16 Facts About Joseph Newmark

Joseph Newmark was a Prussian-American businessman in New York City and Los Angeles and a member of the Newmark family of Southern California.

Joseph Newmark helped found Jewish congregations in both cities and later became an ordained rabbi.

Joseph Newmark moved to the West Coast, briefly living and working in San Francisco.

Joseph Newmark founded Congregation B'nai B'rith in 1862, which was originally an Orthodox synagogue.

Joseph Newmark was born into a Jewish family in 1799 in Neumark, West Prussia.

Joseph Newmark received a classical Jewish education, including rabbinical training and certification as a schochet, a ritual slaughterer for kosher meat.

Joseph Newmark married for the first time at age 19, and had two children with his first wife.

Joseph Newmark settled with his children in New York City in 1823.

Joseph Newmark married again there in 1835, to Rose Levy.

Joseph Newmark served as the president of a synagogue until 1845.

Joseph Newmark moved to San Francisco in 1852, where he briefly partnered with Joseph Brandenstein and established a dry goods store.

Joseph Newmark moved to Los Angeles in September 1854, joining his nephews Joseph P Newmark and Harris Newmark in business for a time.

Joseph Newmark established Congregation B'nai B'rith in 1862, the oldest synagogue in Los Angeles.

Joseph Newmark is credited with having performed the first Jewish wedding in California, and officiated as rabbi for his daughters' weddings.

Later in life, Joseph Newmark became an ordained rabbi in his own right.

In 1835 the widower Joseph Newmark married Rosa Levy in New York City.