The Guggenheims

Chiefly the life story of successful entrepreneur and business magnate Meyer Guggenheim including his genealogy and family history as well as the history of his multiple business enterprises. The son of Simon Guggenheim, Meyer was born in 1828 in Ober-Lengnau, Canton of Aargau, Switzerland. Fleeing religious persecution and oppression in Switzerland the Simon Guggenheim family, along with family friend Rachel Myers and her family, emigrated in 1847 (via Hamburg) to America landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Soon after arriving in America, Father Simon Guggenheim (1792-1869) married widow Rachel Myers. In about 1852 in Philadelphia, Meyer Guggenheim took his stepsister Barbara Myers (1834-1900) to be his bride. In the coming years young Meyer Guggenheim was to become an important influence in mining and financial circles in the United States and throughout the world. Barbara Myers Guggenheim died 20 March 1900 in New York City, New York. She was laid away in the big Mausoleum " ... in Salem Fields, Jamaica, Long Island."--P. 157. Meyer Guggenheim died 15 March 1905 at Palm Beach, Florida. He was laid to rest by his wife in Salem Fields. Descendants and relatives lived in Pennsylvania, New York, New England and elsewhere.