Some of the Early Jewish Pioneers of St. Louis, Missouri, 1840’s-185’s
Values Codes I – E – L
St. Louis Vintage Sign, postcard
Adolph Klauber
Adolph Klauber was born in Bohemia in 1816.
In 1840, at the age of 24, he established an iron and metal manufacturing company in St. Louis, Missouri.
Adolph Klauber was a founding member of Congregation B’nai El.
Adolph Klauber married Betty.
They had one son, Daniel (b.1858).
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Adolph Meyer
Adolph Meyer opened the Phoenix Livery Stable during the 1850’s.
Meyer was the unofficial Jewish undertaker and conducted funerals for about thirty years.
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Jonas Meyerberg
Jonas Meyerberg was born in in Westphalia, Prussia.
In the 1850’s, Meyerberg came to America, joining his brother in St. Louis at a small millinery firm.
Jonas Meyerberg bought out his brother and created a new company called Meyerberg & Rothschild.
Jonas Meyerberg died in 1905. Meyerberg was described by the Voice as “one of the moving spirits of the St. Louis Jewish community.”
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Robert & William Goldstein
Robert Goldstein and William Goldstein were brothers born in Prussia.
As teenagers, they journeyed to America, settling in Natchez, Mississippi.
In 1853, after surviving the yellow fever epidemic, the Goldstein brothers headed for St. Louis.
They worked for a clothing firm.
Then, in 1858, the brothers established R. & W. Goldstein, their own wholesale clothing business.
William Goldstein helped found Shaare Emeth Temple and served as President.
He also helped establish the Hebrew Free and Industrial School and the Alliance night schools.
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Solomon Marx
Solomon Marx (1826-1890) settled in St. Louis in 1853.
In 1855, Solomon Marx opened a clothing firm.
As business picked up, Marx moved the firm several times, from North Third Street to Main Street, Fifth Street, Seventh Street, Tenth Street and, finally, to Thirteenth and Washington.
In 1893, he incorporated the firm as Marx & Haas Clothing Company.
Sources
- Walter Ehrlich, Zion in the Valley: The Jewish Community of St. Louis, Volume 1 (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1997).
- Ellen Jane Freund Schwartz, Freund Family Chronicles (St. Louis, MO: 1992).
Samantha Silver is curator of this Early St. Louis Jewish Pioneers exhibit.