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Happyville, South Carolina was a short-lived rural Jewish agricultural settlement of 2,300 acres located in Aiken County, South Carolina, between the communities of Aiken and Montmorenci. The colony was founded by Yiddish-speaking Russian-Jewish socialists who wanted an escape from the sweatshops of New York City.
"H" is for Happyville
Happyville, South Carolina was a short-lived rural Jewish agricultural settlement of 2,300 acres located in Aiken County, South Carolina, between the communities of Aiken and Montmorenci. The colony was founded by Yiddish-speaking Russian-Jewish socialists who wanted an escape from the sweatshops of New York City.
History
Between 1890 and the 1920s, manyJewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
immigrants settled in or near Aiken. The immigrants were Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
, mostly from Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. In 1905, a group of Russian-Jewish socialists
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...
from New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
founded a farming colony in Aiken County that they called "Happyville". The residents of the colony grew watermelon, cotton, corn, and grapes. Community members would fish for catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
, pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
, sunfish, smelt
Smelt may refer to:
* Smelting, chemical process
* The common name of various fish:
** Smelt (fish), a family of small fish, Osmeridae
** Australian smelt in the family Retropinnidae and species ''Retropinna semoni''
** Big-scale sand smelt ''At ...
, and hold fish fries. Lumber was also cut and sold. During the early 20th century, the state of South Carolina created the Department of Agriculture, Commerce, and Immigration at the urging of a wealthy banker in Columbia, with the intention of attracting "desirable" European immigrants, particularly Russians. The department's campaign, printed in both German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
and Yiddish, was called "South Carolina, The Garden of America", and attracted the attention of the Jewish-American socialist Charles Weintraub and his business associate Morris Latterman. Together Weintraub and Latterman purchased the Sheffield Phelps Plantation, a former slave plantation. The project was blighted by bad weather, insufficient funds, and land unsuitable for growing crops. By July 1908, the population dispersed and the land was sold back to Weintraub. Weintraub owned the land in partnership with three brothers from the Surasky family until 1918 when the Suraskys bought Weintraub's share of the land and sold the property.
See also
*History of the Jews in Charleston, South Carolina The history of Jews in Charleston, South Carolina, was related to the 1669 charter of the Carolina Colony (the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina), drawn up by the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury and his secretary John Locke, which granted liberty of co ...
External links
"H" is for Happyville
South Carolina Public Radio
South Carolina Public Radio (SCPR) is the National Public Radio member network serving the state of South Carolina. It is operated by the South Carolina Educational Television Commission, an agency of the South Carolina state government. It is ...
References
{{Reflist 1905 establishments in South Carolina 1908 disestablishments in South Carolina Aiken, South Carolina Ashkenazi Jewish culture in South Carolina Jewish agricultural colonies Jewish-American working class Jewish socialism Jews and Judaism in South Carolina Rural culture in South Carolina Polish-Jewish culture in the United States Russian-Jewish culture in the United States Secular Jewish culture in the United States Socialism in the United States Utopian communities in the United States Working-class culture in South Carolina Yiddish culture in the United States