Benjamin Rosenthal

Benjamin Rosenthal

(1 Aug 1869 Bodi, CA - 27 Jul 1916 San Francisco, CA)

My Maternal Great Uncle

Childhood

Ben had a twin, Joseph, who we last see reference to at age ten months old. It is assumed that he died young, The youngest of the family, Ben was educated in the public schools of Hawthorne, being only about ten years of age at the time of his parents' relocated to this place.  A native of California, Mr. Rosenthal was born in Bodie, CA on the 1st of August, 1871.

As a boy in Bodie, he knew all the famous men who made a name for the camp and who afterwards went to other scenes such as Pat Reddy and Sam Wood, whose celebrity extended beyond the camp in the Sierra. It

was one of his favorite reminiscences to tell how he used to sell newspapers to the great lawyers and characters of note after he got through with his schooling for the day.

Pat Reddy was the best lawyer that Bodie ever produced.. He saved many a wicked baddy from the rope... He was well respected by the lawless fraternity of Bodie.

His father, Davis Rosenthal, was born in Russia and in 1851 went to California, engaging in merchandising for twenty-five years at Hornitos. He was also in Bodie for a time, and in 1882 came to Hawthorne, the town having been platted only the year before. He then purchased the Lake View Hotel and successfully conducted it until 1901, when his death occurred

Athlete

Benjamin. Rosenthal was a man of robust health, of fine physique and took great delight in athletics. He is one of the best players of the excellent ball team of Hawthorne and has also made a good record in running races

Rosenthal was not above being clownish on the baseball field.  “He was as funny as a crutch!”, gushed Lena Hammond. “You’d forget about the ball game and you’d watch him...Everybody loved him”

Businessman & Postmaster

Benjamin Rosenthal was Goldfield’s leading pharmacist and jeweler. By 1905 he was director of Goldfield’s Chamber of Commerce.

 

Nevada State Journal                      12 March 1914 Postmasters Named For Nevada Are Confirmed A special dispatch to the Sacramento Union published yesterday, announces the nominations of the following postmasters confirmed in Washington on Tues:...Benjamin Rosenthal.

Ben Rosenthal’s Home in Goldfield, NV

Malek & Jody who bought the house that used to belong to Ben Rosenthal plan to make it into a museum.

Lake View Hotel

From his youth he has been connected with the hotel business, assisting his father in the conduct of the Lake View Hotel, of which he is now the proprietor. He has the faculty of making his guests feel at home, and does everything in his power for their comfort. The hotel is fifty by ninety feet, two stories in height and contains twenty-five sleeping apartments. It is an excellent hotel for a town of the size of Hawthorne, and Mr. Rosenthal is doing a good business. He sets a good table, and his efforts to make his hostelry an attractive place of entertainment have resulted in winning him prosperity.

Marriage

Mr. Rosenthal was married July 19, 1891, the lady of his choice being Miss Vesta M. Rice, a native of California. She was of the Episcopalian faith and was a graduate of Bishop Whitaker's College for Young Ladies. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rosenthal were prominent members of society in Hawthorne.

Controversial Politician

Ben Rosenthal was one of the leading Democrats of the state and for years had been a strong influence at every convention. He was elected

county commissioner for two terms. He was the main advocate of the construction of the Esmeralda courthouse and the building up of the splendid fire department of the gold camp.

Esmeralda County Commissioner

On January 19, 1907, Silver-Democrart Governor Sparks appointed him Esmeralda County Commissioner.  Rosenthal reluctantly accepted the post, but warmed  to the job and became a leader in Democratic politics.

Governor Parks and party leaving Goldfield for the Bulldog District, 1906

Rosenthal had an easy smile and for a while he was the toast of the town, until ten months after his appointment as commissioner, Governor Sparks asked Rosenthal to resign for flagrancy in the discharge of his duties.  Rosenthal responded that he could not comply, claiming he had done his duty and a county grand duty had approved his actions.  Within ten weeks of being characterized as inspiring, public-spirited, and generous, Benjamin Rosenthal was being vilified in the partisan Goldfield Chronicle.

John T. Sparks (August 30, 1843 – May 22, 1908) was an American politician. He was the tenth Governor of Nevada, and was nicknamed Honest John.

Esmeralda County was still reeling from two bank failures and residual effects of the 1907 national economic depression.  The treasury was bankrupt. Rosenthal and Sheriff William Ingalls wanted to maintain a twenty-four-man deputy sheriff force, while reformers called for the number to be cut to one officer.  

Rosenthal borrowed money from the school fund to pay for the deputies and other county bills.  As the 1908 general election drew near, the formally “smiling Benny” and the first baseman was now being caricature as domineering “Big Mitt” Rosenthal, with his hand in the school-fund cash drawer.

Rosenthal & Labor Unions

His support of union labor during recent strike activities did not endear him to mine owners.  The Goldfield News (the Chronicle’s Democratic

counterpart) denounced the Mine Operators Association for their campaign against Rosenthal and other Democratic candidates supporting unions. Rosenthal’s partisan critics never accused him of dishonesty or appropriating money for his own use, Despite the New’s strong intervention, Ingalls and Rosenthal lost.  Local magnate George Wingfield had been active in bringing radical unionism to its knees months before and may have been instrumental in the candidates’ defeat.

George Wingfield (August 16, 1876 - December 24, 1959) was a Nevada banker and miner. He was considered of be one of the state's most powerful economic and political figures during the period from 1909 to 1932. Wingfield rose from faro-dealer to the position of richest man in Nevada in less than five years.

Clerk of the Esmeralda County Court

Rosenthal continued as proprietor of his drug and jewelry store as well as clerk of the Esmeralda County Court.  He and former sheriff Ingalls were politically influential well into Goldfield’s declining years.

Fourth of July drilling contest, Goldfield, 1907

Knights of Pythias

Prominent in the Knights of Pythias fraternity, he is now grand vice chancellor of the grand lodge of the state, and is also connected with the subordinate lodge and the Rebekah degree of the Odd Fellows society.

Death and Burial

Reno Evening Gazette, Saturday, July 29, 1916

ROSENTHAL-In San Francisco, July 27, 1916, Benjamin Rosenthal died following surgery for removal of an abdominal  tumor. Beloved husband of Mrs. Helen Rosenthal, son of Mrs. Augusta Rosenthal, brother of Sam of Reno, Aaron of Portland, and Mrs. W. Henley of Goldfield; a member of McKinley Lodge No. 26, K. of P. of Goldfield; a native of California, aged 47 years. Friends are respectfully invited to attend the funeral services Sunday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at K. of P. hall, Masonic Temple, under the auspices of Amity Lodge No. 8, K. of P. Interment in K. of P. Cemetery.

Burial:

Knights of Pythias Cemetery

Reno

Washoe County

Nevada, USA

Family Lines______________________________________

Wife:  Vesta M. Rice, marriage July 19, 1891

Father:  Davis Rosenthal (1829 - 1901)

Mother:  Augusta Sarah Goldman Rosenthal (1843 - 1923)

Siblings:

Aaron A Rosenthal (1883 - 23 Dec 1928, Portland, OR)

Samuel Henry Rosenthal (1865 - 1936)

Henrietta Kate Rosenthal Henley (1867 - 1926)
Joseph Rosenthal (twin) (1869 - ??)

Sources:

A History of the State of Nevada: Its Resources and People by Thomas Wren, Published by The Lewis publishing company, 1904

Nevada State Journal, March 12,  1914

Reno Evening Gazette, Saturday, July 29, 1916

Jews in Nevada: A History by John P. Marschall, University of Nevada Press, 2008

Claudia Rose (Wilbur) Myers, second cousin, research on Henley and Rosenthal histories and Rosenthal house in Goldfield

Richard Meredith, second cousin-in-law, research on Henley and Rosenthal histories