LEOPOLD MICHELS

 

Leopold Michels. When the war between the two sections of the country was waging, many were attracted here, knowing that there was an opening in either army for those willing to become soldiers. The people of the older countries of the world have always been more accustomed to warfare than those of the United States, military service being compulsory with them, and, therefore, entering the army was but one of the phases of life. One of these of foreign birth who came here and rose to official rank was the late Leopold Michels, born near Bingen-on-the-Rhine, Germany. In 1863 he arrived in the United States, and, going at once to Memphis, Tennessee, enlisted in the Confederate Army and rose to the rank of lieutenant on the staff of Gen. Nathan R. Forrest, and participated in the famous raids of that commander. In August, 1864, with 1,700 of his associates, he was captured by the Federals, and was confined in the basement of the Irving Block, Memphis, which had been converted into a prison. Following his recovery from an attack of fever brought on by the rigors and hardships of way, Gen. O. O. Howard, commandant at Memphis, allowed Mr. Michels to join his brother and sisters at New York City.

The venturesome spirit which brought him to the New World animated him following the close of the war, when he set out for San Francisco on foot by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and in spite of the hardships and dangers he finally reached his destination. His first employment after reaching San Francisco was that of a clerk in a store owned by his brother and a Mr. Friedlander, and when the firm of Michels & Friedlander dissolved he secured a position with Greenbaum, Sachs & Freeman, which later became Greenbaum, Wiel & Michels, and in the course of time Mr. Michels became the president of this concern. Mr. Michels was a man of broad vision, and was the first to invest in land in Palatine, buying 100 acres, following the occupation of the Holy Land by the British forces. He was a director of the San Francisco Board of Trade, and also for a time its treasurer; a member of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. His investments in local enterprises were heavy, and he was president of the Metropolitan Light & Power Company; president of the Western States Life Insurance Company; president of the Winnemucca Light & Power Company of Nevada; was one of the owners of the Saint Francis Hotel, and in December, 1919, became associated with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company of New York, London and Paris. His charities embraced all races and creeds, and he was a philanthropist upon a very large scale. Mr. Michels traveled extensively in Europe, and so remarkable was his resemblance to the late King Edward VII of England that prior to the demise of that monarch in 1910 Mr. Michels was frequently embarrassed by being taken for his illustrious prototype in the different European capitals.

In the early ‘70s Mr. Michels married Caroline Levy, who survives him. The death of this most excellent man and prominent citizen occurred November 19, 1920, and in his passing San Francisco lost a valuable, asset, and his family and associates a kind and loving friend who always put the interests of others before his own.

Transcribed by Elaine Sturdevant