Sampson "Samuel" Bissinger (1825–1897) was a successful merchant, friend of President Andrew Johnson, and an uncle of newspaper publisher Adolph Simon Ochs. Bissinger is considered one of the leaders of early Jewish life in Tennessee. Biography Sampson "Samuel" Bissinger was born in Ichenhausen, Bavaria to Baruch Benedig Bissinger (1783–1834) and Brendel Babette (Mayer) Bissinger (1790–1856). Samuel's mother, Brendel, came from a long line of important Jewish figures in Germany and Eastern Europe. Her grandfather, Simcha Bunem Rappaport (1734-1816), was a member of the Rappaport Rabbinic Dynasty and one of 71 leaders invited to the 1807 Napoleonic Sandrehin. With a wave of other German Jewish immigrants, Bissinger left Bavaria for the United States sometime in the early 1840s, settling in Kentucky. In 1849 he was married to Caroline "Sarah" Ochs (1821-1897). Not long after, Bissinger removed to Tennessee with his brother-in-law Julius Ochs, where he became a prominent businessman and citizen. Though most widely known for his clothing stores in Knoxville and Chattanooga, Bissinger also ran a dry goods business and small inn during the Civil War. While President Andrew Johnson was in office, he had his suits made by Bissinger's merchant tailoring company in Knoxville. The President was a former tailor himself, and preferred to sew his buttons on personally. Bissinger and Johnson were described as "friends and cronies" in a later profile of the former, and in one of Bissinger's obituaries, it was stated his greatest accomplishment was to have made the suit Andrew Johnson was wearing when taking the Presidential oath of office. Newspapers in Tennessee also reported that President Johnson was buried in a suit made by Bissinger. Newspaper publisher Adolph Ochs was Bissinger's nephew through his marriage to Caroline "Sarah" Ochs. Adolph Ochs would purchase the New York Times in 1896, saving it from insolvency and closure. By the 1920s, The New York Times was one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the world. Ochs first foray in publishing, however, was with a paper called the Chattanooga Dispatch. The Chattanooga Dispatch would close not long after its first issue was distributed in 1877. Destitute, Ochs stayed with Bissinger until he could get back on his feet. In the early 1890s, Samuel Bissinger encountered various setbacks with regard to businesses he owned in Ozark, Alabama. He left many of his holdings in the hands of his children and moved with Sarah to New York City, perhaps