COHEN, ABNER:
The pioneer of Krugersdorp, Transvaal Colony; born about 1860; emigrated to South Africa in 1881; worked his way north, and fell in with the Boers, learning their language and trading with them. On his way to Johannesburg in 1887, he pitched his tent on a great heap of stones seventeen miles to the west of the town, which became the site of the town of Krugersdorp. He was thus the first English settler in the town, and has done much toward its development. Cohen has also taken a share in the opening up of Bulawayo and Rhodesia.
Though taking no part in the conspiracy against the Boer government in 1895, he was intimate with members of the Reform Committee, and owing to some indiscreet remarks was for some time imprisoned.
As president of the Krugersdorp congregation, Cohen obtained from President Kruger two valuable freehold sites for the Jewish community.
- Jewish Chronicle, Oct. 14, 1898.
