Eli Alexander “Al” Horowitz was born about January 1 1883 in or near Kiev in what is now Ukraine. His parents were Morris Horowitz (1858-1939) and Sarah Benioff (1860-1930) and he had 7 siblings (the oldest one – Benjamin – died as an infant): Simon, Harry, David, Bertha, Fred and Jay. Morris came over to the US first and then sent for his wife and older children when he could afford to do so. The younger children (Bertha, Fred and Jay) were born in NYC.
In a letter to his daughter Bettie, Al says: “I was really named Eli, but when we landed in Castle Garden (1890), New York Harbor, the clerk put it down as Alexander, and I’ve used Al since, except at the home ofhte Citrons, where I lived almost seven years. Here I was known to the Citron famly as Eli.”
Al married Hilda Topper (1889-1975) on 29 July 1909 in Los Angeles, CA and they had two daughters: Phyllis and Bettie.
Al died 25 June 1976 in Reno, Nevada.
