Isaac Goldstein
Born: Unknown
Died: 1879, Red Cliff, Colorado.

Isaac Goldstein arrived in Leadville on a mission: To find his wife, Rebecca, who had been declared dead by the United States government, the result of a renegade Ute Indian attack. It is unclear when Rebecca passed through the region, but reportedly she had gone to San Francisco to visit her brother who had been working as a miner in the Northern California gold fields. On her return trip, Rebecca’s party was ambushed by a band of Utes somewhere in Northeastern Utah. Isaac did not believe that Rebecca had been killed, [1] and with good reason; most Ute factions were peaceful when treated respectfully, and often took women and children hostage in conflicts, while only exacting violence on combatants. [2]

Isaac came to Leadville in the summer of 1879 as a peddler [3] and quickly employed that trade within the Indian agencies in the area as a tool for gathering information on Rebecca’s whereabouts. Difficulties would arise when Isaac went trading at the White River Indian Agency located about 20 miles north of Leadville near the settlement of Red Cliff. [4] Nathan Meeker, originally sent to Colorado as a newspaper man at the behest of his employer, Horace Greeley. Meeker lived amongst the Utes at a time when Colorado Governor Fredrick Walker Pitkin was demanding that the Utes assimilate to an agrarian lifestyle or relocate to the Indian Territory. Pitkin believed that Meeker was the man to help the local Ute, Chief Johnson, convince his people to make the transition. Chief Johnson refused to comply and on September 28, when Isaac Goldstein arrived at the agency camp to conduct business, relations between the Utes and the agents were on the verge of a violent altercation. [5] Meeker had already called for army reinforcements, [6] and was awaiting their arrival from Wyoming in hopes to regain control of Chief Johnson, by force if necessary.

On September 29, 1879, Utes under the command of Chief Johnson, attacked the agency, killing all ten employees, Isaac Goldstein, and his business partner, Julius Moore. They then ambushed the cavalry detail sent to aid Meeker. [7] As Isaac might have predicted, the only survivors were women. Chief Johnson spared the lives of Meeker’s wife and daughter along with the wife of an officer by the name of Price, [8] who were then held captive for twenty-three days. [9] Their release was negotiated by Chief Ouray, another Ute leader of the region who was well respected among the aboriginals and the local settlers for his cooperative philosophy. [10]

Isaac Goldstein’s body was found a few days later, with two gunshot wounds through his heart. He was buried by a military detail, where he fell, with a simple wooden marker that read:

Etching in newspaper based on an original sketch depicting the aftermath of the Meeker Massacre.

Original source: Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. Saturday, December 6, 1879. Page 245.

Denver Public Library Special Collections:
https://cdm16079.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/19815

Bottom of image shows:
“(A) Piles of Ashes. [at least four spots]
(F) The Agency Farm.
(G) Graves of the Agent and Employés where they fell. [at least 6 spots]
(J) House of Sub-Chief Johnson.
(M) Grave of Indian Agent [N. C.] Meeker.
(P) Grave of [W. H.] Post, the Clerk and Postmaster.”

“Colorado.—The late Ute outbreak and massacre at the White River Agency—The ruins after the fire and massacre.—From a sketch by Lieutenant C. A. H. McCauley, Third U. S. Cavalry. See page 238.”

Gravestones text in image show:
Left (M): “N. C. Meeker. Agt. White River. Killed By Them Utes, Sept. 29 or 30, [18]79”
Right (P): “W. H. Post, Clerk & Agt. Killed By Utes, Sept 29 30 31, 1879”

Adam Goldstein
Born: 1846, Germany
Died: 1885, Yakima (Yakimo City), Washington

Adam Goldstein came to Leadville in 1880 from Oneida, Califonia. Adam was a brewer who seemed to follow gold strikes across the United States; first records appear in California in 1880 where he likely left his wife, Francis, to journey east to Colorado. [12] When the excitement of Leadville wore thin, he then moved on to the Washington Territory. Adam was noted as having lost “normal” use of his hands and feet due to an unknown disease, this might explain his urge to be as close as possible to the excitement of mining activity without the ability to participate in the glory of a lode discovery himself. [13]

Adam had a penchant for the rougher lifestyle and worked at the Gaw Brewery in California Gulch, [14] an establishment that achieved regional notoriety as a hangout for highwaymen and outlaws because of its proximity to a stand of trees that cast a heavy shadow on the road in late afternoon. This provided favorable cover for any bandit looking for a quick score on a weary, unsuspecting traveler. [15]

Adam Goldstein’s only notable mention in the local newspapers during his time in Leadville was his election to the office of trustee for the newly formed Leadville Electric Light Company in 1882. [16] He maintained this position briefly having likely left the area for the Washington frontier early in 1883.

Adam’s time in Washington Territory was also short-lived after having found a similar working environment at a brewery outside of what is now Yakima, Washington. Adam’s documented temper and quarrelsome disposition found him on the wrong end of a six-gun owned and operated by a customer known only as “Schanno”, who put an end to the argument, and Adam’s life in September of 1885. [17]

Meyer Goldstein
Born ?
Died ?

Meyer Goldstein arrived in Leadville in the autumn of 1879. There are no records that can be successfully tied to Meyer prior to or after his departure from the area. Records show that Meyer’s pawnshop, located at 415 Harrison Avenue, [18] was one of the more successful businesses during the last two months of 1879, [19] but the establishment and Meyer disappear from Leadville by the time the next city directory is published in the spring of 1881. [20]

I. Goldstein
Born: 1855, Germany
Died: ?

N. Y. Goldstein (Wife)
Born: 1852
Died: ?

Kate Goldstein (Daughter)
Born: 1876, Colorado.
Died: ?

Very little information can be found for the I. Goldstein family which appeared only in the 1880 United States Census. The family lived in Leadville and I. Goldstein’s occupation was listed as a pawnbroker. The family never appeared in the city directories and no public records have been found for any household members other than in 1880. [21]

Morris Goldstein
Born: ?
Died:?
Occupation: Saloonkeeper

Mrs. Morris Goldstein
Born: ?
Died:?

Morris came to Leadville in 1880 from Fairplay, Colorado, where he owned a one eighth interest in the Occidental Lode mining patent. He sold his percentage of the mine to Joseph Wassmick in April of 1880 for $200. [22] He then moved over Mosquito Pass to Leadville where he partnered with Edwin Hinckley and soon after opened the Hinckley & Goldstein Saloon at 210 West Chestnut. [23] In 1882, for reasons unknown, the partnership dissolved and Morris moved the establishment to 203 Harrison avenue, [24] the new location featured a betting parlor upstairs, popular with the locals, known as the New York Club. [25]

Morris’ presence in the city directories over the next few years is sporadic, but some of his antics did not escape reporting in the local newspapers. In 1885, Morris was accused of stealing $56 from Mary Canneo (aka Onetty), a local woman of questionable reputation who gave the money to Morris’ bartender to hold as collateral for her bar tab. Morris was cleared of wrongdoing when the bartender testified that Mary was quite generous with the men in attendance and that her tab exceeded the money held for safekeeping. [26] Later that year, Morris’ Little Queen Saloon, located in California Gulch next to the Colonel Sellers Concentrator, was gutted by fire with all evidence pointing to arson. Too far from town for the Fire Department to respond, a group of miners sleeping in a Seller’s building located only eight feet away from the Saloon responded quickly and despite the destruction of the Little Queen, kept the fire from spreading to adjacent structures, including the concentrator which was valued at approximately $60,000. Further controversy was uncovered in the aftermath as the miners investigated and discovered that the cellar had been stoked with wood shavings and old paper, and a trail of coal oil led to the entryway where a key was found that was normally located on a hook by the saloon’s front door. [27]

The insurance companies that underwrote the Little Queen had concerns not only with the obvious evidence of intentional ignition, but that the bar’s inventory. which had been restocked a few days earlier, had disappeared. The miners were convinced that the suspect was among them, having emptied the saloon of its cigars and whiskey before igniting the building. The miners met in private and in an act of either benevolence, or simply not wanting to draw attention from the law, advised their suspect to leave the area by the week’s end. Add to these concerns the fact that Morris’ saloon at 203 Harrison Avenue had also been lost to a fire two years earlier. The insurance companies paid a total of $550 on Morris’ claim of $1,500 for the loss of the Little Queen, and two of the three insurer’s refused to underwrite another of his businesses in Leadville. [28]

There is little to reference Morris Goldstein having a family with the exception of a casual mention in the July 27, 1885, edition of the Carbonate Chronicle that remarks of a “Mrs. Morris Goldstein” having attended a picnic given by the Leadville Miner’s Union. [29] Throughout January of 1886, there are repeated mentions of Morris Goldstein’s new concert hall, The House Of All Nations, and the grand opening scheduled for February 2nd. However, the establishment never appears in the city directories and there are no newspaper references of the enterprise ever opening for business. In June of 1886, Morris paid a $5 fine for breeching the peace in an incident where he had punched a man named Al Ryan in the face in what appeared to be a case of mistaken identity. [30] This is the last mention of Morris Goldstein in Leadville.

Simon Goldstein
Born: 1839, Germany
Died: ?

Louis Goldstein
Born: 1864, Washington, DC
Died: Leadville, May 31, 1882

In late 1880, Simon Goldstein left his home, his eight children, his wife, and his mother–in-law [31] and came to Leadville in an effort to expand and build upon his already successful jewelry enterprise. [32] Simon then partnered with Hiram Brodie and before year’s end the Goldstein & Brodie jewelry store was a thriving operation. Simon’s seventeen-year-old son, Louis, would join him in the spring of 1881 and work alongside his father as a clerk. [33] Simon was never a full time resident of Leadville with other business interests in Washington, DC, and New York City. He typically spent his winter months in Leadville and the rest of the year on the east coast of the United States. [34]

Simon Goldstein and Hiram Brodie took over their business space from the firm of Kaskel & Company at 309 Harrison Avenue after a sinkhole caused the building’s front façade to fall into the street. [35] The opening of Goldstein & Brodie was a grand affair indeed; a contest was held where a watch and chain were awarded to the most popular lady while a gold handled cane went to most popular gentleman in Leadville. [36] Christmas sales were brisk and the enterprise was off to a successful start. [37]

On the front page of the Leadville Weekly Democrat the last day of 1881 was a full page of store fronts of businesses in Leadville, especially on Harrison Avenue. The late 1870s and early 1880s was time of a building frenzy in Leadville. Here is the drawing of the storefront for Goldstein & Brodie at 309 Harrison Avenue.

Leadville Weekly Democrat. December 31, 1881. Page 1.

On September 9, 1881, a complaint was sworn out by the Taylor & Brunton Stamp Mill against several men who were believed to have stolen bullion and amalgam from the plant. A few days later John F. Bateman, a stock exchange caller and mining speculator who traveled in the upper societal circles in Leadville, appeared at Goldstein & Brodie with recently formed silver bars he wanted to sell. Louis noticed his demeanor was “suspicious” and declined the purchase. [38] Bateman was able to dispose of the bars elsewhere, and there was a report of his trying to purchase a diamond ring on credit from another firm, which also declined to make a deal with him. Bateman disappeared around the same time that local police determined that he was the primary suspect in the Taylor & Brunton theft. He was soon arrested in Chicago and returned to Leadville to stand trial as the mastermind of a small ring of bullion thieves. [39]

In the short period of time Goldstein & Brodie was in business, the firm was quite active in the Leadville community and often supplied awards and prizes for various events around Leadville. They designed and manufactured a special custom clock as a gift from the community to Mr. and Mrs. Howard C. Chapin, [40] and a solid gold badge that was awarded to Colonel A. M. Clay in recognition of his service as general manager of the Leadville Telephone Company. [41]

In January of 1882, Simon was elected vice president of the newly formed Leadville Electric Light Company.[42] When Simon left town that year, Hiram Brodie threw him a going away party and presented him with a silver brick as a gesture of their close friendship. [43] Simon continued to split time between his three centers of operation, Leadville, New York, and Washington, but on his departure from Leadville in the spring he stopped in Denver to scout new locations for further expansion. He found a newly constructed storefront at 17th and Larimer Street in the bustling downtown sector which at the time was in a rapid growth phase. [44] On Simon’s return to Leadville in June of 1882, the firm announced that it would be closing its doors effective August 1st and relocating its Colorado base of operations to Denver. [45]

Louis was very active within the Leadville community during the year he was in town working for his father. In the spring of 1882, Louis left firm to work for the City Bank, and was an active member of the Leadville militia. On May 19, 1882, Louis pitched in to help his friends in the volunteer fire department during the infamous Palace of Fashion fire which burned much of the block of Chestnut Street at Harrison Avenue. Soon after, Louis contracted a cold which developed into pneumonia. Upon Simon’s return to Leadville on May 31, 1882, he visited with the ailing Louis for about an hour before the younger Goldstein passed on from his illness. He is interred at the Leadville Hebrew Cemetery. [46] Within a few days Simon announced that his firm would be closing its doors effective August 1st, and relocating its Colorado base of operations to Denver. [47]

Goldstein & Brodie closed their doors for good on August 1, 1882, as advertised. Louis and Hiram Brodie relocated to Denver to operate the new location and Simon continued to travel for business. He regularly returned to Leadville on short trips as part of the wholesale division of their enterprise. [48]

Advertisement for Goldstein & Brodie, “The Leading Jewelers”, announcing that half of the store would be available to sublet to “a responsible business”.

Leadville Daily Herald. Sunday, May 7, 1882. Page 1.

Advertisement for Goldstein & Brodie on the last day the business was open in Leadville before Brodie moved to a new store in Denver.

Leadville Daily Herald. Tuesday, August 1, 1882. Page 1.

David Goldstein
Born: ?
Died: ?

The only reference to David Goldstein comes from the January 24, 1888, edition of the Leadville Daily Evening Chronicle where it is mentioned that David works for the Manhattan Clothing Company and is leaving town to attend the wedding of his sister, Eva, in New York. [49] No other records for David Goldstein have been found at this time.