| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Nebel, Abraham Lincoln |
| Title: | Cleveland Jewish Miscellany |
| Dates: | 1831-1971 |
| Extent: | 1.00 linear feet (1 container) |
| Abstract: | The Cleveland Jewish Miscellany consists of material relating to the history of the Jewish community in the greater Cleveland, Ohio area, collected by Abraham Lincoln Nebel (1891-1973). The collection consists of correspondence, genealogical material, biographies, Mr. Nebel's notes, newspaper clippings, and other documents. The bulk of the collection consists of photocopies collected by Nebel of documents related to Cleveland Jewish history. |
| MS Number | MS 3669 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English and Hebrew |
Abraham Lincoln Nebel (1891-1971), Collector, was borne in Zanesville, Ohio, the son of Benjamin and Rose Nebel, as one of seven children. His family, Jewish immigrants, left Austro-Hungary several years earlier to settle in the United States. In 1892 the family moved to Shawnee, Ohio, where Benjamin Nebel established a general merchandizing store. In 1900, seeking better economic opportunities, the family moved to Cleveland. Financial success, however, eluded Nebel's father and at the age of 15, young Nebel quit school to contribute to the support of his family. With the help of his brother Emmanuel, they formed the Commonwealth Oil Company, the first chain of gas stations in Cleveland. In 1915 the gas company was sold, and Abraham Nebel established the Nebel Manufacturing Company.
Although he never graduated from high school, Nebel involved himself in scholarly activities. His interest in his Jewish heritage inspired him to devote much of his spare time to collecting material relating to the history of the Jewish community in the greater Cleveland, Ohio area.
Abraham Nebel was an amateur historian whose interest in the Jewish community was prompted by a desire to learn more about his wife's family, the Richard's, who had been living in Cleveland for several generations. As his research progressed on the Richard family, Nebel began acquiring material on other prominent Jewish families. By 1948, he was avidly collecting material on families with the following surnames: Peixotto, Seixas, Kalisch, and Cohen. His collecting eventually expanded to include the records of well known Jewish businesses and of several of the early synagogues. Nebel hoped that his research would result in a publication that would document the political, economic, and cultural contributions of the Jewish community in the Western Reserve. Unfortunately, the book was not written during Nebel's lifetime, but Nebel's research notes provide much historical information about the Jewish community in Northern Ohio.
The Cleveland Jewish Miscellany, 1831-1971, consists of correspondence, genealogical material, biographies, Mr. Nebel's notes, newspaper clippings, and various documents relating to the individuals, businesses, and religious organizations represented in the collection. Nebel rarely collected original documents. The bulk of the collection consists of facsimiles, with the exception of Mr. Nebel's notes and personal correspondence.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of the Jewish community in Cleveland, Ohio, the Western Reserve, and other areas of Northern Ohio. There is a considerable amount of material on Rabbi Isidor Kalisch, including excerpts from published articles, lectures, and books; letters from President James Buchanan, and Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes; and documents relating to Rabbi Kalisch's participation in the First Conference of American Rabbis. The publications of Rabbi Gustavus Cohen were also collected by Mr. Nebel and include: The Orpheus, The Sacred Heart of Judah, and Musical Relaxations.
Among the prominent families in the collection are Daniel Peixotto and joshua Seixas, who were among the earliest Jewish settlers in the Western Reserve. Dr. Daniel Piexoto's son, Benjamin Franklin Peixotto, is perhaps the best known family member. His folder of material represents his many and varied interests. Included in the file are copies of letters written to and received from Presidents James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, and Rutherford B. Hayes, along with other letters and telegrams written while he was the consul at Lyons, France, and Bucharest, Romania. Legal documents, journal articles, and a presidential address of B'nai B'rith are also included. The Seixus family papers, and in particular those of Joshua Seixus are also contained in the collection and include letters from various faculty members at Andover College and Harvard University, as well as correspondence from students and exerpts from Joshua Seixus' books and journal articles.
The subject files include material on the following topics: The Alsbacher Document, The Civil War, the retailing trade, and several Cleveland synagogues such as The Temple, Fairmount Temple, and Temple on the Heights. The American Civil War collection contains material on the Jewish soldiers who enlisted in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, and on the company and regiment in which they served. Also contained in the collection is a biography of Abraham Lincoln by Joseph Epstein written in Hebrew; a pamphlet on the role of Jewish soldiers from Michigan played in the Civil War; and various documents relating to the war record of Joseph Brown.
While there are no access restrictions on this collection, researchers will be asked to use the microfilm of this collection.
Related MaterialThe researcher should also consult PG 163 Abraham Lincoln Nebel Photographs.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3669 Cleveland Jewish Miscellany, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cohen in 1976.
Processed by Dianne Girman in 1977.
Series I: Individuals and Families dates vary |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Alsbacher family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Arnstine, Jacob . | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Barrows, Elijah Porter . | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Cass, Lewis . | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Cohen, Frederick . | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Cohen, Gustavus . | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Cole, Mrs. Harry . | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | Davies, Rowland Ralph . | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Davis, George Ansley . | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Dittenhoefer Family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Ezekiel Family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Fleischmann, Charles . | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Handelsman, Bertram . | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Harte, Bret . | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Hay, John . | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Hays Family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Heller Family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | Horwitz, James . | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Isaacs, Isaac A. . | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Joel, Joseph A. . | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Kalisch, Isidor . | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Kelly, Alfred . | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Lowentritt, Aaron . | |||||||||
| 1 | 24 | Montefiore, Moses . | |||||||||
| 1 | 25 | Moses, Marcus . | |||||||||
| 1 | 26 | Newmark, Simon . | |||||||||
| 1 | 27 | Noah, Mordecai Manuel . | |||||||||
| 1 | 28 | Openheimer, Abraham . | |||||||||
| 1 | 29 | Peixotto, Benjamin Franklin . | |||||||||
| 1 | 30 | Peixotto, Daniel Levy Madura . | |||||||||
| 1 | 31 | Peixotto Family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 32 | Richard Family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 33 | Rosenwater, Edward . | |||||||||
| 1 | 34 | Roskoph Family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 35 | Salsbury Family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 36 | Seixas, Joshua . | |||||||||
| 1 | 37 | Seixas Family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 38 | Strauss Family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 39 | Thorman, Simson . | |||||||||
| 1 | 40 | Townsend, George Alfred . | |||||||||
| 1 | 41 | Tuch Family . | |||||||||
| 1 | 42 | Ullman, Morris . | |||||||||
| 1 | 43 | Untermeyer, Louis . | |||||||||
| 1 | 44 | Wolf, Simon . | |||||||||
| 1 | 45 | Woolsey, John . | |||||||||
Series II: Subject Files dates vary |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 46 | Alsbacher Document, letter from Lazarus Kohn to Moses and Jetta Alsbacher in with Lazarus Kohn asks that Alsbacher's and their party of immigrants not to lose their faith in America . | |||||||||
| 1 | 47 | B'nai B'rith . | |||||||||
| 1 | 48 | Centennial of 1937 . | |||||||||
| 1 | 49 | Civil War . | |||||||||
| 1 | 50 | Correspondence with the American Jewish Archives, Hebrew Union College, The Historical Society of Israel, and The American Jewish Historical Society . | |||||||||
| 1 | 51 | Correspondence with Rabbi Samuel M. Silver, Joseph Morningstar, and others . | |||||||||
| 1 | 52 | The Durrant Case, trial of Henry Theodore Durrant, at which Edgar D. Peixotto was counsel for the state . | |||||||||
| 1 | 53 | Fairmount Temple (Anshe Chesed) . | |||||||||
| 1 | 54 | Hebrew documents, miscellaneous notes, and writings in Hebrew . | |||||||||
| 1 | 55 | The Israelite . | |||||||||
| 1 | 56 | The Joseph and Feiss Company . | |||||||||
| 1 | 57 | Mayflower School . | |||||||||
| 1 | 58 | Miscellaneous newspaper clippings . | |||||||||
| 1 | 59 | Missionary movement to convert Jews to Christianity . | |||||||||
| 1 | 60 | Plymouth and Sandusky, Ohio, Jews . | |||||||||
| 1 | 61 | Regional History Conference 1955 | |||||||||
| 1 | 62 | Richman Brothers Company . | |||||||||
| 1 | 63 | the Temple (Tiffereth Israel) . | |||||||||
| 1 | 64 | Temple on the Heights (B'nai Jeshurun) . | |||||||||
| 1 | 65 | The Tercentenary, 300th anniversary of Jewish settlement in the United States (1954-1955) . | |||||||||
| 1 | 66 | Willet Street Cemetery . | |||||||||