Sigmund Heilner

Son of Aron Heilner and his second wife, Nanni, Sigmund Heilner was born in Urspringen, Bavaria, in 1834. After studying textile trading, he immigrated to the United States in 1853 and eventually moved to California to join his older half-brother, who had immigrated almost a decade earlier. The two brothers operated a variety of mercantile enterprises together in northern California and southern Oregon. In 1860, Seligmann returned to Germany, where he would remain for two years, and Sigmund largely operated in business for himself for the rest of his career.