Leopold Marks

Leopold Marks
Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from the Quitman County district
In office January 1884 – January 1888
Personal details
Born	(1851-02-07)February 7, 1851 Labau, Prussia
Died	1910(1910-00-00) (aged 58–59)
Political party	Democratic
Children	7

Leopold Marks (February 7, 1851 – 1910) was a Prussian-born Jewish-American Democratic politician, farmer, and merchant. Marks was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives in the 1884 and 1886 sessions. The city of Marks, Mississippi, is named after him.[1][2]

Early life

Leopold Marks was born on February 7, 1851, in the city of Labau, West Prussia, Prussia.[3][4] He was the son of I. Marks, who was a merchant and planter.[3] Marks was Jewish.[1][2][4] Leopold attended the grammar and high schools in his home country.[3] At the age of 17, Marks fled Prussia to escape compulsory army service and landed in New York City in the United States.[3] When he arrived in the US, Marks owned only 18 cents and did not know the English language.[3] In New York, Marks worked until he had a pack of jewelry, which he peddled all the way to Friar Point, Mississippi.[3] Then, Marks bought forest and riverbank land in the present location of Marks, Mississippi.[3] He then opened a store there, which became very large.[3]

Political career

Marks helped create Quitman County, Mississippi, in 1877.[3] He served as its first representative to the Mississippi House of Representatives, from 1884 to 1888.[3][5][6][7][8]

Later life

Marks died in 1910.[4]

Personal life

Marks married his first wife, Pauline, in 1875.[3] They had 5 sons, whose names were Sam M., Henry H., Marcus L., Maurice I., and Robert F.[3] Pauline died in 1900 and Marks was re-married to Sadie Whitehead.[3] They had two children, named Edwin and Lucille.[3]

Notes

References

1. Shalom Y'all: Images of Jewish Life in the American South. Algonquin Books. 2002-01-01. ISBN 978-1-56512-355-7.
2. The Jewish Veteran. Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America. 1938.
3. Mooney, Charles Patrick Joseph (1920). The Mid-South and Its Builders: Being the Story of the Development and a Forecast of the Future of the Richest Agricultural Region in the World. Mid-South Biographic and Historical Association. p. 644.
4. Leo., Turitz (1995). Jews in early Mississippi. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 77, 78. ISBN 0-87805-178-3. OCLC 503323258.
5. "1884 House · Mississippi State University Libraries". msstate-exhibits.libraryhost.com. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
6. "1886 House · Mississippi State University Libraries". msstate-exhibits.libraryhost.com. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
7. Cooper, Forrest Lamar (2011). Looking Back Mississippi: Towns and Places. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-61703-148-9.
8. Quitman County did not have a representative in the Mississippi House according to the official lists from 1877 to 1884. The representatives listed here were the Tunica County ones.