J. T. Solomons & Co.

Jacob Theodore Solomons (1826-1875) formally operated J. T. Solomons & Co. from 1851 until his death in 1875. Jacob was born to Mark and Rachel Rodriguez Solomons who settled in Sumter in 1820. There, Mark built a store on Main Street before changing locations a few years later. When Mark died in 1840, the business briefly fell to his eldest son Esdaile, who tragically died four months later at age twenty. For the next seven years, Mark and Rachel’s second son, David, managed the store before he died on a buying trip in New York City. At that time, his younger brothers Augustus and Jacob took over the store. In 1848, Jacob formed a partnership with Henry J. Haynsworth and in 1849, likewise joined Anthony White in business to keep the family store afloat.

Around 1851, Jacob and Augustus named the family store J. T. Solomons & Co. When they later brought Edward Solomons and J. B. Roach into the partnership, they changed the name to Solomons & Co. In 1852, they replaced their wooden store with a brick establishment, and in 1867, opened another branch on the corner of Main and Liberty streets. In 1868, the Solomons brothers dissolved their partnership, and Jacob continued operating the primary business, selling groceries, dry goods, and clothes. His business endeavors proved profitable; according to the 1860 and 1870 censuses, his estate was valued at $38,000 and $30,000, respectively. After Solomons’ death, his wife, Julia Schwerin Solomons (1843-1882) kept up the business until she died in 1882.