LITMIR.BIZ

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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

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