Morgenthau, Lazarus, 1815-1897

Lazarus Morgenthau; born 1815, died, Aug 31, 1897, Manhattan, NY; burried in Salem Field Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY; azarus Morgenthau, Lazarus married and she becamer Mrs. Babette Morgenthau.He was a successful cigar manufacturer who had cigar factories at Mannheim, Lorsch and Heppenheim, Germany employing as many as 1,000 people (Mannheim had a population of 21,000 during this period); Having suffered a severe financial setback during the American Civil War, due to an 1862 tobacco tariff on imports, which closed German tobacco exports to the US forever, the family emigrated to New York City, New York in 1866. There, despite a considerable "nest egg" of cash, he was unsuccessful in re-establishing himself in business, as his development and marketing of various inventions and his investments in other enterprises failed. Lazarus Morgenthau was able to stave off failure and stabilize his income by becoming a fundraiser for Jewish houses of worship.
- Jonathan Robert De Mallie, Historian

Lazarus Morgenthau was born in Kleinwallstadt, Bavaria in 1815. His father, Moses, was born in Gleusdorf ("Kleisdorf") in 1773. Lazarus became a tailor and married Babette Guggenheim (born 1826) of Hürben in 1920. Later he developed a successful business in cravattes which he sold at fairs. A younger brother, Mengo, went to San Francisco in 1850 and sent back funds for the establishment of a cigar manufacturing business for export to the United States. Lazarus moved to Ludwigshaven and eventually to Manheim where his son Heinrich (Henry) was born. The cigar business prospered until the US imposed a high tariff on cigars. Lazarus made various attemps to find other markets and other enterprises, but none proved successful. In 1866 the entire family migrated permanently to New York.