More on the Nudelman house

Back in February, I posted a blog about the Nudelman house - from the standpoint that several documents had been tossed into the trash and then found their way to the local History center.

I've been researching it ever since.  I'd like to verify the location of the house today - if it still exists.

First, that original document found in the trash:

Another document that was pulled from the trash is the sale of the other half of the house, the Chuteran property, the same day.  Interesting that this document was just one page.

 The typed version of the Chuteran document:

11232

Bill of Sale

Solomon Chuteran to

W. S. Hart

Filed for Record Aug 7, 1883 at 6 o’clock pm

Jno Wilson Recorder

This indenture made on this the Thirtieth day of April in the year Eighteen Hundred and Eighty three.

Witnesseth that I the undersigned Solomon Chuteran of Cotopaxi, in the County of Fremont, state of Colorado, do for and inconsideration of One Dollar, lawful money of the United States of America and other valuable consideration received hereby, sell, assign, transfer and set over to Eleazer S. Hart of Cotopaxi, same state and county aforesaid a certain frame house or dwelling situated in Cotopaxi as aforesaid, and heretofore occupied by myself and  my family as a dwelling which said dwelling was erected for my use and benefit and I delcare that I have the full right and authority to sell and transfer the said building, which is situated on grounds leased for the purpose near the track of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway on the northerly side of said railway track and distant about five hundred feet easterly, from the present site of the Cotopaxi Hotel and adjoining the House of Joseph Nudelman.  I do further hereby sell and transfer assign and set over to said Eleazer S. Hart the furniture in said dwelling house, consisting of one kitchen stove with appurtenances and utensils, one bed, one table, 3 chairs and other miscellaneous articles.

In witness whereof I hereby affix my hand and seal this the thirtieth day of April, in the year 1883.

S. Chuteran

Witness Joseph Bardine

State of Colorado

Fremont County ss

Personally appeared before me the subscriber and acknowledged this as his free act and deeds, and wishes it to be recorded as such.  Witness my ahdn and seal this the 30th day of April A. D. 1883.  G. H. Rummel seal, Justice of the Peace

For value received I hereby assign all of my right and title to the property acquired by this instrument except the goods as mentioned and conveyed to with the household goods to Mrs Susan A McCoy.

Witness my hand and seal this the sixteenth day of August A. D. 1883  E. S. Hart, seal, Witness G. H. Rummel.

Personally appeared before me the subscriber and acknowledged this as his free act and deeds and wishes it to be recorded as such.  Witness my hand and seal this 16th day of August A. D. 1883.  Z. T. Banta seal, Justice of the Peace.

Down the left side of the page:

For value received I hereby assign all my right and title to the property acquired by this instrument of writing to Mr Epptein. This assignment has not been accepted, has not been conveyed.  E. S. Hart, witness H. S. Tooling.

I have not been able to locate all of the documents that I am looking for but I do have some that refer to this as the "McCoy double house".  As soon as I have a complete "trail" I will come back and update this post.  But it appears that this was 2 families living under a common roof with a wall adjoining their residences...the houses were attached to each other.

It is also evident that the houses were built on land leased from E. H. Saltiel.

In my later documents, the land was sold by O. B. Carroll to A. A Sloan.  Then Sloan sold the double house and the land to W. A. Hendricks.  Hendricks sold it back to Sloan who sold it to Kate Gorman in 1895.  I do not have documentation yet as to how it got to Carroll from McCoy.....or who it went to after Gorman.

Couldn't I just to a title search?  No - that won't work for most of the houses in Cotopaxi.  For most of the houses, sometime between 1910 and 1950...the owners all went to court to prove their ownership.  And by doing such, they didn't have to go back and verify the earliest ownerships.  They would stand on the court house steps in Canon City and literally call out every possible owner's name.  No one showed up and the judge awarded the property to the current owner.

That or they simply had it re-declared under the Federal Land act.

And yes, this may be wasting my time, but I have to wonder.  With these 2 documents are "new" questions.  

1)  Were the Nudelmans and the Chuterans related?  People rarely lived this close together if they weren't.

2)  Did both of these families leave Cotopaxi in April, 1883, when the houses were sold?  Or had they built another house on the land they farmed that was south of Cotopaxi?

I have found no documents showing the sale of any of the plots south of Cotopaxi.

3)  In both documents, the property was "sold" to E. S. Hart who then "sold" them to Susan McCoy.  Was Hart acting as an early realtor in western Fremont county?

4)  It does not appear that the furniture was transferred to McCoy.

5)  This does tell us some of the furniture they had.

6)  The sale was for $1 and "other valuable considerations."    This is a common phrase used and could mean anything.  Did they just want to dump the property?  Was it worth nothing since they didn't own the land it was on.  What would a 49 year lease be worth?  How much would you give for a duplex that sat on a 49 year lease and you didn't know if the lease could be renewed or not?

7) Who did McCoy sell the place to?

Interesting questions!

One thing I do know is that neither Nudelman or Chuteran  were listed on the miner's lien.  It would be doubtful that Saltiel paid them and not the others.  Thus, most likely, they did not owe Hart any money at his store.  

These documents also show us that:

Joseph Bardine was a witness

G. H.. Rummel was the Justice of the Peace

Z. T. Banta was a justice of the Peace

and there was a Mr. Epptein

and a witness H. S. Tooling.

What were their relationships with the Colonists?  with Saltiel?  with Hart?

This is a prime example of how researching local documents can give you clues as to where to go next with your research, whether it is related to your family tree or not.

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The Hart/Saltiel Connection

It's amazing what you can "prove" about history when creating a family tree.  I am trying to prove that E. H. Saltiel and E. S. Hart were cousins.

We know from the bigamy case that Eleazer Hart at 20 White Lion Street was the uncle of Jane Harris Saltiel so what did I do?  I searched that address.  And from that single web search which snowballed into numerous other sites, I was able to create this family tree.

Is it accurate?  Well, here are some proofs:

1)  We know that Eleazer was Jane's uncle - that fits.

2)  If you look at the 3rd generation - those in yellow, each person across the board named their first son Judah, after their father who had passed away.  Consistent with Ashkenazi naming practices. This would be the 4th generation - they are the green boxes.

3)  In the 1871 England Census, Nathan Minden, his wife Hannah and their children, Evaline, Kate, Michael and Sarah are living in the house of Rachael A. Harris with her daughter, Jane Saltiel.  Now go down the list of Aaron's children and you will find Hannah Hart, Rachel's niece, married to Nathan Minden with those 4 children.

Remember, you can click on an image to enlarge it.

Where is E. S. Hart who was at Cotopaxi?  We know his name was Eleazer Samuel Hart and that he was born in London in 1832.  We know that Ashkenazi Jews do not name their children after living ancestors.  So he could not be the son of Eleazer Hart 1791-1857, the brother of Rachel Hart.


If you look at the children of Michael Hart, another brother of Rachel, and you go down the list, we find a Samuel Hart born in 1832.  Is this our E. S. Hart?

Let's look at the names he used:

Samuel Hart -     ship's manifest, 1854
Eleasa   Hart -    1875 New York Census
Saml. Hart    -     1880 Census
Eleazar S. Hart - 1888 Denver Directory
E. Samuel Hart - 1892 Denver Directory
Samuel Hart -     1894 Denver Directory
Samuel Hart -     1900 Census
Eleazier Hart -    1907 Cook county death index

He was 22 when he came to America.  There isn't much on him in England prior to that.  If we put him in as the son of Michael Hart, that makes him a 1st cousin to Jane Harris Saltiel and a 1st cousin once removed to E. H. Saltiel.  We used to count that as a second cousin.

I think we have a good match.  I will continue to research this aspect as I have time.

Just a couple of side notes.  When doing my research I came across a website that claimed in London in the 1850s, reform Judaism was coming into play and Jew were not necessarily sticking to their custom of never naming a child after a living relative.  In this tree, we see many children with names identical to living relatives.  We need to keep in mind that each child had a Hebrew name and it is the Hebrew name that could not be giving to a living relative - not the anglicized name.

Most of the 3rd generation (green) was born in Middlesex which includes Spitalfields, Strand, Nottingham, Whitechapel, Edmonton, Adgate and other small villages.

We have already discussed why Rachel went to Bath.  To escape the stigma of the bigamy trial. To reside in an Ashkenazi community.

From the above tree, you can see that I've found her son, Judah Lewis Harris living there as wall.  His first 6 children were born there.  But Isaac and Solomon were born in Middlesex starting in 1859 which coincides with the time Rachel, Jane and Emanuel moved back to the Middlesex area.

Emanuel Harris Saltiel was clearly named after his mother's father.  His grandmother, Rachel Hart Harris, was still living in the 1871 census.

Aaron named his daughter Rachel in  1830.

Aaron's son, Emmanuel Hart, named his daughter Rachel Hart in 1854.

Aaron's daughter, Hannah, who lived with Rachel Hart Harris, named her daughter Rachel Minden in 1855.

Did the concept of not naming after the living apply to men only?  Or did all 3 of these women have different Hebrew names?

For now, I think we have a fairly good family tree and a connection between the Harts and the Saltiels.

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The Saltiel/Hart connection - the religious family tree

Here's the Hart family tree:

The common ancestor was an "unknown" Hart.   We now know he was  an Ashkenazi Jew - a German Jew,  Judah Hart.   He had at least 6 children, Rachel, Eleazer, Michael, Aaron, Henry and Elizabeth.

Rachel had Jane, who married John Jacob (Alfred) Saltiell.  They had Emanuel Harris Saltiel.

Eleazar had Eleazer Samuel Hart.  He would be a 1st cousin to Rachel and a 1st cousin once removed to Emanuel.  But an Ashkenazi wouldn't name a child after a living parent.  Rachel's brother Michael, had Samuel, born 1832, who is a match to Eleazer Samuel Hart who was at Cotopaxi.  Again, a 1st cousin, once removed to E. H. Saltiel.

I need help from my Jewish pals!  When I reread the bigamy case....it clearly states that John Jacob was brought up in the Sephardic school.  Jane is a German Jew and therefore I would presume she is Ashkenazi.  She descends from Rachel Hart Harris above.  Jane was an Ashkenazi Jew and  she married a Sephardic Jew and thus E. H. Saltiel was Sephardic?  But by his DNA he was both Sephardic and Ashkenazi?  

Because the  Harts were Ashkenazi, this would then explain their kindness to the Colonists.  And it might explain some of the animosities between Saltiel and Hart - which I will show in future posts.  

(Both Saltiel and the Harts were British, never spoke Yiddish, and thus the problems communicating with the Russian Jews who immigrated to Cotopaxi.)

Emanuel and Eleazer's children who were at Cotopaxi would have been second cousins.

Emanuel was 38 years old when the Colonists arrived in Cotopaxi.  E. S. Hart was 50.  While I'm happy to have finally connected the family tree of the Harts and Saltiels, I'm now curious about the religious aspects of this tree.

Mom once took our family tree and entered into it all of the medical conditions for each person living, and each deceased person as far back as she could.  Wouldn't it be interesting to create a family tree that showed the religions for each branch?  And the sect or variance within each religion? 

Please note that this post was updated from it's original content/questions based on a later post where I made the Hart/Saltiel connection.

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Emanuel H. Saltiel's father, John Saltiell

I have always thought it would be so much fun to find out that I descended from Jesse James or some other wild outlaw!  But I also know plenty of people who would be horrified to find anything criminal in their ancestry!  Do you look at criminal records when searching your ancestry?

I found an article on Emanuel H. Saltiel's father that is quite interesting, but first a little background information.  Emanuel H. Saltiel's father was John Jacob Saltiel.  He married Jane Harris in May 18, 1843.  Emanuel H. was born Oct 14, 1844 in Bath, Somerset, England.  His father (John Jacob Saltiel) was charged with bigamy on July 1, 1844.  This was just one year, 1 1/2 months after he married Jane (Emanuel H Saltiel's mother).  And just three months before Emanuel H. Saltiel was born.
(transcription below the images)

July 1, 1844
1840. JOHN SALTIELL was indicted for bigamy.
MESSRS. PAYNE and DOANE conducted the Prosecution. 

SAMPSON GENESE . I am clerk of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' synagogue. I produce the superintendent registrar's register of the marriage of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews—I was present, and saw the prisoner married to Jane Harris, on the 18th of May, 1843—(register read)—both the parties were of the Jewish profession—Jane Harris was a German Jewess—they were married in No. 62, Skinner-street, Bishopsgate—I saw the entry made—I have not seen Jane Harris since. 

Cross-examined by MR. BALLANTINE. Q. You did not know Harris before? A. No—the prisoner had been in our school—we have only two sects among us, the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, and the German Jews—we have our different places of worship—I should not consider that I went to an orthodox synagogue if I went to a German Jews'—the ceremonies of marriage, and other ceremonies of the two sects, do not vary—the only difference is in the pronunciation of the Hebrew—the, words of the ceremonial are identical—the corresponding officers attend, and there is no difference in the belief of the German and Portuguese Jews—there is no distinction in the creed.

SOLOMON ALMOS NINO . I am secretary to the synagogue of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews—I am the registrar of the marriages at their synagogue—I produce the superintendent-registrar's certificate of a marriage between Jacob Saltiell and Jane Harris—I register the marriages at the synagogue—(by virtue of this certificate, the marriage takes place)—this is a correct entry of the marriage—I was present—the prisoner was brought up in our school—he is the person married to Jane Harris—I do not know her—she is described as Jane Hums, 62, Skinner-street, Bishopsgate—the marriage took place according to the ceremonies of the Jewish religion.

Cross-examined. Q. Is there no distinction of sects among the Jews? A. Not any—we have no second creed, nor difference in the ceremonials—no. person can be married without permission of the warden, and that is given on producing the certificate—without that a marriage would not be legal, according to our usages—it might be a valid marriage in point of law—the prisoner attended our place of worship at the time of his marriage, and subsequently to that, till very lately.

ELEAZER HART . I live in White Lion-street, Norton-Falgate—Jane Harris is my niece—on the 18th of May, last year, I was present at a marriage, according to the Jewish rites and ceremonies, at her mother's house, between her and the prisoner—she is of the Jewish persuasion, and is still alive.

HARRIET BATES DAVISON . I am eighteen years old, and live with my father in Jamaica-street, Commercial-road. At the beginning of this year, I had known the prisoner about six months—my father and I then lodged in Sydney-square with the prisoner—I knew he was married—his wife was living in the same house the whole of the time my family lodged there—we left the house shortly after Easter—I saw the prisoner occasionally after I left—in April he made a proposal of marriage—I accepted it—we were married as Christians at West Ham church on the 16th of May.

Cross-examined. Q. Did you know his former wife? A. Yes, they had been married in the Jewish persuasion—I believed he was not of the Jewish persuasion—his wife knew that the banns were published between him and me—it was not made a matter of concealment, that I am aware of—his wife was out from morning to night.

MR. PAYNE. Q. How do you know that his first wife knew of his going to be married? A. She has told me so at his mother's house within the last fortnight—his mother was present at the time.

 RICHARD GOLLEDGE . I am parish clerk of West Ham—I have the register here—I have an entry of a marriage between the prisoner and Harriet Bates Davison.

JOB GARDINER (police-conslable H 161.) I took the prisoner in custody in Spitalfields.GUILTY . Aged 22.— Confined One Month.

_______________________

This gives me a ton of clues for even more research!!!  If memory serves me correct, somewhere I have a record of John's imprisonment.   Guilty of bigamy.  There's more... perhaps tomorrow's blog.

We now know that this Eleazer Hart was the brother of Rachel Hart Harris, Jane Harris Saltiel's mother.  And we know that he was a brother to Michael Hart who's son, E. S. Hart was at Cotopaxi.

So we can prove that E. S. Hart and E. H. Saltiel were 1st cousins, once removed.  E. H. Saltiel would have been second cousins to all of Hart's children.  The story just continues to grow.

This post was updated to show the new family tree.

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A letter from E. H. Saltiel

I have a copy of a letter he wrote dated October 27, 1882.  Saltiel wrote this letter in an attempt to rebut statements made by Morris Tuska.  What he probably didn't realize is the extent he provided us good facts about the Cotopaxi Colony.

A timeline he provides us in that letter:

I went to Colorado at my own expense and arranged for the building of a number of houses during the summer months, guarding as is usual, loss or delay to the Contractor from flood, fire or visitations of Providence.  On the eighth day of May this contract was verbally agreed to, between the Contractor and myself and a memoranda agreement in writing was drawn up, but not signed on that day, but a short time afterwards the signatures of both parties were attached, and the houses proceeded with.

So as of May 8, there had been no attempt to build houses.  This contract was made with Saltiel's cousin, E. S. Hart who owned the store in Cotopaxi.

Please note that Saltiel was not in Cotopaxi - he had to go there.

The Refugees arrived on May 9, 

The first statement that the land had not yet been surveyed:

on May 11th  I requested Mr. Schwartz to accompany a colored farmer, one Edward Jones, to Oak Grove Creek with a few of the colonists and stake out the bottom land under the farmer’s direction.  

On May 27th I went with Schwartz and another man into the Wet Mountain Valley, and selected a corner to start a survey line, and gave directions to run from that point as a centre and take up Two thousand acres of the best land.  I drove three stakes into the land and directed Schwartz to tell the colonists that ploughing must commence on the following day.

We have located 17 land declarations dated both June and November 1882.  I have not yet been able to locate any documentation on this 2000 acre survey.    Note - it was not done until AFTER the Colonists arrived!

After Tuska left on July 30, 1882, Saltiel writes:

After Mr. Tuska had left, ...  I talked with Mr. Hart and got him to turn over the building contract to me and such building material as he had on hand... and I personally assumed the responsibility of building the houses, and have since that time quietly proceeded with them with two carpenters. 

In Saltiel's own words.....

He did not start building the Colonists homes until May 8, 1882, one day before their arrival.
He did not start to survey the land for their farms until May 27, 1882.
Their homes were not finished by at least July 30, 1882.

We are successfully proving the oral histories of the Cotopaxi Colonists - one by one.

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Using maps to tell a story

I believe that genealogy, history and maps go hand in hand.  It's been a great "map week" for me with lots of interesting finds.....at BLM of all places.

This first one is an 1882 survey of Cotopaxi - the "original" survey which means there wasn't a government survey done prior to this date.  This is most of section 31.  Cotopaxi is in the north 1/2 of the north quarter (N1/2NW1/4) of section 31, Township 48 R 12E.  So the center of town (where the RR crosses the CR12)  today is just about the bottom of the number "6" in 34.64

I could probably do an entire class on reading township sections, quarters, sixteenths and so on.  Back east, townships have names and are well known.  Out west...no one ever uses a township, except when it comes to land descriptions.

(Copyright protected***)


A couple of important things to note.

1)  The road north of the tracks is on the west side of the creek.  Today, it is on the east side.
2)  The tracks seem to be too close to the river to have 2 houses between them.  Were the original tracks closer to the Arkansas than they are today?  Is the map to scale?  I have a document that says, "the old rr tracks" and shows that line south of where the tracks are today.
3)  The creek on the north side goes farther west than it is today.  This is verified by many mine claims that state it was 1/2 mile between Bernard Creek and Oak Grove Creek.
4)  Neither the road to the north or the road to the south meet at Cotopaxi - both curve to the west.  This would confirm the oral history that there was a ford in the river about 1/2 mile west of Cotopaxi.
5)  The red printed area says "Cotopaxi Placer No 286"

so the next thing I did was try to find No 286.  I thought I was looking for a plat like above.  Ends up it was a placer mining claim and in it, there was an 1884 plot of Cotopaxi.

(Copyright protected***)

So 2 years later, the road is now east of Bernard Creek and crosses the Arkansas.  BUT....note that the road is to the west of both stores and the house, just to the east of the water tower.  Still NOT where the road is today.  

This map gives me a bit more information:

1)  It labels Cotopaxi Gulch (known as Miner's gulch today)

2)  Identifies Saltiel's house as the "dwelling house" and I have documents that use this in the description

3)  Shows me 2 stores and a hotel.....about where I thought they were

4)  Gives us a freight house, depot and section house for the railroad - which is what I thought was there.

5)  Gives me a location for a ditch that is shown in several documents

6)  Shows a "new" wagon road north of the tracks, south of Saltiel's place, going west and then north...up to the Cotopaxi mine.

7.  Shows a space from Hart's store and hotel going east to the "houses".

This open space has been identified as the "lower orchard" on a number of documents.  Then we have the attached Shuteran/Nudelman house.  These were Colonists.  I wonder if Saltiel had the Jew's homes built to the east of town, away from the gentiles.  It would make sense.  Supposedly there were 6 houses in town by the fall of 1882 according to Schwartz.  Guess I need to go do some more research to see what I can find.

Shuteran and Nudelman sold their attached house to Annie Hart and she then sold it to Susan McCoy.  It became known in the documents as the "McCoy double house".  I was able to track it to the current location today.  We think the original "double house" was torn down and another structure was put on this land.  But we do know it was located at the east end of town and this map would confirm that.

Using maps, land declarations, property transactions and now mining claims....I'm gradually building a story of how Cotopaxi was built from nothing to what it was in 1882 - 1884 when the Jewish Colonists resided there.....and then to today's current homes.  

The "dwelling house" on this map later became the Hylton Hotel.  The store & P. O. and the hotel to the east of it belonged to E. S. Hart who was Saltiel's cousin.  Making progress - one map at a time!

***Why do I say "Copyright protected"?  Because you do not have the right to take the research that I've done and use it on your website/book/story etc without my written permission.   Feel free to schedule some time with me and I'll gladly show you how to do the research yourself!!!

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maps can tell the best story!

I'm publishing this "unfinished" map....as the beginning of what may be a never-ending story.  I found documents that show the Nudelmans and the Chuterans (Jewish colonists) sold their "attached" house to E. S. Hart who then sold it to Susan McCoy.  I'm so curious....where was this "attached" house?  Thus this "working" map with all my notes on it.

In later documents, I find the sale of the "McCoy double house".  Has to be the same place.  Most of the early documents show the property as being measured in feet, east of the center of the county line.  So this map is just that....showing the property possibilities in the last 134 years based on feet from the center line.  I'm inserting it as full size, so those who are interested can see the details.  Ignore the "state highway department" location.  The orange line going up and down the center is CR 12.  Plum street is CR 51, and off to the left is CR 52.

So, starting at the intersection of CR12 and CR51,   0' to 30' marked Hendricks is where we think the ES Hart store/PO were.  In 1882.   Go to the right to 601' to 651' and thats where I think the Nudelman/Chuteran house was.  But I still have more to research.

Much of this is after the Colonists left....but it's a good start for my research as it combines ownership from the 70s, today, and the 30s.  I get a broad spectrum of names to connect as I look for records on each piece of property.  Can you start to see why I created family trees for the Cotopaxi residents?

Saltiel lived on the west end of CR52 where it says "Bailey".  Baily died in 1936, so that gives us a starting point to date the printed portion of the original map.  His house was a boarding house and probably became the Cotopaxi Hotel.  It was later purchased by JDHylton.  The livery and saloons were not there in 1882.  But the McCoys were in the area in 1882.  Susan McCoy was the mother of the "McCoy" gang - known for cattle rustling and killing.

this map is subject to much change as I continue to find new documents - or pay closer attention to documents I've already found.  And this map is a bit off when you look at the Dyer/Gilbert properties...they were moved south, closer to the river, when CR 52 was "drawn" on the books.  That's why I have "now old Yarmark" and "now McNew" written in.

It's interesting to note the addition and separation of lots on Plum street over the past 134 years.  I've shown that with dashes....when it was combined and when it was separated will come later.  But of note, there were a few houses close to CR12, then an open space known as the McCoy lower orchard, then more houses.  And we know that Saltiel had an orchard on his place.  New trees?  or did they produce fruit?

We think the shul was right north of the Hendricks place (Zero to 30') but may never be able to prove that.

Mom lived in a little cottage that began at 397'.  Most of the documents for that house since the time it was built show it as being at 397'.  Perhaps one of the easiest houses I've researched thus far!  However, the back section of her property has changed much over the years.  Finding where that was, who owned it and how it got merged has been interesting to say the least!

If you read this and have any clues you can share, I'd love to hear them!  Maps can be so much fun!

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Make your own story

Sometimes, I think that’s just what other people have done.  Just write anything!  Fill in the blanks however you want….and someone, somewhere is going to believe you!

Not me!!!  I either want facts….or I will leave it blank and let you write your own story!

Family history books are just that…..books that someone writes about their family history.  It is their story.  And I use them as hints and leads….but not as facts.

Moshe Shaltiel-Gracian published such a book in 2005 about the Shaltiel/Saltiel family.  It’s not a bad book, in fact - quite interesting.  He wrote this about Emanuel Saltiel’s wife:

Soon after her arrival in Cotopaxi, Elizabeth, 36-years-old and the mother of three small children aged two, four, and six, fell in love with Frank W. Woods, an employee, in his early twenties, at the Cotopaxi Post Office, which Emanuel owned.

Let’s stop there for a moment.  Census records and other documents, including birth certificates show us that the children were:

John Tammany Saltiel, born 1871, age 9 in 1880 (I have his actual birth certificate)

Henry Clarence Saltiel, born 1873, age 7 in 1880

Adelaide Rachel (Lucy) Saltiel, born 1877, age 3 in 1880

Elizabeth Wolfe Saltiel, born 1845, age 35 in 1880

Continuing on with Moshe’s writing:

While Emanuel was crisscrossing the country, negotiating deals to build expensive furnaces and a new railroad depot, the two began an affair, and exchanged rather simple-minded letters……The lovers did not consider that, since Emanuel owned the post office, it was inevitable that one of these letters would find its way to him. 
Elizabeth was quickly shipped back east; the children remained with Emanuel…..on the same day that she wrote her aunt (5/1/1881), she was hand-delivered, at her residence at 40 East 126th Street in New York City, a summons to divorce court.  The divorce did not take effect, for legal reasons, for a year…..Elizabeth remained in New York and made her living teaching music.

Later on in the book, Moshe writes:

A year after his divorce, on Valentine’s Day, 1883, in Pueblo, Colorado, he married a second time, to Fannie Shelveson, who managed his real estate……unfortunately, seven years later, in December 1890, Fannie followed in Elizabeth’s footsteps, and began an affair with Jerry B. McLene, who lived in the Broadway, a Denver hotel owned by Emanuel.  Once more, Emanuel filed for divorce and, like Elizabeth, Fannie did not appear in court.  Unlike Elizabeth, however, Fannie married her lover on 14 July 1891, three weeks after the divorce was granted.

We find Emanuel and Fannie living on Watsoon St in Denver in the 1885 census.  No children in the household.

Let’s look at this marriage/divorce timeline in relationship to the children’s ages.  

	1880 moved to Cotopaxi	1882 parents divorce	1883 father remarries Fannie Shelveson	1885 father moves to Denver	1891 father divorces Fannie
John	9	11	12	14	20
Henry	7	9	10	12	18
Adelaide	3	5	6	8	14

So even if Elizabeth left the children with Emanuel in 1881 when she left, they were not living with him in Denver in 1885.  I have not been able to locate Elizabeth in the 1885 census in NYC.

There is an Elizabeth M.  Saltiel living at 343 E 117th St in the 1886 New York City directory - doing “washing”.  She was not in the 1885 directory.  Directories do not list children.

Elizabeth and her son, Henry, were in the 1895 New Jersey Census.  Newark NJ.  This makes sense as her daughter, Adelaide, married Francis Henry Lovekin in 1895 in Newark NJ.

Did the court give custody to Emanuel in the divorce?  I don’t know as I haven’t located the divorce records.  But it is obvious that 3 short years later, they are not living with him.

I cannot locate Fannie in any city directory in Pueblo.  What brought her there?  

So why not put this perspective into a timeline looking at Saltiel and the arrival of the Colonists at Cotopaxi…..makes it even more interesting!

• 1879 - the earliest I can find Saltiel in Fremont County
• 1880 - his family arrives, a house has already been built
• 1881 - his wife has an affair and he sends her off to NYC.  One writer says the children (I believe they were ages 4, 8, & 10) stay in Cotopaxi
• 1881 - I have a document that shows Saltiel sold his house to Hart.  Where did he (and the children - if they were there) reside?
• 1882 - February, Saltiel gets a divorce
• 1882 - May, the Jewish colonists arrive
• 1883 - February, Saltiel remarries (when did he have time to court this woman?)
• 1883 - some of the colonists relocate away from Cotopaxi
• 1883 - lawsuits against Saltiel for not paying miners who worked for him
• 1884 - May, the colony disbands 
• 1884 - 1887 Saltiel involved in multiple lawsuits against his mining claims.  He lost all of his property in Fremount county as a result of these lawsuits
• 1884 - May 31, Gold Tom shot and killed
• 1885 - June, Saltiel and wife are in Denver in the 1885 census, children are not with them

Questions - 

1. did Fannie ever live in Cotopaxi?  I can find no evidence of that.
2. when did Emanuel move to Denver?  If he sold his residence in 1881, where did he stay when he was in Cotopaxi?
3. where were the 3 children after their mother was sent to NYC?
4. if the children were in Cotopaxi, where did they live and who cared for them?

Saltiel was a very busy man!  One of these days I will create a month-by-month timeline of Saltiel’s activities…..but in the meantime, I can tell you, he was so tied up in Arapahoe County courts, in Denver, in NYC, and now we find out how busy he was with his own personal life….I do not see him as a custodial parent and it would explain his often lengthy absences from the Colonists at Cotopaxi.  

No wonder it has been written that the colonists said they got no answers or support from him and they turned to the Denver Jewish community.

I do understand why many writers “fill in the blanks” with what they think happened.  I think my “job” is to ask the questions about the blanks.  As more and more records become digitized and/or available for public research, hopefully we may find more answers.  

In the meantime, be careful what you read about Cotopaxi.  Is it just someone’s conjecture?  Is it even probable?  Is it just a “story” that someone made up?  Makes you wonder!!!

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Emmanuel Saltiel - a Jew from Portugal? And his cousins, the Harts:

I love how oral histories turn into something they are not.  I have read so many places where the author will state that E. H. Saltiel came to America from Portugal.

I think not!

It does state that he was a "Portuguese Jew" -  and I'm sure that's where others come up with the notion that he was from Portugal.   However...the term is slang meaning that he was a Sephardic Jew.  And that would separate him from the Ashkenazi Jews who were the colonists.

What is the difference?  Check here - not much!

I have done the family tree for Emanuel, I have collected the census records....he was born in Bath England.  He immigrated to this country at a very young age about 1862 and he immediately entered the military in the Civil War.  His father, grandfather, gr grandfather and gr gr grandfather were all born in England.  His 3rd gr grandfather was born in Greece.  The next one born in Italy and the next one in Crete.

Saltiel was not Portuguese, nor did he come from Portugal!  But he was a Sephardic Jew - and he probably practiced it some of the time.  He married Elizabeth M. Wolfe in 1870 in New York City.   In a 1871 newspaper article, he state that she was Episcopalian.  But further research shows she was born a Jew.  He was buried as a non-catholic in a catholic cemetery at Rawlins WY in 1900.

What's interesting is that he was a Sephardic Jew who arranged to have a group of Ashkenazi Jews brought to Cotopaxi in 1882.  Fascinating chapter of the Jewish migration to the Western United States.

Along with Saltiel was his cousin, Eleazer Samuel Hart, better known as E. S. Hart.  He had a store and a hotel in Cotopaxi.  Hart was raised as an Ashkenazi Jew (see that story here).   Hart's daughter was married in a synagogue in Chicago.  After Cotopaxi, this family migrated Denver, then  to Chicago IL where we find them in the census records.

His son, Myer Hart, had a son Robert M. Hart, who at some point moved from Chicago to Boulder CO.  Robert married Miriam Rothberger.  They were united by a Rabbi in Colorado.

they were living in Chicago in the 1940 census:

Robert and Miriam Hart were living in Boulder where she died in 1986.  He died there in 1995.

The Miriam R. Hart Regional Radiation Center in Boulder was built in her honor.  An amazing contribution to Colorado from the descendant of someone who was part of the Cotopaxi Colony.  So while most of the story of the Cotopaxi Colony has been one of the ashkenazi jews who were escaping persecution in Russia, I think we cannot forget the sephardic Jews who were there at the same time.

Wonder what I can find on other descendants!

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