KAUFMAN BROTHERS. The name of this firm is well known in Abilene and stand as a synonym for progressive business methods and unassailable integrity in trade relations. The gentleman constituting the firm are well known as organizers and chief movers in the manufacture of harness and saddlery, conducting an extensive business. They are also jobbers and retail dealers in wagons, buggies and farm implements, and their name is closely associated with success in the filed of labor to which they have directed their energies.
Peter S. Kaufman, born April 26, 1853, in Snyder county, Pennsylvania, acquired his early education in the log schoolhouses of that locality and afterward continued his studies in the public schools of Elkhart county, Indiana. When seventeen years of age he began learning the harness maker’s trade at Rolla, Phelps county, Missouri, serving an apprenticeship of nearly three and a half years. He continued a resident of Rolla until 1875, when he came to Texas, traveling over much of the country until the spring of 1876, when he left to Mexia, in Limestone county, where he followed his trade until March, 1883. In that year he came to Abilene and has figured prominently in the commercial prosperity of the city since that time.
On the 26th of April, 1881, Peter S. Kaufman was married to Miss Andella Abernathy, who was of Scotch-Irish descent, and a daughter of Masterson McCormick Abernathy, who has been a resident of Texas since 1863. They have a family of three children, as follows: Mary, Phillip and Ethel. Mr. Kaufman has been a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity since 1881, has filled all of the chairs in the local lodge and is now district deputy grand chancellor of the district, which includes the territory from Taylor county to Pecos river.
David S. Kaufman, a native of Synder county, Pennsylvania, was born March 20, 1862, of the marriage of John D. and Catharine (Shellenberger) Kaufman, also natives of the Keystone state. He was only four years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Elkhart county, Indiana, where they lived for three years, and then went to Phelps county, Missouri, settling in Rolla, the county seat. He was for six years a student in the public schools of that place and later returned to Elkhart, Indiana, where he continued his education and attended school in the winter months, while in the summer seasons he worked upon a farm. He was graduated at the age of nineteen years and was thus well qualified for the practical and responsible duties of life. Arriving in Texas in 1881, Mr. Kaufman lived at Mexia, Limestone county, where he learned the trade of harness making under the direction of his brother, Peter S. Kaufman, who was then in business there. In the spring of 1883 the brothers came to Abilene and began business here, where they have since remained with a constantly growing patronage. This they successfully carried on until the general drouth struck the country and they were among the financial sufferers at that time. Their present business was established in 1891 under the firm style of Kaufman Brothers Company. They have a large plant on Pine street, where they are engaged in the manufacture and sale of harness and saddlery. They are also dealers and jobbers in buggies, wagons and farm implements, and have again secured a large and profitable trade. The brothers are men of marked business enterprise, keen discernment and unfaltering perseverance, and they stand to-day among those whose success is attributable entirely to their own labors.
David S. Kaufman was married in 1887 to Miss Laura Stinchcomb, a daughter of J. D. Stinchcomb, one of the pioneer residents of Abilene. They have six children, Jerome, Lee, Catharine, David, Ruth and Cecilia.
Source: B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. II, pp. 559-560.