Bikman (Bickman) Family
As related by David Bickman:
“The Bikman family came from Novaya Ushitsa, Podolia Gubernia, Ukraine to Baltimore, Maryland, by steamship in 1907-1910. They reached Lethbridge via Billings, Montana, in the summer of 1911.
The arrivals were my grandfather Sam Bikman and his brothers Max and Louis, and Max’s wife Tillie. My grandmother Leah and my father Abe arrived in October 1913 by steamship from Hamburg to Grimsby, England, and thence via Liverpool and Quebec City to Lethbridge.
“Max and Tillie lived in Lethbridge for 2 – 3 years. They then moved to Medicine Hat where Tillie’s sister and brother-in-law Annie and David Goldstein operated a general store. The two couples resided in Medicine Hat only for a few years before returning to Montana.
“My great-uncle Louis ranched near Coutts on the Canadian side of the border for 50 years before retiring to Lethbridge in 1965. My grandfather Sam lived in Lethbridge his entire life after coming to Canada, and passed away in 1970. My grandmother also lived in Lethbridge from 1913 until her passing in 1962, as did my father from 1913 until a few months before his passing in 1983.
“Sam and Leah Bikman had seven children: Abe (my father); Louis, who died in infancy in Ukraine; twins Rosie and Millie; Fannie, who died at age 4 in Lethbridge of influenza; Freda, and Billie. Rosie (Rose) is living in Billings, Montana, and Freda and Billie (Bill) live in Lethbridge.
“Until my generation the Bikman family were ‘blue collar’ people; none were merchants. My grandfather Sam was a fur hat maker in Ukraine and became a tanner, a hide and fur buyer, a junk peddler, a fixer and ultimately a truck hand. His sons, Abe and Bill, became mechanics, welders, truckers, demolition and building contractors. Rose was a sales clerk for Kress and Penney’s; Mollie was a secretary/bookkeeper and Freda a hairstylist. Abe, Bill and Freda went on to own their own businesses. Abe was throughout his life an active and important member of the Lethbridge Jewish Community.
“Descendants of Sam and Leah Bikman today live in various parts of the U.S.A. and Canada. Descendants of the brothers and sisters of Sam Bikman today live in the U.S.A., Brazil, Israel, Russia and Ukraine.”
