Photo of Emigrants from Phalsbourg

Les Phalsbourgeois de la Californie was a social group in San Francisco composed of French Jewish emigrants from the Alsatian town of Phalsbourg.  On August 3, 1880, the group hosted a farewell dinner for its most prominent member, Alexander Weill, who was returning to France to head the banking company of Lazard Freres, a company still in business today.

Attending the event were enterprising merchants with businesses in San Francisco and in coastal communities throughout California.

Back row from left:  Henry Kahn (jeweler), Louis Salomon (salesman), Jules Kahn (dry goods importer), Isaac Loeb (dry goods, San Jose), Leon Weill (salesman), Benoit S. Hirsch (millinery store), M. Kahn (importer of watches), Nathan Cahn (merchant), Leon Kauffman (grain broker), H. Cahen (dried fruit).

Middle row from left:  Henri Weill (The White House store), Achille Kahn (meat market), Aaron Cerf (crockery and china), Raphael Weill (The White House store), Moise Cerf (commission merchant), Alexander Weill (Lazard Freres), H. Hoffman (baker), Emanuel Meyer (butcher), E. Messager (salesman), M. Mortiz (commission merchant), I. Lippman (capitalist).

Front row from left:  Theodore Weill (salesman), Raphael Levy (junk dealer), David Weill (son of Alexander Weill), Paul Kahn, M. Lipman (cigar store).  

Aaron Cerf and Moise Cerf were cousins, and Moise's brother, Ernest Cerf, lived in San Luis Obispo.  Many of the merchants were connected not only by their birthplace but also by kinship and marriage.

Visitors of Phalsbourg today can obtain a guidebook to the sites and history of the town.  The above photo is included in the guidebook with further information about David Weill, the boy in the photo, who founded the Museum of Phalsbourg in 1938 and was a generous patron for the town.  The local stadium bears his name.

References:  

French Jews in the Early West: An Aristocratic Cousinhood; Stern, Norton B. & Kramer, William M.; Western States Jewish Historical Quarterly, Volume 13, Issue 4, p. 349.

Phalsbourg, Circuit de Decouverte.