Bernard Cohn (politician)
| Bernard Cohn | |
|---|---|
| 15th Mayor of Los Angeles | |
|
In office November 21, 1878 – December 5, 1878 |
|
| Preceded by | Frederick A. MacDougall |
| Succeeded by | James R. Toberman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 7, 1835 Prussia |
| Died |
November 1, 1889 (aged 53) Los Angeles, California |
Bernard Cohn (November 7, 1835 – November 1, 1889) was a wool buyer and a capitalist in 19th-Century Los Angeles, California, as well as a member of the Los Angeles Common Council, that city's legislative body. It was Cohn who provided former California Governor Pio Pico a sum of money in exchange for all of Pico's property, which eventually led to Pico's spending the rest of his days in penury. He was also known for maintaining two families, one Jewish and one Catholic, at opposite ends of the town.
Cohn, who had a brother, Kaspar and a sister, Mrs. Simon Cohn, was born November 7, 1835, in Prussia and settled in Los Angeles in 1857. He was married to Hulda Myer in Los Angeles in 1858, and they had three children, Julius Bernard, Carrie Cahen and Kaspar Cohn. His wife died of apoplexy in June 1885.
Cohn died on November 1, 1889, as he was visiting friends. Brief services were held on November 3 in his First Street house near Main Street, and then a funeral cortege, more than a mile in length, made its way to the Jewish cemetery. An organized contingent of police officers took part, and pallbearers included Mayor Henry T. Hazard, former mayors Edward F. Spence and William H. Workman and merchant S. Lazard.
Within two weeks after Cohn's death, no will could be produced, and the right to share in his estate of $67,762 was demanded by a woman named Delphina Varelas, who claimed that Cohn had fathered her seven children, four of whom were still living—Bernard M.J, Miguel Daniel, Marcus Cerracio and Edward Anastacio. Verelas said she had met Cohn when she was 17 and he was about 30. They lived together on New High Street from 1872 to 1874, although Cohn had a wife who was still alive. Later Cohn provided houses for his second family on the Los Angeles Plaza, Sainsevin Street and Buena Vista Street. Cohn's estate included the Pico House, the St. Elmo Hotel and 1,100 acres of ranch land.
The trial was described as "one of the most sensational in the annals of the Probate Court," and more than three hundred witnesses were called, some of whom testified that Cohn and Varelas were considered husband and wife and some that she was "only Cohn's mistress." There was testimony that the couple had been married under a written contract, which Judge Clark nevertheless ruled to be invalid. Therefore, he decided in his judgment, the right of inheritance was applicable only in the case of three of Varelas's children—those whom Cohn had acknowledged to be his—and not to the eldest child or to Varelas herself. Upon appeal, a settlement was reached in which the three "legitimate" children would receive "the sum of $7300, in full satisfaction of their claim against the estate."
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