Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1904-11-18
JEWS FOUND A COLONY
in Wood County 72O Acres Have
Been Purchased..Ten Families
in Settlement.

A. w. Rich. president of the Mil
waukee Agricultural association, has
purchased 720 acres of land in Wood
county which will be settled by a
colony of Jewish immigrants. The
first delegation of colonistS will leave
Milwaukee for their new homes before
Dec. l.
The purchase of the land in central
Wisconsin for the Agricultural as
sociation is the realization of a plan
for settling Jewish immigrants on
farms, which Mr.. Rich has cherished
for several years. If the experiment
in Wood county proves successful,
hundreds OF men, women and children
living in congeSted districts of Mil
waukee will be given opportunities to
locate OD fertile lands.
While the experiment is being con-
Quoted. ten families will constitute
the colony. These families have
been selected. They are immigrants
who have come to America from Rus
sia and Roumania during the past
two years.
Location Of Land Ideal.
The land upon which the colony
will be located was purchased on
Monday from the Oftelie & Stonedall
Land company, Pittsville, Wis. The
tract adioins the village. of Arpin, a
town of 800 people. Three railroads
tap the village. Two of the lines, the
Chicago & Northwestern and the
Wisconsin Central, pass within a few
hundred feet of the colony. The
Chicago, Milwaukee & st. Paul enters
the village of Arpin, but 1T does not
run out of the new colony's land.
II am delighted with the location"
said A. w. Rich yesterday. "The
soil is fertile and productive, and the
land Can be cleared with little ex-
pense. The soil is clay loan. The
roads about our settlement are good.
There are several vacant houses in
the vicinity of the land, in which the
colonists will dwell during the winter,
The Wood county land is an ideal
location for our new homes. There
is Seven Day Adventist colony
few miles from the land"
Movement Year Old.
The movement to settle Jewish
immigrants upon farm lands was
started about year ago, when Mr..
Rich went to New York to discuss
the matter with the New York Agri.
cultural association. He received
great, encouragement there and upon
his return, the Milwaukee Agricul-
tural association was organized with
the following officers: A. w. Rich,
president; j. M. Pereles. vice-presi-
dent; Nathan Glickman, financial
secretary; Louis Gimbel, treasurer;
Max Landauer and Morris Miller,
directors.
For the past year President Rich
has been examining and inspecting
lands in Wisconsin and Michigan.
The location in Wood county was
decided to be the most desirable.
From the start the farm work will
be under the supervision of an ex-
perienced farmer who understands
the climate conditions in Wisconsin.
H. f. Roehrig, Appleton, has been
employed to supervise the work and
to aid the settlers.
Little of the land will be sold out
right to the settlers the first year or
two. While each individual will work
his farm the community method will
be operated to degree.
The Plan Of Settlement.
The plan for settlement is as fol-
lows: 1t any settler possess $3.50 or
over and prefers to make a purchase
Of forty acres of land outright and
manage his affairs independently, he
Can do SO. He will be given land
contract until at least One-half of his
Indebtedness to the association will
be paid with interest at per cent.
When this amount is paid he will
receive deed of the property under
mortgage.
Settlers who have not sufficient
means to secure land contract on the
property upon which they locate, will
be employed by the association to
work the farm lands at stated
weekly salary for one year, as period
of probation. If the settler then de-
SireS to become purchaser of the
property upon which he lived. an ac-
count will be made of the amount of
wages or other money advanced to
him. This will be Subtracted from
the amount realized by the association
from his work and if there is bal
ance it will be credited on the pur-
chase price of the property or On any
loan advanced by the association.
The plan of the Milwaukee Agri-
cultural association is new. In the
east Individual families have been
settled upon farms, but no attempt
has been made to locate colony
Milwaukee Sentinel.