USA > South Carolina > The Jews of South Carolina, from the earliest times to the present day > Part 5
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" Moses Lindo, Esq., his Majesty's Inspector General of Indico, having, about eight years ago, accidentally met with, and for a Trifle purchased, a Stone (among others) found in this Province, which he judged to be a WATER SAPPHIRE or TOPAZ, and then declared to be too valuable a jewel to be possessed by any other than the Queen of England, making a Vow, that it should be sent to her Majesty; we hear, has accordingly sent the same, in the Eagle Packet-Boat, by the Hands of the Right Hon. Lord Charles-Greville Montagu, to be presented to her Majesty. The size and shape of this Stone is like Half a Hen's Egg, and the Weight 526 Carats."
' On July 13, 1773, Moses Lindo gives a testimonial of char- acter to Jonas Phillips, of New York, who, it would seem,
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MOSES LINDO
had become involved in some charge reflecting on his in- tegrity. The original is still extant.20 This interesting document recites that Moses Lindo had "arrived in this Province in the Month of November, 1756, in the good vessel called the Charming Nancy. Commanded by Captain Wil- liam White, that some Three months before he left London he engaged in his Service to come with him to this Province one Mr. Jonas Phillips, that after their arrival together in the same Vessel here, the said Jonas Phillips lived with him some months and that the said Jonas Phillips was in his employ and that he did behave and deport himself faith- fully and honestly." He expresses his belief that "the said Jonas is trustworthy even to Gold untold." This affidavit was accompanied by a letter in similar terms from Joshua Hart, of Charles Town, in whose house Phillips had like- wise stayed.
On September 6, 1773, he publishes a lengthy letter to Mr. John Ledyard, of Melksham, in Wiltshire, pointing out many fallacies in the statements made abroad concerning Carolina indigo and showing him how he may prove his own statements by actual experiment, the materials for which he is sending him. This letter is a splendid illustra- tion of Lindo's patriotic feeling and of his untiring efforts in behalf of the Province.
On November 22, 1773, he makes a statement of the fight he is making against the combination in London against Carolina indigo. He recites what he has done to promote the welfare of the Province and refers to a recommendation that is to be made to the General Assembly to allow him a yearly salary besides fees. He has not become wealthy as the result of his work: "Should any accident befall me thro' the infirmities of age or otherwise, I am persuaded it
10 Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, Vol. 2, pp. 51-55.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
is not difficult for you, or any of my friends to conceive how very wretched a being would be Yours, &c,
"MOSES LINDO."
He still signs himself Inspector-General of Indico, and on December 27, 1773, there is a notice that "13,000 pounds weight of indigo, belonging to two planters, were last week sold by Mr. Samuel Priolean, jun., at a dollar a pound to Moses Lindo, Esq., Inspector-General, who has declared that the whole quantity is equal if not superior to any French that, in the many years' experience he has had, has gone through his hands, or fallen under his observation."
Moses Lindo died in 1774. The South-Carolina Gazette, in which he had advertised so extensively for so many years, makes no mention of his death, but in The South- Carolina Gazette; And Country Journal of Tuesday, April 26, 1774, we read :
"DIED, Moses Lindo, Esq; for many years Inspector-General of In- dico in this Town."
There is but one notice more and that in The South-Caro- lina Gazette of May 23, 1774:
" Moses Lindo, Inspector-General of Indico, having departed this life, his estate and effects, consisting of Household Furniture, a Variety of Plate, Books, a Gold Watch, Chain and Seals, and other Articles, will be sold at public outcry on Saturday the 11th of June next, about Ten o'Clock in the forenoon at the back stores of Messrs. Martin Campbell & Son; on the Bay" * " May 17th. 1774."
We have thus kept track of the subject of our sketch from the time he landed in South Carolina till his death. Moses Lindo left no will. The inventory of his estate, dated May 17, 1774, and appraised at £1,199.17.8, is recorded in the
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MOSES LINDO
Probate Office in Charleston,21 It has been a source of much gratification to perpetuate the memory of this public- spirited and patriotic Jew, who was a resident of Charles Town from 1756 to 1774. He is but one example of many of his faith who have contributed in no small way to the upbuilding of this great country.
21 Probate Records, Book V (1772), p. 591.
CHAPTER IV -- FRANCIS SALVADOR
" More than one hundred passengers are come, in the vessels that have arrived here since our last." 2
HE "last" number of The South-Caro- lina Gazette, prior to the one contain- ing the above announcement, was dated November 29, 1773. Following the statement is a list of some of the pas- sengers, and on the list appears the name of Francis Salvador. He was a young English Jew, who had come to settle in the Province and who was destined within the brief space of not quite three years' residence therein to engrave his name firmly upon the pages of the history of South Carolina. But be- fore proceeding to tell how he accomplished this, it is neces- sary to give some account of the antecedents of this re- markable young man.
His grandfather, Francis Salvador, was a son of Joseph Salvador, a Portuguese-Jewish merchant, of Amsterdam. Though the family was known to the commercial world by the name of Salvador, the name which this family had orig- inally borne in Portugal was that of Jessurun, or Isurune, Rodrigues. After the death of Joseph Jessurun Rodrigues, or Salvador, his son removed to England, where he was
1 The South-Carolina Gazette, Dee. 6, 1773.
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+عيد
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3
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THE SALVADOR GRANT OF AAMIS FROM THE HERALDS COLLEGE, LONDON
Original in the possession of the College of Charles- ton. Irreparably damaged by water hiring the South Carolina Inter State and West Indian Exposition i. Ij02, after the ph to was taken from which this p it was m.i.le
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FRANCIS SALVADOR
enfranchised and made a free denizen by letters patent dated at Westminster, April 24, 1719. The father and son were both men of prominence and used a coat-of-arms, but after coming to England the son found that under the laws of heraldry observed in England he could not show a valid title to these arms. He therefore applied, in 1744, to Thomas, Earl of Effingham, Deputy to Edward, Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal and Hereditary Marshal of Eng- land, to have the arms confirmed unto him, his descendants, and all descendants of his father, Joseph Salvador. The application was approved by his Lordship, who issued a warrant to the Garter and Clarenceux Kings of Arms on March 19, 1744, and the arms were properly confirmed by a grant made by these officials on June 1, 1745.2
The grantee of these arms, Francis Salvador, and his sons, Jacob and Joseph, were for many years wealthy mer- chants of London and were conspicuously identified with the ancient Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Congregation of that city. It is worthy of note that in the records of the Synagogue the old family name-Jessurun Rodrigues-is retained as late as 1764.3
The subject of this sketch was the son of Jacob Salvador, who died when his son Francis was about two years old. Shortly after Jacob's death his widow gave birth to another son, Moses. The two sons were liberally educated by a pri- vate tutor and the best masters, and were taught the accom-
" This original grant was subsequently brought to South Carolina by a member of the Salvador family and is now preserved in the library of the College of Charleston. This beautiful specimen of heraldic art is now unfortunately ruined, having sustained irreparable damage from water through the carelessness of its custodians during the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition in 1902. For a transcript of this document see Appendix C.
& Picciotto: Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History, pp. 161-164. Gaster: History of the Antient Synagogue, Bevis Marks-A Memorial Volume.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
plishments suitable to their wealth and rank. Upon coming of age, each of them inherited £60,000 sterling. Francis, after spending some time in France, returned to England and married his first cousin, Sarah, second daughter of Joseph Salvador, received with her a marriage portion of £13,000, and resided at Twickenham, near his mother, who had married Abraham Prado. Moses Salvador lived for many years in the Hague.+
Unfortunate investments having reduced his fortune, and the earthquake in Lisbon and the failure of the Dutch East India Company having impaired that of Joseph Salvador, his father-in-law and uncle, Francis Salvador determined to settle in South Carolina, where Joseph Salvador owned a hundred thousand acres of land in Ninety Six District, which he had purchased from John Hamilton, of Charles Town, South Carolina, in 1755, for £2,000 sterling.5 In 1769 Joseph Salvador executed a power of attorney to Richard Andrews Rapley, who was about to depart for South Carolina, to sell a part of this land for him. In October, 1773, Rapley sold two tracts of it, containing 1,062 and 1,638 acres respectively, to Abraham Prado, stepfather of Francis Salvador. On the sixth day of the same month Joseph Salvador sent to Rapley a special power of attor- ney, by which Rapley, on May 17, 1774, in consideration of £1,611 currency, conveyed to "Francis Salvador, late of Twickenham in the County of Middlesex but now of the Province aforesaid Esgr," 921 acres of the one hundred thousand acre tract. Again, on May 31, 1774, by the same special power of attorney, Rapley conveyed to Francis Sal- vador, by way of mortgage, "in consideration of seven thou- sand Lawfull money of the said Province" which Joseph Salvador owed him, 5,165 acres more of this land, so that
'Drayton : Memoirs of the American Revolution, Vol. 2, pp. 347-349.
" Mesne Conveyance Records, Book F 3, p. 133.
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FRANCIS SALVADOR
by collecting a debt and by direct purchase the accomplished young gentleman, who had come to cast his lot in a new and almost unbroken section, was now the possessor of a planta- tion of nearly seven thousand acres. Drayton tells us that he purchased slaves and began the life of a planter, living with his friend, Rapley, at Coronaca, in Ninety Six District.6 His education and polished manners soon won for him a prominent position in his District and in the Province. He sympathized with the popular movement in South Carolina against British oppression, and at the election held on Mon- day, December 19, 1774, for deputies to the First Provincial Congress of South Carolina, he was returned as one of the ten deputies from Ninety Six District-his friend, Rapley, being another." The first session of the Provincial Congress convened in Charles Town on Wednesday morning, January 11, 1775, and continued in session until Tuesday evening, January 17th.8 Salvador was in attendance and his fine abilities were soon recognized, and when on Sunday, the 15th, an election was held for members for the several elec- tion districts on the Committee for Effectually Carrying into Execution the Continental Association and for Re- ceiving and Determining upon Applications Relative to Law Processes, he was chosen one of the committee for Ninety Six District.º He also attended the second session of the Congress in June, 1775, and was again conspicuous in its work. At the election held on Monday and Tuesday,
" Drayton: Memoirs of the American Revolution, Vol. 2, p. 348. In the supplement to The South-Carolina and American General Gazette for Sept. 9, 1774, he advertised for an indigo overseer to live near Ninety Six and look after about thirty slaves.
" The South-Carolina Gazette, Dec. 26, 1774.
8 The South-Carolina and American General Gazette, Jan. 13, 1775; The South-Carolina Gazette, Jan. 23, 1775; Moultrie: Memoirs of the American Revolution, Vol. 1, pp. 14-18.
' The South-Carolina Gazette, Jan. 30, 1775.
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August 7 and 8, 1775, he was returned as a Deputy from Ninety Six District to the Second Provincial Congress,10 taking his seat when the Congress convened on Wednesday, November 1, 1775, and was, as in the previous Congress, placed upon important committees and conspicuous in de- bate. At the second session of the Second Provincial Con- gress, held in February and March, 1776, Salvador was again conspicuous in committee work and in debate. On February 6th he was placed upon a special committee to inquire into the state of the interior parts of the Province lately in commotion; to consider what measures to pursue to preserve the peace, secure safety, and prevent future commotions in that quarter, and to consider the cases of the state prisoners and report what measures should be pur- sued in relation thereto.11 On February 13th he was named as one of a special committee of three to extract such parts as they should judge proper to be generally known from the intercepted letters taken from Moses Kirkland and one written by John Stuart to the Committee of Intelligence.12 On February 21st Mr. Salvador, from the first special com- mittee mentioned above, made a report to the Congress, but consideration of it was postponed,13 and subsequently a part of the report was recommitted. In Congress, on Feb- ruary 28th, Salvador was appointed a teller for the "Yeas" on the question of raising another regiment of riflemen for the regular service of the Revolutionary Government of South Carolina, and had the satisfaction of seeing the ques- tion carried by his side by a vote of fifty-one to thirty-
10 The South-Carolina Gazette, Sept. 7, 1775.
11 Extracts from the Journals of the Provincial Congress of South- Carolina, second session, held at Charles Town, Feb. 1-March 26, 1776 (Charles Town, 1776), p. 13.
12 Ibid., pp. 29-30.
Ibid., pp. 51-52.
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seven.14 On March 2d Mr. Salvador, for the special com- mittee, reported on the recommitted part of the original report, and consideration of the report was agreed upon for the next day. On March 3d, before proceeding with the consideration of Mr. Salvador's report, a committee of seven was appointed to consider ways and means of pay- ing for services already voted and report the next day, and Mr. Salvador was named as one of this committee.13 On March 20th Mr. Salvador was placed upon a special com- mittee of five to report the next day what salaries were proper to be allowed to the several public officers.16 Dur- ing the consideration of the report the next day, a motion was made to agree to the provision fixing the salary of the President at £10,000 per annum, and when the question was put to the house Mr. Salvador was appointed teller for the "Nays," who won.17 On March 26th the engrossed copy of the new Constitution being laid before Congress, Colonel Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Mr. Salvador were ap- pointed a special committee to examine it and compare it with the rough draft thereof.18 Later in the day Colonel Pinckney for this committee reported that he and Mr. Sal- vador had carefully examined the engrossed copy of the Constitution and found it correct.19 The new Constitution was adopted that day and by one of its provisions the Pro- vincial Congress was declared to be the General Assembly of the new State until the 21st of October following,20 thus making Salvador one of the members of the first General Assembly of the new independent State of South Carolina.
14 Extracts from the Journals of the Provincial Congress of South- Carolina, second session, held at Charles Town, Feb. 1-March 26, 1776 (Charles Town, 1776), p. 69.
16 Ibid., p. 81. 18 Ibid., p. 132. 16 Ibid., p. 111. 1º Ibid., p. 133. 20 Ibid., p. 140.
21 Ibid., p. 115.
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
He participated in its proceedings until its adjournment on April 11, 1776.
Soon after the adjournment of the General Assembly a British fleet, having under convoy transports bearing a British army, appeared before Charles Town and began preparations for an attack on the town. At the same time British emissaries on the frontier of South Carolina began to instigate the Cherokee Indians to deeds of violence against the people of the upper part of the Province. The Tories and Indians in the rear were expected to cooperate with the fleet and army in front and crush the rebellion at once. The fleet and army made a combined attack on the 28th of June and were severely defeated. The Indians made their onslaught on Monday, July 1st. They poured down upon the people of Ninety Six District, massacring all who fell in their way. One of the plantations they attacked was that of Captain Aaron Smith, on Little River. Two of Captain Smith's sons escaped on horseback-one riding to Mr. Salvador's plantation, on Coronaca Creek, and one to Major Andrew Williamson's plantation (White Hall). Mr. Salvador immediately rode to Williamson's. Major Williamson was then in command of the militia regi- ment of Ninety Six District, and he, with Salvador's assist- ance, immediately began to collect the militia of the neigh- borhood, and by Wednesday, July 3d, having collected forty men, marched to Smith's, whence they moved to a point about six miles above Captain Pickens's fort. Their force increased each day until the 8th, when it amounted to two hundred and twenty men, and they marched to Holmes's field, on Hogskin Creek, about four miles from the Chero- kee boundary line, at De Witt's Corner, and encamped. By the 16th Williamson's force had increased to four hun- dred and fifty, and he advanced to Barker's Creek. As Williamson had not been joined by any of the militia com- mands from the eastward of Saluda River, Mr. Salvador
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FRANCIS SALVADOR
rode thither on Saturday, July 13th, and found Colonel Williams and Colonel Lisle, with detachments from their commands, and two companies from Colonel Richardson's regiment, amounting in all to four hundred and thirty men. This force was attacked on Monday, the 15th, but repulsed the Indians and Tories. Williamson's force now rapidly increased. He was joined by a detachment of the 3d Regi- ment under Captain Felix Warley and Captain John Bowie's company of the 5th Regiment, and on July 25th marched to Hencoop Creek, destroying in the meantime all Indian villages and corn from the Cherokee boundary line to their middle settlement, and on the 29th to Twenty-Three Mile Creek, his force now amounting to 1,151 militia and regulars. Having been informed by two white prisoners, captured by his scouts, that some white men in the service of the British were encamped at Oconee Creek, about thirty miles away, and that they had been joined by the Essenecca Indians, who had completely abandoned their town on the Keowee River, Williamson decided to march at once to their camp and attack them. With a detachment of three hun- dred and thirty men on horseback, and the two prisoners as guides, he set out about six o'clock on the evening of July 31st for the purpose of surrounding the enemy's camp at daybreak the next morning. The Keowee River crossing Williamson's route, and only fordable at Seneca, obliged him to take the road by that village. Before he arrived at that point the enemy, having either learned of his march or expecting to ambush some of his scouts, had taken pos- session of the first houses in Seneca and had posted men behind a long fence on an eminence close to the road along which Williamson's detachment was to march, and, to pre- vent being seen, had filled up the openings between the rails with bushes and cornblades. When Williamson's force reached the spot, about half-past one o'clock in the morn- ing, they allowed the guides and advance guard to pass and
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THE JEWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
then poured in a heavy fire upon Williamson's men. The attack, being unexpected, staggered the advance party. Williamson's horse was shot down and Salvador, riding with him, received three wounds and fell by his side, and before he could be found in the dark an Indian took his scalp-his being the only one taken. Captain Smith, son of the murdered Captain Aaron Smith, saw the Indian and could have stopped him, but thought it was Mr. Salvador's servant assisting his master and made no effort to stop him. He died forty-five minutes after receiving his wounds, sen- sible to the last. When Williamson returned to him, after defeating the enemy, he asked him if the enemy had been beaten, and, when answered in the affirmative, said he was glad of it and shook Williamson's hand, bade him farewell, and said he would die in a few moments.
Thus perished, in the heyday of young manhood, one whose future was full of promise both to himself and to the young Republic.21 "The whole army regretted his loss, as he was universally loved and esteemed by them." 22 Where he was buried we are not informed, but his body
" Francis Salvador was only twenty-nine years of age at the time of his death. Mr. Hübner, in his paper on Francis Salvador, read before the American Jewish Historical Society, informs us that " he was certainly no more than thirty-five or forty years of age at the time of his arrival." (Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 9, p. 111.) His guess is somewhat wide of the mark. His age at the time of his arrival was twenty-six. This fact is easily obtained from the following data : His father, Jacob Salvador, died in 1749. (See The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 19, p. 189.) Francis Salvador was about two years of age when his father died. (See Drayton: Memoirs, Vol. 2, p. 347.) He was there- fore born in 1747. He arrived in Charles Town in December, 1773. For further data concerning the family of Salvador see The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 6, p. 112; Vol. 8, p. 546; Vol. 10, p. 36; Vol. 11, pp. 554 and 608; Vol. 19, p. 189; Vol. 24, p. 484; Vol. 30, p. 249; Vol. 33, p. 618.
" The Remembrancer for 1776, Part 2, p. 320.
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FRANCIS SALVADOR
was doubtless taken back to his plantation at Coronaca. He was the first Jew in America to represent the masses in a popular assembly.23
* See Drayton: Memoirs of the American Revolution, Vol. 2, pp. 339- 350. Williamson's report to President Rutledge, published in Gibbes : Documentary History of the American Revolution, 1764-1776, pp: 125- 126. This report as published in Gibbes is incorrectly copied. It is headed " Col. Thomson to W. H. Drayton" and the date is printed " 1775." It should, of course, be 1776. At the outset of this expedition Williamson was only major of the Ninety Six Distriet regiment, being the senior officer and in command, but while on this expedition he was promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment, receiving his commission about August 1st, Captain Le Roy Hammond receiving at the same time the lieutenant- colonelcy. See also The [London] Remembrancer for 1776, Part 1, p. 114, and Part 2, pp. 312-20. For some interesting Salvador correspond- ence see Gibbes: Documentary History, 1776-1782, pp. 24-30.
CHAPTER V-THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
O describe the part played by the Jews of South Carolina -- or rather by the Jews of Charles Town, for there is nothing in the records, with one or two exceptions, of any other Jews of South Carolina who saw service in the field- is a task quite easy and yet difficult. Till now the story has not been written. A few traditional tales, distorted according as the imagination of the story- teller was more or less vigorous, and still further distorted by Jewish editors, are all that we now possess. No attempt has hitherto been made to go to original sources. Hence it is that the traditional items that found their way into Lee- ser's Occident some fifty years ago have gone the rounds of the newspapers and the books, and have been so often repeated that they have come to be looked upon as narra- tives of fact. Read the story of the Jews of Charleston where you will, you will find nothing but the same old stories told over and over again, with variations more or less absurd.
The trouble with all past writers, without exception, has been that they have made no attempt to ascertain the facts. Our present data are all of them traditions which, while con- taining a germ of truth, are, like all traditions, largely unre- liable. Fortunately for us, historical material in Charleston is so abundant that it is possible to write the story of the
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Captain Abraham Mendez Seixas, 1750-1799 From an original oil painting in the possession of Mr. Leopold H. Cohen, of New York
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THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD
Jews of Charleston in the eighteenth century in almost as complete detail and with the same historical accuracy that one could write their history of twenty years ago. The news- papers are here almost complete. The records are here almost complete. These will furnish the historian with the facts, and these facts will testify as eloquently to the value of the Jew as a citizen as the glittering generalities and the specious absurdities that have till now passed current as history. We are far away enough removed from the scene to view the story in its true perspective. As before, we shall, wherever possible, let the records speak for them- selves.
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