In 1865 the number of Jews in New York was estimated at seventy-five
thousand; in the 1870s the total rose to over one hundred thousand. New
York’s Jews had numerous synagogues, philanthropic and social institu-
tions, and even a hospital. Controlled mainly by German Jews who had ar-
rived before the Civil War, those institutions failed, at least for Schiff per-
sonally, to fill a Jewish youth’s serious cultural needs. He recalled in 1900,
at the dedication of a new building for the YMHA for which he was a major
donor: “Thirty-five years ago, when I first sought my home in this metrop-
olis, a young man, a stranger in a great city, I drastically became aware of its
great temptations and at the same time I found how limited were the op-
portunities for those, possessed of greater aspirations than to satisfy alone
bodily wants and desires.” Except for bicycling and hiking, he developed
no interest in sports, and he had scant use for frivolity. The Y, he hoped,
would promote Jewish life among the youth and aid in keeping young Jews
loyal to their heritage.^14
Budge, Schiff & Company was dissolved in 1873. In the meantime, Schiff
had been naturalized in 1870 and had joined the New York Chamber of
Commerce two years later. His plans to settle in the United States were
interrupted, however, by his acceptance in 1873 of a tempting offer from
the Warburg banking firm in Hamburg. He held that post for a few
months, until his father’s death took him back to Frankfurt to be with his
mother. There he met Abraham Kuhn, who offered him a position in the
New York firm of Kuhn, Loeb. According to Schiff’s daughter, the offer
was made by the other partner, Solomon Loeb, in recognition of Schiff’s
knowledge of the foreign banking scene. Loeb intimated that the young
man might soon be placed in a European branch that the firm planned to
establish. With his mother’s blessing, Schiff returned to New York and
joined Kuhn, Loeb on January 1,1875. Shortly thereafter the idea of a
foreign branch was dropped. Jacob explained to his mother that “the op-
portunity is enormous here.... The coming expansion of the United
States, in railroading and all that, is so large that I myself don’t feel there
will be a foreign branch for some time to come.” As he concluded, “There
is more than enough to keep us busy here.”
That same year Schiff married Loeb’s daughter, Therese, and the young
couple moved into a house on East Fifty-third Street purchased for them by
her father. Although they were unlike in temperament—he aggressive and
forceful, she gentle and submissive—theirs was a loving and happy union,
one that over the years earned the sincere admiration of friends. After the
children were born—a daughter, Frieda, in 1876 and a son, Mortimer, in
1877—the Schiffs moved to a larger house on West Fifty-seventh Street.^15
The firm of Kuhn, Loeb grew from modest beginnings. Abraham Kuhn
The Making of a Leader 5