Families
Drawing of Mary and Abe Newman, ca. 1958
Like many of the early Russian Jews who immigrated to St. Catharines during the turn of 20th century, Abe Newman was drawn to the location because of the presence of family and landsmen as well as the strong economy. Unlike most of his brethren, Abe arrived alone, leaving behind his wife and daughter, Rhoda. He lived and worked with his uncle Jake Offstein, who was in the junk business. Although Abe sent for his wife several times, she was reluctant to come to Canada, because she was pregnant and hopeful that her husband would decide to return to the old country. After she gave birth to their son Harry, Abe urged his wife to make the journey, and in 1914, she accepted the ticket and sailed to Canada. Unfortunately, she had to leave Harry behind with her parents due to health reasons. Immigration officials would not let admit him to Canada. Then, because of the First World War they were unable to bring Harry to Canada until 1919. The couple eventually had four more children: Norman, Rebecca, Benjamin and Gordon. Rhoda passed away at the young age of 11 in 1920 and Gordon died as an infant. Despite these tragedies, the family thrived and went on to become leaders in both the community as well as the business world.
