A Tour of Alliance Colony, Local Jewish Settlement

Ten members of the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society (VHAS) who had read A Farmer’s Daughter:  Bluma by Bluma Bayuk Rappaport Purmell recently toured the Alliance Colony, where she grew up. This book was the May selection for the VHAS Book Club, which focuses on local authors and local history. 

Bluma was born on March 15, 1888, to Moses and Annette Bayuk. She led a diverse and interesting life as a tobacco packer, nurse, wife, businesswoman and in later years, an artist. But she always considered herself “a farmer’s daughter.”

The Alliance Colony, located in Pittsgrove Township, was an agricultural community formed in 1882 by Jewish families fleeing oppression and pogroms in Russia. Moses Bayuk, Bluma’s father, was one of the 43 original families that established the Alliance Colony. 

The community was named after the Alliance Israélite Universelle, a charitable organization founded in Paris in 1860, which helped in the resettlement of Jewish emigrants. The Alliance Colony is considered the first permanent Jewish farm colony in the United States.

The group met volunteer tour guides Norman Lenchitz and Howard Jaffee at the Alliance Cemetery, located on Gershel Avenue. Moses Bayuk’s gravestone is immediately visible. 

The once-beautiful, red brick two-story home where Bluma grew up is surrounded by a chainlink fence and is in a state of disrepair. The Alliance Synagogue, located across the street from the cemetery, was built circa 1888. It holds services on the last Friday of the month; all are welcome. The group then proceeded to “Norma Beach,” a well-known local swimming hole where Bluma did laundry and later generations swam, picnicked, and “hung-out.” 

Lenchitz and Jaffee are to be commended for their efforts in keeping the history and stories of these Jewish pioneers alive.

Related Posts

Newsletter