Frances Wisebart Jacobs

Frances Jacobs (née Wisebart; March 29, 1843 – November 3, 1892) was born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, to Jewish Bavarian immigrants and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She married Abraham Jacobs, the partner of her brother Jacob, and came west with him to Colorado where Wisebart and Jacobs had established businesses in Denver and Central City. In Denver, Frances Jacobs became a driving force for the city's charitable organizations and activities, with national exposure. Among the philanthropical organizations she founded, she is best remembered as a founder of the United Way and the Denver's Jewish Hospital Association.

Frances Wisebart was born March 29, 1843, in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, to Leon Wisebart, a tailor, and his wife. In addition to Frances, they had a son, Jacob (also called Benjamin), and five more girls, all of whom attended public school.

Frances was a school teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio before she married Abraham Jacobs on February 18, 1863. After their marriage, the newlywed couple traveled by wagon to Colorado where Abraham Jacobs and Frances' brother, Jacob Wisebart had established stores in Denver and Central City. Frances and Abraham had two sons, one named Benjamin, and a daughter, named Evelyn.

The Jacobs were beset a number of difficulties during their marriage: major fires to two stores, the OK Clothing Store in Denver went out of business in 1885 and the early death of one of their sons. The April 19, 1863 "great fire" of Denver was one of the fires. Frances' brother, Jacob was the fifth mayor of Central City. The store he ran with his brother-in-law Abraham Jacobs, called the Wisebart store, succumbed to fire after the Denver 1863 fire, with $50,000 in damages.

In 1866 Frances' sister, Mollie, married Philip Trounstine in Cincinnati, Ohio. They moved to Denver where Trounstine became a volunteer firefighter in March 1866, the first leader of Denver's firefighters and managed Abraham Jacob's Denver clothing store.

Following the Central City fire Frances and Abraham moved to Denver for a fresh start. Abraham Jacobs established and ran the OK Clothing Store, served on the Denver city council, helped draft the Denver "people's constitution", was involved in the important merger of Denver and Auraria, and established and ran a stagecoach line until 1869, when it became unprofitable.

Frances Wisebart Jacobs, involved in Denver charitable activities shortly after settling in Denver, was described as a "frail woman with an unfailing sense of humor." She became a forceful, persuasive speaker engaging and inspiring support for Denver's charitable organizations. Jacob's niece said of her, "Aunt Frank was that rare combination of dreamer and doer. She not only dreamed of free kindergartens and orphanages, a home for the aged and a hospital, but with good business sense brought them to reality."

Frances Wisebart Jacobs was quoted in the Rocky Mountain News, August 27, 1888, as having said: "I know that whenever women lead in good work, men will follow."