USA > South Carolina > The Jews of South Carolina, from the earliest times to the present day > Part 2
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MeCrady points out that this protest was especially directed against the Huguenots, and it was by reason of the fact that they would not join the Dissenters to control the Province that their indignation was aroused.20 The protest was carried to England, Joseph Boone being sent over to present their grievances. He presented a petition . to the Lords Proprietors but met with little sympathy; he managed, however, to present a memorial to the House of Lords on behalf of himself and many other inhabitants of
" Rivers: A Sketch of the History of South Carolina, Appendix, p. 459. " MeCrady: South Carolina under the Proprietary Government, pp. 391-2.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
the Province of Carolina, and also of several merchants of London trading to Carolina, setting forth the "dangerous situation and the threatened ruin of the trade of the Colony to the great prejudice of her Majesty's Customs," etc. By intrigue and misrepresentation, the Dissenters gained the day.21 There is nothing to show, however, that the Jews were ever subsequently interfered with in the exercise of the franchise.
The next point of interest in our investigation is the question of how the Jews earned their livelihood in those early days. Here the wonderful collection of Gazettes that have been preserved in the Charleston Library will throw the fullest light.
There were but few professional men in the Province in those days. With the exception of a small number of handi- craftsmen, the entire population subsisted by planting and trade. Competition must have been very keen, for every- body seems to have had almost the same things for sale and to have advertised them in the very same way. Let us look at the advertisements in the South Carolina Gazettes be- tween the years 1731 and 1750.22
We do not meet with any Jewish names in the Gazettes prior to 1734. In that year Messrs. Carvallo & Gutteres announce that they "have to dispose of Good Old Bar- bados Rum. Good Madera Wine. Muscovado Sugar & Lime- juice; Likewise some dry goods, &c, living in Church street, where formerly the printing office was. '' 23
On April 19, 1735, they are in Broad Street with a large selection of goods. The accompanying fac-simile of their advertisement will give an idea of the contents of a typical
" McCrady: South Carolina under the Proprietary Government, pp. 425 et seq.
23 These references to the Jews of South Carolina, 1731-1750, are prac- tically exhaustive.
23 The South-Carolina Gazette, August 17, 1734.
Co fre Sold by MErs Carvallo and Gut- Arts At their Store in Broad-Street, China Battery romalis, quertvdaries, gingnams, tu drv forte of Bergen. Ink dumak, nik handkerchief, fix brocade, the per- hans, broad causas with hisings and trunning; duroy with ditto, fhalooss, ; foorth, - eighth and vard wide Carnixs, platilloes, bug ocitaskly, india and enghith chins, foreras coloursot corron rontais. cahimancoes, white cabeces, mait'd and knitted cars, Black durants, fik camiers with The mings, mens de bows woolled St thread hofe, tower'd ning'd & plain ribbor, det & round ihk laces, avarer, rable chocos & aupleins of cato, omap rotytoalba, tice roas thread, who ted brown thread, brown cznabrigs, blue linsen, ruuta lite nen, 3 fourth annen, checks, ilik itavs, bohea rea, mens de boys fine huts, mens, boys, womens de girls thoes, Boxes of Cafile foup, or sip't candles, & very good Limejuice, all at reafanable rares, by whole fale and retail.
An early Jewish Advertisement From the South-Carolina Gazette, April 19. 1735
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BEGINNINGS
store in Charles Town in the early years of the eighteenth century.
On September 13. 1735, they are in Elliott Street. On November 8, 1735. Mr. Carvallo, in Elliott Street, advertises for sale "A very good Rhode Island Pacing-Horse." On January 17, 1735-6, they announce that they intend to leave the Province early in the spring, and on January 31st Aaron Gutterez advertises in his own name. They seem to have carried out their intention of leaving the Province, for this is the last mention of them.
On March 30, 1738, Mr. Is : Depaz, in Union Street, ad- vertises for the first time. On September 7, 1738, he adver- tises as Isaac De Pas, offering to sell "Good White Sugar, very good Barbados Rum & very fine Citron Water," etc., etc. On March 8, 1739, he advertises as Isaac De Paz. On February 20, 1744, as Isaac De Pass, he advertises his wares at his shop on Broad Street, and on March 19, 1744, he an- nounces to his patrons that "All gentlemen that have rice to dispose of may have two Parts in ready Cash and the Balance in Cordials of all sorts, or any other goods that I have to sell." 24
On August 25, 1739, we read the following: "To Be Sold in Union St, by Moses de Mattos, White, Milk, Ship, Mid- dling & Brown Bread & Loaf Sugar. The same may be had of Mr. Tobias on the Bay. Also good Esopius Flour." He is still in Union Street on November 1, 1742.
The next notice is interesting, as one of the earliest refer- ences to social life in South Carolina. On March 26, 1741, we read of the establishment of the "Right Worthy & Ami- cable Order of UBIQUARIANS, by some gentlemen, members of the Grand Convention in England." The following para- graph informs us of the purposes of this Society :
24 The original name is De Paz. There are many descendants of this Isaac De Paz still living in South Carolina. They are no longer identified, however, with the Jewish faith.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
"This order is justly celebrated at home, for the generous and benevo- lent principles of its institution. It has ever been conducted with the most genteel ease and decency and attended with the greatest improve- ment of any Society hitherto erected. It's no secret, that the Roman Constitution in its most perfect state, is the settled polity of this most worthy order; as the virtue and morality of the antient Romans are the models recommended to the imitation of every person, who aspires to become an accomplished member of it. Induced by such laudable purposes, under so right an oeconomy, several gentlemen of Tast and - Distinction have been enfranchis'd bere, by the Praetor, Censors and Senators."
Many distinguished people in Charles Town were mem- bers of this Society. In the Gazette of April 3, 1742, we read that at its half-yearly Festival, Moses Solomon, Esq., was one of the Ædils. This Moses Solomon was a member of the St. Andrew's Society of the City of Charles Town between 1740 and 1748. We have met him before in the records.
The next reference in the Gazettes is the earliest death notice of a Jew in South Carolina and the only one prior to 1750.
" On Sunday, the 8th instant, the Charles-Town, one of the Govern- ment's Gallies, having sailed over the Bar to convoy a Sloop, met with a sudden hard Gale of Wind, overset, and sunk, 10 men were drowned, and among them was Mr. Hart the Jew." 25
Who this Mr. Hart was we do not know, for it is the only reference to him.
In 1748 we have a notice of Mr. Solomon Isaacs. He is a plaintiff in a lawsuit.26 In the same year Solomon Isaacs & Co. offer for sale "Negro Cloth and other woolen goods, linnens, callicoes, ironware and sundry other goods, at the
" The South-Carolina Gazette, April 16, 1744.
36 Ibid., April 27, 1748.
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BEGINNINGS
House on the Bay. in which Capt. Colcock lives. '' 27 This is the last Jewish advertisement prior to 1750.
So far the records and the Gazettes. Summing up our investigation thus far: We found a Jew in Charles Town in 1695, and several Jews prior to 1700. They probably came directly from London, though some may have come here from Jamaica or Barbadoes, where Jews have lived from an early date.2$ It is worth remembering that the West Indies furnished South Carolina with many of its most substantial citizens in the Provincial period. We have followed the Jew in his daily life and as a citizen. We have seen how, socially and religiously, he was at peace with his neighbors. He lived the same life and followed the same occupations, taking his full part in the burdens as well as in the privileges of citizenship. There were other Jews living in Charles Town in the year 1750-of these we shall tell in the next chapter.
" The South-Carolina Gazette, Oct. 3, 174S.
* Hotten : List of Emigrants to America, 1600-1700.
CHAPTER II-ORGANIZATION 1750-1775
Y the last chapter we saw that quite a number of Jews were living in Charles Town prior to 1750. A few years be- fore there was an accession to the community from the neighboring col- ony of Georgia.
Georgia was colonized in 1733, and we are told that a few days after its first settlement forty Jews arrived in Savannah. So illiberal was the policy of the Trustees, that in 1741 the bulk of the Jews left it. Some went to Pennsylvania, others to New York, and four, viz .: Mordecai Sheftall, Levi Sheftall, David de Olivera, and Jacob de Olivera, came to Charles Town. We do not meet with any of them, however, in the records prior to 1750.
There is a local tradition which tells that some time be- tween 1732 and 1739 Moses Cohen, the first Haham, or Chief Rabbi, came to Charles Town, bringing with him from London a settlement of Jews, who afterwards formed the first Congregation Beth Elohim. This tradition can no longer be accepted.
The State Paper Office in London has preserved an im- mense number of documents relating to South Carolina. Thirty-six volumes of these documents have been copied
30
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ORGANIZATION
and are available in Columbia.1 They include the entire data relating to a proposed settlement of Jews in South Carolina in 1748.2
The circumstances of this proposed settlement are in- teresting. The English writer, Picciotto, to whom we are indebted for much of our information concerning Anglo- Jewish history in the eighteenth century, has this to say on the subject :
"The questions of labor, of the poor, and of emigration, appear to have vexed the minds of the chiefs of the Sepbardi community during last century, just as they bewilder at present other important bodies. Notwithstanding the presence of many persons in affluent circumstances among the Jews, the poor unfortunately have always been in greater numbers than the totality of the Hebrew population warranted. A hun- dred years ago the Jews possessed no middle class. There were perhaps 150 to 200 families that might be considered rich, about two-thirds of which belonged to the Spanish and Portuguese congregation. Then we should find at most as many families engaged in small retail trade, and finally we should see a floating mass, at least five times as numerous as the other two classes together, consisting of hucksters, hawkers, journeymen and others, either verging on pauperism or steeped hopelessly in its abyss.
" To endeavor to diminish the strain of pauperism by emigration the Sephardi Congregation in 1734 appointed a committee to apply for grants of land in Georgia, which the British Government was freely distributing to intending emigrants under certain conditions. This committee remained standing for some years, but we do not gather that it led to any practical results. Three years afterwards the committee reported that some lands in Carolina had been offered to them, and that they were negotiating on the subject. In 1745 this committee was still in existence, and obtained an extension of powers and an allowance to cover expenditure. After
1 Colonial Records of South Carolina (MSS.) copied from the State Paper Office, London. Secretary of State's Office, Columbia, S. C.
" These documents have been published in full. See Elzas: Documents Relative to a Proposed Settlement of Jews in South Carolina in 1748. (Pamphlet Reprint, Charleston, 1903.)
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
this time we hear no more of it, and it is fair to assume that had it achieved anything worth recording it would have been recorded." 3
Picciotto is correct in his surmise. The documents from the State Paper Office, to which reference has just been made, show that a certain John Hamilton, a well-meaning and public-spirited but apparently financially irresponsible promoter, had entered into negotiations with the Committee of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community in Lon- don, composed of three of its most prominent members : Solomon Da Costa, Francis Salvador, and Benjamin Mendes Da Costa, with a view of transporting Jews to South Caro- lina and settling them there; he had petitioned the Lords of the Committee of Council for Plantation Affairs for a grant of 200,000 acres of land in South Carolina, but after appearing several times before the Committee, being un- able to carry out certain conditions, his petition was not granted. Thus his negotiations with the Jews likewise came to nothing.
The Jews who came to Charles Town from London in 1750 came, not as a colony, but as individuals. Nor did they belong to the pauper class who were assisted to emi- grate in order to relieve the strain and stress at home. This is in perfect accord with the information that we de- rive from other sources.
In 1750, then, several Jews came to Charles Town and we read that in that year the following Jews lived there: Moses Cohen, Isaac Da Costa, Abraham Da Costa, Joseph Tobias, Meshod Tobias, Moses Pimenta, David de Olivera, Mordecai Sheftall, Levy Sheftall, Michael Lazarus, Abra- ham Nunez Cardozo, and Philip Hart.+ This same year
3 Picciotto: Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History, pp. 152-153.
4 The Occident, Vol. 1, p. 337. See also Year Book, City of Charleston, 1883, p. 301. This list of Jewish residents in Charles Town in 1750 is not complete, as the reader will be able to see.
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ORGANIZATION
(1750) saw the first beginnings of the congregational his- tory of K. K. Both Elohim.
The late Nathaniel Levin, who wrote both the sketch in the Year Book and that in The Occident,-the two articles are practically identical,-apparently used an old record- book of the Congregation Beth Elohim as the source of his information. The volume is, unfortunately, no longer in existence. It recorded the fact that at the conclusion of the Jewish New Year 5510 (1750) a meeting was called for the purpose of organizing a congregation. Moses Cohen was elected Chief Rabbi; Isaac Da Costa. Reader, and Joseph Tobias, President. The name selected for the Con- gregation, he tells us, was the same which it still bears: "Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim" (The Holy Congregation Beth Elohim, or House of God).5 The Congregation was strictly orthodox and its ritual was that of the Spanish and Portuguese communities as practised in London and Am- sterdam.6
5 This is a mistake. There is evidence enough to show that prior to its incorporation in 1791 the name of the Congregation was "Beth Elohim Unveh Shallom." It was probably abbreviated to "Beth Elohim" for convenience of reference. [See Will of Moses Molina (Will Book A, p. 597), who bequeaths " £15 sterling to the Portuguese Jew Congregation of Beth Elchim Unve Shallom;" Will of Joseph Salvador (Will Book, 1786-1793), who leaves " £100 sterling to the Portuguese Congregation in the City of Charleston, known by the name of Beth Elohim Unveh Shallom, or The House of the Lord and Mansion of Peace." See, finally, The Charleston Evening Gazette of February 3, 1786, which says: "Yes- terday, the Portuguese Jewish Congregation of this City, called ' Beth Elohim Unveh Shallom' or the House of the Lord and Mansion of Peace, proceeded to their burying ground in Hampstead, in order to lay the Foundation Stones of the Wall."]
It is just within the bounds of possibility that there were formerly two societies or congregations which afterwards amalgamated. There is no evidence for such a supposition, however, and it is exceedingly im- probable.
A good account of the early communal history of the Congregation is
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
The organization of the Congregation Beth Elohim was brought about through the zeal of Moses Cohen. Who Moses Cohen was we do not know. He came from London in 1750 a married man with at least one son.7 In that year, as we have already seen, he was elected the first Chief Rabbi. His full title was "Haham v' Abh Beth Din" (Chief Rabbi and Chief of the Beth Din, or Ecclesiastical Court).8 This was probably nothing more than a high-sounding title in imitation of the old Synagogue of the Spanish and Portu- guese Jews in London, of which the Congregation Beth Elohim is a direct offshoot. Of his activity in this com- munity we know nothing.
The early ministers of the Congregation Beth Elohim were not salaried officials and we find them earning their living by trade. Moses Cohen was a shopkeeper.º The only references to him in the contemporary literature are two advertisements in The South-Carolina Gazette. In the supplement to the Gazette of August 15, 1753, he advertises for "a runaway Dutch servant-girl about 10 years of age and 4 feet 6 inches high," and on October 21, 1756, his name is mentioned in a published list of unrecorded plats.10
Moses Cohen, or as he is described on his tombstone, "The R. R. Moses Cohen, D.D.," died on April 19, 1762.
contained in the report of the case of The State vs. Ancker in Richard- son's South Carolina Law Reports, Vol. 2, pp. 245-286.
" See Obituary Notice of Abraham Cohen, of Georgetown, the son of this Moses Cohen: "Died in the 61st year of his age, Abraham Cohen, post- master. Born in London and as early as the year 1762, commenced and carried on commercial business in this place." -- The Georgetown Gazette, Saturday, Dec. 13, 1800.
8 The Occident. Vol. 1, p. 337.
' Mesne Conveyance Records, Vol. I 4, p. 241. "Deed of Conveyance from Moses Cohen, of Charles Town, shopkeeper, to Isaac Da Costa, merchant, of the same place." This document is dated 1759.
' The records in Columbia show three grants of land made to him in 1755 and 1759. [Index to Grants, A to K, 1695-1776.]
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ORGANIZATION
His tombstone is still to be seen in the Coming Street ceme- tery in Charleston. This cemetery was then the private burial ground of Isaac Da Costa and was only transferred to the Congregation Beth Elohim in 1764.11 He was much esteemed by his people and in the Constitution of the Con- gregation Beth Elohim, dated 1820, it is especially enacted that "on every Kippur night perpetually, the first 'es- caba' [prayer for the dead] shall be made for the Reverend Moses Cohen, deceased, because he was appointed and con- firmed the Reverend Doctor of this Congregation from its first establishment, and as such it is conceived every mark of respect is due to his memory." 12 1692072
The first Hazan, or Reader, of the Congregation Beth Elohim was Isaac Da Costa. He was a member of an illus- trious family that played an important part in English Jewry during the early days after the Resettlement under Cromwell.13 Educated for the ministry, he came to Charles Town from London in 1750. The date of his arrival is confirmed by an entry in the Literary Diary of Ezra Stiles, Volume 1, page 453, under the date Angust 2, 1774:
"In the Afternoon I was visited by Mr Acosta a Jew Huzzan of the Synagogue in Charleston, So Carolina. He is aet. 52, born in London & educated under Hochem Rabbi Nieto there till aet. 29. Then he came to America & in 1754 instituted a Synagogue at Charleston .?? 14
" For a full history of the old Jewish cemeteries at Charleston. see Elzas: The Old Jewish Cemeteries at Charleston, S. C., Charleston, 1903.
12 Elzas: Constitution of the Hebrew Congregation of Kaal Kadosh Beth Elohim, or House of God, M,DCCCXX ( Reprinted Charleston, 1904), Rule xx.
13 Wolf: Crypto-Jews under the Commonwealth, p. 71. For further information concerning this family, see The Gentleman's Magazine for Jan., 1812, pp. 21-4. This article contains a full genealogy of the Mendes- Da Costa families. See also the Jewish Encyclopedia, art. Da Costa.
14 Kohut: Ezra Stiles and the Jews, p. 134. The date 1754 is a manifest error for 1750.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Like his colleague, Moses Cohen, Isaac Da Costa engaged in trade. He seems to have been possessed of considerable means when he came to South Carolina. We meet with him first as a shopkeeper in The South-Carolina Gazette of July 22, 1751. In 1752, he is on Broad Street.15 In 1753, he advertises as an administrator of an estate.16 In this year we find his name in the records of King Solomon's Lodge, No. 1-the oldest regularly constituted lodge in South Carolina. In 1756, his name occurs in a list of un- recorded plats.17 In 1757, he is still on Broad Street, where he advertises "European and Indian goods. " 18 In 1758, he is in partnership with Thomas Farr and the firm is now Da Costa & Farr.19 In 1759, he advertises as treasurer of
Solomon's Lodge.20 In 1761, the firm is still Da Costa & Farr. They are extensive ship agents.21 In 1762, Isaac Da Costa advertises alone-it is no longer Da Costa & Farr.22 In 1764, having some misunderstanding with his Congregation, Isaac Da Costa resigned his position as Reader.23 In 1765, he seems to have met with misfortune in business.2+ In 1766, he advertises again.25 In 1772, he is agent for the Spanish transport, "The Diana, ''26 He is on King Street in 1773.27 In 1778, he is in partnership with
15 The South-Carolina Gazette, May 28, 1752.
16 Ibid., Nov. 26, 1753
Ibid., Oct. 21, 1756.
18 Ibid., June 23, 1757.
19 Ibid., Nov. 17, 1753.
" Ibid., April 7, 1759.
2 Ibid., Jan. 17, Nov. 28, and Dec. 5, 1761.
22 Ibid., Oct. 30, 1762.
23 The Occident, Vol. 1, p. 338.
" The South-Carolina Gazette, August 3, 1765.
25 Ibid., July 14, 1766.
" Ibid., April 2, 1772.
" Ibid., April 19, 1773.
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ORGANIZATION
his son.28 In 1779, he was elected one of the stewards of the Palmetto Society.29 In 1781, during the period of Brit- ish occupation, his estates were seized and confiscated.30 Refusing to take British protection, he was banished. From a contemporary diary we learn that he arrived in Phila- delphia on December 31, 1781.31 On March 17, 1782, he was the chairman of the meeting called for the purpose of raising funds for the erection of a regular Synagogue in Philadelphia.32 His son was likewise one of the original members of the Mikveh Israel Congregation of that city.33 In 1783 he returned to Charleston, and in February of that year he established the "Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfec- tion. '' 34 He died on Monday, November 23, 1783, in the sixty-second year of his age.33 He is buried in the cemetery at Hanover Street that still bears his name. He left no will, but letters of administration to his estate were granted to Mrs. Sarah Da Costa, Joseph Da Costa, and Samuel Da Costa on March 31, 1784.36
We do not know quite as much about Abraham Da Costa.
23 Gazette of the State of South-Carolina, July 8, 1778.
PIbid., July 21, 1779.
3º Supplement to The Royal Gazette, March 14, 1781.
31 Diary of Josiah Smith, Jr., one of the exiles from Charles Town to St. Augustine during the British occupation. 1780-1781, unpublished MSS. (Collections of the South Carolina Historical Society), "List of Heads of families banished, who would not take protection."
32 Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, Vol. 1, p. 14.
33 Morais: Jews of Philadelphia, p. 15.
34 Mackey : Cryptic Masonry, p. 151.
35 " On Monday died, after a few days illness, by the wound of a splinter in his hand, Mr. Isaac Da Costa, Sen., a respectable and valuable citizen." -The Gazette of the State of South-Carolina, November 27, 1783.
36 Probate Records, Administration Book 00, 1775-1783, p. 347.
There are numerous descendants of Isaac Da Costa still in South Caro- lina. As is the case with all the old Jewish families, these descendants are for the most part Christians.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
He is mentioned in a most interesting document, a marriage agreement that is reminiscent of medieval times. The parties to this agreement are Abraham Da Costa, Rebecca Pimento, and Leah Pimento, her mother :
" Abraham Da Costa. with the consent and good liking of the said Leah, covenants, promises and agrees to take Rebecca Pimento to wife accord- ing to the rights and ceremonies of the Jews without portion to be de- manded or required, within the space of three months from the date of these presents" * * "the said parties binding themselves each to the other in the sum or penalty of £3000 current money of South Carolina." 37
A copy of the marriage settlement which he made upon his wife is also preserved in the records.38 He seems to have had a business in Georgetown, for in an advertisement in one of the Gazettes he "informs his town and country friends that since the late dreadful fire, he is under an obligation to open a store at the upper end of King Street, where he has to sell a great quantity of the goods lately sold at George- town, and some of the remains saved out of the above fire. '' 39 He remained in Charles Town during the period of British occupation. He was then the proprietor of the "Irish Coffee House" on Broad Street.4º
Jacob Olivera was a merchant of means. His daughter Leah married Joseph Tobias. His name does not appear in the Gazettes, but his will is well worthy of mention as a veritable ethical will of the olden days. This will was made on July 27. 1751, and proved on May 15, 1752. It is witnessed by Solomon Isaacs, and "his good friend Isaac Da Costa" is one of his executors. After a conventional preamble, he writes :
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