Jacob Freedman (b. Zhitomir, Ukraine l864 - d.Ottawa l957) arrived in Ottawa "between Purim and Pesach in the year 1891". He had decided in 1881 to leave Russia and follow his brother, Ephraim M. Lerner, to the United Sates. Arriving in New York, he peddled as far north as Main. At first with paper and envelopes, later with wicker chair seats and fittings, pins and needles, etc. Eventually, he enhanced his stock in trade, by peddling table cloths, towels, jackets and linens. At first he carried these goods on his back until he could purchase a horse and wagon. For various reasons, he decided after almost a decade in the United States to move to Canada Initially he sold butter and eggs, fruit and vegetables door to door in Sandy Hill and Lower Town, Ottawa. He opened his first store in 1894 at 34 and 1/2 Byward Market Square. Later, he established the J. Freedman & Son Wholesale Grocery at 47 York Street, which became the largest wholesale grocery concern in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. Jacob Freedman married Leah Phillips, daughter of a pioneer Jewish family of Cornwall, Ontario in 1892. Their family included Michael (m. Anna Smith, Port Credit), Anne (m. Isadore Chodikoff), Jennie ( Dr. M. Abraham Glickman). About the time his son Michael joined the grocery business in 1912, Freedman also became a very successful commodities trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In 1930, he incorporated his business as J. Freedman & Sons Ltd. He sold his Ottawa business in 1951 to the Zelikovitz Brothers (Nathan, Dave, Max, Saul). He then turned to real estate and founded the Freedman Realty Co. Ltd.

He took great pride in the establishment of the State of Israel, in the growth of Ottawa as the nation's capital and followed the development of Jewish life in the city with great interest. Mr. Freedman recognized his responsibilities as a Jew and a Canadian citizen. "Gifted with an analytical mind and great foresight", Jacob Freedman established the first charitable foundation within the Ottawa Jewish community. The Jacob Freedman Charitable Foundation became effective June, 1958 so that the charitable endevors he had supported all his life would continue to derive benefits in perpetuity after he had passed on. The Charitable Foundation which he created subsequently gave tangible expression to his keen sense of civic duty and his love for the Jewish community in which he had lived for 67 years.

Excerpts from an interview with Jacob Freedman conducted by Rabbi Lifshitz 1950.

I arrived in Ottawa in the year 1891 between Purim and Pesah..........Consequently Mr. Michaelson took me over to a family by the name of Cohen (Jacob) with whom I stayed for the holiday. Upon inquiring of my host regarding a "minyan" in Ottawa, he took me over to the house of John Dover at 74 Nelson Street, who himself was a peddler and lived in a shanty in a room 10 x 10. I do not recall whether there was a Sofer Torah there. However, it was there that we gathered for services on the Sabbath and holidays. There at John Dover's, I met an old farmer woman about seventy years old by the name of Mrs. Wilson. This "goyete" lived in Quyon, Quebec and it was at her place that John Dover would make his headquarters when peddling in the country. ...This Mr. Cohen was well on in years, having his second wife and had come from Russia, after having served as a soldier in Czar Nichola's army. At first the latter operated a general store in the country, but having failed in business, he moved to Ottawa where he sold butter and eggs brought in from the country. It was from him that I got the idea of entering the butter and egg business from which I built up my present wholesale enterprise, one of the largest in the City. I decided to increase the volume of my initial business venture by purchasing directly from the sources in the country instead of from the farmers who brought their produce to town.........

Credit 1: Ottawa Jewish Archives