Detroit's first Jewish settler remembered - UPDATE

UPDATE: The Detroit Jewish News cover this week headlines Michigan's pioneers, with stories on both Chapman Abraham and the Jewish community's boys in the Civil war. Thanks to a reader (see comments) for letting me know.

The Detroit Free Press recalls the area's first Jewish settler in this article.

Fur trader Chapman Abraham landed in Detroit in 1762; a Detroit River shoreline marker now commemorates the event.

The other side of the marker remembers the Detroit Jewish families who sent men to the Civil War in the 1860s; 150 Jewish families sent 181 men, 38 of whom died.

Michigan's first Jewish settler was another fur trader, Ezekiel Solomon, who moved to the Mackinac area in 1761.

According to the story, the early Jewish families made great sacrifices to settle in Michigan. Abraham's synagogue was in Montreal and, each year for the high holidays, he traveled 75 miles each way - by canoe - to worship with his congregation.