Gus Lindman’s father, Morris moved to San Francisco in the 1860s with his wife and children including Gus and his younger brother Simon. The move was to follow the gold rush, not as a miner, but rather as a merchant. Morris was only modestly successful in that endeavor. When his wife Henrietta became pregnant with the twins, Dora and Susy, she insisted on returning to the East Coast and eventually Cincinnati. When they left, funds for travel were not sufficient to include the boys. Gus and Simon remained behind in the care of the de Young family. When Gus had saved enough money, he sent 16-year-old Simon ahead back east, remaining in San Francisco until 1896. While there, at age 20, he was a member of the 3rd Regiment of the California National Guard, charged with protecting gold reserves from Confederate sympathizers.
After returning to Cincinnati, Gus met and married Henrietta Okes in 1868. As members of the Jewish community, they were married by Rabbi Issac Meyer Wise, the principal figure in the establishment of the Jewish Reform movement in the United States. The original marriage certificate issued in Hamilton County was lost in a fire. The document shown here is a ceremonial certificate. Note that it was obtained from of local stationery store and was generic in design with a Christian cross in the upper left and a New Testament quote on the right. There were no stock certificates available for members of the Jewish faith.
The speculation is that the sisters wanted to go to the dance and Gus was drafted as chaperone. (Photo contributed by Lori Cooper Smith)
Below right, one of the last photographs of Gus taken around 1926-1927 at Greensboro, North Carolina.
