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The Rise of Windsor

The end of the War of 1812 and the establishment of peaceful relations between Canada and the United States assured the separate futures of these two nations. As settlers poured in, the fur trade, which had been so important to the area’s economy in Moses David’s day, declined. The 1821 merger of the Montreal-based North West Company with the Hudson’s Bay Company resulted in a shift in the trade and its requirements away from Detroit to the North, where furs were plentiful and transport by Hudson Bay more economical. Detroit would suffer little from this change as it was becoming a frontier metropolis — a centre of trade and shipping as well as the territorial capital. As “Michigan fever” attracted thousands of settlers, steamships appeared on the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal opened in 1825, giving direct access to New York City, and the Welland Canal in 1829 offered a similar connection to Montreal. By 1837 Michigan achieved statehood and began the evolution toward the urban industrial complex Detroit would become in the twentieth century.

In the 1820s the small ferry landing opposite Detroit began to emerge, soon surpassing its more historic neighbour, Sandwich, which continued to slumber under its status as capital of the Western District of Upper Canada. Its legal and administrative functions were not matched by entrepreneurial activities as downriver Amherstburg outgrew its fortress functions to become a major port and business centre and the Ferry — the future Windsor — blossomed as the major transportation centre and border crossing in the region. Roads, regular stage and ferry crossing schedules, and business activity that focused not only upon the local and immigrant trades but also on a steady stream of customers from Detroit and the US led to surveys, land subdivision, and the emergence of a municipality. In 1836 Windsor’s citizens chose its name. A financial panic followed by the rebellions of 1837–38 ruined early railroad plans and retarded the economic growth of the area for a decade. By the 1850s, however, renewed railway construction provided a stimulus to immigrant workers and the arrival of the Great Western Railroad gave Windsor new importance as the premier rail crossing to the United States along the New York-Chicago corridor. Other railway lines reached Windsor in the 1880s, all seeking river outlets and ferry connections with the United States. In 1882, the Grand Trunk took over the Great Western; a year later the Canada Southern shifted its operations from Amherstburg to Windsor (Essex Cutoff) and the Canadian Pacific Railway, Canada’s transcontinental line, arrived before the end of the decade. The municipality achieved city status in 1892 — the community had arrived and awaited the new century with anticipation and optimism. It could expect to garner its share of immigrants to the New World seeking opportunities and new lives. Three border communities with nearly contiguous boundaries — Sandwich, Windsor, and Walkerville — were soon to be joined by a fourth, Ford City. Together, the Border Cities constituted a formidable urban entity by the beginning of the twentieth century.

From earliest times, the region had hosted a diverse population. The first inhabitants were Native peoples, followed by pioneer French Canadians. Fur traders and merchants of many nationalities worked closely with the military contingents, French or British, who were established at Fort Detroit. In the wake of the American Revolution and the resulting political division of the continent in 1796, Loyalists from the South poured into the emerging colony of Upper Canada. After 1815, these pioneers were joined by a new wave of British immigrants, culminating in the massive Irish influx of the 1840s and 1850s. As a railway centre and international border crossing, Windsor received a significant volume of the immigrant traffic bound for the United States. Sick immigrants were often refused entry and turned back by Detroit customs officers, dumping responsibility for the problems of medical attention, isolation facilities and general care on the young border community.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 produced new problems and opportunities for Windsor as an influx of black residents, often destitute, arrived seeking freedom and a new life in Canada. Henry Bibb’s Voice of the Fugitive, published in Windsor/Sandwich during these years, served as a beacon of hope for the oppressed. Mounting Civil War pressures and border incidents provoked nationalist responses on both sides, and for a short time the imposition of a restrictive passport system, but the border usually remained open allowing easy access between the two countries.

The Windsor community consisted of a mix of people; it was a place where all sorts could make their way. By the time of the Great Migration of the 1880s, Windsor had developed sufficiently to be attractive to newcomers, offering a variety of opportunities enhanced by border location, proximity to Detroit, and a relatively porous border. The flat, but fertile agricultural lands of Essex County and improved communication with the completion of the Gravel Road (Howard Avenue) made Windsor the market centre of a growing agricultural economy.¹

The First Jews

The Jews who came to Windsor from Russia seeking economic opportunity found the community a good place to earn a livelihood. They hoped that, after their initial struggle, other members of their families and friends could be brought over to the New World. Suited for work in a capitalist economy, the early Jewish settlers adapted to the border’s relatively open and tolerant atmosphere, even though the language was foreign and the culture and customs were strange.

Windsor had always been a place where people came for a short time and, when possible, moved on to the United States. Some pioneering Jews found that the Canadian side of the Detroit River held great promise and although they had relatives in Detroit, traded there, and relied upon the larger community for services unavailable to them on this side of the border, they settled in Windsor. The evidence about this early period is sketchy — much information has been lost, and unfortunately, primary sources are scarce — but after careful research, a pattern of Jewish settlement does emerge from the scattered records.

Following the death of Moses David in 1814, we can safely assume that no other Jew settled in the Windsor area until the 1870s, since neither local newspaper accounts nor census figures show any signs of Jewish activities during that period.² The first viable Jewish presence in Windsor was established about 1878, when the first group of Eastern European immigrants arrived there. They were mostly from Suwalk and Shtabin, and other small Russian-Polish towns in Bialystok Province, close to the Lithuanian border, and the typical pattern of these immigrants was for a few key family members to secure a base in Canada before asking their relatives to join them there. Determined to succeed in the country that had given them the chance to make a fresh start, they and others who came after 1881 to escape the Russian pogroms were a courageous, industrious, and hard-working lot, well conditioned to withstand hardships in difficult times. They were eager to perpetuate the familiar lifestyle they had left behind, so that Jewish nucleus soon transformed Windsor into their own kind of shtetl, making it their fortress amid an initially hostile environment in which differences in language, customs, manners, and dress set them apart from the rest of the population. Most of them readily embraced the free-enterprise system, at first peddling for their livelihood before saving up enough money to bring over family members and friends. They, in turn, assisted expansion into more established businesses. Gradually gaining confidence and status, they ultimately took their proper places in Canadian society and, specifically, in Windsor’s big little Jewish community.³

William Englander

Although the picture of Essex County’s early Jewish settlement is incomplete, the records indicate that the first Jew to make Windsor his permanent home around 1876 was William Englander. Born in 1850,⁴ he had left his native Hungary as a young man and, after living in China, Japan, and Australia, had made his way to the United States.⁵ He landed in New York City in 1876, boarded a train for Cleveland, Ohio, where he had a first cousin and, after staying there for a while, moved on to Detroit.⁶ We do not know what motivated him to cross the Detroit River to the Canadian side, but by 1891, he was listed in Windsor’s City Directory as a peddler living at 122 Windsor Avenue. Three years later, he opened a store on the same street and even though the sign above the shop read, “W. Englander Groceries and Meat, Butter, Eggs, and Poultry,” he was likely a shochet, a Jewish butcher specializing in the ritualistic slaughter of animals.⁷

Since William Englander spoke several languages, including German, Russian, Bulgarian, Polish, Yiddish, and Bohemian, starting about 1895 he also acted as a court interpreter whenever his services were required.⁸ Then, in December 1898, it was rumoured that he was planning to run in the upcoming municipal election as an alderman. On January 3, 1899, the Evening Record reported that, “In ward three, Mr. Englander, a new man, surprised his friends by heading the poll with a very substantial majority.”⁹

Photo courtesy of Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue

William Englander.

Having become the first Jew to be elected to public office in Windsor, he celebrated his victory by attending a dinner that same night and, a few days later, a party at the home of Mayor John Davis.¹⁰ Thanks to his earlier stint as a court interpreter, Englander was well prepared for his new job. In February 1899 he was appointed to the market and property committee, as well as to the light committee¹¹ and, likely in recognition of his newly attained position, he was also granted a Certificate of Naturalization.¹²

Englander’s interest in city politics had probably been sparked long before he actually became an alderman. In the early years, when Windsor was a pioneering community, hawkers and peddlers had been able to walk the streets and roam the countryside undisturbed. Gradually, however, shop owners must have perceived these “outsiders” as a threat to their more established enterprises. A by-law passed three years earlier that required the “licensing and regulation of Hawkers and Petty Chapman and others,”¹³ would have had a profound effect on William Englander’s own business. Amended on May 3, 1886, it stipulated:

That no person not a resident of the town of Windsor, and in the case of tea, dry goods, and jewelry, not having a shop, store or place of business within the said town in which to pursue his trade or calling, shall exercise the calling or occupation of a peddler, hawker or petty chapman within the units of the said town, nor go on foot or otherwise offering for sale (etc.). . . without first having obtained a license so to do in the manner hereinafter provided.¹⁴

Englander the businessman should have welcomed the law regulating street vendors’ activities. As an alderman, however, his objectivity on the subject was, at times, questionable. While insisting on strict observance by others, he himself appeared to sidestep any restrictions that interfered with the pursuit of his personal aims and objectives. For example, on June 26, 1899, the market and property committee received a complaint that “William Englander had been buying poultry during prohibited hours.”¹⁵

Despite his reprehensible behaviour, coupled with his seemingly less than regular attendance of Council meetings, he was re-elected in 1900 and, during his second term in office, was again censured for contravening the by-law designed to keep “hucksters off the market until 10 a.m.”¹⁶ In that connection, the Evening Record of January 29, 1900, reported that,

Mr. Englander was suppressed twice or thrice before but he does not stay suppressed. His latest scheme to evade the law is to make his bargains before 10 a.m. and have the goods delivered after that hour, hoping by this thin device to escape the penalty.

Mr. Englander on a former occasion justified his action on the ground that the farmers were opposed to the 10 o’clock clause. Mr. Englander’s error seems to lie in forgetting that the by-law is framed in the interest of the people who maintain the market.”¹⁷

Fortunately, that particular complaint did not reach Council and, despite a motion passed on March 19, 1900, requesting the police commissioners to advise the chief constable and policemen to enforce the hawkers and peddlers regulations, William Englander remained undaunted. In fact, his prominence seemed to reach its peak on April 17, 1900, when the Evening Record reported that he had built “a handsome residence on the corner of Windsor Avenue and Wyandotte Street.”¹⁸ Still unable to accept “that clause of the market by-law which seeks to retain the market for the people until 9 o’clock by keeping hucksters off the grass up to that hour,”¹⁹ William Englander again was taken to task on August 1, 1900, when the following item appeared in the Evening Record:

On a recent market day he approached a youth with a wagon during prohibited hours and offered to buy all the chicks he had. He had seven pairs. The youth demurred, saying it was against the law. “Oh,” replied the alderman, “I make the laws for this town; anyway if there is any trouble you just say I contracted for those chickens last Thursday.”

The fears of the farmer were allayed by the alderman into carrying away the fowls. Word of the transaction was carried to Market Clerk Lidell, who warned him to keep the law, but many such warnings do not seem to restrain the alderman.”²⁰

Although Englander himself was never punished for violating any of these laws, he not only joined Alderman B. G. Davis in September 1900 in laying a charge against Wolfgang Feller, a well-known hotel owner, for buying chickens during prohibited market hours but, a month later, even proposed the following resolution:

Moved by Mr. Englander, seconded by Mr. Blackburn, that whereas the Hawkers & Peddlers By-law has been enforced in this city since the 1st day of June last and no conviction for an infraction thereof has yet been made in the police court, although it is a notorious fact that said by-laws continuously are openly violated by a large number of persons, the Council is of the opinion that the police constables whose salaries are paid by the City are severely remiss in their duty and deserve severe censure. Also that a copy of this resolution be furnished the police commissioners. Carried.²¹

Despite a fellow alderman’s attempt, on November 26, 1900, to have the hawkers’ by-law repealed altogether, it was amended on February 11, 1901, allowing those who had paid their license fees to receive a refund. By that time, however, William Englander’s popularity had waned, obviously because of his double standard of justice. Defeated in the 1901 election, he lost his seat on Council.²²

Between 1906 and 1907, the city directory again shows him as a retail grocer. However, likely in appreciation of his past public service, and because of his language skills, he was appointed immigration officer, some time after 1913. Probably stationed at the ferry docks at the foot of Ouellette Avenue, he held the post until 1924–1925, as well as continuing as a part-time court interpreter. In fact, some records described him as a gentleman who knew the “Provision Trade for he used to deal in butter and eggs before devoting himself entirely to immigration matters.”²³

William Englander had known Windsor as a small village and had enjoyed seeing it grow. Some people remembered him as a small, rotund, and soft-spoken man with a kind disposition, who apparently helped many people with their problems. Even though he was not wealthy, it was said that he liked to put money aside “for a rainy day.” Not an Orthodox Jew, he nevertheless played an active role in the budding community’s religious affairs.²⁴

William was married to Wilhelmina, née Santer, a woman from Cleveland, Ohio to whom he likely had been introduced by her brother, a resident of Detroit. On December 19, 1906, the couple had adopted a daughter through the Jewish Infants Orphan Home in Cleveland. A native of St. Joseph, Missouri, they named her Rose. Wilhelmina Englander died at a young age and was buried in Detroit. In 1920, her father met Regina Stern of Detroit and after a year’s courtship, they were married in her hometown.

On September 2, 1925, Rose Englander became the wife of Israel Milton (Slaw), son of Aaron Meretsky in a double wedding ceremony that took place at the Masonic Temple in Windsor. The other bride was Aaron Meretsky’s daughter Lillian. She was marrying Harry, the son of Michael Meretsky, who was her first cousin — a phenomenon not uncommon for those days. On April 1, 1926, seven months after the wedding, Rose’s stepmother, Regina Englander, died. Eight days later, on April 8, 1926, her father, William, passed away.²⁵

Photo courtesy of Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue

Aaron Meretsky.

Aaron Meretsky and his Family

Aaron Meretsky was the first Jewish immigrant to come to Windsor from Shtabin, Poland. Born there in 1854, he was the second son of a family of four boys and three girls. His mother and father were simple, hard-working people, who eked out a meagre existence in Russian Poland. That was in sharp contrast to the parents of Katherine Barowsky, the woman Aaron eventually married. Born in 1856, she came from a wealthy family who had owned a tannery in Poland. In 1880, either shortly before or soon after her husband’s emigration, she gave birth on March 6, 1880, to their first child, Simon.²⁶

Aaron Meretsky came to Windsor without his wife and child. Having brought with him enough money to get established, he did not have the financial hardships other immigrants had to endure. Although he had only a limited knowledge of English, he must have had some education as he could read and write Yiddish.²⁷ Trying to fit into his new surroundings, he soon decided to change his first name to Joe, sometimes using it in conjunction with his family name, but mostly calling himself Adelman, because he thought it was easier to pronounce and spell than Meretsky. He began to work on his own as a peddler, but also appeared to have been in business with William Englander for a while. He then moved to Wallaceburg, where he pursued two occupations — as a junk merchant in the summer and as a fur dealer during the winter. He also carried on business in Sarnia, briefly returning to Wallaceburg before permanently settling in Windsor.²⁸

Meretsky family home in Windsor, Ontario (n.d.).

After being in Canada for seven years, Aaron sent for his wife, Catherine, and their young son.²⁹ She also must have brought a great deal of money with her,³⁰ since the couple soon was able to bring over her parents, her sisters, and one of her brothers, as well as Aaron’s brothers, Abraham, Jacob, and Michael, and his three sisters — Annie, who later married Joseph Mintz; Gishe (Jessie), who eventually became the wife of Orke Williams; and Ete Rive (Rebecca), who came together with her husband, Max Bernstein.

Between 1894 and 1903, Katherine Meretsky gave birth in quick succession to five more children — Tibe, born in 1894; Harmon Cem, born in 1896; Libby, born in 1898; Edsel, born in 1900; and Israel (Slaw) born in 1903. Being an astute businesswoman in her own right, Catherine soon acquired properties in Windsor, including seven houses on Mercer Street; she and her family lived in one of them, while a second became the home of her parents.³¹

Aaron established a lucrative junk business in Windsor and became a wealthy man.³² In his mid-fifties, he began to take an interest in municipal affairs. Having announced his intention to run as an alderman in the 1910 election, he conducted an active campaign and won a seat on Windsor’s City Council.³³ Supported by Mayor Hanna, he was immediately appointed to the Board of Public Works, as well as to the fire and parks committees.³⁴ The Evening Record gave the following colourful account of the first session attended by Alderman Meretsky:

The manner in which the business of the evening was dispatched, the newly elected Alderman will give the city a good and business-like administration. Mayor Hanna was in exceptionally good humour and radiated cheerfulness everywhere. Ald. Meretsky and the Mayor seemed to be getting along famously. The mayor asked Meretsky to fill the big leather-backed chair on the dais during part of the reading of a by-law. Meretsky was somewhat backward in coming. The 1911 City Council got fairly underway last night at its meeting in the City Hall chambers and, judging from the forward, and explained that he was “green at the business,” but he finally took the throne, with Mayor Hanna nearby to coach him on “council etiquette.” Meretsky was loudly applauded when he took his seat in the mayoralty chair.[sic]

Alderman Aaron Meretsky is one of the leaders in Windsor’s Jewish Colony, and is full of native shrewdness. He is said to own about 20 houses in the city, and gives his business as a real estate man.³⁵

Described by the local newspaper as a man who spoke “at a rate of 300 words a minute,”³⁶ Aaron became known for his “joking” manner, despite the fact that he sometimes appeared dogmatic, strong-willed, and opinionated during Council meetings. Partly because of his charismatic personality, he subsequently received several other political appointments, including the chairmanship of the committee that selected the members for the Board of Health. Supporting among others, such amendments as making New Year’s Day the official date for municipal election, and establishing six wards instead of four, he voted against withholding a billiard license to a local business, despite complaints from neighbours. Not afraid to tackle controversial issues, he took a strong position on a matter concerning payment of certain rental fees. That brought him into conflict with a Mr. Applebe whom he accused of driving thirty families out of Windsor by serving the needs of the Erie Tobacco Company. The ensuing violent argument between the two gentlemen received the following coverage in the June 20, 1911, issue of the Evening Record:

After the county buildings question had been dealt with, Ald. Meretsky repaired to the lobby. Later, Mr. Applebe came out. He approached Mr. Meretsky and was about to reprimand him for incivility when a near fight seemed in order as discussion became snappy.” I’m sorry, you’re not a young man or I’d certainly trim you,” said Mr. Applebe. “Alright, come ahead now. Just drop that cane and I’ll break every bone in your body. I’m right here with the goods and if ever I got my hand on your throat I would pity you,” replied Meretsky. “You’ve got a few dollars, but what did you ever do for Windsor? How much did you ever give for charity?”

Meretsky finally went back and took his seat in the council chamber. He was welcomed by much laughter and apparently felt himself the hero of the hour.³⁷

However, it was Aaron Meretsky’s avid concern for local small businesses that prompted him to urge City Council to take more interest in street maintenance, including the construction of curbs on the south side of Pitt Street between Windsor Avenue to Market Lane. In July 1911, he presented five other petitions for street paving and sewers. A month later, while chastising a fellow council member for objecting to the payment of $35 to cover the travel expenses for someone who wanted to attend a convention, Meretsky quipped,

That’s all right . . . we all know you are an employee of the Railway and get passes whenever you want to travel. You have just returned from a trip to Toronto and your Railroad fare didn’t cost you a cent. When the question of granting the Windsor and North Essex Agricultural Society a per grant of $3,000 with which to erect fair buildings came up, you were right there in supporting it.³⁸

Stories were told about Aaron Meretsky falling asleep during Council sessions and, even though he missed quite a few around the 1911 High Holiday season, he was present and paying attention when the time came to announce his intentions to again run in the next election.³⁹ Once nominated, he appealed to his constituents to vote for a candidate who stood for the people’s rights and was progressive enough to support certain worthwhile building projects.⁴⁰ Yet he was frugal enough to oppose expenditures he considered unnecessary, such as the $17,000 earmarked for some fire hall equipment.⁴¹

A Liberal Party supporter who had also sat on the dais at a Conservative Party convention, Aaron Meretsky handily won his City Council seat. Mayor Hanna, also re-elected by a big plurality, immediately appointed him to the fire and light committee, as well as making him chairman of the market and property committee.⁴² Regrettably, the mayor died early in 1912, leaving a big gap in Windsor’s political hierarchy.

Meretsky continued to make strides promoting Windsor as a good place for industry to grow by supporting motions such as granting bonuses to companies interested in locating there. In his attempt to improve the market, he proposed that a new building be erected. However, to make the project financially more viable, he suggested to the police commissioner that, while the market would be housed on the ground floor, the upper level could be used for a new police headquarters. In that connection, the Evening Record carried the following report on the front page of its July 20, 1912 edition:

I am going to try and have a fine building put up, one that will be a credit to the city of Windsor,” stated Ald. Meretsky. “I would like to see a market building here as good as they have in Chatham, or better. If I can get the council to back me up, I will arrange for a building with police cells in the basement and a police court room upstairs for the magistrate. The cells over at the city hall are in no condition for anybody. It is not right to ask our Police Department to remain in that place. The Chief and his men should have decent accommodation. As things are now, they are cramped for room and vermin play tag with them.

Then, the magistrate is not satisfied with conditions in the police courtroom, also in the basement. The air is damp and the ventilation is not as good as it might be. We ought to provide the right kind of accommodation for our officials.⁴³

Although Meretsky’s market concept was rejected, his civic pride emerged in a number of other ways. He requested that repairs be made to the City Hall, that more money be spent on paving and curbing streets, that the water main be extended, and that the city help finance projects such as Emancipation Day celebrations. On the other hand, he showed displeasure with aldermen who used municipal funds to finance out-of-town excursions that were not entirely in the public interest. He himself felt uncomfortable about charging his own trips to the public purse unless they led to the growth and development of his city.⁴⁴ At one point in his colourful career, he even introduced a motion for a by-law whereby a $100 license fee would be imposed on any theatre proprietor who refused admission to children under 15 years of age — an unusual proposal believed to have been the result of an argument Aaron had had with his son Simon who, by then, owned all the movie houses in the city.⁴⁵

Meretsky lost the 1913 election but he regained his seat the following year.⁴⁶ Named to a committee specially set up to administer a $1,000 relief program for the unemployed and starving people of Marion Avenue, he also was reappointed to the public works, fire, and market committees.⁴⁷ Since a new market remained his favourite project, he promoted another by-law that would authorize expenditure of $75,000 for a new building, arguing that the ultimate profits and receipts from such a venture would cover all construction costs. Well received by the public, the proposal was temporarily pre-empted by other issues, and eventually dropped altogether in favour of a new City Hall.⁴⁸ Undaunted by the setback, Meretsky championed other projects that could help the local business community and improve conditions in the city. Opposing the early-closing law for shops and trying to enforce licensing of all wholesale meat dealers, he even attempted to stop the use of American-made baskets in the market.

In December 1914, Aaron Meretsky began to campaign for re-election. Despite attempts to publicize his achievements on a far more grandiose scale than before, he was defeated by Alderman William Weir.⁴⁹ Yet, his political career was far from over. Relying on his ability to stay on as parks commissioner, a position he continued to fill intermittently until one year before his death, he not only sponsored a plan for a municipal golf course, but also actively promoted other recreational facilities, as well as ways to beautify the town.

Those interests formed the major part of Aaron Meretsky’s contributions to the City of Windsor. A highly visible and influential member of both the outer circle — city government — and of the Jewish community, Meretsky was a portly man, whose manners, apparently, were quite crude. Whatever he lacked in social graces, he made up with his willingness to help others. Apart from performing numerous charitable acts, he participated in the affairs of Windsor’s first synagogue and, even before becoming its president, liked to share with its members the warm and familiar Sabbath and holiday observances they all had enjoyed in the old country. There is no doubt that he passed on to children his love for Jewish tradition as well as his social conscience, since they all became respected members of the Windsor community.

Abraham, Jacob, and Michael Meretsky

Abraham, Aaron Meretsky’s older brother, stayed in Windsor only for a short while. He then moved to Detroit, where he worked as a tailor. Little is known about him, except that he arrived at Aaron’s house every Friday afternoon to spend the Sabbath with him and his family. On those occasions, the two brothers, apparently often shared a bottle of whiskey.

According to some newspaper articles, Aaron’s brother Jacob, who was five years older than he, had arrived in Windsor as early as 1875. However, it is more likely that he came later than Aaron.⁵⁰ He first ran a boarding house, maintaining a “bottle” yard at the same time, while his later business ventures seemed to have included the buying and selling of real estate.⁵¹ In 1909, he also tried his luck in city politics, but failed in his bid to get elected.

Jacob and his wife, Shaney (Jenny), née Doniel, whom he had married in the old country, had eight children — Herman, Fanny, David, Bella, Libby, Clara, Peter, and another offspring who had died in early childhood. Herman, the eldest, born in 1878, eventually opened a furniture store on Pitt Street; he died in 1932. Fanny married Gilbert Weingarden in 1896, later divorcing him to become the wife of a man by the name of Komar.⁵² David, the second son of Jacob Meretsky, was born in 1884, attended medical school but never completed his studies. He went into business in 1903 and later became president of Meretsky & Gitlin, a firm that had started as a small second-hand store.⁵³ David married Max Bernstein’s daughter, Goldie, and they adopted two children⁵⁴ — Jerry, a son, about whom nothing is known, and Lillian, a daughter, who was married twice — first, to a Dr. J. R. Rogin and then to a Mr. Ouellette. Jacob and Jenny’s daughter, Bella, married Isaac Weingarden. Libby became the wife of Joshua Gitlin, Clara that of a Mr. Gutenberg from Detroit and, their youngest son, Peter, born in 1880, became a peddler at the age of 16. Jacob Meretsky died in 1925.⁵⁵

Aaron Meretsky’s brother, Michael, born in Sztabin in 1873, came to Windsor in the 1890s. At first, he made his living as a peddler and then went into the scrap iron business. In the 1920s, he was made a county police constable. Having married Rachael Kahn of Bay City, Michigan in 1893, Michael and his wife became the parents of four daughters (Libby, Rhea, Rose, and Freda) and two sons (Harry and I. Bert). Rhea married Milton Simon, who died when he was 49 years old. Freda, born in 1909, became the wife of Edward Shonberg; she died at age 54. Rose was married to Cyrus Glass. I. Bert married Freda Cohen, and as noted earlier, brother Harry became the husband of Lillian, the daughter of his uncle Aaron.

Max Bernstein and His Family

Another early Jewish immigrant from Sztabin was Max Bernstein. He and his wife Ete Rive (Rebecca), Aaron Meretsky’s sister, arrived in Windsor some time before 1894, together with their two children — 4-year-old Albert and 3-year-old Sarah. In Russian Poland, Max had been a Hebrew scholar. However, since he could not continue his rabbinical studies in Windsor, he became a junk dealer. Max’s original family name had been Benstein. Soon after setting up residence at 24 Assumption Street, he added the “r” to it to avoid being confused with his first cousin Eli Herman Benstein, who often mistakenly received merchandise addressed to Max.⁵⁶ After a while, Max must have felt that business opportunities would be better south of the border. He moved his family to Detroit, only to come back to Canada some time later and, although we do not know the exact date of their return, it must have been before August 24, 1887, since on that day the birth of their daughter Goldie was recorded in Sandwich, Ontario — the second Jewish child to be born in the Windsor area after Moses Eleazer David.⁵⁷ Max and Rebecca had five more children. Peter, also born in Sandwich, arrived on August 22, 1888 and eventually became a dentist. A third son, Michael, died when he was just 4 years old and, another daughter, Libby, passed away on September 30, 1904, at the young age of 14; she was buried at the Beth Olam Cemetery in Detroit. Another son, Monte, later became a physician, and Belle, their youngest, eventually married Dr. Eli Levin.⁵⁸

Max Bernstein’s brothers Nathan, Shel, and Tevia and his sisters, Rifka and Chankie, also came to Windsor. Nothing is known about Shel and Tevia. However, Nathan’s name appears in the city directory as early as 1894. Their sister Rifka, later married a Mr. Wiseman, and Chankie became the wife of Abraham Bernstein (no close relation of the family).⁵⁹

Trying to fit into his new environment, Max Bernstein peddled his wares as judiciously as his brother-in-law, Aaron Meretsky. Although he failed to have the financial success some of his other brethren eventually reaped, he plodded along and, thanks to the strong identity he had gained as a Jew and as a respected member of his community, he apparently led a rewarding life.

Eli Herman Benstein

Eli Herman Benstein, Max Bernstein’s cousin, did not come from Shtabin. Born in 1865 in the then-Polish town of Grodno, Russian Poland, he was the son of Itzchak Benstein and his wife, whose first name is unknown but whose maiden name was Teplitz. Neither they nor their son Edsel ever came to Canada. But their daughter Eva and Edsel’s children (Vichna, Sarah, Mary, and Isaiah) joined Herman in Windsor, soon after his arrival in the early 1880s. Eva eventually married a peddler by the name of Philip Fisher. Living at 31 Mercer Street, in the heart of Windsor’s Jewish ghetto, they had three sons — Milton, Herman, and Roy — and two daughters — Fanny and Rose. Fanny married Sam Schwartz, and Rose became the wife of Harry Freidgert.⁶⁰

Unable to speak English, Herman Benstein started out as a peddler, trading eggs, produce, and other wares, most of which he would acquire in Detroit. Venturing into the countryside on Monday mornings, always taking along his own food supplies and carrying a pack on his back, he would return home at the end of the week in time for the Sabbath.⁶¹

Herman did well in business and, in 1891 or 1892, married his niece, Vichna, who was about six months older than he. Since no rabbi was available in Windsor to perform the ceremony, the wedding took place in Detroit. Vichna and Herman had four children. Mary, the eldest, was born in 1890. She eventually married Joseph Becker and they had one son, Edsel, and two daughters — Vivian, born November 10, 1914, who became the wife of Louis Berry, and Leah, born August 1, 1918, who married Albert Kaplan. The Benstein’s second daughter, whose name and birth date are unknown, was crippled and lived in a home in Toronto; a third girl died of diphtheria at a very young age. In 1898, shortly after giving birth to her youngest and only son, Edsel, Vichna developed pneumonia and died a few months later.⁶²

Two years after her death, Herman married Rebeccah (Rifka) Sarasohn. The couple’s extended family included Herman’s nieces — his late wife’s sisters — who all were married by then: Sarah had become Mrs. Samuel Sumner and Mary the wife of Bernard Moskovitz (Moss). They had two daughters — Gert, who married a Mr. Moss and Ida, who became Mrs. Harris. Herman’s nephew Isaiah, who had crafted furniture for the Czar before coming to Canada, married a woman named Jennie, whose maiden name is unknown.⁶³

Herman was still listed as a peddler in 1902, although he had, by then, built Windsor’s first apartment house. Located at the corner of Pitt and McDougall streets, across from the city market, it was adjacent to Windsor’s first synagogue. In 1903, he opened a general store in the same building and, similar to other merchants, chose to live in the apartment above the shop. Since customers from his peddler days continued to buy from him, his business grew steadily. Besides taking care of the small children from his first marriage, Rebeccah also must have contributed to her husband’s success, since she was known as a very good dressmaker, who also excelled in embroidery, crocheting, and other types of needlework. Between 1905 and 1906, the following advertisement appeared in the local newspaper as well as in the Windsor City Directory:

Herman Benstein, the only general store in the city. Dry goods, clothing, gent’s furnishings, boots, and shoes, groceries, crochet, and glassware, 56–58 Pitt Street East.⁶⁴

Like many other Jewish shopkeepers, Herman was in a quandary when it came to working on the Sabbath. An observant Jew, but also anxious to improve his financial condition, he now had to choose between keeping the store open and transgressing the law. Transgressing the Sabbath raised the ire of co-religionists who insisted on the traditional observance of the Sabbath. They lost two days’ income, since the town’s Sunday closing regulations were strictly enforced.

Many years later, Herman’s son, Edsel, ran the family store. He had married Ida Jalofsky in 1928 and they had two children — Eli Herman, born in August 1929, who eventually married Shulamith, the daughter of Rabbi Morris Adler, and Vicky Elaine, born February 28, 1935, who became the wife of an Avrum Greene of Toronto.

Following a lengthy illness, Herman Benstein died on December 26, 1928. Leaving behind a lasting legacy of loyalty and dedication to Windsor’s budding Jewish community, he was survived by his children and his wife, Rebeccah. She and Simon Meretsky’s wife, Nelly, died tragically in 1950, as a result of a train accident.

The Weingarden Family

Isaac Weingarden, who was born in Russia in 1872, came to North America in 1890 as a young man of 18. He spent some time in New York and Buffalo, but then decided to move on to Detroit. On his way there, he stopped over at the Bernsteins’ house in Windsor, where he met his future wife, Bella, daughter of Jacob Meretsky. The idea of staying there must have appealed to him. He soon acquired a horse and wagon, and started to travel through the countryside, buying muskrat skins from farmers around LaSalle and selling them in Detroit.

In 1891, Isaac married Bella Meretsky and she bore him eleven children — three daughters and eight sons. Lillian, the eldest, born in 1892, was married twice — first to Joe Finkel and then to William Gottesman. Her sister, Anne, born in 1907, became the wife of Jack Greenberg (Greene) on October 17, 1926; her other sister, Florence married Larry Margolin. The Weingardens’ eldest son, David, became a doctor; he also fought in World War I. He married twice; first, Rosena Lemle of Monroe, Louisiana, and then Ethel Bress. His brother Abner, born on October 9, 1895, married Esther Bennett. Her sister, Gertrude, born February 14, 1907, became the wife of Abner’s younger brother Dan, born on January 1, 1901. Brother Harry was married to Lena Orechkin. Brother George became the husband of Molly Ghinason of Detroit; brother William also took a wife, but her name is unknown. Brother Max became the husband of Dorothy Talberg, and Arthur, born on May 17, 1912, married 20-year-old Millie Berenholz on March 24, 1935.⁶⁵

Isaac Weingarden eventually established a second-hand store, which he later sold to his brother-in-law, David Meretsky who eventually ran it in partnership with his brother-in-law, Joshua Gitlin.

The Kovinsky Pioneers

Jacob, Joseph, and Samuel Kovinsky and their three sisters — Yenta, Lena, and Lottie — were born in Suwalk Guberna, Russian Poland. Although their parents, Frank and Molly, never immigrated to North America, every one of their children did. Joseph Kovinsky, born in 1875, must have learned about Windsor and the opportunities it had to offer from the Barowsky’s — Aaron Meretsky’s parents-in-law — at whose tannery he had worked in Poland. He arrived in New York in 1887. There he met and married Annie Subelsky. Their first-born son, Simon, died in New York as a small child; their second son, Abraham, also born in New York in 1894, later became a physician. He changed his last name to Kovan and was married three times. It is uncertain where Joseph and Annie’s eldest daughter, Lottie, was born. It may still have been in New York or her birthplace may have been Windsor, since her parents had decided to move there in about 1894. She eventually married Ed Wolfe and they had four children — Roy, Morton, Stanley, and Charles.⁶⁶

Despite the fact that the City Directory listed a number of Kovinskys, Kovenskys, Kovanskys, and Kowinskys between 1893 and 1894, Joseph likely was the only one to permanently settle there.⁶⁷ First working as a peddler, he later became a scrap iron dealer, while both his brothers eventually went into the junk business — Samuel in Chatham, Ontario and Jacob in Pontiac, Michigan. One or two of their sisters either took up residence on the Canadian or on the American side of the Detroit River.

While living in Windsor, Joseph and Annie Kovinsky had eight more children. Their second daughter, Sarah, was born in 1898; she eventually married Dr. Harry Lewin. Their third girl, Betty, arrived two years later; she became the wife of Morris Passman. Their fifth child was stillborn, but in 1901, Annie gave birth to twin boys — Benjamin and Charles. It is unknown who eventually became Benjamin’s wife. However, since Charles was killed in an auto accident at the age of 21, it is unlikely that he ever married. Another son, Tonnie, was born in 1904. He married Irene LaPointe, who bore him two children — William and Anna. In 1909, Annie Kovinsky gave birth to Milton; he married Betty Salsky in 1929 and they had two children — Iris, born in 1932, and Henry, in 1940. The Kovinskys’ youngest child was Minnie, who became the wife of Arthur Hirschman in June 1928.⁶⁸

Joseph Kovinsky’s brother-in-law, Louis Subelsky, also had come to Windsor, some time after 1897. Records indicate that he first worked as a peddler and he later acted as an agent for Stelo Washed Wipers, but also ran a scrap metal and waste paper business, which his son, Harold, took over on April 1, 1923.⁶⁹

Joseph Kovinsky and all the members of his family became well-respected and prominent citizens of Windsor. Like the Meretskys and the others who had come from Suwalk and Shtabin, their transition from the old world to the new had been successful because they had consistently strengthened their family ties.

The Gellers

Not all the immigrants had come to Windsor through family connections. Samuel Geller, born in Kolaby-Brody, then Austria, in 1862, was a “lone pioneer.” Having taken a circuitous route via New York, Halifax, and Toronto, he finally landed in this fledgling community, where he became a city peddler. He soon married Mary Borof, who bore him thirteen children: Max, Francis, Edward, Donna, Eileen, Helen, Jacob, William, Byron, Maurice, Milton, Dorothy, Milton, and Peter. Samuel Geller died on October 31, 1931.

Samuel’s cousin, Jacob Joseph Geller, also had arrived in Windsor prior to 1900. However, he went back to his native Austria to find a wife, but never returned to Windsor. Another relative of the Geller family was Jacob Topkin. Listed as a Windsor peddler between 1891 and 1900, additional records indicate that he filed a lawsuit against the city in 1895, charging that he had received a short weight of coal. He won the case and, subsequently, was awarded damages in the amount of $60.⁷⁰

Other Pioneer Settlers

Most of the Jewish immigrants arrived in Windsor during the late 1800s. However, little or nothing is known about those who stayed only for a comparatively short time and then left for Detroit or other cities in the United States. Among them was Joseph Mintz, who had been brought over by his brother-in-law, Aaron Meretsky. Working in Windsor as a junk dealer, he and his wife, Annie, lived at 116 Mercer Street. Ten years later, they moved to Detroit, where all their children were born. Their daughters now live in Cleveland, Ohio, while their son took up residence in Oak Park, Michigan.⁷¹

Joseph Labetsky was among those Jews who also moved to Detroit during the 1900s. However, he must have maintained his ties with Windsor’s Jewish community, since some people remembered him as the very religious and knowledgeable gentleman who, occasionally, conducted their High Holiday services. He also must have regularly returned to the farm he owned in Belle River, since others recalled that he often brought strawberries from there to his Windsor friends.⁷²

Typical for those Jews who remained in Windsor is the fact that the majority, at first, made peddling the mainstay of their existence. Michael Rosen, born in 1866, peddled scrap iron before going into business with one of the Meretskys.⁷³ The sign above their store read: “Meretsky and Rosen. Highest price for rags, scrap iron and copper, brass, rubber etc. phone 234.” Shown in 1896 as a resident of 50 Howard Street (Avenue), Rosen moved to 30 Assumption Street three years later.⁷⁴ He was married to the sister of Michael Meretsky’s wife Rachel, née Kahn. Two of their children eventually settled in the United States — Samuel in Nashville, Tennessee, and Monte in Indiana; their daughter, Sadie, died at the age of 21. Michael Rosen passed away on January 17, 1944.⁷⁵

Photo courtesy of Mr. I. M. [Slaw] Meretsky

The sign here reads “Meretsky & Rosen, Richest Prices Fine Rags, Scrap Iron/Metals/Copper/Brass/Rubber.” Pictured from the left are Michael Meretsky, Michael Rosen, Aaron Meretsky, and an unknown person, 1890.

Meyer (formerly Inegrove) Wine, whose name appeared in Windsor’s City Directory as early 1891, was a resident of 91 Mercer Street.⁷⁶ After pursuing Hebrew studies in his native Poland, he had planned to enter the rabbinate there. However, since it had been his fervent wish to come to Canada, he abandoned that idea, boarded a boat, and eventually settled in Windsor; the rest of his family followed some time later. He married Reva Leah Stolnitsky, who bore him six children: two boys — Harry and Louis — and four daughters. Sara later became Mrs. Blaustein, Mary married a Mr. Pregerson, Bessie became the wife of a Mr. Glick, and Julia that of a Mr. Rabin. For the first two or three years after coming to Windsor, Meyer Wine worked as a peddler. He then went into business with Berman Sarasohn, apparently a relative of Rebeccah, Herman Benstein’s second wife. Since he had chosen to use his first name as his last, their clothing store became known as the Berman-Wine Company.⁷⁷

Joseph and Elizabeth Stein, parents of one daughter, were first listed as Windsor residents in 1895. Joseph may have had a sister, Yetta, whose name appeared in the 1891 city directory as a clerk, working and boarding in Detroit. Abraham Stein, possibly a relative, apparently, entered the produce business in 1899. He and his wife, Lena, were the parents of one daughter.⁷⁸

Possibly related to the Steins, were Benjamin and Nathan Kaplan. Although little is known about Benjamin, except that he was a resident of 127 Goyeau Street in 1897, Nathan, born in 1859, is remembered as a bearded gentleman, who served Windsor as a shochet for a time. He and his wife, whose first name is unknown, had four children — three sons and one daughter.⁷⁹

Joseph Stone was related to Katherine Meretsky. However, around 1895, there may have been two Jewish men with that name in Windsor. Between 1905 and 1911, one apparently earned his living as a peddler and milkman, residing first on Mercer and then on Aylmer Street. The other Joseph Stone was also a peddler, but the records show that he died in Detroit’s Harper Hospital in 1901.⁸⁰

Jacob Brown may have come to Windsor because his wife’s relative, Catherine Meretsky, already was living there. The fact that his name was listed in the City Directory as a cattle dealer as early as 1875 again raises the question whether some Jewish pioneers hadn’t actually arrived earlier than existing documents indicate. In 1897, Louis Brown, who may have been related to Jacob, was shown as a peddler living at 55 Mercer Street.⁸¹

Solomon and Sarah Glazer owned a second-hand store at 12 McDougall Street. The September 2, 1893, edition of the Evening Record, and the 1894–96 Windsor City Directory listed another second-hand dealer by the name of Isaac Jacobson. Benjamin Jacobson, who was working at the Malleable Iron Works, may have been Isaac’s son or his brother, since the 1899 city directory showed them living at the same address.⁸² Meyer Wartelsky’s name appeared in the directory as early as 1900.⁸³ However, little else is known about him, except that he had a daughter who later lived in Detroit.

These Jewish immigrants were neither saints nor sinners but people with different customs and religious practices who erred at times like their Christian neighbours in their struggles to survive in a primitive community. The earliest pioneers made Windsor their home, established a viable Jewish community for their children and later generations, who still bear their names. Thus the seeds for future settlement were sown by a handful of Russian immigrants who remained either by choice or by stroke of luck. At this point, however, the future of the Jewish community in Windsor certainly seemed full of promise.