Henry Greenebaum

Greenebaum was born on June 18, 1833, in Eppelsheim, the Grand Duchy of Hesse,[1] near the city of Worms and the Rhine River.

His maternal cousins were the Hart Brothers, prominent Chicago wholesale merchants.

[2] Greenebaum attended the local school until he was twelve, after which he went to the "Real Schule" in Alzey for a year and a half.

[3] His father wanted him to take full collegiate courses and engage in the learned professions, but two of Greenebaum's older brothers who already immigrated to America convinced him to join him.

When the American Civil War began, he became a Republican and worked to raise and provide the regiments with men and equipment.

In 1867, Governor Richard J. Oglesby appointed him a member of the State Board of Equalization.

That trial continued until early 1879 and fizzled out, but there was a congressional investigation that led to a second indictment in late 1879.

That trial concluded in 1880 and found him not guilty, but by then he largely lost his previous standing and capital.

In 1859, he was a founder and first president of the United Hebrew Relief Association, the first agency to centralize Jewish charitable activities in Chicago.

[11] His funeral took place in Sinai Temple and was officiated by Emil G. Hirsch and Joseph Stolz.