USA > South Carolina > The Jews of South Carolina, from the earliest times to the present day > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
" The smart sayings and brilliant humor of Isaac Moïse are among the cherished traditions of the Jews of South Carolina.
30 This school was established by Miss Sally Lopez in 1838. There was then only one other Sabbath-school in America-that of Rebecca Gratz in Philadelphia. There were no text-books for Jewish children in those days. Rebecca Gratz used to write out the lessons in a copy-book, which was forwarded to Charleston every week. Several copies of these lessons were made by Miss Sally and distributed to the teachers. Thus was the teaching done! (See Elzas in The American Israelite for Jan., 1902. See also article by Julia Richman in The Jewish Quarterly Review for July, 1900.)
183
1824-1860
Shortly before the war her sight began to fail and she soon became totally blind. With her sister, Rachel, then a widow, she opened a school after the war, she giving oral instruction to the pupils. She still continued to write, how- ever, her niece acting as her amanuensis. In 1872 her sister died. This was a sad blow to her. In one of her hymns 31 she gives exquisite expression to her sorrow and faith. She continued to live with her niece, Miss Jacqueline Levy, who kept up the school till her death, which occurred on Septem- ber 13, 1880. Almost to the last she wrote her verses-now chiefly to her friends, whose attentions were unceasing. A great sufferer herself, she had learnt in suffering what she taught in song, and when she died the grief of her friends was unbounded.
The following paragraph, taken from a sympathetic trib- ute by Charlotte Adams in The Critic, gives an admirable picture of her personality :
" There died in Charleston in 1880, at the age of eighty-three, a Jewish . poetess, whose life most admirably illustrates the literary idea of the old South, in the person of intellectual, talented, and, alas, sadly limited womanhood. This was Penina Moïse, who for many years was the literary pivot of Hebrew Charleston, and whose influence extended far beyond the circle of her co-religionists. Blind, poor, getting her living in her old age by keeping a little school, she yet created a literary salon. to which the best minds of Charleston flocked. Her Friday afternoons were a centre of intellectual intercourse. To the romantic imagination of the young girls whom she taught, sitting in her large rocking-chair, in her plain calico gown, with her sightless eyes looking out from under the black coif which completely hid her hair, she presented herself as an incarnation of intellectual and social splendor-a queen of literary society. Madame de Staël squabbling with Napoleon Buonaparte, Madame Récamier re- clining in limp garments on her tub-like couch with Chateaubriand reading his manuscripts to her, Madame du Deffand exchanging epigrams with Horace Walpole-these were but the prototypes of Penina. Miss Moïse was connected, by blood and marriage, with the best Hebrew families of
31 No. 78.
-
-
184
THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Charleston, and many of her scholars were of her own kindred. Her methods of instruction were of the Magnall's Questions order, and might have befitted the reign of George IV. She delighted in composing alpha- bets for literary novices, geographical rhymes, and historical conundrums. Her pupils read aloud to her, and by her system of education girls of twelve were made familiar with George Eliot, Charlotte Brontë, Walter Scott, and other English classics. Numerous volumes of French female memoirs were perused by Miss Moïse's scholars, for 'Penina,' as her pupils fondly called her, although born at Charleston, was the child of San Domingo French parents, who had found a refuge in South Caro- lina when the Revolution of 1791 drove them from the West Indies and stripped thein of their wealth. Miss Moïse had all the gayety, the content- ment, and the joyous philosophy of the French temperament. Twenty- five years of blindness did not diminish her fondness for life's pleasures. She lived in books. and especially in the lives of noted French women found the enjoyment of the keenest sympathy. The melodious Hebrew name borne by this remarkable woman seemed to define her position in the Jewish colony at Charleston, which was-very largely of San Domingo origin. Was not the 'Peninah' of Scripture the sister of the pious Han- nah and the aunt of the prophet Samuel? And was it not fit that her namesake should be regarded as a 'Mother in Israel'? Living her chas- tened life apart from the gay world, in a rarefied, impersonal atmosphere, Penina was, in the finest sense, the mother of her people. To her the girl babies were brought before their names were called aloud in the Synagogue. Secrets of betrothal, marriage, business, and illness were confided to her tender care, and her advice was asked upon all important occasions."32
Besides the distinguished names we have discussed at length, there were a number of others among the Jews of South Carolina who attained more or less prominence. The following brief and necessarily incomplete notes on the principal Jews of South Carolina during this period will
32 The Critic, Vol. 15. An interesting sketch of Penina Moïse was pub- lished by Mrs. S. A. Dinkins in American Jews' Annual for 1885-6. It may be noted that Penina Moïse contributed to many papers and maga- zines: The Occident, Godey's Lady's Book, The Home Journal, the Bos- ton Daily Times, the Washington Union, Heriot's Magazine, and New Orleans Commercial Times.
185
1824-1860
give a good idea of the multifarious activities of the commu- nity. For the sake of convenience, they are arranged alpha- betically : 33
JACOB BARRETT was a prominent merchant. He was a director of the State Bank in 1842-13, a generous contribu- tor and benefactor of Beth Elohim.
JUDAH P. BENJAMIN, born at St. Croix in 1811, died at Paris in 1884. He was Attorney-General of the Confed- eracy in 1861, for a time acting Secretary of War, and Sec- retary of State from 1862 to the end of the war. He has often been referred to as "the brains of the Confederacy," while James G. Blaine in his Twenty Years of Congress characterizes him as "the Mephistopheles of the Rebellion, the brilliant, learned, sinister Secretary of State." Re- moving to England, he became the leader of the English Bar. It is remarkable that so little is known of the ances- try of one who became so famous. His father's name was Philip Benjamin. His mother's maiden name was Levy.3+ It is well established from the testimony of people who lived in Charleston during the first quarter of the nine- teenth century that his parents were very poor people and that they kept a small shop on King Street, between Clif- ford and Queen. Just when the Benjamin family came to.
33 These notes are compiled mainly from City of Charleston Year Books, directories, almanacs, and newspaper files. The author is fully cogni- zant of the incompleteness of these notes, but he has done the best he could with the record evidence at present available and with which alone he is concerned. There are few among his readers who will appreciate the infinite labor that the compilation of these notes has cost. Many of the dates here given may be inaccurate by reason of the fact that the directories and almanacs are incomplete. As far as possible, the author has spared no pains to insure completeness as well as accuracy.
34 Mr. Joseph Lebowich in The Jewish Exponent of Feb. 10, 1905, refers to bis mother's maiden name as Rebecca De Mendes, of London. The author's statement is made on the authority of relatives of Judah P. Benjamin.
186
THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Charleston is uncertain. Most of Benjamin's biographers place him in Wilmington in 1815, and they are probably correct. The family was certainly in Charleston in 1823, as is proved from the following entry in the Cash Book of Beth Elohim for that year :
" 5683. Philip Benjamin
Aug. 20. To subscription & Assessment of Seat. $16
Pre-emption for Ladies Seat No. 77. $1
Do for Do No. 112 $1
$18
Sept. 6. By cash in full. $18" 33
It is unfortunate that we only possess a few of the Charleston Directories of this interesting period. In the Directory for 1831 there is the entry: "PHILIP BENJAMIN -- 15 St. Philip st.," and in that of 1837: "PHILIP BENJA- MIN, fruiterer, 16 St. Philip st." In the Directory for 1840-41 we find: "PHILIP BENJAMIN, fruits, 29 Beaufain;" and in 1849: "PHILIP BENJAMIN, 9 Princess. " Later directories do not mention the name.
In The Charlotte Observer of July 22, 1903,36 a Mr. J. S. Leary communicates some interesting data about Judah P. Benjamin, which have the appearance of genuineness. Among other things he relates is the fact of his attending a Mr. Stewart's school in Fayetteville, N. C. He does not give any dates, however, and it looks as if he went to school there prior to the removal of the family to Charleston. Charleston tradition tells that he was placed in the school
65 The name of Philip Benjamin does not occur in the Cash Book of 1818. From 1819 to 1822 the books are missing, as they are for some years after 1823.
Reprinted in The News and Courier of July 29, 1903. Mr. Leary states that the mother of Judah P. Benjamin was a Miss Levy, and that her brother, Mr. Jacob Levy, conducted a wholesale store and auction busi- ness at Fayetteville.
187
1824-1860
of the Hebrew Orphan Society and that he received a thor- ough English and classical education through the gener- osity of Mr. Moses Lopez. The records of the College of Charleston and of South Carolina College, at Columbia, do not show that he ever attended either of these institutions, and we can take it as certain that he never did. With his life after he left Charleston we are not concerned.37
DAVID NUNEZ CARVALHO (1784-1860), a brother of Rev. E. N. Carvalho, was a merchant in Charleston; removed to Baltimore in 1828 and afterwards to Philadelphia, where he was appointed one of the City Judges of the Court of Arbitration; returned later to Baltimore, where he died. He was the author of a tragedy, Queen Esther, also of 4 Metrical Translation of the Psalms, neither of which has been published.39
SOLOMON N. CARVALHO, born in Charleston, April 27, 1815. He attained distinction as a scholar, artist, inventor, and writer. One of his paintings, a picture of the interior of the Charleston Synagogue as it existed prior to the fire of 1838, has recently come to light.39 In 1852 he received a diploma and silver medal for his painting, "The Interces-, sion of Moses for Israel," from the South Carolina Insti- tute. The best known of his portraits are those of Thomas Hunter and Isaac Leeser. In 1853 he accompanied John C. Frémont, as artist and daguerrotypist, on his famous expe- dition to the West. He kept a journal of this expedition, which he published in 1857: Last Expedition Across the Rocky Mountains: Including Three Months' Residence in
" For an exhaustive biography of Judah P. Benjamin see The Jewish Encyclopedia, art. " Benjamin." For an extended bibliography see Lebo- wich in The Menorah for Nov., 1902.
3 Markens: The Hebrews in America, pp. 96-7. See also The Occident for Feb. 23, 1860.
30 Recovered by the author. This picture was painted in 1838, just after the fire.
188
THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Utah and a Perilous Trip Across the Great American Des- ert to the Pacific. This volume contains a graphic descrip- tion of the journey from Salt Lake City to San Bernardino, " also interesting observations concerning the Mormons and Mormonism. He was also the author of a volume entitled The Two Creations, a treatise on the Mosaic Cosmogony. He lived also in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.+0
ISAAC S. COHEN was a director of the Commercial Bank of Columbia from 1838 to 1844 and of the Southwestern Railroad Bank from 1851 to 1859.
MARX E. COHEN, a son of Mordecai Cohen, was a planter who lived near Charleston. He was a Magistrate for St. An- drew's from 1843 to 1845 and a member of the Board of Health from 1846 to 1849. He removed to Sumter after the war, where he died in 1881.
MORDECAI COHEN (1763-1848), a native of Poland and for upwards of sixty years a resident of Charleston. He was one of the most extensive owners of real estate in the city, a good citizen and of unblemished reputation. He was noted for his philanthropy. He was a Commissioner of Markets from 1826 to 1832; a prominent member of the Union and States' Rights Party; a director of the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in 1836; a Commissioner of the Orphan House from 1838 to 1844, of which institution he was a gen- erous benefactor. One of the tablets on the walls of the Orphan House is inscribed with his name.+1
" See The Occident, Vol. 10, p. 174, also pp. 503-4; Markens: The Hebrews in America, pp. 203-1; Morais: The Jews of Philadelphia, p. 361.
#1 " In Memory of Mordecai Cohen, who died the 20th July. 1848. For ten years he faithfully fulfilled the duties of a Commissioner of this Institution and for forty-five years contributed by annual donations to the comfort of its inmates."-Inscription on tablet. See also The Even- ing News, July 10, 1848. The date of death on the tablet is incorrect. Mordecai Cohen died on July Sth.
180
1824-1860
MYER M. COHEN conducted an "English and Classical Seminary" in Charleston very successfully from 1824 to 1828.42 He was admitted to the Bar in 1829; was one of the "Washington's Birthday Committee" in 1832; 43 rep- resented St. Philip's and St. Michael's in the Legislature in 1835-6, being elected on the Independent Republican ticket; was a Justice Q. U., 1835-7; removed to New Or- leans in 1837.4
PHILIP COHEN was a Commissioner of the Marine Hos- pital from 1826 to 1833. He was a prominent member of the States' Rights Party in 1832 and one of the delegates to the "Nullification" Convention of that year.
DR. P. MELVIN COHEN was secretary and treasurer of the Friendship Literary Society in 1825; City Apothecary in 1838; a member of the Board of Health from 1843 to 1849 and chairman of that body from 1850 to 1854. He was a director of the Bank of the State of South Carolina from 1849 to 1855.
SOLOMON COHEN was born at Georgetown on August 15, 1802. He began the study of law at an early age and prac- tised in his native town till 1838, when he removed to Sa- vannah. He was a director of the Bank of South Carolina (Georgetown) from 1819 to 1826, and represented Prince George's, Winyah, in the Legislature from 1831 to 1836, being elected on the Nullification ticket in 1832. He was a Commissioner in Equity for Georgetown from 1835 to 1837. After his removal to Savannah he continued to practise his profession and took a deep interest in all affairs affecting the prosperity of his adopted city. He was frequently elected to positions of honor and trust by his fellow-citi- zens. He represented Chatham County in the Legislature with great satisfaction to his constituents. He also repre-
42 The Courier, Nov. 19, 1824.
" Ibid., Feb. 20, 1832.
" Ibid., May 3, 1837.
-
190
THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
sented the city in the Board of Aldermen. and was one of the most zealous members of that body. He was Postmas- ter of Savannah during the latter part of President Pierce's Administration. He was in the office at the commencement of the war and was continued in the position under the Confederate Government. He was one of the inaugurators of the Public School system in Savannah and was an active member of the Board of Education. In 1860 he was elected a member of the Georgia delegation to the Democratic Con- vention in Charleston and took a prominent part in the deliberations of that important body. In 1866 he was elected a member of Congress from the First Congressional District of Georgia, but was not allowed to take his seat. He was for several years cashier of the Central Railroad Bank, president of the Union Society, President of the Mickva Israel Congregation, and was one of the original directors of the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad. He had also occupied many other prominent positions in the commu- nity. He died on August 14, 1875,45
JACOB DE LA MOTTA, a native of Charleston, but for many years a resident of Savannah. He was a cousin of Dr. Jacob De La Motta and practised law both in Charleston and Sa- vannah. A memorial tablet was erected to his memory in the Savannah Synagogue by the Jews of that city.46
DR. MORDECAI H. DE LEON was a prominent physician in Columbia in 1834. He was a contributor to the Baltimore Medical and Surgical Journal and Review, 47 and was regent of the Columbia Lunatic Asylum from 1841 to 1849.
GEORGE WASHINGTON HARBY, a brother of Isaac Harby.
45 See the Savannah Morning News, August 16, 1875, from which the above sketch is mainly taken. For Memoir see The Occident, Vol. 11, pp. 267-270.
48 'The inscription reads as follows: "Erected by the Congregation, in grateful memory of Jacob De La Motta, who died 23 Oet. 1856."
" The Courier, June 11, 1834,
191
1824-1860
He removed early to New Orleans, where he wrote several plays. His farce, The Loafers, became quite popular,48 as did his Nick of the Woods.
HENRY J. HARBY, another brother of Isaac Harby, took an active part in politics at the time of the "Nullification" movement. He was a lieutenant of the Marion Artillery in 1834; City Blacksmith in 1835, and a member of the Board of Health from 1838 to 1842.
SAMUEL HART, SR. (1805-1896), was a well-known figure in Charleston up to the time of his death. He was a book- seller and publisher, and had engaged in this business since 1840. He was secretary of the American Art Union in 1847 and a Commissioner of the Market from 1852 to 1859.
SOLOMON HEYDENFELDT, a native of Charleston, was born in 1816. He removed to Alabama in 1837,49 and was chosen Judge of the County Court of Tallapoosa in 1840. In 1850 he went to California, where he became a distinguished Justice of the Supreme Court. He died in San Francisco in 1890.50
HENRY M. HYAMS was born in Charleston in 1809. He removed to New Orleans in 1828, where he studied law. He was for several years a banker. He practised law for six- teen years in Rapides Parish, was prominent as an Old-Line Whig politician, and from 1854 as a Democratic leader. He was for four years in the State Senate, and for four years (1859-1864) Lieutenant-Governor with Moore. "He was an excellent financier, a sagacious legislator, a careful law- yer, an able party leader, a thorough lover of his adopted State, a fine scholar, philanthropist, and patriot." He died at New Orleans in 1875.51
" The Courier, Sept. 29, 1838.
" In the Courier of August 12, 1837, he advertised as " Attorney-at-Law, Wetumpka, Ala."
" American Jews' Annual for 1SS8, p. 103.
" Taken from a clipping from a New Orleans paper, n. d.
192
THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
COLONEL MYER JACOBS was an Englishman. He was War- den of Beaufort in 1831; represented St. Helena's in the Legislature in 1833; elected on the Union ticket in 1836; represented St. Philip's and St. Michael's in 1838-9, elected on the Democratic Independent Treasury ticket; was colo- nel of the 12th Regiment from 1828 to 1833; a surveyor in the Custom-House, 1847-9; clerk in the Bank of the State of South Carolina, 1852-4; and again in the Custom-House, 1854-58.59
MAJOR JOSHUA LAZARUS was president of the Cheraw Bank in 1825; major in the 7th Brigade in 1830; a member of the Union Party of Chesterfield District in 1832; presi- dent of the Gas Light Company, of Charleston, from 1848 to 1856.53
MICHAEL LAZARUS was vice-president of the Palmetto Society in 1827. He served as a trustee of the Shirras Dis- pensary from 1835 to 1859. "He was the first that opened the navigation by steam of the Savannah River, between Charleston and Augusta.'' 54
LEWIS C. LEVIN was born in Charleston in 1808. Early in life he removed to Woodville, Miss., where he became a school-teacher. After fighting a duel, he left that city and began the study of law, which he practised in Maryland, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania. In 1838 he settled in Philadelphia. Here he espoused the cause of temperance, editing The Temperance Advocate. In the interest of the "Native American" Party, which he was instrumental in forming, he published The Sun, of which he became the edi- tor. He served in Congress from 1845 to 1851, acting for a
"2 " He was appointed by President Polk Surveyor of the Customs and subsequently by President Buchanan to the same office, in which position he was continued at the dissolution of the old Union by President Davis." -- The Courier, Nov. 29, 1861.
63 Coal gas was introduced in Charleston in 1848.
" See Obituary Notice in The Courier, Sept. 20, 1802.
193
1824-1860
time as chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs. He died in Philadelphia on March 14, 1860.33
NATHANIEL LEVIN (1816-1899) was an import inspector in the Custom-House, 1850-1; record clerk, 1852-6, and Col- lector's clerk, 1857-8. He was a very intellectual man, noted for his fine reading. In 1859 he was invited by Edwin Booth to appear as Othello to Booth's Iago. He was a prominent Freemason and at the time of his death was act- ing Inspector-General of the Supreme Council of Scottish Rite Masonry for South Carolina,
COLONEL CHAPMAN LEVY, a native of Camden, born July 4, 1787. He studied law and was admitted to the Bar in Co- lumbia in 1806. He practised with eminent success in his native town and district, as well as in Lancaster. He repre- sented Kershaw in the Legislature from 1829 to 1833 and from 1836 to 1838. He was chairman of the Committee on Retrenchment. He was a member of the "Nullification" Convention in 1832 and was an ardent Union man. He re- moved to Camden, Miss., where he died in December, 1850.56
DAVID C. LEVY (1805-1877), a son of Lyon Levy and grandson of David N. Cardozo, was a prominent merchant of Charleston. He was a director of the Charleston Insur- ance Company from 1837 to 1847, a member of the Board of Health in 1842, and a director of the Southwestern Rail- road Bank from 1843 to 1846. He left Charleston in 1847 and in 1860 settled in Philadelphia, where he engaged in business as a banker and broker. For twenty years he was a highly respected member of the Philadelphia Board of Brokers. He was likewise active in charitable and educa- tional work. He retired from business in 1880. being suc- ceeded by his son Solomon, who is to-day a conspicuous member of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
55 Morais: The Jews of Philadelphia, pp. 395-6.
46 O'Neall : Bench and Bar, Vol. 2, pp. 281-2.
194
THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
HAYMAN LEVY, a prominent merchant and cotton factor of Camden. He was Warden of Camden in 1835, Intendant in 1843, and a director of the Bank of Camden from 1842 to 1854.
JACOB C. LEVY, a native of Charleston, was a prominent merchant and a gentleman of many accomplishments. He was a director of the Union Insurance Company from 1830 to 1840, a delegate to the Knoxville Railroad Convention in 1836, and a member of the Charleston Chamber of Com- merce from 1841 to 1847. He was politically affiliated with the Union Party, A very scholarly article from his pen on "The Reformed Israelites" was printed in The Southern Quarterly Review for April, 1844 (pages 312-360). He removed to Savannah in 1848 and died in that city in 1875.57
MORDECAI M. LEVY was a merchant of Camden. He con- ducted a drug business in partnership with Dr. Abraham De Leon. He represented Kershaw in the Legislature from 1834 to 1838 and was a candidate for Congress in 1836.58
AARON LOPEZ was Warden of Georgetown from 1828 to 1830 and Intendant of that town in 1836.
DAVID LOPEZ, the builder of the present Synagogue of Beth Elohim in 1840. He was a member of the committee of the Democratic Party in 1843,59 a trustee of the Appren- tices' Library in 1847,60 and a Commissioner of the Work- House from 1850 to 1855.
CAPTAIN HENRY LYONS, a prominent citizen of Columbia.
See the Savannah Morning News, June 11, 1875. For a detailed history of the Levy family see The Hebrew Journal for Dec., 1887: " An Account of the Lazarus and Levy Families," by Chas. H. Moïse. This hyperbolical sketch is incorporated into Wolf's History and Genealogy of the Jewish Families of Yates and Samuel of Liverpool (London, 1901). " For private circulation." 38 The Courier, July 20, 1336.
"9 Ibid., April 17, 1843.
@ Jbid., Feb. 17, 1847.
195
1824-1860
He was Warden of that town from 1843 to 1851 and after- wards Intendant. He was a director of the Commercial Bank of Columbia from 1854 to 1858.61
ELIAS MARKS, M. D. (1790-1886), a prominent educator, writer, and poet, was the son of Humphrey Marks, who settled in Charleston in 1785. He founded the Columbia Female Academy about 1820 and afterwards conducted the famous Barhamville School-a well-known institution for the higher education of women, and from which many famous women were graduated, including Miss Pamela Cuningham and Miss Martha Bulloch, the mother of Presi- dent Roosevelt. He is supposed to have been converted to Christianity in childhood by an old negro nurse, although his children and members of his family are buried in an old Jewish cemetery in Columbia.62
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.