DAVID SOHN THE FIRST BIALYSTOKER IN AMERICA Who was the first Jew from Bialystok to arrive in America? I often discussed this matter with many older landsleit, people who were in the United States for many years. When they reached these shores, they already found a significant Bialystoker community going back to the 1880's. In fact, Bialystoker Jews lived in America starting in the 1850’s. We found a charter issued by the State of New York dated 1864, to a “‘Bialystoker Unterstitzungs Verein,” an aid society for Bialystoker Jandsleit that existed two years and then fell apart because of con- flicts among the members. I uncovered this document quite by accident, when I was elected president of the ‘““Bialystoker Somach Noflim” in 1925. We realized that the Somach Noflim, founded in 1886 and one of the oldest Bialystoker societies, oper- ated without a charter. As president, I sought to mod- ernize the society, which had been neglected. First I obtained a charter from the State of New York, legally recognizing the society. When we applied for the charter, we found government records that revealed a ‘“‘Bialystoker Unterstitzungs Verein’ was incorporated in 1864. The first Bialystoker Jew to arrive in America was Simcha Tzfas, who died in New York at the age of 103. Several weeks after 1 came to the United States I met Simcha at a Bialystoker’s house on Henry Street, where he was a frequent guest. Someone pointed him out to me, indicating he was almost 100. I refused to believe it because Simcha looked much younger and was full of life. Later I heard many interesting tales about Simcha, including his frequent trips to distant lands and his numerous adventures. Simcha Tzfas first arrived in America in 1842, ona sailboat that embarked from London and sailed on the high seas for several months. Once in New York, he did not find any other Jews from Bialystok. His first home was with a Dutch family on Water Street, near the East River. Simcha was twenty-eight years old then, a tall and brawny youth, a real he-man. His fearlessness amazed his gentile neighbors, who did not let his Jewish manners interfere with their close friendship. Simcha worked as a longshoreman for an export firm, loading cargo on ships and performing other strenuous labor. Apparently he earned a satisfactory living at the time. When the famous California gold rush began in 1848, Simcha was among the first to leave on this mad quest for gold. For months he walked or traveled by horse and buggy along with some daring young people The Bialystoker Memorial Book through the wilds of America, fighting Indians and robbers who attacked them on their journeys. Simcha was wounded twice. Finally he arrived in California, where he spent two years, failing to discover any gold. He went back to Bialystok, stayed awhile and then sailed to Israel, where he had close relatives. Two years later he returned to the United States, joined the Ameri- can Army and served under General McClellan for א SIMCHA 125 The first Bialystoker Jew who came to the U.S. in 1842. His was a long, interesting and adventurous life. He lived to be 103 and died in New York in 1917. three years. Subsequently he became a farmer in Minnesota. In 1860, a year before the Civil War broke out, he returned once again to Bialystok for a short time and then to Israel. Some claimed that during this trip Sim- cha married, at the age of forty-six, in Israel. In 1865 Simcha came back to the United States. During this voyage he became friendly with Jacob Schiff, a fellow passenger who later became a wealthy banker and Jewish philanthropist. Schiff liked this down-to-earth, hulking man with handsome _ black beard and steel-like hands. Talking to him, Schiff saw, possibly for the first time, a simple and strong Russian Jew. Their friendship continued for many years, and even after Schiff became a millionaire he arranged that 165