Isaias W. Hellman

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Isaias W. Hellman
President of Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank
In office
1905–1920
Preceded byHimself as president of the Nevada National Bank
Succeeded byIsaias W. Hellman Jr.
President of The Nevada National Bank
In office
1898–1905
Preceded byHimself as president of the Nevada Bank
Succeeded byHimself as president of the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank
President of The Nevada Bank
In office
1890–1898
Preceded byJohn William Mackay
Succeeded byHimself as president of the Nevada National Bank
Personal details
Born
Isaias Wolf Hellman

(1842-10-03)October 3, 1842 [1]
Reckendorf, Kingdom of Bavaria
DiedApril 9, 1920(1920-04-09) (aged 77)
San Francisco, California
Resting placeHome of Peace Cemetery and Emanu-El Mausoleum
NationalityAmerican
Spouse
Esther Newgass
​
​
(m. 1870)​
RelationsHerman W. Hellman (brother)
Isaias W. Hellman III (grandson)
Warren Hellman (great-grandson)
Frances Hellman (great-great-granddaughter)
ChildrenIsaias W. Hellman Jr.
Clara Hellman
Florence Hellman

Isaias Wolf Hellman (October 3, 1842 – April 9, 1920) was a

philanthropist, and a founding father of the University of Southern California.[1]

Early life

Hellman was born in

German Jewish parents Wolf Hellmann (1815–1884), a master weaver,[2] and Sara Fleischmann (1823–1888).[3][4] His siblings included brothers Herman and James W. Hellman.[4] Their four sisters were Bertha, Flora, Regina, and Ernestine (who married a wealthy cattle merchant named Schloss).[4]

He was educated in German public schools and at the College of Marktbreit in Bavaria.[5] This school was founded by Solomon Wohl in 1849.[4]

Career

1857 Sketch of the Hellman & Bro. store where Isaias W. worked for his cousins
S. Lazard & Co.
foreign and domestic dry goods store, wholesale and retail, at 53.

Hellman and his brother Herman left Hamburg on the steamer Hammonia, arriving in Los Angeles, California, on May 14, 1859, to join their cousins. Their brother James later emigrated to Los Angeles as well.[4] Isaias went to work as a clerk in his cousins' stationery and cigar store, and learned to speak Spanish.[6] The store operated as Hellman and Bro. and sold cigars and stationery, and was located at the corner of Main and Temple streets.[7] Isaias joined the business in 1855, brother Sam in 1857, and the partnership was dissolved January 26, 1862.[8]

In 1865, Hellman bought the dry goods store of Adolph Portugal at the corner of Main and Commercial that Portugal had opened in 1854.

Hellman Block at the northwest corner of Los Angeles Street and (a street that no longer exists) Commercial Street.[11]

Banking

Hellman became Los Angeles' first banker almost by accident. As a courtesy, he stored his customers' gold and valuables in a

pouch stored in the safe. When the man sobered up, he was angry to discover he had spent most of his funds, and lunged at Hellman. That interaction prompted Hellman to stop his informal banking operations. He obtained printed slips reading I.W. Hellman, Banker, and started buying people's funds and issuing deposit books.[citation needed
]

On September 1, 1868, Hellman and

Edward Doheny and Charles A. Canfield to drill for oil.[citation needed] In 1881, Hellman was appointed a Regents of the University of California to fill the unexpired term of D.O. Mills. He was reappointed twice and served until 1918.[citation needed
]

In 1890, Hellman moved to

Wells Fargo & Co.,[a] and merged it with the Nevada National Bank to form the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank with a working capital of $9,500,000.[14] After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the bank was operated in the residence of Hellman's son-in-law at 2020 Jackson Street while the headquarters was rebuilt.[15][16] At the height of his power, Hellman reportedly served as president or director of seventeen banks along the Pacific Coast and controlled $100 million in capital.[citation needed] Hellman served as president of the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank until his death in 1920 when he was succeeded by his son, who sadly died a month later, on May 10, 1920.[17]

After his death, the

Wells Fargo & Union Trust Company.[18] In 1954, Wells Fargo & Union Trust shortened its name to Wells Fargo Bank.[19]

Streetcars and utilities

In 1870, Hellman's cousin Isaiah M. Hellman was elected city treasurer while Isaias became a major investor in trolley lines, contributing funds in 1874 to start the Main Street and Agricultural Park Railway, which traveled from the Plaza, the heart of Los Angeles's downtown, to Agricultural Park, a horse-racing track. Hellman eventually invested in many of the city's rail lines and with

Pacific Electric Railway in 1901.[citation needed
]

He was a major investor in Los Angeles's water, gas and electricity companies, and helped bring

Southern Pacific Railroad
to Los Angeles in 1876, which ended the isolation of the region.

Real estate

Hellman was a major landowner in Southern California. His holdings included numerous city lots and vast swaths of former rancho land. In 1871, he and a syndicate bought the 13,000-acre (53 km2)

Boyle Heights with William H. Workman.[citation needed
]

In 1897, Hellman bought a large parcel of land next to Lake Tahoe where he built a mansion in 1903. He named it Pine Lodge after the sugar pines on the property. His family later sold this land to the state of California, which made the property into Sugar Pine Point State Park.[citation needed]

He purchased the 35,000-acre (140 km2) Nacimiento Ranch near Paso Robles and stocked it with cattle and horses.

University of Southern California

In 1879, Judge

Robert Maclay Widney established a board of trustees to create a new university. Hellman joined the businessman Ozro W. Childs and the former Governor of California John G. Downey in donating valuable land and an endowment to found the University of Southern California.[20]

Personal life

An 1887 lithograph of Hellman's Los Angeles home

On April 14, 1870, Hellman married Esther Newgass of New York. Her sister, Babetta Newgass, was the wife of Mayer Lehman, one of the three founding brothers of the investment bank Lehman Brothers. They had three children:[4][5]

  • Isaias W. Hellman Jr. (1871–1920), who married Frances Jacobi.[17]
  • Clara Hellman (1878–1959), who married Emanuel S. Heller in 1899.[21]
  • Florence Hellman (1882–1964), who married Sidney M. Ehrman who went on to form the law firm of Heller Powers & Ehrman.[22]

He was president of B'nai B'rith in 1872 when the congregation built the city's first temple on Fort Street.[citation needed]

Hellman died in San Francisco on April 9, 1920.[23][24]

Legacy

At his death in 1920, Hellman was considered the leading financier of the Pacific Coast.

Union Trust Company was merged with Wells Fargo after his death and the original Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles
later merged with Security First National Bank of Los Angeles.

Biographies of Hellman include Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California, by Frances Dinkelspiel, his great-great-granddaughter. The 2008 book was on the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list for five weeks and was reviewed favorably in the publication.[25]

References

Notes
  1. Dudley Evans, directors. Levi Strauss
    joined the board in 1906.
Sources
  1. ^ a b "IN MEMORY ISAIAS W. HELLMAN: Board of Directors of Farmers' and Merchants' National Bank Adopt Resolutions Lauding Attainments of Late Banker and Los Angeles Pioneer" (Apr 28, 1920) Los Angeles Times
  2. ^ a b "Wolf Hellmann", Jüdisches Unterfranken Biografische Datenbank (in German)
  3. ^ "Hellmann, Sara geb. Fleischmann" Jüdisches Unterfranken Biografische Datenbank] (in German)
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-31235-526-5
  5. ^ a b "DEATH CLAIMS I.W. HELLMAN.: Pioneer Southland Banker Succumbs in North; Began Career as Dry Goods Clerk in Los Angeles; Was State University Regent; Man of Many Interests" (Apr 10, 1920) Los Angeles Times
  6. ^ Abrams, Jeanne. "Isaias Wolf Hellman." In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 3, edited by Giles R. Hoyt. German Historical Institute. Last modified February 24, 2016.
  7. ^ "Hellman & Bro.", Calisphere, University of California
  8. ^ "Hellman & Bro.", Calisphere, University of California
  9. ^ Newmark, Marco R. (1942). "Pioneer Merchants of Los Angeles". Historical Society of Southern California: 87.
  10. ^ "ISAIAS W. HELLMAN" (Apr 13, 1920) Los Angeles Times
  11. ^ “Hellman Block”, Calisphere
  12. ^ "THE BANK MERGER; The Historical High Points". The New York Times. 13 August 1991. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  13. ^ "THE NEVADA NATIONAL BANK | REMARKABLE INCREASE IN ITS BUSINESS THIS YEAR | A Solid Financial Institution Which Ranks Among the Foremost in the World". The San Francisco Call. 18 December 1898. p. 31. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Nevada Bank Merger Ratified". The New York Times. 4 April 1905. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  15. ^ "HELLMAN WILL SPEND THIRTY MILLIONS WELLS FARGO NEVADA BANK'S PRESIDENT HAS LOTS OF FAITH IN SAN FRANCISCO". Santa Cruz Sentinel. 6 May 1906. p. 1. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  16. ^ "BANK'S RESOURCES SHOW INCREASE Wells Fargo Nevada Institution's Assets Are Fifty Millions of Dollars. RECORD IS BROKEN". The San Francisco Call. 23 December 1906. p. 68. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  17. ^
    Los Angeles Evening Express
    . 10 May 1920. p. 1. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  18. ^ "CALIFORNIA BANK EXPANSION Six Leading Banks in Los Angeles and San Francisco Increase Capital $9,000,000". The Wall Street Journal. 31 October 1923. p. 8. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  19. ^ Times, Special to The New York (6 August 1954). "WELLS FARGO BANK; Five-for-One Split Voted, as Is Shortened Name". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  20. ^ About USC: History. University of Southern California.
  21. ^ "Miss Clara Hellman and Emanuel S. Heller Plight Their Troth". The San Francisco Call. 27 April 1899. p. 12. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  22. ^ Dinkelspiel, Frances (October 2, 2008). "Heller Ehrman's demise closes chapter of San Francisco history". San Francisco Chronicle .
  23. ^ a b "Isaias Hellman Laid to Rest with Honors: Pioneer Pacific Coast Banker is Given Tribute at San Francisco" (Apr 13, 1920) Los Angeles Times
  24. ^ "IN MEMORY ISAIAS W. HELLMAN: Board of Directors of Farmers' and Merchants' National Bank Adopt Resolutions Lauding Attainments of Late Banker and Los Angeles Pioneer" (Apr 28, 1920) Los Angeles Times
  25. ^ Abby Pollak (Nov 30, 2008) "'Towers of Gold,' by Frances Dinkelspiel," San Francisco Chronicle

External links

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