A Peddler’s Journey

About the Book

In 1952, 77-year-old Harry Jacobs sat down to document his life story. He felt the desire to share his history with future generations before it was lost. The grandson of a tailor and son of a peddler, Harry’s tales take us to a time long forgotten. The Peddlers Journey begins with Harry’s escape from Czarist Russia at 15 years of age, finding himself in New York City with eight-cents in his pocket and settling in the Wild West. He shares his joys, struggles, love, adventures, and the personal conflict of “Old World” religious values in a New World. During his lifetime, he was fortunate to dine with Presidents and Governors and came to call many people, rich and poor, his good friends. His wealth would rise and fall, each time bringing him back to peddling. This is the story of a simple American immigrant who led a fortunate life during an adventurous time in America, where anything was possible.

About the Author

Jeffrey Slater is the Great-Grandson of Harry Jacobs. In 1985, he was sent Harry’s manuscript and with little interest, placed it on a bookshelf where it remained for over 30 years. Urged by his family to read it, he picked up the manuscript and read the tales of a Lithuanian immigrant who had arrived in America at the turn of the century. He read the stories of immigration, assimilation, determination and love and devotion to family. For three years, Jeffrey used all the modern tools of discovery to uncover more details in each of Harry’s tales. Interviews with surviving family who knew Harry gave him a sense of the man he had never met. The result brought Harry, his story and the characters that crossed his path to life, to be shared with future generations. Jeffrey lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two sons.