

On January 2, 1914, the Democratic Watchman reported Martin and Bena’s daughter Mable Fauble married Irvin O. Noll of Conshohocken at the Fauble home on East High Street. The service was officiated by Reverend John Hewitt of St. John’s Episcopal church.

On January 1, 1915, the Democratic Watchman reported Ida Fauble Tausig returned home to Harrisburg with her daughters after spending Christmas with her mother, Bena, in Bellefonte.

On April 8, 1921, the Democratic Watchman reported Bena celebrated her 75th birthday with a homecoming of all her children.

On August 3, 1923, the Democratic Watchman reported Bena, along with her daughter, Blanche, son, Adolph, and Adolph’s wife drove to Columbus, Ohio, to visit her youngest son, Joseph. They were all reported to then travel to Cleveland for a “…water trip to Buffalo.”

On November 9, 1923, the Democratic Watchman reported Bena, her daughter, Blanche, and Freda Baum (click here to view her biography) were expected to leave the next day for New York City. On the way, they were to stop in Harrisburg to visit a couple of Bena’s daughters and a sister of Freda Baum.

On November 28, 1924, the Democratic Watchman reported Bena and her daughter, Blanche, drove to Harrisburg to visit two of Bena’s daughters, Jennie and Ida, and their families. Blanche would then travel to Lansdowne to visit another sibling, Mable.

On January 22, 1926, the Democratic Watchman reported Bena’s daughter, Jennie Fauble Schloss, suffered from an attack of angina pectoris, chest pain. On February 5, 1926, the Democratic Watchman reported Bena and her daughter, Blanche, traveled to Harrisburg to be with Jennie, who continued to be seriously ill. The paper reported Jennie was, however, responding “satisfactorily” to treatment. Taking advantage of Bena and Blanche’s presence, the paper reported Ida Fauble Tausig and her husband, Edward, sailed to Italy for the benefit of Ida’s health.

On July 1, 1927, the Democratic Watchman reported Bena’s daughter, Mable, and her son-in-law, Irvin, were staying with Bena in Bellefonte for part of the summer. Irvin was reportedly working on his doctoral degree and was enrolled in a French course at the Pennsylvania State College.

On April 6, 1928, the Democratic Watchman reported the annual home coming celebration of the Fauble family, in celebration of Bena’s birthday, occurred at Bena’s home on East High Street.

On April 5, 1929, the Democratic Watchman reported Bena suffered from “considerable shock” after accidentally falling in her home on East High Street. While she suffered minimal injuries, it surprised her family, who was home celebrating her birthday. On June 14, 1929, the Democratic Watchman reported Jennie Fauble Seel and her husband, William, traveled to Bellefonte to visit her mother, Bena, who fell several months prior. The paper reported Bena’s condition as unchanged.

Photos

Bena and Martin Fauble

Jacobena “Bena” Loeb Fauble and Martin Fauble. Date unknown. Photograph from Justin Houser.

Fauble Family Photo

Pictured (left to right): Adolph Fauble, Joseph Fauble, Jacobena “Bena” Loeb Fauble, Rose Fauble Housman, Edwin Tausig, unknown, Ida Fauble Tausig, unknown, unknown, and unknown. March 31, 1924, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Photograph from Justin Houser.

Bena Fauble

Jacobena “Bena” Loeb Fauble. March 31, 1924, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Photograph from Justin Houser.

Bena Fauble

Jacobena “Bena” Loeb Fauble. Date unknown. Photograph from Justin Houser.

Individual Headstone of Bena Fauble

Maps

1892

PERSONAL RESIDENCE & FAUBLE STORES

13 & 15 SOUTH ALLEGHENY STREET & 20 EAST HIGH STREET, BELLEFONTE, PENNSYLVANIA, USA

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Sanborn Map. Company, Apr. 1892. Map. Click here to view the full map.

1897

PERSONAL RESIDENCE & FAUBLE STORES

13 & 15 SOUTH ALLEGHENY STREET & 20 EAST HIGH STREET, BELLEFONTE, PENNSYLVANIA, USA

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Sanborn Map. Company, Sept. 1897. Map. Click here to view the full map.

1904

PERSONAL RESIDENCE & FAUBLE STORES

13 & 15 SOUTH ALLEGHENY STREET & 20 EAST HIGH STREET, BELLEFONTE, PENNSYLVANIA, USA

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Sanborn Map. Company, Sept. 1904. Map. Click here to view full map.

1911

PERSONAL RESIDENCE 

20 EAST HIGH STREET, BELLEFONTE, PENNSYLVANIA, USA

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Sanborn Map. Company, Aug. 1911. Map. Click here to view the full map.

1922

PERSONAL RESIDENCE 

20 EAST HIGH STREET, BELLEFONTE, PENNSYLVANIA, USA

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Sanborn Map. Company, May 1922. Map. Click to view full map.