Abraham Mooser

ABRAHAM MOOSER's LIFE, beginning in the Bavarian town of Ichenhausen on June 19, 1842, provides us with an interesting example of the Jewish experience of settling in America in the mid-nineteenth century. His parents were Karoline (d.1885) and Nathan (d.1851). His mother, according to family tradition, urged her children to immigrate to the United States since she felt that the rampant anti-Semitism in Germany would prevent them from properly establishing themselves there.¹ After her husband's death, Karoline supported her family by working as a mid-wife. The family home in Ichenhausen was directly across the street from the birthplace of another personage important in Southern California Jewish history, Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Studios. ²

Mooser had attended a gymnasia for a time and learned English. His Jewish education was such as to make him a fluent Hebrew reader and his children remember that he spoke German beautifully. During his business career in Los Angeles and Santa Monica, he learned to speak Spanish, as the large percentage of Spanish-speaking customers virtually required this.

One of Abraham's brothers, Isaac, had preceded him to America, settling at Corinth, Mississippi. In 1858, at age sixteen, Abraham joined him, taking a position as a book-keeper for a Jewish merchant of Corinth named Neuberger. His brothers Samuel and Louis and a sister, Helena (afterwards Mrs. Aaron Nathan), joined them somewhat later.

The brothers Anglicized their name to Mooser after arriving in Mississippi. According to a Rosh Hashanah card sent to members of the family in Sacramento in 1882 from Ichenhausen, the original name was Schmuser. ³

In 1861, at age nineteen, Abraham enlisted in the Confederate Army, though it seems he was not exactly enthusiastic about the cause. His children were given to understand that his enlistment was virtually forced on him, all the young men being expected to join up. ⁴ At the Battle of Shiloh in April, 1862, Mooser was wounded four times, ⁵one bullet lodging so near his spinal cord as to make its removal impossible. After spending some time in a hospital, Abraham's brother Sam was able to bring him back to Corinth, where the Neuberger family, his erstwhile employers nursed him back to health.

After his recovery, Abraham Mooser returned to Germany to visit his mother and also to see if the German surgeons could remove the bullet he still carried with him from Shiloh. They advised against attempting to extract it and he carried this Civil War souvenir in his body for the rest of his life. During his visit, word came to Mooser that the German conscription officials had heard of his return from the United States and were preparing to draft him into the German Army for the regular two-year period. This news caused his hurried departure and prompt return to the United States. ⁶

Upon his return he lived at Memphis, Tennessee, for a time. There he joined the Euphrates Lodge, No. 35, Independent Order of B'nai B'rith. ⁷ In 1868, the attractions of California brought him to the Sunshine State. Eventually, all of the brothers but one and Abraham's sister, settled in California. In California, Mooser found employment as a book-keeper for Adolph Feist of San Jose. ⁸ The Feist brothers operated a dry goods store at the corner of First and Santa Clara Streets. ⁹ At the Santa Clara County Courthouse in San Jose, on August 16, 1869, Abraham Mooser became a naturalized citizen of the United States. ¹⁰

In 1870, desiring to possess his own business, he settled at Elko, Nevada, where he established a jewelry store and also operated a produce and delicatessen market. While at Elko, Jack Nathan of New York, Helena Mooser Nathan's brother-in-law, came to visit the family in the West and stopped in Nevada to see Abraham. Jack asked Mooser how it came to be that he was unmarried. In reply, Abraham pointed out the dearth of Jewish girls in Elko. Whereupon Jack said that he had just the girl for him, an orphan who lived with relatives in New York. He suggested that Mooser write to her. Thus began a correspondence with Miss Henrietta Koshland. During the ensuing year, this acquaintance blossomed into love and Miss Koshland came West to marry her correspondent. However, Abraham went east to Salt Lake City to meet her, since a smallpox epidemic was raging in Elko at the time. ¹¹

When he ,saw Henrietta for the first time on the train at Salt Lake City, he went up to her and kissed her without saying a word. He was sure she was the right one, he was fond of remarking in later years. ¹² The couple were married on July 26, 1874, in Sacramento, at the home of a cousin of the bride, Sam Lavenson.

The Moosers first two children, Celia and Joseph, were born at Elko, Nevada. Two other children, who were named Minnie and Matilda, were also born there, but died during infancy. ¹³ After ten years of successful business operations at Elko, the amenities of the developed community in San Francisco, as well as the fact that close relatives of both Henrietta and Abraham lived in California, impelled the family to move. For about a year, from 1880 to 1881, they lived in San Francisco. Then they moved to Sacramento. Abraham's brother Samuel and his sister Helena had preceded him to Sacramento. ¹⁴ There, Mooser engaged in the wholesale and retail produce business with Samuel Gerson, who was a nephew of Sam Lavenson. Mooser's duties in the business were those of a buyer and he traveled through the hinterlands of the Sacramento farming region, buying produce. However, the business was none too successful and in 1884 he decided to come to Los Angeles.

The Angel City at that time had a population of about 23,000, ¹⁵ with a Jewish population of approximately 800. ¹⁶ Mooser promptly opened a grocery store at the corner of Temple and Beaudry Streets, his major supplier being Hellman, Haas and Company, wholesale grocers. ¹⁷ Henrietta Mooser was a cousin of Abraham Haas. The established Jewish residents of Los Angeles gave Mooser their patronage and he prospered. His oldest daughter Celia remembered accompanying her father each Saturday to the palatial home of the Isaias W. Hellmans, ¹⁸ to deliver the rye bread and sausage ordered each week by Mrs. Hellman. ¹⁹

Early in 1891, his supplier told Mooser that a general merchandise store in Santa Monica owned by M. E. Chapin, had gone into bankruptcy, owing them a considerable sum. As a major creditor, Hellman, Haas and Company intended to bid at the sale of the assets and offered the store to Mooser if their bid was successful. They were the high bidders and Abraham took advantage of this opportunity to own and operate the former Chapin store, located at the northeast corner of Third and Utah (now Broadway) Streets in Santa Monica. ²⁰ He thus became Santa Monica's first Jewish merchant and permanent resident. ²¹ The local newspaper editorialized as follows:

The Moosers rented a house on Second Street near Nevada Avenue (now Wilshire Boulevard). There, Henrietta bore their seventh and last child, Carolyn. Born on August 30, 1892, Carolyn, now Mrs. Seymour Wisekopf, of Beverly Hills, has the distinction of being the first Jewish baby born in Santa Monica.

Mooser's business was a success from the beginning. His was a major advertisement in the Santa Monica Outlook, then a weekly, for many years. And, of course, he received steady editorial support, as evidenced by an item on page 3 of the March 30, 1892, issue:

Abraham's civic virtues were quickly appreciated by the local citizenry and in June, 1892, after having been in town only a little over one year, he was appointed the master of ceremonies of the banquet celebrating the completion of the Santa Fe Railroad to Santa Monica. The report of the celebration, which took place at Santa Monica's luxurious Arcadia Hotel, noted that:

He soon joined the local lodge of the Odd Fellows and became very active. ²⁵ In addition to this membership in Seaside Lodge No. 369, I.O.O.F., he joined and held office in the local Foresters of America Lodge. Interestingly enough, the respect and confidence with which Mooser was held by his fellow townsmen is illustrated by the fact that, in 1898, he was treasurer of the local chapters of both of these fraternal orders. ²⁶ He also was the ". . . president of the Seaside Hall Association, which erected the Odd Fellows building on Third Street." ²⁷ His daughter Celia noted in her memoirs that "... dad became so popular . . ." in Santa Monica. ²⁸

Mooser was active in politics, being a staunch democrat. He served for a time on the County Democratic Committee. ²⁹ When he went to meet the newly-elected United States Senator Stephen M. White in 1893, the local press ran the following item:

Mooser took his civic responsibilities seriously. In the late 1890's when Santa Monica was in the process of establishing a municipal cemetery, now known as Woodlawn Cemetery, we find him on the committee actively engaged in planning for its landscaping and irrigation and with raising funds to accomplish this. Messrs. Jones, J. J. Carrillo, Vawter, and Rindge were other pioneer Santa Monicans serving on the the cemetery committee. Mooser was one of the sub-committee which contracted for the sinking of a well on the property, at Fourteenth Street and Pico Boulevard, and he with J. J. Carrillo, who had donated the land to the city in the first place, ³¹ had the task of soliciting funds from the local citizenry to improve the site. ³² In 1902, when the Trustees of Santa Monica were grappling with the problem of where to locate the contemplated City Hall, Mooser served on the committee to decide this issue. The location eventually chosen was that at the northwest corner of Fourth Street and Oregon (now Santa Monica Boulevard) Avenue, though Mooser preferred the location at Third and Utah, which, not surprisingly, would have put the city hall directly across the street from his store. ³³

In the spring of 1902, Abraham Mooser decided to run for city councilman, the office then being known as that of town trustee. He announced his decision in the local newspaper:

There were two positions open for town trustee and on election day the editors of the Santa Monica Daily Outlook remarked that "It is generally believed that Vawter is receiving the high vote for trustee with a close second between Steele and Mooser ..." ³⁵ There were 743 voters registered for this Santa Monica election ³⁶ and the voters could ballot for any two candidates running for town trustee. There were four candidates. Mooser placed third in the race, garnering a total of 291 votes, while J. C. Steele received 350, W. S. Vawter 395, and W. L. Muller sixty-nine votes. ³⁷ Though Mooser lost out by fifty-nine votes for the position, it was noted that the race produced ". . . a spirited contest between Messrs. Steele and Mooser for second place." ³⁸

Mooser and his wife were very active in the social life of the community. The affairs they hosted were faithfully chronicled. One such was described as follows:

The last named figure was the editor and publisher of the Santa Monica Outlook. Thomas Thomson was the engineer of the long wharf built at Santa Monica in 1893 by the Southern Pacific Railroad, which made the waterfront at Santa Monica, Port Los Angeles for a time. Thomson was the owner of the Thomson Bridge Company, in charge of constructing the wharf which extended out over 4,000 feet into the bay. ⁴⁰ Mooser was very friendly with Thomson, who at that time had a home in Santa Monica. ⁴¹ The Mooser store was a major supplier of groceries and clothing for the men who worked to construct the wharf and later with the seamen of the ships which docked there. Thomson was the Moosers' house guest in 1898, when he was in town for the purpose of bidding on some sewer contracts, having previously sold his Santa Monica home. ⁴²

The Moosers' integration into the social life of the town extended to their children who played with the children of J. J. Carrillo, Senator John P. Jones, and others. Celia noted in her memoirs that Atala Carrillo was her close friend and they frequently went horseback riding together. Ottie Carrillo was a friend and schoolmate of Melvin Mooser, the youngest son. ⁴³ The family and their friends regularly went picnicing in Santa Monica Canyon. They traveled there by tally-ho, pulled by six horses. This always proved to be an exciting outing for the Mooser children. ⁴⁴

For many years, at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, Santa Monica was the favorite summer resort town for the Jewish families of Arizona and New Mexico. Several of these families came to depend on Mooser to find rooms or homes for them to rent. They in turn, gave his store their patronage for the duration of their summer stay. ⁴⁵

In 1893 the Santa Monica Board of Trade was reorganized with A. Mooser being elected one of the two vice-presidents. Mooser was a talented extemporaneous speaker and on the occasion of the Board of Trade meeting, the press reported that Mr. Mooser made a rattling little speech in which he expressed his hearty approval of the objects of the organization and his purpose of working enthusiastically for the best interests of Santa Monica. He also took occasion to say a few approving words of the Town Trustees who, he said were all good men, and had served the town without pay. He also paid his respects to the genus croaker, who is a sort of fungus growth upon every community. ⁴⁶

There can be no doubt that Mooser was a diplomatic person with leadership ability who knew how to make friends and how to integrate himself into a community.

The Santa Monica Improvement Club was organized in 1899 and we find that A. Mooser was included on the executive committee together with such local leaders as Abbott Kinney, F. N. Rindge and W. S. Vawter. ⁴⁷ In May, Abraham proposed that the club conduct a gala civic celebration for the Fourth of July. This was approved and as 'so frequently happens, the proposer was named chairman of the committee in charge of arrangements. ⁴⁸

In the mid-1890's, the Moosers rented a two-story, ten room frame house on the west side of Fourth Street, near the middle of the block between Utah and Oregon Avenue (now Broadway and Santa Monica Boulevard, respectively). ⁴⁹ This house stood on the property which is today just south of the south wing of the Central Tower Building. It was here that Henrietta and Abraham celebrated their silver wedding anniversary on July 26, 1899. Celia and her husband, Gus Marks, came down from Sacramento for the occasion, with their baby Irma (now Mrs. Mark Kauffman of Sacramento), the Moosers first grandchild. ⁵⁰

In 1899, Mooser eliminated the grocery line from his business, which became exclusively a dry goods store. He sold out his stock of groceries to Mr. H. A. Winslow and publicized the the idea that he would now have "... ample room to display . . ." his dry goods stock. ⁵¹ This improvement was soon praised by an editorial statement which declared that, "Since the removal of the grocery department, Mr. Mooser's place of business has put on a very attractive appearance." ⁵²

That the Moosers were concerned with the fact that their children did not have much social contact with other Jewish children of their age, is indicated by their seeing to it that the oldest daughter Celia, in the mid-1890's, was able to go to Los Angeles to attend the Concordia Club dances for young people. ⁵³ At the turn of the century, the Moosers were 'still the only Jewish family in Santa Monica and several of their children were of marriagable age and dating non-Jews. So in 1900, Abraham moved his family to Los Angeles, but retained his store, fraternal and civic interests, in Santa Monica.

For a short time, Abraham's brother Louis lived in Santa Monica, one somewhat amusing bit of evidence of which is the following editorial comment in the local press :

The San Francisco earthquake and fire of April, 1906, was the occasion for a fine gesture on the part of Mooser. The women's clubs of the Santa Monica area united to raise relief funds for the stricken city. The Santa Monica Daily Outlook told the story :

A month later, in May, 1906, Abraham Mooser sold out to a former employee, J. W. Kennedy. He announced this fact to the public and at the same time asked for the public's favor and patronage for his son Leon, who was to open a haberdashery store. ⁵⁶ Mooser's retirement from business in Santa Monica was page one news and the account noted that:

Mooser was a deeply devout Jew. From the time he arrived in Los Angeles in 1884, he was a member of Congregation B'nai B'rith (now the Wilshire Boulevard Temple) and attended services regularly. In fact, his observance of Yom Kippur in the year he came to Santa Monica, was the occasion for the first Jewish notice in the local newspaper. The Santa Monica Outlook publicized the fact that, "A. Mooser closed his place of business on Monday on account of a due celebration of the Day of Atonement." ⁵⁸

Abraham had an uncanny ability to add up a column of figures rapidly. The clerks at the Santa Monica City Hall were in the habit of calling him in whenever their figures were in disarray. One of his off-spring has a childhood memory of her father working on the city ledgers at their home in the evenings. ⁵⁹

He was patriotically inclined and, for example, became quite disgusted when members of the Confederate veterans organization he belonged to, insisted on reliving the Civil War battles at every meeting. He rejected this Confederate sentiment as false to his American interests and he felt that the practice of donning the old uniforms, etc., was not for him.

Mooser had bought a piece of property at 1236 West Ninth Street, Los Angeles, in 1900, and built a house on it for his family. After selling his Santa Monica store in 1906, he lived alternately in Los Angeles, Venice and Ocean Park. In 1911, he resided in Venice, living at 26 Dudley Avenue. In 1912, he moved to 51 Rose Avenue. In the post-World War I period he lived for a time at the Edmund Hotel on Pier Avenue in Ocean Park. ⁶⁰ Some of the funds from the sale of his Santa Monica establishment were invested in an apartment house which he built for the income it would bring. This building was located at 1403 Toberman Street in Los Angeles.⁶¹

It was not easy for a person as dynamic as Abraham Mooser to retire fully and, consequently, he involved himself in a number of activities. He worked for a time as a bankruptcy adjuster for the Los Angeles Board of Trade. In 1915, he worked for a short time in the Ocean Park post office. Later in the year, after his son-in-law, Isidore Laventhal, had been killed in an automobile accident, he operated Laventhal's Los Angeles hat store until the business could be sold. ⁶²

The Moosers were blessed with seven children who lived to adulthood: Celia, Joseph, Leon, Edna, Bertram, Melvin, and Carolyn. Celia, born in 1877 at Elko, Nevada, married Gus Marks of Sacramento in 1898. As a teenager she clerked in her father's Santa Monica store. On occasion she served as cashier for Eckert and Hopf's Santa Monica restaurant, the Pavilion. She devoted much of her life to Jewish community affairs in Sacramento, being very active with Congregation B'nai Israel and with Jewish welfare work. ⁶³ Joseph N. Mooser, born in 1878 at Elko, Nevada, operated a dry goods store on Pier Avenue in Ocean Park from about 1910 until 1921. In that year he sold out and moved to Los Angeles. ⁶⁴

Leon Mooser, born in 1881 in San Francisco, helped his father by picking up orders for groceries from the summer residents at the beach in Santa Monica. He then delivered them. Leon, together with Leo Carrillo and Bert Bassett, conducted vaudeville shows in a barn on Fourth Street, between Utah and Oregon Avenues in the 1890's. Leon did Chinese and baby imitations. He left home in his teens, first working in the sugar-beet factory at Oxnard, later at stores in Winslow and Holbrook, Arizona. For a time, he operated a haberdashery in Santa Monica and later a general merchandise store at Sawtelle. In 1903, he became a Master Mason at Santa Monica Lodge No. 307, F. & A. M. He joined the Santa Monica Elks Lodge No. 906 in 1908. He now enjoys the distinction of being the oldest member. ⁶⁵ Leon resides in Los Angeles.

Edna, born in 1882 at Sacramento, helped out in her father's Santa Monica store during the busy summer seasons. She also modeled hats for Mrs. Hubbell's millinery store, located just across the street. Her husband, Isidore Laventhal, was killed in an automobile accident at Calabasas in 1915. Mrs. Edna Lavon has two sons and resides in Los Angeles. ⁶⁶ Bertram, born in Sacramento in 1885, was in the tire business in Los Angeles. He did not marry. Melvin, born in 1891 in Los Angeles, was a businessman and artist. He resides in San Francisco.

Carolyn, born in 1892 in Santa Monica, was named for her paternal grandmother. She married Seymour Wisekopf, a member of a pioneer Southern California family, in 1921. Mrs. Wisekopf has childhood memories of the horse-drawn street cars coming into Santa Monica from the Soldier's Home at Sawtelle. She remembers playing with ship captains' children on the Santa Monica wharf while her father carried on business with the seamen and shipowners in the 1890's. She attended the Sunday School of Congregation B'nai B'rith for many years. In 1910 she graduated from Los Angeles High School and entered the Normal School for teacher-training.

Carolyn Mooser's first public school teaching position was at the Martha Washington School, now the Westminster Avenue Elementary School, in Venice. Abbott Kinney, who had established the town, was a close friend of her father. She taught in Venice from 1912 to 1915. ⁶⁷

Henrietta Koshland Mooser, born in New York City in 1854, passed away in 1915. Her sister Sara had married David Lesser who owned and operated stores in Arizona and later in New Mexico. Sara, born in 1857, had lived for several years with the Moosers at Elko, Nevada, before she married. ⁶⁸

Abraham Mooser's chief recreational interests were in his fraternal associations, especially with the Seaside Odd Fellows Lodge in Santa Monica and with his civic concerns in general. He also was an inveterate poker-player. In the later years of his life he was part of an intimate circle of Jewish men who played cards together regularly.

Mooser had a rather fiery disposition, though he was very gentle with his family. He did a great deal to help his sons in their various business endeavors. His intention towards his children is best expressed in his own words, taken from his will : ". . . I desire to be fair and just to all of my children." ⁶⁹ He left to them a modest material estate and a heritage of civic leadership and awareness, of religious piety, and of intelligent constructiveness in the building of his family and community.

He passed away on January 2, 1931, at 88-1/2 years of age. ⁷⁰ The Santa Monica Seaside Lodge No. 369, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, conducted the funeral on January 5, at Home of Peace Memorial Park, Los Angeles. Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin officiated.⁷¹

The meaning of the integration of Abraham Mooser and his family in the early Santa Monica community and yet their Jewish distinctiveness and concern are noteworthy and may well be pondered. The present-day substantial Jewish community of the bay area can remember with pride Abraham Mooser, the first Jewish businessman and resident of Santa Monica.

1. Mrs. Seymour Wisekopf, Interview, October 30, 1967. Mrs. Wisekopf, nee Carolyn Mooser, is the youngest of Abraham Mooser's children.

2. Mrs. Gus Marks, "Memoirs" (manuscript), in the possession of her daughter, Mrs. Bill Irving of Los Angeles. Mrs. Marks (1877-1956), nee Celia Mooser, was the oldest of Mooser's progeny.

3. This card, now in the possession of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Nathan of Sacramento, is dated September 10, 1882. It had belonged to Myron Nathan (1877-1968), a son of Helena Mooser Nathan.

5. Simon Wolf, THE AMERICAN JEW AS PATRIOT, SOLDIER AND CITIZEN, (Philadelphia, 1895), p. 218. This reference notes that Mooser was a member of H Company, 15th Mississippi Infantry.

7. Demit certificate, dated June 17, 1867, in the possession of Mrs. Seymour Wisekopf, Beverly Hills, California.

9. THE PACIFIC COAST BUSINESS DIRECTORY FOR 1871-73, (San Francisco, 1871), p. 264.

10. Naturalization certificate, in the possession of Mrs. Seymour Wisekopf, Beverly Hills, California.

14. Harold F. Reinhart, TEMPLE B'NAI ISRAEL AND THE SACRAMENTO JEWISH COMMUNITY, (Sacramento, 1927), p. 20.

16. The Jewish population was estimated at 600 in 1876 by Benjamin Hayes in AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, (LOS Angeles, 1876, reprinted 1936), p. 89.

17. Later named Haas, Baruch and Company, after Herman W. Hellman became a banker and Jacob Baruch's name replaced his.

18. At the southwest corner of Fourth and Main Streets, Los Angeles. In 1904, I. W. Hellman, built a new structure on this property, for his Farmers and Merchants Bank, which is still in use.

20. Carl Seligman, assignee, placed a notice in the Santa Monica Outlook, February 11, 1891, p. 3, reading: "Parties indebted to the estate of M. E. Chapin will find the books and accounts at the old stand. Mr. Mooser will receive all moneys due."

21. Marks, op. cit. Harris Newmark was the first Jewish property owner in Santa Monica, being the first successful bidder for lots at the initial auction on July 15, 1875, after Senator John P. Jones and Colonel R. S. Baker laid out the town. Newmark bought lots for himself and five other pioneer Jewish figures of Los Angeles, some of whom were relatives. They were: Isaiah M. Hellman, Isaias W. Hellman, Kaspare Cohn, Eugene Meyer, and Myer J. Newmark. All sold their property, located along Ocean Avenue, later. However, some years after this, Harris Newmark bought property and built a house at 1311 Ocean Avenue, which he occupied each summer. See his SIXTY YEARS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, (Boston and New York, 1930, 3rd edition,) p. 480.

27. Santa Monica Daily Outlook, May 25, 1906, p. 1. This building is still in use in downtown Santa Monica, though it was enlarged and extended to the alley in the rear in the 1920's. The Odd Fellows Hall is on the second floor and two stores at 1431 and 1435 Third Street, occupy the ground level.

31. Mr. Ottie Carrillo, Interview, December 8, 1968. Mr. Carrillo is the son of J. J. Carrillo and the brother of Leo Carrillo.

32. Santa Monica Outlook, January 7, 1898, p. 8, January 28, 1898, p. 5, March 3, 1899, p. 4.

37. City of Santa Monica, Minutes of the Board of Trustees, Vol. 3, April 21, 1902, pp. 350-52.

43. Mr. Leon N. Mooser, Interview, November 20, 1967; Carrillo, op. cit.; Marks, op. cit.

49. Mrs. Edna Lavon, Interview, November 22, 1968. Mrs. Lavon is the fourth child of the Moosers.

50. Wisekopf, November 11, 1968, op. cit. See Santa Monica Outlook, July 21, 1899, pp. 5-6.

53. Marks, op. cit. The Concordia Club, founded in 1891, was The Los Angeles Jewish social club of its day.

54. Santa Monica Outlook, April 27, 1892, p. 5. Later Louis Mooser served as a deputy recorder for the County of Los Angeles. See Los ANGELES CITY DIRECTORY, 1907, p. 1046, etc.

60. DANA BURK'S LOS ANGELES CITY DIRECTORY, 1906, p. 1202; SANTA MONICA, OCEAN PARK AND VENICE DIRECTORY, 1912; SANTA MONICA, OCEAN PARK, VENICE, SAWTELLE AND WESTGATE DIRECTORY, 1913, p. 231; SANTA MONICA, OCEAN PARK, VENICE, SAWTELLE AND WESTGATE DIRECTORY, 1919-20, p. 239.

61. Los ANGELES CITY DIRECTORY, 1907, p. 1046. Wisekopf, October 30, 1967, op. cit.

64. SANTA MONICA, OCEAN PARR AND VENICE DIRECTORY, 1912 to 1921; Wisekopf, November 11, 1968, op. cit.

A Western States Jewish History Journalistic Anecdote

1852

ATTENTION!

CAPTAINS AND OWNERS of Vessels will take particular notice, that the subscriber has purchased the interest of Messrs. Leamy & Sexton, in the butchering establishment at Old Town, and that his arrangements are now complete for supplying, at a few hours' notice, Fresh Beef, Pork, Mutton, Veal, Poultry and Vegetables, of every description, and all kinds of Live Stock, at the lowest rates and in any quantities. The advantage afforded to Panama Steamers, by this arrangement, whereby they can get fresh provisions and vegetables here in any quantity and at short notice, will be apparent to anyone; and when it is known that such supplies can be had here at a much less price than in San Francisco, Masters and owners of vessels will, if they consult their best interests; make arrangements with the subscriber for a regular supply.

--Louis Rose

--From the San Diego Herald, July 15, 1852 (Vol. II, No. 5), p. 3, col. 2.