This remarkable document itemizes the expenses for building the new synagogue on 10th Avenue and how they were offset by the money the shul raised through donations and the mortgage. Naturally I love that they were signed by my great-grandfather, the chairman of the building committee!
Cost of synagogue and income. Click to enlarge. (MSS #107, Box 7, Folder 4)
The date of Sept. 1, 1915 confounds me, though — that’s a year after the synagogue was built. A newspaper article written about the 9/6/1914 dedication suggests that my great-grandfather would have had at least some of this information in hand on that day:
Bernhard Hepps, chairman of the building committee, was called upon for a speech and stated that he thanked the congregation for the confidence displayed by the fact that every cent for the purpose of building had passed through his hands and there had never been a question asked as to what was done with it. He also thanked the members of the building committee for their co-operation without which he could have done little. He announced that the cost of the synagogue was $31,000.
Upon closer inspection it seems like some of this information could not have been known until after — like the amount of money raised at the dedication or the sale of seats, which continued through the High Holidays. So, perhaps Bernhardt was called upon to produce an updated report a year later after everything had been settled.
While this report answers many questions, it does not address the one that has vexed me all this time — where did the aron kodesh (ark) come from???