American 'elvish Periodical eager
CLIPTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, 01110
Friday, May 31, 1946
Soviet Journalists
In Detroit to Help
Celebrate Jubilee
HISTORY OF JEWS
IN MICHIGAN
By IRVING I. KATZ
Today's two greatest literary
figures of the Soviet Union, Ilva
Ehrenburg and Konstantin Si-
ARTICLE 18
Biographical Sketches
of Detroit Jews
Emanuel Wodic
Emanuel Wodic, Bohemian born, came to the United States in
1854, at the age of 18. His first job was on a Long Island, N. Y., farm,
where he received the princely wage of $6.00 per month. Later he hired
out on a wrecking vessel cruising in Delaware Bay. In 1856 he enlisted
In the United States Army. Almost at the very outset of his military
career, he participated in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, being one
of the few survivors. At the ex-
piration of his term, he reenlisted
and served through the Civil
War.
His service record is a re-
markable history. It includes.
among others, the battles of Bull
Run, Chancellorsvllle, Gettysburg,
t h e Wilderness, Spottsylvania,
Cold Harbor, Peterburg, and the
various battles preceding the evac-
uation of Richmond. He received
a number of wounds but fortun-
ately none that incapacitated him
from service. At the close of the
war he was honorably discharged
and went to Michigan. There he
bought a forty-acre farm in Ma-
comb County. For the next twen-
ty-five years he farmed in that
section and became known as the
foremost farmer in the county,
an authority on all farm problems
and a leader In the community.
When the Palestine Colony
was formed in Bad Axe, Michigan,
Wodic was living in the village of
Utica, near Detroit, on a small
farm where he had retired when
EMANUEL WODIC
his advancing years and his wife's
illness compelled him to give up more actIve farming operations. A
Jewish peddler, who had witnessed the sufferings of the colonists at
Bad Axe, brought the story of their heroic struggle to Martin Butzel,
a prominent Detroit merchant who was at the time president of the
Beth El Relief Society. Butzel became interested in the colony and
turned to Wodic as the ideal man to investigate conditions at Bad
Axe.
Wodic arrived In Bad Axe in March, 1892, and did much to im•
prove the lot of the colonists, acting not only as the agricultural ad-
visor but as the community leader and arbiter of the many petty
disputes which naturally arose among the colonists. (The story of the
Palestine Colony in Bad Axe will be dealt with at greater length In
a future article.) Mr. Wodic moved to Detroit a few years later and
served for many years as the Warden of the Cemeteries of Temple
Beth El. He died in 1925 at the age of 89.
monov together with their col-
league Gen. Mikhail Galaktionov
will appear in Detroit for one
evening. At the Scottish Rites Ca-
thedral, Masonic Temple, June
11th at 8 p.m. a rally will be
held by the Detroit Jewish Com-
mittee for Russian Relief to honor
this brilliant triumvirate.
Jacob Seligman was one of the most picturesque merchants of Mich-
igan in his time. He was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany,
and came to Oakland County in the middle 1860's, engaging in the
retail clothing trade at Pontiac. Seligman was a pigmy of a man.
being but five feet tall, a circumstance which he capitalized into a
self-advertisement of himself as "Little Jake," by which sobriquet he
was always known. He had a competitor in Pontiac in the person of
an Englishman named Christopher R. Mabley, in the days before
extensive newspaper advertising of commodities and when, in the ab-
sence of professional advertising writers, the ingenuity of merchants
was taxed to attract customers. Seligman and Mabley were well-
matched in this respect and conducted a most intense rivalry, which
resulted in Mabley buying Seligman out of Pontiac, the latter going
to Saginaw in 1869. M,,bley later became the leading merchant of his
day in Detroit, while Seligman became a leader in the clothing trade
and later a banker in his new home city. He accumulated a consider-
able fortune and was the moving spirit in the Majestic Building enter-
prise in Detroit, then the greatest construction project of the state.
which was later on occupied by the business successors of his early
rival in Pontiac.
The panic of 1893 hit him hard and he was stripped of his fortune
and his health. Later he recovered both in Colorado. He was a man of
much commercial ability, a good friend and a good enemy, and had
a biting wit. Once, on his return to Saginaw for a visit, all his old
friends joined in a complimentary dinner, at which the good-will of
his former associates was voiced by the eloquent Benton Hanchett.
Seligman had developed an enmity against an old business associate
and the chance to get even was too good to be lost. Mounting a chair
so that he could be seen, he essayed his response with tears stream-
ing down his cheeks. "I have a friend in Detroit," he began, "half of
whose life, yes, all of it, I would gladly give to be able to speak as
finely as Mr. Hanchett." The rest of his address, after this sally at
getting even, was lost in laughter at his bon mot. Everyone knew he
meant what he said. He was very vain. He built the Tower Building
In Saginaw, and on the top of the tower placed a life-sized cast-iron
statue of himself. It is there still.
tors. All of them have been con-
zation as a whole, and for the re-
building of a just world order.
Rabbi
1(1. J. Wohlgelernter,
President of Yeshivath Beth Ye-
(3) the continuity of the He-
brew tradition. He stated that the
work of such institutions as Ye-
shivath Beth Yehudah, in training
Jewish youth for a knowledge of
Divine attributes—and their ap-
plication to political, social and
economic life, has importance not
only for the Detroit Jewish com-
munity, but for American civili-
plies, 2.6%; Building and Main-
tenance,
; A d m inist ration,
11.6%. Income during this period
came from the following sources:
Students' fees, 40`x; Dues and
hudah, presented a financial
statement for the first elever
months of the current fiscal year
showing a total expenditure of
$93,77 5.9 7, and a total income
of $82,321.73. Plans were an-
nounced for the solicitation of
new members and contributors
during the next few weeks to
help meet its deficit of $11,4 54. -
24. The breakdown of expenses is
Donations, 19%; Synagogues, 8%;
Dinner and Journal, 7.2%; Jew-
ish Welfare Federation, 10.1%;
Ladies' contribution towards
maintenance, 25%,
The Detroit Zionist Election Board announces the following
voting places for the coming election of delegates to the World
Zionist Congress:
ILYA EHRENBURG
Jewish Community Center, Shaarey Zedek, Rose Sittig Cohen
Bldg., Tuxedo and Holmur Talmud Torah, Parkside and Mid-
land Talmud Torah, Philadelphia-Byron Talmud Torah and Ha-
bonim Office, Twelfth and Taylor.
Monday only: Zionist Office, 1044 Penobscot Bldg.
tinuously in action since their
arrival, their engagements rang-
ing from cheering meetings in
the halls of anions, through movie
and
previews and champagne
vodka office parties.
The election will take place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday
and Monday, June 16 and 17.
Ehrenburg"s apearance in De-
troit will be the culmination of
Iris tour through the South. His
confrere Konstantin Simonov will
have made an appraisal of the
West Coast, while Gen. Galak-
tionov will be .returning from a
journey through the Mid West.
Their re-union should offer some
significant, as well as entertain-
ing results and it will be worth-
while to note their individual re-
actions to three such diverse
AVOID CROWDING CLOSETS!
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100 TABLETS 354
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Sam and Son, Inc.
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DRUG SALE
Leader
The Formal Dedication
Beth Aaron Synagogue
A large gathering of men and
women heard Professor Samuel
Levin, head of the economics de-
partment at Wayne University,
make a plea for a return to mo-
ral and spiritual values in the
postwar world, at the annual
meeting of Yeshivath Beth Yehu-
dah held last Monday evening in
the synagogue auditorium of the
school at Dexter and Cortland.
Taking as his theme the 23rd
Psalm, Dr. Levin emphasized that
even though Jewry has walked
through "The Shadow of the Val-
Voting Places for Zionist Delegates
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND
—of the—
Professor Levin Urges New
Moral Revival; Yeshiva Seeks Funds
The three representatives of ley of Death" there is hope for as follows; Teaching and Super-
Soviet letters came to this coun- "The Restoration of its Soul" in vision, 64.2%; Transportation of
try at the invitation of the Amer- (1) The American Jewish Center, Pupils, 8%; Students' Lunches,
ican Society for Newspaper Edi- (2) the Palestinian Yishuv, and 5.6%; School Furniture and Sup-
Jacob Seligman
4
Page Three
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