Louis Fleischner

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Louis Fleischner (born December 2, 1827 in Vogelgesang , Austrian Empire , † August 7, 1896 ) was an American businessman and politician ( Democratic Party ). He was of Jewish descent. His nickname was Colonel Fleischner.

Early years

Louis Fleischner was born in Bohemia during the reign of Emperor Franz I of Austria and grew up there. He attended the schools in Vogelgesang and in Tissan, a small town nearby. At the age of 15 he immigrated to the United States with his younger brother Jacob (1833–1910) . Louis Fleischner first settled in New York City . Then he moved to Philadelphia ( Pennsylvania ), where he worked for five years as a horse and cattle dealers. Those years were overshadowed by the economic crisis of 1837 and the Mexican-American War that followed. In 1849 he moved to Iowa and settled in Drake Ville ( Davis County down). He worked there as a dealer for three years. In 1852 he and his brother Jacob crossed the Great Plains in a team of oxen in the direction of the Oregon Territory . During the voyage, their oxen became sick and died. In addition, many of the travelers fell victim to cholera . After arduous months they reached Albany ( Oregon ). For the next seven years he ran a successful trading business. In 1859 he made a sale. He then ran a business in the gold mines of Oro Fino in Siskiyou County ( California ). During this time he transported in autumn 1859 a stock of goods to where today Lewiston ( Idaho ) is. Louis arrived on board the first steamship to land at this location. He stayed there until 1863 when he decided to move to Portland, Oregon. These years were overshadowed by the civil war. In Portland he became a partner of Solomon Hirsch and Alexander Schlüssel. Together they acquired the wholesale trade for consumer goods from the Haas brothers and founded the company L. Fleischner & Co. The company grew rapidly in the following years. In 1869 they carried out a sale and went into the wholesale of haberdashery under the same company name. Jacob Mayer was accepted as a new partner in 1875, whereupon the current company name Fleischner, Mayer & Co. was adopted. All founding partners were still active in the company until then, but new ones were also added. Partners included Louis Fleischner, Solomon Hirsch, Alexander Schlüssel, Samuel Simon and Mark A. Mayer. The company grew steadily and was one of the leading companies in the state for several years. Fleischner played a major role in this. Corporate affairs consumed most of his time and attention, but he was also a large-scale and successful real estate speculator, and at various times a director of several Portland banks.

Political career

Louis Fleischner was an enthusiastic Democrat, but never sought or desired political preference. After his return from the east he was nominated by his party for the post of Treasurer of State of Oregon in the spring of 1870 and elected in the following state election. Fleischner held the position of 12 September 1870 to 14 September 1874. At the time he took office the state of Oregon had over 500,000  US dollars awarded to funds that this generated by the sale of school, state and ore regions. At the time, these were viewed as worthless securities. Lending was so arbitrary that the state was on the verge of losing a large sum of money. As a businessman, he therefore turned his attention to remedying these abuses. During his administration, all dubious collateral was recorded and rules and regulations were adopted that regulated lending and reorganized the entire system. His drafted plans have been put into practice by his successors since then. As a result, the state generated hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Late years

In April 1888, Fleischner took a trip to Europe and made an extensive tour of the Old World . In August 1889 returned to Oregon. During his trip he visited his old home in Bohemia and a hospital a few miles away from his home village. There he made arrangements that four beds should be available for the people from Vogelgesang at his own expense. His health was in decline until his visit to his old home, but it improved significantly there.

Fleischner was president of the First Hebrew Benevolent Society of Portland. He was buried in the Beth Israel Cemetery in Portland.

literature

  • Alfred Apsler : Northwest Pioneer; the Story of Louis Fleischner, Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1960

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rechcigl, Mila: Czech It Out: Czech American Biography Sourcebook , AuthorHouse, 2015, ISBN 9781504920711 , p. 37
  2. ↑ a b c d Rechcigl, Miloslav junior: Czech American Timeline: Chronology of Milestones in the History of Czechs in America , Author House, 2013, ISBN 9781481757065 , p. 73
  3. ^ Treasurers of Oregon , Oregon Blue Book
personal data
SURNAME Fleischner, Louis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fleischner, Lewis; Colonel Fleischner (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American businessman and politician (Democratic Party)
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH Bird song , Austrian Empire
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1896