Meyer Brandenstein
Value Codes I – H – E – L – P
Meyer Brandenstein was born in Hümme, Hesse, Germany, in 1833 to Daniel Brandenstein (c.1799-1863) and Rose Beinchen (c.1805-1853).
Meyer arrived in New York City in 1854 aboard the ship F.J. Wichelhausen. His original destination is believed to have been Cincinnati, Ohio.
Meyer Brandenstein
San Francisco
By 1856, Brandenstein was in San Francisco, and he showed up on San Francisco city directories in the years after.
Brandenstein is noted as living (or working) northeast of Marysville, Yuba County, California, at the time of the 1860 census.
After 1863, he was living regularly in San Francisco.
Brandenstein initially lived in the area south of the Market Street neighborhood (known as SOMA today). He was close to “Butchertown,” where his butcher and slaughtering business operated.
From the mid-1860’s on, Brandenstein lived on Ellis Street, O’Farrell Street, and eventually at 1305 Van Ness.
He became a U.S. citizen in 1872.
Business
Meyer Brandenstein worked as a butcher/wholesaler. One of his early businesses was M. Brandenstein & Co., a partnership with Lazard Godchaux that dated to at least 1867.
In 1871, they purchased Rancho San Bernardo in Monterey County and a ranch in Humboldt County, Nevada.
Brandenstein owned both ranches when the partnership ended in 1898.
He also helped to plat San Ardo, California.
Brandenstein cattle brands
Community
Brandenstein was a member of a butcher’s organization that put on a July 4th parade in south San Francisco.
He also supported a Jewish orphanage.
Family
Meyer Bransenstein married Fanny Schweitzer (b. 1843), a native of Altdorf, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, in California in 1867.
They had two children: Linda Brandenstein Rosenberg (1868-1957) and Flora Brandenstein (1879-1972).
Meyer Brandenstein died in 1906.
Shortly thereafter, his widow and family lost their Van Ness Avenue home in the April 1906 earthquake and fire that ravaged the city.
Fanny Brandenstein died in 1933.
Both Meyer Brandenstein and Fanny were originally buried at the Home of Peace Cemetery and Emanu-El Mausoleum in Colma, California. Their remains were later disinterred.
Katie Herzog is curator of this Meyer Brandenstein exhibit.
