Follow up on Schopfloch: Who Replaced My 4x-Great-Grandfather Amson Nussbaum

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Amy

In my last post, I wrote about the Jews Edict of 1813 in Bavaria and the impact it had on Jewish families. To recap, since the law prohibited the increase in the number of Jewish families in a particular town, children would have to leave town to start their own families.

Yesterday I was very fortunate to receive the following document from a very generous fellow researcher named Ralph Baer.

1826 Matrikel left side of page

1826 Matrikel right side of page

This is from the census or Matrikel of 1826 for the town of Schopfloch, and the second name listed is the entry for my 4x-great-grandfather, Amson Meier Nussbaum, father of John Nusbaum. It reports that he was born 1777 and matriculated on September 26, 1809. His occupation was “Handel mit alten Kleidern” or trade with old clothes. [Thank you, Ralph, for sending me this and for the translation.]

I was curious about the name under Amson’s name, Hayum Kronheimer, and Ralph explained to me that he was Amson’s replacement on the Matrikel. In other words, after Amson died, Hayum Kronheimer replaced him in the count of permitted Jewish families in Schopfloch.

I’ve not yet had a chance to research Hayum Kronheimer. Perhaps he was an in-law, or maybe just a stranger to the family. [UPDATE: Further research led me to a family tree for Hayum Kronheimer; it does not appear that he married anyone in the Nussbaum family.] Either way, I found it rather chilling to see the actual name of the person who replaced my ancestor on the list of Jews allowed in the town.

A Town with A Secret Language: Schopfloch and the Nusbaums

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Amy

I thought I should outline my connection to the Nusbaums before I began writing about them. The chain between Amson Nusbaum and me is as follows, with the Nusbaum descendants all on the left side of each couple:

Amson Nusbaum—Voegele Welsch (my 4x-great-grandparents)

John (Josua) Nusbaum—Jeannette (Shamet) Dreyfuss (my 3x-great-grandparents)

Frances Nusbaum—-Bernard Seligman (my great-great-grandparents)

Eva May Seligman—-Emanuel Cohen (my great-grandparents)

John Nusbaum Cohen, Sr. — Eva Schoenthal (my grandparents)

John Nusbaum Cohen, Jr. —- Florence Goldschlager (my parents)

Amy Cohen (me)

(Although the Nusbaums spelled their name with two S’s in Germany as in NUSSBAUM, the family dropped the second S once they got to the US, just as the Seligmanns dropped the second N when they immigrated.)

So where do I start telling this Nusbaum story? I have already talked about my grandfather John Nusbaum Cohen’s life and his mother Eva Seligman Cohen’s life in telling the stories of the Cohens and the Seligmans. So I could start with my great-great-grandmother, Frances Nusbaum, who married Bernard Seligman. I’ve also written a little about her. But I prefer to start at the earliest point and move forward in time. Right now the earliest Nusbaum ancestors I have found date back to the 18^th century with Amson Nusbaum and Voegele Welsch.

This is the first branch that I have been able to take back as far as my 4x-great-grandparents. Although I know very little about Amson Nusbaum and Voegele Welsch, I am hoping that I can learn more if I can obtain more records from Schopfloch. But for now, here is what I know.

Amson Meier Nusbaum was born around 1777 possibly in Schopfloch, a small town in the Ansbach region of Bavaria. He married Voegele Welsch, who was born March 7, 1782, somewhere in Germany. They were married around 1804, and they had eight children born between 1805 and 1819, all born in Schopfloch. Amson was a peddler.

Schopfloch

Although I do not have much specific information about Amson and Voegele, I was interested in learning more about the town where they lived and raised their children in order to glean something about what their lives might have been like.

First, I read a little bit about Bavaria. I really know almost nothing about Germany’s history, but I do know that it was not a unified country until 1871. Before that, there were a number of separate duchys and kingdoms controlled by various aristocrats and noblemen, fighting over their borders for many hundreds of years. From the tenth century until the beginning of the nineteenth century, the land that we know as Germany was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The Thirty Years War from 1618 to 1648, which started as a conflict between Protestants and Catholics and grew to a much larger regional conflict, was perhaps the most destructive of the wars that occurred during this pre-unification era in the area we now call Germany.

Map of the Imperial Circles of the Holy Roman Empire (c. 1512) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bavaria was one of those regions within what is now Germany. It is located in the southeastern part of the country, bordering the Czech Republic and Austria to the east and south. The official website for what is now the state of Bavaria within the Federated Republic of Germany said this about the history of Bavaria:

Bavaria is one of the oldest states in Europe. Its origins go back to the 6th century AD. In the Middle Ages, Bavaria (until the start of the 19th century Old Bavaria) was a powerful dukedom, first under the Guelphs and then under the Wittelsbachs. … Cities like Regensburg developed into cultural and economic centres of European rank. After the Thirty Years War, the Electorate of Bavaria played an important role in the political deliberations of the major powers. In the 19th century Bavaria became a constitutional monarchy and the scene of a great cultural blossoming and of political and social reforms.

Schopfloch is a small town of three thousand people located near the western boundary of Bavaria. It is about sixty miles west of Nuremberg, about one hundred miles northwest of Munich, and about eighty miles northeast of Stuttgart.

Schopfloch in AN (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to the official town website, the earliest mention of the town dates from March 11, 1260, on a land deed witnessed by someone named Ulricis de Schopfloch. (Schopf loch apparently means “ crested hole” or “tuft hole,” and perhaps this is a reference to the fact that the town is located in a small valley). During the Thirty Years War, many Protestants moved from Salzburg to Schopfloch. They were primarily tradesman in the building trades—masons and bricklayers– and the town was known for its many families in the construction business.

The history of the Jews in Bavaria is, like the history of Jews in most countries in Europe, one of oppression, discrimination, unfair taxation, and frequent pogroms with occasional periods of greater tolerance and civil rights. There is evidence of Jews living in Bavaria as early as the 900s, and numerous towns and cities in Bavaria had Jewish communities by the 12^th century. Jews were limited in their livelihoods in many locations; in many places, they were prohibited from most trades other than moneylending. Beginning in the 14^th century and continuing through the 17^th century, the Jews were subjected to widespread orders of expulsion and deportation from many Bavarian communities. A good summary of the history of Jews in Bavaria can be found here at H. Peter Sinclair’s “Chronology of the History of the Jews in Bavaria 906-1945,” .

As for Schopfloch specifically, the first Jews settled there in the fourteenth century. According to The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust: K-Sered (Shmuel Spector, Geoffrey Wigoder, eds., 2001, NYU Press), p.1151, Jews moved to Schopfloch after being expelled from the nearby town of Dinkelsbuehl. Another source suggests that Jews were welcomed to Schopfloch by rival nobles who took in Jews to increase their strength. Jews were able to do well, engaging in cattle trade in Schopfloch and in several communities near Schopfloch.

A Jewish cemetery was created around 1612 and served not only the Jewish residents of Schopfloch but also those of surrounding towns.

Jewish cemetery in Schopfloch
at http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/images/Images%20231/Schopfloch%20ETJK%202009014.jpg

A synagogue was built in 1679, and there was also a ritual bath and a school. According to the website “Destroyed German Synagogues and Communities” :

The Jews of Schopfloch established a synagogue in 1679 and enlarged it in 1712 and again in 1715. Rabbis served the community during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and the village was home to a regional rabbinate during the years 1841 to 1872. In 1877, a new synagogue was built on the Judengasse, or “Jews’ alley” (later renamed Bahnhofstrasse).

According to the town website, the Jewish residents played an important role in the social history of the town, and the long history of co-existence between the Christians and Jews in Schopfloch made it less susceptible to anti-Semitism even in the Nazi period. Perhaps there were no pogroms or expulsion orders in Schopfloch. None were mentioned in H. Peter Sinclair’s “Chronology of the History of the Jews in Bavaria 906-1945,” cited above and found here.

Overall, it would seem that Schopfloch would have been a relatively comfortable place for Jews to live when my ancestors Amson and Voegele Nussbaum were having children between 1805 and 1819 and the years following when their children were growing up. Amson died June 7, 1836, and Voegele died October 2, 1842. From what I can find in immigration records, my three-times great grandfather John (Josua) Nusbaum emigrated in 1843, the year after his mother died. It appears that at least some of his siblings emigrated around the same time. What would have motivated them to leave once their parents had died if in fact conditions for Jews were relatively good in Schopfloch?

The Nussbaum family was growing up in an era of significant change in Bavaria and in Europe generally. Napoleon had risen to power in France as the 18^th century ended, and the Holy Roman Empire crumbled. His armies invaded the lands in what is now Germany, and eventually he defeated the Austrian army and took over much of German land. His emancipation of the Jews in France in 1806 had an impact on those in Bavaria, and in 1813 Bavaria adopted the Jews Edict of 1813. Although Napoleon was defeated shortly after, the Jews Edict of 1813 remained the law in Bavaria.

The Jews Edict was a mixed blessing. As described by one source, “Jews now could acquire land and participate in trade but they were forced to adopt German surnames and to list the head of the household’s name and occupation as shown in the Matrikellisten (census) of 1817.” This registry (while a good thing for genealogy research), which may seem benign, had a negative impact on Jews because it forced many Jews to leave their homeland. Section 12 of the Edict provided that the number of Jewish families in any community could not increase. That meant that a child in a Jewish family could not establish his or her own family, but had to leave the community. Section 13 provided some exceptions, but they were quite restrictive. In addition, Section 14 prohibited the issuance of a marriage permit even if the marriage would not result in an overall increase in Jewish families unless the man could demonstrate that he was going to engage in a legal occupation other than being a peddler. http://www.rijo.homepage.t-online.de/pdf/EN_BY_JU_edikt_e.pdf

Thus, not all of Amson and Voegele’s children could stay in Schopfloch. To do so would have created eight new Jewish families in the town. Moreover, since Amson had been a peddler, chances are at least some of his sons had planned to engage in a similar trade. So they had to leave Schopfloch, and since the neighboring towns were under the same restrictions, they could not even settle nearby. They had to emigrate, and I am sure that America, a new country with a democratic form of government, must have been very appealing to these young people who were being denied the right to stay in the town where they were born.

The Jewish population in Schopfloch hit its peak in 1867 with 393 Jewish residents out of a total population of 1,788. Although a new synagogue was built in 1877, by 1880 the Jewish population had dropped to 147 people. It continued to drop so that by the early 1930s there were fewer than forty Jews in the town. Nevertheless, the synagogue was renovated in 1932, and there was a large celebration rededicating the synagogue, attended by many Jews and non-Jews, including members of the Christian clergy, the mayor, and other town officials and residents. One pastor spoke about the good relations between the Christian and Jewish residents of Schopfloch.

Schopfloch synagogue 1910 Source: Wallersteiner Kalendar, 1983 found at http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/schopfloch_synagoge.htm

Tragically, just five years later on November 9, 1938, the Night of Broken Glass, or Kristallnacht, this newly renovated synagogue was destroyed by fire. As described on the “Destroyed German Synagogues and Communities” website:

In 1938, in the wake of virulent anti-Jewish incitement, Schopfloch’s mayor advised the Jews to leave. All of them did so within months, and the synagogue was eventually sold (its ritual objects were transferred to Munich). Schopfloch’s last Jews left in October 1938. Although the synagogue was set on fire on Pogrom Night, the blaze was extinguished by the fire brigade. The building’s interior was completely destroyed, as were the ritual objects in Munich. Three Schopfloch Jews emigrated; the others relocated within Germany. Forty-eight perished in the Shoah. The synagogue building was demolished in 1939.

The cemetery, however, still exists, and a woman named Angelika Brosig began a project to restore the cemetery and to record all the names of those buried in the cemetery. Sadly, Ms. Brosig died in 2013, and not all of the headstones have yet been translated and recorded, but the work is supposed to be continuing by others. Thus far, I have not found any Nussbaums on the list, but I have to believe that my four-times great-grandparents Amson and Voegele are buried there.

Although Schopfloch is and was a small town without any particular historical significance of its own, it has been recognized for an interesting reason. The Jews of Schopfloch developed a dialect of their own to be used in the course of cattle trade as a way of communicating without being understood. It was a dialect combining Hebrew terms with German, and eventually it was used not only by the Jewish residents of Schopfloch but also by the non-Jewish residents. In fact, the dialect, called Lachoudish, a shortened version of Lachon Kodesh, or “holy language” in Hebrew, continued to be used by the residents of Schopfloch long after all the Jews left the town in the 1930s. The New York Times published an article about this secret language on February 10, 1984, giving some examples of the use of Hebrew terms in the dialect:

Lachoudisch is replete with words that bespeak the Jews’ wary relationship to Christian authority. The word for ”church” in Lachoudisch is ”tum” – from the Hebrew word for ”religiously unclean.” The word ”police” is ”sinem”- from the Hebrew for ”hated.” A priest is a ”gallach” or, in Hebrew, ”one who shaves.”

(James M. Markham, “Dialect of Lost Jews Lingers in a Bavarian Town,” The New York Times (February 10, 1984) found at http://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/10/world/dialect-of-lost-jews-lingers-in-a-bavarian-town.html The article also provides historical and current information about the town.)

This website provides further examples of Hebrew terms used in Lachoudish. http://www.medine-schopfloch.de/Lachoudisch/lachoudisch.html Although Lachoudish is disappearing as there are fewer Schopfloch residents who remember it, there has been some effort to remember and revive the dialect. This video, which unfortunately for me is in German, is about Lachoudish and also provides some images of Schopfloch today. If anyone wishes to translate this for me, please let me know.

Coat of arms of Schopfloch (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Nusbaums: Were They Jewish? Learning from Rookie Mistakes

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Amy

English: Postcard, dated 2.9.1917. Title: &quo...

English: Postcard, dated 2.9.1917. Title: “Schopfloch” Deutsch: Postkarte, datiert 2.9.1917. Titel: “Schopfloch” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Before I started doing genealogy research, I knew only one thing about the Nusbaum name. I knew it was my father’s middle name, that it was also his father’s middle name, and that they were named for some ancestor named…John Nusbaum, my great-great-great-grandfather.

I had no idea who John Nusbaum was, although I think I did know he was from Germany. I didn’t know if he had ever lived in the United States. And I had no idea how he had gotten the name John. John is not a Jewish name. Jonathan, yes, but I do not think I have known more than one or two men named John who were Jewish, except for my father. In fact, there were some people who had questioned whether my father really was Jewish, given his first name.

Things got even more confusing when I first started doing genealogy research a couple of years ago. I was a real novice, and I did not know enough to know that people often put bad information on their family trees. I assumed, very naively, that if someone put a tree on ancestry, it had to be right. Like I said, I was a real novice. So as I was adding information (much of it from reliable sources like census reports), I found several ancestry trees with my ancestor John Nusbaum appearing on it—with his descendants included. I was excited—these trees linked my ancestor to a whole line of Nusbaums going back hundreds of years! I felt like I had hit the jackpot. I added all these people to my tree, thinking that I could now trace my family back centuries on the Nusbaum side.

I should have been more circumspect. I should have picked up on a few clues—too many people named Johann, too many people named Maria, Christian, Catherine—no Jewish sounding names. I began to think that in fact my Nusbaum ancestors had not been Jewish. But I was new and trusting and just accepted what I saw. It was the internet, after all. It had to be true. Right?

I had then turned to other things and put those Nusbaums aside. After all, they were all done, I thought. Someone else had found them all.

But then about a month ago I started looking again at those Nusbaums, an older and hopefully wiser researcher now. I went back to all those trees, and I realized they had no sources to support the claim that my John Nusbaum was the same person as the Johann Nusbaum that linked back to all those non-Jewish sounding Nusbaums. Only one tree had any sources at all for these earlier Nusbaums; the others had just somehow linked to that tree and added my ancestor to it, assuming John was the same as Johann.

I contacted the owner of that one sourced tree, and he and I had a good exchange and a few chuckles about all those other misleading trees. His ancestors were Christian, and he had no sources indicating a link to a John Nusbaum who settled in Pennsylvania, as my John Nusbaum had done back in the 1840s. I detached my ancestor from the other trees, sad to lose hundreds of years of ancestors, but happy to know that my Nusbaums could have been Jewish. (I also wrote to the owners of those other trees, pointing out the error, but not one of them responded nor did they take my Nusbaums off their trees.)

So now my Nusbaum line ended with John Nusbaum. I was able to find quite a bit in the US records, but had no hints as to his parents, siblings, or home town in Germany. And then my father provided me with some answers. He has the Nusbaum family bible, and it has entries for John and his siblings as well as his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. It told me where he was born—Schopfloch, Ansbach, Bavaria, in 1814. I had names and birth dates for his siblings: Isaac (1812), Ernest (1816), Caroline (1822), Mathilde (1825).[1] It was a gold mine. And I was off and running to find the real Nusbaums.

A Map of Schopfloch im Landkreis Ansbach, Bayern, Germany. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now comes the best part. I contacted the registry in Schopfloch to ask whether there were any records for my ancestors, giving the names of the Nusbaums I knew about. And this is what I received in return from a man named Rolf Hofmann:

FAMILY SHEET AMSON MEIER NUSSBAUM

OF SCHOPFLOCH

compiled by Rolf Hofmann (HarburgProject@aol.com) VERSION 01

AMSON MEIER NUSSBAUM

peddler in Schopfloch

born ca 1777 (Schopfloch ?), died 07 Jun 1836 Schopfloch

father = Meier ?

married ca 1804 ?

VOEGELE WELSCH

born 07 Mar 1782 (where ?), died 02 Oct 1842 Schopfloch

father = ?

CHILDREN (all born in Schopfloch):

(01) GUETEL 10 Feb 1805 – ?

(02) MADEL 20 Jul 1806 – ?

(03) LOEW 26 Apr 1808 – ?

(04) ISAK 28 Mar 1810 – ? emigrated to USA in 1843

(05) SARA 08 Jul 1812 – ?

(06) JOSUA 29 Nov 1814 – ?

(JOHN in USA) emigrated to Philadelphia, USA around 1840

married ca 1852 [this is not correct]

JEANETTE NN from Hesse-Darmstadt (Germany)

20 May 1817 – 12 Jan 1908 (died in Philadelphia) parents = ?

so far known children = Millen * 1853 + Lottie * 1863

(07) SALOMON 24 Aug 1816 – ?

(08) MEIER 14 Sep 1819 – ?

I am now in touch with Mr. Hofmann and hope to get the sources for this information, but you can imagine the happy dance I did when I saw this. I had the names of my FOUR-times great-grandparents, Amson and Voegele. I had names for all their children, including some I had no records for and some who matched with the names I had from the family bible. Madel must be Mathilda, Isak is Isaac, and I assume Ernst is Salomon, based on the birth year. Also, I found other Nusbaums through research—Meier is Maxwell, Loew is Leopold.

And most importantly? Well, John, my three-times great-grandfather—his name was originally Josua. He did in fact have a Jewish name. He obviously Americanized it to John, just as many of his siblings Americanized their names to names that were less Jewish-sounding. My father and my grandfather could have been named Joshua Nusbaum Cohen if their namesake had not changed his name to John.

There is still much research to be done and much to learn about the Nusbaums. But one big mystery is solved. My Nusbaums were not descended from all those Johanns and Marias, but were from a Jewish family living in Schopfloch, Bavaria, in the early 19^th century.

Jewish cemetery in Schopfloch
at http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/images/Images%20231/Schopfloch%20ETJK%202009014.jpg

[1] Although Caroline and Mathilde were listed with different surnames, I was able to find US records that verified that they were John’s sisters. More on that later.

Goodbye for now, Santa Fe

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Amy

Gau-Algesheim. Langgasse. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Where They Started

I’ve now completed my research of the American Seligmans, or at least those I know to be related to me. I have added a page with a family tree and descendant chart to the blog that you can find by clicking on the label in the menu box at the top of the page.

For a number of reasons, this has been the easiest branch of the family tree to research. First, I was fortunate to find my cousin Arthur “Pete” Scott, who is the great-grandson of Bernard Seligman and the grandson of Arthur Seligman. He had already done a lot of work on the family history in New Mexico and was very generous in sharing his research and photographs with me. He also had published a great deal of it on the web at vocesdesantafe.com.

Secondly, Bernard and Arthur Seligman were public figures—men who were often written about during their lives in newspapers and after their lives by historians. Their fame made it much easier for me to find sources and information to learn about their lives and the lives of their families. (Although it was easier to find information, it also was a lot more work to read it, digest it, and analyze it all.)

My great-great-grandfather Bernard on the fronteir

Also, there were not a lot of descendants to trace. Sigmund Seligman never married, James Seligman in England had no children, and Bernard only had three children who lived to adulthood—my great-grandmother Eva and her two brothers James and Arthur.[1] Eva’s family I had already researched in doing the Cohen branch, James had only one child who lived to adulthood, and Arthur had one biological child and a stepdaughter. So compared to the thirteen children of Jacob Cohen, some of whom had over ten children themselves, this was a much smaller family to research.

I still do have work to do, tracing the German Seligmanns and seeing if I can learn what happened to them. That is a task I will continue to work on, but it will be slowed by the inaccessibility of German records and my inability to read German. I am ordering copies of the records I posted about here, but I hope to be able to learn more. Once I know more, I will write about it on the blog.

But for now I will move on from the Seligmans in my writing and begin the next branch of my father’s father’s family, the Nusbaums. As far as I know, there are no famous people on this branch, but time will tell. I am hoping that my cousin Pete will be able to help me here as well since he also is a descendant of Frances Nusbaum Seligman. I have already learned some interesting things about the Nusbaums and am eager to learn more.

Arthur Seligman, Marjorie, and Eva May Cohen, 1932 Atlantic City

Governor Arthur Seligman, Marjorie, and his sister, my great-grandmother Eva May Seligman Cohen, 1932 Atlantic City

Before I move on from the Seligmans, however, I have a few concluding thoughts about this branch of my family tree. Unlike my Cohen, Goldschlager, Rosenzweig, and Brotman branches, the Seligmans were in the public eye and not able to lead the private lives that my other relatives lived and that most of us live. They were subject to much scrutiny—Bernard was a wealthy merchant and public servant, Arthur a mayor and governor, and Morton a Navy hero. Their actions and character were criticized at times, but each in his own way managed to rise above that criticism. They were loyal, decent and honest men who served their communities with honor.

What the Seligmans share with the rest of my ancestors is the story of Jewish immigrants in general—whether they came in 1850 or 1890 or 1910, whether they came from Germany or England or Romania or Galicia. All came here for a better life, all were brave enough to leave their homes and their families, all took a risk that living in America would be better for them, their families, and their descendants. Some may have come with more than others, some succeeded more than others, but all were undoubtedly better off here than they would have been had they stayed in Europe. With hindsight we know what would have been their fate if they had still been in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, as was the fate of some of my German Seligmann relatives who did not leave Europe in time.

Once again, I feel grateful for the risks that my ancestors all took and for their courage and hard work, which made it possible for me to be here today, remembering them all.

My great-great-grandfather Bernard Seligman, born in Gau-Algesheim, a pioneering leader in Santa Fe, and father of a US governor

[1] Adolph did have children, and I’ve traced all of his descendants, but out of privacy concerns have not written about them since many of his grandchildren are still living, and I have not been in touch with them.

The Life of Otis Perry Seligman: The “Scandal in Santa Fe” as told by his son

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Amy

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Arthur Seligman’s son Otis ran into trouble with the law in 1932 when he was indicted for embezzling money from the First National Bank of Santa Fe, where he worked as an assistant cashier and where his father, the governor of New Mexico, was the president. It could have been a scandal that cost his father the election, but it did not.

Rather than retelling the story in my words, I am going to let Arthur Scott, my cousin and the son of Otis Seligman, tell his father’s story. His biography of his father is found on the vocesdesantafe website here, and I am also linking to it in pdf format at Otis_P_seligman I will quote just a bit here to establish the background:

On September 12, 1932 Time Magazine noted “A Federal Grand Jury indicted Otis Perry Seligman, cashier of the First National Bank of Santa Fe, N. Mex. for an alleged shortage of $25,941 in his accounts. Said his father, Governor Arthur Seligman, president of the bank, after making good the shortage: “He will have to take his medicine.” Nine other bank employees were also indicted. The total amount missing was reported by Bank Examiners as $72, 941.23.

He and eight others pled guilty. One pled not guilty. Otis was sentenced to a total of 30 years but the sentences ran concurrently so that the maximum time served would be five years. In addition he was fined $10,000 payable to the US prior to release. He received the harshest sentence because, as an assistant cashier, he was considered a supervisor and officer of the bank.

On September 8, 1932 he and six others were sentenced to terms in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Two were given suspended sentences and one (Trujillo) was tried, found guilty and sent to La Tuna Federal Prison in Texas. My father began serving his sentence in Leavenworth on October 8, 1932. His father, mother, wife, and group of friends saw him off at the Albuquerque train station while he was in custody of US Marshals.

I hope that you will all read the whole essay to get the full picture of Otis Perry Seligman. There are also some wonderful photographs included with the essay. It is a powerful essay written with heart but with objective eyes. To get a sense of the impact this had on the family of Otis Seligman, I also recommend reading Pete’s essay about his mother’s life at Doris_Lillian_Gardiner

Otis Perry Seligman was a man who made mistakes. He, his wife, and his children all paid for those mistakes, and yet their story is a story of forgiveness.

A Life of Service and Success: Arthur Seligman, Part III

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Amy

Arthur Seligman, c. 1925 from Twitchell, p. 479

On September 25, 1933, less than a year into his second term as governor of New Mexico, my great-great-uncle Arthur Seligman died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack. After lying in state in the state capitol, he was buried on September 27, 1933, in the Fairview Cemetery in Santa Fe. My great-grandmother Eva, his sister, traveled from Philadelphia to attend his funeral as she had done in January, 1931, for his first inauguration. (“Late Governor Lies in State at the Capitol,” Las Vegas Daily Optic (September 27, 1933), pp. 1, 5)

Although certainly Arthur Seligman had his political enemies, the opinions expressed about him in numerous sources recognized that he was an effective leader, an able businessperson, and a successful politician.

The Clovis New-Journal wrote on September 26, 1933, p.2:

To select just a few highlights from this editorial (which is hard to read, but I thought worth reproducing for those who want to try), the Clovis opined:

No man has ever had a more comprehensive understanding of the politics of this state than he, nor has any man ever attained the leadership that linked more completely the eastern and western sides. This he accomplished through what often brought him criticism as a Democrat—a guiding hand in both democratic and progressive republican ranks….

He was a tireless man; one who drove himself at a terrific pace, and to this very fact may be charged his death….He worked until midnight nearly every night, and was at his office again by 10 o’clock in the morning, ever driving himself to the utmost of his strength.

The Deming Headlight also praised him, writing on September 29, 1933, p. 2:

In the Dictionary of American Biography, he is described as follows:

Suave, fastidious in dress, aristocratic in taste but democratic in policy, always prominent in social life, he sought and attained a large measure of power through business and political channels. Intensely loyal to his numerous friends and an enemy to be feared, for more than a quarter of a century he had few peers in Democratic circles of the Southwest. The strong position of the Democratic party in New Mexico at the time of his death was largely due to his long, shrewd, and able leadership.

Dumas Malone, ed., Dictionary of American Biography (Charles Scribner & Sons 1935), located at http://www.mocavo.com/Dictionary-of-American-Biography-Volume-16/114492/584

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency provided a deeper and more personal look at the life of Arthur Seligman:

A mild manner man was Arthur Seligman, pioneer builder of his native state, New Mexico, one-time Mayor of one of its leading cities, Santa Fe, and since 1931 its Governor. His sudden and untimely death last Monday came as a shock to all who knew him.

Stately in appearance, democratic in demeanor, firm in his convictions, determined in his action, Seligman was not only New Mexico’s favorite son, but also an exemplary figure in American civic and political life. His rise to the highest position of honor and responsibility in the State where he lived virtually all his life, the state to which he contributed so many lasting monuments, was reflective of the esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens. Though always gentle, he invariably dealt emphatically with those who would practice abuse in public office. In the government of his state he had no time for those who would see in political activity an opportunity for personal gain. He viewed public service as a privilege coming with American citizenship and felt that every one should accept this service in the spirit of a sacred trust. ….

Jewish Telegraphic Agency (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The JTA also commented on Arthur’s religious identity:

Though distant from Jewish communal life. Seligman always evinced a deep interest in the affairs of his people. He kept in touch with Jewish activity and cooperated in many causes. There are only a handful of Jews in New Mexico, yet when he was candidate for the office of governor he had the Ku-Klux-Klan to deal with. These conducted a whispering campaign against him. This was his first encounter with anti-Semitism and upset him quite a bit. However, his standing in the community and his splendid record of achievement were too much for the Kluxers. His election as the first Jew to hold that office in New Mexico also helped to crush the Kluxers in the State. His sudden death last Monday is a distinct loss for he was a credit to his country and his people.

I had wondered whether there was any anti-Semitism underlying the attacks against him, and although I certainly did not find anything in the newspaper articles that expressly suggested that as a motivation behind those who criticized him, given the times and the location, there undoubtedly must have been many in New Mexico who were uncomfortable at best with the idea of a Jewish governor. Despite that, Seligman was twice elected to the office.

Addressing the question of Arthur’s religious affiliation, Henry J. Tobias wrote in A History of the Jews in New Mexico (University of New Mexico Press 1990), pp. 160-161:

Though clearly of Jewish parentage, Governor Seligman’s religion at the time of his death is a matter of some debate. Frankie Lacker Seligman, the governor’s wife, belonged to the Episcopal church, and the son born to them in 1898 [Otis] was christened there. … Upon his death, an Episcopal service for the dead was read at the House of Representatives. At the Fairview Cemetery, however, the Masonic ritual was performed. Given the uncertainty of the governor’s religious identity, it would be presumptuous to define it for him. His family background and early life, however, place his career clearly within the framework of the history of the Jews of New Mexico.

Cover of A History of the Jews in New Mexico

Although he was not an observant Jew and did not marry a Jewish woman or raise his children as Jews, he is still always identified as Jewish on various lists and other sources. (E.g., City of Albuquerque website here ; Wikipedia article on Arthur Seligman at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Seligman ; list of Jewish governors in Jews in American Politics (Louis Sandy Maisel, Ira N. Forman, Donald Altschiller, Charles Walker Bassett, editors) (2001), p. 465. As is often the case, it doesn’t matter what you do or believe or who you marry. Once a Jew, always a Jew in the eyes of the much of the world.

Flag of City of Santa Fe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Having now read so much about him after years of only knowing that I had some distant relative who had once been the governor of New Mexico, I now have great admiration for what he accomplished in his life. He had the benefit of growing up as the son of a very successful merchant, his father Bernard, who also was his role model for public service. His mother Frances Nusbaum Seligman was known as a gentle, kind and good woman. He had three older siblings who must have doted on him; clearly his older sister Eva and he were very devoted to each other, traveling across the country to be with each other. He had the benefit of a Swarthmore education and a business education. There is no question that Arthur Seligman’s story is one that started with many advantages; it’s not a rags to riches story or the story of an immigrant achieving the American dream.

But it is nevertheless a remarkable life. He could have taken the easy way—lived on the family’s wealth and remained a merchant or a banker and had a very comfortable life. But he chose instead to serve his city as mayor, his party as chair, and his state as governor. He faced some hostile opposition and apparently attacks by the KKK; he was referred to as Little Arthur in some news reports, mocking his small stature. He was accused of being a greedy banker, undoubtedly a disguised anti-Semitic remark. Yet he defeated his well-known Republican opponents, including one former governor, twice in races for the governor’s seat despite being a Jewish man from a state with almost no Jewish population.

As governor he somehow both cut the size of government and the tax rate while also instituting some important social reforms like vocational education and unemployment relief. He faced a potentially violent strike by miners and a personal threat of kidnapping his granddaughter. If he had not died in September, 1933, he might have been named a US Senator from New Mexico. Who knows how far he could have gone or what else he might have accomplished?

Flag of New Mexico (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Arthur Seligman’s story is the story of a man whose father came from a tiny town in Germany to a frontier town in New Mexico and became a successful American merchant. It is the story of a boy who must have been grateful for the opportunities that America, New Mexico, and Santa Fe had afforded his family. He took those opportunities and returned the gifts by working hard for the city, state, and country that had given so much to him and his family.

Arthur Seligman, Governor of New Mexico: Part II

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Amy

Governor Arthur Seligman and his wife Franc and stepdaughter Richie courtesy of Arthur Scott

Governor Arthur Seligman and his wife Franc and stepdaughter Richie on the statehouse steps 1932
courtesy of Arthur Scott

In 1929, my great-great-uncle Arthur Seligman was the president of the First National Bank of Santa Fe and the chairman of the New Mexico State Democratic Committee. He was 58 years old, father of two grown children, and a grandfather. Some men might have decided that they had accomplished enough and been satisfied. But Arthur Seligman still had things he wanted to do.

In April, 1930, Arthur was again named chairman of the New Mexico State Democratic Committee. His message to the party was that he would work hard to ensure that the party was organized and successful and that he anticipated support both from Democrats and from independent voters. (“Demos’ Chief Gets on Job; Has Big Task,” The Gallup Independent (April 18, 1930), p.1)

(Albuquerque Journal (April 15, 1930), p. 1

When the New Mexico Democratic Party started to consider who should be their candidate for governor in 1930, Arthur Seligman was a leading contender for the nomination. Arthur, however, insisted many times that he was not a candidate and was committed to being chairman of the committee and not a candidate. (“Seligman Awaits Action of Party,” Clovis News-Journal (September 2, 1930) p.1; “Seligman’s Statement,” Las Vegas Daily Optic (September 3, 1930), p. 2; “Seligman in Demand,” Albuquerque Journal (September 18, 1930, p. 4) Despite these objections, he ultimately was nominated and accepted that nomination.

In accepting the nomination, Arthur pledged to “clean out the ‘political parasites and political barnacles” in the state capital, to establish economy in public business and to remedy the present chaotic and demoralized condition of the taxation system in the state.” (“Oust Political Barnacles, Seligman,” Albuquerque Journal (October 2, 1930), p. 1)

His Republican opponent was Judge Clarence M. Botts. The campaign was a tough one, and several newspapers in New Mexico were quite vocal about their opposition to Seligman as governor. For example, The Roswell Daily Record characterized the Republicans as progressive and the Democrats as reactionary, saying:

Mr. Arthur Seligman has made it plain that he purposes, if elected, to retrench and economize. His party, in their platform, has made it clear that expenses shall be cut in the maintenance of our system of education. To do that school terms must be shortened or the salaries of teachers reduced…. The Democratic candidate has never been known as public spirited. He has never been active in any matter for the public interest that did not have a profit—a very definite profit—for himself.

(“Seligman Settles His Taxes for 28 Cents on the Dollar; Bond Issue,” The Roswell Daily Record (October 13, 1930), p. 3)

The article then suggests that Seligman deprived the state of revenue when Seligman Brothers was delinquent in taxes and Seligman obtained a settlement allowing the company to pay only a portion of what was due.

Then there was this nasty editorial from the New Mexico State Tribune, reprinted in the Las Vegas Daily Optic on October 29, 1930:

Other newspapers were solidly behind Seligman’s candidacy. The Gallup Independent wrote this in an editorial they ran on October 24, 1930:

With Arthur Seligman in the governor’s chair, there will be no groping in the dark, no learning as he goes—at the expense of the people who pay the taxes. This keen-minded and alert business executive knows the state government as you know your own back yard. …Mr. Seligman’s business acumen is a known quantity; no chance has been taken on that. Finances are his “meat.” And he can’t be “kidded” or bluffed, either openly or covertly, when it comes to financial or economic matters. …

There will be no need for draperies behind the governor’s chair when Seligman sits in it. The voice will be the voice of Seligman and the hand will be the hand of Seligman, too. He is too wary and experienced to be misled by cajolery of would-be political bosses or to be alarmed at their threats. … Around Santa Fe, he is greeted on the streets with the familiar name of “Pete.” The door of his private office in the bank is never closed except when he is not there.

The editorial also lists all his accomplishments, both political and business, which are too numerous for me to quote here.

(“Candidate Arthur Seligman,” The Gallup Independent (October 24, 1930), p. 8)

The Clovis News-Journal also endorsed Arthur for governor:

Mr. Arthur Seligman, the Democratic nominee for governor, is one of the best posted men in the state at the present time. He has lived here all his life and knows its needs and financial problems. He is the type of an executive who can deal with the problems. He is the type of a man who can also deal with a legislative body and get what legislation the state needs. He will not be bound or fettered by political ties or responsible to any group as [his opponent] Mr. Botts would be to the old guard who have placed him on the ticket, who is a political conservative like they are and not inclined to initiate any movements for progressive measures.

The state is living ahead of its income, its extravagances must be checked, candidates should be elected who will drive out the crooks and grafters and it looks as if the state would call upon the Democrats to do the job.

A continuation of the Republican party in power would be a continuation of the reactionary crowd now in control…What is needed at this hour is a clean-up by putting Democrats in control until the Republicans regenerate themselves and come to learn that government should be for the people and not a clique of representatives of corporate self-seeking interests.

(“Consider the Leaders,” Clovis News-Journal (September 27, 1930), p. 2 (quoting from the Albuquerque Journal))

Reading these editorials, I had to chuckle. Both sides claim to be progressive, whatever that might have meant to them at the time. The Republicans criticize the Democrats for wanting to cut expenses and reduce teacher salaries; today the parties would be switched on that position. The Democrats accuse the Republicans of being corporate controlled, an argument still made by Democrats today. Some labels have changed, but anyone who thinks that partisanship started in the 21^st century only has to read these old newspapers to know otherwise. (See also “Forward with Botts or Backwards with Seligman, Is the Issue, Says Governor Dillon,” The Roswell Daily Record (October 29, 1930), p. 1 (calling Seligman reactionary on education and on road improvements))

In the end, Arthur Seligman defeated his Republican opponent Judge C. M. Botts, by over seven thousand votes, 62,214 to 54,827. (“Complete Vote Recent Election in New Mexico,” The Roswell Daily Record (November 20, 1930), p. 1). He became the first Jewish and non-Hispanic governor of New Mexico. (Suzanne Stamatov, “Arthur Seligman,” at http://newmexicohistory.org/people/seligman-arthur)

(Roswell Daily Record (January 2, 1931), p.1)

One of the governor-elect’s first announcements was that he did not want an inaugural ceremony.

He lost that battle, and there was a full inaugural ceremony as well as a lavish inaugural ball.

Inaugural Ceremony January 1, 1931 Governor Seligman and his wife Franc are seated front center

In his inaugural address he made several points revealing his views on the role of government:

The governor of the state, alone, can not produce the desired results. The legislature is not sufficient unto itself to accomplish them. The people of the state are the power behind the government. They are in fact the government. Those whom they elect are merely the administrative officers. When an administration takes the people into its confidence and councils there need be no fear of failure to accomplish that which is desired….

(as quoted in Suzanne Stamatov, “Arthur Seligman,” at http://newmexicohistory.org/people/seligman-arthur )

He also expressed his views on government spending:

No state should obligate itself to expend more money than can be reasonably expected from its citizens without hardship….In brief, New Mexico must live within her income and it is my intention, insofar as it is possible for me to do so, to see that she does.

Ibid.

Of course, this was before FDR’s New Deal and the radical changes it precipitated in the views of many on the role of government in providing for its citizens and in promoting the economy.

The night after the ceremony was the inaugural ball, attended by six hundred couples. Among the guests was my great-grandmother Eva Seligman Cohen, who traveled all the way to New Mexico to celebrate with her younger brother. As reported by the Roswell Daily Record on January 2, 1931:

The ball was without parallel in New Mexico history for its splendor and the inaugural gowns presented a mighty costly fashion show in a settling resplendent in the atmosphere of Old Spain, Mexico and New Mexico.

The Roswell paper said this about my great-grandmother:

Mrs. Eva Seligman Cohen of Philadelphia, sister of Governor Seligman, who was accompanied by Mr. Joe Goodall, representative of El Paso at the inaugural, wore a light blue lace combination gown….

The article described in detail the gowns that many of the women wore to the ball, all full length “in keeping with the present fashion mode and long white gloves predominated.”

The article continued:

In the main ball room an eleven piece negro orchestra from Albuquerque played dance mustic and in the lecture lounge which was converted into an additional dance room the La Fonda Mexican orchestra played. The supper room was decorated in southern smilax and evergreens, with cut flowers in cedar baskets.

(“New Mexico Inaugural Ball Most Costly and Splendid in History of the State,” Roswell Daily Record (January 2, 1931), p. 1; for more details on the inaugural ball, see “Elaborate Preparations for Big Inaugural Ball at Fonda,” Santa Fe New Mexican (January 1, 1931))

During his first term as governor, Arthur fought to reduce taxes and the size of government. (“A Paring Policy,” The Roswell Daily Record (October 31, 1930), p. 7) The country was suffering from the poverty and unemployment of the Great Depression, and New Mexico was suffering as well. Arthur instituted the first program for unemployment relief in New Mexico and also a vocational education program to help those most affected by the Depression. He also accepted federal aid to create jobs in road construction and created a state park system which also provided employment opportunities for New Mexicans. (Stamatov, op. cit.; Ron Hamm, New Mexico Territorial Era Caricatures (Sunstone Press 2014), pp, 170-171)

He also created a centralized purchasing agent for the state highway department, reformed the tax collection system, and established a state labor relations commissioner. (“Democratic State Chairman Barker Claims Nearly All Pledges Have Been Fulfilled,” The Roswell Daily Record (July 28, 1931, at p.1) He also reduced taxes, as promised. (“Real Tax Reduction,” Clovis News-Journal (March 21, 1931), p.2)

Although he had the responsibility of governing the state of New Mexico on his shoulders, Arthur did not forget his family. In September, 1931, he traveled to Philadelphia for the funeral of his nephew, Maurice Cohen, my grandfather’s brother. (Roswell Daily Record (September 22, 1931), p. 8)

As his first term was drawing to an end in 1932, he easily secured nomination for a second term from the Democratic Party. (“Democrats Boost Seligman for Renomination,” The Roswell Daily Record (August 1, 1932), p. 4)

(Albuquerque Journal (September 27, 1932), p. 1)
He also was elected to be a delegate to the Democratic Convention in Chicago that summer, the convention that first nominated Franklin Roosevelt as a candidate for President. (“A Popular Victory,” The Deming Headlight (May 27, 1932), p. 3; “Hockenhull May Stay in Clovis to Run State,” Albuquerque Journal (June 24, 1932), p. 10)

Arthur was gone from New Mexico for two weeks, and during that time he visited his family in Philadelphia, including his sister Eva, my great-grandmother. They spent time together in Atlantic City along with Eva’s granddaughter, my cousin Marjorie.

Arthur Seligman, Marjorie, and Eva May Cohen, 1932 Atlantic City

In September, 1932, Arthur and Franc’s son Otis was charged with embezzlement of the First National Bank of Santa Fe, where he was employed as assistant cashier and where Arthur remained president while also serving as governor. I will address these charges and their consequences in a later post, but for now will simply observe that this scandal in his family apparently had no significant effect on Seligman’s campaign for re-election.

Less than two months after the indictment of his son, Arthur Seligman was once again elected governor in November, 1932. He defeated his Republican opponent, former governor Richard C. Dillon, by an even larger margin this time, 83,612 votes to 67,406. (“Final Election Canvassing Sheets Show Big Total,” Clovis News-Journal (November 30, 1932, p. 1)

(Albuquerque Journal (November 9, 1932), p. 1)

In his second inaugural address Governor Seligman repeated themes from his first two years earlier, again calling for a smaller government budget and tax reform. He also called for laws improving mine safety, election reform, tenure for qualified teachers and general improvement of the state’s schools, and increased regulation of utilities, among other recommendations. (“Governor Drafts Legislative Program,” Clovis News-Journal (January 11, 1933), p. 1)

Early in his second term, there was much talk and speculation about the possibility that Arthur Seligman would become a US Senator from New Mexico. The sitting Senator, Sam Bratton, had been appointed to a federal judgeship by President Roosevelt and would resign his seat at the end of the current Congressional term in June, and newspapers reported rumors that Seligman would resign as governor and then be appointed to fill the Senate seat by his lieutenant governor, who would replace him as governor. [1] (See, e.g., “Expect Seligman Will Take Vacant Position,” Las Vegas Daily Optic (June 1, 1933), p. 4; “Just One Candidate,” Las Vegas Daily Optic (May 20, 1933), p. 7; “Taos Democrats Want Seligman for Senate, Juan Vigil Reports,” Albuquerque Journal (May 19, 1933), p. 1)

(San Francisco Chronicle (May 30, 1933), p.1)

(He might have been short, but hardly rotund!)

And although there was a lot of support for Seligman becoming Senator, there was also some opposition:

By July, 1933, the question of who would succeed Bratton as Senator was still unresolved and seemingly complicated by political matters. (“Lieut Governor Denies Reports of Statements,” Clovis News-Journal (July 17, 1933), p. 1)

In August, 1933, the Seligman family paid the price of being in the public eye when Joan Seligman, Arthur and Franc’s six year old granddaughter (the daughter of their son Otis and his wife Doris) was the target of a kidnapping threat. (“Kidnap Threat against Grand-daughter of Governor Seligman, Reported Today,” Clovis News-Journal (August 15, 1933), p. 1)

In early September, the governor had to deal with a strike by miners, requiring him to call out the National Guard to prevent violence. (“Says Sending of Guard to Gallup Avoided Trouble,” Clovis News-Journal (September 2, 1933), p.1) The miners charged he sent the troops to break their strike and filed suit for an injunction against the use of the National Guard. (“Miners Charge He is Using Troops to Break Strike,” Clovis News-Journal (September 5, 1933), p.1; “Suit Asks Guard Be Enjoined from Martial Law Plan,” Las Vegas Daily Optic, September 11, 1933, p.3) The strike and some violent attacks were still ongoing as of September 22, 1933. (“Miner Sprayed Pickets with Searing Fluid,” Las Vegas Daily Optic (September 22, 1933), pp. 1, 4)

Perhaps all this stress in August and September and the political pressures resulting from the impending empty Senate seat proved too much for Arthur Seligman. Arthur suffered a fatal heart attack on September 25, 1933, less than halfway through his second term. Apparently he had been diagnosed with a heart problem and had been advised to rest or jeopardize his health.

His family and his state were in shock. He was only 62 years old and had just delivered a speech to a group of bankers before complaining of chest pain and then dying.

The newspapers around the state and the country reported on his untimely death, many praising him for his lifelong service to New Mexico and for his business acumen and success. My next post will look at the reactions to his death and at assessments of his political career and his life.

English: Seal of New Mexico (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

[1] Interestingly, since Seligman did not survive to take the seat, it was filled on October 10, 1933, by Carl Atwood Hatch, who served as a US Senator from New Mexico until 1949. He is best known as the sponsor of the Hatch Act, which limits political activity by federal employees. It was not until after Arthur Seligman had died that Hatch’s name was put forward as a replacement for Senator Bratton. (“Ask Governor to Select Hatch for Place in Senate,” Clovis News-Journal (September 28, 1933); Seligman had died only three days earlier.

Arthur Seligman, My Great-great Uncle, Part I: Child of Immigrant to a Business and Political Leader

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Amy

Arthur Seligman 1903 courtesy of Arthur Scott

My great-grandmother’s younger brother Arthur was the youngest child of Bernard and Frances Seligman, my great-great-grandparents, and the only one who was born in Santa Fe. He rose to the highest heights in New Mexico, elected twice to serve as the governor. His story is another remarkable one—the story of the son of a German Jewish immigrant who less than 80 years after his father first arrived in America was elected governor in a state with a very small Jewish population.

There are many sources outlining Arthur’s life as well as many primary sources. I relied in part on Ralph Emerson Twitchell, Old Santa Fe: The Story of New Mexico’s Ancient Capital (Rio Grande Press 1925), pp. 477-478; the article on Arthur Seligman on the National Governor’s Association website; the article in The Dictionary of American Biography; and the vocesdesantafe website for much of the general background, but also used many primary sources such as newspaper articles, census reports, and school and city directories to fill in the details.

Arthur was born on June 14, 1871. He grew up in Santa Fe and made several trips as a young child on the Santa Fe Trail back East with his mother to visit her family. He attended public school in Santa Fe, and then in 1885 he, along with his older sister Minnie and brother James, traveled across the country to Philadelphia where Arthur, Minnie, and James attended Swarthmore, as had their older sister Eva, my great-grandmother, before them. Arthur then attended Pierce Business College in Philadelphia.

When he returned to Santa Fe after college, he worked as a clerk and then as a bookkeeper at his family’s business, Seligman Brothers. In 1896 when he was 25, he married Frankie E. Harris, usually referred to as Franc.

Cuyahoga County Archive; Cleveland, Ohio; Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Marriage Records, 1810-1973; Volume: Vol 42-43; Page: 489; Year Range: 1892 Sep – 1896 Jul

She was four years his senior and a widow with an eight year old daughter named Richie Harris. Although they were married in Ohio where Franc had been living, they moved to Santa Fe after they married, and Richie took Arthur’s surname as her own. It’s not clear whether Arthur ever legally adopted Richie since she is identified as his step-daughter on the 1900 and 1910 census reports. I am curious as to how Arthur met Franc, but so far I have not been able to find an answer.

On February 14, 1898, Arthur and Franc’s son Otis Perry Seligman was born. On the 1900 census, Arthur listed his occupation as “merchant dry goods.” When the Seligman Brothers business incorporated in 1903, Arthur was named treasurer and secretary of the corporation with his older brother James serving as president and general manager. On the 1910 census, he still listed his occupation as a dry goods merchant.

But at the same time that he was helping to run the business, Arthur was also very involved in local politics. As early as 1893 when he was 22, Arthur was already serving as a clerk in the local elections that year. (“Election Proclamation,” Santa Fe New Mexican (March 23, 1893), p. 4). In 1896 he was elected to be a delegate to the state Democratic Party convention in Santa Fe. (“Democratic Primaries,” Santa Fe New Mexican (May 25, 1896), p. 4) That same year he was also nominated as a candidate on the Populist ticket at their convention in Santa Fe. (“Populists in Council,” Santa Fe New Mexican (October 28, 1896), p. 4)

In 1900 Arthur was a candidate for county commissioner on the Democratic ticket. (“Personal Mention,” Santa Fe New Mexican (October 26, 1900), p. 4) He ended up defeating his Republican opponent in a close race where most Democrats on the ticket lost in the election. (“The Official Count,” Santa Fe New Mexican (November 13, 1900), p.4) In fact, the race was so close that his opponent challenged the results. (“Election Contests,” Santa Fe New Mexican (December 13, 1900), p. 4) His opponent claimed that Arthur had used intimidation to discourage his opponent’s supporters from voting.

(“Election Contests,” Santa Fe New Mexican (December 13, 1900), p. 4

Although I could not find a follow-up article regarding this challenge, I assume it was unsuccessful. Arthur served on the County Commission for many years and was soon its chairman.

In 1903 he also served as treasurer of the New Mexico commission to prepare for the St. Louis World’s Fair. (“World’s Fair Commission,” Albuquerque Daily Citizen (June 3, 1903), p.5) In 1905 he was serving as the chairman of the Santa Fe County Commission. In that capacity he was active in arguing in favor of statehood for New Mexico. (“They Want Their Debts All Paid,” Albuquerque Citizen (December 11, 1905), p. 6) He was a delegate to the New Mexico Democratic Convention in 1906. (“Aftermath of Democratic Convention,” Albuquerque Citizen (September 14, 1906), pp. 1, 5)

In April, 1910, Arthur was elected mayor of Santa Fe by 193 votes. (“Democrats Take All in Santa Fe, Arthur Seligman Mayor by a Majority of 193,” Santa Fe New Mexican (April 6, 1910), p. 8) Two years later, however, he was defeated by his Republican opponent for mayor, Celso Lopez. (“Twenty-One Towns Elect Officers,” The Kenna Record (April 12, 1912), p. 8)

New Mexico become a state on January 6, 1912, and Arthur became involved in statewide politics. When the chairman of the state Democratic Party resigned in January 1912, Arthur was named as a potential replacement. (“Democratic State Chairman to Resign,” Santa Fe New Mexican (January 31, 1912), p. 5) A later article, however, indicates that Arthur did not then serve as chairman, but as secretary of the Democratic Party in New Mexico in 1912. (“Congressman H.B. Fergusson Renominated by Democrats,” Las Cruces Sun-News (September 13, 1912), p. 1). In 1912 he was also serving on the Natural Resources Commission (Ancestry.com. Polk’s Arizona and New Mexico pictorial state gazetteer and business directory : 1912-1913. [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005). He also served as Road Commissioner and was responsible for some important improvements to the roads and bridges in New Mexico. (See, e.g., “Road Bond Deal Finally Closed by Treasurer,” Albuquerque Journal (July 8, 1915), p. 3; there are many other articles about Seligman’s role on the Road Commission on newspapers.com and on genealogybank.com; see also Twitchell, op.cit.)

In September, 1916, he was elected chairman of the State Democratic Party. (“New Mexico State News,” Estrella (September 16, 1916), p. 3). The Democrats did well in the 1916 election in New Mexico, and the Albuquerque Journal praised Arthur’s work as chair:

(“Arthur Seligman’s Work,” Albuquerque Journal (November 12, 1916), p. 6).

The election was not without some controversy, however, as the Republicans ran a rather nasty ad attacking Arthur Seligman:

(Western Liberal (October 27, 1916), p. 7)

The ad insinuated that Seligman had schemed to advance his own interests and that of the banks in the context of a bond issue to finance road improvements when he was serving as Road Commissioner. Although I cannot find any more about these claims and cannot even understand much of what the ad is alleging, it does not appear that this ad hurt Seligman himself or the Democratic candidates in the 1916 election.

In 1920, Arthur was still serving as Chairman of the Democratic Party Committee, but apparently faced some opposition to his continued service. (“M’Adoo in Favor With Democrats,” The Deming Headlight (June 4, 1920), p. 1) However, he defeated that opposition and continued serve as state chairman after the convention. (“Arthur Seligman Chosen Chairman for Another Term,” Albuquerque Journal (August 27, 1920), p. 1)

Despite his heavy involvement in political matters, Arthur still listed his occupation as a dry good merchant on the 1920 census. Franc’s daughter Richie, meanwhile, had married John Whittier March and had had a son George in 1919. Franc and Arthur’s son Otis was working as a bank clerk in 1920 and living with his parents in 1920. In June 1921 Otis married Doris Gardiner.

The Seligman Family in the 1920s Arthur, Doris (Otis’ wife), Mary Ann Gardiner (Doris’ mother) , Franc, and Otis Courtesy of Arthur Scott

The 1920s brought even greater political success to Arthur. By 1921, there was talk that he might be a candidate for governor in 1922. (“Governorship Race May Be Largely Battle of Santa Fe for Both Parties,” Albuquerque Journal (December 21, 1921), p. 1). Although he was not nominated as a gubernatorial candidate in 1922, he was promoted to the national Democratic Committee representing New Mexico. In turn, he resigned as state party chair and was praised by many for his long service on behalf of Democrats in New Mexico although one delegate spoke against him. (“Arthur Seligman Boosted to National Committee,” Albuquerque Journal (February 24, 1922), p. 1)

Strangely, I could not find many news articles mentioning Arthur Seligman between 1923 and 1929 on either newspapers.com or genealogybank.com, although he was still serving as the New Mexico national committeeperson for the Democratic Party during those years according to the few news articles that mentioned him. (E.g., “Santa Fe is for Al Smith,” Estrella (May 12, 1928), p. 3)

Meanwhile, his business career was changing as well. In 1925, he was not only running Seligman Brothers, he was also president of the First National Bank of Santa Fe. (“New Mexico State Items,” Estrella (June 20, 1925), p. 2) Ralph Emerson Twitchell wrote that Arthur had been vice-president of the bank since 1912 and became president in 1924. In the 1928 Santa Fe directory, he is listed only as president of the bank with someone named Evelyn Conway now running Seligman Brothers.

By 1929, Arthur Seligman was already a very successful man both in politics and in business, but he was not done yet, and in 1930 when he was 59 years old, he achieved what would probably have been amazing to his parents, both of whom had died many years before—he was elected governor of New Mexico.

Protected: A New Leaf for the Rosenzweig Family Tree

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Amy

More Gifts from Doing Genealogy: The Gau-Algesheim Seligmanns and New Friends in Germany

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Amy

As I’ve been researching and writing about my American Seligman relatives, I’ve also been busy trying to learn more about my German ancestors. I wrote to about five different people in Gau-Algesheim, names I found on websites or through contacts from JewishGen or two Facebook groups, Tracing the Tribe and German Genealogy, including Klaus Cook. I’d been trying since September 7 to find someone to help me learn whether there were any records of Jewish births, marriages and/or deaths from the town where I knew Sigmund, Bernard and Adolph Seligman were born. I had gotten no responses—not even one saying that they had no such records.

Coat of arms of Gau-Algesheim (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I also contacted a woman named Dorothee Lottman-Kaeseler. I had found her name on the website describing the restoration of the Gau-Algesheim cemetery, and she did write back to me. She was very helpful and eventually she managed to find someone to pay attention to my emails. Imagine my delight when the other morning I woke up to this email:

On behalf of our registrar, Frau Hemmkeppler, I am hereby replying to your genealogy request, which we have received on 15. Oct. 2014 via email.

At first, please note, that due to age, we do not have any electronic archives of our historical records. However, we have put in extra efforts and were able to manually trace the following information related to the name of Seligmann:

Siegesmund Seligmann, DOB: 24. Dec.1829 in Gau-Algesheim, Reg-Nr. 67/1829

Salomon Seligmann, DOB: 15. Mar.1832 in Gau-Algesheim, Reg-Nr. 19/1832

Carolina Seligmann, DOB: 18. Mar.1833 in Gau-Algesheim, Reg-Nr. 25/1833

Benjamin Seligmann, DOB: 10. May 1835 in Gau-Algesheim, Reg-Nr. 36/1835

Bernhard Seligmann, DOB: 23. Nov.1837 in Gau-Algesheim, Reg-Nr. 49/1837

Hyronimus Seligmann, DOB: 14. Dec.1839 in Gau-Algesheim, Reg-Nr. 75/1839

August Seligmann, DOB: 10. Dec.1841 in Gau-Algesheim, Reg-Nr. 88/1841

Adolph Seligmann, DOB: 29. Sep. 1843 in Gau-Algesheim, Reg-Nr. 52/1843

Mathilde Seligmann, DOB: 31. Jan. 1845 in Gau-Algesheim, Reg-Nr. 4/1845

Paulina Seligmann, DOB: 29.01.1847 in Gau-Algesheim, Reg-Nr. 5/1847

All the beforementioned persons are the children of Moritz and Eva Seligmann (born as Eva Schoenfeld). ….

Sincerely,

B. Brettschneider

IT-Administrator

There was the birth record of my great-great-grandfather Bernard, his brothers Sigmund and Adolph, and seven other siblings, all born in Gau-Algesheim, all the children of Moritz and Eva Schoenfeld Seligmann. I was so excited. I now had seven more relatives to learn about and, most importantly, the names of my great-great-great-grandparents, Moritz Seligmann and Eva Schoenfeld.

I have now been in touch again with Bernie Brettschneider and hope to obtain copies of these records and also to learn if there are any other records of these individuals or of others who might be their children, spouses, and so on.

Gau-Algesheim in MZ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am deeply grateful to Klaus Cook and the other people in the Facebook groups and JewishGen, to Dorothee Lottmann-Kaeseler and to Bernie Brettschneider for their assistance, and I am excited to see what else I can learn about this part of my family. I am also in touch with Walter Nathan, who was the man behind the cemetery restoration in Gau-Algesheim. Walter and I are trying to find what connections there may be between my Seligmanns and his Seligmann family, and I am learning more and more about how Jews lived in Germany in the 19^th century.

When I started down this path less than three years ago, I never imagined how much I would learn about the world and its history by simply researching my own little family. I never imagined I would make contact with people in Germany and Romania and Poland, have cousins all over the world and talk to people whose lives have been so interesting. The gifts I receive from genealogy continue to surprise me and warm my heart.

And I now am thinking that someday in the not too distant future I will visit Gau-Algesheim and see where my Seligmann ancestors lived. And Iasi to see where my Goldschlager and Rosenzweig ancestors lived. And Tarnobrzeg, Poland, to see where my Brotman ancestors lived. In fact, that last one is being planned for this coming spring. And then there are all the places right here in the US where I can go to walk in the places where my ancestors lived—New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, Santa Fe, Colorado, and who knows where else? The adventures continue.

Gau-Algesheim and the Seligmans: My Great-great-grandfather’s Birthplace and What I Learned

Brotmanblog: A Family Journey

Adventures in Genealogy

Follow up on Schopfloch: Who Replaced My 4x-Great-Grandfather Amson Nussbaum

A Town with A Secret Language: Schopfloch and the Nusbaums

The Nusbaums: Were They Jewish? Learning from Rookie Mistakes

Goodbye for now, Santa Fe

The Life of Otis Perry Seligman: The “Scandal in Santa Fe” as told by his son

A Life of Service and Success: Arthur Seligman, Part III

Arthur Seligman, Governor of New Mexico: Part II

Arthur Seligman, My Great-great Uncle, Part I: Child of Immigrant to a Business and Political Leader

Protected: A New Leaf for the Rosenzweig Family Tree

More Gifts from Doing Genealogy: The Gau-Algesheim Seligmanns and New Friends in Germany

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