Jewish Life in Columbus, Indiana

European Settlers arrived on the land that became Columbus, Indiana in 1820 when John Tipton and Luke Bonesteel purchased vast plots of land along the White River.  Originally named Tiptona in honor of the town's founder, the town renamed to Columbus in 1821.  The original small village of three or four cabins and a general store developed around a ferry landing soon after Columbus's founding.  The town remained small through the first few decades, but began to grow after the Pennsylvania Railroad Company laid track between Madison and Columbus in 1844.  This new railroad allowed Columbus to become one of the largest towns in antebellum Indiana.  By 1850, three railroads reached the city and the population was over 1,000.

The new railroads brought initial Jewish settlement into Columbus.  Though Columbus was primarily a farming community, particularly in its early history, Jews were rarely among those in agriculture.  Instead, most Jews in Columbus operated woolen mills and retail stores.  The first known Jewish settler is believed to be a man named Hodler, but very little is known about him.  The first Jews in Columbus that we have significant information about were brothers Samuel "Simmy" and David Samuels, who immigrated from Poland and traveled southern Indiana as peddlers, finally settling in Columbus in the early 1850s.  The Civil War Centennial Jewish Historical Commission noted that by 1854 there was already a small Jewish community developing.  The October 3, 1856 issue of Die Deborah, the German-language supplement to The Israelite, listed Columbus, Indiana among newly founded congregations.  Five years later, an article in The Israelite announced the creation of the Chisak Emuna congregation under the leadership of Rabbi Simon Benmann.  In September 1871, Chisak Emuna dedicated a new synagogue on Vernon Street, near the corner of Jackson, with about 14 member families.  The congregation held shabbat evening and morning services, as well as havdalah;  all services were in the Reform style.  Chisak Emuna also hosted a Hebrew school for students of all ages on Sunday mornings at 11.  

A number of Jewish merchants were among the early settlers into Columbus.  The largest of these firms was Samuels, Vogel, & Co.  David Samuels arrived in 1852, and worked as a peddler to raise funds.  Once he raised enough, he paid immigration costs for his brother, father, and mother to join him in Columbus in 1854.  By 1857, the Samuels family opened a dry goods store in town.  Frederich "Fred" Vogel arrived in Columbus two years later and began working at the Samuels' store as a clerk.  Vogel earned $200 a year until 1864, when he was able to buy a stake in a firm that would come to bear his name, Schloss & Vogel.  Upon Schloss's death five years later, Fred Vogel merged his business with the Samuels brothers' and Samuels, Vogel, & Co. was born.  The business was one of the most successful in the region, soon bringing in over $100,000 in sales per year (almost $3 million by modern standards).  Samuels, Vogel, & Co. was also a pioneer in the field of advertising, spending almost $500 (almost $15,000 in 2025) per year on marketing expenses.

Among the early families in Columbus was that of Levi Bluestein, better known by his stage name Edward Blondell.  His father, Simon Bluestein immigrated from Poland when Levi was a child and opened a flea market in Columbus.  As a child, Levi originated a comedy troupe known as the "Katzenjammer Kids" and performed at the lo9cal Crump theater on Third Street in Columbus.  As an adult, Levi adopted the stage name Edward Blondell and joined a circus company, working his way up from candy butcher to sideshow performer to trapeze artist.  Eventually, Blondell left the circus to become a vaudeville comedian, writing numerous musicals, sketches, and plays.  His daughters, Joan and Gloria, would follow in Blondell's footsteps becoming prominent actresses in early Hollywood, with Gloria being the original voice of Disney's Daisy Duck.

Under the leadership of non-resident rabbis, Chisak Emunah would struggle to keep members, despite Jewish presence in the city.  Increasingly, Jews in Columbus either drove 50 miles to Indianapolis or 72 miles down to Louisville.  The community also faced considerable pressure from intermarriage in the early 20th century.  Jewish merchants Ben Bloch and Morris Rosenbush married non-Jews and were baptized into the Baptist church shortly thereafter.  By the 1920s, there was hardly a trace of a Jewish community, with Chisak Emunah being closed and Kosher stores having left town.

Between 1861 and 1888, a number of rabbis served the pulpit at Chasak Emunah.  Simon Benmann was the first rabbi, followed by Solomon Levi and Abram Block.  But the longest serving rabbi at Chasak Emunah was Samuel M. Laski, who served from 1879 through 1888.  Laski was a rabbi firmly in the reform tradition, utilizing Samuel Wise's Minhag America, a choir, and organ.  Laski was a renowned scholar, but was also a stern individual that made enemies as easily as friends.  This proved troublesome as his unpopularity stood in the way of congregational growth and prosperity.  By 1888, he rankled enough feathers within the congregation that dissension became too great for him to overcome.  He left Columbus and would be replaced by a series of visiting rabbis.  Laski would be the last in-residence rabbi of Chasak Emunah.