THE FIRST 100 YEARS
OF
SACRAMENTO LODGE No.40
HERMAN GREENBAUM
Herman Greenbaum,
an original petitioner of Sacramento Lodge, was born November 12, 1826 at Muenchweiler, in Rhenish,
Bavaria, known as the Palatinate. Here he was reared and educated. He was the
fifth of ten children of Jacob and Caroline Gruenebaum
who were married in 1818 in Muenchweiler, where they
lived until 1838 then moving to Kaiserlautern, also
in the Palatinate. There the mother died in 1841. An elder brother emigrated to
the United States in 1838 and Herman who had been apprenticed to a shoemaker
and seeking freedom of opportunity followed in 1843. First locating in
Philadelphia, Pa., he then joined his two brothers in Holly Springs,
Mississippi where they started in business. On May 12, 1847, the father with
the remaining children left Germany landing in New York, July 1, 1847. Soon
thereafter they went to Philadelphia and then the entire family moved to
Chicago, Illinois. When the sons decided to come to California they first
induced their father to return to Philadelphia with the two young daughters who
were entrusted to the loving care of Marcus Cauffman
and his wife Bella, old family friends from Kaiserlautern
who, having no children of their own, welcomed this family addition. In
Philadelphia the Greenbaum girls met a young niece of
Marcus Cauffman, Rosalia Cauffman who was destined to marry the brother Herman. With
family affairs settled, Herman, with friends from Chicago, started overland
from St. Joseph, Missouri in the Spring of 1850 headed
for California arriving in Sacramento after a five month's trip. His brother
Leon and partner had traveled by sea, via Panama, and Herman joined them in San
Jose where they opened a clothing & dry goods store. The brothers shortly
moved their business to San Francisco where, on May 3, 1851, a disastrous fire
destroyed their store and claimed the life of Leon. In the fall of that year
Herman and another brother Jacob purchased a clothing business in Sacramento at
128 J Street at the S.E. corner of Fifth and J Streets, and operated under the
name of Greenbaum and Bro. Wholesale and Dry Goods
Merchants. Moses Greenbaum, a third brother, worked
as a clerk in this store. On November 2, 1852, their store was destroyed by the
disastrous fire which burned most of the city and the following month
Sacramento was inundated by flood waters which forced the Greenbaums
and other merchants to move about five miles up the American River where they
opened stores in tents. In the spring of 1853 they were reestablished at the J
Street address. Herman returned to Philadelphia in July 1857 and married Rosalia Cauffman. Returning with
his bride to Sacramento they joined Herman's sister Sarah who had married Louis
Sloss in 1855. The family in Sacramento was shortly
to include the younger Greenbaum sister Hannah who
married Lewis Gerstle in 1858. It is interesting to
note that the partners, Louis Sloss who came overland
to California in 1849 and Lewis Gerstle who arrived
by sea in 1850 were later to found the Alaska Commercial Company which played a
historic part in the development of Alaska. In 1858 Herman, still maintaining
his partnership in the Sacramento store, moved to San Francisco where he looked
after the interests of the firm, maintaining his office at 71 California
Street. The brothers Herman and Jacob sold their interests in the Sacramento
store in 1862 and, with Henry Woodleaf, did business
as importers and jobbers in clothing under the name of H. Cohn & Co. The
business required a New York buyer and late in 1862 Herman moved his family to
New York. The Greenbaum brothers, Herman, Jacob and
Moses in 1868 opened their own business in San Francisco under the name of Greenbaum Brothers, manufacturers, importers and jobbers,
clothing and gents' furnishing goods, at No. 7 Sansome
Street. Herman remained in New York as buyer. In 1878 the firm was operating at
524-526 Market Street and 23-25 Sutter Street. Returning to San Francisco with
his family in July 1878 Herman established residence at 1917 Franklin Street. A
year or so later he and his brother Jacob left the clothing business and
with August Helbing and Emmanuel Strauss formed an
enterprise under the name of Greenbaum, Helbing & Co., Stockbrokers, 232
Montgomery Street, San Francisco. He again went to New York in 1881 to enlarge
the firm but that project was abandoned and he returned to San Francisco. In
1882 ill health dictated the selling of his interest in the firm which then
became known as Greenebaum, Helbing
& Co., Stockbrokers, (Jacob Greenebaum and
Emmanuel Strauss). After a lingering illness he passed away Feb. 1, 1883 at his
Franklin Street home leaving his wife Rosalia and
seven children, Caroline (Mrs. I. N. Walter) born in Sacramento; Emil, Bertha
(Mrs. Wm. Haas) and Joseph, born in San Francisco; and Alfred, Louis, and
Stella (Mrs. Alfred Simon) born in New York. Herman Greenebaum
was instrumental in building up a large and prosperous enterprise in San
Francisco. He was one of the well known and highly honored pioneer merchants of
the city where he achieved material success and established a reputation as a loyal,
liberal and public spirited citizen of sterling personal character. It is
not known where Herman Greenebaum was made a Mason
but as soon as he arrived in Sacramento he became active in Masonic Circles and
assisted in the organization of Sacramento Lodge No. 40. He served our Lodge as
Junior Steward during the year 1854. On removing to San Francisco he dimitted from Sacramento Lodge
No. 40 on September 3, 1855 and within a year affiliated with Fidelity Lodge
No. 120 of San Francisco. The date of affiliation is not known as the records
of that Lodge were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1906. In the proceedings of
the Grand Lodge he is shown as having withdrawn from Fidelity Lodge No. 120 in
1863. After taking up his residence in New York he apparently did not affiliate
with any Lodge there as the Secretary of the Grand Lodge of New York informs us
that his name can not be found in the New York Grand Lodge records. Note: For a
large part of the above biographical sketch of Herman Greenebaum
and for a copy of his photograph we are indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Lilienthal of San Francisco. Mrs. Lilienthal
is a granddaughter of Herman Greenebaum and Mr. Lilienthal is the grandson of Mrs. Louis Sloss, a sister of Herman Greenebaum.
Transcribed
by Sally Kaleta.
Proofread by Betty Vickroy.
© 2007 Sally Kaleta.