Alexander Frankel
Born: Prussia, June, 1857
Died: Manhattan, New York City, New York, August 23, 1920
Fannie (Zimmerman) Frankel
Born: New York City, January, 1864
Died:
Dora “Dollie” Frankel (LeDuc)
Born: New York City, July, 1881
Died:
Leopold Frankel
Born: Kentucky, November, 1885
Died:
Goldie Frankel
Born: Kentucky, December 1887
Died:
Leo Jr. LeDuc (son of Dora)
Born: Leadville, 1908
Died:
Fannie Zimmerman [1] and Alexander Frankel married in Manhattan on June 13, 1880. [2] Alex was born in Prussia during 1857 and immigrated to New York with his parents [3] in 1868. Fannie was a native New Yorker born in 1864. [4]
It is unknown when they arrived in Colorado, but they first appear in Aspen records, where Alex owned a tailoring shop, no earlier than 1890 [5] and left their previous home in Kentucky no earlier than January of 1888. [6] The arrival of Alexander Frankel in Leadville during 1894, was followed by the couple’s divorce in Aspen early in May of that year. [7] The couple had a tumultuous relationship that Aspen newspapers describe as violent. The couple had several mutually abusive incidents during 1893 that made the local news, the most recent of which degenerated into Fannie wielding axe and pistol to make her point, which resulted in her arrest and indictment for assault:
Fannie Frankel, The Defendant. Discharged.
Uncovered For the Delectation of a
Crowded Court Room - The Story of the
Belligerents - The Clothes Cutting Episode.
From Friday’s Daily:
The somewhat peculiar spectacle was witnessed in Justice Perry’s court yesterday of a man, his wife and children in court, the husband appealing to the strong arm of the law for protection from bodily harm at the hands of his wife. Mrs. Fannie Frankel was the defendant and A. Frankel was the prosecuting witness. The complaint charged that on the morning of December 27, the defendant threatened the life of her husband, flourished a dangerous looking revolver in his face and otherwise intimidated him.
As an introduction to the proceedings in court yesterday it may be stated that this couple have not lived happily together for sometime past, in fact the discord in the family has long been the concern of their friends and neighbors and the subject of a great deal of general gossip. The husband, without cause or otherwise, has been the victim of an insane jealousy and upon one occasion last spring cut up all his wife’s clothes. This unpleasantness was patched up, new clothes were procured and for a time there was an apparent calm on the trouble sea. However, a quarrel occurred a few weeks ago which led to a separation.
Mr. Frankel was the first witness sworn. He went to his residence yesterday to remove the furniture. He took one load, locked up the house and when he returned for the second load he found Mrs. Frankel upon the scene with an ax in one hand, with which she had broken open the house and in the other hand a revolver.
“What did she do with the gun?” asked his attorney.
“She pointed the gun at me, then put it behind her and dared me to come into the house again.”
“What did you do then?”
“I left right away when she pointed the gun out.”
Mr. Stimson, defendant’s attorney objected to evidence of any previous trouble but this was overruled by the court. Frankel testified that on Thanksgiving night a wordy war ended in the defendant snapping her revolver in his face two or three times and he closed with her in a scrap for possession of the weapon; that the screaming of the children brought a couple of men to the scene who took the gun from the woman. At another time he took an officer out to the house with him to help gain admission to the house and in the presence of the officer Mrs. Frankel threatened to make a corpse of him. He then had her arrested on a city warrant, but upon the advice of an attorney, dropped the case in police court. Upon the advice of Mr. Stimson he slept at his shop that night, but other men were at the house with his wife.
Upon cross examination Mr. Stimson wanted to know about the clothes cutting incident last April but the witness’ memory suddenly failed him. He could not remember whether he had cut them up or not; he had bought her new clothes and that was settled, and things that were settled he forgot; sometimes cut up old clothes. Witness carried a gun to protect himself from the men who came about his house.
Officer Scott testified to the threats of the defendant to make a corpse out of Mr. Frankel, and the state rested its case.
Mrs. Frankel testified in her own behalf. She admitted to having broken into the house with an axe and that she had a revolver but did not take it from her pocket. She did not snap the revolver in the face of her husband during their trouble three weeks ago, at that time Mr. Frankel had spit in her face and when she reached for her revolver Frankel grabbed it and had her down on the floor in a scuffle when the neighbors came and interfered.
The defendant detailed at length the family troubles for long times past and about matters irrelevant to the present case. For some months past Mr. Frankel had provided poorly for herself and children.
On cross examination the witness was requested to state where she got the revolver. She appeared considerably confused but finally said she got it through the mails but from whom she did not know.
The case was submitted without argument by the attorneys, Hays and Wiley for the state and Stimson for the defendant. The court considered the evidence insufficient to warrant binding the defendant over and ordered her release. [8]
The dissolution of marriage between Alex and Fannie was adjudicated in May of 1894, left Fannie in Aspen with the custody of their two daughters, twelve-year-old Dollie [9] and five-year-old Goldie, [10] while nine-year-old Leo came to Leadville with his father, and a $50 per month alimony/child support payment to be paid by Alex. Oddly, as volatile as the relationship between the couple appears in court records, the divorce appears to have been somewhat amicable as she did visit Alex and Leo at Leadville in the latter part of May, 1894. [11]
Alex arrived in Leadville in and found immediate employment with W.C. Wineman as a tailor, after having run his own tailoring business in Aspen, Colorado, for several years prior and having learned the trade from his own father in Manhattan as a boy. Alex and Leo took residence at 116 West 4th Street. [12]
Shortly after his arrival in Leadville, Alex was arrested for contempt of court for failing to pay Fannie alimony and child support. He was returned to Aspen with Leo in tow to stand trial in December 1894. [13]
The following article appeared in the December 14, 1894, edition of the Herald Democrat newspaper:
Held For Contempt. (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). December 14, 1894. P2.
While in Aspen to answer the charge of contempt, Alex refused Fannie’s request to visit with her son. [14] Judge Rucker ordered the mother and son to be reunited in his chambers. [15] The case was settled and there is no further mention of problems between Alex and Fannie in the years to follow.
Alex continued to work for Wineman until 1897, when he partnered with tailor Sol Hecht [16] at Hecht & Co. located at 119 East 6th Street. [17] Alex maintained a close relationship with his other children, as Dollie and Goldie came to Leadville for a two month long visit with their father on August 12, 1898. [18] In 1899, Alex dissolved his partnership with Hecht and struck out on his own, while he and Leo moved to a new home at 222 ½ East 6th Street. [19]
On July 12, 1900, Leo and Sam Amter [20] delivered a clock to Stringtown. While Amter was finishing business, Leo was left to hold the horse and wagon. The horse became spooked and ran, throwing Leo from the vehicle and rendering him unconscious. Amter took Leo back to the Sisters Hospital, but upon regaining consciousness demanded to be sent home and received no further treatment for his resulting head injury. [21] In 1903, Leo began work as a blacksmith’s apprentice for L.A. Turner’s shop located at 119 East 4th Street where he also resided. [22]
In 1905, Fannie and Alexander finally reconciled, though not with any urgency; Fannie, Goldie, and Dollie moved to Leadville from Aspen, and moved to a rental home at 606 Hemlock Street. [23] By the latter quarter of the year, the family was together again at a new home located at 130 West 7th Street. [24] The Irwins of Steamboat Springs visited Fannie and Alexander at their home in Leadville for a few days before heading on to Denver where they spent the winter with their daughter, Mrs. Shoenberg. [25]
Fannie attended a card party at the home of Mrs. Robert O’Neal on June 7, 1906, where she took second prize in the day’s competition. [26] On October 26, Leo was fined $5 for an altercation on Harrison Avenue with Sam Bray. The two had a heated argument which degenerated into Leo striking Bray. [27] This did not end Leo’s legal troubles and he found himself in front of another judge a month later on November 25, to answer for more serious charges:
Gets Three Months In Jail. (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). November 25, 1906. P6.
On December 16, 1906, Goldie gave a card party at her parents’ home. [28]
On January 29, 1907, Fannie Frankel traveled to New York City to tend to her sister who was seriously ill. [29] In March, Alex had an ongoing tiff with Leadville policeman Dennis O’Leary, regarding the move of his business to 202 East 6th Street. It seems that Frankel’s former landlord had accused Alex of stealing light fixtures from his previous location which prompted O’Leary to visit Alex’s new store to question him about the incident, and an argument then ensued:
O’leary-Frankel Litigation. [Around The City.] (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). March 14, 1907. P3.
The following article appeared in the March 17, 1907, edition of the Herald Democrat newspaper explaining the outcome of the charges:
Case Dismissed. (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). March 17, 1907 P6.
On June 10, 1907, Dollie married Leadville resident Leo E. LeDuc at the Lake County Courthouse. [30] The couple then moved to their own home at 124 East 4th Street. [31] The family remained in Leadville until 1910, [32] when Alex and Fannie had returned to their roots in Manhattan, while Goldie moved back to Kentucky with Dollie, her husband Leo LeDuc, and their two-year-old son Leo Jr. [33] Leo Frankel likely left Leadville to strike out on his own in the Bakersfield, California, area where he became a liquor dealer. [34] Fannie and Alex remained in Manhattan until his death of unknown causes on August 23, 1920. He rests at Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, New York. [35]
1 Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). (Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.)1880
2 Ancestry.com. New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
3 Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). (Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.). 1880.
4 United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration). 1900.
5 Garfield School. (Aspen CO: Aspen Daily Chronicle). October 1, 1890. P3.
6 United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration). 1900.
7 District Court. Aspen CO: Aspen Weekly Times. December 22, 1894. P2.
8 The Frankel Case. (Aspen, CO: Aspen Weekly Times). December 30, 1893. P1.
9 Garfield School. (Aspen CO: Aspen Daily Chronicle). October 1, 1890. P3.
10 Lincoln Building. (Aspen CO: Aspen Weekly Times). February 5, 1898. P3.
11 Purely Personal. (Aspen CO: Aspen Daily Times). May 27, 1894. P4.
12 JH Ballenger and Richards. Ballenger & Richard’s Fifteenth 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 1894. (Leadville, CO: Ballenger and Richards Publishers. 1894). Pp 119 & 279.
13 Held For Contempt. (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). December14, 1894. P2.
14 District Court (452). (Aspen, CO: Aspen Weekly Times). December 15, 1894. P2.
15 A. Frankel Held For Contempt. (Aspen, CO; Aspen Weekly Times). December 15, 1894. P4.
16 For more information on Sol Hecht and his family, please visit: http://www.jewishleadville.org/hecht.html
17 JH Ballenger and Richards. Ballenger & Richard’s Eighteenth 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 1897. (Leadville, CO: Ballenger and Richards Publishers. 1897). Pp 132, 153.
18 Untitled. (Aspen CO: Aspen Weekly Times). August 13, 1898. P2.
19 JH Ballenger and Richards. Ballenger & Richard’s Twentieth 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 1899. (Leadville, CO: Ballenger and Richards Publishers.1899). P139.
20 For more information on Sam Amter and his family, please visit http://www.jewishleadville.org/amter.html
21 L. Frankel Injured. (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). July 12, 1900. P6.
22 JH Ballenger and Richards. Ballenger & Richard’s Twenty-Fourth 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 1903. (Leadville, CO: Ballenger and Richards Publishers.1903). Pp144, 331
23 JH Ballenger and Richards. Ballenger & Richard’s Twenty-Sixth 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 1905. (Leadville, CO: Ballenger and Richards Publishers.1905). P142.
24 JH Ballenger and Richards. Ballenger & Richard’s Twenty-Seventh 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 1906. (Leadville, CO: Ballenger and Richards Publishers. 1906). P148.
25 Personal Mention. (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). November 18, 1905. P6.
26 Society. (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). June 10, 1906. P10.
27 Breech Of Peace. (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). October 23, 1906. P4.
28 Society. (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). December 16, 1906. P10.
29 Personal Mention. (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). Janury 30, 1907. P5.
30 Filed For Record. (Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat). June 11, 1907. P5.
31 JH Ballenger and Richards. Ballenger & Richard’s Twenty-Ninth 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 1908. (Leadville, CO: Ballenger and Richards Publishers.1908). P183.
32 JH Ballenger and Richards. Ballenger & Richard’s Thirtieth 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 1909. (Leadville, CO: Ballenger and Richards Publishers.1909). P178.
33 Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). (Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.) 1910.
34 Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995. (Bakersfield, California. City Directory, 1937. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). 2011. P193.
35 Find A Grave, database and images. Memorial Page for Alexander Frankel (Find A Grave Memorial no. 175960197). (Citing Union Field Cemetery, Ridgewood, Queens County, New York, USA). 2019.
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Advertised Letters. Leadville, CO: Herald Democrat. January 30, 1897.
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To cite any of the information in this biography, please use the following reference.
AUTHOR: Jeffrey P. Grant
EDITOR: William Korn
SOURCE: Jewish Surnames/Frankel
PUBLISHED BY: Temple Israel Foundation. Leadville, CO; USA. 2019.
STABLE URL: http://www.jewishledville.org/frankel.html
