Isaacs, Marks

Submitted by Mike Miller

Isaacs, Marks, merchant prince of New Orleans, large real estate owner, philanthropist, and well-beloved citizen, was born at Edenkoben, Germany, in the year 1851, and died suddenly of heart disease, at his home on St. Charles avenue, New Orleans, La., at 8:45 o'clock p. m., Thursday, April 21, 1910. His death was a great shock to a large number of friends, and as these became aware of the sudden death of their beloved friend, they hastened to the palatial residence, where the grief-stricken family bemoaned the loss of a model husband and father, while the community at large prepared to mourn the final departure of a worthy citizen patriot, colossal character, and widely-known philanthropist, whose integrity was above reproach. Mr. Isaacs, had been down town attending to business as usual during the day, and while his health had not for some time been of the best, because of his close application to business, he had not complained of feeling badly, and after dinner he and Mrs. Isaacs started out for a stroll along the avenue. While walking, he suddenly became ill, and they returned home. Soon after entering the doorway, he became unconscious, and within 15 minutes had passed quietly into the sleep which knows no waking. Mrs. Isaacs and their daughters were at his side, but their 2 sons could not be reached immediately and did not arrive until a few minutes after their father's death. When a baby of 2 years, Marks Isaacs was brought to America by his parents. The family lived at New York until 1870, in which year the son went to New Orleans and there entered the service of his uncle, Simon Kaufman, who then conducted a dry goods store at the corner of Poydras and Baronne streets. From this establishment he later went to the firm of A. Shwartz & Son, on Canal street, and after some years there, launched out into business on his own account, opening a store on Dryades street, which became the foundation for his later business successes. This was in the year 1877, and after operating this store alone for a time, he took into partnership Charles A. Kaufman, and the firm name of Kaufman & Isaacs, which later became so well and favorably known, was then born. This establishment developed into one of the largest in the city, much to the surprise of those who predicted that a large store could not flourish elsewhere than on Canal street, in New Orleans. In 1901, Mr. Isaacs withdrew from this firin and became associated with S. J. Shwartz & Co., the firm name being changed to the Shwartz-Isaacs Co., and they built up the Maison-Blanche into a gigantic establishment. In March, 1909, Mr. Isaacs withdrew from this firm, and then established the Marks Isaacs Co., on Canal street, which, though comparatively a new enterprise, having behind it the Isaacs reputation, and being backed by Mr. Isaacs' large means, has already established itself firmly among the largest, most progressive, and best-known commercial houses in the city of New Orleans. Mr. Isaacs was not a club man. He was never so happy as when in the bosom of his family at his own hearthstone. On St. Charles avenue lie built one of the most palatial homes in the city, occupying an entire square, between Soniat and Dufossat streets. He was a member, respectively, of the Harmony club and the Young Men's Hebrew association, but rarely indulged in the diversions of those institutions. He also was a member of the Touro infirmary, of the Jewish Widows & Orphans' home, Touro synagogue, and the Knights of Honor. Mr. Isaacs' charities were unbounded, but when he gave he did so unostentatiously, and none knew of it. His heart was attuned to the finest sense of human sympathies. Mr. Isaacs is survived by his wife, who was Miss Lilly Oppenheim; 2 sons, Bernard and Irwin, and 2 daughters, Flora, now Mrs. Edward Lazard, and Miss Louise Isaacs. Mrs. Simon Kaufman is a sister to Mr. Isaacs. At the time of his death, all newspapers in the city of New Orleans contained extended reviews of the life of this eminent citizen, and all the papers commented editorially upon his death and the severe loss thus sustained by the community at large. From this large quantity of matter, so sorrowfully voicing the appreciation of his fellow-citizens and so pronouncedly evincing the city's bereavement, the following brief extract is taken from the columns of the New Orleans Times-Democrat: "By the death of Marks Isaacs, which occurred last Thursday night, the city loses one of its leading merchants and the community a member widely respected and highly esteemed. Coming here 40 years ago as a boy of 18, Mr. Isaacs engaged in mercantile pursuits. Upon the secure foundation of industry, native ability, and enterprising spirit, he reared the fabric of his great fortune, gaining early recognition and large prominence in business circles. Beyond and above his worldly successes, he won popularity and the regard of his fellows by his genial personality, the breadth and liberality of his views, and his many acts of kindness and charity. His home life was singularly happy, and the magnificent residence he built in St. Charles avenue, and in which he passed the happiest hours during the closing years of his life, stands as a monument to that love and devotion to family which all men admire. His death, sudden and unheralded by premonitory illness, came as a shock to the entire community, which mourns the untimely cutting off of a citizen who won, in honorable ways, a large and deserved success, and by his sterling character and admirable traits of mind and heart attained to high place in the popular regard." Rabbi I. L. Leucht, of Touro synagogue, of which Mr. Isaacs was a member, conducted the impressive funeral ceremonial over the remains of Mr. Isaacs at the family home, and in the course of a most beautiful eulogy upon the character of the deceased, paid his personality such tribute as few men can receive. From Rabbi Leucht 's remarks the following brief extract is made: "I knew Marks Isaacs 40 years ago, from the day upon which he first came to this city... He had that seldom-found and happy faculty of making and holding his friends. He was not that kind of friend who values friendship only for what it can return in material value, but the friend whose affection comes from the heart, and is unselfish and honorable." Dr. Leucht said that the name of Marks Isaacs always stood for probity and honesty. He referred to the manner in which Mr. Isaacs began his career, and how, by his manly courage, his honest and deliberateness of purpose, and his unswerving application to his duties and ideals in life, he had mounted the ladder of success until he stood among his trades-fellows as a prince of merchants, and among his neighbors and friends as a prince among men... Those he employed he loved, and that is why they were always staunch and loyal to him. Look outside, where there are hundreds of those who have worked for him, and witness their genuine grief at his departure from this world, and you may get a faint idea of that trait of his character which I am seeking to picture in words... His very code of existence was that upon which the principle of justice is founded. No one person can stand beside this bier and say 'Thou hast done me wrong.' In honor and modesty he wore the crown of citizenship, and the community suffers a great loss in his death. His dominant ambition in life was to see that those he loved and cherished were happy and content, and he did everything possible to mortal man to accomiplish that end." Dr. Leucht spoke of the honorable heritage that had fallen to the children of the deceased, and pointed them to the sacred trust of an honorable name now confided to their keeping.

Note: Original source includes a photo of Mr. Isaacs.

Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), pp. 219-221. Edited by Alcée Fortier, Lit.D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association.