Isaac Magnin

Isaac Magnin (1842–1907) was a Dutch-born American businessperson, carver and gilder. He was the co-founder of I. Magnin, an upscale women's clothing store in San Francisco, California.

Isaac Magnin
Born
Isaac Moeijen

1842 (1842)
Assen or Groningen, the Netherlands
DiedJanuary 27, 1907(1907-01-27) (aged 65)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Resting placeHills of Eternity Memorial Park, Colma, California, US
NationalityAmerican
SpouseMary Ann Cohen
RelativesEdgar Magnin (grandson)
Cyril Magnin (grandson)
Mae Brussell (great granddaughter)

Early life

Isaac Magnin (or Moeijen) was born into a Jewish family in Assen or Groningen, the Netherlands in 1842.[1][2][3][4] His father was from Russia and his mother, Dutch-born.[2] He moved to the United States with his parents when he was eight years old.[2][3]

Career

He worked as a businessman in Texas and New Mexico.[2] During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, he served in the Union Army.[2] He then worked as a pushcart peddler in New Orleans, Louisiana.[5] Next, he moved to London, where he established an arts goods store.[2][5] A decade later, in 1876, he set sail for San Francisco via Cape Horn, with his wife and children.[2][5] There, he worked as a frame carver and gilder for Solomon Gump, an art and antique dealer and owner of Gump's.[5] By 1880, he was listed in the census as the keeper of a fancy bazaar.[2] With his wife, he was also the co-founder of I. Magnin, an upscale women's clothing store in San Francisco.[2]

He was interested in socialism.[5]

Personal life

He married Mary Ann Cohen on October 8, 1865, at the Great Synagogue of London.[1][2] They had eight children: Samuel, Henrietta, Joseph, Emanuel John, Victor, Lucille, Flora, and Grover.[1][6] They attended the Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco.[2]

He was a freemason, having joined in London and gone up the ranks in California.[2] Magnin lived at 1478–1482 Page Street, San Francisco, and his two daughters lived in the attached unit, the building was designed by Newsom and Newsom.[7]

Death

He died on January 27, 1907, in San Francisco, California.[1] He is buried at Hills of Eternity Memorial Park in Colma, California.

References
  1. Kahn, Ava F.. "Mary Ann Cohen Magnin." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. March 1, 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on December 7, 2014)
  2. Robert P. Swierenga, The Forerunners: Dutch Jewry in the North American Diaspora, Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 1994, pp. 309–312
  3. James David Hart, A Companion to California: Newly Revised and Expanded with Illustrations, Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1987, p. 299
  4. Western Jewry: An Account of the Achievements of the Jews and Judaism in California : Including Eulogies and Biographies. The Jews in California. Henry Hollander. December 31, 1916. pp. 125–126.
  5. Harriet Rochlin, Fred Rochlin, Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000 , pp. 176–177
  6. Abrams, Jeanne E. (2006). Jewish Women Pioneering the Frontier Trail: A History in the American West. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-0720-3.
  7. Weinstein, Dave (2006). Signature Architects of the San Francisco Bay Area. Gibbs Smith. pp. 11–18. ISBN 978-1-58685-751-6.
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