Mayer Lehman

Mayer Lehman (January 9, 1830 – June 21, 1897) was an American businessman, banker, slave owner, and philanthropist.

Mayer Lehman was born in 1830 to a German Jewish family in the small Franconian town of Rimpar near Würzburg.

[4] His brother Emanuel left Germany in 1847 and joined Henry in his business endeavor, which they renamed "H. Lehman and Bro."

Mayer was listed as the owner of seven slaves ("three males and four females ranging in age from 5 to 50") in the U.S. Census of 1860.

[12] Mayer Lehman took an active interest in philanthropic work and was a trustee of Temple Emanu-El as well as a generous giver to the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

To instill the importance of charity into his children, Mayer took his three youngest — Arthur, Irving and Herbert — to Mount Sinai Hospital every Sunday to see the great needs of the less fortunate.