Business of J & M SCHWABACHER, Ltd., Orleans Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Mike Miller January 1999 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** There is probably no commission firm south of the Ohio river better known than the general produce and commission house of J. & M. Schwabacher, limited, of New Orleans. The business was established in 1868 by Julius Schwabacher and Abraham Hirsch, and from the outset they secured a success proportionate to their ability, enterprise and thorough knowledge of the trade in all its details and requirements. They soon extended their business far beyond the limits of Louisiana, and opened a branch house in Chicago, Ill., which has been under the management of Julius Schwabacher, and the large resources, splendid facilities and wide connections of the house have gained for it the recognition and favor of the trade, and have emphasized the prosperity that attended it at the beginning of its career. Morris Schwabacher was in charge of the house at New Orleans until recently when it was given over to the charge of a younger brother, Max Schwabacher. At the time Morris Schwabacher left New Orleans the firm had been changed into a joint stock company, limited, of which Julius is the president; Morris, vice-president, and Max, treasurer, and Leonce Desforge, secretary. Julius Schwabacher has been a resident of Chicago since 1878, where his time is fully devoted to his business interests. Morris Schwabacher was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, November 5, 1849, though from his long residence in this country he can almost claim America as his native country. He was just sixteen years of age when he came to New Orleans where, in a prominent commercial college, he completed his education and laid the foundation for a business career phenomenal in its success. His initial venture was in general merchandise near Napoleonville, La., where he obtained his first practical insight in the general business. Finding the surroundings too limited for the proper exercise of his energy, he sought broader fields in New Orleans and in 1872 secured an interest in an old established house and subsequently with Schwabacher & Hirsch, one of the largest commission houses of this section of the country. In 1875 Mr. Schwabacher became a member of the Chicago board of trade. On the death of Mr. Hirsch the business was perpetuated under the name and style of J. and M. Schwabacher and as such is known as the largest house of its class in the South, through its connection with Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis and other great centers of the Northwest. They make a specialty of provisions, breadstuffs, grain and dairy products, and they occupy a commanding position in the Southern market, which, together with their manner of doing business, has built up a trade enormous in territory and proportion. Such results, it is evident, could only be obtained by application to business, coupled with that rare degree of judgment, push and enterprise which never pauses in its upward way until it finds a resting place in that infinity of space "at the top." Mr. Schwabacher originated the board of trade in this city and several times was vice-president of that important commercial body, of which he is still a valued member. He was a director and member of the finance committee of the Germania National bank; president of the Credit association, limited; was president of the Chalmette Homestead association; president of the Barataria Canning association; vice- president of the North American Provision Co.; director and on the finance committee of the Independent Cotton Seed Oil company of this city; director and vice-president of the Kaufman Fibre Manufacturing company, which bids fair to revolutionize the trade in textile fabrics; director in the Rosetta Gravel company; and one of the directors of the Charity hospital, together with various other enterprises requiring both capital and brains in their conduct. Socially Mr. Schwabacher is a brilliant addition to society, and among his intimate friends is famous for his repartee and wit. For two years he was president of the Harmony club, and it was through his indefatigable exertions that they moved to their present magnificent quarters. Such men as Mr. Schwahacher go to make up the progressive and representative citizens of the South. Max Schwabacher, the present head of the firm in New Orleans, was born in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1857, and in 1870 came to America and' finished his education in New Orleans. He then entered mercantile life and manifests all the commercial instincts for which his elder brothers are famous. He has for some years been a director in the Germania National bank and is a member of several social organizations and is connected with the New Orleans board of trade. Prompt and profitable sales and speedy returns constitute the salient features which have ever characterized the business policy of this house, and which have contributed mainly to the prestige it maintains in the world of commerce of to day. Max Schwabacher, in 1889, led to the altar Miss Helen Levy, daughter of Isaac Levy, one of the most prosperous rice mill men of the city. Source: Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 366-367. Published by the Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892.