Morris Price

Moses Szenkolowski

(additional images below)

Birth: 1817 in Kempen, Posen, Prussia, Germany

Death: February 1, 1861 in Cayoosh, Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, B.C.

Plot: Row U – Plot 10

Inscription:
In Memory Of
MORRIS PRICE
Killed at Cayoosh BC
Buried May 6 1861
First Interment in this Cemetery

Biography:

Morris Price was born Moses Szenkolowski in Kempen, Prussia (now Kepno, Poland) ca. 1817. He arrived in Victoria in 1858 from California where he had been a merchant in multiple gold-mining towns. Prior to that he had been a trader in Arkansas, Georgia and New York City, having arrived in the US in 1835.  He  quickly established himself in Victoria and bought a town lot there.  He bought two lots in the nascent town of New Langley in April 1859, a purchase that was converted to a single lot in New Westminster in June 1859.

In early 1860 he moved to the town of Cayoosh (now Lillooet) where he opened a dry-goods store. Many gold miners stopped in the town for supplies on their way to the fields locally and further north. Morris was a hard working, highly respected and well-liked resident. He was a quiet shopkeeper who was described as a “peaceable and inoffensive man”. On the evening of February 1, 1861 he was writing a letter to the Reinhardt Brothers when he was interrupted. The next morning, Morris Price was discovered dead with multiple stab wounds; the letter still in view. About $18.00 of silver dust was stolen, but 14.5 oz of gold dust and $37.50 in gold coins remained in the shop.

On Feb 2, 1861 at 10 a.m., Dr. Featherstone arrived at the scene. Absent evidence, Constable Robert J. Flynn offered a reward at his own expense for information leading to the identity those responsible for the murder. Within a week, three Indigenous men from Big Bear, (further up the canyon), were charged. Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie presided over a trial and found two of the men guilty of murder. They were hanged. For his cooperation in giving testimony, the third man, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 months of hard labor.

The closest Jewish Cemetery was in Victoria. On March 28, 1861 the Victoria Lodge #1085, now Victoria-Columbia No. 1, set up a committee to receive Morris Price’s remains and made arrangements for his funeral. His body arrived in Victoria on May 5, 1861 on the Steamship Otter and was taken to the Masonic Hall (then at the corner of Yates and Langley).

On May 6, 1861 at 1 p.m. a ‘handsome’ coffin containing Morris’ body was placed in a hearse and taken from the Freemason’s Lodge to the Jewish Cemetery. It was followed by Freemasons and numerous friends and acquaintances. A Masonic ceremony and honors was followed by Jewish funeral rites. The Colonist reported that the whole ceremony was ‘most impressive and charged with considerable emotion’.

Morris Price is the first person buried in the Jewish Cemetery.

Parents:
Jette Jereslaw
Hirsch Szenkolowski

Siblings:
Samuel Szenkolowski aka Samuel Shenkloski aka Samuel St. Losky (ca. 1812-1864)
Jakob Szenkolowski aka Jacob St. Losky (ca. 1814 – unknown)

For more information about Moses Price’s evolution from Morris
Szenkolowski please consult David Scriven’s article: The First Jew Buried in BC

Vancouver Island Masonic History Project::
Morris Price

Additional Images: