Part 1, Chapter 1 Lines of Succession Summary

Moses is born on December 18, 1888 to Bella and Emanuel Moses. His grandparents, Bernhard Cohen and Rosalie Silverman, immigrated to America from Bavaria, Germany. Bernhard and his younger brother, Samuel, come to America with enough savings to open a dry-goods store and in 1948 they relocate from Mobile, Alabama to New York. By the time Bernhard meets Rosalie, he is already established and financially secure, having made millions of dollars in real estate with his brother. They become a part of the "One Hundred" and "Our Crowd," a self-contained Jewish social circle. When Bernhard reaches his fifties he becomes interested in civic affairs and is particularly worried about the slums of the city and he wants to see the development and construction of more parks in those areas. He is appointed to the City School Commission in...