Settlers of the Texas Frontier were undeniably an eclectic bunch, and the founders of Waco were no exception. One of the main organizers of the new city was a Jewish, Jamaican-born Spaniard named Jacob de Cordova. De Cordova was not only instrumental in the founding of Waco, but he would soon be the largest landholder in the fledgling state of Texas. In his life he explored more territory than famous voyager Cabeza de Vaca and brought more settlers to Texas than Stephen F. Austin.

Jacob Raphael de Cordova was born to Judith and Raphael de Cordova in Spanish Town, Jamaica, on June 6, 1808. Judith died during childbirth, and Raphael resented the infant Jacob for her death, so he sent Jacob to be raised by an aunt in England. Though far from family, Jacob received an incredible education in Europe and was proficient in five languages: English, French, Spanish, German, and Hebrew. These would all come in handy when recruiting and dealing with settlers from around the globe. Fortunately, he eventually moved back to Jamaica to live with his family, and he and his father grew very close.

De Cordova was just a boy when he first set his eyes on the land that would become his passion and his home. In 1819, Jacob traveled to the United States with his father, and they made a side trip to the Spanish territory of Texas. Though only eleven years old, de Cordova was captivated by the area and vowed that he would return.

By the mid-1820s, de Cordova had decided to move to the United States for good, yet he first sought a colder climate, as he thought the heat and humidity of Jamaica contributed to his poor health. He set off for Philadelphia, where he married the daughter of a pioneer family, Rebecca Sterling, and settled for a few years. Rebecca identified as Baptist, but her Christian faith and Jacob’s Jewish faith never appeared to cause any discord in the marriage. The couple had five children during this period: William, Henry, Joshua, Jenney, and Elizabeth. But the cold did not bring the rejuvenation de Cordova had hoped for, and after a massive blizzard in 1836, the couple moved south to New Orleans. De Cordova thrived in New Orleans and set up a successful import/export business. But he really had his eyes on Texas, what he later called “the brightest star in the constellation of the American Union.” After getting his feet wet in the business world, he decided to move his family to Galveston, where his life as a true Texan began.

De Cordova quickly became a naturalized citizen of the Republic of Texas. He moved from the small, swampy town of Galveston to Houston, where his business expanded greatly. With his new citizenship, he also found new ways to serve the Houston community. He helped found the Houston Chamber of Commerce, became an alderman in 1844, and was elected representative to the Second Texas Legislature in 1848. Additionally, he took it upon himself to found an Odd Fellows Lodge, a chapter of one of the oldest fraternal organizations dedicated to service and helping those in need. He served previously as Grand Master of a lodge in Louisiana, and he went on to found three additional Texas lodges. Jacob de Cordova had fully invested himself in the betterment of the community.

In 1845, de Cordova dove into his biggest venture yet. Alongside his half-brother Phineas, Jacob founded what would become the largest land agency in the state of Texas. The two brothers were well suited to run a business together, as Phineas did the office work and Jacob went out and surveyed, bought, and sold land. It was Jacob’s expertise in this area that led him to Waco as well. A man named Jonas Butler hired Jacob in 1848 to lay out a town on some land he owned on the Brazos River. After making the city layout, de Cordova hired George Erath to survey plots for settlement. De Cordova also received one-fifth of the interest of the land, and he held full power of attorney for the land transactions. De Cordova and Erath agreed to sell the plots for five dollars apiece in town, and three dollars outside the city. Mrs. Sophia St. John then hired him to sell her land on the other side of the Brazos, what was called the La Vega land grant. Rebecca de Cordova insisted the new town be named Lamartine, but Erath vehemently protested. Instead, the town was named Waco after the local Native American population, the Waco, or Wi-iko, tribe. Jacob de Cordova and George Erath later fought to make Waco the county seat of McLennan Country when it was formed in 1850, and, of course, won. Interestingly, de Cordova never lived in Waco. He settled with his family on an estate farther north on the Brazos at Kimball’s Bend. He named the settlement Wanderer’s Retreat, the same name as his previous estate in Guadalupe County, and lived there until his death.

De Cordova’s career soon extended far beyond agent work in Waco, and his agency eventually owned more than one million acres of Texas property. From his extensive knowledge of the state, he created the first accurate map of the state of Texas, which his agency sold for twenty dollars. The map proved to be much needed, and he continued to update it throughout his life. Having such a great love for Texas and such a large stake in its settlement, de Cordova set off on an advertising campaign to recruit settlers. He delivered lectures on Texas in New York, Philadelphia, and even Birmingham, in the United Kingdom. To reach all the places he could not travel, he wrote two treatises on Texas—The Texas Immigrant and Traveler’s Guidebook and Texas: Her Resources and Her Public Men. He also ran two newspapers, De Cordova’s Herald and Immigrant’s Guide and the Southwestern American.

Despite his dedication to settling Texas, things did not go as planned for de Cordova. The land agency fell on hard times, and Jacob found himself in a massive amount of debt. He had invested in Confederate war bonds, and then during the war the Union blockade had stopped immigration to Texas. On top of that, he refused to foreclose on any current settlers when they could not pay their debts. This combination quickly spelled trouble, and de Cordova found himself in the middle of several lawsuits when his creditors came collecting.

But he was not out of ideas just yet. Jacob started purchasing equipment and making plans to harness the Brazos River’s water power. This project would power textile mills and boost manufacturing along the river from the Gulf of Mexico to Waco and beyond. But this dream did not become a reality, as de Cordova died in 1868 before all the machinery arrived. He was originally buried near the Brazos in Bosque County, but he and his wife’s bodies were later moved to the state cemetery in Austin.

After his death, de Cordova’s substantial land holdings—spread across forty-eight Texas counties—were divided up to pay his debts. This was no simple task, and it took over sixteen years for lawyers to untangle his agency’s assets and distribute its holdings. Much of the land was sold for as little as twenty-five cents an acre, and settlers often remarked it was “rich man’s land for a poor man’s price.” So, though de Cordova did not reap the benefits of all his lands, he still did indirectly help populate the state he so loved. Yet his greatest legacy remains the city of Waco. Jacob was right when he said of Waco, “She will be my daughter, and a beautiful daughter she will be.”

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In 1886, Wacoans Isaac A. Goldstein and Louey Migel formed the Goldstein-Migel Company in order to try their hand at retail. The partners opened their first store on the ground floor of a building in the 700 block of Austin Avenue with only two clerks in their employ. After just one year of business, Goldstein and Migel possessed sufficient means to annex the adjacent building, thereby doubling their store’s capacity.

The store moved to the corner of Sixth Street and Austin Avenue in the 1890s. The new two-story, double-front brick building allowed Goldstein and Migel to expand the store’s inventory to meet the demands of a rapidly growing customer base. However, on August 18, 1891, tragedy struck when a fire destroyed the entire building. The company lost $80,000 in property damages.

Following the fire, the store was rebuilt and then renovated and expanded several times in the following years. In order to remain competitive with their local rivals, Goldstein-Migel became one of the first dry goods stores in Waco to make use of electric fans, elevators, air conditioning, and public restrooms. The department store even featured a soda fountain and a small restaurant for a time. Goldstein-Migel touted itself in advertisements as “Waco’s greatest department store.” While this claim was certainly embellished for promotional purposes, shoppers could find a variety of quality goods within its walls. The store carried a diverse assortment of clothing, furniture, jewelry, housewares, and other dry goods, spread out in lavishly decorated departments. 

During the second half of the twentieth century, Goldstein-Migel faced the challenges of suburbanization and economic downturn. In a bid to cater to a customer base that was increasingly relocating to the suburbs by the early 1960s, Goldstein-Migel opened a second location at the Lake Air Mall. Not to be forgotten, the original Goldstein-Migel location became one of the centerpieces of the Austin Avenue Pedestrian Mall, an urban renewal project sponsored by the City of Waco in 1970. Urban planners hoped that by closing the street to traffic and beautifying the space, residents would see the downtown as a viable shopping destination once again. Unfortunately, the mall failed to attract the long-term loyalty of customers, and the venture was abandoned in 1984. The demise of the pedestrian mall led to the demolition of Goldstein-Migel’s downtown location and the transfer of all operations to the suburban department store. Yet not even the suburbs could save Goldstein-Migel when difficult economic times led to the closure of the Lake Air Mall, forcing the department store to cease operations for good.

In spite of a competitive retail industry and the fickle economy, Goldstein-Migel proved its success through over a century of faithful service to Wacoans.

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Over the years, Hebrew Rest has served as a place of comfort and remembrance for Jews in Waco. More than just a burial place, the cemetery’s headstones speak to the city’s rich Jewish heritage.

One of Waco’s founding fathers, Jacob de Cordova, was a Jewish immigrant from Jamaica. He is the first in a long line of Jewish citizens that have called Waco home. Located in Central Texas, Waco seems to be an unlikely landing spot for European Jewish immigrants since it is not a major metropolitan city. However, people of Jewish heritage have been finding their way to Waco since the mid-1800s.

Scores of Jewish immigrants came to America in the late nineteenth century in order to escape the pogroms in Poland that saw Eastern European Jews persecuted and killed for their religious beliefs. To many of these newcomers to Texas, Waco appeared to have limitless potential. Its cotton industry, railroads, and proximity to cities such as Dallas and Austin made Waco a very desirable place to settle. Committed to helping their new town grow and prosper, these early Jewish citizens opened businesses and retail stores. Perhaps the most well-known of these early Waco businesspeople are Isaac Goldstein and Louey Migel. Together, they founded the Goldstein-Migel Department Store, a commercial center that remained a staple in the Waco business community for many years.

The first Jewish organization to appear in Waco was the Hebrew Benevolent Association. As a philanthropic association, it regularly provided aid to newly arrived Jewish residents in Waco. Members voted for the Hebrew Benevolent Association to purchase the original land for the Hebrew Rest Cemetery on August 13, 1869. The land is located on what was then South First Street.

More land was added to Hebrew Rest in 1893. Waco’s growing Jewish population towards the end of the twentieth century necessitated this expansion, but even then space remained scarce. To ensure placement, families often reserved burial plots long before their loved ones passed away. Each burial plot in the cemetery is privately owned by the family or individual who purchased it. Therefore, the cemetery holds great meaning to those families who have loved ones resting within its fences.

In 1931, the Hebrew Benevolent Association became the Hebrew Rest Association. This transfer was due to the growing number of Jewish private groups and charity organizations that wanted to help maintain the cemetery. Members of the association have tirelessly maintained the grounds of the cemetery since its founding.

Hebrew Rest celebrated its centennial in 1969 with a religious ceremony held at the cemetery. The well-known rabbi of Temple Rodef Sholom, Mordecai Podet, oversaw the event. The celebration represented a century of solemn dedication and fervent support from Waco’s Jewish community.

Although the cemetery’s surroundings have changed with the construction of Interstate 35 and the growth of Baylor University, the small plot of revered land remains the same.

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Temple Rodef Sholom has the distinction of being McLennan County’s oldest and largest Jewish congregation. 

Jewish permanent settlers made Waco their home in the mid-nineteenth century. For many years no organized congregation existed; however, Jewish families did gather together to celebrate Jewish festivals and holy days at worship services held in rented rooms. On November 9, 1873, Eureka Lodge No. 198, International Order of B’nai B’rith (a Jewish service and fraternal organization) was established. Lodge members resolved in 1879 to organize a formal congregation and to raise funds for the construction of a synagogue. Forty families founded the congregation of Rodef Sholom. Among its original leadership were prominent Waco businessmen such as Sam Sanger, of the Sanger Brothers mercantile empire, and Louey Migel, co-founder of the Goldstein-Migel department store. Rodef Sholom dedicated its first synagogue, located at 924 Washington Avenue, on August 10, 1881. By 1908, the growing congregation required a larger space and undertook efforts to replace their current structure with a modern stone temple. Famed local architect Milton W. Scott, responsible for the Dr Pepper building and First Baptist Church in Waco, designed the second synagogue. Completed in 1910, the second temple served the congregation until 1961, when once again spatial concerns necessitated the construction of a new synagogue.

Located near the intersection of Forty-First Street and Colcord Avenue, the current Temple Rodef Sholom is one of Waco’s most striking places of worship. Not unlike a towering tent, the sanctuary recalls the Biblical ohel moed (tent of meeting) in which Israel worshipped during the wilderness sojourn. The roof is sloped in such a manner that it reminds congregants of the kanfe ha-schechina (sheltering wings of God’s presence), a reoccurring theme in Jewish sacred lore. Even the temple’s roof shingles carry added meaning as they were fashioned to resemble the traditional shingle form used by Eastern European synagogues destroyed during the Holocaust. The southeast wall features a menorah (branched lampstand) as a soaring bas relief. Affixed to the main doors are twelve copper plates bearing the names and emblems of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The sanctuary is designed around the aron hakodesh (holy ark), a closed recess in which the Torah scrolls rest. Regarded as the holiest space of the synagogue, Rodef Sholom’s aron is elaborately ornamented. The doors of the aron feature six pairs of panels. Each pair of panels depicts holy images or symbols central to the Torah. At the height of the aron is the ner tamid (eternal light). Continuously lit, it symbolizes God’s living presence and the permanence of moral law. Just below the ner tamid stands a reproduction of the two tablets of the Ten Commandments given to Moses at Mount Sinai.

 The Religious School area is structured to resemble a magen david (shield of David), a six-pointed star. This design recurs in the glass-enclosed Memorial Fountain area, with a bronze memorial tablet on the east wall.

A voluntary association of Jews committed to Liberal (Reform) Judaism, Rodef Sholom’s history is marked by a high level of community involvement and efforts towards ecumenism. Most of this civic engagement occurred at the lay (congregational) level. Member Issac A. Goldstein, concerned that many citizens did not have sufficient funds to purchase books in the late 1800s, established Waco’s first circulating library in the Goldstein-Migel store. He went on to serve as president of the Public Library Association of Waco from 1900 to 1920. Louey Migel made large financial contributions not only to charities related to Waco’s Jewish community but the YMCA, the YWCA, and the Red Cross. He was also a founding member of the Waco Working Boy’s Club. In the past thirty years, Rodef Sholom has been an active member of the Greater Waco Interfaith Conference, an organization designed to promote understanding and cooperation among the variety of faith traditions in Waco.

Women have always played important roles in Rodef Sholom’s congregational life. The Temple Sisterhood, founded in the early 1920s, has been charged with organizing service and cultural programs and financing the temple’s Religious School. In 2012, Rabbi Laura Schwartz Harari became the first woman rabbi to serve Temple Rodef Sholom.

Rodef Sholom is Hebrew for “pursuing peace” and it would seem that the civic-minded congregation has lived up to this title through service projects and participation in ecumenical efforts designed to bring together Waco’s greater community of faith.

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