Friedlander, Isaac

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FRIEDLANDER, ISAAC

FRIEDLANDER, ISAAC (1823–1878), U.S. businessman. Friedlander, born in Oldenburg, Germany, was taken to the U.S. as a child. After working in New York City and then in Savannah, Georgia, he went to San Francisco in 1849 to mine gold. Turning to business, Friedlander soon came to dominate the California flour market and in 1854 erected the Eureka Flour Mills, the largest in the state. He earned the title "Grain King" while speculating in the wheat market and by 1872 controlled nearly all California grain exported to foreign ports. A struggle by the California farmers' organization to circumvent him and export grain independently was unsuccessful. Friedlander also financed grain elevators and an irrigation project. He was one of the first regents of the University of California and was president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

bibliography:

Paul, in: Pacific Historical Review, 27 (1958), 331–49; Anon, in: California Mail Bag, 9 (June 1876), 17–19; Reissner, in: ylbi, 10 (1965), 78.

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Friedlander, Isaac

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