Early Years
Dreyfuss was born in Freiburg, Grand Duchy of Baden in 1865. He attended school in Freiburg and later worked in a bank in nearby Karlsruhe. At the age of 16, he emigrated in 1881 to the US to escape conscription into the German Army. At the time, his prospects of being drafted into the military was high, and as a young Jew, his potential for advancement there was low. Dreyfuss's father, Samuel Dreyfuss (1832-1896), was actually an American citizen since 1861, who had returned to Germany at the outbreak of the Civil War. Samuel Dreyfuss had made a fortune selling spirits to the Native Americans.
Once in America, Barney Dreyfuss lived and worked with the Bernheim family in Paducah, Kentucky. The Bernheims were relatives of his grandfather, Leon Bernheim. In 1888, he moved with the Bernheim family to Louisville, Kentucky. Dreyfuss arrived knowing little English, but he became a quick learner. In just a few years, he rose from being a clerk to an officer of Bernheim Brothers, the creator of I. W. Harper bourbon.
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Famous quotes related to early years:
“I believe that if we are to survive as a planet, we must teach this next generation to handle their own conflicts assertively and nonviolently. If in their early years our children learn to listen to all sides of the story, use their heads and then their mouths, and come up with a plan and share, then, when they become our leaders, and some of them will, they will have the tools to handle global problems and conflict.”
—Barbara Coloroso (20th century)