Bernard Cohen was unusual in his time in that he was not an immigrant; he was born in NewYork city in 1853, the oldest of Jewish Polish immigrants Michael and Leah, who went on to have four more children. The family moved to California in the late 1850s, first to Los Angeles and then to San Bernardino. In September of 1873, having just turned 20, young Bernard followed in his father’s footsteps and opened a butcher shop in Anaheim. He was in Anaheim from 1873 through July 1876, when he literally vanishes from the public record. He goes from being mentioned regularly in the Anaheim Gazette, running ads for his store, and listed in directories, to nothing. We do know that by 1879 he was back in LA, still working as a butcher, where he stayed until 1890, when he moved to Hermosillo, in Northern Mexico, to operate a hotel with his brother Henry. While clearly not observant (the butcher shop was open on Saturdays and was not kosher), he was knowledgeable enough to run High Holiday services in his Anaheim home, along with Morris Mendelson and Adolph Kolsky of Orange. Bernard also had connections to the San Diego Jewish community, much like the Mendelson family. His younger sister Bertha married Samuel Lesinsky of San Diego, his other two sisters, Minnie and Julia, lived there, and he owned property in the city. Sadly, Bernard was killed in a train accident in Hermosillo in 1916, aged 62, and was buried in San Diego at the Home of Peace Jewish cemetery. His life was typical of pioneer Jews of the West; they went where there was opportunity, but also maintained strong connections with their “co-religionists” throughout their lives.
Dalia Taft, Director of the Orange County Jewish Historical Society, highlights images from the archives every month. For more information, please visit https://Www.jccoc.org/Pages/Oc-Jewish-Historical-Society. You can also contact Dalia at Daliat@jccoc.org or at (949) 435-3400, Ext. 360. The Orange County Jewish Historical Society is a program of the Merage Jewish Community Center and is funded by the Jewish Community Foundation Orange County.