Solomon Garrett
Born: 1871, Indiana
Died: (?)
In Leadville from 1894 to 1907
Hattie (Cohn) Garrett
Born: 1879, Texas
Died: September 13, 1957 Spokane, Washington
Gertrude Garrett (Sol’s Sister)
Born: 1879, Indiana
Died: (?)
Known Addresses:
319 Harrison Avenue, 1895-96
Vendome Hotel, 1897
321 Harrison Avenue, 1898-99
6 Callaway Block, 1899-1901
318 Harrison Avenue, 1904-06
140 W 4th Street, 1906-07
Solomon Garrett was born in 1871 Indiana, [1] and although it is unclear when he arrived in Colorado, he was a member of an Indiana Zouave regiment [2] and likely came to Pueblo, Colorado after his tour of service ended. [3] Sol was politically active during his short time in Pueblo; in 1893 he was elected as a delegate [4] for the local chapter of the Populist Party, [5] a burgeoning, pro-labor movement that was founded in 1892. A clothing store clerk by trade, Sol spent time in Pueblo before trekking up the Arkansas Valley to Leadville in 1894. [6] There he found a position with the Strauss Shoe and Clothing Company [7] and took up residence at 318 Harrison Avenue.
By all accounts, Sol was well liked around town, and participated in numerous social functions. Sol was an amateur boxer with a strong left punch, [8] and a zealous outdoorsman who often spent his leisure time fishing and hunting in the wilderness surrounding Leadville. [9] In general, although it is evident that Sol was popular at his trade and could attract customers to whatever retailer he chose to work for, he changed employers, as well as residences, with relative frequency. Typically, his new employers would announce the move with relative zeal in their weekly advertisements whenever Sol changed firms. [10]
From 1894 to 1897, Sol worked for the Strauss Shoe and Clothing Company. Shortly after noon on Wednesday, October 30, 1896, some empty boxes stored near the store’s wood burning stove ignited, Sol discovered the developing fire quickly and sounded the alarm. By the time the fire department arrived, the building was fully involved in flames. In the aftermath, it was realized the flames themselves did little damage, but most of the backroom stock had been doused with water, resulting in a stock liquidation sale the following week. [11]
Sol left the Strauss firm and accepted employment, briefly, with the Neuman & Marks [12] clothing store before leaving Leadville for a short stint in Seattle over the winter of 1898-99. This periphrastic behavior may also be indicative of his political leanings; the aforementioned membership in the Populist Party, [13] as well as being a founding member of Leadville’s chapter of the Retail Clerk’s Union of America where he was elected to the office of Treasurer. [14] It does appear that Sol changed employers wherever and whenever he found an opportunity of greater benefit. Merchants took great pride in having Sol on their sales floors, and he would find establishments always eager to hire him, sometimes for a second or third tenure. [15] The Strauss Shoe & Clothing Company welcomed Sol back to his old position when he returned from Washington in 1899. [16] He remained with the Strauss operation until he left Leadville again, for parts unknown, in the latter days of 1900. [17]
Sol was well liked about town, and participated in many of the events held by the community or the Temple Israel congregation. He was always willing to offer a helping hand. In the late summer, while on a fishing trip near Norrie (northeast of Aspen), Sol happened upon two Leadville police officers on a fishing trip who regaled him with their tale of their horse who managed to wriggle free from his harness, leaving them and their wagon full of supplies behind. Sol guided them to a hot fishing spot where they filled their baskets then helped them locate the railroad tracks and flag down a passing locomotive who’s engineer returned them to Leadville. [18]
Sol was absent from Leadville from late 1900 to February, 1902, [19] and when he returned it was with new plans as he and Hattie Cohn, co-congregant of Temple Israel and member of the Cohn family which moved to Leadville in 1879, were married shortly after his homecoming. The Cohn family owned and operated a series of pawnshops around town. [20] The couple was married on April 5, 1902. [21] Sol obviously enjoyed a strong relationship with the Cohn family having known Hattie since at least 1895 when they attended a fundraiser for the Ice Palace together. [22] Hattie was often mentioned in the social columns and once, in 1887, she accepted a role as one of the human playing cards in a life sized game of Whist, [23] a popular ‘trick’ card game of the era, at the Weston Opera House. [24] Soon to be brother–in–law, Morris Cohn, hosted Sol’s bachelor party on March 1st; an affair significant enough to warrant attention from the local newspapers. [25]
Sol and Hattie did not remain in Leadville for long after their wedding. Late in the summer of 1902, they left for Phoenix where they planned to make their new home. [26] Phoenix did not appear to be all the couple envisioned. Hattie returned to Leadville for a lengthy visit with her parents during the early summer of 1903 [27] which was followed a few months later by the death of her mother, Fanny Cohn, from a brief and sudden illness early in 1904. [28] Sol and Hattie moved back to Leadville in May of that year and Sol accepted a position with The Famous [29] clothing store. Sol’s sister Gertrude made the decision to move from Cripple Creek to Leadville shortly thereafter and joined the couple on November 20, 1904. [30]
Sol continued to enjoy Leadville’s proximity to outdoor sports, led hunting parties, [31] and broke all of his own standing fishing records on a trip to Piney Lake in August of 1906. [32]
In 1907, Sol, Hattie, and Gertrude moved way from Leadville for good to make a new home in Spokane, Washington. They couple never had children and records for Sol and Gertie become scarcer after 1907. Hattie died in Spokane on the thirteenth day of September, 1957, at the age of 83. [33]
1 “Index For 1900 Census, Lake County, CO”. Historical Research Cooperative. Leadville, CO; USA. 1985. NPN.
2 “Ready To Go To The Front”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. April 22, 1898. P 6.
3 Sol was subject to recall by the Frankfort Indiana Zouaves as a result of the Spanish American War in 1898. For More information see: https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=THD18980422.2.88&dliv=none&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-Ready+To+Go+To+The+Front-------0-Lake
4 “Populist Primaries”. The Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO; USA. March 16, 1893. P 5.
5 The Populist Party was essentially a bourgeois, pro labor/agriculture, anti-racist movement that had an element of Marxism, which was peaking in its popularity during the latter 19th and early 20th centuries. For more information see Richard Wormser’s “Jim Crow Stories: Populist Party Founded, 1892”. Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Service. Denver, CO; USA. 2002.
6 “Pueblo Pickings”. The Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO; USA. June 3, 1894. P 6.
7 Corbett, TB and Ballanger, JH. “Corbet, and Ballenger’s 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 1885”.
8 “The Outdoor Amusements”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. July 25, 1895. P 7.
9 “After Duck”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. October 9, 1906. P 6.
10 “The Famous”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. May 18, 1905. P 5.
11 “Fire! Fire! Fire!”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. January 6, 1887. P 10.
12 “Do We? Of Course We Do!”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. May 14, 1898. P 6.
13 “Populist Primaries”. The Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO; USA. March 16, 1893. P 5.
14 “Happenings Of The Day: Retail Clerks Meet”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. March 1, 1900.
15 Over the course of Sol Garrett’s time in Leadville, which is essentially from 1894 to 1907, there were short absences over the 1898-99 Winter in which he moved to Seattle, another brief period in 1901-02 to ‘parts unknown’ and again from the Winter of 1902 until the Spring of 1904 when he was in Phoenix, finally moving to Spokane, Washington in 1907 after which he did not return to Leadville.
16 Ballenger, JH and Richards. “Ballenger & Richard’s Nineteenth 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 1900”. Corbet and Ballenger and Richards Publishers. 1900.
17 Ballenger, JH 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 1901”.
18 “Party Got Left”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. August 29, 1899. P 4.
19 “Personal Mention”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. February 23, 1902. P 6.
20 For more information please visit: www.jewishleadville.org/cohn
21 Married April 5, 1902. Nancy Manly. “Index To Marriages and Marriage Licenses Recorded At The Lake County Courthouse”. Manly & Wolford. Leadville, CO; USA. 1990. P 190.
22 “Why Not Drop In Your Mite”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. December 3, 1895. P 3.
23 "Whist – Card Game Rules." Bicycle Playing Cards. Accessed September 02, 2017. http://www.bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/whist/.
24 “Weston Opera House, June 14”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. June 11, 1887.
25 “Society”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. March 1, 1902. P 10.
26 “Personal Mention”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. August 10, 1902. P 11.
27 “Personal Mention”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. July 26, 1903. P 8.
28 “Death Of Mrs. Joseph Cohn, Well known Leadville Lady”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. February 23, 1904.
29 “Personal Mention”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. May 6, 1904. P 2.
30 “Personal Mention”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. November 20, 1904. P 10.
31 “After Duck”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. October 9, 1906. P 6.
32 “Around The City: Fishing Party”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. August 24, 1906. P 6.
33 "Washington Death Certificates, 1907-1960," database, FamilySearch Hattye L. Garrett, 13 Sep 1957.
Bibliography
“After Duck”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. October 9, 1906.
“Around The City: Fishing Party”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. August 24, 1906.
“Around The City: Judge Marries Couple”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. November 10, 1905.
Ballenger, JH 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 1895”. Corbet and Ballenger and Richards Publishers. 1895.
Ballenger, JH and Richards. “Ballenger & Richard’s Sixteenth 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”. Corbet and Ballenger and Richards Publishers. 1897.
Ballenger, JH and Richards. “Ballenger & Richard’s Seventeenth 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 1898”. Corbet and Ballenger and Richards Publishers. 1898.
Ballenger, JH 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 1899”. Corbet and Ballenger and Richards Publishers. 1899.
Ballenger, JH and Richards. “Ballenger & Richard’s Nineteenth 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 1900”. Corbet and Ballenger and Richards Publishers. 1900.
Ballenger, JH 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 1901”. Corbet and Ballenger and Richards Publishers. 1901.
Ballenger, JH and Richards. “Ballenger & Richard’s Twenty First 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 1902”. Corbet and Ballenger and Richards Publishers. 1902.
“Do We? Of Course We Do!”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. May 14, 1898.
“The Famous”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. May 18, 1905.
“Fire! Fire! Fire!”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. January 6, 1887.
“Happenings Of The Day: Retail Clerks Meet”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. March 1, 1900.
“Index For 1900 Census, Lake County, CO”. Historical Research Cooperative. Leadville, CO; USA. 1985.
Manly, Nancy. “Index To Marriages And Marriage Licenses Recorded At The Lake County Courthouse”. Manly & Wolford. Leadville, CO; USA. 1990.
“The Outdoor Amusements”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. July 25, 1895.
“Party Got Left”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. August 29, 1899.
“Personal Mention”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. February 23, 1902
“Personal Mention”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. August 10, 1902.
“Personal Mention”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. June 7, 1903.
“Personal Mention”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. May 6, 1904.
Wormser, Richard. “Jim Crow Stories: Populist Party Founded, 1892”. Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Service. Denver, CO; USA. 2002.
“Populist Primaries”. The Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO; USA. March 16, 1893.
“Pueblo Pickings”. The Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO; USA. June 3, 1894.
“Ready To Go To The Front”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. April 22, 1898.
“With The Wheelmen”. The Colorado Daily Chieftain. Pueblo, CO; USA. May 25, 1894.
“World Of Society”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA.
"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFND-LSB : 15 July 2017), Hattie Cohn in household of Joseph Cohn, Sherman, Grayson, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district ED 1, sheet 1A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1306; FHL microfilm 1,255,306. “Jolly Reign Of Winter”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. January 20, 1895. P 4.
"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MGJR-66Y : accessed 2 September 2017), Hattie S Garrett in household of Sol J Garrett, Spokane Ward 2, Spokane, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 166, sheet 14A, family 29, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1670; FHL microfilm 1,375,683.
"Washington Death Certificates, 1907-1960," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N31H-49D : 5 December 2014), Hattye L. Garrett, 13 Sep 1957; citing Seattle, King, Washington, reference 17033, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Olympia; FHL microfilm 2,033,738.
"Whist – Card Game Rules." Bicycle Playing Cards. Accessed September 02, 2017. http://www.bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/whist/.
“The World Of Society”. Herald Democrat. CC Davis And Co. Leadville, CO; USA. January 16, 1898.
Wormser, Richard. “Jim Crow Stories; Populist Party Founded, 1892”. Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Service. Denver, CO; USA. 2002. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_populist.html .
To cite any of the information in this biography, please use the following reference.
AUTHOR: Jeffrey P. Grant
EDITOR: William Korn
SOURCE: Jewish Surnames/Garrett
PUBLISHED BY: Temple Israel Foundation. Leadville, Colorado; USA. 2022.
STABLE URL: http://www.jewishledville.org/garrett.html
