Shevel, Max

Family: Wife, Sarah; daughter Leah

Max Shevel owned a store, Model Furniture. Prior to 1910, the business was housed in a four-story building on Main Street, which he owned. He had 11 employees. He later sold the business and became a real estate developer. According to Jewish historian Leonard Rogoff, he traded blows with Abe Wilson after they both tried to buy stock at a Jewish merchant's bankruptcy sale.

He took part in many community activities. The Durham Jews, like those elsewhere, remained acutely aware of the ongoing struggles of Jews in Eastern Europe. Leonard Rogoff reported that following a 1905 pogrom in Russia, Max led a drive in the local community that raised $102, which he sent to a New York organization to help the victims. A Zionist, he also traveled to Palestine. He was involved in helping search and care for a synagogue as well (a church was converted in 1905).

Shevel was also a real estate developer. He owned a tract of land in the eastern portion of East End (near Dowd and Hazel Sts.) which he subdivided as "Geerwood Park" in 1914.

He is buried in the Durham Hebrew Cemetery