Isaac and Samuel Kahn, under the firm title of Kahn Bros., are leading dry goods merchants of Bolivar, and the sons of Henry and Louise (Newberger) Kahn, both natives of Germany where they grew up and were married. Soon after they immigrated to America and located in Bolivar, where he opened a dry goods store and was engaged in this business until 1863. He then moved to Louisville, Ky., where he carried on the same business a short time and then retired in 1868. He was a Democrat in politics, and a remarkably successful merchant. He died in 1880. The mother is still living in Louisville and is sixty-five years of age. They had five children — four sons and one daughter. In 1868, the four sons came to Bolivar, opened a large dry goods house and for fifteen years were in partnership. In 1883, Marcus Kahn left the firm and a year later Jacob Kahn withdrew, leaving the firm as it now is. Twice the store has been burned and each time a more extensive one has been built. Isaac, the senior member of the firm, was born July 20, 1849, in Bolivar where he received his early education and afterward attended the Male High School at Louisville, Ky. After completing his education he came to Bolivar and has since been engaged in business at this place. In 1880, he married Emma Rosenthal, by whom he had two sons — Henry and Claude Mellville. Samuel, the junior member of the firm, was born in 1852 in Bolivar, and received the same educational advantages as his brother, Isaac. In 1881, he married Miss Tillie Frank, and to this union were born three children: Annie, Louise, and an infant. Both brothers are staunch Democrats in politics. The firm of Kahn Bros., have had the leading dry goods business in Bolivar since 1868 and are prominent among the first business men of the town.
Source: “The Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee, 1886”