Leadville was home to at least two branches of the Flaks family. Brothers Samuel (originally Solomon) and Abraham are first recorded in the Cloud City in 1885 sharing a residence at 107 West 3rd Street and employment as tailors, under the name S. Flocks, at 110 West 4th Street. This became a pattern for the Flaks's as they often shared addresses. There was also a Mary Flaks, born in New Jersey during November, 1875, who appears to be a close relative as she lived with Samuel's family in 1900 when she is identified as a daughter (confusing, given her birth date and place) in that year's census.
Samuel had been born in Germany on August 1, 1856 and emigrated to America in 1880. He married Hannah (or Anna, born June, 1864) Oliner, also an 1880 immigrant from Germany, in 1884 (or, perhaps, 1883). Abraham was some thirteen years younger than Samuel having been born during November, 1868, in Austria and a latter immigrant during the course of 1885. He married Dora (born August, 1876), an Hungarian immigrant in 1892, shortly after her arrival.
The Flaks boys changed residences and shops with remarkable regularity, as indicated in the table below:
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Samuel and Hannah were parents to four children born in Leadville. Minnie was delivered in 1885, Abe S. during June, 1887, Charles during February, 1891, and Lottie during November, 1898 (a fifth child, Moses, died at the age of one month on January 28,1887, and is buried in the Hebrew Cemetery, Block B, Lot 8, Grave 6). The children appear to have lived with the family at least through 1910, although Minnie may have decamped after 1907. She worked in 1901 as a clerk for B Leppel, in 1905 in ladies furnishings at 711 Harrison Avenue, and in 1907 in dry goods at 203 Harrison Avenue-sites of the family residences. Abe is recorded as working as a bookkeeper for a grocer in 1910 and may have begun as an apprentice for his uncle Abraham in 1895. Charles also began work young as a bellboy for the Hotel Vendome in 1906, in the Arkansas Valley Smelter in 1907, in his uncle's billiard hall during 1908, and then as a helper and fireman with the Colorado Midland Rail Road during 1909 and 1910. The youngest, Lottie, was selling carpet in 1910. Even Hannah contributed to the family larder employed in the ladies' wear and dry goods business at 711 Harrison Avenue in 1900, as the manager of A. Kuku at 200 East 4th Street during 1902, and as a shop owner at 203 Harrison Avenue between 1908 and 1910.
Abraham and Dora were also fruitful, but somewhat less lucky. They named their first daughter, born July, 1895, Minnie. Perhaps there was an important antecedent. The second, born April, 1898, was Tillie. A third, Lotta, died on March 3, 1898, after a brief three months (Block B, Lot 8, Grave 5). Then there was Gula who appeared during April, 1900. Finally, the unhappy parents buried their last child, a five day old infant, on November 28, 1902 (Block B, Lot 8, Grave 4).
There is no record of Abraham and his family in Leadville after 1908. Samuel died there on August 10, 1910, and was interred (Block C, Lot 13) near the families' lost children. This marked the last appearance of the Flaks name in Leadville's chronicle.