By John Rhodes
Special to The Voice
I have a Facebook site known as Chatham History at which our nearly 12,000 members post photos, comments and questions regarding local history.
One of our members recently asked who was the first Jewish person to live in Chatham?
Good question.
A member indicated that that person would most likely be Sam Kovinsky, but the assumption was wrong.
Sam came to Chatham shortly after the turn of the 20th century but I can trace what I think to be the first Jewish Chatham resident to the mid 1850s; his name was Charles H. Saureman, a boot and shoe maker, skilled tradesman, who had a shop on King Street, north side, just east of the upper bend.
This would be about where the east side of the condo project is now located. Other than his name, location and occupation, I have been able to secure little more information on Mr. Saurman; I have, however, obtained more knowledge on the life of the previously mentioned Mr. Kovinsky.
Samuel Kovinsky was born in Poland in 1880; his father being, Frank Kovinsky, 1846-1925, and his mother was Mollie Dunsky, 1853-1925.
The Kovinsky family, like other Jewish people of Eastern Europe, feared the pogroms and this was probably the major consideration in their decision to come to Canada where they settled at Windsor.
By 1902, Sam had established a recycling business in Chatham where he dealt in cloth, paper and metal; and was living on Edgar Street and later Harvey Street. His final home was on the east side of William Street, first house south of Glover’s Dairy – both of which are still there.
Sam became a success and soon established a salvage yard at the northeast corner of William and St. Patrick streets.
With his wife, Annie Subelsky, he had several children who enjoyed successful lives and I will tell you about them in a future article. It is a very interesting family.
Sam suffered a severe neck injury in 1936 which killed him a day or two later.
He reposes in the family plot, Machpelah Cemetery in Ferndale, Mich.
