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Who were our Jewish ancestors? Where did they come from? How
did they get here? Why did they come? Whether our ancestors were
Sephardic Jews avoiding the Spanish Inquisition in the 1600s
and 1700s or German Jews seeking their fortune as merchants in
the mid 1800s or Eastern European Jews fleeing pogroms in the
late 1800s, we have a diverse and fascinating heritage to explore.
Jewish transplants to New Mexico have contributed their talents
to the Land of Enchantment in many ways, as pioneers, farmers,
ranchers, merchants, military, teachers, professors, scientists,
lawyers, doctors, bankers, artists, writers, musicians and retirees.
Though our roots are not in New Mexico, we may wish to discover
where our grandparents and their grandparents came from, what
their names were in the Old Country, how they earned a living.
Genealogy is history from the perspective of the family. NMJHS
invites you to learn about your roots, the history and geography
lessons specific to your own family.
To Search For Your
Own Family's Genealogy, Please Visit These Websites:
www.cyndislist.com.
www.jewishgen.org
www.ellisislandrecords.org
www.avotaynu.com
www.stevenmorse.org
www.yadvashem.org
www.sephardim.com
www.sefarad.org
www.cryptojews.com
www.jewishgen.org/sephardic/general_sites.htm
Meet A Pioneer..........
Profile of Charles Ilfeld
Charles Ilfeld was the seventh
child born to Betty and Lester Ilfeld in the town of Homburg
Von der Hohe, Germany. At the age of 18, Charles arrived in Santa
Fe. He left behind a life of fear and political insecurity to
emerge as a new pioneer in the frontier territory of New Mexico.
His brother Herman had come to New Mexico first and arranged
for Charles to work in Taos as an agent for the thriving business
owned by two well-known traders in the Territory of New Mexico,
Elsberg and Amberg. Charles' ambitious efforts quickly returned
excellent dividends. He built a formidable mercantile emporium
and became an exemplary member of New Mexico society. His early
experiences with Elsberg and Amberg taught him the basics of
the retail business. He parlayed that knowledge into a business
of significant success in the bustling town of Las Vegas, New
Mexico. There is evidence of the presence of the Ilfeld family
in Las Vegas today. From Las Vegas, the Charles Ilfeld Company
moved to Albuquerque, where it continued operations well into
the 1950s. Today, many descendants of the Ilfeld family work
hard to preserve the many treasured memories of the Ilfeld legacy
in New Mexico.
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