Wampum

Wampum is a borough in southern Lawrence County. It was established in the late 18th century and became an important transportation hub at the turn of the 20th century, when as many as eight railroad tracks ran through the borough and its vicinity.

The earliest Jewish residents of Wampum arrived in the 1880s. The Jewish population appears to have peaked in the 1910s and 1920s and declined during the 1930s and 1940s. A population survey included in the 1940-1941 edition of the American Jewish Yearbook listed a Jewish population of less than 10 for Wampum. Wampum never had a synagogue, Jewish religioius school, or Jewish cemetery. Jewish families often travelled to Ellwood City or New Castle for religious needs. Sometime before 1905, a group of Jewish residents in Wampum started the 20th Century Club, which promoted “the development of social and literary functions.” Its arranged a concert at the Grand Opera House on Sept. 27, 1904 with Alex Berman and Anna Greenstone performing. It is unclear whether the group continued beyond the event. By the early 1920s, the few Jewish families in Wampum were active enough in regional affairs that the Ellwood City chapter of Hadassah changed its name to the Ellwood-Wampum Hadassah.

Stiglitz

Joseph Stiglitz immigrated to the United States in 1872 from his native Austria. He lived in the mining town of Leadville, Co. before bringing over his wife Chaje “Alice” and daughter Fradel “Fannie.” They lived briefly in New York and came to Wampum. They opened a general store around 1885 and later a lumber yard. Joseph was active in civic life, participating in public works projects and running unsuccessfully for borough council in 1909. Follow that election, Stiglitz accused the winner of rigging the election by providing liquor in return for votes.

Stiglitz retired around 1907. The family relocated to Mt. Clemens near Detroit in 1914 but returned to Wampum regularly to visit children. They had at least six children, Fannie, Dora, Sara, Samuel, Harry, and Jacob. Fannie Stiglitz married Jacob Needle. Dora Stiglitz married Abe Wechsler of Pittsburgh. Sara Stiglitz married Louis I. Harris of Salem, Ohio. Harry Stiglitz married Minnie Swerling of Tarentum. Jacob Stiglitz married Lillian Shapero.

Louis I. Harris remained in Wampum. He built a movie theater in town in 1914 but later converted the building into a traditional retail store. Between 1916 and 1919, he was a Wampum representative for global efforts to raise funds for Jewish victims of World War I in Europe.

Cohen

Barney and Lena Cohen immigrated to the United States from the Russian Empire in the early 1890s. They initially lived in Boston before coming to Wampum, where they started a department store. They had four children: Harold, Eugene, Rosamund, and Millie. The family relocated to Pittsburgh around 1924, joining Rodef Shalom and Beth Shalom congregations.

Harold V. Cohen acted in student plays at Wampum High School and Penn State University and also began a writing career. In 1929, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gave him a five-day-a-week column called “Drama Desk” where he covered motion pictures and theater. While working at the Post-Gazette, Cohen also helped create a Pittsburgh edition of TV Guide and served as the Pittsburgh correspondent for national publications such as Variety and The Stage. Among his awards, Cohen was named “Movie Critic of the Year” by the Screen Directors’ Guild in 1955.

Eugene S. Cohen was vice president of the aluminum extruding business B&G Manufacturing Co. He was active in Jewish communal affairs on the boards of the United Jewish Federation and the Irene Kaufmann Settlement House. He was seen as a leading force behind the creation of the Irene Kaufmann Center at the corner of Murray and Forbes in Squirrel Hill in 1959 and the eventual merger with the Young Men’s and Women’s Hebrew Association in 1961.

Caplan

Abraham J. Caplan (1883-1967) was born in Krakes, Lithuania and immigrated to the United States around 1899, settling in Wampum by 1918. He started the Wampum Flour Mill in partnership with Samuel Friedman and bought out his partner in 1922. He produced a line of flour called “Elva’s Choice,” after his daughter. Caplan was active in civic affairs and served as president of the Wampum Borough Council in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He was also active in Tifereth Israel Congregation in New Castle, serving on its board of directors.

His wife Henrietta (Cohn) Caplan was active in community affairs, including the New Castle Council of Jewish Women, the Tifereth Israel Sisterhood, and the Chat-A-While Club.

Abe and Henrietta Caplan had two children, Melvin Caplan and Elva Rose Shapiro.

Philip and Cernie Levine Caplan immigrated to Rochester, Pa., from Lithuania in the early 20th century and had four children, Dorothy, Maril, Rueben, and Bernard. Bernard graduated from Rochester High School and the University of Pittsburgh. He owned the Fashion Center in Rochester, was a partner in Blinn and Co, and a founder of Caplan Scrap Metal Co. in Wampum.

Shapiro

David Shapiro came to Wampum in 1916 when he and partner William Cassler acquired the business of Samuel Stiglitz. Cassler was murdered by a robber in 1918, and Shapiro subsquently maintained the business independently. Shapiro remained in Wampum until 1933, when he declared bankruptcy during the Great Depression and sold his property to William Kaplan.

Goldman

L. A. Goldman acquired the Barney Cohen store in 1924. His wife was a member of the Chat-A-While Club, a social club arranged by Jewish women in Lawrence County in the late 1920s.

Simon

Ben and Minnie Simon relocated to Wampum after many years in Ellwood City. Minnie (Pitler) Simon was sister to a trip of noted athletes—Jake Pitler, Harry Pitler, and Dave Pitler.

Other known Jewish residents of Wampum include Morris Cabin, S.W. Feinberg, Al Fesenstein, L. F. Levine, Louis Love, T. Perlman, Jack Canter, and Joseph and Isabelle (Stept) Shaeffer.

Bibliography

• Harold V. Cohen Papers [MSS 0334] (catalog record).
• Harold V. Cohen Oversize Papers [MSS 0334] (catalog record).
• Harold V. Cohen Photographs [MSP 0334] (catalog record).
• Dora Stiglitz Wechsler photograph [2022.0008] (catalog record).

Exhibit history

• Author: Eric Lidji
• Original: May 12, 2017
• Current: August 7, 2026

Acknowledgements

• This entry was created in 2017 as part of Phase I of the Small Towns Jewish History Project and was expanded in 2026 through a Jewish Community Priorities grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.