Jacob Wolfe

Born in Prussia to Isaac (1787-1856) and Henrietta Wolfe (1787-1864), Jacob (b. c. 1826) was living with his brother Saling (1817-1893) in Winnsboro, South Carolina, at the time of the 1850 US Census. There, he likely assisted his brother as he managed a dry goods store and oversaw a farm and the dozens of men, women, and children the Wolfes enslaved.

Facing economic decline following the Civil War, Saling sold his stock of dry goods supplies to Jacob in 1866 and moved to Brooklyn, New York. Based on surviving newspaper records, Sarah likely remained in Fairfield County with her children and worked alongside Jacob in his shop. In 1867, Jacob and Sarah moved “his large and fashionable dry goods house from No. 2 Bank Range to Nos. 3 and 4 Brick Range.” There, they sold materials like seal skin cloth, merino wool, and beaver fur.

While working for Jacob, Sarah publicly declared that she would begin operating as sole-trader—or an independent female merchant—beginning March 1868. Jacob closed his store later that year.