Ada-Blaine County ID Archives Biographies.....Falk, Nathan 1847 - 1903
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 18, 2008, 5:03 am

Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1920)

Nathan Falk

BOISE'S history could not be written without extended mention of Nathan Falk.
For thirty-nine years a citizen of the capital, he was for a quarter of a
century its leading merchant. But not only was he a successful business man, he
was as well a prominent and representative citizen who ever felt and manifested
the keenest interest in the welfare and progress of Boise, who stood as the
champion of its school system, a promoter of its civic development and a leader
in many of its lines of activity that have constituted sources of its growth and
greatness. It is no wonder then that Nathan Falk with his marked ability, his
sympathy and his generosity was termed "the best beloved citizen of Boise."

   A native of Bavaria, Nathan Falk was born in Egenhausen, July 12, 1847, and
pursued his education in the schools of Germany and France. When fifteen years
of age he left the schoolroom to take passage on a westward bound steamer with
America as his destination, crossing the Atlantic in 1862. After a brief period
passed in New York city, he sailed for San Francisco, making the voyage by way
of the Isthmus of Panama. He spent a short time in San Francisco, in Portland,
Oregon, and at The Dalles, but the spring of 1864 found him a resident of Boise,
where he continued to make his home until death called him in 1903. He entered
upon his business career here as bookkeeper for the firm of Hessberg & Company,
with whom he remained for two years, and in 1868 he engaged in business on his
own account in partnership with his brother David, opening a little mercantile
establishment in a small building on Main street, a few feet from the corner of
Eighth street, under the firm style of David Falk & Brother, on the 19th of
September. The beginning was a very modest one, the stock being limited, while
Boise at that time was a little frontier town. The firm used a wheelbarrow for
the delivery of goods and there was little to foreshadow the greatness which the
establishment was to reach in the future. The methods of the Falk Brothers,
however, were most progressive and they catered to the public through honorable
dealing and an earnest desire to please their patrons. The business steadily
grew and after fifteen years, or in 1873, they were joined by their brother,
Sigmund Falk, who was admitted to a partnership. From the beginning the firm
maintained a most enterprising and progressive policy, and by 1891 the trade had
increased to such an extent that a corporation was formed to carry on the
business under the style of the Falk-Bloch Mercantile Company with Nathan Falk
as the president. Another change in the personnel occurred in 1900, when Mr.
Bloch disposed of his interest to the other active members of the firm, and the
name of the Falk Mercantile Company was then adopted. For many years Nathan Falk
directed the course of the enterprise which he had established and developed it
into one of the important and extensive commercial interests of the northwest.
The indelible impress of his personality today still dominates the policy
pursued by the company which bears his name. His was a simple creed: "Do unto
others as you would have others do unto you and do it now." His sterling
integrity, keen foresight and executive ability made hosts of friends for him,
and his advice was eagerly sought by rich and poor alike and given as freely and
honestly to one as to the other.

   Mr. Falk's life was one of unselfish devotion to his family. On the 22d of
August, 1878, in Bavaria, having returned on a visit to his native country from
the United States, Mr. Falk was married to Miss Rosa Steinmeier, a native of
Munich and a daughter of Ignatz and Emalie Steinmeier. For a number of years
Mrs. Falk was a semi-invalid and her husband's devotion to her welfare, comfort
and happiness was ideal. They became the parents of six children: Bella, now the
wife of Stanley Gordon Smith; Anne, the wife of Samuel M. Rothchild; Leo, who
married Helen Friendly, of Elmira, New York; Ralph, a practicing physician, who
married Marion Citron, of Portland, Oregon; Harry N., who married Eleanor Walker
White, of Hartford, Connecticut; and Theodore. The sons have all located in
Boise and are emulating the characteristics and virtues of their father in his
relation to the commercial and civic interests of the city.

   It was while visiting in his native land at the time of his marriage that Mr.
Falk was arrested by the military authorities for having left the country at the
age of fifteen years without having served in the army. Germany even at that
time was most militaristic and the people feared the enmity of the military
power. Mr. Falk's friends and relatives begged him to pay his fine and let the
matter drop, but he was obdurate and refused. He stood for his rights as an
American citizen and fought the matter out to a complete victory. He was always
most bitter in his feeling against imperial Germany and foresaw years ago where
such a policy would finally end.

   Mr. Falk was both a Mason and Odd Fellow and was a most prominent
representative of the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith. He had no ambition
along political lines, yet he served as a member of the school board and in
various other positions of honor and trust in Boise at the request of his fellow
townsmen. To his devotion to the schools is largely due the upbuilding of the
educational system of Boise and its attainment to its present high standard of
excellence. The hand of his genius was visible in many other directions. For
many years he served as a director of the Chamber of Commerce and as such his
name was closely associated with the good work, accomplished by that body for
advancing the growth and prosperity of Idaho's capital. At his death one wrote
of him as "a man who was peculiarly dear to the hearts of our whole people and
chiefly because public spirit, probity and kindness were ingrained in his
nature. Mr. Falk always took the initiative in steps of enterprise and magnitude
and invariably embarked his whole soul in every cause dedicated to the
betterment of Boise, a city largely the child of his enterprise and the object
of his almost paternal devotion. He was indeed a man with great breadth of mind
and reach of vision, one who could make his way through many difficulties and
win and hold the respect of any community; a man who was morally brave, the soul
of integrity, and whose influence and presence broadened and ennobled his
fellows. Splendid are the material monuments Mr. Falk's industry and integrity
have erected to perpetuate his memory, but the place he filled in the minds and
hearts of those who knew him best is his most enviable monument and encomium."

   The death of Mr. Falk occurred in Hailey, July 22, 1903. He had gone to join
two of his sons in an outing near Ketchum, and becoming ill, was taken to
Hailey, where the best possible medical aid was summoned, but all to no avail.
At the request of the board of directors of the Boise Chamber of Commerce all
the business houses of the city closed at the time of his funeral and the
Chamber of Commerce, the city council, the school board and every fraternal and
civic organization with which he was identified passed resolutions of respect
which were memorials to his high personal worth and his valuable contribution to
the city's development and growth. From the poorest and the humblest to the
highest and the greatest of Boise's population there were heard expressions of
the deepest sorrow and regret. The news of his demise carried with it a sense of
personal bereavement to every resident of Boise and all who knew him throughout
the state. Perhaps no better expression of the character, ability and valuable
life work of Mr. Falk can be given than by quoting those who were long
associated with him. Frank R. Coffin, who for forty years was a friend of Mr.
Falk, associated with him in many important enterprises, said: "I feel that I
should not let my old friend, Nathan Falk, go to his last home without paying at
least a brief tribute to his memory. Our acquaintance dates back forty vears and
we were, I am proud to say, always friends.

   "We came to Boise in the same year, 1865. He was in the employ of Hessberg &
Company, whose business was on the corner where the First National Bank is
located. I went to work in the tin shop of George H. Chick, who was where the
Telephone building now stands.

   "Mr. Falk went into business for himself in 1868 and I followed him in 1870,
and nearly, if not the last time we met—indulging in reminiscences of our young
days—we discovered that we were the only two of the old-time merchants of Boise
left who were yet in business.

   "The passing of Nathan Falk is to me a loss and bereavement which I deeply
feel. He was a noble and generous friend, a public-spirited and unselfish citizen."

   Of Nathan Falk Mayor Hawley said: "During all the many years of my
acquaintance with Nathan Falk I never knew him to have anything to do with what
was wrong, nor fail to be interested in what was right. He was a loyal,
progressive citizen, a man whose personality appealed to all classes and whose
purse was ever open when money was needed for a good purpose. His loyalty to
Boise and the city's interests grew with every hour of his residence among us
and he was always a safe man to appeal to in emergencies. In serving the public
in what were often thankless positions, he bestowed that careful attention to
the interests of the people that he did to his own and not a detail ever escaped
him.

   "In commercial circles and private business transactions his word was as good
as United States bonds. I never heard of his doing a mean act in his life. He
was a public benefactor in every sense of the word and by his death every
citizen of Boise has lost a friend."

   "I have known Nathan Falk for thirty-six years," said Peter Sonna, "and in my
opinion his death is a serious loss to the community. I became acquainted with
him in 1867, when I moved here from Idaho City, and during all the years that
have elapsed I have had many business dealings with him. I have always found him
to be a man of fine honor in his business relations. His word was as good as his
bond; whatever he said he would do, he has always fulfilled. In every way he has
been very prompt and honorable in all his business engagements.

   "He was one of the most enterprising men that I have ever met in this
section. He was a leader in everything tending to the advancement of the
community in which he lived. He has been in the lead in all the public movements
of all the years he has lived here.

   "He was wonderfully well liked for a man who had the extensive business
dealings he had. Everyone seemed to love him. He was universally respected and
esteemed, and 1 take a great deal of pleasure in telling what I can of his
character to honor his memory.

   "I can only repeat that in the death of Mr. Falk, Boise has suffered an
almost irreparable loss. It was a great loss to the town, to the community and
to this part of Idaho."

   Bishop Glorieux, on learning of the death of the deceased merchant, said: "I
had the honor to serve on committees with Nathan Falk for sixteen years and we
had not worked together long before I grew to respect the man and value his
judgment. While at all times an optimist, there was nothing bombastic about Mr.
Falk. He had a way of sifting everything and getting all the facts. When he
differed with you he presented his side of the case in a nice, manly way and was
never arbitrary. He was a man of sound judgment and the very soul of honor.
Boise can ill afford to lose such a citizen. I feel that I have lost a dear
friend and counselor and I sympathize most deeply with his family in their
bereavement."

   Editorially the Daily Statesman wrote: "In the untimely death of Nathan Falk
this city and the state of Idaho sustain a loss so great that it seems almost
irreparable. He was one of the foremost business men of the state and occupied a
very large place in the commercial and soical affairs of the capital city. His
interests here were very large, but still larger was the influence that he
exerted upon the development of the city and its trade interests, upon its
business methods and upon its character as a municipality.

   "No city can afford to lose such a man and The Statesman voices a universal
sentiment in saying there are few if any others whose death would create such a
void. Yesterdav was a day of mourning throughout the entire city, for all our
people honored the dead merchant and all feel a sense of personal loss in his
taking off.

   "Nathan Falk was a model man of business, a model husband and father, a model
member of society. There is no point at which one can touch his character and
disclose a flaw. He was keen, alert and masterful in his business dealings, and,
above all, he was guided by the spirit of honesty and kept his escutcheon so
bright that no rival could ever challenge his methods or his purposes. He had
the great virtue of doing well what he had to do for himself and those dependent
upon him; he had the equally great virtue of doing vigorously and with wise
discretion what he was called upon to do in the interest of the public; and he
had the still greater virtues of honesty and truth and charity. He was diligent
in all things; he was effective in all things; he was above reproach in all
things and thus not only won the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens,
but commanded their affection in a remarkable degree.

   "It is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Falk was beloved by this people to an
extent that is seldom enjoyed by any member of a community. His friends were
found everywhere, embracing the entire list of those who had any degree of
acquaintance with him, and among those who enjoyed a measure of close
acquaintance this friendship ripened into deep affection for him. Thus it comes
about that, in addition to the universal feeling that the city has lost one who
cannot be replaced easily, there exists in hundreds of breasts today a sense of
personal bereavement that cannot be lightly dismissed.

   "In the hour of their deep affliction the members of the family have the
tender sympathy of a great multitude who enjoyed the friendship of the departed.
While nothing can assuage their grief, they have the satisfaction of knowing
that his work was well done; that he was prepared for the summons, and that he
has left a record in which they and those to come after them in the family line
will have cause to feel abounding pride. He was one who did not live in vain.
His example is set before the people of this city as a shining light, and,
though his body be consigned to the dark and silent grave, those who shed the
bitter tear over the casket as they take their last look upon those familiar
features may console themselves with the thought that he has gone to the reward
that is the heritage of those whose lives are guided by the light of duty, who
do justice, who love honesty, who practice charity and forbearance, who are
faithful in all things and who strive, while shaping their own lives aright, to
assist others in securing a firm grasp upon those virtues that constitute the
foundations of character."


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

IDAHO

DELUXE SUPPLEMENT

CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1920


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