nwawfi fl 2 7 rm W575 5 ‘16 I ‘ 2.— mnuc'r THE ASSIMILATIQI OF AN EIHNIC GRQJP - THE GWJDESH Pmms IN THE UPPER (HID VALLEY. 179&18h0: A STUDY IN 111313me Gm Ev Richard Warren Welch The Jews in the United States have been characterized in most literature as being primarily urban dwellers. This thesis analyzes the German-Jewish immigrants of the period 1790-1840, most of whom had been residents of rural areas. small towns and villages in the southern German states of Bavaria. Wrttemberg and Baden. The migration of Jews during the study period was one of single. young men. traveling individually rather than in family groups. The characteristics of the migration. together with the conditions of Jews in Germamr and the isolated frontier condition into which the immigrant German-Jew was thrust, made assimilation into the Christian-dominated culture virtually inevitable. Assimilation of the German-Jewish migrant began in the reform movements which were sweeping mrope during the Napoleonic era. was nurtured by the conditions encountered by the migrant during his voyage to the United States. and became complete as he peddled on the American frontier and settled in a frontier town or village. The methodology of historical geography is utilised to examine the characteristics and magnitude of the German-Jewish migration as it occured during the stw period; to examine the way of life of the German-Jew as he peddled across the American frontier: and to analyze the processes inwolved in his assimilation into an alien culture. The theme. geographic change through time, is the basic tenet of historical geography. This study analyses the geographic change in the culture of the Ger-aanews as they migrated from southern Germany to the Upper Ohio Valley during a given fifty year time period. The findings confirm that the German-Jewish migration of the study period.was. indeed. proportionately large; the vast majority of the immigrants taking up peddling as their initial occupation upon arrival. The social conditions of the Jews in Germany. plus their experiences while migrating and while peddling. are shown to have had a direct and forceful impact on their Jewish religion and culture. This impact led to their rapid and complete assimilation into the Christian-dominated culture of the Upper Ohio Valley region. THB€ASSIMILAIIIN’OP AN ETHNIC GROUP!- THliGERMAR-JEHISH PEDMLERS IN THE UPPER OHIO VALLEI. 1790-18h0: A.STUDY IN HISTTRICML GEOGRAPHY By Richard‘warren‘welch A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Geography 1972 GP. AGNWLEDG‘IMS Many individuals gave of their time arm! effort in assisting in the preparation of this thesis. Their assistance is greatly appreciated. Special thanks are due nu adviser and committee chainlan. Dr. Daniel Jacobson, for his expert assistance and encouragement. I am grateful to the staff of the American Jewish Archives. on the campus of Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. (1110. for their extra effort in providing material relating to German-Jewish peddlers in the United States; and to Mr. Hillard Heiss of Indianapolis. Indians for his valuable aid in providing publicity regarding the subject of this thesis. thereby bringing to light information which otherwise would have remained unknown. I wish also to express w appreciation to ms. Josef Dental for her translation from classical Hebrew into English of articles from the periodicals. flamagid and Hagfirah. and to Mrs. fiika Nwankwo ‘ and Mr. Miles Taborsky for their translation from German into English of articles from Eberah. This thesis is dedicated to the descendants of the hundreds of unknown German-Jewish peddlers who. in their desire to achieve a better life for themselves and their posterity. emigrated from their homeland and added an exciting chapter to our American heritage. It is the hope of this writer that this thesis will aid the descendants in their quest for knowledge of their Jewish heritage. TABLE 01" OMENTS Lm OF TAHOE O O O O 0 O O O O O C O O O O I O O O O O Lm m FIME O O O O 0 O O O 0 O O O O O 0 O O O O 0 Chapter I. mowMION O O O O O O O C O O O O O O O O C Methodological Considerations . . . StatementofProblem............. Regional and Temporal Considerations . . . . . mgmutioneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee @0081ngthasubjocteeeeeeeeeeeee THE ROAD To “EICA O O O O O O O O O O O O C O mgr‘tim mm am e e e e e e e e e e e Characteristics of the German-Jewish Immigrant mgmt “d O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O PEDDLINGINTHE UPPER OHIO VALLEY . . . . . . . thfl1n87eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Journey into the Wilderness . . . . . . . . . The Life of the German-Jewish Peddler . . . . SEIPTLEMMANDASSDEATIW.......... Spatial Distribution of the German-Jews . . . Assimilation and the Jewish Identity . . . . . SWANDCONCLUSIONS ............ Effects of Assimilatim FurthchBsoarch.... eeeeeeeeee SumaryandConclusions ........... LET w REMCE O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O Page iv H \OCDH 16 20 20 33 no #3 u: 61 79 79 92 92 98 102 LIST OF TABLES Table Fug. 1. Annual Eligration from Germany to the united States . . . . 31 iv LIST OF HGURES Figure Pie. 1.TheUppeerioValley...................12 2. DescentfranHymanLasarus................19 3.HomelandoftheGemn-Jews................24 0. Isaac Wolfe Bernheim. a German-Jewish Peddler . . . . . . . M 5.Roadsofthe1820's....................58 6. CanalsandCanalisedRivers................6O 7. Settlements. 1811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 8. Mdler's Ron“. 1835 O O O O O O O O O O O O O I O O O O O 71 ’ from '. ClAPTIR.I IITRODUCTIOI Methodological considerations nstorical geograplw has been frequently criticised in the past for its lack of vitality. As Johnson states. it does not appear to possess an extra-disciplinary purpose; it has cmtributed little to an over-all understanding of man and his social relations.1 material geograpIV. by definition. concerns itself with the past oridms ani processes of cult- ural phenomena in an attempt to accent for the rise an! loss of insti- tutions and civilisations.2 Sauer gives historical geographers an un- limited field of stuchr when he says. "one is no less a geographer if he is engaged in knowing the rise ani passing of a culture . . . W topic inths social sciences is important. . . . bythelightitthrowsonthe nature of culmre origins and changes.”3 Clark further defines histor- ical geography as ”aw stucw of past geograpm or geographic change through time . . . . whether the study be involved with cultural. physical. 1A1”! B. Johnson. "The Role of Historical Geograplv in Culture Glance Analysis." (unmhliahed essq. memo State College. n.d.). p. 1. 2Carl m Sauer. "Fa-word to Historical Geography." m. Aseodation of ”risen Geog-sphere. m (1931). p. 12. 3M" p. 13. ' . \Jt\'~\\ p\(\w~'1 ”flu“ .‘ TIL chgaulul" “-31 "C and (i luau ) 3'09? .o a 5"de its “‘5‘..a(o“ T “'F"'tfi"’ Ma- Hw“ , vr—9*’""‘“‘ ‘ '1'. 11., 1 H 5L4 : 191’- 2 or biotic phenusna and however mam it may be in topic of and” mark cmtimes by terming historical geography "the processes by which . thingshavechanged . . . . [orlgeograwicchamethroughtimmfi The geographer. according to Clark. through the methodological process called historical geography. examines past culture changes in an attempt to see how tho worked.6 Understanding the processes of past mature change an help provide some of the answers concerning mlture contact and change in the contemporary world. llartshorne gives a definition for historical geography that is slightly more generalised than the preceding. he says ". . . historical geography is to be considered simply as the geography of past periods."7 Brock. in his description of the discipline. outlines three approaches to historical gsognmfi The first is the new which «.1. essentially with the present character of places; relying on the past only when it is needed to explain the present. The second approach is the process- oriented geograplxical analysis. the attempt to understand the ever channng interplay of forces acting through time. The third is a sequent occupance. or cross sections through time approach. which. as Brock “Andrew 3. Clark. et .1. "Historical Geograptw.” in e W od-brPrOMB-Jw-m! m . ones Syracuse. 11.1: Syracuse University Press. 195“). P. 71. 5mg. .. p. 96. 7mm nsrtshorne. "historical comma." in 1a. lgturg of Ge (Lancaster. Pa: Association of berican Geographers. 1939). p. am 0.14. Bro-k. WW (calms. «no. ”Ice 3. Merrill. 19 identifies it. presents "a sequent series of 'stills'."9 presented at various times in the past. Newcomb describes what he terms the twelve working approaches to historical geography.1° Six of the approaches are described as being traditional in nature. The remaining six are termed "new departure modes."11 Because of the specialised nature of the latter. none of which apply to the theme of this study. they will not be discussed at length here.12 The six traditional approaches. however. are relevant and may well be applied to a study of this nature. The six traditional approaches in historical geography may be described as follows: 1) The cross-sectional approach in which a past period is isolated and described in a manner similar to’that of a contemporary regional study. The cultural or physical landscape. selected because of its importance or because abundant source materials exist. is described in detail. 2) The vertical. or origin and evolution theme. narrows the selection of topics to one or more themes. depicting them through a base of flowing 9;§id.. p. 28. 10Robert V. Newcomb. "Twelve Working Approaches to Historical Geography." geocnuon of Pacific Coast Geographers Yearbook. 31 (1969). pp- 27-50- 11;;2g.. p. 3h. 1zBriefly. the new departure modes are: 1) Men's role as an agent of landscape change. or man's impact upon the land: 2) Areal differentiation of remnants of the historic past. or the study of relicts of the past which fulfill different roles in the contemporary world; 3) Genre de Vie. or the study of the imprint made upon the inhabitants of a region by an exploited natural environment or by an altered environment; 4) The theoretical model. or simplification through schemetisatien to achieve generalisations; 5) Pragmatic preservation of landscape legacies. or the isolation and description of past landscape features which are still in existence and exploitable as scenery or tourist attractions; 6) Past perceptual lenses. or the study of a past environment as described in the writings of its occupants. b time. This method is particularly well-suited when the entire landscape camotbsexaminedbeeauseofitslmghistory orbecaueeitcmtainsa altitude of elements. or thenes. which demani mminatim. Process. or changethroughtime. isanilportentimgredientofthisapproach. 3)The third theme is a unim of the cross-sectional and vertical approaches. It has as its goal the blend of the landscape description with discussions of the mechanisms of change. The ultimate goal is to build a structure whichwillmoredynanically depiotthe growth and change ofalandscape. 1}) The retrogressive approach. or the looking-over-the-shoulder into the past technique. begins with the presut: it delves into the past only so far an! as often as necessary to properly examine and explain the con- temporary mo. 5) cums. mm. closely sun to the vertical theme. treats the origins. dispersals. innovations. and alteratims of various cultural traits within a region. The stw area W consist of a nall regim. rich in a variety of culture traits. or it an be the stuw of the movement of one or more traits across a number of regime. This approach is strmgly based in anthropology an! emphasises stuch of pre- literate and pro-contact societies. 6) The historical regional geograpm. closely allied to historical research. demands a thorough knowledge of historiography. It is an approach which endeavors to depict the historical developmt of a region either at a particular time in the past or through time to the present.13 The approach to be utilised in this study is the crinn and evolution. } or the vertical theme. in historical geography.“ m- it. very " 1%. m" pp- 30-3“- IWn pp. 30-31- definition and description. "the depiction of a theme within a base of flowing ti...”15 it is the logical approach. or theme. to be applied to the subject of this Me nstorloal geography. as defined earlier. it caleerned with the charging spatial relationships between man and his environ-ant.“ or culture change. this stuchr will depict culture change. 'N-(‘W-‘H— 'e-a..~ez-f-.‘l-.'_’ .. -__ the thus. through a base of flowing ties. the fifty year period from 1790 to 1&0. Geographers have long been interested in ethnic minorities in the l i O I United States. though rarely in a historical context. normally the tallyk ocourame of a time factor in ethno-geographic studies has been thrulgh the study of ethnic populatim distributim. ghetto emergence. or F distributional changes through time: all within an urban church-ant.” . In the case of the herican Indian. the concentration has been primarily "I. on the pro-Ilropean spatial distributions of the group.18 Ethnic studies which analyse the initial contribution of the group to the herican : culture. of the effect and influence of the American culture on the immigrating ethnic group. are becuing increasingly important to the 15mm- 161he term environment my apply to either the plvsical landscape or the cultural landscape of a region. for the purposes of this M. the term envirommrt will refer only to the cultural environment. or landscape. 17m Hard. "nae heron» of Central n-igration Ghettos in herican Cities: 1890-1920." 29.13,. Association of herican Geographers. 58 (1968). pp- 30-59. 18See. however. mniel Jacobson. "The Q'igin of the Ioaeati Conu- nity of Louisiana." fi_th_nohistoa. Spring. 1960. pp. 97-120 and the follow- ing unpublished Ph.D. disserta ms: Benz-y Coppock. ”Interactions betwen Russians and Native Americans in Alaska. TIM-1&0." Inchigan state Uni- versity. 1970; John H. Stafford. "Crow Ollture mange: A Geographical Analysis." Michigan State University. 1971: and John R. Sanderson. ”aside mlture change: A Geographical Analyds." hichigan State University. 1972. social sciences. including geography.” Anthropologists have long recognised the value of ethnic studies. particularly in acculturation.” Sociologists. although concerned primarily with more modern. rather than historical. ethnic minorities in the Third World. have developed a related emcept: assin:|.lation.21 ‘ The discipline of geograpln'. particularly thrulgh the methodology termed historical geography. is also concerned with these two concepts: 21 acculturation and assimilation. m definition. "acculturation comprehenda these phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures one into continuous first hand contact. with subsequent chang- ing in the original cultural patterns of either or both groups."22 Geography. as stated earlier in this chapter. is concerned with culture change. The process termed culture change may be brought about either by independent evolution. or internally induced change. or by cmtact 19Two recent works which deal with this subject are Carl 0. Sauer. S teenth nt Ameri (Berkeley. Calif: University of California Rees. 1971;: and Mief Jacobson. West Indian Tribes (Maplewood. NJ: Hammond. 1970). 20 The discipline of anthropolog is especially important to human geographers. Carl 0. Sauer. in his presidential address before the Association of uerican Geographers in December. 19160. reprinted in "Foreword to Historical Geography." file—lg. Association of herican Geographers. m1 (19M). pp. 1-2“. urges human geographers to make full use of the sister discipline of anthropology. ”John a. Jakle and James 0. Wheeler. "The dunging Residential Structure of the Ditch Populatin in Kalamazoo. Michigan." Mg. Association of American GeOgraphers. 59 (1969). 9. M1: Riward Ackerman. et a1. "Olltural GeOgrapl'w." in troduction to el ed m. ed. by Fred R. Dohrs and Lawrence H. Sonora 519w York: Thomas I. Crowell cos-perv. 1967). :3. 31‘3- Zzaohart Redfield. Ralph notch. and Melville J. Herskovits. "Memorandum for the Stuw of Acculmration." American Anthropolggist. 38 (19%)0 pe 11‘9- beheen two different cultures. or externally induced change. or acculturation. It is important that the type of cmtact between the culture poop. be clearly .t.t.o.23 The culture contact between the German-Jewish pedilers and Gentile settlers in the Upper mic Valley during the period of this stub was. as Redfield analyses. "between an entire population and selected groups from another population. e.g.. . . . i-igrant alum?" The face to face contact um... Gentiles and Jews. at a ratio in the neighborhood of one-hundred to one. brought about an almost i-ediate change in the Jewidl culture. It was culture change. or. more specifically. assimilatim. W35 General works concerning the frontier settlement in the United States rarely mention the Jew.26 The interactim of alristians and Jews on the Trans-Appalachian frmtier is particularly ignored in both Jewish all! non-Jewish literature.27 Rabbi mvid Fhilipson states that the Jews who 23hr a full explanation of the various types of culture contacts resulting in acculturatim. see Bedfisld. et al. Memorandum for the Shldy of Aooul‘hlratim." p. 150. ”ms- ”Assimilation. by «much, 1. a form of acculturation whereby . group wholly replaces its original culture with another. For further re- view of the concept of assimilation see Jakle and wheeler. op. gt” p. l1M: Leonard Broom and John I. Kitsuse. ”The Validation of Accul- turation: A Condition to Ethnic Assdnilation." 1‘3ch gthropolgefi. 57 (1955). pp. M; and hilton h. Gerda. 2 ation in Ame—risen Life (low York: Oxford university Press. 196“). 26m example of this neglect 1. Thomas D. Clark's detailed history of the frontier movement in the United States. Eontier ‘m_e_rica (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1959). in which there is no msntim of the Jewish role in herica's frmtier experience. 27 Jewish literature which deals with the frontier period of herican history is concerned almost exclusively with the Jews and Jewish Congrega- tions in urbanised areas. rarely with isolated Jews in rural areas. hadleftthefaithhad'hoplaceinanacoountottheearly Jewish settlement in coma. or. indeed. or (moan?8 want. on... the sameopiniau "ImighthavenanedarumberotJews . . .who. between 1820 and 1&0. cane here. . . . interserried with the beat Gentile falilies. and thus becane lost to their race: but it is no part of w duty to tell their story. "29 Studies of the cultural and saptial characteristics of an ethnic group Iron a historical-geographic viewpoint are beneficial to all sodal science fields.3o Il'he addition of the spatial dimension to the study gives the scholar a concrete locational tranework in which to visualise the interrelationships between culture groups. Rhino-geograph- ic studies. utilising the aethodology of historical geograplv. not only will aocmnt for the rise and loss of cultures. or culture change. but: will also introduce an element which will add life. or vitality. to historical geography. nanely. the individual. tatenent of Problem hon the earliest due or mropean oocupanoe of the Upper mic Valley. Jews have been present in ever-increasing numbers. Southern Germany contributed by far the largest nunber of Jews who utered the area. However. studies concerning the settlement of the Upper daio Valley tail 28David Philipson. (Cincimuti: The Press 29m. u. mat... "Jewish 331m. in Kentucky." aerial; 1mg Historical Mrlz. 1 (1893). p. 101. ”J“. Ind ”01”. OEe Cite. Pp. “41-60. to analyse the significance of the Goran-Jewish element in the population. a. as frequently has been the case. to even aclmowledge its existence. It is the purpose of this stutv to analyse the amber. characteristics. cultural interrelationships. and assimilation of the Ger-an-Jews in the Upper Ohio Valley during the period 1790-1850. This study will also attupt to show that the popularly held opinion regard- ing the Jews as being prilarily urban duellers is incorrect; for fifty years. 1790-18h0. Ger-an-szs in the United States settled principally in rural areas. The objective of this stwy will be to prove or disprove the hypo- thesis that the Jewish culture is unsuitable to a ligration of individ- uals. rather than groups. such as occured during the stum period. and that the Jewish culture is not compatible to a life as existed on the herican frontier. The isolated frontier condition into which the Osman-Jewish imligrant was thrust leads his eventual assimilation into the Gentile culture inevitable . Egonal and Ismael gonsiderations \ Brook writes that "there is . . . a methodological problem on which there is omstant strife among geographers. namely. that regarding the i delimitation of regions."31 The region say be defined strictly on ply-10.11 characteristics. or m be determined by cultural characteristics. The ; delimitation of the region under consideration in this study is based > prindpally on cultural characteristics - the priaary area of concentra- : tion of “German-Jewish peddlers on the Trans-Afpalaohian frmtier. ‘ 3.5 +0 \ao own-t ze‘ VA *Kw 51K \3 ...... “JR. ° 8 Of the 0110 Valley to settlenent coincided with the period 31Jan 0J1. Break. "The Relations between History and Googr‘plv." WW. I (19“). P- 323- 10 of great upheaval in the European. particularly South German. Jewish conunity. inti-senitisn was rampant in the South German states of Baden. Bavaria and Wt'irttenberg during the tine period chosen for on. study. Hundreds of young Jewish men began emigrating to the United States after the turn of the century. but. for reasons to be discussed later. were not accepted in the Sephardio communities of the Eastern Seaboard.32 Instead. they followed the gemral movement of settlement westwud into the Trans-Appalachian area. first occupying themselves as peddlers. later settling among the people they had come to know while peddling. They settled throughout the entire Trans-Appalachian area. froa New Q'leans to Michilinackinac. westward to the meat Plains. The emphasis of this study. however. will be focused on a portin of the Trans-Appalachian area which was chosen because; 1) It is located within the primary area of concentration of German. both Gentile and Jewish. settlement during tn. time period 1790-18uo. and; 2) The cultural interaction between Jew and Gentile in the rural areas of this region typifies that which occured throughout the entire Trans-Appalachian area. The region to be analysed in this stuch' is tensed the Upper Ohio '3 \ l ‘ Valley. although it includes the valleys of numerous tributary streams: 321'!» Sephardic Jews of the Atlantic coastal cities were descendants of Portuguese and Spanish Jews who were driven frcm their homeland by the Inquisition. The first Sephardic Jews to arrive in North herica landed at New Meterdan (New York) in September. 1651:. The first group of twenty-three Jews had sailed from Recife. others later case from other areas of South Merioa. or directly from southern all-ope. Sephardic Jews were in relatively large numbers in the United States by 1790. particularly in Newport. Rhode Islam. New York. Charleston. an! Savannah. Georgia. The Sephardim were Orthodox Jews: the German-Jets. or Ashkenasin. were. during the tires of this stucw. Reform Jews. For further a: the Sephardio and Ashkenasio Jews in Europe. see Abba Dan. E Page; Es stog of the Jews (New York: Behrnan Bates. 1968). 11 as well.33 The mic River was mquestionably the primary avenue of transit for settles am! msrchaxfiise into the interior of the Ohited States during the fifty year period of this study. Go-erce moved freely along the entire course of the mic. fru Pittsburgh to its Junction with the mssissippi. with the exception of the falls at Louisville. Ora-er points out that most of the larger tributary streams were navigable for a distance. on the average. of abmt seventy miles (102 km.) from the (bio Riven" Settlers understandably would follow the routes of least resistance into new territosy. so the navigable tribu- taries of the mic River would have been the logical choices for entxy into the territory at either side of that artery. is will be discussed in chapter IV. the majority of the settle-mots were. particularly before 1820. located either a: the banks of the navigable portions of the tributaries of the Chic River. or on the mic itself. Peddlers. also. would logically locate themselves where the markets were located. "The Slylocks." complaixm Luke Shortfield. "prefer to be on the navigable streus."35 Goods were less expensive when shipped direct and the peddlers could buy at lower prices. undercutting inland merchants who were few in 33m. pouch is shown on the map (figure 1). It 1. 4.1mm by the cities of Pittsburgh. m the cast. a!!! Cincinnati. on the west: the head of navigation of the tributary streams to the north and to the south. The head of navigation is indicated on the map by the location of the nae desigmtims of those streams. 3mm. makings: River. for maple. was navigable for 110 actual files. the Hocking River for seventy actual files. The direct distance fra the (hio liver to these linits of navigation is approximately seventy files according to zadoh Gramer. a ator (Pittsburgh: Graner. Spear. and Richbaum. 1811:. Rs Ann Arbor: University merofilns. 1966). pp- 92-95. 35Luke Shortfield [John Beauohamp Jones]. W (madam odes. Elliot and cum. 1&9 . p. 1 3. 12 02° Lift/e 5'0'" CA \ Beaver R. - 3 Allegheny R. Ala/boning. R. ‘ .5 I Sclolo R. l N D . M . R Muskingurn R. H".~'.h . I farm ' Hoclnng R - ‘ ' 40° —-—- ___.... l L..—— ‘_..—— 1‘ ,A ;/ Gleelsnefl Monongahela R. //Lll\lle Kanawhs R. \ lul""-Kanawha R. «6" / oh"° Kentucky n W VA K Y /. 'l' N”! R. . - 8’ Sand R. /Liclu‘ng R. m y T O 50 IOO k L gs .2. Miles FIGURE 1. THE UPPE! m0 VALLEI 13 number.36 Poddlers carried their wares from the river settlements. where their suppliers were located. to the inland and upriver settlaents an! to the isolated farms between them. Riverboat peddlers were severely limited in the area in'which they could peddle by the navigability of the stream. Foot and wagon peddlers were also limited. of course. in the distances that they were able to travel frm their bases of supply. The peddler whose diary is deposited in the Western Michigan University mu...” discussed in further detail in stpter III. from .n indica- tions was limited by the amount of goods he was capable of transporting. His traveling distance was approximately seventy-five miles fras his base of supply in Wooster. Wayne County. Chic. In order to minimise the possibility that he would be forced to retrace ary portion of his route after his supplies were sold. he did not extend himself beyond a radius of thirty miles from his supply base. He peddled from a horse-drawn wagon. Foot peddlers would. of course. have been more severly limited in distance by the smaller quantities that they could carry on their backs. The lack of passable roads. especially during the first three decades of this stuchn38 encouraged peddlers to follow. as did immigrant settlers. the routes of minimum difficulty. 1.... the navigable rivers. a pom... upon reaching the farthest point of navigatim. would peddle his wares 36Gran-er (1811:) occasionally comments on the number of merchants in each village in the 0110 Valley. Many villages had no merchants. others had only a for. Point Pleasant. (West) Virginia. for example. had Hr. Langtry as its only merchant. 37Peddler's diary. Western mchigan University. Archives. John Shensman Papers. Hereafter referred to as the fluensman peddler. 38Thomas D. clerk. op. git” pp. 339-40. 116 in the direction of his supply base. not away from it; returning overland in the direction of the Ohio River. If his calculations were accurate he would reach his supply base at the time his stock became depleted. The above analysis. then. suggests a primary area of concentration of German-Jewish peddlers within a region marked by the head of navigation of the tributary streams of the Ohio River. within a convenient peddling distance of a supply base. For the purpose of this stuw. the territory within seventy miles of the Ohio River will be the region under consid- eration: from Pittsburgh. the source of the Ohio River. to Cincinnati. the approximate mid-point in the river's Journey to its Junction with the Mississippi. This stuchr. while primarily cmcerned with cultural interactions within the Upper Ohio Valley. will not. however. exclude pertinent material concerning events which occured outside the region. Documented incidents from other areas will be included occasionally for the added insight they might provide. The county is the basic record keeping unit in the states located within the study area: Kentucky. Pennsylvania. woct Virginia. Indiana and Ohio. As will be discussed in Chapter III. peddlers licenses were issued by the county courts. Legal matters. such as probate and civil suits. were the responsibility of the counties as were land transactions. marriages and taxes. Therefore. the county is the obvious choice as the basic unit of study. The counties which are included within the stuchr area may be determined by utilising the overlay which is located in the pocket on the inside back cover. The scale of the overlay is the same as that of the base map (Figure 1). The time period 1790-18h0 is one during which the German-Jews in the 15 United st.t.. were particularly obscure.” The Genan-Jews who emigrated to the [united States before 1790 were generally professional men. well- educated and financially self-sufficient. They were. for the most part. cmservative in their religious outlook; they were easily absorbed into the existing Sephardic congregations of the Atlantic coastal region. The Galen-Jewish i-igrants of the post-1790 era were. typically. poor and uneducated. escaping extreme religious persecution in Europe. They were. in their religious beliefs and practices. Reform Jews and as such were not acceptable to the conservative Sephardic congregations. The former's forefathers had for ages been subjected to degrading persecution. They had be.) barred from ary type of vocation which wwld elevate their status. As a result. the Sephardim cmsidered the Germans as being of a lower social status than themselves. Kohler points out: For a long time prejudices against them lingered in the breast of the pure Sephardi. oven until after the traits that had inspired this ungenerous feeling had ceased to exist. The question became than merely a question of caste. nary old-fashioned Portuguese at me period heldushemselves socially aloof fru their Ashkenasi brethren. . . . nor were the German-Jewish immigrants inclined to i-ediately abandon their religious beliefs upon arrival in the United States by attempting to Join a Sephardic congregation. They preferred instead to maintain their indepauience and religious idmtity as Reform Jews. This decision wmld later cost most of them their Jewish culture. 39mm.- 3. sm'. discussion of the Meral Period in "Jewidl mgrations." Genealgggl Research. edited by Kenn stryker-Rcdda. II (Washingtm. 0.0: herican Society of Gmealousts. 1971). p. 299 lifits this period of American Jewish history to the years 1783-18”. “a... J. Kohler. "The German-Jewish higration to urica." 22222 e n (1901). P0 900 16 The year 1&0 is a logcal choice as a terfination date for this stuiv because. as Hansen indicates. "Jewish efigration. far from ending with the decades of the 1&0's. continued with increasing force: but in the moceedingyearsitwascausednot sofichbyperseuationastythe prevailing depression whid: weighed upon Jew and Gentile alike.“1 The decade of the 18W's ushered in an era of mass migration of Gems. both Cristian and Jew. into the united States on a scale that had never previously been reached.” no migration of the 1am. and 1850'. was of mch significance and magnitude that it has drawn the interest of scholars in the United States away from earlier individual figratims. Generally speakim. the i-Iigrants of the later mass migration were not assimilated into the diristian dofinated culture. They clustered together in the more urbanised portions of the countxy. thereby helping to create the present-day image of the Jew in nerica as an urban dweller. The purpose of this study is to focus more directly on the earlier imfigrants who. for reasons to be analysed later. were assimilated into the existing Christian culture. abandoning their Jewish culture and heritage. W The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter I consists of the introchction. divided into five subdivisims: the methodologoal outsid- erations. or statements concerning the methodology of historical geograply “Maren. Loo Hansen. 12 “5&3 motion, 1632-1860 (We, lass: harvsrd University Press. 1 1 . p. 1 . “2mm Glans. "German Jews in New York mty in tho Nineteenth Century." in s in Judaica ericana (New York: Ktav Biblishing House. 1970). p. lzs. 17 andthemethodclogtcbeemployedinthis study; astatementconcerning the pcblem to be analysed: the cmsiderations behind the delimitation of the regional and tmsporal. factors; the organisation of the thesis: and the backgrouni of the choice of the subject. alapter II will be concerned with the fact that the majority of the German-Jews who dgrated to the United States were primarily from the southern German states of Bavaria. warttemberg. an! Baden. The situation in those states as it related to the Jews will be exafined to deterfine the causes for the increasing migration of Jews during the period 1790- 18150. The characteristics of the migrants. as well as the magnitude of the figration will be examined. A short discussion concerning the aid given the isoligrants upon arrival in the United States will follow. Gaspter HI deals with the factors which deterfined the choice of peddling as the German-Jews' initial method of earning a livelihood in the United States. The spatial characteristics of the German-Jellish peddlers. as they migrated into and tramped through the Upper Chic Valley. will be discussed. The life of the German-Jewish peddler will be discussed in an att-pt to analyse the extent and significance of the cultural contact between Christians and Jews in the Upper Chic Vallq. The theme of auspter IV is to examine the spatial distribution of the German-Jews as they settled in the villages and hamlets throughout the Upper 0110 Valley in an attempt to confirm the assumption that they were situated in rural. rather than urban. areas. The asdmilation of the German-Jews into the Guistian ccmmurdty will be examined to illustrate the processes of culture change through time. diapter V contains the sunny of the preceding four chapters. together with conclusions concerning the role of the German-Jewish peddler in the 18 cultural geograpty of the Upper mic Valley. the effect of their assim- ilation into the airistian culture on themselves and their descendants. and suggestions regarding possible future areas of stuw. Qoosing the figbjgct The writer's interest in the German-Jewish peddlers cf the early nine- teenth centuzy developed through eight years of research into his own personal ancestry. Thmsands of hericans and Camdians are descended frm German-Jewish peddlers. Some families have continued to thrive in the Jewish faith: the descendants of these families are generally «are of their cultural heritage. The families of the German-Jewish peddlers who were assimilated into the Gentile culture have. of course. lost their Jewish culture: new are unaware of their Jewish heritage. The writer's family bel'migs to the latter. family traditions often hear a grain of truth. (be traditim that was passed down to the writer told of a Jewish ancestry somewhere in the dim past. Not «as member of the family. however. knew am of the details of our descent from our Jewish ancestor. or of his life. ' Discovery of the connection between the writer and Wm Lazarus. a German-Jewish peddler who settled in Malta. (hio in 1818 (Figure 2). with some details of his life. led to a desire to determine if he was unique in history. or whether his story was a canon one of cultural assifilation. This thesis is the result. 19 1826 Lazarus ' Irances Parmelia Secord 1770-1851 1802- T V 1., Caroline I Reuben Winchell Mary Aurilla Invid William 1826-1899 1818-1868 1832-1895 1836-1917 I Poter H. 1839/uo- 1 I 1 I I I James W. Samuel Sophronia Margaret Sarah Rooks 18118-1887 1852- 1 1853-1921 1855- 1 1856-1902 I I 18.3 Reuben. Jr. Charles .- Kathryn Saylor 1860-192“ 1862-1903 1866.19113 r l 1906 1 1 George Eduard Ethel May 3 Will Harden Callie Gay John Aughe 1885-1960 1888-1909 I 1884-1952 1892-1962 1897-1951 F l 1925 Lela May Iola Lyrtle I Warren Jacob Welsh 1906- 1972 1907-1967 1905-1957 I 1 I I RobertWilson irederickWilliam RichardWarren PatriciaAnn 1926- 1928- 191.2- 19%- FIGURB 2. DBCHT FRO! HIHAN LAZARIB GARE II THE ROAD TO umca much from Gem The rallying cry. "Up. and to America!"1 took the Jewish population of Ger-am by storm during the later Revolutionary period in mrope. However. the Jews of the period 1790-1” were heading their own version of the same rallying cry. They were the forerumers of the mass migration of the 18h0'sz pioneers in every sense of the word. The Jewish emigrants knew that their families an! friends in Ger-aw could be injured in their struggle for equal rights if wide publicity were given to what was to become an exodus. Few Jewish publications. in the United States or in Mops. gave detailed explanations regarding the Jewish situation in Germary. or the possible benefits that could be derived by emigrating. In addition. uigration to a new environment and culture is basically an individual decision. based on personal desires and ambitions. There were innumerable reasons for Jewish migration fru Germamr. The popular notion concernirg America's freedom of religion for all faiths was undoubtedly considered ty Jewish emigrants. but was only one of may considerations. Benson states that "their emodux was due less to 1mm: clan... "Source Materials on tho History of Jewish mgr.- tion to the United States. 1800-1880." 0 Ammal of Jewish Social m. VI (1951). P- 97. hereafter reierred to as "Source haterials.” 20 21 their religious seal than to a desire to escape anti-edtism. "2 other matters were necessarily given higher priority. In the absense of a titled class. the opportunities for advam-ent in the United States seemed endleu to the persecuted and poverty stricken Jews. The fixed legal status of Jews in most of the German States3 gave them ample motive for emigrating. aficial perfission (Letters of Protection) was required for Jews to establish a dofiodle. or to work at a trade. There were strict quotas regulating the number of Jews who were to be granted such permission annually. Without a legal residence. or citisenship. a Jew could not obtain permission to marry. This was a major obstacle that nary young Jewish men could not overcome. If penisdon was rejected. the young Jew often had no other recourse but to apply for a passport and emigrate. Discrimination. m a governmental level at least. eased somewhat during the Napoleonic period. Under French lax Jews were not only given surnames. something they were not previously required to possess under German law. but were also made citisens. Local conditions. however. contimed to encourage emigration of Jews from southern Genny. Follow- ing the battle of Waterloo in Hay. 1811}. massive uigration of Jews was Zhensen. M” p. 139. 3ThiswasnctonlytrueinGermary. butinthemstrian-pire as well. "no:- Alto hausirer [The Old Poodle-J." aborah. #2 (m 13. 1897). p. 3 mentions the recent death of Salomon Inlmann. age 97. in Waitsen. in what is now Hungary. 111 1836 he obtained a settlement perfit from the bishop - Omnt Frans Radaedv. Until that time Jews had not been allowed in Waitsen after night-fall: those who wished to spend the night had to by a sufferance ticket for two Groschen. Following a severe winter night in 1836. during which the peddler vainly sought refuge in the town. he went to see the bishop. his story was so moving that the bishop abolidred the settlement prohibition. Ellmann was the first Jew to premansntly settle in Waitsen. 21 their religious seal than to . desire to escape anti-sefitism."2 other matters were necessarily given higher priority. In the absense of a titled class. the opportunities for advancuent in the United States seemed endless to the persecuted and poverty stricken Jews. The fixed legal sta‘hrs of Jews in most of the German S‘tates3 gave them ample motive for emigrating. aficial perfisdon (Letters of Protection) was required for Jews to establish a ddcdle. or to work at a trade. There were strict quotas regulating the number of Jews who were to be granted such perfission annually. Without a legal residence. or citizenship. a Jew could not obtain perfission to marry. This was a major obstacle that nary young Jewish men could not overcome. If permission was rejected. the young Jew often had no other recourse hat to apply for a passport arm! migrate. mscrimination. m a governmental level at least. eased somewhat during the Hapoleonic period. Under hench law Jews were not only given surnames. something they were not. previously required to possess under German law. but were also made citisens. Local conditions. however. continued to encourage emigration of Jews from southern Ger-aw. Follow- ing the battle of Waterloo in m. 1811+. massive migration of Jews was 2Hansen. 22. gt” p. 139. 3Thiswasnot mlytrueinGermanv. butinthe metrian hpireas well. "Der Alto Hausirer [The old Peddler]." Eborah. 112 (m 13. 1897). p. 3 mentions the recent death of Salomon Ullmann. age 97. in Waitsen. in what is now Hungary. In 1836 he obtained a settlement permit from the bishop - count Frans Nadasw. Until that time Jews had not been allowed in Waitsen after night-fall; those who wished to spend the night had to buy a sufferance ticket for two Groschen. Following a severe winter night in 1836. during which the peddler vainly sought refuge in the town. he went to see the bishop. His story was so moving that the bishop abolished the settlement prohibition. (Illmann was the first Jew to premanently settle in Waitsen. 22 fostered by reinstated anti- semitic laws. The Napoleonic wars had left the mropean econow in chaos. affecting the Jews more seriously than most other groups. Gentile Germans also resented the benefits received by Jews during the Napoleonic period. causing them to press for more restrictive laws against the Jews. The Napoleonic were also introduced conscription to the young Jewish men - one of the liabilities of citizenship. S. Kleeburg and Lucas Rosenstein fled Borgentreich. Westphalia in 1812 to avoid military service. They reached Antwerp where they boarded a ship bound for the United States.“ Yhese instances were. however. isolated cases. Conscription was not one of the primary causes of Jewidr emigration from Germany. Hirshler states that the restrictive marriage laws of Bavaria were of "is-ediate concern to Jewish mall town youths."5 The 11'1"“le 800:” of Josiah emigration was. as Hirshler states above. from the small market towns and villages of Bavaria and southwestern Germsw (Warttemberg and Baden). Glens also agrees that the German-Jewish emi- grants to the United States were the products of the small towns of southm'n Gert-any.6 Isaac Wolfe Bernheim. an err-peddler with literary capabilities. says that the German-Jewish emigrants were "principally fra Bavaria. Baden. Hechingen-Hohensollern and other South German “neyd S. merman. "The Impact of the Frontier on a Jewish Fafily: The Bibos. " Ericgn Jewish flifiorigal garterlz. 59 (1969-70). p. #61. 5mc E. firshler. ed.. Jews from Gog-ram in the United State! (New York: Furrar. Streuo and oodahy. 1955 . Po 35- 6Rudolf Glens. "The 'Bayer' and the 'Pollack' in America." in udie in ricana. p. 188. 23 States."7 See Figure 3 for the location of these areas. The causes for the emigration of Jews from Germary were many and complex. The situation of the Jews in the southern German states was such that at least are Juish periodical of the time attupted to explain. by exmaple. wly the migration was occuring: . . . what else should they do but seek a new fatherland. where they should exercise the profession they had learned. to show off their wares. their knowledge ard their learning. A young man. capable and a professional. applied to his district court . . . in the Retsat district for a certificate of protectim. It was denied him at the first tribunal as well as repeatedly at the higher ones. He made a last attempt to obtain it. but simultaneously smeared his petition to have his passport perfitting him to go abroad drawn up . . . the petitioner received the latter and on1gr.tod.8 The same periodical two years later (1839) complains that the "register makes it little short of impossible for young Israelites to set up housekeeping."9 Jews frequently reached middle ago before they could receive letters of protection allowing them to establish domiciles. thereby permitting their marriage. The Jewish population in nary areas of southern Germany was severly restricted. The young Jewish men. in order to obtain the desired letters of protection. frequently had to wait for one of the older residents to die before they were allowed to apply for citizenship. The only alternatives were to accept their fate and do noth- ing. be baptised and discard their religion and culture.” or efigrate. 71.... Wolfe Bernheim. The ttlement of ew in the ewe cuc m (Paducah. Ky: Tmnple IsraEl. 1912). p. 15. 8Glens. "Scrrce Materials." p. 90 citing filgsmeine ze_it_u.§g do! Mengums. I! (1837). p. 26h. 91.1.1” pp. 92-93 citing 2152.111. 21mg; des Judenthums. (1839). no. dbl-377120. 10M. . t.. p. 265 estimates that between 1800 and 1810 one-tenth of German-Jews were baptised to avoid further persecution. l0° 1M E I “s I A ~ ’ \ g, \- Riedenbure ‘ ’ \ ‘9. "A" L" ,'-J Y~‘\. Frankie" ~j L ‘ ‘ "‘"’ 0 Che rdovf . Help River \— Kreeseeeh) - N ‘\ ,A-flESS-E ’ _ l , x.‘ newsman, *m-m , .-~ I \‘- : . ‘\ \ (Imam/5H) \J ’--\ Y . ,) '1 . .r’.‘ I, \“l I ." HAVARM manure . - / ) . mm I\— s x l f" i ‘ LI-.- f" \ .Deeue River \ (\WURTTEMBERG \ 'x " : \ FRANCE \\ \ . Stan's" (‘ \ \ ’ ‘ 0 Choices» ’ Oehmlehelm . J I P K\ - Munich r" O'cldllr.‘ 'POIDIO' e ‘\\ '5 - If —- -1 \ _‘.'; Lele Ceeefeeee ”A“ r - \_/-\ / “‘- J X) ..e __ L ~~ ~ J AUSTRIAN EMPIRE SWITZERLAND ‘/ Source! Vidal de Le flecks. I06! N 9 =20 Miles Io ° FIGURE 3. Baum G TEE WAN-J36 25 Marc taxes. particularly in Bavaria. were levied specifically on persons of the Jewish faith. They included ". . . the alien-taxes. goose-taxes. horse-taxes. etc.. etc.. taxes. reintroduced everywhere by the Bavarian estates."11 Some areas simply banidaed Jews. as in the Danish areas. but Bavaria faced a different situation in regard to the Jews. It had a checkerboard distribution of people. Some villages were entirely Gentile in population. others were entirely Jewish. The legal status of the latter was fixed by a number of laws and regulations. nepopulation of many towns would have resulted if the Bavarian princes had attanpted to banish Jews from their realms. Through the introduction of the Jewish taxes. they were obviousLy taking advantage of a situation which had come to exist in their domains. The unfair taxation of Jews added another motive for emigration. The levying of taxes on emigrants was another cause for migration from Germany.12 Where Jewish emigration was not strictly forbidden. as it was in Prussia.13 there developed detailed regulations concerning the collection of taxes on Jewish emigrants. The customary amount of tax on Jewish migrants was 10 per cent of the value of the property being 11Glens. op. cit. 12Emigration. as defined in deny of the regulations. did not necessarily pertain only to emigration abroad. It referred to migration out of the principality. even if only to a neighboring domain. 13The distribution of Jews in Prussia was in sharp contrast to that in South Germany. In the latter. Jews resided in scattered groups in the mnall towns and villages. There was no large. well-organised Jewish community or sense of Jewish group life in southern Germaw. Prussia. on the other hand. possessed large. well-organised Jewish comunities which were well established in ghettos in the large cities. 26 removed from the domain.” The taxes on Jen were by no means uniformly enforced. adding greatly to the grievances of the Jewish residents of southern Germary. The love regarding Jewish economic activity. especially after the met of 1813. were decidedly reactionary against the Jews. They were allowed to be farmers. artisans. or mamfacturers. The restrictive laws permitted employment in few other fields. Most businesses. inn-keeping. for example. required the possession of a license. The number of licenses available to Ms was strictly limited in most areas. As a result. the migration of Jen from Bavaria increased rapidly after 1813. Glens indicates that the Bavarian emigration had a direct effect on Jewish emigration frm Baden and warttemberg with which the Bavarian Jewry was closely connected.” mspite the Jewish emigration taxes. ten thousand Bavarian Jews had already emigrated by 1839. the eve of the mass migra- '!.'..ion.16 The movement was principally to the United States. The Jarish population of Bavaria has been estimated at 53.208 in 1818.17 Thus. within a span of twenty years. one-fifth of the Bavarian Jewish population had emigrated to the United States. Glens puts the number of Jewish emigrants fru southern Gem as being far in excess ”mane. "Source Materials." p. 95 citing t o " e. s.v. "Jude." Berlin. 178+ [p. 293-618]. p. 523. 15mg. "The 'Bayer' and the 'Pollack' in pried." p. 188; and Will. 02. ate, pe 1h. 16Hansen. op. cit.. p. 1&0. 17(31ans. fitudies in Judaica Eericana. p. 188 citing W m.vol.i .p.1 2. 27 of their proportion of the total population of the region.18 Glanz sums up the reasons for Jewish emigration from southern Germany: anti-smitism. including the great obstacles in the way of becoming residents. and the hated Jewish taxes.19 Isaac Wolfe Bernheim. in his autobiography. claim: that "out in the open a Jew might and did suffer abuse. contumely. and derision. experience all kinds of disappointments. make sacrifices innumerable in order to earn enough to hold body and soul together."2° migration became the only method. for most Jewish men. other than accepting baptism. of alleviating the situation into which they had been born. The ymnger generation. in particular. saw no hope for itself in Germany because of the special disabilities imposed upon Jews. ". . . All this tends to cause young. strong men and even those of more advanced age. to seek their salvation in other regions of the earth. where they don't at least have to bear this!"21 Crevecoeur. in speaking of earlier migrations (1782). states reasons for migration to the United States which can also be applied to the German-Jews of a later period: 18Rudolf Glanz. "German-Jewish Names in America." in audios in Judgig; mricm. p. 278. 19Clans. "Source Materials." p. 7?. ”Isaac Wolfe Bernheim. The Story of the Bernheim [gill (Louisville: John P. Morton & Company. 1910), p. . 2161mm. "Source Materials." p. 93 citing glgmeine zgitung des Edenthums. (1839). no. 2h. p. #20. 28 Canawretchwhowanders abcmt. . .whoselifeisacontinuedscene ofscre affliction . . . call melandcr other Kingdom his country‘fioamtrythathad. . .nothing rot-What. ..the severity ofthelaws . . .1 No! Urgedbyavariety ofmotives. here theycame.22 numerals problus arise in an attempt to determine the identity of the German-Jewish i-igrants. particularly during the years 1790-1820. The only port records preserved fra that period to am extent are those from the port of Philadelphia. The customs Migration Lists. maintained by the federal government. did not enhance until 1820. Huiladelphia. however. was the most important port in the United States before 1820 as far as the i-igration of the German-Jews was concerned. m m the first German-Jewish congregation in the United States. was founded in Philadelphia in 1780. German-Jews. by 1790. were important in the social and economic life of the city. establishing it as the primary port of entry for German-Jews until being surpassed by New York shortly before 1820. The number of German-Jewish inigrants in the United States was negligible until about 1790. The only arrival of that year. with an obviously Jewish name. was David Israel.” Simon Abraham sailed from Rotterdam in 1796.?“ There were undoubtedly other inigrants of the Jewish faith throughout the decade. but may possessed names which were not necessarily of Jewish origin. thereby obscuring their origin 22J. Hector St. John de (:revecoeur. Letters from an (New York: The New nerican Library. 19635. p. 35. 23Ralph B. Strassburger. Penn lvania Pioneers III (Norristown. Pa: Pennsylvania German SEW. 13?}. p. E . .. p. 91. 29 and identity. The pace quickened after the turn of the century. Three Jews. Jacob hoses. Jacob mateiner. an! Senf noise Schiff. arrived tre- hs‘terdam aboard the ship Favourite in 1803.25 Accordiw to labor. 1803 also marks the oldest offical notice of a Jewish emigrant frua warttemberg to the United States.26 The arrival of the ship Atlantic (18016) brought at least six German-Jews to these shores: Israel Solomon. Isaac Israel. Abraham Israel. LJ‘I. Goldsmidt. Hoses Jacobs. and Rosina Jacobs. They will be discussed in greater detail later in this chapter. Two other Jews who arrived in Philadelphia in 1801+ were Levi Solomon. from Lubeck. aboard the brig Leopard.27 and Ma Bair levy. a sixteen year old native of Kreusnach. Germarw. aboard the ship Margaret.28 Glans concludes from his research that at least seven German- Jews emigrated to the United States in 1801+. out of a total German uigration of 900 persons.29 Twa years later (1806) at least four Jews arrived at Philadelphia: Jacob lisrael.3o Hirsch Leib. Samuel Jacobs. and Heirs Samuel.31 the latter three from heterdam. 2533“” p. 135; also mentioned in Glans. "German-Jewish Names in America." p. 279. 263101! Kabor. "Jewish Eligra‘tion from Wflrt‘temberg. 1348-1855." e swish rie in erica- Selected Studies from the Publi tio of the rican Jewish storical Societ . ed. 5; Eraham E313. III Nathan. Mass: American JESS fistorical Sodety. 1969). p. 17. 27$trassburger. gm” p. 1%. 282g" p. 156. 296nm. "German-Jewish Names in America." p. 279. 30S‘trassburger. op. git” p. 184 citing passenger list for the brig Kathrine. 31:543.. p. 189. 30 The statistics from the ships passenger lists recorded at the four major ports of the Atlantic coast - New York. Philadelphia. Baltimore. and Boston - from later years indicate a fluctuating arrival pattern of Oman-Jew. The port of Boston was of little importance to the over- all German-Jewish immigration because. as Rosenswsike indicates. there was no well-established Jewish Mty in that city to attract the attention of the imigrating German-Jews.” The ships passenger lists do not indicate the religious affiliation of the migrant. so we can only approximate the number of German-Jewish i-igrants before 1&0. Table 1 illustrates the fluctuating pattern of emigration from Germary to the United States canencing in 1820.33 No figures indicating the number of representatives of the Jewish faith are given in the annual totals.3l‘ It is doubtful. however. that the number of Jews exceeded 10 per cent of the total German emigration during the period 1820-18110. Hatever. considering even this wall percentage. the number of German- Jews entering the United States during this period wcmld have been substantial. the Jewish scholar estimates that during this period. 1820-18%. the German-Jewish emigration to the United States averaged 32m Rosenswaike. "The Jewish Pepulation of the United States as Estimated from the Census of 1820." ri ewish st r1 . 33l'ew port records from the period 1806-1820 are now extant. how- ever. there were sporadic interruptions to ship traffic between mops and North America throughout the period due to the existing state of war. 3”xeh1ea- (1901) notes that one estimate in 1889 put the mmber of German diristian imigrants at one-twontieth the number of German imi. grants to America. This is unquestionably an exaggeration of the true number of Jewish imigrants. 31 _ rm 1. man. 311(31qu mm cm to m omen 3111335 Year migrants Year migrants 1820 968 1831 2.h13 1821 383 1832 10, 194 1822 1118 1833 6.988 1 1823 183 1831‘ 17.686 182“ 230 1835 8. 311 1825 #50 1836 20.707 1826 511 1837 23.780 1827 “32 1838 11.683 1828 1.851 1839 21.028 1829 59? 18:0 29.70“ 1830 1.976 35hbor. . cit.. p. 13 citing 0.5.. Congress. Senate. s on ation tions in . S 32 more than one thousand persons per year. reaching a few thousand in P003 7008-36 Indications are that the mmber of German-Jewish il-igrants arriving in the United States between 1790 and 1827 increased steadily each year.37 There was some fluctuation during the war years. an upsurge occuring in conjunction with the institution of the Jew-law in Bavaria in 1813. then another upsurge after the fall of Napoleon in 1811‘. The edgration of Jews from Germarw was far in excess of their proportion of their total population between 1811; and 1827. The emigration of German- Jews then increased rapidly in conjunction with the general increase in emigration of all religious faiths. Until about 1&0. the Jewish emigrants were primarily single men. After 18W the Jewish emigration was made up principally of families and groups of families migrating en 3232- Rosenswaike indicates that in 1820 there were approximately 2.650 to 2.750 German-Jews residing in the United States. compared to approx. imately 53,000 still in Bavaria.38 Kabor estimates the German-Jewish population of the United States at 6.000 in 1825;39 it reached approx- imately 15.000 by 181m."O Glens reaches the same conclusion regarding the 181w population estimate.“ Hansen accepts a similar German-Jewish 36Bernard D. Heinryb. "The German Jewish Imigrants to America: A Critical EValuation." in Jews from in the nited States. edited by Mo E. Hirshler (New York: Farrar. Straus and marry. 1955). p. 103. 37Strassburger. gp_._g_i_t_; and Labor. gm. 38Rosenswaike. Mn p. 188. 39m”. OBe Etc. Po 1“. ”stem. 92. sit.. p. 299. “aims "The 1.1 . graticn of German Jews up to 1880 " mg m; of Jewish easy; sgem. 121-111 (1907-118). p. 81. ' 33 population estimate. The figures tell us that "by 1839 ten thousand Bavarian Jews had emigrated. and the whole number [of Jews from all sources] in net-1e. was estimated at fifteen thousand. "“2 migration had reached such proportions by 1839 that Jewish authorities in Germary were becoming increasingly alarmed. Entire Jewish towns and villages were in danger of homing depopulated; schools and synagogues were closing throughout southern Germany as the mass migration gained muentum. Mgcuristics of the m-Jewish litigants That the German-Jewish immigrants were impoverished is beyond question.“3 The ships passenger lists confirm this assumption. Six Jews. Israel Solomon. Isaac Israel. Abrah-I Israel. L.M. Goldsmidt. Moses Jacobs. and Rosina Jacobs. arrived in Philadelphia in September of 180“. They were steerage passengers aboard the ship Atlantic. from Amsterdam.“ Jacob Israel arrived June 5. 1806 at the port of Philadelphia aboard the brig Kathi-inc. from Tcnningen.“5 He too was a steerage passenger. A Jewish periodical of 1837 described the Jewish passengers aboard a ship bound for the United States as being in a "most pitiful condition."“'6 Most German-Jewish imigrants of the period were undoubtedly in similar quansen. M" p. 100. 43Weinryb. My. p. 116; and Dian. M” p. 303. M‘s'chesstmrger. 22413.. p. 153. “52g" p. 184. “mans. "Smrce Materials." p. 111 citing W. vol. 1 (Harsburg. 1837). p. 100. 3“ straits during the crossing of the Atlantic. The illigrant ships of the first half of the nineteenth century were freighters of three hundred to four hundred tons. They carried cotton. timber. and tobacco on the eastward voyage. returning in ballast. steerage was usually a four to six feet high deck. filled to capacity with hard wooden berths. The 1mg voyage of one to two months was fraught with disease. hunger and death.” The conditions aboard the immigrant ships did not. however. discourage Jews from emigrating. or from going into debt in their attempt to reach the United States. Salomon Joseph. as an example. arrived fran Rotterdam aboard the ship Belvidere in 1802.“8 His fare for the passage to Philadelphia was 180 guilders. He was advanced 3.10 guilders. The total debt owed to his benefactor - who was not stated. but presumably was the ship's captain - was 183.10 guilders. He was willing to assume this obligation to achieve his objective. Others depleted their savirgs in their attempts to reach the United States. Philip Heidelhach. a Bavarian Jew. arrived in New York in 1837 with only eight dollars: Jacob Iflsas left Germany with the equivalent of sixty dollars. When he reached New York. he had mly forty cents left.” Kisch published one of the few surviving accmnts of a German-Jewish emigrant of the period 1790-18h0. Wolf Samuel was a native of Brackenheim in m'irttenberg. He sailed from Amsterdam on September 13. 1818. His first h7weinryb. M" p. 121. “astrassburger. 22. gt... p. 113 “9mm whitehen. "Notions. Dry Goods and clothing: in Introduc- tion to the Stw of the Cincinnati Paddler." £3 Jewish mg: Eview. 35 letter to his parents. written from Poach Bottom. York county. Pennqlvania on June 27. 1819. recalls his Journey to the United States aboard the ship Vrouw misabeth. The ship carried ninety-six passengers. six of whom were Jews. arriving in Baltimore after a voyage of five months. Kisch reports that Samuel had signed a bill of exchange in Amsterdam on July 6. 1818 in which he bound himaelf to pay 190 guilders. for passage to America. to the order of F. Krebs and Son. It was made payable a week after his arrival in the United States. The bill was etmlorsed by the creditors on September 5. 1818 in favor of Captain Hendrik B‘edero of the ship Vrouw Elisabeth.5° Mary of the German-Jewish imldgrants were. as was Wolf Samuel. simply too impoverished to pay in advance for their passage to the United States. Others were financially capable of paying for the passage in advance. but nearly all were left destitute upon arrival in the United States. Few of the Jewish migrants from Germary during the period 1790-1800 were married. The laws which prevented their marriage were among the motives for fleeing Germany. Jewish periodicals of the 1830's were reporting that while Gentiles were emigrating in family groups. Jews were traveling as single persons.51 Married men had fewer grievances in Germany. They had been granted Letters of Protection allowing them to follow a trade and establish a domicile thereby pensitting their marriage. The above article continues. "the Jewish emigration appears to be due less 50mm Kisch. "German Jews in white Labor Servitude in America. " £2222 Jewish gigtorical Eterlz. 3a (1937). p. 28. 51sums. "Source Materials." 13. 111 citing inc 1 des Edenthums. m it. 1839. p. 215: Weinsyb. op. cit.. p. 1 z and Philipson. op. gt” p. 12. 36 to greed for gain than to the consciousness of being unable in ”3' other way to achieve independence or to found a fauJy."52 Some of the migrants were apprentices and Journeyman who had learned a trade. but. because of restrictive quotas on the number of Jews in various occupations. could not practice it. (h'instein estimates. however. that at least 30 per cent of the ilmigrants had been peddlers in Germamr. This. he states. is indicated by the fact that "most of them had been Luftmensgen in their previous hues; men without specific vocational training. or. perhaps. at most some experience in petty trading."53 Jewish records in the United States frequently refer to residents in the American port of entry who had equipped an imigrant with a basket and sent him out to peddle. If these immigrants had known my craft or trade which coald have earned them a livelihood in the United States. it is safe to assum that they would at least have attempted to follow their vocation upon arrival. The record indicates that they did not do so. This would confirm the assumption that they had no training in am craft whatever. The young Jewish emigrant. nevertheless. was optimistic. Eben after all hope for the young Jewish residents of southern Germany collapsed during the reactionary period following the battle of Waterloo. there was still a future for them elsewhere. What Germam did not offer them. America did. Israel Joseph Benjamin. a German-Jewish traveler in the United States free 1859 until 1862 consents. they "brought along . . . 5261015. "Smrce Materials." p. 111 citing WM Judenthume. Key 11. 1839. p. 215. 53mm B. Grinstein. The Rise of the Jewish mg; of fig york, 16%1860 (Philadelphia: The Jewish Pu ca on Society of nerica. 1 5.p.129. 37 optimism Joinedwith sound canon sense. . . . anda new an. . . . inexhaustible perserverance. together with those peculiarly Jewish traits. comm and sobriety."5" "They are emigrating. indeed."55 They emigrated from the poor villages. small towns and rural areas of southern Germany. Bavaria contributed. by far. the largest number of Jewish emigrants to the United States. follow- ed by wz'irttemberg and seden.56 Jewish emigration was also oocuring in Saxony. Palatinate. Hesse. and Oldenburg. but not the the extent that it was occuring in the other three states. The language they brought with them was German. though some knew Hebrew and wrote home in Jewish vernacular.57 or Judeo-German (Yi.ddish).58 The German-Jews were later to be attacked in the Amarioan Jewish press for speaking German in the United States and for teaching German to their children.” They did not. however. bring with them a highly developed sense of Jewish group life. They had not known nor lived in compact. close-knit Jewish cammities in Gemm'. Anti-semitic laws and attitudes had prevented that. They lived in small towns and villages in Geflarw. witth the benefit of a well-organized Jewish calamity life. They y‘xohler. op. cit.. p. 96. 5561ans. "Source Materials." p. 108 citing emeine i do W. September 9. 1837. no. 66. 56Weinryb. op. cit.. p. 116; and Kohler. op. cit.. p. 91.. 5761mm "The 'Bayer' and the 'Pollack' in Merica." p. 201; and Weim-yb. op. cit.. p. 111. flan-emu, 92. cit.. p. 115 5951mm "The Duigratim of German Jews up to 1880." p. 911. 38 would. of course. seek out similar physical surroundings in the united States. The uigrants were Jews. first and forenost. Secondly. they were Germans ani remained steadfast in their desire to transplant the habits of the life they had inherited in Germaro'.6° "The German Jewish immi- grant." Glanz points out. "wished to preserve here what he cherished of his old home and did not find in the new. And that wee all:"61 The Galen-Jewish immigrant in the United States was fleeing anti-semitin. not necessarily Germam. Oil‘lmre change. however. cauenoed as soon as the udgrant Jew was aboard the ship bound for the United States. Wolf Samuel wrote home to his parents telling them that his master in the United States was a Mob Jew. He was not Jewish at all. Samuel. according to Weinryb. was apparently attempting to ease his parents' fear that he was eating non- kosher food.62 He had probably not eaten kosher food since anbarking frm Elrope. The Journey to the United States meant. of cmrse. a relaxation of religious practices. The immigrant Jews were certainly not able to observe Jewish dietary laws in steerage. nor were they probably able to observe any other religious obligations. Steerage was notoriously filled with roughnecks and indentured servants who would have ridiculed the sixteen or seventeen year old Jew for such observances. Although 60mdolf Glans. ”Jews in Relation to the mltural Milieu of the Germans in America up to the Eighteen Eighties." in Studies in M m- p- 205- 611131 . 6W. 92. cit.. p. 119. 39 they were believing and observant Jews. it was next to impossible for them to avoid committing occasional transgressions while aboard the ship bound for the United States. Wednryb adds another element already at work in Germam which smoothed the way for the easing of religious observances: "They seem to have been further swayed in this direction not only by the individual attitude. but also by some current trend toward relaxation of certain religious practices . . . among the village Jews in Germam'."63 The German-Jewish emigrant has been pictured as being a young man. but not all were in that category: ". . . at Riedenburg. a village in the province of Brueckenau. an old man of eighty-five has decided to migrate to America."6u Man Lasams. who settled in Morgan Omnty. (hie in 1818. was in his mid-forties when he emigrated from his n... in Germam'. migrants over the age of thirty were. however. a distinct minority. The vast majority of the immigrants were young men. They were among the "unlerprivileged groups. [the] second and third sons: and. perhaps. in part. even from the lowest groups. the transients."65 Glens adds that the emigrant might even have been the "eighth. ninth. 63km” pp. 110-11. 6“Clans. "Source Materials." p. 109 citing Eggmeine 21M des MM. March 30. 1839. p. 135. 65weim-yh. cg. git... p. 109. It is doubtml that many Jews from the latter class w ve been capable of emigrating. They were financially incapable of raising enough money for passage to the United States. Nor did they have am skills or training to offer as security to obtain credit and migrate as indentured servants. 1&0 or even eleventh son. "66 This was especially true after the promulgatim of the Jew-law of 1813. enacted through the efforts of Count Mazdmilian von Montgelas. Minister of Finance for Bavaria. The law encouraged emigration abroad of younger sons by prohibiting their right to receive Letters of n-oteetion which would allow them to establish deaieiles.67 Kohler describes the young German-Jewish immigrant in blunter terms: The former were persons whose forefathers for ages had been subjected to every kind of degrading persecution. and had been debarred from pursuing any ennobling avocations; persons who themselves had neither been endowed by their fathers with worldly goods. nor with liberal knowledge. Nevertheless. to their credit be it said. these German- Israelites. uncouth. illiterate. narrow-minded and poor. as the greater part of them must have been. friendless. without resources. and ignorant of the English language. as they unquestionably were. by dint of strict frugality. of unceasing activity. of indominable energy. of considerable innate. if uncultivated. abilities. succeeded in acquiring more or less considerable ggrtunes. and in raising them- selves to positions of trust and honor. ant d Tsedaka. or charity. is an important eluent within all Jewish communities.69 No institutional form of charity. however. was necessary for the German-Jewish immigrant of the pciod 179048140. As discussed earlier. they came as single men; free from the responsibilites ofpro- viding for the feeding and housing of others.'70 Because they came as 66Glanz. "The 'Bayer' and the 'Pollack' in America." p. 190. 67pm" p. 192. 68Kohler. op. gt" p. 90. 69Bernard H. Pucker. "Inigrant Aid within the Jewish Commity. 1780-1860." (unpublished essay. Lexington. Mash. 196+). p. 1. 70M. M" p. 302. #1 individuals. the Jewish co-unities in the United States were able to care for them on an iuiividual basis. If the immigrant knew no one in the united States. he would seek out the nearest Jew upon arrival.71 so would find.himself a friendly home. "inevitably there arose the question of how the immigrant should make a living . . . when [it was discovered that] the immigrant had been a Luftmenfl on the other side. there was no alternative but . . ." for the host to recouend peddling.72 Often the host himself would fit the immigrant with a basket and send him out to peddle. giving him his first supply of wares on credit. The first Jewish immigrant aid society in the United States. m M- was founded in Philadelphia in 1783.73 It was a special fund of the Tsedaka of the Congregation Hikveh Israel. The establishment of this charity aided in the early promotion of Philadelphia as the primary port of entry for German-Jews into the United States. In 1822. the Hebrew Benevolent Society was founded in New York. offering an indication that New York had bypassed Philadelphia in importance as the German-Jews' port of entry. The leadership of the Hebrew Benevolent Society was cuposed largely of Germaanews. The immigrant Jew. if he had no other resources. could draw upon these charities. Weinryb mentions yet another method of immigrant financing. one which 71Bernheim. The Settlement of Jew; in the Lower go yang, p. 11.. 72mm. op. cit.. p. 65. 73Pucker. 92. fit" p. 6. #2 has alreaw been mentioned in this chapter. That method was the redemptioner trade (indentured servants).7“ Although it passed out of edstence during the 1820's. it was nevertheless an important method in bringing German-Jews to the United States during the first half of the stash period. This was a system whereby a person bound himself to serve a certain number of years to the person who paid his debts - usually the cost of the passage to the United States. Ship captains usually paid the passage of the redemptioner. selling him to another pcson upon arrival in the thited States. We have alreatb' discussed two ymng German-Jews who utilised this method of financing their passage to the United States. Undoubtedly mam others came as indentured servants. 7%einryb. op. cit.. p. 109. CHAPTE III PDDLIM} IN THE UPPm OHIO VALLEY [by Peddling? Without question. the vast majority of the German-Jewish i-igrants of the period 1790-1830 began their new life in the United States by engaging in peddling.1 Buchalter lists six reasons for the choice of peddling by the German-.- Jewish i-igrantszz 1) There was little or no initial investment on the part of the i-igrant.3 As discussed in diapter II. the German-Jewish i-igranta were poverty stricken. often arriving in the United States ‘ with little more than a few dollars in their pockets. Numerous Jewish ; i-igrants were given their first supply of goods at credit by mp... thetic Jewish residents of the port city. In those cases. there was no initial investment on the part of the immigrant whatever. 2) The German- Jewish i-igrant had left anti-semitic. ridicule. and disrespect behind 1Letter from Malcolm B. Stern. genealogist. American Jewish Archives. New York. March 1. 1972: Glanz. "The Migration of German Jews up to 1880." p. 92: Ridolf Glans. "Notes on hrly Jewish Peddling in America." in Studies in daica eri . p. 121: Joseph L. Blau and Sale H. Baron. he Jews of the United States a nta isto (New York: Columbia Urfiversity Press. 1933;. P. 95; and Jacob R. Marcus. Memoirs of erican Jews 1 -186 . III (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication SocieE of America. 1955). p. 6. 2Jehudah Ben sq- Buchalter. "A Letter from the New Country." in m. 180 (1995). P. 68% Translated from Classical Hebrew by Mrs. Josef Bental. hat Lansing. Hichigan. 3See also Whiteman. op, gt" p. 307. “3 FIGURE 14. ISAAC WOLFE BERNHEIM. A GHiMAN-JMSH PRIMER “5 him in southern Germ-1v. what he wanted in the United States. above all else. was to be respected and accepted. fiddling was an honorable pro- fession that they were capable of performing and which would gain them the respect of the native Americans.“ They had little vocational train- ing at home and though they might have been qualified for manual labor. felt that laborers were scorned in the United States. 3) There was a fast return on the investment made in purchasing their goods. There was no waiting for a salary: it came immediately. The peddler could work at his own rate. earning more or less. depending on his own abil- ities and ambition. He was free and independent. Isaac Wolfe Bernheim. in his reminiscences about his peddling days. we. "I trudged along the peaceful Pennsylvania highqu dreaming of future triumphs. Life glittered with golden promise of coming rise is a country storekeeper or of manorial affluence on a prosperous farm. I liked the life in the open. . . ."5 In addition. there were no accounting problems. The peddler bought low. attempted to sell high. He knew at all times what his profit margin was. 5) Paddling encouraged the peddler to learn mglish rapidly in order to survive financially. They could sell their wares. of course. without aw knowledge of the English language. but knowledge of the language opened new territory to them. made them better bargainers. 6) Ham were. according to Buchalter. thieves and murderers. running “Deborah. I (1856). p. 266 confirms that "most of the poor and new German-Jews were forced to go into peddling. which was not as degrading here as in Germam. . . ." sBerDheim. 1h: Ston of the Bernheim BEL-ll! p. 37. 46 from the law.6 They simply wanted to be given another chance to prove to themselves and to others that they cmild be honorable men. Grinstein adds that the i-igranta' first contact in the united States was frequently a German-Jewish merchant in the port city.7 soot oftheportmerchantsrealiaedfromtheirownaxperience thatthe small initial investment involved in supplying the foot peddler would be mfficient for the i-igrant to be a success. bequently the merchant waild hire the immigrant to distribute his products in the back-country: both the merdiant and the i-igrant gained from such an arrangement. Peddling did. however. possess sue disadvantages according to mohalter.8 The peddlers were. understandably. the first to feel an econodc doImturn. The items sold by the peddlers were unally those which the customer did not consider necessities. In times of econuic slumps. the peddler would. of curse. have difficulty in locating buyers. is mohalter states. the rich did not buy from peddlers. They could afford to travel to the large cities to buy fr:- eetablished merchants. The peddlers‘ customers were the workers. poor people. and farmers. who wereunabletotravelandwhodidnothaveertramoneytospendonfrille during times of panic or depression. hequently the exchange rate between Eastern and Western currency was so great that in buying new supplies. thepeddlerwoulddiecover thathehadlostallhis profitfruthe 6This is the only reference the writer fund which referred to am of the German-Jewish peddlers as being criminals at large. 7orinatein. m" p. 129. smut”. Me. pa 688e “7 previous trip. More than one peddler lost his total investment when he soldinthewestandboughtinthehet. Theseconddisadvantage. asfar as their religious life was concerned. was the fact that most of their business as carried out on hidavs and Saturdus. thereby making observance of the Sabbath diffiallt. Peiiling. for most German-Jewish immigrants. was simply the "first rand in the ladder of success. the profits of the first few weeks being employed in paying off the original liabilities of the stock . . ."9 As has alan been discussed. most were impoverished when they arrived in the United states.1° a vocation was needed which would bring an i-ediate return. The peddler found it absolutely imperative that he build up a reserve to buy a permanent establishment. or to repay his passage money. "learning [also]. in the quickest way. the manner of berican lfe."11 wean Lazarus. "a Jew who had previously tramped about the country as a peddler."12 gave up peddling as soon as he had accum- ulated enough cash to buy a call store in Malta. mic.” He did as the majority of German-Jewish peddlers of the period had done. "trudged . . . 9Kohler. op. git.. p. 97. 10Joseph Austrian. for example. had only twelve dollars in his pocket when he arried in the United States. New others had far less. “Richard Banta. The Ohio (new York: Rinehart. 191»). p. 279. 12can-r1» nob-mm. WW (mecca: L.H. Watkins and 00.. 1886 . p. 3. ”norm county (one) my p. 12. Evan Lama purchased lot 6. located on Trent Street. on the west bank of the lhekingum mver. in the village of Malta on June 2. 1819. There are indications. however. that he settled there in 1818. #8 throughthe lengthandbreadthofthe oonntrynntil . . . [accumlating] enough capital for a permanent establishent.“ Ham were sinply carry- ing on only that which they knew; ". . . our own people." declares the M. "who from the lost industrious far-ing population have for centuries. thrcngh the force of oppression. been reduced to a set of small traders. horny-lenders. pedlers [sic]. and itinerants of all sorts.”15 Seven years later (1855). the Mdent again reaffirns the assunption that Jews from Ger-am had been peddlers: ". . . the efforts that have been made for centuries. by the tyrants of mrope. to debase and extinguish the Jewish intellect. by debarring the. fru the exercise of arc avocation or employment other than that of traffic . . . either as bankers. nerchants. or the more humble peddler."16 Isaac Bernhein's grandfather. Solomon Bernheim. was a soldier in the French Am under Napoleon. 01 his discharge he became. as Bernhein calls hin. an "itin- erant nerchant." or peddler. operating out of Haldkirch. in Baden (see Figure 3). He later returned to his turner hone in Schniehein. also in Baden. and becane the first Jew to receive persission to open a regular store in the village.” He was successful and was able to seal his children to the school in nearby Ettenhein.18 hoot Ger-an-Jews were not “Banach. M” p. 1&0. 15"dlaritable Institutions.“ m. v (lane). 1:. 1m. Grinstein (19155) esti-ates that 30 per cent of the German-Jewish i-igrants had been peddlers in Germany. 16"Dedicatim of the School-house of the Hebrew sdnoation Society of Philadelphia." m.- m (1855). p. sou. 1'7Isaac Holfe Bernheia. gs Sty of the Ernhein m. p. 3. 1 e. Po he 1.9 so fortunate. Peddling. in fact. had been cults-ptuoualy associated with the petty trade of the village Jews in smthern Ger-aw for decades. It was an exceptional case who a Jew was able to leave the peddler's pack and becone a storekeepar. Peddling. in nest instances. was the only trade the i-ign'ant Osman-Jew know. In the United States peddling did not carry the contewpt it had in Blrope. so it was a natural compa- tion for the i-igrant to engage in.19 Mary a young Jew left the master to when he had been indentured. with or without the master's blessings. only to travel to Pittsburgh or Wheeling "with his pack roll of notions."2° ”an... puns. on . b... and float downstreas "swapping by the way until he heard of a likely town to settle in. "21 Joseph metrian had no idea regarding what he wmld do to earn a living upon arrival in the United States. He not a fellow Jew after his arrival in the United States. explained his plight «- as stated above. he arrived with ally tilelve dollars - and was advised to invest his aoney in notions. His advisor offered to get him started. "is he spoke English arr! I calld not understand one word. I gladly accepted his propositim. We started off at once. . . ."22 matrian's first peddling venture was successful: selling a few dollars worth of 19White-an. M" p. 308. 20Iaanta. M" p. 278. ”liti- 22...... ems... W (micago: n.p.. 1906). p. . 50 goods. it the em! of the first five days he had a profit of two dollars; "fair success." Austrian calls it.23 01 his own. he chose to peddle in thebackeountry"where the roads tothe citywerevexybadandl calculated the difficulty offered people in going to and fro. would be to w advantage."2" Other peddlers would. of course. reach the sane conclusion and peddle in the rural areas: Naturally the peddler picks out invariably that stretch of the cmntry in which the majority of settlenalts are situated and which is still the least infested by his colleagues: thereupon he goes free one fare to another and asks whether the inhabitants are in need of his wares. Usually the answer is 'Nol' hit as the husband is rarely at hone and wonen would invariably fain see what precious trinkets the seller does really carry hidden in that large. heavy pack. he easily obtains perlission to open his pack and spread out his wares. The people of the Umer (hio Valley were settled in small villages and towns. or on isolated fares. frequently adles distant fro. one another. Permanently established stores could offer their goods only to those who lived in the vicinity. The far-er could not leave his land unattefied to Journey into the village or town to purdlase itens which were unessen- tial to his livelihood. Be cmld. and would. however. procure then if they were near at hand. Into this void stepped the German-Jewish peddler. He was sent out by a sea-chant or wholesaler to atteapt to sell these its-s which the farmer or village resident would not w otherwise. a- he was. Joseph Austrian. an independent pddler: bwing supplies where he cmld obtain then for the lowest price and reselling then for the highest ”has. w. . p. 15. 25Glann. "Source Materials." p. 129 citing w.c. Friedrich. Wmnis (Jun 1572 7 ). '01. x. P- 196- 51 possible profit. Host of the Isl-chants and wholesalers who employed or stocked the peddlers were located in the large river towns: Pittslmrgh. wheeling. Harietta. Cincinnati. or Louisville. Sone peddlers mar have also gone downstream to St. Louis to obtain their supplies. but these were nobably few because of the difficulty in transporting their wares back up-river. Philadelphia merchants. including many Jewish firns mach as the Grats Brothers. were establishing warehouses and outlets thralgh- out the (bio Valley.26 The Jewish firms would. cut of lqalty to their co-religionists. attenpt to employ a Gernan-Jew to peddle their wares for than. Independent German-Jewish peddlers wmld. of cause. out of a desire to receive a fair deal. patronise a Jewish establishment when replenishing their stock. Although the paddles could be expected to realise a slight profit fra their sales. the profit of new of the suppliers was frequently substantial. John Beauchamp Jones. writing under the pseudorvn. Luke Shortfield. complains that he had to obtain his applies fron "Keen. Gaming and Company. of Philadelphia."27 The tumor had to keep his wits when dealing with the wholesalers in order to pre- vent being cheated by then. The migrant Osman-Jew. ignorant of the English language. calld be easily cheated by the wholesalers and undoubt- edly any were. Isaac Leeser's Edent asks what can be done to help the immigrants. "nch as to lift then above their state of indigence‘l"28 for new years 263m and Baron. op. cit.. p. 130. ”Shortfield. Mn p. 162. 28.999.42.33.- xv (1857). p. 279. 52 the illigrants had been given a "small pack of am sort of valuable goods."29 then sent out to peddle anong the people of the .all towns an! villages. and to the farmers. The article conunues. "this qsten must cone to an end: it is nearly overdone new: . . ."30 Two years earlier (1855). the sane periodical had called for an alternative to peddling for the innigrants: "apprentices are better than to encourage a qstenofhawldngandpeddling. . .which. . .isamostdegradingand pswrious occupation."31 )msrican Jewish leaders continully spoke out against peddling. not only because they considered it degrading. but they were aware of the consequences regarding the effects of it on the Jewidl allture of the pediler. Licenses. before 181w. were a snall obstacle to the peddlers. but these were not overly restrictive and am i-igrant culld easily obtain one with only a mini-um of effort. Pennsylvania enacted its first 10! regarding peddling in 1729. It was probably the nest restrictive of the laws concerning peddling to be in effect within the study area. bong other minor requirenmlts. the law stated that the prospective peddler cmld only obtain a license after obtaining a recumendation from the court regarding "the honesty of the person recouended and [certifying] that he or she is a liver within this province.“32 The standard fee in Pomqlvania appears to have been ten dollars a year. althalgh the law 29:21.4. 3g. 31"The Jews in Jamaica." may; :11 (1855). p- 571. ”Pennsylvania. statutes at Lego (1729). oocvm. p. 142. 53 authorised local goverrnental agencies to establish higher fees. Fersons peddling without a license were to be treated as co-on vagrants and punished accordingly. The sale law. amerded numerous tines. was still ineffectattheendofthenineteenthcentury. Virginiahadasimilar licensing requirement; it too carried over fr~ the Colonial period. Kentuelq mquired that peddlers liomlses be obtained fro- the county clerk of any county of the “wealth.” The fee was. again. ten dollars. The license was valid for one year from the date of issue and was valid throughout Intueky. irregardless of where it was purchased. The fine for not possessing a peddlers license in Kentucky was ten dollars. The Northwest Territory enacted its first licensing requirenmt. which applied to peddlers. in 1799.3" The fee. in this case also. was ten dollars per year. The penalty for peddling without a license was eighteen dollars. Chic and Indiana. after achieving separate status. sinply re- snacted the law of the Northwut Territory. with slight increases in fees and substantial increases in the penalties for peddling without a license. Mary peddlers. willing to assume the risks involved. disregarded the licensing requirement. The laws did not apply to persons who paddled fron riverboats. further encolraging peddlers to remain in close proximity to navigable rivers. The Gernan-Jewish i-igrant. taking up the role of peddler that the Yankee had abandoned. was fulfilling a role that ceded to be especially created for him. He follwed the Ger-an inigrants into the interior of ”Mucky, ggute Laws (1806). comm. 13- 3‘2. 3"Theodore Pease. ed.. e s of the lortlnvest Territ 88- 800 (Danville. Illinois: Illinois fiifi‘i‘l mm”. 1%,. p. g1. 5" inerica. and suppliedthsnwithitenswhichbeptthemincartactwith the outside world. Joum into the ELI-Ml! During the period or this study. there were few choices regarding the route to follow into the interior of the United States. The vast majority of the Gersan-Jewish innigrants. as has been discussed earlier. entered the United States through the ports of New York. Philadelphia. and. occasionally. Baltinore. They i-ediately began peddling. following the German immigrants into the West. They peddled their wares as they loved westward. eventually reaching the 0110 River Vallq. their goal. The narket that the peddlers sought was in the mic Valley. There were the isolated villages and far-s which needed the services that only the peddler could bring: The country is big and there are still places . . . where people are so good-natured or so simple that they allow thenselves to be duped a little. San finds these places and the farners are happy to see the peddler. for then they need not lake the long Journey to the city. But Sam is still happier. since he sells at 2 per cent profit all! gets a night's lodging and evemng neal Tree. The peddlers were frequently successful in busineu because the. established nerdxants. who were few in number. carried only those items for which there was a rent urket - the bare necessities of life. Seldon could they afford to stock the frills and trinkets that were the stock in trade of the Osman-Jewish peddler. They could not bother with it‘s such as notions. dry goods. and reach-lads clothing. except by ordering thu 35mm, "Source haterials." p. 135 citing Theodor (kissinger. Lebende Bilder ans Egrika. pp. 20-25. 55 especially for one resident who might have requested such articles. The peddler carld offer what the nerchants could not. nore rapidly. and at a lower price.36 The market. as stated above. was. indeed. large and ertpaniing. The federal corners of 1790 shows that there were nearly 56,000 inhabitants in the area now for-ling the cut. of West mm...” Kentucky contained approxilately 73,000 persons by 1790; (bio. only ten years later (1800), possessed 45,365 inhabitants. Althmgh the totals above do not indicate the nunber of persons residing in the straw area. it can he seemed that at least half. if not sore. of the total population did. me to the influence of the mic River on irmigraticn. the greatest number of persons world have been attracted to settle within its vicinity. There was probably a market of well over 100,000 pm-sons within the study area by 1800. This large and growing market needed the products of the East. The Grate Brothers.38 and other mercantile firms of the bet. were opening business ventures in the west during the early years of this stw. The market was expanding. the supplies were available; the war was open for the introchrction of a distributor - the Gerian-Jewish peddler. 361.” Max Fried-an. "The Problens of Nineteenth Oen'hrry perican Jed-h Mil-rs." W. ‘W (195'I-55>- P- “- 37m.- Shinefling. wast 333% 123?: 23%; and “TE“; Lago- 1m(flriladelphia:PressoH.Jac s.13.p.1 s t research indicates a population of 55.873 in the area now forning West Virginia in 1790. 3811'- Grats Brothers were along the first land-owners (1780) in the Pittsburgh area. For nor-e infornauon on their activities. see Vincent wars. chants in Philadel 1 1 8 (Jefferson City. e enson . . . 56 Pemqlvania issued Indian trading licenses in 1765 to Abraha- Moses and hoses Abraham in 1772 to Abrah. Levy; in 1773 to Dbl-d.- Abraham Jacob Cohen. and Joseph Solo-on cohen: and in 1775 to Lynn Nathan.” These sen were traders. not settlers or peddlers. but were instrunental in opening trade in western Pennsylvania. They returned to their bones in the not after their trading was capleted. Jewish settlers. however. were pernanently residing in Pittsburgh by 1800. Kchler nmtims at least one visitor to Pittsburgh who co-ented on the presence of Jewish resi- dents in the city. The Baglish actor. Bernard. who. in Pittsburgh in 1800. suggested that there were "natives of every State. besides B1glish. Irish an! Scotch. french. German. mum. Jews. and Indium“ Several Jews purchased land in the Pittsburgh area following the Revolutionary War. but. as of 1790. none resided there. Apparently the Jews to whoa Bornard refers were either persons who settled in Pittsburgh between 1790 and 1800, or were Jewish innigrants. passing through enroute to the West. Peldnan devotes little research to the Jewish peddler in the Pittsburgh area. He consents only that they passed through the city occasionally: "it is unknown how they fared or if am of th. settled here."“1 Solcnon Schoyer. born in Gemarw in 1795. arrived in Pittsburgh between 182‘! and 1832. Be say have been a peddler hinself. but upon arrival in fimnlvflg Archives. 5th Series. I. pp. 371+.79. MKOhler. °Ee fits. P. 25o “Jacob S. hldnan. be Dr m ation and Settlenent of Jews in W (PittsE—r%: %5—d fish firamn of Pitts- burgh and e t burgh Council of B'nai B'rith. 1959). p. 6. 57 Pittsburgh. established a wholesale ond retail clothing autos-o." Glens confiras that Jewish wholesalers becase the suppliers of the Jewish retail-serohants. the poddloss.” Undoubtedly. Schoyer sold his whole- sale goods to Genera-Jewish peddlers who were passing through Pittsburgh erroute to the West. He spoke Genan and was the obvious choice as supplier to the i-igrant German-Jew who had not yet sastered the hglish language. Cincinnati. however. was the focal point for the Gersan-Jewish peddlers. Pittsburgh. because of the Wsical characteristics of the surrounding landscape. was unsuitable for large nusbers of Gersan-Jewish peddlers.M The population was sore centralised arolmd the city of Pittsburgh; peddlers could not successfully cmpete with the established serohants in the central dty. There was no large. scattered population in the rural areas mrrounding Pittsburgh an! transportation facilities in the back country were poor or non-existent (see Figure 5). Few Jews. in fact. settled in the Pittsburgh area until the sass migration of the 1850's. A m (a group of ten sen required to conduct services in a synagogue) was not possible until 1948 whmr Congregation W was fmndedf‘5 Cincimati. on the other hand. could boast of possessing “2143.. p. 9. “Moi: Glans. "Notes on body Jewish Peddling in ponds." in §tudi_eg in Judaig Eericana. p. 1246. “Most of the Jewish supply houses in Pittsburgh closed within a m years of opening; their owners moving farther west. Peldsan (1959) nases only two Jewish peddlers in Pittsburgh in 1850. ”5mm. 0 . t.. p. 1b: Julia Miller. "Jews Gamected with the History of Pittsbur . 1W9-1865." (unmblished Master's thesis. University of Pittsburgh. 1930 . p. 2“. 58 \— ‘0. Wanawha R no t“ / 0 Kentucky R. w. 4W VA K Y / I- New R /Llcking R. 8 9 Sandy R. N Source: Birkbeck, |8l8 r Brown . I 9 4 8 L 50 '20 Mil FIGURE 5. some 01' THE 1820's 59 . mgsgu. in 1822.“ m Gersans were settling in the Pittsburgh area during the study period.to provide customers for the Ger-an-Jewish illi- grant who coild speak only German. The goal of the peddlers was. fros the beginning. the Chic vslley. The Jewish migration into the Mahoning Valley (see Figure 1). according to Butler. sou-snood in the 1830's.“? However. it undoubtedly began earlier with Gems-Jewish peddlers entering the area. They were assisilated into the Gentile culture only to be overlooked by Butler and other researchers. Hsny Ger-an-Jewish insigrants reached the Ohio by way of the Rational Road. They peddled across Pennsylvania fros Philadelphia to‘Hheeling. on the Chic River.“8 Upon conpletion of the Chic arr! Die Canal in 1833. nuserous German-Jewish insigrants began to enter the 0110 Valley by way of the Me Canal and Lake Me to aeveland. hos Cleveland they saved by way of the mic am! his canal to Portssouth on the 0110 River (figure 6). Both these routes bypassed Pittsburgh. placing the Gown-Jewish inigrant directly into the heart of the Upper 0110 Valley. his goal. Future mccess for the German-Jew was to be fund in the 0110 Valley. He took the shortest. or least expensive. route to reach it. Jacob 156‘ congregation was founded in New Orleans. the southern port of entry for Gerssn-Jows. in 1826. twenty-two years before the founiing of the synagogue in Pittsburgh. “7Joseph G. Butler. Jr.. etc of Y s and the o (Chicago and New To : he can mete Society. 1921). p. 322. “The National Road was coupleted and open to traffic as far as wheeling. Virginia in 1818. OHIO Lift/e To Cleveland Beaver Ck ‘ 5““, R. \ I Scioro R. can one am oonel‘ \ I N D ‘ ”- .R‘ Muskingurn R PuHODutch . l IUMIr. ”06*th R- 1" ' ‘ I a“ . I .3, _ ‘0. l lporo": 4'..- . ‘ ._ a l ‘ ‘ “ 1' 'A \ ‘ ‘m \ [I ‘s‘ \ .“ / ‘ \ ~ ’ -. Cinemas“ Monongahela R. Portsmouth . I\ “AMI/s Kanawna R. é ‘ "“Kanawha R 1“ /. oh"o Ksnfucky R. \ W VA K Y / ." N." R. . ' -. Bi Sand R. / Licking R. g y N f Source: Brown, I948 (L 5.0 '90 Miles FIGURE 6. CANAIS AND CANALIZD RIVERS 61 st'ooongut. for son-pro. arrived in low rod-k. July 21. 1837. no traveled westward along the Me Canal. M1118 by W. traveling w boat at night. He reached drillicothe. duo in Septesber of 1837.” Marcus Pechheiner. born July 13. 1818 in Hitwits. Bavaria arrived in New York in the spring of 1837. He peddled through New York. Pemsylvania and Chic. arriving in Cincinnati in Deco-ber of 1839.50 Bernhein states: ”thus . . . these harch pioneers either as peddlers. or as store keepers. scattered [themselves] along the shores of the . . . caio."51 and its navigable tributaries. The German-Jewish peddlers. because of their inability to speak the English language. migrated by the shortest possible routes to the Chic Valley where they coild begin their careers anid persons with when they could converse. The e the Charles Peters. an sac-peddler. su-s up a Gerssn-Jewish peddler's career in his "four degrees of business."52 These were: ”let. 'hit a pack on his back;' 2nd. 'Mit a horse and wagon;' 3rd. 'Mit a store:' 15th. 'Mit a bank or bankrupt.” Craner caments on the existence of 10k settlements in the Upper Chic ”981.112, "Source Materials." p. 127 citing wow. vol. XVI. Cincinnati. 1881-85. p. 518. 50mg!” p. 127-28 siting 2r Eutsche Pionier. vol. 111:: (1881-82). p. 5°1e ”Bernheim. me Settlesent of Jews in the Lower (bio Valley. p. 15. 52Q1arles Peters. 11:, Etobigmfl of $31“ Eters (Sacrasento: n.p.. node). pe 138. 62 Valley in 1811 (no Figure $0.53 Undmbtodly than were others: Cl'aler does not state his criteria for the designsuon of a settlement. There were. to be sure. imuserable haslets and isolated farss scattered throughout the region. Peddlers were likely to be found in all of these settlemmrts. either as temporary residents peddling in the surrounding rural area. or settling in permanently established stores. Bit what was the life of the peddler like? He had left his honeland. fasily and friends. He was in a strange wilderness. He did not know the language of the natives. He had been a devout and observant Jew at home in Ger-amt. but he could find few co-religimists in the vast territory he was now situated in. He was forced to disobey the teachings and doctrines of his religion and peddle on the Sabbath. He was obliged. fron sheer hunger. to eat non-kosher food offered to his by sympathetic farners. hericans in this region. even as late as 1915. were offering fine meals of pork to passing Jewish peddlers)” The peddlers traveled through the region during all seasons and in all kinds of weather. However. they preferred the winter sonths when their customers would be found indoors. The peddler's wares took on a different. fascinating appearance when the peddler opened his pack and spread his goods across the floor. They were sore attractive when put on display in the drab, low cabin; on the rough wooden table. or across the dirt or 53mins: cronor, The flgviggtor (Pittsburgh: Craser. Spear. and Elohbaus. 1811!); Reprinted Ann Arbor: University Microfilm. 1966. “Lotto:- from Lucille (wnbior) suns. Fort Meade. Florida. April 16. 1972. 63 02° Uri/e Beam a Beaver R. . Alisgheny R Mancning. R ‘ Sciara R. ‘ O l N D Miami R ””3"”90”! R. a . . Hocking R . e to .‘e . O O. ." -— .0. . .. .1. . . . : '. L__.____ 1 !—-o— e e . ‘ ./V .e .e .. . / e \ '. e ° e ' ' Monongahela R. O O. .0. ,\ . "TJLlffls Kanawna R. \ 0 9 Q “a . ' "'Kanawna R. . 0 . 0'" Kentucky R. / - ‘~ .fw VA. KY / /~.,- New n. - B' S R. /Llcking R. :g andy N r Source: Cromcr, l8|4 L 59 '09 Miles FIGURE 7. 8mm. 1811 6” wooden floor. slid the homely. drab surrounding of the pioneer cabin. The oustuers saw the peddler's wares before their eyes. There were saw things that they could make use of. but would easily forget to purchase in the village store. The peddler was able to resind the: of tho 11th articles that tho needed in their daily lives.55 Rural herica was in need of ssall articles of every description and the German-Jewish peddler was prepared to supply then. The peddlers nonally talked to the women of the hmsehold. however. so they specialised in those itess that the women could use: ready-made clothing. dry goods (pillow shass and pillow cases. ribbms. lace. bows. and so on). and notions (buttons. pins. needles. thread. etc.). The peddlers were. indeed. successful. Jacob shssengut. the twenty- three year old Bavarian mentioned earlier. tranped throughout the area arami Chillicothe. Ross County. Ohio. He was successful in his venture and eventually graduated to a horse and wagon. He later angliaised his none to Jacob Seasongood.56 Philip Heidelbach. another Bavarian Jew. arrived in Cincinnati in the spring of 1837 after peddling across the cmntry from New York. his port of entry. Aided by g fellow J" in New York. he invested his eight dollars in peddler's supplies and within three months had raised a capital of $150.00. He peddled in the vicinity of Cincinnati and eventually entered into a partnership with Jacob ”mono. "Source Materials." p. 130 citing w.c. Friedrich. figstagkel's Geggelta Scrif‘ten. (Jena 1872-711). vol 1. p. 196. ”units-on. op. cit.. p. 312. 65 Seasongood in a dry goods store in 1&0.” Jacob fleas. at the age of twenty, arrived in new York from Gersary. He made his way to Philadelphia and Jacob Steiner's peddlers' supply house. He was given goods on credit and began his career as a peddler. He peddled westurd to the Upper (bio Valley. liked it. and settled in Pcrtssouth. Scioto County. chio.58 After the War of 1812. settlers stressed westnrd in great numbers. They filtered across the countryside where a scattered population formed. making the early establishment of guieral stores unprofitable. Whatever the family could not produce itself in the home. or the little frills that kept them in contact with the advanced econuy of the hat. were obtained fros river-boat poddiors.59 As roads were constructed. peddlers left the rivers and wandered fr:- settlement to settlasent. Thus the settler was freed from his isolation. Glanz indicates that "the settler becane connected with other sections of the American economic life 13 his contact with trade and goods; he was able to avoid working in hose- industry and could greatly increase his activities in agriculture . . ."50 It is extremely doubtful. however. that a peddler. carrying his wares in a pack on his back, could have brought enough merchandise to the isolated farser to accomplish so impressive a feat. The peddler. nevertheless. brought a little of the outside world to the isolated settler. The insi- grant settler was able to keep in closer contact with the world he had left through the medium of the German-Jewish peddler. 57:919. pp. 312-13. 58M.- 5961anz. ”Notes on Ehrly Jewish Paddling in herica." p. 121. 603351.. p. 122. 66 Pecfller supply horses were established at selected points thraghout the region. particularly in the (bio River towns. They provided goods and services for the German-Jewish peddlers. The owner of the general store. nary miles fru his supply house. made only one or two trips each year to obtain his stock. The peddler on an established route ccnld obtain an item for a housewife within a nonth or less. He could take the orderononepeddlingtripandsupplytheitemonthefollowingtrip. The peddlers also had an advantage over the general stores in that they catered to the German i-igrants. ”with whose peculiar tastes and needs he was familiar from tho homeland."61 The starwiard stock in trade of the German-Jewish peddlers. as mentioned above. were notions. dry goods and raw-made clothing.62 The goods were relatively light in weight. offering the peddler the opportunity to carry a larger number of items. The peddler could not afford to carry only a few items. He would be traveling for days at a time over long distames. He needed a large number of lightweight. high value Note to make his peddling Journeys profitable. It is doubtful that the German-Jewish peddler. particularly the foot peddler. carried items which were essen- tial to the livelihood of the isolated farmer. Pew items in that category would meet the peddler-'s requirements. Pefilers' wares were. for the most part. items which would be considered luxuries by the pioneer settler. They were items which brightened his life and kept his in contact with 51mm. p. 123. 62Marcus. mmoir! of nor-1m Je_ws. 122218fi. p. 6: and Whiteman. . t. 67 the styles and fashions of the hat. They were not the necessities of life. The first method of peddling was. of course. on foot. The poverty stricken immigrant was by no means able to pm-chase a horse upon arrival in the United States. He followed the primitive roads and tow'paths along the rivers of interior America (see Figures 5 and 6). The pack on his back seldom weighed less than forty pounds. frequently as mach as 100- 150 pounds. He normally traveled as mm as twenty-five miles a day.63 The German-Jewish peddler was the fashion advisor of the W. "He knew all tho latest styles [or at least carried tho products which could be passed off as being the latest styles] . . . as soon as he opened his pack he began a running record of the newest changes in fashion [if. of course. he knew Diglishl."a‘ The peddler stopped at nearly every house on his route. He only avoided those where he was certain that he would be unwelcme. If he he allowed to open his pack. he was usually successful in making a sale. 01cc the pack was opened. it was difficult for the isolated settler to resist the items before him. The peddler normally left the farmhouse with his pack lightened and his money purse heavier. "In time housewives began to expect the monthly visit from the cheerful. young Jewish peddler.”65 633” Figure 11 for a picture of a German-Jewish peddler who. from all indications. is. in appearance. typical of all the German-Jewish foot peddlers of the period 1790-18h0. 6“rticiolr Glans. Walden Prose. 1961). p. 1 Oregon. 1925). p. 162. 6'sl‘riedman. 22.2.53- p. h. 68 The bearded Hebrew frequently brought news of the outside world . if he could speak English. He was. needless to say. welcomed in most frontier households and helped improve the nerican system of co-unication and distribution by personal contuot.‘$6 The German-Jewish peddlers were scattered throughout the region in relatively large numbers and are frequently mentioned in travel accounts.67 James L. Scott "called at a German tavern [at Ashland. Richland County (now in Ashland County). Chic]. as the next day was Sabbath . . . during the day. a German peddler. a Jew. case. . . ."68 Luke Shortfield tells of an encounter with a German peddler. "a cunning Jew."69 whom he calls. "Hoses. the Jew."70 mean Lazarus appears to have operated out of Marietta. Washington County. (hie. The Shenenan peddler. who. unfortunately. remains anonymous. worked from a supply base in Wooster. Wayne County. Chic. "Eleven times out of ten the peddler is a Jew. . . ."71 The successful peddler. after graduating to a horse and wagon. rapidly exparsled his balsiness to include a wider assortment of products; adding 56mm». 22. g_i_t.. p. 38. 67There were 311 peddlers. most of whom were German-Jews. in Cincinnati alone in 18140; nary others were located throughout the Upper (trio Valley. See Charles Gist, ketches and Statistics of c ti in 1851 (Cincinnati: William E. Moore and 00.. 1351). p. 19. 68James Leander Scott. _ Journal of a Hisio __w our thr. 'indanis Odo . -- mm”! on.- - u-Ohlln; (Providence: By the author. 1843 . p. 19. 69Shortfield. op. cit.. p. 128. 7 .. p. 130. 71Glenn. "Source Materials." p. 133 citing Theodor Griesinger. Ebert Elder _a_us mm. p. 20. 69 tin and copper ware. taking items in trade instead of insisting on cash: offering goods on credit to his established customers; expanding his peddling area: becoming a true itinerant net-chant rather than Just a foot peddler. Many continued to travel by riverboat. license fees were not applicable to peddling from boats. as illustrated in the following: "And did you make awthing out of the deckers [the other passengers on the riverboatff" "Te Goats I salt on te bassage. . . . gost me vorty tollar - dsy prought me von huntret an! tirty. 1w pusiness is to pe alvqs at pusiness. everywhere. 01 to steanpoats dey ton't make us bay license."72 The Shenenan peddler was one of the more successful merchants who traveled about in a horse and wagon. He sold a variety of items; pails at twenty-five cents each. flaxseed at one dollar a bushel. rags at a variety of prices. tubs. ranging in price from one to three dollars. depending on size. peaches. which he received in trade. only to re-sell at a profit. apples. feathers. deer skins. tallow. cheese. nope. and butter.73 On January 7. 1836. after eleven days of peddling. he states in his diary. "finish Sold All and returned."7“ The route traveled by the Shem-Ian peddler began at his supply base in Wooster. Wayne County. Chic. proceeded southeast to New bdford. south to Keene Town (now called Keene) and west to mnville where his supplies became exhausted.” He retumd to Wooster to replenish his stock. then 728hortfield. 213. ci .. p. 183. 73lieddletr's Diary. Western Michigan University. Archives. John Shenenan Papers. ”mg. . p. 6. 75ml. 7O ventured out on the route illustrated in Figure 8. He did not cc-ent on length of time it required to couplets the second circuit. However. he carried a rich larger supply of goods and a greater variety of itees on the second Journey than he had on the first. The second Journey. during which his supplies became ezdlausted in the vicinity of Loudonville. was approximately seventy-five miles in length. This was probably the maximal: distance a wagon-peddler was able to travel before depletion of his stock. He never traveled more than thirty miles from his base of supply in Wooster. however. If he misJudged his business prospects. selling his stock of goods before completing the drcuit. he would be certain of having no more than thirty miles to travel in returning to his apply base. The naJority of his customers resided in rural areas. although he does consent occasionally that a few of his patrons were within some of the small villages along his route. The Sheneman peddler was typical of the advanced wagon-peddler. He extended credit to his customers. "Hooter Shutt . . . and bill 50 [cents] :"76 received goods in payment rather than insisting on cash. an! sold a wide variety of items. His expenses on the second Journey. other than the cost of the goods and his horse and wagon. totalled "12¢ to blacksmith"77 and "Blacksmith bill 25 [cents]."78 He expected to receive mot amounts in payment, if his customer paid cash. He kept “has. I» 5- 77:2id.. p. 10. 73mg” p. 11. 71 MIICS ASHLAND H ! I Donville o Owl Creek O. Wooster 0.. ._..-_.._-__...._...-_J Ll..-_ - _ - __ - .__'.-..._ - -I o.‘l'i-_.oud()rwille Wines.) 9. H at O :: ‘ i walnut Creeké ! I HOLMES Dode'S PM“ 6 ! -~—"~et'a—ed'f5r7."" I e.. ' Mohlcan t—--1 eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee .9000 E . Keen white Y 3i ' COSHOCTON I L _____________ J Source: Peddler's Diary, I835 FIGURE 8. P531151' 8 RWTE. 1835 72 a careful record of the amount of money received.froe.each customer and of the eeoent he paid out in ohenge. "so oente I gave change:"79 end "I gave 6% change:"80 are two such entries in his diary. Dangers abounded on the road. One account tells of a Ger-an-Jewish peddler being attacked by a man who was returning from a cap meeting. His explanation was that he had heard "that the Jews had crucified the Lord. and I calkerlated you was one of the men that did it."81 new local areas enacted laws regarding the activities of peddlers. often at the insistence of a local merchant. Many an unsuspecting German-Jewish peddler found himself in the unfriendly hands of the local constdble before he knew anything about the existence of the law. Frequently their foreign appearance made them the butt of Jokes and rough treatment in the village inns where they were occasionally obliged to stay overnight. Friedman adds. too. that "only too often [local newspapers had to report] the robbery. or sometimes the murder of a Jew peddler."82 Indeed. they ‘were murdered. A letter. written in 1836. contains the following: Perhaps you recollect a Jew pedler was missing two or three.yeurs ago near the free bridge of cayuga lake his horse and trunk was found where he put up for the night but nothing could be found of the man. (in that time search was nade) About ten dqs ago a an was chopping on the marsh of the lake in the woods and cut down a hollow stump twenty or thirty feet high on the same farm where the peddler was last seen and to his astonishment found it contained the body of a man hung in it with a rope and piece of chain . . . it is said to 79;§;9,. p. h. ”lb—12- 81Glenn. :hg few in the Old ”gm plum. p. 135 citing Jewish Ledggr. XII 19 . no. 9. p. 15. 82mm”. OEe fits, pe 6e 73 be the pedler. The farm was sold to another man once the pedler was missed. they have taken one man on suspigion and convqed his to Mburn and sent for another to Michigan. 3 The mrder of a German-Jewish pecfller Occured in Morgan County. Kentucky during the time that William lynhier was sheriff. A man by the name of Brown was tried and hanged for the crime. The name of the peddler who was murdered is not recorded.&' hiedman sumarises. "on foot. on horseback. or with wagon drawn kw a weary horse. over rough roads. fording unbridged streams. they made their slow ways with heavy packs. rain or shine. gaining their meager profits. ever hoping that at the end of the rainbow there was awaiting them sun- shine in this new land."85 The peddlers' reactions were as could be expected. Jacob Elsas "thought of home and mother and brothers and sisters. and felt indescrib- ably lonesome as he then. for the first time. shed tears."86 Abraham Kohn was bitter. "I camot say whether Mex-ice misled me. or whether I misled nyself."87 Maw others cursed the day they left hale. Sales were not alqu good; the peddler sometimes thought that. because of his back- ground. he simply was not sharp enough to make a good sale: 83Letter from Polly my. Venice. New York. Jamary 6. 1836 to Herman Landon. Jackson County. Michigan. 8“Letter from Lucille (War) Evans. Fort Meade. florida. April 16. 1972. 35mm. op. cit.. p. 6. 86White-an. Mn p. 3114. 87Marcus. 212413.. p. 7. 71} I mosht afeart America ish no conetry for the Jewish. no more ash Scotland ish vitch hash notink in it at all put pride ant poverty. ant oatmeal and vishkey. Te Yankee all knowish too msh for us. antish toomushwide awake. ant shosharpasaneetleatmakihg8 von pargain. vitch give no chansh at all to a poor Jew to liff. Asapeddlerbecameknown. andcametoknowhis customersonan established rmte. he often extended credit. He was frequently forced to make the move in order to compete with the village storekeepers who were his competition. Bad debts. of course. came to plague the peddler who had little chance of forcing pqment. Local courts repeatedly refused to force mments from neighbors to pay an itinerant peddler whom they often considered a scoundrel. A small handful of German-Jewish peddlers enJoyed their chosen profession. Isaac Wolfe Brnheim. at first. liked life in the open. stating that he preferred to be independent and to work out his own salvation in his own way.89 Most German-Jewish peddlers. however. were only too happy to save enough to buy a store in sale small town where they felt welcome. often omitting the horse and wagon stage of the peddling business. Ham peddlers who went through the horse and wagon stage were later sorry for making the move: I started out with high hapes. but soon discovered that I had made a serious blunder. To carry one's stock of goods boldly into a house and submit it for inspection to the prospective customer is a far easier proposition than to go empty-handed into the house. enumerate the articles which you have for sale. and try to receive permission to show your goods. In the former case a small sale could almost invariably be made. while in the latter procedure much valuable time 88Rudolf Glanz. "Jew and Yankee: a Historic Comparison." in §tudies in Judaica Mericana. p. 330 citing [Thomas Glandler Haliburtonl. 12 ; be Great Western or Life in a Ste r (Philadelphia. 89anheim. zhe flog of the Bernheim m. p. 37. 75 was often lost in the attempt to get the customer into the mood to look at your wares. Isaac Bernheim soon discovered. much to his grief. that the expense of keeping a horse far exceeded his profit on the goods he was able to sell. The happiest moment in his peddling career. and a turning point in his life. was when he discovered «as morning that his horse had died.91 The German-Jewish peddlers were frequently of the opinion that their suppliers and customers were attempting to take advantage of them. The feeling. in nary cases. was mutual. The editor of a Kentucky newspaper classified "pedlars. editors. clockmakers. timer). an! robbers" as being. for the most part. "men without honor or morality. . . . [here for] the dirty purposes of lucre and wealth."92 The editor's attitude was. unfor- tunately. a cannon one regarding the German-Jewish peddlers. The peddler quickly earned a reputation for sharpness: "Bat after all. he was a Jew peddler. It was said faceticusly up and down the Big Road that you 'cue off better with the black-faced highwayman in a rclgh and tumble scrap than you would trading with duke Rosenstein."93 The Osman-Jewish peddler was frequently made the butt of Jokes and anecdotesfll‘ EUman Lazarus is 9°rb1d.. p. 38. “Eli. p. in. 92Jenes Miller. The Genesis of western ture° The 0110 800- 82 (New York: De Capo Press. 1933. p. 59 $51... the Ir ort Commentator. March 23. 1820. 93Giants. The Jew in the Cid American Folklore. pp. 136-37 citing 9“?» further on this subJect. see Rudolf Glens. The Jew in the Old klore (New York: Waldon boss. 1961). and. by the same an or. Jewi Names in Early American minor." in §tudies in BEES: m (New York: Xtav Publishing noun. 1970). 76 frequently remembered ty the stories told regarding his activities: The first mill in nelte [Chic] was built by Isaac Baker on two flat- boats . . . It is related that the first time that Hyman Lasarus. the Jew. saw a steamboat on the [makingnn/ River. he came to Baker a: the run. his eyes wide with astonishment. and shouted. 'Hr. Baker: Hr. Baker: Your mill haf get loose. und he is com cop the river a-grihdin like the nevilI'95 Luke Shortfield tells of his first meeting with Hoses Tubal: He came on foot. but from what place no one knew. He was a young man somewhat older than wself. with a prominent nose. high cheek bones. and small sparkling eyes. Before the day was over. I began to suspect he might be one of those vendors of 'tender' goods. a cunning Jew. in quest of a location 98 cheat his neighbors. and spoil the regular trader's business. The writer's opinion may have been colored somewhat by the fact that he was. at that time. the only so-called. regular trader. in the village. "Hoses. the Jew"97 built his store next to Shortfield's. each cannencing a private war against the other. James L. Scott. a protestant minister. was suspicious of the German- Jewish peddler he encountered at Ashland. (bio: The peddler "was very urgent to direct me. I took his way bill. but his anxiety to obtain uy pledge that I follow it. gave me suspicions. and I took another route."98 Scott later learned that the route mggested by the peddler traversed forty miles of wilderness. "sometimes infested with robbers."99 The German-Jewish peddler. although disliked by merchants and travelers. was 9silobei-Itson. op. cit.. p. 3145. 96Shortfield. op. cit.. p. 128. 97Ibid.. p. 129. 98$cott. op. cit.. p. 19. 99in.- 77 nearly always a welcome visitor at the isolated farms and villages. even into the present century: "I remember when I was 6 or 8 years old [eboot 1915] one [e Jewish peddler] stopped et the home of my grand- parents. I remember looking in his pack. and wondered how he carried so many things . . . The peddlers were always welcome visitors."100 Glens agrees that the peddlers were welcome visitors: And.very soon the peddler appeared not only as the face from home. but as the vision of all that is new and far off: the bearer of the amazing sensational creations of the civilised world. bringing these things to the log cabins in the wilderness and to newly founded points of settlement. In these places. he presents a veritable show ‘with his wares. and thereby embarrasses the settler merchant who is his competitor. lh brief. the magical image 05 the 'besrer of civilization' was aroused in the wilderness.1 1 During the period 1790.18h0 the German-Jewish peddler was frequently the sole contact between the distent settler end the business world."1°2 He brought some of the luxuries of the day which the isolated settler could or would not obtain elsewhere. The dealer of the town was the merchant: the dealer of the sparsely populated countryside was the peciiler.103 The peddler also aided in the economic development of new towns and cities in the Upper Chic Valley. The peddlers in the region did not have the resources to purchase their goods directly from New York. 100Letter from Lucille (Mynhier) Evans. o2, gt“ A letter from Ida Kennings. Detroit. maligan. May 1. 1972 recalls a similar child- hood incident in Delaware County. Indiana before 1908. 1°1Glans. :he 1; in the old gegm [ol__k_1og. p. 123. lozrriedman. op. cit.. p. 1. 103Richardson L. Wright. awkers and Walkers in eri (Philadelphia: J.B. Iippincott Company. I923. p. 975. 78 Philadelphia. or Pittsburgh. nor did.many of them have time to spare to make such a Journey to obtain supphies. The peddler had to buy in the next wholesale center. often the small river towns. creeting a market for wholesalers who might consider establishing supply houses in the new towns. The peddlers position in the trade was one of procuring goods for the settlers which could not be profitably stocked by the local merchants in the region. The peddler was the "pioneer-merchant following the pioneer settler."1°h He filled a need in the lives of farmers and villagers who had no ready access to stores which stocked the items which the peddlers carried. The local merchant ran the general store; the German-Jewish peddler was the specialty store. The German-Jew. recently arrived in the United States. was willing to endure the hard- ships and assume the risks of the peddling profession in order to gain a foothold in his new home. 10"Glens. ”Notes on only Jewish Peddling in America." p. 121. mm IV SETTLE!!!" AND ASSImJTION Satial Estribution of the gran-Jews "(he becomes a merchant. i.e.. carries on trade in the ever-roaming wagons and steamboats. until one gets a house and established store. . . ."1 the American Jewish periodical claims. ". . . almost every little town [in Indiana. Illinois. Kentucky. end Inseam-i] has Jewish iI'Il'Iabitsnts."2 This was also true of the region under stuchr. the Upper alio Valley. Issac Bernheim consents that his co-religionists "were found scattered along the Lower (bio and its tributaries many years before 1850."3 This was also undoubtedly true of the Upper Chic. The Occident. in discussing the possibility of encouraging German-Jews to forms agricultural colonies. states: "The clothing. dry goods. shoe. std liquor. together with the Jewelry and rarely the grocery trade are nearly everywhere their sole pursuit."“ They were engaged in nearly all forms of business. in nearly every town and village. Those German-Jews who remained faithful to Judaism looked to the 1Glens. "Source Materials." p. 93 citing W Judenthumg. September 28. 1839. p. l+90. zzborg. I (1856). p. 270. ibbe seen. so so he Sto of M. p. 303. states that German-Jews set ed in cat every new town which was founded in the United States between 1820 and 1860. 3Bernheim. m figtgement of Jews in the Lowe: go Vang. p. 1b. “unident- xv (1857). p. 277. 79 80 city of Cincinnati for spiritual guidance. Although numerous isolated Jews Journeyed into cineinneti occasionally for the holidqs.5 the city could not act as a permanent binder between the lone Jew and his religion. The isolated German-Jew‘wss making new friends: he could not be expected to Journey to Cincinnati every Sabbath to worship. He began. therefore. to attend Christian churches: he Joined Christian lodges and organisations. His bonds to Judaism were beginning to crumble. He was rapidly accustoming himself to the non-Jewish culture in‘which he was situated. He was settling down - and that is what he wanted. Marcus. in commenting on the mobile merchants. states. ”the peddler had no desire to peddle: he wanted to settle down. and‘when he found a likely spot at a crossroads. a busy county seat. or a bustling river town. he . . . opened a little store."6 Marcus continues by pointing out that few villages in the study area did not possess at least one Jewish merchant by 1850.7 Rabbi Isaac Leeser. e leader of Mexican Judaism. announced in 1861 that German-Jews "are found in every portion of the Union. . . ."8 as continues by stating that German-Jews. in. large numbers. were "scattered throughout every state: scarcely a hamlet or a village being found which does not contain at least one 523mg. I (1856). p. 266: end Grinstein. op. cit.. p. an. 6am“. WW p- 10. 721d- 8Isaac Lesser. "History of the Jews and their Religion." in on nominations in the United tates edited by Charles DeSilver Ssvamah. Ga: John 11. Cooper end 00.. 1 1). p. 317. 81 family. They are most numerous in Chic . . ."9 Lesser's assumptions were correct. Five years earlier (1856) his m published statistics on the number of established congre- gations in the United States - a good indicatorInot only of the number of Jews within the urbanized portions of.the study arse. but also of a proportionate number of isolated Ms scattered between the urban- ised areas. Within the study area. only one congregatim existed in Penneylvania - in Pittsburgh. Likewise. only one had been founded in (West) Virginia - at Wheeling. There was only one congregation in all of Kenmcky - at Louisville. That city. however. is outside the stuch' ares. Chic. on the other hand. had fair congregations in one city. Cincinnati. alone. Other congregations were in Circleville (Pickfley County). Columbus (Franklin County). srd myton (Montgomery County). The article continues. "there are also many Jews in Zanesville [makingum County]. . . . ard Steubenville [ Jefferson County]. . ."10 Mary others were scattered throughout the region. but. because of distance. were isolated and were induced "to foregolliving in the manner we are commanded in the Bible."11 The German-Jews. then. were scattered in large numbers throughout the region. particularly in 0110. with the maJority residing in rural. rather than urbanized. 9%.. p. 318. 1o"Congregations." Eden . XIV (1856). pp. ‘509-40. 11ipid. . p. #11. 82 Issac Joseph was. according to the federal population census of 1820. residing in rural Harrison Township. Stark County. No. This township is now located in Carroll County. Hoses Levi resided in the city of millicothe. a place that has been referred to as. at one time. the center for German-Judah peddlers in the Upper (hio Valley. although no congregation was funded there during the study period. mean Lssarus. only two years before (1818). opened a store in Morgan County. mic: The first store [in Malta. Morgan County. cue] was started in 1818 by Hyman Learns. a Jew. who had previously tramped about the cmntry as a peddler. He had a asll stock. but sold whiskey. bought ginseng. and made some show of business. He first had his goods in a room in the end of Young's house. but afterward [1819] built a story and a half log house . . . . where he continued in business for nary years . . . The store of I-b'man Lasarus is frequently referred to as the "grocery end saloon of Leserue. the Jew. "13 although by 1850 he had ceased being a storekeeper and had become a tailor. following in the footsteps of so may of his cupatriots. The federal population census of 1830 emmerated an increasing number of pcsons of obviously Jewish origin in Chic. Moses Levi was still residing in Chillicothe: wean Lazarus remained in Malta: Simon Hoses had. since 1820. settled in Tuscarswas Township of Coshocton County. Sole-an Solomon was in Paint Township. Fayette County: Peter and Reuben Israel were in Richland and Goshen Townships. respectively. in Belmont County. The residence of mvid Jonas was in Muskingum Gmnty: Mordecai Levi was in mouth County and Aaron Moses was in Coshocton County. Nearly 12Robertson. Mo. Po 31‘3- 13Iu1dred H. Porter. Ma_1ts. Chic: gflmtemiel. 1816-1266 (hits. (his: n.p.. 1966). p. 5. 83 all these individuals lived in call towns or villages of rural (1110. Other Jews. of course. resided in Wu. The 18% federal population census of (bio indicates that Sinon Hoses had migrated from Belmont County to Cincinnati. and that mvid Israel had saved from Cincinnati to rural Clernont County. during the decade of the 1830's. Reuben Israel. however. relained in Belmont County; another of the ease nane had settled at what is now Caldwell. the cmnty seat of Noble County. in rural eastern Chic. mniel Solomon had settled in Holnes Cmnty. in the village of Millersmrg. Solo-an Frank was in Montgonery Cmnty: Peter Jacob had found a hone in Zanesville. Muskingun County. Hynan Lasarus still resided a few miles to the south of zenesville. across the Muskingul River from McConnelsville. the county seat of Morgan County. At the village of Chester. in bigs County. was Abraham Levy. All. or nearly all, of these individuals were Jewish; isolated Jae who had settled in the small towns and villages in the areas where they had begun their careers'in the United States by peddling. Other Me. of course. lived throughout the region. new do not possess surnanes which are distinctively Jewish. so they cannot be conclusively classi- fied as such. Other Jews anglicised their surnanes. adding to the difficulty involved in the classification of their nanes. We have already discussed the example of Jacob Seasongood. Because of time lilitations. the writer was unable to search the onus records for the mtire region. The 1820. 1830. and part of the 1800 federal populatim cenazs schedules for 0110 have been indexed. allowing a more detailed search of the entire state. The snall sampling. does. however. suggest that Goran-Jews did. indeed. reside in rural 81+ areas. in snall towns ani villages. as well as in Jewish col-unities inurbanareasduringthetimeperiodoftMs stuck. Assimilation and the Jaw Assimilation into the Gentile ulture of the Upper mic Valley was inevitable for new of the German-Jewish peddlers. Judaisn. with its congregational for: of worship. the requirumt that ten sale adults be present to hold services in a synagogue. and the strict dietary laws. mks it unadaptable to life in an isolated frontier conunity. is was discussed in Onpter II. the German-Jewish i-igrant was obliged to conpronise 11:1. religious beliefs inediately upon embarking at Alstordae. Tonningen. Rotterdan. or whatever city was his port of embarkation frc- mrope. He simply could not observe the lawe of his religion when he was one of only a handful of Jews aboard a ship. Thus. the dietary laws had to be broken during the course of the long Journey from Birope; nary Jews. for the first tine in their lives. ate non- kosher food aboard ship.” Paddling. alone. in the wilderness did nothing to strengthen their bond to their religim. "m these peddling trips. they were .11 forced to accusto- thenselves to other than Jewish foods; they did not observe the Sabbath. and visited the Mstian churches and Christian organisa- tions more and more. The following of this life changed then in law ways."15 Is it ary wonder that Merican Jewish leaders were becoming lumim'yb' M's Po 122. 15mg. I (1856). p. 266. 85 increasingly concerned and urged Anerican Jews to cease encmraging new immigrants totakeup thepeddlingtradet Peddlinghadcone tonean assimilation to then. Abrahal Kohn. upon leaving Bavaria. was deeply concerned because he was obligated to travel on Saturday; ". . . for the first tine in IV life I desecrated the Sabbath . . . . but chat-stances left me no choice."16 He again travels the following Saturday. but this tine makes no canent or apoloa in his diary.17 He couplains once again. however. upon reaching the United States. abmt not being able to observe the Sabbath. He says that since peddling is done in a Christian environment. “one must profane the holy Sabbath. observing Sunday instead."18 German-Jews. when migrating into the West. ca-only went as individ- uals. If there were other Jews in the area in which he planned to peddle. he avoided then. Too W peddlers in one area would cut the profits of all of then. If there were other Jews residing in the ton in which he settled. and usually there were none. they were normally in insufficient mnbers to establish aw sort of Jevdsh coqumty. or fouml a congregation. is Kohler states. "nary were lost track of by the Jewish calamity forever."19 Kohler. however. unlike other Jewish scholars. admits that these Jews were. in some mall way. inportant 16Irleinryb. o2. 9y... p. 122. 1733—12. 111%. 19m J. Kohl'er. "Sons Jewish factors in the Settlenent of the West." new! Jewish Eatomcd E2141. 16 (19W). 1). 23e 86 to the history of the region; "Accordingly. the fact that relatively few early Jewish pioneer settlu-s in the West have been identified thus far. in no way indicates that Jews were not frequently western pioneer settlers."20 Another Jewish scholar. however. looks with distain upon the Jewish imligrant who had left the faith. In reviewing the amber of Jews in Louisville. Kentucky in 1831. mute can locate few Jewish nalee. He does. however. locate three men "naled 'Levi.' but of these it is known that they were already half-breeds. and educated as OI.'I'isti.ans."21 As alreaw discussed in mapter II. one of the principal notives for Jewish emigration from Germany was the restrictive residency and Iarriage law. As soon as the young Jewish peddler was capable of settling in a shall coluunity and opening a store. his next logical move was to find a wife. minute complains that whoever cane before 1836 "cane singly. found no one to pray with. and. what is more. no one to nets with."22 Internarriage was the only avenue open to the young Jews who wanted wives. There were few. if aw. potential spaces of the Jewish faith in the Upper Chic Valley. The German-Jews case as single young nondur- ing the period 1790-1840: they had little choice but to take Gentiles as wives. Mbits agrees. stating that intenarriage of the 11.1ng GerIan-Jews with the daughters of local residents naturally followed. "and the descendants of the early Jewish settlers of Kentucky [and. .. p. 215. 21w: n. Denbits. "Jewish Be s 111 Kennels." herican W I (1893 . p. 100. -——- szg. , p. 99. 87 for that hatter. of the entire Upper one Valley resin] are known only by their Jewish henee . . ."23 The congregation in Cincinnati (1825) writes. in a letter addressed to the Jewish congregation in Charleston. confirming that innumerable Jews were being lost in this cmntry free not being in the neighbor- hood of a congregation and were being lost to assimilation; "we are well assuredthatnany Jewsarelostinthis country . . . . thqoften marry with christians [sic]. and their posterity lose the true worship of God forever; . . .NZ“ Sinon Hoses. nentioned earlier in this chapter. nrried a Christian in Coshocton County. His Iarriage to Ann Shaw took place on June 21. 1825. I-brnan Lazarus. the eat-peddler who settled in Morgan County. Clio married Frances Secord. a Garistian. on January 11. 1826. The children of these two unions were either raised from birth as Gu'istians. or eventually lost their Jewish culture and religim later in life. The sane occurence took place in nearly all the falilies of the small tam German-Jewish storekeepers. Assinilation of the German-Jews into the Gentile culture had been a growing concern to Aperican Jewish leaders for decades. Isaac Lesser. the editor of the midem. in referring to rules concerning religious observance along Jews in the Urdted States. states that asdnilaticn was rapidly drawing rural Jews away from their religion. There seemed 23Ib1d. 2“R’IJu‘inted in avid Philipson. "The Cincinnati Coununity in 1825." 88 to be one set of rules for "those who live in the cities. and another [for exalple the non-observance of the Sabbath and the dietary laws] for pedlars. farncs . planters. and all others 'who live scattered singly or few in numbers in distant or isolated settlulent' . . ."25 Other Jewish leaders indicate that the occupations chosen by the German-Jewish immigrants were responsible. indirectly at least. for the assinilation that was occuring: ". . . give honour to ymrselves; . . . lake yourselves respected. beloved. and avow yourselves as Jews. . . . do this by choosing different and honourable trades and pursuits."26 The author of the article apparently felt that by choosing peddling and the clothing business. the Jews were stereotyping then- selves. In order to avoid the stereotype. they ceased admitting that they were Jews. Anti-semitia occasionally appeared on the Merican scene. even in the wilderness. particularly among the Ger-an settlers.” The very thing which had driven the German-Jews from their house in mrope before the 18h0's now threatened to reappear in their new honelaxwl. is a result. may Jews attempted to conceal their origin and identity. Luke Shortfield could not understand wry Moses Tubal acted as he did in Philadelphia: 25:130.. Thoughts on the Mitor's 'Thoughts on Union'e" me XIII (1855-56). p. 343. 26Isidore Bush. "The Task of the Jews in the United States." Mdent. 111 (1851-52). p. 1171. ”HOW. 02. fits. pe 123e 89 Be [the wholesaler] made it a rule never to trust western Jews . . . He said that he had supposed Moses was a Jew. although his language and dress were in exact imitation of the thorough-bred western merchant; and upon putting the question to his directly. had forced his to make an affi tive reply: and he then declined selling his arvthing on credit."- Had Luke Shortfield not inforned the wholesaler of Hoses' origin. this incident would probdbly not have occured. "All this surprised me." he continues. "th had hoses attenpted to conceal the fact of his being a true Israelite?"29 why. indeed? The chident also concerns itself (1858) with the German-Jewa' attempts to conceal their backgrounds; "they try to hide their Jewish identity. but rarely succeed."30 But at least one Jew did succeed: In the year 1821. . . . a dying man by the name of Benjamin Leib. or Lape. requested that some Jews be called to his bedside. In answer to the summons, two of the young men hastened to the house. He informed them that he had been born a Jew but had married out of the faith; he had not lived as a Jew nor been known as one. but his (bring request was to be buried with Jewish rites in a Jewish cemetery. His wish was fulfilled. His descendants are still living in Cincinnati. but have never been identified with Judais- or the Jews. There may have been other instances like this in the recently founded town, of Jews by birth who were not known nor recognised as such. but we possess no knowledge nor record of then.31 Most of the Jews who attempted to conceal their identity were apparently doing so out of fear of anti-sendtisn. The W: in an article in 1858. clsins that some of the blame for anti-senitism can be placed on 283hortfield. op. cit.. p. 203. ”mm. 6 3°"Intercourse with Missionaries. No. II." m M (1353). p. h 7. 311mm Fhilipson. ”The Jewish Pioneers of the one v.11ey, .. age-1g mesh Historical gag-sexy. VIII (1900). pp- “341+. 90 the German-Jewish peddlers themselves. The prejudice may have been started by a dishonest peddler in the wilderness who had been identified with the Jews. leaving behind an unfavorable impression of all Jews.32 Jewish leaders encouraged the German-Jews in the small towns and rural areas to openly acknowledge their origi.n.33 The small town Jews. usually alone in the town in which they resided. thought otherwise. Mam of the American Jewish leaders were overlooking the fact that a large number of the German-Jewish immigrants of the period 1790- 1840 had never known a sense of Jewish group life in Germany. They had not known a settled catdition in Germany in which they could freely and Openly acknowledge their faith. nor had they lived in compact Jewish settlements. They were the products of the small towns and villages. There was no hepe of their ever returning to Germamr; most had completely out all ties with the homeland. There was no longer a feeling of association with Mopean Jewry. Weinryb sums up thusly: The imigrant's loneliness. shock. disorganization. alienation. . . . insecurity and lack of a sense of belonging. w lead to partially contradictory reactions: hopelessness and an unscrupulous drive for achievement. resistance to change and willingness to give up the old ways and mores. clinging to group identity and the urge for assimilation. pride in association with the group back hone and the ve to shed all group identity and submerge in the new omntry. The German-Jewish peddler. between 1790 and 181w. chose to submerge. 32"Intercourse with Missionaries. No. II." .2___° 0 01*"- P- “67° 33%. 3"wedmyb. op. gt" p. 123. 91 They appreciated the new life and the economic success they had achieved: at the cost of losing their culture. Banta. in messing up the reasons for their decisions to settle in the small towns and villages sws: Not new of these keen youngsters. sad in their experience in the old world. failed to appreciate the virtues of this newest part of the new one. few indeed were the cmnty seat towns in the 0110 Valley . . . whose public squares were not dominated . . . by a thriving dry goods store owned by a benevolent old Jewish gentleman whose greatest joy lay in starting at its door and greeting the sons and grandsons of the people who had first bought trinkets from his pack a half century before am had taught him that there were really places where most folks didn't care where s came from. if his word was good and his goods were sand. The German-Jewish peddlers of the period 1790—1810 simply wanted to be a part of their adopted region and culture. They wanted. for once in their life. to belong. 35Bente, op. gt... p. 279. CHAPTE V SMART AND CWCIBSIQWS e of on "new families . . . would perhaps not be pleased to come at last to their original parent. and to find him to have been a poor Jew pedlar."1 This statment. made in 1858. sums up a feeling which undoubtedly still exists among nary descendants of the German-Jewish peddlers. Numerous families are cmpletely unaware of their Jewish background due to the assimilation of their Jewish ancestor. Frequently the anglicisation2 of the Jewish immigrant's name has obscured his origin.3 Intermarriage with noanews frequently aided in the obliteration of the Jewish heritage of the family. Benjamin Grate. as an example. a member of the prominent family mentioned earlier. settled in Lexington. Kentuclq in 1818. He married Maria Cist. a non- Jew. in 1819. Their children were raised as diristians. inheritiu a Gentile. rather than Jewish. culture.“ m Lazarus and Tranoes’ 10oo1dent. xv: (1858). p. 1u2. ste Rudolf Glanz. "German-Jewish Names in America." gewish FEM y s §cisngg may. XXIII (July. 1961 ). pp. 1143-69 for a do of the surnames of the German-Jewish migrants in the United States. 3The anglicisation of names. however. was not as important ammg the German-Jews as it was among the Polish and Russian Jews who emigrated the latter half of the nineteenth century. The German-Jew o n possessed a surname which was not alien to the American enviromen . and frequently similar to that of his German neighbors. here was no need for the German-Jew to change his name in that case. “Resenswaike. op. cit.. p. 1%. 92 93 Secord were married in Morgan County. 0110 in 1819. He. too. married out of his faith. Their marriage produced four children; Caroline. the oldest. was well aware of her Jewish heritage arr! apparently considered herself Jewish until the time of her marriage to a non-Jew. Persons who. as children. had known her have told the writer that she often spoke of her Jewish background.5 Ber children. however. were raised as Methodists (see Figure 2). The second daughter of mm and Frances Lazarus. Mary Aurilla. married Solomon Kontner. a man who may have been of Jewish origin. This family. too. however. raised the children in the Christian faith. David William Lazarus. the third child. embraced the Lutheran faith.6 never returning to his father's religion or cul- ture. Little is known about Peter. the fourth eh1Id.7 but he. as did his brother David. probably became a follower of Christianity. A pattern here seems clear; assimilation of the German-Jewish migrant began immediately upon leaving his home in Germany. The first step in the process was non-observance of the Sabbath and Jewish dietary laws. often 5Pereone1 interview with me (Ankeney) Winchell. Oskaloosa. Iowa in the surmer of 1965. Mrs. Winchell also stated that Caroline (Lazarus) Winchell spoke with a German accent. supporting a statement by Rudolf Glens. "The Immigration of German-Jews up to 1880." p. 99. that "the first generation of German-Jews remained faithful to that tradition [the German language] and saw to it that their children too knew German." 6David William Lazarus is buried in a Lutheran cemetery. behind the church he attended nearly all his life - Jerusalem Lutheran Church. near Deavertown. Morgan County. (1110. 7The last record of Peter Lazarus in connection with the family is the 1850 federal population census of Clay Township. mlskmgum County. this when he was ten years old. Neither he nor his mother have yet been located in later population censuses. The Secord family Bible tells how about him other than his approximate birthdate. the winter of 1839 . 91+ committed before the emigrant left Germany. later to be reinforced through forced.non-cbservanoe aboard.ship andnwhile peddling..narriage out of his faith greatly accelerated assimilation. The oldest child 'learned the religion. culture. and language of the father. acknowl- edging his heritage until his death. The second child was taught at least a few details of his father's culture and religion. though.1ater both were abandoned. The younger children. as assimilation became complete. were not made fully aware of their heritage. nor‘were they taught the German language. The Jewish culture has disappeared from the fumily. They were now Christians. living in a Christian environ- ment. Further Resegggh, Several obstacles compound the difficulty in any attempt to determine the identity of German-Jewish surnames during the study period. Glens indicates in his article on Jewish names that numerous German-Jews who emigrated from southern Germany had name-types which they shared with Gentile Germans. "Thus in the first census we find the Joseph group with an heads of families. the m group with 101. . . ."8 Notwith- standing the fact that many non-Jewish Germans bore similar names. Glens accepts the notion that a substantial number of these names belong to members of the Jewish faith. Unfortunately. the religious affiliation of the immigrant is rarely identified in the ships passenger lists9 and 8Glam. "German-Jewish Names in America." p. its. 9Frequently the Jewish immigrant signed his name on the ship passenger list in Hebrew. thereby confirming his religious faith. 95 is never identified in the federal population census schedules . Therefore. the researcher is normally left to determine the religous faith of the immigrant from an examinatim of the surnames alone. The sheer volume of a great may of the records is another obstacle which frequently makes detailed research impossible. Most of the ships passenger lists maintained since 1820 are extant.1o Howner. few of these lists are fully indexed. particularly those frm the major Atlantic ports.11 Kabcr comments on the impossibility of utilising these lists in his research on the immigrant German-Jews.12 He states that the passenger lists for those arriving frm Germ continental ports in New York alone. for the period 1358-1855. consist of 2,1;00 lists. totalling 120,000 pages. This indicates not only the mgnitude of later German migration to the United States. but also the extent of this research source. and the effort that would be involved in am attempt to identify the German-Jewish immigrants. Until more time and effort is devoted to indexing these records. full utilisation of these valuable sources of information cannot be made. 10The passenger arrival lists. in some cases. begin as early as 1798, although most are for the period 1820-19145. There are new gaps. The lists fall into three categories; Custans Passenger Lists. Custans Lists of Aliens. and Inmfigration Passenger Lists. Most of these reccrds are now deposited in the National Archives. Washington. me. For further details regarding the passenger lists. see The National Archives. National Archives and Records Service. Peneral Services Administration. de 0 Gene cords in the Nati ves (Washington. Dc: 0.8. Govemmen t g cs. 19 . pp. 22 3. 11See National Archives and Records Service. General Services Adsdnistratim. List of National ves Mi rofilm Publi atims 68 (Washington. DC: 0.3. Government $11552 fies. I553}. pp. 55555. ”Rub”. 22.33 p- 15- 96 Invaluable work has been accomplished by numerous genealogical groups. particularly in Chic, Indiana. Michigan. Kentucky. and Pennsyivania. in the indexing of federal population census schedules.” but. as stated earlier. these records contain no data regarding the religious faiths of the perscns enumerated. It was not until 1850 that the federal census enumeratcrs collected information regarding the occupation of the house- hold residents. The majority of the Osman-Jewish peddlers of the period 1790-1840 had advanced beyond the peddling stage by 1850, thereby minimizing the usefulness of the 1850 federal population census in studying the German-Jews. The 1820 and 1830 census schedules show. how- ever. citizenship. allowing the scholar to determine the identity of the more recent imigrants.” A considerable amount of field work. in the absense of other source material. must, then. be carried out in order to accomplish the goal 130-110 Family Historians. 1820 Egeral Pcalgtion Queue. (l'iioI M (Columbus. (1110: 0110 Library Foundation. 19 ; 0110 Family Historians. 18:20 Federal Population census, ChicI Index (Columbus. Chic: Chic Library Foundation. 19 ; Cleo G. Wilkens. ed.. Index to 1840 Federal Poggation Census of (hie, 3 vols (n.p.. 19695; Lowell Volkel, Mex to the 1810 Federal Queue of Kentugfl. 1‘ vols (Thomson, Ill: Heritage House. 1971); Chic Family Historians. E0}: to 18%0 Census of Pennsylvalié (Cleveland: 8611 and Howell Company, 19 ; Ruby Wiedeman and Larry Bohannan, eds.. Fourth Census of the United States, 1820 Mibhiggn Pogi_lation Schedules amntsville, Ala: Century Enterprises, 19 ; Michigan Departmen of Elucation. Michigan State Library. card index to the Seventh Census of the United States. 1850 Michigan Populatim Schedules: Indiana State library. card indexes to the 1820, 1830 and 1850 Indiana Population Schedules. 14A column was first provided in 1820 which allowed the enumeratcr to indicate if the person enumerated was an alien. The emerators often overlooked this column. so care must be exercised when basing research on the information provided. 97 of identifying the German-Jews in the United States during the period 1790-18h0. Particular emphasis must. in this case. be given to the less frequently consulted county records. In Ohio. for example. since it'is apparent that this state received the largest proportion of the immigrants. the records of the Courts of the Canon Pleas are of particular value. The Minute Book of the Court of the Cannon Pleas. in most Chic counties. contains notations regarding the issuance of various types of licenses; for storekeepers. tavern owners. and peddlers. The Minute Books are rarely indexed. necessitating a page by page search in the Minute Books of each Common Pleas Court. Probate records. particularly petitions of heirs and wills. lend themselves to studies of ethnic backgrounds. Names and residences of heirs are frequently found in these records. aiding the scholar great- ly in determining origins. Land records. principally the first purchase of land by a settler (the first grantee deed). often state the previous place of residence of the grantee. Utilisation of these records will allow the scholar to trace migrations of’individuals and families across the United States. County histories. although invaluable to some types of research in historical geography.” are of little value to most ethnic group studies. They tend to be ethnocentric: written by persons of the daninant culture group concerning their peers. Persons of ethnic origin 153cc Charles F. Kovacik. "A Geographical Analysis of the Foreign- born in Huron. Sanilac and St. Clair Counties of Michigan with Partic- ular Reference to Canadians: 1850-1880" (unpublished Ph.D. disserta- tion. Michigan State University. 1970); and Peter W. Deforth. ”The Spatial Evolution of the German-Anerican Gllture Region in Clinton and Ionia Counties. Michigan" (unpublished Master's thesis. Michigan State University. 1970). 98 are rarely mentioned in other than a derogatory manner. This writer feels that more studies should be devoted to the ethnic minorities in the United States. with particular emphasis on the historical and regional implications of their introduction into the herican culture. No previous research of any kind has been carried out regarding the German-Jews who are the subject of this thesis. althalgh the number of persons in this particular ethnic group has been shown to have been substantial. Jewish scholars have concentrated their efforts on the role of the non-assimilated Jew. and the Jewish co-Iu- nity. in the culmral environment of the United States. They have cmtinuously neglected one eluent of the Jewish culture - those Jews who have been the subject of this study. Non-Jewish scholars have canpletely overlooked the role of all Jews. assimilated and non- assimilated. in the evolution of our American culture. Ethnic studies. thrcmgh the medium of historical geography. can be the vehicle for bridging that gap. us 0 The German-Jews in the United States have been visualised by most scholars and writers as urban dwellers. This stuchr would indicate other- wise. The German-Jews began to emigrate to the United States in appreciable numbers during the Napoleonic period in Mops. The analysis given in Gaspter II suggests that the German-Jews were driven to emigrate by anti- semitism and discriminating taxes. The Jews began to flee the southern German states of Bavaria. Mirttenberg. and Baden in ever-increasing numbers after 1790. The bench occupation of southern Germany. by the army of Napoleon. gave the German-Jews an indication of the benefits 99 they could derive from the possession of citisenship. To be sure. local discrimination against Jews continued to encourage emigration even during the Napoleonic occupation and a steady. although relatively small. movement of Jews out of southern Germany continued. The migration was principally to the Uxfited States. The mist of 1813 in Bavaria. and the reintroduction of governmental discrimination against Jews throughout smithern Germam following the battle of Waterloo in May of 1814. encouraged an even greater annual emigration of Jews. The short period of freer social and political life. which the occupation of the French Am made possible. led to a considerably improved life for the Ms of southern Germarv. The years following the battle of Waterloo were filled with increasing persecu- tion of Jews who saw all their hopes collapse in the reactionary period following Napoleon's defeat. Kisch states that "religious hatred. lust for plunder and desire for gain entered into a worthy alliance in order everywhere to threaten the tranquility and safety. yes even the lives of the Jews. . . ."16 Unlike later mass migrations of German-Jews which were caused primarily by the economic conditions which affected all Mopeans. the motives for the pro-181w emigration were soley to escape anti-semitic laws and repressive social conditions. The motive for emigration. to escape anti-semitism. and the characteristics of the migrants - poverty stricken, uneducated. young unmarried men. traveling individually - were a combination which spelled eventual “simulation into the alien culture 161E1sch. op. cit.. p. 25. 100 into which they were migrating. The German-Jewish illigrants in the United States followed the general movement of population westward into the Trans-Appalachian frontier which. at the time of their arrival. was opening to settle- ment. The German-Jews were unacceptable to the Sephardic communities in the American port cities arr! the German-Jews were obliged to follow their Christian German brethren to the western frontier. The German-Jewish imigrant of the study period imdiately chose peddling as his initial career in his new home. The choice was inevi- table as the analysis in Chapter III suggests; many had been peddlers in their homeland. peddling required little or no initial investment - an attractim which was irrestible to the impoverished immigrant. peddling required little knowledge of the English language. and there was a desire among the isolated settlers for the items which a foot peddler could profitably carry. The choice of peddling. however. with its requirement for daily work - at the expense of observing the Sabbath - arr! travel awn from the established Jewish conunities. took the German- Jew farther from his religion and culture. The peddlers eventually settled in the small towns and villages of the Upper (his Valley. amid physical surroundings with which they had been familiar in Gel-marsr and among people they knew. The country store at the cross-roads superseded the peddler's trade. As early as 1853. one writer foresaw the end of peddling: Bit the peddler. like every human 'instituticn' ally had 'his dq.‘ The time soon came when he was forced to give way before the march of newfangledness. The country grew densely populated. neighborhoods became thicker. and the smoke from one man's chimney could be seen hem ancther's front-door. People's wants began to be permanent - 101 I they were no lcnger content with transient or perioaical supplies - they demanded saething more constant and regular.1 The ex-peddler caild not Join a Jewish congregation. The soc-pedler was frequently the only Jew. or one of a mere handful of Jews. in the town. Therefore. a m could not be formed due to the religious requirement that ten male adults were necessary to form one and thereby worship in a synagogue. For religious observance. he was obliged to attend a Christian church. The German-Jewish iuigrants of the period 1790—18b0 were primarily single males. They had no choice but to marry out of their faith. Their children were raised as Christians and assimilation was complete. That the Jewish religion with its rituals. dietary laws. and congre- gational form of worship was unwited to an individual migration and to - an isolated life on the American frontier is unquestionable. The analysis offered in this thesis supports that hypothesis. The process of assim- ilation began the moment the young Osman-Jew left his home in southern Germany. The process was completed in his store in the small town in the Upper Chic Valley where he eventually settled. Anti-semitism and the desire to be a part of the society in which he lived drove the yming Jew out of southern Germany. He was obliged by the conditions of life in steerage to forage observation of the laws of his religion. Peddling on the frontier. alone and among non-Jews. furthered his non-observance of his religion. Settlement and marriage out of his faith completed the process. He was no longer a Jew. 17Friedman. op. gt" pp. 6-7 citing John Ludlum McConnel. Western may; 2; ms of Border us: (New York. 1853). pp. 285-86. LIST OF REFERENCE LIST OF REFEREICE Published Books Adler. G.J.. ed. A motiorLag of the German and Eglish Lamas. New York: D. mpleton and Comparw. 1 . Austrian. Joseph. 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