The Rosewaters: Western Pioneers
Absentee Voting Arranged
For Jews on Rosh Hashanah
American Jewish A rchives Acquire Valuable U. S. Historical Collection
.CINCINNATI — On Jan. 1,
1863, less than 10 years after his
arrival in the United States, 23-
year-old Edward Rosewater, a
Jewish immigrant, flashed the
news of the Emancipation Pro-
clamation across the telegraph
wires.
This event alone, announcing
what has since become a major
document in American history,
was enough to distinguish Ed-
ward Rosewater. But his career
continued to bristle with the ac-
complishments of a true pioneeK.
The American Jewish Arch-
ives, located on the campus of
the Hebrew Union College-
Jewish Institute of Religion in
Cincinnati, 'announces acquisi-
tion of 4,000 items relating to
two generations of the Rose-
water family covering a cen-
tury ef. activity. This valuable
collection, presented by Mr.
and Mrs. Edward Rosewater of
Elkins Park, Pa., is rich in the
history of American telegra-
phy; the territorial and state
history o f Nebraska; t h e
growth of the Republican
Party in the post - bellum
period; the building of the
Union Pacific; anti-Negro riots;
anti-Semitism.
Edward Rosewater arrived in
the United States from Bohemia
in 1854 at the age of 13. He
brought with him a good knowl-
edge of Hebrew, Bohemian, and
German. He first trudged the -
peddler's path, like so many
German-Jewish immigrants. A
brief sojourn of six months in a
Cleveland commercial _ school
constituted his formal education
in this country. The new telegra-
phy by the Morse code, attracted
his attention and, in the course
of two years, he mastered its sys-
tem. It was to influence the rest
of his life.
He began his auspicious
work in the deep south, where,
on the eve of the war he met
Jefferson Davis, Judah' P. Ben-
jamin, and Senator William
Lowndes Yancey.
When secession took place and
the War between the States be-
gan, Rosewater found himself
deep in the heart of Alabama.
As soon as it was possible to
reach the Union lines, he re-
turned to Ohio.
During the summer of 1862 he
was assigned to General Pope.
On the field and amid the bullets
of the second battle of Bull Run
he transmitted messages from
Generals Fremont and Pope di-
rectly to President Lincoln. He
was brought into close contact
with the President.
Here is one of the tragic epi-
sodes of the war described by
Rosewater: an order issued
by Lincoln and Secretary of War
Stanton far General Burnside to
launch his attack at Fredericks-
burg:
"The attack began on Sunday
morning about 8 o'clock, and Presi-
dent Lincoln came into the office in
his slippers. He remained all day
and far into the night. Secretary
Stanton was also present. At noon
Stanton sent an orderly with an ice-
pitcher out for beer, and Lincoln,
Stanton, Captain Fox, then Assistant
Secretary of the Navy, and myself
lunched on beer and crackers. All
this time dispatches were being con-
stantly received, and President Lin-
coln dictated encouraging replies
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without writing them, standing be-
hind me as he did so. As the day
went on the reports grew discourag-
ing, and at night the defeat was
finally announced. . . . The calamity
seemed to crush Lincoln. He looked
pale, wane and haggard. He did not
get over it for a long time, and all
that winter of 1863 he was down-
cast and depressed. He felt that the
loss was his fault. Burnside had
declined to take command of the
army, saying that he was not com-
petent, and Lincoln had insisted
upon it and had persuaded him.
Burnside feared the responsibility.
He maintained that the rebels in
some way got the orders from the
War Department as soon as he did,
and that they could counteract his
proposed movements before he could
execute them."
Rosewater sent news letters
and dispatches to the Cleveland
Herald. Those dispatches, giving
a vivid, pioneer account of those
western cities dotting the map
for the first time in history, are
now in the possession of the
American Jewish Archives.
Rosewater became a partici-
pant in the growth of the city of
Omaha and in the organization
of the state of Nebraska. His
keen interest in the educational
system of the state prompted him
to issue a small paper called
Punchinello which was distribu-
ted free of charge. In it he out-
lined his views on the school
system, exposing the two local
newspapers that hampered edu-
cational progress. Rosewater dis-
carded his job as telegrapher. and,
inspired by the action of the so-
cial insect which stings but gives
honey, he renamed his paper the
Omaha Bee.
Verbal attacks were treated
by him in the manner that they
were received. The physical as-
saults of hired ruffians were
-more difficult to side-step, and
once Rosewater was malicious-
ly beaten into unconsciousness.
When a local judge maligned
the character of Rosewater's
family and refused to make an
apology, Rosewater horse-
whipped him, western style, on
the main street. In an effort to
stop his press completely,
Rosewater's enemies set the
plant ablaze, but the Omaha
Bee grew to become a great
metropolitan daily and a power-
ful influence in the mid-west.
In 1889, at the cost of a million
dollars, the largest building in
the city was erected to house
the Rosewater press. Mean-
while two additional news-
papers were added to the bud-
get in the languages which
Rosewater knew: the Beolbach-
ter am Missouri (Missouri Ob-
server) in German, and the
Pokrok Zapudu (Progress of
the West) in Bohemian.
The political alignment of Ed
ward Rosewater led him to be-
come a member of the Nebraska
State Legislature and an im-
portant figure in the Republican
party in the west. He served on
the advisory .board of the Na-
tional Republican Committee, be-
came a candidate for the United
States Senate in 1904, and was a
powerful supporter of William
Jennings Bryan, a Democrat,
when running against a less wor-
thy Republican nominee.
.
Prof. Marcus to Receive
PEP Annual Award Tonight
Phi Epsilon Pi • Fraternity an-
nounces it is presenting its Na-
tional Service ' Award to Dr.
Jacob R. Marcus for his contri-
bution to American Jewish cult-
ure during the past year.
Dr. Marcus is the Adolph S.
Ochs Professor of History at
Hebrew Union College-Jewish
Institute of Religion, in Cincin-
nati, and the director of Ameri-
can Jewish Archives. He- is the
author of a number of books
on European Jewry, and his con-
tributions to the study Of the
history of the Jews in the United
States from their earliest settle-
ment to the present day have
won him distinction. His two
volume -"Early American Jewry"
has already become a standard
reference work in the. field. His
latest publication, "Memoirs of
American Jews, 1775-1865," in
three volumes, contains the ab-
sorbing accounts o f pioneer
American Jews.
The award will be presented to
Dr. Marcus tonight at the frat-
ernity's 51st convention, at Hotel
Chamberlin, Old Point Comfort,
Va.
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS-9
Friday, September 9, 1955
The same public spirit which
infused the elder Rosewater in-
fluenced his sons, especially Vic-
tor Rosewater. Young Rosewater
completed college studies and be-
came associated with the Bee.
He became active in the Repub-
lican National Committee and
was its chairman in 1912. That
exciting nominating convention
which split the G.O.P. between
President William Howard Taft
and ex-President Theodore
Roosevelt, resulting in the elec-
tion of Woodrow Wilson, was-
graphically described by Victor
Rosewater in , a book that appear-
ed shortly after, "Back Stage in
1912." Rosewater's interest in
journalism and its history led
him to write a "History of Co-
operative News-Gathering in the
United States."
The Rosewater collection is
represented by many Presidential
items from Ulysses S. Grant to
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
S. African Chief Rabbi Remains
In Office Five Years More
JOHANNESBURG (JTA)—Dr.
Louis I. Rabinowitz, Chief Rabbi
of South Africa and a leader in
many phases of South African
Jewish life, has agreed to with-
draw his resignation and con-
tinue in • office for a further five
years. Dr. Rabinowitz, who is 49
years old and a native of Scot-
land, had announced his resigna-
tion last November in order to
settle in Israel. He withdrew his
resignation after appeals by Jew-
ish groups here.
HOUSTON, Tex. (JTA) — In-
tervention by the Houston Jew-
ish .Community Council with the
county authorities. here resulted
in immediate action to provide
for absentee voting during a
two-week period prior to the
County_ election, the date of
which was fixed for .Sept. 17, a
Saturday, and the first day of
Rosh Hashanah.
County Judge Bob Casey took
action immediately to provide
voting facilities for members of
the Jewish community. In a let-
ter to the Council he expressed
regret that the election day
• "falls on your religious holi-
day." He expressed the hope
that the new arrangements
would give the Jews of the
county ample opportunity to
vote and concluded his letter
with the greetings, L'Shonah
Tovah.
Cornerstone Rites Set for
Jewish Aged Home in Belgium
ANTWERP, Belgium, (JTA)—
The cornerstone was laid here
Sunday for a home for the aged
to accommodate 50 aged Jewish
men and women left without
family and means as a result of
World War II. The home is be-
ing constructed by the Central
Jewish Welfare Committee with
a $90,000 grant from the ,Confer-
ence on Jewish Material Claims
Against Germany, and grants
from the Joint Distribution Com-
mittee to supplement funds raised
locally.
The edifice will contain a clinic,
residential quarters for ..the nurs-
ing staff, a laundry and kitchens.
It is due to be completed by the
end of the year.
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