Morris Aaron Bobrow (b. 1880) immigrated from Russia to New York at the age of 12. He married Annie BoBrow (b. 1887), a fellow immigrant, and the couple moved across the South during the 1900s; their eldest two children were born in Alabama and Mississippi. The family arrived in Spartanburg by 1913, where Aaron opened a shoemaking business at 149 ½ East Main Street. By 1916, the business was located at 160 East Main Street. The family left Spartanburg sometime after 1920.