Temple Israel
Feitleberg

“Infant” Feitleberg
Occupation: N/A
Born: Appox. June 1884
Birthplace: Presumably, Leadville
Died: August 5, 1884 (interred at Leadville’s Hebrew Cemetery)

Assumed Relatives:
Nachman Feitleberg (Fetleberg, Feitelberg)
Occupation: Laborer
Born: N/A
Birthplace: N/A
Died: N/A

Mrs. Feitleberg
Occupation: N/A
Born: N/A
Birthplace: N/A
Died: N/A

There is very little information that can be found on the Feitleberg family. The infant Feitleberg was interred at the Leadville Hebrew Cemetery in 1884, listed as two months old, with a simple wooden marker bearing no more information than the name. [1] Listed in the 1884 Leadville city directory is what seems to be the misspelled name of Nachman Fetleberg. [2] It is quite likely that this was the head of the Feitleberg family whose time in Leadville was short. He appeared, as a laborer, only once in the city directories. Nachman appears in one more location, in the Carbonate Chronicle’s June 21, 1884 “List of Letters” under yet another alternative spelling as N. Feitelberg. [3]

Original wood marker for Infant Feitleberg.

Original wood marker for “Infant Feitleberg” in the Hebrew Cemetery in Leadville, Colorado.

Hebrew Cemetery of Leadville (Leadville, Lake County, Colorado), Infant Feitleberg, Grave marker.

Photo by Robert-George de Stolfe in 2015 for the Temple Israel Foundation.

Closeup of Infant Feitleberg marker.

Closeup of the Infant Feitleberg grave marker. Upon first glance, one might think the marker was made with raised lettering. However, this is not the case. The new marker was a plank of flat wood with a rounded top that had the name painted on the flat wood. Over the last one hundred years, the combination of sun, rain, and snow eventually wore down the wood. However, the weather could not wear down the wood nearly as fast under the painted areas, thus leaving what looks like a raised effect. For the same reason, the original wood marker was a little thicker that it currently shows.

Editor Notes

The Feitleberg grave marker was the only wood tombstone found in the Hebrew Cemetery. The other historic markers in the Hebrew Cemetery are stone or concrete. Wood grave markers were the simplest and least expensive markers available, often because “blanks” were available ready to use, with just the need to hand paint or to stencil on the board the name of the deceased. Other nearly identical wood markers with the simple shape and basic lettering that remain exist throughout the Evergreen Cemetery. The inexpensive, simple nature of the wood grave marker hints at the economic status of the Feitleberg family.

1 “Who’s Where in Leadville’s Evergreen Cemetery.” Historical Research Co-operative (Leadville, CO: USA, 1981), P F2.
2 T. B. Corbett and J. H. Ballanger, Corbet & Ballenger’s Fifth Annual City Directory: Containing a Complete List of the Inhabitants, Institutions, Incorporated Companies, Manufacturing Establishments, Business, Business Firms Etc. in the City of Leadville for 1884 (Leadville, CO: Corbett & Ballenger Publishers, 1884), P113.
3 List of Letters (Leadville, CO: Carbonate Chronicle) June 21, 1884, P10.

Bibliography

Corbett, T. B., and J. H Ballenger. Corbett & Ballenger’s Fifth Annual City Directory Containing a Complete List of the Inhabitants, Institutions, Incorporated Companies, Manufacturing Establishments, Business, Business Firms Etc. in the City of Leadville for 1884. Leadville, CO: Corbett & Ballenger Publishers, 1884.

List of Letters. Leadville, CO: Carbonate Chronicle. June 21, 1884.

“Who’s Where in Leadville’s Evergreen Cemetery.” Historical Research Co-operative. Leadville, CO; USA, 1981.

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To cite any of the information in this biography, please use the following reference.

AUTHOR: Jeffrey P. Grant
CONTRIBUTOR: Quinn Whittington
EDITOR: William Korn
SOURCE: Jewish Surnames/Feitleberg
PUBLISHED BY: Temple Israel Foundation. Leadville, CO; USA. 2020.
STABLE URL: http://www.jewishleadville.org/feitleberg.html

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