Sol J. Ryttenberg

From a young age, Sumter native Sol J. Ryttenberg (1875-1908) became accustomed to traveling across the United States. During his adolescence, he participated in a bicycle race in Jacksonville, Florida, traveled by bicycle to towns across the state, visited family in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, spent time in the Adirondack Mountains for his health, made a trip to Atlanta, and spent time in Asheville, North Carolina. With so much travel experience in his youth, it is not surprising that Ryttenberg spent much of his career as a merchant far away from Sumter, South Carolina.

After a stint as an insurance agent in 1902, Ryttenberg left South Carolina for Tuscon, Arizona in January of the following year. Shortly thereafter, advertisements appeared in Tuscon newspapers The Tuscon Citizen and the Arizona Daily Star for a suit store he opened there. In February 1904, a little over a year after his initial departure, Ryttenberg returned to Sumter, where he remained through at least January 1905. During his stay, Ryttenberg worked as a sales representative for a Royal Tailoring store on West Liberty Street. By December 1905, Ryttenberg had returned to Tuscon. He remained there through at least October 1906, and during that time he worked as a car salesman. Ryttenberg then went back to the east coast, this time moving to Asheville, North Carolina to improve his health.¹ After a year in Asheville, Ryttenberg returned to Sumter, where he died a few months later.

¹ “Personal.” The Watchman and Southron, October 30, 1907, Page 5.