Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Frank, Sigmund February 12, 1850 - October 4, 1910
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com January 23, 2011, 10:28 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 764 - 766
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     SIGMUND FRANK.  No visitor to Portland and no resident of the city is 
unfamiliar with the name of Meier & Frank, a name that has symbolized 
mercantile activity and progressiveness here through many decades. It was in 
this connection that Sigmund Frank came to rank as one of the representative 
men of Oregon, but it was not alone his success, notable as this was, that 
brought him before the public. In his make-up there were certain manly 
qualities, high purposes and lofty ideals that gained him the respect of all 
and his consideration for his fellowmen won for him the unqualified friendship 
of those with whom he was brought in contact.

     Germany gave to the new world this man who was destined to play so 
important a part in the steady expansion of his adopted city. He was born in 
Bechtheim on the 12th of February, 1850, and there he received a thorough 
educational training, combined with that home discipline that made him 
recognize the worth of character and the advantage of opportunity. He was 
twenty years of age when he bade adieu to friends and native land and sailed 
for the United States. For two years he remained a resident of New York, but 
he believed that superior advantages were accorded in the far west and was 
ambitious to utilize the advantages offered on the Pacific coast. He had been 
liberally educated in music while in Germany and by teaching piano and violin 
while in New York he earned the money that enabled him to meet the expenses of 
a trip to San Francisco, where he arrived in 1872. He had not yet acquired an 
intimate knowledge of the English language and was somewhat unfamiliar with 
American business methods and customs, but undeterred by such handicaps he 
started out to win a name and place for himself in the empire of the Pacific 
northwest. While in San Francisco he formed the acquaintance of Aaron Meier, 
of Portland, who had followed his elder brother, Emil Meier, to the Oregon 
metropolis and had become a clerk in his brother's store. It was through this 
avenue that Mr. Frank became identified with commercial interests in Portland 
at the close of the year 1872. He soon gave demonstration of his capability 
and was admitted to a partnership, thus forming the firm of Meier & Frank — a 
name that is inseparably associated with commercial development here. Writing 
in this connection, the Oregonian at the time of Mr. Frank's death said: "It 
was not a sudden burst of glory and spread but a steady climb up the hazardous 
hill of mercantile business. The little general store, which carried about 
everything from calico and groceries to hardware and implements, began to 
grow; more stock was taken on and more room was added as patronage increased. 
From Front street the store was moved to First, and then the block bounded by 
First, Second, Yamhill and Taylor streets was taken in. In 1889 Aaron Meier 
died and the responsibility of head of the firm fell upon Mr. Frank. His 
training under the senior member of the firm and his own experience had fitted 
him for the place and the mercantile establishment continued along in the 
steady progress it had made from the beginning, when the stock invoiced no 
more than two hundred or three hundred dollars. Eight years after the death of 
Aaron Meier the store had again outgrown its quarters and Mr. Frank purchased 
the site on First street between Alder and Morrison streets. He was advised 
against this purchase but he had observed things; he had faith in Portland; he 
saw in his mind the advancement of the business district west from the river 
and went ahead with the building of a large department store. His judgment, as 
usual, was correct. The crowning feature of the store was the erection of a 
ten-story annex on Sixth street, which stands as a monument to the memory of 
the man who devoted a lifetime exclusively to build up a great department 
store."

     In 1885 Mr. Frank wedded Fannie Meier, the eldest daughter of his 
partner, and they became the parents of two sons, M. Lloyd and Aaron. It was 
four years after his marriage that Mr. Frank became head of the business, 
following the death of Mr. Meier. All through the intervening period he had 
aided largely in the upbuilding of the business, which had far outgrown its 
quarters, and Mr. Frank believed that there was a still more brilliant future 
before Portland and wished to make his establishment commensurate with the 
expected development of the city. The store was originally located on First 
and Second streets, then the business center of Portland, but the trend of 
trade was upward from the river, and in order to meet the requirements of his 
expanding business he purchased property on Fifth, Morrison and Alder; where 
he erected a building one hundred by two hundred feet and five stories in 
height with basement. Many believed that this was far beyond the needs of 
Portland, but Mr. Frank looked beyond the exigencies of the moment to the 
opportunities and possibilities of the future and made his establishment the 
center of the retail district. Hardly had the firm become established in its 
new quarters before with clear-sighted vision Mr. Frank realized that there 
was still greater need and began planning for the erection of a large annex, 
double in height, the size of the store which he had already promoted. He made 
the name of Meier & Frank one known throughout the Pacific coast country. He 
planned for the future as well as for the present and he made his labors most 
fruitful because of his practical methods. He studied the trade, knew the 
demands of the public and kept in advance of competitors by educating his 
patrons to purchase the latest and most attractive goods put out by the 
markets of the world. Moreover, he kept in close touch with his employes, upon 
whom he impressed a sense of individual responsibility, and he gained their 
full cooperation through his kindliness and justice in all of his dealings 
with them. He sought and welcomed suggestions from the humblest to the most 
important of his employes and none ever feared to enter his presence or 
express views concerning the business. He waited not for the city's growth but 
set a standard of advancement which Portland followed. His contribution to the 
development of the city can scarcely be overestimated and the business which 
he was so active in establishing and promoting continues one of the chiefest 
of the mercantile establishments of the entire northwest.

     In his relations to the public welfare Mr. Frank manifested the same 
progressive spirit. He knew and studied Portland's needs and her opportunities 
and his cooperation could always be counted upon to further any measure for 
the general good, yet he never sought office nor cared to figure in public 
life. When there was a demand made upon his time, his effort or his means he 
gave of it freely.

     Coming to Portland at an early period in her commercial development, he 
was widely known throughout the city and those who came within the closer 
circle of his friendship found him a genial companion of kindly spirit and 
generous disposition. He knew and loved his city and its people and he was 
constantly extending a helping hand where aid was needed. Of him a 
contemporary writer has said: "On October 4, 1910, Portland lost its master 
mind in the field of commerce. Sigmund Frank had made his company in the 
Pacific northwest what Marshall Field did his in Chicago. He had proven more 
brilliant in achievement than the illustrious Chicago merchant, by pressing 
harder the limit of population in his territory and by winning a higher 
relative ascendency. And with the glory of a great commercial career 
clustering thickly around his vigorous intellect and but sixty years lapsed in 
what promised an octogenarian span the powerful mind and robust frame gave way 
to the extraordinary draft made upon it and Sigmund Frank breathed his last.

     "He lived to see finished the second great material monument to his 
success, which is but a stepping-stone in the advance made from comparative 
obscurity to preeminent business triumph. He had just completed a beautiful 
ten-story annex, of the most modern steel and concrete construction, to the 
great Meier & Frank store, and this beautiful white monument, thrilling with 
life and business every day, stands as a most eloquent testimonial to the 
prowess and energy of the departed merchant. This mind has been conceded by 
closest observers one of the rare products of the business world. It possessed 
that unfaltering courage which makes anything possible. It was endowed with 
phenomenal strength for detail and would permit storing whole catalogues of 
business information for instant use. It had that superb motor power of 
aggressiveness and persistence which is illustrated best by the unlimited 
energy of the Oregon hills where streams tumble in cataracts the year around. 
It embodies in these ponderous talents also the gentle touch of humanity which 
loved and could be loved. And running through it all was a simplicity that 
never changed, a modesty that was child-like in its beauty, and the frankness 
that goes with first-water genius."

     Such in brief was the history of Sigmund Frank and never shall his name 
cease to find a place in the annals of Portland where the prominent and 
honored men of the city are mentioned.

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