Maurice Kremer (1824–1907) was an American businessman and civil servant.

Biography

Kremer, who was Jewish, was born in Lorraine, France on January 18, 1824. He immigrated to the

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first to

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, then followed the

California gold rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

west across the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific coast. He worked briefly with his cousins, Elie and Simon Lazard of

Lazard Freres Lazard Inc. (formerly known as Lazard Ltd and Lazard Frères & Co.) is a financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services, primarily with institutional clients. It is ...

, in Sacramento and San Francisco before moving to

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in 1852. In the same year, he opened a dry goods store, Lazard & Kremer Company, with his cousin and brother-in-law Solomon Lazard (Lazard and Kremer both married daughters of

Joseph Newmark Joseph Newmark (1799–1881) was a Prussian-American businessman in New York City and Los Angeles and a member of the Newmark family of Southern California. He helped found Jewish congregations in both cities and later became an ordained rabbi. ...

). In 1856, they formed ''Newmark, Kremer & Co.'' with his father-in-law, Joseph Newmark, and Newmark's nephews, Joseph P. Newmark and

Harris Newmark Harris Newmark (July 5, 1834 – 1916) was a Jewish American businessman, philanthropist, and historian. Newmark immigrated to the United States in 1853. He sailed from Europe to New York City, and then to San Francisco. He joined his older brothe ...

. Kremer along with fellow Jewish immigrants Harris Newmark, Solomon Lazard, Jacob Baruch, and Herman Haas who, like Kremer, founded large wholesale enterprises in Bell's Row, at that time considered the best business location in the city, and Isaias W. Hellman (who founded Los Angeles' first bank), used their proceeds to purchase and develop housing. Together they all served on the Los Angeles City Council since its inception in 1850, and used their wealth to fund the streetcar system, the power distribution network, and the water distribution network. They also founded the city's first synagogue, its first

fraternal organization A fraternity (; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in the Western conce ...

, and in 1854, the Hebrew Benevolent Society. He served in various positions with the city of Los Angeles: Treasurer of Los Angeles (1860–1865); Los Angeles School Board (1866–1874); City Clerk of Los Angeles (1875–1876); Tax Collector of Los Angeles (1876–1879); and Chief Tax Collector of Los Angeles (1880). Kremer later opened a fruit shipping company ''M. Kremer & Co.'' and a fire insurance company which he operated until his death on March 7, 1907.

Personal life

In 1856, he married Matilda Newmark, the daughter of

. His wife served as a founder of the Ladies Benevolent Society of Los Angeles. They had 12 children of which only 6 survived infancy: daughters Rachel Kremer Lazarus (1858–1935), Emily Kremer Germain (1864–1951), Eda Kremer Hellman (1870–1912), and Agnes Kremer Hellman (1870–1964)(Agnes married her predeceased sister Eda's husband, James W. Hellman, 1861–1940, the brother of Isaias W. Hellman and Herman W. Hellman); and sons Fred Kremer and Abraham Kremer. The Kremers were founding members of Congregation B'nai B'rith (now

Wilshire Boulevard Temple The Wilshire Boulevard Temple, known from 1862 to 1933 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue at 3663 Wilshire Boulevard, in the Wilshire Center neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded ...

). In 1859, he founded

Turnverein Turners (, ) are members of German-American gymnastic clubs called Turnvereine. They promoted German culture, physical culture, and liberal politics. Turners, especially Francis Lieber (1798–1872), were the leading sponsors of gymnastics as ...

and in 1860, he was co-founder of the French Benevolent Society. In 1880, he was named a Trustee of the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Los Angeles. Kremer spoke

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, and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kremer, Maurice 1824 births 1907 deaths American Jews American people of French-Jewish descent Newmark family 19th-century American philanthropists 19th-century American businesspeople Lazard family American businesspeople in retailing Hebrew Benevolent Society