
Bernard Goldsmith (20 November 1832-22 July 1901) was the Republican Mayor of Portland, Oregon from 1869 to 1871, succeeding Hamilton Boyd and preceding Philip Wasserman.
Biography[]
Bernard Goldsmith was born in Munich, Bavaria in 1832 to a Jewish family. He emigrated to New York City at the age of 15 and apprenticed with a watchmaker before working as a dock worker in California and starting his own jewelry stores in Northern California and Oregon. He and his seven brothers moved to Portland in 1861, and he cofounded the Library Association of Portland. A Democrat before the American Civil War, he became a Republican due to his support for Abraham Lincoln, and he served as Mayor of Portland from 1869 to 1871, adding downtown park blocks and park squares to the city. He returned to the Democratic Party in 1875, and he died in 1901.