"Pedlar"
And now, confirmation that on both sides, I'm descended from Jewish peddlers
The vast majority of Jewish men who came to the US began their working lives here as peddlers; at least one source I’ve found suggests more than 90% began this way, though I found the methodology a little lacking. (A fairly small sample of synagogue records were used, and within that sample, the researcher found that over 90% of Jewish male immigrants in this era started out as peddlers, but given the limited geography of the sample and its smallness, I’m not convinced it’s fully representative. I’ve found at least one other source that suggests many who moved westward worked in agriculture.) It’s a history I haven’t found as much research on as I would expect, perhaps because few of the men ended their careers this way, and so are remembered for what they did later in life.
I know that family stories about Moses Einstein, my third great-grandfather, we always talk about him having been a farmer, which I suppose he was by the end of his life. But census records show that he, like my maternal great-grandfather, started out as a peddler and that his son, my paternal second great-grandfather, also worked as a peddler, at least as a teenager.
The thing about this that fascinates/troubles me is how little this history is known, particularly outside the Jewish community. It’s a thing I hope my book will make some small steps to correcting. During this era, pack peddlers connected the growing rural population with necessary goods and served as an essential part of growing those communities. And yet, when these places now tell the stories of themselves, the peddlers are seldom mentioned. We get the stories of other kinds of rugged pioneers: the early farmers, railway workers, lumberjacks, cowboys… all have their own strong narratives in the history of 19th century America. I want our stories to be part of that canon.
What stories from your family’s/people’s past are missing from the story of the nation? What are you writing to help ensure those stories are included? I’d love to hear from you about them!
One of my mother's cousins liked researching family history and discovered one of our ancestors in police records in Lithuania. Apparently he'd been murdered by robbers while driving his lumber cart through the forest in 1776. Otherwise, we'd never know he sold lumber for a living...
My Great Uncle by marriage, Harry Epstein, started as a peddler in Wisconsin and went on to own a department store in Beaver Dam. By the time I came around (born 1949) my grandmother's seven brothers (immigrated around 1900) were all fairly successful businessmen. Did they start as peddlers? I should investigate. The next generation, my mother's, all went to college and were professors or lawyers and some continued in business. Be happy to dig around a little if that would be helpful. Sadly, we didn't get enough information before they all left this earth.