Bernard Cohn

This article is about the politician Bernard Cohn. For other people see Bernhard Cohn .

Bernard Cohn (born November 7, 1835 in the Kingdom of Prussia , †  November 1, 1889 ) was an American politician . In 1878 he was acting mayor of Los Angeles , California, for about two weeks .

Career

Nothing is known about Bernard Cohn's youth and schooling. At the age of 14, around 1849, he became a seaman on a ship en route to San Francisco . He stayed in California for some time to take part in the local gold rush . Between 1851 and 1856 he was resident in what would later become the state of Montana , where he was employed by some sheep farmers. From 1857 he lived in Los Angeles. Professionally worked in the wool trade. Since 1871 he ran a department store together with a partner, making it a considerable fortune. Politically, he joined the Democratic Party . Between 1876 and 1888 he sat several times on the Los Angeles City Council . After the death of Mayor Frederick A. MacDougal on November 16, 1878, Cohn was appointed acting mayor of the city on November 21. His only job was to bridge the time until the elected mayor James R. Toberman took office on December 5, 1878.

Apparently, in 1893, there was a legal battle between Cohn and the former Mexican governor of Upper California , Pío Pico . The question was whether the payment of about $ 60,000 to Pico was a purchase of Pico's property in Los Angeles, or a loan. The court ruled in favor of Cohn, who was awarded Pico's land. However, the question arises as to whether the dates are correct or whether it was a legal dispute with Cohn's heirs. Since Cohn died on November 1, 1889, he could no longer have brought proceedings in 1893.

There was another legal battle over his inheritance after his death. It turned out that in Los Angeles, Cohn had two families in different parts of the city at the same time, something that was not publicly known during his lifetime. Whether the second family was legally legal was decisive for the question of inheritance. The judge declared a marriage invalid, thereby solving the case. The verdict and the case remained a controversial topic of conversation in public for a long time.

Web links

• Bernard Cohn in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• The Political Graveyard
• biography

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Los Angeles Times: The City of Angels Has Had Mayors With Demons (May 8, 2005)