Beersheba
One of seven attempts to start a Jewish agricultural
colony in Kansas was in Hodgeman, then Garfield, County. Beersheba
was the first and probably the most successful of the colonies,
even though it lasted only a few years.
The Jews who came to Kansas were Russian refugees,
and they were not really accepted by the Jews who were already
in the United States. The United States Jews felt embarrassed
by these refugees who spoke Yiddish. "The United Jewish Charities
of Rochester denounced them as a 'bane to the country and a curse
to the Jews.' The Rochester UJC continued that they had 'earned
an enviable reputation in the United States, but this has been
undermined by the influx of thousands who are not ripe for the
enjoyment of liberty and equal rights and all who mean well for
the Jewish name should prevent them (as) much as possible from
coming to America.'"
Two men who were East European Jewish immigrants
came to southwest Kansas in June 1882 to look for land on which
to begin a colony. Julius Cohen and a Mr. Goldfarb claimed a homestead
about 22 miles from Cimarron, and they were the ones who took
care of all legal matters for the colony.
The colony of Beersheba was located north of
Cimarron and a few miles northeast of Kalvesta. Located on Pawnee
Creek, there was no lumber available and the settlers arrived
to find sod buildings.
The Hebrew Union Agricultural Society was formed
by sympathizers to the cause. Rabbi Isaac M. Wise appealed to
the Cincinnati community to provide funds to send the Jewish refugees
to Beersheba. Once the funds were raised, Charles K. Davis and
Leo Wise, the rabbi's son, led the contingent of settlers to Kansas.
Twenty-four Jewish families left Cincinnati on July 26, 1882,
to begin a new life in Kansas. When they arrived in Kansas City
by train, the merchants, hotels, and railroad agents took advantage
of the group's situation. They were charged more for their rooms
and food, as well as supplies. By August 6, 1882, the colonists
were in Cimarron, and on the 11th, they left for Beersheba with
their supplies.
By January 1883, there were 80 people who had
settled in the area. A synagogue and a schoolhouse, both made
of sod, had been built so that they could continue to worship
and to educate their children.
These settlers had never been farmers, and the
colony did not do as well as it had been hoped. The Hebrew Union
Agricultural Society sent a man named Joseph Baum to Beersheba
to supervise the colony in the fall of 1882. Baum, with his experience
as a farmer, was to advise the colonists in the ways of farming,
but he was also able to take items away if the farmer didn't do
well.
The colonists did not get along with Baum and
by 1884, many of them had given up farming and started working
for the railroad. Those that remained farmers leased parts of
their land to a company that was promoting cattle trails. The
HUAS was very angry that the farmers did this, and Baum was ordered
to take away all the farming implements. The settlers, who had
thought the implements had been given to them permanently, found
out that they were given to them on a loan basis.
By 1890, the experiment of a Jewish agricultural
colony had failed. Many of the colonists left Beersheba to become
merchants in the nearby towns of Ravanna and Eminence. Others
returned to Kansas City and St. Louis.
Jewish Colonies in Kansas set
up by Agricultural Aid Societies
Beersheba (Hodgeman) |
Gilead (Comanche) | Hebron (Barber)
| Lasker (Ford) | Leeser
(Finney) Montefiero (Pratt)
| Touro (Kearny)
Sources
Harris, L. David. "Lest
We Forget Beersheba". The Wichitan, February 1981.
Fitzgerald, Daniel. "Ghost
Towns of Kansas". Vol. 3. Daniel Fitzgerald. 1982.
