Community Activities and Relations
The Jews of Cornwall have contributed to the general life of their town and city since the earliest days. In the period before Jewish community life was organized, they were involved in fraternal organizations, including the Masons and the Odd Fellows. Up until 1897, Royal Arch Masons had to travel 24 kilometres to Farran Point for their meetings. They would meet "on the Wednesdays after the full moon" so that members from the surrounding area, including Cornwall, could benefit from moonlight during the horse and carriage ride home. Those who were travelling by train had to wait until the next morning. Thanks to the petition of Companion Nathan J. Fraid, a member of one of Cornwall's oldest Jewish families, the Royal Arch Mason Covenant Chapter was moved to Cornwall. Another fraternal organization was the Odd Fellows, composed of "free, white males, of not less than 21 yrs and of good moral character." The earliest local Jewish members of the Order, starting in the 1880s, were Julius Miller, Samuel I. Goldstein and Abraham I. Fraid.
