ablerkall ffewish Periodical Carter

iday, February 8, 1946

CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, OHIO

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle

C

Barkley Lauds Russia's
Jewish Region Creation

HISTORY OF JEWS
IN MICHIGAN

By IRVING I. KATZ

This is a merits. of article-. VIII ering

■ Heli-

.1(.%%1. In

iglu' train 1753 lu slate. II is aritten by the historian
Of Temple Beth
and contains material ne%er before
published.)

is

ARTICLE III

Early Settlers

1840-1850

1842 marks the arrival of the first Jewish settlers in Jackson. Jacob
Hirsch was the pioneer and within a few months S. Levi joined him.
Bernard Wolf came in 1846 and Joseph Hana (or Hanau or Harmon)
and Henry Lang arrived before 1850.

He was taken care of by the Jewish Relief Committee of that city,
among whom was Isaac Hart, later of Detroit. Upon his recovery, he
peddled cigars and then became
an apprentice in a drug store
where one of his experiments blew
up the shop. He then became a
waiter on a Mississippi River
steamboat and was promoted to a
clerk when a boiler explosion oc-
curred and the boat blew up. Kan-
ter managed to save his life by
swimming ashore. He then came
to Detroit at the age of 20 and
added to the sum of his youthful
experiences by being refused a
job in the Detroit Savings Fund
Institute. He took English lessons
from Charles E. Bresler and in
1845 he was again on a steamer
as a clerk. That same year he
came to Mackinac and was em-
ployed by the American Fur Corn-
pany as clerk and interpreter. He
soon learned several Indian lan-
guages and became a great friend
of the Indians.

Starts Own Bank

In 1846 he worked for the
EDWARD KANTER
Leopolds and Austrians of Mack-
inac. In 1 847 he worked for an-
other company which failed, leaving him to face
re
the cditors.
He ar-
ranged with the creditors and started his own business with a capital
of $200, remaining in Mackinac for five years and building up the
beginnings of a fortune. In 1852 he settled in Detroit where he tried
ship-chandlery and, being located at the main wharf, added banking
for the sailors. In 1853 he visited Europe. In 1855 he served as vice
president and treasurer of Detroit's Temple Beth El. In 1857 he was
elected to the Legislature. He went into banking exclusively in 1868,
first privately, and in 1871 became the founder of the German-Ameri-
can Bank which during World War I changed its name to the First
State Bank.

In the '60's, Kanter was secretary of the Democratic State Central
Committee, a delegate to the National Democratic Convention, a mem-
ber for eight years from Michigan of the Democratic National Com-
mittee, a commissioner from Michigan to the New Orleans Exposition.
a member of the Board of the House of Correction of Detroit, and a
participant generally in public affairs. He died in Detroit in 1896. Kan-
ter Street in Detroit is named after him.

Cohen Conducts Services
Marcus Cohen (grandfather of Louis Simon and Mrs. Louis Mus-
liner) was a pioneer in religious observances. He conducted services
from the time of his arrival in Detroit in 1849 and performed all the
duties of an orthodox rabbi until the coming of Detroit's first rabbi.

Lewis F. Leopold, whose name was Freudenthaler in his native
Baden, Germany, his wife, Babette, who was a member of the Austrian
(originally Oesterreicher) family in Bavaria, their infant son, Lewis'
sister, Hannah, and brother, Samuel, resided in Mackinac in 1845. The
brothers became the first pioneers in this locality in the fishery busi-
ness and were soon shipping a thousand barrels of salted fish to
Cleveland each season. This business, together with the sale of sup-
plies to fishermen, Indian trading, and the purchase of furs, laid the
foundation for an extensive business. Samuel Leopold left Mackinac
In 1853 to join his two other brothers and Julian Austrian who estab-
lished business enterprises at LaPointe and Fond du Lac, Wisc., where
they were among the first white settlers. After 1850, members of the
Austrian Family established stores in a number of Michigan com-
munities.

First Jew in Kalamazoo

Mannes (or Magnus) Israel of Waldeck, Germany, came to Kala-
mazoo in 1845, starting a general store. He was reputed to be a very
learned man, especially in the physical sciences. In 1855 he took in
simon Rosenbaum, also a native of Waldeck, as his business partner,
who continued the business after Israel's death in 1868. Emil Fried-
man of Bavaria also resided in Kalamazoo before 1850.
Samuel and Max Hart, originally of South Germany, resided at
Marshall in 1848. Solomon and Andrew Freedman were in Adrian be-
fore 1850 and later moved to Detroit.

Next week's article tells of the first two Jews in Monroe, Mich., th, ,
Freidenberg and Moerfleld
— -

BILL MILLER

"The Corned Beef King"

We Cater to Parties, at Home, Orianiratinn, plant
or office — Rune, Lunches • Sand•icIst, • Potato
Salad • Cole Sid*

135 E. GRAND RIVER AT BROADWAY

CLifford 1220

Sinai Katlic? f•rodurtii Chicago No.

A special program is announced
for the 6th Rally of the current
Detroit Palestine Histadrut (Ge-
verkshaften) Campaign to be held
Thursday, Feb. 14, at Rose Sittig
Cohen Auditorium.

411

Miss Masha Benya, eminent vo-
calist from New York, will pre-
sent a selected number of Hebrew
and Yiddish songs.
Mr. Joseph Schlossberg, chair-
man of the National Labor Com-
mittee for Palestine, will be the
guest speaker. Mr. Schlossberg, a
worker in the needle trades since
he was fourteen years old, helped
organize the Amalgamated Cloth-
ing Workers of America and has
been its general secretary for more
than a quarter of a century. He
was not only active in helping
eliminate the sweat-shops, but has
also been a prolific writer and is
a recognized authority on labor
problems. In 1935, he published a
book, "The Workers and Their
World."

Praising the Soviet Union for
having created the Jewish Auton-
omous Region of Birobidjan for
the Jewish people, the Senator
said that he could not help but ad-
mire "that great nation rising out
of the turmoil and chaos of revo•
lution that followed a thousand
years of imperialist injustice" and
he
congratulated "that nation
upon the fact that it denies to no
minority equal opportunities and

Edward Kanter came to Detroit in 1844. He was born in Breslau
in 1824, his father being a prosperous linen merchant and his mother
a relative of Dr. Edward Lasker, the German parliamentarian. (When
Dr. Lasker died in New York on Jan. 5, 1884, during a visit to this rights."
country, Temple Beth El of Detroit printed a Resolution of Condolence
in the American Israelite). A graduate of Breslau Gymnasium, with a
knowledge of several languages, he was a stowaway on a ship bound
for New Orleans. He was used as an interpreter on the ship and upon
arriving practically penniless in New Orleans contracted yellow fever.

I

Campaign Rally to Hear Schlossberg

Speaking before 350 members
and friends of the American Biro-
bidjan Committee (Ambijan) at a
luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria
Hotel in New York City on Jan.
27, Senator Alben W. Barkley, ma-
jority leader of the U. S. Senate,
declared: "The area of under-
standing is so much greater than
the area of misunderstanding be-
tween the United States and So-
viet Russia that I can but decry
any efforts to increase that mis-
understanding."

Executive Secretary, Temple Beth El, Detroit

Page Three

JOSEPH SCHLOSSBERG

-
DETROIT'S DELEGATES

TO -

to the

COUNCIL OF JEWISH FEDERATIONS

AND WELFARE FUNDS

Irving

W.

Blumberg, Fred M. Butzel, Clarence H. Enggass,

Mrs. Joseph H. Ehrlich, Judge William Friedman, Julian H. Krolick,

Theodore Levin, Max Osnos, Isidore Sobeloff,

Abraham Srere, Henry Wineman:

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, URGE YOU TO

Vote NO

ON NATIONAL ADVISORY BUDGETING

WE BELIEVE THAT THE PROPOSAL
IS UNNECESSARY AND HARMFUL.

It is based on the false premise that it is possible to be objective and unbiased

in making decisions on issues and causes which are inherently controversial.

While it is intended to be advisory it will become mandatory as local budget
committees will tend to accept national recommendations uncritical)

It will lead to a concentration of too much power over vital Jewish interests
in too few hands while stifling local interest and local initiative.

WE BELIEVE THAT EVERY LOCAL COMMUNITY SHOULD
MAKE ITS OWN DECISIONS WHICH REFLECT
LOCAL PUBLIC OPINION.

WE THEREFORE URGE YOU TO

Vote NO

ON NATIONAL ADVISORY BUDGETING

Mrs. Samuel Aaron
Henry M. Abramovit.
Dr. A. J. Alper

David I. Berri.;
Louis Berry
Abraham Cohen
David J. Cohen
Harry Cohen
David Colman
Lawrence W. Crohn
Philip J. Cutler
Mrs. Philip J. Cutler
Mn. Ralph Davidson
Charles Drikor
Mrs. Max Dushkin
James 1. Ellmann
Mrs. Albert Feldstein
Walter I.. Field
Rabbi Moses Fischer
Rabbi I.eon Fram
Isaac Franck

Philip J. Gilbert
Mn,. Louis Glasier
Mrs. Arthur Gould
William Hordes
Mrs. William Hordes
Morris M. Jacobs
Samuel Jacobson
Abe Kasle
Leon Kay
Dr. Philip E. Lachman
B. M. Laikin
Jack Lawson
Rabbi Eliezer A. Levi
Louis Levine
Morris Lieberman
Abram Meyerouitz
Morris Mohr
Mrs. Sydney K. Mossman
Robert R. Nathans
Alex Nicharnin
Dr. M. S. Podia
Rose Poskel

Samuel J. Rhodes
Aaron Rosenberg
Jay Rosenshine
Charles Rubiner
Goodman Rycus
Dr. Alex W. Sanders
Mn. Alex W. Sanders
Harry J. Schaeffer
Morris Schaver
Irv ing Schlussel
Mrs. Jacob Schreier
Harry Schumer
Dr. I.
Silverman
Mrs. Harry Singer
Mrs. Charles Solovich
Rabbi Joshua S. Sperka
Mrs. Nathan Spevakow
Morris Stein
Mrs. Devera Stocker
Rabbi Isaac &oilman
Charles Wolok

