Joseph S. Manasse

Who was Joseph S. Manasse?

Joseph S. Manasse was an early settler of San Diego, California.

Manasse was born in 1831 in Filehne, Prussia and came to San Diego in 1853 with his brother Heyman and cousin Moses. He opened a store in Old Town San Diego with little money, but soon prospered. In 1856, he formed a long-time partnership with Marcus Schiller, who was called a "Jewish Horatio Alger" by a biographer. They ran a large general store, J. S. Manasse and Company. They bought a lumberyard at the foot of E Street in 1868, and were the first to bring lumber ships into San Diego Bay. Soon afterward, they bought Rancho Los Encinitos, in present Encinitas, and raised cattle there. They also owned a 160-acre farm. They built up a large business, but suffered severely in the drought, hard times, the early 1870s, and the great fire at Old Town in April 1872. They laid out and sold Manasse & Schiller's Addition, one of the earliest additions to Alonzo Horton's New San Diego. In later years, Manasse was a broker and collector.

Manasse, Schiller, and Louis Rose were among the first Jewish settlers in San Diego. Manasse would provide his Torah for early services.