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- [S903] Maurice Wertheim obituary, The New York Times, New York, NY, 28 May 1950, p. 44.
- [S908] Jacob Wertheim obituary, New York Times, New York, NY, 15 Nov 1920, p. 14.
- [S386] Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007., Jacob Wertheim & Family, 21 July 1890.
- [S908] Jacob Wertheim obituary, New York Times, New York, NY, 15 Nov 1920, p. 14.
J. Wertheim Dies in his 62d Year'
Founder of General Cigar Company and a Large Contributor to Jewish Charities.
Ill For Several Months'
Took an Active Part in War Savings Campaign After His Retirement in 1913'
Jacob Wertheim, for many years one of New York City's foremost Jews, died at 9:30 o'clock yesterday morning at his home, 182 West Fifty-eighth Street, in his sixty-second year. Mr. Wertheim had been ill for several months. He would have been 62 years old tomorrow. He retired from business in 1913, but continued to take an active part in many charities, notably, the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies and the Joint Distribution Committee.
Mr. Wertheim from a humble beginning became the head of the largest independent cigar manufacturing concern in this country. He also had an active share in the development of the automotive industry, and at one time was a Director of the General Motors Corporation.
He was born in Hartford, Conn., the son of Baruch and Henrietta Wertheim, both of whom emigrated from Germany in 1856. His father soon after his birth became a hide merchant in New York City. Jacob attended the public schools of this city and when 14 years old started out to make his own way in life. He cast about for several years to find the occupation which suited him best, leaving one job after another as unsuitable. Friends yesterday related that at the end of a trip across the continent Mr. Wertheim found himself in San Francisco with but $25 in his pocket.
After working there for a short time he returned and opened a tiny cigar store at Third Avenue and Fifty-fourth Street with his brother, Solomon, who later succeeded his father as a dealer in hides. Jacob made the cigars which were sold in the little shop. Then additional worker were employed, and in due time he formed a partnership with the late Walter A. Schiffer. Soon he effected a series of consolidations, the first of which was the bringing in of the firm of Kerbs & Spies on Jan. 1, 1889, forming the firm of Kerbs, Wertheim & Schiffer.
Founded Big Cigar Firm
Mr. Wertheim was the salesman and head of the firm, disposing of the output. Mr. Kerbs was the factory manager and tobacco buyer, Shiffer the bookkeeper and accountant. The business grew rapidly, and in 1902 Kerbs, Wertheim & Schiffer, Straitten & Storm, Lichtenstein Bros., and Hirschhorn, Mack & Co. consolidated under the name of the United Cigar Manufacturers. In 1906 the company was reorganized under the name of the United Cigar Manufacturers Company with a capital of $20,000,000. This concern today as the General Cigar Company, the largest independent manufacturing concern.
Many efforts were made by the American Tobacco Company to absorb the powerful and independent company of which Mr. Wertheim was President. He, however, counseled his directors and stockholders against such a move, and a consolidation with the so-called tobacco trust was never carried out, although relations between the two companies were at all times friendly.
Mr. Wertheim retired as President of the United Cigar Manufacturers' Company in 1913, and three years later was elected the first President of the Tobacco Merchants' Association, a national trade organization. After a year, Mr. Wertheim resigned announcing that he wished to devote his entire time to charitable work and the development of profit-sharing plans between employers and employes with the idea of establishing a general profit-sharing system. He contributed articles on this subject to newspapers in this city.
He criticised Henry Ford's profit-sharing method, announcing that he had evolved a plan which had the good points of the Ford plan with none of the features which provoked criticism. In brief, Mr. Wertheim would not only pay good wages to employes, including those who do manual labor and the salaried men of every grade from the President down to office boy. But he insisted upon a fair return upon the capital employed, which, he estimated, in an industrial business, to be about 7 per cent. The rest of the profits he would cause to be divided into two parts, proportionate to the value of the labor in the business as compared with the capital invested. In some lines, he believed, labor counted more in making profits than in others. The labor dividend, he suggested, should be divided among workmen and all the salaried officials and other persons employed by the company in proportion to the yearly wage or salary of each.
Active in Jewish Charities
Mr. Wertheim was one of the founders of the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies, of which Felix M. Warburg is president, founded several years ago to combine under one head all Jewish charitable enterprises in this city. Mr. Wertheim was not only a large contributor to Jewish charities through this organization but he was influential in obtaining other contributors and took an active part, as long as his health permitted, in the councils of the federation. He also was a large contributor to the Joint Distribution Committee for the relief of suffering Jews in war-stricken Europe.
During the was Mr. Wertheim introduced a plan to stimulate a competitive spirit among school children in the sale of War Savings Stamps. He donated $5,000 to stimulate the interest of the public school children in the sale of stamps through prizes awarded to the elementary and high schools. Through this plan the children of New York raised several millions dollars for America's war chest.
When the Liberty bond campaigns, the Red Cross and other was drives were begun Mr. Wertheim suggested several plans which yielded huge sums. He was probably the first to put in operation the auction plan of raising funds, through which each person who bid upon an article paid the amount his bid exceeded the previous bid. This method found especial favor with the directors of war drives in the theatres.
Mr. Wertheim was a Director of the Executive Committee of the Underwood Typewriter Company and a Director of several large real estate concerns. For some time after his retirement in 1913 he remained as a Director of the General Cigar Company. He was a Director and Trustee of the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies; Director of the United Hebrew Charities. He had been a Director of the Hebrew Technical School for Girls, being succeeded in this office by his wife. He also was a Director of the Joint Distribution Committee.
His clubs were Harmonie, Criterion, Hollywood Golf Club, The North Shore Country Club, the Asbury Park Fishing Club and the Morse's Point Gunning Club of Norfolk, Va. He was elected president of the Tuna Club of New Jersey after he had caught the largest tuna ever captured with rod and line on the Atlantic seaboard. The fish weighed 286 pounds and was caught at Seabright, N.J.
Mr. Wertheim is survived by his wife, two sons, Maurice a Wertheim, member of the firm of Hallgarten & Co., bankers; Albert Wertheim, with the Tradesmen's National Bank of Philadelphia, and three daughters, Mrs. Abraham Bijur, Miss Diana Hunt Stern Wertheim and Viola Stern Wertheim.
The funeral services will be held at Temple Emanu-El, Fifth Avenue and Forty-third Street, tomorrow morning at 9:30 o'clock. The Rev. Dr. Judah L Magnes, long time close friend of Mr Wertheim will officiate, with Dr. Joseph Silverman, Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El.
- [S24] article, New York Times, New York, NY, 24 Dec 1921.
Jacob Wertheim Estate
Tobacco Manufacturer Leaves $6,038,284 Net to 38 Beneficiaries.
- [S24] article, New York Times, New York, NY, 24 May 1938.
Wertheim Estate Put at $9,324,243
Accounting Covers Trusts Set Up by Investment House Head
- [S32] Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA Original data: United States of America, B, Series: T624; Roll: 1045; Page: 323B; Enumeration District: 1286; Part: 1; Line: 48.
- [S926] Personal Papers and Manuscripts: Viola Werrtheim Bernard. Finding Aids, Columbia HSLArchives and Special Collections. Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library, 701 W. 168th St., NY, New York 1003 <http://library.cpmc.columbia.edu/hsl/archives/findinga.
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1858 - 1920 (61 years)
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