Born: Approximately 1872

Death:

Occupation: Furniture and dry goods merchant

Spouse: Rebecca Isaacs

Children: Max, Henry, Lilian, and Jacob

Abraham Mitgang immigrated to the United States in approximately 1886.[1]   Mitgang’s whereabouts from 1886-1895 are unknown but he finally appears in Leadville by 1895 and is first cited within the city business directory as a tailor employed at 123 Harrison Avenue.[2]   Mitgang’s first year in Leadville proved to be an exciting time and it was then that Abraham met and married Rebecca Isaacs.  The couple married in Leadville, but the exact date of their marriage is unknown.  However, their marriage was mentioned in the Herald Democrat on July 13, 1895.[3]

A short time after their marriage the young couple had their first child, a son Max, in 1886.[4]   The Mitgang family would go on to have three more children: Henry in 1889; Jacob in 1901; and, finally, Lilian in 1904.  Sadly, both Jacob and Lilian only lived a short time and died in 1902 and in 1913 respectively.  Jacob was ten months old[5]  at his time of death and Lilian was eight.[6]

After marrying Rebecca, Mitgang went into business with her brother, Hyman Isaacs.[7]   The pair opened Isaacs and Mitgang in approximately 1898.  The new partnership encompassed Mitgang’s original business front of 123 Harrison Avenue and stretched from 117-123 Harrison Avenue.[8]   Mitgang and Isaacs’ business venture often landed the pair in trouble with the local law enforcement due to their penchant for purchasing and selling stolen merchandise[9] and pilfered brass.[10]   Mitgang and Isaacs’ business operated approximately from 1898-1905.[11]   During the operation of Mitgang and Isaacs, the Mitgang family made a series of residential moves.  In 1901, they resided at 110 West Chestnut Street,[12]  a year later in 1902 the family moved to 108 West Chestnut Street,[13]  1903 found the family backtracking to 110 West Chestnut Street,[14]  1904 resulted in a move to 307 Pine Street,[15]  and finally, in 1905, the family arrived at 116 West Chestnut Street.[16]   Sometime between 1905 and 1910, Mitgang took his family to Denver.[17]   The amount of time the Mitgang family stayed in Denver is unknown.  However, their next journey, as documented by the 1920 Wyoming census, saw them in Sheridan, Wyoming.[18]

The Mitgangs only lived in Wyoming for a few short years before they returned to Colorado.  The family moved to Commerce City, Colorado, and it was here that they suffered the loss of Lilian in 1913.  She died on April 24 and was buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery.[19]   Other than the record of Lilian’s death, the Mitgang’s business in Commerce City is not known and there is no record of the Mitgang family until the death of Max Mitgang on June 28, 1941, at the age of forty-four in Chicago, Illinois.[20]  The whereabouts of the remaining Mitgang family members are currently unknown.