USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > Newport > The story of the Jews of Newport; two and a half centuries of Judaism, 1658-1908 > Part 11
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the advantages of liberty themselves should be willing to extend personally liberty to others". This was the preamble to the resolution, which prohibited the importation and trade of Negroes into the colony, which was perhaps the first step towards the abolition of slavery in America.
At this time there were but six organized Jewish communities in North America, namely, those in Newport, New York, Philadelphia, Savannah, Rich- mond and Charleston. There were some Jews in other colonies, but they were not in sufficient numbers to organize congregations.6 In Reading, Pennsylvania, there seems to have been, even at this time, a sufficient number to hold public services.7 Yet, no permanent congregations were organized in any places except those mentioned. Of these, the Newport Jewish community was the largest and most prosperous; and the synagogue of the Newport Congregation was the most beautiful.8
With the exception of a few isolated individuals, the Jews in the colonies espoused the cause of American liberty. To do so was daring in view of the uncertain consequences of the war. The Jews living in the colonies were not all freemen or citizens. In fact they were not even allowed to reside in some of the colonies. In others they were considered aliens. Even in the most liberal, they held no office whatsoever in any of the governmental agencies. With Great Britain's superior strength and the very doubtful unity of the colonists; and with the early predictions of certain English victory, it was indeed a courageous act on the part of the Jews to
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espouse the cause of the colonists against the mother country. A defeat of the colonists' cause would have spelled the ruin of the just planted North American Jewish community.
Yet the Jewish people staunchly advocated the cause of liberty, and were among the first to respond to the call to arms.
The struggle between the mother country and the colonies began much earlier than the battles of Lexington and Concord. War began as soon as Great Britian attempted to impose upon the colonies legislation which the Americans considered unjust. This war, however, was not a war of battles and arms, but what may be termed an economic war.
The first weapon of the economic war was the Non- Importation Agreement. In making this agreement the Jews played an important part. Amongst the signers of the Agreement, adopted in Philadelphia, October 25, 1765, there were no less than nine Jewish merchants. They were Benjamin Levy, Samson Levy, Joseph Jacobs, Hyman Levy, Jr., David Franks, Mathias Bush, Michael Gratz, and Moses Mordecai.9 Thus the first battle against the tyranny of the mother country was fought with the aid of a proportionally great number of Jews.
The Jews of Colonial America not only put their signatures on patriotic papers, endangering their businesses, but they also took active part in the field carrying arms and fighting side by side with their fellow colonists. Financial aid to their adopted country was
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not refused and there were times when Jewish money saved the American cause.10
The anticipation of conflict with Great Britain stirred the religious feeling of the General Congress at Philadelphia which body in July, 1755, ordered a Continental Fast Day throughout the United Colonies.11 The General Assembly of Rhode Island joined in the prayers with the other colonists, and proclaimed the 20th of July, 1775, as a Public Fast Day. All the congrega- tions in Newport, except the Church of England which held a short prayer meeting without sermon,12 had special services during which time the ministers preached patriotic discourses. The Moravians held services throughout the day.13
The Congregation Yeshuat Israel joined their non- Jewish brethren in prayer and fasting on this solemn day, conducting a special patriotic service at the synagogue during which Rabbi Samuel Cohen of Jerusalem, a visitor in town from the Holy Land since the latter part of 1772, or early 1773, preached the sermon. He chose for his text the verses in Numbers, 'Phineas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, hath turned My wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was very jealous for My sake among them, so that I consumed not the Children of Israel in My jealousy. Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace".14
Would that the contents of the entire address had been preserved! It can only be inferred from the text of the sermon that the preacher uttered a strong and
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hearty plea for peace, the time-honored message of the prophets of Israel, together with an urgent appeal for the preservation of the colonists who were often likened to the Children of Israel, as either being redeemed from Egypt, or in war with the Canaanites for the conquest of the land.15
The fasting and supplications only encouraged the colonies to be steadfast in the battle for freedom, and to uphold the cause of liberty. War was inevitable. The battle of Lexington had already taken place, and the Rhode Island General Assembly ordered an inventory to be taken of all the powder, arms and ammunition in the colony. Committees were appointed and ordered to collect all the saltpetre and brimstone they could lay their hands on. Every man capable of bearing arms was ordered to "equip himself completely with arms and ammunition", for the defence of the colony and the liberty of the colonists. Signal stations were established on high hills throughout the colony. The guns from Fort George were removed to Newport for immediate defence of the town; and no one at this time doubted the imminence of war. By October 1776 no less than 16 vessels, heavily armed and well manned, were sent out from Rhode Island to serve the cause of the American Revolution. 16
The feeling for independence was so strong in Rhode Island that two months before the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed by the General Congress in Philadelphia the General Assembly of the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,
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meeting in the Old State House in Providence, on May 4, 1776, passed a Declaration of Independence from the British Crown, thus making Rhode Island the oldest independent state in America. This act of Independence called forth the following comment. "The despondency and hesitation of the assembly of Pennsylvania was in marked contrast to the fortitude of Rhode Island, whose general assembly, on the fourth day of May 1776, passed an act, discharg- ing the inhabitants of that colony from allegiance to the king of Great Britain. The overturn . was complete; the act was at once a declaration of indepen- dence and an organization of a self-constituted republic".17 "Rhode Island, from that moment, became, and is at this day, the oldest sovereign and independent state in the western world".18 Newport, it should be stated, had more officers and representatives at this meeting of the General Assembly than had any other town in the colony.
When the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed two months later on July 4, 1776, by General Congress in Philadelphia, the General Assembly of Rhode Island at its July session endorsed the Declaration and pledged the state to support the resolution of the General Congress "with our Lives and Fortune". The General Assembly then voted to call the state, "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations", and also voted "That if any Person within this State, shall under Pretence of Preaching or praying, or in any other Way or manner whatever acknowledge
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or declare the said King (of Great Britain) to be our rightful Lord and Sovereign or shall pray the Success of his Arms, or that he may Vanquish or overcome all his Enemies shall be deemed guilty of high Misdemeanor and shall therefore be presented by the G. Jury of the Co, where the Offence shall be Committed to the Sup. Court".19
The ministers of the Newport churches were held to account for this resolution of the Assembly. They were tested as to their sympathies with Great Britain. Mr. Bisset, the minister of the Church of England, not desiring to carry out the resolution because of his Tory sympathies, but fearing to violate it, held no services at all the following Sunday.20 The services at the synagogue, however, were held as usual without interruption or interference. The Reverend Isaac Touro was the only minister in town not questioned nor molested in regard to this resolution. He was excused from this obligation because of being a foreigner.21
The fortitude of Rhode Island invited the anger of Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence by this colony was more than the English expected. It was the climax to the strife begun by the resistance to Acts of Parliament by the Non-Importation and Non- Exportation Agreements and by the "Tea Parties" in the several Colonies.
The conflict with Great Britain was a death blow to the prosperity of the city of Newport, and in particular to the Jewish community of the town. The factories gradually closed down; the extensive commerce and
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foreign trade slowly died out; many people threatened by the impending invasion of the British left the city, and by December 8, 1776, when the City of Newport was actually occupied by the British, there was but a handful of people left in the town. Amongst these were very few Jews. Of the largest Jewish community in North America, of which Newport had boasted, there were left only Nathan Hart, Isaac Elizer, Isaac Hart, Moses Seixas, Hyman Levi, Moses Levy, and the Reverend Isaac Touro,22 hardly enough to hold services at the synagogue. At this time the Harts lived on Jews Street (now Bellevue Avenue) in a house of five rooms rented from Metcalf Bowler. The Seixas and the Levy families lived on Griffin Street (now Touro Street) Reverend Isaac Touro lived on High Street.23
The Rabbis have always echoed the words of Jeremiah the Prophet in teaching their people to pray for the peace and welfare of the government under which they live. There is a definite rabbinic law which rules that, "the law of the country is the law".
The Jews of Newport in a spirit of patriotism joined the Colonial cause. Moses Isaacs, who later had the honor of entertaining General Washington in his home in Newport, joined the Revolutionary army.24 Another Jew, probably of the same family, Abraham Isaacs,25 followed suit. In his will, recorded in the probate records of this city, Abraham is described as a patriotic soldier of the Revolution.26 Solomon Rophee,27 joined the Re- volutionary army in which he became an officer.28 David Sarzedas, first lieutenant of Georgia's Brigade in the
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Revolutionary war, was the grandson of Judah Hays and a nephew of Moses Michael Hays, both of Newport. Members of the Sarzedas family are recorded as Newport inhabitants in the official census of 1774, and are mentioned by Stiles as early as 1760. Abraham Seixas, a son of Isaac Mendes Seixas and a brother of Moses Seixas, both prominent in the annals of Newport, was also a patriot officer of the Revolutionary army. He figures in the military correspondence of the period. Samuel Benjamin of the 8th Massachusetts Regiment in which he served as First Lieutenant during the Revolution, was of the Benjamin family of Newport.29
In addition to active service in the army, the Jewish inhabitants of Newport contributed to the maintenance of the army and to the purchase of its ammunition. In 1776, the General Assembly of Rhode Island allowed Aaron Lopez the sum of 22 pounds for gunpowder and a whale boat, which he had contributed for the use of the colony.30 Jacob Isaacs gave for the use of the colony in that same year "three-four pounders".31 In 1780 though many non-Jewish residents refused to do so, Moses Levy and Moses Seixas put their signatures to the historic agreement that "We subscribers, Citizens, and inhabitants and Residents of the Town in Newport, Do hereby Associate and Agree with each other that We will to the utmost of Our Power and Ability Assist in the Defence of said Town against the King of Great Britain his Fleets and Armys in such a way and manner as we shall be called upon by the Commander in Chief within the Department and that We will submit
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Ourselves to such Orders as We shall receive from said Commander in Chief and such other Officers as shall be appointed to command us".32 Moses Levy stated that he had no gun, yet this did not prevent his signing.
It should be recalled that there were many Jews in the American Colonies who came from England or through England. Amongst them especially was the Hart family who came to Newport directly from England, where the family had resided for over a century. They settled. in Newport at an early date before the Revolution. Members of the family took an active part in the religious and social life of the Jewish community of Newport. They helped build the synagogue. They contributed generously to its upkeep. As old inhabitants of England, it was natural that they should have had Tory sympathies. Just as ardently as the majority of the Jews of Newport espoused the cause of the American Revolution, Isaac Hart espoused that of the King of Great Britain. He was as devoted to the King's cause as were the Jewish patriots to the American cause, which is much to his credit as a British citizen. His loyalty to the King cost Isaac Hart his life. It is recorded, "Mr. Isaac Hart, of Newport, R. I., formerly an eminent merchant and a very loyal subject, was unhumanly fired upon and bayoneted, wounded in fifteen parts of his body, and beat with their muskets in the most shocking manner in the very act of imploring quarter, and died of his wounds a few hours after, universally regretted by every true lover of his King and country".33
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What happened to the other Jews of Newport, who had prospered here in great numbers? The principal Jewish families of Newport, either at the outbreak of the Revolution or immediately after the capture of the town by the British, left the city and dispersed to various other colonies where they were able to find shelter and peace. The families of Lopez and Rivera, together with the family of Mendes and other smaller families, went to Leicester, Massachusetts. Aaron Lopez had formed an establishment there as early as 1775.34 His family together with the Mendes and Rivera families came in 1777. They made this town their new home, establishing themselves anew in business and living happily and contentedly. Together with their servants, they
constituted about seventy people. 35 There, too, Jacob Rodrigues Rivera purchased an estate of 31 acres of land in September, 1777. This he farmed, partly for his own use and recreation. Aaron Lopez, who was but one of five Lopezes who went to Leicester, occupied the mnost esteemed position in this new haven of refuge.36 He purchased an estate on February 1, 1777, upon which he erected a mansion, as well as a large store where he did a profitable trade. He also owned other real estate. Moses and Jacob Lopez were clerks in his new business establishment, as was his son Joseph. Jacob Rodrigues Rivera and Abraham Pereira Mendes, a son in law of Aaron Lopez, were in business for themselves.37 All enjoyed the respect and esteem of their non-Jewish neighbors. They kept their stores closed on Saturday, the Jewish day of rest, and out of respect to their non-
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Jewish neighbors, they also closed their shops on Sunday. The honesty with which these Newport Jews traded was generally praised. They followed scrupulously the tenents of the Jewish Law. They remained in Leicester until the ratification of Peace in 1783, "when with the exception of Mr. Lopez they returned to Newport, carrying with them the respect and kind regard of a community with which they had been intimately associated for six years".38
David Lopez, a brother of Aaron Lopez, removed to Boston where he established himself in business and remained there until his death. Moses Michael Hays removed temporarily to South Kingston.39 Other Jewish families went to Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, and other colonies where they joined their brethren in the congregations established there, and where they were able to live peacefully.40 Some moved as far as the West Indies.41
The withdrawal of the Jews from Newport was not so much because of the fear of the enemy, as because of their zealous patriotism. This is clearly evidenced in the correspondence which has come down to us from the dispersed families. In one of the letters of Aaron Lopez, written to a Newport friend from Philadelphia where Aaron Lopez went from Leicester for a short stay in 1779, Lopez speaks about the "distressed Inhabitants of our once flourishing land". In the letter which gives us a view of the distressed condition of the inhabitants of Newport in general and the few Jews in particular who remained during the British
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occupation of the town, we see expressed Aaron Lopez's attachment to the town of his adoption. The letter reads in part: "Since we left our place my Family, secure from sudden Alarms and the Cruel Ravages of an enraged Enemy; Such a one I have hitherto found in the small inland Township of Leicester in the Massachusetts Bay, where I pitched my Tent, erecting a proportionable one to the extend of my numerous Family on the Summit of a high healthy Hill, where we have experienced the civilities and hospitality of a kind Neighborhood; and moved in the same Sphere of Business I have been used to follow which altho much more contracted, it has fully answered my wishes, and you know my Friend, when that is the case, it never fails of constituting real happiness. Add to this the satisfaction of having for a next door neighbor your truly well wishing Friend, my Father in Law Mr. Rivera, who with his Family I left in good health, spending in peace the fruits of his last summers Labour on a small Farm, the Old Gentleman improves with much the same Farming Faculties, you tell me you cultivate yours: and can farther inform you that while his hands have been imployed that useful Art, his agitated Mind has uniformily accompanied yours to poor Newport. where I do still hope we shall soon have the pleasure of meeting each other again and re-enjoy those habitations we have so long been deprived of, with all satisfaction".42
Lopez then refers to a report he has received from a recent visitor, saying: "the poor Inhabitants of that
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Town, have been very much distressed this Winter for the Want of Fuel and provisions, those Individuals of my Society in particular, who she said had not tasted any meat, but once in two months".43
We can see the sad condition in which the city of Newport found itself during the occupation of the British. The few Jews who did remain in town endured together with their neighbors the want and scarcity that existed at the time. In addition, they also suffered from the fact that they were not able to obtain any Kosher meat due to the lack of a Shochet in the community, and the difficulty of bringing such meat from the neighboring places.
When the Lopez's and Riveras left the town, Moses Seixas became the lay leader of the 'Remnant of Israel' in Newport, while the Reverend Isaac Touro continued his ministry. The Reverend Mr. Touro did not leave Newport until the year 1780. In 1779 he was a witness to the last testament of Mr. Myer Pollock. 44
As it was impossible for the Reverend Mr. Touro to minister to so small a congregation, he finally decided to leave the city. He did not go at once to Kingston, Jamaica, as is commonly supposed. He went to New York, where for a while he acted as Minister of the Congregation Shearith Israel which at the time was almost as deserted as was the Newport synagogue, since its members, like those of the Newport community had followed the patriot cause and scattered to Philadelphia and to other centers. In such conditions, it is not surprising that after a short stay in New York, the
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Reverend Mr. Touro, whose health was now failing went to Kingston, Jamaica, where he died January 8, 1784.45
The city of Newport for over a year remained without a Jewish spiritual leader of any kind. Moses Seixas, who, by this time, had come to occupy an important place in the community at large, was the warden of the synagogue, and carried out the functions that had been previously vested in Jacob Rodrigues Rivera and Aaron Lopez. These two, however, retained lay control of the edifice. The services at the synagogue were conducted by the lay members of the Congregation capable of doing so.
Moses Seixas was the older son of Mr. Isaac Mendez Seixas, who settled in Newport before the American Revolution. Moses was born on the 28th of March, 1744, in New York. When his parents moved to Newport, Moses was still a lad.46 Having inherited characteristics of his father, Moses proved to be a very successful business man and in general a man of high regard in the community. He became well known as a Mason and also as the warden of the synagogue in 1790 during President Washington's visit to Newport.
Moses Seixas married Jochebed Levy of Newport in 1770. Jochebed was the daughter of Benjamin and Judith Levy. The Levy and Seixas families were already related by ties of marriage; and many other marriages between the fmilies took place later. The marriage between Moses Seixas and Jochebed Levy was solemnized by the Reverend Isaac Touro.
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Moses Seixas had eight children. Not all of them remained in Newport when they grew up. Some moved to the other colonies. One of his daughters Judith married a son of Jonas Phillips and Rebecca Mendez Machado, thus uniting two of the oldest of the Spanish-Portuguese Jewish families.
During the occupation of the British it was very difficult to obtain Kosher meat. When possible such meat was brought from the neighboring places through Providence. David Lopez Junior, who found a haven of refuge in Providence during the British occupation of Newport, wrote to Aaron Lopez in Leicester, who apparently was supplied with Kosher meat in abundance, "Mr. Mendes promissed to forward Goods from Tafts Tavern for old Mr. Trevett which with the Wine and a bbl. of Casher Beef he engaged to send us may probably make a load sufficient to induce a Teamster to come down".47
Newport's trade continued to decline. Merchants could no longer trade freely with England as before the Revolution. Newport, however was not ready to give up its struggle for existence as a commercial center. On the first opportunity after the British evacuation, the city entered once more into the various phases of economic life. In this the Jewish community bore its part.
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Moses Michael Hays.
CHAPTER X EVACUATION AND REVIVAL
The British evacuated Newport late in October, 1779 leaving the town in a sorry plight. The 8000 foreign troops quartered in the city during the British occupation are said to have ransacked many of the dwelling places, and a great number of the public buildings as well. Long Wharf was completely devastated. The Colony House had been used for Barracks; the Churches for Hospitals. In one case, a house of worship was actually used by the British as an Officers' Riding Academy.1 The estimate of property damage reported to the General Assembly in 1782 was no less than $415,994.2
Newport was depressed in spirit. Before the war the city was verily called, "The Garden of North America". In beauty and in commerce it had few rivals. It had been the center of an advanced cultural life, with a growing library, flourishing schools and bookshops. Now it was a barren city, with shattered houses, a pillaged library, books burned, and commerce practically at a standstill. The Jewish merchants who had formed the nucleus of the extensive export and import trade, were gone and the city declared itself to be in a state of
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abject poverty.
In 1780 when the General Assembly of Rhode Island desired a place for its Newport meeting, they could find no other location than the synagogue.3 The State House was in no condition to accommodate them. The assembly met in the synagogue on several other occasions also. On March 13, 1781, the last day of General George Washington's visit here (He was entertained at the home of Mr. Moses Isaacs)4 a Town Meeting was held at the synagogue.5
During this time, also, the Congregational Church which during the occupation had been made unfit for services desired the use of the synagogue. Mr. Channing on behalf of his congregation applied to Moses Seixas on several occasions for permission to use the synagogue. Mr. Seixas, who at that time was the custodian of the building, would have granted Mr. Channing's request had it not been for Dr. Stiles' intervention to the contrary and his interpretation of the Jewish law in the matter.
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