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Overview

In 1908, Solomon Kahn was the President of Kahn Brothers' Department Store in Oakland, CA, with his sibling, Frederick, acting as the vice-president. According to the Polk-Husted Company's Oakland, California, City Directory of 1908, the Kahn Brothers featured dry goods, millinery, shoes and crockery. (See Polk-Husted Company's Oakland, California, City Directory of 1908,p. 609.)

Building History

Soap maker Israel Kahn (1822-1883), born in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany, migrated to the US from Rotterdam aboard the Henry Shelton arriving in Baltimore, MD on 08/28/1848. (See Ancestry.com. Source Information Baltimore, Passenger and Immigration Lists, 1820-1872 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004, accessed 07/06/2017.) He was naturalized on 05/17/1859 in the Common Pleas Court of New York, NY, where he lived at 313 1/2 Grand Street. (See Ancestry.com. Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Soundex Index to Petitions for Naturalizations Filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts in New York City, 1792-1906 (M1674); Microfilm Serial: M1674; Microfilm Roll: 133, accessed 07/06/2017.) In 1870, he and his wife, Sarah, (born 1828 in Vogelsbergkreis, Hesse, Germany-d. 09/15/1888 in Oakland, CA) had had nine children, six boys and three girls, and continued to reside in New York, where Israel worked as a "fancygoods" merchant. (See Ancestry.com. Source Citation Year: 1870; Census Place: New York Ward 10 District 8, New York, New York; Roll: M593_985; Page: 322B; Image: 293844; Family History Library Film: 552484, accessed 07/06/2017.)

The Kahns relocated to CA, where Israel and his eldest son, Henry, (1854-1907) registered to vote in Oakland by 04/1879. (See Ancestry.com. Source Citation California State Library, California History Section; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4 - 2A; CSL Roll Number: 1; FHL Roll Number: 976447, accessed 07/06/2017.) That year, Israel, assisted by his large family, opened the family's first dry goods store at 10th Street and Broadway. Two of his eldest sons, Henry and Solomon (born 02/22/1859 in New York, NY-d. 07/14/1910 in Amsterdam, Holland), took leadership responsibilities in establishing the store. Henry, particularly, became a highly respected businessman, as noted in his San Francisco Call obituary of 04/25/1907. (See "Henry Kahn, Prominent Merchant, Passes Away," San Francisco Call, vol. 102, no. 86, 08/25/1907, p. 40.)

In 1907, the San Francisco Call reported: "Henry Kahn, former president of Kahn brothers' dry goods store, in the firm have been sold to Frederick Kahn for $80,987, and his shares in the Kahn realty company have been sold to the same person for $114,168, according to a report filed with the county clerk today by Lillian A. Kahn, his widow, and Solomon Kahn, executor of his estate. The transfers were made in accorance with provisions of the will." (See "Kahn Holdings Sold," San Francisco Call, vol. 103, no. 17, 12/17/1907, p. 4.) Frederick Kahn was listed as "Ferdinand" in both the 1870 and 1880 US Censuses, and had been born c. 1861 in New York, NY.

PCAD id: 21345