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.
Chapter 3
A Community Takes Root
