Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities - Canton, Mississippi
Overview >> Mississippi >> Canton
Canton: Historical Overview
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Canton developed due its convenient location as a train stop between Memphis and New Orleans. Canton was the terminal of several railroad companies, which attracted Jewish merchants and commercial activities. The town was incorporated in 1836, with a population of 400. At its peak, Canton was home to Roman Catholics, Protestants, and approximately 100 Jewish families, all of whom brought their European cultural heritage and combined it with the culture of the South.
Most of Canton's large Jewish community were pioneer merchants and many buildings on Canton 's Square still bear the family names. Though only one Jewish family remains in Canton today, the Jewish community played an important part in the town's development. |
Stories of the Jewish Community in Canton
The Wiener Family
Samson Wiener came to Mississippi from Germany around 1850 and married a woman he met on the voyage across the Atlantic. He enlisted in the Confederate cause in 1861. Following the war, he worked as a stationmaster for the Illinois Central Railroad and frequently moved between small towns in central Mississippi, finally settling in Canton. He spoke five languages and went to the various plantations around Madison County to teach French and German in the plantation schools.
Samson's second son, William Wiener, was involved in many businesses and eventually became president of First Madison County Bank. William Wiener married Carrie Loeb. At the time of their marriage, William was over 50, and Carrie was almost 40. Their two sons, William Jr. “Bill” and Julian, were practically inseparable throughout their entire lives. They went to school together from kindergarten through medical school, and both settled in Jackson practicing medicine in adjacent buildings. They shared hobbies of farming, hunting, and fishing together for almost seven decades.
The Perlinsky Family
Joseph Perlinsky, a Polish immigrant who first settled in New York, was another early settler in Canton. After earning enough money as a tailor’s apprentice, he made the journey to Mississippi. In Canton in 1867, at the age of 17, he developed a men’s clothing store. Soon after, he was joined by his brother Henry. The Perlinsky brothers soon rose to prominence in civic affairs. Joseph served as foreman of the grand jury of Madison County and his friends affectionately referred to him as “Judge.”
Eventually, the store was taken over by Perlinsky’s sons, David and Isadore, and son-in-law, Armand S. Michel. Perlinsky’s became very well known for selling well-crafted suits. Chang and Eng Bunker, Thai-American conjoined twin brothers whose condition and birthplace became the basis for the term "Siamese twins,” once ordered two custom suits from Perlinsky's Tailor Shop. When Joseph’s son Isadore retired in the 1950’s, Abie Levy and Ellis Hart co-owned and managed the business for the next 26 years. Eventually, Joanne Hart Gordon and her husband, Bill, took the store over.
The Loeb Family
Other early Jewish settlers included Jacob Loeb, a native of Reichstoffer, France. Jacob Loeb spent the Civil War years in Mexico. It was not until after the Civil War that he was able to become a peddler and make his way to Canton, where his sister had married and settled with Charles Gross, a Confederate veteran who served in the 18th Mississippi Infantry. After arriving in Canton around the year 1879, Loeb married Mary Gross. Gross came to the United States at the age of three with her grandmother, leaving her other siblings and mother behind. Her grandmother remained in New York City while Mary came to Mississippi as a young lady to visit her half-brother, C.L. Gross, in Canton. Mary and Jacob went on to have nine children and became active participants in the Jewish community. In fact, when Congregation B’nai Israel formed in 1879, Jacob Loeb served as the first president.
The Hesdorffer Family
Moses Hesdorffer came to Canton with his family from France following the Civil War. He operated a dry goods store. The 1870 census lists his very sizable personal estate over $15,000, which enabled Hesdorffer and his family to expand their business ventures. His sons, Eugene and Albert, opened a grocery store that was referred to locally as “the hollow.” This grocery store grew to be a staple of the community and remained successful over the first half of the 20th century because of its proximity to the railroad. In addition to his commercial contributions in Canton, Eugene Hesdorffer played a vital philanthropic role. He was motivated to do philanthropic work because his wife, Henrietta Goodman, had been placed in the New Orleans Children's Orphanage as a child. Henrietta never knew about her husband’s distribution to the needy until thankful beneficiaries approached her after his death.
Samson Wiener came to Mississippi from Germany around 1850 and married a woman he met on the voyage across the Atlantic. He enlisted in the Confederate cause in 1861. Following the war, he worked as a stationmaster for the Illinois Central Railroad and frequently moved between small towns in central Mississippi, finally settling in Canton. He spoke five languages and went to the various plantations around Madison County to teach French and German in the plantation schools.
Samson's second son, William Wiener, was involved in many businesses and eventually became president of First Madison County Bank. William Wiener married Carrie Loeb. At the time of their marriage, William was over 50, and Carrie was almost 40. Their two sons, William Jr. “Bill” and Julian, were practically inseparable throughout their entire lives. They went to school together from kindergarten through medical school, and both settled in Jackson practicing medicine in adjacent buildings. They shared hobbies of farming, hunting, and fishing together for almost seven decades.
The Perlinsky Family
Joseph Perlinsky, a Polish immigrant who first settled in New York, was another early settler in Canton. After earning enough money as a tailor’s apprentice, he made the journey to Mississippi. In Canton in 1867, at the age of 17, he developed a men’s clothing store. Soon after, he was joined by his brother Henry. The Perlinsky brothers soon rose to prominence in civic affairs. Joseph served as foreman of the grand jury of Madison County and his friends affectionately referred to him as “Judge.”
Eventually, the store was taken over by Perlinsky’s sons, David and Isadore, and son-in-law, Armand S. Michel. Perlinsky’s became very well known for selling well-crafted suits. Chang and Eng Bunker, Thai-American conjoined twin brothers whose condition and birthplace became the basis for the term "Siamese twins,” once ordered two custom suits from Perlinsky's Tailor Shop. When Joseph’s son Isadore retired in the 1950’s, Abie Levy and Ellis Hart co-owned and managed the business for the next 26 years. Eventually, Joanne Hart Gordon and her husband, Bill, took the store over.
The Loeb Family
Other early Jewish settlers included Jacob Loeb, a native of Reichstoffer, France. Jacob Loeb spent the Civil War years in Mexico. It was not until after the Civil War that he was able to become a peddler and make his way to Canton, where his sister had married and settled with Charles Gross, a Confederate veteran who served in the 18th Mississippi Infantry. After arriving in Canton around the year 1879, Loeb married Mary Gross. Gross came to the United States at the age of three with her grandmother, leaving her other siblings and mother behind. Her grandmother remained in New York City while Mary came to Mississippi as a young lady to visit her half-brother, C.L. Gross, in Canton. Mary and Jacob went on to have nine children and became active participants in the Jewish community. In fact, when Congregation B’nai Israel formed in 1879, Jacob Loeb served as the first president.
The Hesdorffer Family
Moses Hesdorffer came to Canton with his family from France following the Civil War. He operated a dry goods store. The 1870 census lists his very sizable personal estate over $15,000, which enabled Hesdorffer and his family to expand their business ventures. His sons, Eugene and Albert, opened a grocery store that was referred to locally as “the hollow.” This grocery store grew to be a staple of the community and remained successful over the first half of the 20th century because of its proximity to the railroad. In addition to his commercial contributions in Canton, Eugene Hesdorffer played a vital philanthropic role. He was motivated to do philanthropic work because his wife, Henrietta Goodman, had been placed in the New Orleans Children's Orphanage as a child. Henrietta never knew about her husband’s distribution to the needy until thankful beneficiaries approached her after his death.
Canton Jews and Community Relations
Though some people viewed the Jewish community as different, most Canton Jews faced little overt anti-Semitism. In its heyday, the town was less of a melting pot than a gumbo, with Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Jews from European countries each retaining some religious and ethnic identity, but blending into a flavorful mixture. Jews of Canton enjoyed particularly amicable relations with their Christian neighbors. The Canton Country Club always had Jewish members. One Canton resident, Laurie Bowers, remembered her mother nursing a Jewish baby whose mother had no milk. Two Christian women played the pump organ and sang Hebrew incantations during services at B’nai Israel.
Jewish merchants wielded a strong influence in Canton. In fact, in 1875, on the day of Yom Kippur, all town business was suspended. One article in the Canton newspaper praised Canton Jews for their solemn observation of their religious rites which served to “excite in the minds of the curious a desire to lift the veil of antiquity that seems to envelop and exclude them…and increase the desire to penetrate the arena of their singular history.”
Though some people viewed the Jewish community as different, most Canton Jews faced little overt anti-Semitism. In its heyday, the town was less of a melting pot than a gumbo, with Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Jews from European countries each retaining some religious and ethnic identity, but blending into a flavorful mixture. Jews of Canton enjoyed particularly amicable relations with their Christian neighbors. The Canton Country Club always had Jewish members. One Canton resident, Laurie Bowers, remembered her mother nursing a Jewish baby whose mother had no milk. Two Christian women played the pump organ and sang Hebrew incantations during services at B’nai Israel.
Jewish merchants wielded a strong influence in Canton. In fact, in 1875, on the day of Yom Kippur, all town business was suspended. One article in the Canton newspaper praised Canton Jews for their solemn observation of their religious rites which served to “excite in the minds of the curious a desire to lift the veil of antiquity that seems to envelop and exclude them…and increase the desire to penetrate the arena of their singular history.”
20th Century
By 1937, 85 Jews lived in Canton. Throughout the first part of the twentieth century, Canton’s Jewish merchants remained an integral part of the commercial economy. Jewish stores in the twentieth century included: Schlesinger’s Smart shoe Store; Hesdorfferr’s Grocers; Stein’s Golden Rule Store; Frey’s Food; I. Rosen’s Apparel Shop for Women; Kaplan’s Dry Goods and Clothing; and Hirman Brumberg’s Busy Bee Café.
Increasingly over the second part of the twentieth century, children in the Canton community chose to forego the store owning careers of their fathers for professional careers elsewhere. The last congregation member, Alvin William Levy, passed away July 20, 1999. Levy was a World War II veteran, general manager of Levy’s Department Store, and lifelong resident of Canton, Mississippi.
By 1937, 85 Jews lived in Canton. Throughout the first part of the twentieth century, Canton’s Jewish merchants remained an integral part of the commercial economy. Jewish stores in the twentieth century included: Schlesinger’s Smart shoe Store; Hesdorfferr’s Grocers; Stein’s Golden Rule Store; Frey’s Food; I. Rosen’s Apparel Shop for Women; Kaplan’s Dry Goods and Clothing; and Hirman Brumberg’s Busy Bee Café.
Increasingly over the second part of the twentieth century, children in the Canton community chose to forego the store owning careers of their fathers for professional careers elsewhere. The last congregation member, Alvin William Levy, passed away July 20, 1999. Levy was a World War II veteran, general manager of Levy’s Department Store, and lifelong resident of Canton, Mississippi.
Other Notable Citizens
Other merchant settlers of Canton included Leopold Stein, who married Friedah Lehman. The couple owned and operated Stein’s, a dry goods general store.
The Jewish Community in Canton Today
By 2006, only one Jewish family remained in Canton, the Gordons. They continue to have a significant impact on the community. Jo Ann Gordon has served as head of the Canton Tourism Bureau for many years and has been instrumental in building local museums and developing the extremely popular Canton Flea Market. The legacy of this once thriving community lives on in cherished memories of the past.
Primary Sources
“The American Race Keeping Up with the Progress of the Ages.” The Canton Mail, October 2, 1875.
Jewish “Innovation”?
The Jews are moving with the rest of the world. They find they must or be forever stranded upon the shoal of some past time. They have as keen money interest in the world as any other people or sect, and this will eventually drift them into the current of affairs passing before them, and bring them into sympathy with the age in which they live;
The Jews have many ancient religious customs, rites and observances which have been transmitted from generation to generation so long that they seem like a packet of old jewelry out of fashion, and very inconvenient to take care of. Fashions have changed, and they cannot be worn as the world goes, but they have them still to carry out in their march into the promised land. Many of these customs have become burdensome. They belong no more to the Jews; the Jews belong to them, and such transposition of ownership makes a great difference in the spirit and temper of the observances themselves. The present orthodox and reformed divisions of the Jewish church very naturally grew out of the religious and civic situation. It is also natural that these divisions should drift wider and wider apart. Sweeping changes are constantly taking place in the ritual of the reformed Jewish church. They have their separate temples for worship, separate teachers, and newspaper organs. In the old Jewish synagogue, the men sat covered in the body of the church, and the women were stowed away in the galleries. In the reformed temple, both sexes sit together and enjoy equal privileges of the place. The men also deem it not only polite, but find it comfortable to take off their hats in the house.
These are very small things, perhaps, but they constitute a departure. The reformed church has dropped some of its cumbersome ancient Hebrew load and is running lighter than the orthodox purists. The members of it may also have given themselves more license in the matter of diet than the old code prescribed. Many things are good to eat have been discovered since Moses issued his bill of fare. The Christian world took a notion to discard the original Jewish Sabbath and establish a day of rest for itself. In Christian countries the Jews find it very inconvenient, in a business point of view, to observe their own Sabbath on religious grounds and the Christian Sunday upon compulsion, because no regular business is doing around them on that day. The Reformed Jews may have to make another compromise with the general conditions which surround them on all sides, and so they will go drifting away from their old landmarks, but lighter and livelier at every step.
A mighty fine evening:
In 1879, the Jewish community hosted a fancy dress and masquerade ball inviting the whole town. Mr. Isidor Gross and Ms. Sara led a grand march of costumed archers, Humpty Dumpty, harlequins, and even a Shanghai rooster. Following the festivities, a substantial supper was held at midnight. The lavish event was described as follows:
Of all that did chance, ‘twere a long tale to tell:
Of the dancers and dresses, and who was the belle
But each was so happy, and all were so fair
That night stole away, and the dawn caught them there
To sleep-perchance to dream of the pleasures now vanished, but I hope, not forever
Alroy
Jewish “Innovation”?
The Jews are moving with the rest of the world. They find they must or be forever stranded upon the shoal of some past time. They have as keen money interest in the world as any other people or sect, and this will eventually drift them into the current of affairs passing before them, and bring them into sympathy with the age in which they live;
The Jews have many ancient religious customs, rites and observances which have been transmitted from generation to generation so long that they seem like a packet of old jewelry out of fashion, and very inconvenient to take care of. Fashions have changed, and they cannot be worn as the world goes, but they have them still to carry out in their march into the promised land. Many of these customs have become burdensome. They belong no more to the Jews; the Jews belong to them, and such transposition of ownership makes a great difference in the spirit and temper of the observances themselves. The present orthodox and reformed divisions of the Jewish church very naturally grew out of the religious and civic situation. It is also natural that these divisions should drift wider and wider apart. Sweeping changes are constantly taking place in the ritual of the reformed Jewish church. They have their separate temples for worship, separate teachers, and newspaper organs. In the old Jewish synagogue, the men sat covered in the body of the church, and the women were stowed away in the galleries. In the reformed temple, both sexes sit together and enjoy equal privileges of the place. The men also deem it not only polite, but find it comfortable to take off their hats in the house.
These are very small things, perhaps, but they constitute a departure. The reformed church has dropped some of its cumbersome ancient Hebrew load and is running lighter than the orthodox purists. The members of it may also have given themselves more license in the matter of diet than the old code prescribed. Many things are good to eat have been discovered since Moses issued his bill of fare. The Christian world took a notion to discard the original Jewish Sabbath and establish a day of rest for itself. In Christian countries the Jews find it very inconvenient, in a business point of view, to observe their own Sabbath on religious grounds and the Christian Sunday upon compulsion, because no regular business is doing around them on that day. The Reformed Jews may have to make another compromise with the general conditions which surround them on all sides, and so they will go drifting away from their old landmarks, but lighter and livelier at every step.
A mighty fine evening:
In 1879, the Jewish community hosted a fancy dress and masquerade ball inviting the whole town. Mr. Isidor Gross and Ms. Sara led a grand march of costumed archers, Humpty Dumpty, harlequins, and even a Shanghai rooster. Following the festivities, a substantial supper was held at midnight. The lavish event was described as follows:
Of all that did chance, ‘twere a long tale to tell:
Of the dancers and dresses, and who was the belle
But each was so happy, and all were so fair
That night stole away, and the dawn caught them there
To sleep-perchance to dream of the pleasures now vanished, but I hope, not forever
Alroy
Sources
“Alvin William Levy.” The Jackson Clarion-Ledger. July, 20, 1999.
“Bigotry Jew Trade,” The Canton Mail. November 27, 1875.
Canton, Mississippi Tourism page. Accessed Sept. 29, 2014. http://www.cantontourism.com/history.html
“Christians helped by playing organ, singing Hebrew Prayers.” The Atlantic Constitution, March 31, 1991.
“Ecclesiastical.” The Canton Mail. February 19, 1876.
“The Grand Hebrew Ball,” American Citizen. December 20, 1879.
“Jewish rites and traits,” American Citizen. October 11, 1873.
“Jottings,” The American Israelite, Aug. 4, 1892, p. 6.
Perlinsky, David and Isadore Perlinsky, “Then and Now: Through three-quarters of a century in Canton.” Canton, 1940. Canton Mississippi File. Institute of Southern Jewish Life Archives.
Weiner, John. “Wiener Biography” Julian Wiener Lectureship in Urology. University of Mississippi Medical Center. Jan. 27, 2005. Accessed February 17, 2015. http://www.umc.edu/Education/Schools/Medicine/Clinical_Science/Surgery/Academics(Surgery)/Julian_Wiener_Lectureship_in_Urology.aspx.
White, Gayle, “Empty stores, silent temples: The rural South’s Jewish culture is dying.” The Atlanta Constitution. March 31, 1991.
“Bigotry Jew Trade,” The Canton Mail. November 27, 1875.
Canton, Mississippi Tourism page. Accessed Sept. 29, 2014. http://www.cantontourism.com/history.html
“Christians helped by playing organ, singing Hebrew Prayers.” The Atlantic Constitution, March 31, 1991.
“Ecclesiastical.” The Canton Mail. February 19, 1876.
“The Grand Hebrew Ball,” American Citizen. December 20, 1879.
“Jewish rites and traits,” American Citizen. October 11, 1873.
“Jottings,” The American Israelite, Aug. 4, 1892, p. 6.
Perlinsky, David and Isadore Perlinsky, “Then and Now: Through three-quarters of a century in Canton.” Canton, 1940. Canton Mississippi File. Institute of Southern Jewish Life Archives.
Weiner, John. “Wiener Biography” Julian Wiener Lectureship in Urology. University of Mississippi Medical Center. Jan. 27, 2005. Accessed February 17, 2015. http://www.umc.edu/Education/Schools/Medicine/Clinical_Science/Surgery/Academics(Surgery)/Julian_Wiener_Lectureship_in_Urology.aspx.
White, Gayle, “Empty stores, silent temples: The rural South’s Jewish culture is dying.” The Atlanta Constitution. March 31, 1991.