http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~mikebartelt/genealogy/maproom/
The first Kaminski to arrive in Georgetown, South Carolina was Heiman Kaminski. He was the child of Joel and Hannah Kaminski and was born on the 23 of May in 1839 in Posen, Prussia. He was a very hard worker from an early age because he did not want to burden anyone. Heiman found very few prospects for advancement in Prussia, so his family agreed to allow him to emigrate to the United States at the age of 15.
After Heiman arrived in Charleston, South Carolina in 1854 he lived on his own there for the first two years while he attended school. In 1856 he left school and became a clerk in the mercantile store in Georgetown owned by Elkan and Hannah Baum. The Baum’s mercantile store was unsuccessful and they moved to Conway, South Carolina. Heiman moved with them and worked in the Baum’s mercantile store there.
Heiman Kaminski first appeared in the United States Federal Census in South Carolina in the year 1860. Heiman was 22 years of age and living with his employers, Elkan and Hannah Baum, ages 38 and 35, in Kingston Parish, Horry County, South Carolina. The Baum’s were listed as having been born in Schwersenz, Prussia. Elkan’s occupation was given as Merchant and Heiman Kaminski’s occupation was given as Clerk.
When the Civil War started Heiman immediately enlisted in Company B, 10th South Carolina Regiment/Volunteers on July 19, 1861. He was immediately recognized for his exceptional organizational and business abilities. He was detached from his company and placed in the commissary department and later promoted to sergeant and served as regimental commissary until the surrender at Greensboro, North Carolina in 1865.
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After the Civil War ended Heiman returned to Georgetown with his pay of $1.10 in silver and began his business life. In 1867 he started his own business, a dry-goods store, in partnership with Sol Emanuel and W. W. Taylor. Heiman soon expanded his business to include a hardware store, a medical dispensary, a boat and oar company, and a steamship line. He served as an agent for Clyde Line ships and he was co-owner of the three-masted schooner, Linah C. Kaminski, named after his daughter.
Kaminski Hardware Store http://www.gcdigital.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p163901coll004
The Linah C. Kaminski by E. Mikkelson, 1885
http://jhssc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/JHSSC-Fall-2017-website.pdf
In 1867 Heiman Kaminski married Charlotte Virginia Emanuel of Poughkeepsie, New York. By the 1870 United States Federal Census in South Carolina they had two children, Edwin W. Kaminski and Linah Kaminski. By the 1880 Census for Georgetown, South Carolina Heiman and Charlotte had added two more sons to their family, Nathan Kaminski and Joseph Kaminski. On 16 September 1881 Charlotte passed away in New York from pulmonary tuberculosis. She was brought back to South Carolina and buried at Coming Street Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina. The children were just 11, 9, 7, and 5 years of age.
On the 26 of May in 1885 Heiman Kaminski married Rosalie Baum in Manhattan, New York. She was the daughter of Mannes and Leonora Cohen Baum of Camden, South Carolina. Heiman was 46 years of age and Rosalie was 24. Within a year they added another son to the household. Harold Kaminski was born on the 24 February 1886 in New York. He attended Princeton University and Yale University. Harold became an inventor and an entrepreneur.
Harold served in the Naval reserves as an officer in World War I. He married Julie Bossard Pyatt on 12 December in 1925. Julia was the daughter of John Saville Pyatt and Eleanor May Smith Pyatt. Harold was 39 years of age and Julia was 25. He served in the Navy in World War I. Harold served Georgetown as its mayor from 1930 to 1935. He then returned to military life and served as a naval duty officer in charge of submarine nets at Pearl Harbor. Harold and Julie were living in Hawaii when the Japanese attacked on 7 December 1941.
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Heiman Kaminski obituary. October 31, 1923. (The State) p. 5
George C. Rogers, Jr. The History Of Georgetown County, South Carolina. (Spartanburg, SC. Published for the Georgetown County Historical Society, The Reprint Company Publishers, 2018) pp. 472-473.
Charles W. Joyner. Shared Traditions, Southern Traditions and Folk Culture. (Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1999), pp. 183-184.
Rosen, Robert. THE JEWISH CONFEDERATES. (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2000), pp. 14, 171-172. 367.
(Transcript of Heiman Kaminski’s obituary in The State Newspaper)
HEIMAN KAMINSKI CLOSES LONG LIFE
Years of usefulness at end
BURIED AT HOME
Funeral Services for Well Known Merchant Are Held at Georgetown
Special to the State
Georgetown, October 30 – The funeral of Heiman Kaminski was held yesterday afternoon at his late residence on the corner of Prince and Broad Streets, the Rev. Nathan Stearne, D.D. of New York conducting the services. All business houses were closed from 2 to 4 o’clock and with one accord the townspeople and many friends and relatives from away with their presence paid the last sad tribute of respect and honor to a worthy and beloved citizen. Verily, a prince and a great man had fallen this day in Israel. A native of Posen, Prussia, Mr. Kaminski had come to Georgetown as a mere boy. Soon the Confederate War ensued and he immediately enlisted in Company B, Tenth South Carolina Regiment and only laid down his arms when his command surrendered at Greensboro, N.C., in 1865. He turned to Georgetown and resumed his business activities, soon became one of the most successful merchants in his adopted home. His business interests steadily expanded as the years went by until he became not only the leading merchant in Georgetown but one of the largest in the state. He possessed executive ability of a high order and held to a remarkable degree the confidence and esteem of the public at large. In return he contributed freely of his interest and talents toward the promotion of every good cause. He was the promoter and organizer of the first building and loan association in Georgetown and of the Georgetown board of trade, as that commercial body was then called. At the time of his death he was president of the Taylor Dickson Medical dispensary, founded by a Northern man of means and philanthropist.
Following the impressive service at the house the Jewish burial rites were concluded at the grave in the Jewish cemetery, after which the Masonic ritualistic ceremonies were performed by a very large attendance of brother Masons of Winyah Lodge No. 40, A. F. M. Seven Confederate veterans, brothers-in-arms, were in the funeral procession. The floral offerings were especially numerous and beautiful.
Mr. Kaminski is survived by his devoted wife, four sons, Edwin W., Nathan, Joseph, Harold, and a daughter, Miss Lina C. Kaminski.
Hemphill’s “Men of Mark in South Carolina” has this to say of Mr. Kaminski: “Heiman Kaminski, merchant, was born in Posen, Prussia, May 23, 1839. His parents, Joel and Hannah Kaminski, were highly respected by the people among whom they lived. Until he was fifteen years of age, Heiman lived with his parents. From very early years he was obliged to work hard in order that he might not be a burden to others. He was willing to work but, being ambitious and seeing very little prospect of advancement in his native land he became anxious to get to America, in hope that there he would find a more favorable environment. When he was 15 years of age the matter was thoroughly discussed in the family circle and it was decided to allow him to emigrate to the United States.
He landed at Charleston in 1854. Here he maintained himself for two years, meanwhile attending the high school. In 1856 he was obliged to leave school and enter upon the active work of life. He became clerk in a mercantile house in Georgetown, where he served for a year, when his employer sent him to Conway, to work in a branch house which had been established there. He remained at that place until the spring of 1861, when on the opening of the Confederate War he promptly enlisted in Company B, Tenth South Carolina volunteers, Confederate States Army. It was soon seen that he had an unusual aptitude for organization and remarkable executive ability. Because of the possession of these qualities he was detached from his company and placed first in the commissary department and later was promoted to the position of regimental commissary. In this position he distinguished himself by devotion to duty, which was manifested by his untiring efforts to supply, not only the necessaries but as far as possible the comforts of life to the troops. He continued with his command until the surrender at Greensboro, N.C. in 1865. When the army was disbanded his pay amounted to $1.10 in silver and with this sum for his cash capital he started for home to begin again his business life. In the fall of 1865 he entered a Georgetown business house in a subordinate capacity, but in 1867 he withdrew therefrom and began business on his own account. By honest dealing, industry and enterprise he was enabled to rapidly build up a business which has now reached very large proportions.
Mr. Kaminski has been twice married; first, in 1866 to Miss Charlotte Virginia Emanuel (a descendant of the Gomez family, who were among the early settlers in this country), who died in 1880; and second in 1885, to Miss Rose Baum, whose ancestors took an active part in the Revolutionary War. His children, four by the first wife and one by the second, are all living in 1907. Mr. Kaminski has never held or desired public office, though he has taken a deep interest in current affairs and has held important positions in various civic and mercantile bodies and has been a member of all the social organizations in Georgetown. He has always been aligned with the friends of good government and he has been liberal with time and money to aid movements and enterprises which had for their end the advancement of the best interests of his adopted city and state.
By Sharon Correy
