Henry Siegel

Henry Siegel (March 17, 1852 – August 25, 1930) was an American businessman and co-founder of the Siegel-Cooper Company.

Henry Siegel
BornMarch 17, 1852
Eubigheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
DiedAugust 25, 1930 (78)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationBusinessman
Known forFounder of the Siegel-Cooper Company
Spouse(s)Julia Rosenbaum (died 1885)
Marie Vaughan Wilde (div. 1918)
Henrietta Struble (mar. 1918 div. 1927)
ChildrenJulia Florence Siegel Cavendish

Biography

Siegel was born on March 17, 1852 to a Jewish family in Eubigheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.[1] In 1867, he immigrated to the United States where he worked as a clerk by in Washington, D.C., Parkersburg, West Virginia, and Lawrenceburg, Pennsylvania.[1] In 1876, he co-founded Siegel, Hartsfield & Company in Chicago.[1] In 1887, he co-founded the Siegel-Cooper Company, also in Chicago, with Frank H. Cooper and Isaac Keim.[1] In 1896, Siegel-Cooper opened a store in New York City in the Ladies' Mile Historic District.[1] In 1902, Henry Siegel sold the company to one of his major stockholders, Captain Joseph B. Greenhut and his son Benedict J. Greenhut, who merged the store with B. Altman across the street in New York City creating a mega-store.[2] In the same year, Siegel bought the Simpson Crawford Company (with one store in New York across the street from Siegel-Cooper) and the Schlesinger and Mayer Company (with one store in Chicago and one store in New York) and moved to New York City.[1] In 1905, Siegel founded The Henry Siegel Company and opened a large store in Boston at 600 Washington Street;[3] he also created a holding company, the Siegel Stores Corporation, as the parent for his retail investments in New York, Chicago, and Boston. In 1913, Siegel-founded banks which had over 15,000 depositors and were operated in conjunction with his stores collapsed.[4] Siegel was convicted and served a short jail sentence for using false financial statements to obtain credit.[4] After he served his sentence, he re-opened a haberdashery with one employee.[4]

Personal life

Siegel married three times. His first wife Julia Rosenbaum died in 1885; they had one daughter,[4] Julia Florence Siegel Cavendish (1886–1963). In 1898, he married his second wife, Marie Vaughan Wilde;[5] they divorced in 1918.[4] Also in 1918, he married his third wife, Henrietta Struble, a 40 year old telephone operator from Geneseo, New York.[4] They divorced in 1927.[4] His daughter married, Tyrell William Cavendish (1875–1912), son of Charles Tyrell Cavendish and grandson of Richard Cavendish of the British noble Cavendish family; she survived the sinking of the H.M.S. Titanic while her husband perished.[6]

References
  1. Adler, Cyrus; Haneman, Frederick T. "SIEGEL, HENRY:". Jewish Encyclopedia.
  2. Ladies' Mile Historic Designation Report (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. 1st. 1989. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-02-16.:331
  3. "Siegel Bankruptcy Schedules Filed". The Boston Globe. Boston. 7 Feb 1914. p. 13.
  4. "N.Y. Haberdasher, Once Merchant Prince, Seeks Divorce from Young Wife". The Monroe News-Star. March 24, 1927.
  5. "Mrs Siegels Career Was A Dazzling One". Fort Wayne Daily News . March 31, 1914.
  6. "Tyrell William Cavendish". The Peerage. Retrieved September 11, 2019. Tyrell William Cavendish was born on 12 October 1875. He was the son of Charles Tyrell Cavendish and Elizabeth Anne Dickinson. He married Julia Florence Siegel, daughter of Henry Siegel, on 26 December 1906. He died on 15 April 1912 at age 36, drowned in the sinking of R.M.S. Titanic
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