Employment & Business
Over time, Aaron Silverman's modest business and shack grew into Sudbury's first department store, which was situated on Elm Street. Dan Rothschild's general store became D. Rothschild and Company, located across from the train station on the corner of Elgin and Cedar Streets. His brother Max opened a butcher shop next door, but also worked in the general store. In 1898, Abraham Weisman opened a store on Elgin Street that sold chocolates, ice cream and cigarettes. Hascal Moses built a newsstand in 1907, which later evolved into Wolfe's Bookstore located in the Moses Block, located at Elgin and Durham Street. He later purchased the Sudbury Hotel at Elgin and Van Horne.
These early settlers thrived and some even moved into grand homes, like Dan Rothschild's family. They constructed a large brick home on Elm Street, importing all of the bricks from Montreal. The Rothschild home was only the second brick house to be built in Sudbury. By the turn of the century, some of the wealthier families like the Rothschild's and the Silverman's were in a position to hire servants, who helped their wives with the children and household chores.
Other Jewish residents pursued trades that capitalized on the local resources and economy. For instance, Jack Leve made a living as a fur trader in the bush, after serving in the Canadian military during the First World War. He spent much of his time traveling by dog sled throughout Northern Ontario, particularly around James Bay, trading fur pelts with Native Canadians. By the 1940s, he decided to establish roots in Sudbury, setting up an office above Wolfe's Book store.
Slide Show - Jack Leve
As a successful raw fur-trader, Jack Leve spent a large portion of his time out in "the bush" along the remote fur trapping trails in Northern Ontario. The photographs in this slideshow document Jack Leve's life in the bush and in Sudbury from 1919 until the 1940s.
