Amy Loryea ― who appears in some records as "Anne Loryea" ― spent the early years of her childhood in Portland, Oregon, but after her parents were divorced in 1872, she lived with her father in San Francisco, California, where she attended exclusive private schools which catered to the children of the city's social elite.
On January 31, 1892, at Spokane, Washington, Amy married Simon Oppenheimer. The nuptials were elaborate, and widely reported in the press throughout the Pacific Northwest and California. Simon, a pioneer member of the nascent Jewish community in Spokane, was one of the city's up-and-coming businessmen. A smart, ambitious entrepreneur, Simon established a leading role for himself in Spokane and Eastern Washington as a banker, venture capitalist, commodities merchant, and real estate developer. His business career was marked by dazzling success as well as scandal and controversy. During the mid-1890s he traveled to Holland and obtained $300,000.00 from European investors which he used to build profitable lumber and flour mills in Spokane. He also had a hand in establishing two Spokane banks, and amassed substantial investment portfolios in railroad and mining properties.
Business affairs did not solely occupy Simon and Amy Oppenheimer while they lived in Spokane. The couple were active members of the city's affluent social set, and they participated in the community's cultural activities, as well. They were benefactors of several local Jewish organizations, and were esteemed congregants of Temple Emanu-El, of which Simon was a founding member. The couple entertained frequently and lavishly in their beautiful mansion on Pacific Avenue.
In 1895, under the glare of a rising public scandal, Simon's business empire began to crumble, and the following year collapsed entirely, as revelations were publicized that he and his partners had engaged in criminal and unethical business practices. In short order, lawsuits were filed and official investigations were commenced. As these events unfolded, Simon hurriedly divested himself of his various enterprises ― presumably for a handsome profit ― and afterward he and Amy departed Spokane before Simon's creditors could attach his holdings. Simon subsequently adopted an assumed name, afterward calling himself "John Osborne Simmons."
Several years passed before the scope of Simon's activities in Spokane became fully known. The losses suffered by investors who poured money into his schemes, and the collateral damage inflicted on taxpayers who ultimately footed the bill for the public agencies he and his collaborators bilked, ranged into the millions of dollars. This, at a time when the average working man earned, at best, several thousand dollars annually.
Having evaded their legal and financial difficulties in Spokane, "John and Amy Simmons" moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. From that base Simon made additional investments in lucrative mining properties and real estate. Later the couple lived in Mexico City, Mexico, where Simon continued to find remunerative opportunities as a financier and commodities broker. While he enjoyed a high degree of success as a profiteer in Mexico's largely unregulated business community, he never resolved his legal problems in Spokane and rarely ventured back into the United States except to receive medical treatment. Thus, Simon was constrained to limit his business dealings to Central and South American venues while continuing to use his fictitious name, John Osborne Simmons. It was a facade he maintained until his death in Texas from diabetes at 66.
One known child, a daughter, was born under the Simmons surname to Simon and Amy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During the early 1920s, Amy ― still calling herself "Amy Simmons" ― parted from Simon and returned to her native San Francisco. There she lived out her remaining years, initially in the company of her daughter and son-in-law, Gladys and Ren Kelly, and later as a widow residing alone. She survived both her husband and daughter by many years, and eventually became an inmate of Laguna Honda Home, a San Francisco facility for chronically-ill and impoverished elders. She succumbed at 85 to medical complications resulting from a fall in which she suffered a fractured femur.
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References and Notes:
In official records, Amy consistently understated her age by as many as nine years; census records, however, indicate that her true birth year was probably 1868.
Amy and Simon Oppenheimer's wedding was glowingly reported in "The Social World" column in The Morning Call, San Francisco, California, February 8, 1892, page 7.
For a thorough examination of Simon Oppenheimer's controversial public career in Spokane, Washington, see History of the City of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington, Nelson Wayne Durham, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912, Volume 1, pp. 473-4.
Death certificates of Amy (Loryea) "Simmons" (Oppenheimer); "John Osborne Simmons" (Simon Oppenheimer); Solomon Oppenheimer; and Harriet (Wolf) Oppenheimer.
On January 31, 1892, at Spokane, Washington, Amy married Simon Oppenheimer. The nuptials were elaborate, and widely reported in the press throughout the Pacific Northwest and California. Simon, a pioneer member of the nascent Jewish community in Spokane, was one of the city's up-and-coming businessmen. A smart, ambitious entrepreneur, Simon established a leading role for himself in Spokane and Eastern Washington as a banker, venture capitalist, commodities merchant, and real estate developer. His business career was marked by dazzling success as well as scandal and controversy. During the mid-1890s he traveled to Holland and obtained $300,000.00 from European investors which he used to build profitable lumber and flour mills in Spokane. He also had a hand in establishing two Spokane banks, and amassed substantial investment portfolios in railroad and mining properties.
Business affairs did not solely occupy Simon and Amy Oppenheimer while they lived in Spokane. The couple were active members of the city's affluent social set, and they participated in the community's cultural activities, as well. They were benefactors of several local Jewish organizations, and were esteemed congregants of Temple Emanu-El, of which Simon was a founding member. The couple entertained frequently and lavishly in their beautiful mansion on Pacific Avenue.
In 1895, under the glare of a rising public scandal, Simon's business empire began to crumble, and the following year collapsed entirely, as revelations were publicized that he and his partners had engaged in criminal and unethical business practices. In short order, lawsuits were filed and official investigations were commenced. As these events unfolded, Simon hurriedly divested himself of his various enterprises ― presumably for a handsome profit ― and afterward he and Amy departed Spokane before Simon's creditors could attach his holdings. Simon subsequently adopted an assumed name, afterward calling himself "John Osborne Simmons."
Several years passed before the scope of Simon's activities in Spokane became fully known. The losses suffered by investors who poured money into his schemes, and the collateral damage inflicted on taxpayers who ultimately footed the bill for the public agencies he and his collaborators bilked, ranged into the millions of dollars. This, at a time when the average working man earned, at best, several thousand dollars annually.
Having evaded their legal and financial difficulties in Spokane, "John and Amy Simmons" moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. From that base Simon made additional investments in lucrative mining properties and real estate. Later the couple lived in Mexico City, Mexico, where Simon continued to find remunerative opportunities as a financier and commodities broker. While he enjoyed a high degree of success as a profiteer in Mexico's largely unregulated business community, he never resolved his legal problems in Spokane and rarely ventured back into the United States except to receive medical treatment. Thus, Simon was constrained to limit his business dealings to Central and South American venues while continuing to use his fictitious name, John Osborne Simmons. It was a facade he maintained until his death in Texas from diabetes at 66.
One known child, a daughter, was born under the Simmons surname to Simon and Amy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During the early 1920s, Amy ― still calling herself "Amy Simmons" ― parted from Simon and returned to her native San Francisco. There she lived out her remaining years, initially in the company of her daughter and son-in-law, Gladys and Ren Kelly, and later as a widow residing alone. She survived both her husband and daughter by many years, and eventually became an inmate of Laguna Honda Home, a San Francisco facility for chronically-ill and impoverished elders. She succumbed at 85 to medical complications resulting from a fall in which she suffered a fractured femur.
_______________________________________
References and Notes:
In official records, Amy consistently understated her age by as many as nine years; census records, however, indicate that her true birth year was probably 1868.
Amy and Simon Oppenheimer's wedding was glowingly reported in "The Social World" column in The Morning Call, San Francisco, California, February 8, 1892, page 7.
For a thorough examination of Simon Oppenheimer's controversial public career in Spokane, Washington, see History of the City of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington, Nelson Wayne Durham, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912, Volume 1, pp. 473-4.
Death certificates of Amy (Loryea) "Simmons" (Oppenheimer); "John Osborne Simmons" (Simon Oppenheimer); Solomon Oppenheimer; and Harriet (Wolf) Oppenheimer.
Amy Loryea ― who appears in some records as "Anne Loryea" ― spent the early years of her childhood in Portland, Oregon, but after her parents were divorced in 1872, she lived with her father in San Francisco, California, where she attended exclusive private schools which catered to the children of the city's social elite.
On January 31, 1892, at Spokane, Washington, Amy married Simon Oppenheimer. The nuptials were elaborate, and widely reported in the press throughout the Pacific Northwest and California. Simon, a pioneer member of the nascent Jewish community in Spokane, was one of the city's up-and-coming businessmen. A smart, ambitious entrepreneur, Simon established a leading role for himself in Spokane and Eastern Washington as a banker, venture capitalist, commodities merchant, and real estate developer. His business career was marked by dazzling success as well as scandal and controversy. During the mid-1890s he traveled to Holland and obtained $300,000.00 from European investors which he used to build profitable lumber and flour mills in Spokane. He also had a hand in establishing two Spokane banks, and amassed substantial investment portfolios in railroad and mining properties.
Business affairs did not solely occupy Simon and Amy Oppenheimer while they lived in Spokane. The couple were active members of the city's affluent social set, and they participated in the community's cultural activities, as well. They were benefactors of several local Jewish organizations, and were esteemed congregants of Temple Emanu-El, of which Simon was a founding member. The couple entertained frequently and lavishly in their beautiful mansion on Pacific Avenue.
In 1895, under the glare of a rising public scandal, Simon's business empire began to crumble, and the following year collapsed entirely, as revelations were publicized that he and his partners had engaged in criminal and unethical business practices. In short order, lawsuits were filed and official investigations were commenced. As these events unfolded, Simon hurriedly divested himself of his various enterprises ― presumably for a handsome profit ― and afterward he and Amy departed Spokane before Simon's creditors could attach his holdings. Simon subsequently adopted an assumed name, afterward calling himself "John Osborne Simmons."
Several years passed before the scope of Simon's activities in Spokane became fully known. The losses suffered by investors who poured money into his schemes, and the collateral damage inflicted on taxpayers who ultimately footed the bill for the public agencies he and his collaborators bilked, ranged into the millions of dollars. This, at a time when the average working man earned, at best, several thousand dollars annually.
Having evaded their legal and financial difficulties in Spokane, "John and Amy Simmons" moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. From that base Simon made additional investments in lucrative mining properties and real estate. Later the couple lived in Mexico City, Mexico, where Simon continued to find remunerative opportunities as a financier and commodities broker. While he enjoyed a high degree of success as a profiteer in Mexico's largely unregulated business community, he never resolved his legal problems in Spokane and rarely ventured back into the United States except to receive medical treatment. Thus, Simon was constrained to limit his business dealings to Central and South American venues while continuing to use his fictitious name, John Osborne Simmons. It was a facade he maintained until his death in Texas from diabetes at 66.
One known child, a daughter, was born under the Simmons surname to Simon and Amy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During the early 1920s, Amy ― still calling herself "Amy Simmons" ― parted from Simon and returned to her native San Francisco. There she lived out her remaining years, initially in the company of her daughter and son-in-law, Gladys and Ren Kelly, and later as a widow residing alone. She survived both her husband and daughter by many years, and eventually became an inmate of Laguna Honda Home, a San Francisco facility for chronically-ill and impoverished elders. She succumbed at 85 to medical complications resulting from a fall in which she suffered a fractured femur.
_______________________________________
References and Notes:
In official records, Amy consistently understated her age by as many as nine years; census records, however, indicate that her true birth year was probably 1868.
Amy and Simon Oppenheimer's wedding was glowingly reported in "The Social World" column in The Morning Call, San Francisco, California, February 8, 1892, page 7.
For a thorough examination of Simon Oppenheimer's controversial public career in Spokane, Washington, see History of the City of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington, Nelson Wayne Durham, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912, Volume 1, pp. 473-4.
Death certificates of Amy (Loryea) "Simmons" (Oppenheimer); "John Osborne Simmons" (Simon Oppenheimer); Solomon Oppenheimer; and Harriet (Wolf) Oppenheimer.
On January 31, 1892, at Spokane, Washington, Amy married Simon Oppenheimer. The nuptials were elaborate, and widely reported in the press throughout the Pacific Northwest and California. Simon, a pioneer member of the nascent Jewish community in Spokane, was one of the city's up-and-coming businessmen. A smart, ambitious entrepreneur, Simon established a leading role for himself in Spokane and Eastern Washington as a banker, venture capitalist, commodities merchant, and real estate developer. His business career was marked by dazzling success as well as scandal and controversy. During the mid-1890s he traveled to Holland and obtained $300,000.00 from European investors which he used to build profitable lumber and flour mills in Spokane. He also had a hand in establishing two Spokane banks, and amassed substantial investment portfolios in railroad and mining properties.
Business affairs did not solely occupy Simon and Amy Oppenheimer while they lived in Spokane. The couple were active members of the city's affluent social set, and they participated in the community's cultural activities, as well. They were benefactors of several local Jewish organizations, and were esteemed congregants of Temple Emanu-El, of which Simon was a founding member. The couple entertained frequently and lavishly in their beautiful mansion on Pacific Avenue.
In 1895, under the glare of a rising public scandal, Simon's business empire began to crumble, and the following year collapsed entirely, as revelations were publicized that he and his partners had engaged in criminal and unethical business practices. In short order, lawsuits were filed and official investigations were commenced. As these events unfolded, Simon hurriedly divested himself of his various enterprises ― presumably for a handsome profit ― and afterward he and Amy departed Spokane before Simon's creditors could attach his holdings. Simon subsequently adopted an assumed name, afterward calling himself "John Osborne Simmons."
Several years passed before the scope of Simon's activities in Spokane became fully known. The losses suffered by investors who poured money into his schemes, and the collateral damage inflicted on taxpayers who ultimately footed the bill for the public agencies he and his collaborators bilked, ranged into the millions of dollars. This, at a time when the average working man earned, at best, several thousand dollars annually.
Having evaded their legal and financial difficulties in Spokane, "John and Amy Simmons" moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. From that base Simon made additional investments in lucrative mining properties and real estate. Later the couple lived in Mexico City, Mexico, where Simon continued to find remunerative opportunities as a financier and commodities broker. While he enjoyed a high degree of success as a profiteer in Mexico's largely unregulated business community, he never resolved his legal problems in Spokane and rarely ventured back into the United States except to receive medical treatment. Thus, Simon was constrained to limit his business dealings to Central and South American venues while continuing to use his fictitious name, John Osborne Simmons. It was a facade he maintained until his death in Texas from diabetes at 66.
One known child, a daughter, was born under the Simmons surname to Simon and Amy in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During the early 1920s, Amy ― still calling herself "Amy Simmons" ― parted from Simon and returned to her native San Francisco. There she lived out her remaining years, initially in the company of her daughter and son-in-law, Gladys and Ren Kelly, and later as a widow residing alone. She survived both her husband and daughter by many years, and eventually became an inmate of Laguna Honda Home, a San Francisco facility for chronically-ill and impoverished elders. She succumbed at 85 to medical complications resulting from a fall in which she suffered a fractured femur.
_______________________________________
References and Notes:
In official records, Amy consistently understated her age by as many as nine years; census records, however, indicate that her true birth year was probably 1868.
Amy and Simon Oppenheimer's wedding was glowingly reported in "The Social World" column in The Morning Call, San Francisco, California, February 8, 1892, page 7.
For a thorough examination of Simon Oppenheimer's controversial public career in Spokane, Washington, see History of the City of Spokane and Spokane County, Washington, Nelson Wayne Durham, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912, Volume 1, pp. 473-4.
Death certificates of Amy (Loryea) "Simmons" (Oppenheimer); "John Osborne Simmons" (Simon Oppenheimer); Solomon Oppenheimer; and Harriet (Wolf) Oppenheimer.
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