7 days ago
Remembering the history of the Gold Rush Jewish pioneers in Northern California
On this Jewish History Month, Fox40 looks back at the Jewish History in Northern California.
( — Hundreds of thousands of immigrants descended upon Northern California during the height of the 1848 Gold Rush, and among them were thousands of Jewish pioneers.
It's a history that's often forgotten, and the Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks in the West works to keep it alive.
'This is not only our history as Jews in California, but it is the history of California itself,' Freda Urling, a board member of the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks in the West, said. 'Historically, ancient Jews were lenders because we couldn't own land and we couldn't own businesses, but here in California, there wasn't prejudice.'
Many of the Jewish pioneers were miners, and others came to establish businesses catering to miners. This includes Mr. Levi Strauss, who developed jeans as durable wear for miners.
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To preserve a cemetery is to preserve history itself, and this group is preserving the history of Jewish cemeteries in Placerville, Sonora, Grass Valley, Nevada City, Jackson, Mokelumne Hill, and Marysville.
'If there's one thing that Jews know, it's death, and we have many rituals that surround it,' Urling adds. 'It's important for our people to be buried in consecrated ground blessed by a Rabbi and maintained, so for us it is a Mitzvah.'
The Commission is currently working to repair the graves of the Katzenstein family at the Marysville Hebrew Cemetery.
Cammie Brodie is the three-times-great-granddaughter of Eugene and Marie Katzenstein, who were born in Haguenau, France, and eventually made their way to Marysville in 1852.
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'They were all very industrious individuals and very connected to the community,' Brodie said. 'Eugene opened up a restaurant and hotel in Marysville.'
Jedidiah Watson is a sixth-generation descendant of Jewish Gold Rush pioneers. His family immigrated from what was once the Province of Posen in Prussia—now modern-day Poland—following the 1848 failed revolution.
'There were jobs that they couldn't have, there was property that they couldn't own, and so they were part of the revolution,' Watson said. 'And when the revolution failed, they were to blame– it was the blood libel of the 1850s, so a lot of them saw the Americas as a way to get a fresh start.'
In Northern California, they became valued members of society. His three-times-great-grandfather, Benjamin Nathan, owned over 50 different mines in Grass Valley, and the greater family also owned several businesses.
'One thing that my grandfather instilled in us was not just the pride of being Jewish, but also the pride of the Gold Rush,' he adds.
Fellow board member Francis Coats echoes the importance of preserving this rich history in today's political climate and growing Antisemitism.
'I think current history indicates it's terribly important to have a cultural and historic memory,' Coats adds.
You can read more about the Jewish pioneers in the California Gold Rush here.
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