J & M SCHWABACHER, Ltd., Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller
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There is probably no commission firm south of the Ohio river better known
than the general produce and commission house of J. & M. Schwabacher,
limited, of New Orleans. The business was established in 1868 by Julius
Schwabacher and Abraham Hirsch, and from the outset they secured a success
proportionate to their ability, enterprise and thorough knowledge of the
trade in all its details and requirements. They soon extended their
business far beyond the limits of Louisiana, and opened a branch house in
Chicago, Ill., which has been under the management of Julius Schwabacher,
and the large resources, splendid facilities and wide connections of the
house have gained for it the recognition and favor of the trade, and have
emphasized the prosperity that attended it at the beginning of its career.
Morris Schwabacher was in charge of the house at New Orleans until recently
when it was given over to the charge of a younger brother, Max Schwabacher.
At the time Morris Schwabacher left New Orleans the firm had been changed
into a joint stock company, limited, of which Julius is the president;
Morris, vice-president, and Max, treasurer, and Leonce Desforge, secretary.
Julius Schwabacher has been a resident of Chicago since 1878, where his
time is fully devoted to his business interests. Morris Schwabacher was
born in Wurtemberg, Germany, November 5, 1849, though from his long
residence in this country he can almost claim America as his native
country. He was just sixteen years of age when he came to New Orleans
where, in a prominent commercial college, he completed his education and
laid the foundation for a business career phenomenal in its success. His
initial venture was in general merchandise near Napoleonville, La., where
he obtained his first practical insight in the general business. Finding
the surroundings too limited for the proper exercise of his energy, he
sought broader fields in New Orleans and in 1872 secured an interest in an
old established house and subsequently with Schwabacher & Hirsch, one of
the largest commission houses of this section of the country. In 1875 Mr.
Schwabacher became a member of the Chicago board of trade. On the death of
Mr. Hirsch the business was perpetuated under the name and style of J. and
M. Schwabacher and as such is known as the largest house of its class in
the South, through its connection with Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis and
other great centers of the Northwest. They make a specialty of provisions,
breadstuffs, grain and dairy products, and they occupy a commanding
position in the Southern market, which, together with their manner of doing
business, has built up a trade enormous in territory and proportion. Such
results, it is evident, could only be obtained by application to business,
coupled with that rare degree of judgment, push and enterprise which never
pauses in its upward way until it finds a resting place in that infinity of
space "at the top." Mr. Schwabacher originated the board of trade in this
city and several times was vice-president of that important commercial
body, of which he is still a valued member. He was a director and member
of the finance committee of the Germania National bank; president of the
Credit association, limited; was president of the Chalmette Homestead
association; president of the Barataria Canning association; vice-president
of the North American Provision Co.; director and on the finance committee
of the Independent Cotton Seed Oil company of this city; director and
vice-president of the Kaufman Fibre Manufacturing company, which bids fair
to revolutionize the trade in textile fabrics; director in the Rosetta
Gravel company; and one of the directors of the Charity hospital, together
with various other enterprises requiring both capital and brains in their
conduct. Socially Mr. Schwabacher is a brilliant addition to society, and
among his intimate friends is famous for his repartee and wit. For two
years he was president of the Harmony club, and it was through his
indefatigable exertions that they moved to their present magnificent
quarters. Such men as Mr. Schwahacher go to make up the progressive and
representative citizens of the South. Max Schwabacher, the present head of
the firm in New Orleans, was born in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, in
1857, and in 1870 came to America and' finished his education in New
Orleans. He then entered mercantile life and manifests all the commercial
instincts for which his elder brothers are famous. He has for some years
been a director in the Germania National bank and is a member of several
social organizations and is connected with the New Orleans board of trade.
Prompt and profitable sales and speedy returns constitute the salient
features which have ever characterized the business policy of this house,
and which have contributed mainly to the prestige it maintains in the world
of commerce of to day. Max Schwabacher, in 1889, led to the altar Miss
Helen Levy, daughter of Isaac Levy, one of the most prosperous rice mill
men of the city.
Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 366-367.
Published by the Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892.