Nadene Goldfoot
Michael Medved was born on October 3, 1948, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to parents Renate (née Hirsch) and David Bernard Medved. His father was a Navy veteran and scientist. Raised in a Jewish home, his family's origin is German and Ukrainian. The surname Medved means a "bear" in many Slavic languages. Medved was raised in San Diego, California, where his father worked as a defense contractor for Convair and NASA. On census information, places like Ukraine are referred to as Russian, as they had taken over so many parts of the Pale of Settlement. Somewhere in his past history, he may have had ancestors homesteading for about 5 years in North Dakota.
At least 800 Jewish individuals filed for land between 1880 and 1916 in North Dakota. They generally settled in clusters. Many were aided by the Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society. In addition several of the earliest settlements, Painted Woods and Devils Lake, were aided by synagogues located in Minnesota's Twin Cities. Homesteaders endured great hardships such as plagues of grasshoppers, prairie fires, blizzards and drought. Most left after acquiring full land title (generally five years). A number settled in market towns along the two railroads that crossed the state and where they operated general stores.
By 1889 the country's growing railroad industry lured people to the eastern community of Grand Forks. A permanent congregation was established in 1892. It was from the pulpit of B'nai Israel Synagogue that President William McKinley urged the Jews to participate in the war with Spain. The city of Fargo also grew near the turn of the century and by 1896 a synagogue was chartered there. The Jews of North Dakota are engaged mainly in retailing. A few, such as Fargo Mayor Herschel Lashkowitz, and Federal Judge Myron Bright, distinguished themselves in politics.
North Dakota
George C. Medved who in 1920 lived in Homer, Stutsman, North Dakota. Homer is a township located in the county of Stutsman in the U.S. state of North Dakota. Its population at the 2010 census was 289. After 10 years in 2020 city had an estimated population of 268 inhabitants.
He was born in Vienna, Austria. He might have been Jewish. Was he one who was helping to establish something like a kibbutz? That was their homesteading. He had married Anna H. Stluka. Medved is a Jewish surname. In 1900 at age 50 he was living in Wahpeton, Richland, North Dakota.
The surname, Medved comes from: Slovenian Croatian Ukrainian Belorussian and Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic); Slovak (Medved'); Czech (Medvěd): is also a nickname from Slavic medved 'bear' applied to a large strong or clumsy person.
The first settlement of Bohemians, or Czechs, in northern Dakota was in Richland County in 1871.
Bohemian (bo-Hee-me-an) immigrants of North Dakota were also called Czechs (cheks). Bohemia is a region in the present-day Czech Republic, formerly called Czechoslovakia (chek-o-slo-Vahk-ya). This European country is located near Poland and Germany.
The first settlement of Bohemians, or Czechs, in northern Dakota was in Richland County in 1871. Wahpeton and Lidgerwood became important Bohemian communities. Some of the other counties with large Bohemian settlements included Walsh, Dunn, Stark, Morton, and Ward. The first settler in Wahpeton was Morgan T. Rich in 1864. His plow turned the first furrow of rich, black soil. The city of Richville was officially founded in 1869 after other settlers arrived and formed a small community.
A major part of the Bohemian culture, which has survived through the years, was their love of music. Every Bohemian community had school bands, community bands, and dance bands. Weekend dances were held, and these were neighborhood affairs for people of all ages.
Many of the Bohemian immigrants settled in towns and cities rather than on farms. A great number of them had worked in various trades in the “old country” and brought their skills with them. They set up shops and worked as blacksmiths, tailors, leather workers, butchers, and in other trades.
Those who did farm were often the first to try out new developments. Czech farmers were among the first to establish telephone systems and to use electricity on their farms.
Between 1900 to 1920, about 1200 Russian-Jewish immigrants were homesteading in North Dakota. They didn't do well farming, but did in reselling the land later to other farmers to be.
Jews also settled in larger towns such as Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck, and Minot where they established and other elements of Jewish communal life. They have also been included in civic life.
One in particular deserves mention: Benjamin Papermaster was sent to North Dakota by the of the Kovno Yeshiva, serving in Grand Forks from 1891 to 1934. He was also the circuit-riding for the state, circumcising babies, officiating at weddings and funerals, and even slaughtering cattle. Today, Fargo and Grand Forks rely on student . In the 1960s the Jewish population of Fargo was some 500 people; it has declined as young people leave and do not return.
In 1883 a group of Russian Jews, formerly of North Dakota, established what is now the Conservative congregation Talmud Torah in Portland, Oregon.
Rebecca Bender became an author, telling of life on the prairie and how they kept their faith.
As of 2017, North Dakota's Jewish was approximately 400 people.
Resource:
Update: 3/15/23
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/north-dakota-jewish-history
No comments:
Post a Comment