Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Hirsch, Leon 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com February 2, 2011, 3:24 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 845 - 846
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     LEON HIRSCH.  For over fifty years Leon Hirsch has been identified with 
the well known Portland firm of Meier & Frank Company, and for over thirty-
five years of this period has been the secretary of the company. Loyal and 
efficient service and strict attention to business have characterized his 
entire business career, and no resident of Portland is held in higher esteem 
than he.

     Mr. Hirsch came to this city as a boy in 1877 and attended the Bishop 
Scott Academy for a short period. He then went to work for the firm of Meier & 
Frank, at Front and Yamhill streets, in a humble capacity, working from seven 
o'clock in the morning to ten in the evening. For this service he started at a 
salary of twenty dollars a month.

     On his arrival here, Portland was a small town, having about sixteen 
thousand inhabitants, and there was not much amusement for a young man. In 
recalling some of the experiences and enjoyments of his early years here Mr. 
Hirsch states that he made it a habit to hire a boat with several other young 
men and row up to Ross island at five o'clock in the morning and then take a 
good swim. He also remembers that during one winter in the late '70s the 
Willamette river was frozen over so solidly that he was able to walk across on 
the ice.

     Mr. Hirsch devoted himself closely to his duties and his faithfulness was 
rewarded by promotion to various positions until, on the incorporation of the 
company on January 15, 1892, he was admitted to an interest in the firm and 
was elected secretary of the company, which office he has held continuously 
until the present time.

     Mr. Hirsch was united in marriage to Miss Edith E. Dittenhofer, daughter 
of the late Judge Dittenhofer of New York city. They have one daughter, a 
graduate of The Catlin School, who attended an eastern school and is at 
present attending the University of Washington.

     Mr. Hirsch is a member of Harmony Lodge, No. 12, A. F. & A. M.; Portland 
Constitory, A. A. S. R.; Al Kader Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.; Portland Lodge, 
No. 142, B. P. O. E.; charter member of the Tualatin Country Club; and a 
member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Lang Syne Society. He takes a 
justifiable pride in his long connection with the business which he has seen 
grow from a small, unpretentious store to the largest department store in the 
west, to the success of which he has contributed his share. He is a man of 
courteous and kindly manner and well merits the place which he holds in the 
esteem of those who know him.

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