Why Vineland?

Did you ever wonder what brought so many of our relatives to South Jersey and the communities of Vineland, Norma, Rosenhayn, and Brotmanville? In a word: farming.

The Levinsons, The Levins, and The Spiegels

In the spring of 1881, following Czar Alexander II’s assassination that March, a wave of anti-Jewish violence erupted across parts of the Russian Empire. Kyiv and other cities with large Jewish populations became targets of violence.

These attacks were known as pogroms—violent attacks on an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The wave of pogroms that began in 1881 continued through 1884 and helped drive Jewish emigration from the Russian Empire.

Among those who fled were our relatives:

• Leah Mezeritsky Levinson

• Israel “Hirsch” Levin and Esther Mezeritsky Levinson Levin

• Samuel Spiegel and Betty Sussel Spiegel

On May 10, 1882, 43 Russian-Jewish families—including the Levinsons and Levins—arrived in Pittsgrove Township in Salem County, New Jersey. They founded Alliance Colony, America’s first successful Jewish farming colony. Alliance, Norma, and Brotmanville developed as village centers within the colony.

Located about five miles from Vineland, Alliance was named for the Alliance Israélite Universelle of Paris. The Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society of New York City purchased the land and helped the settlers establish their farms. Access to a railroad in nearby Norma allowed them to ship their crops to New York City.

As word about Alliance spread among the Jewish communities in New York and Philadelphia, Samuel Spiegel and Betty Sussel Spiegel moved their young family from New York City to Alliance in 1888. Like the early Alliance settlers, they had fled Russia during the pogroms that began in 1881.

The Bloomensteins and The Freedmans

Other Jewish farming communities developed in South Jersey, including Rosenhayn. On March 15, 1898, the Bloomenstein family immigrated from Romania and settled there. While Samuel Bloomenstein was listed in the census as a “clothes presser” rather than a farmer, the community supported both agriculture and industry, including clothing manufacturing.

In 1900, Israel Freedman arrived from Russia. After marrying Pearl Bloomenstein sometime between 1913 and 1916, the couple moved from Philadelphia to the Vineland area—possibly so Pearl could be closer to her family. Israel later opened a bakery in Vineland that remained in business for nearly a century.

The Kronheims

In 1913, William Kronheim moved his family from Newark to Vineland to join his younger brother, Murt, in the poultry business. The venture did not go well, and within a year, William left the poultry business and opened an auto supplies and tire business in Vineland. Later in life, after retiring, he returned to farming and helped his son-in-law, Alfred Stern, on his farm.

The Sterns

In 1929, 47 years after the Alliance Colony’s founding, Samuel and Esther Goldschlager Stern moved from South Bay, near Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, to Vineland with nine of their 12 children. Tired of Canada’s short growing season, Samuel had heard that South Jersey was ideal for farming.

After settling in Vineland, Samuel established Samuel Stern & Sons, which grew into a large produce farming business with more than 200 acres. Several of Samuel’s sons also started successful poultry businesses in the area.