Three American Lives
The Frauenthal Legacy
A Civil War hero who built a town. A surgeon who survived the Titanic. A visionary who built cruise lines and one of the greatest art collections in America. Three lives. One legacy.
A Civil War hero who built a town. A surgeon who survived the Titanic. A visionary who built cruise lines and one of the greatest art collections in America. Three lives. One legacy.
The Father of Heber Springs & Cleburne County
Maximillian Frauenthal was born November 11, 1836 in Marienthal, Bavaria, Germany. His grandfather adopted the surname Frauenthal — named after a town south of Vienna, Austria — when the Napoleonic Code required European Jews to take surnames in the early 19th century.
Max emigrated to America and settled near Summit, Mississippi. When the Civil War erupted, he enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army, Sixteenth Regiment, Company A, Mississippi Volunteers.
On May 12, 1864, at the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse in Virginia — one of the bloodiest engagements of the war — Max fought at the "Bloody Acute Angle." A fellow soldier later testified:
"He stood at the immediate point of contact, amid the most terrific hail of lead, and coolly and deliberately loaded and fired without cringing."
— Testimony of a fellow Confederate soldier, Spotsylvania, Virginia, 1864Max's bravery became legendary. Confederate veterans adopted "Fronthall" (their spelling of his name) as slang for physical courage.
After the war, Max married Sallie Jacobs on January 24, 1869 in Louisville, Mississippi. They would have thirteen children, six surviving to adulthood.
In 1871, Max moved to Conway Station in Faulkner County, Arkansas. He bought a building facing the railroad square for his first store. After a devastating fire in 1878, he replaced the wooden structure with Conway's first brick business building. He brought in cousins Jo Frauenthal from Louisville, Kentucky and Leo Schwarz from Germany. The store operated as Frauenthal and Schwarz until 1952 — over 70 years. The building is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1881, Max purchased a tract of land containing healing springs in Van Buren County from John T. Jones. He formed the Sugar Loaf Springs Company, platted a town site, and incorporated it as Sugar Loaf on October 4, 1882.
When the Arkansas legislature created Cleburne County in 1883 from parts of Van Buren, White, and Independence counties, it was largely through Max's efforts. He and his fellow Confederate veterans named the county for General Patrick R. Cleburne, the "Stonewall of the West," killed at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee on November 30, 1864.
Max donated land for a court square, built a frame courthouse on the donated land, and gave Spring Park to the town. In 1910, the town was renamed Heber Springs — a name Max himself selected to honor Dr. Heber Jones, a prominent Memphis physician and son of the original landowner.
November 11, 1836, Marienthal, Bavaria, Germany
March 8, 1914, McGehee, Desha County, Arkansas
Temple Israel Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee
Sallie Jacobs, married January 24, 1869, Louisville, Mississippi
Thirteen total; six reached adulthood
"Father of Heber Springs and Cleburne County, Arkansas"
Titanic Survivor • Pioneer of Orthopedic Surgery
Dr. Henry William Frauenthal was a prominent American physician, pioneer in orthopedic surgery, and founder of the Jewish Hospital for Deformities and Joint Diseases in New York City (now the Hospital for Joint Diseases, part of NYU Langone Health).
Henry established himself as one of New York's most respected orthopedic surgeons. He founded a hospital dedicated to treating joint diseases and deformities — revolutionary at a time when orthopedic surgery was still emerging as a specialty. The institution he created continues to serve patients today, over a century later.
On March 26, 1912, Henry married Clara Heinsheimer in Nice, France. The newlyweds spent their honeymoon traveling through France before boarding the RMS Titanic at Cherbourg on April 10, 1912, for their return to New York.
Four days later, the Titanic struck an iceberg. During the chaotic evacuation, Dr. Frauenthal, Clara, and his brother Isaac Frauenthal escaped in Lifeboat No. 5. In the desperate leap into the lifeboat, Henry landed on fellow passenger Annie May Stengel, breaking two of her ribs and knocking her unconscious.
True to his calling, Henry immediately put his medical skills to work in the lifeboat, treating Mrs. Stengel's injuries and attending to other survivors through the freezing night until the RMS Carpathia arrived at dawn.
During the voyage, Dr. Frauenthal had already proven useful when he offered expert treatment for Mrs. Harris, who had fractured her arm falling on the Grand Staircase. In the lifeboat, his skills were needed again.
— Encyclopedia TitanicaHenry continued his medical practice and hospital work in New York for fifteen more years. He died on March 11, 1927 in New York City. His hospital — the Hospital for Joint Diseases — continues as a world-renowned orthopedic center within NYU Langone Health.
1862
March 11, 1927, New York City
Clara Heinsheimer, married March 26, 1912, Nice, France
First-class passenger. Survived in Lifeboat No. 5.
Founded the Hospital for Joint Diseases, now part of NYU Langone
Pioneer of orthopedic surgery in America
Cruise Line Pioneer • Art Collector Extraordinaire
Bernard Alec "Barney" Ebsworth was born July 14, 1934 in St. Louis, Missouri. He would become one of the most remarkable Americans of his generation — a self-made travel industry titan who built a cruise empire, then pivoted to building one of the most important private art collections in the world.
Barney founded INTRAV, a luxury travel company based in St. Louis, and parlayed it into a travel empire that included:
Luxury travel company. Later sold for $115 million. Pioneered upscale group travel experiences.
Founded and operated a cruise line serving luxury travelers worldwide.
Small-ship cruise line focused on expedition and cultural voyages.
Angel investor in Build-A-Bear Workshop, the iconic retail chain. Early bet that paid off enormously.
Barney Ebsworth's true monument was his art collection. Realizing that his millionaire budget couldn't compete with billionaire collectors like J. Paul Getty, he made a brilliant strategic decision: instead of trying to buy everything, he would build the single greatest collection of American Modernism in private hands.
With the guidance of top curators, Barney assembled approximately 65 masterworks that told the story of American art from the early 20th century through the postwar era. The collection was staggering:
Chop Suey (1929). Sold from his estate for a record $91.9 million at Christie's, November 2018. The most expensive Hopper ever sold.
Major works from one of America's most iconic painters. Ebsworth served on the O'Keeffe Museum board.
Big Campbell's Soup Can (1962). Sold for $23.8 million in 2010 to finance a church designed by Tadao Ando.
Works by the father of abstract expressionism. Pollock's drip paintings defined postwar American art.
Major works from the Dutch-American abstract expressionist master.
Bakery Counter (1962). Purchased for $1.7 million at Christie's in 1997 — a record at the time.
When the Ebsworth Collection was sold at Christie's in November 2018 (seven months after his death), it brought a total of approximately $300 million. The centerpiece, Hopper's Chop Suey, set the record at $91.9 million.
Barney didn't just collect art — he shaped how Americans experience it. His museum and institutional roles included:
In one of the most extraordinary acts of art patronage, Barney sold Warhol's Big Campbell's Soup Can for $23.8 million specifically to finance the construction of a chapel designed by legendary Japanese architect Tadao Ando. He traded one work of art to create another.
Barney Ebsworth understood something most collectors miss: that the purpose of art isn't to own it — it's to make sure it exists in the world.
July 14, 1934, St. Louis, Missouri
April 9, 2018
INTRAV, Royal Cruise Line, Clipper Cruise Line, Build-A-Bear investor
~65 masterworks of American Modernism, valued at $300M+
Hopper's Chop Suey: $91.9 million (2018)
One of the most important private art collections ever assembled in America
Marienthal, Bavaria, Germany
Would become a pioneering orthopedic surgeon
Fights at the Bloody Acute Angle. "Fronthall" becomes slang for courage.
Builds first brick building, establishes Frauenthal & Schwarz
Builds courthouse, donates park, creates Cleburne County
Escapes in Lifeboat No. 5 with wife Clara and brother Isaac
Buried at Temple Israel Cemetery, Memphis. "Father of Heber Springs."
Would become a travel industry titan and art collector
INTRAV, Royal Cruise Line, Clipper Cruise Line
Hopper, O'Keeffe, Pollock, de Kooning, Warhol, Thiebaud
Hopper's Chop Suey sets record at $91.9 million