Marx Schoenberg

Marx Schoenberg was born in Bavaria abt 1833 and died on 8 November 1870 in Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. Buried in Bikur Cholim Cemetery, Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. The inscription on his tombstone reads "murdered." (See "The Mysterious Death of Max Schoenberg"). Alternate spellings: Marks Schaumberg, Marks Schambers, Marx Schonberg, Marx Schomberg.

He was a newspaper publisher and appointed Mayor of Donaldsonville.

Family

Parents:

Married:

1. Theresa Hecht
2. Anna Prins b. 20 February 1849 d. unknown; buried in Bikur Cholim Cemetery, Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. She was the daughter of Jacob Leonardus Prins and Sarah Messrich.

marriage 15 Nov 1865 to Anna Prins https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJD-4SDS

Children include:

1. ? Emmanuel b 1851 Ohio (in 1870 census)
2. ? Solomon b 1853 Ohio (in 1880 census)
3. ? Charles b 1855 Louisiana (in 1870 census)
4. Fanny b. abt. 1867 Louisiana.
5. Louis b. abt 1868 Louisiana.
6. Gavefat, b. abt 1869 Louisiana.

Biography

Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities - Donaldsonville, Louisiana. <link>

Of all the stones at Bikur Sholim, perhaps the most intriguing tombstone is one that reads: "in memory of Marx Schoenberg, Born in Germany, 1833, Murdered November 9, 1870. May he rest in peace.” Marx Schoenberg was not simply a Jewish merchant who was killed by a thief or a jealous husband. He was the mayor of Donaldsonville during the tumultuous period of Reconstruction. Born in Germany, Schoenberg moved to Donaldsonville from New Orleans in 1868. His brother-in-law, Morris Marks, also lived in Donaldsonville at the time. Both Marks and Schoenberg were strong Republicans who were politically connected with the party who controlled the state government in New Orleans. Marks was elected as a parish judge in 1868, while Schoenberg was appointed mayor of Donaldsonville in 1870 by Republican Governor Henry Warmoth. During the contested election of 1870, Schoenberg was killed during a standoff with militia troops after a dispute over counting ballots; the exact circumstances of Schoenberg's death were shrouded in conflicting claims and testimony. Marks, who took in Schoenberg's orphaned children, went on to have a long and controversial career in state politics, including several unsuccessful runs for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Murdered on Election Day, 1870

from: Ascension Parish. Group studying life (and murder) of Jews Published: Jun 17, 2010

DONALDSONVILLE — A Mississippi historian said he is overwhelmed with the amount of research material he has found centering around the deaths of two Jewish Donaldsonville politicians in the late 1800s. Stuart Rockoff, the director of the history department at the Goldring Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, was in town last month poring over newspaper accounts and court documents concerning the controversial Nov. 8, 1870 election-day shooting deaths of Marx Schoenberg [Republican Party] and William Lawes [Democratic Party].

“The story of these Jewish immigrants in Donaldsonville has the potential to change the way we think of Southern Jews and politics and society in the 19th century,” he said.

The trios’ first stop was at Schoenberg’s headstone, which included in the inscription “murdered.” ....

Synagogue

from: Wikipedia, Donaldsonville, Louisiana Synagogue

Donaldsonville is the home of one of the oldest synagogue buildings still standing in the United States.[10] The wooden building, now in use as an Ace Hardware store, was built in 1872 by Congregation Bikur Cholim, which disbanded in the 1940s.

Events

• 1866: Taxed in Donaldsville, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. (2)
• 1870: "Around." Publisher of the "Ascension Republican." (3)
• 1870: May. Appointed Mayor of Donaldsville, Ascension Parish, Louisiana. (4)
• 1870: July 8. Residence: Dwelling 22/Family 22, 1st Ward, Town of Donaldsville, Parish of Ascension, Louisiana. Marks Schomberg. Age: 38. Birth Year: abt. 1832. Male. White. Occupation: Mayor of Donaldsville. Value of Personal Estate: 5000. Birthplace: Bavaria / Bayern. Father of Foreign Birth. Mother of Foreign Birth. Male Citizen of 21 years and upward. Also in Household: Anna, 21, F.W. Keeping house, b. Louisiana. Emmanuel, 17, M.W., b. Ohio. Charles, 15, M.W. b. Louisiana. Fanny, 3, F.W. b. Louisiana. Louis, 2, M.W. b. Louisiana. Gavefat, 1, M.W. b. Louisiana.
• 1870: November 8. Murdered on Election Day. (4) (5)

of interest

• related to Morris Marks (brother in law: their wives were sisters)
• M. Marks was administrator / successor of "The Ascension Republican" newspaper in Donaldsville. Morris Marks was publisher of The Ascension Leader, a "Republican Journal."
• A few sites on the heritage trail veer from Mr. Landrieu’s “living museum” construct, though they are not necessarily any less satisfying. Among them is the River Road African-American Museum, in the town of Donaldsonville, about 65 miles north of New Orleans. The River Road area is brimming with historical significance: Donaldsonville elected the nation’s first African-American mayor, Pierre Caliste Landry, in 1868. (from Driving Back Into Louisiana’s History Published: May 25, 2008

  ---

  
  

Marx Schoenberg on the right and wife Anna Prins Schonberg on the left

References

• The Ascension Republican, March 11, 1871
• Donaldsonville, Louisiana
• Year: Tax Year: 1866 District 1; Monthly Lists; May 1866-Dec 1866. Ancestry.com. U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008
• Year: 1870; Census Place: Donaldsonville Ward 1, Ascension, Louisiana; Roll: M593_505; Page: 60A; Image: 123; Family History Library Film: 552004. AncestryImage
• Donaldsonville Newspaper Chronology
• http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/ascension/96509029.html?showAll=y&c=y
• 10. Rediscovering Jewish Infrastructure: Update on United States Nineteenth Century Synagogues, Mark W. Gordon, American Jewish History 84.1 (1996) 11-27
• 11. Former Congregation Bikur Cholim, 1872, Donaldsonville, Louisiana
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102342351
• marriage https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XD2B-D7P Marriage: Spouse: Theressa Hecht Apr 15 1847 Hamilton Co., Ohio. By Hart Judah.
• census 1860 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCLK-XW2
• “Jews of Cincinnati” John S. Fine, Frederic James Krome. Arcadia Publishing, 2007 - History - 127 pages. GoogleBooks
• *ROCKOFF, STUART. “Carpetbaggers, Jacklegs, and Bolting Republicans: Jews in Reconstruction Politics in Ascension Parish, Louisiana.” American Jewish History, vol. 97, no. 1, 2013, pp. 39–64. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23887896. Accessed 24 May 2022.