Schwabacher Bros. & Company opens Seattle branch in Autumn 1869.

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On October 11, 1869, the firm Schwabacher & Bros. first advertises merchandise purveyed in their Seattle store.

From Clothing to Crockery

Schwabacher's, which is to become a longstanding and important Seattle enterprise, offered for sale clothing, boots and shoes, hardware, groceries, cigars, liquors, crockery, and ship chandlery. The Seattle branch of Schwabacher & Bros. was managed by firm partner Bailey Gatzert (1829-1893), a key figure in Seattle commercial and social life.

Gatzert was married to Babette Schwabacher, sister of the Schwabacher brothers Abraham, Louis, and Sigmund, merchants based in the Walla Walla valley. The Gatzerts were important figures in Seattle business and social life, and Bailey Gatzert, elected mayor in 1875, was Seattle's first and to date (2004) only Jewish mayor.

Sources:
HistoryLink.org, The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, "Gatzert, Bailey (1829-1893)," (by Lee Micklin), http://www.historylink.org (accessed 1998).

By Lee Micklin, January 01, 1998

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Bailey Gatzert (1829-1893), 1875
Courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives