Jacob Goldsmith (1836-1922), one of the six children of Simon Goldschmidt (1800-?) and Jetta Levi Goldschmidt (1806-?), was born in Ellerstadt, Germany (Bavaria). In 1852, at the age of 16, he emigrated to the United States where he was naturalized in 1857. Goldsmith first resided in Akron, Ohio, but soon moved to Cleveland, Ohio, which had already become an important manufacturing center. Once settled in Cleveland, he started making men's clothing. In 1863, Goldsmith married Louisa Koch (1844-1864), one of the ten children of Kaufman (Caufman) (1808-1895) and Rachel Levi Koch (1817-1887). (There is no evidence to indicate that Rachel Levi Koch was related to Jacob Goldsmith's mother, Jetta Levi Goldschmidt.) Louisa died shortly after giving birth to their daughter, Nettie (1864-1930). In 1870, Jacob married Louisa's younger sister, Fanny (1849-1917). They had one child, Morton. In 1865, Goldsmith and Julius Feiss, from Baden, Germany, joined the clothing manufacturing firm of (Kaufman) Koch, (Adolph) Mayer and Company. This company changed names many times, eventually becoming Joseph and Feiss. From 1867-1907 Goldsmith was in the company name. Joseph and Feiss is still in existence and has, in recent times, been owned by Joseph Marzotta of Italy; it is currently owned by Hugo Boss of Germany. In 1880, Jacob and his second wife, Fanny, built a home at 884 Case Avenue (2200 East 40th Street), considered to be a superb example of Victorian architecture. Following their move to New York City in 1907, the house was occupied in 1908 by the Jewish Infants Orphan Home. In 1926, it became the headquarters of the Universal Negro Improvement Association founded by black nationalist Marcus Garvey. The Jacob Goldsmith house was designated as an historic landmark in 1977. By the early 1990s the building was in a serious state of disrepair, and subsequently burned down.
The Jacob Goldsmith Family Photographs, 1904-ca. 1910, consist of 28 8x10 monochrome photograph copies. In addition to photographs of the family, there also are images of servants and the governess.
This collection is of value to researchers seeking illustrative material on German Jewish settlement in Cleveland, Ohio and the Jacob Goldsmith family in particular. Of sociological note for that time period are the images of the Goldsmith servants and governess.
The collection is arranged as individual portraits, group portraits, and scenes and then chronologically within those categories.
The researcher should also consult MS 4678 Jacob Goldsmith Family Papers.
Processed by Stanley Lasky in 2006.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] PG 537 Jacob Goldsmith Family Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
These photographs were removed from MS 4678 Jacob Goldsmith Family Papers. Gift of Frank Goldsmith in 1988.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.