Later, he and a partner opened a store in Nevada City but sold out the following year, going first to New York and then back to Bavaria.

He returned to San Francisco to be a miner for six months, then opened a tobacco and cigar store in Sacramento.

He chose to raise his family in Port Townsend, where he settled with his wife Dorette (also from Bavaria).

Rothschild was found dead with a gunshot wound in April 1886 on the beach near the Cliff House Saloon, and his death was determined to be suicide.

[4][5] His son Henry later took over the business and, in conjunction with his partner William J. Jones, expanded into stevedoring (or dockwork).