Berek Bynard (Birka Binnard), 1817-1887
Berek3 Bynard (Jacob2, Lewin1) was born 15 May 1817 in Poland.[1] He is listed as a surviving son, age 20, in the 1837 death record of his father, Jakob.[2] Little is known of his early life. According to his obituary, he went to England in 1835 and engaged in business in Bristol until 1850[3], but he has not been found in the 1841 census of England or in available Bristol directories.
By 1851 he was in Montgomery, Alabama. He was likely the B. Binnard who with Albert, Isidore, and Michael Binnard were founders of the Hebrew Benevolent Society in November of that year.[4] “Birker Binnard” was elected treasurer of the society in 1854.[5] B. Binnard and J. Binnard were in business for a short time, but according to a newspaper announcement, the partnership was dissolved in 1853, with J. Binnard taking over the firm.[6] J. Binnard may have been Joseph Binnard. Little is known about him. On 15 April 1865, he was appointed to a committee to act with the trustees regarding the rebuilding of Temple Beth El in Buffalo.[7] He is listed as a partner with Jacob Barmon in Binnard & Co., hoop skirt manufacturers, in the 1868 Buffalo city directory. His house was at 29 Exchange.[8] Birka, as he was known thereafter, witnessed the deaths of Albert and Isidore Binnard from yellow fever in Montgomery on 22 October 1854.[9] In 1855 he was named as one of the executors of the will of a third brother, Michael.[10] After Michael’s death, he left Montgomery. It is said he moved to New Mexico and remained there until the end of the Civil War,[11] but no records have been found to show where he lived or what he did while there. He may be the B. Bennard, age 35, trader, on the passenger list of the S.S. Orizaba, which arrived in New Orleans from Vera Cruz, Mexico on 25 November 1855.[12] He may also have been in partnership with the merchant Abraham Watters. In the 1860s Watters established a jewelry business in Caracas, Venezuela called A. Watters y Binnard. Watters went to Salt Lake City in 1866, where he established another jewelry business with his brother, Ichel.[13] It was probably about that time that Birka went to join his nephew, Abraham Binnard, in Buffalo, New York. From there he went to Lewiston, Idaho, where Abraham and his brother-in-law Robert Grostein had formed a mercantile business.[14] On the 1870 census of Lewiston, “Birk Binnard” is a retail grocer, probably in partnership with the Irishman John Rowe, who had the same occupation and is listed on the previous line.[15] In 1872, Birka bought out the store of C. Collins in Elk City.[16] He also worked for Grostein and Binnard in their branch stores in Clearwater Station and Newsome Creek.[17] He invested in mining; the Owyhee Avalanche reported in 1874: “B. Binnard, of Elk City, has bought out the entire mining interests of Wood and Devine.”[18] He was the postmaster of Elk City in 1873[19] and then went to Mount Idaho and operated the store there with Mark J. Greenburg, his niece’s husband.[20] While they resided there, the Nez Perce War broke out. Birka supervised the building of a fort for protection of the town’s residents, and for his efforts he was given the honorary title of “Major.”[21] The 1880 census shows him as the head of household in Mount Idaho. Residing with him were Mark and Jeanette Greenburg and their children, Jeanette’s mother Julia Binnard, and Birka’s grandnephew Aaron S. Binnard.[22] A later business partner was a man named Weiler,[23] probably I.S. Weiler, who went on to become a member of the Idaho legislature. Their partnership was dissolved in 1886.[24] In 1886 Birka moved to Lewiston, where he died on 17 September 1887. The newspaper reported, “he was a good hearted, whole souled old fellow, well-liked by all who knew him, even a great favorite among the Chinese and Indians with whom he done business. He will be greatly missed and his memory will ever remain green within the hearts of numerous friends in Idaho and Nez Perce counties.” His funeral took place under the auspices of the local Masonic lodge.[25] He is buried in the Normal Hill Cemetery in Lewiston.[26] __________________________ [1] ”Birka Binnard,” Lewiston Teller, 22 September 1887, no page. [2] Gminażydowska, Rypin, Matrykuła, 1808-1865. Death records of the Jewish community of Rypin, 1837, record number 58 for Jakob Bynard. Family History Library film 715063. [3] ”Birka Binnard,” Lewiston Teller, 22 September 1887, photocopy, no page given. [4] “News Items,” The Occident and American Jewish Advocate 9 (November 1851): 429. [5] “News Items,” The Occident and American Jewish Advocate 11 (January 1854): 533. [6] "Dissolution," Daily Alabama Journal, 8 August 1853, p. 2. [7] Grace Carew Sheldon, "Buffalo of the Olden Time: Old Temple Beth El," Buffalo Evening Times (Buffalo, New York), 6 January 1911 ; photocopy from a scrapbook in the Grosvenor Room, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Buffalo, New York. [8] Thomas’ Buffalo City Directory for 1868 (Buffalo, N.Y.: Thomas, Howard & Johnson, 1868), 230. [9] Jamie Loeb, Loeb and Company, Montgomery, Alabama, to Mildred Starr, letter, 31 July 2002. [10] Michael Binnard will, 23 October 1855, recorded 27 November 1855; Montgomery County, Alabama Probate Court, 4:76-77. [11] ”Birka Binnard,” Lewiston Teller, 22 September 1887. Photocopy of article, no page given. [12] ”New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820-1945,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 April 2012), entry for B. Bennard, age 35, arrived New Orleans, Louisiana 25 November 1855, S.S. Orizaba. [13] Leon Laizer Watters, The Pioneer Jews of Utah (New York: American Jewish Historical Society, 1952), 149. [14] ”Birka Binnard,” Lewiston Teller, 22 September 1887. [15] 1870 U.S. census, Third District, Nez Perce County, Idaho Territory, p. 19, dwelling house 149, family 139, entry for Birk Binnard and dwelling house 148, family 138 entry for John Rowe; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 April 2012); citing National Archives microfilm M593, roll 185. [16] Idaho Signal, 31 August 1872 as reported in Barbara V. Powell, Citizens of North Idaho (Medical Lake, Washington: B.V. Powell, 1986- ), 2:111. [17] ”Birka Binnard,” Lewiston Teller, 22 September 1887. [18] ”North Idaho Items,” Owyhee Avalanche (Silver City, Idaho), 30 November 1874, p. 3. [19] “Official Directory,” Idaho Signal, 8 February 1873. Photocopy, no page given. [20] History of Idaho: the Gem of the Mountains (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1920), 4:392. [21] ”Birka Binnard,” Lewiston Teller, 22 September 1887. [22] 1880 U.S. census, Mt, Idaho, Idaho County, Idaho, p. 15, dwelling house 187, family 189, entry for Birka Binnard; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 April 2012); citing Family History Library microfilm 1254173. [23] ”Birka Binnard,” Lewiston Teller, 22 September 1887. [24] “The Business World,” Salt Lake Herald, 30 May 1886, p. 9. [25] ”Birka Binnard,” Lewiston Teller, 22 September 1887. [26] Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave, database entry (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 29 January 2014), entry for Birka Binnard, Memorial 89204962, created by Cowgirl, Records of Normal Hill Cemetery, Lewiston, Idaho. |