The Leopold family, Part 1

Abraham Leopold was an early Rensselaer merchant who had a large impact on the development of the City. He was born in Germany in 1833 and immigrated to the United States when he was only 15. Before settling in Rensselaer, he lived in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, LaPorte, Rock Island, IL, Iowa City, Chicago, and Francesville. Arriving in Rensselaer, he opened a shop in a small building on the Corner of Washington Street and Van Rensselaer. His business was successful and he built the building that now houses the First Merchants Bank as well as the building to its south. His name is on the stone above what is Demotte Carpet. He platted the Leopold addition to Rensselaer and several street names—Emilie, Rachel, Milton, and Leopold—are named for the family or members of the family. He was one of Rensselaer's richest men, with one report of his death guessing his net worth between $100,000 and $250,000 (which was a lot back then). His wealth came more from real estate development and rental than his retail business. Unlike many of his wealthy contemporaries, he lived quite modestly in a home on South Front Street.

I have not been able to find a picture of him online, but there is a picture in Vintage Views (Vol 15, page 15) that also has a picture of the original Leopold Block building.

Abraham and his wife Emilie had eleven children, five girls and six boys. What happened to these children? How did they contribute to Rensselaer? And are there any descendants of Abraham and Emily living in Rensselaer today? This post and a followup will investigate the family tree, with this one focusing on the daughters and the next on the sons.

1) The eldest of the children was Rachel (1867-1937). She married Phillip Mosler (1866-1898) and they first lived in Kentland before moving to Remington and finally Rensselaer. They had two children, Pauline (1890-1903) and Philip (1895-1948). Pauline perished in the Iroquois Theater fire with about 600 other people, including her aunt Sadie Leopold Wolf. Philip later became the manager of the Hammond Goldbatts store. He had a daughter Pauline (1925-2006) who died in California. I do not know if this Pauline had children.

(An article about the fire and the Leopold party at the fire is here. It has pictures of several of the people mentioned in this post and it even links to this blog!)

Racheal lived with her parents for several years before marrying Leo Wolf (1868-1939.) Leo was a widower, his first wife being Sadie Leopold, who died with her niece in the Iroquois Theater five. Rachel is buried in Hammond, IN.

2) Abraham and Emily then had six boys before having three more girls. Sadie Leopold (1868-1903) was mentioned above as a second Leopold who died in the Iroquois Theater fire of 1903. She married Leo Wolf and had a daughter, Helen Wolf (1902-1980), who was raised by her father and aunt Rachael. Helen had three daughters. The Leopold line lives on in this branch, but not in Rensselaer. Sadie is buried in Hammond.

3) Julia Leopold (1881-1967) married Louis Haas (1887-1950) from Tipton and for more than a decade lived there. Before 1935 they moved to Rensselaer and lived with her younger sister Gertie on South Front Street. She had one son, Louis Haas (1914-1985), and two granddaughters who were living in California at the time of her death. Louis spent three years of high school at Tipton but graduated from Rensselaer High School. He married and had children, but I have not found them. Julia and her husband are buried in Weston Cemetery in the plot with her parents, niece Pauline, and nephew Milton. Son Louis and his wife are buried in Washington State. Below is his senior picture from the 1932 Chaos yearbook.

4) The final daughter, Gertrude (1884-1962) never married and seems never to have had a job. She is buried in Weston Cemetery in the lot of her brother Bernhart.

5) One daughter died in infancy. She is mentioned without a name in several obituaries and I can find nothing else about her.

Obituaries for most of the people named above can be found on their findagrave memorials. Start here and follow links.