Isaac F. Bloch
Isaac F. Bloch of San Francisco
Values Codes I – E – L – P
Isaac F. Bloch was born in Floss, Bavaria, Germany, in 1822.
Along the way
Isaac Bloch came to the United States as a young man and first settled in Alabama, where he clerked and merchandised until the early 1850’s.
He then moved to San Francisco.
San Francisco
In San Francisco, Bloch entered a partnership with Aaron and Leopold Cahn.
They opened stores in Portland and The Dallas, Oregon, and in Walla Walla, Washington.
In 1886, the firm dissolved and Isaac Bloch established a tannery in San Francisco, which specialized in the manufacture of high-grade leathers under the name of Bloch & Davidson.
19th-century tannery
Community
Isaac Bloch was one of the founding members of Congregation Emanu-El, serving as a director, vice-president, and chairman of the building committee.
Bloch was on the first board of directors of the Pacific Orphan Asylum.
He also belonged to the Eureka Benevolent Society.
Fraternal
Isaac Blochwas a long-time member of theMasonic Order.
Family
Isaac Bloch married Celine Cahn.
Their children were Henry M., A. L. Arthur, Dr. Herbert I., Sarah, Estelle, and Louis.
Isaac Bloch died in 1883.
“He was a great student of English, German, and Hebrew, and though a practical businessman, he devoted his leisure hours to charitable and religious work.”
–– Rabbi Martin Meyer, 1916
Source
- Martin A. Meyer, The Jews of San Francisco (San Francisco: Emanu-El, 1916).
David Epstein is curator of this Isaac F. Bloch exhibit.
