Los Angeles County, CA, Biographies

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EMILE DEUTSCH, 
 
one of the prominent residents and business men of the Sierra Madre, dates his 
birth in Belgium, September 20, 1846. His parents, John and Agnes (Eichorn) 
Deutsch, were natives of Luxemburg. Mr. Deutsch was deprived of the advantages 
of a good education, and at the age of eleven years was put to work in a cigar 
factory, in his native place. Of an energetic disposition, he was not content to 
live the life of an ill-paid artisan of the old world. Therefore, in 1862, at 
the age of sixteen years, he emigrated to the United States, and after spending 
about six months at his trade in New York, he proceeded to Toronto, Canada. The 
next year he returned to the United States and followed his calling in Buffalo, 
New York, for two years, and then located at Chicago, Illinois. After working 
for about two years as a journeyman cigar-maker, he established himself in 
business in that city as a cigar manufacturer. The great fire of 1871 swept away 
the results of his year's labor and left him heavily in debt, but with 
commendable energy and indomitable will be rebuilt his factory and 
re-established his business, conducting it with success until ill health 
compelled his retiring from active business pursuits. Seeking a more congenial 
climate, in October, 1883, Mr. Deutsch came to California and located in Los 
Angeles, where he engaged in real-estate operations and later in cigar 
manufacturing. In the spring of 1885 he took up his residence at Sierra Madre, 
on a four-acre tract west of Baldwin avenue, in block 14. This land was 
purchased and its improvements commenced in 1884. In the fall of 1885 he 
established the Sierra Madre Cigar Factory on the corner of Baldwin and Central 
avenues. He soon secured a good trade for his products, as he manufactured none 
but first class articles. Mr. Deutsch now owns two acres of his original 
purchase, which he has fully improved, planting oranges, lemons and a variety of 
deciduous fruits, also erecting a comfortable two-story residence, suitable 
out-buildings, etc. He has also three and one-half acres in the Sierre Madre 
tract, about a fourth of a mile east of his residence, which is producing wine 
grapes. He is the owner of the Sierra Madre Park, a tract of land 640 acres in 
extent, located about two miles and a half north of Sierra Madre, on the Wilson 
Peak trail. He is devoting time and money to improving and beautifying this 
place, and the Sierra Madre Park is destined in the future to rank as one of the 
favorite resorts in this section. Mr. Deutsch is a progressive citizen and a 
strong believer in the future destiny of Sierra Madre, a faith that he is 
verifying by the expenditure of money in improvements, etc. He is a strong 
supporter of schools and of every enterprise that will add to the welfare of the 
community. He is a school trustee of the Sierra Madre District, and the 
president and director of the Sierra Madre Hall Company. Politically, he is a 
Republican. He is a member of Temple Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Chicago. In 
religious belief he is a consistent Catholic. In 1874 Mr. Deutsch was united in 
marriage with Miss Louisa Smith, a native of Connecticut, and the daughter of 
Edwin and Mary E. (Russell) Smith, both of whom are natives of that State. The 
names of the five children from this marriage are as follows: Emma A., William 
E., Margaret, Rosie and Lilian.
 
An Illustrated History of Los Angeles County, California �  Chicago, The Lewis 
Publishing Company, 1889   Page 444
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler