Isaac is my great great grandfather. Was born most likely in Lithuania in August, 1861 according to 1900 US Federal Census data.
The Minnesota 1895 census says he came to the US 14 years earlier, and had lived in the village of Princeton, MN, for the past 6 years, one month. The 1900 US census also shows him living with his family and father in Princeton, MN. By this time, his family had grown to 8 children, including my grandfather Nathan. This census lists the occupation of both Isaac and his father Henry as "notions peddler". This no doubt meant that they carried a bag of notions - thread, needles, buttons, zippers and such, from farm to farm in the surrounding area. Whether they did this by foot or on horse, I don't know, but since much evidence says the family was very poor, I suspect they went by foot. Evidently peddlers were actually useful members of rural communities back then, since they not only brought useful goods to isolated farmhouses, they also brought news and gossip from farm to farm.
Isaac probably came to the US in 1882. This is the year that pogroms started in the Pale in Russia, and the start of the migration of eastern european Jews to North America. Unfortunately, I have never found any records of his immigration. I even searched several years of NYC passenger list to no avial. Remember that this was before Ellis Island, so the records are not as easy to work with. More likely, he came through a different port. Some have speculated about Montreal, for example.
He probably settled in Minneapolis or St. Paul upon arrival. David Levin's draft card show states that he was born in Minneapolis in 1885. He's the oldest child. The 1887-88 St. Paul city directory lists an Isaac Levin living at the same address as a Joseph Michalowitz. Since his wife Sarah was a Michalowitz, this is probably the same person. He probably moved to Princeton, MN the following year, since his son Nathan (my ggf) was born in Princeton in 1890.
What we do know is that various census and naturalization records all suggest that the entire extended family of Isaac, that is all his brothers, sisters except Mina, and father all came to the US by the mid 1880s, so they were among the first Jews to flee the pogroms. Why were they among the first to leave, leaving a full generation before many of their brethren? I have no idea, but have puzzled over it for year. Harry Tuchman Levin, a rather famous cousin of my grandfather Nathan, professor of literature at Harvard for many years, told me when I met with him in the 1980s that his uncles talked about estate management and travel. He said his uncle Ben talked about traveling to Alexandria, Egypt when he was younger - certainly not a trip taken by your typical pale resident?
Harry T. Levin also told me family lore about the family name being changed from Rosenholtz (a Jewish "flower" name, he said). This was to avoid the Czar's draft. After spending a lot of work on this, including contacting some elderly Rosenholtz folks in Minneapolis, I've concluded that it is probably not true. My best evidence is the gravestone inscription of my great grandfather Isaac, who is buried in the Minneapolis Jewish Cemetary in Richfield, MN. Translated, his stone not only confirms his father's name as Tsvi in hebrew, it says "of the Levites" so I'm told. I'm more inclined to trust the memory of folks back in 1904 than the memory of people 80+ years later!
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