Paragon Oil
Encyclopedia
Paragon Oil was an American
oil
company, founded in 1925 in New York City
by the Schwartz family, and sold to Texaco
in the late 1950s.
, New York.
Their parents were Sholem or "Sam" (Chernofski) Schwartz, born circa 1868, and Lena Krakofsky, born circa 1874, who were Jewish immigrants originally from the town of Belaya Tserkov
(Bila Tserkva), near Kiev
, Ukraine
, who had immigrated to the United States around 1895. The family's original surname had been Chernofski. Sam was the oldest of seven Chernofski/Schwazrtz siblings, six of whom came to the US, and had originally been as a leading blacksmith who owned many horses, wagons, and vast property in and around Belaya Tserkov.
Despite this well-off background, the family was poor upon arrival in New York. Sam worked once again as a blacksmith, but now in eastern Brooklyn. When they were young, elder brothers Henry and Irving went door-to-door in Brooklyn carrying around sacks of coal
on their backs, peddling it to the nearby homes and residential buildings to earn extra money for their family. At that time, some large commercial buildings had oil-fired furnaces, but residential buildings did not. A combination of factors, including the equipment available at their father's blacksmith shop and the experience of their relatives back in Ukraine who were involved in the whale
oil business, led to the brothers experimenting, designing, and finally building the first oil heaters designed for residential buildings, which eventually earned the family several patents on the design.
. Europe was destroyed, and in desperate need of fuel oil. Because of their location close to the New York docks and their unique five gallon container packaging, Paragon Oil won the U.S. government contract as the only oil company to supply Europe with fuel oil during the post-war reconstruction. This contract catapulted the company into national prominence. Later, during the early days of the Cold War
, Paragon supplied the U.S. government with oil for their submarine
s. The company operated a large fleet of fuel delivery trucks around the Northeastern United States, and eventually had several oil tankers. Toy versions of the fuel delivery trucks were even manufactured by the Corgi company.
in the late 1950s, with the sale becoming final in the early 1960s. The estimated sale price was in excess of $75 million, with the family receiving consulting fees of nearly $1 million per year afterward, as well as Texaco stock.
Most of the brothers used the profits from the sale to co-found the Brookdale Foundation, whose research focuses on gerontology
and geriatric medicine. They also endowed many other charitable enterprises, primarily centered in the New York metropolitan area. These included the Metropolitan Opera
at then-newly-built Lincoln Center, several buildings and lecture programs at New York University
, several New York City and Long Island hospitals including Mount Sinai Hospital
, Fifth Avenue synagogue
, the Maimonides Foundation for Gifted Youth, and at least three graduate schools.
Eldest brother Henry Schwartz was married quite late in life to a former nun
named Caroline Di Donato (b. 1896 in Ohio
), who was also a former nurse and the former Dean of Women at Seton Hall University
in New Jersey. Thus, despite his Orthodox Jewish background, he also donated heavily to many Catholic charities and organizations, including endowing The Caroline Di Donato Schwartz building at Seton Hall, which was completed in 1973.
, where their name was changed from "Chernofski", which had at its root the Russian word for black, to "Schwartz", the German word for black. The family traveled to London, England during the early part of 1895 to strengthen contacts they had previously made with the Royal Court of Queen Victoria that would serve them later with Paragon Oil. According to old family documents, the family finally traveled to America during late 1895 as First Class passengers on the White Star
liner Teutonic.
Several of the five brothers' first cousins, including the sons of Sam's youngest sibling Barney and the sons one of Lena's cousins, also joined the operation. However, some of them chose to adopt different surnames in the workplace, including the surnames "Harvey" and "Lawrence", so that it would not be immediately obvious that most of the people working in the upper levels of the company had the last name Schwartz, and thus were related. Avoiding public anti-Semitism was also a contributing factor to the cousins' surname changes; indeed, even some of the five brothers' first names were different than those on their birth certificates and early census records, changed to sound less overtly Jewish. For example, Arnold's real first name was Abraham, and the brother whose birth certificate showed "Benny" Schwartz officially went by the more genteel "B. Davis" Schwartz for most of his later adult life.
(née Jacob Schwartz), a well-known songwriter and former president of ASCAP, and the son of Sam's youngest sibling Barney.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
company, founded in 1925 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
by the Schwartz family, and sold to Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
in the late 1950s.
Founding of the company
Paragon Oil was founded by brothers Henry, Irving, Robert, Benjamin, and Arnold Schwartz. The brothers, and their sister Bess Schwartz Levy, were first-generation Americans, all born between 1896 and 1909 in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York.
Their parents were Sholem or "Sam" (Chernofski) Schwartz, born circa 1868, and Lena Krakofsky, born circa 1874, who were Jewish immigrants originally from the town of Belaya Tserkov
Bila Tserkva
Bila Tserkva is a city located on the Ros' River in the Kiev Oblast in central Ukraine, approximately south of the capital, Kiev. Population 203,300 Area 34 km².-Administrative status:...
(Bila Tserkva), near Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, who had immigrated to the United States around 1895. The family's original surname had been Chernofski. Sam was the oldest of seven Chernofski/Schwazrtz siblings, six of whom came to the US, and had originally been as a leading blacksmith who owned many horses, wagons, and vast property in and around Belaya Tserkov.
Despite this well-off background, the family was poor upon arrival in New York. Sam worked once again as a blacksmith, but now in eastern Brooklyn. When they were young, elder brothers Henry and Irving went door-to-door in Brooklyn carrying around sacks of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
on their backs, peddling it to the nearby homes and residential buildings to earn extra money for their family. At that time, some large commercial buildings had oil-fired furnaces, but residential buildings did not. A combination of factors, including the equipment available at their father's blacksmith shop and the experience of their relatives back in Ukraine who were involved in the whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
oil business, led to the brothers experimenting, designing, and finally building the first oil heaters designed for residential buildings, which eventually earned the family several patents on the design.
Growth of the company
As time went on, Paragon Oil eventually switched its focus from building and selling these new residential oil burners to that of an oil distribution company, to supply the residential buildings that now had their new oil burners installed. They eventually won a major contract with New York City in the early 1930s to supply fuel oil to several city-run buildings. Despite this success, they still primarily remained a local operation in the New York area until the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Europe was destroyed, and in desperate need of fuel oil. Because of their location close to the New York docks and their unique five gallon container packaging, Paragon Oil won the U.S. government contract as the only oil company to supply Europe with fuel oil during the post-war reconstruction. This contract catapulted the company into national prominence. Later, during the early days of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, Paragon supplied the U.S. government with oil for their submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s. The company operated a large fleet of fuel delivery trucks around the Northeastern United States, and eventually had several oil tankers. Toy versions of the fuel delivery trucks were even manufactured by the Corgi company.
Sale of the company
The company continued in operation until the late 1950s. At that point, the brothers were getting older and wished to retire. The company was sold to TexacoTexaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
in the late 1950s, with the sale becoming final in the early 1960s. The estimated sale price was in excess of $75 million, with the family receiving consulting fees of nearly $1 million per year afterward, as well as Texaco stock.
Most of the brothers used the profits from the sale to co-found the Brookdale Foundation, whose research focuses on gerontology
Gerontology
Gerontology is the study of the social, psychological and biological aspects of aging...
and geriatric medicine. They also endowed many other charitable enterprises, primarily centered in the New York metropolitan area. These included the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
at then-newly-built Lincoln Center, several buildings and lecture programs at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, several New York City and Long Island hospitals including Mount Sinai Hospital
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is one of the oldest and largest teaching hospitals in the United States. In 2011-2012, Mount Sinai Hospital was ranked as one of America's best hospitals by U.S...
, Fifth Avenue synagogue
Fifth Avenue Synagogue
The Fifth Avenue Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 5 East 62nd Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.-Founding:...
, the Maimonides Foundation for Gifted Youth, and at least three graduate schools.
Eldest brother Henry Schwartz was married quite late in life to a former nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
named Caroline Di Donato (b. 1896 in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
), who was also a former nurse and the former Dean of Women at Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University is a private Roman Catholic university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan university in the United States. Seton Hall is also the oldest and largest Catholic university in the...
in New Jersey. Thus, despite his Orthodox Jewish background, he also donated heavily to many Catholic charities and organizations, including endowing The Caroline Di Donato Schwartz building at Seton Hall, which was completed in 1973.
Schwartz family history
Sam's father, Chaim Yael "Hyman" Chernofski, married Gittel "Gertrude" (Bobrusky) Priletzky, daughter of Max (Bobrusky) Priletzky and Sarah Fuchs. Chaim and Sam had started the family into the Whale Oil business during the late 1880s. After the purges in the early 1890s, one part of the family decided to go to America, while others stayed behind in Russia to continue the exporting of Whale Oil. The family immigrated through the port of Bremen, GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where their name was changed from "Chernofski", which had at its root the Russian word for black, to "Schwartz", the German word for black. The family traveled to London, England during the early part of 1895 to strengthen contacts they had previously made with the Royal Court of Queen Victoria that would serve them later with Paragon Oil. According to old family documents, the family finally traveled to America during late 1895 as First Class passengers on the White Star
White Star
The White Star is a fictional, cruiser class combat spacecraft type in the science fiction television series Babylon 5.- Depiction :The White Star-class was designed and built through a collaborative effort between the Minbari religious caste and the Vorlon Empire...
liner Teutonic.
Several of the five brothers' first cousins, including the sons of Sam's youngest sibling Barney and the sons one of Lena's cousins, also joined the operation. However, some of them chose to adopt different surnames in the workplace, including the surnames "Harvey" and "Lawrence", so that it would not be immediately obvious that most of the people working in the upper levels of the company had the last name Schwartz, and thus were related. Avoiding public anti-Semitism was also a contributing factor to the cousins' surname changes; indeed, even some of the five brothers' first names were different than those on their birth certificates and early census records, changed to sound less overtly Jewish. For example, Arnold's real first name was Abraham, and the brother whose birth certificate showed "Benny" Schwartz officially went by the more genteel "B. Davis" Schwartz for most of his later adult life.
Founders deaths
Henry Schwartz died in January 1983, Irving died in April 1974, Robert died in November 1971, Ben died in July 1969, and Arnold died in September 1979. Bess Schwartz Levy died around 1958. Their parents Sam and Lena Schwartz died in the 1920s and in 1941, respectively. The last of the original family members to work at Paragon Oil died in 2009. He was nonogenarian Jack LawrenceJack Lawrence
Jack Lawrence was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.- Biography :...
(née Jacob Schwartz), a well-known songwriter and former president of ASCAP, and the son of Sam's youngest sibling Barney.