Jacob Freedman: From Produce to Property

By Nancy Miller Chenier

In 1991, a wall plaque dedicated to Jacob Freedman was unveiled at 52-54 ByWard Market Square. This site was closely connected to Freedman’s early days in Ottawa when he was establishing his reputation as “an entrepreneur of extraordinary talent, vision, honesty and capacity for hard work.” From here, he continued to invest in businesses throughout the ByWard Market and eventually in properties across the expanding city. 

His Ottawa story started a century earlier when he joined other local peddlers selling butter, eggs, fruit and vegetables door to door. By 1894, he was living at 156 King Street and had opened his first store at 341/2 ByWard Market Square. The following year he launched himself at 47 York Street as a commission merchant, selling butter, eggs, cheese, lard, poultry and dressed hogs on commission. 

In 1900, Jacob Freedman was back on ByWard Market Square and had moved his family up the hill to 615 King Street. At the time, fewer than 400 Jews lived in Ottawa, and Freedman’s move to 52-54 ByWard signalled the beginning of his investments in real estate and in other Jewish businesses along this and nearby streets. Over the next three decades he acquired multiple properties between George and York streets as well as individual ones on George and York. 

Freedman was a dynamic merchant, actively marketing his products locally but also keeping an eye on trends outside the country. In early days, he ran regular newspaper adverts signalling the arrival of products such as Saguenay blueberries, Vermont potatoes and Denver onions at the Sussex train depot. When the Pure Food shows were held at Howick Hall at Lansdowne Park, Freedman was a regular exhibitor. In 1918, his booth featured a new product from Chicago—Hammond’s Mistletoe Oleomargarina, a popular substitute for butter. At the time, he was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade and held a seat on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange until 1949.

By 1916, Jacob along with son, Michael, had opened a wholesale grocery business, reputed to be the first one to operate as a cash-and-carry system. The business was not without its occasional pressures and setbacks. As it grew, there was a need for good employees. 

Among the many advertisements, there were calls for a strong young man to work at potatoes for $1.50 a day; a driver where none but sober men need apply; an experienced lady stenographer and cashier; and at a later date, an experienced mechanic chauffeur to drive a Ford ton truck and  make all his own repairs. News stories indicated occasional complications—eggs from China confiscated; sugar from the United States examined for quality; merchandise not paid by recipients; thefts by employees.

Freedman Realty got its start in the ByWard Market area and many of his early properties were rented to family members who started successful businesses. Although Jacob Freedman eventually owned properties throughout the city, he saw the Market area as a key part of the city. In 1931 Freedman protested the city’s proposal to tear down the stone Market building and move the market stalls. According to the Ottawa Citizen, he said: “The market now is as good as it can be: leave it alone.”

Jacob Freedman was a man with a vision and with a family that supported that vision. Jacob Freedman and his wife, Leah Phillips, had three children—Mitchell 9 years, Jennie 6 years and Annie 4 years. Both Jacob and his wife Leah were involved with benevolent societies within the Jewish community. They were also notable contributors to charitable causes ranging from the Patriotic Fund during the First World War to the Jeanne D’Arc Fund to support women coming to work in Ottawa during the Second World War.

He died in 1957 at 93 years of age. His legacy lives on in the buildings that he occupied and in the descendants who continue to innovate and give back to the economic well-being of the capital.