Generation 7 - 1841 ~ 1873 PATERFAMILIAS Herman Henry Cyriacks (1854c ~ 1925) & Sophie Brems (185c ~ ???) Cyriacks & Co., Bremen Maƒchinen- und Motoren-Fabrik FamilyTree   pictures & letters

August 19, 2011:  This no longer extant, Bremen, Germany descended North Hollywood branch of our extended family is one with seemingly unlimited mystery and surprise.  The latest surprise being that the mansion that we had heretofore been thinking was his first and only mansion was really his second and that he may have never used it as a residence.  His first mansion, the story of which had become mixed in with that of the second, was built in 1919 - probably for his ?first? bride Lucile Fanning whom he married in early 1915.  [ Another surprise, she could be from a prominent architectural family active then and now.  Her name, Lucile Fanning, is associated with Brown College and returns search engine hits but nothing regarding her specifically.  Ben Ciriacks is almost positive that the story surrounding the dissolution of this marriage, whether by death or divorce, will be another very interesting narrative.
  Up until January of this year, we had thought that the 'mansion' various members of our family had visited in 1976 (see the chronology, below) was the same one listed on his death certificate.  Nobody actually drove up from the corner of Lankershim and Whipple where this 1976 mansion was located to discover that almost exactly 400 feet away is the center of the lot for a large, multi-story, 41 unit apartment complex with the 10841 Whipple Street address!  The death certificate address not being at the forefront of everyone's mind, it was just assumed that the '10841' applied to the property at the corner which was, after all, accessed via Whipple.  It's likely that the parcels of land for both the first and second mansions, in their original configurations, were contiguous to each other.  Those parcels were subdivided in 1971 and 1980 into at least 5 and up to a dozen or more parcels that now contain apartments or retail businesses. ]

This still unconnected branch was discovered as a result of our search for missing Uncle Hermann (1861 ~ ???).  West Bend, Wisconsin's Pete Ciriacks (1907 ~ 1973), one of the primary sponsors and motivators of our Family History Project, remembered a 1927 newspaper article about a man named Fred Cyriacks having shot a Hollywood 'movie star' dog back then.  Decades later, Ben Ciriacks (1943 ~ ), original webmaster of this web site and another researcher into our family history, found references to that newspaper article and to Fred's death.

  [  Ben Ciriacks visited and stood over the grave sites for Fred and his brother Herman H. in Forest Lawn (Glendale) cemetery.  During that same 1973 USA-wide bus trip, Ben also found some legal documents related to the dog shooting and others regarding an "alleged" lemon sold by Fred's auto dealership around 1920 - both of which are cited as legal precedent to this day in the State of California.  Both Harold Cyriacks (1922 ~ 1989), a retired Los Angeles police detective, and his fellow Nebraska branch cousin, Don Cyriacks (1928 ~ 2009), discovered much more about this North Hollywood branch of our worldwide extended family. ]

 1847 Lieutenant Colonel John Charles Frémont/Fremont signs the Treaty of Cahuenga and General
       Andrés/Andres Pico hands California to the Americans near Lankershim & Cahuenga. (source)
 1878 Herman H(?enry?=Hinrich) born to Herman Henry & Sophie BREMS  [ Herman's grandparents are unkown. ]
 187y siblings George & Meta (SCHROEDER) both born in Bremen; Heinz born in Eisenach  [ all named in the
        settlement of Fred's estate in 1947 but no longer around to benefit from brother Herman's will in 1954 ]
 1883 Fred born in ?Bremen?
 1887 E. G. Jones prepares the survey map of the Lankershim Ranch Land and Water development comprising much of what becomes
         modern North Hollywood - lots 219 and/or 240 of which contain parcels eventually owned by Fred.
 1893May11 Hermann Cyriaks, age 15, arrives EllisIsland from Bremen [ on Gera via Bremerhaven ]
 18?? Verbatim from the letter Don & Ruth Cyriacks of California-Nebraska wrote to us in 1976:
      We're inclined to believe that this family may be connected with the New York Cyriacks,
      because among the pictures at S. was a beautiful big picture of HY Cyriacks standing
      in front of his bar, (Hotel and Cafe also in same building) in New York City.
      HY Cyriacks was in big letters on the building.  Shoe shines were 5¢ and the address
      was 2102.  Mrs. S. is originally from New York City, and she said it was probably on
     somewhere in the 80ties. Yorkville-KleindeutschlandHistoricalSociety.com
      [ August 4, 2011:  We are in the process of attempting to contact descendents of the owners of the
      1980 demolished 2nd mansion.  Hopefully, they still have that picture (and possibly others) that we
      can obtain and share here.  They may have pictures of the outside of that 2nd mansion, too. "HY" is
      probably an abbreviation for Henry (Hinrich/Heinrich), which is a name so common in our ancestry
      that finding just who this person was will require help from the New York City Cyriacks. ]
 1900 US Census - New York City The census form has Fred Cyriack, born Dec 1883 in Germany (to unnamed
      German born parents), immigrated 1899, listed as a Wife, Female and Single in household of:
          H Stutelberg    M   [ This could be 2nd hand information collected while the enumerated parties were not present when
         Mary Stutelberg F     the 'harried' census taker visited - this maybe our 17 year old 'male' Hollywood Fred staying in
         Fred Cyriack    F     the H & Mary Stutelberg household during his 'for real' first trip to the USA. ]

 [ It's obvious that Ohio has a strong connection to the ancestry of the Hollywood Cyriacks
    - less obvious is the FARENHOLTZ (et al spellings) connection but it is strong. ]
 1901 ~ 15 saloon keeper Herman C. Cyriaks is at various locations in Dayton
     1906 Christian age 13 arrives at Ellis Island with parents Brune 49 & Wilhelmina 42 Cyriacks
          and eventually has 2 daughters who live in Ohio
          Christian's ancestral lineage is:
              1632 Claus Hinrich > 1672 Warner > 1703b Claus Hinrich > 1737 Brun > 1779 (Harm) Hinrich
                  > 1824 Claus Hinrich > 1857 Brune > 1893 Christian
     1907 Susie M. Cyriaks lived at 314 W. Dakota in Dayton
     1907 ~ 18 Civil Engineer George J. Cyriaks and his wife Elsie lived in Dayton
     1929 ~ 33 butcher Henry Cyriaks lived in Dayton
     1938 ~ 48 Miami Valley Brewery worker Henry Cyriaks lived in Dayton
               [ We know little else of these cousins. ]

 1905 "John B. Brokaw and Ida N. Brokaw to Dan Bakman and Charles H. Bakman--Part lot 213, Lankershim Ranch Land and Water
          Company subdivision 1 ..." appears under REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1905. in the classified section
          of the Los Angeles herald  (source)
 1909nov26 Friedrich EI Bremen-26; 1920 LA/Hamburg-35; 1924 LA/Rotterdam-37; 1929 Hamburg-39.
      [ EllisIsland immigration records and New York Passenger Lists. ] 
 1910 Hermann arrives EllisIsland from Dayton, Ohio-age 32
 1910 US Census - the FAHRENHOLTZ household in Preble, Ohio
      (John Jr 31, Addie A. 28 & Frederich H 1yr 10mos) includes Fred R. Cyriacks 26
  [ Ellis Island records:
    Fahrenholt 2 - Frances C. 55 (1913) Asterville; Wilhelm 34 (1925) Bremen, Germany
    Fahrenholtz 4 - Jasper 52 & Rebecca 46 (1909) Harfield, IL;
      Wilhelm 25 (1912) Magdeburg, Germany; Johann 26 (1924) Ihausen, Germany;
    Farenholtz 1 - Helen K. age 28 (1903)
    FARENHOLTZ - x58 persons - ages 1 ~ 73 from (1892 ~ 1925)
      August 69, Cardina 64, Gustav 27, Helena 19 & Friedrich 14 (1902) Lohdan;
      Adelheid 61 & John 53 (1909) West Alexandria, Ohio;
      Emil Andrews 32, Ella 25 & Rita 1 (1923) Hamburg, Germany;
      and various others from Berlin, Bremen, Hannover, Koyerhagen & Ottersberg
      in Germany; Brooklyn & Hoboken in New York and various unidentified locales. ]

 1911 Audrey/Andrey M. CALLOWAY, future wife of Fred is born
 1911 Fred drives from Dayton to California via Denver selling tires along the way.
      [ Information left behind in the 1946 sold mansion that was demolished in 1980. ]
 1914 F.(T.) R. Cyriacks Hollywood - DIRECTORY AUTOMOBILE DEALERS (source)
 1915feb07 Frederik R Cyriacks, age 29, (father F F Cyriacks, mother Sophia Brems)
      marries Lucile Fanning (father George) in Los Angeles, California. [ Ben Ciriacks
       suspects that this marriage was highly significant at the time, the Lucile Fanning name honored
       by other women and associated with Brown College.  These Fannings could be of architectural
       fame but were probably prominent in Los Angeles in any case.  The wedding should have made a
       big splash in the 'society columns' of the newspapers.  See 1929jul01 for another marriage.]
 1915 German immigrant Carl Laemmmle (Lem-ly) opens Universal City to the public. (source)
 1918 Fred owns the Automobile House and Buick Service Station in Hollywood.
      [ Information left behind in the 1946 sold mansion that was demolished in 1980.
         We need to discover the specific street address of this dealership. ]
 1918aug20 Mary E. Mooney signs a written agreement to purchase a Buick automobile for
      $1,835, presumably from Fred's Automobile House and Buick Service Station - see
      1921feb14, below, for the rest of the story.
 1919 Fred designs and builds the 10841 Whipple Street mansion.  [ A Charles David Grolle signed
      'board' is left in the house when it is sold in 1952.  He is referred to as the architect who
      designed the house but the only references to him found on the internet are as an artist, as in
       "This signed oil on board by Charles David Grolle is a beautiful Impressionist California painting of Hibiscus.
            This may be among the artist's finest known paintings" - it is signed Chas D. Grolle. ]

 1920 US Census - Lankershim Precinct 1 Los Angeles Fred R Cyricks, age 34, Divorced.
      [ The area now referred to as North Hollywood was known as Lankershim from 1869 to 1927.
        Assuming that the "beautiful" ?Grolle? designed 10841 Whipple St house was built for Fred's
        ?first? bride, Lucile Fanning, then his being 'divorced' only a year after it was built and less
        than 5 years into their marriage must have been another shocker titilating the 'society columns'. ]
 1920 ~ 1933 18th Amendment to U S Constitution - Prohibition Era
        Fred is said to have had many beautiful mistresses and "had the only liquor to be found
         in the San Fernando Valley during Prohibition Days, and he entertained lavishly."
 1920nov24 Fred (married) EI LA/Hamburg-35; 1909 Friedrich Bremen-26; 1924 LA/Rotterdam-37; 1929 Hamburg-39.
      [ EllisIsland immigration records and New York Passenger Lists. ]
 1921feb14 Mooney v. Cyriacks suit heard by Supreme Court of CA (L. A. 6041.)
      [ This unsuccessful appeal of the judgement won by Mary E. Mooney over the return of the $532.15
      she had deposited on a used Buick touring car, model E 49, motor No. 438625, frame No. 422422, ...
      sold to her for $1835 involved the legality of the verbal misrepresentations made to her. ]
 1922 father Herman Henry arrives from Bremen-age 68
 1923aug01 Fred Rudolph Cyriacks 37 years 11 months St. Albans, Vermont, US
       arrival port: "Quebec, Germany"  departure port: "Hamburg, Germany"  ship: Empress of Scotland
 1924jul4 Fred (single) EI LA/Rotterdam-37; 1909 Friedrich Bremen-26; 1920 LA/Hamburg-35; 1929 Hamburg-39.
      [ EllisIsland immigration records and New York Passenger Lists. ]
 1924 ~ 1937 Lakewood Holding Company appears in real estate recordings; principals:
      Fred R. Cyriacks, Herman Cyriacks, Fay R. Maxey and Charles C. Brennan.
 1925 father Herman Henry dies on Fred's birthday, August 7th [ about 71 years old ]
 1926 Fred shoots & kills movie dog "Peter the Great" - 5 movie credits up to that time.
 1927 Dog shooting 'lawsuit' article appears in New York Times
 1929jul01 46 year old Fred marries 18 year old Audrey CALLOWAY [ source-see 1915feb07 for another marriage. ]
 1929oct28 Fred EI Hamburg-39; 1909 Friedrich EI Bremen-26; 1920 LA/Hamburg-35; 1924 LA/Rotterdam-37.
 1929oct28 "Andry M Cyriacks" EI Hamburg-"born 1911-California" [ undoubtedly Fred's bride, Audrey;
      EllisIsland immigration records and New York Passenger Lists.  No other female Cyr..s have been
      found on the other arrival dates for Fred - searching for 'another surnamed' female near Fred's
      ship manifest entry might provide a hint as to others he may have accompanied to the USA. ]
 1930 US Census - Los Angeles Frederic R Cyriacks household
        Frederic R Cyriacks      M  41
        Paul Zeniker        M  30
        C Karrer A Zeniker  F  33
        Gilbert P Zeniker   M   0
        Andrey M Cyriacks       F  19
 193? Fred divorced Audrey - obviously some time after the 1930 census.
      Fred marries ??? - obviously some time before her death.
      Fred's ?3rd/4th? wife dies [ This was probably not Audrey but another as yet unknown wife after Audrey -
         this last wife's existance is surmised based upon the "WIDOWER" status indicated on his 1940 death certificate. ]
 1931feb28 Dreyer et al, v. Cyriacks Dog shooting case heard by District Court of Appeal,
      First District, Division 1, California.
 1934 F. R. Cyriacks, Appellant in Etta M. McConnell v. Herbert et al suit
 1934 Fred secured real property in the nearby San Fernando Valley.
      [ Along with fellow 1930s era Toluca Lake area residents Bob Hope & Bing Crosby - the best investment they ever made.
          Fred was amongst those San Fernando Valley residents who were at the leading edge of the post WWII real estate boom
          in southern California that helped create many fortunes.  See 1976, below, for more about this property. ]

 1937 Original Toluca Lake resident explorer/aviator Amelia Earhart disappears in the Pacific. (source)
 1937 ~ 41 Actor Bela Lugosi lives at 3714 Lankershim Blvd (source)  [ Actor agents and some actors
      have long been located along this stretch of Lankershim Blvd. ]
 1940 Fred, "WIDOWER", dies on January 31, 1940 per death certificate signed by the doctor
      who attended to him from January 17th to 31st, 1940.  [ 1/17/40 was exactly 3 years prior to
      webmaster Ben Ciriacks's birth!  Fred had heart problems since December of 1935. ]
 1940feb02 Los Angeles Times Obituary - Fred R. Cyriacks of 10841 Whipple st, North Hollywood.
      Funeral services ... parlors of W. M. Strothers, Inc., 6240 Hollywood Blvd.
      [ funeral home to the stars ]
 1940 Fred's "Body exhumed check for poison"
 1940 ~ 1947 Fred leaves no will.  Herman moves from nearby Van Nuys to one of Fred's eight
      parcels of property - maybe 4301 Lankershim, the address listed for Herman when
      the 1044 page probated estate is finally closed in 1947.
      The 1934 secured San Fernando Valley property is transferred to Fay Maxey and Herman
            Cyriacks, administrators of the Fred Cyriacks Estate - this estate has telephone service
      at 4323 Lankershim Blvd.
      The "mansion" still extant after 1972 was leased for a restaurant during the 1940s.
      Audrey Cyriacks was still active in court records with real estate, etc., in the 1940s -
      a good indication that the wife dying and making Fred a "WIDOWER" upon his demise was not Audrey.
 1941 ~ 52 Bela Lugosi lives at 10841 Whipple St (source)
           [ Bela's son's web site: www.belalugosi.com/biography.html
            - his reference to "Dracula" house on Whipple Street implies a more 'castle-like'
            house, although the picture he sent is of the cottage-type structure. ]
 1942 July issue of Hollywood Magazine publishes an article by Hoyt Barnett describing the
      Whipple Street house as it was toured with host and famous actor Bela Lugosi.
      [ "... along this fork of the concrete drive.  A building in the distance, a square
      jail-like thing, ... is in reality a garage."  It would be strange to have the main house not also
      of a square 'jail-like' appearance. ]
 1946feb21 The 1934 acquired San Fernando Valley property was transferred to (private).

 1947 Fred's probated estate is settled - brother-administrator Herman Cyriacks is listed at
      4301 Lankershim Blvd, one of the eight properties in the estate. [ The probate record list
      of 'current' addresses may have been outdated by this time. ]
 1947+ Fred Cyriacks is still listed as such in telephone books.
 1949± Ruth Cyriacks (Harold's wife) receives a call from Fred's secretary informing her that
      Fred's estate would go to the Bank of America or to the State of California if
      someone did not claim it.  [ This may have been a 1940s era version of the scams involved with
      publicly published probate clearances.  Herman was still alive and probably living at an address
      well known to anyone who was really "Fred's secretary".  Or, the call could have come in 1954 from
      Herman's secretary regarding 'his' estate which eventually went to his cousin in Dayton, Ohio. ]
 1950 Herman buys a house in San Jacinto  [ The Ruben Henry Ciriacks family lived in nearby Gilman Hot Springs
        from April 1943 to October 1944 just after Ben was born and in San Jacinto before Ben was born.  It should also be noted that
        our CIRIACKS family didn't discover until 1969 that our family name was originally spelled CYRIACKS - we may have found
        these people in telephone books back then had we known to look under the Cy.. spelling!  Ben doesn't think our family had a
        telephone while living in Riverside, California from 1946 to 1950. ]
 1952 Fred Cyriacks 10841 Whipple St "mansion" is purchased by P. & A. B.  [ The news source,
      presumably written in 1971/2 states "20 years ago" as to when it was purchased - not from
      Bela Lugosi since the last paragraph of the news article states that he "longed to own it".
      Other houses are also included with this property as this narrative indicates:
          "... she at first protested to the real estate salesman that she didn't want
          other houses so near.  He told her it was all one property. ]
 1954 Herman dies with all his assets going to his only surviving relative, a cousin
      living in Dayton, Ohio.
 1970 John Ciriacks writes to the LA County Clerk regarding the "Estate of Fred Cyriacks"
      - they respond with "find no record" in the indexes from 1/1/49 to 8/17/70.  [ The
      indexes for 1940 ~ 1949 should have been searched and are, eventually.  This is not unusual and
      is the reason why serious genealogists do their own searches - they more likely spotting similar
      (mis)spellings and names that point to other productive areas of ancestral connections. ]
 1971 Harold J. Cyriacks, former LA police detective, investigates to discover various
      tidbits about Fred and Herman, including the address of another property listed for
      "Fred Cyriacks Estate" at 4323 Lankershim Blvd in the Telephone Company records and
      his name and that address in other county records.
 1971-2± Newspaper article by Julie Jacobs: OLD CASTLE BOWS OUT - Bulldozers Write Finis for
      Landmark in Valley.  [ The "turreted 10-room mansion at 10841 Whipple St. which has been called one
           of the five loveliest houses in the world" is described in the article more as a castle than the
      cottage-type construction (roundish with slanted roof) pictured in the later
      2011 TOLUCA LAKE posting.  The time-lines referenced within the article point to 1972.
      In 2008, the 10841 Whipple St (zip 91602) 41 unit apartment complex is assessed at
      $1,903,683 and is indicated to have been built in 1972. ] 

 1973 Ben Ciriacks visits and stands atop Fred & Herman's burial site in the Forest Lawn
      (Glendale) cemetery not that far from the Lankershim Blvd and Whipple St property.
      Ben doesn't take the time to search for the "mansion" site.  Other research at the
      same time in LA, Riverside and San Jacinto discovers the various lawsuits Fred had
      been involved with.  Ben finds Fred's LA County death certificate but can't spend
      the extra time needed to obtain a copy and passes the information along.
 1976 March - Don & Ruth Cyriacks obtain a copy of Fred's death certificate and get a
      limited tour of Fred's still extant mansion on Lankershim.  [ 8/31/11:  Ruth says she
      only saw the very large living room and kitchen while the ailing host showed Don the basement
      den with the swastikas embedded within the decorative paneling/wallboard.  They visited at
      night and had to drive around the block and the various, large, multi-story apartment buildings
      to find the driveway into the property on Whipple St. - it was not surrounded by a brick or
      other wall.  Ruth confirms that the house was more square than round and was less impressive
      than she had expected from the stories the locals had been telling Don - meaning the 'stories'
      were associated with the older 1919 mansion and its history with Fred.  If, as is probable, he
      also had the newer one built some time after acquiring the parcel of land in 1934, it may never
      have been occupied by him as a residence. ]
      May - John Ciriacks gets a tour of Fred's mansion on Lankershim.
      [ He remembers the spiral staircase going down to the basement 'beer hall' type den.  The
      son of the 1946 purchaser was bedridden at the time and may have passed on the following year.
      This mansion was said to have been built in 1919 - that is either a coincidence or was
      passed along in error by the occupants who were not aware of the 'for real 1919 built'
      10841 Whipple Street mansion that was torn down in 1971.  Fred's name was well known enough
      to make people think that he had only one mansion, that it was built in 1919 by a famous
      architect and this must have been it.  Had they known of the other mansion, they would more
      than likely also have known about its association with Bela Lugosi and mentioned that tidbit
      of VERY INTERESTING INFORMATION right off the bat. ]
 1980 Don Cyriacks (CA-NE branch) and daughter Julie report that the Lankershim Blvd at
      Whipple Street "mansion" has been torn down.

 2002 Whipple St house photo sent to descendent of former owners by Bela Lugosi's son.
 2011 Cyriacks HOUSE - LOST TOLUCA LAKE TREASURE is posted online.  [ The small, cottage style
      house is a big surprise to Ben Ciriacks - the mental picture had been of one more squarish. ]
 2011 A descendent of the former owners of the 10841 Whipple St home begins a correspondence
      with us over the contradicting 1971 and 1980 'demolished mansion' timelines.
        It appears there probably were two separate "Fred Cyriacks mansions" almost adjacent to
      each other near the intersection of Lankershim and Whipple that have been misidentified with
      each other over the years.  A new mystery we are now investigating.

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley:
CYRIACKS HOUSE - LOST TOLUCA LAKE TREASURE PlatPlan(mansions footprint)

[ January 11, 2011:  The creation of this The Museum of the San Fernando Valley web site discussing a 1971 demolished Hollywood Fred Mansion, about which we knew nothing, led to the awareness that there were really two mansions.  What we had been considering the sole mansion was really a second that had been purchased/built by Fred in 1934, 15 years after the first.  The second mansion was physically located at the corner of Lankership Blvd. and Whipple St. - 300 feet east of the first and probably on a large adjacent lot that became available in 1934 in the midst of the Great Depression.  To top that off, we now have plenty of high quality pictures of the inside and outside of the mansion about which we knew nothing but only two low quality inner courtyard pictures of the one which was visited several times by various family members back in 1976.  Needless to say, we are now searching for any pictures that others may have taken of the 2nd '4301 Lankershim' mansion. ]

Cyriacks & Co., Bremen
Maƒchinen- und Motoren-Fabrik
Waller-Chausse 46. - - - - Ferniprecher Nr. 4460

It appears that Fred made his fortune in automobiles and land by the 1920's but may have lost some of it during the depression.  What was left by the time his estate was settled seven years after his 1940 death amounted to around $10 million in 2005 dollars.  The records of the disposition of Fred's estate indicate it was all routine and mundane.  The great unaccounted for wealth that was supposed to have been laying out there for lack of known family members was a handy myth to help motivate some digging, but like most searches for 'buried treasure', the search itself was more rewarding than the end result.

Both Fred and Herman Henry Cyriacks are referenced at a web site regarding information published in the Lankershim Laconic and Lankershim Press between 1911 and 1925.  An email exchange garnered the following additional information:

• Fred's father, Herman Henry died around August 7th, 1925.
• Fred Cyriacks of North Hollywood married Audrey CALLOWAY of Hollywood on July 1st, 1929.  (source)
• Fred's body was exhumed on January 28th, 1940 in order to look for evidence of poisoning
      - 7-May-40 San Fernando Valley Times.  (source)

A contribution on behalf of the Cyriac Family History Project was sent to:

San Fernando Valley Genealogical Society
PO Box 3486
Winnetka, CA 19396

April 2001:  The newly opened Ellis Island records web site reflects 10 CYRIACKS surname hits - most of them for Fred and Hermann.  They are:

  Name of Passenger         Residence      Arrived  Age on Arrival
  -----------------         ----------     -------  --------------
  Hermann Cyriaks       Bremen, Germany      1893    15  [1st trip]
  Friedrich Cyriacks    Bremen, Germany      1909    26  [1st trip]
  Herrmann Cyriacks     Dayton, OH           1910    32  [2nd+ trip; brother]
  Fred Cyriacks         Los Angeles, Cal.    1920    35  [2nd trip]
  Hermann Cyriacks      Bremen, Germany      1922    68  [Fred & Herrmann's father]
  Fred Cyriacks         Los Angelos, Cal     1924    37  [3rd trip]
  Fred & Andry M  [ discovered 8/1/2011 also shows middle initial 'M' & 1911 birth year ]
    Cyriacks            Los Angelos, Cal     1929    39  [4th trip]

Fred's reputation in the roaring twenties was that of a lady's man.  It being Hollywood, after all, with the introduction of the talkies and the budding starlet phenomenon.  And, Fred having both looks and money ...  Wellll, you can figure the rest out.  But, some facts are known.

[ There is an unconnected branch of our family descending from an orphan named Frederick CYRIACKS - who was born in New York on December 21st, 1909.  It's unlikely that our Fred, here, arriving 25 Nov 1909 on the Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm from Bremen, Germany was the actual father of a child born less than 30 days later.  But, it's a very interesting coincidence that a child born within a month of this immigration to America receives his exact same name.  8/12/03:  Could this orphan be a child of Fred's older brother Hermann who, as indicated above, could have been ?returning? to Dayton, Ohio in 1910?! ]

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, California.  (Christmas 1977 Newsletter) In the tradition of a good detective story, Don and Ruth have uncovered a wealth of information about the Fred Cyriacks who shot the movie dog, "Peter the Great", in 1927. Don stopped to buy a book last winter at a book store in the San Fernando Valley.  When the little old lady in the store had to order the book for him and saw the Cyriacks name, she asked if he knew about Fred.  She had grown up six blocks from Fred's mansion and told of its reputation for 'wine, women, and song' with the emphasis on the former two items. After Fred died in 1940 at age 57, his older brother Herman (1878-1954) ran or leased the home for a restaurant.  Then in 1946, the home and surrounding cottages were sold to the (private) family.  The son and his wife still own the place and were gracious enough to show their home to Don and Ruth in March and to me in May when I had a business appointment that turned out to be only several miles away.

The (owners) have done a beautiful job of restoring the home with its Germanic emphasis on interior woodwork.  The large solarium-indoor garden to the rear of the great hall type living room leads to a fine "beer hall" in the basement.  Some of the insignia originally on the wall tile in this hall indicated old Fred's support for Adolph's regime that was later defeated in World War II. Many of Fred's papers were in the house when it was sold in 1946.  There are notes about his trip across the United States about 1911 to California.  He apparently started from Dayton, Ohio, where relatives lived, and sold tires as he traveled.  A stop in Denver is recorded.  In addition to his Automobile House and Buick Service Station in Hollywood about 1918, Fred traveled the world with yearly trips to Germany.  Many of his imports from the orient remained with the home.

LEGAL:  Civ. No. 7654.  District Court of Appeal, First District, Division 1, California.  Feb. 28, 1931.  [112 Cal. App. pp 279~285 and 297 Pacific Reporter pp. 35~38, an appeal of the above case, has (http://www.animallaw.info/cases/causca297p35.htm): While the plaintiff Faust, accompanied by two companions, named Richardson and Kempin, were leaving the home of the defendant Cyriacks in an automobile following a quarrel which had taken place there, Cyriacks fired three shots from a rifle at the automobile.  One of the bullets embedded itself in the spare tire, another hit Kempin's hat and the other penetrated the rear of the automobile and struck and killed a dog belonging to plaintiffs, which, unknown to Cyriacks, was riding on the rear seat with Kempin.  Thereafter plaintiffs brought this action for damages for the killing of the dog and upon trial in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County a jury awarded them $100,000 actual and $25,000 punitive damages.  The trial court set aside the verdict and granted a new trial, one of the grounds therefore being that the verdict was excessive.     The dog was of the breed known as German police dog, and the scene of the shooting was in or near Hollywood, the dog being worked in the moving picture industry and known as "Peter the Great".  All of the interested parties to this controversy are connected with the same industry.  The circumstances leading up to the shooting are sharply conflicting, and it would be unnecessary to inquire into them except that under section 3340 of the Civil Code exemplary damages may be awarded "for wrongful injuries to animals being subjects of property, committed willfully or by gross negligence, in disregard of humanity"; and the jury awarded plaintiffs an extra $25,000 to cover such element.  It appears from the evidence that on the night of the shooting all of the parties had been drinking, and that Cyriacks which arose over the fact that several days previously Faust had called at Cyriacks' home while he was away and as he claims insulted his housekeeper.     The shooting took place shortly after dark.  Late that afternoon Richardson and his wife were making a call at Faust's house and a quarrel took place between Richardson and his wife, because she persisted in petting Peter the Great after he had shown a dislike for her by snapping at her; and Mrs. Richardson left.  Thereupon Richardson and Faust started out to find her in Richardson's automobile, taking Kempin and Peter the Great along with them in the back seat.  After searching the streets in the immediate vicinity they went to Cyriacks' house, where he was entertaining some friends, to see if she was there.  Faust testified that he went to the door and inquired for Mrs. Richardson and that after a few words Cyriacks struck at him; that Richardson then came up and asked for his wife; whereupon Cyriacks sicked his police dog on Richardson; that Cyriacks then turned to go into the house for his gun, and that as he did so Faust and Richardson returned to the automobile and started to drive away; that they had proceeded about halfway down the driveway when Cyriacks began shooting, with the result already stated.  Faust's testimony was supported generally by the testimony of Richardson.  Cyriacks gave conflicting accounts of the shooting, but the substance of the testimony he gave in court was as follows:  He stated that Faust appeared at his door and asked for a drink; that observing that Faust had already been drinking, he told him that he had had enough; whereupon Faust told Cyriacks to bring out his, Cyriacks', dog and he would throw him in the fish pond; that he then took Faust by the arm, and as they proceeded toward the fish pond Cyriacks' dog ran out toward the automobile; that he called the dog back and Faust struck the dog over the nose; that Cyriacks then struck Faust and knocked him down; that Faust then dashed into Cyriacks' house, grabbed a revolver from a holster hanging near the door and called to Richardson to bring his gun; that Cyriacks then went into the house, brought out his rifle and fired down the driveway; that Faust and Richardson then got in the automobile and drove away.  The guests at Cyriacks' house corroborated his statements.  Cyriacks denied knowing that Kempin or Peter the Great were in the automobile, and there is no testimony in the record to show that he had any reason to believe they were there. This case is referenced at Dog Bite Law under Cost or Market Value of Dog. Automobile Dealership Both a F. R. Cyriacks Hollywood and T. R. Cyriacke Hollywood are listed at this Automobile tour book of California web site, which among other things, displays a DIRECTORY AUTOMOBILE DEALERS showing them under "OAKLAND" at "City garage Haywards" and "Bush Garage Hanford", respectively.  [ Fred owned the "Automobile House and Buick Service Station" in Hollywood in 1918. ] Another case, 185 Cal. 70, MOONEY v. CYRIACKS. (L. A. 6041.) (Supreme Court of California. Feb. 14, 1921.) 195 Pacific Reporter pp 922~929, involves a Fred R. Cyriacks - this regards an "alleged" lemon sold to Mary E. Mooney. This case is referenced at another legal references site.  Click here to read more about Fred's automobile dealership. Another case of December 17, 1934.  ETTA M. McCONNELL, an Incompetent Person, etc., Respondent, v. F. W. HERBERT et al., Defendants; F. R. CYRIACKS, Appellant, is no longer found on the web.