Mary Ann Magnin

Mary Ann Magnin
Born	Mary Ann Cohen 1850 Scheveningen, The Hague, the Netherlands
Died	December 15, 1943(1943-12-15) (aged 93)[1] San Francisco, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, Colma, California, US
Occupation	Businesswoman
Spouse	Isaac Magnin
Children	8
Relatives	Edgar Magnin (grandson) Cyril Magnin (grandson) Mae Brussell (great granddaughter)

Mary Ann Magnin (1850–1943) was a Dutch-American businesswoman. She was the co-founder of I. Magnin, an upscale "specialty store" in San Francisco, California.

Early life

Mary Ann Cohen was born in 1850 in Scheveningen, The Hague, the Netherlands.[1][2][3] Her father was a rabbi.[1] She immigrated to England with her parents, settling in London, where she grew up.[1][2]

Career

In the wake of the California Gold Rush, she decided to immigrate to the West coast of the United States with her husband and children.[4] They arrived in San Francisco in 1875, traveling via Cape Horn.[1][3] She established a clothing store in Oakland, where she sold baby clothes, lingerie, and bridal trousseaux.[2][5][6] Two years later, in 1877, she moved the business to a larger store in San Francisco, and it became known as I. Magnin.[1][6][7]

Even though she retired in 1900, she kept visiting her store daily until her death.[3][5]

Personal life

She married Isaac Magnin on October 8, 1865, at the Great Synagogue of London.[1][3] She was only fifteen years old.[2][3] They had eight children: Samuel, Henrietta, Joseph, Emanuel John, Victor, Lucille, Flora, and Grover.[1] They resided at the Saint Francis Hotel on Union Square.[5] San Francisco artist May Slessinger painted miniature portraits of Mary Ann Magnin and her son Grover.[8]

Death

She died on December 15, 1943, in San Francisco, California.[1] She was ninety-three years old.[1] She is buried at Hills of Eternity Memorial Park in Colma, California.

References

1. Kahn, Ava F.. "Mary Ann Cohen Magnin." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 1 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewed on December 7, 2014) <http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/magnin-mary-ann-cohen>.
2. Harriet Rochlin, Fred Rochlin, Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000 , pp. 176-177 [1]
3. Jeanne E. Abrams, Jewish Women Pioneering the Frontier Trail: A History in the American West, New York City: New York University Press, 2006, pp. 123-124 [2]
4. Anne Evers, Emporium Department Store, Arcadia Publishing, 2014, p. 8 [3]
5. Robert P. Swierenga, The Forerunners: Dutch Jewry in the North American Diaspora, Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press, 1994, pp. 309-312 [4]
6. James David Hart, A Companion to California: Newly Revised and Expanded with Illustrations, Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1987, p. 299 [5]
7. Virginia G. Drachman, Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business, Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press Books, 2002, p. 77 [6]
8. "Miniatures by Miss Slessinger Are Attracting Much Attention". The San Francisco Chronicle. December 8, 1912. p. 27. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.