Fleeing Hate, Max Idelman Found a Home in Wyoming

Said to have been escaping religious persecution as a Jew in Russian-dominated Poland, Max (called “Mox”) Idelman in October 1867 at Hamburg, Germany, boarded the Steamer Tripoli, shown below, not knowing what he might discover in America.   A sense of adventure eventually took him West where Idelman found prosperity and acclaim in Cheyenne, Wyoming, all the while selling whiskey.

Like many refugees Idelman’s beginnings are sketchy.  For his birthplace he listed several locations.  One of them, Mariampol, is the name of at least eight Polish towns.  His date of birth also was variously given.  If we go by the date on his tombstone he was born in 1844.  That would make him 23 years old at the time of his crossing.

Although he likely landed at New York or another East Coast city, young Max’s compass took him almost immediately to St. Joseph, Missouri.  This town was considered a “jumping off” point for pioneers going west.  Shown here in maturity, Idelman daily would have seen the covered wagons rolling through town.  He likely was working for one of the many liquor houses in St. Joseph that helped stock those wagons with whiskey.

By the time he left Poland, Max had married and in 1863 fathered a son, Samuel.  The identity of his wife is shrouded in history.  By one account she died; in another she disliked living in America and went back to Poland, leaving Sam with Max.  In the 1880 Census he referred to himself as a “widower” and was raising his 13-year-old son.

In 1875, after some eight years serving as a clerk in a St. Joseph liquor emporium, Idelman headed west to Evanston, Wyoming, a town that had its origins when the first Continental Railroad arrived in November 1868 and made Evanston, its headquarters.  Idelman saw opportunity there at one of the western-most points in Wyoming and opened a liquor store.

Apparently Evanston failed to meet his expectations because two years later in 1877 Idelman moved 320 miles back across Wyoming to Cheyenne, a town that was growing rapidly and had become known as “The Magic City of the Plains.”  It also was the state capital.  There Idelman was joined by his younger half-brother, Abraham, shown left.  Together they founded an company they called the Yellowstone Tobacco and Liquor Distributorship and later Adelman Bros. Liquor and Cigars. 

Together the brothers built the Idelman Building at the corner of Ferguson (later Carey) and 16th Streets, shown here.  Considered the finest commercial structure in Cheyenne, it held a hotel, a saloon and the Idelmans’ liquor house.  The main entrance of the building was situated on the southwest corner.  The drawing here indicates that the entrance originally was framed by a pair of semicircular arches supported at the corner by a turned stone column.

Inside the Idelmans’ establishment, as shown left, one wall side was completely filled with barrels of whiskey.  Some have speculated that the hoses hanging over the barrels were there to allow customers to taste the products.  Perhaps, but my assessment is that the hoses served a more functional purpose in allowing whiskey to be siphoned off into small containers as it was being sold. 

A report from the Wyoming state agency assessing liquor quality indicates that the brothers featured some of the best whiskey Kentucky produced, including Mellwood, Belle of Anderson, Old Taylor, Kentucky Club, and Old Crow, as well as Eastern brands like Hannisville and Guckenheimer.  They also stocked cheaper brands that the authorities charged had been illicitly colored with caramel and labeled “imitation whiskey.” Among them may have been "Monogram," a house brand for which Max issued a shot glass.

In addition to its Wyoming customer base the company sold liquor in neighboring Colorado and Nebraska.  In the process Max was amassing a fortune.  His life changed in 1881 when he married again, a woman that he had met in St. Joseph years earlier.  She was Fanny Kaufmann, eighteen years his junior, who has been described as “beautiful and cultured” and a gracious hostess.  They would have one daughter, Belle, born in 1883.  A family photo shows the trio.

For Fanny, Max used his riches to build a mansion on Cattle Baron Row, shown here.  It was directly across from the Wyoming Capitol on Ferguson Street.  Featuring castle-like turrets, tall chimneys, ample porches and a key hole entry way, it was truly a spectacular residence.  The man and woman shown in the photo may well be Max and Fanny, posing in front of their home.  It is reported that Theodore Roosevelt stayed a night with the Idelmans before appearing in a Cheyenne parade in his honor.  The former President is shown here on horseback as he rode in front of the Idelman Building.

Idelman’s success did not go unnoticed in Cheyenne.  Considered among the leading businessmen of the town, he was urged to run for local office, agreed, and was elected to a term on the Cheyenne City Council.  He was welcomed into the fraternity of Masons and the Knights of Pythias.  In his obituary, the Cheyenne Daily Leader wrote:  “Mr. Idelman gave liberally to all public benefactions and took an active part in all movements to uphold the city.”

In 1897 the Idelman family knew sorrow.  Max’s brother Abe had worked shoulder to shoulder with him in Cheyenne, helping to supervised the construction of the Idelman Building and developing their liquor house into one of the largest in the West.  While still a young man of 41 years Abe developed a serious illness and was taken to Denver for treatment, but died there.   Like Max he had achieved a reputation in Cheyenne as a public spirited and enterprising citizen.  The Cheyenne Daily Sun-Leader announcing Abe’s death headlined:  “Was One of the Pillars of Enterprise of  the State and City— His Sudden Demise a Severe Shock to the Entire Community.”

The trauma caused Max and other relatives by Abe’s death was compounded by the rift it caused inside the family.  The brother, who had never married, left his estate, equivalent to over $1 million today, to Max.  A sister and other relatives through their attorneys contested the will, resulting in a rift within the Idelmans.

Max continued to operate Idelman Bros. enterprises, assisted by his son, Samuel.   Accounted a “pioneer businessman” in Cheyenne, he died in March 1913 and was buried in the Mount Sinai Jewish Cemetery in grave adjacent to Abe’s.  Their monuments are above, Max’s on the right.  Fanny continued to live in their mansion home until 1916 when she moved to New York to live with her daughter.  When she died in 1937, her body was brought back to Cheyenne where she is interred next to Max.

Both the Idelman Building and mansion remain standing in Cheyenne to remind the populace of this extraordinary family.  Shown here, the building has been stripped of much of its original ornamentation but appropriately houses a drinking establishment on the ground floor.  The house was sold to a funeral director who modified it with an utilitarian addition to the front.  The building later housed the offices of Wyoming’s governor while his quarters were renovated.  A movement has begun in Cheyenne to remove the addition and restore the Idelman mansion — the only remaining reminder of Cattle Baron Row — to its former glory.