Isaac Magnin (1842–1907) was a Dutch-born American businessperson, carver and gilder. He was the co-founder of

I. Magnin I. Magnin & Company was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty goods luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, ...

, an upscale women's clothing store in San Francisco, California.

Early life

Isaac Magnin (or Moeijen) was born into a Jewish family in Assen or

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1842.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)Robert P. Swierenga, '' The Forerunners: Dutch Jewry in the North American Diaspora'', Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 1994, pp. 309–31

/ref>James David Hart, ''A Companion to California: Newly Revised and Expanded with Illustrations'', Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1987, p. 29

/ref> His father was from Russia and his mother, Dutch-born. He moved to the United States with his parents when he was eight years old.

Career

He worked as a businessman in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

of 1861–1865, he served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

. He then worked as a pushcart peddler in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana.Harriet Rochlin, Fred Rochlin,
Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West
', Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000 , pp. 176–17

/ref> Next, he moved to London, where he established an arts goods store. A decade later, in 1876, he set sail for San Francisco via

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

, with his wife and children. There, he worked as a frame carver and gilder for Solomon Gump, an art and antique dealer and owner of Gump's. By 1880, he was listed in the census as the keeper of a fancy bazaar. With his wife, he was also the co-founder of

, an upscale women's clothing store in San Francisco. He was interested in

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

Personal life

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

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, having joined in London and gone up the ranks in California. 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.

Death

He died on January 27, 1907, in San Francisco, California. He is buried at

Hills of Eternity Memorial Park Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, also known as Giboth Olam, is a Jewish cemetery founded in 1889, and is located at 1301 El Camino Real (California), El Camino Real, in Colma, California. This cemetery is owned by Congregation Sherith Israel (San ...

in Colma, California.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnin, Isaac 1842 births 1907 deaths Dutch emigrants to the United States People from San Francisco American people of Dutch-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American fashion businesspeople American Freemasons Magnin family Burials at Hills of Eternity Memorial Park