The Jews of Windsor, 1790-1990. Jonathan V. Plaut

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СКАЧАТЬ same night and, a few days later, a party at the home of Mayor John Davis.¹⁰ Thanks to his earlier stint as a court interpreter, Englander was well prepared for his new job. In February 1899 he was appointed to the market and property committee, as well as to the light committee¹¹ and, likely in recognition of his newly attained position, he was also granted a Certificate of Naturalization.¹²

      Englander’s interest in city politics had probably been sparked long before he actually became an alderman. In the early years, when Windsor was a pioneering community, hawkers and peddlers had been able to walk the streets and roam the countryside undisturbed. Gradually, however, shop owners must have perceived these “outsiders” as a threat to their more established enterprises. A by-law passed three years earlier that required the “licensing and regulation of Hawkers and Petty Chapman and others,”¹³ would have had a profound effect on William Englander’s own business. Amended on May 3, 1886, it stipulated:

      That no person not a resident of the town of Windsor, and in the case of tea, dry goods, and jewelry, not having a shop, store or place of business within the said town in which to pursue his trade or calling, shall exercise the calling or occupation of a peddler, hawker or petty chapman within the units of the said town, nor go on foot or otherwise offering for sale (etc.). . . without first having obtained a license so to do in the manner hereinafter provided.¹⁴

      Englander the businessman should have welcomed the law regulating street vendors’ activities. As an alderman, however, his objectivity on the subject was, at times, questionable. While insisting on strict observance by others, he himself appeared to sidestep any restrictions that interfered with the pursuit of his personal aims and objectives. For example, on June 26, 1899, the market and property committee received a complaint that “William Englander had been buying poultry during prohibited hours.”¹⁵

      Despite his reprehensible behaviour, coupled with his seemingly less than regular attendance of Council meetings, he was re-elected in 1900 and, during his second term in office, was again censured for contravening the by-law designed to keep “hucksters off the market until 10 a.m.”¹⁶ In that connection, the Evening Record of January 29, 1900, reported that,

      Mr. Englander was suppressed twice or thrice before but he does not stay suppressed. His latest scheme to evade the law is to make his bargains before 10 a.m. and have the goods delivered after that hour, hoping by this thin device to escape the penalty.

      Mr. Englander on a former occasion justified his action on the ground that the farmers were opposed to the 10 o’clock clause. Mr. Englander’s error seems to lie in forgetting that the by-law is framed in the interest of the people who maintain the market.”¹⁷

      Fortunately, that particular complaint did not reach Council and, despite a motion passed on March 19, 1900, requesting the police commissioners to advise the chief constable and policemen to enforce the hawkers and peddlers regulations, William Englander remained undaunted. In fact, his prominence seemed to reach its peak on April 17, 1900, when the Evening Record reported that he had built “a handsome residence on the corner of Windsor Avenue and Wyandotte Street.”¹⁸ Still unable to accept “that clause of the market by-law which seeks to retain the market for the people until 9 o’clock by keeping hucksters off the grass up to that hour,”¹⁹ William Englander again was taken to task on August 1, 1900, when the following item appeared in the Evening Record:

      On a recent market day he approached a youth with a wagon during prohibited hours and offered to buy all the chicks he had. He had seven pairs. The youth demurred, saying it was against the law. “Oh,” replied the alderman, “I make the laws for this town; anyway if there is any trouble you just say I contracted for those chickens last Thursday.”

      The fears of the farmer were allayed by the alderman into carrying away the fowls. Word of the transaction was carried to Market Clerk Lidell, who warned him to keep the law, but many such warnings do not seem to restrain the alderman.”²⁰

      Although Englander himself was never punished for violating any of these laws, he not only joined Alderman B. G. Davis in September 1900 in laying a charge against Wolfgang Feller, a well-known hotel owner, for buying chickens during prohibited market hours but, a month later, even proposed the following resolution:

      Moved by Mr. Englander, seconded by Mr. Blackburn, that whereas the Hawkers & Peddlers By-law has been enforced in this city since the 1st day of June last and no conviction for an infraction thereof has yet been made in the police court, although it is a notorious fact that said by-laws continuously are openly violated by a large number of persons, the Council is of the opinion that the police constables whose salaries are paid by the City are severely remiss in their duty and deserve severe censure. Also that a copy of this resolution be furnished the police commissioners. Carried.²¹

      Despite a fellow alderman’s attempt, on November 26, 1900, to have the hawkers’ by-law repealed altogether, it was amended on February 11, 1901, allowing those who had paid their license fees to receive a refund. By that time, however, William Englander’s popularity had waned, obviously because of his double standard of justice. Defeated in the 1901 election, he lost his seat on Council.²²

      Between 1906 and 1907, the city directory again shows him as a retail grocer. However, likely in appreciation of his past public service, and because of his language skills, he was appointed immigration officer, some time after 1913. Probably stationed at the ferry docks at the foot of Ouellette Avenue, he held the post until 1924–1925, as well as continuing as a part-time court interpreter. In fact, some records described him as a gentleman who knew the “Provision Trade for he used to deal in butter and eggs before devoting himself entirely to immigration matters.”²³

      William Englander had known Windsor as a small village and had enjoyed seeing it grow. Some people remembered him as a small, rotund, and soft-spoken man with a kind disposition, who apparently helped many people with their problems. Even though he was not wealthy, it was said that he liked to put money aside “for a rainy day.” Not an Orthodox Jew, he nevertheless played an active role in the budding community’s religious affairs.²⁴

      William was married to Wilhelmina, née Santer, a woman from Cleveland, Ohio to whom he likely had been introduced by her brother, a resident of Detroit. On December 19, 1906, the couple had adopted a daughter through the Jewish Infants Orphan Home in Cleveland. A native of St. Joseph, Missouri, they named her Rose. Wilhelmina Englander died at a young age and was buried in Detroit. In 1920, her father met Regina Stern of Detroit and after a year’s courtship, they were married in her hometown.

      On September 2, 1925, Rose Englander became the wife of Israel Milton (Slaw), son of Aaron Meretsky in a double wedding ceremony that took place at the Masonic Temple in Windsor. The other bride was Aaron Meretsky’s daughter Lillian. She was marrying Harry, the son of Michael Meretsky, who was her first cousin — a phenomenon not uncommon for those days. On April 1, 1926, seven months after the wedding, Rose’s stepmother, Regina Englander, died. Eight days later, on April 8, 1926, her father, William, passed away.²⁵

      Photo courtesy of Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue

      Aaron Meretsky.

       Aaron Meretsky and his Family

      Aaron Meretsky was the first Jewish immigrant to come to Windsor from Shtabin, Poland. Born there in 1854, he was the second son of a family of four boys and three girls. His mother and father were simple, hard-working people, who eked out a meagre existence in Russian Poland. That was in sharp contrast to the parents of Katherine Barowsky, the woman Aaron eventually married. Born in 1856, she came from СКАЧАТЬ