Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 2 September 1977 — Page 2

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Seemed Like More Jews

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Though born into Jewish families, the Nussbaum g brothers were practicing Episcopalians when they ar- ^ rived in Marion Percy’s two daughters, Mrs. Elizabeth .2 Williamson, the widow of a Sweetser hardware store | owner, and Miss Mary Nussbaum, a retired school-

„ teacher, both still live in Marion. His son, Lowell, was a columnist for the Indianapolis Star before his recent retirement.

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Also gaining prominence during the gas boom days

o were the Missouri-born Bloch brothers. Ed and Ben These brothers lived in Marion, but most of their busi-

ness enterprises were in C.as City

The Blochs established the Golden Eagle men's clothing store on E Main Street in Gas Cit\ in 18% They then started the Gas City Mercantile Co directly across the street from the Golden Eagle in 1909 They also operated a branch of the Golden Eagle in I’pland Ed Bloch also was president of the Gas City Slate Bank and the Citizens Bank of Jonesboro The older of

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the Bloch brothers was known to visit his business en terprises regularU in a large, chaulfour-dnven bmou sine. Ed. Bloch was perhaps the most powerful and in fluential businessman of his day Yet his gr avesite in the Rodef Sholem Cemetery is almost hidden, set off to the east side of the Jewish cemetery its small headstone facing away from the main part of the cemetery The sight of Bloch's grave tells the story of his fall from power and grace. Hard-hit by the Great Depression, the prominent banker ended his own life in Sep tember, 1930. by taking poison m Muncie hoi el room Ed Bloch was 51 years old Because suicide is one ol the cardinal sins of the Jew ish religion, he was not permitted to be buried in the main part of the Jewish cemetery in Wabash, where his brother, who died of natural causes, was buried three years later The holdings of the Blochs and Leo Nussbaum were evidence of the flourishing of Jewish-owned businesses in Marion and Grant County during the first three decades of the 20th century. The height of that rise was reached in the early 1920s, when a trip around the courthouse square would have convinced any newcomer that the Jewish community was closer to a majority of the population than the small but successful minority rt really was. In 1923, just 20 years after Morris Blumenthal s death, Jewish-owned retail businesses were the back-

bone of the business activity around the square, which was the very hub of activity for the entire city. “The square was important because it was like the Loop in Chicago," Henry Fleck, present operator of The Paris womens apparel store, recalls “Your streetcars all came in, the fanners all brought their wagons around the square to sell produce, so that was the center of Marion The Jewish businesses were anchored on the west side of the square by Blumenthal s, which was at the peak of its glory then The department store occupied three floors and was the shopping center of its day “It was a very fine store, with the best merchandise you could buy " Dr Max Gnnz recalls Dr Ganz. a Marion physician for the last 37 \ears, worked as a stock boy at Blumenthal s as a teenager The department store, which had a number of Jewish employes, flourished until December. 1928. when it was hit by a costly fire Even though the store was rebuilt and expanded, it never recovered from the financial setback and went out of business in the mid-1930s. Its location is now occupied by the J.C Penney Co. South of the department store, at the northwest corner of Fourth and Washington streets, was the Farmer’s Trust and Savings Co., of which Leo Nussbaum was vice president Moving to the south side of the square in 1923, one

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