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 http://www.archive.org/details/settlementofjewsOOdaly 
 

 THE 
 
 Settlement of the Jews 
 
 IN NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARI^ES R DAI,Y, LI..D. 
 
 I! 
 President of the American Geographical Society, 
 
 Edited, with Notes and Appendices, by 
 MAX J. KOHLER, A.M., LL.B. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 PHILIP COWEN, 213-215 East 44TH Street. 
 
 1893. 
 
 o'\ 
 
 ^ 
 
 I \ 
 
Copyrighted 1893, 
 By CHAS. p. DALY and MAX J. KOHLER. 
 
 
6^ 
 
 u 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 More than twenty years have now elapsed since 
 Judge Daly's work was first presented to the public, 
 yet I feel that no excuse or apology is necessary 
 for its re-publication to-day. 
 
 Mr. Daly, then Chief Justice of the Court of 
 Common Pleas of this city, originally prepared the 
 work in the form of an address delivered at the cele- 
 bration of the 5otli anniversary of the Hebrew Benev- 
 olent Society of New York, on April li, 1872, 
 and then enlarged it for publication in Tke Jewish 
 Times of that year. Subsequently, the accomplisbed 
 and erudite author utilized a portion of the same 
 data in an address delivered at the laying of the cor- 
 ner-stone of the new Hebrew Orphan Asylum, New ^^ 
 York, May 17, 1883.*- It seems to me that the work 
 has not lost the smallest element of interest since 
 that time, but, on the contrary, appeals to-day to a 
 much larger public than then, and, as, unfortunately, 
 it did not appear in' durable form, will seem to be 
 new to the large majority of its readers of co-day. 
 Here and there, the student of American Jewish 
 history has, since its original appearance, re-discovered 
 Judge Daly's work in out-of-the-way and few-and- 
 far-between corners, and drawn upon it as by far the 
 
 * This address was printed in full in The American Hebrew 
 at the time and published in pamphlet form. 
 
v/ 
 
 Vt PREFACE 
 
 most valuable, comprehensive and interesting woik 
 on the subject- Many others, to my knowledge, have, 
 after search, been unable to obtain the work, and 
 the purpose of the present re-publication is to make it 
 accessible to these, as well as to the large public whom 
 the work will please for more general reasons. The 
 causes of our interest in a work like the present are 
 numerous and varied. Perhaps the most natural 
 source of interest is our race pride, our gratifica- 
 tion over the deeds of members of our race, pres- 
 ent or past, purely because of our common ties of 
 race. 
 
 Often this interest in and enthusiasm over our 
 past is not only justifiable but commendable. When 
 a recent emigre, like Goldwin Smith, has the arro- 
 gance and effrontery to characterize the Jews, espe- 
 cially those of America, as parasites, who wait till 
 others have sown and then rush in to divide with 
 them the harvest, it is well to point to co-religionists 
 who for centuries were engaged in this country in the 
 arduous, and often unproductive occupation of sow- 
 ing, as a conclusive refutation of such assertions, 
 born of ignorance and prejudice. In this sense we 
 may be proud and rejoice that Jews were interested 
 co-workers in the discovery, settlement and devel- 
 opment of our land, and acquaint ourselves as 
 well as our Christian neighbors with those incidents 
 in our national history. 
 
 The work under consideration appeals to us also 
 in other ways. No statement has, perhaps, 
 come to be better recognized than that we cannot 
 
PREFACE Vll 
 
 understand the present without a study of the past. 
 Incidents and traits suddenly come to the surface 
 which a necessarily superficial consideration of 
 present conditions does not explain. Other forces 
 besides those we generally recognize, are working 
 about us, and not the less effectively because the 
 shallow, practical man of to day fails to note them. 
 Problems of the present may often be solved by a 
 study of past experiences. Besides, it has at length 
 become recognized here and abroad that American 
 Judaism has its own peculiar characteristics, virtues 
 and vices, its own line of development. A work like 
 the present one throws much new light and adds 
 considerable interesting data to a study of these 
 questions. 
 
 Since Judge Daly's work first appeared, there has 
 been a sweeping revolution apparent in American /^ / 
 
 Judaism. He wrote about the middle of the German- \ 
 
 Jewish migration to America; since then other and 
 far more numerous classes of Jews have arrived here, <- — ^ 
 
 while their predecessors have multiplied and thrived. 
 Our charities have increased and developed beyond 
 all expectations, our standing and influence in the 
 community even more so. But what interests us even 
 more at this point is the intellectual development of 
 the body of American Jews. We have erected and 
 patronize scores of libraries. We have representa- 
 tives in the faculties of nearly all our large colleges, 
 many distinguished scholars among them. The Jewish 
 press has increasedin influence as well as numerically. 
 Jewish Publication Societies which failed to interest 
 
Vtn PREFACE 
 
 enough persons then, are to-day in that respect at 
 least, thriving. Is it not time, then, that we take 
 more interest in our past, and proceed to study it 
 more carefully, and not content ourselves with stop- 
 ping at a period two thousand years behind us ? 
 Perhaps the best answer to the question is the 
 establishment of the American Jewish Historical 
 Society, with many able workers enlisted in its 
 service. The formation of such a society and the 
 promises it offers for the future, seem to nie the best 
 proofs possible that the publication to day of Judge 
 Daly's work, will not be followed by twenty )'ears of 
 inactivity and lack of interest in continuing and 
 developing the subject-matter. No better work to 
 start with, upon which to build, than Judge Daly's can 
 be couceived of. Almost every line affords a chance 
 for interesting elaboration and investigation. Nor can 
 anything more conducive to systematic study and 
 intelligent collection of data be obtained. Even at 
 the last meeting of the Historical Society, there 
 were several clear cases of unconscious re-discover- 
 ing of data known to and employed by Judge Daly. 
 It is with the expectation that the republication of 
 the present work will be of interest and profit to the 
 general public, as well as to the scholar, that it 
 appears anew to-day. It is not for me to praise 
 Judge Daly's work; the reader will soon have au 
 opportunity to do that himself. I may be pardoned, 
 however, if I add that the narrative is always interest-^ 
 ing, no matter how trivial the incident might appear, 
 if elaborated by some less able pen. Besides the 
 
PREFACE tX 
 
 most intimate acquaintance with the data of New- 
 York and American history generally, Judge Daly's 
 work is characterized by absolute accuracy of state- 
 ment and impartiality of treatment. It is therefore 
 with pleasure that we turn to his account of a people 
 whom he describes as having "dwelt upon this island 
 for more than two centuries, and who, though not, 
 until a recent period, very numerous, have, as an 
 integral portion of our population, exercised a very 
 material influence upon the commercial development 
 and prosperity of this city." 
 
 Judge Daly's work, as it originally appeared, con- 
 tained numerous citations of authorities in the foot- 
 notes. The editor has materially increased these, so 
 as to render the work more valuable to the student, 
 lias verified almost every statement, and added some 
 additional notes bearing on the text. All his notes 
 ■are signed "Editor." He has also supplied an Intro- 
 duction, based largely on a paper read by him 
 before the American Jewish Historical Society in 
 Philadelphia in December, 1892, upon "The 
 Beginnings of New York Jewish History." He 
 also wishes to add that he has attempted throughout 
 to preserve absolutely the identity of Judge Daly's 
 work, and has therefore in several instances 
 Teluctantly omitted notes bearing only distantly 
 on the text. 
 
 His thanks are due to Judge Daly for kindly 
 ■consenting to the republication of the work. 
 Furthermore, Judge Daly kindly volunteered to 
 •write an additional instalment for this series; it is 
 
^ PREFACE 
 
 needless to say that his offer has been gratefully 
 accepted. This new portion will appear as a 
 supplementary instalment. 
 
 Max J. KoHLER. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 About 70 years ago an astute Yankee, after having 
 traveled about abroad for some time, wrote a book in 
 which he described, among the other things which 
 had come under his observation, the unfortunate con- 
 dition of the Jews in Europe, especially of Italy. He 
 expresses surprise that the Jews had not availed 
 themselves of America's civil and religious liberty, 
 and accounts for the fact in two ways: "The one 
 theory is based on their reputed dread of the sea, 'for 
 the water,' say they, 'hath no beams.' Another rea- 
 son is predicated on the proverbial astuteness of us 
 New Englanders, with whom not even the Jews dare 
 venture into competition." If our Yankee were to 
 reappear in our midst to-day, I think he would be 
 bound to confess either that human nature had 
 changed since his day, or that neither of his two 
 theories is satisfactory. I have availed myself of his 
 amusing statement, however, because it is a capital 
 illustration of the popular ignorance of American- 
 Jewish history which has not yet disappeared, even 
 mong the American Jews themselves as a body. 
 While Judge Daly's work is the most interesting and 
 important presentation of the claims of the Jews to 
 credit for long association with the destinies of our 
 country from early colonial times down to our own 
 day, the last few years have opened up a field of 
 research which gives promises of rich returns, going 
 to show that the Jews have been actively interested 
 in the discovery, colonization and settlement of 
 America from the days of Columbus on. I propose 
 to dwell on this subject in this brief Introduction 
 to Judge Daly's work. 
 
xn INTRODUCTION 
 
 Prof. M. Kayserling has made the department 
 of Spanish -Jewish relations to the Discovery 
 and Colonization of the New World peculiarly 
 his own. While his early works on "Sephardim" 
 and "Portuguese Discoveries" only touched on Amer- 
 ica, his recent investigations — so far as we can judge 
 from his interesting article on "The First Jew on 
 American Soil" in The Menorah for October, 1892, 
 and the reports received from him and not yet pub- 
 lished, based on personal examination of the Spanish 
 archives with particular view to this subject— will be 
 authoritative expositions of the work of the Jews 
 in this connection. Nor is it strange that the Jews 
 should have actively participated in the work of 
 Spanish and Portuguese explorers. The indebted- 
 ness of the modern world to the brilliant achieve- 
 ments of the Moors in the way of navigation and 
 geographical science, which alone made the era of 
 discoveries possible, is to-day recognized. Yet the 
 direct connection of the Moort> with Christian Europe 
 was infinitesimal. As in the case of medicine and in 
 the various industries, so also here, the Jews became 
 the intermediaries between Moors and Christians, and 
 imparted the scientific discoveries which the former 
 so liberally shared with them, and which they them- 
 selves did something towards enlarging, to Christian 
 Europe, during and after the Moorish occupation of 
 Spain. Various writers have touched on this subject 
 from time to time, and it is indeed an interesting 
 one. I may be pardoned, however, for calling atten- 
 tion to a valuable paper, collecting much of the data 
 on the subject by my father. Rev. Dr. K. Kohler, 
 read before the German Historical Society of New 
 York, and printed in the Belletristisches Journal 
 in May, 1891 ; a rather inadequate translation 
 of the same, printed without the author's 
 
INTRODUCTION Xttt 
 
 supervision, appeared in TAe Menorah for July, 
 1891. 
 
 Eugene Lawrence, in a valuable article on "The 
 Mystery of Columbus," which appeared in Harpers^ 
 Monthly recently (April, 1892), indicates briefly the 
 work of the Jews in this direction. Their work may 
 be briefly summarized as having been : first, in 
 spreading and developing geographical science; next, 
 in participating in some of the colonizing expeditions 
 themselves, though under serious difficulties and 
 under disguised names and professions of religion; 
 and, lastly, in some of the early settlements them- 
 selves. Prof. Kayserling has proven that there were 
 secret Jews (Maranos) with Columbus on his first 
 voyages, one of whom at once settled in Cuba, and 
 that there were Jewish financiers who aided Columbus 
 in securing the funds for his voyages. Because of 
 royal interdictions and fears of the Inquisition, it is 
 extremely difficult to identify the Jews in these 
 expeditions. The same is true of the early settlements 
 in America under the Spanish and the Portuguese, as 
 in Mexico and Brazil. In the former country, scarcely 
 any but those whom the Inquisition, unfortunately 
 for them, exposed as Jews, can be to-day recognized- 
 Of the latter, it seems clear that Jews ,settled in the 
 country as early as 1548, living generally as New 
 Christians. During the short-lived Dutch occupation 
 of Brazil, thej' resumed their Jewish worship, but 
 paid the penalty in part at least with their lives 
 when the Portuguese regained control. But this 
 portion of our history is still so fragmentary and 
 obscure, that we cannot profitably linger over it, espe' 
 cially as it is rather foreign to our subject, ^he history 
 of the Jews in North America. 
 
 There is one further departure from the subject, 
 for which I must, however, ask the reader's kind in- 
 
X IV INTRODUCTION 
 
 dulgence, especially as I hope to show that the whole 
 matter is iutimately connected with the first arrival 
 of Jews in New York. I shall proceed to set this forth 
 at some length. 
 
 Ill 1859, a paper was read before the New York 
 Historical Society by Rev. Dr. A. Fischell of New 
 York, on The History of the Jews in America, which 
 led to an interesting discussion in which the lecturer 
 was forced to take sides against the American histo- 
 rian George Bancroft on the question whether the 
 Jews had enjoyed fuller liberties in Rhode Island 
 under Roger Williams' successors than under the 
 Dutch, Bancroft espousing the cause of the former, 
 Dr. Fischell of the latter. This is an interesting 
 question because, while we are constantly reminded 
 of Rhode Island's toleration, the Dutch do not 
 generally receive due credit for this trait from 
 American historians. As a large portion of Judge 
 Daly's work is devoted to the history of the Jews in 
 places settled by the Dutch, — for the Jewish settle- 
 ment in New York gave rise to a number of others, — 
 this subject of Dutch toleration is of considerable inter- 
 est to us. This work will show that, neither under 
 the Dutch nor in Rhode Island, were the rights of the 
 Jewish settlers as extensive as those of the adherents 
 of the prevailing religions. Nor does it appear that 
 the Dutch government originally intended to pursue 
 the same policy of religions toleration as to her 
 colonial possessions as she adopted at home, lor we 
 know that the very Puritans who were permitted to 
 enjoyAmsterdam's generous hospitality and toleration, 
 were refused permission to settle in the Dutch 
 Colonies, prior to arranging for the colony which was 
 subsequently planted at Plymouth. 
 
 It required the leveling and humanizing influences 
 of Commerce to bring about religious toleration, and 
 
INTRODUCTION XV 
 
 this explains the fact that the Dutch West India 
 Company took a different attitude in this matter than 
 the Government, in sauctiotiiug and encouragiuj^^ the 
 settlement of the Jews in New Netherland. The letter 
 directed by the Dutch West India Company Directors 
 to Stuyvesant, containing this grant, is interesting as 
 showing the conflict between old-time prejudice and in- 
 tolerance and the commercial instinct of the Dutch as 
 to the desirability of giving the permission prayed for. 
 The words "and also because of the large amount of 
 capital which the Jews have invested in the shares of 
 this Company, ' ' were no doubt a very important argu- 
 ment in favor of making the concession. 
 
 But it is my privilege to point out a much earlier 
 connection between the Jews and the Dutch 
 West India Company, which colonized New Nether- 
 land. It appears that William Usselinx, who had for 
 many years agitated the question of incorporating the 
 Company, but had not found a favorable ear till 1620 
 or thereabouts, was annoyed to find that the States 
 General had received a draft of a proposed charter 
 for a West India Company which differed in several 
 essential features from the one he had proposed. The 
 opposition charter provided for a series of attacks on 
 the Spanish silver fleets by the Company's vessels 
 and for means for depriving the Dutch of their Bra- 
 zilian settlements. One of the chief arguments in 
 favor of this proposition was the assistance that would 
 be secured from the Jews who were settled in Brazil 
 and who had offered to co-operate with the Dutch, 
 so as to secure the more liberal Dutch rule instead of 
 the harsh and intolerant Portuguese. In Dr. Jame- 
 son's^ interesting biography of William of Usselinx, 
 
 I American Historical Association Papers, Vol. II, p. 76, and 
 authorities cited there. 
 
:XVl INTRODUCTION 
 
 several letters from U."^seliux to the States General 
 are found, with references to other, original authori- 
 ties, which bear out my statements. 
 
 In one of these letters we find Usselinx assailing this 
 proposed charter by means of a most savage attack 
 ou the Jews: "No trust should be put in the promises 
 made there (in Brazil) by the Jews, a race faithless and 
 pusillanimous, enemies to all the world and especially 
 to all Christians, caring not whose house burns, so 
 long as they may warm themselves at the coals, who 
 would rather see a hundred thousand Christians 
 perish than suffer the loss of a hundred crowns." 
 Usselinx's abuse was of no avail, however, for the 
 modified charter was adopted despite his opposition, 
 and the demand for shares in the Company, which 
 had been rather lax before, was greatly increased. 
 Nor is this surprising, for the trade between New 
 Netherland and Holland in those days, especially 
 when compared with the enormous amount of the 
 Company's capital, was trifling indeed. It may well 
 be claimed that the Company would have had a very 
 brief and uneventful history, had it not been for the 
 two features in question. I doubt whether the Dutch 
 ^West India Company would ever have settled New 
 York, and still more whether it would have been able 
 to sustain the infant colony, had it not been for them. 
 One year a dividend of 75 per cent was declared on the 
 six million gulden capital, in consequence of the cap- 
 ture of the Spanish silver fleet. I have already cited 
 the clause from an official letter showing that the Jews 
 were heavily interested in the company's stock. I 
 may add that Menasseh ben Israel in his "Humble 
 Address to Cromwell," states that "the Jews were 
 enjoying a good part of the (Dutch) East and West 
 India Companies." Judge Daly is furthermore author- 
 ity for the statement that the Compan}' had several 
 
INTRODUCTION XVU 
 
 Jewish directors. It seems to me to be a very reason 
 able supposition that Jews were among the projectors 
 of the Company, for it could only have been to their 
 own co-religionists that the Brazilian Jews would 
 have communicated their proffers of aid in case of a 
 Dutch attack on Brazil, for they were living in Brazil 
 under the guise of New Christians, and would not 
 have ventured to expose themselves to any but 
 co-religionists. 
 
 Nor were the promises of aid on the part of the 
 Brazilian Jews idle and untrustworthy, Usselinx to 
 the contrary notwithstanding. In De Beauchamp's 
 Histoire dn Bresil II p. 159 and in Southey's History 
 of Brazil (Second edition I, pp. 477, 479, 495, supple- 
 mental note no. 135 and vol. II p. 241) we read that 
 before the Dutch fleet directed against Brazil put to 
 sea, the States General obtained most useful informa- 
 tion as to the condition of affairs in Brazil through 
 the intermediation of Jews who were settled there, 
 and who nearly all ardently desired to become sub- 
 jects of the United States because of their great toler- 
 ation in religious matters. 
 
 Unfortunately for these Jews, the first Dutch occu- 
 pation of Brazil was short-lived, and their fate when 
 the Portuguese regained control was such as we have 
 elsewhere stated. When the Dutch again came into 
 power those that had escaped death again threw off" the 
 guise of Christians and lived avowedly as Jews, until 
 by the terms of the first.Dutch capitulation in 1654, the 
 Portuguese again became the masters. By the express 
 terms of the capitulation, the Portuguese promised 
 the Jews "an amnesty, in all wherein they could 
 promise it," words which left an ominous latitude for 
 intolerance. That very year, a party of Jews left 
 Bahia and took passage in the ship St. Catrina, which 
 arrived soon after in New Amsterdam. It is with 
 
XVm INTRODUCTION 
 
 their history and that of their co-religionists who sub- 
 sequently followed their example in settling in North 
 America, that Judge Daly's work deals. 
 
 M.J. K. 
 
The Settlement of the Jews in 
 North America. 
 
THE SETTLEMENT OF THE JEWS IN 
 NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 Whenlcousented to comply with the request made, 
 that I would address the audience assembled here 
 this evening, it occurred to me, that an occasion so 
 interesting as the celebration of the fiftieth anniver- 
 sary of the oldest benevolent institution established 
 by people of the Jewish persuasion in the City of New 
 York, would be an appropriate one, upon which to 
 give some account of the first settlement of the Jewish 
 people in this city, and of their early history. The 
 facts, so far as I am aware, have never been collected 
 and put in any narrative form. Our local or state 
 histories contain very little upon the subject. Even 
 our latest and fullest historian, Mr. Brodhead, men- 
 tions, I think, but two circumstances in connection 
 with a people who have dwelt upon this island for 
 more than two centuries, and who, though not, until 
 a recent period, very numerous, have, as an integral 
 portion of our population, exercised a very material 
 influence upon the commercial development and pros- 
 perity of this city. 
 
 Having given much attention to our early annals, 
 and having had occasion very frequently to consult the 
 documents and records, which constitute the material, 
 from which our municipal history is derived, I shall 
 be enabled to put together with but little effort the 
 information they supply of the first settlement of 
 people of the Jewish faith in this city and of what is 
 known respecting them here for at least the first cen- 
 tury and a half. In commencing this inquiry, it ma}' 
 gratify those present to be able to state, and especially 
 upon the semi-centennial of this benevolent institu- 
 
2 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 tion, that one of the earliest documents, showing the 
 existence here of people of the Jewish persuasion, is 
 the record of an act of benevolence on the part of a 
 Jew to a friendless Christian stranger, and certainly 
 the history of no people in any place can begin with 
 an incident more creditable to them than the exercise 
 of that charity which is limited to no sect or creed — 
 which recognizes but two things, the existence of 
 want and the ability to relieve it. 
 
 It is no doubt known to many here, that this city 
 was founded by the Dutch and that for the first half 
 century of its existence it was in possession of and 
 governed by people from Holland. The first Jewish 
 emigration occurred during this period, and it may 
 be of interest to give some account of the circum- 
 stances which led to it. 
 
 It occurs in the wise purpose of the Great Ruler of 
 the Universe, that calamitous events are not infre- 
 quently accompanied by other events, which mitigate 
 the force of the calamity and prevent its occurrence 
 thereafter. No event has proved more beneficial to 
 the Jewish people than the discovery of America, and 
 yet the very year that it occurred was 1492, the year 
 of the commencement of the terrible persecution of 
 the Jews in Europe, which led to their expulsion 
 from France, Spain and Portugal, an event in its 
 immediate effects more disastrous to them than even 
 the destruction of Jerusalem. Spain, the chief agent 
 in that terrible work and the most intolerant and 
 cruel of the nations of Europe, having, during her 
 despotic rule afterwards in the Low Countries, under- 
 taken to crush out there all freedom of opinion, en- 
 countered a spirit of resistance on the part of the 
 brave descendants of those Batavian tribes that had 
 rescued Holland from the sea, which culminated in 
 that great political event in 1572, known as the 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 3 
 
 Revolt of tlie Netherlands. The famous union of 
 Utrecht was followed by the noble declaration of 
 William the Silent, upon being installed as Stadhol- 
 der in 1581, that "he should not suflferany man to be 
 called to account, molested or injured for his faith 
 and conscience," and when by the Truce of Antwerp 
 in 1609, the freedom of the Netherlands was assured, 
 the Dutch signalized their independence by throwing 
 open their country to the persecuted of all sects and 
 nations. Among the earliest to avail themselves of 
 this place of refuge were the Jews, and persons of 
 that persuasion flocked in from Spain, Portugal, Ger- 
 many and Poland, settling in the free cities of Hol- 
 land and especially in the commercial city of Amster- 
 dam. Amsterdam presented the spectacle of a city 
 where all religions were tolerated, and where men of 
 all shades of political opinion found themselves se- 
 cure in their persons and property. By a writer of 
 that day it was stigmatized as "a comme-n harbor of 
 all opinions and of all heresies." By another, in the 
 figurative language then in fashion, "as a cage of un- 
 clean birds," and even Andrew Marvel, the friend of 
 Milton and the incorruptible patriot, wrote a derisive 
 poem upon Holland, in which Amsterdam was de- 
 scribed with its mixed population of "Turk, Chris- 
 tian, Pagan, Jew," its "bank of conscience," where 
 "all opinions found credit and exchange;" closing his 
 poem with a line, which he certainly meant in no 
 spirit of compliment: 
 
 " The universal church is only there." 
 
 Among the Jewish emigrants who then flocked into 
 
 Holland, the most numerous and the most cultivated 
 
 were the Jews from Portugal, many of them coming 
 
 from Leira, a town in the province of Estramadura, 
 
 which enjoys the honor of being the third place in 
 
4 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 Europe in which a printing press was setup, the com- 
 mercial progress and prosperity of which was due in a 
 large measure to its highly intelligent and industri- 
 ous Jewish population as its decline may be attributed 
 to their expatriation and expulsion. The Portuguese 
 Jews settled chiefly in Amsterdam, where they were 
 distinguished by their industry, energy, intelligence 
 and probity, and here at this period, 1632, the phil- 
 osopher Spinoza, the child of two of these Jewish 
 emigrants, was born. 
 
 The tolerant spirit of Holland found its fruits in 
 the rapid advance of the Dutch in all commercial 
 pursuits. A distinction was made in favor of the Re- 
 formed Protestant faith, which was by law the estab- 
 lished religion, but all others were tolerated. Though 
 the position of the Jews in Holland was in marked 
 contrast with every other part of Europe, they were 
 not entirely free from restrictions. They were by 
 law forbidden to write or speak disparagingly of the 
 Christian religion, or to make converts. They were 
 not allowed to intermarry with Christians, nor to 
 follow any mechanical pursuit, or to engage in retail 
 trade, but were in all other respects admitted to full 
 political privileges with the rest of their fellow-citi- 
 zens. 
 
 They were at first required to exercise the rites of 
 their religion within the privacy of theii own houses, 
 or at least in houses not having the outward appear- 
 ance of religious edifices. This restriction was re- 
 moved when Louis Napoleon, the brother of Napo- 
 leon I, became King of Holland; and when I was in 
 Amsterdam twenty years ago, the Portuguese Syna- 
 gogue there was regarded as one of the finest in Eur- 
 ope. It was certainly more imposing than the one I 
 visited in Leghorn, then said to be the largest on 
 the Continent; but both were interesting in my 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 5 
 
 eyes as early monuments of entire religious freedom. 
 The Jews of Amsterdam, through their capacity for 
 business, their energy and their integrity, became 
 wealthy and influential, and were shareholders to a 
 large amount in the West India Company, the com- 
 mercial corporation by which the City of New York 
 was founded. This body, though ostensibly incorpor- 
 ated to promote the settlement of new countries and 
 for the general purpose of traffic, was in reality organ- 
 ized to secure pecuniary gain through the capture of 
 the richly laden Spanish vessels, and by the seizure 
 of the Spanish and Portuguese possessions in 
 the West Indies and South America. In fact, the 
 States General, as one of the means of crippling 
 Spain, acquiesced in the exercise by this corporation of 
 the warlike powers of a nation and it had at one time 
 no less than seventy armed vessels in its service. Its 
 object in founding New York was not the establish- 
 ment of a city upon the banks of the Hudson, but to 
 have a haven for its vessels there in connection with 
 a more extended field of operations in the West Indies 
 and South America. In 1630 Bahia or St. Salvador? 
 then the capital of Brazil, was captured by its fleet 
 and from that time to 1642, its career was one of con- 
 quest in Brazil. Bahia was then, as it is still, a place 
 of great maritime importance, and when the West 
 India Company threw open the trade of Brazil in 
 1638, the Portuguese Jews of Amsterdam emigrated 
 to Bahia in considerable numbers, to which they 
 were attracted not only by the advantage of trade, 
 but as the capital of a country where they could speak 
 their native language, and under Dutch rule enjoy 
 entire freedom of religion. *'They proved to be," 
 says Southey,(i) "excellent colonists, exhibiting their 
 
 I. Southey, History of Brazil, Vol I p. 644. 
 
6 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 characteristic industry.'' Upon the settlement in 
 Bahia and other parts of Braziil, many Portuguese 
 there, he says, threw off the mask and joined their 
 co-religionists. "The open joy," he further observes, 
 "with which they celebrated their religious rites and 
 ceremonies attracted too much notice. The public 
 exercise of their religion excited the horror of the 
 Catholics, and as the Dutch Protestants united with 
 the Catholics, the government was constrained to de- 
 clare that the religious liberty allowed in Holland did 
 not extend to Brazil, and an edict was passed requir- 
 ing the Jews to perform the^'r religious rites and ser- 
 vices thereafter in private. " 
 
 After 1642, the power of the Dutch in Brazil was 
 gradually weakened. Its possession exhausted the 
 resources of the West India Company, and as the 
 government of Holland had made peace with Portu- 
 gal and would not support the company in its efforts 
 to retain their possession, they were compelled to 
 withdraw theirtroops and evacuate the country. We 
 find that the year when this took place, 1654, was the 
 year of the first arrival of Jews in the city of New 
 York, or, as it was then called New Amsterdam, and 
 they came beyond any doubt from Bahia, abandon- 
 ing Brazil when it was evacuated by their Dutch pro- 
 tectors. Twenty-seven persons, men, women and 
 children, (2) arrived here in the autumn of 1654, in 
 tlie barque St. Catariua, of which Jacques de la 
 Motthe was master, from Cape St. Anthony, or as the 
 Portuguese call it, San Antonio; Cape St . Anthony 
 being the projection of land which forms one side of 
 the Bay of Bahia and occupies the space betw een the 
 city and the ocean. Their departure appears to have 
 been sudden, for upon their arrival here, their goods 
 
 2. V. M. 1849 P- 383. Ed. i860, p. 615. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 7 
 
 were sold by the masterof the vessel at public auction 
 for the payment of their passage and the amount 
 realized by the sale being insufficient, he applied to 
 the Court of Burgomaster and Schepens for an order 
 that one or two of them, as principals, be held as 
 security for the payment of the balance in accordance 
 with the contract made with him by which each per- 
 son signing it had bound himself for the payment of 
 the whole amount, and under which he had taken 
 two of them, David Israel and Moses Ambrosius, as 
 principal debtors. The Court accordingly ordered 
 that they should be placed under civil arrest, in the 
 custody of the provost marshal until they should 
 have made satisfaction, that the captain should be 
 answerable for their support whilst in custody, as 
 security for which a certain proportion of the proceeds 
 of the sale of the goods was directed to be left in the 
 hands of the Secretary of the colony (3),but as no fur- 
 
 3. The official account of the matter reads as follows: 
 " Extraordinar)' Meeting, holden on 
 
 Wednesday, the i6th September, 1654, 
 Present, At the City Hall, 
 
 The Heeren, 
 
 Arent Van Halten, 
 M. Krigier, 
 Pieter Wolfertsen, 
 Oloff Stevenson and 
 Cornelis Van Tienhoven. 
 Jacques de la Molthe.master of the Bark called St.Catrlna, Plaintiff 
 
 contra 
 David Israel and the other Jew^s, according to their signatures, Defts. 
 Touching the ballance of the payment of the passage of 
 the said Jews, for which each is bound in Solidum. Whereas, 
 their goods sold thus far by vendue, do not amount to the payment 
 of their obligation, it is, therefore, requested that one or two of the 
 said Jews be taken as principle (principals ? ?) which, according 
 to the aforesaid contract or obligation, cannot be refused. There- 
 fore he hath taken David Israel and Moses Ambrosius as principal 
 debtors for the remaining ballance, with request that the same ba 
 placed in confinement until the account be paid. 
 
O JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 ther proceedings appear upon the records, the matter 
 was doubtless arranged* and was probably nothing 
 more than a dispute or misunderstanding between 
 them and the captain as to whether they were bound 
 to make good the deficiency, which was probably en- 
 hanced by the forced sale of their effects at auction. 
 From these proceedings I infer that they left Brazil 
 hastily, taking with them what effects they could, the 
 evacuation of the country by the Dutch leaving them 
 without protection, aud the apprehension of persecu- 
 tion leading them to seize the earliest opportunity to 
 get within the friendly shelter of a Dutch colony. 
 This event is one of interest, as it was in all proba- 
 bility the first arrival of people of the Jewish persua- 
 sion within the limits of what is now the United 
 States (4) 
 
 Whatever may have been the disposition of the 
 inhabitants to the newcomers, the feeling of the 
 Governor, Stuyvesant, was hostile. He was a man 
 of strong will aud of strong prejudices, and shortly 
 after their arrival, he wrote to the directors in Ams- 
 
 The Court having weighed the petition of the plaintiff, and seen 
 the obhgation wherein each is bound in Soliduvi for the full pay - 
 inent, have consented to the plaintiff's request, to place the afore- 
 said persons under civil arrest (namely with the Provost Marshal) 
 until they shall have made satisfaction, provided, that he, La 
 Motthe, shall previously answer for the board, which is fixed at 16 
 stivers per diem for each prisoner; and is ordered,that for this pur- 
 pose 40—50 guilders, proceeding from the goods sold, shall remain 
 in the hands o( the Secretary, together with the expenses of this 
 special court. Done in New Amsterdam in New Netherland.''^ 
 Valentine's Manual for 1849, page 383, — EDITOR. 
 
 4. This statement has been rendered rather doubtful, as it 
 appears from a paper recently read before the American Jewish. 
 Historical Society by Mr, Jacob H. Hollander of Baltimore orv 
 •'John Lumbrozo,"that names that appear to be pronouncedly Jew- 
 ish, are found in the Maryland Annals a number of years before 
 this time. -Editor. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 9 
 
 terdam, requesting that "none of the Jewish nation 
 be permitted to infest New Netherland. " The an- 
 swer was worthy of Holland — that his request "was 
 inconsistent with reason and justice." (5) In fact, 
 the company were favorable to the emigration of 
 Jews to their newly acquired possession in America. 
 Not only, as I have said, were the Jews of Amster- 
 dam large stockholders of the company, (6) but sev- 
 eral of that persuasion were in the Board of Direc- 
 tors. In 1652, a tract of land of two leagues along 
 the coast for every fifty families, and of four leagues 
 for every hundred families, was granted in the island 
 of Curacoa to Joseph Nunez de Fonseca, and others 
 to found a colony of Jews in that island. Fonseca, 
 who was afterwards a merchant in Curacoa, together 
 with one Jan de Illan, who went out as a patroon, 
 made the attempt, but it was not successful, there 
 
 5. The instructions to Stuyvesant from the Directors of the 
 Company were to this effect, as contained in the oflScial records: 
 
 "26ih of April, 1655. 
 "We would have liked to agree to your wishes and request, that 
 the new territories should not be further invaded by people of the 
 Jewish race, for we foresee from such immigration the same 
 difficulties which you fear, but after having further weighed and 
 considered the matter, we observe that it would be unreasonable 
 and unfair, especially because of the considerable loss sustained 
 by the Jews in the taking of Brazil, and also because of the large 
 amount of capital which they have invested in shares of this com- 
 pany. After many consultations we have decided and resolved 
 upon a certain petition made by said Portuguse Jews, that they 
 shall have permission to sail to and trade in New Netherland and 
 to live and remain there, provided the poor among them shall not 
 become a burden to the company, or to the community, but be 
 supported by their own nation. You will govern yourself accord- 
 ingly." — Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State 
 of New York. Vol. XIV, p. 315.— Editor. 
 
 6. See Introduction for further details as (0 this question. — 
 Editor. 
 
 V 
 
lO JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 being not more than twelve settlers on the tract. (7) 
 Stuyvesaut's letter, therefore, instead of producing 
 what he desired had a very opposite effect, for it 
 stirred up the Jewish members of the Board of 
 Directors to apply for distinct privileges for their 
 coreligionists, and a special act was issued on the 
 15th of July, 1655, expressly permitting Jews to 
 trade to New Netherland, and to reside there 
 on the simple condition only, that they should 
 support their own poor; (8) a condition, it may 
 be said, which they have strictly fulfilled ever since, 
 for few, if any, of their denomination have ever 
 in this city been supported at the public charge. 
 
 Before the intelligence of this act could have 
 reached New Netherland, an additional number of 
 Jews arrived here directly from Holland, who 
 probably came in anticipation of some such 
 measure, or with the knowledge of the disposition of 
 the company. (9) Their arrival and a circumstance* 
 that occurred about the same time, had an unfavor- 
 able effect upon Stuyvesant, and led him to adopt 
 
 7. See Calendar of Historical Manuscripts. Edited by E. B« 
 O'Callaghan. Dutch Manuscripts. Curacoa Papers, pp. 329-330, 
 also Correspondence, p. 289 — Editor. 
 
 8. I have been unable to find an order bearing this date; I be- 
 lieve that the one already given (in Note 5) is the one in question, 
 for it clearly contains the condition that the Jews shall provide 
 for their own poor. — Editor. 
 
 9. In a subsequent letter, dated June 14, 1656, and found in 
 Note No. II, and also in a petition by Abraham de Luceria and 
 others referred to in the text and to be found in Note 17, "orders 
 of Feb. 15th, 1655, issued at the request of the Jewish or Portu- 
 guese nation,'' are referred to. The official records extant do not 
 contain any order of so early a date, but if, as seems likely to me, 
 such orders were issued but have been lost since, the arrival of 
 these Dutch Jews is easily accounted for, as being sanctioned by 
 the company. Their arrival is referred to in the next note. — 
 Editor. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA II 
 
 energetic measures. On the ist of March, 1655, one 
 Abraham De I^a Simon was brought before the Court 
 of Burgomaster and Schepens, upon the complaint of 
 the Schout or Sheriflf, for keeping open his store on 
 Sunday, during the sermon, and selling at retail; the 
 complainant demanding that he should be deprived 
 of his trade, and condemned to pay a fine of six hun- 
 dred guilders, at that time a very heavy sum to 
 impose upon any one in the little colony. The 
 accused, not understanding the nature of the charge 
 brought against him, a copy of it in writing was 
 delivered to him with instruction to appear upon the 
 next court day. The Sheriff then informed the court 
 that the Governor and Council had resolved that the 
 Jews who had come in the preceding autumn as well 
 as those that had recently arrived from Holland, 
 must prepare to depart forthwith; that they would 
 receive notice thereof, and the Sheriff asked if the 
 court, which was also a council for the municipal gov- 
 ernment of the city, had any objection' to make; 
 whereupon, says the record, it was decided that the 
 Governors resolution should take its course. (10) 
 
 10, The following is the record of the hearing: 
 
 '' Monday, ist March, 1655. 
 
 In the City Hall 
 Present, 
 
 The Heeren 
 
 AUart Anthony, 
 Oloff Stevenson, 
 Cornells Van Tienhoven, 
 Johannes Verbrugge, 
 Johannes Nevius, 
 Johannes de Peyster, 
 Jacob Striker and 
 
 Van Vinge. 
 Cornells Van Tienhoven, in quality of Sheriff of this City, PJaintiflf, 
 
 vs, 
 Abram De La Simon, a Jew, Defendant. 
 Plaintiflf rendering his demand in writing, saying that he, De La 
 Simon, hath kept his store open during the sermon, and sold by 
 
12 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 This notice, I presume, was given, as some left, for 
 their number appears to have diminished. Others, 
 however, remained, the Governor's course being 
 arrested by the order received from Holland, (ii) 
 Fortunately for those who departed, there was one 
 
 retail, as proved by affidavit, concluding therefore, that Defendant 
 shall be deprived of 'his trade and condemned in a fine of 600 
 guilders. The charge having been read before Defendant, who 
 not understanding the same, it was ordered that a copy be given 
 Defendant to answer the same before next Court Day. The 
 Heer Cornelis Van Tienhoven informed the Burgomaster and 
 Schepens that the Director General and Supreme Council have 
 resolved that the Jews who came here last year from the West 
 Indies and now from Fatherland, must prepare to depart forthwith, 
 and that they shall receive notice thereof, and asked if the Burgo- 
 master and Schepens had anything to object thereto. It was de- 
 cided, not; but that the resolution relating thereto should take its 
 course." — Valentine's Manual for 18-I.9, P- 3^7- 
 
 Before this order could be carried out, the orders from Holland 
 to the contrary probably arrived, as will presently appear. The 
 best proof of this is that the names of all of these early Jewish 
 immigrants appear in the official records frequently and con- 
 tinuously subsequent to the date of this order. 
 
 I have ventured to add the following amusing incident, also 
 bearing on the observance of the Sunday in early New York, 
 which gives evidence of the changed condition of affairs a century 
 and a half later: "A story is related of a respectable Jew at New 
 York, who, through the malice of a powerful neighbor, was chosen 
 constable, an office which the former endeavored to be excused 
 from serving. The first Sunday of his entering upon his office, he 
 seated himself on a stool before his door, and every servant that 
 went by to fetch water, he took the pails from. He also inter- 
 rupted, as far as in his power, every kind of work on the Sabbath 
 day, and so annoyed his enemy and the rest of the neighborhood 
 with the severity of his regulations, that they were glad to sub- 
 stitute another in his place." — A Description of the City of New 
 York, 1807-8, by John Lambert. Valentine's Manual for 1870, 
 p. 864.— Editor. 
 
 It. On the 13th of March. 1656, the Directors wrote a letter 
 to Stuyvesant, containing the following: "The permission given to 
 the Jews to go to New Netherland and enjoy the same privileges, as 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 1 3 
 
 spot in America where universal toleration was re- 
 cognized: the little colony founded by Roger Wil- 
 liams in Rhode Island. A fugitive himself from 
 persecution, Roger Williams had laid down as a 
 fundamental principle of his commonwealth the 
 sanctity of conscience; that the civil magistrate 
 should restrain crime but not control opinions; that 
 he should punish guilt but never violate the freedom 
 of the soul — a doctrine, says Bancroft, which was an 
 entire reformation of theological jurisprudence, and 
 gave equal protection to every form of religious faith. 
 In 1653, two years before the arrival of these Jewish 
 emigrants, the colony of Rhode Island enacted that 
 
 they have here (in Amsterdam), has been granted only as far as 
 civil and political rights are concerned, without giving the said 
 Jews a claim to the privilege of exercising their religion in a syna- 
 gogue or a gathering; so long, therefore, as you receive no request 
 for granting them this liberty of religious exercise, your considera- 
 tions and anxiety about this matter aie premature, and when later 
 something shall be said about it, you can do no better than to refer 
 them'to us, and await the necessary order. Your next remark 
 concerning trade does not as yet divert us from our resolution." 
 
 Again, on the 14th of June, 1656, they wrote: "We have seen 
 and heard with displeasure, that against our orders of the 15th day 
 of February, 1655, issued at the request of the Jewish or Portu- 
 guese nation, you have forbidden them to trade to Fort Orange 
 and the South River, also the purchase of real estate, which is 
 granted to them without difficulty here in this country, and we 
 wish it had not been done, and that you had obeyed our orders, 
 which you must always execute punctually and with more respect. 
 Jews or Portuguese people, however, shall not be employed in any 
 public service (to which they are neither admitted in this city), nor 
 allowed to have open retail shops, but they may quietly and peace- 
 fully carry on their business as beforesaid and exercise in all quiet- 
 ness their religion within their houses, for which end they must 
 without doubt endeavor to build their houses close together in a 
 convenient place on one or the other side of New Amsterdam — at 
 their choice— as they have done here.'' — Documents Relating to 
 the Colonial History of the State of New York. Vol. XIV, pp. 
 34^1 351 respectively. — Editor 
 
14 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 "all men of whatever nation soever they may be, that 
 shall be received inhabitants of any of the towns, shall 
 have the same privileges as Englishmen, any law to 
 the contrary notwithstanding," which was both a 
 general act of naturalization to all who came within 
 that colony, as well as a recognition of the privilege 
 of all to the equal enjoyment of civil rights. 
 
 It is my impression that those who departed went 
 to Rhode Island. The Rhode Island historians say 
 (iia) that the Jews came to Newport, R. I., as early 
 as 1657; that they were of Dutch extraction; that 
 they came from the island of Curacoa; that they were 
 not possessed of the wealth, intelligence or enter- 
 prise which so eminently distinguished those who 
 settled in Newport afterwards, and in the very year 
 mentioned by these historians, 1657, an event occur- 
 red in Rhode Island, which pointed it out as the 
 place for all who sought the sacred enjoyment of civil 
 and religious liberty. 
 
 The persecuted Quakers had full refuge there, and 
 the commissioners of the United Colonies remon- 
 strated with the President of that colony for protect- 
 ing this troublesome sect. The answeir given to this 
 remonstrance was, that "persecution only tended to 
 increase sects," and that they had no law in Rhode 
 Island "for preventing any one from declaring by 
 words their mind or understanding concerning the 
 ways or the things of God," one of the noblest 
 expositions ever given of religious freedom. From 
 these circumstances and the proximity of Rhode 
 Island, I infer that some of the Jewish emigrants left 
 New Amsterdam and settled in Newport, between 
 the years 1655 and 1657, and that they were after- 
 wards joined by others who came directly from Cura- 
 
 II a. Peterson's History, of R. I,, p. 181. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I5 
 
 coa. There were at that time vessels trading be- 
 tween Curacoa and New Amsterdam, and as the 
 scheme for a Jewish colony at the former place had, 
 after two years of time, proved abortive, and the 
 affairs of the island were otherwise not prosperous, 
 the probability is that some of the Jews, who had 
 gone out there, left, and coming as they naturally 
 would on the return passage to New Amsterdam, and 
 being there informed of the advantages presented by 
 Rhode Island, that they joined their coreligionists in 
 that colony, and with those previously there, became 
 the nucleus of the wealthy and influential Jewish 
 community, which continued to expand and flourish 
 in Newport until some time after the American 
 revolution. 
 
 Of the Jews who remained in New York, then 
 called New Amsterdam, the most prominent or lead- 
 ing man appears to have been Abraham D'Lucena, 
 as his name generally appears first in the several 
 applications made in behalf of himself and his 
 brethren to Stuyvesant's government. In July, 1655, ^ 
 
 he applied, with several others, for a burying ground, 
 but the request was rudely refused, the reply being, 
 "that there was no need for it yet." (12) Death, 
 however, says O'Callaghan, soon removed this 
 excuse, and on the 14th of July, 1656, a lot was 
 granted to them on the outside of the city "for a 
 place of interment. " The exact place outside the 
 city, where the first burial place of the Jewish race 
 in North America was, has not been positively ascer- 
 tained. It is my impression, for reasons that will be 
 
 12. Calendar of Historical Manuscripts. Edited by E. B, 
 O'Callaghan. Dutch Manuscripts, Council Minutes, p. 150. 
 
 Burial ground granted, Feb. 22d, 1656. Do. p. 160, O'Callag- 
 han's date seems erroneous. — Editor. 
 
1 6 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 stated hereafter, that it was on the side of a ridge of 
 elevated ground near the southerly side of the pres- 
 ent site of Oliver Street, west of Madison and near 
 Henry Street. 
 
 At the period 1655, the position of the city was 
 perilous. It was exposed to attacks from Spanish 
 cruisers and pirates, and to assaults from the Indians, 
 who had been badly treated by the Dutch governors, 
 and were enemies. The eucroachments of the Eng- 
 lish, moreover, in Long Island and Westchester, was 
 the subject of constant anxiety, England never hav- 
 ing conceded the right of the Dutch to settle New 
 Netherland, and there was an apprehension of what 
 afterwards occurred, the capture of the place by the 
 English. This being the state of things, all the male 
 inhabitants, capable of bearing arms, were enrolled 
 in what was called the Burgher Guard, for the pro- 
 tection and defence of the city, and a watch was 
 kept up night and day with the steadiness and vigil- 
 ance of a beleaguered town. A few mouths after the 
 arrival of these Jewish emigrants, the question arose 
 whether the adult males among them should be 
 incorporated in the Burgher Guard ; the officer of the 
 guard submitting the question to the Governor and 
 Council. It was duly deliberated upon and an ordi- 
 nance was passed which, after reciting the unwilling- 
 ness "of the mass of the citizens" to be fellow-soldiers 
 "of the aforesaid nation,'' or watch in the same guard- 
 hDuse, and the fact that the Jews in Holland did not 
 serve in the trainbands of the cities, but paid a com- 
 pensation for their exemption therefrom, declared 
 that they should be exempt from this military ser- 
 vice, and that for such exemption each male person 
 between the ages of 16 and 60 should pay a monthly 
 contribution of sixty-five stivers. (13) 
 
 13. Resolution to exempt the Jews from military service, 28th 
 of August, (1655): 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 17 
 
 This was not absolute, and, accordingly, two of 
 them, Jacob Barsimson and Asser Levy, petitioned 
 to be allowed to stand guard like the other burghers, 
 or to be relieved from the tax imposed upon their 
 nation, which was refused by the Governor and 
 Council with the curt addition, that "they might go 
 elsewhere if they liked." (14) Neither of them, how- 
 
 \j 
 
 The Captains and officers of the trainbands of this city having 
 asked the Director General and Council, whether the Jewish people, 
 who reside in this city, should also train and mount guard with 
 the citizens' bands, this was taken in consideration and deliberated 
 upon: first the disgust and unwillingness of these trainbands to be 
 fellow-soldiers with the aforesaid nation and to be on guard with 
 them in the same guard house, and on the ether side, that the said 
 nation was not admitted or counted among the citizens, as regards 
 trainbands or common citizens' guards, neither in the illustrious City 
 of Amsterdam nor (to our knowledge) in any city in Netherland; but 
 in order that the said nation may honestly be taxed for their freedom \^' 
 
 in that respect, it is directed by the Director General and Council 
 to prevent further discontent, that the aforesaid nation shall, 
 according to the usages of the renowned City of Amsterdam, 
 remain exempt from the general training and guard duty, on con- 
 dition that each male person over 16 and under 60 years contribute 
 for the aforesaid freedom towards the relief of the general muni- 
 cipal taxes 65 stivers [$1.30] every month, and the military council 
 of the citizens is hereby authorized and charged to carry this into 
 effect until our further orders, and to collect pursuant to the above, 
 the aforesaid contribution once in every month, and in case of 
 refusal, to collect it by legal process. Thus done in Council at 
 Fort Amsterdam, on the day as above. 
 (It was signed]: 
 
 P. Stuyvesant, 
 Nicasius De Sille, 
 Cornelis Van Tienhoven. 
 
 (Vol. XII, p. 96, Documents Relating to Colonial History, 
 etc.) — Editor 
 
 14. Calendar of Historical Manuscripts. Do. Council Minutes, 
 p. 151. November 5, 1655. 
 
 Asser Levy's name appears more frequently, probably, than that 
 of any other Jewish settler of this time, in the official records. He 
 
 I 
 
l8 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 ever, had any such disposition, for Barsimson's name 
 appears subsequently as a litigant in the courts, and 
 Asser Levy, who was a butcher, became afterwards 
 a prominent man in the colony, and was distin- 
 guished from the beginning for the pertinacity with 
 which he insisted upon the rights of himself and his 
 brethren. 
 
 In December of the same year, 1655, one of their 
 number, Salvator D'Andrada, who was also a mer- 
 chant, purchased at auction a house and lot in the 
 city, but when he came to pay the purchase money, 
 an objection was raised as to his right to acquire and 
 hold real estate. He accordingly petitioned the 
 Governor and council, praying that he might be 
 allowed to take a deed, being ready to pay the pur- 
 chase money. His application was refused for, says 
 the record, "pregnant reasons." The owner then 
 petitioned that he might be allowed to convey his 
 house and lot to D'Andrada, or, if not that the Gov- 
 ernor and council would take it in virtue of their 
 right of pre-emption, and pay the price. But this 
 was also refused, the sale was declared void and the 
 property was afterwards sold to another person. (15) 
 
 Abraham D'lvucena, then, together with four of 
 his brethren, presented March 14th, 1656, a formal 
 petition, setting forth that they and their coieligion- 
 ists were assessed the same as other citizens, and 
 
 seems to have been extremely active and to have held even certain 
 public offices. A long article of interest can be written about him 
 alone. — Editor. 
 
 15. Calendar of Historical Manuscripts do, pp. 156, 1 57. 
 
 By the order of the 14th of June, 1656, from the Directors to 
 Stuyvesant (see Note 1 1), the Jews were expressly given permis- 
 sion to own real estate, and Stuyvesant was censured for having 
 prevented them from so doing. Subsequently to this, they seem 
 to have had no difficulties about this matter. — Editor, 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I9 
 
 asking that they should have in, common with others 
 the same right to trade and to hold real estate, 
 according to the act of the Amsterdam directors of 
 February 15th, 1655. (^^) T^hey were not only as- 
 sessed with the other tax-paying inhabitants, but, 
 as appears from the records, very heavily, at least 
 those mentioned in the petition. In the preceding 
 year, 1655, ^ ^^^ "^^^ imposed to defray the cost of 
 erecting the outer fence, or city wall, from which 
 the present Wall Street takes it name. For this these 
 five petitioners were assessed each 1,000 florins, being 
 the same amount imposed upon the wealthiest of the 
 citizens, and two-thirds of the amount assessed upon 
 the Governor, as the representative of the company, 
 showing that they were either among the wealthiest 
 of the inhabitants, or were very unequally taxed. 
 
 Abm. D'Lucena, then and for many years after- 
 wards a merchant in the city, together with several 
 of his brethren, put goods on board a ship bound for 
 the Delaware river, claiming that under the Act of 
 the Amsterdam Chamber of Feb. 15th, 1655, they 
 had a general right to trade, and on the 29th of 
 November, 1655, they petitioned the Governor that 
 they might have the right to trade to the Delaware, 
 
 16. Calendar of Historical Manuscripts do. p. 162. The names 
 of the petitioners were: Abraham de Lucena, Jacob Cohen 
 Henricque, Salvator Dandrada, Joseph D'Ccster and David Frera, 
 The Directors and Council .answered that they awaited further 
 instructions from Holland, which were received soon after in the 
 letter of 14th June, 1656, mentioned in the last note and found in 
 Note II. 
 
 The assessment list may be found in Valentine's History of the 
 City of New York, pp. 315-8. It includes the following names 
 and amounts in currency of the present day: Abraham La Cuya, 
 (Lucena?), $40; Joseph d'Costar, $40; David Frera, $40; Fusilador 
 Dandrade, $40; Jacob .Cowyn, $40; Jacob Barsimson, $3.— 
 Editor. 
 
20 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 (the Southriver) and to Albany, (Fort Orange). 
 The privilege to trade as requested was refused, 
 but they were allowed to forward the gocds they had 
 shipped, with the understanding, however, that it 
 was not to be taken as a precedent and their general 
 application was referred "to Fatherland," that is, to 
 the Directors of the West India Company, or the por- 
 tion of them known as the Amsterdam Chamber (17). 
 
 17. This petition is found below, as well as an account of the 
 deliberations upon it: 
 
 "To the Honorable Worshipful Director General and Council of 
 New Netherlands show with due reverence, (name) for themselves 
 and in the name of others of the Jewish nation, residing in that 
 city, that under date of the 15th of February, 1655, they, the peti- 
 tioners, have from the Honorable Lords Directors of the Incorpo- 
 rated West India Company, Masters and Patrons of the Province, 
 received permission and consent to travel, reside and trade here 
 like the other inhabitants and enj:)y the same liberties, which is 
 proved by the document here annexed. They request therefore 
 respectfully, that your Noble Worships will not prevent or hinder 
 them herein but will allow and consent that, pursuant to their 
 permit, they may, with other inhabitants of this Province, travel to 
 and trade on the South River of New Netherland, at Fort Orange 
 and other places, situate within the jurisdiction of this Government 
 of New Netherland. So doing etc., they shall remain your Ncble 
 Worships' 
 
 humble servants, 
 Signed, Abraham de Lucena, 
 
 Salvator Dandrada, 
 Jacob Coen.'' 
 
 After the foregoing petition had been read, at the meeting of 
 the Director General and Council, it was resolved, that each of 
 the members of the Council should give his opinion as to what 
 answer is to be made: 
 
 Opinion of the Honorable Director General, Petrus Stuyvesant: 
 
 •To answer, that the petition is 10 be denied fur weighty reasons." 
 Opinion of the Honorable Nicasius de Sille: 
 
 He says, that "he does not like to act herein contrary to the 
 orders of the Lords Directors, but that at present, as they have put 
 on board ship goods for the Southriver, permission might be 
 given to them, and further orders in answer to the last letter sent to 
 the Lords Directors, should be awaited." 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 21 
 
 The constant hostility of Stuyvesant, and his per- 
 sistent efforts to deprive them of what they would 
 have enjoyed in Holland, was in itself a cause for 
 inducing others to remove to Rhode Island, and no 
 doubt did contribute to increase the numbers of those 
 who settled in Newport. Those who remained 
 undoubtedly communicated to their influential 
 brethren in Holland, the treatment they continued 
 to receive at the hands of Stuyvesant. For on the 
 13th of March, 1656, the Directors wrote to Stuyve- 
 sant, that the consent given that they might go to 
 New Netherland and enjoy there "the same liberty 
 their nation enjoyed in Holland included all the civil 
 
 Opinion of the Honorable Lamontagne. 
 
 "To answer, that for weighty reasons, the petition is denied.'' 
 Opinion of the Honorable Cornells van Tienhoven, written by 
 himself: 
 
 "Cornells van Tienhoven is of opinion under correction, that to 
 grant the petition of the Jews for permission to go to the South- 
 river and Fort Orange, although the noble Lords Directors had 
 allowed this nation to live and trade in New Netherland, would 
 nevertheless be very injurious to the community and population of 
 the said places, and therefore the petition must be denied for the 
 coming winter, and ample report be made thereon to the Lords 
 Directors, also that for this time a young man of that nation may 
 be allowed to go to the Southriver with some goods, without 
 thereby establishing a precedent.'' 
 
 " Petition of Abraham de Lucena and other Jews for permission 
 to trade on the South River, etc.," Documents relating to Colonial 
 History, XII. pp. 117, 118, 29th November. 1655. 
 
 This last opinion appears to have been adopted, for an order was 
 issued that "for weighty reasons is the request expressed in general 
 terms declined, but as we are informed the suppliants have 
 embarked already some goods thither.so are they now permitted to 
 send two persons towards Southriver to trade with them, and when 
 they shall have disposed of their goods, then to return hither." — 
 Albany Records, Vol. X., p. 178, quoted in Hazard's Annals of Pa 
 p. 205. Calendar of Historical Manuscripts, etc., p. 156. — Editor. 
 
22 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 and religious privileges," and wheu the Amsterdam 
 Chamber were advised of the Governor's refusal to 
 allow them to trade, the Chamber, June 14th, 1656, 
 expressed its dissatisfaction by letter in very strong 
 terms, in these words: "We have observed with 
 displeasure that, contrary to our concessions, granted 
 on the 15th of February, 1655, to the Jeivs or 
 Portuguese nation, you have forbidden them to 
 trade to Fort Orange (18), and to the South - 
 river (19), or to purchase real estate which is here 
 allowed without any difficulty," and then, after 
 declaring their wish, that the Governor ought more 
 respectfully to follow their orders and obey them ac- 
 cording'to their tenor, the letter added: "The Jews 
 
 18, Shortly after this, on December 28th. 1655, we find Isaac 
 Israel and Benjamin Cardoso among the traders on the Delaware 
 with Vice-Director Jean Paul Jacquet. In spite of the terms of the 
 order in the note above, or more properly in consequence of the 
 letter from the Directors, no difficulties seem to have been placed 
 in the way of Jews settling permanently here. In 1663, we find 
 that Israel was a member of the High Council of the Director of 
 the D. W. I. Co's. colony on the South River (Delaware River). 
 In 1680, wa find a Mr. Isaack and Richard Levey among the 
 responsible house-keepers near the Delaware River. These facts 
 are of unusual interest, because they indicate that Jews settled in 
 the present State of Delaware at New Castle and elsewhere at such 
 an early date. My authorities are given at some length in Appendix 
 I.— Editor. 
 
 19. Jews seemed to have availed themselves of permission to 
 trade at Fort Orange, TAlbany) at a very early date. This is 
 evidenced by references to Asser Levy engaging in purchases of 
 merchandise and real estate in Albany in 1661. See "Early Records 
 of the City and County of Albany'', by J. Pearson, pp. 297, 308 
 309, 362. 371, 372, 376, 381; as appears from the text, the family of 
 Asser Levy, after his death, settled on Long Island, making 
 another early Jewish settlement. 
 
 In August, 1678, we also find Jacob Lucena petitioning for a pass 
 to go to Albany and Esopus to trade. — Calendar of Historical 
 manuscripts. — Editor. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 23 
 
 or Portuguese uationare not, however, to be at liberty 
 to exercise any handicraft or to keep any open retail 
 store, which they cannot do in this city. But they 
 shall pursue peaceably and quietly their cominerce 
 as aforesaid, and be at liberty to exercise their religi- 
 ous worship in all quietness within their houses." 
 
 After the letter was received, Asser Levy applied 
 to the Court of Burgomaster and Schepens to admit 
 him to the right of citizenship, and exhibited his 
 certificate to the Court to show that he had been a 
 burgher in Amsterdam; but his request was not com- 
 plied with. Salvator D'Andrada, and others also 
 made a similar application (20) and were refused, 
 whereupon they brought the matter before the 
 Governor and Council, and as the directions from 
 Holland were controlling, an order was made April 
 2ist, 1657, tl^^t the Burgomaster should admit them 
 to that privilege. Here the struggle virtually ended, 
 and they were no longer troubled during the Dutch 
 rule. The names of these early emigrants, so far as 
 they can now be gathered from the records, are as 
 follows: Abraham D'Lucena, David Israel, Moses / 
 
 Ambrosius, Abraham De L,a Simon, Salvator D'An- 
 drada, Joseph Da Costa, David Frera, Jacob Barsim- 
 son, Jacob C. Henricque, or as it was sometimes 
 written, Jacob Cohen, Isaac Mesa, and Asser Levy, 
 nearly all of whom would seem from the names to 
 have been of Portuguese or Spanish origin. 
 
 Abraham D'Lucena is the person to whom I 
 Teferred in the beginning in connection with an act 
 of charity. A vessel, purporting to be a Spanish 
 privateer, but commanded by a Dutchman, captured 
 a Spanish vessel upon the ocean, and brought the 
 
 20. The Market Book, p. 50. Calendar of Historical Manu- 
 scripts, etc., p. 184. 
 
24 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 cargo, consisting of twenty-seven negroes and merch- 
 andise, to New Amsterdam, where he disposed of 
 the negroes among the inhabitants in exchange for 
 other commodities. The owner of the negroes 
 applied to Holland for restitution, and the Dutch 
 government directed the authorities in New 
 Amsterdam, to see that justice was done to him. He 
 accordingly came out to the colony but could get no 
 satisfaction, and through his long waiting having 
 exhausted his means, and been reduced to a state of 
 great destitution, he was supported for some time by 
 the authorities, as he complained, in a very insuffici- 
 ent manner, and Lucena paid liis passage to enable 
 him to return to Knrope. (21) A descendant of 
 Lucena, was living in 1759, and hisson, as I presume 
 from the name, Abraham D'lvUcena, was the second 
 Jewish minister or preacher in the first synagogue 
 erected in this city. 
 
 The citv was captured by the English in 1664, and 
 its name changed to New York. For half a century 
 afterwards, very little is to be found respecting the 
 Jewish residents. Their increase in numbers was 
 very moderate, for the reason probably that few of 
 their persuasion emigrated to the colony, after the 
 government passed into the hands of the English. In 
 1683, an act was passed by the Colonial Assembly for 
 the naturalization of foreigners; but it offered no 
 advantage to them as it was limited to those profess- 
 ing Christianity. (22). 
 
 In 1685, Saul Brown, a merchant who had come 
 from Newport and settled in New York, complained 
 to Governor Dongan, by petition, that he had been 
 
 21. The date of this incident is 1657. See Documents relating 
 to Colonial History of the State of New York, Vol. II., p. 39. — 
 Editor. 
 
 22. Parker's Laws of New York, 112. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 25 
 
 interfered with in his trade under an existing muni- 
 cipal regulation. The Governor referred Brown's 
 petition to the Mayor and Common Council, who 
 declared that no Jew could sell by retail in the city, 
 but might by wholesale, if the Governor thought 
 fit to permit it. (23). There was a previous regula- 
 tion that none but burghers or freemen could sell by 
 retail, and this was equivalent to holding that no Jew 
 could become a burgher or freeman of the city. The 
 privilege to sell by wholesale, however, must have 
 been conceded to Brown, for he was for many years 
 afterwards a prominent merchant. 
 
 In 1683, a Charter of L-iberties and Privileges was 
 adopted by the colonial legislature, which among 
 other provisions, declared that "no one should be 
 molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question 
 for his religious opinions, ^\iQ> professed faith in God, 
 by Jesus Christ^'''' but that all such persons should 
 "at all times freely have and enjoy their judgments 
 and consciences in matters of religion throughout the 
 province,'' which was extending religious freedom to 
 all but Jews. This Charter was regarded as a great 
 public triumph, aud the inhabitants of the city were 
 summoned by sound of trumpet to assemble and hear 
 it publicly read in front of the City Hall, in presence 
 of all the city and colonial authorities. 
 
 Two years afterwards, 1685, the Jewish residents, 
 who must have heard a great deal about the religious 
 freedom secured by this charter, petitioned Governor 
 Dongan "for liberty to exercise their religion," 
 probably unaware that the provision in the charter 
 did not apply to them, or, perhaps, supposing that 
 the Governor had power independent of this pro- 
 
 23. 2 Dunlop, Appendix cxxxiv , Booth's History of New York, 
 p. 198, 2 Brod.,p, 426. 
 
26 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 vincial statute. In the formal written instructions 
 of James, Duke of York, afterwards James 11. , to 
 Governor Audros, who had succeeded Dongan, the 
 Governor was required "to permit all persons of what 
 religion soever, quietly to inhabit within the govern- 
 ment, and to give no disturbance or disquiet whatso- 
 ever for or b}' reason of their differing in matters of 
 religion." But this important provision was left out 
 in the written instructions to Governor Dongan, 
 which may have been the reason for bis adopting the 
 course which he did, which was to refer the petition 
 to the Mayor and Common Council of New York, by 
 whom it was considered, and their decision is 
 recorded in these words: "that no public worship is 
 tolerated by act of assembly, but to those that profess 
 faith in Christ, and therefore the Jew's worship not 
 to be allowed." 
 
 When James, however, became king, a new copy 
 of instructions was, in 1686, sent out to Dongan, in 
 which this important promise was re-inserted, and 
 they may have led to what afterwards took place, 
 for it is certain that the Jews had a synagogue 
 as early as 1695 and may have it in 1691, for La 
 Motthe Cadillac, in his account of New York in 
 1691, enumerates the Jews as one of the sects and 
 then says that each sect had its church and free- 
 dom of religion. (24). Dongan, who was one of the 
 best Governors the colony ever had, was a very 
 liberal-minded man, and it is very probable that he 
 may, when his new instructions came out with this 
 clause restored, have granted to the Jewish residents 
 this privilege they asked, or it may, in consequence 
 of the restoration of the particular clause, have been 
 conceded during the temporary rule of Leisler, or by 
 
 24 Colonial Documents, ix., 549. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 2 7 
 
 the succeeding Governors, Sloughter or Fletcher. 
 
 (25)- 
 
 The synagogue referred to, which I suppose to have 
 been the first upon the Continent of North America, 
 was on the south side of the present Beaver Street, 
 in the middle of the block, between Broadway and 
 Broad Street. Its existence in 1695 and its location 
 are established by a. description of New York, written 
 by the Rev. John Miller, Chaplain to the English 
 g-arrison, to which description he affixed a plan or 
 map of the city, in which the position of the public 
 buildings and especially all the religious edifices, is 
 carefully indicated as they existed in 1695. 
 
 In the text of the work. Miller gave a tabular state- 
 ment of the different religious denominations, the 
 number of each, and the name of the minister; from 
 which it appears that the Jewish congregation con- 
 sisted of twenty families and the name of the minis- 
 ter was Saul Brown. This was the merchant already 
 referred to, who in 1685 was allowed the burgher 
 privileges and, as he was carrying on business in 1685 
 as a merchant, and for several years afterwards, it is 
 presumed that he was not a regular minister, but 
 what is known in Jewish congregations as a reader. 
 The building used as a synagogue must, from the 
 indications upon the map, have been a small one. 
 
 25, In the volume for 1885 of the New York Historical Society 
 Collections, the names of two Jews, Isaac Henriquez and Simon 
 Bonan, appear on the rolls of Freemen, in 1687-8 and others subse- 
 quently, so that Dongan, or one of his immediate successors, 
 appears to have swept away this discrimination against the Jews, 
 of which Samuel Brown complained. Besides in 1683, permission 
 had been granted to Joseph Bueno and others, whom we know to 
 have been Jewish, " to trade and traffic within the city of New 
 York,''— Calendar of Historical Manuscripts — Eng. Man. p. 154. — 
 Editor. 
 
28 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 It was possibly nothing more than an ordinary house, 
 converted into a place for public worship, as was the 
 case at the time in respect to the religious edifices of 
 the several other of the smaller denominations. ^It 
 is represented on the map as corresponding with the 
 building in the next street to it, used by the French 
 Protestants, which was a very humble edifice. Saul 
 Brown was succeeded by Abraham D'Lucena. Lucena 
 was also a merchant. It appears, however, that in 
 1710, he petitioned Governor Hunter, to be exempted, 
 as minister for the Jews, from all offices and duties* 
 civil and military (26). I cannot say whether this 
 application was granted or not, but he carried on 
 business afterwards as a merchant, having been con- 
 cerned with others in furnishing provisions for the 
 expedition against Canada in 1711. (27). 
 
 When lyord Bellamont was Governor in 1698, he had 
 arrayed against him the leading merchants in con- 
 sequence of his efforts to put down the piracy con- 
 nived at by his predecessors, and was also opposed 
 by the aristocratic party, because he had disapproved 
 of their course in the trial and execution of Leisler. 
 The aristocratic and mercantile class combined 
 together, so as to deprive him oi the pecuniary means 
 necessary to carry on his government, and so extensive 
 and powerful was this combination, that he writes in 
 1700 to the Lords of Trade: "Were it not for one 
 Dutch merchant and two or three Jews that have let 
 me have money, I should have been undone." (28). 
 
 In the beginning of this century, 1700, a very 
 profitable commerce was carried on between New 
 
 26. Calendar of Historical Manuscripts. English Manuscripts, 
 p. 373. This petition is reprinted in Documental y History of the 
 State of New York. Vol. HI., p. 434. 
 
 27. Calendar of Historical Manuscripts. Eng. MSS., p. 391. 
 
 28. Colonial Documents, iv., p. 720. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 29 
 
 York and the West Indies, in which several of the 
 Jewish merchants were engaged, and there being 
 great scarcity in Europe about the close of the French 
 war, wheat was exported from New York to lyisbon. 
 Though this trade was of short duration it proved 
 exceedingly profitable to those engaged in it, so that 
 several^of them were enabled to purchase estates. (29). 
 Two of the merchants engaged in this traffic to Lyisbon 
 were Abraham D'Lucena and Louis Oomez, and as 
 they were afterward two of the most affluent of the 
 Jewish residents, it may be supposed that they were 
 among the fortunate in this Lisbon trade, which 
 could not be raaiutained when the price of wheat fell 
 in Europe, as the vessels obtained no cargos upon 
 their return voyage to New York. 
 
 Though this direct trade between New York and 
 Portugal was, as I have said, of short duration, it 
 was attended by an increase in the Jewish population 
 both in New York and Newport, and I infer, that the 
 vessels engaged in it brought Jewish passengers upon 
 the return voyage, some of whom remained in New 
 York whilst others settled in Newport. I infer this, as 
 new names undoubtedly of Spanish or Portuguese 
 origin appear about this period for the first time 
 among the Jewish residents. (30). 
 
 29, Valentine's Manual, 1852. 
 
 30. In this connection, it is interesting to notice that even at 
 this early period the various nationalities of Europe seem to have 
 been pretty well represented among the Jewish inhabitants of 
 New York City. Some evidence of this fact is found in the follow- 
 ing passage from a letter which appears in the New York 
 Historical Society Collections for 1880, p. 342. It appears that one 
 of the clergy of the city, the Rev. John Sharpe, proposed that a 
 School Library and Chapel be erected in New York City, in 1712-3. 
 Some of the advantages which the city offered for that purpose are 
 pointed by him as follows: "It is possible also to learn Hebrew 
 here as well as in Europe, there being a synagogue of Jews, and 
 
3© JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 One of the principal personages in the Jewish com- 
 munity at this period was Louis Gomez, who emi- 
 grated from England to New York about thp 
 commencement of this century and died in 1730. He 
 had five sons: Mordecai, Daniel, David, Isaac and 
 Benjamin. Mordecai was associated with his father 
 in mercantile business and became the head of the 
 house upon his father's death. He was, until his 
 death in 1750, one of the principal merchants of New- 
 York, and the accession of this Gomez family, who 
 were men of intelligence and of high character, proved 
 a very material addition to the little Jewish commu- 
 nity, of which they were for many years the recognized 
 head. (31). 
 
 The Synagogue in Beaver Street was now found 
 to be too small or of too humble a character for a 
 denomination, who, though limited in numbers, were 
 as a body both wealthy and influential. (32). It was 
 
 many ingenious men of that nation from Poland, Hungary, 
 Germany, etc." — Editor. 
 
 31. The above remarks are based on numerous references 'to 
 the family in the colonial annals. These and many other similar 
 statements show how large and varied the commercial relations of 
 the Jews of New York were at this ear!y period. There were 
 vessels owned wholly or in part by Jews plying between New York 
 and various points in South America and the West Indies, Europe, 
 Asia and even Africa. When these papers and other data, including 
 commissions of vessels, clearance papers, bills of lading, etc, have 
 been collected (many of the.n are in the Brodhead collection in 
 Albany and need merely be copied and translated), we will have 
 ample material for an elaborate article on the commerce of the 
 Jews of New York from 1655 to the Revolution, and I believe such 
 an article will not only awaken interest but also great surprise, 
 because of the magnitude of the- commerce in question. My own 
 investigations, chiefly in connection with the Documents Relating to 
 the Colonial History of New York, amply warrant these assertions. 
 — Editor. 
 
 32. The text has contained several references to this congre- 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA i 3 1 
 
 accordingly given up in about 1728, and a new 
 synagogue was erected in a different part of the city. 
 This was what was afterwards known as the Mill 
 Street Synagogue, and as the street where it stood 
 has now disappeared in consequence of the changes 
 made in that part of the city after the fire of 1855, it 
 may be of interest to give some account of the locality 
 of this synagogue, which for more than a century was 
 the only one in New York. 
 
 Mill Street was a small narrow street, running out 
 of Broad Street in a north-easterly direction for a 
 short distance, and then suddenly terminating in a 
 narrow lane which ran south into 'Stone Street. 
 The part extending from Broad Street was about or 
 
 gation in the preceding pages. There seems to be but scanty data 
 about its history prior to the beginning of the Eighteenth century. 
 The following will somewhat supplement Judge Daly's remarks. It 
 is based on a communication to the Historical Magazine, Vol, I., 
 p. 366, of Series III., from Rev. Dr. A. Fischell. then a colleague 
 of Rabbi Raphall, of this city: The first minutes of this congrega- 
 tion are in Spanish, beginning in 1729, and have references to certain 
 wholesome rules and regulations made about the year 1706, by the 
 Elders of the Congregation "to preserve peace, tranquility and good 
 government among them and those after them," The following 
 names are affixed; 
 
 Moses Gomez, Daniel Gomez, Benjamin Mendes Pacheco, 
 Abraham Riviero, Mordecai Gomez, Nathan Levy. Isaac d'Medena, 
 Joseph Nunez, Doctor Nunez. D. Costa, Abraham Franks, Baruch 
 Juda, Jacob Franks, and Moses Gomez, Jr. Ten years later the 
 following names were added: J. Myers Cohen, David Gomez, J. 
 R. Rodriguez, Judah Hays, Judah Mears and Solomon Hays. 
 
 The list of names of early Jewish residents given thus far is not 
 by any means to be considered complete. A number of families 
 which arrived here in the seventeenth century seem to have either 
 migrated or become extinct by this time. (1729). There are 
 references to a number of others not yet mentioned, in my posses- 
 sion, but as a couple of them are doubtful and the list cannot 
 be deemed complete, I shall dismiss the subject with this explana- 
 tion.— Editor. 
 
32 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 very near the line of the present South William 
 Street, and the little lane or alley v/here it ended, 
 still remains, running from South William to Stone 
 Street. It was one of the most secluded and quiet 
 streets in the city, and so narrow at either entrance 
 that it might have been passed without recognizing 
 it as a thoroughfare. During the Dutch occupation 
 it was known as the Sluyk Steegie, or miry lane, 
 from the fact that the drainage of the hilly or 
 elevated land which then extended from Hanover 
 Square to near the corner of Exchange Place and. 
 Broad Street, ran into this little valley or open 
 way, which was difficult of passage and had but a 
 few straggling houses of a very humble character. 
 At the upper end of it from Broad Street, there was 
 a copious spring of fresh water which at an early 
 period of the settlement supplied a tannery, and near 
 this tannery was a horse-mill for grinding the bark, 
 from which the locality took its name. At a later 
 period this spring turned a water-mill, from which 
 there was a cartway from Broad Street, long known 
 as Mill Iyane,whilst from the rear of the mill the short 
 narrow lane, which is still existing, ran into Stone 
 Street, then one of the principal streets of the cit}'. 
 In 1663, Asser Levy, previously mentioned as one of 
 the first emigrants, purchased two lots in the part 
 known as Mill Lane, alongside of a house and lot 
 belonging to another Jewish resident, Daniel Jog- 
 himsen (probably Joachimsen), the lots bought by 
 Levy being located, as I infer, from the deed, in about 
 the place where the second or Mill Street Synagogue 
 was built, and very near the spring which supplied 
 the water-mill referred to. Grant Thorburn, when 
 he came to New York in 1794, conversed with a very 
 old man who remembered the mill, the wheel of 
 which was turned by the water from the spring, and he, 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 33 
 
 Thorburu, adds, that the reason assigned for the Jews 
 -erecting their synagogue in this place, was "because 
 of its vicinity to the waters of the spring- water being 
 much used upon their day of purification,'' (33) and 
 Watson records that he heard from the Phillips 
 family that, when the Jews first held their worship 
 in Mill Street, "they had a living spring in which 
 they were accustomed to perform their ablutions and 
 cleansings according to the rites of their religion (34). 
 
 Asser Levy, who purchased this property in Mill 
 Street, was one of the sworn butchers of this city, 
 •who some years afterwards became the proprietor of 
 a celebrated tavern just within the water gate at the 
 bottom of Wall Street, on the outside of which gate he 
 had a slaughter-house, which he had been permitted 
 to erect by the authorities, as a place for slaughtering 
 •cattle for the general use of all persons in the city. 
 He died in 1682, when his family removed to Long 
 Island. (35). He was an active, energetic man, 
 who had acquired considerable property, and the laud, 
 upon which the Mill Street Synagogue was built 
 about 1728, was probably obtained from his heirs, 
 either by gift or purchase. 
 
 The new synagogue received the name of Shearith 
 Israel, Remna7tt of Israel. It was a small stone struc- 
 ture, very plain without, but very neat within. (36). 
 It was separated from the street by a wooden paling, 
 having a gate at the eastern end, and the entrance to 
 the synagogue was in the rear. (37). 
 
 Nearly three quarters of an century had now elapsed 
 
 33. Reminiscences of Grant Thorburn, p. 212, N. J. 1845. 
 
 34. Dunlap's history of New York, p. 484. 
 
 35. De Voe's Market Book. pp. 45, 46, 54. 55. 
 
 36. Smith's History of New York. 
 
 37. There is a drawing of. the building upon the map made 
 hy David Grim of the city, as it existed in 1746. 
 
34 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 since the arrival of the first and the emigrants burial 
 ground being full, measures were taken contempo- 
 raneous with the erection of this synagogue, for pro- 
 curing a new burial place. It appears by the records 
 that on the 26th of July, 1727, a conveyance was made 
 to Louis Gomez, trustee, by Isaac Levy, Asher 
 Nathan Levy, Isaac Levy, Judah Mears and Jacob 
 Franks, executors of Moses Levy, of two lots of 
 ground in "the street commonly known as the Gold 
 Street", marked No. 84 and 85 in the map of the 
 division of the lands of William Beekman, for the 
 consideration of ;^46, 13s. money, "raised" in the 
 language of the deed, "by voluntary subscriptions of 
 the inhabitants of New York of the Jewish religion;" 
 which two lots by the terms of the conveyance were 
 "to be and remain forever "^'thereafter, a burial place 
 for the habitants of the city of New York, being of 
 the Jewish religion, and to and for no other use, in- 
 tent, or purpose whatsoever." These two lots, which 
 had together a front of 50 feet by 112 deep, were on 
 the easterly side of the present Gold Street, between 
 Ferry and Beekman Streets, and I have been thus 
 particular in describing the conveyance of them, as it 
 is necessary in connection with what will be here- 
 after stated to show where the old burial ground was. 
 This property having been obtained, a petition 
 signed by Louis Gomez and eleven others was, on the 
 23d of August, 1728, presented to the Common Coun- 
 cil, setting forth that the "inhabitants ot the City of 
 New York of the Jewish religion'' had "some years 
 since purchased a small piece of land beyond the Fresh 
 Water for a burying place," that the "said burying 
 place was then full," and that "they would have pur- 
 chased some more land adjourning thereto, but it 
 being in dispute, they could not obtain any title to it;" 
 that they "were consequently obliged to purchase 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 35 
 
 lots of land lyings near the Cripple Bush or swamp, 
 but would not presume to make a burying place 
 thereof without the leave of the Common Council;" 
 which petition closed with the request that permis- 
 sion would be given, and the application was granted. 
 From circumstances which afterwards occurred^ 
 these two lots were never used for the purpose for 
 which they had been bought, and as an explanation 
 of what subsequently transpired will show very clear- 
 ly where the first burial ground was, I will give the 
 facts with more minuteness of detail than would 
 otherwise have been called for, as a portion of this 
 old burial ground still remains, and it may be inter- 
 esting to know that the small piece of land in the 
 New Bowery, below Oliver Street, now enclosed from 
 the street by an iron railing and kept as an old Jewish 
 grave-yard, is a part of what was the first burial place 
 of the Jewish race in North America. 
 
 It will be remembered that I stated that the order 
 made in 1656, granting the Jews a burial-ground,^ 
 refers to the place as "outside the City." There was 
 at that time but one road leading outside the City. 
 There was an open or clear space beyond the City 
 Wall, but this, as a locality, was generally referred 
 to in deeds and other documents, as ''outside the 
 City gate." It did not reach very far, and beyond it 
 a dense forest extended for nearly two miles in the 
 direction of Chatham Square; whilst the land to the 
 West, between this wood and the Hudson River, was 
 broken up by low irregular hills, swamps, marshes, 
 and large deposits of water. The road referred to as 
 leading "outside the City," began at the Watergate, 
 about the corner of the present Wall and Pearl Streets 
 for at that time the water of the East River reached 
 up as far as Pearl Street, and the road ran along the 
 edge of the water to what is now Fulton street. At 
 
3^' JEWS IN NORTH AMKRICA 
 
 this point it turned, running along in about the 
 direction of the present Pearl Street, to its junction 
 with Chatham Street, when it extended up Chatham 
 street and up the Bowery to Harlem. What is now 
 Chatham Square^ was then the southern limit of a 
 range of high hills, or perhaps more properly, an ele- 
 vated plateau, extending on the one side as far as the 
 point where Mulberry Street intersects Canal Street, 
 whilst on the easterly side of Chatham Square, this 
 line of hills curved across the present Oliver and 
 Catherine Streets, towards Monroe Street and then 
 ran along what is now very nearly the line of Monroe 
 Street to Rutgers Street. This elevated land, which 
 extended northerly in the direction of Harlem, being 
 in the early settlement well adapted for cultivation 
 whilst the meadows below it and east of it, that is, 
 between it and the East River, being highly prized 
 by the Dutch for the pasturing of cattle, the whole 
 v/as parcelled among the early settlers into farms, 
 or as the Dutch called them, Bouweries, a word that 
 has survived in the name of the present street, the 
 Bowery, which was originally the road leading 
 through these Bouweries in the direction of Harlem. 
 These farms, or Bouweries, were at first leased out by 
 the Dutch Governor, to the original settlers, but 
 being exposed to attacks from the Indians, and hav- 
 ing been twice devastated by the savages, they were 
 almost deserted about the time of the arrival of the 
 first Jewish emigrants in 1654. It was to this locality, 
 afterwards known as Batavia, that the descriptive 
 words "outside the City," in the order allowing the 
 Tews a place of burial appropriately applied in 1656, 
 and that this was the place where the first burial 
 ground stood, T will now proceed to show. 
 
 Within the space now bounded by Broadway, 
 Canal, Mulberry, Chatham and Reade Streets, there 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 3y 
 
 was a lake of considerable extent called by the Dutch 
 "The Kollock," and by the English, "The Fresh 
 Water," which had an outlet into the East River^ by 
 a small stream called the "Oulde Kill," which 
 crossed Chatham Street near Roosevelt Street, and 
 came out into the East River at the bottom oi James 
 Street. This "Kill" or small stream was then and 
 long afterwards regarded as the boundary line be- 
 tween the city and the country, and is distinguished 
 as such in many of the early municipal regulations. 
 (38). 
 
 It crossed the only road leading from the City, and 
 being a convenient line of separation, the land below 
 it, that is, between it and the City Wall, or the pres- 
 ent Wall Street, was uniformly known as the "City 
 Commons," (39) and all above and beyond it upon 
 this road was "outside the City." This little stream 
 was also the southern boundary of a farm which 
 extended along what is now Chatham Street, to a 
 little above Oliver Street,from whence the line of this 
 farm ran to about the present Madison Street, and 
 then southerly along Madison Street to the Kill^ or 
 small stream mentioned. This farm was one of the 
 original "Bouweries,'" granted in 1650, by Governor 
 Stuy vesaut to Wolfert Webbers. The space between 
 it and the East River was in part a meadow and^ in 
 part a low marshy ground, or swamp. The elevated 
 land above was known in the Dutch period as 
 Wolfert's Bouwery; and the land below as Wolfert's 
 Meadow, Near the point where this farm begaoj on 
 the highway, or a little below the present corner of 
 Chatham and Roosevelt Streets, there was a copious 
 spring of pure and delightful water, that descended 
 
 38. Val. Man. for 1866, pp. 611. 
 
 39. Ordinances of Nov. 18th 1731, 20tb, 27tb, 33d. 
 
38 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 from and was filtered through the range of hills 
 above. There was at this period and for a long time 
 afterwards, no city perhaps in the world, the water of 
 which was as bad as that of New York. It was, in 
 fact, so bad that horses coming in from the countiy 
 wouldn't drink it. This spring was therefore highly 
 prized, and was a notable place with which all the 
 inhabitants of the City were familiar, and to which 
 all classes were accustomed to resort, especially on 
 Sundays, and holidays, for the pleasure of drinking 
 this water. Both it and the kill or stream were 
 known in 1728, and long before and afterwards as the 
 *'Fresh Water," (40) and the statement in the peti- 
 tion of the Jewish inhabitants in 1728 that they had 
 "some years since purchased a small piece of land be- 
 yond the Fresh Water, for a burying place," indicates 
 that this burying ground was beyond and very near 
 this well-known spring. 
 
 The spring was situated iu a low valley, close to the 
 highway and to the kill, which at this point (Chatham 
 near Roosevelt Street) was crossed by a bridge called 
 the Kissing Bridge, from an old custom of the city, 
 by which any gentleman riding or walking across 
 this bridge with a lady had the right to salute her. 
 The land above rose as it does now, until it reached 
 its general level above the head of Chatham Square, 
 which was then, as it is still, an open triangular 
 space. At the broad end of this open space, between 
 what is now Division Street and East Broadway, was 
 the farm-house of Harmanus Rutgers, with its build- 
 ings and gardens. On the eastern side of what is now 
 Chatham Square, near the present Oliver Street, stood 
 a wind-mill, and to the south of this wind-mill, on the 
 crest of the hill and facing the East, was this oldjew- 
 
 40. Com. Council, Minutes of May 19th, 1732. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA ' 30 
 
 ish burial ground. It is indicated upon the earliest 
 map known of the city, that of 1664, and its exact 
 place is easily determined by Holland's map of 1757, 
 Maerschalckm's of 1755, and 1763, Ratzer'sof 1765, 
 and Montresor's of 1775. It was in 1728, and for 
 many years afterwards, in a very beautiful position 
 overlooking the meadows below and the city to the 
 south of it and commanding an extensive view of the 
 course of the East River and of the neighboring shores 
 of Long Island. (41). 
 
 It is said in Booth's History of the City of New 
 York, that a Jewish cemetery was first established in 
 the city in 1731, that it was bounded by Chatham, 
 Oliver, Henry and Catherine Streets, and was given 
 by Noe Willey, of London, to his three sons, mer- 
 chants in New York, to be held as a burial place for 
 the Jewish nation forever. No part of this statement 
 is correct. Roy, not Noe Willey, an apothecary of 
 London, became the owner of the farm or Bouwerie 
 on which this first burying ground stood, under these 
 •circumstances. It had passed from the original 
 proprietor, Wolfert Webbers, by successive convey- 
 ance, until it was conveyed in 1698, by William 
 Merritt, a former Mayor of the city, to William Jane- 
 way, a purser of a British vessel of war. Janeway, 
 in 1699, executed a mortgage upon it to Tennis and 
 Jacob Dekay, two persons in New York, for ;^500, 
 and then mortgaged it again in London, in 1700, to 
 Roy Willey for ^340, concealing the fact of the first 
 
 41. There is a print in Valentine's Manual for 1861. p. 520 
 purporting to give a view of this locality and its surroundings at an 
 ■early period, with the Jewish burial ground in the distance, butUks 
 many of the prints in these manuals, it is not the copy of an actual 
 drawing, but an imaginary production, of little value to an investi- 
 gator. As a representation of the Jewish burial ground at any 
 period, it is wholly unreliable. 
 
40 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 mortgage. Janeway died in 1726, and Willey's 
 mortgage being long past due, he instructed an 
 attorney in New York to obtain the payment of it, 
 when the existence of the first mortgage came to 
 light. Willey then sent out a power of attorney to 
 one Richard Davis, the surgeon of a vessel of war 
 upon the New York station, authorizing him to do- 
 whatever might be essential to secure Willey's rights. 
 By an aet passed in the reign of William and Mary, it 
 was declared that, if any one should join in a second 
 mortgage upon land, concealing the existence of a 
 prior mortgage, he should forfeit thereafter all right 
 to redeem the land One of the Dekays was then 
 dead, and had left his interest in the first mortgage 
 to his widow, and Davis commenced proceedings to 
 enable Willey, by paying the first mortgage, to cut 
 ojBf all claims of the Dekays, or of the heirs to Jane- 
 way, and obtain the land himself in satisfaction of 
 his mortgage. This litigation was pending in the 
 Court of Chancery in 1728, and this was the difficulty 
 to which the Jewish petitioners to the Common 
 Council, in 1728, referred, when they stated in their 
 petition, that ''they would have purchased some 
 more land adjoining the burial-ground they then 
 had, but it being in dispute they could not obtain 
 any title to it.'' In 1729, however, a settlement was- 
 effected by Davis. 
 
 Jacob Dekay and the widow of his brother, and 
 also the heirs of Janeway, executed conveyances tO' 
 Willey, by which, without any fuither litigation, he 
 became the owner of the land (42) in all of wliicb 
 conveyances, two places upon the farm, "the Jews' 
 burial ground," and "the family vault of Wm. De 
 
 (42) N. Y. Reg of Deeds, Lib. 31, pp. 109, 406. Albany- 
 Deeds, No 9, p. 474. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 41 
 
 Meyer," a former owner of the farm, were excepted. 
 Roy Willey, thus having become the owner of the 
 property, the difSculty of obtaining land adjoining 
 the old burial place was removed, and measures were 
 immediately taken to procure it by purchase from 
 Willey. 
 
 Indeed, iu anticipation of this settlement, Willey 
 sent out in 1728, a power ot attorney to Davis, 
 giving him authority to execute a deed of the lands 
 required and on the 17th of December, 1720, Davis, 
 as the attorney of Willey, conveyed to Luis Gomez, 
 and his three sons, Mordecai, Daniel and David, for 
 the consideration of £2P^ a piece of ground which iu 
 the language of the deed, began "at the south-east 
 corner of the Jewish burial-place," and extended to 
 the "Highway," the present line of Chatham Square. 
 It was an oblong piece of land, 392 feet long by 56 
 feet broad in the widest part, the boundaries being so 
 arranged, and so expressed in the deed, as to take in 
 in the rear, or southernmost part of it, the existiiip 
 Jewish burial ground which as thus included, con- 
 stituted about one thiid of the whole. (43) 
 
 This deed fixes the exact locality of the burial- 
 ground referred to by the Jewish residents, in their 
 
 (43) The official papers above referred to are at present to be 
 found in the Register's Office, New York City. Copies of them 
 appeared in the Menorah, July, 1892. About 1850, some years 
 after the land in question had ceased to be used as a burial ground, 
 the property in question became the subject of a law-suit. The 
 widow of one of the descendants of the original grantees sued the 
 Tradesmen's Bank, which then owned the property, for dower, 
 but lost the suit, because her husband's ancestors and his associates 
 only took the land as a trust. Much interesting information in 
 regard to the plaintiffs family and the early history of the cemetery 
 developed in the course of the trial. See the report of the case 
 Gomez versus Tradesmen's Bank, 4 Sandford's Reports, 102. — 
 Editor. 
 
42 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 petition to the Common Council in the previous 
 year, and as they state in that petition that it was 
 then full, and as the Jewish population of the city up 
 to that time was a very small one, there can be no 
 doubt that it was the original burial ground of 
 1656. 
 
 In Maerschalckm's map of 1755, sixteen years attei 
 the purchase of the additional ground from Willey, 
 the old burial ground as it was then enclosed and 
 fenced in, is represented as situated a little above 
 Madison Street, and as extending over the present 
 Oliver Street, for about one-third of the block (44^ 
 and in Lieut. Ratzer's map of 1763, (45) it is repre- 
 sented as still enclosed and separated from the rest 
 of the ground, with a small square enclosure in the 
 front of it, that I take to be the family vault of De 
 Meyer, which had been reserved by the De Meyers 
 when they conveyed the land, and being reserved 
 also in the conveyance by the De Kays to Willey in 
 1729, could not be disturbed. (46) 
 
 On the 24th of November, 1730, Luis Gomez and 
 his three sons, Mordecai, Daniel and David, executed 
 an instrument reciting the conveyance of the lands by 
 David to them as the agent of Willey; that they had 
 appropriated ^30 for the purchase of it "for a burial 
 
 (44) Val. Man. for 1849, P- HO- 
 
 (45) N. Y. Reg. of Deeds, Lib. 18, pp. i66, 167. Albany Deeds, 
 No. 9, p. 474. 
 
 (46J It is said in Scovill's Old Merchants of New York, Vol. 2. 
 p. 121, that there were monuments upon this ground, bearing date 
 1652, which would be two years after the original grant of the lana 
 by Governor Stuyvesant. This date, 1652, is probab'y a mistake, 
 Scovill, the author of this work, being a loose and very inaccurate 
 writer. Greenleaf, however, the author of an account of the 
 churches of New York, a careful and accurate writer, states that 
 there were tombstones there of the date of 1678, a fact strengthen- 
 ing the conclusion that this was the first burial ground. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 43 
 
 place for the use of the Jewish nation in general," 
 and that the title, though in their names, was in 
 trust; by which instrument they bound themselves 
 in the sum of ;£i,ooo to Jacob Franks and Nathan 
 Levy, merchants of New York, that they would not 
 sell the land or any part of it, but that it should 
 remain "forever" thereafter as " a burying place for 
 the Jewish nation in general and to no other use 
 •whatever," (47) 
 
 This enlargement of the original burying ground 
 having been thus affected, the two lots in Gold Street 
 were not used for the purpose for which they were 
 "bought, but remained in the Gomez family, as I find 
 they were advertised for sale by the widow of Morde- 
 cai Gomez in 1752. (48) 
 
 •When Madison, then called Baucker Street, was 
 laid out in 1755, the rear of the burial ground was 
 extended to that street, and when the upper part of 
 Oliver Street, then called Fayette Street, was opened 
 after the Revolution, it took off a part of the burial 
 ground extending over Oliver Street, and when 
 Chatham Square was regulated and paved about the 
 commencement of this century, it took off a portion 
 of the front. In this condition it remained with but 
 few material alterations until 1823, when the Con- 
 gregation Shearith Israel, the Mill Street Syna- 
 gogue, applied to Chancellor Kent for liberty to sell 
 the part fronting on Chatham Square, 45 feet to the 
 <3epth of 88 feet, which was granted, and it was 
 accordingly sold to the Tradesmen's Bank for ^15,000, 
 but how or in what way this Congregation obtained 
 or could convey any title to it, does not appear. 
 Daniel Gomez, the survivor of the four original trus- 
 
 (47) N. Y. Reg. of Deeds, Lib. 31, p. 374- 
 
 (48) N. Y. GaEette, Feb. 3d, 1752. 
 
44 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 tees, removed before the Revolution to Philadelphia^ 
 and, 1828 his grandson, Isaac Gomez, Jr., released to 
 the Mill Street Synagogue all his estate or right in 
 the land, as the surviving representative of his grand- 
 father, David Gomez, and a few days after this 
 release was executed, this Congregation applied to 
 Chancellor Walworth for liberty to sell the rear part 
 of the land, fronting upon Oliver and Madison Streets. 
 There was at that time a heavy assessment on it of 
 $11,626.54, for the improvements made in the vicin- 
 ity, whilst it was no longer available as a burial 
 ground, the City Corporation having prohibited 
 burials in that part of the city. The Congregation 
 Shearith Israel, to prevent its being sold for the pay- 
 ment of the assessment, mortgaged it to Harman 
 Hendricks, who had advanced the money to pay the 
 assessment and the accumulated interest, and the Con- 
 gregation having incurred an additional debt to enable 
 them to purchase a new burial giound in Eleventh 
 Street, this application to the Court of Chancery was 
 made that they might pay oft the whole debt, $22,132.- 
 43, by the sale of the rear part of the ground. The 
 application was granted, and the portion referred ta 
 was sold in 1829 ^^ David Bryson and Robert Swan- 
 ton. Finally, a few years ago, the Bowery was 
 extended through what remained of it, and all that 
 is now left is the small enclosure fronting the New- 
 Bowery, before referred to, a portion of which is a 
 part of the original burying ground of 1656. 
 
 On the 15th of November, 1727, an act was passed 
 by the General Assembly of New York providing 
 that, when the oath of abjuration was to be taken 
 by any one of his Majesty's subjects professing the 
 Jewish religion, the words "upon the true faith of a 
 Christian, "might be omitted, and on the i8th of the 
 same month an act was passed naturalizing Daniel 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 45 
 
 Nunez Da Costa, a Jewish resident of the city of 
 New York, (49) which was virtually abrogating the 
 general act of 1683, before referred to, which limited 
 the naturalization of foreigners to those professing 
 the Christian religion. (50). 
 
 In 1737, the election of Col. Frederick Phillips as 
 a representative to the General Assembly for the 
 County of Westchester was contested by Capt. Corne- 
 lius Van Home, who claimed the seat. The Assembly 
 ordered an investigation before the House, and after 
 Van Home's case had been heard, Col. Phillips 
 called some persons of the Jewish persuasion to give 
 evidence on behalf of Phillips, when an objection 
 was made to their competency as witnesses. The 
 matter was argued by the counsel for the respective 
 parties, and Col. Phillips desiring that the sense of 
 the House should be taken, both parties were 
 requested to withdraw, and after some time they 
 were called in and informed by the Speaker that it 
 was the opinion of the House that "none of the 
 Jewish profession could be admitted as evidence" in 
 such a controversy. From what subsequently 
 occurred, it would seem that some of those who had 
 voted at this election were Jews, for, after again hear- 
 
 49. Strangely enough, some years before this statute was 
 passed, in July, 1723, an act was passed naturalizing the following 
 among others: Abraham Isaacs, David Elias. Jacob Hays, Joseph 
 Simson, Isaac Rodrigues, Solomon Myers. It does not appear 
 that any special provision, permitting them to omit the words 
 *'upon the true faith of a Christian " was included in the act. 
 (Journal of Legislative Council of New York, Vol. I, p. 127.) The 
 reader is referred to a lengthy consideration of the various statutes 
 of naturalization, contained in a letter written by Judge Daly some 
 years ago,and reprinted in "The Jewish Messenger." See Appendix 
 11.— Editor. 
 
 50. Journal of Legislative Council of New York. Vol. I, xii. 
 pp. 560, 561. 
 
46 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 ing arguments from the counsel of both parties, the 
 House resolved that, as it did not appear that persons 
 of the Jewish religion had a right to vote for members 
 of Parliament in Great Britain, it was the unanimous 
 opinion of the House that they could not be admitted 
 to vote for representatives in the colony (51). The 
 author of the continuation of Smith's History of 
 New York refers to this as a remarkable decision, and 
 in explanation ot it says: "that Catholics and Jews 
 had long been peculiarly obnoxious to the colonists," 
 that "the first settlers being Dutch, and mostly of 
 the Reformed Protestant religion, and the migrations 
 from England, since the colony belonged to the 
 Crown, being principally Episcopal, both united in 
 their aversion to the Catholics and Jews." (52) But 
 there is no ground for inferring that this decision 
 proceeded from any peculiar colonial aversion to the 
 Jews. The question was simply one of law. The 
 counsels of the respective contestants availed them- 
 selves as is usual in such cases, of every legal object- 
 ion that would operate to the advantage of their case, 
 and this point being raised, the House had to pass 
 upon it. (53) The law of the Colony of New York 
 
 51. N. Y. Journal of Assembly, Vol. I., p 712, printed by H. 
 Saines, 1764. 
 
 52. Smith's History of New York, Albany edition, of 1814^ 
 p. 423. 
 
 53. As this was a contested election case, it can scarcely be pos- 
 sible that the arguments advanced on behalf of the one side would 
 have secured a unanimous vote in their favor, had they not been 
 convincing. It is, however, another question whether any one 
 specially espousing the cause of the Jews and acquainted with 
 everything bearing on the subject was present, to present the 
 contrary view. There is no record of any such plea or pleader. 
 As stated elsewhere, however, the legal question involved is by 
 no means so one-sided as appears from the above; the reasons for 
 my opinion will be found elsewhere. Upon this particular resolu- 
 tion, the following criticism is found in the writings of Wm H. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 47 
 
 was especially modeled upon that of the mother 
 country. Unlike the New England colonies, New 
 York was a conquered province and when it was 
 taken from the Dutch, the English mode of proced- 
 ure in all matters of law and government, was intro- 
 duced bodily, and from this circumstance English 
 forms, precedents, and modes of proceedings came 
 into use to an extent that did not prevail in other 
 colonies where the people themselves had been left 
 to originate and frame such a system of government 
 and laws as was suggested by their wants and was 
 most conducive to their interests. When the legis- 
 lative Assembly of New York, therefore, unanimously 
 decided that no Jew could vote for a member of that 
 body, they were but simply declaring the law as it 
 existed in England, for it was not until a compara- 
 tively recent period that a Jew could vote at an 
 election in Great Britain (54). 
 
 Seward, immediately following strong commendation of this very 
 legislature: "Yet the record contains one spot which the friends 
 of rational liberty would wish to see effaced. On a question con- 
 cerning a contested seat, the Assembly resolved that Jews could 
 neither vote for representatives nor be admitted as witnesses." 
 —Editor. 
 
 54. Appendix II. contains a very valuable exposition of the Legal 
 Status of the Jews in England, and it is clear from an examination 
 of the Journal of the Legislative Council of New York, that they 
 limited their consideration of the question to an inquiry as to the 
 legal status of the Jews of England.and adapted the same standard. 
 Judge Daly's exposition of this is unassailable. 
 
 I wish, however, to offer a brief for the Jews, and shall proceed 
 to a consideration of some of the colonial laws bearing on the 
 subject. Before doing so, I ,wish to call attention to the fact that 
 this very session of the Legislature was conspicuous for its 
 championship of colonial liberty and charter rights over against 
 British royalistic expositions of them. 
 
 We have seen that in the Dutch p^^riod orders were issued on 
 April 21, 1657, by the Director General and Council, requiring the 
 
48 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 There was, as the writer suggests, a very strong 
 antipathy to Jews and Roman Catholics. Indeed, so 
 intolerant was their spirit in respect to them, that 
 there were few of any of those persuasions at that 
 time in the colony. But the feeling in respect to the 
 Jews was constantly relaxing, as will appear from 
 what lias been already narrated. They were compara- 
 tively a small body, dwelling chiefly in the City of 
 New York, and so far from being regarded with 
 aversion they enjoyed privileges not extended to Jews 
 in other colonies, and had among their number some 
 of the most influential and respected merchants of 
 the city. Smith, who was mucli better able to judge 
 than the writer, who continued his history, in speak- 
 ing of the Jews, says that, "they were not incon- 
 siderable for their numbers; " but there is contempor- 
 ary evidence which is decisive. Kalm, the Swedish 
 traveler, visited New York eight years after the 
 period of which I am writing, and remained in the 
 city and in the colony a sufficient length of time to 
 render all that he has written exceedingly valuable. 
 He says, "There are many Jews settled in New York 
 who possess great privileges. They have a synagogue 
 and houses, great country-seats of their own property, 
 and are allowed to keep shops in the town . They 
 have likewise several ships which they freight and 
 send out with their goods." 
 
 Burgomasters of New Amsterdam n admit Salvator D'Andrada 
 and other Jews, petitioners, to the rights of citizenship. Under the 
 Dutch, the Jews had freedom of trade and the privilege of admis- 
 sion into the trade guilds, and their worship in private quarters 
 was not interfered with. By the express terms of the Capitulation 
 of New Amsterdam, it was agreed by the British that "All people 
 in New Amsterdam shall still continue free denizens and shall 
 enjoy their lands, houses, goods, whatsoever, etc.," and also that 
 " The Dutch here shall enjoy the liberty of their consciences in 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 49 
 
 In fine, the Jews enjoy all the privileges common to 
 the other inhabitants of this town and province" (55) 
 
 Divine worship and Church discipline." The Jews residing 
 within the city came within the letter and the spirit of these stipu- 
 lations, which were reiterated in the Treaty of Brida. 
 
 We have already referred to various Jews who became freemen 
 of New York, under the provisions of the ducal or royal charters of 
 New York. In addition to those I have named elsewhere, I may 
 add Joshua David, Sr. and Jr., Moses Levy. Isaac Rodrigues 
 Marques, Joseph Isaacs Butcher, and others, who were admitted 
 prior to 1700, and thus secured trade privileges and the right to 
 vote for officers. (See N. Y. Hist. Society Collections for 1885.) 
 
 Strangely enough, the Statute of New York, George 1., passed 
 in 1715, which provided for the mode of naturalizing aliens subse- 
 quent to its enactment in Section 4, expressly limits the privilege 
 to Protestants, but by a former section of the same statute "every 
 person of foreign birth now alive, and who did inhabit within the 
 Colony before the said first day of November, 1683, shall forever 
 hereafter be deemed to have been naturalized, and shall enjoy all 
 the Rights, Privileges and Advantages that any of his Majesty's 
 natural- born subjects of this Colony do or of right ought to enjoy." 
 (Laws of New York, 1691,1773, p. 99) This section contains 
 no such limitation as to Religion, and must have had the effect 
 of naturalizing Jewish residents, who had lived in the State prior 
 to 1683. 
 
 After this period, 1723- 1727, etc., as stated in the text and in 
 Note 49, Jews were naturalized by special act. Taking into con- 
 sideration, therefore, these colonial laws and statutes, as well as 
 the international obligations created by the capitulation of 1664, 
 and the Treaty of Brida, I think that the Legislature should have 
 reached a contrary result in the election controversy of 1737. With 
 the effects of the English statutes of 13 Geo. II. c. 7, I shall not 
 deal as Judge Daly has referred to it at length. Attorney- General 
 Rosendale of this State pointed out at the recent meeting of the 
 American Jewish Historical Society, that this Act provided for 
 keeping a registry of the names of all aliens naturalized under it in 
 England, and that the lists might be still accessible in England, 
 and prove of considerable value in identifying American Jewish 
 settlers.— Editor. 
 
 55. This reference to the Jews of New York is of considerable 
 interest ; I give it in full, therefore : 
 
50 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 Thisis very conclusive, and he had the means of obtain- 
 ing correct information, for he says tliat during his 
 residence in the city he was frequently in company with 
 Jews, and that he went twice to the synagogue in Mill 
 
 "Nov. 2 (1748). Besides the different sects of Christians, there 
 are many Jews settled in New York, who possess preat privileges. 
 They have a synagogue and houses, and great country-seats of 
 their own property, and are allowed to keep shops in town. They 
 have likewise several ships, which they freight, and send out with 
 their own goods. In fine they enjoy all the privileges common to 
 the other inhabitants of this town and province. 
 
 During my residence at New York this time and in the next two 
 years, I was frequently in company with Jews. I was informed, 
 among other things, that these people never boiled any meat tor 
 themselves on Saturday, but that they always did it the day before; 
 and that in winter they kept no fire during the whole Saturday. 
 They commonly eat no pork ; yet I have been told by several men 
 of credit, that many of them (especially among the joung Jews) 
 when traveling, did not make the least difficulty about eating this, 
 or any other meat that was put before them ; even though they 
 were in company with Christians. I was in their synagogue last 
 evening for the first time, and this day at noon visited it again, and 
 each time I was put into a particular seat which was set apart for 
 strangers or Christians. A young Rabbi read the Divine service; 
 which was partly in Hebrew and partly in the Rabbinical dialect. 
 Both men and women were dressed entirely in the English fashion; 
 the former had all of them their hats on, and did not once take 
 them off during service. The galleries, I observed, were appro- 
 priated to the ladies, while the men sat below. During prayers, 
 the men spread a white cloth over their heads, which perhaps is to 
 represent sackcloth. But I observed that the wealthier sort of 
 people had a much richer sort of cloth than the poorer ones. 
 Many of the men had Hebrew books, in which they sang ard read 
 alternately. The Rabbi stood in the middle of the synagogue, and 
 read with his face turned towards the east ; he spoke, however, so 
 last as to make it almost impossible for any one to understand 
 what he said." — Travels in North America, by Peter Kalm, 
 reprinted in Pinkerton's Voyages and Travels Vol. xii. p. 455-6. 
 This description of New York City was reprinted in the Manual of 
 the Common Council of New York for 1869, p. 837 at pp. 841-2. — 
 Editor. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 5 1 
 
 Street to witness their religious exercises. It may be 
 inferred from this statement that they enjoyed at this 
 time every civil and political privilege, except the 
 right to vote for members of the colonial Legislature, 
 which was withheld, not in any spirit of local pre- 
 judice, but in conformity to what had been the rule 
 in Great Britain for centuries, and which was regarded 
 as controlling in the colonies. 
 
 There is but little to say respecting the further 
 history of the Jews in the Colony of New York, after 
 the period to which I have last referred, 1748 (56). 
 
 An outrage perpetrated upon the rights of one of 
 them in 1749, which was made the subject of an 
 official communication by Governor Clinton, may 
 be referred to as illustrating the difficulty at that time 
 in the colony, of obtaining justice when the per- 
 petrator belonged to one of the influential aristocratic 
 families. A Jew from Holland, where, according to 
 the record, "he had lived in a handsome manner, 
 and had kept his own coach, but had become unfor- 
 tunate' ' emigrated to New York with his wife, who 
 iu personal appearance resembled Lady Clinton, the 
 wife of the Governor, a dignified and fine-looking 
 woman, Oliver De Lancey, the brother of the Chief 
 Justice of the Province, with several associates, 
 having disguised their persons and blackened their 
 faces, went to this man's residence and after breaking 
 his windows and forcing open his door, entered his 
 dwelling, "where they pulled and tossed everything 
 to pieces," during which De Lancey profiered in an 
 indecent speech to take improper liberties with the 
 man's wife, for the reason, as he averred, that she 
 
 56. The further account of the Jews in New York up to Note 60 
 Inclusive appeared several years later in "The Jewish Times," 
 December 3, 1875, For convenience, I have incorporated it 
 here. — Editor. 
 
52 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 was like Lady Clinton. The insulted husband, whose 
 privacy and dwelling: had thus been invaded, applied 
 to the three leading lawyers of the province to insti- 
 tute proceedings against the offenders, and received 
 from each the same answer, that it was impossible to 
 do anything, as the principal offender was a brother 
 of the Chief Justice (57). 
 
 From this period to the American Revolution, 
 there was but little increase in the Jewish population. 
 During the quarter of a century that preceded that 
 event, the population of New York increased at a 
 greater ratio than at any previous period. It took 
 half a century — from 1700-1750 — for it to double; but 
 it more than doubled in the twenty-five years that 
 followed, increasing from about 9000 in 1750, to 
 about 23,000 in 1776. The Jewish population, how- 
 ever, did not augment in the same proportion. It 
 received some additions by emigration, chiefly from 
 England, but not suflBcient to counteract the loss of 
 others who went to Newport, Cliarleston or Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 Though small, however, it still continued to be a 
 highly respectable and influential body, having among 
 its members some of the principal merchants of the 
 city. Of this number was Hayman Levy, who was 
 the head of one of the principal mercantile firms of 
 the city. Levy, Lyons & Co., having a branch in 
 Europe, Levy, Solomon & Co. Mr. Levy carried on 
 an extensive business for many years, chiefly among 
 the Indians, by whom he was widely known and with 
 
 57. Governor Clinton's letter, is to be found in Colonial Docu- 
 ments Relating to the State of New York, Vol. vi. p. 471. From 
 the same it appears that the culprit, Oliver De Lancey,was guilty of 
 other riotous proceedings, and there is nothing to show that the 
 failure to secure his punishment was in any way due to the fact 
 that the injured parties were Jews. — Editor. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 53 
 
 whom he had great influence. His place of business 
 was in Mill Street, not far from the synagogue, and 
 as he not only purchased all that the Indians brought 
 for traffic, but kept everything in his large establish- 
 ment to supply their wants, the Indians who came to 
 the city dealt largely with him, and at certain seasons 
 of the year were to be seen in large numbers lining 
 the street in the vicinity of his warehouse. 
 
 The great respect they entertained for him and the 
 universal confidence they had in him, were due to his 
 thorough knowledge of their character, habits and 
 wants, and to the fact that he was, in all his rela- 
 tions with them, and with others, an honest and 
 high-minded merchant. From his extensive connec- 
 tion with them, he became the largest fur trader in 
 the colonies and one of the most opulent merchants 
 in the city. 
 
 The restrictive acts of Parliament, however, and 
 the general colonial policy pursued by the govern- 
 ment, produced an injurious effect upon the com- 
 merce and industrial interest of New York, and 
 Hayman I^evy, from his widely extended business 
 was among the first to feel it. He failed in 1768, but 
 so productive was his estate and so well had his busi- 
 ness been conducted, that his assignees were enabled 
 to discharge the whole of his indebtedness, with 
 interest. All his property was destroyed by the great 
 fire in 1776, but notwithstanding this additional 
 calamity he was enabled to carry on business after- 
 wards on his own account until his death in 
 1790. 
 
 Upon his books are entries of monies paid to John 
 Jacob Astor, for beating furs, at the rate of one dollar 
 a day. As Mr. Astor, the founder of the colossal 
 fortune now inherited by his heirs, came to New 
 York in 1784 and began business on his own account 
 
54 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 in 1/86, Hayman Levy was probably one .of the first 
 persons by whom he was employed. In 1779, a 
 daughter of this prominent merchant, Miss Zeporah 
 Levy, who has been described as a beautiful woman, 
 was married to Benjamin Hendricks, a native of this 
 city, the founder of a well-known, long maintained 
 and wealthy commercial house. Mrs. Hendricks 
 survived to 1833, leaving behind her seventy grand- 
 children . 
 
 Anothei; prominent Israelite merchant and ship- 
 owner of this period was Sampson Simson. He has 
 been described as a maa of great liberality, humanity, 
 and ot the strictest integrity, sincere and unpretend- 
 ing in his religious convictions. He took an active 
 part among the patriotic merchants who resisted the 
 aggressive acts of the British Goverumeut, and died 
 in 1775. 
 
 Isaac Gomez was also a well-known Jewish mer- 
 chant of that time. I am unable to say whether he 
 belonged to the family of that name previously 
 referred to, or whether he was the progenitor, or con- 
 nected with iVbraham and Beniamin Gomez, the 
 principals of a leading Jewish commercial house in 
 the first part of the present century. (58.) 
 
 58, It is interesting to note in th's connection an incident to 
 which Prof. Cyius Adler recently called attention; his information 
 was ba^ed on an unpublished letter of Jared Sparks. "At the out- 
 bieakof the Revolutionary War a Mr. Gomez of New York proposed 
 to a member of the Continental Congress that he form a com- 
 pany of soldiers for service. The member of Congress remon- 
 strated with Mr, Gomez on the score of age, he then being 68, to 
 which Mr. Gomez replied that he could stop a bullet as well as a 
 younger man." Report of Organization American Jewish Histori- 
 cal Society, p. 1 1. A number of other references to the service of 
 Jews in the American army during the Revo'ution and the later 
 Wars are at hand, but it would lead us too far from our subject to 
 give them here. Hon. Simon Wolf will soon offer us the fruits of 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 55 
 
 It would exceed the limits I have proposed to 
 myself, to give an account of the Israelites who have 
 been especially prominent in New York after the 
 Revolution; I will however, mention one, as he was 
 the father of one of your most distinguished mem- 
 bers, Emanuel B. Hart. Bernard Hart was born in 
 England in 1764. He came to this country in 1777, 
 and after a short residence in Canada, settled in the 
 City of New York in 1780. In the early part of his 
 career, he carried on some commercial transactions 
 with Canada,and was an insurance broker until about 
 1802, when he became one of the members of the large 
 auction and commission house ofl^ispenard and Hart. 
 In 1806, he married a daughter of Benjamin Seixas, a 
 leading Jewish merchant of the city, the lady being 
 one of eight sisters, all of whom are said by a writer 
 who knew them to have been lemarkable for "their 
 wonderful beauty and exceeding loveliness, both in 
 person and character." (59) This writer, Joseph A, 
 Scovill, who had been himself a merchant, speaks of 
 Mr. Hart, in view of his social influences, commercial 
 position, and active humanity, as "towering aloft 
 among the magnates of the city of the last and present 
 century." He describes him during the prevalence 
 of the Yellow Fever in New York, in 1795? as unceas- 
 ing in his exertions night and day, among the sick 
 and dying; hardly giving himself time to sleep or eat, 
 in his unremitting efforts for the relief of the suffer- 
 ing, and being — to employ the language of the writer 
 — an angel of mercy in the awful days of that great 
 pestilence, 
 
 his labors in this direction. As for the Ne-.v York Jews, it speaks 
 well for their patriotism that so many should have migrated to 
 Philadelphia just before the British occupation of New York City. 
 Many returned to New York subsequently. — Editor. ' 
 
 59, Scovill's "Old Merchants" of New York, Vol. II. p, 125. 
 
56 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 y 
 
 He was the founder and chief officer of a well- 
 known social institution of the period, called '*The 
 Friary," the parent of our present Clubs, and a 
 prominent member of several other organizations, of 
 diflferent names, composed chiefly of merchants, who 
 met in the evening at some leading tavern for the 
 purpose of intercourse, and todiscuss business matters, 
 a kind of social and commercial exchange. Upon 
 the formation of the Board of Brokers about 1818, he 
 became the Secretary of that body, which position he 
 held for the remainder of his life, dying in the city in 
 1855, at the advanced age of 91. 
 
 Mr. Scovill, in referring to the small number of 
 Jewish merchants in this city in the early part of 
 the present century, and the great contrast^ at the 
 period at which he was writing (i868j, concludes 
 with this remark: ''There are now," he says, "80,000 
 Israelites in this city, and it is the high standard of 
 excellence of the Old Israelite Merchants of 1800, 
 that has made the race occupy the proud position it 
 now holds in this city and in the nation." 
 
 About the middle of the last century, but in 
 what year I am not able to state, the Rev. Joseph 
 Isaac Jerushalem Pinto became the minister of the 
 synagogue in Mill Street. He died in 1763, and in 
 1766 was succeeded by the Rev. Gershom Seixas, who 
 continued in charge of the congregation for the long 
 period of 50 years. Mr. Seixas was a man much 
 esteemed not only among his own people, but in the 
 community generally. He was a Trustee of Columbia 
 College, from 1787 to 1815, when he resigned, an 
 indication of the respect entertained for him, as the 
 government ot Columbia College has, from its foun- 
 dation, been confided almost exclusively to" Epis- 
 copalians. He died in 1816, and was succeeded by 
 Rev. Moses L. M. Peixotto. The synagogue erected 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 57 
 
 in 1728, being decayed, was torn down in i8t8, and 
 a new stone edifice, 33 by 58 feet, was erected upon 
 the same site(6o). It was a plain, unostentatious build- 
 ing, provided in the interior with a gallery forfemales. 
 
 Mr. Peixotto, when placed in charge of the con- 
 gregation, was a merchant in Front Street, and con- 
 tinued to follow his mercantile calling for two years 
 afterwards. In 1820, he withdrew altogether from 
 business, taking up his residence at 105 Greenwich 
 Street, from which he removed in 1822 to 15 Mill 
 Street, next to the synagogue, where he died in 1827. 
 He was a learned man, thoroughly versed in 
 Hebrew, and a master of several other languages. 
 I remember him as a dark-featured, square-built, 
 middle-sized man, greatly addicted to snuff-taking, 
 who spoke English with a strong accent, and some- 
 what imperfectly. His successor was the Rev. Isaac 
 B. Seixas, a nephew of the former incumbent of that 
 name, a gentleman very much, esteemed, who 
 remained in his charge until his death, in 1839, when 
 he was succeeded by the Rev. Jacques J. Lyons. 
 
 In 1824, ^ portion of the congregation, consisting 
 mainly of members of Polish or German birth, separ- 
 ated from the synagogue in Mill Street, and pur- 
 chasing a church in Elm Street, formed a distinct 
 congregation under the Rev. Mr. Hart, who was 
 succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Meyer, and in 1839, by 
 the Rev. S. M. Isaacs. In 1844, Mr- Isaacs, with a 
 portion of the members withdrew, and formed a new, 
 congregation in Franklin Street, and constituted, 
 with Mr. Isaacs their minister, the synagogue now in 
 44th Street. 
 
 In 1833, the congregation in Mill Street sold the 
 church property there, and erected a new synagogue 
 
 60) Hardies N. Y. p. 163. 
 
5^ JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 in Crosby Street, near Spring Street, which they also 
 afterwards, sold and erected the fine synagogue they 
 now occupy in igth Street.- As the denomination 
 have since greatly multiplied in New York, it would 
 involve too much detail to give an account of the sub- 
 sequent congregations. It will suffice to say that the 
 Jews have now (1872) in New York 29 synagogues, 
 and as a proportional part of the population, they are 
 now estimated at about 70,000. (61) 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 My information is very meagre respecting the early 
 settlement of the Jews in Pennsylvania. Several pro- 
 minent families were established at Philadelphia, in 
 the middle of the last century, some of whom were 
 connected with those in New York (62). The Jews, 
 both of Philadelphia and of New York, with few, if 
 any, exceptions, were warm adherents of the Amer- 
 ican Revolution. Prominent over all others, of the 
 X, Jewish persuasion, was Haym Salomon. He was a 
 native of Poland. When he came to this country, 
 I do not know, nor do I know anything respecting 
 him, until about the breaking out of the Revolution, 
 when he was a man of large private fortune, engaged 
 in commercial pursuits, of great financial resources, 
 and ability, and of the highest personal integrity. He 
 espoused the cause of the colonists, with great ardor, 
 and supplied the government from his own means 
 
 '61) In the Supplementary Chapter written by Judge Daly, 
 for this series, the subject is continued. Even before 1833, other 
 Jewish congregations existed in New York City besides those 
 named. — Edit or. 
 
 62) At the recent meeting of the Jewish Historical Society, held 
 in Philadelphia, several interesting ind very elaborate papers on 
 the early history of the Jews in Philadelphia were read. No doubt 
 the proceedings of the Society, the first volume of which is soon to 
 appear, will cast much new light on the subject. — EDITOR. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 59 
 
 with a large amotint of money, at the most critical 
 periods of the struggle. As appeared from document- 
 ar)' evidence, afterwards submitted to Congress, he 
 advanced to the Government altogether $658,007.13, 
 an enormous sum at that period for a private individ- 
 ual, when all commerce and busines was prostrated. 
 But in addition to this, he supplied delegates to Con- 
 gress and officers of the army and of the government 
 with the means of defraying their ordinary expenses; 
 among whom were Jefferson, Madison, Lee, Steuben, 
 Mifflin, St. Clair, Wilson, Monroe, and Mercer. 
 Madison wrote to the authorities in Virginia in 1783, 
 " I am fast relapsing into pecuniary distress, and the 
 case of my brethren is especially alarming. I have 
 been a pensioner, for some time, upon the bounty of 
 Haym Salomon. I am almost ashamed to reiterate 
 my wants so incessantly to you. The kindness of 
 Haym Salomon is a fund that will preserve me from 
 extremities, but I never resort to it without great mor- 
 tification, as he obstinately rejects all recompense." 
 Such was the condition of many of our public men, 
 at this period, that Robert Morris, writing in 1783, 
 said that many of them could not, without payment, 
 perform their duties, and must have gone to jail for 
 the debts they had contracted to enable them to live, 
 had they not received private assistance; and Robert 
 Morris himself, in 1805, became an inmate of a debt- 
 or's jail, through the responsibilities he had assumed, 
 and ihe losses he had sustained in his efforts as its 
 chief financial officer to sustain the government. Mr. 
 Salomon was taken prisoner as early as 1775, and 
 being confined at New York in that lonesome prison, 
 the Provost, he contracted a disease which caused 
 his death towards the close of the war. He died before 
 he had taken any steps to secure a reimbursement by 
 the Government of the large amount he had loaned 
 
6o JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 it, and left a wife and four small children, to use the 
 language of a Congressional report, ''to hazard and 
 neglect." Applications have been made to Congress 
 by his heirs for the repayment of the amount loaned, 
 or at least for some part of it. These applications led 
 to the most thorough searches in the archives of the 
 Government, and among the papers of Robert MorriS) 
 but nothing was found showing that any portion of 
 the amount had ever been repaid. Madison, in 1827, 
 urged that the memorialists might be indemnified; 
 and reports in their favor have frequently been made by 
 Congressional committees, but down to 1864, not a 
 dollar has been paid to them, a fact, I regret to say, 
 \^hich affords support to the oft-repeated observations 
 of the ingratitude of republics, (63) 
 
 In 1782, the synagogue Mickve Israel was erected 
 in Philadelphia, in Cherry Street, between Third and 
 Fourth Streets. It appears from the Pennsylvania 
 Archives {64), that a formal invitation was extended 
 to the President and other officers ot Pennsylvania to 
 be present at the consecration of it, and that the 
 Trustees were Jonas Phillips, President; Michael 
 Gratz, Solomon Marache, Solomon M. Cohen, and 
 Simon Nathan. It appears to have been the first syn- 
 agogue erected in that city, from which I infer that 
 the Jews residents there before that period must have 
 been very few in number. In 1824, it was replaced by 
 a more spacious and elegant structure. In 1825, there 
 were two syuagognes, and in 1854, five. 
 
 Michael Gratz, one of the tmstees above-named, 
 
 63. Hon. Simon Wolf has very recently been pressing these claims 
 before Congress, on behalf of the descendants of Haym Salo- 
 mon. An extremely interesting article on Mr. Salomon's services was 
 written by Mr Wolf, and appeared in the Reform Advocate s first 
 anniversary number, February 20, 1892. — Editor. 
 
 64. Vol. X. p. 701, 13 Penn. Col. 367. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 6 1 
 
 was the father of Rebecca Gratz, a maiden lady of 
 Philadelphia, widely known there in all social circles, 
 who lived to an advanced age, and distinguished not 
 only for her stately carriage, dignified manners and 
 personal beauty, but for her intellectual superiority 
 and acquirements. It is said that Scott drew his 
 character of Rebecca in " Ivanhoe " from the account 
 he received of this interesting woman ; that when 
 Lord Jeffrey visited this country in 1814 to marry 
 Miss Wilkes, the future Lady Jeffrey, he made the 
 acquaintance of Miss Gratz ; that he was struck with 
 her beauty and dignified character, and gave such a 
 glowing account of her to Scott that the great novel- 
 ist embodied the description he received in the char- 
 ter of Rebecca. The story is not in itself improba- 
 ble, as Scott is known to have drawn several of his 
 imaginary characters from real personages. A Phila- 
 delphia newspaper has recently published this story 
 with Washington Irving instead of Lord Jeffrey, 
 Irving having visited Scott about a year before the 
 latter wrote " Ivanhoe." The writer adds that 
 Rebecca Gratz inspired Irving with the warmest 
 regard he ever gave to any woman ; that she was the 
 subject of his addresses at her house in Philadelphia, 
 until she convinced him that no argument would 
 ever induce her to forego her faith by marrying 
 a Christian. Irving knew Miss Gratz, and Joseph 
 Gratz, her brother or relative, was one of his early 
 intimates, which is about all the foundation the writer 
 had, I apprehend, for this statement. In addition, 
 Lockhart says that the introduction of the Jewish 
 character in "Ivanhoe" was suggested to Scott by 
 his friend, Mr. Skene, in the early part of 1819, long 
 after Mr. Irving' s visit, whilst the great writer was 
 suffering from severe illness ; that Mr. Skene had 
 passed some time in his youth in Germany, where he 
 
62 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 had seen much of the Jews, of whom, whilst he was 
 attending his sick friend, he recounted many of his 
 reminiscences ; and partly in seriousness, and partly 
 to turn Scott's mind upon something' that might 
 divert it in his illness, Mr. Skene suggested that a 
 group of Jews would be an interesting feature if Scott 
 could contrive to bring them into his next novel ; that 
 after the appearance of " Ivanhoe", Scott called Mr. 
 Skene's attention to this conversation with the re- 
 mark : " You will find this bbok owes not a little to 
 your German reminiscences." (65,) 
 
 It is very probable that the name of Rebecca and 
 the resemblance of Miss Gratz in person and character 
 to the Jewish maiden that Scott has immortalized, 
 was all the foundation there was for this story, which 
 for half a century has beeu current in social circles 
 in Philadelphia and New York. She seems to have 
 been in every way worthy of Scott's ideal, for she 
 had all Rebecca's devotion to her ancient faith, and 
 attachment to her people, and throughout her life 
 gave a certain portion of her time to unostentatious 
 acts of benevolence in the relief of the wretched and 
 suffering. 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 Maryland (66) has frequently been referred to as 
 among the first of the colonies which, in the lan- 
 guage of Bancroft, "adopted religious freedom as 
 the basis of the State." (67.) It did, but with this 
 
 65. Lockhart's " Life of Scott," Vol. 6, pp. 178 and 179. 
 
 66. Much new light on the early history of the Jews in Mary- 
 land was cast by the able paper already referred to on Jacob 
 Lombroso ; read by Mr. J. H. Hollander, at the recent meeting of 
 the American Jewish Historical Society. Hon. Oscar S. Straus 
 has kindly called my attention to interesting data on the his- 
 tory of the Jews of Maryland contained in a book of speeches 
 on the " Jew Bill,'' 1824, edited by Brackenridge, in his possession. 
 
 67. Bancroft's " History of the U.S.," p. 256. Langford, 27-32, 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 63 
 
 qualification : that it was limited to those within the 
 province professing to believe in Jesus Christ, and 
 was accompanied by a proviso which declared that 
 any person who denied the Trinity should be pun- 
 ished with death. Maryland was, therefore, no place 
 for Jews ; and even after the Revolution, by the bill 
 of rights and constitution of Maryland, no one could 
 hold any employment of profit or confidence under 
 *'the State" without signing a declaration that he 
 believed in the Christian religion ; and this exclu- 
 sion of all of the Jewish faith was retained for a long 
 time after the War of Independence. Efforts 
 were made in the Legislature in 1801 and 1804 to 
 obtain the repeal of this intolerant provision, but 
 upon each occasion more than two-thirds of the mem- 
 bers voted against its repeal. These efforts were 
 renewed in 1819, when a very able report was sub- 
 mitted by the committee to whom the subject was 
 referred, recommending that there should be no 
 religious test whatever, together with a bill to effect 
 that object. The tenacity, in fact, with which Mary- 
 land adhered to this provision had been previously 
 widely discussed over the whole country, and uni- 
 versally condemned in other States. John Adams, 
 in a letter written in 1818, gave expression to the 
 wish that " the Jews might be admitted to all 
 the privileges of citizens of every country of the 
 world, and that in this country, especially, we 
 ought to annul every narrow idea in religion, gov- 
 ernment and commerce." Jefferson and Madison 
 were equally explicit in their condemnation of this 
 intolerant restriction, but when the bill, reported by 
 the committee, came up in the I^egislature, it was 
 rejected, about the same proportion of members 
 voting against it (68). In a few years afterwards, 
 
 68. Niles' " Register," Vol. 15, p. 388. Suppl. p. 9 13.— Ed. 
 
64 JEWS IN NORT AMP RICA 
 
 however, the provision was repealed, and in 1824 
 two gentlemen of the Jewish persuasion were elected 
 members of the City Council of Baltimore, being the 
 first persons of that denomination who had held oflBce 
 in Maryland. (69.) 
 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 The great number of persons that were confined in 
 jails in England for debt, and the injurious effects of 
 prison life upon their habits, manners, and prospects 
 of future usefulness, induced General Oglethorpe to 
 set on foot a scheme for establishing a colony in 
 America between the Altemaha and Savannah River, 
 to which this class and other destitute persons in Great 
 Britian might be sent with the prospect of beginning 
 the world anew, their passage being paid, the use of 
 a tract of land being given to each of them for the 
 period of ten years, and provision being made for their 
 support for the first year. A charter was obtained, 
 accompanied by a liberal grant of money from Parlia- 
 ment, a company was organized, consisting of twenty- 
 one trustees, who were clothed with plenary power for 
 the government of the colony, and the additional 
 funds requisite for this very expensive undertaking 
 were to be raised by public subscription. The scheme 
 gave rise to a great deal of public enthusiasm, and 
 its benevolent projector, Oglethorpe, who was one of 
 the trustees, went out with 115 of this class of persons, 
 to what is now the State of Georgia to found the new 
 colony. 
 
 On the day, the 7th of July, 1733, that Oglethorpe 
 had assembled the colonists, on the site of the present 
 city of Savannah, for the purpose ofallptingto each 
 settler his proportion of land, and of organizing a 
 municipal government, a vessel directly from London, 
 
 69. Sharf's " Chronicles of Baltimore,'' p. 240. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 65 
 
 came np the Savannah River, whilst the colonists 
 were partaking of a public dinner, given at the close 
 of the day's proceedings, and landed forty Jewish 
 emigrants. Their arrival was not expected, for the 
 London company knew nothing of this emigration, 
 until the vessels containing the emigrants, had left. 
 The trustees of the company had commissioned three 
 persons in London, Anthony Da Costa, Francis Sal- 
 vador, and Alvarez Lopez Suasso, to obtain sub- 
 scriptions. They collected a sum of money, but instead 
 of paying it into the Bank of England, which had 
 been selected as the place of deposit for subscriptions, 
 they appropriated it towards sending out this body 
 of Jewish emigrants. When the trustees had been 
 informed of what had been done, they were very 
 indignant and vacated the "commission," given to 
 these gentlemen, that "the public mind might be 
 disabused of any intention to make a Jews' colony of 
 Georgia." They used every effort to undo what had 
 been done. They urged Da Costa, , Salvador, and 
 Suasso, to use their endeavors to have the Jews, 
 who had emigrated, removed from the colony, and 
 wrote to Oglethorpe, informing him of the departure 
 of these Jewish emigrants, "expressing the hope that 
 they would receive no encouragement from him," and 
 that he would "use his best endeavors to prevent their 
 settling in Georgia, as it would be prejudicial to the 
 trade and welfare of the colony." 
 
 In the judgment of a writer who has commented 
 upon this proceeding (70) this course upon the part 
 of the trustees was necessary, as the money essential 
 to carry on the enterprise, had to be obtained by pub- 
 lic subscriptions which would have been materially 
 diminished, had it been understood that it was the 
 
 70. Steven's History of Georgia, Vol. i, p. 102. 
 
66 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 intention of the trustees to encourage the emigration 
 of Jews. This was probably true, and it shows how 
 unreasonable and deep-seated was the prejudice at 
 that time in England against people of the Jewish 
 persuasion, when it was supposed that the prospects 
 of a colony, to be composed in a large degree of the 
 inmates of jails, would have been injured if Jews were 
 allowed to go and settle there. 
 
 General Oglethorpe was a chivalric, high-toned and 
 benevolent man, upon whom the arrival of these Jew- 
 ish emigrants had a very diflferent eflfect from that it 
 had upon his London associates. He regarded them 
 as a valuable acquisition, and, before he received 
 the letter of the trustees, he had dispatched a letter to 
 them commendatory of the new emigrants, dwelling 
 upon their good conduct and calling the attention of 
 the trustees especially to one of their number, Dr. 
 Nunis, for his humane attention to the sick and many 
 other valuable services. (71). It would have been ex- 
 traordinary, indeed, if he had done otherwise, for as a 
 body they were in marked contrast with the other 
 settlers, the majority of whom, from their previous 
 habits and associations, were practically useless as 
 colonists, being idle, dissolute and mutinous, and had 
 the settlement of the colony depended upon them, it 
 would never have been accomplished. These Jewish 
 emigrants, on the contrgiry, were industrious and 
 orderly, and had among them several men of high in- 
 telligence. (72) One of their number was the princi- 
 pal physician; another, Abraham De L,5'on, was a horti- 
 culturist, who introduced successfully useful foreign 
 plants, and in the cultivation of the vine labored assi- 
 duously to make Georgia a grape-growing country ; 
 
 71. Stephens' Journal of Proceedings in Georgia, Vol I., p. 48. 
 Stevens' History of Georgia, p. 1 01-104. 
 
 72, Graham's History of North America, Vol. I. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 67 
 
 whilst another was afterwards the principal merchant 
 of the colony, having extensive transactions with ^ 
 Oglethorpe and the London Company. In fact, had 
 it not been for these Jewish emigrants, and the arrival 
 afterwards of a congregation of Moravians, and of a 
 small body o| Highlanders from Scotland, this philan- 
 thropic scheme would have failed in its inception as 
 the class for whose benefit it was specially intended, 
 would neither labor effectually as agriculturists, nor 
 could they be depended on as soldiers, to protect the 
 colony from the Spaniards, who threatened its very 
 existence. (73) 
 
 Oglethorpe's letter produced but little effect upon 
 the London trustees. They expressed their acknow- 
 ledgments for the kindness of the good physician, Dr. 
 Nunis, in an especially English way, by requesting 
 Oglethorpe to give him a proper gratuity for his med- 
 ical services, and in adherence to their original reso- 
 lution, instructed Oglethorpe to withhold from the 
 Jewish residents any grants of land in the province. 
 Oglethorpe, probably, did not comply with these in- 
 structions, for to have done so, in the language of a 
 Georgia historian, would have been to have stripped 
 the colony of some of the most worthy and industrious 
 of its inhabitants. C74) But that result was in time 
 brought about by the unwise policy of not allowing 
 the colonists to manage their own affairs, and of 
 attempting to govern them exclusively by the will of 
 a London corporation. No scheme of colonisation 
 was perhaps ever undertaken with more disinterested 
 
 T^. A more detailed account of some of the early experiences of 
 the Jews in Georgia was contained in a paper by Col. Charles C, 
 Jones, read before the American Jewish Historical Society. But he 
 does not appear to have had any knowledge of the Sheftail Mss. 
 referred to by Judge Daly at some length. — Editor. 
 
 74. Stevens' History of Georgia, Vol. I , p. 102. 
 
68 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 motives, or more completely counteracted from want 
 of knowledge or judgment in the carrying out of its 
 details. It was, in fact, an attempt to revive in the 
 primitive forests of America the decaying feudal sys- 
 tem of Europe, and being impossible in the settlement 
 of a new country, the persistent attempt to carry it 
 out had no other effect but to retard the growth of 
 the colony. 
 
 Information of a very reliable nature in respect to 
 this Jewish emigration to Savannah, has been pre- 
 served in the narrative of one of the emigrants, Ben- 
 jamin Sheftail, which was continued by his son, Mor- 
 decai Sheftail. This narrative contains the names of 
 the first emigrants, (75) and the events that occurred 
 respecting them and their successors to a period be- 
 yond the American Revolution. It appears from this 
 narrative that the vessel in which they embarked was 
 commanded by Beverly Robinson, that she sustained 
 an injury in the River Thames, which involved con- 
 siderable delay for repairs; that the passage out was a 
 boisterous one, the vessel encountering successive 
 gales, by one of which she was nearly wrecked off the 
 coast of North Carolina, running into an inlet where 
 she was detained several weeks. x\nd this narrative 
 differs from the other historical sources of information 
 in the statement, that the vessel arrived in Savannah 
 
 75. Their names were as follows: Doctor Nunis, Mrs. Nunis, 
 his mother, Daniel Nunis, Moses Nunis, Sipra Nunis, Shem Noah, 
 their servant, Isaac Nunez Henriques, his wife, and Shem. their 
 son; Raphael Bornal and his wife, David Olivera. Jacob Oiivera, 
 and his wife, David and Isaac, their sons, and Leah their daughter, 
 Aaron Depivea, Benjamin Gideon, Jacob Costa, David Lopass' 
 Depass and wife, Vene Real,- Molena, David Moranda, David 
 Cohen, his wife, Isaac, their son Abigail, Hannah and Grace, their 
 daughters; Abraham Minis, his wife, and Leah and Esther, their 
 daughters, Simeon Minis, the brother of Abraham, Jacob TowelU 
 Benjamin Sheftail and wife, and Abraham Delyou. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 69 
 
 on the nth of July, 1733, four days af^er the assign- 
 ing of the lots by Oglethorpe to the settlers. (76.) 
 
 Mr. Levi Sheftail, in whose possession the manu- 
 script was thirty years ago, states that the writer of 
 it, Benjamin Sheftail told his sons, Mordecai and 
 Ivcvi, and which they frequently repeated to their 
 descendants, that the Jewish emigrants of 1733 paid 
 their passage and laid in "all necessary supplies for the 
 voyage, so that they were in no wise dependent on the 
 favor or charity of the British crown for one dollar to 
 facilitate their emigration." This can scarcely be 
 correct in view of what occurred in London after 
 their departure. Some of them may have done so, 
 and Benjamin Sheftail may have been one of that 
 number. The truth probably was, as he stated, that 
 they were in no wise dependent upon the charity of 
 the British crown, for the reason that the money, to 
 facilitate the emigration of the whole body, was raised 
 by subscription, among their co-religionists, by the 
 three persons before named. 
 
 Previous to their departure, articles used in the 
 ceremonial service of the synagogue were presented 
 to them by a friend in London, and one of their first 
 acts after their arrival was to establish a synagogue. 
 Constituting as they did nearly one-third of the actual 
 settlers they had a large congregation, and according- 
 ly they rented a house on the Market Square in Savan- 
 nah, for their synagogue, to which they gave the 
 name of Mickve (assemblage) Israel, and where 
 religious services were regularly held for some years. 
 After the establishment of their 'place of worship, 
 other articles for the synagogue and a donation of 
 books was sent out to them by Benjamin Mendez of 
 London. 
 
 With the capacity and the disposition to aid mate- 
 
 76. T/ie Occident, Vol. I. p. 379. 
 
70 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 rially in the advancement of the colony, they had 
 little to encourage them after the final departure of 
 Oglethorpe. The Trustees were not only hostile to 
 them, but the policy which this body pursued in the 
 government of Georgia was detrimental to its progress. 
 Placed as they were under civil disabilities, and sub- 
 ject with the re.^t of the population to the toolish re- 
 strictions imposed by this London company, many of 
 them gradually withdrew to South Carolina, where 
 no such restrictions existed, and settled in Charleston, 
 attracted by the superior commercial advantage of 
 that rising city. By the year 1742, their numbers 
 were so diminished in »Savannah, that the services in. 
 the synagogue had to be discontinued, and at last but 
 three families of the original settlers remained : the 
 Sheftails, Minises and De Lyons. 
 
 In about a quarter of a century, however, some of 
 those who went to Charleston, returned Among 
 these was Mordecai Sheftail, described as "a man of 
 exemplary piety, who adhered closely to all the rites 
 and ceremonies of his faith." In 1773, he gave a 
 piece of land for a burial- ground, the mode of con- 
 veying which shows the care that was taken to pre- 
 vent the land ever being applied to any other use. It 
 was conveyed in trust to eight trustees, widely apart 
 as follows: Abraham Hart and Joseph Gomperts of 
 Loudon, Sampson Simson and Joseph Simson, of 
 New York, Isaac Hart and Jacob Riviera, of Newport, 
 R. I., and Philip Minis and Levi Sheftail, of Savan- 
 nah. It will hav.e been observed in the previous 
 course of this narrative, that both in this and the 
 preceding century, the Jews are frequently referred 
 to as a distinct people, the term commonly applied to 
 them being "The Hebrew Nation," which on their 
 part, it would seem, they themselves encouraged and 
 kept up. The conveyance of this burial-ground to 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 7 1 
 
 trustees living in three cities of this country, where 
 their people had settled, and in London, is an indi- 
 cation of this feeling. 
 
 Winterbotham, who wrote what he called "An 
 Historical and Geographical and Commercial View 
 of the United States," a few years afier its separation 
 from Great Britain, gives a short account of the Jews 
 in the different places in the United States, where 
 they had settled, and in speaking of the Jews of 
 Charleston, S. C, says: "The Jews in Charleston, 
 among other peculiarities, in burying their dead, have 
 these: After the funeral dirge is sung, and justb efore 
 the corpse is deposited in the grave, the coffin is 
 opened, and a small bag of earth, taken from the 
 grave, is carefully put under the head of the deceased; 
 then some powder, said to be earth hvonght/rom /eru- 
 salem, ajid carefully kept for this purpose^ is taken and 
 put upon the eyes of the corpse, in token of their 
 remembrance of the Holy Land, and of their expecta- 
 tions of returning thither in God's appointed time;" 
 to which he adds: "The articles of their faith are well- 
 known, and, therefore, need no description. They 
 generally expect a glorious return to the Holy Land, 
 when they shall be exalted above all the nations of 
 the earth. And they flatter themselves that the 
 period of their return will speedily arrive, though 
 tiiey do not pretend to fix the precise time." (77). 
 
 There being, again, in Savannah a sufficient num- 
 ber of Jews in 1774 to form a congregation, Mordecai 
 Sheftail fitted up a room in his own house for their 
 accommodation, where they continued to worship, 
 their number being gradually augmented, until the 
 breaking out of the American Revolution (78). 
 
 In that struggle the Jews of Savannah aud Charles- 
 
 77. Winterbotham, vol. i. p, 394. 
 
 78. The Occident, vol. i, p. 487. 
 
72 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 ton joined the Revolutionary paVty, and appear to have 
 adhered to it with unwavering fidelity. Sheftail, the 
 son of Mordecai, held some military position, and 
 fought bravely when the Britishers were repulsed in 
 their assault upon Savannah. 
 
 Immediately after the close of the Revolution 
 many Israelites arrived in Savannah and made it 
 their place of residence. Their numbers being now 
 considerably augmented, they re-established their 
 congregation on the 7th of July, 1786, having as 
 their place of worship a dwelling-house, hired for 
 the purpose. On the 30th of November, 1790, a 
 charter was obtained, creating Levi Sheftail, Shef- 
 tail Sheftail, Cushman Polock, Joseph Abrahams, 
 Mordecai Sheftail, Abraham Depass and Emanuel 
 De La Motta, and their successors, a religious cor- 
 poration, under the name of " The Parnass and 
 Adjuntas ofMickva Israel of Savannah" (79). 
 
 The religious exercises of this body were conducted 
 for many years by Dr. De La Motta, one of the incor- 
 porators, who served gratuitously, and through whose 
 exertions a building was erected for a synagogue in 
 1820, upon a lot presented by the city. At its con- 
 secration a discourse was delivered by Dr. De La 
 Motta, which attracted the attention of Thomas Jef- 
 ferson and James Madison. Jefferson speaks of it as 
 an eloquent production, which excited in him "the 
 gratifying reflection that his own country had been 
 the first to prove to the world two truths the most 
 salutary to human society: that man can govern him- 
 
 79. The officers of the congregation of 1786 were: Phillip 
 Minis, Partias ; David N. Cardoza, Gabay ; Levi Sheftail, Cush- 
 man Polock, Joseph Abrahams, Adjuntas ; Emanuel De La 
 Motta, Hasan ; and Levy Abraiiams, Secretary. The incor- 
 porators of 1790 were Levi Sheftail, Sheftail Shettail, Cushman 
 Polock, Joseph Abrahams, Mordecai Sheftail, Abraham Depass 
 and Emanuel De La Motta. — Editor. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 73 
 
 self, and that religious freedom is the best array done 
 against religious discussion." He expressed great 
 satisfaction at the restoration of the Jews to their 
 social rights, and coupled with a hope that has since 
 been realized, that they would soon be found taking 
 their position in science preparatory to doing the 
 same in government. Madison, in referring to the 
 discourse, says, "The history of the Jews must be 
 forever interesting. The modern part of it is at the 
 same time so little generally known that every light 
 on the subject has its value. Among the features 
 peculiar to the political system of the United States 
 is the perfect equality of rights which it secures to 
 every religious sect, and it is particularly pleasing to 
 observe in the good citizenship of such as have been 
 most distrusted and oppressed elsewhere, a happy 
 illustration of the safety and success of this experi- 
 ment of a just and beneficent policy." The syna- 
 gogue was a small wooden building, exceedingly 
 plain in its exterior, which stood alone in a broad, 
 open space outside the city, called " The Common," 
 but which is now a compact and populated part of 
 Savannah. This synagogue was destroyed by fire in 
 1829, ^'^^ "^^s replaced by a substantial structure of 
 brick. 
 
 I passed a portion of my youth in Savannah forty- 
 five years ago, and at that time the Jewish residents, 
 as a body, held a position as distinguished, if not 
 more so, as any other class of the population* 
 They were a recognized part of the aristocracy of the 
 city, being, many: of them, the Sheftails, the Minises 
 and the De Lyons - direct descendants of the first set- 
 tlers, the only kind of aristocracy, if it may be called 
 such, that has ever received any recognition in this 
 country. There was at that time, and there is still, 
 especially in the South, an implied recognition of old 
 families, which usually means, in the American sense. 
 
74 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 those whose ancestors came to this country either 
 before or soon after the American Revolution, and who 
 have at least sufficient wealth to keep up what is 
 required in their social position. The Jews of 
 Savannah were nearly all of this class. They had 
 not augmented proportionately with the growth of 
 the population, for but comparatively few of their 
 co-religionists had come to settle in Savannah after 
 1799. The families were all within reasonable limits 
 wealthy, either through inherited wealth or being 
 engaged in pursuits in which wealth gradually is accu- 
 mulated. The largest merchant, the leading lawyer 
 and the principal ph^^sician of the city at that time 
 were of their number, and they continued to main- 
 tain this position, for in 1843, the High Sheriff, the 
 principal Judge of the city and the Collector of the 
 Port, were Jews (80). 
 
 But they had a more substantial claim to the pub- 
 lic respect. As a body, they had been uniformly dis- 
 tinguished for their probity, their high sense of per- 
 sonal honor, their courteous manners and their charity 
 and benevolence exercised in relieving the wants of 
 their fellow- citizens of all denominations. I recall, 
 amid the recollections of that period, Sheftail Shef- 
 tail, Esq., the son of Mordecai and the grandson of 
 Benjamin, the first settler, then a venerable and most 
 striking-looking old man, habited in the garb of 
 Franklin— a wide, spread coat, a huge cocked hat, 
 knee breeches and large silver buckles on his shoes, 
 who was to be seen every day in fine weather, as I have 
 seen him, walking with a slow and stately step up and 
 down the long piazza of his colonial. built house in 
 Broughton Street. 
 
 The Jews who settled in Charleston were more 
 prosperous, and their increase in numbers from 
 
 80. The Occident, vol. i, p. 250. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 75 
 
 Europe, New York, and Newport, was much greater 
 thau in Savannah. They formed themselves into a 
 religious society in 1750, worshiping for seven years in 
 a small wooden house iu Union near Queen Street, each 
 year bringing an accession to their numbers. They 
 purchased a burial ground in 1757, and removed their 
 place of worship to a larger building in Kiug Street; 
 and finally in 1781, they bought a large brick edifice, 
 which they altered into a permanent synagogue. In 
 1791, they were incorporated into a religious society, 
 and at the time consisted of fifty-one families, number- 
 ing in all about 400 persons (81). In two years from 
 tins period, they had increased so rapidly that their 
 place of worship was found to be too small, and a new 
 and more spacious edifice was erected at a cost of 
 $20,000, which was consecrated with imposing ceremon- 
 ies in 1791. I shall not expand the account of thejews 
 in Charleston (82) further than to remark that the 
 
 81. The Occident, Vo!, I, p. 384. 
 
 82. Much interesting information in regard to the Jews of 
 Charleston and elsewhere derived from Mr. Isaac Harby is con- 
 tained in an article in the North American Review for July, 1826, 
 by S. Gilman. While the article deals chiefly with the inception of 
 the Reform Movement among the Jews of Charleston, it gives an 
 interesting census of the Jews of the United States and other infor- 
 mation. He says, for instance : " In Georgia and South Carolina 
 several Jews henorably bore arms in the Revolutionary War. My 
 natural grandfather contributed pecuniary aid to South Carohna, 
 acd particularly to Charleston, when besieged by the British. My 
 father-in-law was a brave grenadier in the regular American army, 
 and fought and bled for the liberty he lived to enjoy and to hand 
 down to his children. Numerous instances of patriotism are 
 recorded of such Israelites.'' Mr. Harby estimated the number of 
 Jews in the United States in 1826 as 6,oco, divided about as fol- 
 lows : New England, 300-400 ; Pennsylvania, 300-400 ; New York, 
 950 ; Virginia, 400 ; North Carolina, 400 ; South Carolina, 1,200; 
 Georgia, 400; Florida, 30 or 40; Louisiana, ico ; and the re- 
 mainder scattering. 
 
 In the series of articles on the Jews of Charleston, which 
 
76 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 rapid increase of their members, immediately after 
 the American Revolution, was owing in a great 
 degree to the many Jews who quitted New York after 
 that period, and settled in Charleston, as a place 
 where their capital and industry would bemoreavail- 
 able. They brought wealth and business capacity to 
 this southern city, where the Jews continued to be, 
 down to the breaking out of the late Civil War, a 
 prosperous and influential part of the business com- 
 munity. The Charleston Jews of the earlier period 
 are described as exceedingly orthodox in their rigid 
 conformity to the written and oral laws of their 
 religion, severe penalties and forfeiture of the honors 
 of the Synagogue being enforced by a supervisory 
 body among them somewhat aualogoiis to the cou. 
 sistorial courts in Europe. Like their brethren in 
 Savannah, they were very charitable, devoting their 
 time and means to relieving the sick and indigent. 
 They organized and maintained for several }ears an 
 institution, and which, for aught I know to the con- 
 trary, may still be in existence, devoted to the special 
 purpose of relieving sick and destitute strangers in 
 Charleston; the members of which, in the language 
 of a Charleston writer, ''visited and nursed the sick, 
 clothed the naked and buried the dead." 
 
 The Jewish community of Newport received a valu- 
 able acquisition in the person of Aaron Lopez, who 
 settled there about the year 1750. Possessing, a fine, 
 safe and commodious harbor, which can be entered at 
 all times without a pilot, and of sufficient depth for 
 the largest vessels, Newport had great commercial 
 
 appeared in Vol. I. and II, of The Occident, and to which Judge 
 Daly refers, the names of the earliest Jewish settlers are given as 
 follows : Moses Cohen, Isaac De Costa, Joseph Tobias, Michael 
 Tobias, Moses Pimenta, David de Olivera, Abraham De Costa, 
 Mordecai Sheftail, Levy Sheftail, Michael Lazarus and Abraham 
 Nunez Cardoza. — Editor. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 77 
 
 advantages, and especially at that period, from its 
 proximity to the New England Colonies, then the 
 most thickly settled and industrious and active portion 
 of North America. The advantages of this important 
 seaport were quickly comprehended by this sagacious 
 merchant, and to him in a larger degree than to any 
 one else was due the rapid commercial development 
 that followed, and which made Newport for a quarter 
 of a century afterwards the formidable commercial 
 rival of New York. (83) He was the means of 
 inducing more than forty Jewish families to settle 
 there, the heads of many of which were men of 
 wealth, mercantile sagacity, high intelligence and 
 enterprise. In fourteen years after Mr. L^opez settled 
 there, Newport had 150 vessels engaged in trade with 
 the West Indies alone, carrying on in addition an 
 extensive whaling business, a branch to which its 
 merchants and navigators iTad then been devoted for 
 more than a century. Its West India trade was especi- 
 ally lucrative. Its vessels were freighted in the West 
 Indies with molasses, which was brought to Newport, 
 and then manufactured into rum for exportation to 
 the coast of Africa, the vessels returning from Africa 
 
 83. It is with pleasure ihat I call attention in this connection to 
 some remarks by the late George William Curtis, contained in an 
 article by him on "Newport Historical and Social'' {Harper'' s 
 Monthly Vol. IX. p. 289.) The remark derives much of its force 
 from the fact that Rhode Island was Curtis' native State whose 
 glories he loved to dwell on, and that the story of Newport was to 
 him "so sweet in the telling, that, like Scheherezade, beguiling the 
 night, the chronicler would willingly while away the summer with 
 his tale,'' to quote his own lines. In the article in question, he as- 
 signs three causes for the ante-revolutionary prosperity of New- 
 port, the last ot which was "the spirit of entire religious toler- 
 ation,which gives to the settlement ot the who'e State,first at Provi- 
 dence and then at Newport an historical eminence no less enviable 
 than singular. Quakers and Jews were among the earliest settlers 
 and the most distinguished and successlul of its citizens."— Ed. 
 
78 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 with slaves for the West India market. Mr. Lopez> 
 -at the breaking^ out of the American Revolution, was 
 himself the owner of thirty vessels engaged in Euro- 
 pean and West India trade and the whale fisheries, 
 ;and was then and for some years previously, looked 
 upon a.s the most eminent and successful merchant in 
 New England. His father-in-law, Jacob Rodriguez- 
 Rivera, also a native of Portugal^ came to Newport 
 .a few years before, about 1745, and was the first 
 merchant there of the Jewish persuasion of any dis- 
 tinction ; for the Jews who settled in Newport pre- 
 viously were not persons of any especial prominence. 
 
 Mr. Rivera was the first person who introduced the 
 manufacture of spermaceti in America, having 
 brought the art with him from Portugal. Acquainted 
 with the mode of making this valuable commodity, lie 
 was naturally attached to Newport, the inhabitants 
 of which were then actively engaged in the whale 
 fishery, and by the introduction of the manufacture 
 of this article he justly contributed to the prosperity 
 vof the place. He and his son-in-law, Mr. Lopez, 
 
 84. Peterson's History of Rhode Island, (pp. 180- 181:) I have 
 received through Charles R. Russell, Esq., of New York, the 
 following- memorandum of the names of Jews known to have been 
 in Newport in the sevententh century, made by N. H. Gould, Esq., 
 of Newport, a gentleman the best informed there on the subject. 
 Memo.: Samuel Isaac and Judah Moses, soap boilers; Moses and 
 Jacob James, wc»r/?'^rj in brass; Isaac Benjamin, Abraham Ben- 
 jamin, Isaac Moses and Jacob Frannc, or Franci, merchants and 
 traders, how long they remained here I have no information, JacoD 
 and Joseph Judah ; Benjamin and Moses Myers, Naphtali M)-ers 
 Isaac and Nathan Lyon, David Salomon, Abraham Jacobs, 
 Solomon Mendez, Solomon Cohen, Nathan Cohen, Aaron Cohen 
 Isaac Cohen, and among the earliest Lodge of Freemasons were 
 ihe following Israelites : Isaac Isaacs, money broker, Solomon 
 Aaron Myers, Joseph Jacobs, Abraham Mendez, Eleazar Eleazar, 
 JVIoses Isaacs, and Isaac Eleazar. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 79 
 
 united in introducing this important branch of 
 industry, and so successfully, that there were at one 
 time no less than seventeen manufacturers of oil and 
 candles; and Newport enjoyed the monopoly of this 
 traffic down to the time of the breaking out of the 
 American Revolution. Mr. Rivera resided at New- 
 port for forty -four years. He died there in 1789, at 
 an advanced age, and throughout his long and use- 
 ful career, was distinguished for his probity and active 
 benevolence. In his first attempt to establish himself 
 there in business, he met with so many losses that 
 he was obliged to compromise with his creditors, and 
 obtain from them a release from his debts. In a very 
 few years, having retrieved his affairs, he invited all 
 his former creditors to dine with him, when each 
 creditor found under his plate an order for the pay- 
 ment of the amount that had been released, together 
 with interest. In addition to his integrity, he is said 
 to have been most exemplary in the observance of all 
 the rites, duties and obligations of his religion. 
 
 In 1763, there were between sixty and seventy 
 Jewish families in Newport, the greater portion of 
 whom came from Spain and Portugal, between the 
 years 1750 and 1760. The terrible earthquake in 
 Lisbon in 1755, which swallowed up 50,000 of the 
 inhabitants in the short space of eight minutes, and 
 converted that beautiful city into a mass of ruins, 
 increased the Jewish emigration from Portugal to New- 
 port, and what is now in Newport the north side of 
 the Mall, was then covered with Jewish resi-'^^'Tces. 
 They were, in fact, the chief persons of the place, for, 
 besides lyOpez and Rivera, there were many other 
 Jewish merchants there, men of wealth, cultivation, 
 intelligence and enterprise, and the commercial pros- 
 perity^which they so materially contributed to bring 
 about, was due not only to their remarkable capacity 
 and industry, but to the confidence inspired by their 
 
80 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 scrupulous integrity and delicate sense of mercantile 
 honor. It was this latter quality that gave them 
 great power and influence in their widespread opera- 
 tions in different quarters of the globe, and enabled 
 them to draw so many sources of wealth to the little 
 seaport town which they had settled as their home 
 and place of business. (85) 
 
 85, In Vol. IV, p. 456 of the Magazine of American History, 
 is found a paragraph taken from the Neiuport Mercury, z.s follows: 
 "In 1658, fifteen Hebrew families from Holland arrived at New- 
 port, R. I., and brought with them the first thiee degrees of 
 Masonry." The same statement, in identically the same language 
 is contained in Dr. Fischel's "Chronological Notes on the History 
 of the Jews in America," in the Historical Magazine, referred 
 to in a former note. 
 
 But the most detailed account of the history of the Jews of 
 Newport known tome is to be found in an interesting article by 
 H. T. Tuckerman on " Graves at Newport" {Harper'^s Monthly, 
 Vol. 39, p. 372). I glean the following from it : " On the 24th of 
 August, 1694, a ship arrived at Newport, R. I., then the principal 
 port of entry, from one of the West India Islands, with a number 
 of Jewish families on board, of wealth and respectability, who 
 settled there. In a few years a congregation of sixty worshiped 
 in the synagogue, which at length boasted 1,175 worshipers. 
 Gradually migrating to new States, not a resident Jew is now 
 (1869) found in Newport — only their sepulchres remain." 
 
 "After the terrible earthquake at Lisbon, a company of Jews em- 
 barked thence for America ; their precise destination was not set- 
 tled, and the captain of the vessel on board of which they were 
 passengers intended to land them on the Virginia coast. Adverse 
 and violent winds led him to seek refuge in Narragansett Bay. 
 Allured by the tolerant laws and spirit of Newport, the Israelite 
 emigrants determined to remain there. Other Jewish emigrants 
 from the West Indies and elsewhere followed their Portuguese 
 brethren to Newport ; and in 1763, when sixty families had settled 
 there, the synagogue was erected." 
 
 It appears that in 1750 Moses Lopez was excused at his own re- 
 quest from all civil duties on account of his gratuitous services to 
 the Government in translating Spanish documents. We also read 
 that " in the early days of the Lopez establishment, his employees 
 went out in boats and captured whales off the coast. Moses Lopez 
 
TEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 8 1 
 
 Before the arrival of these enterprising merchants 
 and their families, the religious exercises of the Jew- 
 ish residents —their number being small— were con. 
 ducted in private houses (86). But their number had 
 now become large, and in 1762 the erection of a syna- 
 gogue was begun, which was completed and dedicated 
 in the following year, with great pomp and ceremony. 
 Two years previously, in 1760, a learned young man 
 from Jamaica, in the West Indies, came here, the Rev. 
 Isaac Touro, who was chosen by the congregation as 
 its rabbi, and under his teaching the syuagogiTe con- 
 tinued to be crowded with worshipers until the break- 
 ing out of the American Revolution(87). It has already 
 been stated that a burial ground was obtained in 1677. 
 In that year a plot of laud was conveyed for that pur- 
 
 at one time owned twenty-seven square-rigged vessels, and his 
 correspondence indicates large and honorable commercial rela- 
 tions. Dr. .Stiles loved to stroll along the Parade, discussing some 
 point of Oriental wisdom with the learned Rabbi Isaac Carigal." 
 As for the spermaceti oil and candle factory referred to In the 
 text, our author states that " it was the first experiment of the 
 kind in the colonies and was long a monopoly here, and no incon- 
 siderable source of wealth. From Newport the enterprise was 
 earned to New Bedford. " The war of the Revolution disperse«l 
 the Jewish merchants. Their ships were nearly all taken by the 
 enemy.'' 
 
 Longfellow's beautiful poem, "The Jewish Cemetery at New- 
 port,'' will be read with renewed interest in the light of these 
 facts. — Editor. 
 
 86. Peterson, p. 181. 
 
 87. Rabbi Touro married a sister of Moses Hays, one of the 
 Jewish merchants, and afterwards a very eminent merchant in 
 Boston. The Rabbi was not only held in high regard by his own 
 congregation, but was esteemed by his professional brethren of 
 all denominations. With several he was upon terms of close in- 
 timacy, among whom may be named the celebrated Dr. Stiles, the 
 President of Yale College, to whom he imparted a knowledge o^ 
 the Hebrew tongue. 
 
8* JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 pose to Mordecai Campannal and Moses Packeckoe, 
 which still exists, and as it is now enclosed, with its 
 handsome wall and its Egyptian architectural gate- 
 way» is a conspicuous feature in Newport. 
 
 An event occurred in the year of the erection of the 
 synagogue, 1762, which shows how readily prosperous 
 communities may forget the liberal principles upon 
 which they were founded, when the accumulation of 
 wealth creates the desire to become aristrocatic and 
 exclusive. Both Rhode Island and Maryland started 
 with the broadest recognition of the rights of con- 
 science as the prerogative and privilege of all who 
 should settle there; and yet, in little more than a 
 century, che one construed these rights as applying 
 only to Christians, and the other as extending only to 
 Christians of a particular denomination. When the 
 Jews in 1684 applied to the Assembly in Rhode Island, 
 they received the public assurance of that body, that 
 they might expect as good protection in that colony 
 as any other resident foreigners, (88) which was sub- 
 stantially declaring that n6 distinction would be made 
 upon the ground of religion. In 1762, Aaron Lopez 
 and Isaac Eleazar, being foreigners, applied for natur- 
 alization, which was granted, but afterwards set aside 
 by a decree of the Superior Court as a direct violation 
 of the Act of Parliament (13 of George II.,) they being 
 Jews. The New England colonies at that time, 
 
 88. Arnold's History of Rhode Island, p. 478. 
 
 Editor's note: "Voted, in answer to the petition of Simon Medus 
 David Brown and associates, being Jews, presented to this assem- 
 bly, bearing date June the 24th, 1684, we declare, that they may 
 expect as good protection here, as any stranger, being not of our 
 nation, residing amongst us in this his Majesty's Colony ought to 
 have, being obedient to his Majesty's laws." Proceedings of the 
 General Assembly for the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence 
 Plantations, June 24th, 1682 — Bartlett's Colonial Records of Rhode 
 Island, III. p. 160. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 83 
 
 1762, aud during the fourteen years that intervened 
 before the Declaration of Independence, did not 
 trouble themselves much about the Acts of Parlia- 
 ment where they conflicted with their interests, or 
 what they considered their rights, aud even in this 
 case the courts were not willing to put their decision 
 upon the Act of Parliament alone, but proceeded to 
 declare that, by the charter of Rhode Island, the free 
 and quiet enjoyment of the Christian religion and the 
 desire of propagating it were the principal views with 
 which the colony was settled. This Arnold, the his-" 
 torian of Rhode Island, says was untrue (89), and the 
 Court if they knew anything of the early history, 
 knew it to be so. Probably conscious that this would 
 not bear examination, they added another ground in- 
 voking the authority of the Act of Parliament, but 
 construing it in a colonial sense, which was this : 
 They declared that the Naturalization Act was de- 
 signed for increasing the number of inhabitants, but 
 as the colony was already full, it could not be the 
 intention of the Act that any more should be natural- 
 ized, and consequently the naturalization of Messrs. 
 Lopez and Eleazar was set aside. The two applicants 
 had been residents of Rhode Island for many years 
 before this, and admitting them to the privileges of 
 freemen was not increasing then umber of inhabitants, 
 but thefact was that Rhode Island theu, and for many 
 years after it was an independent State, was a close 
 corporation in which the proportion of freemen was 
 not more than one in ten; a spirit of exclusiveness 
 which was maintained in that State until it led in 
 1842, to what was known as Dorr's Rebellion, an act 
 for which he was convicted of high treason, but which 
 ultimately brought about the adoption of a more 
 liberal constitution. 
 
 89. Arnold p. 496- 
 
84 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 But the exclusion of the Jews from political privi- 
 leges was not left to depend upon this judicial deci- 
 sion, and an act was passed in 1763 providing that no 
 person who did not profess the Christian religion could 
 be admitted free of the colony. 
 
 This was repudiating the act of 1652, that all men 
 of whatever nation that were received as inhabitants 
 of any of the towns, should hav^e the same privileges 
 as Englishmen, and the assurance given to the Jews 
 particularly in 1684. Arnold says (90) that though 
 the charter granted religious freedom, it did not con- 
 fer political rights ; but religious freedom can scarcely 
 be said to exist when a man's religious belief is the 
 ground upon which he is deprived of political rights. 
 This illiberal course on the part of the governing 
 classes in Rhode Island in no way affected the position 
 of the Jews in Newport, or diminished the respect in 
 which they were held in that town. They probably 
 attached little value to the political privileges so jeal 
 ously withheld, when they were not interfered with in 
 the prosecution of their commercial pursuits, or dis- 
 turbed in the practice of their religion, and, having 
 the support and co-operation of their fellow-townsmen 
 in their extensive mercantile operations, they not only 
 increased in wealth themselves, but added to the 
 wealth and prosperity of the community of which they 
 were such valuable members. 
 
 The breaking out of the American Revolution put 
 an end to the commercial prosperity of Newport. Its 
 situation upon the ocean, which had made it before 
 so favorable for commerce, had now an opposite effect, 
 and left it more exposed to attacks from the enemy 
 than any other place of equal importance in North 
 America. Not only was its situation one of the most 
 
 90. I Arnold, 496. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 85 
 
 exposed, but its inhabitants had especially provoked 
 the hostility of the mother country, as it was one of 
 the first places to manifest a spirit of resistance to the 
 arbitrary acts of the British government by burning 
 an armed vessel of war that came to exact an odious 
 tax. In the then infuriated state of the British mind 
 it could expect no mercy, and it received none. 8,000 
 British and Hessian troops occupied it, who destroyed 
 480 houses, burned the shipping, and during an 
 occupation of three years cut down the groves and 
 orchards, pillaged the library, then the finest in Amer- 
 ica, and carried off the town records. From this blow 
 its commercial interests never recovered, and as the 
 property and wealth of the Jewish residents was in- 
 vested in, and formed part of the commercial capital 
 of the place, the blow fell upon them with crushing 
 eflfect. Aaron Lopez was a heavy sufferer, not only 
 from what took place at Newport, but by the seizure 
 of his vessels upon distant voyages, and by the dete- 
 rioration of those that remained to him, by their being 
 laid up for safety during the long continuance of the 
 war. 
 
 The Jewish congregation being dispersed, the 
 synagogue was closed, and Rabbi Touro went with 
 his family to Jamaica, in the West Indies, where he 
 died on the 8th of December, 1782, at the age of 
 forty-six }ears. He left two sons, both of whom 
 afterwards became very eminent merchants, Abra- 
 ham D. Touro, who settled in Boston, where he died 
 in 1823, leaving a very large estate ; and Jacob Touro, 
 who went to Louisiana after its session to the United 
 States, and became one of the wealthiest merchants 
 of New Orleans. 
 
 When the struggle drew to a close, most of the 
 Jewish residents had left Newport. Impoverished 
 by the loss of their property, they sought other place 
 
86 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 in which to retrieve their shattered fortunes, and never 
 returned. Aaron Lopez had retired with his family 
 to Leicester, Mass., when the British army took pos- 
 session of Newport, and remained there until 1782- 
 The struggle was now practically over and he set out, 
 intending to return and resume his business opera- 
 tions in Newport, but was destined never to see that 
 town again. Whilst upon this journey with his 
 family, on the 28th of May, 1782, he drove his carriage 
 to the side of a pond to water his horses, resting upon 
 what proved to be a quicksand, which giving way, 
 horse, vehicle and inmate suddenlv sunk to such a 
 depth, as to render his rescue impossible. His body 
 was afterwards recovered and brought to Newport, 
 where it was interred in the Jewish cemetery, with 
 every mark of public respect. Charles H. Russell 
 Esq., to whom I am indebted for many particulars of 
 the Jews of Newport, in detailing the accident by 
 which this excellent man lost his life, writes : "Thus 
 was removed in the meridian of life one of the most 
 eminent and useful merchants that Newport ever 
 had. His death, at the period it took place, may be 
 considered as one of the greatest misfortunes that ever 
 befel the town. Cut off as he was, prep ;ring to renew 
 his various enterprises, there can be no doubt from 
 his extensive business relations, that had he lived, he 
 would speedily have retrieved his losses and greatly 
 contributed to revive the business and trade of the 
 place. He was a man of eminent probity and benevo- 
 lence. His bounties were widely diflfused. They 
 were not confined to creed or sect, and the people of 
 Newport for more than half a century continued to 
 venerate his memory." (91) 
 
 91. Considerable additional details about the Jews of Newport 
 are to be found in ' History of the Jews of Boston and New Eng- 
 land " edited by A. G. Daniels. Boston, 1892. The author of the arti- 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 87 
 
 After the Revolution, a few families remained, and 
 the services at the syiiagog^ue were continued until 
 about the year 1790. The superior advantages of 
 New York as the commercial centre and chief seaport 
 of the country, became apparent upon the organiza- 
 tion of the general government after the adoption of 
 the Constitution of the United States, and as New 
 York rose in commercial rank and importance, New- 
 port steadily declined. 
 
 To the Jewish mind there is little or no attraction 
 in a place, the trade of which is passing away, for 
 the Jews have been for centuries a trading ?nd com- 
 mercial people. They are not without local attach- 
 ment for the particular spot in which they have set- 
 tled, and those whoare past middle age may linger in 
 the decline of its prosperity, but the young depart. As 
 a people, they have dwelt almost exclusively in towns 
 or larger cities for the reason that, except tor a period 
 comparatively recent, scarcely any other pursuits were 
 opened to them, except those which were directly con- 
 nected with trade or commerce.. In most European 
 countries in which they have dwelt, they have gener- 
 ally been denied the privilege of owning land, or, if 
 permitted to hold it, it has been subject to such capri- 
 cious and oneious exactions, as to prevent them from 
 becoming agricuUurists. They were equally shu 
 out from mechanical pursuits. The mechanical arts 
 were in Europe for centuries carried on under the 
 supervision and control of guilds or corporations, who 
 permitted none but those who were allowed to enter 
 the organization to acquire a knowledge of or to prac- 
 tice them, and from their bodies Jews were almost uni- 
 
 cle has, however, failed to give the authority for his statements, and 
 this fact, which is equally true of Markens' "Hebrews in America," 
 renders the work unsatisfactory and unreliable, for incorrect 
 statements are joined with correct ones.—EoiTOR. 
 
88 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 formly excluded. Even after the system of guilds 
 was abandoned, Jews were uot allowed even in so lib- 
 eral a country as Holland, to engage in mechanical 
 employments. By the municipal regulations of towns, 
 they were usually excluded alike from being mechan- 
 ics, or from keeping shops for the sale of goods by re- 
 tail. So stringent and uniform were these regulations, 
 that they were of necessity confined to migratory 
 trading, which among the poorer class would be ped- 
 dling or the loaning and exchange of money, and 
 the larger operations of commerce. To all this should 
 be added that in many of these countries, and for 
 centuries, they were subject at any time to be stripped 
 of their wealth, or, as not unfrequently happened, to 
 be suddenly expelled from the territory of the king, 
 or government, in a body with the power of taking 
 nothing with them but their movables. Under such 
 circumstances, there was little to attach them to the 
 particular country where they were bon\ or dwelt, or 
 to create towards it, either in their own estimation or 
 in that of others, what is expressed by the word nation- 
 ality. There have been exceptional instances in 
 European history, such as the period of the German- 
 ic Empire, under Charlemagne; thedominion of Spain 
 by the Moors; Italy at intervals, and for a considerable 
 period Poland and Holland; but in most countries they 
 were subject to the disabilities above stated. 
 
 This policy, which was designed for their conver- 
 sion or extirpation, produced an efiect the very oppo- 
 site of what was intended. Itmade them more cohe- 
 sive and cosmopolitan, co-operating, acting and sym- 
 pathizing with each other, however widely separated 
 or extensively distributed, throughout the globe. 
 
 Shutting them out from all othervocations and con- 
 fining them to trade and commerce, was to turn their 
 capacity and energies to pursuits for which, as an 
 acute, thrifty and intellectual people they proved to 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 89 
 
 be particularly adapted. From their cosmopolitan 
 character they obtained a clearer insight and more 
 enlarged views of what was requisite to promote trade 
 in the intercourse between different countries, and to 
 their comprehensiveness, quickness and sagacity is 
 due in a large degree the discovery of the methods by 
 which trade is facilitated and commercial transactions 
 carried on at the present day. 
 
 The devotion of a whole race, widely distributed in 
 different countries, to trade and commerce, especially 
 when modern commerce was in its infancy, brought 
 about results alike favorable to them and to the world. 
 It gave them influence and power, and in the changes 
 which commerce has effected — the intercourse it has 
 promoted, the prejudice it has swept away and the 
 advance in civilization that has followed it— they 
 have played a more important part than has ever been 
 adequately acknowledged. 
 
 The younger branches of the few families that re- 
 mained in Newport, departed for other places, and 
 settled chiefly in New York, Philadelphia, Charleston 
 and Savannah. As no addition was made to the small 
 Jewish population it was gradually diminished by 
 death, until at last Moses Lopez, the nephew of Aaron, 
 was the sole remaining Jew in Newport. Even he 
 left and closed his days in New York, from whence 
 his body was brought and interred in the Jewish cem- 
 etery, where the remains of his relations reposed. 
 
 He is said to have been a man of remarkable cap- 
 acity, distinguished for his acquirements as a mathe- 
 matician, his mechanical skill and his conversational 
 powers. As a man of business he was noted for his 
 uprightness, and is said to have been particularly 
 earnest in his religious belief. His kinsman, Aaron 
 Lopez, for many years the head and confidential clerk 
 of the largest mercantile house in Newport, was 
 affectionately regarded by his fellow townsmen of 
 
90 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 all denominations for his scrupulous integrity and 
 interesting personal character. To these two excel- 
 lent men should be added another of their represent- 
 ative survivors, a man familiarly known to all in 
 Newport and gieatly respected : Moses Seixas, the 
 cashier of the Bank of Rhode Island. 
 
 The synagogue, after being closed for sixty years, 
 was opened for public worship upon a single occasion 
 in 1850, by a rabbi from New York. Abraham D. 
 Touro, who, it will be remembered died in Boston in 
 1822, bequeathed by his will the sum of $10,000, as 
 a fund for the perpetual reparation and maintaining 
 of the synagogue, and $5,000 for keeping the street 
 in front of it and of the burial ground, now known as 
 Touro Street, in repair. The remaining son of the 
 rabbi, Judah Touro, of New Orleans, in .'843, at an 
 expense of $12,000, had the crumbling brick wall of 
 the burial ground replaced by a substantial stone 
 structure, the massive and imposing granite gateway 
 of which, in the Egyptian style of architecture, is a 
 conspicuous feature of Newport. It was but one of 
 the many benefactions of this eminent philantiiropist 
 who, having amassed a fortune during a long life of 
 sagacious enterprise as a merchant, bestowed the 
 greater part of it upon public institutions and char- 
 ities. 
 
 It has been mentioned that his uncle, Moses Hays, 
 removed to Boston after the breaking out of the 
 Revolution, and under his supervision Touro's life 
 was passed at that place until his twenty-third year, 
 when he went upon a voyage to the Mediterranean, as 
 a supercargo of one of his uncle's ships. During the 
 voyage the vessel was attacked by a French privateer, 
 which resulted in a desperate conflict, and, what 
 rarely happens in such encounters, Touro's ship 
 came off victorious. In 1802, he went to New Orleans, 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 9 1 
 
 where he passed the remainder of his life in alon g 
 and highly honorable mercantile career. He fought 
 in defense of New Orleans, under General Jackson, in 
 I815, receiving a wound from a cannon ball, from the 
 effects of which he never entirely recovered. Through- 
 out his life, he was noted for bis liberality and benev- 
 olence, contributing largely to charities, public in- 
 stitutions, and various enterprises, among which 
 should be mentioned the donation of a very valuable 
 lot of ground in New Orleans, for the erection of a 
 Christian Church, He died there in 1854, at the 
 advanced age of 79 years. Among other bequests he 
 left $80,000 to found an almshouse in New Orleans ; 
 $65,000 to the Hebrew congregations in that city; and 
 smaller bequests to New York, Boston, Newport, 
 New Haven, Hartford, Charleston and Savannah : 
 $10,000 to the Society for the Relief of the Indigent 
 Jews in Palestine; $50,000 for ameliorating the condi- 
 tion of the Jews in the Holy L-and; $10,000 to the 
 Jewish Hospital in New York; $10,000 to the Massa- 
 chusets Female Hospital ; and smaller bequests to 
 the Female Asylum and tlie Boy's Asylum in Boston. 
 Nor was his native city forgotten. Among other 
 benefactions to Newport he left $10,000 for the pur- 
 chase of the antiquarian relic there known as the "Old 
 Mill," supposed at one time to have been erected by 
 the Norsemen, and the ground surrounding it, which> 
 as now devoted to the public use, has been appro- 
 priately named " Touro Square." His body was 
 removed from New Orleans to Newport, and rests in 
 the cemetery there with the remains of his father and 
 kindred. At the period of his death he had no known 
 relations. His father came from Holland, and as the 
 name would indicate, was probably a descendant of 
 the Jews from Portugal, who sought and found a 
 refuge in that tolerant land. 
 
92 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 A large part of the fund left by these two brothers 
 was designed not on"*)^ for keeping the synagogue iu 
 continued repair, but a portion of it was specially 
 intended for theannual support of a rabbi or minister. 
 But there is no rabbi as there are no worshipers, and 
 the interest upon the fund is year by year added to 
 the principal. Newport from its salubrity, the beauty 
 of its scenery, and the advantages it has for sea-bath- 
 ing, became as its commerce declined, a place of 
 resort for persons from all parts of the United States, 
 during the heated months of the American summer, 
 and is now, with its spacious hotels and streets of 
 suburban villas, one of the most attractive and pro- 
 minent watering places in America. It is sought 
 alike by the pleasure-seekers, the votary of fashion, 
 and those in pursuit of health ; and among the mingled 
 crowds that gather there in summer, there are doubt- 
 less Israelites. No one, however, known to be of the 
 Hebrew persuasion, is found among the resident 
 inhabitants; but the synagogue and cemetery remain, 
 and through the fund erected for that purpose, will 
 continue as permanent memorials of the Jews of 
 Newport. 
 
 In 1819, a Mr. W. D. Robinson printed and circu- 
 lated a pamphlet in London, entitled "Memoir, ad- 
 dressed to Persons of the Jewish Religion in Europe, 
 on the subject of Emigration and Settlement in the 
 United States of North America." The object of this 
 publication was to induce the wealthier Jews in 
 Europe to unite in a fund for the purchase of a large 
 tract of land in the upper Mississippi and Missouri 
 Territory to which the poorer classes of Jews through- 
 out Europe might be sent to found an agricultural 
 settlement. The plan was to ofTer to each Jewish 
 emigrant a certain number of acres upon a credit for 
 a specific number of years ; to convey the emigrants 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 93 
 
 free of expense from Europe to New Orleans and then 
 by the way of the Mississippi River to the place of 
 settlement, to transport thither agricultural imple- 
 ments of every description, to be sold to the settlers 
 on credit, and to establish rules and regulations for 
 the general interest of the settlement and the reim- 
 bursement of the capital. The assurance is held out 
 to the subscribers of the fund, that they will not only 
 be rewarded by the grateful thanks of the settlers, 
 but that as an investment it would ultimately prove 
 of greater advantage and magnitude than any other 
 mode by which funds could then be invested in 
 Europe. The motive of the writer purports to be a 
 benevolent one, and to have been induced by the op- 
 pressed and wretched condition then, ofthe great bulk 
 of the Jews in Europe. I apprehend, however, that 
 the writer, who styled himself in his title page "a 
 citizen of the United States, " was what is known in 
 this country as a land speculator; for he takes occasion 
 to inform his Jewish readers that there were then for 
 private sale large tracts in the two sections he referred 
 to, embracing several millions of acres adjacent to the 
 Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. The Jews in Europe, 
 who had accumulated wealth, were not of the class to 
 instruct upon the subject of investing their capital. 
 They were then, and have always been, far in advance 
 of others in the knowledge of the means by which 
 money can be turned to the best account. However 
 desirous they might be to advance the interests and 
 elevate the condition of their poor co-religionists, 
 there was nothing in this scheme to commend it to 
 them. It was in fact totally impracticable. 
 
 The Jews in Europe were not, and had not for centur- 
 ies been, either artists or agriculturists, and to have 
 transported a large number of these people, wholly 
 unacquainted with the mechanical or agricultural 
 
94 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 arts, to a wilderness in America, to found a Jewish 
 agricultural settlement, would have been a disastrous 
 failure, like many analogous attempts in the early 
 settlement of the United States. But the interested 
 or enthusiastic Mr. Robinson, at the end of his pamph- 
 let, held out the anticipation of a very different result 
 from the adoption of his scheme. He presented the 
 alluring picture, to use his own language, "of Jewish 
 agriculture spreading through the American forests; 
 Jewish towns and villages adornino the banks of the 
 Mississippi and the Missouri," and that "the arts, 
 commerce and manufactures, would advance with the 
 same rapidity in this new settlement, as had been ex- 
 emplified in the agricultural regions of the United 
 States." "Were I," he concludes, ''to draw a picture 
 of all the highly important consequences wliich sug- 
 gest themselves to my mind, on this subject, I fear I 
 might be called a speculative enthusiast." His fears 
 were realized. The scheme evidently made no im- 
 pression upon the shrewd, experienced and practical 
 men, the wealthy Jews of Europe, to whom it was 
 especially addressed ; for nothing came of it. 
 
 Certain portions of this pamphlet, however, are 
 interesting, which relate to the condition of the Jews 
 in Europe, sixty years ago, the extent of their emi- 
 gration then to the United States, and the prospect 
 this country held out to them. He pertinently re- 
 marks that among the immense variety and number 
 of emigrants who had then come to the United States, 
 either in the pursuit of gain or forpolitical or reli- 
 gious reasons, very few had been of the Jewish persua- 
 sion, which he says, had arisen from a variety of 
 causes. He remarks that the education and general 
 habits of the Jews in Europe have fixed them in com- 
 mercial cities and towns. That those who have ac- 
 quired wealth live in luxurious magnificence and 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 95 
 
 "consider Europe the only proper theatre on which 
 they can exist and flourish. " That those who have 
 emigrated to the United States have been in general 
 of the opulent class and pursue the avocation of their 
 class in Europe ; that they were then (1819) the chief 
 stock and money brokers in all the large cities of the 
 United States and that it was rare to find one who 
 was an artisan, and still more rate to see any who 
 were agriculturists, or following rural occupations. 
 
 "The habitual propensity of the Jews," he says, "to 
 engage in any other pursuits than agriculture, does 
 not arise from the want of physical or moral energy, 
 or any inherent aversion to cultivate the soil; but it is 
 the effect of long continued social and political dis- 
 abilities which has made it a matter of necessity with 
 them for centuries, to limit themselves to avocations 
 which can be pursued in cities and towns. If 
 disposed to follow agriculture as a means of subsist- 
 ence they are deterred by imperious difficulties, the 
 chief of which in European countries has been the 
 uncertainty that has' attended their social and 
 political state. 
 
 "If a Jew," he continues, "retires into the couiitry, 
 though surrounded by neighbors, he feels himself to 
 be an isolated being, for he is cut off by existing pre- 
 judices from that social intercourse which is the chief 
 felicity of man. Those who surround him deride or 
 pity him. He has no synagogue that he can enter 
 to adore his God according to the faith of his fathers, 
 and therefore the constant disposition to live in cities 
 or towns, where he can associate with his own creed 
 and resort to a temple of worship, where he can fulfil 
 what he conscientiously believes to be his religious 
 obligations. How much worse," he adds, "is the con- 
 dition of the poorer class surrounded by poverty and 
 scorn , constituting no recognized link of the general 
 
96 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 boud that holds society together, and uncertain of 
 reaping the precarious fruits of their personal indus- 
 try. Hence is it, that the situation of that class iu 
 Europe is so abject and wretched We behold them 
 carrying on the most menial occupations to gain a 
 livelihood, and the means by which they gain it, 
 besides being very precarious, do not suffice to furnish 
 their families with more than a wretched pittance, 
 and yet they are found under all these disabilities, to 
 be an industrious, abstemious and persevering race of 
 people. "To what part of the habitable globe," lie says 
 "can the Jews fly for an asylum, where will they be 
 exempt from persecution and oppression ? No part 
 of Europe offers to them a secure or convenient 
 refuge; nor can they seek it in Asia or Africa," and 
 then remarks that the United States of North Ameri- 
 ca, where the field for enterprise is immense, which is 
 the only government among civilized nations that has 
 wisely rejected any exclusive establishment, and 
 where neither sectnor individual is molested on account 
 of religion, is the only country upon earth that affords 
 to them the means of regeneration, of security and 
 comfort. (92) 
 
 Since these pages were written, thousands of Israel- 
 ites who never read or heard of Mr Robinson's pam- 
 phlet, have quitted Europe and made the United 
 States the home of themselves and of their posterity. 
 In no country, except in France previously, had the 
 same rights been conceded to them, in none had such 
 a field been opened to them for individual exertion, 
 
 92. It would be interesting to learn how far, if at all this 
 influenced Mordecai Noah in the formation of his scheme very soon 
 afterwards of founding a Hebrew colony on Grand Island, in 
 Niagara River. A detailed and very interesting account of this 
 scheme will be found in Judge Daly's Supplementary Chapter, — 
 Editor. 
 
THE JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 97 
 
 and in none have they in an equal period of time, 
 augmented so rapidly. There are and have been for 
 along time, wealthier Israelites in Europe than in the 
 United States, but in the Uniced States material 
 prosperity has been more widely diffused among 
 them. 
 
 It is now nearly a century since the breaking out 
 of the American Revolution, and duriwg the whole 
 of that time, Jews have enjoyed in nearly every State 
 in the Union the same rights as all other citizens. 
 For more than half a century the last vestige has dis- 
 appeared in any State that made a distinction in its 
 laws between them and others. This policy upon 
 the part of the government of the United States and 
 oftheseveralStates, has not only been beneficial to the 
 Israelites and to the country that inaugurated it, but 
 it lias reacted upon Europe, and as a consequence of 
 it, in most European countries nearly every restric- 
 tion upon them has been swept away. 
 
 It has been remarked of the Jews that though 
 hitherto retaining in all countries the characteristics 
 of a distinct race, they have nevertheless imbibed and 
 felt the nationality of the country where they were 
 born or dwelt. Thus a French Jew is essentially a 
 Frenchman, as a German Jew is essentially a German, 
 or an English Jew, in appearance, feeling, and pre- 
 judice, is an Englishman. This is even more marked 
 n this country, for none are more devoted to the 
 Republican government of the United States than its 
 Jewish citizens. 
 
 The Jews in the United States are estimated at 
 about 300,000) in 1872), and something over one- third 
 are assumed to be of native birth. As they enjoy here 
 all the privileges of other citizens, as their children are 
 educated in the public schools with the children of 
 other denominations, and as in the cities they mingle 
 
98 THE JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 coustantly with all classes of their fellow citizeus, in 
 the relation of business and socially, it might be sup- 
 posed that everything which marks them as a separate 
 and distinct people would, under such circumstances, 
 disappear. But this is a slow progress. Usages, cus- 
 toms and habits survive the causes that produced 
 them, and that this assimilation does no4 lake place 
 as rapidly as might be inferred from these favorable 
 influences, is due, not so much to any antagonism on 
 the part of the people here or other denominations, as 
 to the fact that the religious belief of the Jews is deep- 
 ly incorporated with the family life; and thoughts, 
 habits and feelings, that draw their vitality, as in the 
 case of the Jews, from what has been recognized 
 and adhered to in the family for centuries, are 
 uot easily given up. What is inculcated by the par- 
 ents upon the child, as especially appertaining to the 
 family to which he belongs, the child will very natur- 
 ally when a man inculcate upon his offspring. A race 
 so widely distiibuted over the globe, and so terribly 
 persecuted in the past, owes its preservation and 
 continuance as a connected body in a very large degree 
 to what was cherished, maintained and inculcated in 
 the family. The laws and the prejudices which have 
 hitherto unjustly separated the Jews from the rest of 
 society, have drawn them in closer communion with 
 each other, and made the family with them both a 
 social unit and a religious tie. Living essentially 
 within themselves, they have never sought proselytes, 
 nor sought to ally themselves with those who differ in 
 race or creed. It is very remarkable that, whether 
 living under free or despotic governments ; whether 
 suffering under restrictions which have isolated them 
 as a separate or despised class, or born or dwelling in 
 countries where there are no such restrictions and 
 where they enjoy equally with others every individual 
 
THE JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 99 
 
 and political right ; they still keep up their distinct 
 characteristics; as a general rule, abstaining from con- 
 necting themselves by marriage with those who are 
 not of their own denomination, as if instinctively 
 avoiding to mingle their blood with other races. In 
 France, since 1798, there has been nothing in the laws 
 or in the course of the government, to distinguish them 
 from other Frenchmen ; on the contrary, some of the 
 most prominent men who have filled important posi- 
 tions in the French government, have been Jews, In 
 the city of New York, for certainly one hundred 
 years, the law has made no distinction on account of 
 their religion, and in other cities of the United States, 
 such as Philadelphia, Charleston, Savannah and 
 Richmond, they have, at least since the American 
 Revolution, enjoyed every privilege accorded to other 
 citizens. But in all these cities, during this long 
 period of time, as well as. in France, there has been no 
 marked change in this respect. The marriaj^e of a 
 Jew with a Christian is at the present day in the City 
 of New York, almost as unusual and exceptional a 
 circumstance as it was in the middle of the last cen- 
 tury. Whether this will continue, or whether in 
 countries where, as in France and the United States, 
 the liberalizing effect of institution and the social and 
 political equality, they aie designed to bring about,will 
 in time sweep away all distinctions, and produce a 
 thorough co-mingling of the Israelites with other ra- 
 ces, is one of those problems of the future, in respect 
 to which no writer, in view of the historical past, is 
 justified in expressing an opinion. 
 
CONTINUATION IN 1893. 
 
 When I augmented my Address upon the Settlement 
 of the Jews in North America, by the publication. of 
 a series of articles in the Jewish Times^ it was my 
 intention to close with an account of the settlement of 
 the Jews in Richmond, Virginia, but I deferred , the 
 preparation of the final article, as the Rev. Jacques J. 
 Lyons, who had been for a few years the minister of 
 the synagogue Beth Sholom in Richmond, and was 
 then in charge of the oldest Jewish congregation in 
 this city, called upon me and manifesting great interest 
 in ray investigation,* proposed to procure for me all 
 that was obtainable respecting the Jews in Richmond. 
 I waited for that information for a considerable length, 
 of time, when I heard of his death, and would then 
 have prepared the final article with such material as I 
 possessed, but that the publication of the Jewish 
 Times ceased very soon thereafter. 
 
 When the publisher of The American Hebrew^ 
 expressed a desire to republish that which I had writ- 
 ten, I promised to add to the publication what I would 
 have done eighteen years ago, but for the causes above 
 stated. 
 
 Upon looking recently, however, into Mr. Isaac Mar- 
 kens' work on "The Hebrews in America," published 
 in New York, 1884, 1 find that this has beensubstan. 
 tially done in the information there supplied (pp. 83-88). 
 I could add something to it, but it would consist 
 
 *Mr. Lyons, who in conjunction with Rev. Abraham de Soia^ 
 published a work stated to be of great value upon the Hebrew 
 Calendar, it has been said prepared for posthumous publication 
 "An exhaustive history of the Jews in America, containing, extreme ■ 
 y interesting facts connected with their early settlement in this- 
 country," of which I know nothing beyond t-^ is statement. 
 
I02 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 only of dry details, which are not of interest to the 
 general reader. All that I can do, therefore, to fulfil 
 my promise to The American Hebrew to write a con- 
 cluding part, is to add something respecting certain 
 Jews of New York, who came within ray own period, 
 all of whotn, with one exception, I knew personally. 
 
 The Jews of New York, from an early period in the 
 present century were great patrons of the Drama; 
 several of them were actors and three were successful 
 dramatists. The first among the actors in the order 
 of time, was Aaron J. Phillips. He was a native of 
 Philadelphia, and made his first appearance in New 
 York at the Park Theatre in 1815, and continued to 
 be a member of the stock company of that theatre for 
 some years. He was a comedian and a successful im- 
 itator of Barnes, a celebrated comic actor of that day. 
 He and Barnes appeared as the Two Dromios, in 
 Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, and Phillips' imi- 
 tation of the latter was so perfect, that it was almost 
 impossible to distinguish one from the other. He was 
 an uncle of Mordecai M. Noah, to be hereafter referred 
 to; and Cowell, in his memoir, says, that through the 
 influence of his nephew, who was then an editor and 
 a successful dramatist, Phillips secured the part of 
 walking gentleman, in which he says he was anything 
 but interesting from his ungainly appearance, and that 
 if a profile of his person had been taken in black, the 
 diflference could not be told between it and the shadow 
 of a boy's top, with two pegs sticking out of it. His 
 peculiar figure and face, however, were of service when 
 he found his true role in grotesque comic characters. 
 He was afterwards a manager of theatres in different 
 cities in the United States, and was regarded as one of 
 the best actors of old men upon the American stage 
 in his time. He died in New York in 1826. 
 
 Another actor of the same name was Moses S. Phil- 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA IO3 
 
 lips, who though, like the former, a native of Philadel- 
 phia, where he was born in 1798, was from his after 
 associations, essentially a New Yorker. He made his 
 debut at the Park Theatre in New York in 1827, ^s 
 Mawworm in the "Hypocrite", and died in that city 
 in 1854. He was also a manager of theatres in New 
 York and other cities of the Union, in none of which 
 was he financially successful from, it is said, his 
 indolence and kind-heartedness. 
 
 Emanuel Judah. 
 
 Emanuel Judah, who Brown, in his history of the 
 American stage, says, was born in New York, was an 
 actor of a higher type than either of the foregoing. 
 He first appeared in New York for the benefit of Aaron 
 J. Phillips in 1823, and was then announced as from 
 the Southern Theatres, where he was always a favorite 
 actor I saw him many times in Savannah in the 
 winter of 1829 and have rarely seen an actor who was 
 so uniformly excellent in whatever he imdertook, and 
 his range, within what is called the legitimate drama, 
 was a wide one. He was a very gentlemanly man, 
 below the medium height, with a finely proportioned 
 person, a handsome face, and a voice of great 
 sweetness, and power. Though he played attract- 
 ively the higher parts in tragedy, he was most 
 effective in melodrama and "in what was then 
 known as the romantic drama and was excellent 
 in the leading parts in light comedy. 
 
 He was of that class of dramatic artists not very 
 often found, who do everything well that they under- 
 take without reaching the elevation of a great actor. 
 He played occasionally in New York in different years, 
 where, apparently, he was not appreciated as fully as 
 he deserved to be, or as he was in the Southern Cities, 
 where he was seen more frequently and in a greater 
 
I04 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 range of characters. He was drowned in the Gulf of 
 Mexico in 1839, upon a voyage from New Orleans to 
 Galveston in Texas. 
 
 MoRDECAi M. Noah. 
 
 Among the dramatists, the earliest and most pro- 
 minent was Mordecai M. Noah, who, as a journalist, an 
 author, a politican, and as a public officer, was for 
 many years one of the best-known men in New York. 
 He was born in Philadelphia in 1786 and on the 
 maternal side was of what in this country is looked 
 upon as an old Jewish lineage, being a direct descen- 
 dant of those Jews, who, in the early part of the last 
 century, fled from Portugal to escape the torture, the 
 dungeon or the faggot, aid in one of his addresses he 
 refers to an aged relative in this country, who, to the 
 end of her life bore the mark upon her wrist, of the 
 rack to which she had been bound. His immediate 
 family, named Nunez, who were wealthy residents 
 of lyisbon, escaped in an English frigate to London, 
 from whence they emigrated to Georgia with Ogle - 
 thorpe, and were among the founders of Savannah. 
 The principal member of the family, Dr. Nunez, has 
 been before referred to. 
 
 His relatives in Philadelphia had been active and 
 influential supporters of the American Revolution and 
 there was a tradition in the family that General 
 Washington had been present at the marriage of his 
 parents. Of his father, whose name was Manuel 
 Noah, I know nothing, except that his son was left at 
 the early age of four years to the care of a maternal 
 grandfather ; that when walking with this relative in 
 the streets of Philadelphia he pointed out to him Dr. 
 Franklin and his wife, and took him when a boy to 
 the opening of Congress, where he saw Washington, 
 of whom throuofhout his life he retained a vivid 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 10$ 
 
 recollection. In Philadelphia he \^as put to the trade 
 of a carver and gilder, which owing to his strong 
 literary tendencies he did not follow, but found some 
 other occupation, the proceeds of which supplied him 
 with the means of going constantly to the theatres, in 
 Tc'spect to which he made a statement worthy of the 
 consideration of those who insist upon the immoral 
 effect of theatrical representations. ''I went," he 
 says, "regularly to the theatre, rarely missing a night, 
 and always retired to bed gratified and improved after 
 witnessing a good play, and thus escaped the hauniis 
 of taverns and the pursuit of depraved pleasures, 
 wliich too frequently allure and destroy young men. 
 I have therefore, always been a firm friend of the 
 <3rama"; in confirmation of which effect, I may add 
 that, although Noah was constantly assailed for years 
 during his career as a journalist and a politician, and 
 sometimes by most vituperative epithets, I do not 
 recall an attack assailing or in any way questioning 
 the purity of his private life. 
 
 His fondness for the drama led him tojoin a juven- 
 ile company of amateurs, where his chief employ- 
 ment appears to have been the cutting up of plays, 
 the substituting of new passages, the casting of parts 
 and the writing of couplets for exits, and this youthful 
 training in what is essential for dramatic effect, gave 
 him a knowledge of what is requisite in the construc- 
 tion of plays, that dramatic authors do not always 
 possess; which was thereafter his forte as a dramatist, 
 and the reason why his plays were always successful. 
 
 In early manhood he went to Charleston in South 
 Carolina, where he became, in 1810, the editor of a 
 journal, The City Gazette^ engaged actively in poli- 
 tics, and, it is said, studied law. Here the first of his 
 plays was acted. He had previously written in Phil- 
 adelphia a melodrama called "The Fortress of Sorren. 
 
'06 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 to," which, he says, was never performed. The one 
 in Charleston he called Paul and Alexis," or, *'The 
 Orphans of the Rhine." It was written for Mrs. C. 
 h. Young, an English actress, ihen playing in Char- 
 leston, who is described by Ireland as a perfect blonde 
 ■ with a profusion of rich golden hair, and of the rarest 
 beauty of person. Though not remarkable as an act- 
 ress, she wai a great favorite, and this pretty play 
 was doubtless written to heighten the attraction of 
 her pe^-sonal charms. It was afterwards taken to Lon- 
 don by her husband, where it was altered and improv- 
 ed, and, with its name changed to "The Wandering 
 Boys," was brought out in 1820 at the Park Theatre 
 in New York with great success. It had the attract- 
 tion of two fine actresses, Mrs. Barnes and Miss Johnson. 
 Mrs. Barnes, then and for many years one of the 
 most distinguished actresses upon the American stage, 
 as the fearless, intrepid and quick-witted boy, and Miss 
 Johnson, afterwards Mrs. Hilson, in the character of 
 his timorous and shrinking brother, says the afore- 
 mentioned author of "Records of the New York stage," 
 won universal applause, through the force and truth- 
 fulness of their acting, which lean affirm, having, when 
 a boy, seen thenl both in this play, which for many 
 years thereafter continued to be one of the most 
 attractive and popular upon the stage. 
 
 Our naval war with Tripoli, which began in 1802, 
 drew Noah's attentiou to the Barbary States. It led 
 him to the study of the histpry of that part of North 
 Africa from the Carthaginian period downward, and 
 filled him with a strong desire to visit these States, as 
 he said, "to seek out the ruins of Utica and trace, if 
 possible, the field of Zama,'' the scene of Scipio's vic- 
 tory over Hannibal. There was another attraction: 
 The Jews, from the time of the Romans, hid settled 
 extensively in North Africa, and their number had 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 107 
 
 been largely augmented by the persecution that drov^ 
 them out of Spain. To obtain authentic information 
 respecting this branch of tlie people of Israel, where 
 they weresituated, their character, their resources and 
 their number, was to so earnest a member of that faith 
 as he was, a strong inducement; especially as no Jew 
 ish travelers, whose works were extant, had traversed 
 these countries since the journey of Benjamin of Tud- 
 ela in the thirteenth century. But as these countries 
 were then inhabited by barbarians, it was not safe to 
 venture for such a purpose, beyond the limits of the 
 sea-board cities, without the security of an armed 
 force; and as this was always obtainable by a consul 
 such a position was desirable, and the Consulates of 
 Tunis and Tripoli were not then filled. He according- 
 ly applied for an appointment to one of them, and as 
 he had been very active in politics in Charleston, and 
 had become quite prominent, he was able to bring so 
 much influence to bear in support of his gpplicsticn 
 that President Madison, while indisposed to grant his 
 particular request, offered him the Consulship of Riga. 
 This was an important commercial port on the Baltic, 
 but a continental war was then prevailing that would 
 have made the position an isolated one and he declined 
 the appointment. But two years afterwards, in 1813, 
 a state of things arose that enabled him to get the post 
 that he wanted. Though our naval war with Tripoli 
 was brought by our fleet to a successful end, and we 
 were in a position to dictate what terms we pleased, 
 our negoliations were so unskilfully managed by our 
 diplomatic representative, that we had to pay a con- 
 siderable sum of money when the Treaty of Peace was 
 signed. 
 
 This greatly lessened the respect f<^ us by ^he other: 
 Barbary powers and especially on the part of th.^ 
 Algerines. To secure our compi^rce in ll>e Heditejr- 
 
■r08 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 ranean, we had for some years paid au armed tribute 
 to this nest of pirates, but the large sum we had paid 
 to Tripoli for a Treaty of Peace, after we had conquered 
 it, led the Algerines to suppose that they could make 
 more by preyiug upon our commerce, which had then 
 become considerable in the Mediterranean, and they 
 abruptly dismissed our Consul, captured a vessel from 
 Salem and reduced the officers and crew, consisting of 
 twelve persons, to slavery. This made it necessary 
 to send out a judicious and competent representative 
 to ascertain the real cause of this course on the part 
 of the Dey of Algiers, as well as to secure the emanci" 
 pation of our enslaved countrymen, and Noah was 
 appointed for this important service. We were then 
 at war with England, in consequence of which he 
 sailed from Charleston in a vessel, bound for France^ 
 which was captured by the British fleet off the French 
 ■coast. 
 
 The crew and some of the passengers were 
 landed in France, but Noah was detained as a prisoner 
 of war, and, being regarded as a person of importance 
 was courteously treated by the officers of different 
 vessels of the fleet to which he was successively trans- 
 ferred, until au opportunity was afforded of sending 
 him to England; and when he arrived at Plymouth, 
 this courteous treatment was continued and he was 
 allowed to remain at liberty upon his parole. This 
 ■enabled him to visit lyoudon and other English cities 
 and to obtain considerable knowledge of the country 
 ^nd people. After some months he was released, and 
 •sailing for Cadiz in Spain, entered upon the duties of 
 his office, which was that of Consul at Tunis, with 
 certain powers in respect to Algiers. In Tunis he 
 ■displayed considerable intrepidity and capacity in 
 maintaining and securing successfully the right of 
 -iasyiutn' attaching to the Consulate, so essential in 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I09 
 
 the general interest of humanity, in these arbitrary 
 and badly administered governments. 
 
 After sufficient time had elapsed for investigation, 
 he reached the conclusion and, so advised our govern- 
 ment, that diplomacy could accomplish nothing with 
 the Algerines. That a state of war would have to be 
 recognized, and a sufficient naval force despatched to 
 subdue them, which advice our government acted up- 
 on aud sent out a.squadrou under Commodore Decatur. 
 
 By the written instructions of Monroe, who was 
 then Secretary of State, Noah was authorized at some 
 place, upon his way to Tunis, to devise means for the 
 liberation of the American captives of Algiers ; to ex- 
 pend for their ransom any sum not exceeding $3,000 
 for each person, to find a suitable channel through 
 which he could negotiate for their immediate release 
 without its being understood to proceed from our 
 government, but rather from the friends of the parties 
 themselves, and, if successful, he was authorized to 
 draw upon the United States Government for the ue 
 cessary funds for the payment of the ransom of the 
 captives and the expense of their return to the United 
 States. 
 
 In pursuance of these instruqtions he found, upon 
 reaching Cadiz, an American named Keene, who had 
 been natnralized as a Spanish subject, and who was 
 highly recommended to him by the American Consu- 
 there for this service. In employing him there was 
 not only the advantage of his having the protection of 
 a Spanish subject, but Keene was able, in addition, to 
 procure despatches from the Spanish Government and 
 special letters from the British Embassador at the Court 
 of Spain, to the British Consul at Algiers. 
 
 Noah consequently engaged him and agreed to pay 
 him, if successful, $3,000 for his services. Noah could 
 not have gone himself in his diplomatic character to 
 
no JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 Algiers, which would not only have been a departure 
 from his instructions, but as the Algerines were then 
 in open warfare with the United States, he would 
 probably not have been recognized, and if he had gone 
 there in any other character, and it was discovered 
 that he was an American, he would have been seized 
 and sold into slavery. 
 
 Keene,after an absence of six mouths,bronght back 
 with him six persons for whose rescue Noah expended 
 $18,000, obtaining the money by drawing bills of 
 Exchange on the United States Government, which 
 he got discounted at Gibraltar. 
 
 But $4000 of the money was expended by Keene in 
 Tunis. It was paid for the restoration of two of the 
 twelve who had been captured with the vessel from 
 Salem. The other four persons that Keene returned 
 with had been brought to Tunis after Keene had ar- 
 rived there. They were landed from'|a|^British fri- 
 gate in Algiers and were consequently in the custody 
 there of the British Consul. They claimed to be 
 Americans and were probably natives of Louisiana. 
 The British Consul was satisfied that they were Amer- 
 icans, and as an act of humanity, for, having openly 
 avowed themselves to be Americans, they could have 
 been seized by the Dey of Algiers, the Consul turned 
 them over to Keene, who brought them away with 
 him. Nothing was paid for them, and the balance, 
 $14,000 of the money expended, was applied in the 
 care of these six persons, whiph included sending them 
 back to the Uuited States and $6000 of it was paid to 
 Keene, which was double the amount he was to receive 
 by his contract. He told along and complicated story, 
 which Noah believed, of the difiiculty he had to encoun- 
 ter, of the risk he ran of his life, and the expenses he 
 had been put to, and Noah considered, in view of all 
 the circumstances, that he was entitled to the $6000 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA Hj 
 
 that he claimed. The government, however, was not 
 satisfied with the transaction, and, to Noah's con- 
 sternation, the bills of exchange he had drawn upon 
 it, came back protested. 
 
 Noah was placed in a critical position. He was 
 responsible on the bills of the exchange as the drawer 
 of them, and having no means to pay them, was liable 
 to be arrested in Tunis and thrown into prison. No 
 consul in Barbary would be recognized whose bills 
 were known to have been protested by the govern- 
 ment, and, as he states, he would have been left to 
 starve for want of assistance and would have been 
 subjected to insult and ill-treatment by the Ber- 
 bers. He had no idea that the government conceived 
 that he had gone beyond his instructions and supposed 
 that the Department, when the bills were presented 
 was without immediate funds to meet them; for 
 during the war with Great Britain our finances were 
 in a wretched condition and the credit of the govern- 
 ment was greatly impaired, both at home and abroad. 
 The protested paper, which with the loss and damage 
 arising from the protest, amounted to over $21,000, 
 was sent by the creditors to the British Consul at 
 Tunis with positive and unyielding orders to seize 
 the person and property of Noah for the payment of 
 the bills. The Consul, however, was considerate and 
 agreed to wait until the arrival of Decatur, believing 
 with Noah, that he would biing with him the money 
 to pay them. 
 
 Decatur's squadron arrived, and encountering an 
 Algerine frigate, he captured it after a fierce battle in 
 which an admiral who had long been celebrated in 
 the Mediterranean and had become a terror to the 
 Christian nations, was killed. Decatur followed this 
 up by the captuie of anoiher cniiser, after which he 
 blockaded Algeria so effect ua 11 y as to cut it off" from 
 all access by sea. 
 
112 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 This brought to terms the Day of Algiers, who was 
 compelled to sign a treaty dictated by the American 
 Commander, by the terms of which all American cap- 
 tives were released and the United States relieved 
 from any payment of tribute to those sea robbers 
 thereafter. 
 
 This being accomplished, Decatnr sailed for Tunis 
 to enforce a claim for indemnity from the Bey of 
 Tunis for surrendering to the English two of our 
 prizes, which were lying in that port. Upon Deca- 
 tur's arrival, Noah went on board his vessel and the 
 commander taking him into his cabin, handed him a 
 dispatch from Mr. Monroe, the Secretary of State. 
 This Noah supposed would contain the explanation 
 of the protests of tb.e bills, but on the contrary, he 
 found it to be a very curt letter, informing him that 
 it was not known at the time of his appointment that 
 his religion would be any obstacle to the exercise of 
 his consular functions, but that recent information on 
 which entire reliance could be placed, proved that it 
 would have a very unfavorable effect; that the Presi- 
 dent, therefore, had deemed it expedient to revoke 
 his commission, and that upon receipt of this letter 
 he would consider himself as no longer in the service 
 of the United States. To this the Secretary added 
 that there were some circumstances connected with 
 his accounts that required explanation, as those already 
 given had not been approved by the President. This 
 was a blow that would have unnerved any ordinary 
 man; but Noah, in this »^mergency, showed the cap- 
 acity and cleverness for managing a financial diffi- 
 culty, that is characteristic of his race. A glance at 
 Decatur's face satisfied him that the Commander knew 
 nothing of the contents of the letter, and with that 
 assurance he instantly devised a scheme to extricate 
 liimself from his pecuniary embarrassment. ''If he 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA II3 
 
 had known," says Noah in the vindication, which he 
 published, "what was contained in the letter, it would 
 have been his duty, and which he would have exer- 
 cised promptly, to have sent an officer on shore to 
 take possession of the seals and the archives of the 
 Consulate, and T would," he says, "have returned to 
 Tunis stripped of power, an outcast, degraded, dis- 
 graced and with a heavy debt against me. I would, 
 in all probability, have gone into a dungeon, where I 
 might have perished, neglected and unpitied. " 
 
 Quietly folding up the letter and putting it in his 
 pocket, he proceeded to give Decatur a full account of 
 the nature of our dispute with Tunis, explaining it 
 with documents in his possession that he had brought 
 with him. Having done this, he then suggested to 
 the Commodore that, instead of going to the Dey 
 himself and demanding the payment of the indemnity, 
 he should leave the whole matter to him as Consul ; 
 that, as he had experience in dealing with these Ber- 
 bers, he would be able more effectually to secure 
 the payment of the money; and that, for that purpose, 
 Decatur should give him a letter to the Tunisian 
 minister, making a formal demand, as Commander of 
 the squadron, for the indemnity. The great stake 
 that Noah had at issue led him a little too far in the 
 vehemence with which he urged this proposition, so 
 as to attract the attention of Decatur, who could not 
 understand Noah's anxiety that it should be left solely 
 to him, as Consul, to obtain the money, when Decatur 
 was there with his squadron, and could enforce the 
 payment of it as effectually as he had brought the Dey 
 of Algiers to terms. He suspected that some other 
 motive dictated Noah's extraordinary warmth as he 
 piled arguments upon arguments with such vehe- 
 mence; and finally told him that if he imagined that 
 he, Decatur, was there under his orders, he must un_ 
 
114 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 deceive himself. Noah quickly saw his peril. "It 
 was evident," he says, "that a storm was gathering 
 that would have destroyed all my plans," and with 
 that adroitness he displayed throughout the whole of 
 this transaction, he succeeded in calming our cele- 
 brated naval hero by the assurance that he wished 
 mainly to co-operate with him in such measures as 
 Decatur's own prudence would dictate, as they were 
 both there to serve their country in the best manner 
 they could. This satisfied the Commodore, who gave 
 him the letter,aud who upon the whole was pleased with 
 the prompt way Noah pointed out of accomplish- 
 ing the result the squadron had come there to bring 
 about. It was then night; Noah betook himself to rest 
 on the cabin floor, in a state of mind that did not invite 
 repose, and, that there might be no opportunity for 
 Decatur to reconsider his action upon more mature 
 deliberation, the anxious ex-consul, at the earliest 
 approach of dawn, got the officer of the deck to send 
 him ofFinaboat to the shore. 
 
 On his way to Tunis he pondered over Monroe's let- 
 ter, which he found difficult to understand, as the gov- 
 ernment was not only acquainted with his religion at 
 the time of his appointment, but knew that it was one 
 of the reasons why he desired it and it was not known 
 in Tunis that he was a Jew. He states, what was pro- 
 bably true, that in the exercise of his consular func- 
 tions he was not only respected, but even feared by the 
 Tunisian government and enjoyed the esteem and good 
 will of every resident. 
 
 He promptly submitted Decatur's demand to the 
 Minister of Marine, who receiving it in no very good 
 humor, sent for him and after declaring that this was 
 not a proper aud respectful manner of proceeding in 
 such a matter, asked him why the American Com- 
 mander did not come and make his complaint to the 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA IIJ 
 
 Dey in person, and why he demanded an answer forth- 
 with ; that they were not accustomed to be treated in 
 such a manner ; that there was a time when the United 
 States waited upon their pleasure to make a treaty, 
 and not only paid for it, but gave them presents. 
 Noah calmly answered that that was an affair of the 
 past. That they ought to have complied with the 
 demand of the United States before the arrival of the 
 squadron ; that it was now too late and that Commo- 
 dore Decatur had determined not to land without a 
 favorable answer. "Why, Consul," said the Minister, 
 "are you so tranquil? Before the fleet was here, 
 you were loud and positive, but now that you are back- 
 ed by a force, you suddenly become quiet and indif- 
 ferent." "Because," said Noah, "remonstrance is no 
 longer necessary. War is now inevitable. We have 
 made peace with Algiers upon our own terms and the 
 squadron is here for another contest, as it is better to 
 have no treaty than one that is not respected." This 
 was followed by an interview with the Dey, and the 
 following morning the money demanded, $46,000 was 
 sent to the Consulate 
 
 Decatur naturally expected that the money would 
 be given to him to carry back to the United StateS) 
 and made inquiries as to his right to receive and 
 retain it. But Noah was able to satisfy Decatur on this 
 point, who supposed he was still the Consul. "I 
 did not tell him," says Noah, "why I wished to retain 
 possession of the money, or that I expected to be in 
 America before he was." The purpose of the visit to 
 Tunis having been accomplished, -the squadron de- 
 parted. As soon as it was gone, Noah paid the bills of 
 exchange with the interest and damage, out of the 
 money of the government in his possession, and leaving 
 the Consulate in charge of a subordinate, he returned 
 to the United States and settled in New York, where, 
 
Il6 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 in a few years, he became prominent as a jonrnalist, 
 and lived there for the remainder of his life. In going 
 through Paris, on his journey home, it is said, that he 
 accidentally met and recognized his father, whom he 
 had not seen from the time that he was five years of 
 age. 
 
 Immediately upon his return he went to Washington, 
 and called upon Monroe, who, he says, received him 
 ungraciously, and instead of a restoration as he expect- 
 ed, to an office of equal rank, accused him of 
 going beyond his orders, of employing a most obnox- 
 ious character, of expending the public money unne- 
 cessarily, and justified his recall and the manner of it. 
 This is difficult to understand as Noah represents it, 
 for Monroe was an upright and a capable man and 
 was not without experience as a diplomatic represent- 
 ative, having been our Minister to England, and as 
 our Envoy to France had secured the acquisition 
 of Ivouisiana. He was also a patriotic man who, when 
 acting as Secretary of War, pledged his personal credit 
 to obtain the funds that were necessary for the defence 
 of New Orleans, and retired from the Presidency im- 
 paired alike in health and in fortune. John Quincy 
 Adams said of him upon his retiVement, that he was 
 always honest and sincere ; of intentions always pure, 
 of labors outlasting the daily circuit of the sun and 
 outwatching the vigils of the night; that with a mind 
 always anxious in the pursuit of right he was patient 
 of inquiry; patient of contradiction ; courteous, always 
 sound in his ultimate judgment and firm in his final 
 conclusions, and it is difficult to suppose that such a 
 man would treat Noah in the way that he did, unless 
 there was something more than appears in thelatter's 
 narrative. 
 
 Noah, himself, acknowledged Monroe's high qual 
 ities, for in the vindication he published, he says that 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 1 17 
 
 notwithstanding the treatment he had received at his 
 hands, he advocated him for Presidency and sustained 
 his administration, as he believed him to be an honest 
 man and a patriot. But this was not as disinterested 
 as it appears. Political consistency, or fidelity to 
 party were at no time among Noah's characteristics. 
 The fact was that there was no party at the time, in 
 opposition to Monroe, to go to. The successful term- 
 ination of the war, the effect of the holding of the 
 Hartford Convention, and the rapid advance in the 
 prosperity of the country, had completely overthown 
 the federal party and it was then extinct. Monroe 
 was elected President almost without opposition and 
 was re-elected with more unanimity than any one 
 since Washington, receiving every vote cast in the 
 electoral college except one. In fact, the whole 
 period of his administration is aptly described by the 
 phrase then so often applied to it of "The Era of Good 
 Feeling." 
 
 It took Noah a year to get his accounts adjusted, in- 
 cluding several visits on his part to Washington, and 
 when they were, he received a written acknowledg- 
 ment from the adjusting officer that the government 
 was indebted to him in a sum of over five thousand 
 dollars. This was a recognition that he was justified 
 in paying the amount of the protested bills out of the 
 money of the government in his possession, and armed 
 with this important document, he called upon Monroe 
 who, however, refused to see him and turned him over 
 to a subordinate. 
 
 When he settled in New York in 1816, Henry 
 Wheaton, afterwards the distinguished author of the 
 well known authoritative work on International Law, 
 having been appointed a Judge of the Marine Court, 
 retired from the editorship of the National Advocate^ 
 a daily journal that had been established by the 
 
Il8 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 Tammany Hall party in 1813, and as Noah was out of 
 employment and had had some experience in journal- 
 ism in Charleston, he was appointed Wheaton's 
 successor and continued to be the editor of that paper 
 for nearly ten years. 
 
 In 1818, a new synagogue was erected upon the site 
 of the old one in Mills Street, and Noah, upon its 
 consecration, delivered the dedicatory address. In this 
 address he referred to his family, stating that his 
 grandfather, as pastor of the congregation, stood in the 
 spot where he was then standing, seventy years before, 
 and that his grandfather and his great-grandfather and 
 his great-great-grandfather were buried in the cemetery 
 before reterred to in Chatham Square. The address 
 was chiefly devoted to the past history of the people of 
 Israel with an expression of the most positive convic- 
 tion that the prophecy in respect to their restoration 
 as a nation would be fulfiled. He pointed out how 
 under every kind of persecution, they had still held to- 
 gether as a people, preserving their ancient faith; that 
 there were then seven millions of them in the world, 
 and that they would ultimately deliver the north of 
 Africa from oppression, break the Turkish sceptre and 
 in triumphant numbers would possess themselves of 
 Syria. "This," he said, "is not fancy. I have been 
 too much among them in Europe and in North Africa 
 not to know their sentiments. They hold the purse- 
 strings of the world and can wield the sword and bring 
 an army of a hundred thousand men into the field." 
 
 This was with him no new idea. The restoration 
 and re-establishment of the Jews as a people and the 
 gathering of them together under the free and toler- 
 ant institution of the United States, was a subject up- 
 on which he addressed a letter in 1808 to Thomas 
 Jefferson, to which the author of the Declaration of 
 Independence made the pithy reply, that "intolerance 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA II9 
 
 is inherent in every sect; disclaimed by all when fee- 
 ble and practiced by all when in power, and that our 
 laws apply the only antidote, which is to put them all 
 on an equality." 
 
 Noah's occupation as a journalist brought him 
 into frequent connection with the theatre and led him 
 to return to dramatic authorship. In 1819, he wrote 
 for the Park Theatre, a clever play called, " She 
 would be a Soldier, or the Plains of Chippewa," which 
 from its own merit and the excellent acting of Barnes 
 and Spiller in the comic characters, and that of Miss 
 Leesugg, an English actress, in the part of the hero, 
 ine, was a great success. Miss lycesugg, who shortly 
 afterwards married James H. Hackett, the celebrated 
 comedian and retired from the stage, is described 
 as being at this time in the bloom of youth, with 
 sparkling eyes, a buxom figure, a melodious voice, 
 great sprightliness and vivacity, and as the very Hebe 
 of actresses. As the heroine in this play, in which 
 she appears to have been particularly attractive, she 
 introduced, in the Bnglish translation, Plorteuse, the 
 Queen of Holland's " Partant pour le Syrie, " which 
 became the French national air in the reign of her 
 son. Napoleon IH. In a rich contralto voice, she 
 sang this romantic ballad with so much effect, that it 
 became a favorite song in private circles for some 
 time thereafter and underwent the unfailing test of 
 popularity of being successfully parodied in a comic 
 song, that was for years the delight of the circus. 
 Noah in addition to this, wrote seven other plays, 
 all of which, with one exception, were successful.* 
 
 * They were : "Marion or the Hero of Lake George," 'The 
 Grecian Captive,'' The Fortress of Sorrento," "The New Consti- 
 tution." "The Canal,'' "Yesop Caramatti or the Siege of Tripoli,'' 
 Hudson in his "Journalism," attributes to him four other plays, in 
 some of which certainly and probably in all this writer was mis- 
 
120 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 This was called the "Grecian Captive," which he 
 wrote in 1822, for the benefit of his uncle, x\aron J. 
 Phillips. Noah thought it would add to the attraction 
 to present each person who went to the benefit with a 
 printed copy of the play, which had a result lie did 
 not anticipate ; for when the actors looked upon the 
 audience and saw a thousand persons, each with a 
 book in hand, turning over the leaves, with the 
 accompanying buzz and flutter, they became confused, 
 forgot their parts and to carry on the action of the 
 piece, had to improvise, by saying whatever occurred 
 to them, which had the effect, also, to confuse the 
 audience in attempting to follow the dialogue, until a 
 climax was reached by what the beneficiary thought 
 would produce a great effect. This was the entry of 
 Phillips, as the Turkish Commander, mounted upon a 
 live elephant, that had been procured from a menag- 
 erie. His grotesque figure has already been mentioned 
 and as the huge animal, with Phillips perched on tlie 
 top of it, came marching down to the footlights, to the 
 alarm and confusion of the musicians in the orchestra, 
 Phillips, unable to steady himself upon the unwieldly 
 beast, toppled over and the curtain fell amid shouts of 
 laughter from all parts of the house. Noah was 
 greatly ridiculed for his production, and had the man- 
 liness to come out in his paper with a statement that 
 the failure of his drama was not owing to the actors, 
 
 taken. They are AH Pacha or the Signet Ring, which was written 
 by John Howard Payne ; the Siege of Dahnatia.by which was pro- 
 bably meant the Siege of Damascus, which was not written by 
 Noah, but by John Hughes, in which Mr. Hosack, a member of a dis- 
 tinguished family, made his debut at the Park Theater in 1826, and 
 neither he, nor the play, were ever heard of afterwards on the New 
 York boards; "Natalie" which may refer to a ballet of this name 
 that was first performed at the Park Theatre in 1839 and" Ambition" 
 a tragedy, that was produced as a new play, at Burton's Theatre, in 
 New York, in 1858, two years after Noah's death. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I2l 
 
 but to his own imprudence in furnishing each of the 
 audience with a printed copy of the play. 
 
 In 1819 he published his "travels." He had been 
 frequently assailed by political opponents for his acts 
 as consul, and the object of this publication was not 
 only to give an accountof the countries he had visited, 
 but to vindicate his official acts in Tunis. The work 
 was well written, but badly arranged, as the narrative 
 was given continuously without any division into 
 chapters or any index, and his consular troubles and 
 difficulties are mixed up throughout with his journeys 
 and observations as a traveler. It contains a descrip- 
 tion of the different places he saw in England, France, 
 Spain and the Barbary States, and much of the local 
 history of the various cities and towns that he visited ; 
 a kind of information that it was more difficult then 
 to obtain than it is now. Sixty years afterwards, I 
 went over the same ground that he traversed in 
 Southern France, in Spain and a portion of North 
 Africa, a part of the world that has since undergone 
 comparatively little change, and can commend the 
 acuteness of his observations, his general accuracy and 
 graphic manner of describing what he saw. The work 
 was well received, as it contained a very full and the 
 best account that we then had of the Barbary States, 
 which at the time in this country was of national 
 interest, in consequence of our recent naval wars witb 
 Tripoli and Algiers. 
 
 He gives in it a very full account of the Jews in 
 these States, of whom there were 700,000, about 
 60,000 being in the province of Tunis and from 20 to 
 30,000 in the City of Tunis. He describes them as 
 the leading men in Barbary; that they were at the head 
 of the Custom House, that they farmed the revenue, 
 that they had secured the monopoly of various kinds 
 of merchandise and of the exportation of different 
 
122 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 articles ; controlled the mint and regulated the coin- 
 age, kept the Dey's jewels and were his secretaries, 
 treasurers and interpreters ; that they were the prin- 
 cipal mechanics and that the little that was known 
 there of arts, sciences and medicine, was confined to 
 them ; that many of them possessed immense wealth 
 and many were poor ; that the idea that they were 
 oppressed, was in a great measure imaginary, and the 
 general account that he gave of them, especially of 
 those of Tunis, was not very complimentary. The fact 
 which he states, that it was not knowu in Tunis that 
 he was a Jew, although it was said that there were 
 30,000 of them in that City, would indicate that he 
 deemed it advisable to conceal his religion, aud that 
 Monroe may have been right in his letter, that it 
 would be on obstacle to the exercise of his Consular 
 functions and produce an unfavorable efifect. 
 
 He made a profitable use of the limited period that 
 he was in Tunis in the study of antiquities and in 
 archaeological researches, which he embodied in his 
 book. Among other things, he investigated the ruins 
 of the Carthaginian city and what remained of a long 
 past civilization in the immediate vicinity of Tunis, 
 and thought he discovered the spot where the battle 
 of Zama was fought, which resulted in the defeat of 
 Hannibal by Scipio, and the overthrow of Carthage. 
 Upon the whole, his book was a creditable one, and 
 gave him a reputation both as a scholar aud as an 
 intelligent traveler. 
 
 In the ten years that elapsed after the publication 
 of this book, he became prominent in New York both as 
 an editor and as a popular dramatist ; and George P. 
 Morris, the editor of one of the earliest of our literary 
 journals of New York, liac given his recollections of 
 him at this period. He says that he was then a great 
 literary and political lion in the City of New York ; 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 1 23 
 
 that he told the best story, rounded the best sentence, 
 and wrote the best play of all his contemporaries^; 
 that he was the life and spirit of all circles ; that his 
 wit was everywhere repeated and that, as an editor, 
 critic and author, he was looked up to as an oracle. 
 
 In 1820, he wrote a melodrama, called "Yusef Car- 
 matti or, The Siege of Tripoli," which was pro- 
 duced at the Park Theatre, for the benefit of Miss 
 Johnson, the attractive actress before referred to. 
 This was his first and only attempt to obtain a pecu- 
 niary recompense for his dramatic productions, and on 
 the third night of the representation of this play, May 
 25th, 1820, it was given for his benefit to a crowded 
 and fashionable house. The performance was con- 
 cluded satisfactorily, when, immediately after the 
 audience left the house, it took fire, and in a very 
 short time the theatre was burned to the ground. 
 Fortunately, the receipts of the night were saved, hav- 
 ing been taken by the treasurer to his own house be- 
 fore the fire broke out. On the following day the 
 amount received, over two thousand dollars, was sent 
 by the Manager to the author, and Noah, with a bene- 
 volence that was characteristic of the man throughout 
 his life, gave the whole of it for the relief of the indigent 
 members of the company, who, in consequence of the 
 calamity, were for many months thrown out of 
 employment. This act of generosity was highly com- 
 mended at the time by citizens of every class, as it 
 deserved to be, and especially as Noah was a man of 
 but limited means, editors then being about as poorly 
 paid as poets. 
 
 When the Park Theatre was rebuilt in 1831, Noah, 
 as his contribution to the new edifice and to honor the 
 annual celebration of the evacuation of the City of 
 New York by the British in 1783, wrote a military 
 play, which he called, "Marion or The Hero of 
 
124 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 Lake George." He was then an officer of the New 
 York militia, with the title, by which he was always 
 known afterwards, of Major Noah, and to add to the 
 eclat of the military drama and to the celebration of 
 the anniversary, he exerted himself to procure a large 
 attendance of his military associates in iiniform, with 
 a result that may be described in his own words: 
 "what with generals, staff officers, rank and file, the 
 Park Theatre was so crammed, that not a word of the 
 play was heard, which was a very fortunate aflfair for 
 the author." 
 
 In 1822 he was appointed Sheriff of New York, an 
 office from which, during the short time he held it, he 
 derived no pecuniary benefit, as he gave a large part 
 of the proceeds to the widow of his predecessor in the 
 office, who had been left destitute, and the residue 
 and more, he expended for the relief of poor debtors, 
 who as sheriff, he had in custody, imprisonment for 
 debt then being allowed. By the amended Constitu- 
 tion of 182T, the office of sheriff was made elective, 
 and Noah was nominated by the Tammany party for 
 election. Meanwhile he had given great offence. He 
 had applied for a portion of the state printing and 
 failing to get it, made an unwarrantable attack upon 
 some of the most respected leaders of the democratic 
 party, charging them with the want of good faith, 
 which caused such indignation that a formidable op- 
 position was organized against him, and in one of the 
 most exciting political contests, that New York had 
 previously known, he was defeated. During the can- 
 vass one of the objections urged, was a Jew's being 
 put in an office where he would have the right to 
 hang a Christian; to which Noah replied in his point- 
 ed way, ' 'that it was a pity that Christians had to be 
 hanged.'' 
 
 As Monroe's administration drew to a close, the 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 1 25 
 
 political harmony that had prevailed, disappeared, and 
 four candidates were brought forward for the 
 presidency. John Quincy Adams, his Secretary 
 of State, Wm. H. Crawford, his Secretary of the 
 Treasury, Henry Clay, and General Andrew 
 Jackson. 
 
 The Tammany party, or the Bucktails, as they were 
 then called, supported Crawford and Noah in their or- 
 gan, the Nafiojtal Advocate^ denounced the Republi- 
 cans who did not support Crawford, as traitors, which 
 was meant to apply to the Clintonian party who sus- 
 tained Jackson, and especially to Charles King, the 
 editor of an influential republican evening paper called 
 The American^ who came out for John Quincy 
 Adams, the personal antagonism of the two editors. 
 King and Noah, being one of the political features of 
 th.e time. General Jackson received a greater num- 
 ber of votes than either of his competitors, but lacking 
 a plurality, the election devolved upon the House of 
 Representatives and John Quincy Adams was elected 
 President. 
 
 King's paper. The America7i^ became consequently 
 the organ in the City of New York of the new Admin- 
 istration, 2M^\h.^ National Advocate, the leading jour- 
 nal in opposition. After the War with Great Britian, 
 King, who had been sent out to England by the 
 President, charged with certain duties respecting the 
 American prisoners at Dartmouth, had done 
 something to which Noah took exception, and with 
 this cause of a quarrel, a controversy began between 
 them which lasted for many years. 
 
 On the part of King, who was a high tempered man 
 and vigorous writer, it was particularly vindictive^ 
 whilst on the part of Noah, who had a facile pen, it 
 was clever, adroit, and most effective in the shape of 
 short witty sallies and humorous retorts, and was car- 
 
126 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 ried ou throughout in such a vein of outward pleas- 
 antry and inward sarcasm, as to be exceedingly 
 annoying to his irate antagonist. 
 
 Many of his crisp and amusing paragraphs in this 
 controversy might be given, but one will suffice to 
 show their general cleverness. Madame Brugere, the 
 wife of an opulent French merchant of this City, had 
 become socially distinguished for her fine manners, 
 queenly bearing and the elegant receptions she gave 
 at her spacious mansion in Broadway. The lady 
 gave a fancy ball, that is said to have been the first 
 one ever given in America ; which Scovill, in his 
 account of the merchants ot New York, says, set 
 everybody crazy in the city, and that for months 
 every one spoke in raptures of the great fancy ball. 
 King, who was a man of social position, and whom 
 Noah was in the habit of calling the pink of society, 
 was invited and went to it. The ball was attended 
 not only by the elite of New York society, but of 
 Boston, Philadelphia, Albany and Baltimore. Noah 
 in some way contrived to get an account of the prin- 
 cipal persons who were present, and of the fancy 
 dresses they wore, that he published in his paper, in 
 which account he stated that King went to the ball 
 in the dress of a private gentleman, and nobody 
 knew him ; that he changed his dress three times in 
 the course of the evening, and being recognized in 
 his last disguise, the band struck up "God Save the 
 King." 
 
 The National Advocate was not what is called a 
 paying paper, and as Noah's remuneration was small, 
 and as he did not agree with one of the proprietors as 
 to the manner in which the paper should be con- 
 ducted, he left it in 1826 and established a daily 
 Journal of his own which he called by the same name, 
 the Natio7ial Advocate. This he was enjoined from 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 127 
 
 doing by the court, when he changed it to Noah's 
 National Advocate and this being also enjoined, he 
 called it the Enquirer^ which he continued to edit 
 until it was merged in 1826 with the Morning 
 Courier^ under the joined name of the Courier and 
 Enquirer. 
 
 It was the custom then both of the English and 
 American newspapers to discuss the questions of the 
 day in what are called leading articles. These he 
 seldom wrote, as he was notjclever in argument ; but 
 generally confined himself to short, pithy paragraphs, 
 seasoned with humor and pointed by wit, which 
 proved quite as effectual as graver essays. 
 
 He was quite a master of sarcasm, in the use of 
 which however he was rarely malevoent or vindic- 
 tive, but employed it as the most potent means for 
 ridicule. 
 
 In 1825, Noah turned to his long cherished scheme 
 of the restoration of the Jews to their past glory as a 
 nation. Whilst a most tolerant and liberal-minded 
 man in respect to the religious belief of others, he was 
 strongly attached to his own people, regarding them 
 as a race apart, originally chosen by God to work out 
 a sublime faith, who, notwithstanding all they had 
 undergone, were increasing in number aud had a great 
 future before them. He not only believed in the ful- 
 filment of the prophecies, that they would come to- 
 gether again as a nation, but that the time in the 
 world's history for the beginning of the movement 
 had arrived, and that he, under Divine inspiration, 
 was an appointed instrument to bring it about ; for 
 among all the successors of Israel and of Jacob that 
 assembled in the synagogue, there was not one who 
 was a more sincere believer or reverential worshiper. 
 
 For this purpose he acquired, with the aid of some 
 of his friends, an island thirteen miles in length and 
 
128 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 about five miles broad, called Grand Island, in the 
 Niagara River, which divides the northwestern part of 
 the State of New York from Canada and is close to 
 Niagara Falls. Here the down-trodden Israelites from 
 
 all parts of the world were to be brought as an 
 "Asylum' and "City of Refuge," who together with 
 the North American Indians, whom he believed were 
 the descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, were to 
 form a great agricultural and industrial community, 
 which was to be the beginning of the restoration of 
 the Jewish people as a nation, under the constitution 
 and liberal government of the United States. 
 
 That the American Indian, who is by nature a 
 nomad, and the Jew, who since the dispersion of his 
 people, even when free to do so, has rarely taken to 
 the cultivation of land as a means of livelihood, could 
 be welded together in a self supporting, agricultural 
 community, was an idea that would never occur to 
 any one of a practical mind; but upon this subject 
 Noah was an enthusiast; and like many enthusiasts, 
 did not trouble himself by looking at the practical 
 side of the matter. In a memorial to the New York 
 Legislature for the purchase of this land, he represent- 
 ed, that if the Jews in Europe were assured of such 
 an "Asylum of Freedom" as he proposed to create 
 upon Grand Island, they would emigrate to it in great 
 numbers. 
 
 Subsequently he was not so confident of the co- 
 operation of the North American Indians. Measures 
 however, were to be adopted to make them sensible 
 of their origin, to cultivate their minds, soften their 
 nature and finally reunite them with their brethren, 
 the chosen people. 
 
 This restoration of Israel as a nation, in and under 
 the government of the United States, however, was 
 not to be final. The Jew, he declared, would never 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I2g 
 
 relinquish the hope of gaining possession again of his 
 ancient heritage in Syria, and that the founding of 
 this Asylum in Grand Island, therefore, was merely 
 "temporary and provisional." 
 
 It was, however, to be in this country, a gathering 
 of the Jews tooether as a nation, from all parts of the 
 world, and, as such, it required a directing power or 
 head, which he considered could be accomplished by 
 simply re-establishing the patriarchal form of govern- 
 ment under which the children of Israel had lived in 
 Palestine. If the Jews had ever in their patriarchal 
 State any central head denoting national unity, it was 
 not the high priest, but was in their fifteen successive 
 iudges, until the functions of the judges were vested 
 by the people in a King, who was "to judge them" 
 as well as to fight their battles. The term King how- 
 ever, was not an appropriate one to designate the 
 head of an organization under a republican form of 
 government, and Noah, going back to the judges, 
 adopted the title of Governor and Judge of Israel. It 
 was not exactly known how the judges in Israel were 
 appointed, and Noah solved the difficulty by appoint- 
 ing himself to this high office, and as the self-appointed 
 ruler, for this purpose, of the seven millions of Jews 
 throughout the world, he fixed a day, the 15th Sep- 
 tember, 1825, for the dedication of the Asylum upon 
 Grand Island, the laying of the corner-stone there 
 with imposing ceremonies of the "City of Refuge," 
 which he called Ararat, and he prepared to be issued 
 as of that date, his proclamation to the Jews through- 
 out the world. 
 
 This extraordinary document, his proclamation, is 
 too lengthy to be inserted here, but some account of it 
 is essential to a full understanding of what he under- 
 took and expected to accomplish, as well as of the 
 character of the man. 
 
130 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 It began stating to his "beloved brethren" through- 
 out the world, that, whereas, in fulfilment of the pro- 
 mise made to the race of Jacob, they are to be 
 gathered together from the four quarters of the world 
 and to resume their part among the governments of 
 the earth. Therefore, I, Mordecai M. Noah, citizen 
 of the United States, late Consul to Tunis, High 
 Sheriff of the City of New York and Counsellor-at-law, 
 by the Grace of God Governor and Judge of Israel, 
 have issued this proclamation. The document sets 
 forth the great advantages of the State of New York, 
 as a place of settlement for the oppressed and down- 
 trodden Jews throughout the world, the fecundity of 
 its soil and the salubrity of its climate, and especially 
 of the attractions of Grand Island and of the beauty 
 of its situation "where," he said, "they can till the 
 land, reap the harvest, raise their flocks and enjoy 
 their religion with peace and plenty" and these allure- 
 ments having been pointed out, the document proceeds 
 as follows : 
 
 "In His name, who brought us out of Egypt, I 
 revive, renew and re-establish the government of the 
 Jewish nation, and enjoin it upon all Rabbis, Elders 
 of Synagogues, Chiefs of Colleges and all of the 
 brethren in authority throughout the world, to cir- 
 culate this, my proclamation, announcing to the Jews 
 that an Asylum has been provided for them. It is my 
 will that a census of the Jews betaken throughout the 
 globe, and the returns registered in the Synagogues. 
 Those who from infirmity or any other cause are will- 
 ing to remain where they are, "he says, "are allowed to 
 do so, but are to encourage the emigration of the 
 youug and enterprising, so as to add to the strength of 
 the restored nation." He commands strict neutrality 
 in the war between the Greeks and the Turks, which 
 was then pending, and declares that those who are in 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I3I 
 
 military employments may remain. He abolishes 
 polygamy, and directs that all prayers are to be read 
 thereafter in Hebrew. The North American Indians, 
 who, the document says, are admitted to be of Asiatic 
 origin, and in all probability are the descendants of 
 the lost tribes of Israel, are called upon to come and 
 unite with their brethren, as the chosen people, and 
 in the tolerant spirit of the man, those of other denom- 
 inations are also allowed to come, if they desire to do 
 so. He then imposes a tax of three shekels, or one 
 dollar in silver, annually, upon every Jew throughout 
 the world, to procure agricultural implements for, and 
 to meet othei expenses of the new settlement. He 
 appoints by name a number of commissioners, in 
 various cities in Europe, to assist in carrying out his 
 proclamation, to whom proper instructions are to be 
 transmitted thereafter, and finally, the brethren are 
 asked to remember him in their prayers. After which 
 the document closes with "By the Judge, A. B. Seixas, 
 Secretary pro tern," which proclamation was, no doubt, 
 as was its object, largely distributed through out the 
 world, where Jews in any considerable number were 
 settled. 
 
 On the day fixed for the inauguration, the 15th day 
 of September, 1825, it was found that there were not 
 boats enough in Buffalo to carry to Grand Island all 
 who wished to be present, and the celebration, in con. 
 sequence, took place in Buffalo. The Jewish standard 
 was displayed from a flag-staff". A procession, headed 
 by a band of music, was formed, composed of military 
 companies and several Masonic bodies in full regalia, 
 after which came Noah as Governor and Judge of 
 Israel in black, wearing a judicial robe of crimson 
 silk, trimmed with ermine and with a richly em- 
 bossed, golden medal suspended from his neck, fol- 
 lowed by Masonic officers and dignitaries, who, with 
 
132 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 some citizens, closed the procession, which after 
 marching through the principal streets of Bufialo, 
 entered the Episcopal Church, the band playing the 
 Grand March from Judas Maccabeus, and placed upon 
 a table in front of the altar, was the corner-stone of 
 the anticipated, city, with this inscription, " Hear, O 
 Israel, the Lord is our God. Ararat, the Hebrew 
 Refuge, founded by Mordecai M. Noah in the month 
 of Tishri, corresponding with September 1825, i^^ ^^^^ 
 50th year of American Independence." A prayer 
 was delivered by an Episcopal clergyman, passages or 
 lessons were read from the Old Testament, and Noah, 
 in his robe as Judge and. Governor of Israel, delivered 
 an oration that filled more than five columns of the 
 large sized journals of that day, which a contemporary 
 Buffalo newspaper declared contained details of the 
 deepest interest, to which the crowded auditory 
 listened with profound attention. These details con- 
 sisted of an account of the Jews in the various coun- 
 tries in which they had settled and an exposition of his 
 scheme for their restoration as a nation, which I have 
 already substantially given, and the exercises closed by 
 the choir singing, " Before Jehovah's Awful Throne." 
 
 Afterwards a salvo of 24 guns was fired and a mon- 
 ument of brick and wood was erected upon the Island, 
 on the site of the contemplated city, with the inscrip- 
 tion, " Ararat, a City of Refuge for the Jews, founded 
 by Mordecai M. Noah in the 50th year of American 
 Independence. 
 
 The celebration in Buffalo was the beginning and 
 the end of the scheme. The European Rabbis refused 
 to sanction it. The proclamation was not responded 
 to. The monument of brick and wood, like the pro- 
 ject itself, fell to pieces, and in the course of years 
 wholly disappeared. 
 
 General Jackson, in recognition of Noah's political 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I33 
 
 services, appointed him in 1829 Surveyor of the Port 
 of New York. The Senate by a close vote rejected 
 the nomination, but, upon Jackson's representation 
 that some of the Senators who had voted against it 
 had been misinformed as to certain facts, it was 
 reconsidered, and after a severe contest, in which the 
 Senate was equally divided, the nomination was con- 
 firmed by the casting vote of Vice President Van 
 Buren. 
 
 He held this office until 1833, when he resigned it. 
 His resignation was attributed by his political oppo- 
 nents to General Jackson's refusing to appoint him to 
 the more lucrative office of Collector of the Port of 
 New York. Whether this was true or not, he was 
 from that time an active opponent of Jackson's admin- 
 istration. The Courier and Enquirer^ under the joint 
 proprietorship of Webb and Noah, had supported Gen- 
 eral Jackson for the presidency, and his administration 
 during his first term. But Jackson, having followed 
 up his veto of the charter of the United States in 1832, 
 by his removal of the deposits of the bank in 1833, 
 after his re-election, the Courier and Enquirer came 
 out against him and became an organ of what was 
 known for many years thereafter as the "Whig Party, " 
 This change was alleged by Jackson's supporters to 
 have been brought about by a loan or gift to Col. 
 Webb on the part of the bank of $50,000 to secure the 
 influence of the paper in its favor. There was some 
 grounds for the belief that the bank made unwarrant- 
 able use of its funds to secure political influence, and 
 especially that of leading newspapers, and on an invest- 
 igation by a committee of Congress, a promissory note 
 made by Noah was found amongst the assets. Noah, 
 in his testimony before the committee, stated that the 
 money for which the note was given, was received 
 from a private individual as a loan pressed upon him 
 
134 JKW3 IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 of unemployed funds, which was probably true; for no 
 one, so far as I know, ever accused him of personal 
 dishonesty; being a man, who in money matter, was 
 always more ready to give than to take. In all prob- 
 ability, however, the note was brought to the bank 
 by some one into whose possession it had passed, and 
 the bank gave the money upon it to get Noah's in- 
 fluence, or to silence his opposition. He expressed to 
 the committee his surprise, as he said, "to find his 
 note turn up among the assets of the bank," and after 
 this transaction, he withdrew from all further connec- 
 tion with the Courier and Enquirer and sold out his 
 share of that paper to his co-proprietor, Col. Webb. 
 
 There v^as perhaps another explanation of Noah's 
 coming out at the time against the administration. 
 Jackson's removal of the deposits of the government 
 from the United States Bank and depositing them in 
 the state, or as they were called, "pet" banks, created 
 a great sensation throughout the country, especially 
 in all commercial circles, and particularly in the City 
 of New York. There was the attraction, therefore, 
 to a politician like Noah, of the formation of a power- 
 ful political party in opposition to the administration, 
 which the "Whig" party rapidly became, to the 
 building up of which he could largely contribute by the 
 establishment of a journal of his own, and also accom- 
 plish another purpose. Van Buren was recognized 
 not only by Jackson himself, but by the bulk of the 
 democratic party, as the one who was to be supported 
 as Jackson's successor in the presidency, and Noah, 
 at this time, was at enmity with Van Buren, to defeat 
 whose aspirations was to him then a desirable politi- 
 cal object. Although he owed to Van Buren's vote 
 his ofl&ce of Surveyor, Mr. Van Buren -afterwards pre- 
 vented him from getting the office of State Printer, 
 which was then, as it has been ever since, a political 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I35 
 
 •gift. Van Buren's influence secured it for Edwin 
 Croswell, a member of a political junta, called the 
 "Albany Regency," that had then the control of the 
 democratic party of New York, and after this contest 
 for the office of State Printer, an animosity arose be- 
 tween Noah and Van Buren that continued as long 
 as both were living. 
 
 Upon leaving the Courier and Enquirer^ Noah, in 
 connection with Thomas Gill, who had been the 
 business manager of the Evening Post^ started a new 
 paper, called the Evejiivg Star^ which was devoted to 
 the '"Whig" party. New York at that time scarcely 
 admitted of three evening journals, but through the 
 skilful business management of Noah's partner, Gill 
 the paper was successful. What Noah foresaw, the 
 ultimate triumph of the "Whig" party, came about, 
 but not in time to prevent Mr. Van Buren's succeeding 
 to the presidency. Alter^ it accomplished its purpose 
 by the election of General Harrison as President in 
 1840. Noah's partner, Mr. Gill, died, and from the 
 want of his efficient services, the circulation of the 
 paper fell off; Noah sold it to one of his evening rivals, 
 the Commercial Advertiser^ and Governor Seward 
 appointed him in 1841 an Associate Judge of the New 
 York Court of Sessions. This was an office he was 
 x][ualified to fill. He had to some extent studied law 
 in Charleston and a general knowledge of the commer- 
 cial law was not difficult to master. The office of a crim- 
 inal judge, moreover, is one that requires in a greater 
 degree than any other judicial station, the tempering 
 of justice with mercy, and whilst Noah was an exper- 
 ienced man of the world, he was at the same time at 
 heart one of the kindest and most benevolent of 
 men. 
 
 He had no sooner, however, commenced the dis- 
 charge of his judicial duties than Bennett,in the New 
 
136 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 York Herald^ began to assail and ridicule him. 
 Scarcely a day passed, without some short article in 
 which he was generally referred to, not by name, but 
 by an abbreviated slang phrase, implying a dealer in 
 second-hand clothing. His proceedings in court were 
 misrepresented, his decisions caricatured and his 
 religion frequently referred to, as if it were a matter of 
 reproach. This course on the part of Bennett was 
 the more remarkable, as it is said that Noah loaned 
 Bennett the capital, $100, with which he started the 
 Herald zs a small sheet, Bennett being then employed 
 on the Courier and Enquirer^ and that it was 20^ 
 years before the loan was repaid. Noah himself made 
 no complaint, but one of the jurors, attending the 
 Court, was so indignant at this unjust aspersion of 
 him from day to day, that upon his own motion he 
 instituted criminal proceedings and Bennett was 
 indicted for libel. When the case came on for trial 
 in the Court of Oyer and Terminer, before Judge 
 Nathan Kent, Noah appeared, and a scene occurred 
 that was quite characteristic of the man. When the 
 case was called, he rose, and addressing the court 
 said that the attack upon him, by Bennett in the 
 Herald^ was the continuation of an old editorial 
 quarrel, in which he had been to a considerable 
 degree the aggressor and that so far as he was con- 
 cerned, he was willing that the prosecution should 
 be dropped. But the Judge would not consent. He 
 directed the trial, to proceed and there being no 
 defence, the jury found a verdict of guilty. 
 
 On the day fixed for the sentence I was in Court, 
 and remember that the Judge, with much dignity and 
 in an impressive manner, stated that the printing in 
 a public journal, from day to day, of such grossly, 
 abusive articles, in respect to a Judge who was engaged 
 in the discharge of public duties, was not merely an 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 1 37 
 
 offence against him, but one the tendency of which 
 was to bring into disrepute the administration of the 
 criminal law, and, which, in his opinion, should be 
 punished by imprisonment, and that if it were in his 
 power he would sentence Bennett to the penitentiary 
 for the longest period the law allowed; but he had 
 been, he said, overruled by his associates, the two 
 aldermen sitting with him, and would pronounce, 
 not his own, but their sentence, which was a pecuniary 
 fine of a comparatively small amount. 
 
 Noah did not continue in this judicial office very 
 long; after leaving it, he started a weekly journal in 
 support of Tyler's Administration called the Union^ 
 that lasted about a year. He then became, and was 
 for a considerable time, the editor of the New York 
 Sun. During his connection with the Su7i he edited 
 a paper, subsequently known as the Times and Week- 
 ly Messenger \ that he continued to be the editor of 
 for the rest of his life, and under the title of Noah^s 
 Times and Weekly Messenger^ it is still published, 
 being now in its fifty-third year. 
 
 In 1840, he published a translation of the Book of 
 Jasher, and before it wrote essays on Domestic Econ- 
 omy, which appeared in one of the newspapers he edit- 
 ed. In 1842, he was elected President of the Hebrew 
 Benevolent Society, the institution in commemoration 
 •of whose 50th anniversary my address was delivered, 
 and continued to be its President until his death. In 
 i846,he delivered an address which he afterwards pub- 
 lished, to show that the American Indians were the 
 descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. In this pro- 
 duction he brought together a large amount of mate- 
 rial, to prove the resemblance between them and the 
 Jews in visage, customs, traditions and religious belief, 
 much of which however, had been collected by earlier 
 American writers, Adair, Boudinot, Ethan Smith and 
 
138 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 Priest, in support of the same theory. Noah gave as 
 his reason for this address, that previous writers 
 upon the same subject, of whom, however, he names 
 but one, Adair, though thoroughly informed respect- 
 ing the rites, ceremonies, usages and belief of the 
 North American Indians were not well acquainted 
 with those of the Israelites, in which I thiuk he 
 undervalued the extent of the knowledge of some of 
 his predecessors. The facts so brought together, he 
 deemed convincing; but he was neither an ethnologist 
 nor an anthropologist. Fifty years ago, even the 
 first of these sciences, had made but little progress, 
 and he did not know that distinction of races, or 
 racial connection, is established by tests of a very 
 different kind from those that he thought so con- 
 clusive. In 1845, he published what he called "Glean- 
 ings from a Gathered Harvest," which was made up 
 of things he had written, and in the same year a 
 monograph on the Restoration of the Jews, 
 
 Hammond, in his Political History of New York, 
 has given his character. After remarking that much 
 had been said and alleged against him, which he> 
 Hammond, considered ill founded and undeserved, he 
 added that his political, or rather, his party principles 
 sat rather loosely,too loosely, upon him ; but that he was 
 frank, open, unreserved, generous and kind in his na- 
 ture,and that his talents as a wiiter,especially as a wit^ 
 were of a high order. He died in the City of New 
 York, on the 22na of March, 1851, in the 66th year of 
 his age, and while obituary notices of him, and some 
 of them quite lengthy, appeared in the other daily 
 journals, the New York Herald^ though containing 
 editorial obituaries of less important personages, did 
 not even notice the fact of his death. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I39 
 
 SamueIv B. H. Judah. 
 
 Another Jewish dramatist and writer was Samuel 
 B. H. Judah. He was born in New York in 1799, and 
 was of an old colonial Jewish family that had settled 
 in this city as early as 1725, and probably before it. 
 His father, Benjamin S. Judah, after the close of the 
 American Revolution, became one of the most prom- 
 inent of the merchants of New York ; a man greatly 
 respected for his probity and valued for his enterprise 
 and business abilities. He was one of the founders in 
 1786, of the New York Tontine, and in business cor- 
 porations and in other institutions, held positions of 
 trust and confidence. When the war broke out with 
 Great Britain in 1812, he was a wealthy man, carrying 
 on an extensive business with the West Indies, which 
 was suddenly brought to end by the imposition of the 
 embargo. As nearly everything he possessed was 
 invested in a very profitable maritime commerce, the 
 cessation by the embargo of all commercial intercourse 
 by sea, came upon him so unexpectedly that he was 
 unable to meet his engagements, was compelled to 
 fail, and like many of the leading merchants of New 
 York at that time, he was irretrievably ruined, 
 for although he lived for many years thereafter, 
 he never recovered from this overwhelming disaster. 
 
 In consequence, as I suppose, of the limited resour- 
 ces of his parents, young Judah had not the benefit of 
 a collegiate education, but he acquired at one of the 
 schools of the city, some knowledge of the classical 
 languages, and was taught French by a well-known 
 teacher of the time, named Boeuf. 
 
 As a 3^oung man, he had literary aspirations, which 
 were directed towards the Theatre, and in 1820 he 
 wrote a melodrama, entitled "The Mountain Torrent," 
 which was produced that year, at the Park Theatre, 
 with fair success. In 1822, he wrote another melo 
 
14° JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 drama, "The Rose of Arragon," that was acted at the 
 same theatre, and was much more successful. This 
 was followed by another play, "The Tale of Lexing- 
 ton," and in 1823 ^ benefit was given to him at the 
 Park Theatre, at which the two latter plays were acted. 
 I know nothing further of his efforts as a dramatist, 
 and presume that he had not become sufficiently suc- 
 cessful as a playwright to induce the managers of the 
 Park Theatre to bring out any more of his productions, 
 as in a publication of that year, he complains of Man- 
 ager Simpson's want of education, as an explanation 
 of his inability to appreciate his, Judah's merits. 
 
 The publication referred to, which appeared in 1823, 
 was entitled "Gotham and the Gothamites,a Medley." 
 It was a versified production assailing over a hundred 
 persons, who were then more or less prominent in the 
 City of New York, assuming to be written in the 
 interest of virtue and moralit}', but which from the 
 motive that led him to write it, and the means he 
 employed to bring it into notice, is almost without a 
 parallel in the history of defamatory literature. The 
 satirical productions of Churchill and of Dr. Wolcott, 
 better known as Peter Pindar, were then read more 
 than they are now. They were popular, and it was 
 doubtless from an ambition to achieve the kind of dis- 
 tinction these writers had attained, that led him to 
 conceive that a production in verse, grossly calumni- 
 ating every one in New York who was at all promin- 
 ent, would biiug him into great notoriety. 
 
 But Churchill and Wolcott had, what he had not, 
 the literary merit that is shown in the telling couplets 
 and biting satire of the former, and the exquisite 
 humor and felicitous versification of the latter; in ad- 
 dition to which, the first of these clever satirists in 
 verse had the redeeming quality, that he could praise 
 as heartilv as he could censure. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I4I 
 
 To their eminence, vain as he was, Judah could 
 scarcely hope to attain ; but there was another model 
 that pointed out to him a way by which he could do 
 in prose, what he had not the ability to accomplish in 
 verse. A few years previously, in 1819, Gulian C. 
 Verplanck, published a political satire, commonly 
 known as "The Bucktail Bards, ^' under the no7n de 
 plume of Major Pindar Puff. This was a satire in 
 easy flowing verse, directed against prominent persons 
 in the political part}^ then known as the Clintonians, 
 and their distinguished leader, DeWitt Clinton, who 
 were satirized by ludicrously exalting them and by 
 ridiculing under the form of affected praise the pre- 
 tensions of Clinton to scientific knowledge and great 
 literary attainment. Unlike Judah's productions 
 however, there was nothing malevolent or vindictive 
 about it, nor anything in the form of scurrility, or per^ 
 sonal abuse. As a distinguishing feature, it had at 
 the end of each epistle, copious notes, and as Mr 
 Verplanck was a man of learning and of some humor, 
 these notes added much to the effect of the verse; and 
 it was this method of Mr. Verplanck's in the form of 
 notes, that Judah followed, as a more effectual means, 
 by which he could abuse and slander the persons he 
 attacked. 
 
 The poem was devoid of literary merit. He had 
 very little knowledge of metre and lacked an ear for 
 distinguishing rhyme. It was consequently marked 
 by halting verses and imperfect couplets. There was 
 a mawkish sentimentality in many passages that he 
 conceived to be poetry, in which moonshine and the 
 adjuncts of the theatre, were substituted for nature, 
 and there was an effected assumption of morality and 
 virtue, that was as false as it was meretricious. 
 
 I have said, that nearly everyone that was then 
 prominent in New York, was referred to and slandered ; 
 
142 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 public officials, politicians, merchants of the highest 
 integrity, eminent lawyers, editors, clergymen, book- 
 sellers and publishers, literary men, professors in col- 
 leges, actors, theatrical managers, prominent military 
 men, scholars and artists. No one was omitted, the 
 attack upon whom he supposed would create a sensa- 
 tion. They were not referred to by name, but the 
 first letters of the Christian and surname were given, 
 and the omitted letters in each were indicated by 
 asterisks or stars, so that it was easy for any one then 
 familiar with the prominent people in New York to 
 know who was meant, and, after a lapse of seventy 
 years, I have been able, out of the one hundred and 
 three persons referred to, to identify ninety-eight. 
 
 As the great bulk of the personages mentioned were 
 people of character and blameless lives, there could be 
 no motive for dragging them before the public, and 
 calumniating them, except the one that has been sug- 
 gested. As to some of the others, he appears to have 
 had an antipathy, or a feeling of personal enmity, which 
 was especially the case toward his coreligionist, Noah, 
 and what he published respecting him will suffice to 
 show the vituperative character of the production. 
 He is generally referred to as "this fellow,'' '*A writer 
 oflviusy Woolsy Paragraphs and Still -Born Lumps 
 of Stupidity." * * * " A pertinacious scribbler 
 of insipid garbage." * * * "A smirking j wriggling, 
 smiling thing who says his plays were not all hissed, 
 which was because his audiences were unable to hiss 
 and could only gape, * * * Who damns the worth 
 he cannot equal and never blushes except when, un- 
 awares, he stumbles upon a truth." 
 
 Immediately upon the publication of the book he 
 caused handbills to be posted up throughout the city, 
 ofiering a reward for the discovery of the author, and 
 wrote anonymous letters to a considerable number of 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 143 
 
 persons he had mentioned in it, which, save in the adap- 
 tation of each letter to the particular person addressed, 
 informed them generally that the work had appeared ; ot 
 the largesaleof copiesof iton the second dayof its pub- 
 lication, which was untrue, and earnestly advising them 
 to take immediate measures through the newspapers, 
 or otherwise, to vindicate their characters from the 
 unjust aspersions cast upon them. One of these let- 
 ters was sent to Col. W. h. Stone, the editor of the 
 Commercial Advertiser^ who, upon reading it, was 
 struck with its resemblance to a communication that a 
 short time before had been sent to him for insertion 
 in his paper. It was a literary review of the seven 
 leading authors of America, and as Judah's name was 
 the third or fourth on the list, the experienced editor 
 came to the conclusion that a review placing Judah 
 in so eminent a position and prophesying that from 
 the talent he had already displayed, how much might 
 be expected from him in the future, could have been 
 written by nobody but Judah himself, and Colonel 
 Stone laid it aside not intending to publish it. Upon 
 comparing this article with the letter he had re- 
 ceived, he found that both were in the same iiand- 
 writing, and purchasing a copy of the book, he, with 
 this proof, went before the Grand Jury and had the 
 author and publisher indicted for libel. The arrest 
 of both a few days after the publication put a stop to 
 any further circulation of the book- and the publicity 
 of the criminal proceedings brought to light a number 
 of the like kind of letters which Judah had written, 
 all being in the same handwriting, which were given 
 up to the public authorities. 
 
 The publisher made no defence, but Judah em- 
 ployed counsel and under the pretense of absent wit- 
 nesses that he required to prove a justification, or a 
 matter in mitigation, he got the trial put off for 
 
144 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 several terms, until at last, Hugh Maxwell, the dis- 
 trict attorney, who was an energetic officer, brought 
 the cause peremptorily to trial, when, there beings no 
 defence, a verdict of guilty was rendered, and a sub- 
 stantial fine was imposed, which Judah being unable 
 to pay, he was sent to prison. 
 
 He had some pulmonary affection which, being 
 augmented by his impriconmeut and the great 
 heat of the weather, — it was in the month of August, 
 — brought on a severe attack of ilhiess, and as the 
 physician of the prison certified that he would not 
 probably recover unless he was released, the Governor 
 granted him a pardon and he was discharged. A few 
 years afterwards he became a lawyer. How the 
 author of such a production as " Gotham and the 
 Gothamites" succeeded in getting any respectable 
 lawyer to certify that he was a man of good moral 
 character, which was indispensable to an admission to 
 the Bar, I do not know, but he certainly obtained 
 such a certificate, as he was admitted an attorney and 
 counsellor of the Supreme Court, and was for many 
 years a practitioner. 
 
 He was not unfrequently before me in my earlier 
 years upon the bench, and exhibited no ability as an 
 advocate. He had the habit not uncommon at that 
 period with some New Yorkers, of substituting the 
 ' w'' for " V, " such as *' If the gentleman will wouch 
 for it on his weracity ,etc," and this peculiar pronun- 
 ciation together with the uuattractiveness of his per- 
 sonal appearance, and his lack of ability for construct, 
 ing a speech, made an unfavorable impression upon 
 jurors, of which, from his earnestness, he appeared to 
 be wholly unconscious. 
 
 As an attorney, a gentleman who had much to do 
 with him in the transaction of business, described 
 him to me as acute, cunning, technical, and not very 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 145 
 
 reliable; notwithstanding which he was able to obtain 
 what, in those days when imprisonment for debt was 
 allowed, was called a collecting business, by which he 
 was able to secure an ample competency, on which he 
 lived for the rest of his life. 
 
 He published a work of fiction which was not of any 
 particular merit, the scenes of which were laid in the 
 earlier part of the Colonial history of New York, the 
 name of which I cannot now recall. In his last years 
 he was a great sufferer from some chronic disease, and 
 died in the City of New York about the time, I think, 
 or shortly before the breaking out of the civil war. 
 
 Jonas B. Phii^i^ips. 
 
 This continuation has extended so far beyond what 
 I expected, that I will close it with an account of 
 another Jewish dramatist of New York. This was 
 Jonas B. Phillips, who first appears in connection with 
 the drama in 1833, ^^ ^^^ author of a spirited epilogue 
 written for the benefit of A. A. Adams, a tragedian of 
 great merit, who appeared that night in John Howard 
 Payne's tragedy of " Oswald of Athens," at the close 
 of which Mrs. Hughes delivered Phillip's epilogue, 
 with great effect. 
 
 In 1838, he produced a melodrama called " Cold 
 Stricken," and though it had the attraction of Mrs. 
 Barnes and Judah, the versatile actor before referred 
 to, it was not very successful, but was appreciated by 
 the managers, who gave the author a benefit. 
 
 He afterwards wrote a play called " Camillus," and 
 a drama, ' ' The Evil Eye, ' ' which was produced at 
 the Bowery Theatre in New York with great effect, 
 and had what is called a run. 
 
 He had, I think, some position in connection with 
 the business management of this theatre, and pro- 
 duced other dramas there. These were of a spectacu- 
 
146 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 lar kind, in which as a playwright he was very suc- 
 cessful. He was much esteemed among the theatrical 
 people with whom he was associated, and in 1835 a 
 complimentary benefit was given to him in that 
 theatre, when several prominent actors and actresses 
 and distinguished musical artists appeared and made it 
 a success. After this, he withdrew from all connection 
 with the theatre, studied law, and in the course of 
 years became Assistant District Attorney for the City 
 of New York. 
 
 It came within my judicial duties to preside fre- 
 quently in the Court of Sessions in the absence of the 
 Recorder, so that I saw much of Phillips, who was an 
 honest, a most industrious and an efficient public 
 officer, for whom I felt a personal regard. He filled 
 this ofiice during the term of several district attorneys, 
 and died in the City of New York about fifteen years 
 ago. 
 
 Having mentioned the Court of Sessions, I may 
 appropriately refer to another officer of that Court, of 
 the Jewish persuasion, Jacob Hays, the High Con- 
 stable, who as the head of the constabulary force of 
 the City of New York for nearly half a century, had 
 an influence and control over the criminal classes, 
 like that exercised by Townsend, the celebrated Bow 
 Street ofiicer, for so many years in lyondon. Hays was 
 a short, stout, thick-set man of unswerving honesty, 
 untiring energy and indomitable courage. Scovill 
 refers to him as the most remarkable man that New- 
 York ever produced, and certainly within his own 
 sphere of activity that city has never had one like him, 
 before or since. The criminal classes both feared and 
 respected him, which they well might, for he was the 
 very embodiment of that fine characteristic — a high 
 sense of duty, and the name which they gave him of 
 *'01d Hays " was for years a " terror to evil-doers." 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 147 
 
 The act re-organizing the police force of New York 
 dispensed with the office of High Constable, with this 
 reservation, however, that in view of his long and 
 faithfnl services, he was allowed to retain both the 
 title and emoluments of the office for the rest of his 
 life. The only duty under the act that was left to 
 him, was to sit in his wonted place in the Court of 
 Sessions, below the Judge, during the sitting of the 
 Court, which he discharged with unfailing regularity 
 up to an advanced age; an interesting and picturesque 
 figure, with his bright, penetrating eye scanning every 
 one in the audience and turning it upon each person 
 as he entered. When the loud call of the crier 
 announced that the sitting was over, and that every one 
 might depart, the venerable High Constable turning 
 towards me would say, with an old-fashioned dignity 
 of manner, '^ Have I kept order, sir, in the Court?" 
 and receiving the usual affirmative answer, he would 
 retire with the firm step and steady carriage of a 
 veteran athlete, and with his retiring figure before my 
 mind, I am admonished that the period has arrived to 
 close my account of the Settlement of the Jews in 
 Nortli America. 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 
 Documents Relating to the Arrival and Settlement 
 OF THE Jews in Delaware. 
 
 From the Minutes of the Adm'n of Jean Paul Jac- 
 quet, Vice-Director at the Delaware, and his Council, 28th 
 Dec, 1655: 
 
 Tieaty made for trade with the Indians on behalf of the 
 community living at Fort Casimir^ which they willingly 
 assented to, and each subscribed to a subsidy with the excep- 
 tion of Isaac Israel and Isaac Cardoso, who refused to give 
 their consent and prepared to leave the river and give up 
 their trade, than to assist with other good inhabitants in 
 maintaining the peace of this highway. Document Relating 
 to the Colonial History of the State of New York. XII p. 
 136. Among the subscribers is Master Jacob. 
 
 On June 16, 1656, '* Isaak Israel appears against Jan Flam- 
 man and presents the following petition : 
 To the Honbl. Vice-Director and his Council residing in 
 Fort Casimir 
 
 Showeth with due reverence the petitioner, Isaak Israel, 
 that he, the petitioner, made an agreement with Captain Jan 
 Flamman to bring him, the petitioner and his goods, to the 
 South River ; that he, petitioner, promised to pay to him, 
 Jan Flamman, one anker of brandy, and satisfied him also 
 before the departure: that, as he shipped two pieces of duffel 
 more than was agreed; he, the petitioner, had promised, to 
 give one beaver more and above the foregoing ; but that, as 
 by great improvidence and in fair weather the bark stranded 
 during the night and remained there for a considerable time, 
 whereby they were compelled to unship all the goods from the 
 said bark and to bring them ashore, during the time they 
 remained there, there was drunk and eaten by the ship's crew, 
 as well as by passengers, of his, the petitioner's, goods — one 
 anker of brandy and 15 pieces of cheese; likewise was his 
 duffel much spoiled as in consequence of the stranding, tents 
 
152 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 and shipping places had been made of it. These damages can 
 hardly be borne by me, even though the same had occurred 
 through bad weather or other misfortune. It is estimated by 
 me as follows : 
 
 lor one anker of brandy — 8 beavers, - fl 64 
 
 15 cheeses at 5 fl the piece, ~ ~ 7S 
 
 for damage to the duffel, as the same has been dis- 
 colored by rain and sunshine and otherwise, - 200 
 
 Total amount, - - - fl 339 
 
 If any one should be of opinion that this damage was 
 calculated too high, the petitioner promises lOO guilders and 
 more to him, who shall replace his goods at his valuation, 
 which they had at the time of shipping at the Manhattans, 
 and while he would and must be well satisfied with the great 
 loss of ship and goods if the mishap had occurred by una- 
 voidable necessity, yet as he is still asked for the beaver, which 
 he promised for the two pieces of duffel, besides all damage 
 and loss which he has sustained, this quite unreasonable mat- 
 ter has induced him, the petitioner, to push his claim, there, 
 fore, he, the petitioner, turns to your honor, and requests 
 that by your Honor he may be assisted and helped to his just 
 and lawful claim, which doing, etc.," was signed, Isaque Israel. 
 
 The defendant answers that he has no knowledge of the 
 points in dispute ; was lying in his bunk, and acc'g to the 
 statement of Captain Martyn, there was still 18 fathoms of 
 water when he went to lie down in his cabin. As regards the 
 brandy this was broached with the good and free will of the 
 pl'ff, as the crew were wet and cold ; he said, " Drink as 
 much as is necessary, if that is empty you can get more; the 
 stuff is lost anyway." As to the cheese, the plaintiff has dealt 
 them out voluntarily to every one. 
 
 Whereas from these verbal discussions no certainty can be 
 had, it is ordered that the parties adduce proof of their asser- 
 tions. 
 
 On the 23d of June, Isaak Israel against Jan Flamman. The 
 pl'ff produces the following affidavit: To-day, date as 
 below, appeared before me A. Hudde, Secy appointed by 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I53. 
 
 the Hon'ble Lord and high Council, upon request of Isaak 
 Israel, the Worshipful Lucas Dirco and Abraham Rycke. 
 
 They declared together and each for himself and made 
 affidavit, as they do hereby, that it is true, that they, being on 
 board the bark, called "deFenix," between the 14th and 
 15th of April, towards daybreak, weather and wind being 
 fair, ran ashore and remained fast, and that during the time 
 they sat there, one anker of brandy of the aforesaid Isack 
 Israel was drank out and some cheeses eaten, but the number 
 is not well known to them, as all the drinkables and eateableS^ 
 were taken for the satisfaction of their wants, without re- 
 gard as to whom they belonged. Likewise, we know, that 
 there were tents to lay under,and hammocks to lay in, made of 
 his, Isack Israel's, duffels. They gave as reason of their 
 knowledge that the affiants had been on board the bark dur- 
 ing the time, which, as above written, we the undersigned 
 declare to be true and truthful, and are willing to confirm, if 
 necessary, with our oaths, and have signed this in presence 
 of the below-named witnesses. Done at Fort Cassimir this 
 i6th of June, 1656, in the S. R. N. N. It was signed 
 Abraham Riycke, Luyck Dirco. On the margin stood, as 
 witnesses, Jan Juriaensen, Jan Eckhoff. Having heard the 
 arguments of the parties and their reasons pro and contra 
 having been well stated, we cannot but judge that the matter 
 necessarily must lead to a cpnsiderable increase of lawsuits, 
 which again will give rise to others. The parties are advised, 
 therefore, to arrange the matter in friendship,but if they cannot 
 agree, they shall address us again. This they accepted. Doc. 
 Relating to Colonial History of New York, XII. p. 147-8. 
 Doc. R. to the H. of Dutch and Swedish Settlements on the 
 Delaware. By B. Firnow. 
 
 Letter Wm. Beeckman to Stuyvesant, (XII, p. 447.) 
 Altena. the 5th of Dec. 1663. 
 
 Gentlemen. — I heard at Nev Amstel yesterday that Mr. 
 d'Henojossa would send as quickly as possible a savage to your 
 Hon'ble Worships, his Honor arrived here in the ship " de Pur_ 
 merlaender Kirck," on the evening of the 3d inst., together with 
 
154 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 Peter Alrichs and Israel, who went away with Miss Pnntz, as 
 members of the high Council and 150 souls.'' 
 
 (Alexander d'Henojossa was appointed Director of the D. W. I. 
 Co. colony on the South River. XII., p. 450.) 
 
 " The fur trade has been recommended to Mr. Peter Alrichs, 
 who has brought along for it 200 pieces of duffels, blankets and other 
 goods nec'y for ic. Alrichs is to trade'at New Amstil, the Honble 
 Councillor Israel at or near Passajongh, etc." Dec. 28, 1663. 
 
 Census of Responsible Housekeepers and their family at vari- 
 ous places on the Delaware River in 1680. (XII., p. 646-8.) 
 In St. Jones and Duck Creek : 
 Mr. Lsaack, 3 in family. 
 Richard Levy, 2 •' •* (P. 647.) 
 
APPENDIX II. 
 
 Notes on the History of the Jews in England and 
 THE American Colonies. 
 
 On September 12th, 1883, Dr. Felsenthal, of Chicago, sent 
 a letter to Judge Chas. P. Daly, of New York, expressing his 
 thanks for, and his appreciation of the admirable address 
 which the honorable Judge had delivered a few months pre- 
 vious, at the laying of the corner-stone of the new Hebrew 
 Orphan Asylum, in New York, and which address had after- 
 wards been published in pamphlet form. After the assurance 
 of his gratification and thanks, Dr. Felsenthal continued : 
 
 " Only in order to show you with what attention I have 
 read your address, I beg to say that it seems to me you were 
 not quite correct when you stated (on page 8) that * Jews 
 were not entitled to vote for members of Parliament.' This, it 
 appears to me, conveys an error. By an Act of Parliament, 
 passed 1740 — 13 Geo. II c 7 — which Act lies at this moment 
 before me, — Jews living seven years in any of the American 
 colonies were declared to be fully emancipated, and all rights 
 of natives were granted to them, and they were deemed, ad- 
 judged, and taken to be his Majesty's natural born subjects of 
 this Kingdom, to all intents, constructions, and purposes, as if 
 they, and ever one of them, had been, or were born within 
 this Kingdom.' Section 3 of this Act provided that in the 
 oath of allegiance to be taken, Jews may omit from this oath 
 the words ' upon the true faith of a Christian.' You see that 
 this Act, so strangely overlooked by all historians of Judaism, 
 though it is probably the very first legislative enactment in all 
 Christendom in favor of Jewish * emancipation,' in favor of 
 granting perfect equality before the laws to the confessors of 
 the Jewish faith — left nothing to be desired by the Jews in 
 the American colonies in regard to their juridical and political 
 status. 
 
 It would now be of interest to learn whether practically the 
 
156 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 law was carried out, or whether it remained a dead letter r 
 whether it proved to be a stimulant to bring at that time a 
 considerable Jewish immigration to these shores, or not, etc. 
 An examination of the Court Reports of the Colonies, in as 
 far as still accessible, might also contribute some knowledge 
 on these points. 
 
 The historian of American Judaism will also have to deal 
 with the curious fact that, while the Jews in the Colonies 
 were admitted to full citizenship already in 1740, yet in some 
 of ' the States ' they were excluded from the enjoyment of the 
 rights of citizenship by constitutional provisos. Thus. f. i., 
 according to the old Constitution of Maryland only ' Chris- 
 tians,' or ' Trinitarians ' — I do not remember which the word 
 was — were eligible to State offices, until some fifty years ago a 
 new Constitution was adopted. In North Carolina, until a 
 few years ago, only Protestants could be elected to State 
 offices. If I am not mistaken, all the States have now finally 
 based ther constitution and laws on this point upon a true 
 Jeffersonian basis, and have totally done away with the med- 
 iaeval idea of placing the Jews upon the level of pariahs. But 
 a query permit me: Is it not still held as a judicial maxim by 
 some of the American jurists that 'Christianity is a part of the 
 common law of our country?' 
 
 I hope, dear sir, you will excuse this letter. Please con- 
 sider it as a tribute of thanks and of respect which I bring to 
 you. With the highest regards, etc., etc. 
 
 B. Felsenthal. 
 
 Judge Daly's Reply. 
 
 84 Clinton Place, 
 New York, November 30th, 1883. 
 
 Dear Sir. — I owe you an apology for not answering your, 
 letters before. They were addressed to me during my Sum- 
 mer vacation, when I was absent, and since my return to this 
 city, I have not had leisure until now to reply to them. 
 
 I infer from your letter, that you have not read the account 
 I gave of the settlement of the Jews in North America, in an 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 1 57 
 
 address I delivered eleven years ago (1872), on the fiftieth 
 anniversay of the Hebrew Benevolent Society, and which, as 
 subsequently written out by me, and augmented, was pub- 
 lished in 1872, in successive numbers of the Jewish Times 
 of this city. If you had, you would have seen that I referred 
 to Tomlin's Law Dictionary, Art. " Jews," 4th London edi- 
 tion as authority for the statement that in 1737 (erroneously 
 printed in my last address as 1728), Jews were not entitled 
 to vote for members of Parliament. As Tomlin's Law Dic- 
 tionary is a book for which you might have to seek in a law- 
 yer's library, I will give you the passage in which he states the 
 disabilities that Jews were under in England, as late as 1835, 
 when the fourth edition of his work was published. It is as 
 follows : " A Jew is prevented from sitting in Parliament 
 holding any office, civil or military, under the Crown, or 
 any situation in corporate bodies. He may be excluded from 
 practising at the bar, or as ' an attorney, proctor, or notary, 
 from voting at elections, from enjoying any exhibition in 
 either university, or from holding some offices of inferior im- 
 portance." 
 
 The Act of Parliament of 1740, to which you refer (13 
 Geo. lie. 7, Evans Stat. Vol. I., p. 10), had not much effect- 
 l/nder it, foreigners who had resided seven years in a British 
 colony, without being absent at any time over two months, 
 might be naturalized; and if such foreigner were a Jew, he 
 might be naturalized without taking the Sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, under 7 Jac I. c. 11, and in his case, under 
 this Act, the words in the abjuration oath, " on the true faith 
 of a Christian " might be dispensed with ; but the naturaliza- 
 tion could only be obtained by applying for an Ac- 
 of Parliament, and a certificate had to be obtained from 
 the Home Secretary before a bill could be introduced 
 that the person applying was of good character, etc. 
 And as the procuring of the passage of an Act of 
 Parliament was " attended with a great deal of trouble 
 and some expense," very few Jews availed themselves 
 of it, a fact ascertained by an enquiry made by Parlia- 
 ment in 1754 (Smollett's "History of England, " B. HI. c III 
 
158 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 5, X.). As this Act of 1740 applied only to persons who had 
 resided the prescribed number of years in British Colonies, 
 an act was introduced in 1753 (26 Geo. 11 C. 2) by which 
 any foreign Jew could be naturalized upon like conditions. It 
 passed the House of Lords without opposition, but was furi- 
 ously assailed in the House of Commons. It was carried, 
 however by the power of the Ministry. This Act, which is 
 historically known as " The Jew Bill," continued only for a 
 few months, for it was received by the nation, the historians 
 tell us, with " horror and execration." Those who had voted 
 for it were denounced by the people. The Bishop of Norwich 
 was insulted at the communion, and in the public streets ; 
 petitions poured in from the cities for its repeal, and on the first 
 day of the next session, a bill to repeal it was introduced and 
 hurriedly passed with the assent of both parties. This intol- 
 erance in respect to the Jews continued until 1825, when an 
 Act was passed (9, Geo. I. V. c. 27) relieving persons to be 
 naturalized thereafter from the obligation of taking the Sac- 
 rament of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 So far from the legislation to which you refer having brought 
 about any tolerant feeling towards thejews,the repeal of this Ac- 
 of 1753 ^v^s rather approved of than otherwise by Blackstone (i 
 Blackst. Com. 375), and in 1786, Lord Chancellor Thurlow 
 decided that the bequest of one Isaacs, who left ;;^ 1,200 to 
 found an annuity for the support of a synagogue, was void, 
 that the Crown should decide to what charitable use the an- 
 nuity could be applied ; and the Crown directed that ;^i,ooo 
 of it should be paid to the treasurer of a foundling hospital, to 
 be applied towards the support of a preacher and the instruc- 
 tion of the children under the care of the hospital, in the 
 Chrisiiaji religion (Da Costa v. De Pays, Ambler's Rep. 228, 
 Note I, and see 7 Vesey, p. 61), which was the Government's 
 interpretation of the testator's intention. 
 
 The account I have given you of the Act of 1740, of the 
 hasty repeal of the law that was enacted afterwards to enable 
 Jews to be naturalized under it, and of the intolerant spirit of 
 the English people towards the Jews up to the end of the firs 
 quarter of the present century, will, I think, be a sufficient 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA I59 
 
 reply to your inquiry respecting the effect of the Act of 1740- 
 In 1737, a question arose in the colony of New York,whether 
 Jews could vote for Members of the House of Assembly, it 
 appearing in an exciting election that several Jews had voted 
 for one of the candidates. The question was brought before 
 the House of Assembly, and counsel was heard upon it on 
 both sides, after which a resolution that they could not vote 
 for Members of the Legislature was unanimously passed by 
 the House, which had all the force of a statute. It was in 
 these words : '' Resolved, That it not appearing to this 
 House, that persons of the Jewish religion have a right to be 
 admitted to vote for Parliament men in Great Britain, it is 
 the unanimous opinion of this House, that they ought not to 
 be admitted to vote for representatives in this colony." 
 
 Before the passage of the Reform Bill and the repeal of the 
 Corporation and Test Acts, which removed so many of the 
 Jewish disabilities, it was never definitely settled what were 
 the exact civil rights of Jews born in England. 
 
 In 1684, it was agreed before the King's Bench by the At- 
 torney General, in the case of the East India Company v. -^/ 
 Sands (2 Shower's Rep. 371), that all Jews in England were 
 under an implied license, which the King might revoke, the 
 effect of doing which would be that they would then become 
 aliens. Even so great a Judge as Lord Hardwicke, held in 
 1744 that a bequest for the maintenance of an assembly or 
 synagogue for the reading of the Jewish Law was void, be- 
 cause the Jewish religion was not tolerated in England, but 
 only connived at by the legislation (3 Swanston's Rep., p. 489, 
 Notes). 
 
 It was conceded that a Jew born in England, especially of 
 parents who were also born in England, was a British subject; 
 but whether he could lawfully hold real estate, was doubted. 
 In 1 81 8, Sir Samuel Romilly said that Jews born in England 
 were as much entitled to hold land as any other natives, and that 
 no one had ever objected to a title on the ground that the owner 
 was a Jew, and many eminent lawyers and judges had before 
 expressed themselves to the same effect; and yet, down to 
 he removal of all disabilities in 1853, this point was still doubted < 
 
l6o JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 under the statutes or ordinances of the 54th and 55 th Henry 
 III. (a. D. 1269), which declared that no Jew should hold a 
 freehold, and was^never definitively settled. Being a British 
 subject and entitled to hold land would not, in itself, enable 
 a Jew to vote for Members of Parliament at the period 
 named (1737). Persons then entitled to vote for Members of 
 Parliament were burgesses of the town or city represented by 
 the member; or in the counties, persons who had a freehold 
 estate yielding forty shillings annually; or those who enjoyed 
 the right under some special franchise. Now, if a Jew were 
 admitted to be a burgess of the town or city, or if he had a 
 freehold estate yielding forty shillings annually, he would still, 
 before voting for Member of Parliament, have to take the ab- 
 juration oath, if it was required (Watson on Sheriffs, p. 329). 
 This oath was " on the true faith of a Christian,'' except in a 
 few particular cases where these words, by statute, might be 
 omitted, and this oath no Jew could take. This continued to 
 be the law until the Act of the 8th and 9th of Victoria C. 
 52, by which these words, "on the true faith of a Christian," 
 might be dispensed with, where the person swore that he pro- 
 fessed thejewish religion, and nad conscientious scruples against 
 taking the oath in the previous form. What Tomlins therefore 
 meant when he says in the extract that I have given you, that 
 a Jew could not vote at elections was, that he could not, be- 
 cause he could not take the abjuration oath, which might be 
 required of him. 
 
 The Jews in England were the very last to raise any ques- 
 tions, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, about 
 their civil rights. All they wanted was to be left undisturbed 
 in their business, their families, and in their religious worship- 
 They knew how hostile the English people were to them' 
 especially after 1755. and being secure in their business, and 
 undisturbed in their religion and their families they were ex- 
 ceedingly careful to avoid everything that might direct public 
 attention to them as a body, or in any way excite the general 
 anti-Jewish prejudice. So mindful and careful were they to 
 divert any outburst of popular feeling from themselves, that 
 during the Lord George Gordon riots, in 1780, the Jews in 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 i6i 
 
 Houndsditch and Duke's Place wrote upon their shutters : 
 "This house is a true Protestant." 
 
 I trust, my dear sir, that you will find in the above state, 
 ments all the information you desire in your letter. 
 I am, dear sir, very truly yours, 
 
 Chas. p. Daly. 
 B. Felsenthal. 
 
APPENDIX III. 
 
 On Some i8th Century Strictures on the Jews 
 OF New York. 
 
 There is an unfavorable statement respecting the Jews of 
 New York, in the middle of the last century, in a small work 
 published in London in 1765, called a "Concise Account of 
 Noith America, etc., etc., by Major Robert Rogers."* It is 
 contained in his description of the City of New York, and is 
 as follows: '* This city abounds with many wealthy mer- 
 chants, who carry on a large trade to foreign parts and are 
 observed to deal very much upon honor, excepting some Jews 
 who have been tolerated to settle there, having a synagogue in 
 the city, who sustain no very good character, being many of 
 them selfish and knavish and (where they have an opportunity) 
 are an oppressive and cruel people." 
 
 As this statement, so far as I have been able to ascertain, is 
 unsupported by any other evidence, I have been at some 
 trouble to gather what now can be collected respecting Major 
 Rogers, the author of this book, as the weight to be attached 
 to so serious a charge against a class of merchants of a parti- 
 cular religious denomination would depend upon the writer's 
 means of information, and as we do not know what means he 
 had, we would naturally be influenced in considering what 
 reliance could be placed upon his statement by what is known 
 respecting his character. 
 
 He was born about 1730, in Dumbarton, New Hampshire. 
 His father was an Irishman, being one of the early settlers of 
 that place. In early life he became distinguished in Indian 
 warfare, and was the commander of a Corps called '' Rogers' 
 
 *A concise Account of North America, containing a Description 
 of the several British colonies on that continent; including the Island 
 of Newfoundland, Cape Breton, etc., as to their situation, extent, 
 climate, soil, produce, etc. ; to which is subjoined an account of the 
 several nations and tribes of Indians, by Major Robert Rogers 
 London, 1765. 8vo. 
 
JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 163 
 
 Rangers," among whom were some of the hardiest sons of 
 New England, General Stark of Bennington, Samuel Putnam 
 and Ebenezer Webster, father of the celebrated Daniel 
 Webster. In command of this corps, he served in the French 
 and Indian war, and as a military leader was a man of courage 
 and capacity, being successful upon two occasions in 1758^ 
 over great odds. 
 
 After the French and Indian War he went to England, and 
 during his residence there underwent considerable privations. 
 He managed, however, to borrow money to enable him to print 
 his journal and the book above referred to, which he dedicated 
 to the King. The work was commended by the London 
 Monthly Review, the reviewer, in all probability, getting what 
 knowledge he had of North America from what he found in 
 the book. The dedication to the King proved of service, and 
 Rogers was appointed Governor of Michillinacinock. He was 
 there accused of plotting to plunder the fort and to join the 
 French, and was sent to Montreal in chains, where he was tried 
 by court-martial. What was the result of the trial I do not 
 know, but he was in England again in 1769, when he was 
 imprisoned for debt, and afterwards, according to his own 
 account, was in the service of the Dey of Algiers, and fought 
 in two battles. When the American revolution broke out he 
 was in America, where, although making loud professions of 
 patriotism, he was by the order of Washington arrested and 
 imprisoned as a spy, and afterwards released by Congress upon 
 his parole. When set at liberty he broke his parole, and 
 joining the royal troops organized a corps called the " Royal 
 Rangers," of which he was the Colonel, a corps that was 
 celebrated during the contest. In 1778 he was proscribed 
 and banished by an Act of New Hampshire, after which he 
 went to England, and of his subsequent career I know nothing, 
 except that it is said that he died there about 1800. 
 
 To break a parole is regarded by mankind as the most dis - 
 honorable act that an individual can commit. All recognize 
 that this relief to the horrors of war would not continue to 
 exist unless from its universal observance. The most depraved 
 recognize this, and even savages. A military man, therefore, 
 
164 JEWS IN NORTH AMERICA 
 
 especially, who would break his parole, is one thereafter not 
 to be trusted or believed in anything. I should attach no 
 weight to the statement of the dishonored soldier respecting 
 the Jewish merchants of New York at the period referred to, 
 unless it was supported by some other evidence, and as I have 
 already said, I know of none. On the contrary, the little that 
 I have been able to find respecting the Jews of the City of New 
 York at that time is favorable. Judge Thomas Jones*, the 
 Tory historian of the American Revolution, in describing 
 what he calls " the golden age of New York,"' which was this 
 very period, says: "Even the very Jews all lived in perfect peace 
 and harmony, enjoying the company and conversation of each 
 other, and upon all occasions returning mutual acts of friend- 
 ship, kindness and affection.' 
 
 It may have been that this impecunious man, for such 
 Jones appears to have been from all we know respecting him, 
 borrowed money from one or more of these Jewish merchants, 
 and was subjected to imprisonment, as was then allowed, to 
 compel the repayment of it.f 
 
 CHAS. P. DALY. 
 
 *Jones' History of New York during the Revolutionary war 
 Vol, I, p. 2. 
 
 fThere is some evidence, but it is of a slight and indefinite kind, 
 that there were some Jews who may have been in New York 
 during this period, who were referred to unfavorably. It is con- 
 tained in an advertisement in a New York journal of the date of 
 September 5th, 1756, of Solomon Hayes, a Jewish West India 
 merchant of the city, stating that "several scandalous Jews" were 
 trying to hurt his "character and credit' 'as they had "done already,'" 
 in which he offers a reward of 100 pistoles, a large one at that 
 time, being over $300, to any person who would give intelligence 
 as to "who they were and where they were;" and as he did not 
 know them or where they were, they may not have been residents 
 of New York. 
 
I N DEX- 
 
 Abrahams, Joseph, 72. 
 
 Adair, 137, 138. 
 
 Adams, A. A , 145, John 63. John 
 Quincv, 63, 116, 125. 
 
 Adler, Prof. Cyrus 54; note 58. 
 
 Agriculture, Jewish, 92, 94, 
 
 Albany, 20, 22, 126; note 19; see 
 Orange (Fort) 
 
 Algiers, 107, 121. 
 
 Ambrosius. Moses — held in de- 
 fault of payment, 7, 23; note 3, 
 
 Amsterdam, centre of religious tol- 
 eration, 3. 
 
 Andres, Governor, 26. 
 
 Antwerp, treaty of, 3. 
 
 Ararat, city of refuge, founded by 
 M. M. Noah, 129, 132. 
 
 Arnold, historian, 83, 84. 
 
 Astor, John Jacob, employed by 
 Hayman Levy, 53, 54. 
 
 Bahia (St. Salvador) captured 5 — 
 resources and religious tolera- 
 tion, 5. — Jews settle there 5-6 
 
 Baltimore, 64, 126. 
 
 Bancroft, George xiv, 13, 62; note 
 67 
 
 Barbary States, ic6. 107, iii, 121. 
 
 Barnes, Mrs., 102, 106, 119, 145. 
 
 Barsimson, Jacob, protests against 
 taxation,, 17, 18, 19, 23; note 16. 
 
 Beekman, William, 34. 153. 
 
 Bellamont, Lord, antagonized 28; 
 assisted by Jews, 28. 
 
 Benjamin, Abraham, jS; note 84 — 
 Isaac 78, note 84 
 
 Benjamin of Tudela, 107. 
 
 Bennett, James Gordon, 135, 
 
 Blackstone, 158, 
 
 Boeuf. 139. 
 
 Bonan, Simon, freeman, 27, note 25. 
 
 Booth, historian, 39. 
 
 Bornal, Raphael, 68, note 75. 
 
 Boston, 81, 86, 90, 91, 126; notes 
 87, 91. 
 
 Boudinot, 137. 
 
 Brackenridge, 62; note 66. 
 
 Brazil — settlements in, xiii, — Dutch 
 occupation of xiii, xv, xvi, xvii, 5,6. 
 
 Breda, treaty of, 49; note 54. 
 
 Brodhead, Mr., cited, i. 
 
 Brown, (?) 103, David, 82; note 88, 
 Saul, complains about trade 
 restrictions, 24; minister of con- 
 gregation, 28. 
 
 Brugere, Madame, 126, 
 
 Bryson, David, 44. 
 
 Bueno, Joseph, permitted to trade 
 in N. Y., 27 note 25. 
 
 Buffalo, 131, 132. 
 
 Burgher Guard, Jews in 16, 17. 
 
 Burial grounds, 34 — permission for 
 extension of land, 35 — descrip- 
 tion of first cemetery, 35; notes 
 41, 43, 46 — in Newport, 81, 82, 
 86, 91. 
 
 Butcher, Joseph Isaacs, 49; note 54 
 
 Cadillac, La Motthe, on sects, 26. 
 
 Cadiz, 108, 109 
 
 Campsnnel, Mordecai, 82. 
 
 Cardoso, Benjamin 22; note 18 — 
 Isaac, 22; note 18, 151. 
 
 Cardoza, Abraham Nunez, 76, note 
 82. 
 
 Cari^al, Isaac, Rabbi, 81 ; note 85. 
 
 Casimir, Fort, 151. 
 
 Census of Jews in Barbary States, 
 121, in Florida, 75, note 82; in 
 Georgia, note 82; New England, 
 note 82, in Newport, 79, New 
 York, 52, 58. 75: note 82; North 
 Carolina, 75; note 82; Pennsyl- 
 vania, note 82; South Carolina, 
 note 82; in U. S. 97. 
 
 Characterization of Jews, 87, 97. 
 
 Charity of an early Jewish settler, 
 2, 23. 
 
 Charlemagne, 88. 
 
 Charleston, Jews settle in. 70 71, 
 75, 76, 89, 91, 99, 105, 107, 108, 
 118; note 82. 
 
i66 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Charter of liberties and privileges, 
 
 25- 
 
 Churchill, 140. 
 
 Clay, Henry, 125. 
 
 Clinton, De Witt, 141 — Governor, 
 51 — Lady, 51. 
 
 Coen, Jacob, 20. 
 
 Cohen, Aaron, 78 ; note 84 — 
 Abigail, David, Grace, Hannah, 
 68; note 75 — Isaac, 68, 78; notes 
 75 and 84— J. Meyers, 31; note 
 32 — Moses, 76; note 82 — Nathar, 
 Solomon, 78; note 84 — Solomon, 
 M., 60 
 
 Columbus, xi, xiii. 
 
 Commerce, its influence upon 
 religion, xiv. 
 
 Constitution of U. S., '7. 
 
 Costa, D.. 31; note 32, Jacob, 68 
 note 75. 
 
 Covi^ell, 102. 
 
 Cowyn, Jacob, taxed, 19; note 16. 
 
 Cravi'ford. Wm. H., 125. 
 
 Croswell, 135. 
 
 Curacoa colonized by Jews, 9, 14. 
 
 Curtis, George William, 'j']\ note 83. 
 
 Da Costa. Anthony, 65 — Daniel 
 Nunez, 45 — Isaac, 76; note 82 — 
 Joseph, 19, 2j; note 16 — vs. De 
 Pays, 158. 
 
 Daly, Judge, his address before 
 the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, v, 
 tirst publication of his work, v, 
 its merits, v, xi. 
 
 Daniels A. G., fc'6 note 91. 
 
 David, Joshua, Sr and Jr., 49, note 
 
 54- 
 
 Davis, Richard, 40, 41. 
 
 Dandrade, (D'Andrada?) Fusil- 
 ador. 19, note 16. 
 
 D'Andrada (Dandrada .'') Salvator, 
 denied the right of buying real- 
 estate 18,19; note 16,20 — applies 
 for citizens' rights, 23, 48, note 
 
 54. 
 De Beauchamp, xvii. 
 Decatur, Commodore, 109, iii, 
 
 112, 113, 114, 115. 
 De Fonseca, Joseph Nunez, founds 
 
 a colony in Cura' oa, 9. 
 Dekay, Jaccb, 39, 40. 
 
 De Ulan, Jan, 9. 
 
 De La Motta, Dr. Plmanuel, 72, 
 
 note 79. 
 De Lancey Oliver, 51. 
 De La Simon. Abraham, fined for 
 
 violating Sunday laws, 11, 23, 
 
 note ID. 
 Delaware, 22, 151, 154. 
 Delaware River, see South River. 
 De Lucena, Abraham p. 10 15-- 
 
 applies for charter, petitions for 
 
 trade, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24— trades to 
 
 Lisbon, 28, 29. 
 De Lyon (Delyon?), Abraham, 66. 
 
 68, 70, 73. note 75. 
 De Meyer, William, 41, 42. 
 De Olivers, David, 76, note 82. 
 Depass, Abraham, 72 — David 
 
 Lopass, 68, note 75. 
 Depivea, Aaron, 68, note 75. 
 De Sille, Nica.'^ius, on Jews trading 
 
 on the Delaware River, 20, note 
 
 17- 
 De So'a, Abraham, loi. 
 Disagreements between English 
 
 and Dutch, 16. 
 Discovery of America, xii. 
 D'Medena, Isaac. 31, note 32. 
 Dongan, Governor, petitioned by 
 
 Jet^s for more religious freedom, 
 
 25 — not granted, 26, 27, note 25. 
 Dutch occupation of Brazil, xiii, 
 
 xvii. 
 Dutch West India Company, xv, 
 
 5' 6, 9 
 
 Editor's work explained, ix. 
 Eleazar.Eleaz-r. 78; note 84 — Isaac, 
 
 78, 82, 83, note 84, 
 Elias, David, naturalized, 455 note 
 
 49- 
 
 England, excludes Jews from legis- 
 lature, 47. 64. note 54. 
 
 English Jews, 97, 108, 157 -161. 
 
 Esopus, 22. 
 
 Expulsion of Jews from France, 
 Spain and Portugal, 2. 
 
 Felsenthal, Dr. R..155. 
 
 Fischell, Kev. Dr. A., xiv, 31, 80, 
 
 notes 32 and 85. 
 Flamman, Jan , 1 51-153. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 167 
 
 Fletcher, Governor, 27-Florida, 75. 
 Fonseca, Joseph Nunez de, 9. 
 Franc (Fraiici ?) Jacob, 78, note 
 
 84. 
 France, 96, 97, 99, 108. 
 Franklin, Dr., 104. 
 Franks, Abraham, 31; note 32 — 
 
 Jacob, 31, 34, 43: note 32, 
 Frera, David, petitions fur trade, 
 
 19, 23, note 16. 
 
 George I. issues an edict of natural- 
 ization. 49; note 54 
 
 George II. act of, <J2, 154, 157.' 
 
 George IV. act of, 158. 
 
 Georgia— Jews in, 64 — prejudice 
 against Jews, 65 — Moravians and 
 Scotchmen in, 67, 75J note 82 
 
 Germany, 88 , 97. 
 
 Gibraltar, no. 
 
 Gideon, lienjamin, 68, note 75. 
 
 Gill, Thomas, 135. 
 
 Gilman, S., 75, note 82. 
 
 Gomez, Abraham, 54 — Daniel,3o,4i , 
 42, 43, 44 — David, 30, 41, 42 — 
 Ibaac, Jr. 44, 54, note 58— Louis, 
 trafifics to Lisbon, 29, 34, 42 — 
 Mordecai, 30, 31; note 32, 41, 
 42,43; note 43— Moses, jr. 31; 
 note 32. 
 
 Gomperts, Joseph, 70. 
 
 Gordon riots, 160, 
 
 Gould, N. H, Esq., 78. note 84. 
 
 Grand Island, 95, 128, 130, 131, 
 note 92, 
 
 Gratz, Joseph, 61— Michael, 60, 
 Rebecca— the supposed character 
 in Scott's Ivanhoe, 61 -contrary 
 views, 62. 
 
 Hackett, James H., 119. 
 
 Hammond, 138. 
 
 Harby, Isc.ac, 75, note 82 
 
 Hardwicke, Lord. 159. 
 
 Harris^jU Geueral, 135. 
 
 Hart Abraham, 70 —Bernard, 
 
 KmanuelB.,55, 56- Rev. Mr. 57. 
 Hartford, 91. 
 Hays, Jcicob, 45, 146; note 49 — 
 
 Judah, 31; noic 32-Aioses, 81, 90; 
 
 note 87 — Solomon, 31, 164; note 
 
 32. 
 
 Hendricks, Benjamin, 54 — Harman 
 
 44- 
 Henricque, Jacob Cohen, 19, 23; 
 
 note 16. 
 Henriquez, Isaac, freeman, 27; 
 
 note 25 — Isaac Nunez, 68; note 
 
 75— Shem, 68, note 75. 
 Henry III (act) 160. 
 Historical Society, German (of N. 
 
 Y.) xii. — New York, xiv. — Jewish 
 
 viii, ix. 8, 49, 54, 58, 62, 73; 
 
 notes 4. 54. 58, 62, 66 and 67. 
 Holland, 2 — deaf to Stuyvesant's 
 
 anti Jewish prejudices, 9, 88, 91; 
 
 note 5. 
 Hollander, J. H., on John Lum- 
 
 brozo, 8, 62; notes 4, 66. 
 Hosack, Mr., note 120. 
 Hughes, John, note 120— Mrs. 145. 
 Hunter, Governor, petitioned by 
 
 D'Lucena, 28. 
 Ulan, Jan de, 9. 
 Independence, declaration of, 83, 
 
 118. 
 Indians descendants of lost tribes 
 
 of Israel, 131, 137, 138. 
 Injustice, in New York colony, 51. 
 Inquisition, the xiii. 
 Intolerance of Spain, 2. 
 Introduction xi. 
 Ireland (author^, 106. 
 Irving Washington, and Rebecca 
 
 Gratz, 61 . 
 Isaacs, 158 — Abraham naturalized, 
 
 45; note 49 — Isaac 78; note 84 — 
 
 Joseph 49; note 54 — Rev. S.M.S7 
 Israel, David, held in N. Y. as 
 
 pledge fut payment, 235 note 7 — 
 
 Isaac, trade on Delaware 22, 154 
 
 note x8. 
 Italy, 88. 
 Ivanhoe 61. 
 
 Jackson, General, 91, 125, 132, 
 
 133. 134. 
 Jacob, Master, 151 
 Jacobs, Mr. 78; note 84 — Joseph, 78 
 
 note 84. 
 Jacquet, vice-director 151. 
 Jamaica, 81, 85. 
 James, Duke of York (James II.) 
 
 grants religious freedom, 26. 
 
i68 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 James I. (acts) 157. 
 
 Jameson, Dr. biography of Usse- 
 linx XV. 
 
 Janeway, William. 39, 40. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, president, 59, 
 63, 72, 118 
 
 Jeffrey Lord, 61 
 
 Jewish Historical Society, Ameri- 
 can, (its establishment) viii. 
 
 Jews* their interest in the col- 
 onization of America,xi.— Spanish 
 discovery of America, xii — as 
 intermediaries between Moors 
 and Christians, xii, — their scien- 
 tific discoveries xii — spreading 
 geographical science xiii, partici- 
 pation in Expeditions, xiii — 
 secret Jews xiii, financiers aiding 
 Columbus xiii, Jews in Mexico 
 xiii, Jews as new Christians in 
 Mexico, xiii, — in Brazil xvii, — lib- 
 erty in Rhode Island, xiv, — in 
 Netherland xv, — as share-hold- 
 ers of Dutch West India Co. xv, 
 9— attacked by Usselinx xvi,— as 
 directors of the E & W. India 
 Co, xvii, 9 — in Brazil, promise 
 aid xvii — desire naturalization 
 xvii— disavow Christianity xvii — 
 leaves Bahia for Amsterdam, 
 xvii, — expelled from France, 
 Spam and Portugal, 2— seeking 
 refuge in Holland, and settle in 
 Amsterdam, 4 — in Holland, res- 
 tricted socially but privileged ini 
 politics 4, — antagonized by Cath- 
 olics and Dutch Protestants 6 — 
 restrictions in ceremonial wor- 
 ship, 6, 13, note u, — first settle- 
 ment from Bahia 6 — held in N. 
 Y., lor deficit in payment of 
 passage money 7, 8, note 3, — 
 Dutch government defends them 
 against Stuyvesant,9 note 5 — col- 
 ony loriued in Curacoa, 9 — Jew- 
 ish directors apply for special 
 privileges of trade, 10 — Stuyv. 
 orders them out of N. Y. 11, 
 note lo-tolerated in Rhode Island 
 
 *Under this heading, only the principal 
 events in early colonial history are summar- 
 ized in chronological order. 
 
 13— settle there 14, 15 — grant of 
 land tor cemetery in N. Y. 15 — 
 location 15-16 — N. Y. Jews ex- 
 empt from military service 16, 17; 
 note 13 — petitions for trading on 
 Delaware River, 19 note 17 — 
 complain to friends in Holland, 
 21 — trade at Fort Orange (Al- 
 bany) 22, note 19— Jews admit- 
 ted as citizens, 23 — their in com- 
 petency as witnesses, 45, 46, 
 notes, 53 and 54 — not permitted 
 to vole 46, 47. 51; notes 53, 54— 
 prosperity ot N. Y. colonists, 48, 
 49,505 'lote 5-iii American Army 
 54; note 58 — migrate to Philadel- 
 phia 55, 58, notes 58 and 62 
 
 Joghimsen, (Joachimsen?) Daniel, 
 32. 
 
 Johnson, Miss, 106, 123. 
 
 Jones, Col. Charles C, 67 note ']'},. 
 
 Jones, judge Thomas, 164. 
 
 Juda, Baruch, 31, note 32. 
 
 Judah, Benjamin S,, 139, 145, Em- 
 anuel, 103, Samuel B. H., dra- 
 matic writer, his career, 139. 
 
 Kalm, Swedish traveller, describes 
 the customs and synagogal ser- 
 vice of New York Jews, 48, 50 
 note 55. 
 
 Kayserlmg, Dr. Moses — on discov- 
 of America, xii. — Portuguese dis- 
 coveries xii — on Marranos, xiii — 
 recent researches, xii — "Seph- 
 ardim'' xiii. 
 
 Keene, 109, no. 
 
 Kent, Chancellor, 43 — Nathan, 
 Judge, 136. 
 
 King, Charles. 125, 126. 
 
 Kohler, Rev. Dr. xii. 
 
 La Cuya, (Lucena.?) Abraham, 
 
 taxed, 19, note 16. 
 Lamontagne, on Jewish trade, 21 
 
 note 17. 
 Lawrence. Eugene, on Jewish 
 
 discoveries xiii. 
 Laying of the Corner Stone of N. 
 
 Y. Hebrew Orphan .Association 
 
 V. 
 
 Lazarus, Michael, "^G note 82. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 169 
 
 Lee 59 
 
 Leesugg, Miss. 119. 
 
 Legal Status of the Jews 45, 49, 
 87, 89, 155. 161. 
 
 Legislature 63. 
 
 Leicester, 86. 
 
 Leira, the historical town of Es- 
 tramadura flourished because of 
 Jews, 4. 
 
 Levey, Richard, 22, 154, note 18. 
 
 Leisler, Governor, 26, 28. 
 
 Levy, Asser, protests against tax- 
 ation 17, note 14 — as champion, 
 18 — as merchant in Albany 22; 
 note 19 — applies in vain for citi- 
 zenship, 23, 32, 33 — [Asser] 
 Nathan, 31,34, 43; note 32 — Hay- 
 man, 52 — his high standing, 
 character and influence, 52-Isaac, 
 34 — Moses, 34, 49; note 54 — 2e- 
 porah, Miss, 54. 
 
 Lisbon, 29. 79, 80, 104; note 85. 
 
 Locifhart, 61. 
 
 London, 64, 69, 93, 108. 
 
 Longfellow, H. W. 81 note 85. 
 
 Lopez, Aaron, 76, TJ, 78. 79, 82, 
 83, 85, 86, 89— Moses, 80, 89; 
 note 85. 
 
 Louisiana, 75. no, 116. 
 
 Lucena, Jacob, 22, note 19. See 
 De Lucena. 
 
 Lumbrozo, Jacob, (John,) 8, 62; 
 note 54, 66. 
 
 Lyon, Isaac Nathan, 78; note 84. 
 See De Lyon. 
 
 Lyons, Rev. Jacques J., 57, loi. 
 
 Madison, President, 59, 72, 73 — 
 his indebtedness to Haym Sal- 
 omon, 60, 63. 
 
 Marache, Solomon, 60. 
 
 Maranos, — secret Jews xiii — in 
 Cuba, xiii, xvii. 
 
 Markens, Isaac, 87, loi; note 91. 
 
 Marques, Isaac Rodriguez 49; note 
 
 54. 
 
 Marvel, Andrew, on Amster- 
 dam, 3. 
 
 Maryland, Jews in 8,62, 64, 82 — in- 
 tolerance in, 63, 156. 
 
 Massachusetts, 91. 
 
 Maxwell, Hugh, 144. 
 
 Mears, Judah, 31, 34, note 32, 
 Medus, Simon, 82, note 88, 
 Mendez, Abraham, 26 — Benjamin, 
 
 69 — Solomon. 78; note 84. 
 Menasseh ben Israel to Cromwell, 
 
 xvi. 
 Menorah, xii, xiii, 41 ; note 43. 
 Mercer 59. 
 Merritt, William, Mayor of N. Y., 
 
 39- 
 Mesa, Isaac, 23. 
 Meyer, Rev, Mr., 57. 
 Mexico — settlement in, xiii. 
 Mifflin, 59, 107. 
 Military service, exemption of Jews 
 
 from 17; 54, 75, 16, note 13, 
 Miller, Rev. John, on location of 
 
 first Synagogue, 27, 
 Minis, Abraham, Esther, Leah, 
 
 68, note 75; Philip, 70, Simeon, 
 
 68, 70, 73, note 75, 
 Mississippi 92, 93, 94. 
 Missouri, 92, 93, 94. 
 Molena, 68 note 75. 
 Monroe, James, 59, 109, 112, 116, 
 
 117, 124. 
 Moors, their scientific inventions, 
 
 xii, 88. 
 Moranda, David, 68, note 75. 
 Moravians, 67. 
 
 Morris, George P. 122 — Robert 59. 
 Moses, Isaac, Judah, Jacob, Moses 
 
 78; note 84. 
 Myers, Aaion, Benjamin, Moses, 
 
 Naphtali, 78; note 84 — Solomon 
 
 45, 78, notes 49, 84. 
 
 Napoleon, Louis (brother of Nap. 
 
 1.) King of Holland, removes 
 
 Jewish Uisabilities, 4. 
 Nathan Simon, 60. 
 Naturahzation ot Jews, 45, 49, 82, 
 
 155, 161 notes 49, 54, 
 New Bedford, 81 note 85. 
 New Castle 22. 
 New England xi, 75. 
 New Haven, 91. 
 New Orleans, 85, 90, 91, 116, 
 Newport, Jews settle m, 14, 15, 21, 
 
 new arrivals, 29, 70, 76, "JT, 
 
 79, 80, 82,8485,86,57,89,91, 
 
 92; notes 83, 84, 85. 
 
I70 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 New Netlierlaiid, see New York. 
 
 New York, Jews in xvii, 6, 58, 75. 
 
 Niagara River, 96, 128, note 92. 
 
 Noah, Manuel. 104 — Mordecai M. 
 his career as statesman, politi- 
 cian, author, dramatist and jour- 
 nalist, his restoration schemes, 
 96, 102, 104; note 92 — Shem, 68; 
 note 75. 
 
 Norsemen, 91. 
 
 North Carolina 75, 156. 
 
 Nunez, 104, Dr. 31, i ;4; note 32 — 
 Joseph 31; note 32. 
 
 Nunis, Daniel, 68; note 75— Doctor 
 66, 67. 68: note 75— Moses, 
 Mrs. N., Sipra, 68, note 75. 
 
 O'Callaghan, cited, 15. 
 
 Oglethorpe, General Geo.,64-est2b- 
 lished Jewish colony, 64 — char- 
 acter,66 — eulogizes Jews, 66, 67 — 
 disobeys instructions injurious 
 to Jews, 69, 70, 104. 
 
 Olivera, David, Isaac, Jacob, Leah, 
 68; note 75. 
 
 Orange, Fort, 13, 20, 21, 22. 
 
 Outrage upon a Jew by Oliver De 
 Lancey, 51. 
 
 Pacheco, Benjamin Mendes, 31; 
 
 note 32. 
 Packeckoe, Moses, 82. 
 Palestine, 91, 129. 
 Paris, 116. 
 
 Parliament, 64, 82, 83. 
 Payne John iloward, 120, 145. 
 Peixotto, Rev. Moses L. M., 56, 57, 
 Pennsylvania, Jews in, 58, 62, 75. 
 Philadelphia, 89, 99, 102, 103, 104, 
 
 105, 126. See l-'en isylvania. 
 Phillips, Aaron J., 102, 103, 120— 
 
 Jonas, 60 — Jonas B., dramatist, 
 
 his career, 145 — Moses, S., 102. 
 Phillipse, Col. Frederick, 45. 
 Pimenta, Moses, 76. note 82. 
 Pinto,Rev.Jos.Isaac Jerushalem,56. 
 Plymouth, xiv, 108. 
 Poland, 88. 
 Polock, Cushman, 72, 
 Portuguese, promise amnesty to 
 
 Jews, xvii. 
 Preface, v. 
 
 Providence, "JT, note 83. 
 Puff, Major Pindar, 141, 
 Puritans, xiv. 
 
 Quakers, objectionable, 14; in New- 
 port, 'j'j, note 83. 
 
 Raphall, Rabbi, 31, note 32. 
 Real, Vene, 68, note 75. 
 Restoration, schemes, of M. M. 
 
 Noah, J27, 138. 
 Rhode Island, "JT, 80, 82, 83, 84; 
 
 note 83 — Jews in xiv. 14, 21, 76. 
 Richmond, 99, settlement of Jews 
 
 in, loi. 
 Riviera, Abraham, 31 ; note 32 — 
 
 Jacob, 70. 78, 79. 
 Robinson, Beverly, 68— W.D., 92 
 
 94. 96. 
 Rodriguez, (Rodrigues), Isaac, 31 
 
 45; notes 32, 49— J.R., 31, 78,79; 
 
 note 32. 
 Rogers, Robert, 162, 
 Romilly, Sir Samuel, 159. 
 Rosendale, Attorney General. 49, 
 
 note 54. 
 Russell, Chas. R. Esq., 78, 86, 
 
 note 84. 
 Rutgers, Harmanus, 38. 
 
 Sabbath, non-observance of, 11, 12; 
 note ID. 
 
 Salem, no. 
 
 Salomon, David, 78; note84— Haym 
 58; staunch support of U.S. gov- 
 ernment, 58, 59; death 60; note 
 
 63- 
 Salvador, Francis, 65. 
 Savannah, settlement of Jews in, 
 
 64, 69, 70, 71,72, 73.74.75.76, 
 
 89, 91, 99, 103, 104. 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 61— his Jewish 
 
 characters, 62. 
 Scovill, Jos. A. 42, 55, 56, 126, 
 
 notes 46, 59. 
 Seixas,"A.B. Judge, 131 — Benjamin 
 
 55 — Rev. Gershoiii, 56 — Rev. 
 
 Isaac, B. 57 — Moses, 90. 
 Seward, Wniiain H. 47, 135, note 
 
 53- 
 Sharpe, Rev. John 29, note 30. 
 Sheanth Israel, Cong., 33, 43, 44. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 171 
 
 Sheftail Benjamin, 68, 70, 73, 74; 
 note 75— Levy, [Levi] 69, 70, 72, 
 76; note 82— MSS. 67; note 73— 
 Mordecai 68, 70, 74— Sheftail, 
 
 72, 74- 
 
 Simon, see De La Simon. 
 
 Simson, Joseph. 45, 70, note 49. 
 Sampson, 54, 70. 
 
 Skene. Mr. 61. 
 
 Sloughter, Governor, 27. 
 
 Smith, Ethan, 137, Goldwin, Pro- 
 fessor on Jews,vi, historian ,citecl48 
 
 Smollett, 157. 
 
 South Carolina — Jews in 70,71, 
 75 note 82. 
 
 South River 13, 19, 20, 21, 22. 
 
 Southey, historian, cited xvii. 5. 
 
 Spanish settlements, xiii. 
 
 Sparks Jared, 54. note 58. 
 
 Spiller, 119. 't;] 
 
 Spinoza, 4. 
 
 St. Clair, 59. 
 
 Steuben, 59. 
 
 Stiles, Dr. 81, note 85. 
 
 Stone, Col. W. L. 143. 
 
 Straus, Hon Oscar S. 62, note 66. 
 
 Strictures on Jews by Rogers 162. 
 
 Stuyvesant on Jewish settlements 
 XV.— his hostility, 8, 11— orders 
 them from N. Y. 11, 17, note 
 10 — censured 18; note 15 — 
 against Jewish trade, 20, 21; 
 note 17— rebuked 21, 37, 42; 
 note 46. 
 
 Suasso, Alvarez Lopez, 65. 
 
 Swanton, Robert, 44. 
 
 Synagogues described 27, 28. 30, 
 57, 58, 60. 71, 72. 73, 75, 80, 
 81, 85. 87, 90, 92, 95^, loi, 108, 
 note 85. 
 
 Taxation, unequal, 19. 
 Tennis, 39. 
 Thorburn, Grant, 32. 
 Thurlow, 158. 
 
 Tobias,Joseph,MichaeI,76; note 82. 
 
 Tomlin's Dictionary, 157. 
 
 Touro, Abraham, D. 85, 90. — Rev. 
 
 Isaac, 81. 85; note 87.— Jacob, 
 
 85, 90. — Judah, 90, 91. 
 Tripoli, 106, 107, 108. 
 Tuckerman, H. T., 80, note 85. 
 Tunis, 107, 108, 109, no, III, 
 
 113, 114, 121, 122, 130. 
 
 Usselinx, William, xv, his ani- 
 mosity toward Jews, xvi, xvii. 
 Utrecht, treaty of 3. 
 
 Van Buren, 133, 134, 135. 
 Van Halten Arent, 7, note 3. 
 Van Hnrne, Cornelius, 45. 
 Van Tienhoven, Cornelius 7, il, 
 
 12; notes 3, 10. 
 Van Vinge 11, note 10. 
 Verbrugge, Johannes, 11, note 10 
 Verplanck Gulian C, 141. 
 Virginia 75, see Richmond. 
 
 Walworth, Chancellor, 44. 
 Washington, city, 116, 117, — Gen. 
 
 Georgp, 104 
 Webb, Colonel. 133, 134 
 Webbers, Wolfert, 37, 39. 
 Wheaton, Henry, 117, 118. 
 Wilkes, Miss, 61. 
 Willey, Noe, 39, 42 — Roy, 39,40. 
 
 41, 42 
 Webb, Col. 133, 
 Williams Roger, xiv, 13. 
 William the Silent, 3. 
 Wilson, 59. 
 Winterbotham, 71. 
 Wolcott, 140 
 
 Wolfertsen, Pieter, 7, note 3. 
 Wolf, Hon. Simon, 55, note 58. 
 
 60. note 63; pleads for Haym 
 
 Salomon's descendants. 
 
 Young, Mrs. C. L. 106. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 19, note, line 3. For " De Coster," read " Da Costa." 
 
 Page 26, line 23. For " may have it," read " may have bad it." 
 
 Page 31, note, line 13. For " Riviero,'' read '■ Rivera." 
 
 Page 44, line 15. For " Harman," read " Harmon." 
 
 Page 45, lines 6, 11, 13, 16. For " Col. Phillips," read " Col. Phillipse." 
 
 Page 46, note, line 11. For " adapted," read " adopted." 
 
 Pase 49, note, lines 3, 28. For '• Brida," read " Breda." 
 
 Page 51, note, line i. For "60," read "61." 
 
 Page 62, note, line 8. Word " Editor " omitted. 
 
 Page 75, note, line 10. For " natural," read " maternal.'' 
 
 Page 109, line 6 Substitute comma for period, •' that '' for " That." 
 
 Page IIS, line 7. Substitute semi-colon for period read " That" for " that. 
 
 Page 117, line 2. For " Presidency," read '' President." 
 
 Page 13s, line 18. For " after," read " afterwards." 
 
 Page 135, line 27. For •' commercial," read " criminal." 
 
 Page 155, line 25. For " ever," read " every." 
 
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