Hannah Marks
Solomons School Teacher and
Mother of Five Successful Children
As an orphaned girl growing up with her Orthodox
uncle in Philadelphia, Hannah Marks Solomons was ready to make
a life for herself, but had few resources at her disposal. When
a lonely western suitor sent her passage money to California
in 1853, she hastily accepted. However, once Hannah met her
betrothed, she refused to go through with the marriage, much
to her family's disapproval. Her mind made up, Hannah went to
work as a school teach and eventually married Gershom Mendes
Seixas Solomons, a leader in the San Francisco Jewish community.
They were wed in the early 1860s, but the marriage was hardly
ideal. Although he was an upstanding citizen in the public eye,
privately, Gershom became a heavy drinker leaving Hannah to
raise a family virtually alone. Nonetheless, her children did
her great credit: Theodore became a renowned explorer and cartographer
of Yosemite; Leon, a psychology professor; Lucius, an attorney;
Adele, a medical doctor and a child psychologist; and Selina,
a writer and a woman suffragist.
Three
of Hannah Mark Solomon's Five Brilliant Children
Theodore
Solomons Renowned explorer and
cartographer of Yosemite
Adele
Solomons Medical doctor and
child psychologist
