Samuel Jacks & Morris Jacks: Cousin Jewish Pioneers of St. Louis, Missouri

Samuel Jacks

Values Codes I – E – L

 

Samuel Jacks was born in Wreschen, near Posen, Prussia.

 

St. Louis

In 1834, Samuel Jacks journeyed to St. Louis, Missouri.

Samuel worked in the mercantile business.

Around 1843, he was naturalized as an American citizen.

Later, he moved to Wichita, Kansas.

 

Community 

Samuel Jacks helped found the Mount Olive Cemetery in St. Louis.

 

In 1888, Samuel Jacks died in Kansas.

He was buried in St. Louis, in the Mount Olive Cemetery.

 

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Morris Jacks

Values Codes I – E – L

 

Morris Jacks was born in Graetz, Prussia, in 1831.

 

St. Louis

In the 1840s, Morris Jacks came to America, joining his cousin, Samuel Jacks, in St. Louis, Missouri.

In 1849, Morris caught “gold fever” and traveled to California.

He later returned to St. Louis, where he built a successful clothing business.

In 1874, Morris left the clothing business.

 

Civic

In 1874, Morris Jacks became the Mortuary Clerk at City Hall, in St. Louis.

He was a volunteer firefighter with Missouri Co. #11, and was appointed to the Sanitary Department of the Board of Health in 1895.

 

Family

Morris Jacks married Traphenia Levi, daughter of Solomon and Matilda Levi, in 1866.

 

Morris Jacks died in 1904, on Yom Kippur.

He is buried in the Mount Sinai Cemetery in St. Louis.

 

Sources

  • Walter Ehrlich, Zion in the Valley: The Jewish Community of St. Louis, Volume 1 (Columbia, Mo: University of Missouri Press, 1997).
  • Ellen Jane Freund Schwartz, Freund Family Chronicles (St. Louis, MO: 1992).

Samantha Silver is curator of this Samuel & Morris Jacks exhibit.