The Hebrew Free Loan Society (HFLS) is an organization that offers interest-free loans to persons with qualified clients for a variety of needs. The organization started in 1892 when several men gathered at the Wilner Synagogue on the Lower East Side of New York City and pooled together $95 (valued at about $3000 in 2024). Today, the HFLS is still active and thriving. The organization recently donated its records to the AJHS in 2022 and the collection can be researched in the reading room at the Center for Jewish History.
The institutional records of the HFLS feature two types of records: historical records of the HFLS opened to the public and client loan files that are closed to the public. The historical records contain several Last Wills and Testaments of people who left funds to the HFLS for their work, including one man by the name of Julian N. Sloat (1867-1935).
Julian was from a big family including, according to his 1926 will filling, brothers Morris, Louis, and William, and sisters Bella (deceased), and Anna. Julian and his family were Russian immigrants who settled in Brooklyn where Julian became a United States citizen. According to the 1915 Census, Sloat lived at 88 Thompkins Avenue in Brooklyn and his occupation was noted as dentist. At some point, Julian moved to the Bronx, where he lived until he passed away in 1935.
An excerpt of Julian’s will reads: “I, Julian N. Sloat, bachelor, of the Borough of Bronx, City of New York, State of New York, being of sound and disposing mind and memory and mindful of the uncertainty of human life, do hereby make, publish and declare this to be my last Will and Testament, at this time revoking any and all other former Wills or Codicils by me at any time made. FIRST: I direct that my lawful debts and funeral expenses be paid so soon after my death as practical. SECOND: I give and bequeath to each of my brothers, Morris Sloat, Louis J. Sloat and William Sloat, and to my nieces, Hattie Grossberg, Rose Grossberg and Mollie Harris, the last three mentioned persons being daughters of my deceased sister, Belle Grossberg, the sum of One ($1.00) Dollar, and I expressly direct that none of the parties aforementioned shall share in any part of my estate except as herein mentioned.”
The AJHS collections contain many wills and last testaments, but Julian’s will made me wonder a few things:
- Why did he leave his three brothers and his deceased sister’s two daughters a total of $1.00 to split among the five of them?
- Why did he leave his sister Anna and her daughter $250 and $500 respectively?
- Why did he leave his sister-in-law, Rebeca, wife of Louis, $1000?
- His final wish was to “be cremated, and that the urn containing the ashes thereof shall be delivered to the Hebrew Free Loan Society… to be kept by it. In the event that the Hebrew Free Loan Society is unwilling to keep it, then the ashes should be scattered to the winds over a lawn in Central Park or Bronx Park.” Was his final wish fulfilled?
Sadly, it was impossible to answer any of these questions from any extant sources, but in the process of researching other interesting details about the Sloat family were uncovered, which is often the way with archives.
According to the 1900 United States Census, Julian was the eldest of the brothers, and they lived at 10-12 Attorney Street in Manhattan, and were all naturalized between 1898 and 1899. Julian (spelled Julio) was in “collage” (presumably dental college), Louis was in furniture, and William (1871-1952) was a fabric cutter. They lived with Anna, a dressmaker, and her son, Lewis. They all lived in the house of Sol Grossberg, a tailor, his wife and two children, for a total of nine people in the household.
The website “14thto42nd” documents “ghost signage” in NYC, faded painted billboards on the city’s outdoor brick walls, which served as advertisements for companies, usually housed within or near the building. The site shares the following regarding now faint signage located at 108 W. 25th Street between the Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue) and 7th Avenue:
M. Sloat & Co., named for Morris Sloat (age 41 in 1910, born Russia, immigrated 1905), manufactured petticoats at this address between 1915 and 1924. Originally the firm was a partnership between Sloat and Sol Posner called Posner & Sloat Inc. They were in business together as early as 1910 (on Spring St., then Broadway, and later on W. 14th St.) The business was renamed M. Sloat & Co. around 1918. Then in 1929 (reacting to the Depression?) M. Sloat “Petticoats” became M. Sloat “Sportswear.” As a sportswear manufacturer M. Sloat survived until the early 1970s, although towards the end the name changed to Sloat & Co.
108 W. 25th Street (20024)
Old sign reads:
M. Sloat & Co.
Alexander, Smith & Wegner
Light & Adler
A & S Cohen
According to the 1915 Trow’s Directory entry, Julian was in business with his brother Morris in 1912 (located at 110 W. 14th Street), along with a man by the name of Sol Posner, moving the business from Spring to Broadway to W. 14th to finally 25th Street in the heart of the Garment District. The business seems to have been under the name of Posner & Sloat from 1910-1918 when the business was renamed M. Sloat & Co. That same year Morris moved into sportswear instead of petticoats and the business survived until the 1970s. My theory is that sometime between the move from 14th Street to 25th Street, some schism may have happened between the Brothers Sloat that caused Julian to cut his brothers and sisters out of his will. Little more could be found on Julian and his dentistry career.
However, Morris’ story goes on. His daughter, Stella Sloat, became a famous designer in her own right by becoming a women’s sportswear designer, winning a Sports Illustrated “Sporting Look” award in 1962. In fact, Stella Sloat created a specific style of A-line skirts that became known as Sloat Skirts and were favored by none other than First Lady Jackie Kennedy.
Sports Illustrated noted that a “A Sloat is known for its fine shaping and fabric and is a skirt distinguished by the kind of built-in fit found only in couture clothes. The fabric has a lot to do with it, and Miss Sloat goes to Scotland twice a year to pick out tweeds and other classic sportswear fabrics in exactly the right weights to hang best in skirts. She then works in the European manner, draping directly on a form. Sloat fans know that a Sloat skirt, no matter how full, will make the wearer look slim, while a slim skirt, no matter how slim, will have enough fullness for walking and sitting.”
The article goes on to mention that Stella was trained by her father, and in 1952, Stella and her brothers Herbie and Archie took over a “$4 million skirt business from their father, Morris, who started a petticoat firm in 1908.” Stella died of pneumonia in 1985 at the age of 83.
As to Julian’s ashes: it is assumed that they were scattered in Central Park. There is no record of what happened to the urn.
If you have more information about the Sloat family please reach out to AJHS!
Sources
Zill, Jo A. “Ladies’ Day in the 1962 Design Awards – Stella Sloat’s Skirts Win the Sporting Look Trophy; Elisabeth Stewart Beck Is the Designer of the Year.” Sports Illustrated Vault, May 7, 1962. https://vault.si.com/vault/1962/05/07/ladies-day-in-the-1962-design-awards.
