Born in Hesse-Darmstadt in 1819, Moses Wiesenfeld immigrated toBaltimore in 1838. He was taken under the wing of Jonas Friedenwald,like Wisenfeld a German Jewish immigrant, who had arrived inBaltimore in eight years earlier and had done very well for himself,first as a peddler and then as a grocer. In 1843 Wiesenfeld marriedFriedenwald’s daughter Betsy, thenseventeen, and the couple would have nine children. Their son Davidmarried Sarah Metzger, daughter of another German Jewish Baltimorefamily, Isaac and FannieMetzger.

Success in businesswas not far off for Wiesenfeld, who founded what became a leadingclothing wholesale firm in the south, Wiesenfeld & Co. Inaddition to Friedenwald’s support and advice, Wiesenfeld drewinspiration from another friend and prominent Baltimorean, JohnsHopkins to whom Wiesenfeld ascribed much of his success. He played aprominent role in Jewish charities in Baltimore, serving as presidentand later director of the Hebrew Benevolent Society.