Pioneers

Louis Anfenger came to the Colorado Territory in 1870 during the state’s formative years. Louis was born in Bavaria in 1842 and died in Denver in 1900. He married Louise Schlesinger in 1871. He was a successful businessman and was a founder and supporter of Congregational Emanuel, the local B’nai B’rith, and National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives. He and Louise (1847-1938) raised a large family in their home at Champa Street and Twenty-ninth Street in Denver, Colorado. This photo, taken in the 1890s, shows Louis and Louise Anfenger seated front center, with their eight children.  Read more »

Clara and Henry Goldsmith migrated by covered wagon to Denver from Leavenworth, Kansas in 1859 with relatives. Clara died in childbirth in 1860, and her new daughter, pictured here as a young woman in about 1880, was the first Jewish female baby born in Denver and was named Clara after her mother. Clara Goldsmith was raised by her aunt and uncle Rosa and Abraham Goldsmith as the two sisters had married two brothers. The Goldsmiths later moved to Pueblo, Colorado.  Read more »