Jacob Furth
Jacob Furth (November 15, 1840 – June 2, 1914) was an Austrian Empire-born American entrepreneur and prominent Seattle banker.
Indeed, there was no period in all of his career when business so occupied his attention that he would not turn to listen to some plan for the city's betterment or some tale whereby his personal aid was sought for an individual or an organization.
[5] He clerked mornings and evenings in a clothing store, while attending public schools for about six months to improve his English.
There, in cooperation with the Schwabachers[7] he helped organize the Puget Sound National Bank with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, and took charge as its cashier.
[3] Bagley writes, "He became recognized as one of the foremost factors in banking circles in the northwest, thoroughly conversant with every phase of the business and capable of solving many intricate and complex financial problems.
[11] In 1884 he organized the California Land & Stock Company, owning a 14,000-acre (5,700 ha) farm in Lincoln County, Washington, one of the state's largest.
He also invested in property, including Seattle real estate and Pacific Northwest timber lands.
[3] Further, Furth became increasingly involved in the building and management of urban and interurban electric railway systems.
[15]Some seventy years later, Bill Speidel was more succinct: "All Jacob Furth did was take a squalid little village named Seattle and turn it into a world class city.
A new pumping station on Lake Washington in what is now the Mount Baker neighborhood made the system viable, doubling its previous capacity.
[1][8] Although the deal was initially viewed largely as a matter of public service, Furth's financial acumen resulted in a profit.
A rapid trip to New York City secured enough capital to buy control of the bank and weather the crisis.
[21] Working with Stone & Webster, Furth stitched together a single system, the Seattle Electric Company and—under pressure from the Seattle City Council, in order to gain the franchise[21]—established a flat fare, initially 5 cents including transfers (previously, a single trip could have cost as much as 40 cents).
[20] However, in contrast to the post-Fire investment that had so clearly been for the common good of the city, Seattle Electric was a for-profit, private undertaking, owned largely by East Coast interests.
[20] Furthermore, the consolidation of the streetcar lines did not solve the maintenance issues, with "overcrowding, erratic service, accidents, [and] open cars even in winter" remaining common.
[22] The City of Seattle had been involved in municipal power generation since the 1890 creation of the Department of Lighting and Water Works.
[1][23] According to Bill Speidel, brothel-owner Lou Graham was effectively Furth's silent partner from her 1888 arrival in Seattle until her death in 1903.
He provided the banking, real estate, and political connections she required to establish the city's leading parlor house; when people came to him seeking a loan, and he thought their idea was good but that he'd never get it past his board of directors, he referred them to Graham for an informal, high-interest loan.
[25] The conviction was completely overturned on appeal, December 18, 1914, but by that time Furth was not alive to see his reputation cleared.
[27] In California, in 1865, Furth married Lucy (or Lucia) A. Dunton, a native of Indiana from what Lee Micklin characterizes as "an early American family"; they eventually had three daughters: Jane E., Anna F., and Sidonia.
