Creator Bio
Abraham Kohn
1819–1871
Born in Bavaria, Abraham Kohn arrived in the United States in 1842, first working as a peddler in New England and then settling in Chicago, where he owned a prosperous store and helped to found Chicago’s first synagogue, Kehilath Anshe Ma’arav. A loyal Republican supporter of Abraham Lincoln, Kohn advocated for Jewish equal rights. He was elected city clerk of Chicago.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
A Jewish Peddler’s Diary
On the eve of the New Year I found myself with a new career before me. What kind of career? “I don’t know”—the American’s customary reply to every difficult question. . . . I was in New York, trying…
Related Guide
Life Writing: Biography, Autobiography, and Ego Documents, 1750–1880
The famous and the obscure, women and men, in epitaphs and private letters, ethical wills, cookbooks, and religious reflections, all reflect aspects of Jewish life in a period of great transition.