Has anyone researched the early Jewish settlers in North Adams, Massachusetts? It is a small city in far northwestern Massachusetts, in northern Berkshire County among the Berkshire Mountains. My relatives (from Orsha, in what was then Mogilev guberniya Russia, and now is in Belarus) arrived in North Adams certainly by the late 1890s and probably by the early 1890s.

Congregation Beth Israel in North Adams maintains a web page about its history (http://www.cbiweb.org/History.html) which says "An unsigned history found in the synagogue indicates that the first Jews arrived in North Adams in 1867...we've discovered newspaper accounts of their High Holiday services in 1888." If it's true that Jews first arrived in 1867, then I assume a systematic review of US census records from 1870 and 1880 is likely to find them (presumably other records would be of use as well, such as vital records, town census books, etc).

 Andy Monat <amonat@...>

My grandfather was a prominent member of the Jewish community in North Adams, but he didn't move there until 1915. He was the temple president, an ardent Zionist, and donated  to the temple his family torah scroll from Ukraine. But that must be a lot later than what you're seeking. The history page cites him: ". . . under the presidency of Barnet Ark, the United House of Israel engaged its first rabbi, Rabbi Irving Miller."

I listened to a talk by Michael Hoberman, a professor at Fitchburg State in Massachusetts. He gave a talk, and has written a book on Jews of rural New England. Perhaps you can find the book, or even contact him.

Carl Kaplan

Andy,

You might want to contact the Western Massachusetts Jewish Genealogical Society to see if someone there can provide information:  
https://www.wmjgs.org/


Ellen Morosoff Pemrick

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Researching WEISSMAN/VAYSMAN (Ostropol, Ukraine); MOROZ and ESTRIN/ESTERKIN (Shklov & Bykhov, Belarus); LESSER/LESZEROVITZ, MAIMAN, and BARNETT/BEINHART/BERNHART (Lithuania/Latvia); and ROSENSWEIG/ROSENZWEIG, KIRSCHEN, and SCHWARTZ (Botosani, Romania)

Due to some research I’ve done focusing on several villages in what I call the ‘Barukha Triangle’ (the area inside the triangle created by Lida, Vilna, and Minsk), I've caught glimpses of a Rabbi Dovid Rudnik who went from the Triangle (specifically, Traby) to North Adams, MA in 1884. He produced several children there (who I believe stayed in the N. Adams area).  He then proceeded to live in Cohoes, NY, where he boarded in the home of a family originally from Dieveniskes, so I believe there is a connection between the N. Adams and Cohoes communities, as well as between both places and several towns inside the Triangle. The Rudnik family was a rabbinical dynasty family and R' Rudnik may have been an early rabbi for the N. Adams congregation. Feel free to contact me offline if any of this may be of interest.

 

The Berkshire Eagle newspaper started publishing in 1892
It is still in business. I believe it might be a resource for you as it covers this area.
Deanna Mandel Levinsky
Long Island, New York
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Deanna M. Levinsky, Long Island, NY

Cohoes had some clothing manufacturing and I think North Adams had a fabric mill. Could be a connection between them?
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Deanna M. Levinsky, Long Island, NY

Strong, Hewat was founded in 1898. It was a very large fabric mill and
employed 400 workers in its hay day (the owners were Scottish). I
would imagine this created spin-offs for other jobs and businesses
which attracted Jewish workers/businessmen. This area had power from
the Hoosac River, there were other mills but Strong Hewat produced
wonderful wool fabrics, they closed in the mid 1960s-selling the
property to the Kaplans.
Deanna Mandel Levinsky
Long Island, New York
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Deanna M. Levinsky, Long Island, NY

http://jgsgb.org/pdfs/Jewish_Settlement_Patterns_MA.pdf

Alex Woodle
Groton,  MA

My family Arbeit/Albert lived in Sandisfield, not far from North Adams.  It wasn't until the early 1920's.  They ran a kosher dairy.  I always wondered why they had come up there.  If there was an established Jewish community in the area, it would make more sense.  Thank you!

Two distant cousins, Max and Morris Harry Wein, moves to N. Adams in the early 20th century.  Their family had immigrated from Eishyshok and Lida in the 1890’s to Port Chester, NY.

This talk was recorded and you can still listen to it.
https://hubs.americanancestors.org/jewish-life-in-rural-new-england?utm_campaign=JHC%20Newsletters&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=91452143&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_3TREQpADtiBo7zq1tkBEr2k5yk-FzbsvsgaawKUAXmfEncIO4pR1g5uycsyOdSaD58E1ZyeJUjY2C26wTklE-QKCTZg&utm_content=91452143&utm_source=hs_email