M. Marks & Sons

Moses Marks (1833-1911) was born in the Russian Empire and immigrated to the United States in 1850, arriving in New York before moving to Charleston, South Carolina. Moses married his wife, German immigrant Henrietta “Yetta” Marks (1834-1913), in 1854 and together they had six children. Marks conducted business in Charleston as early as 1854 but paused due to the Civil War, during which he was connected to the quartermaster’s department. According to his obituary, Moses then operated “probably the first 5 and 10 cents store in the United States.”¹ His success there led him to acquire and demolish three buildings on the corner of King and Calhoun Street, where he opened his new store in 1891. The store was called M. Marks & Sons and was an early department store (also called a “dry goods emporium”) which The State called “one of the handsomest dry goods establishments in the South.”² As Moses got older, his four sons became increasingly involved in the family business and continued to operate the store after their father’s death. His obituary noted that Moses came to Charleston as a poor immigrant and by the time of his death was one of Charleston’s most prominent merchants and among the wealthiest in the city. According to Charleston city directories from the period of 1921-1929, three of Moses’s sons held administrative roles at the company: Joseph Marks (1858-1935) as president, Mordecai M. Marks (1868-c.1961) as vice-president, and Isaac Marks (1863-1951) as the secretary-treasurer.

¹ “Moses Marks,” State, April 22, 1911, 9.
² “A Handsome Establishment: Opening of M. Marks & Sons’ New Dry Goods Emporium,” State, September 29, 1891, 5.