In 1847, aged 18, Strauss travelled with his mother and two sisters to the
United States to join his brothers Jonas and Louis, who had begun a wholesale
dry goods business in
New York City called J. Strauss Brother & Co., at 108 Liberty Street in Manhattan.[7][8][9] After arriving in New York, Strauss worked as an itinerant peddler of goods from his brother's store: kettles, blankets and sewing goods.[8][9]
The family decided to open a West Coast branch of their dry goods business in
San Francisco, which was the commercial hub of the
California Gold Rush.[12] Levi was chosen to represent them, and he took steamships for San Francisco via Panama,[13] where he arrived in early March 1854 and joined his sister's family.[14]
Strauss opened his wholesale business as
Levi Strauss & Co. and imported fine dry goods from his brothers in New York, including clothing, bedding, combs, purses, and handkerchiefs.[15] He made tents and later jeans while he lived with Fanny's growing family.[16] Tailor
Jacob W. Davis of
Reno, Nevada was one of his customers; in 1871, having invented a way to strengthen work pants using rivets, he went into business with Strauss to mass produce them.[17] The next year, Davis asked Strauss to help him apply for a patent, and the patent (one-half assigned to Levi Strauss & Co.) was issued in 1873.[18]
Death
Levi Strauss was never married, and died on September 26, 1902 in San Francisco. His estate was worth about $30 million (equivalent to $855 million in 2023).[1] Levi's nephew Sigmund Stern's only child, Elise Fanny Stern,[19] married
Walter A. Haas, the son of
Abraham Haas, whose descendants are the current owners of Levi Strauss & Co.[20]
The Levi Strauss museum is located in the 1687 house where Strauss was born
Buttenheim, Germany.[24] There is also a visitors center at Levi Strauss & Co. headquarters in San Francisco, which features historical exhibits.
^Dietze, Joachim. "
Levi Strauss" (family tree). joachim-dietze.de. Rebecca Haas, July 6, 1799–1869 San Francisco. Source: Levi-Strauss-Museum, Buttenheim. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
^"
Died". Daily Alta California (San Francisco). January 8, 1869. Via California Digital Newspaper Collection. cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved March 20, 2019. "In this city, Jan. 6th, Mrs. Rebecca Strauss, mother of Levi Strauss, of this city, aged 69 years, a native of Bavaria."