M. H. Garfunkel

When the Garfunkel family returned to Charleston from Columbia in the early 1880s, Moses (1839-1919) and his second-oldest son, Benjamin (1867-undetermined), initially worked as clerks for clothing merchant Philip Light. By 1886, however, Moses was engaged as a dry goods merchant, with Benjamin working for him as a clerk. The following year, Benjamin and the eldest Garfunkel child, Sam (1863-undetermined), established a clothing manufactory and store by the name of Garfunkel Bros. at 440 King Street. The brothers soon expanded their business to include the storefront at 438 King Street, and they employed their father as the store’s manager and their younger brother Aaron (1872-1940) as a clerk. After Benjamin and Sam left Charleston in the early 1890s, Moses opened a clothing store at 305 King Street, where he employed Aaron as a clerk. The store and the Garfunkel home remained at 305 King Street until 1899 when the family moved the business and their residence to 312 King Street. The Garfunkel family relocated to New York by 1901.¹

¹ Milton M. Gottesman, Hoopskirts & Huppas: A Chronicle of the Early Years of the Garfunkel-Trager Family in America, 1856-1920 (New York: American Jewish Historical Society, 1999), 21-24.