Tag Archives: Trinidad Colorado

Leonora Goldsmith Jaffa and Her Family: Too Many Lives Cut Short

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The second decade of the 20th century saw the oldest of Jacob Goldsmith’s children entering their sixties while his youngest children were entering their forties. In 1910, twelve of Jacob’s fourteen children were still living; Emma and George had already passed away. By the end of 1920, only seven of the remaining children were still living.  Five of the siblings died between 1911 and 1920. We have already seen that one of them was Jacob’s oldest son Felix, who died in 1919. We also saw that Rachel Goldsmith died in 1915. But two other siblings predeceased them in that decade, and one died in 1920.

The first was Leonora Goldsmith Jaffa. She died on February 22, 1911, at the age of fifty-two.1  According to her obituary, she had been ill for two years:

“Pioneer Woman of Trinidad Summoned,” The Las Vegas (NM) Daily Optic, February 24, 1911, p. 5

Mrs. Sol Jaffa Dies There After A Long Illness—Aunt of Secretary Jaffa

Trinidad is mourning the death of Mrs. Sol H. Jaffa, wife of the city treasurer and prominent retail merchant, who passed away peacefully at her home, 218 east Third Street, Wednesday night. The deceased, who was one of the oldest residents of Trinidad, had been ill for the past two years, her malady taking a serious turn last October, when she was reported to be in a precarious condition. Since that time the deceased had been steadily declining and thus her sad demise did not come unexpected to her relatives and friends.

The deceased was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Goldsmith of Washington, Pa. She was married to Sol H. Jaffa in Philadelphia, thirty years ago, in the year 1881, when she took up her residence in the city of Trinidad. The deceased had been a resident of this city since that time and had been an active charity worker and prominent in the Jewish circles of the city. Her death is deeply mourned throughout the city and county by a host of friends.

The deceased was 52 years of age and is survived by her husband, Sol H. Jaffa and a daughter, Miss Helen Jaffa, of this city, and a son, Arthur who is engaged in the government service as an engineer, residing in Cheyenne, Wyo., and four sisters and three brothers. Her sisters are Mrs. Dr. Levy of Denver, Mrs. J. Emanuel and Mrs. R. Emanuel of Denver and Mrs. Uhlfelder of Albuquerque, N.M. The three brothers of the deceased reside in the east and south. Arthur Jaffa was notified of the death of his mother by telegraph and is expected to arrive her either today or tomorrow.

The funeral will take place from the family residence Sunday afternoon, and interment will be in the Jewish cemetery. Among the relatives who will attend the funeral are the son, Arthur Jaffa, Dr. and Mrs. Levy of Denver, Mrs. R. Emanuel and Mrs. M. Emanuel of Denver, Mrs. Uhlfelder of Albuquerque, and give nephews of the deceased, Nathan Jaffa, secretary of the territory of New Mexico, Joseph Jaffa, an attorney of Denver, Julius Jaffa of Roswell, N.M., and Ben Jaffa of Albuquerque.

[A final paragraph discusses how Nathan Jaffa, who was acting governor of New Mexico, asked President Roosevelt for a leave of absence to attend Leonora’s funeral.]

There are some strange omissions from this obituary. The only sisters named as survivors are Rebecca, Gertrude, Florence, and Eva, but in 1911 Leonora had four other living sisters—Annie in San Francisco, Rachel and Celia in Denver, and Ellena in Philadelphia. Why weren’t they mentioned? I first thought that this was an oversight as Rachel and Celia were living with Rebecca in Denver in 1910, but a second obituary from the Denver Rocky Mountain News also mentioned only the same four sisters as survivors.

“Mrs. Sol H. Jaffa Is Dead,” Denver Rocky Mountain News, February 24, 1911, p. 4

Had their been a falling out between Leonora and the other sisters?

Two years later, Leonora’s daughter Helen F. Jaffa married Abram Harold Minton on June 8, 1913, in Trinidad.

Ancestry.com. Colorado, County Marriage Records and State Index, 1862-2006

It was a challenge tracking down Abram’s history before he married Helen. According to his World War I draft registration, Abram was born on August 6, 1879;2 in 1900, he is listed as Abram Minsky, living with his mother Rose Minsky and sister Ada in New York City; that census reports his birth place as Russia Poland and states that he and his mother and sister had immigrated to the US in 1887. Abram, then twenty, was in school and his sister was a school teacher.3 I was able to locate seven year old Abraham Minske on a passenger manifest arriving in the US on May 31, 1887, with a thirty year old male (first name not legible), presumably his father, who must have died before the 1900 census was taken.4

On August 25, 1910, Abram H. Minton married Julia Cohen, in New York City. His parents were listed on the index as Aaron Minton and Rose Feltstein; Abram’s birth year was estimated as 1879 since his age was 31. Given the match to his age, name, and mother’s first name, I assume this was the same Abram Minton who later married Helen Jaffa, but this record says Abram was born in New York. His first wife Julia was the daughter of Israel and Esther Cohen and was according to the index on FamilySearch also born in New York.5 Julia died less than a year after the marriage on June 5, 1911, in New York. I do not know the cause of death; she was only 28 years old.6

But if Abram was married to Julia in August 1910 in New York and she died there a year later, I cannot understand why Abram is listed (as Abraham H. Minton) on the 1910 US census as living already in Trinidad, Colorado, 29 years old, single, boarding with a family, and working as a school teacher. This census lists his birthplace as New York and his parents as born in the US, both of which were not accurate, but nevertheless I still think this refers to the same Abram H. Minton who married Helen Jaffa in 1913.7 That Abram did become a school teacher, and the name and age match closely. In addition, the 1910 and 1912 Trinidad directories list an Arthur H. Minton as a school teacher residing in Trinidad, as does the 1915, although now as Abram H. Minton. My best guess is that Abram returned to New York in August 1910, married Julia, perhaps stayed in New York until she died, and then returned to Trinidad where he met and married Helen Jaffa in 1913.

But Abram’s bad fortune continued as Helen Jaffa Minton died on May 1, 1915, less than two years after their wedding. She had just given birth on April 26, 1915, to their son Arnold Jaffa Minton, in Trinidad,8 and I assume her death was related to some complication from childbirth. So Abram was once again a widower, now with a newborn son to care for.

http://data.jewishgen.org/imagedata/jowbr/USA-01836/TAT128.jpg; JewishGen, comp. JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR)

Abram Minton and his son Arnold left Trinidad, and in 1920 were living in New York City with Abram’s family. Abram continued to work as a school teacher.9 In 1925 they were living in Brooklyn with Abram’s sister Ada, and Abram continued to teach. He had not married again.10

Then, tragically, Abram died on August 24, 1927, at age 48, leaving his twelve-year-old son Arnold an orphan.11 Arnold continued to live with his father’s relatives in 1930 and in 1940, when he was working as a merchant in New York.12 He married Alma Cohen in 1947 and lived the rest of his life in New York, dying on September 14, 1998.13 I wonder whether he ever had contact with his mother’s family again once they left Trinidad after her untimely death.

Solomon Jaffa and his son Arthur had thus suffered two devastating losses in the space of four years, first the death of Leonora and then the death of Helen—as well as the relocation of little Arnold, their grandson and nephew, respectively.

There had been some happier news for them in those years, however. On June 8, 1914, Arthur married Eleanor J. Jaffa, who was his first cousin, once removed. Eleanor was the great-granddaughter of Aron Jaffa, Arthur his grandson. Eleanor’s grandfather Benjamin Jaffa was the brother of Solomon Jaffa, Arthur’s father. Eleanor was born on October 4, 1893, in Roswell, New Mexico, where she and Arthur married. Eleanor’s father Nathan Jaffa had been the Secretary of State in New Mexico, and acting governor, as mentioned above. Eleanor was the granddaughter of Aron Jaffa, the father of Sarah Jaffa Goldsmith (Henry’s wife) and Sol Jaffa (Leonora Goldsmith’s husband and Eleanor’s father-in-law).14

“Another Jaffa Wedding,” Albuquerque Journal, 31 May 1914, Sun, Page 10

Arthur and Eleanor settled in Roswell, New Mexico, where in 1918 Arthur was the city manager, according to his World War I draft registration. They would have two sons. In 1920, Arthur was still the Roswell City Manager, but by 1930 Arthur and his family had moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he was working as an accountant for a wholesale merchandise business. His father Solomon was also living with them at that time. 15 Ten years later in 1940, they were all still living together in Las Vegas and Arthur was now listed as a bookkeeper for a wholesale merchandise business.16

Arthur Jaffa World War I draft registration, Registration State: New Mexico; Registration County: Chaves; Roll: 1711858
Source Information
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

Solomon Jaffa died the following year at the age of 92. He was buried back in Trinidad where his wife Leonora and daughter Helen were buried. 17 The Intermountain Jewish News published this wonderful obituary on its front page on December 5, 1941:

Arthur Jaffa did not inherit his father’s longevity; like his mother, he died before his seventieth birthday in 1952.18  He and his wife Eleanor, who died in 1970, were buried in Las Vegas, New Mexico. They are survived by their sons and grandchildren.

 

  1. Trinidad, Colorado, City Directory, 1912, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  2. Abram Minton, World War I draft registration, Registration State: Colorado; Registration County: Las Animas; Roll: 1561836, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 ↩
  3. Abram Minsky, 1900 US census, Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 0843; FHL microfilm: 1241119, Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩
  4. Abraham Minske, passenger manifest, Year: 1887; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 507; Line: 41; List Number: 657,
    Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 ↩
  5. New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24ZH-SNJ : 10 February 2018), Abram H. Minton and Julie Cohen, 25 Aug 1910; citing Marriage, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York City Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,503,752. ↩
  6. New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2WMM-4D3 : 10 February 2018), Julia Minton, 05 Jun 1911; citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,323,280. ↩
  7. Abraham H, Minton, 1910 US census, Census Place: Trinidad Ward 1, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: T624_122; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0113; FHL microfilm: 1374135, Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  8. SSN 125-10-8177, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  9. Abram Minton, 1920 US census, Census Place: Manhattan Assembly District 9, New York, New York; Roll: T625_1202; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 693,
    Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  10. Abram Minton, 1925 NYS census, New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1925; Election District: 45; Assembly District: 21; City: Brooklyn; County: Kings; Page: 2, Ancestry.com. New York, State Census, 1925 ↩
  11.  Certificate Number: 4568, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948 ↩
  12. Arnold J. Minton, 1930 US census, Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Page: 16B; Enumeration District: 0463; FHL microfilm: 2341292, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census; 1940 US census, Census Place: New York, New York, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02641; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 31-736,
    Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  13. Marriage record, License Number: 7751, New York City Municipal Archives; New York, New York; Borough: Manhattan; Volume Number: 12, Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018. Number: 125-10-8177; Issue State: New York; Issue Date: Before 1951, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014. https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/15/classified/paid-notice-deaths-minton-arnold-jaffa.html ↩
  14. SSN: 525322497, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; ↩
  15. Arthur Jaffa and family, 1920 US census, Census Place: Roswell Ward 5, Chaves, New Mexico; Roll: T625_1074; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 7, Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census; 1930 US census, Census Place: Las Vegas, San Miguel, New Mexico; Enumeration District: 0032; FHL microfilm: 2341134, Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census. ↩
  16. Arthur Jaffa and family, 1940 US census, Census Place: Las Vegas, San Miguel, New Mexico; Roll: m-t0627-02451; Page: 26A; Enumeration District: 24-34, Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census ↩
  17. “Solomon Jaffa Dies In Las Vegas,” Albuquerque Journal, 01 Dec 1941, Mon, Page 1. JewishGen, comp. JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) ↩
  18. “Arthur Jaffa,”  Las Vegas Daily Optic, 22 Nov 1952, Sat, Page 6. JewishGen, comp. JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR). ↩

Jacob Goldsmith and His Family, 1881-1900: Years of Growth, Loss, and Change

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When he died in 1883, my four-times great-uncle Simon Goldsmith was survived by four children: Jacob and Henry in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, Lena in Columbus, Ohio, and Hannah in Pittsburgh. They all had children and some even had grandchildren by then. The family had gotten so large by 1883 that it is no longer feasible for me to address them all in one post so I will divide the story into separate multiple post segments for each of Simon’s children. This segment will address his son Jacob and his fourteen children and the families of those children; this post tells their story during the last twenty years of the 19th century.

As seen in this earlier post, Jacob’s wife Fannie passed away on March 4, 1881. By August 12, 1881, Jacob had moved to Connellsville, Pennsylvania, as demonstrated by this ad:

The (Connellsville, PA) Weekly Courier, August 12, 1881, p. 3

It made sense that Jacob would have moved to Connellsville after Fannie died for that is where his younger brother Henry was living. Jacob’s three youngest daughters, Florence, Gertrude, and Eva, were quite young when their mother died in 1881 (Florence was twelve, the twins only ten).  Henry, who was more than twenty years younger than his half-brother Jacob, had a young wife and young children, and they would likely have been a source of support to Jacob and his children.

As we saw in earlier posts, three of Jacob’s daughters were already married with children of their own by the time Jacob moved to Connellsville in 1881.  Ellena was married to Samuel Feldstein and was living in Philadelphia with their three young children, Sylvester, Leon, and William. Their fourth child, Fanny, was born in 1883, and a fifth child, Gertrude, was born on May 31, 1889.1 In 1881, Jacob’s daughter Annie was married to Augustus Frank and living in San Francisco with their three children, Josephine, Harry, and Fanny. Jacob’s daughter Leonora and her husband Solomon Jaffa were living in Trinidad with their daughter Helen in 1881, and their son Arthur was born in 1883. Also, Jacob’s son Felix was not married, but had moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1881. But Jacob still had ten children living with him in 1881.

By 1885, Felix had moved from Santa Fe to Denver, where he was working as a bookkeeper; he married Fanny Rosenthal in Hamilton County, Ohio, on January 26, 1887. Fanny was the daughter of Herman and Theresa Rosenthal, German immigrants, and she was born in West Virginia in 1862.2  In 1870, she’d been living with her parents and siblings in Cincinnati where her father was a merchant.3

Ancestry.com. Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993

Jacob made the trip to Cincinnati for their wedding, as reported in the Connellsville newspaper, The Weekly Courier, on its front page on January 28, 1887:

Felix and Fanny had their first child, a son Clarence, on July 13, 1889 in Denver.4

Jacob’s son George moved to Pottsville, Pennsylvania in 1885; he was working as a cutter.5  By 1889, he had married Sarah Rohrheimer, also a daughter of German immigrants, Morris Rohrheimer and Mary Schloss. Sarah was born on July 13, 1866, in Pennsylvania, and in 1880, she was with her parents in Pottsville where her father was a clothing merchant.6 George was working for her father when they met.7 Their first child, Fanny, was born October 1, 1889, in Pennsylvania.8 Thus, Jacob had two more grandchildren born in 1889.

Not only were two more children born into Jacob’s extended family in 1889, there were also two more weddings. Jacob’s son Frank Goldsmith married Barbara Shanor on July 7 of that year.

Marriage record of Frank Goldsmith and Barbara Shanor, Ancestry.com. Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993

According to this news article, Barbara was a native of Connellsville and Frank was working there in his father’s store in Connellsville when they married. They married, however, in Hamilton County, Ohio, as had Frank’s brother George two years earlier.

The (Connellsville, PA) Daily Courier, August 11, 1919

The second wedding to take place in 1889 was that of Jacob’s daughter Rebecca to Robert Levy; they were married in Trinidad, Colorado, on August 27, 1989. Trinidad was, as noted in earlier posts, the home of the Jaffa brothers, Henry Goldsmith’s brothers-in-law, so perhaps Rebecca met her husband through the connection with her aunt Sarah Jaffa Goldsmith, Henry’s wife. Robert Levy was born in Ontario, Canada, on May 30, 1864, to Mandel and Rebecca Levy, who were German immigrants. The family was living in Milwaukee by 1870,9 and in 1885 Robert was living in Denver where he was practicing medicine.10

Rebecca Goldsmith and Robert Levy, marriage record, Ancestry.com. Colorado, County Marriage Records and State Index, 1862-2006

Once again, the Connellsville paper reported that Jacob as well as his brother Henry and sister-in-law Sarah (Jafffa) Goldsmith were traveling to attend a family wedding:

The Connellsville, PA, Weekly Courier, August 23, 1889, p. 5

As of 1888, Jacob’s youngest son Edward Goldsmith was living in Philadelphia and working as a salesman.11

Eight of Jacob’s fourteen children were now on their own, but in 1890, Jacob still had six daughters at home in Connellsville: Emma, Rachel, Celia, Florence, Gertrude, and Eva, ranging in age from 36 to nineteen.

In the early 1890s, Jacob was blessed with three more grandchildren: Rebecca’s daughter Leona in 1891,12 George’s son Lester in 1893,13 and Felix’s daughter Ethel in 1895.14

Then on March 29, 1897, there was another wedding. Edward Goldsmith married Hannah Wallenstein in Hamilton County, Ohio, making that the third time one of Jacob’s children had a wedding in that location. Hannah was born in Cincinnati on September 30, 1872, to Solomon Wallenstein, a German immigrant, and Sarah Cohen, also a Cincinnati native. Hannah’s father was a sewing machine agent in 1880.15

Marriage of Edward Goldsmith and Hannah Wallenstein, Ancestry.com. Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993

Just over a month after Edward’s wedding, Annie’s husband Augustus Frank died on November 13, 1897, in San Francisco. He was only fifty years old and left behind three children as well as Annie, who was only 42 when Augustus died.16

Then just a little over a year after losing Augustus, the family suffered another tragic loss when Jacob’s son George died suddenly from pneumonia on January 13, 1899, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.17  George was only 36, and his two children Fanny and Lester (incorrectly named as Leslie in George’s obituary) were only nine and three when they lost their father. George’s widow Sarah was only 32.

The Pottsville newspaper, The Miners Journal, published this obituary on its front page on January 14, 1899:

 

“Another Merchant Dead,” Pottsville, PA Miners Journal, January 14, 1899, p. 1

How terrible this must have been for Sarah and the children. My favorite line in the obituary is the one saying that George was “a careful and enterprising business man and had a host of friends.”

By 1900 there was a big geographic shift in the family. Jacob and his six unmarried daughters—Emma, Rachel, Celia, Florence, Gertrude, and Eva—left Pennsylvania and moved to Denver where in 1900 they were all living with Jacob’s daughter Rebecca and her husband Robert Levy and their daughter Leona. Robert was practicing medicine, Rachel (Ray here) was working as a clerk, and Florence was working as a stenographer. The others did not have any occupation listed on the 1900 census. Jacob was 75 years old and had experienced another major relocation—-from Oberlistingen, Germany, to Washington, Pennsylvania, to Philadelphia, to Connellsville, Pennsylvania, and now to Denver. Rebecca Goldsmith Levy gave birth to a second daughter on June 19, 1900, in Denver, named Marion.18

Household of Robert Levy, 1900 US census, Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 0072; FHL microfilm: 1240119
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

Felix Goldsmith and his family were also living in Denver in 1900, and Felix was working as a mine superintendent.

Felix Goldsmith and family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240118
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

About two hundred miles south of Denver, Leonora Goldsmith Jaffa was still living in Trinidad, Colorado with her husband Solomon Jaffa and their two children Helen (18) and Arthur (16), and Solomon continued to be a merchant.

Solomon Jaffa and family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240126
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

Annie Goldsmith Frank, who had been widowed three years earlier, was living with her three children in San Francisco in 1900. Her daughter Josephine, now 22, was a school teacher, and her son Harry, 19, was a shipping clerk.

Annie Frank, 1900 US census,Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0207; FHL microfilm: 1240105
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

Back east, George Goldsmith’s widow Sarah and two children Fanny and Lester were living in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, with Sarah’s mother Mary Rohrheimer. Both Mary and Sarah listed their occupation on the 1900 census as “capitalists.” I wonder what that meant!

Sarah Rohrheimer Goldsmith and family, Census Place: Pottsville, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania; Page: 10; Enumeration District: 0187; FHL microfilm: 1241485
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

Jacob’s other three surviving children were all in Philadelphia in 1900. Frank Goldsmith was living with his wife Barbara and working as a clerk in the clothing business.19 Edward Goldsmith and his wife Hannah were living with Edward’s older sister Ellena and her husband Samuel Feldstein and their five children. Edward had no occupation listed, but in the 1901 Philadelphia directory, he is identified as a salesman. Samuel Feldstein’s occupation was reported as “manufacturer” on the 1900 census. Samuel and Ellena’s three oldest sons were working: Sylvester, 25, as an artist, William, 23, as a bookkeeper, and Leopold, 19, as a cigar maker. The other two children—Fanny, 17, and Gertrude, 12, did not have occupations listed.

Feldstein household, 1900 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 5; Enumeration District: 0439; FHL microfilm: 1241462
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

Thus, as of 1900, Jacob’s family was spread between Pennsylvania, Colorado, and California. What would the new century bring for him and his very large extended family?

  1. Fannie Neufeld death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1965; Certificate Number Range: 019051-021750, Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966; Gertrude Lewin death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1965; Certificate Number Range: 094201-096650, Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966 ↩
  2. “Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GP2P-9VMD?cc=1307272&wc=MD9X-FNL%3A287599101%2C294427301 : 21 May 2014), 1937 > 29701-32800 > image 2781 of 3325. ↩
  3. Rosenthal family, 1870 US census, Census Place: Cincinnati Ward 15, Hamilton, Ohio; Roll: M593_1214; Page: 468B; Family History Library Film: 552713, Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census ↩
  4. “Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-XCRQ-4PD?cc=1307272&wc=MD96-FWP%3A287602801%2C289221002 : 21 May 2014), 1946 > 03001-06100 > image 558 of 3479. ↩
  5. “Another Merchant Dead,” Pottsvile, Pennsylvania Miners Journal, January 14, 1899, p. 1; Pottsville, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1887, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  6. Sarah Rohrheimer Goldsmith death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1965; Certificate Number Range: 020001-023000, Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966. Rohrheimer family, 1880 US census, Census Place: Pottsville, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1193; Page: 373A; Enumeration District: 221,  Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. “Another Merchant Dead,” Pottsvile, Pennsylvania Miners Journal, January 14, 1899, p. 1; Pottsville, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1887, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  8. Number: 188-36-5720; Issue State: Pennsylvania; Issue Date: 1962,
    Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  9. Robert Levy, 1908 passport application, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 54; Volume #: Roll 0054 – Certificates: 46257-47289, 21 Feb 1908-10 Mar 1908, Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925. Levy family, 1870 US census, Census Place: Milwaukee Ward 5, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Roll: M593_1727; Page: 557A; Family History Library Film: 553226,  Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census ↩
  10. Denver, Colorado, City Directory, 1885, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  11. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1888, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  12. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 524606840 ↩
  13. Lester Goldsmith, World War II draft registration, The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II draft cards (Fourth Registration) for the State of Pennsylvania; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group Number: 147; Series Number: M1951, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 ↩
  14. Felix Goldsmith and family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240118, Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩
  15. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 225644424. Wallenstein family, 1880 US census, Census Place: Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio; Roll: 1026; Page: 447A; Enumeration District: 144, Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census ↩
  16. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100371594 ↩
  17.  Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Death Certificates Index, 1803-1915 ↩
  18.  SSN: 524607495, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 ↩
  19. Frank and Barbara Goldsmith, 1900 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 32, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0830; FHL microfilm: 1241474, Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩

Jacob Goldsmith’s Family, 1872-1881: Reaching from Coast to Coast

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1867 Map of the United States and territories, United States. General Land Office.
Gorlinski, Joseph. Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/

As of the end of 1871, Simon Goldsmith and his four surviving children—Jacob Goldsmith, Lena Basch, Henry Goldsmith, and Hannah Benedict—were all living in Pennsylvania, Jacob and his family in Philadelphia, Lena and Hannah and their families in Pittsburgh, and Henry in Connellsville. Simon was living with Hannah in Pittsburgh as well. All four children were married, and Simon had 24 grandchildren ranging in age from newborn Jacob W. Goldsmith, Henry’s son, to eighteen-year-old Ellena Goldsmith, Jacob’s daughter. Ten years later the family was no longer all living in Pennsylvania.

That movement out of Pennsylvania is best illustrated by the children of Simon’s oldest child, Jacob. Although Jacob and his wife Fannie remained in Philadelphia in the 1870s where Jacob continued to work as a clothing merchant, three of their children moved far away.

Their oldest daughter Ellena did not leave Philadelphia, but she did move out of the family home. Ellena married Samuel Feldstein on November 6, 1872, in Philadelphia.1 She was nineteen, and he was 25. Samuel was born in Prague in what was then Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, on January 12, 1847.2 By 1868 he was living in Philadelphia and was a naturalized citizen.3 In 1870 he was living with his parents and twin brother.4 In 1873 he is listed as being in the cigar business in Philadelphia.5

Ellena and Samuel Feldstein had three children in the 1870s, Simon’s first great-grandchildren: Arthur (1873),6 Sylvester (1875),7 and William (1877).8 Arthur, their first born, died on January 9, 1874, when he was just five months old. The death certificate stated that the cause of death was catarrh, which according to this website listing 19th century causes of death, is “An inflammatory affection of any mucous membrane, in which there are congestion, swelling, and an alteration in the quantity and quality of mucous secreted. In America, especially, a chronic inflammation of, and hypersecretion from the membranes of nose or air passages.”

Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JK32-B35 : 9 March 2018), Arthur Feldstein, 09 Jan 1874; citing , Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; FHL microfilm 2,022,093.

In 1880 Samuel Feldstein was still in the cigar business, and the family was living in Philadelphia. A fourth child, Leopold Feldstein, was born in Philadelphia on August 26, 1880.9

Feldstein family, 1880 US census, Year: 1880; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1176; Page: 137C; Enumeration District: 300
Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census

Ellena’s younger sister Annie was the first of Simon Goldsmith’s descendants to move out of Pennsylvania. She married Augustus Frank sometime in or before 1877 and moved all the way to San Francisco.10 Her husband Augustus was born on November 4, 1847, in New York; his parents were immigrants from Germany.11 But Augustus’ older brother Jacob Jesse Frank had moved to San Francisco by 1867,12 and Augustus must have joined him out there. Annie and Augustus’ first child Josephine was born on October 4, 1877, in California.13 In 1880, Annie and Augustus and their daughter Josephine were living in San Francisco with Augustus’ brother Jacob and his family. Augustus’ occupation was reported as “money broker” on the 1880 census. Annie and Augustus had a second child, Harry, on November 28, 1880, and a third, Fanny, on March 24, 1881, both born in California.14

Augustus Frank and family, 1880 US census, Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: 79; Page: 138D; Enumeration District: 206
Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census

The third daughter of Jacob Goldsmith and Fannie Silverman to marry in this time period was Leonora. In 1880 she married Solomon Jaffa, the older brother of Sarah Jaffa, who had married Leonora’s uncle Henry Goldsmith, making this the second marriage between a Goldschmidt and a Jaffa.15 Solomon was born in Heinebach, Germany, on August 6, 1840, and had immigrated to the US as a teenager.16 In 1870, he’d been living on his own in Mora, New Mexico, and working as a farmer.17

After marrying, Leonora and Solomon were living in Trinidad, Colorado, with Solomon’s brother Sam and his wife Amelia and their children, including their daughter Ida, who would later marry Meyer Mansbach, another Goldschmidt cousin. Sam and Solomon were both working as merchants in 1880. Leonora and Solomon had their first child Helen on April 4, 1881,18 and then a son Arthur Goldsmith Jaffa on July 10, 1883, both born in Colorado.19

Jaffa families, 1880 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: 92; Page: 66A; Enumeration District: 066
Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census

The fourth of Jacob and Fannie’s children to leave home was their oldest son Felix. In 1880 he was living in Las Vegas, New Mexico, working as a bookkeeper in a dry goods store.20 This article from the October 16, 1881, issue of the Las Vegas (New Mexico) Gazette revealed more information about Felix’s whereabouts:

Las Vegas (NM) Gazette, October 16, 1881, p. 4

From this article it appears that Felix was then in Trinidad, Colorado, working for his brother-in-law’s company, Jaffa Brothers, but was moving in 1881 to Santa Fe to work for another merchant there.

Thus, by 1881, four of Jacob and Fannie’s children had spread their wings and moved out of the nest.

Meanwhile, back in Philadelphia, Jacob was still working as a clothing merchant and still had ten children at home plus his niece Ella Bohm, the daughter of his deceased sister Eva. Seven daughters were still home: Emma, Rachel, Celia, Rebecca, Florence, Eva, and Gertrude. None were employed, and the youngest four were still in school. Three sons were also still living at home: George, Frank, and Edward. George was working as a clerk in a clothing store and Frank as a clerk in a stationery store. Edward was still in school.

Jacob Goldsmith and family, 1880 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1173; Page: 158D; Enumeration District: 210
Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census

On March 4, 1881, Jacob’s wife Fannie Silverman Goldsmith, who had given birth to fourteen children between 1853 and 1871, died at age 53 from tuberculosis. She was survived by her husband Jacob, her fourteen children, and numerous grandchildren, some of whom were born after she passed away.

Fannie Silverman Goldsmith death certificate,”Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-66Y7-VGR?cc=1320976&wc=9FRQ-ZNL%3A1073342601 : 16 May 2014), 004058654 > image 1071 of 1222; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

In fact, Annie’s daughter Fanny Frank, who was born just a few weeks after Fannie’s death,21 was undoubtedly named for her grandmother Fannie as was Ellena’s daughter Fanny Feldstein, born April 17, 1883.22 I also think that the middle initial of Leonora’s daughter, Helen F. Jaffa, who was born a month to the day after her grandmother’s death, was in honor of Fannie Silverman Goldsmith.23

Fannie certainly deserved these honors, having given birth to and raised fourteen children.

 

  1. Pennsylvania Marriages, 1709-1940,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V26R-2YL : 11 February 2018), Samuel Feldstein and Ellina Goldsmith, 06 Nov 1872; citing Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; FHL microfilm 1,765,164. ↩
  2. Samuel Feldstein death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1965; Certificate Number Range: 052001-055800, Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966 ↩
  3. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission; Supreme Court Naturalization Papers 1794-1868; Archive Roll: RG-33:813, Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Naturalization Records from Supreme and District Courts, 1794-1908, Naturalization papers, 1867-1868, petition nos. 9238-9768 ↩
  4. Samuel Feldstein, 1870 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 12 Dist 36 (2nd Enum), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1424; Page: 554A; Family History Library Film: 552923, Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census ↩
  5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1873, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  6. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Births, 1860-1906,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBT8-63R : 10 March 2018), Arthur Feldstine, 15 Aug 1873; citing Birth, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, Pennsylvania. ↩
  7. William Feldstein death certificate, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JJ94-FFV : 8 March 2018), William Feldstein, 03 Feb 1908; citing cn 4003, Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; FHL microfilm 1,402,930. ↩
  8. Sylvester Feldstein, Registration State: New Jersey; Registration County: Atlantic; Roll: 1711901; Draft Board: 2, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 ↩
  9. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Births, 1860-1906,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBBB-GKM : 9 March 2018), Leopold Feldstein, 26 Aug 1880; citing Birth, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, Pennsylvania. ↩
  10. I am inferring this from their daughter Josephine’s birth in October 1877. See below. ↩
  11. Headstone inscription at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100371594 ↩
  12. California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4 – 2A; CSL Roll Number: 41; FHL Roll Number: 977097, Ancestry.com. California, Voter Registers, 1866-1898 ↩
  13. The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Manifests of Passengers Arriving at St. Albans, VT, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1895-1954; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 – 2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series Number: M1464; Roll Number: 556, Ancestry.com. U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960 ↩
  14. Harry Garfield Frank, World War I draft registration, Registration State: California; Registration County: San Francisco; Roll: 1544262; Draft Board: 12, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918; Fannie Frank, Ancestry.com. California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985 ↩
  15. Leonora and Sol Jaffa, 1900 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240126, Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩
  16. Solomon Jaffa, Passport application, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 1312; Volume #: Roll 1312 – Certificates: 73250-73625, 29 Jul 1920-29 Jul 1920, Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 ↩
  17. Solomon Jaffa, 1870 US census, Census Place: Mora, Mora, New Mexico Territory; Roll: M593_894; Page: 313A; Family History Library Film: 552393,
    Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census ↩
  18. JewishGen, comp. JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) ↩
  19. Arthur Jaffa, World War I draft registration, Registration State: New Mexico; Registration County: Chaves; Roll: 1711858, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 ↩
  20. Felix Goldsmith, 1880 US census, Census Place: Las Vegas, San Miguel, New Mexico; Roll: 803; Page: 289B; Enumeration District: 032, Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census ↩
  21. Ancestry.com. California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985. ↩
  22. Fannie Feldstein Neufeld death certificate,  Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1965; Certificate Number Range: 019051-021750, Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966 ↩
  23. JewishGen, comp. JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) ↩

The Colorado Coalfields War and Its Effect on the Mansbach Brothers

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As we saw, between 1910 and 1920, there was a fair amount of growth in the families of Hannah Mansbach Dannenberg and Louis Mansbach, the two children of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach who were still living in Philadelphia. Hannah’s daughters had married and had children as had Louis’s daughter, and Hannah’s son Arthur Dannenberg had become a doctor. Julius Mansbach and his family were living in Wunstorf, Germany.

The Colorado siblings—Amelia, Bert, and Meyer—were experiencing similar growth in this decade. Amelia and her husband Henry Langer were still living in Denver. Both of their sons registered for the World War I draft, and as you can see, both were in the field of photography, Joseph for the Denver Post and Lester a self-employed commercial photographer.

Joseph Langer, World War I draft registration, Registration State: Colorado; Registration County: Denver; Roll: 1561841; Draft Board: 5
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

Joe Langer enlisted and was assigned to the intelligence division, “marching away with his camera under his arm.”1

Lester’s World War I draft registration confused me.  For his nearest relative, it says “Mrs. Amelia Langer wife.” But that was his mother’s name, and on the 1920 census he was listed as single and living at home with his parents and brother Joseph. And I can find no record that he had been married to anyone named Amelia before 1920, nor can I find an Amelia Langer elsewhere in Colorado (except for his mother).

Is it possible someone else filled out the form and Lester only signed it and didn’t see the mistake? The handwriting on the form is similar but somewhat different from the signature—especially if you compare the Es in the signature to those on the line where Lester’s name is written at the top. What do you think?

Lester Langer World War I draft registration, Registration State: Colorado; Registration County: Denver; Roll: 1561841; Draft Board: 5
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

Henry Langer and family 1920 US census, Census Place: Denver, Denver, Colorado; Roll: T625_162; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 245
Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census

As for Bert and Rosa (Schloss) Mansbach, their daughter Corinne had married Herbert J. Kahn in 1909, as noted in my earlier post, and on July 13, 1912, Corinne gave birth to their daughter Rosalynn.2 In 1920, they were living in Trinidad, Colorado, and Corinne’s younger brother Alvin was also living with them. Herbert was a produce broker, and Alvin was an electrician.3 Alvin had served in the US Army overseas during World War I as a regimental supply sergeant on an ammunition train and had returned safely home in 1919.4

Although Corinne and Alvin were thus in Trinidad in 1920, their parents Bert and Rosa Mansbach had moved to Albuquerque, where Bert is listed in the 1917 directory as a dry goods merchant.5 What would have taken Bert and Rosa away from Trinidad where both their children and their granddaughter were living and where Bert had been in business with his brother Meyer for so many years?

In 1912 both Bert and Meyer were still in Trinidad. They were listed in the Trinidad directory for that year as officers of The Famous Department Store, Bert as president, Meyer as treasurer.

Mansbach brothers, Trinidad, Colorado, City Directory, 1912
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

But Meyer also ended up leaving Trinidad; in 1914 he was listed in the Detroit, Michigan city directory as a milliner.6 What had happened?

Well, a search on genealogybank.com revealed the answer. The Famous Department Store had been forced into bankruptcy in the spring of 1914, according to this article from the May 10, 1915 Denver Post (p. 8) describing the sale of the assets of the store to a third party:

According to the first two paragraphs of this article:

One of the largest commercial transactions of the west, and one of supreme importance to the shopping public of Denver has been consummated in the sale of the entire $125,000 stock of the Famous Department Store of Trinidad, the largest and most complete department store in Southern Colorado, to the Golden Eagle of this city.

The Famous Department Store enjoyed the reputation of carrying one of the finest and highest grade stocks in Colorado and was established “many years ago.” Early last spring it was forced into bankruptcy through the general depression caused by the great Southern Colorado coal strike.

This ad, which appeared in the Denver Post on May 23, 1915, also reveals the demise of the Famous Department Store in Trinidad owned by Bert and Meyer Mansbach and its sale to the Golden Eagle:

The strike that caused the failure of the Mansbachs’ store is better known today as the Colorado Coalfields War and the Ludlow Massacre. Much has been written about this tragic chapter in US labor history, and I cannot give it adequate coverage here, but I thought that this summary from the Denver Public Library website provided a good overall description of the background of the strike and its aftermath. Here are some excerpts:

From 1884-1912, Colorado miners died at nearly double the rate of the national average, according the University of Denver’s Coal Field War Project. ….But unsafe work conditions were hardly the only problem Colorado coal miners faced as they headed to work. Thanks to a variety of unfair work practices, miners were paid by the amount of coal they pulled from the mine, not by the number of hours they worked. Even worse, miners were not compensated for the time they spent actually getting down the mine or the time they spent tunneling, laying track and other jobs that they referred to as, “Dead Time.”

By 1900, the United Mine Workers of America was actively organizing Colorado’s coal miners, and in 1913, after a few false starts, they launched a massive strike. … The 1913 strike involved nearly 90% of Colorado’s coal miners and involved an exodus from the mining camps to UMWA-sponsored tent cities that had a devastating effect on the families of the men walking the picket lines.

The strikers’ demands were relatively benign by today’s standards. Their conditions included:

An hourly wage for “dead time” and a 10 percent increase in the price per tonne paid.

The right to shop outside of company stores.

An 8-hour workday

The opportunity to elect their own representatives to operate the scales that weighed their output. (Apparently CF&I’s company men could not be counted on to provide fair and accurate measurements.)

Not surprisingly, the mine owners were not happy about the strike and were more than willing to use brutal force to suppress their rebellious workforce. Rockefeller’s representatives hired private security companies to put down the strike with violent results. .…

Tensions between striking miners and the men hired to put them down came to a head on April 20, 1914, when gunfire shattered the calm of a Sunday morning at a strike encampment at Ludlow. Though there are still disputes as to who started the shooting, there’s no question about who took the brunt of the violence that followed; innocent women and children.

When the gunfire subsided, 25 people were dead, including 11 children. Most of those children died from suffocation when a burning tent collapsed on a makeshift bunker where they’d taken refuge.

News of the murders in Ludlow spread quickly and ignited violence across the coal field as striking miners unleashed their pent-up rage on the coal mines and their absentee owners. The violence continued for 10 more days until Federal troops stepped in to break the warring parties apart.

The Colorado coal strike lasted for another seven months before desperate miners finally went back to work. Though they’d wrangled a few concessions from their bosses, the strike was anything but a victory for the men and women who put everything on the line in hopes of winning fair pay and safe working conditions.

Armed strikers, Trinidad, Colorado. By Survey Associates, Inc. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

This terrible event, about which I’d known nothing before, had ramifications most tragically for the miners and their families, but it also harmed those in the community who were not directly involved in mining, including Bert and Meyer Mansbach, who lost their business.

It is not surprising that they both left Trinidad for bigger cities where they could start over. Bert and Rosa were living in Albuquerque in 1920, Bert working as a retail dry goods salesman as an employee.7 It must have been hard to work for someone else after all those years owning his own business. In 1920, Meyer and his family were in Detroit where Meyer was a retail merchant in the millinery business; his son Arthur was in business with him.8

It’s sad that after working together and raising their families near each other for all those years that Bert and Meyer were separated by so many miles in 1920. Amelia Mansbach Langer was at that point the only Mansbach sibling still in Colorado where once five of them had been living there : Amelia, Bert, Meyer, Katinka, and Julius.

  1. “Death Takes Former Post Photographer,” The Denver Post, August 30, 1934, p. 9 ↩
  2.  Number: 181-09-2067; Issue State: Pennsylvania; Issue Date: Before 1951. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  3. Herbert Kahn and family, 1920 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: T625_167; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 136. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  4.  Ancestry.com. Colorado, Soldiers in WWI, 1917-1918. The National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985; Record Group Number: 92; Roll or Box Number: 75. Date Range: 12 Aug 1918-Sep 1918, Ancestry.com. U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists ↩
  5. Albuquerque, New Mexico, City Directory, 1917, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  6. Detroit, Michigan, City Directory, 1914, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  7. Bert Mansbach, 1920 US census, Census Place: Albuquerque Ward 3, Bernalillo, New Mexico; Roll: T625_1074; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 18.  Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census ↩
  8. Meyer Mansbach 1920 US census, Census Place: Detroit Ward 1, Wayne, Michigan; Roll: T625_803; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 50
    Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census. One thing puzzled me about this census record, in addition to Arthur (23) and Edith (18), the census lists two other children living with Meyer and his wife Ida who are identified as their sons: Harry (16) and Meyer (14). Both boys were listed as born in Colorado. But neither was listed with Meyer and Ida on the 1910 census, and neither was named as a survivor in the death notices and obituaries later published for Meyer and Ida. I cannot find a birth record for either boy in Colorado or elsewhere, nor can I find any other records for a Harry Mansbach born around 1904 or a Meyer Mansbach born about 1906. Was the census enumerator just wrong? Was someone pulling a prank on the enumerator? Or were these boys someone else’s children? I don’t know, but if they existed at all, I do not think they were the sons of Meyer and Ida. ↩

The Legacy of Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach: Prosperity in America, Roots in Germany 1900-1910

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As seen in the last post, in 1900 six of the surviving children of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach were living in the United States, as was Sarah. Their oldest daughter Breine Mansbach Bensew was still living in Germany, and three children had passed away, as had Abraham in 1889.

The six children living in the US were split between Colorado and Philadelphia. Amelia Mansbach Langer and her family were living in Denver, and her brothers Berthold and Meyer were living in Trinidad, Colorado. Sarah and her other three children—Louis, Julius, and Hannah —were all living in Philadelphia.  All of Sarah’s children except Julius, the youngest, were married by 1900, and she had nine grandchildren born in the United States plus her German-born grandchildren, the children of her daughter Breine Mansbach Bensew. A tenth American grandchild was born when Meyer and Ida (Jaffa) Mansbach had a second child, Edith, on December 15, 1901, in Colorado.1

In 1903, Julius, Sarah’s youngest child, married Frieda Bensew in Wunstorf, Germany.2 Frieda was born on March 6, 1883, in Wunstorf, the daughter of Moses Bensew and Theodora Freudenthal.3 Julius had applied for a passport on August 10, 1903, stating that he was temporarily residing in Wunstorf, Germany, where he had been since July 8, 1903, and that he intended to stay there for two months. I assume this was when he must have married Frieda.

Julius Mansbach, 1903 passport application, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 41; Volume #: Volume 075: Germany
Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925

Their grandson Art shared this photograph of Julius and Frieda dated 1903 when they were engaged:

Julius Mansbach and Frieda Bensew, 1903. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Julius and Frieda returned to the United States and settled in Philadelphia where on July 12, 1904, their daughter Beatrice was born.4 In May 1905, Julius, Frieda, and Beatrice sailed to Germany, presumably for Frieda’s family to meet the new baby.

Philadelphia Inquirer, May 14, 1905, p. 35

Here are two beautiful photographs of Frieda and her baby daughter Beatrice, courtesy of my cousin Art Mansbach:

Frieda Bensew Mansbach and her three-month old daughter, Beatrice, 1904. Courtesy of Art Mansbach.

Frieda Bensew Mansbach and daughter Beatrice, c. 1906. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

The year 1907 brought two sad losses to the family.  First, on June 26, 1907, Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach passed away from nephritis at age 88.

Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 059571-063330
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

Sarah was the oldest child of Seligmann Goldschmidt and Hincka Alexander and had outlived all but three of her younger siblings. Unlike her younger siblings who had immigrated as young adults, Sarah came to the United States and settled in Philadelphia in the 1880s when she was already in her sixties and had grown children. It must have been a hard transition, especially with half her children living half a continent away in Colorado and one daughter still back in Germany. She had survived her husband and three of her children and lived to 88.

She must have been an exceptionally strong woman. That strength and her warmth certainly show in this photograph of Sarah with her granddaughter Beatrice taken shortly before she died:

Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach with granddaughter Beatrice Mansbach, 1907. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

The second loss the family suffered in 1907 came less than two months after Sarah’s death. Cora Eslinger Mansbach, Louis Mansbach’s wife, died from tuberculosis on August 22, 1907; she was only 40 years old and left behind not only her husband, but her eleven-year-old daughter, Rebecca.

Cora Eslinger Mansbach death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 078391-082250
Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966

This photograph was taken just eight days before Cora’s death.  It is dated August 14, 1907, and taken in Cape May, New Jersey. The young girl on the left is Cora and Louis Mansbach’s daughter Rebecca, and she is with Julius and Frieda Mansbach and their daughter Beatrice:

Rebecca Mansbach, Beatrice Mansbach, Frieda Bensew Mansbach, and Julius Mansbach. August 14, 1907, Cape May, New Jersey. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Rebecca’s face conveys sadness; her mother must have already been quite ill and had been sick for six months. Perhaps Julius and his family took her to Cape May to distract her from her mother’s illness.

Julius and Frieda Mansbach and their daughter Beatrice moved to Wunstorf, Germany by 1910, where Julius and Frieda’s son Alfred Heinz Mansbach was born on February 10, 1910.5 They did not return to live in the US for another two decades. Thank you again to Art Mansbach for sharing these wonderful photographs of Julius and Frieda and their young children:

Beatrice, Frieda, and Alfred Mansbach, 1911. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Alfred, Frieda, Julius, and Beatrice Mansbach, 1913 in Wunstorf, Germany. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

In 1910 Louis Mansbach, now a widower, was boarding with his thirteen year old daughter Rebecca in the household of the Beutelspacher family. I cannot find any connection between his family and the Beutelspachers.  Louis continued to practice veterinary medicine.6

Hannah Mansbach Dannenberg, the only other sibling still in Philadelphia, was living in 1910 with her husband Gerson and their three children as well as Moses Dannenberg, Gerson’s brother. Gerson and Moses were both merchants and owned a supply house. Hannah and Gerson’s son Arthur was in college.7

As for the three siblings in Colorado, Amelia Mansbach Langer and her family were still living in Denver in 1910. Her husband Henry, now 71, was retired. Their sons were both living with them. Joseph (30) was a newspaper photographer, and Lester (26) was a photographic printer in a portrait gallery.8

In 1910, Berthold Mansbach and his wife Rose and son Alvin (15) were living in Trinidad9. Bert and his brother Meyer, who had been the proprietors of a dry goods store known as Mansbach Brothers, were now in business with John and Barney Tarabino as owners of The Famous Department Store, as listed in the 1910 Trinidad directory. The directory lists Bert as the treasurer and Meyer as the secretary.

Title: Trinidad, Colorado, City Directory, 1910

Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

Bert and Rose’s daughter Corinne had married Herbert J Kahn on October 11, 1909, in Trinidad. Herbert was a Trinidad, Colorado native, the son of two German immigrants, Jacob and Rosa Kahn. His father was a dealer in hides and wool.10

Ancestry.com. Colorado, County Marriage Records and State Index, 1862-2006

The Denver Rocky Mountain News posted this news item about the wedding on October 12, 1909 (p. 4):

In 1910, Herbert and Corinne were living in Trinidad where Herbert was working as a salesman in a clothing store.11

Berthold’s younger brother Meyer was also living in Trinidad in 1910. He and Ida and their two children Arthur (13) and Edith (8) were living with Ida’s mother Amelia Jaffa, and Meyer was, as described above, the secretary of The Famous Department Store, the store he owned with his brother Berthold and others.12

Thus, in 1910, the family of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach was doing well. Bert and Meyer and their families were living in Trinidad where the brothers were partners in a department store. Amelia and Henry Langer were living in Denver where Henry was retired and their sons were both involved in photography. Hannah Dannenberg was living with her family in Philadelphia and had a child in college already. Louis and his daughter Rebecca were in Philadelphia, moving forward after the death of Cora. In addition, as we will see, six of the children of Breine Mansbach were also in the US by 1910.

The only descendants of Sarah and Abraham still in Germany in 1910 were their oldest child, Breine Mansbach along with her husband Jakob Bensew and their daughter Roschen and her children, and their youngest child, Julius Mansbach and his wife Frieda Bensew and their children Beatrice and Alfred.

 

 

 

 

  1. Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1940-1997, Social Security #: 573387763. ↩
  2. As per Julius Mansbach’s grandson, Art Mansbach. ↩
  3. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 351248754 ↩
  4. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Births, 1860-1906,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBYL-HSB : 10 March 2018), Beatrice Mansbach, 12 Jul 1904; citing 18961, Department of Records; FHL microfilm 2,110,929. ↩
  5. Number: 341-03-5638; Issue State: Illinois; Issue Date: Before 1951, Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 ↩
  6. Louis and Rebecca Mansbach, 1910 US Census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1394; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0355; FHL microfilm: 1375407. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  7. Gerson and Hannah Mansberg and family 1910 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1399; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0692; FHL microfilm: 1375412. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census  ↩
  8. Henry and Amelia Langer and family, 1910 US census, Census Place: Denver Ward 10, Denver, Colorado; Roll: T624_116; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 0134; FHL microfilm: 1374129. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  9. Berthold Mansbach and family 1910 US census, Census Place: Trinidad Ward 2, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: T624_122; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0120; FHL microfilm: 1374135. Enumeration District: 0120. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  10. Registration State: Colorado; Registration County: Las Animas; Roll: 1561836, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Kahn family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240126.
    Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩
  11. Herbert and Corinne Kahn, 1910 US census, Census Place: Trinidad Ward 2, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: T624_122; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0120; FHL microfilm: 1374135. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩
  12. Meyer Mansbach and family, 1910 US census, Census Place: Trinidad Ward 2, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: T624_122; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0115; FHL microfilm: 1374135. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census ↩

Growing in America: The Family of Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach

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As seen in my last post, as of 1882 Sarah Goldschmidt and her husband Abraham Mansbach had immigrated to the United States, as had all but one of their eight surviving children. Three of those seven children had arrived before 1880 and are enumerated on the 1880 census. Amalie and her husband Henry Langer and their two sons were living in Denver, Colorado, where Henry was furrier. Louis was a veterinarian, living with my great-great-grandparents Gerson and Eva (Goldschmidt) Katzenstein in Philadelphia. Berthold was in Trinidad, Colorado, living with and working with his cousin, Abraham Mansbach, in his dry goods business. The rest of the family—Sarah, Abraham, Hannah, Meyer, Kathinka, and Julius—arrived between 1880 and 1882.

The years between 1882 and 1900 were eventful years for Sarah and Abraham and their family—many happy events as well as some sad ones. First, on February 10, 1888, Berthold Mansbach married Rosa Schloss in Philadelphia. Rosa was born in Philadelphia in August 1868, the daughter of Aaron Schloss and Caroline Stein, who were German immigrants. Rosa’s mother Caroline died when Rosa was just nine years old. Her father Aaron was in the jewelry business.1

Berthold Mansbach and Rosa Schloss marriage record, 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

Berthold and Rosa’s first child Corinne was born on February 1, 1889, in Trinidad, Colorado.2 Here is a delightful photograph of Corinne with her grandmother Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach:

Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach and her granddaughter Corinne Mansbach, c. 1892. Courtesy of the Mansbach family

And here are two photographs taken in Trinidad, Colorado of Corinne as a little girl with her uncle Julius Mansbach:

Julius Mansbach and his niece Corinne Mansbach, c. 1892. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Julius Mansbach and niece Corinne Mansbach, c. 1892. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Berthold’s younger sister Hannah was also married in 1888. She married Gerson Dannenberg in Philadelphia.3 Gerson was born in Adelebsen, Germany on July 22, 1862, and had immigrated to the US in 1881. He was the son of Simon Dannenberg and Henrietta Brandes and was a merchant by occupation.4 Hannah and Gerson’s first child, Reta, was born on September 11, 1889.5

Sadly, Abraham Mansbach died not long after the births of these two new grandchildren. He died on October 5, 1889, at the age of 80. (The death certificate has his age as 81 years, nine months, but that is not consistent with other records; I am not sure which is correct.) The cause of death was a lung hemorrhage.

“Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6P3D-C4N?cc=1320976&wc=9FT9-JWL%3A1073324801 : 16 May 2014), 004010398 > image 335 of 1093; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

The next two grandchildren born were presumably named for Abraham.  Arthur Mansbach Dannenberg, son of Hannah Mansbach and Gerson Dannenberg, was born in Philadelphia on January 7, 1891.6  Berthold and Rosa’s second child was also named in memory of Abraham; Alvin Abraham Mansbach was born in Trinidad, Colorado, on December 26, 1894.7

Unfortunately, the family had suffered another loss before the birth of Alvin. On February 3, 1893, Kat(h)inka Mansbach, Sarah and Abraham’s youngest daughter and second youngest child, died from consumption, or tuberculosis, in Trinidad, Colorado. She was only 30 years old. (The death certificate says 27, but that is not consistent with her birth record from Maden.) Her body was transported back to Philadelphia for burial, accompanied by her brother, Louis Mansbach.

Kathinka Mansbach death certificate, “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6353-MYS?cc=1320976&wc=9FR2-929%3A1073252901 : 16 May 2014), 004009761 > image 1367 of 1803; Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Katinka’s sister Hannah honored her sister’s memory by naming her third child Katinka Mansbach Dannenberg, born on June 21, 1894, in Philadelphia.8

Louis Mansbach married Cora Eslinger on June 20, 1895 in Philadelphia.9 Cora was born on November 13, 1866 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; her parents were Jacob Eslinger and Rebecca Stein. Cora had experienced many losses by the time she married Louis. Her father had died when she was a very young child—in 1868. A brother William died in 1871 at age four from typhoid fever, her mother died in 1885, and an older brother Solomon died in 1889 at age 26 from heart failure.  Cora had only one member of her immediate family left when she married Louis Mansbach—her older sister Esther.10

Louis and Cora had one child, a daughter, Rebecca, presumably named for Cora’s mother; records conflict as to her date of birth, one is as early as November 1896, another suggests October 28, 1897.11 Since the November 1896 date came from the 1900 census and the other from far later source, it would seem November 1896 may be more reliable. I could not locate a birth record in the Philadelphia birth index.

Meyer Mansbach married Ida Jaffa on January 21, 1896, in Trinidad, Colorado. Ida was born in Trinidad on January 28, 1875, the daughter of Samuel Jaffa and Amelia Sommer. Her parents were both German immigrants, and her father was an important merchant in Trinidad.12

Meyer Mansbach Ida Jaffa mariage record, Ancestry.com. Colorado, County Marriage Records and State Index, 1862-2006. Original data: Marriage Records. Colorado Marriages. State Archives, Denver, Colorado.

In an earlier post about the Mansbach family, I discussed how Trinidad had experienced huge economic growth in the 1870s, making it an attractive place for merchants to settle to take advantage of the population explosion. Sharon Haimovitz-Civitano of the Branches of our Haimowitz Family Tree and Branches on Civitano Tree blogs alerted me to a page on the website of the Jewish Museum of the American West that describes the Jewish history of Trinidad, Colorado. According to that website, Ida Jaffa’s uncles and father were among the earliest Jews in Trinidad, arriving in the 1870s.  Sam Jaffa, Ida’s father, was the first president of the local B’nai Brith and the first chair of Trinidad Town Council, formed in 1876. The synagogue, Congregation Aaron, was founded in 1883 and named for the Jaffa brothers’ father Aaron.

Meyer and Ida’s first child, Arthur Jaffa Mansbach, was born in Trinidad on November 21, 189613 He also was presumably named for his grandfather Abraham Mansbach.

The only surviving child of Sarah and Abraham who did not marry before 1900 was Julius Mansbach, their youngest child. In 1892 he was in the dry goods business with his brothers Berthold and Meyer in Trinidad, Colorado:

Title: Trinidad, Colorado, City Directory, 1892
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

Art Mansbach, Julius’s grandson, generously shared this photograph of Julius and his brothers Bert and Meyer in their Trinidad store:

Bert, Meyer, and Julius Mansbach in the Trinidad store. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

Here Julius is depicted with his two Langer nephews, Joseph and Lester, in Denver.  From the ages of the boys, I would estimate that this was taken in about 1888-1889.

Julius Mansbach with Lester Langer and Joseph Langer. Courtesy of Art Mansbach

By 1897, Julius must have moved to Philadelphia as he was listed in the 1897 Philadelphia directory as a salesman, living at the same address as his brother Louis, the veterinarian, 915 North 16th Street.14 In 1900, he was still living with Louis, Cora, their daughter Rebecca, and his mother Sarah in Philadelphia. Julius was working as a milliner and Louis as a veterinarian.

Louis Mansbach and family 1900 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 16, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 0313; FHL microfilm: 1241459
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

Hannah and her husband Gerson Dannenberg and their three children were also living in Philadelphia in 1900, and Gerson was in the towel supply business. They were just a mile away from Louis and his household.15

In 1900 Amelia (as she is listed here and known as thereafter) and Henry Langer were still living in Denver with their children and with Amelia’s nephew, William Bensew, son of her sister Breine and brother-in-law Jakob Bensew. Henry was still a furrier, and their older son Joseph (20) was a cigar salesman as was his cousin William (28). Amelia and Henry’s younger son Lester (16) was still in school.16

Henry Langer family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 0031; FHL microfilm: 1240117
Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census

Berthold Mansbach was living with his wife Rosa and children in Trinidad in 1900, where he continued to be a merchant.  His younger brother Meyer was living right nearby (they are enumerated on the same page of the 1900 census report) with his wife Ida, their son Arthur and Ida’s parents and siblings. He also was a merchant.17

Thus, three of the Mansbach children were living in Philadelphia and three were living in Colorado in 1900. Together, Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach had nine American-born grandchildren living in the United States in 1900.

What would the first decade of the 20th century bring to Sarah’s family?

 

 

  1. Bert Mansbach family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240126.
    Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census. Caroline Schloss death, Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Death Certificates Index, 1803-1915. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803–1915. Schloss family, 1870 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20 District 66, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M593_1407; Page: 432A; Family History Library Film: 552906.
    Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census ↩
  2. Corinne Mansbach Kahn death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 057151-059700.  Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966 ↩
  3. Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951. Original data: “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Index, 1885–1951.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009. Philadelphia County Pennsylvania Clerk of the Orphans’ Court. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia marriage license index, 1885-1951.” Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Marriage License Number: 20344. ↩
  4. Gerson Dannenberg death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 020901-023300. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966. Passport application, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 81; Volume #: Roll 0081 – Certificates: 1621-2520, 02 Apr 1909-15 Apr 1909. Volume: Roll 0081 – Certificates: 1621-2520, 02 Apr 1909-15 Apr 1909. Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 ↩
  5. Reta Dannenberg Alkus death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 076201-078900. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966. ↩
  6. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 179363551. ↩
  7. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 179363551. ↩
  8.  Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, SSN: 199369215. ↩
  9.  Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marriage Index, 1885-1951. Original data: “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Marriage Index, 1885–1951.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2009. Philadelphia County Pennsylvania Clerk of the Orphans’ Court. “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia marriage license index, 1885-1951.” Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ↩
  10. Cora Eslinger Mansbach death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 078391-082250. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966. Translation of Jacob Eslinger’s gravestone. William Eslinger death certificate, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Death Certificates, 1803-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JD1V-VY4 : 8 March 2018), William Eslinger, 16 Jan 1871; citing , Philadelphia City Archives and Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; FHL microfilm 2,020,733. Rebecca Eslinger death record, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 792. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 Solomon Eslinger death record, Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records; Reel: 792. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records, 1669-2013 ↩
  11. Louis Mansbach and family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 16, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 0313; FHL microfilm: 1241459. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census. Rebecca Esslinger Rattin death certificate, Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Pennsylvania, USA; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1966; Certificate Number Range: 040001-043000. Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1966 ↩
  12. Sam Jaffa and family, 1880 US census, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: 92; Page: 66A; Enumeration District: 066. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census. Sam Jaffa and Amelia Sommer marriage record, 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. ↩
  13. Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, SSN: 560148581. ↩
  14.  Title: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1897, Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  15. Gerson Dannenberg and family, 1900 US census, Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0425; FHL microfilm: 1241462. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩
  16. The Bensew/Bensev family will be discussed in subsequent posts in greater detail. ↩
  17. Berthold Mansbach and family, Meyer Mansbach and family, Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Page: 13; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240126. Enumeration District: 0064; Description: Trinidad City, Precincts 12, 28 and 32 and 35, Trinidad Ward 1, Ward 2, Ward 5. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census ↩

Where Are Those Missing Manifests? Sarah Goldschmidt Mansbach and Family

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By 1870 many members of the Goldschmidt clan had left Germany and settled in Pennsylvania.  My four-times great-uncle Simon Goldschmidt and all his children had emigrated starting in the 1840s and were, for the most part, living in western Pennsylvania by 1870. 1 During this same period six of the eight children of my three-times great-grandparents Seligmann and Hincka (Alexander) Goldschmidt had settled in Philadelphia: Jakob, Levi, my great-great-grandmother Eva, Abraham, Meyer, and Rosa. They were all living in Philadelphia by 1870. Of Seligmann’s family, only Sarah and Bette were still in Germany as of 1870.

Sarah would also eventually join the family in the US, but only after her children had emigrated. In the 1870s and 1880s, all but one of Sarah’s eight surviving children2 came to the United States, and eventually so did Sarah and her husband Abraham Mansbach II. This is their story.

Although I cannot find passenger manifests for all them, it appears that the first to arrive was Merla/Amalie Mansbach, who sailed to the US in 1872 with Henry Schoenthal and his new wife Helene Lilienfeld, as I discussed here.3

Henry Schoenthal and Helene Lilienfeld 1872 ship manifest lines 95 to 98 with Amalie Mansbach
Year: 1872; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 359; Line: 1; List Number: 484

I have no record of Amalie from the time of her arrival until the 1880 census, but I assume she must have been living in Pennsylvania, probably in Philadelphia, because according to the 1900 census, in 1879, she married Henry Langer. Henry was 22 years older than Amelia, born in 1831 in Austria; he had immigrated to the US in 1856, and in the 1870s he was living in Philadelphia, working as a furrier, according to the Philadelphia directory for 1870 and a newspaper listing in 1877.4

 

Amalie and Henry had relocated to Denver by December 17, 1879,5 when their first child, Joseph Henry Langer, was born. According to the 1880 census, Henry continued to work as a furrier in Denver:

H and A Langer and son 1880 census
Year: 1880; Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Roll: 88; Page: 116C; Enumeration District: 005

I wondered what had drawn them to Denver. I couldn’t find any other Langers living there at that time, but I then discovered that Colorado had drawn other members of Amalie’s extended family, including her brother Berthold.

Berthold may have been the next child of Sarah and Abraham II to arrive from Germany; although I cannot find a passenger manifest for him, the 1920 census reports that he immigrated to the US in 1874.6 In 1877, he is listed in the Philadelphia directory working as a clerk.

Title: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1877
Source Information
Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995

But by 1880, he also had relocated to Trinidad, Colorado, where he was living with his cousin Abraham Mansbach V,  the grandson of Marum Mansbach I. Abraham V was a merchant, and Bert was working as a clerk, presumably in his cousin’s store.

Bert Mansbach 1880 census
Year: 1880; Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: 92; Page: 65D; Enumeration District: 066

Abraham V had been living in Colorado for some time, as he was naturalized in Denver in 1873,7 so perhaps that was what had drawn his cousin Amalie and her husband Henry Langer to Denver by 1879.

But what had taken Abraham V to Trinidad, a town about 200 miles south of Denver? Looking at the population statistics for Trinidad, I noticed a huge population explosion between 1870, when there were 562 people residing there, and 1880, when there were 2,226.

According to the website Western Mining History:

Trinidad was incorporated in 1876 and became the supply and transportation center for the region’s coal mines. The coal from these mines was highly prized for its quality in creating coking fuels for Colorado’s smelters. As the mines and smelters of Colorado grew into a major industry, Trinidad prospered and became a wealthy commercial center full of stunning Victorian homes and buildings.

Trinidad, Colorado 1907
By Business_section_of_Trinidad,_Colorado.tif: Arthur Russell Allen derivative work: Ori.livneh (Business_section_of_Trinidad,_Colorado.tif) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Thus, Abraham Mansbach V and his cousin Berthold Mansbach must have chosen Trinidad as a place of great economic opportunity. As they say on that old commercial for Barney’s in New York City, all those people were going to need clothes.

 

UPDATE: Thanks to Sharon Haimovitz-Civitano of the Branches of our Haimowitz Family Tree and Branches on Civitano Tree blogs, I now have additional insights into why the Mansbachs ended up in Trinidad.  Those insights will be discussed in a later post, but in short, there were members of the extended Goldschmidt-Mansbach family living in Trinidad even before Berthold Mansbach and his cousin Abraham Mansbach V arrived.

But not all the Mansbach siblings chose to settle out west. Sarah and Abraham II’s oldest son Leiser/Louis Mansbach came to the US on December 16, 1876:

Louis (Lassor) Mansbach ship manifest
Year: 1876; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 406; Line: 1; List Number: 1160
Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957

 

In 1880, he was living with my great-great-grandparents, Gerson Katzenstein and Eva Goldschmidt, who was his aunt, his mother Sarah’s sister. My great-grandmother Hilda, who was then sixteen, was also living at home and thus must have known her first cousin Louis quite well. Louis was 31 years old and was a veterinary surgeon.

Louis Mansbach in the household of Gerson Katzenstein 1880 census
Year: 1880; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1173; Page: 274B; Enumeration District: 219

This is the first veterinarian I’ve found in my family.  Formal education of veterinarians in the US was relatively new at that time as the first public veterinary school in the US wasn’t founded until 1879 in Iowa, and the University of Pennsylvania did not start its veterinary school until 1884. Louis may have arrived at just the right time.

I do not have ship manifests for three of the remaining children of Sarah Goldschmidt and Abraham Mansbach II, Hannah, Meyer, and Julius.  I have tried searching on Ancestry and FamilySearch; I tried using stevemorse.org and wild cards and various spellings and different date ranges. Nothing. For Julius, as discussed below, I even had a date of arrival and ship names from his later passport applications, but still—no manifest.  If anyone is willing to try with fresh eyes, I’d be very grateful. But for now I have to rely on other documents to estimate the dates of arrival for Hannah, Meyer, and Julius. Since none of these three appeared on the 1880 census, I am assuming they arrived sometime after the taking of that census in the spring of 1880.

For Hannah Mansbach, census records indicate three different years of arrival: 1880 on the 1900 census, 1881 on the 1920 and 1930 census records, and 1885 on the 1910 census. Usually I’d assume the one closest in time, the 1900 census, would be the most reliable, but at best I can say she arrived sometime between 1880 and 1885.  Since the rest of the family had arrived by 1882, I think 1880-1881 is more likely.8

Census records also conflict regarding the arrival date for Meyer Mansbach. The 1900 census reports that he arrived in 1879, but the 1910 and 1930 census records both report 1882 as his date of arrival.9

For Julius, as noted above, I found information about his arrival on his passport applications, of which there were three—in 1900, 1903, and 1908. All three provide the same date of arrival (June 12, 1881) and the same port of departure (Bremen), but all three have different names for the ship. The 1900 application says he sailed on the Elbe, the 1903 says the Weser, and the 1908 says the Werra.

Julius Mansbach 1900 passport application
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, 1795-1905; Roll #: 550; Volume #: Roll 550 – 07 May 1900-11 May 1900

 

Julius Mansbach 1903 passport application
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Emergency Passport Applications (Issued Abroad), 1877-1907; Roll #: 41; Volume #: Volume 075: Germany

Julius Mansbach 1908 passport application
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925; Roll #: 74; Volume #: Roll 0074 – Certificates: 64339-65243, 20 Nov 1908-15 Dec 1908

Julius obviously remembered more or less when he arrived (or maybe departed from Germany), but not the name of his ship. Taking the usual rule that the record made closest in time to an event may be the most reliable, I focused on manifests for the Elbe.

I found a manifest for the Elbe arriving in New York on July 8, 1881, with a passenger named Julius “Halsbach” aged 26 (so ten years older than Julius would have been). That seemed the closest match, and I could not find anything close in date or name on the Weser or the Werra.

Julius Mansbach possible manifest
Year: 1881; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 439; Line: 1; List Number: 914
Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957

It thus seems reasonable to conclude that Hannah, Meyer, and Julius had all arrived by 1881. And so by 1881 all Sarah and Abraham’s eight living children except Kathinka had left Germany.

The following year on October 23, 1882, they were joined by their parents, my three-times great-aunt Sarah Goldschmidt and her husband Abraham Mansbach II, and their youngest daughter Kathinka. Also apparently sailing with them was a twelve year old girl named “Kath. Goldschmidt.” I have yet to identify who this was, but I assume she was the child of one of the Goldschmidt cousins still in Germany.

Abraham Mansbach II and family on passenger manifest
Year: 1882; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: M237, 1820-1897; Microfilm Roll: Roll 459; Line: 1; List Number: 1509

 

With that final arrival, all but one of the eight children and almost all the grandchildren of my three-times great-grandparents Seligmann Goldschmidt and Hincka Alexander were living the US. Only Bette Goldschmidt and her family were still in Germany.10 It must have been hard to leave Bette behind, but the choice to leave Germany was in the long run a fortunate one for the family of Seligmann and Hincka. And for all of us who are their descendants.

(A big thank you to Amberly Peterson Beck of The Genealogy Girl blog for her brilliant post, Tuesday’s Tip: Awesome & Easy Source Citations in WordPress, which explained how to create footnotes for source citations in an easy and quite useful way. This is my first post experimenting with this technique. Thank you, Amberly!)

 

 

 

  1. I will return to Simon’s family at a later time. For now I am focusing on my closest Goldschmidt relatives, the descendants of Seligmann and Hincka. ↩
  2. Two died in Germany, Jakob and Hedwig, as discussed in my earlier post. ↩
  3. There was also a second eighteen year old woman sailing with them with the same name—Amalie Mansbach. I believe the other Amalie was another relative of Abraham Mansbach II; she was the granddaughter of Marum Mansbach I and sister of Abraham Mansbach V. ↩
  4. Henry Langer on the 1900 US Census; Year: 1900; Census Place: Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado; Roll: 117; Page: 2;Enumeration District: 0031; FHL microfilm: 1240117′; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, City Directory, 1870,
    Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 ↩
  5. Joseph Langer, Passport Application, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925; Roll #: 933; Volume #: Roll 0933 – Certificates: 122000-122249, 27 Sep 1919-28 Sep 1919 ↩
  6. Berthold Mansbach, 1920 US Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Albuquerque Ward 3, Bernalillo, New Mexico; Roll: T625_1074; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 18 ↩
  7. Abraham Mansbach, Naturalization, National Archives at Denver; Broomfield, Colorado; Naturalization Records, Colorado, 1876-1990; ARC Title: Naturalization Cards, 1880 – 1906; NAI Number: 1307044; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 – 2004 ↩
  8. Hannah Mansbach on the 1900-1930 US Census records: Year: 1900; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 20, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 1463; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0425;FHL microfilm: 1241462; Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1399; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0692; FHL microfilm: 1375412; Year: 1920; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T625_1633; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 969; Year: 1930; Census Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 2125; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0778; FHL microfilm: 2341859 ↩
  9. Meyer Mansbach on 1900-1930 US Census records: Year: 1900; Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: 126; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 0064; FHL microfilm: 1240126; Year: 1910; Census Place: Philadelphia Ward 29, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: T624_1399; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0692; FHL microfilm: 1375412; Year: 1930; Census Place: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; Roll: 136; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 0108; FHL microfilm: 2339871 ↩
  10. As Bette married her first cousin Jakob Goldschmidt (yes, another one), the son of her father’s brother Lehmann, I will return to her story when I discuss the Goldschmidt family members who stayed in Germany, including Lehmann and many of his descendants. ↩