Sam & Martha's Synagogues

The Great Synagogue of London 1810

Based on their known addresses, Sam and Martha Isaacs always lived close enough to a synagogue that they could walk there on the sabbath. In London, Martha's father Morris Myers was a Privileged Member of the Great Synagogue in Duke's Place. Several life events were recorded there, including his marriage to Sarah Fuller daughter of Abraham on 1 September 1825, and his death on 12 June 1870. Sam Isaacs's parents appear to have also been married in the Great Synagogue: Zeev Wolf son of Moshe Isaacs to Elena daughter of Isaac Benjamin on 15 December 1830. Sam and Martha were married there on 25 October 1854.

When Sam and Martha went to the goldfields in Australia, him in 1856, and her with their two eldest daughters in 1858, they seem to have settled in Bendigo (which was briefly known as Sandhurst). The existence of the Sandhurst Congregation, established in 1854, may have influenced their choice. The currently-existing temple was completed in 1872, after they left Australia in 1870.

Bendigo Synagogue 1880s

They did not stay long in London, but decided to try their fortunes in the United States in 1871. By 1880, the family was living on Cutter Street in Cincinnati, Ohio, within walking distance of the Plum Street Temple at the corner of 8th and Plum. The building was new at the time, having been dedicated in 1866, but it is now on the Historic Registry, not only for its architecture but for its role in the establishment of the Reform movement in America. Rabbi Isaac Meyer Wise served there from 1854 to 1900, and he may have been the most influential Jew of his era.

Isaac M. Wise Temple in Cincinnati
postmark 1912

When Sam and Martha and their youngest children moved to Trinidad, Colorado, sometime between 1880 and 1888, they probably chose the town because of the Jewish congregation there. They may have already known the Jaffa family, who had also come from Cincinnati and were prominent members of the Trinidad Jewish community. Temple Aaron was constructed in 1889 by twelve Jewish families, although whether the Isaacs are officially among them, I don't know. They certainly could have been, since they were listed in the Trinidad Directory in 1888, but they may not have had the money at that time. This is a line of research I should pursue.

Temple Aaron 1890s

Both Sam and Martha died in Trinidad, Sam on 2 May 1892, and Martha on 11 June 1912. They are buried in the Congregation Aaron section of the Masonic Cemetery north of town.