USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume IV > Part 28
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Along in 1876, at the time of the expulsion of the Catholic sisterhoods from the German Empire, through the policy of Bismarck, Father Nagel invited the Order of Christian Charity to settle in his parish. Rev. Mother Pauline de Mallinckrodt, the founder of the order at Paderborn, Germany, who was a member of a royal family there and who had come to this country with some of the members of her community, came to this city and was so pleased with the valley that she decided to establish a mother house here.
A little colony of the Sisters was established in a building on South Fell street. Later the ground for the present large building was secured and the centre of the present structure erected. This was opened November 4, 1877, and St. Ann's Academy was opened in connection with the convent.
In 1902 Pope Leo XIII, recognizing the extraordinary merits of Father Nagel, and desirous of showing his appreci- ation of the great work done by the late rector of St. Nicholas, bestowed upon him the title of monsignor and named him domestic prelate of the papal household. He lived to enjoy this great honor for nine years.
During his residence in Wilkes-Barré, Monsignor Nagel made two visits to his old home in Germany, one in 1872 and again in 1892. The last time he went there he performed an act of charity that has made his name renowned among the people of that neighborhood. The little town of Grevenstein is located on the top of a hill, and for centuries there was no water supply except that which was secured from the streams that ran along the base of the hill, and that had to be carried up into the town. Father Nagel decided to remedy this and on his last visit he had the pleasure of presenting to the town a system of waterworks with which the water is brought up into the town. This act alone cost Monsignor Nagel thousands of dollars.
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In 1869 Father Nagel built a parish house on this plot, facing State street. In 1873 a new parish house was built on Washington street, and the old parish house was given to the sisters who conducted a school there.
In 1882 the congregation decided to build a larger church. Architect Schieckel of New York drew the plans. Father Nagel presented a new plan of paying off the debts and providing money for the new church, asking the parish- ioners to agree to pay $1.50 a month for fifty months. This they agreed to and some of them paid even larger amounts, so that at the end of the fifty months sums varying from $75 to $500 and even $1,000 had been paid into the treasury,- Father Nagel, himself, giving the first $1,000.
The corner stone of the new church building was laid on May 8, 1883. The following spring work was started on the building.
After several changes in the original plans and various delays incident to the financing of so large an enterprise, the present church of St. Nicholas, one of the dignified structures of the city, was dedicated October 15, 1905.
From the modest beginning of a single congregation welded together in the frame church of 1842, some idea of the growth of Catholicism in the Wyoming Valley may be gained by a census taken at the behest of Bishop Hoban of the See of Scranton in December, 1907. There were then ten Catholic parishes within the City of Wilkes-Barré itself.
The census figures of Catholic families in these parishes were reported by priests in charge as follows:
"Parish.
Families.
Souls. 6,448
Male
Female.
St. Mary s.
1,084
2,984
3,464
St. Nicholas
800
4,000
2,000
2,000
Blessed Virgin
500
2,500
1 350
1,150
Holy Savior
415
2,176
1,052
1,124
Sacred Heart.
350
2,048
1,200
848
St. Mary's Greek.
280
1,700
1,020
680
Holy Trinity
180
950
500
450
St. Boniface
150
813
401
412
St. Aloysius
91
455
225
230
Blessed Virgin (Ital)
85
700
425
275
Total
3,935
21,790
11,157
10,633"
From a steady influx of Germans into Pennsylvania came the first Lutheran- Reformed church in Luzerne County, established at Conyngham in 1809. The church was built of logs, on a plot of three acres donated for the purposes by Redmond Conyngham. A portion of the building was used for school purposes. Other congregations likewise used the structure for worship, but, as was the case with Old Ship Zion, a common tenancy soon bred dissentions. Called in as a mediator of these disputes, Mr. Conyngham advised the united Lutheran-Re- formed congregation to withdraw from the older building and erect a church of their own on another plot which he offered to donate. The advice having been accepted, steps were immediately taken to raise funds for a new building. The deed to this donated plot bears date of November 16, 1820, but the building, named Christ church by its congregation, was not erected until 1826. This building, like its predecessor in erection, was built of logs but so substantially that it was used as a place of worship until 1872, when the present Christ church was erected on its site.
The first religious service in German was held in Wilkes-Barré in 1840 by Rev. Abram Berkey. He continued to reside in the neighborhood until 1844. In the latter year came Rev. John W. Lesher, a man of pronounced views and
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energetic disposition. The small congregation assembled by Rev. Lesher was at first composed of members of both Lutheran and Reformed denominations but under his guidance it assumed the title of a Reformed church exclusively. It was the first distinctive German Congregation in the community and soon became possessed of a desire for a place of public worship. In the Spring of 1844, the congregation, then numbering approximately 100, purchased for $150, a plot of ground at the corner of South Main and South Streets, the present site of St. Paul's Church, upon which a small frame edifice was erected. The late forties proved troublesome times for those of independent thought in Germany.
Consequently, the population of the Wyoming Valley was increased by numerous arrivals of thrifty, intelligent immigrants of Teutonic birth, many of whom were strongly Lutheran in belief. Assisted by those of Rev. Lesher's congregation who were not wholly in sympathy with the doctrines proclaimed by their pastor, a separate congregation, composed exclusively of Lutherans, was organized in December, 1845, under the pastorate of the Rev. H. Eggers. . On May 17, 1846, the newly organized congregation resolved to purchase a lot on South Washington, near South Street, for a church of their own. The con- gregation of Rev. Eggers was known as St. Paul's church and in its struggling years received support from the Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania. On October 31, 1846, a small frame church was consecrated on this plot.
In 1856, the seating capacity of this building was enlarged by the ad- dition of a gallery and in the same year a Sunday School was instituted.
A school building, dedicated October 4, 1863, proved the next venture of those of Lutheran faith. This was erected on a portion of the church plot. Meanwhile the Reformed church over whose destinies Rev. Lesher still presided, had felt effect of a too ambitious program of extension.
The corner stone of a brick edifice, to surplant the small frame structure was laid in 1849, as evidenced by the following comment in the Advocate of July 11th, of that year :
"The ceremonies of laying the corner stone of a church for the German Reformed Con- gregation in this Borough, took place on Wednesday last, July 4th. A sermon was preached in English and one in German. A large audience was in attendance. In the evening Rev. Mr. Bomberger of Easton, preached an excellent sermon, suited to the occasion of the day, in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
"The members of that denomination in this vicinity, are neither very wealthy or very numerous. They need a house of worship, and have begun to build one. The public ought to, and doubtless will, assist them in their praiseworthy under- taking."
When completed, the brick church appears to have been com- monly known as the Bethel Church, although still maintaining vigor- ously its position as a Reformed GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH-1880 congregation. John Laning, William Edwards and William H. Luender, all prominent in affairs of the community, were actively identified with this congregation. After struggling along for nearly
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a decade, burdened by a mortgage which the congregation seemed unable to lift, Rev. Lesher's activities were brought to a sudden and unusual end on May 1, 1858, when the church plot, on which stood, in addition to the brick edifice, a house and barn, was sold at Sheriff's sale to C. B. Drake. From then until 1860, the brick building lacked the tenancy of any religious body. On June 17th of that year, however, an attempt was made by a pastorless congregation to revive interest in the church. This proved but a temporary expedient, how- ever, and in 1864 the brick church was sold for $5,000 to the congregation of its more thriving Lutheran neighbor, which transferred the name St. Paul to its new home.
At the close of the Civil War the brick edifice was enlarged and the steeple which still adorns the structure was raised. In 1868, the church bell was dedi- cated. Later other improvements and enlargements followed as represented in the building of today which still houses the congregation of St. Paul's German Lutheran Church .*
Until the year 1872, services in all churches of the Lutheran faith in the community were held in the German language. In the autumn of that year, Rev. F. F. Buermeyer of New York was sent hither by the ministerium of the English Lutheran Church to make a survey of the situation. Reporting favorably on the establishment of a church of that denomination, Rev. Buermeyer was appointed pastor. A large portion of funds for constructing a new building having been contributed by members of the congregation of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Philadelphia, the local church took the same name. The congregation was organized at Music Hall, November 3rd, and a plot of ground was purchased at the corner of River and Acacemy Streets. Upon this plot a substantial church building was later erected. Until May, 1891, this congre- gation received financial support from the ministerium, but at that time declared itself able to become independent. In the pastorate of Rev. G. W. Sandt, a call was extended to Rev. H. F. J. Seneker to become assistant and to take charge of a mission in the northern portion of Wilkes-Barré which, in the fall of 1894. became the congregation of Christ Lutheran Church. The corner stone of a building to house this congregation was laid September 23, 1894. .
Later the present church at the corner of Beaumont and North Washington Street was completed.
The growth of Lutheranism in more recent years has been manifested in the building of many other churches of branches of that denomination. Among these might be mentioned the dedication of the first German-English Lutheran Church, situated on East Ross Street, October 1, 1901; the William Mckinley Memorial Lutheran chapel on the same street, February 16, 1902; the dedi- cation of the church of St. Matthew's Slovac Evangelical Lutheran congregation on North Main Street on Labor Day, 1904; the rededication of St. Peter's Evan- gelical Lutheran Church, removed from Waller to Barney Street, February 10, 1907 and the consecration of the beautiful new edifice of the Grace English Lutheran Church on South Franklin Street below Sullivan, May 28, 1911.
There remains to trace the earlier history of the Jewish element of pop- ulation which, like those of other races described, had a permanent effect in
*The pastors who served the congregation since its organization were: Revs. H. Eggers, Arthur O. Brickman, J. R. Reubelt, Dr. J. Schwalm, G. H. Vasseler, C. M. Jaeger, Edward Speidel, C. Oeffinger, Carl Schlenker, J. P. Lichten- berg, E. A. Fuenfstueck, J. E. Nidecker, C. Kuehn, G. A. Struntz, J. E .. Nieman, L. Lindenstruth, the present pastor.
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moulding the character of the Wyoming Valley in the period embraced in this Chapter.
Martin Long, the first Hebrew who reached Wilkes-Barré, was a native of Pretzfeldt, Bavaria. Shortly after landing in 1839, he decided to engage in business in the Wyoming Valley and was shortly joined by his brother Marx Long and in 1846 by a second brother, Simon Long. Joseph Coons was the third arrival, reaching Wilkes-Barré about the same time as Marx Long. These pioneers of their race were shortly joined by others and a small congregation was formed, which in earlier years, worshipped in private liomes. In 1840 decision was made to attempt the erection of a place of worship. The purchase of a plot of ground the next year on South Washington Street, where the present temple is now located, exhausted the finances of the group for the time being. At the November term of court in 1848, the congregation of B'nai B'rith was incorporated* and a de- cision reached to proceed with the erection of a synagogue whose corner stone was laid in July 1848. The building was completed in the summer of 1849 and dedicated on Aug- ust 31st. The dedicatory ex- ercises were thus described in the Advocate of September 5, 1849:
. "On Friday afternoon last, August 31st, the Jewish Synagogue, recently erected in this Borough was dedicated. The services (in the Hebrew language except the ser- mon) were performed by Rev. Mr. Strausser, resident minister, Rev. Mr. Isaacs, of New York, and Rev. PRESENT SOUTH WASHINGTON STREET TEMPLE CONGREGATION B'NAI B'RITH Mr. Peeser, of Philadelphia, assisted by a choir of good singers. The Dedicatory sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Isaacs. Barring disputed points, it was what all might pronounce a most excellent and eloquent discourse, giving much sound and wholesome instruction to the Jew and as well applicable to the Christian. It was listened to attentively by a crowded house.
"The Jewish Church in this place, we understand, consists of 22 members. They are gen- erally peacable law-abiding, industrious and respectable citizens. The Synagogue is tastefully finished. It will seat about 250 persons, including the Gallery. Considering the smallness of their number the building is a high compliment to the enterprise and liberality of the Jews in this place."
During the construction of the synagogue, Rev. Maus was, in the annals of the day, classed as reader. At completion of the edifice, Rev. Moses Strasser was called in that capacity. Descended from a line of distinguished rabbis, he was born in Floss, Bavaria, in 1809.
*The congregation of B'nai B'rith incorporated by Court of common pleas in 1848, was composed of the following: Joseph Coons, Martin Long, Marx Long, John Constine, Simon Long, David Maier, M. Rosenbaum, Solomon Kramer1 Marx Straub, S. Wilzinsky, H. Ansbacher, Joseph Schwabacher, A. Lederer, J. Lowenstein, Isaac Lengfield, A. Frah- lich, M. Silberbach, B. Burgunder, W. Baum, H. Lowenstein, Moritz Strauss, Joseph Hamburger, David Mordache,, L. Ullman, David Coons, J. Merzbacher, Leopold Schwabacher, J. Lengfield, Louis Rees, L. Akerman, Solomon Schloss, Abram Strauss, Lehman Rosenbaum, L. Steinhard, Moritz Sultzbacher and Lieb Heimer.
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Reaching the United States in 1845, he intended to engage in business, but through the intervention of friends who had previously reached the Wyoming Valley, he was induced to come hither. He was a very enthusiastic musician and composed much of the music used here and elsewhere in that period. He re- signed in 1851, and entered business in Albany.
From August 1851 to May 1853, the Rev. Isaac Strouse was rabbi of the local congregation. Then came the Rev. Herman Rubin who served the local synagogue for a period of thirty years.
Rabbi Marcus Salzman succeeded Rabbi Israel Joseph in active charge of the affairs of this synagogue in March 1896, and, at the time this is written, his wide interest in civci affairs had gained him recognition as a member of a large number of boards of local philanthropies.
Practically all members of the B'nai B'rith Society of the time were con- cerned with the organization of Hoffnung Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. This lodge was established at Wilkes-Barré in March, 1851.
From the original Jewish congregation of 1849 have sprung the B'nai Jacob congregation, organized in 1872 and having its place of meeting on South Welles Street; that of Holche Yoser, established on Lincoln Street in 1883; the South Pennsylvania Avenue congregation of Oheb Zedek organized in 1890; that of Ansche Emeth in 1909 and Ahavath Achim, established also in 1909.
The Jewish school of Talmud Torah was first located in rear of the Lin- coln street synagogue in 1896, but its growth in recent years necessitated larger quarters. At present it is housed in the building of the Hebrew Institute, a commodious structure dedicated in September, 1921.
The progress and prosperity of those of Jewish extraction in the Wyoming Valley has been illustrated in more recent years in the character of buildings they have dedicated to public service. In 1918, all elements of the Jewish body, of the community united in building a handsome structure to house the Young Mens' Hebrew Association and its affiliated activities. This building, located on South Pennsylvania Avenue, posessses every facility leading to its use as a community center and is rated as one of the most serviceable and best appointed edifices of its kind in the country. In this building in August, 1922, were held the first services of Temple Israel, a congregation which has enlisted the support of the younger Jewish element in particular. With its numbers increased to more than two hundred members in 1923, this congregation decided upon the erection of a place of worship, acquiring a valuable lot on South River Street for the purpose. On June 18, 1924, the corner stone of the new temple was laid with impressive ceremonies. As was said by Rabbi Louis Levitsky in connection with these exercises, Temple Israel offered the first instance in the history of that denomination when women of the congregation were permitted to assist in the construction of a building.
On October 23, 1924, exercises commemorative of the 75th anniversary of the founding of congregation B'nai B'rith were celebrated in the present South Washington street temple of that congregation, erected in the year 1881. A booklet, entitled "A Historical Chronicle of the Congregation" was prepared for the occasion by the Hon. S. J. Strauss and Joseph D. Coons, Esq., which
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gives, in addition to early records of the temple, which coincide substantially with the narrate of this Chapter, the following later history of the congregation's affairs:
"In 1838 the death of a Jewish child occurred, the first to be recorded in this community. As there was no Jewish burial ground, it was necessary to have the Jewish burial in Easton. "In the Luzerne County court records of June, 1855, appears the following: "Thomas W. Miner to Congregation Beneberid-On Main road township of Wilkes-Barre leading to Plains, containing 9750 square feet being the same part or parcel of land now occupied as the Jewish burying ground." Ten years earlier, however, another court record shows the transfer of another piece of property for the same purpose, so it is assumed that the death of the first child led the pioneer Jews to make burial provisions in the early forties.
"The pioneer Jews' names are recorded in the early Masonic history of Wilkes-Barre and they were also active in other fraternal organizations. John Constine was treasurer of Lodge 61, F. and A. M. from 1848 to 1853. Other pioneers were admitted to this lodge as follows: Joseph Coons, 1845; David Coons, 1851; Martin Long, 1844; Simon Long, 1851; David Meyer, 1851; Morris Strouse, 1851, and David Mor- dechai in 1855. The latter was wor- shipful master of the lodge in 1863. "The first marriage performed among the Jewish pioneers and the first in the new Synagogue took place in THE FIRST SYNAGOGUE Dedicated August, 1849 September, 1849. A newspaper notice of September 12th, that year, reads: "Married-in the Borough on the 10th by the Rev. Mr. Strasser. Mr. David Coons to Miss Helen Long, all of this Borough." (They were the parents of Joseph D. Coons.)
"Early Jewish merchants believed in the driving force of advertising, for in the newspapers of this community as early as 1849 are found the advertisements of Simon Long, clothing; Mordecai and Hilliard; Marx Long, general merchandise; Martin Long, general wares; Abraham Strouse, new merchant tailor and Joseph Coons, clothing and variety emporium. The California gold fever was then at its height and each merchant featured it in his advertising headlines. The same ad was permitted to run unchanged for a period of from six months to a year and dis- play lines or layout were unknown. All advertising of the period, however, was exceedingly modest as compared with the advertising of today.
"Preceding the Civil War, the Wyoming Jaegers was the dominant military organization of this community. Joseph Coons, father of Joseph S. Coons, was a captain in that organization and the names of other of the pioneer Jewisli citizens are to be found on its muster roles. When
REV. MARCUS SALZMAN
the Civil War was declared and the Jaegers was reorganized for military service. Captain Coons went with his men to Harrisburg to be mustered in. His service was rejected, however, because of the serious impairment of his vision. "Lewis Constine, Herman Cohen and Abraham Franenthal, young men of the first American born gener- ation, enlisted from the then small Jewish community for Civil War service. Constine was the first Jew from this community killed in the Civil War. He was shot at White Oak Church. He was a member of the 143rd Infantry.
"Barney Cohen and Julius Weil were among the many Jews who enlisted for Spanish-American War service from Wyoming Valley. They both laid down their lives in the service of their country.
"More than 100 Jews from Wilkes-Barre and vicinity participated in the World War. Dr. William Reese died while in the service.
"From the days of the pioneers, the Jews have been active in civic and communal affairs. Abraham Strauss was a member of the borough school board. His son, Hon. S. J. Strauss served on the city school board a generation later, and is the only Jew to have been a member of the bench in Luzerne County. Augustus Constine, deceased, was for many years chief of the old Wilkes-Barre Volunteer Fire Department, and recognized as one of its best chiefs. All of the young Jews of the sixties were members of the rival volun- teer departments.
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"Activities of the younger generations of Jews in this community today are known to all. They have no place in this record. In their ancestors, the pioneers, they have a worthy example for good citizenship and adherance to the finest Jewish traditions. Little is said in this sketch of the pioneer Jewish women. They were the home makers-the mothers of large families. Side by side with their husbands, they worked to better the conditions of their families. Their's was the inspiration and the encouragement that developed an Americanism and a Judaism of which their descendants might be justly proud."
It may seem somewhat beside the point to have placed the question of immigration to the Wyoming Valley and the influences of this immigration upon the social and religious life of the community before analyzing the induce- ments which beckoned it hither.
But history seeks to be accurate. The fact remains that tides of immigra- tion found a level in the Wyoming Valley in even greater measure than was indicated elsewhere throughout the country. Having marked the nature and extent of these tides, the task becomes easier of arriving at a definite conclusion as to causes inducing them.
Men of an earlier generation, more than those of the present, held to a belief that industries would come to the coal, rather than that coal should seek industries in other markets.
They, therefore, experimented with many forms of manufacture with a spirit whooly disproportioned to the size of the community and an interest that but rarely seemed to flag. These experiments, as did the activity in canal build- ing of the thirties and early forties, brought many artisans to the valley not concerned directly with the rising tide of coal exploitation. Moreover, what may seem strange to residents of the present time, there existed an insistent belief, shared by the early community, in the existence of iron in large quantities through- out the neighborhood of the Wyoming Valley.
Colonel Pickering, as has been shown in a previous Chapter, entertained this belief. Realizing that so unusual a combination of fuel and ore in the same locality would mean much in the industrial development of the valley, persis- tent search followed for ore no less than for coal beds in regions where no outcrop occurred.
As early as 1778, John and Mason Alden erected a forge on Nanticoke creek where bog ore was hammered into bar iron for the use of blacksmiths.
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