A Traveler's Guide to Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries of the California Gold Rush

by Susan Morris

The January 1848 discovery of gold nuggets in the South Fork of the American River started a rush to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada that lasted more than two decades. The tale of gold for the taking was told and retold in a multitude of tongues and on several continents. Jews from many lands and speaking many languages were among the thousands of individuals who made the difficult journey to seek a new life of economic, political, and social freedom in the new American West. Nestled in the spectacular California Gold Rush Country are seven pioneer Jewish cemeteries, preserved as historic sites and dedicated to the memory of these Gold Rush pioneers. As you travel historic Route 49 and study the worn inscriptions on these gravestones, you will discover evidence of Jewish community life in these Gold Rush towns--pioneer family ties, the high rate of infant mortality, membership in local organizations, and in a few cases, the violence of the frontier. This easy-to-use guide is a must for all who enjoy traveling in the routes of the past, finding evidence of communities long gone. Your journey will be made easier with maps, extensive illustrations, walking tours of the cemeteries, and a suggested three-day visit to the Gold Country.

99 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database. For more information please see Susan Morris.

Reviews

[Loren]

Susan Morris offers this little book as a chapter of the Diaspora set in the American West. She points out that even before a synagogue is founded, Jewish tradition requires that ground be consecrated for a cemetery. Because of this, graveyards were created in California Gold Rush towns that never built their own synagogues, where religious services were held at the Masonic Temple or Odd Fellows Hall. Sometimes, the graveyard is all that remains of that Jewish community.

The book is comprised of self-guided tours of seven Gold Rush-era cemeteries. Some of them are open to the public, while arrangements must be made in advance to view others. Throughout the tours, Morris paints a clear picture of Jewish life during the early years of California statehood, ranging from the first High Holiday celebrated in a tent in San Francisco through the threat of the Stowe bill that would have forbidden Jews to conduct business on Sunday, to the clothier shops that remain in business to this day. As a window on a vanished time and scattered people, this book is full of note-worthy information and touching photographs.

I would have liked some information on the Jewish cemeteries of Colma, which include pioneers, as well as Sacramento's Old City Cemetery, which also would have had a significant Jewish population. More, better reproduced photos would have been nice, too.

This review originally appeared on Gothic.Net in November 2002.