The second of my Goldschmidt three-times-great-uncles to arrive from Germany to Philadelphia was Abraham, Jacob’s younger brother. He was born on March 13, 1832, in Oberlistingen and came to the US on August 21, 1850, listing his occupation as a merchant. He was eighteen years old.

Birth record of Abraham Goldschmidt
Geburtsregister der Juden von Oberlistingen (Breuna) 1826-1852 (HHStAW Abt. 365 Nr. 668)AutorHessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Wiesbaden, p. 4

Abraham Goldschmidt passenger manifest 1850
Year: 1850; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 091; Line: 1; List Number: 951

According to his obituary in The Philadelphia Jewish Exponent,¹ Abraham first settled in Waynesburg and then Chester, Pennsylvania, before coming to Philadelphia in 1855. It’s interesting that he went first to Waynesburg, which is 25 miles from Washington, Pennsylvania, where his cousin Jacob Goldsmith was then living, rather than to Philadelphia, where his brother Jacob Goldsmith was living. My guess is that he was making a living as a peddler. But by 1855, he had moved to his brother’s city.

As I wrote about here, on January 17, 1858, Abraham married Cecelia Adler in Philadelphia.  Cecelia was the daughter of Samuel Adler and Sarah Kargau, and she was born on November 26, 1838, in Würzberg, Germany. She and her parents had immigrated to the US by 1850 and settled in Philadelphia where her father was a merchant.

Marriage record of Abraham Goldschmidt and Cecelia Adler
Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 792
Organization Name: Congregation Rodeph Shalom
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013

By 1860, Abraham had Americanized his surname to Goldsmith, and he and Cecelia were living in Philadelphia, where Abraham was a clothing merchant with $15,000 worth of personal property. According to an inflation calculator, that would be worth almost $428,000 in today’s money.

Abraham and Cecelia (Adler) Goldsmith 1860 census
Year: 1860; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 13, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M653_1163; Page: 914; Family History Library Film: 805163

Abraham and Cecelia had six children between 1861 and 1870, all born in Philadelphia: Milton (May 22,1861),² Hilda (August 22,1862),³ Edwin (April 10,1864)⁴, Rose (October 19,1866)⁵, Emily (April 30,1868)⁶, and Estelle (January 20, 1870)⁷.

Here are some photographs of Abraham and Cecelia, courtesy of their descendant Julian Reinheimer:

Abraham Goldsmith, courtesy of Julian Reinheimer

Cecelia Adler

On the 1870 census, Abraham claimed he had $25,000 worth of real estate and $20,000 worth of personal property. According to this inflation calculator, that would be the equivalent of about $820,000 in today’s money.  That seems incredible, but obviously Abraham was doing quite well in the clothing business. Cecelia’s parents were also living with Abraham and Cecelia and their six children in 1870, as well as three domestic servants.

Abraham Goldsmith and family 1870 census
Year: 1870; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 12 District 35, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1396; Page: 133B; Family History Library Film: 552895

Abraham might have been doing extremely well in his business, but he was not spared heartbreak. On November 8, 1874, Cecelia Adler Goldsmith died from apoplexy or what we would now call a stroke. She was only 35 years old and left behind six children ranging in age from six to thirteen years old. Abraham was left to raise these children on his own—with the help of his in-laws.

Cecilia Adler Goldsmith death certificate
“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-69HW-K75?cc=1320976&wc=9F52-L29%3A1073307201 : 16 May 2014), 004010206 > image 874 of 1214; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Less than two years later, the family suffered another tragedy. Thirteen-year-old Hilda Goldsmith died from heart disease on June 7, 1876, in Philadelphia.  She would have turned fourteen two months later.

Hilda Goldsmith death certificate
“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DZMS-RYC?cc=1320976&wc=9F56-929%3A1073334101 : 16 May 2014), 004058576 > image 749 of 1180; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

One year later in 1876, Abraham remarried. His second wife was Frances Spanier.⁸ I have not found very much about her background, but according to her death certificate⁹ she was born on September 13, 1855, in Germany, making her more than twenty years younger than Abraham. According to her obituary, she was born in Hanover, Germany, and came to the US as a young girl and lived with relatives in Baltimore. I have been unable to find any record of her living in Baltimore, and the only manifest I found that seemed possibly relevant shows a Franziska Spanier, seventeen years old, who arrived in New York from Germany on May 1, 1876.¹⁰

Abraham and Frances were married in 1876, according to Frances’ obituary. Their first child Alfred was born on August 11, 1877¹¹, and a second, Bertha, followed on August 17, 1878.¹²

Frances had taken on quite a bit when she married Abraham. Living with them in 1880 in addition to their own toddlers Alfred and Bertha were Abraham’s five surviving children from his first marriage to Cecelia Adler: Milton (now 19), Edwin (16), Rosa (13), Emily (11), and Estelle (9). Moreover, Abraham’s in-laws from his first marriage, Samuel and Sarah Adler, were also living in the household. Abraham was the only member of the household who was employed; his children were all in school, and his father-in-law was retired. Abraham was supporting all those family members in his work as a clothing merchant. And Frances was taking care of not only her children and her stepchildren but her husband’s former in-laws.  She did have the assistance of two servants living in the home.

Abraham Goldsmith and family 1880 US census
Year: 1880; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1173; Page: 60A; Enumeration District: 202
Description
ED: 202; Description: Philadelphia 6th Electoral District 12th Ward
Source Information
Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census

To add to their financial and other responsibilities, Abraham and Frances then had two more children: Alice, born on August 29, 1880,¹³ and Louis, born November 4, 1883.¹⁴ (I found it interesting that three of Frances’ four children were born in August.) There were now nine children as well as four adults living in the home. Abraham’s first father-in-law Samuel Adler died on April 28, 1886.¹⁵

But Abraham had serious business problems ahead. From the 1860s and throughout the 1870s, Abraham had been in business with his brother Levy, who had arrived in Philadelphia three years after Abraham, but was eight years older. According to the 1881 Philadelphia directory, their business, Goldsmith Brothers, was in liquidation at that time. In 1882 Goldsmith Brothers is listed without any note about liquidation. And in 1883, Abraham and Levy were joined by their brother Meyer in the business.

Goldsmiths in the 1866 Philadelphia directory
Title: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1866
Source Information
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

Goldsmith Bros 1881 Philadelphia directory
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1881
Source Information
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

Goldsmith Bros 1883 Philadelphia directory
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1883
Source Information
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

When Levy died from meningitis on December 29, 1886 at the age of 62,¹⁶ Goldsmith Brothers was in serious financial trouble. Two months after Levy’s death, Goldsmith Brothers was forced to make an assignment of its assets to another clothing business. The paper reported that at that time Goldsmith Brothers had assets of almost $70,000 but liabilities of over $142,000. From this report it appears that the creditors of Goldsmith Brothers were prepared to take 33 1/3 cents on the dollar for the money owed to them.

“The Creditors of Goldsmith Brothers,” The Philadelphia Times, February 13, 1887, p. 2.

Three days later there was a detailed update on the appraisal of the assets of the business, showing that Abraham had net assets of $300 and the company itself had net assets of $69,306.73:

“Goldsmith Brothers’ Estate,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 16, 1887, p. 2.

And two days after that the creditors agreed to accept 37 ½ cents on the dollar for the money owed to them by Goldsmith Brothers.

“The Goldsmith Failure,” The Philadelphia Times, February 18, 1887, p. 1.

I don’t know what caused the problems in the Goldsmith Brothers business, but there was a nationwide recession from 1882 until 1885 that very well may have contributed to their financial problems.¹⁷

Things must have seemed rather dire for Abraham at that point, but he regrouped, and by January 1888, he was in business with his two sons, Milton and Edwin:

The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 3, 1888, p. 2.

The 1888 Philadelphia directory shows that the business was now called A. Goldsmith & Sons, with Abraham’s two oldest sons, Milton and Edwin, working with him. They would both continue to work with Abraham throughout the 1890s.

A. Goldsmith & Sons, 1888 Philadelphia directory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1888
Source Information
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

The 1890s also brought some other changes as Abraham’s older children began to marry and have children of their own and Abraham faced some personal challenges.  More on that in my next post.