[1] In the 1840s, he immigrated to the United States first to New York then the American South and finally to San Francisco in 1853 or 1855 where he was later joined by his brother-in-law Levi Strauss.
[1] Strauss had been sent to San Francisco — which was booming due to the gold rush — to scout out a larger location for the family merchandising company.
In 1873, the company received the patent for its jeans, the first to use metal rivets on workpants made with denim cloth.
[1] They had 8 children: Jacob and Caroline (both born in New York); and Henry, Sigmund, Louis (who married Lucie Cahen, Palo Alto patroness[2]), Harriet "Hattie", Abraham, and Lillian (all born in San Francisco).
[1] He was a member of the Eureka Benevolent Society (later the Jewish Family Service) and Congregation Emanu-El.