Jacob and Kate Marry

Last edit of this page 2022.FEB.15

There are no direct accounts of their meeting, but there are clues. Kate Swiersky, sometimes called Katie, was born about 1877 in Kobelnik, now in Belarus. Her parents, Peter (Peretz) and Rose Swiersky, settled in Shamokin, Pennsylvania. Jacob, through a pathway that may never be known, was working in Reading, Pennsylvania, at the Hendel’s hat factory. He was described as a “hat pouncer” or sometimes just a “hatter.”

Shamokin and Reading are about 70 miles apart.

Jacob and Kate reported the same address, 241 Poplar Street, in Reading on their marriage license application. Perhaps (a) they were living together before the wedding or (b) they reported the address where they would reside after the wedding or (c) this was an apartment or boarding house. Kate was in her early 20s, and she may have come to Reading to work. This announcement appeared in the Reading Times, 1899.DEC.02. The address on Poplar Street is now open green space.

The story is complicated by events of the previous month. Labor-management conflicts broke out all over the United States in the last decades of the 19th century.

These items appeared in the Reading Times 1899.NOV.10 and 1899.NOV.11.

Some hatters went on strike, and some continued to work. This created incredible tension. Jacob continued to work. A fellow employee, Jacob Tisherman, went on strike.

The wedding was Tuesday, 1899.DEC.26, and this notice appeared in the Reading Times Thursday, 1899.DEC.28. This was a large event. Ida and Lena were Kate’s younger (twin) sisters. Max Levine would become Lena’s husband. Morris Fidler cannot be identified.

This appeared in the Reading Times Wednesday, 1900.JAN.03, the third day of the new century:

This must have been quite a scene at the wedding.

The story was too hot to be contained in Reading.

The item on the left is from the Allentown Morning Call, 1900.JAN.05. The right item was in the Lancaster Semi-weekly New Era, 1900.JAN.13. These show considerable journalistic carelessness in names (Tisherman, Tislerman, Lischerlerman) and in the money amount ($5000, $500). The town of Oley is about four miles from Reading; it appears only in the Lancaster account. There is an Oley Street in Reading, a more likely location for the event.

No evidence has been found about the outcome of the lawsuit. There was no monetary damage and no physical injury, so it’s plausible the suit was either settled or withdrawn.

The Chicago Tribune 1897.MAR.23 notes a marriage license for a Jacob Simon in Chicago. It may be that Dora Cohen Simon was identified in the Yiddish news as Mrs. Jacob Simon, triggering Tisherman’s interest.

The Reading Times article mentioned the synagogue on North 8th Street. This must have been Shomrei Habrith at 533 North 8th Street. The building still stands, but the synagogue has moved. On the white cross appears “Iglesia Adventista del Septimo Dia.” Information about this congregation can be found on page 84 of https://sites.psu.edu/localhistories/wp-content/uploads/sites/28874/2015/09/a_history_of_the_jewish_community_in_reading_and_berks_county.pdf.

The Reading Times account stated that Jacob Simon arrived from England, then coming to Reading from New York. This could be a useful clue in finding detail of his arrival in the United States.

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