The Jaffa Brothers
Values Codes H – I – E – L – P
Samuel Jaffa (1842-1909), Henry Jaffa (1846-1901), and Solomon Jaffa (1849-1941), German-born immigrant brothers, settled in Trinidad, Colorado, in the mid-1870’s. Its initial 1870 census had recorded 562 residents.
Henry Jaffa
In 1876, Samuel won election as mayor and chairman of the board of trustees and won a second term in 1878.
His younger brother, Solomon, won a city council term in 1900 and four consecutive terms as Trinidad’s treasurer beginning in 1905-13.
He later served as a commissioner on the board of Las Animas County (which contains Trinidad).
Henry Jaffa relocated to New Mexico in 1879 and was elected Albuquerque’s first mayor in 1885.
His nephews, Nathan Jaffa (1863-1945) and Joseph Jaffa (1870-1936), followed him to New Mexico.
Jaffa Mercantile Co., Trinidad, Colorado
Source
- Mark Rutzik, Breaking New Ground: The Untold Story of Early America’s Jewish Electoral Pioneers – 1788 to 1920, 2025.
Mark Rutzick is the curator of this Jaffa Brothers exhibit.