Stories from Jewish Portland

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Introduction

A SHORT HISTORY OF JEWISH OREGON

Fables from the old Wild West don’t usually include Jewish businessmen. Still, from Pendleton to North Powder, Heppner, Burns and Browntown, it was German Jewish immigrants minding the store. Their history in Oregon dates to the 1848 California gold rush. They followed prospectors as peddlers or general store owners and moved north as new deposits were found.

During the 1850s, Jewish communities developed in three Oregon cities. Jacob Goldstein and Lewis May arrived in Portland in 1849. One year after the 1851 Jacksonville gold discovery, seven Jews lived among the 1,506 residents. Jacob and Louis Fleischner arrived in Albany via the Oregon Trail in 1852.

Most early Jews immigrated to the United States from Germany. They integrated into the larger community and formed Jewish institutions. Jacksonville’s High Holiday services started in 1856 and the Jewish cemetery in 1859. Jews worked on the Jacksonville City Council, and Max Muller was postmaster for eighteen years.

As in Jacksonville, Albany’s Jewish residents soon dominated businesses along the main street. They ran dry goods, groceries and clothing stores, a barbershop, a saloon and even a ladies’ hairdressing salon. Albert Senders owned a grain mill, served as town mayor and became exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge. Prussian immigrant Julius Joseph joined the Seventeenth Missouri Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War before moving to Albany and opening a tobacco store.

Front Avenue in downtown Portland, 1910. Courtesy City of Portland Archives, Oregon, View of Front Ave., AP/7080, 1910.

The First Hebrew Congregation of Albany was formed in 1878, primarily to organize a cemetery. Burials also brought Portland Jews together. The Mount Sinai Burial Association formed in 1856 with land in what coincidentally became the Jewish and Italian immigrant district of South Portland. Congregation Beth Israel absorbed the association when they organized in 1858.

Simon and Jacob Blumauer opened their shop on Portland’s Front Avenue in 1851, the year the city incorporated. Aaron Meier peddled in the Oregon Territory before opening his store in 1857. By 1860, 120 Jews lived in Portland out of a population of 2,874.

Jews followed gold and livestock to small towns. Samuel Marks and Hyman Wolenberg purchased Canyonville in 1863. Bavarian brothers Sigmund and Seligmann Heilner’s long history in Oregon started with Seligmann’s 1845 immigration. He opened a dry goods store in Crescent City, California. Sigmund joined him but soon headed north to Browntown, a small mining settlement over the Oregon border. A February 15, 1865 Morning Oregonian article titled A Trip through Josephine County recorded those times:

We next paid a visit to the mill and mine belonging to S.A. Heilner, Esquire, located near Democrat Gulch. This lode is situated on the mountain, about one and a half miles from the mill, having an excellent wagon road constructed between the two points. At the suggestion of Mr. Heilner, we, in company with our friend Evans, each bearing a candle in hand, commenced the ascent of the shaft, not knowing the magnitude of the undertaking, but supposing that a few feet would bring us to the top. Water came down like a torrent of rain; Ominous thought passed through our minds…But, at length a light gleamed from above, and looking up, we saw Mr. Heilner holding a candle.

Sigmund A. Heilner, 1837–1917. Courtesy Baker County (Oregon) Library Historic Photo Collection.

Near Grants Pass, Asher and Solomon Marks owned a sawmill and flume on Mule Creek. The Rogue River Ranch National Historic Site preserves remnants of Marial, the tiny nearby town. Near Glendale, Russian Jews founded the New Odessa agricultural commune on land they had bought from Canyonville settler, Hyman Wolenberg. They created their community for mutual assistance in perfecting and development of physical, mental, and moral capacities of its members, according to the articles of incorporation.

With the 1861 discovery of gold near Baker County, Jews fanned out to eastern Oregon. A June 4, 1873 Morning Oregonian article referred to brothers Sigmund and Seligmann Heilner, formerly of Crescent City and Browntown: In Sparta, Union County, there are two stores, one hotel, two saloons and two blacksmith shops. There are several families there. Coan Bros. are putting up a fine stone building. Seligmann Heilner went by the alias E.D. Cohen to avoid creditors, which apparently confused the reporter. Today, the brother’s store is all that remains of the old mining town.

After gold was discovered in Baker County, many Jewish families made the journey to eastern Oregon. This photograph shows the Heilner brothers’ store. Remnants of it are all that remain of Sparta. Courtesy Baker County (Oregon) Library Historic Photo Collection.

Eventually, the Heilner brothers moved to Baker City. Here, Seligmann was shot dead outside his brother’s store while serving as a court case witness. Sigmund married Clara Neuberger and had four children. Their son, Richard Neuberger, became Oregon’s second Jewish United States senator.

The Leo Adler House Museum demonstrates the legacy of another Jewish Baker City family. Carl Adler owned the Crystal Palace, a general merchandise store. Known as Mr. Baker, his son, Leo, made a fortune in the magazine distribution business and left $20 million to the town.

Eloise Durkheimer Spiegel remembered her grandfather’s stories about Burns, a small town that served sheep and cattle ranchers. He owned the general store and doubled as town mayor. He closed the store for Rosh Hashanah, but the Indians didn’t understand that it was temporarily, she said. There was some kind of uprising, so when Yom Kippur came he closed it again but had someone standing guard.

Jack Sanders, a retired University of Oregon professor, is an authority on Pendleton’s Jewish community and author of Samuel Rothchild: A Jewish Pioneer in the Days of the Old West. Although there is little evidence of Jewish culture in Pendleton, Oregon, today, members of this merchant class were critical to the development, he said in a telephone interview. Sanders learned that a Jewish congregation formed in 1879. "There was no ordained rabbi, and the congregation elected businessman Lehman Blum. One general store, L. Dusenbery & Co., closed for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These closings were announced in the East Oregonian, although the EO spellings are a cause of amusement."

Meanwhile, in 1885, Samuel Rothchild’s cousin, Herman, moved to North Powder. When he died in 1924, the North Powder News called him the city’s most prominent man:

Last Saturday evening about fifty or more North Powder people motored to Baker to pay their last respects to the old merchant. These were members of the I.O.O.F. and Rebekah lodges of this city, the city council, and businessmen of the town. When the remains were taken from West’s chapel to the depot, the North Powder people followed in their cars, to show their keen respect for North Powder’s most prominent man. Many who wished to honor Mr. Rothchild, but could not go to Baker, assembled at the North Powder depot, and as the train slowed down to four miles an hour, raised their hats and bowed in respect. The railroad company consented to running No. 18 at four miles an hour through this city at the request of George T. Ballard, station agent.

In the years gone by Herman Rothchild was the most prominent and influential citizen of North Powder. He served as its first mayor and was re-elected to a second term. He refused to accept the office a third time. He also served as city treasurer and was a member of the school board. He for many years conducted a successful mercantile business with H.O. Gorham, afterwards taking over the business. He has done more for the people of this city and rural districts than any other individual. Through the period of hard times he extended credit to everybody and anybody, a hazardous venture, and survived, though many others less lenient failed. For this reason, he must be given great credit for the development of the town and country adjacent to North Powder.

No citizen of North Powder ever enjoyed the popularity and acquaintance over the state as did Mr. Rothchild. In 1906 he was elected to the state legislature, the only democrat to succeed for the place in the entire state. At that term of legislature he was also the only Hebrew in its body, and the combination of being the only democrat and only Hebrew in the state legislature brought a great deal of comment from the state press. Being witty, Mr. Rothchild in a humorous speech, nominated himself as speaker of the house, saying he had the support of every democrat and Jew in the house. Mr. Davey, of Salem, who was elected speaker, gave Mr. Rothchild a complimentary vote for the place.

Meanwhile, throughout the United States established Jews encouraged new immigrants to become farmers. The Hebrew Agricultural Association of Oregon was incorporated in 1912. First year officers included A. Zidell, president, and Rabbi Jonah B. Wise, first vice-president. The object of this organization is to be the encouragement of agriculture among the Jews, noted a July 5 Jewish Tribune article. This organization will lend money without interest and otherwise assist Jewish farmers in their vocation.

By August, the Jewish Tribune reported, Twenty-five Jewish families, including a shochet, will leave Sunday to file on government lands in Central Oregon. The group settled in the high desert of Lake County, near the town of Paisley. The Lake City Examiner picked up the story in an October 3, 1912 article titled Colonization in Northern Lake:

Of vast importance to the early development of the upper part of the Lake County is the settlement of a Hebrew colony near Rams Rock. Mr. Schatter [sic] who was acting as spokesman for the party informed the Examiner that 25 families would follow this fall. All the land was taken under the three year Homestead Act and this year they expect to get contracts for clearing land and getting it under cultivation.

Scattered reports continued over the next few years. A January 1, 1914 Morning Oregonian article under the headline Jews Form Oregon Colony reported:

Of the entire colony, only 15 families remain, the others