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Gc 975.7 EL9j 1692072
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02317 2619
7 r
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/jewsofsouthcarol00elza 1
THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Of this edition, on Hand-made paper, one hundred and seventy-five copies have been printed
This is Number
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nous of the ALPSSELV SAGDETS of Charleston .. ". Destrived IN Fire . the ?2 " Apris 1838. “andno. 1 , 35.
INTERIOR OF THE SYNAGOGUE IN 1794 From a lithograph in the possession of the Hon. Mayer Sulzberger. of Philadelphia
بعد رفض
THE JEWS
OF SOUTH CAROLINA
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY
BY BARNETT A. ELZAS, M.D., LL.D. ASSOCIATE OF JEWS' COLLEGE, LONDON . HOLLIER SCHOLAR, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON - RABBI OF K. K. BETH ELOHIM, CHARLESTON, S. C.
PRESS OF J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PHILADELPHIA 1905
1692072
TO THE FRIEND OF MY YOUTH
MADAME EMILY S. KIEFE OF PARIS
THIS VOLUME IS
AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED
BY THE AUTHOR
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" Wherever possible, let us not be told about this man or that. Let us hear the man himself speak, let us see him act, and let us be left to form our own opinions about him. The historian, we are told, must not leave his readers to themselves. He must not only lay the facts before them : he must tell them what he himself thinks about those facts. In my opinion this is precisely what he ought not to do."-FROUDE on The Science of History.
PREFACE
O write a comprehensive history of the Jews of South Carolina is to-day a task of no small difficulty : not that there is any dearth of material at the disposal of the historian, but by reason of the very vastness of that material, of which scarcely anything has hitherto been utilized. Twenty years ago the task would have been a much easier one. There were then several people still living in Charleston who were born in the first decade of the nine- teenth century and who could have filled in many an inter- esting gap that must now remain void.
Strange as it may seem, very little of historical value has been written on the subject. Four brief sketches of the Jewish Congregation at Charleston, by the late Nathaniel Levin, in the first volume of Leeser's Occident, reproduced in substance in the Year Book of the City of Charleston for 1883, useful as far as they go but exceedingly imperfect and erroneous; a few biographical notices in Markens's The Hebrews in America and in the recently published Jewish Encyclopedia; a few items collected in the Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, and a few mis- cellaneous articles in the Jewish newspapers of the last fifty years are all that we possess. For the rest, the data have been buried in the voluminous records of various character existing in South Carolina and in the newspaper files of the
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PREFACE
last hundred and seventy years. The story is here pre- sented for the first time from original sources.
Until quite recently the Congregation Beth Elohim had no records prior to 1866. These were long supposed to have been burnt in Columbia, where they were sent for safe- keeping during the war between the States. A singular accident has brought most of these books, beginning with the year 1800, to light again. They form, indeed, a most re- markable collection, and correct many fictions that till now have passed current as history.
In the preparation of this work the author has carefully collated all files of newspapers published in Charleston from 1732 to the present time; he has examined all the public documents of the State from the earliest times to the present day; he has ransacked the historical collections of the Charleston Library Society, the South Carolina His- torical Society, the Winyah Indigo Society, the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and the Wis- consin State Historical Society; and the treasures of many private libraries have passed through his hands.
In the following chapters tradition will play but an in- significant part. A whole volume might be written on the traditions of the Jews of South Carolina, but it is perhaps as well to let these traditions die. Traditions, while inter- esting to the general reader, do not help the truth of history. The story will therefore be treated objectively. The records will speak for themselves. Here and there personal interpretation of the documents and of the facts will be necessary. They will be interpreted in as faithful a light as possible, nothing extenuated and nothing set down in malice.
The author would here acknowledge his deep sense of obligation to numerous friends without whose assistance this volume could never have been carried to successful completion : to the late General Edward McCrady, whose
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PREFACE
name will ever be indissolubly associated with the history of South Carolina; to the late Henry A. de Saussure, Esq., whose valuable collection of historical material he ungrudg- ingly placed at his disposal; to Mr. A. S. Salley, Jr., the able secretary till recently of the South Carolina Historical Society, whose time and knowledge have been unsparingly drawn upon on innumerable occasions; to the Hon. William A. Courtenay, of Newry, who, at his own expense, sent to him some of his most precious volumes; to Mr. Yates Snowden, late of The News and Courier, who has called his attention to many suggestive data; to Mr. A. S. Freidus and Mr. Wilberforce Eames, of the New York Public Library; to J. Quintus Cohen, Esq., of New York, to whom the author is indebted for much valuable material; and, finally, to Henry A. M. Smith, Esq., of Charleston, to whose unceasing encouragement the publication of this volume is largely due.
The author would only add that the following chapters are the result of several years of steady work done in the intervals of a busy life. He has striven to make the story as complete and as accurate as possible. Other facts may yet come to light, but all the sources at present available have been laid under contribution. Many interesting data have doubtless been omitted, but the author only claims to tell the story in as far as it is revealed in the records. When the reader considers the immensity of the task here undertaken, and the fact that this history is now written for the first time, the author feels that he may reasonably seek indulgence for any small shortcomings of which he may unconsciously be guilty.
CHARLESTON, S. C., September, 1905.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE
7
CHAPTER I
BEGINNINGS. 1670-1750 17
CHAPTER II
ORGANIZATION. 1750-1775 30
CHAPTER III
MOSES LINDO
47
CHAPTER IV
FRANCIS SALVADOR
68
CHAPTER V
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
78
CHAPTER VI
JOSEPH SALVADOR
108
CHAPTER VII
1783-1800
119
CHAPTER VIII
1800-1824 131
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER IX
PAGE THE REFORMED SOCIETY OF ISRAELITES 147
CHAPTER X
1824-1860 166
CHAPTER XI
RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT. 1824-1860 208
CHAPTER XII
220
THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES
CHAPTER XIII
SMALLER COMMUNITIES
241
CHAPTER XIV
MODERN PERIOD. 1865-1905 260
MISCELLANEOUS BIOGRAPHIES 268
APPENDIX A
THE ACT FOR MAKING ALIENS FREE 276
APPENDIX B
DIRECTORIES (a) 1695-1750, (b) 1750-1783, (c) 1783-1800. 277
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APPENDIX C
THE SALVADOR GRANT OF ARMS
280
APPENDIX D
THE HEBREW BENEVOLENT SOCIETY 282
APPENDIX E
THE HEBREW ORPHAN SOCIETY 285
CONTENTS APPENDIX F PAGE THE CONGREGATION BETH ELOHIM. 1800-1824 287
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APPENDIX G
MINISTERS OF BETH ELOHIM. 1750-1905 292
APPENDIX H
OLD JEWISH CEMETERIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA 293
BIBLIOGRAPHY 295
INDEX 307
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
INTERIOR OF THE SYNAGOGUE IN 1794 Frontispiece From a lithograph in the possession of the Hon. Mayer Sulzberger, of Philadelphia
AN EARLY JEWISH ADVERTISEMENT
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From The South-Carolina Gazette, April 19, 1735
THE SALVADOR GRANT OF ARMS FROM THE HERALDS' COLLEGE, LONDON 68 Original in the possession of the College of Charleston. Irreparably damaged by water during the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition in 1909, after the photo was taken from which this plate was made
CAPTAIN ABRAHAM MENDEZ SEIXAS, 1750-1799 78 From an original oil-painting in the possession of Mr. Leopold H. Cohen, of New York
SIGNATURES OF JEWS DURING THE SIEGE OF CHARLES TOWN IN 1780 .. 91 Originals in the Emmet Collection, New York Public Library
TOMBSTONE OF JOSEPH SALVADOR (1716-1786), DA COSTA BURIAL- GROUND, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA 108
JACOB COHEN (1741-1803), PRESIDENT OF THE CONGREGATION BETH ELOHIM IN 1790 119
From an original oil-painting in the possession of J. Quintus Cohen, Esq., of New York
. A PAGE FROM THE TREASURER'S CASH BOOK FOR THE YEAR 1800 . .. 131 From the Archives of the Congregation Beth Elohim, recovered by the author
MAJOR RAPHAEL J. MOSES, 1812-1893 166
GENERAL EDWIN WARREN MOÏSE, 1832-1903 220
THEODORE KOHN, 1840-1902 241
THE ORIGINAL SEAL OF THE HEBREW BENEVOLENT SOCIETY
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
CHAPTER I-BEGINNINGS 1670-1750
HE history of South Carolina is a thrill- ing history. From her settlement in 1670 to our own day it has been one long tale of glorious achievement. In not a few things has South Carolina set the pace to her sister States, but in nothing may she feel a more jus- tifiable pride than in the broad and liberal principles on which she was founded.
"In the year 1669, the Lords 'did encourage severall people to come in their Vessells to inhabitt this part of their province & with the said people did alsoe send Fundamll Lawes, Constitucons under the hands & Seales of six of their Lordshipps bearing date 21st July, '69, as the unalter- able forme & rule of Governmt for ever.' "' 1
This Constitution of John Locke (1669) was a veritable Magna Charta of liberty and tolerance. South Carolina
1 Note of Langdon Cheves to " Shaftesbury Papers," Vol. 5, Collections of the South Carolina Historical Society, p. 117.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
started right. Our chief concern being with the Jews of South Carolina, it would be well to note carefully Article 87 of this wise and far-seeing Constitution :
"87. But since ye natives of yt place who will be concernd in or. plantations are utterly strangers to Christianity, whose idollatry, igno- rance, or mistake gives us noe right to expell or use ym. ill, & those who remove from other parts to plant there, will unavoydably- be of diffrent opinions concerning matters of religion, ye liberty whereof they will expect to have allowed ym., & it will not be reasonable for us on this account to keep ym. out yt civil peace may be maintaind amidst ye diversity of opinions, & our agreement & compact with all men may be duly & faith- fully observed, ye violation whereof upon what p'tence soever, cannot be without great offence to Almighty God, & great scandal to the true religion yt we p'fesse, & also yt heathens, Jues, and other disenters from the purity of Christian religion may not be scared and kept at a distance from it, but by having an oppertunity of acquainting themselves with ye truth & reasonablenes of its doctrines, & ye peacablenes & inoffen- civenes of its professors, may by good usage and perswasion, & all those convincing methods of gentlenes & meeknes sutable to ye rules & designe of the Ghospel, be wone over to imbrace and unfeynedly receive ye truth. Therefore any seaven or more persons agreeing in any religion shall con- stitute a church or profession to weh. they shall give some name to dis- tinguish it from others." "
Little wonder, then, that the persecuted Jew, like the per- secuted Huguenot and German Palatine, soon came here to find a haven of rest. To be undisturbed in the possession of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and to en- joy the privilege of worshipping God as his conscience dic- tated-these have ever been the ideals of the Jew, even as they were the ideals upon which this great Republic was established. For by far the greater part of his history, in every country, some or all of these "inalienable rights of man" have been denied him. Here he could have them all, and in fullest measure. South Carolina welcomed him, welcomed him as a man and as a citizen, and the Jew showed
" " Shaftesbury Papers," p. 113.
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BEGINNINGS
himself worthy of the confidence that was reposed in him. It is no idle boast to claim that there are none who have shed more lustre upon the annals of this State or have done more towards its upbuilding than have its Jewish citizens.
When did the Jews first come here and where did they come from? Thereby hangs an interesting tale.
In the Charleston Library there is a reprint of a- unique volume entitled A New Description of that Fertile and Pleasant Province of Carolina, by John Archdale, Late Governor of the Same. (London, 1707.) On page 22 we read the following quaint narrative:
"Now that the Reader may plainly discern, that the Almighty and Omniscient God, takes cognizance of Human Affairs, and directs them by a wise and prudent Chain of Causes, I shall relate some remarkable Passages that happened quickly after that I entered upon the Govern- ment, which was the 17th of August, 1695. There is a Nation of Indians call'd the Yammassees, who formerly liv'd under the Spanish Govern- ment, but now live under the English, about 80 Miles from Charles-Toun. Some of these Indians going a Hunting, about 200 Miles to the South- ward, met with some Spanish Indians that lived about Sancta Maria, not far from Augustine, the Seat of the Spanish Government; and taking them Prisoners, brought them Home, designing to sell them for Slaves to Barbadoes or Jamaica as was usual; but I understanding thereof, sent for their King, and ordered him to bring these Indians with him to Charles-Town, which accordingly he did: There were three Men and one Woman; they could speak Spanish, and I had a Jew for an Interpreter, so upon examination I found they profess'd the Christian Religion as the Papists do; upon which I thought in a most peculiar manner. they ought to be freed from Slavery; and thereupon order'd the King to carry them to Augustine to the Spanish Governour with a Letter, desiring an Answer relating to the receit of them; who having receiv'd them; sent me the following Letter; So far as relates to this Affair, I copy it forth :"
(Here follows the letter, which is of no interest to our investigation.)
So there was a Jew in Charles Town in 1695. There were other Jews here, too, at that early date. Hereby, also, hangs an interesting tale.
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After the revocation of the Ediet of Nantes in 1685 a con- siderable number of French Huguenots refugeed to South Carolina. They had fled from persecution at home and here they were treated as aliens and denied the liberty of sub- jects.3 Toleration, however, as we have seen, was the funda- mental principle of the Constitution, and when the Hugue- nots appealed to the Lords Proprietors to redress their numerous grievances, as soon as the temper of the colonists permitted, the General Assembly passed for their especial relief An Act for the making aliens free of this part of the Province and for granting liberty of conscience to all Protestants .*
There were sixty-four men who were made citizens under this Act of 1697 and among them were four Jews: Simon Valentine, merchant; Jacob Mendis, merchant; Avila, mer- chant; and -, merchant,-the name of the fourth being unfortunately obliterated in the original text.5 A copy of the naturalization papers of one of these Jews, Simon Val- entine, is preserved in an old volume in the Secretary of State's Office in Columbia." It reads as follows :
" CAROLINA
" The Rt Honble Joseph Blake Esqr, one of the true and absolute Lds and Proprietors of the Province of Carolina Commandr in Chief vice Admiral and Governr of South Carolina
" To all Judges Justices Magistrates, ministors & officers Ecclesiastical and Civil and to all psons whatsoever to whome this shall come to be seen heard read or known
3 Dalcho: Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina, p. 23 et seq.
" This Act was passed in March, 1696-7. In the old style, the year ended on March 25. According to our method of writing, it would be 1697. For the main provisions of the Act, see Appendix A.
" The full list of names is given in Trott's Laws of the Province of South Carolina, p. 62, also in The Statutes of South Carolina, Vol. 2, pp. 131-133.
Grants, Sales, etc., Book D, 1703-9.
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BEGINNINGS
"GREETEING
"KNOW Yee that Simon Valentine Mercht: an alien of ye Jewish Nation borne out of the Crown of England hath Taken his oath of Alle- giance to our Sovereigne Lord William ye Third over England Scott- land France and Ireland King &e Defender of ye faith and hath done every other thing weh by an act of assembly made att Charles Town in ye ninth Yeare of ye Reigne of our Sovereign Lord King Willm, &c, Anno Dom: One Thousd Six hundred ninety Six and Seven - entituled an Act to make alien free of this pte of the Province and for granting Liberty of Conscience to all Protestants as one is required to do And is fully and effectually to all Intents Constructions and Purposes Qualified and Capacitated to have use and Enjoy all the rights Priviledges Powers and Immunityes Given or Intended to bee given to any Alien then In- habitant of South Carolina by the aforesd Act to Certifie wch I have hereunto Sett my hand and Caused the Publick Seale to be affixed at Charles Town the Twenty Sixth day of May Anno Dom. one Thousd six hundred ninety and seaven.
" JOSEPH BLAKE."
This Simon Valentine must have been a man of consider- able prominence in Charles Town, for we meet with him far more frequently in the records than we do any other Jew of the period. He came to Charles Town from New York, in the records of which city his name occurs as having paid for his "burgher right" in 1682. He was a party to a law- suit in Albany. New York, in 1684. His full name appears to have been Simon Valentine Vander-Wilden." We find him in Charles Town in 1696, where he signs his name as a surety on an administration bond.s His name appears several times on similar documents.º He signs his name Simon Valentijn.
In 1698 "Abraham Avilah, of Charles Towne, in ye County of Berkeley and Province of Carolina, for divers
" Hon. Simon Rosendale: "An Early Ownership of Real Estate in Albany, New York, by a Jewish Trader," Publications of the American . Jewish Historical Society. Vol. 3, pp. 68-71. See also ibid., No. 8, p. 22. " Probate Court Records, Book 1692-3, pp. 280-281.
' Ibid., pp. 248, 256, 357. See also Book 1671-1727, p. 71.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
good causes and considerations me at this time especially moveing and more especially out of trust and confidence which I repose in Mr. Simon Valentine M-cht,"' makes him his true and lawful attorney,10
He must have had business relations with Jamaica, for on July 3, 1701, "Jacob Mears, of ye Parish of Port Royall, in ye Island aforesaid" (Jamaica), appoints "his trusty friend William Smith, of Carolina, merchant, his true and lawfull Attorney, to demand of Simon Valentine, of Caro- lina, shopkeeper, all and every such Debt and Debts, Sum and Sums &c, as may be owing to him." 11
The last reference to this Simon Valentine is of particu- lar interest, inasmuch as it is the earliest record of a Jew holding land in South Carolina. On November 23, 1715, Mordicai Nathan mortgages to Henry Peronneau a farm of three hundred and fifty acres, which land, the deed tells us, "was formerly purchased by the said Mordicai Nathan and Symond Valentine, Deceased, being Joyn purchers, whom the said Mordicai has survived." 12 They had bought the land as joint-tenants and according to the old law, which has since been repealed by statute, it fell to the survivor.
It is not practicable to tell a connected story yet. There is as yet no organized community. Apart from what we gather from the records themselves, we know nothing of the individuals mentioned, though descendants of some of
10 Probate Court Records, Book 1694-1704, p. 133. The name also appears on p. 410 of this volume, on a document bearing the date January 24, 1703-4.
11 Ibid., 339.
12 Ibid., Book Miscellaneous Records, 1714-1717, p. 233. This Mordicai Nathan, like Simon Valentine, came to Charles Town from New York. His name occurs in a list of " The Jews' Contributions" towards the finishing of the steeple of Trinity Church, in New York. This list is dated May 1, 1711. See Sparger in The American Hebrew for June 26, 1903.
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BEGINNINGS
these early settlers are still in South Carolina. There may have been a semblance of a community about this time, but we do not know of any communal organization prior to 1750.
As one of the main objects of this volume is to preserve the early memorials of the Jews of this State, many of which are crumbling to pieces and will soon be no longer in existence, and the rest in imminent danger of being irre- vocably lost, this end would be defeated if we dismissed this pre-organization period in a few hasty generalizations. To carry out our purpose it will be necessary to give an exhaustive list of references to the Jews of South Carolina prior to 1750, preserving the chronological order as far as possible.
The first document, then, to which our attention is at- tracted is an old will. It is the oldest Jewish will on record in South Carolina :
"In the Name of God Amen I: Abraham Isack of Cyty of New Yorke Being bound to Sea and therefore being present in good health, but not knowing when it may please the Almighty God to take me out of ye world my Will is yt after my just debts are paid I bequeath all my Estate whatsoever be it in houses Lands Good Chatles or what else unto my Dear and Loveing Sister Sarah Isack & to her heires for ever shee paying out of ye same ye Sum of ten Pounds New Yourke mony to my Brother Henry Isack if Liveing, after my Deceas and I do Constitute and appoynt my dear Sister Sarah my whole and Sole Executrix of this my Will, revokeing all Wills by me heretofore made and this alone to Stand in Force. In Testimony wereof I have hereunto Sett my hand and Seale in New Yorke this Twenty Sixth day of May Anno Dom. One Thousand Seven hundred & Nine.
" Signd Seald published and Declared by ye said Abra: Isack
in ye presence of us Edmd. Creiswell Jno Basford
"ABRAHAM ISACK (Seale)
" Recorded Febry 20th 1710 per J. H. D. Secy." 18
" Probate Court Records, Book Wills, 1671-1727, p. 91.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
It is some years before the records make further mention of Jews. In an old volume in the Secretary of State's Office in Columbia there is a bond from Edward Horne Forest to Mr. Joseph Tobias, shopkeeper, of Charles Town, dated 1737.14 This Joseph Tobias was the first President of the Congregation Beth Elohim when it was organized in 1750. He is mentioned in a list of those who paid quit rent in 1739.15 His name occurs also in an old volume of mort- gages.16 In the documents copied from the State Paper Office in London his name is included in a "List of per- sons qualified according to the Act for naturalising Protes- tants in his Majesty's Colonies in America." He is granted a "Jew Certificate." This document was recorded on De- cember 11, 1741.17 We meet with him several times in the Charleston records in the office of Register of Mesne Con- veyances.18 He advertises for the first time in The South- Carolina Gazette of November 5, 1737. He died on January 29, 1761, aged seventy-six.
The last reference to Jews in the records during this period occurs in the Probate Court Records for 1736-1740. On page 300 there is a bond of Samuel Levy and Moses Solomons, of Charles Town, merchants, to Daniel La Roche and Thomas La Roche, of Winyau, for £2605.6.8. It is dated March 20, 1741. On page 3 of this volume there is a letter from New York, dated November 25, 1743, and addressed to Messrs. Daniel and Thomas La Roche, of Charles Town. Mr. Jacob Franks refers to his nephew, Mr. Moses Solomons, and some difficulty which the said
14 Records in the Secretary of State's Office. Columbia, Book MM, pp. 191-3. These records will hereafter be referred to as " Columbia Records." " Ibid., Receipts of the Quit Rent, 1732-1741.
15 Ibid., Book YY.
Ibid.
18 Mesne Conveyance Records, Book W, p. 471, Book PP, p. 696, Book Inventories, 1749-1750, p. 75.
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BEGINNINGS
Moses Solomons had had with a London shipping house. On the next page David Franks, of Charles Town, Gent., declares that the letter signed Jacob Franks is in the hand- writing of his father. It would seem from another letter here recorded that Franks had connections in Lisbon. In this letter reference is made to Moses Solomons's intention of going to India. It is worthy of note that David Franks's name is mentioned in the list of members of the St. An- drew's Society of Charles Town for 1740-1748.
Leaving the records, let us now look at the Jews of early South Carolina in their private life. As we have seen, the Jew here has never labored under any civil or religious disability whatsoever. As early as 1703 it is on record that Jews voted at the popular election for members of the Com- mons House of Assembly. This toleration on the part of the Established Church party in South Carolina brought forth a protest from the bigoted Dissenters of that day, who complained that "at this last Election, Jews, Strangers, Sailors, Servants. Negroes and almost every French man in Craven and Berkely county came down to elect, & their Votes were taken, & the persons by them voted for were returned by the Sheriff." 10
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