Solomon S. Lindeman was a teacher but it was difficult to make enough money to support his family so he became a carpenter. This work kept him from his family much of the time and they still did not have much money. In early 1907 (or late 1906; from the following letter we learn he has been in Utah at least since Januray) Solomon heard of good employment opportunities in Salt Lake City and left his family in Colorado for the time being to see if he could make a better living for them there. He began working in the Garfield smelters and had rented a small room in Salt Lake City.
On Feb. 11, 1907 he wrote this letter home:
After 70 days, return to
S. S. Lindeman
Garfield
GARFIELD, Feb 12 1907 UTAH.
Ella M. Lindeman
Florence
125 E. 5 St Colorado
PAGE 1:
Garfield Feb 11 - 7 [1907]
Dear Ella today was pay day
and will send you my check
you keep the 100 & send me
the $6.50. I wish you would
show this check to several of
those skeptic people who
think I am not getting what
I say I am. I got those pictures
of the Ass with 3 heads one at
one end & two at the other Ha Ha It is
plain you show plain too
I see Moses the Lord of Creation
got the Post Office That Iriga
tion scheme is comming along
all right well if we dont
like it out here we can go
back and have a home to go
to I would like to get the
place paid there it will
not be hard for me to make
a living It will be worth
all it cost for you folks
to see this great County
PAGE 2:
If you folks could come as
cheap as I did If I would
go to work for the D & R G
[D&RG= The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad]
in 2 or 3 months I could get
a pass to bring all out here
They only pay $3.50 on the
Bridge gang I heard John
Lo..ing went to work in
the car shops for the D. & R. G.
in Salt Lake at $4.00 for 10
hours That might suit
me but I kik this work
and dont like to quit here
if I got fired I would try
that too I am going to stay
here till April any way
I got a long fetter from
Lela she didn't say any
thing about coming home
She said I should tell
Russel to quit writing to Ger
tie as she is no nice girl
The weather is very nice &
has been all this month
PAGE 3:
It is colder than it was
in January but the snow
is all gone and the ground
is dry The Mountains are as
white as sheets We hear of
many snow slides up the
Canons [Canyons] around Park City
and East of there The Mountains
remind me of Sang De Chris-
to when we went over
marshal Pass tower so
high in the air and white
with snow I have the ad-
vantage over you the Mor-
man boys dont look at
a Gentile woman but the
girls are after them [a]lot
Ha Ha My shoulder still hurts
me I guess it is rheumatism.
I can hardly get my coat
on my side is all right
I still have the plaster on
it I am nearly out of
shoes and foot wear is
PAGE 4:
so high out here I am almost
afraid to buy I got a pair
of lowshoes last summer
but they are too thin and I
had to pay $3.50 for them
If you could get a good cheap
pair and if someone [is] ever
coming out send them to
164 S 2nd West. Salt Lake
House It would cost too much to express them
Well I will close to hear
from you
So good night
a Kiss and a hug
Pa, Pa.
From these articles we learn how Solomon Lindeman died. He exited a street car near his home on 2nd West and 2nd South in Salt Lake City.
Click to see where Solomon died
He then walked behind the car to cross and was hit by another street car coming the opposite direction. Ella Martha Miller Lindeman, his wife, arrived a few days later to get his body. In the Salt Lake Herald on May 19th 1907, we learn that Mr. Lindeman was a member of the Odd Fellows, a Yeoman, and a member of the Carpenters' Union. Mrs. Lindeman was going to check with the local lodges (these local groups) before making funeral arrangement. I am still not sure why she wanted to check with them unless it was to see if any were willing or able to help her in this matter. There are several articles of the Odd Fellows holding memorial services for members, but I could find no article of one being held for Solomon in Utah. The Odd Fellows were an organization known for helping others in need. I have written to the Salt Lake IOOF (International Order of Odd Fellows) for more information on Solomon's membership. I will update this post if I hear back from them. The Yeomen was an institution with more of a financial base.
This is a section from the Salt Lake Herald a few days after Solomon died. This article tells us the address where the Brotherhood of American Yeomen would meet (269 E 3rd South in Salt Lake) at the Yeoman Hall. We also learn that there is an Odd Fellows Temple on Market Street. The Rebekah lodges are the female members' groups of the Odd Fellows.
Here is more information on these groups:
The International Order of Odd Fellows
To Improve and Elevate the Character of Man
"In 17th century England, it was odd to find people organized for the purpose of giving aid to those in need and of pursuing projects for the benefit of all mankind. Those who belonged to such an organization were called "Odd Fellows". Odd Fellows are also known as "The Three Link Fraternity" which stands for Friendship, Love and Truth."
The Brotherhood of American Yeomen:
"The Brotherhood of American Yeomen, founded in 1897, was one of a vast number of fraternal benefit assessment societies established toward the end of the 19th century. The Lodges were called Homesteads, and there was a strong Christian element to the Rituals and Ceremonies, which also praised the Magna Carta and the English language. The Homesteaders was the result of a schism within the Yeomen.
In 1917, the Yeomen changed its financial footing to assure greater stability, and in 1932 it transformed itself into the Mutual Life Insurance Company. The order is now extinct."
Yeomen History
"The society was popular from the start, the founder evidently having formed a plan of mutual insurance that seemed reasonable and just and which provided for a surplus fund for reserve. The name, however, did not altogether suit and before the articles of incorporation were filed it was changed to Brotherhood of American Yeomen."
The Carpenters' Union:
"the primary purpose of the Carpenters Unions were to reduce the twelve-hour day, six-day week and to increase the daily wage of $2.25. Peter McGuire, the Father of Labor Day, and the First General Secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, had organized these Local Unions and imbued them with a spirit of bettering the lot of their fellow workers."
These Articles tell us that Mrs. Lindeman with the help of the administrator, J. Boyd Gordon, sued the Utah Light & Railway company for the sum of $50,000 damages.
*note: Because Mr. J. Boyd Gordon was an administrator rather than an executor we can safely assume that Mr. S. S. Lindeman died intestate or without a will. An executor is someone named in a will to handle the eatate of the deceased and financial distribution, when there is no will then the court appoints an administrator to handle the financial affairs of the deceased. This also means that there should be probate records concerning this appointment. They may be in Salt Lake or in Colorado, but I will look into this later if I have time. I'm sure the court accounts of the above suit are interesting as well.
Mrs. Lindeman and Mr. Gordon made a case of negligence on the part of the Utah Light & Railway company for not sounding warning signals. The jury awarded Mrs. Lindeman $9,120 for damages. The Utah Light & Railway company motioned for a new trial on the grounds that this was an excessive sum of money, the jurers were prejudice and that there was lack of evidence in the case.
*note: What was $9,120 worth in 1907?
From Measuring Worth
In 2007, $9,120.00 from 1907 is worth:
$207,569.60 using the Consumer Price Index
$157,671.26 using the GDP deflator
$472,888.89 using the value of consumer bundle *
$866,930.23 using the unskilled wage *
$1,074,246.31 using the nominal GDP per capita
$3,729,066.58 using the relative share of GDP
The above link will give a detailed explaination of each of these methods of calculation. The first one, The Consumer Price Index, I believe is the most relavent to our case.
The case was retried and the final sum awarded Mrs. Lindeman was $4,000. With this money she was able to pay off their home in Colorado and send their oldest son to school to learn the linotype machine. Eventually he found work in Salt Lake at the Salt Lake Telegram (newspaper). He sent money home until the family moved to Salt Lake City where he continued to help support them.
These newspaper articles also tell us:
-Solomon was killed instantly
-where he was when he died (2nd W and 2nd S SLC)
-that he was near his home at the time
-who his wife was (Ella M. Lindeman)
-that he had 5 children
-where his family was living (Florence, Colorado)
-his death date (May 17, 1907)
-how he died
-that he was a laborer
-groups he belonged to
From the Death Certificate We Learn:
-Died in Salt Lake
-was taken to LDS Hospital
-his "usual" residence was Salt Lake City
-he was a resident for 1/2 day at the place of death (I assume they must mean the actual physical spot where he died for this as he was living in Salt Lake prior to his death)
-his name, Solomon S. Lindeman, white male
-married, no spouse name given
-birth date, Aug 19 1851
-Father: Robert Lindeman of Pennsylvania
-Mother: Sarah Snyder of Pennsylvania
-Occupation: Carpenter
-Informant for death certificate: Mrs. S. S. Lindeman of Florence, Colarado
-will be buried in Florence, Colorado upon arrival
-the doctor who attended him said he died at 9PM on May 17 1907
-Cause: Injuries - lac. wounds fractur 3 ribs
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