From Peddlers to Merchant Princes: Early Colorado Jewish Entrepreneurs (RMJHS Documentary, 2006)

my name is Dorothy Kobe Barry and I was born in Aspen Colorado July 22nd 1905 I just had my H 100th birthday plus six months I think the Jewish businesses did so well because of their strong family connections and they were all hard [Music] workers [Music] Go West Young man and grow up with the country these famous words were penned in 1851 by Indiana newspaper man John soul and later adapted by Horus gy the influential editor of the New York Tribune when they encourage western migration it is unlikely that either Soul or gy Envision the number of adventurous Jewish men and women who would not only make their way west in search of opportunity but settle in Colorado to become among the state's most Innovative and successful [Music] entrepreneurs [Music] Colorado was still an untamed Wilderness when the discovery of gold near Pikes Peak in 1858 brought the area to the nation's attention by the spring of 1859 Fortune Seekers began to arrive in droves and used the rifal infant camps of Denver and araria as jumping off points Jews also took part in the quest during the big excitement as the year of the gold Discovery was called at least 12 Jews of German descent migrated to Colorado to join in the hunt for Freedom New Opportunities and wealth the unpredictability of gold mining and a growing demand for supplies encouraged many of the Jewish 1859s to establish small businesses in New Towns and Mining camps throughout Colorado their arrival marked the beginning of Colorado's Jewish [Music] Community mining was instrumental to the early development of the pioneer Jewish community in Colorado although only a small number of Jews were miners themselves many more were suppliers to the miners sometimes serving as Peddlers Traders or more often as small shopkeepers in nasset settlements before long stores run by Jewish merchants and family members in search of work and wealth flourished on the main streets of most Colorado towns including Denver Central City Leadville Trinidad Irwin Colorado Springs weblo and fair playay despite their distinction as a religious minority Pioneer Jews in communities throughout Colorado rev viewed as a positive and stabilizing influence who upheld morality and order in the new settlements as well as bringing a measure of culture to the rough Frontier as the early Pioneer men married often importing their Brides from back east and as children were born the fledgling towns of the West began to stabilize the first Russia shaa Service in Denver was held in 1859 n however it wasn't until the 1870s that these Jewish Pioneer men and women were finding more time to confront the task of building an organized Jewish community and Colorado's Jewish businessmen and later women were in the Forefront from the beginning many of these early Enterprises were a family effort involving kinship ties and the support of relatives one of the first Jewish Pioneers was Fred zic Solomon who arrived in a rare area in June of 1859 in short order he became the manager of the first general merti company in Colorado in partnership with a non-jewish partner JB Doyle the Prussian born Solomon began the Enterprise with $30,000 worth of goods Fred's brother Hyman was instrumental in bringing supplies to the South Park Colorado mining District near fair playay and the two were later joined by a third brother Adolf who became a trustee of the early gy Colorado Colony the Solomon Brothers and other Jewish 1859s contributed to the state's political and cultural life as well the relative absence of anti-Semitism and the fluid social structure in the newly established Colorado boom towns enabled many of the Jewish Pioneers to enter politics and Society with more ease than Jews had known in other areas Fred served as an early Denver city councilman as did another of the early Jewish Pioneers Merchant Leopold mayor who traveled 600 M by foot beside his Ox team to enter Denver that first year mayor later established a store and Bank in swat they were typical of the first Jewish settlers in the region young man usually unmarried and of German descent entering businesses dealing with the distribution of goods these men brought to Colorado skills in merchandising and Commerce which had been developed over the ages by their European Jewish ancestors the open and expanding American economy before and after the Civil War contributed to the success of these enterprising German Jews as did Jewish networks of credit stretching back to the east coast Fred Solomon a popular figure in early Denver Society was elected treasurer of the Chamber of Commerce in 1860 and in 18 1979 would be listed as one of the incorporators of the Colorado historical society when the territory of Colorado was formally established on February 28th 1861 Fred was in Washington for the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln he was also a founder of the Denver and araria chest and literary Society along with fellow Pioneer Abraham Jacobs the german-born Jacobs arrived in Denver in June of 185 59 opening a grocery store with a non-jewish partner Albert budy it was Jacobs who served as the secretary of the famous 1860 Moonlight meeting when the towns of Denver and araria were United under the name of Denver City Jacobs later moved his store for a time to Central City and went into partnership with Merchant Benjamin weisbart weisbart was elected mayor of Central City in 1876 and also became Jacob's brother-in-law when Abraham married Francis weisbart in 1863 Francis weisbart Jacobs became nationally known as Denver's mother of Charities and the impetus behind the founding of National Jewish hospital for consumptives in 1865 Charles M Shire came with his bride R to the growing community of Denver by covered wagon he came to join his brother Simon and EST established the Shire wholesale Wine and Liquor business with a branch in the silver Boom Town of Leadville after arriving in Denver uh my grandfather established a wholesale Wine and Liquor business servicing the mountain areas of Aspen Creek Leadville and the other Mountain communities uh and he delivered his most stock of goods by horse and wagon and they made I would guess a monthly trip to the mountains a few years after arriving here he sent back to Europe for his nephew Adolf who came here and St went to Leadville which at that time was the main main business point of Colorado and they opened a Distillery we were fortunate enough to find under a house in Georgetown this mug which was a mug of the Shire Mercantile company on Harrison Avenue in Leadville which was the Mercantile establishment of the nephew of my father like so many of the early entrepreneurs Charles Shire took a prominent role in Colorado's Jewish community and served as an early lay Rabbi of Congregation Emanuel the Shire name was to be interwoven into the thread of Colorado Jewish history over five generations LS anfanger was also typical of the young Jewish men who migrated to Colorado in the state's formative years born in Bavaria anfanger came to the US in the 1850s and moved West in 1870 to seek his Fortune anfanger started as a clerk and became a highly successful businessman in the area of real estate as well as a member of the Chamber of Commerce and later serving in the state legislature he was was a Republican and in 1894 was elected to the Colorado legislature I have here a telegram he sent to his son Milton who was a student at Stanford University th this advises Melton of his election he says Colorado all right am elected as is the entire ticket and it's signed for him family Louis anfanger anfanger built a stately house on Champa in 29th Street for his wife Louise and large family he too became an active member of the Jewish Community serving as a founder of Congregation Emanuel B brith and the National Jewish [Applause] hospital Jewish entrepreneurs found out across other towns in the state in Trinidad in 1866 7 Maurice wise opened a thriving General Store and Sam and Henry jafa owners of the newly established jafa mertile company conducted High holiday services for the small Jewish community in 1872 Kobe's men's store in Aspen became a city Hallmark and the Kobes were leaders in the early mining Community Leadville hosted a ladies Hebrew benevolence society and Benet birth chapter in the 1870s when silver discoveries thrust the community into Prosperity by 1892 Leadville had both a reform and Orthodox synagogue Jewish owned businesses in the Leadville area like the german-born Leopold Goldman's golden eagle and David Mays May Company thrived he was a friend of David Mays and they were very friendly but they had different business philosophies because he believed in cash and David May was smarter and believed in credit so the make companies have survived where the golden eagle didn't Leopold Goldman was one of Colorado's leading Pioneer entrepreneurs and philanthropist Goldman came to Colorado in 1870 in search of silver but found it more profitable to open the golden eagle clothing stores in Leadville and Creek in 1879 he moved to Denver and opened the third and most successful Golden Eagle Enterprise for many years Denver's leading popular price department store oh my grandfather LH Goldman Leopold H Goldman was a philanthropist of the first order he started so many organizations and supported so many and one of the interesting ones is that he gave his daughter for her 18th birthday the Louise Gman community center on the west side because she liked to read to the children and direct plays and that was the seed money that was used for what we know now as our great Jewish Community Center attracted by Colorado's reputation as the world sanatorium David may had moved to the state for his health but like so many Jewish immigrants found Prosperity as well born in Germany in 1848 May opened his first clothing store in Leadville in 1877 where he and his Partners sold Levis and long red Woolen underwear Sunni opened other branches in Irwin Central City and Denver David went into partnership with the shenberg brothers and cemented the relationship when he married their sister Rosa the couple became the parents of four children Morton J Tom Wilbur and Florence the May Company evolved into one of the largest department store chains in the Country David May 2 was active in the Denver Jewish community Through the work of National Jewish hospital and Temple Emanuel Leadville was also the birthplace of one of the greatest family Fortunes in American history Meer gugenheim the patriarch of the family purchased a half interest in two lead and Silver Mines the AY and mini for $5,000 by 1890 that investment was valued at $15 million Meyer's son Simon gugenheim was to become a United States senator from Colorado and a major supporter of National Jewish hospital on a much smaller scale Sam Cohen built a thriving business career in the small mining town of Fairplay uh like all those early settlers Jewish peders uh he was a pedler going from mine to mine pedling goods and um finally opened up a store in Fairplay in 1872 which burned down and uh rebuilt in 1874 and that store is still standing in fair play as is common with most uh most Jewish settlers they were not they did not do the actual mining but were interest interested in grub staking young miners uh by grub staking I mean that they would Supply the young miners with all the mining supplies for a portion of that mine and in doing so my grandfather acquired uh a large number of mining properties up in Park County Max and Ed newad were two prominent Colorado businessmen who migrated to Colorado for health reasons and were later joined by their brother Meyer they first settled in Estus Park then in 1911 moved to Denver and founded the successful High fashion new clothing store and news was the number one store in town and they were terrific they had wonderful reputation in 1948 Meyer's son myON took over the Helm of the new St company and he continued to grow the store's reput ation for elegant women's clothing also introducing clothes for girls and young women as well yes it was a qu always a quality business and uh they believed in giving the public the best they could best was being produced at the time chasing the cure for tuberculosis also brought Philip Miller the founder of Miller and Company to Denver in 1919 Phil's Brothers back in New York City owned the Miller hat company and Denver became a perfect site in which to expand Phil's early business as a traveling salesman beginning with Hats he expanded his merchandise to a variety of Western Wear clothing including boots and jeans eventually The Firm began manufacturing its own products and developed a catalog business operating both as a wholesale supplier and Retail operation now known as Miller International the Miller Stockman store was one of the most successful of its kind in the west and for some time its headquarters were in the former Golden Eagle store in Denver European Jewish immigrant Adolf Keesler also became a noted Colorado philanthropist but his Origins were modest born in Romania in 1880 Keesler settled in Denver's West kfax Jewish neighborhood at the turn of the century he began as a peddler he later recalled I worked for 15 cents a day at odd jobs then I got the job carrying coal for 75 cents a ton like so many immigrants he scrimped and saved and after 15 years and a variety of jobs he had saved enough money to launch the Peerless alloy company in 1909 by the end of the 1950s operating under his motto money is made to give away he had contributed almost $2 million to local Jewish and Community institutions such as Beth Israel Hospital the jcrs the Allied Jewish Community Fund and the University of Denver and was a staunch supporter of the early state of Israel many other East European Jewish immigrants also soon played a critical part in the state's Economic Development Robert laser Miller arrived in Colorado in 1881 from Lithuania and developed a wholesale ranching business in the northern part of the state before he and his brother Joseph Miller open a meat market on Denver's Blake Street his experience in the cattle business vaulted him to the position of Chief buyer for K&B packing company and he was a fixture on Horseback at the Denver Stockyards until he died at the age of 96 in 1940 My Father Robert laser Miller was the one of the founders of in the Stockyards and uh I think he was the only Jewish man amongst them and he got up very early he'd get up four and five to get the Stockyards so he could uh see how the prices were going they were made early but you couldn't give a price until 8:00 in the morning Lewis Robinson had immigrated from Europe to Colorado and established the first Robinson dairy farm in 1885 it was a family business with sons Morris and Hyman Lewis was also a vital force in the development of the Jewish consumptives Relief Society in 1904 in fact Robinson donated the land on which the jcrs dairy and Poultry Farm was developed following in heyman's footsteps Sam Robinson was responsible for the transformation of the Robinson Farm climax Dairy into the gold seal Dairy and in 1947 Sam's two sons Richard and Edward joined with their father to form the Robinson Dairy which remained a family Enterprise for five generations the juditz family arrived in Denver in 18 1988 via lvia Lithuania and New York City Abraham juditz became a well-known Builder contractor and developer and for many years volunteered his services on behalf of the jcrs and was instrumental in the construction of the bmh synagogue building at 16th and Gaylord the Congress and Mayflower hotels the interstate trust building and the ex-patients home among many others Abraham's son Samuel Jud was trained as an engineer and architect and began working for the United States Bureau of Reclamation in 1918 his first project was the landmark Boulder Dam and power plant now known as Hoover Dam Samuel volunteered his expertise as an architect to design many buildings in the Jewish Community such as the early bmh synagogue that his father built and the first Hebrew Educational Alliance building on Denver's west side Samuel's son e James Jud took a degree in building construction from the University of Denver and founded his own successful construction business in 1949 he also took a leading role in Community Affairs serving as a president of historic Denver the Jewish Community Center and the center for judaic studies at the University of Denver Samuel's other son William was a professor of engineering at Purdue University and found founded the Western Branch of the national ski patrol he also authored the Red Cross safety manual on first aid for skiers caught in emergency situations in 1906 Lulu and Henry Frankle senior opened the Frankle stationary at 16th in larer Henry worked in the store from the beginning but after completing law school and the death of Henry senior Henry Frankle Jr took over the business in 1914 at the age of of 22 in 19155 he changed the focus of the Enterprise and initiated the Frankl manufacturing company which produced typewriter ribbons as its first product it evolved into one of the largest firms of its kind in the world in the early 1900s Jesse Scher opened a small Luggage Factory with his father Isaac and brothers Mark Morris Benjamin and Solomon and together they turned it into one of the the largest luggage producers in America the Samsonite Corporation from the beginning the success of the early Scher Enterprise was based in large part on a supportive extended family Network The Saga Begins With The Story of Alexander rittmaster who was born in Poland in 1830 and immigrated to America to escape oppression in Europe attracted by the promise of Economic Opportunity he traveled by covered wagon to C City in the early 1860s beginning as a peddler in Blackhawk in nevadaville soon he was successful enough to open a dry good store in Central City in 1865 at the same time he encouraged and helped a number of relatives in Europe to come join him first came his nephews from Poland Abraham Harry and Jacob Levi followed by many cousins including David Lewis Isaac Abraham and Jacob Nathan Noah and Gabriel Lewis rovski all of whom eventually operated dry goods and clothing businesses in Colorado towns another cousin Abraham rovski arrived in about 1867 and became one of central City's most prominent Merchants by 1900 his New York store mertile company employed nine clerks he also became an original stockholder in the famous Central City Opera House in the meantime RIT Master's niece Miriam rovski Kobe and her husband Samuel Abraham had moved to England where their daughter Rachel married Isaac schweer a Jewish scholar from Eastern Europe they to were soon encouraged to seek their Fortunes in the New World in 1879 Isaac schweer arrived in Central City where he first worked for ab Browski and then opened his own store in nevadaville Isaac was later joined by his wife and two small children Miriam and and Samuel Abraham Kobe and their children also migrated to America first to New Jersey and then to Colorado where many members of the Kobe family established businesses in Aspen and marble my uncle ban had the Kobe shoe and clothing company and my father had the HK Trading Company Harris Kobe Trading Company and don't forget Aspen was a mining town so Merchants were very important in Denver Leon Silas and Philip Kobe opened Kobe shoestring potato company earning a national reputation before long Rachel schweer convinced her husband Isaac to move to the larger community of Denver where he first opened a grocery store at 11th and market and later a furniture store where the family began to make trunks as a sideline business was modest at first but Isaac and Rachel's Second Son Jesse born in Blackhawk in 1882 and his brothers launched the expanded trunk Enterprise with a small Factory on Santa Fe Drive in 1918 the schweers growing luggage company became a nationally recognized brand when they introduced a new strong and inexpensive Suitcase by 1923 they had expanded to an 880,000 squ foot plant on South Broadway in their advertising campaign the schweers demonstrated that their luggage was strong enough to stand on hence the name Samsonite Jesse served as the first president of the company followed by his son King David schweer and then his nephew Irving Scher the Scher family also believed in giving back to the community and supported a number of Jewish and Denver charitable Enterprises Morris Scher was a founder of General Rose Hospital and the Jesse and Nell schweer Geriatric Center was located at Beth Israel Hospital and home family members also sponsored the Scher art building and Solomon Scher judaic collection at the University of Denver the moris Scher camp the Scher theater at the Denver Jewish Community Center and the Nelly Scher pediatric Pavilion at National Jewish hospital Jesse Scher was also noted for his famous golden marble engraved with an appropriate motto for ethical business practice which proclaimed do unto others as you would have them do unto you in 1954 the University of Denver awarded Jesse an honorary doctor of Public Service agree in recognition of his community leadership Abraham Bernard held was born in 1888 in Cincinnati Ohio to Russian Jewish parents 19 years later in 1907 AB as he was known took his passion for printing and a small $35 hand press and turned them into one of the largest printing businesses in the rocky mountain region ab's son Edward born in that fate year of 1907 followed in his Father's Footsteps beginning work at the age of 12 the ab herfeld press was founded in the basement of a small store in 17th and larer before moving to much larger spaces first in 1915 to 19th and Broadway and then in 1923 the company moved to 1840 California Street AB was not only a successful entrepreneur but an active member of Colorado's Jewish community and a Civic leader one Denver newspaper dubbed him the Gutenberg of Denver in 1935 AB was elected to serve as Colorado state senator a position he held until 1941 his Innovative Spirit led him to help co-found kbtv Channel 9 in 1950 when Denver television was in its infancy for almost 100 years ab herfeld press was one of the largest family-owned and operated printing businesses in the rocky mountain region in 2005 hersfeld press merged with national Printing and packaging company to become the national hersfeld LLC with Barry herfeld ab's grandson serving as chairman of the new combined company while Colorado Jewish women had sometimes worked alongside their husbands in family businesses or ran small stores on their own Hannah Levy was probably one of the first to take a central role in a major commercial Enterprise Hannah and Jack Levy German Jewish immigrants arrived in Denver in the 1920s soon becoming leading Colorado business Proprietors Hannah began as a shop girl in Denver's new stter store and her brother Jack worked for his uncle at hilin company as a jobber or traveling salesman before long the two opened their own shop the hosery bar on Curtis Street with EMT heitler as a partner heitler later became an Executive Vice President of Samsonite before retiring in 1974 the hosery bar later evolved into the fashion bar and by 1936 the levies were running five stores two in Denver one in Colorado Springs the others in peblo and gy Hannah served as Chief buyer for fashion bar often traveling to New York and Europe to order fashionable clothing I was always in in merchandise I was always 100% occupied with the merchandise he was always 100% never went to York with the leases and the landlords and which is really much more difficult so step by step is is it just develops you on your toes and you alert and you're aware and so things just develop once you get going contrary to the uh formula that's been extremely successful for most successful businesses in the retail field we decided to stay in Colorado despite the Great Depression the Enterprise flourished and continued to expand in size and scope later businessman Bill wheel became an active member of the fashion bar team as chairman of the board and both of Jack Sons Bob and John served as presidents of the company by the 1980s fashion bar employed over 1,700 people in over 80 stores one of the divisions was named Hannah after its co-founder Hannah Jack and their younger brother Edward as well as the extended family supported numerous Jewish Civic and cultural causes including Rose Hospital and the University of Denver and helped countless individuals on a personal [Music] basis Colorado Jewish businessman Jack a w moved to Denver in the 1920s and became a Pioneer in the Western Wear industry in 1933 he entered into a partnership with Philip Miller and helped grow the Miller company significantly in 1946 Jack left to open his own business Rock Mount ranchwear yet he and Miller remained good friends and the Miller catalog even carried shirts produced by Rock mount for many years Jack a wild is credited with introducing the first commercially made western shirt with diamond shaped snap buttons and Sawtooth pocket flaps and the first commercially produced bolo ties today at the age of 105 Jack a while still goes to work every day with his son jack B and Grandson Steve the slogan at rockmount is we put the snap in western shirts my grandfather Jack aw made the first shirts with snaps and we are the longest producing company of snap shirts as a result um a lot of people don't realize that the Western apparel business largely started in Denver and uh in this neighborhood rock where Rock mount's located on wasi Street there were several companies uh many of them are gone um and we are the last remaining Western Weare company or for that matter early mertil company in loo so the three generations at rockmount reflect the spread of the popularity of Western Weare around the [Music] world uh I have always said that the West Was a state of mind that it was not a geographic line at all part of that state of mind while referred to was a pervading sense of optimism about the many possibilities available in the region from the very beginning Colorado provided a welcoming environment for its Jewish citizens who made important contributions to the wider society as well as developing their own vibrant Jewish Community their success was facilitated by Jewish networks of support that often extended back to the east coast as relatives and friends helped finance their initial start for nearly 15 years Colorado Jewish entrepreneurs have played an integral part of our state's development and helped shape the Contours of the Region's development not only did they succeed in business but they played a pivotal role in growing Colorado and the American West e e

Channel: Center for Judaic Studies @ DU

Views: 62

Keywords:

Id: qxXVgsv0v0U

Length: 38min 2sec (2282 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 14 2024