Career
He was one of the leaders of Portland"s early Jewish community. With Jacob Mayer and Louis Fleischner, Hirsch was one of the founders of Fleischner, Mayer and Company, the largest wholesale dry goods company on the West Coast. He served as president of the Oregon State Senate during the 1880 session.
He served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Ottoman Empire from 1889–1892.