Miami County,
Indiana’s Jewish Population
Miami County,
Indiana, located northeast of the state’s center along the banks of the Wabash
River, was organized in 1834 on land purchased by Joseph Holman from the Miami Tribe
of Chief, John B. Richardville, in 1830. The Miami moved from their historical
home in Wisconsin to central Indiana over a century before Indiana Territory
was established in 1800, but lost much of their land through a string of 1830s
treaties, starting with the 1834 treaty which dissolved the Eel Creek Reserve
and forced inhabitants to move to other land within Miami County. The federal
government quickly purchased the newly-available land and started the Wabash-Erie
Canal. Peru, the county seat, was established shortly after Miami County, and became
the hub of commercial and social activity in the county as those eager to work
on the canal or sell goods to the canal workers trickled into the area. The first
canal boat arrived in Peru in 1837, followed by additional treaties culminating
in the 1840 treaty which forced the remaining Miami to cede their land and
leave the state by 1845. This removal opened up Miami County for more
development including the Lake and Western Reserve Railroad which reached Peru
in 1854.
Miami County’s first Jewish citizen was Moses Falk, an
immigrant from Wurtemburg, Germany arrived in Miami County around 1838. Falk was
a trader originally based out of Cincinnati who made his living by offering
goods to European and American residents, as well as local Native Americans.
Falk eventually organized a store known as the “Dutch Grocery” in Peoria, a
pioneer Miami County settlement located southeast of present-day Peru, along
the shore of Mississinewa Lake. Moses and his brother Loeb were the two of the
first three Miami County residents to become naturalized United States
citizens after filing naturalization papers in 1844.
In 1850 Moses decided
to move to Peru, starting the Falk Store, which he would manage until his death
in 1878. His resulting commercial success made Falk “the first Jewish communal leader
of importance” in the state, according to the Jewish Post and Opinion.
Falk was soon joined by other men from his native Wurtemburg
throughout the 1840s, creating a successful pioneer Jewish community centered
in Peru. Early Jewish settlers included the Sterne brothers, the Strouse
brothers, and Moses Oppenheimer. Falk originally sent for Charles and Herman
Sterne, partnering with the brothers to create the Falk & Sterne Mercantile
Firm, which operated from 1850 to 1859.
The Sterne brothers
then purchased the Peru Woolen Mill. Falk continued to run a store until his
1878 retirement when he passed the company to his son Julius. Moses Rosenthal,
Moses Falk’s nephew, traveled to Peru by foot from Carrollton, Illinois to work
as a clerk in his uncle’s shop, eventually starting his own mercantile shop and
becoming a partner in the Peru Woolen Mills after giving considerable capital
to rebuild the mill after a 1868 fire. The Strouse brothers, Harry and David,
also got their start in the Peru Woolen Mill after immigrating from Wurtemburg
in the 1870s. They ended up building Peru’s first gas plant to operate with
their mill and contracted with the city to provide street lights.
Many of the Jewish individuals in Peru became community
leaders by owning successful businesses, undertaking civic enterprises, joining
fraternal organizations, and acting on various boards of directors. For
example, Moses Falk became the first man to receive a degree from the Miami
Lodge No. 67 Free and Accepted Masons.
Julius Falk, son and
business heir of Moses Falk, was a member of the Masons, Knights of Pythias,
Odd Fellows, Red Men, Elks, Eastern Star, Royal Arcanum Maccabees, Foresters,
and Ancient Order of United Workman while still finding time to run his store,
be part owner of Peru Novelty Works, and serve on the committee to create the
Peru Commercial Club.
Julius Falk and Moses
Rosenthal were two of the founders of the Miami County Driving Park and
Agricultural Society, founded in 1890. Milton Kraus, a local attorney, acted as
the Peru Lodge No. 365 Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks’s first
Exalted Ruler and was a big proponent of a railroad extension, which would have
connected Peru directly to Chicago. David Strouse originally wrote to Andrew
Carnegie asking him to help fund a local public library years before he
eventually gave the community money.
Some of Peru’s Jews were active in state and national politics.
In the late nineteenth century Harry Sterne served as the U.S. consulate to
Budapest. Jerome Herff was the Democratic nominee for Indiana State Treasurer
in 1896 and 1900. Milton Kraus, a native of Peru and son of Peru Flax Mill
owner Charles Kraus, served as the Miami County Chairman in 1910 and eventually
represented Indiana Republicans in Congress
Even though most of Peru’s Jewish community met great
commercial success in Miami County, the majority of Jews left Peru by the
1930s. By that time, the first generation of businessmen and mill owners who
arrived in Indiana during the 1840s and 1850s had passed on and many of the
second generation of store owners, who gained success during and between 1880
and 1910, were also retiring from business. Many decided to move to be closer
to their children who had left Peru once they reached adulthood.
No comments:
Post a Comment