The Zabarskys and St. Johnsbury Trucking: A 20th-Century Force of Economic Development

In the early 1900s, probably between 1906 and 1911 (the stamp on the form is too faint to read), Daniel Zabarsky become a US citizen. Born in "Tsartorea," Russia, in 1871, he'd married Ida Shusterman from Russia and arrived in Chelsea, Massachusetts, for his new life. And in a few years, the couple would have a large family in northern Vermont. Two of their sons, when grown, would make St. Johnsbury, Vermont, a name familiar to people all over the Northeast through their long-haul trucking firm: St. Johnsbury Trucking.

How Daniel reached America in 1906 is worth noticing. Ancestry.com explains: "In the port cities on the east coast of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th century, many charitable organizations aided immigrants arriving from Europe. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) was one of these organizations. There were 'ethnic' or 'immigrant' banks in many port cities ... where newly-arrived immigrants tended to settle. ... a place where recent immigrants could save money and arrange to bring their families to the United States." Daniel Zabarsky arrived in early 1906 on a steamship ticket from one of these: the Blitzstein Bank.

Harry's World War I registration card

Daniel's birthday is recorded as November 1, 1871, and his wife Ida's as December 25, 1877 ; "December 25," like "July 4," was a date often assigned when an immigrant didn't know her or his actual date of birth, and that seems likely for Ida. Records show a son, Harry Daniel Zabarsky, born in 1899 or 1901; another, Milton R., who would be nicknamed Mickey, born in 1907; a sister Betty in 1909; and Maurice, arriving in 1918, would be noted at the hospital in Newport, VT, as the sixth child of these parents. Daniel was a "driver" at the time of naturalization; his sons Harry and Mickey became truck drivers, too.

Younger brother Maurice's birth record

Harry's story is the better known one. According to the Bangor (Maine) Daily News of June 4-5, 1988, in spring 1920 Harry's work involved driving a Ford truck along the back roads of Barton, VT, collecting milk from dairy farms, delivering it to the creamery (milk processing plant) in town. He also took on some other hauling. When he hauled a truckload of furniture up from Boston for a summer resident, the rest of that resident's belongings came by train -- and didn't arrive until three weeks later. Said the Maine paper, "Zabarsky realized the possibility of long-haul trucking" at that moment.

He chose to start his long-haul business in St. Johnsbury. "For a short time in 1921, he hauled milk to the creameries and delivered ice cream to local hotels, but the road to success started with the decision to deliver meat door to door to the resort hotels in the area."

Harry's brother Mickey joined him, and the two began hauling butter to Boston from creameries in Vermont. By 1927 they had six trucks and delivered milk to Arlington and Somerville, Massachusetts. In 1929 the company established headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., but the terminal in St. Johnsbury continued active (and much later would become a computer hub for the firm). The Great Depression nearly wiped them out, but they recovered and in 1938 expanded into Maine. The trucking business eventually became an icon of New England, with depots in many states and boldly marked truck trailers. In 1975 the Zabarskys sold their business to Sun Carriers, Inc.; in 1988, when the Maine paper reported on the company, it had more than four thousand employees and provided freight service to fifteen northeastern states and two Canadian provinces.

But as the Interstate Commerce Commission changed its rules, and the trucking business became dominated by fewer, larger firms, St. J Trucking met its end on June 15, 1993, with the announcement that it would close. It was a "victim of the deregulated road," said news accounts.

Few thought of St. Johnsbury Trucking as founded (and long owned) by Jewish brothers. Nor did the Zabarskys take on any large roles within the Jewish congregation, although their accomplishments were recognized within the synagogue community. Yet Harry's wife Molly was an active member of the early Beth El Sisterhood, and at least one Beth El gathering was held at Harry and Molly's spacious "cabin."  The Jewish roots of the Zabaarskys were undeniable: Harry, for instance, married Molly Fruchtman (born in Australia, 1903) at the "Jewish Share Hashomayium" in Quebec, Canada, about two hours from Newport, VT, and a very large Jewish center then, as now.

Harry Zabarsky died in 1982 in Boston; Mickey died in 1995 in Needham, Mass. A road in St. Johnsbury bears their name, and St. Johnsbury Academy owns the property where Harry and his wife used to welcome guests.
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A note to St J Trucking fans: I was unable to find a photo of a St Johnsbury Trucking vehicle that was available for use here. If you have one you'd like to share, please do!