![]() ![]() By 1913, Samuel Stolper had opened a cheap used clothing shop called the New York Store. Later, Kirschner got involved in real estate and the oil business. Harry Kirschner came to town in 1905 and opened a store. Water was bought by the barrel, and we used candles and lamps for light.”Įventually, most Jewish families in Muskogee were involved in retail trade, opening stores in downtown. There were no railways, no electric lights and no water. Years later, Samuel Sondheimer, son of Joseph and inheritor of the family business, described early Muskogee in the Southwest Jewish Chronicle: “This was a wild town. Schwartz boarded along with his wife, and Nathan Kaufman also worked as a traveling salesman. Schuster, a clerk, rented a room, Joe Schieberl was a tailor, traveling salesman C.O. However, at least in Muskogee’s early days, many Jews worked jobs that were itinerant or temporary, reflecting the character of their chosen home, which itself was still in flux. Muskogee Jews were often merchants like Sondheimer or businessmen like Ben Brasch, who was involved in the oil and cotton industry. In 1903, the Muskogee City Directory already listed a number of Jewish families. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Muskogee’s population soared, including its Jewish population. This cemented Muskogee as the commercial and administrative capital of Indian Territory, and by the end of the century, land runs, the incorporation of the city, and the convergence of railroad lines in Muskogee resulted in a thriving economy. government established the Union Agency in Muskogee to manage the Five Civilized Tribes, who had been relocated to Oklahoma following Andrew Jackson’s Trail of Tears in the 1830s. The town of Muskogee grew up around the warehouse as Sondheimer’s commercial success inspired other white traders to settle there, and by 1872 the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad had been extended to Muskogee. After the war, he converted the warehouse into an Indian trading center for furs, hides, and pecans and moved to area permanently. He built his warehouse just across the river from the fort. Army to supply the troops stationed at Fort Gibson. After secession, Sondheimer won a contract from the U.S. Joseph Sondheimer, the owner of the hide operation, was a Jew from Bavaria who first passed through the place that would become Muskogee during the Civil War. When the volunteer fire department finally quelled the flames, the community gathered at the Sondheimer hide plant to discuss the damage. “Brick, stone, scrap iron, smoldering embers are all that remain of the splendid stores, shops, hotels, opera house, and offices of yesterday,” the Muskogee Daily Phoenix, whose offices were built on land purchased from Joseph Sondheimer, later reported. The fire soon spread down Main Street and Broadway, decimating the buildings and shops that lined the town’s central arteries. On contact with the hot coals, the kerosene flared and exploded to fill the factory with flames. He poured kerosene over the hot coals in front of him. Caesar’s Tailoring and Cleaning Plant in Muskogee, Oklahoma, was building a fire, trying to keep warm against the zero-degree day. On February 23, 1899, a factory worker at P.R. ![]()
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