By Amorin Mello
This is the second installment of the Memoirs of Doodooshaboo series on Chequamegon History, as transcribed by us from the original handwritten memoir of Joseph Austrian at the Chicago History Museum. This installment covers Joseph Austrian’s migration from Bavaria to New York City. Later installments describe Joseph Austrian’s experience with his Leopold and Austrian relations on Chequamegon Bay during 1851-1852 (Part 1 and Part 2).
Memoirs of Doodooshaboo
… continued from Bavaria 1833-1847.
Left Wittelshofen. 1848.
~ Wikipedia.org
I went to Feuchtwang, to my uncle’s home, making myself useful in the fields about the house and barn and otherwise. He was an intelligent man, self educated and well read, a fine gentlemanly person, but penurious. My coming in contact with him was beneficial as I spent my evenings with him in his study and profitted by his large knowledge of things. My aunt was very kind and treated me as one of her own family, after having been there for one and a half years, and finding there was no further improvements to be gained, in accordance with the suggestions of my brother Julius and brother-in-law Lewis F. Leopold, who had gone to America some four years before, it was finally decided that I with my sister Ida should emigrate to America.
Mr. L. F. Leopold had a fishing and trading business at Mackinaw, my brother Julius was located at La Pointe on Madelaine Island, one of the Apostle group of islands in Lake Superior, northern Wisconsin, where he was engaged in the fur trading and had a general store, and traded with the Indians and half breeds buying fur from them.
Emigrated to America. 1850.
~ Wikipedia.org
~ Wikipedia.org
On October 4, 1850, at 4 o’clock in the morning, my sister Ida and I started for America. It was a cheerless raw morning, and with heavy hearts we set out in a private conveyance, via Feuchtwang to Wurzburg, where we arrived that evening and put up at the Wittelsbacher [Hof?]. The following morning we started on a little steam boat on the River Main, for Frankfurt, via Ashaffenburg, where we arrived that evening, leaving for Frankfurt the next morning, arriving there in the afternoon, and were met at the landing by our Uncle Heinrich Heule, who received us most cordially and invited us to his home, where we remained two days. We dined the 2nd day with his daughter, our wealthy cousin, Frau Richa Schuster, who gave a fine dinner in our honor.
~ Wikipedia.org
~ Wikipedia.org
From Frankfurt we went to Mainz, to which place our baggage had been forwarded ahead of us. The following morning we started on a Rhine steamer for Rotterdam, thus taking in the entire Rhine trip which we enjoyed immensely, we remained in Rotterdam two days, when we crossed the North Sea on rather a poor small steamer for Havre, France. In crossing we encountered a terrific storm during the night, the waves swept over the decks of the steamer causing the water to rush into the cabin where we were sleeping, and we had our first and most severe experience of home sickness. On our arrival at Havre we looked woe begone, and some of our baggage was almost ruined. The ship on which we were to sail was a large three masted “square rigged” sail vessel, “Robert Kelley”, Captain Barstow. On looking her up, I found she would not leave for five days to come, as she had not yet finished loading her cargo. In the meantime we were comfortably located in a boarding house where we made further preparations for our Ocean Voyage. Oct 20 we sailed from Havre taking 2nd cabin passage which was near the captain’s quarters. There were seven persons besides ourselves occupying our cabin. The ship did not furnish food for the passengers, but provided facilities for them to do their own cooking in a limited way. There were some rows of a certain kind of cooking stoves which were heated by an employee of the ship, the places were divided into a number of spaces so arranged, that kettles could hang in them. Each space was allocated to certain parties during the trip, but there were many more passengers than spaces, and it was not seldom that a fight was occasioned by one or the other party claiming the privilege of priority. In fact when a person turned his back for a few moments, while engaged in preparing food, someone would take off his kettle substituting his own. On certain person finding himself thus dispossessed grew furious and hurled his kettle contents and all on him who had played him this trick. The mate happened to come along, and made the one who had thrown the kettle, take off his coat, and with it wipe up the floor clean, threatening to lock up anyone who would do any thing of this kind again.
Before leaving home my mother had provided us with food such as could be easily prepared, such as roasted [four?], prunes, [gruieback?], dried beef, smoked tongue, &c. During the trip, two others of our party besides myself alternately attended to the cooking, and we got along as well as could be expected. On the voyage we had generally heavy winds and a rough sea, but fortunately the winds came mostly from the direction favorable to our sailing, consequently we made good headway.
Our Captain was a very capable navigator and very strict in his discipline. Among our passengers were two close friends, “frenchmen,” who often indulged to freely in French wine, quarreled, one stabbed the other but not seriously. After the Captain investigated the matter, the offender was hand cuffed. When it was rough the poor fellow tossed about mercilessly, when his injured companion took pity on him, and at such times would remain with him, leading him by the arm to protect him and to keep him from falling.
Besides the second class passengers there were about two hundred steerage passengers, below. One of these men “a monk” jumped overboard one day, the Capt. happened to see it, and gave orders to have the ship quickly turned about. A life buoy thrown by the Captain to the man struggling in the water, was grasped by him and six sailors in a life boat put out to rescue and managed to save him just in time. The monk was brought back to the vessel more dead than alive, the ship’s doctor worked until he revived him. On being questioned he said, he jumped over board owing to the terrible unpleasant surroundings in Steerage. The Capt. then told him that he would not again risk the lives of his sailors, should he jump in again, but there was no need of it, as he did not make another attempt.
On November 20th, we sighted land during the afternoon, and in compliance with a signed “wanting to be towed”, a tug came along side of our ship the next morning, throwing us a tow line, and we expected to reach New York the following morning. But we were doomed to disappointment, a large head wind sprang up and the tug could make no headway, and after a few hours of futile struggle, the tug gave up the attempt to tow us and cast off our line, and our ship was compelled to turn back to sea to avoid danger of the coast. But the next morning two tugs came on and took our ship in tow, and the wind having subsided, made good headway.
Presently a little schooner came along side our ship, and parties aboard began bartering with the passengers to buy their bedding, for which they might have no further use, I gladly sold mine.
Arrived in New York. 1850.
Castle Gardens was still an entertainment center in 1850, and did not operate as an Immigration Station until the years 1855-1890.
~ Castle Clinton National Monument
We landed at Castle garden about noon November 21st, our trip over, having lasted about a month. Under the inspection of the Custom House Officers the luggage was unloaded, by sliding the same down a steep plank, and in watching this performance to my great consternation, I saw one of my big chests burst open and contents scattered, giving me an endless amount of trouble to get all repacked. The chest contained an outfit of linens and feather beds our mother had given us for our future use.
Joseph and his sister Ida arrived at New York City via the Robert Kelley on November 21st, 1850.
~ “New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891,” image 560 of 869; citing NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
Joseph Austrian (Oestreicher) and his sister Ida on the passengers list.
On landing, an Uncle of ours, Mr. Heule, an old gentleman about 70 years old, met us on the pier, and it seemed good to see some one who knew us. My Uncle and sister went for a short walk leaving me to look after the baggage, expecting to return in a little while for me, but the afternoon passed, and night came on without their returning. Most all of the passengers had left the pier and I was left alone on my first night in America. Some of the sailors feeling they had been abused by the mate on the voyage over, and made up their minds to get even with him, and on the upper deck that evening, together they attacked him, beating him till they nearly killed him. The noise and excitement the tummult occasioned, did not have a cheering effect upon me, however, when things quieted, I went up on deck and stayed there till after midnight watching the ferries cross and re-cross, which was a novel sight I enjoyed. By this time I despaired of seeing or hearing from my uncle or sister that night, and although worried I sought to get some rest, there was no bed for me and I laid on the hard wood floor that night, and had not a morsel of food to eat. I could not speak a word of English, and altogether, I felt rather forlorn, on this my first night in America. Finally next morning they came to look for me & simply explained that they had wandered too far and Uncle thought it too late to come back for me, and had gone on to his home. I accompanied them back, on our way a vender of notions with his basket on his arm happened to pass me, my Uncle turned to me remarking that I would have to begin with something of this kind to earn my living; it was not an encouraging prospect, and I said nothing, but I little thought then how soon his words would come to pass.
I visited at my Uncle Max Heule’s two days and then decided to start for my intended destination, Mackinaw Island.
To be continued at Mackinac 1850-1851…
Memoirs of Doodooshaboo: Joseph Austrian in Bavaria 1833-1847
December 28, 2016
By Amorin Mello
This is the first installment of the Memoirs of Doodooshaboo series on Chequamegon History, as transcribed by us from the original handwritten memoir of Joseph Austrian at the Chicago History Museum. This installment contains rare details about a Jewish community in Bavaria before other records were destroyed by Nazi Germany in later years. Later installments describe Joseph Austrian’s experience with his Leopold and Austrian relations on Chequamegon Bay during 1851-1852 (Part 1 and Part 2).
Joseph Austrian’s
Autobiographical and Historical Sketches.
Dedicated to
My Wife and Members of my Family.
My Childhood Days. 1833.
~ Wikipedia.org
I was born September 15, 1833, in a small village called Wittelshofen (Mittel Franken, Bavaria), located at the foot of the Hesselberg, a mountain 1800 ft. high, and at the junction of two little rivers Wörnitz and Sulzach near Dinkelsbuehl, where the judiciary district court is located.
~ Wikipedia.org
On the top of the said mountain, every year in June a fair, called “Hesselberger Messe,” was held which was the great attraction for all the people of the several villages located around the foot of the mountain. To this it was customary to invite friends and relatives from far off places to attend, and it was generally very enjoyable barring the climb it meant to get up there, as it was too steep for vehicles to drive up there excepting from one direction where the road up was more gradual and which was used for the transportation of things for the fair. Besides the many places where beer was sold and where the rural population had dances, and other amusements there was generally a circus and other shows there. The view from the top of the mountain in clear weather was very fine and interesting. I always looked forward impatiently to the time when this fair took place, and soon as I was old enough to take this long steep walk, I availed myself of the opportunity which I greatly enjoyed.
Wittelshofen
The village of Wittelshofen had about 500 inhabitants of which about half consisted of Jews and the other half Protestants.
My father’s house was one of the largest and best in the place and stood opposite an old small castle, the grounds of which were surrounded by a stone wall about 10 feet high. Our home was on a lane called “Schmalz-gasse” which in wet weather was very muddy.
My father’s name was Abraham Isaac Oestreicher (Austrian), he was born in Wittelshofen and died there Sept 17, 1852 of apoplexy at the age of 75 yrs. He was an only son and his father gave him what educational advantages could then be obtained and principally in “Hebrew” which gained for him the name title of “Reb” and he was known by the Jewish village people as “Reb Frohen”. He had a large library of Hebrew books, they were of unusual size and some nearly a hundred years old.
My father was brought up strictly in the observance of the Jewish faith and adhered to its orthodox teachings very strongly. He was an easy going man and known by all for his honest and upright character. He dealt in live stock and had some good farm lands located around the outskirts of the place.
~ Chicago, the Garden City. Its magnificent parks, boulevards and cemeteries. Together with other descriptive views and sketches by Andreas Simon, 1894, pg. 147
My mother’s name was Malka nee Heule, whose parents were considered wealthy, her father, [Hyrun?] Heule was known and respected all around for his charitable deeds, especially for what he did during the famine, caused by the crop failure in 1825, when he sent big wagon loads of flour and other suplies to the famine stricken district to feed the needy, thereby saving many from starvation.
My mother was an intelligent and determined woman, and took sole charge of the house hold and education of the children. She was born in Braunsback, Wurtenberg. She died at the age of 87 yrs in Chicago, Aug 6th, 1882.
~ Wikipedia.org
My father had three children by his first wife and ten by my mother, the eldest died when a baby the others were Falk, Marx, Julius, Babette, Ida, Fanny, Joseph, Minna, & Solomon. The latter being the youngest was my father’s pet. Falk, my oldest brother, was sent to a neighboring city for higher education, which afterwards secured for him a position as a clerk and traveling agent in the business of Wedels in Furth, a brother-in-law of my mother, where he earned a good salary.
My next brother Julius, was sent to Feuchtwangen to learn the tanning trade and afterwards travelled afoot for a couple of years or more working in a number of other cities at his trade, as it was there customary to perfect themselves in the trade, and later going clear to Paris, France, before returning home, a short time afterwards he emigrated to America to join our brother-in-law Lewis F. Leopold, who had located in business at Mackinaw, with branches in Wisconsin.
Julius Austrian (Oestreicher) immigrated with his sister Babette (wife of Louis Freudenthal Leopold) and brother-in-law Henry Freudenthal Leopold.
~ “New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891,” image 19 of 895; NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
My brother Falk went to California in 1846 via Panama. At six years of age I entered school. I remember well when my mother took me on the first day to school and had me give the teacher a package of smoking tobacco. I went to the public school in the morning, the teacher had little education, his father was the village tailor; the son being versed in the three “R’s” his father secured the position of teacher for him. In the afternoon I went to the Hebrew school. Mr. Mandel was the teacher there, he had received his education in a Seminary he was very strict and high tempered, the children all feared him, as occasionally he afflicted corporal punishment. Besides this I had private lessons in history and geography.
At the age of thirteen I had to start to assist working in the field, in harvesting and hay making. I also had to plow when I was barely strong enough to handle the plough, I had to hook the handles over my shoulders to manage to get to the next furrow. I had to arise during some of the winter months at 4 o’clock in the morning, and assist in the threshing while it lasted, and I got thrashed sometimes too, when I did not keep time. My greatest sport was fishing, for which purpose I made my own pole and I often walked off to the river, when my folks thought I was busily employed. The fish I caught were mostly perch. I remember I once caught several and fastened one to a string fastened to a stake in the ground, suddenly a severe thunder storm came up, at which I made hurridly for home, forgetting the little perch I had left behind. I started bright and early the next morning to get it, and to my great surprise on pulling the string I hauled up a big pike instead of the little perch, which had evidently swallowed the latter tied to the stake and thus was caught. The joy of my good luck was indescribable.
Another sport I was very fond of was shooting off pistols. My brother Marx had one in an old cupboard drawer, which I managed to get hold of one day and when none of the family were about I with a few of my boy friends ran off to the fields, where we had such fun taking turns in shooting, and when we had no more powder we snapped off percussion caps. When a pistol was not available I constructed an improvised pistol of my own design, by attaching a big old hollow key to a natural crook of wood, which I selected in the wood shed and to which I fastened it with wire. After filing a hole on the side of the key, under which I attached a piece of tin to hold the powder. When i was ready to shoot, I laid a little flat sponge on the tin, lighting the outer edge, which acted as a fuse, and as it burned toward the powder ignited it causing it to go off and making a loud report. Not trusting the old key entirely, however, fearing it might explode, I went to a safe distance after lighting the fuse.
Outside the synagogue in Wittelshofen, Bavaria, Germany. Circa 1912-1938.
~ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, photograph # 25821.
“Wittelshofen was declared ‘Judenfrei’ (‘free of Jews’) in January 1939.”
“The synagogue building was demolished during the winter of 1938/39.”
“A memorial stone was later unveiled there.”
~ Destroyed German Synagogues and Communities
In 1840, at the grand celebration of the new synagogue, my parents entertained with an invitation on a large scale. My mother had arranged for a special cook to prepare a grand feast. I and the younger children were excluded. I did not fancy being barred from participating. In strolling through the pantry I espied an elaborately decorated tart, chief ornament to grace the table. While the cook was otherwise engaged at the last moment, I managed to eat off the ornaments and decorations. Never will I forget the excitement and consternation the discovery of my act caused. Could hands have been laid on me then, I would have been severely dealt with.
In my fourteenth year, my mother began planning as to my future. The income of the fields, and the cattle business had declined, and considering the large family and household to be provided for did not permit of incurring much expense for my higher education, and my father advanced age made it impossible for him to enlarge his income. My mother was anxious to get me away from Wittleshofen, as she could see no promise in the future there for me. At this time, an opporunity was offered through my uncle Samuel N. Guttman and accepted.
To be continued in Manhattan 1848-1850…
Bayfield’s Early Days
December 22, 2016
By Amorin Mello
This is a reproduction of “Bayfield’s Early Days;” a paper read at Bayfield’s 50th Anniversary by Nazaire LaBonte, as printed in the Bayfield County Press on April 6th, 1906.
“Map of Bayfield situate in La Pointe County, Wisconsin.” By Major McAboy for the Bayfield Land Company in 1856.
~ Wisconsin Historical Society
BAYFIELD’S EARLY DAYS
Nazaire LaBonte
~ FindaGrave.com
Mr. Toast Master, the Bayfield Commercial Club and Ladies and Gentlemen: We are here this evening, as you all know, to commemorate Bayfield’s fiftieth birthday, and I am duly grateful and exceedingly happy to be in your midst this evening, and at the request of the club, to make an accounting of the fifty years just past which was spent here. In order to prepare you for the ordeal, it might be well to remind you that I am not an orator of note, and if I hear some one say, “That man LaBONTE is a cracker Jack of a talker,” don’t you think for a moment I will believe it.
If you are prepared for the worst, I will proceed. I am one of a family of eleven (five boys and six girls) and the son of Francis and Angeline LaBONTE. I was born at Quebec, Canada April 6, 1836, and lived on a farm adjoining that city until I departed for Bayfield which occurred when I was twenty years of age, taking passage at Detroit on the side wheel steamer, Superior, Capt. SWEET commanding the boat. I am not sure, but believe the folks around felt pretty bad when I left, and I have heard since that lots of people in Canada cried when they learned I had quit that country, and it was said I was a brainy man and it was a shame to see me go, and that it would be hard to replace me. I cannot say whether they ever replaced me or not.
John Baptiste Bonneau was the father-in-law of LaBonte, and the namesake of Bono Creek on Chequamegon Bay.
~ FinaGrave.com
Among those who were fellow passengers with me for Bayfield were Benjamin BICKSLER, Frank DAVIDSON, John T. CAHO, and a Mr. WYMAN and a Mr. STEADMAN. Our boat’s cargo consisted of a little of everything including a lot of cattle for Ontonagon, Mich., but on account of a heavy sea that prevailed we were unable to make that port and came on through to LaPointe, Wis., then a stirring village and headquarters of the American Fur Company, where we arrived June 9th 1856, being en route four days as I remember it. The boat did not stop at Bayfield for the reason there was no dock here at that time.
I was anxious to continue on to Superior, but my cash was running low, and when I struck the captain for a ride to that port on the strength of my good looks, or pay fare on the installment, (and all I could scrape up was seventeen cents) the captain, in a gruff way said: “You walk, you pea souper!” I never liked Capt. Sweet since.
The following morning in company with those mentioned, I came over from LaPointe to Bayfield in a rowboat which landed us at the present site of the Dormer BOUTIN Fish Co.’s plant, where there was a dock being built, owned by a Mr. Charles CHILDS of Sault St. Mary, who sometime afterward sold the same to H. M. RICE, C. P. RUDD, and S. L. VAUGHN, and afterwards known as the Vaughn dock, until sold to W. F. DALRYMPLE.
The only building here then was a log house located where M. RYDER’s store now stands, built and owned by the Bayfield Land Company for the accommodation of the men employed by this concern. This company consisted of H. M. RICE, John D. LIVINGSTON, RITTENHOUSE, DAVIDSON and PAYNE. There was not a woman here and it makes me lonesome to make this statement.
That part of the town site lying on the flat was covered by a scattering growth of small Norway pine with an occasional large white pine; and the only thoroughfare was a trail leading from the dock site to the log house mentioned. The hills now dotted with buildings were covered with mixed woods, mostly hardwood.
I found employment here with the Bayfield Land Co., on a mill that was building on the site upon which now stands the R. D. PIKE Lumber Co. mill. The mill was completed and operating in October of that year and about two months afterwards burned down after which I turned my attention to cutting cord wood which was sold to the steamers for fuel purposes.
In the Spring of fifty-seven, I with others started to cut out the Bayfield and St. Paul stage road as far as Yellow Lake, a distance of about 140 miles; the balance of the route to St. Paul was by way of Wood River to Sunrise over logging roads. Sunrise (50 miles from St. Paul) was a junction where the St. Paul stage met both the Bayfield and Superior stages and took their freight and passengers. It required six days to make the trip from Bayfield to St. Paul and the fare was twenty dollars, meals extra at 50 cents each and lodgings the same.
From this time until about 1880, I cut cord wood, logs and made fish barrel staves of clear white pine that was so plentiful at that time.
Matilda Davis; wife of LaBonte and stepdaughter of Bono.
~ FindaGrave.com
On April 4, 1861, I was married to Miss Matilda DAVIS [Bono], Father John CHEBULE officiating.
In the summer of ’61, I went to work in the Red Cliff saw mill (the property of Uncle Sam), which had just been built under contract with the government by Colonel John BANFIELD. I worked there for twelve years in the capacity of sawyer, filer, and scaler on a salary of $3.00 per day. My family and myself resided there about half of the time and the balance of the time in Bayfield. Six men, including myself, constituted the mill crew and the capacity of the mill was six thousand feet per day, which was measured, marked and piled as fast as it left the saw. My neighbor (Commodore Bob INGLIS) was engineer in the mill part of one season, Bob was a good mechanic, a trim, good-looking fellow, and of course was a favorite of the maids on the reservation, and I never found out why he quit that good job and pleasant surroundings so soon. I am told Bob likes the girls yet, but of course, one must not believe all he hears, and allowing that it is the truth, I cannot blame him, for I like the girls myself.
The mill was sold to Duluth parties after operating twelve years, after which I built and kept a summer boarding place known as the LaBONTE house at Bayfield which house was open to the public for many years. I raised a family of four children (Mrs. N. BACHAND and Mrs. CHURCH) who are both here with their families at the present time, and lost a son at the age of six and one half years and also an infant daughter.
My health has always been good, and as far as I know, I am a better man than my wife today. I am seventy years of age, have lived here fifty years and expect to live here fifty years longer, at the expiration of which time if the politics are too corrupt or conditions don’t just suit, I shall move West and grow up with the country.
I am yours very respectfully,
N. LaBONTE
1855 Yom Kippur at La Pointe
December 18, 2016
By Amorin Mello
Photograph of Julius Austrian from the Madeline Island Museum
One of the more colorful figures from primary sources of Chequamegon History is Julius Austrian at La Pointe. Austrian is also one of the more elusive, as he is often overlooked and omitted from secondary sources.
My research of Austrian is what originally inspired me to begin contributing to Chequamegon History. I have been working behind the scenes on a series of stories about Austrian featuring extensive collections of primary documents to shed more light on his life at La Pointe during the 1850’s, and look forward to publishing them at a later date.
One story in particular is about Austrian’s, and his family’s, involvement with the 1855 La Pointe annuity payment, one of the most colorful events in Chequamegon History. A brief introduction to the 1855 La Pointe annuity payment is needed for context, so I refer to a quote from Leo in an earlier post of his: A real bona fide, unmitigated Irishman:
“Regular readers will know that the 1855 La Pointe annuity payment to the Lake Superior Chippewa bands is a frequent subject on Chequamegon History. […] The 1855 payment produced dozens of interesting stories and anecdotes: some funny, some tragic, some heroic, some bizarre, and many complicated. We’ve covered everything from Chief Buffalo’s death, to Hanging Cloud the female warrior, to Chief Blackbird’s great speech, to the random arrival of several politicians, celebrities, and dignitaries on Madeline Island.”
At this moment in Chequamegon History, Austrian was a powerful resident at La Pointe in terms of private land ownership and political savvy. Austrian was a signatory of the 1847 Treaty at Fond du Lac, but not a signatory of the 1854 Treaty at La Pointe. However, primary sources reveal that Austrian was the owner of La Pointe during the 1854 Treaty, and received financial reimbursement from the Department of Interior for services related it. A letter from Reverend Leonard Wheeler at Odanah dated January 18, 1856, asserts that the 1855 annuity payment at La Pointe was hosted by Austrian:
“The following is the substance of my notes taken at the Indian council at La Pointe a copy of which you requested. Council held in front of Mr. Austrian’s store house Aug 30. 1855.”
I have come across secondary sources that allude to Austrian’s role as the host of the 1855 Yom Kippur at La Pointe immediately after the annuity payments, but have not yet been able to locate any primary sources. This post cites secondary sources in hopes that another researcher may review them and help me find primary sources. Having a background in Jewish studies would be helpful, as it is possible primary sources about the 1855 Yom Kippur at La Pointe were written in the Hebrew language rather than in English. Please contact Chequamegon History if you can help find and translate primary sources.
Without further ado, here are secondary sources about the 1855 Yom Kippur at La Pointe listed chronologically by their publication dates.
The Beth El Story: With a History of the Jews in Michigan before 1850
by Irving I. Katz
Wayne University Press (1955)
ISBN-10: 0-7837-3584-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-7837-3584-9
Pages 53-54:
“Lewis F. Leopold, whose name was Freudenthaler in his native Baden, Germany, his wife, Babette, who was a member of the Oesterreicher (Austrian) family, their infant son, Lewis’ sister, Hannah, and Lewis’ brother, Samuel, were located on the Island of Mackinac in 1845. The brothers became the first pioneers in this locality in the fishery business and were soon shipping a thousand barrels of salted fish to Cleveland each season. This business, together with the sale of supplies to fishermen, Indian trading and the purchase of furs, laid the foundation for an extensive business and they became prominent as owners of Lake Michigan vessels and merchants in the ports of the Great Lakes.
“Samuel Leopold left Mackinac in 1853 to join his two other brothers and Julius Austrian, who had married Hannah Leopold in 1849, in their recently undertaken business enterprises at La Pointe and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where they were among the first white settlers. Lewis Leopold officiated as cantor at the first High Holy Day services held at La Pointe in the fall of 1855. Within a few years after 1850, the Leopolds and Austrians established leading stores in Michigan, at Eagle River, Eagle Harbor, the Cliff Mine, Calumet, and at Hancock, Joseph Austrian having selected the latter place as the site for his first store and warehouse.”
Mount Zion, 1856-1956: The First Hundred Years
by W. Gunther Plaut
North Central Publishing Company (1956)
ASIN: B0007DEZ4W
Page 24:
Minnesota Pioneer article about Julius Austrian and his Chippewa mixed-blood employee Vincent Roy, Jr. in Saint Paul as republished in The Daily Crescent (New Orleans, LA), February 24th, 1851. Roy also worked for Austrian and Leopold at La Pointe, Fond du Lac, and Vermillion Lake.
“Julius Austrian was perhaps one of the most colorful figures not merely in the history of the Congregation but in the larger Minnesota community as well. His wife, the former Hannah Leopold (in Germany, the name had been Freudenthaler), at once became an undisputed leader among the Jewish women. The couple had married in 1849 and were among the first white settlers at La Pointe and at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Others of the family joined them later. High Holy day services are recorded at Fond du Lac as early as 1855. Austrian laid claim to mineral rights and lands in what later became part of Duluth. 1851 he once made the trek south to St. Paul in the dead of the winter – and arrived in St. Paul with two dog trains and several hundred pounds of freight. The Minnesota Pioneer duly reported that this ‘excited much curiosity in our town.’ The Austrians and Leopolds, who may be reckoned as among the earliest pioneers of the region, later had stores in a number of Michigan towns; and when Julius and Hannah moved to St. Paul, their reputation had preceded them. But unlike his wife, Julius Austrian preferred the quiet, behind-the-scenes type of leadership. When funds were low, he would make up the deficit; and at least on one occasion, so the minute book records, he guaranteed the Rabbi’s salary. He wrote a fine hand, both in English and in Hebrew, as is attested by the cemetery records which he kept for many years.”
The Jews in Minnesota: The First Seventy-Five Years
by W. Gunther Plaut
American Jewish Historical Society (1959)
ISBN:
Pages 12-14:
“When Abram Elfelt became Vice-President of the new Minnesota Lodge No. 157, B’nai B’rith, his fellow officer and treasurer was a man by the name of Julius Austrian. The two had known each other for many years, for while Austrian did not come to St. Paul until after the Civil War he, too, had been in the Territory when it was still part of Wisconsin.
Julius Austrian (Oestreicher) immigrated with his sister Babette Austrian (Babet Oestreicher) (wife of Louis F. Leopold) and their brother-in-law Henry F. Leopold (Heinr Freudenthal).
~ “New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891,” image 19 of 895; NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
“Austrian was one of five brothers. In the old country, their name had been Oesterreicher or Oestreicher. Julius must have had an adequate Jewish education, for he could write Hebrew with a sure hand and had deep and definite religious convictions. In the late forties he, his brother Marx, and Lewis Leopold had gone up to LaPointe, Wisconsin, on Lake Superior, where they were among the first white settlers. As early as 1855, they held Holy Day services in this outpost of civilization.
“In 1849, Julius had married his partner’s sister, Hannah Leopold, a girl who was then not quite nineteen years old. Their business prospered; stores were established on the northernmost part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula: in Eagle River, Eagle harbor, Cliff Mine, Calumet and Hancock, where their store and warehouse were located.
Marriage license application for Julius Austrian and Hannah Leopold.
~ “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013,” image 47 of 229.
“The Austrians and Leopolds traded throughout the area and soon extended their contacts into Minnesota. Even during the summer, it was quite a journey to St. Paul, but only the hardiest person would gather enough courage to make it during the winter. No wonder, therefore, when Julius Austrian dared it in January, 1851, the press recorded that his arrival ‘excited much curiosity in our town.’ He came with another person from Lake Superior via the Falls of St. Croix. Their mode of transportation was the northern dog-train. In their two sleds they brought several hundred pounds of freight for trading.
“Austrian soon became a land owner in Minnesota. He acquired mineral rights at Lake Superior on a site where later the city of Duluth was built. In the late sixties, he and his brother Marx moved to St. Paul where Julius and Hannah at once became two of the leading Jewish citizens. For they soon proved their strong Jewish loyalties and unusual leadership qualities.
Photograph of Hannah Leopold Austrian from the Madeline Island Museum.
“When they came to St. Paul, the Civil War was over, and whatever little Jewish institutional life there had been in Minnesota was left in very poor circumstances. The two Austrians were soon engaged in building up the congregation. They helped to find the means for erecting the young state’s first synagogue. Hannah founded its first women’s group and headed it in its work for the Temple and in its increasingly ambitious welfare and social enterprises until after the turn of the century. Under her presidency Mount Zion’s women founded the St. Paul Neighborhood House. In 1897, she was feted lavishly on her twenty-fifth anniversary as president of the Temple auxiliary. She was a stocky woman, coupled with a wonderful sense of humor. She died in ripe old age in Chicago, where she had gone to live with her daughter, who had married Amiel Hart. Hannah’s passing was noted with great sorrow in her old community to which she had given so much.
“The Austrians were moderate in their outlook; they were Reformers, but of the evolutionary kind. Julius was, until his death in 1891, a mainstay of Mount Zion Hebrew Congregation. More retiring than his wife, he preferred a trusteeship or vice-presidency to the chair itself. He was responsible for bringing Leopold Wintner was the first ordained Rabbi to Minnesota; for when his fellow members were fearful of committing themselves to a contract he personally agreed to underwrite it. His special concern was the cemetery of Mount Zion, the first Jewish burial ground in the state. He kept its records in English and Hebrew, and some of the social background of the earlier days can be read in his private obituary notes.
Marx Austrian immigrated to the United States during 1853 with his mother, several of his siblings, and cousin Henry Guttman (Goodman).
~ “New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891,” image 499 of 671; NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
“His brother Marx (more often he was known as Max) was blind from early youth on. Still he pioneered with the rest of the family, and the Indians at Lake Superior loved the handicapped white man. In St. Paul, whither he removed with Julius and Hannah in 1869, he was known as a man of dignity and piety. For many years he blew the shofar at Mt. Zion’s Holy Day services. He outlived Julius by twelve years.”
United States Jewry 1776-1985.
Vol. 2: the Germanic Period, Part 1
by Jacob Rader Marcus
Wayne State University Press (1991)
ISBN-10: 0-8143-2187-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-8143-2187-4
Page 196:
“By the 1850’s America was studded with Jewish societies, one even on the High Plains. How rapid was the organizing process? In general a whole generation elapsed, possibly two, after the coming of the pioneers before the first communal society came into being. In some states, as in Florida and Connecticut, it would take decades before the Jews would established a congregation. There are some striking exceptions. In 1855 a number of Jewish Indian traders met on an island in Lake Superior in the frontier village of La Pointe, Wisconsin. The Indians were assembled there to collect their annuities and the Jews were present to dun their debtors before they dispersed. There were enough Jews for a minyan and a service was held. That was the beginning and the end of La Pointe Jewry. Another historical accident is the “instant” community. The Jews of Savannah arrived from London in 1733 already organized as a congregation; San Francisco Jewry of the Gold Rush was able to establish two religious groups without delay and Oklahoma City and Guthrie were born overnight during the 1889 ‘run.’ All this is completely atypical.”
Jewish Pioneers of Saint Paul: 1849-1874
by Gene H. Rosenblum
Arcadia Publishing (2001)
ISBN-10: 0-7385-1862-X
ISBN-13: 978-0738518626
Page 75:
“Julius Austrian was one of the more influential and colorful Jewish pioneers. In 1849, he and his wife Hannah Leopold Austrian were among the first white settlers in La Pointe and Fon Du Lac, Wisconsin, at a time when the Minnesota Territory was part of the Wisconsin Territory. In 1855, they had participated in the Jewish High Holiday services in La Pointe. He was already a successful businessman when he and his family came to St. Paul in 1869 from Wisconsin. He had a string of successful stores throughout the Upper Michigan Peninsula. He also had already acquired claims in mineral rights around Lake Superior, where the city of Duluth now stands. He was a man of great generosity, and when the fledgling Mt. Zion Synagogue was unable to hire its first rabbi, he guaranteed payment. He also was a moving force in the failed attempt to establish the Painted woods colony in North Dakota.”
Page 79:
~ Mount Zion Temple
~ Mount Zion Temple
“Two significant events took place in 1869 that had a permanent impact on the pattern of communal life within the St. Paul Jewish community. The first event involved the more orthodox of the settlers. Dissatisfied with Mt. Zion, they began to gather together for private prayers in a frame house on Payne Avenue near Seventh Street in the Dayton’s Bluff near East Side area. They were the roots for the first strictly orthodox synagogue in Minnesota and established what later became the Sons of Jacob Synagogue. At this point, Mt. Zion began its slow evolution toward Reform Judaism. The second event involved a husband and wife team who were to have far reaching influence. Julius Austrian and his wife Hannah arrived in St. Paul in 1869 when the Jewish communal institutions were in very poor circumstances.
“Julius Austrian was one of five brothers. In the old country their name was Oestrreicher. In the late 1840s, his older brothers, Marx Austrian and Lewis Leopold, had gone to La Pointe, Wisconsin, on Lake Superior, where they were among the first white settlers. As early as 1855 they held High Holy Day (Yom Kippur) services in La Pointe, Wisconsin. In 1849, Julius married Lewis Leopold’s sister Hannah, who was not quite 19. In 1851, he made a trip south to St. Paul in the dead of winter and arrived with two dog trains and several hundred pounds of freight.”
Chequamegon History 