First Posted: 6/20/2014
Maxwell Marcus makes it clear he doesn’t know everything about the rich history of the Jewish population of Greater Pittston. But he knows “more about the former Exeter Synagogue and about the (Jewish) cemetery than anybody”, he modestly admits.
Marcus, of Exeter, will share that knowledge today during the 9th annual “Tour of Greater Pittston Churches.” The name of the tour, begun in 2006 by Jan Lokuta as a walking tour in central Pittston, is a bit awkward today as it focuses on synagogues not churches, but Marcus is not concerned. He welcomes the opportunity to talk about his heritage and that of his family.
The annual tour, which always includes a discussion of architecture by Lokuta, starts today at 1 p.m. at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church on William Street in Pittston. It will include visits to the sites of two former Jewish synagogues, Temple Agudath-Achim, on Broad Street, Pittston, and Temple Anshe-Ahavas-Achim, Wyoming Avenue, Exeter. The group will also visit the Jewish Cemetery in West Pittston and the newly uncovered Jewish section of the Pittston Cemetery.
The Jewish Cemetery in West Pittston is of particular interest to Marcus because that it where his mother and father are buried as well as several other family members.
Marcus, 67, who will accompany Lokuta on today’s tour, said this is his first time participating in the mid-summer event, conceived by Lokuta, a lawyer by trade but also an avid outdoorsman and art and architecture aficionado.
“Jan called me, I don’t know where he got my name,” said Maxwell. “ I never went on the tour.”
Marcus said the land for the Jewish Cemetery in West Pittston was purchased on June 21, 1907, by Congregation Ansha-Ahavas-Achim of Exeter from George and Magaret Symington of West Pittston for $900.
It was the first burial site for Exeter’s Jews, he said. Before the creation of the cemetery, Jewish services were held in homes and at the Exeter town hall.
On July 21, 1913, Marcus said, West Pittston bought a parcel of the tract and created the West Pittston Cemetery. A road divides the two cemeteries and the names on the tombstones of the West Pittston side face the names on the tombstones of the Jewish side.
Marcus’s family members buried there include his mom, dad, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and great-grandparents. It’s “like a family thing,” he said.
When asked to come along on the church tour, Marcus said he forewarned Lokuta that he may not know everything that will be asked of him.
“I told Jan I’ll do my best, but I don’t know everything,” he said. “I used to come up with my mother, my uncle and my father. I wish my mother was still alive, I’d know a lot more.”
The Jewish community has dwindled down in Greater Pittston, but the impact that it once had is something Marcus remembers very well.
“They had a big impact,” he said. “The whole main street in Exeter was just about all Jewish stores. My grandfather was a tax collector, a member of the Wruble family was a chairman on the council for 24 years and they always had a big, big impact. Everybody knows the older people. They know where the synagogue was, they know all of the Jews in Exeter, so the impact I guess was immense.”
Marcus said he is already looking forward to participating in future tours with Lokuta.
