Guide to the Ansche Chesed Congregation Records, 1857-1927

MSS 071, Micro 26

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Historical Note

Scope and Contents

Arrangement

Administrative Information

Controlled Access Headings

Collection Inventory

Ansche Chesed Congregation

Hebrew Indigent, Sick & Burial Society

Ansche Chesed Cemetery Association

Summary Information

Abstract

Records of a Reform Jewish congregation in La Crosse, Wis., called variously Ansche Chesed, Anshe Chesed and Ansche Cheset. Microfilmed records of the congregation include a constitution, bylaws, minutes, 1904-1921, and financial records, 1889-1920. Two related groups also have material represented here. The Hebrew Indigent, Sick & Burial Society (later called the Hebrew Benevolent Society) materials include a constitution and bylaws (in English), 1857, and meetings (in English and later in German), 1857-1904, as well as financial reports, 1889-1917. A later group, the Ansche Chesed Cemetery Association, is represented by a constitution and bylaws as well as extracts of minutes, 1899-1927.

Collection Title

Ansche Chesed Congregation Records

Date of Materials

1857-1927

Creator

Anshe Chesed Congregation (La Crosse, Wis.).

Call Number

MSS 071, Micro 26

Amount

0.1 cubic feet

Physical Description

1 reel 35 mm microfilm

Language of Materials

English

Repository

La Crosse Public Library Archives

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Historical Note

The first person of the Jewish faith to arrive in La Crosse was John M. Levy in 1845, only three years after the founding of La Crosse by Nathan Myrick. Many consider Levy to be the first permanent white settler in La Crosse, since the Myrick left La Crosse for St. Paul in 1848. The first religious services held in the tiny village of Prairie La Crosse were held in John Levy’s house at which all denominations were represented. Levy was well respected and elected as three-time mayor after La Crosse became a city in 1856. Most of the early Jewish settlers were in the mercantile business.

Myer Katz, author of several articles on Jewish history of La Crosse, divides this history into four chronological periods. The first is that of the "Deutsche Yehudim" or the German Jews who fled Germany after the Revolution of 1848. Most immigrants of this period landed in New York and stayed there or in other large eastern cities. The more adventurous came west to seek their fortunes and establish homes. This first wave of German Jewish immigration brought 22 families to La Crosse. The Congregation that developed in La Crosse was of the Reformed rather than the Orthodox Jewish Faith. The constitution of the Hebrew Indigent, Sick and Burial Society was adopted May 18, 1857, according to an article by Harry J. Hirshheimer titled, "Jewish Settlers of La Crosse Prior to 1880," in the La Crosse County Historical Society’s La Crosse County Historical Sketches, series 2 (La Crosse, WI : 1935).

Organizers of the community of faith were Louis Hirshheimer, Isaac Tuteur, N. Scharff, and H. Gutman, while other members included M. Gutman, Isaac Cantrovitz, A. Patz, Joseph Gutman, Sigmund Gutman, A. Waldauer, A. Lederman, L. Shrier, B. Scharff (Scharpf), O. W. Prager, W. Bennett, and Levis Strauss. It was later called the Hebrew Benevolent Society and became Congregation Ansche Chesed, on Sept. 8, 1878, being formally incorporated Sept. 1, 1896. In 1905 this group had only 14 members.

The congregation was very small and as a result could not support a full-time rabbi. Other than holy days when a regular rabbi was employed, services were conducted by the elder members, among them John M. Levy, A. Patz, H. Fox. During the 1870’s and into the early 1880’s, religious education for youth was conducted. However, after this time period, membership had dwindled to the point where even covering the expenses for a rabbi during the ten day holiday period was impossible. It is noted, however, that most of the original members who had moved away from La Crosse during the eighties and later, kept up their Cemetery Association dues. This enabled the remaining members to maintain the property.

On July 12, 1857, a Congregational committee reported the purchase of one acre of land for a burial ground at $150.00. However, the deed was not recorded until April 12, 1870, from Joseph Ebner to S. Neuman and N. Steinam, trustees for the Congregation. The mother of Louis Hirshheimer, Mrs. Sarah Hirshheimer Hindle, who was born in 1768 and died in June 1858 in La Crosse, was the first burial at the Jewish Cemetery. In 1889, Mons Anderson, the Norwegian "Merchant Prince" of La Crosse offered to sell 3 acres of land adjoining the cemetery at $150 per acre, the same price per acre as the original cemetery purchase. The committee instead offered $250 for three acres.

The second period of Jewish immigration to the United States ranged from 1890 to 1915 and consisted mainly of traditional Orthodox Jews from eastern Europe. While the beginnings of organized services in La Crosse may have been shaky, the Jewish community in the later nineteenth century began to see an influx of these Orthodox Jews. This included families such as Omerberg, Getts, Wolfson, Natenshon, Feinberg, Goldish, Weisbord, Jacobs and others. Shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, the Sons of Abraham Congregation was formed under the leadership of Abraham Goldish. This group built a synagogue and continues to hold regular services.

The third period of Jewish movement to La Crosse includes those who arrived from about 1915 to 1950. This signaled a rise of the conservative movement among the La Crosse Jewish community, while the fourth wave of immigration began at the end of World War II and continues to the present time.

Katz notes that during the early days when both German Reformed Jews and middle eastern European traditional Jews lived in La Crosse, they maintained a separate social culture and independent synagogues. Today all three groups cooperate as a single community of faith -- socially, culturally and religiously -- without friction.

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Scope and Contents

Records of a Reform Jewish congregation in La Crosse, Wis., called variously Ansche Chesed, Anshe Chesed and Ansche Cheset.

Six items or volumes are included on this reel of microfilm. This includes records of the congregation include a constitution & bylaws (item #1), minutes, 1904-1921 (item #3), and financial records, 1889-1920 (item #5). The financial records are individual family accounts and are broader than the membership in the cemetery association.

Two related groups also have material represented here: the Hebrew Indigent, Sick & Burial Society (later called the Hebrew Benevolent Society) and the Ansche Chesed Cemetery Association.

The Hebrew Indigent, Sick & Burial Society (later called the Hebrew Benevolent Society) materials include a constitution and bylaws (in English), 1857 (item #2), and meeting meetings (in English and later in German), 1857-1904 (item #2), as well as financial reports, 1889-1917 (item #4). The financial reports are cemetery related.

A later group, the Ansche Chesed Cemetery Association, is represented by a constitution and bylaws as well as extracts of minutes, 1899-1927 (item #6).

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Arrangement

Records of the Ansche Chesed Congregation can be found in three series: Ansche Chesed Congregation, , Hebrew Indigent, Sick & Burial Society, and Ansche Chesed Cemetery Association

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

La Crosse Public Library Archives 2003 August

Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for patron use.

Acquisitions Information

(Accession No. 2003-62) Purchased through regular Special Collections materials budget, 2003, from the Wisconsin Historical Society. WHS Micro 262 P41464

The microfilm was produced by the Wisconsin Historical Society in 1958 while the original material was owned by the La Crosse County Historical Society.

Processing Information

Processed by Anita Taylor Doering, Aug. 2003

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

• Anshe Chesed Congregation (La Crosse, Wis.).

Subject(s)

• Church records and registers--Wisconsin--La Crosse
• Reform Judiasm--Wisconsin--La Crosse

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Collection Inventory