Remembering Samuel Stern: The Man Behind Meadville’s Century – Long Thanksgiving Tradition

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Every year, children in need who reside in the city of Meadville receive shoes and socks from a thoughtful gesture that began in 1909 and has quietly continued for over a century. What many do not know is that this tradition began thanks to one man: Samuel Stern (1866-1909).

Memorabilia from Stern Rye Whiskey. Private Collection.

Born to German Jewish immigrants, Joseph and Jenetta (Stein) Stern, who settled in Meadville around 1862, Samuel learned and lived the values of hard work, community, and compassion. Samuel was the proprietor of Stern’s liquor store located at 229 Chestnut Street and bottled Stern’s Rye Whiskey. His business influence extended beyond his family business for he was a key figure in the founding of McCrosky Manufacturing Company, collaborating with prominent local businessmen including F.B. McCrosky, John E. Reynolds, Charles J. Barrett, and Otto Stolz. His reputation as a respected entrepreneur helped solidify Meadville’s industrial and commercial growth during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

McCrosky Tool Stock Investment Paperwork on Stern Letterhead. Collection of the Crawford County Historical Society.

However, Samuel’s greatest legacy was not business – it was his generosity. Throughout his life, he was known to take children whose families were facing hardship off the street and into a clothing or shoe store to provide them with what they needed. Unfortunately, Samuel passed at the young age of forty-three, but in his will, he placed $2500 in trust in the hands of the Mayor of Meadville and the President Judge of Crawford County for the interest to be used annually to purchase “shoes and stockings for the worthy poor of the city” and to be distributed on Thanksgiving Day. This fund has endured and provided hundreds of pairs of shoes for children in Meadville each year for 116 years. Today the shoes are distributed prior to the start of the school year via the Center for Family Services, and the trust fund continues to be monitored through the city mayor and president judge.

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This Thanksgiving, it is worth remembering the man whose vision made it possible. Samuel Stern was widely known in Meadville during his life, yet time has nearly erased his name. Even so, the quiet generosity he offered continues to echo through the generations.