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Dtk not deface books Uy maiks axid writing; Cornell University Library HS521 .062 The Jews and Masonry in the IJnited Stale 3 1924 030 283 216 olln,anx The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030283216 THE JEWS AND MASONRY IN THE UNITED STATES BEFORE 1810 BT SAMUEL OPPBNHBIM Reprint from PUBUCATIOITB OF THE AMEBICAI;^, JEWISH HlBTOBICA£ SOCIETY, No. 19 (1910) COPXEIGHT, 1910, BY SAMUEL OPPENHEIM, Residence, 811 Dawson St., Bronx, New York City, N. Y. Formerly at 141 East lllth St., N. Y. THE JEWS AND MASONRY IN THE UNITED STATES BEFORE 1810 BY SAMUEL OPPBNHEIM Reprint from Publications of the American Jewish Histoeicai, Society, No. 19 (1910) COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY SAMUEL OPPENHEIM, Residence, 811 Dawson St., Bronx, New York City, N. Y. Formerly at 141 East 111th St., N. Y. •/ ^.^so^.^\ CONTENTS. PAGE iNTEODtJCTioN. Jews in Masonry. — Early relation to Order 1 Massachusetts. Moses M. Hays. — Introduces Scottish Rite into United States. — Grand Master. — Judah Hays>-^Abra- ham Jacobs : 5 Rhode Island. Jewish Masons in Newport, 1658. Evidence considered. — Abraham Moses, Mordecai Campanall, Moses Pacheco. — St. John's Lodge Jewish membership, 1760- 1810. — King David's Lodge. Masonic address to George Washington, 1790. — Moses Seixas, Grand Master. — His Masonic Work -. . . . 9 Maine, New Hampshibe, and Vermont. Abraham Isaacs in New Hampshire 26 CoNNECTictTT. Solomon Plnto, Ralph and Benjamin Isaacs. . . 27 New York. Jonas Phillips and Aaron Hart, 1760. — Early Ma- sonic certificate. — Moses M. Hays, Isaac Moses, King David's Lodge. — Jews in Union, No. 1, St. Andrew's, No. 3, Holland. No. 8, Phenlx, No. 11, Clinton, No. 453, I'Unitg AmSricaine, Warren, Albion, Erin, Ancient Chapter, No. 1, Royal Arch, No. 2, Jerusalem Chapter, No. 8, Wash- ington Lodges. — Society for Promotion of Masonic Knowl- edge. — Mordecai M. Noah. — ^Lodge of Perfection, Abraham Jacobs, Joseph Jacobs, Sampson Simson, Mordecai Myers, Joel Hart, Moses L. M. Peixotto. — Supreme Council, North- ern Jurisdiction. — Emanuel DeLaMotta 28 New Jersey. Samuel Hays, Jacob Benjamin 40 Pennsylvania. Lodge of Perfection, Philadelphia, 1781. — Deputy Inspectors General. — Solomon Bush's address to King of Prussia. — Abraham Forst. — Lodge No. 2, A. Y. M. — Lancaster Lodge, No. 43.— Concordia Lodge, No. 67. — Columbia Lodge, No. 91. — Corner-Stone Mikve Israel Congregation laid by Jewish Masons, 1782. — Solomon Bush and Grand Lodge. — Solomon Bttlng, Benjamin Nones, Barnard and Michael Gratz, Isaac Franks, Hyam Solomon, Simon Nathan, Benjamin Seixas, Jonas Phillips, Moses Cohen, Myer M. Cohen -. 41 ill PAOB Delawaeb. David Bush, Lewis Bush, George Bush 53 Mabyland. Jacob Hart, B. Wolf, John Tobias, Isaac Mordecai, S. Block, Samuel Jacobs, Hyman Samuel, Solomon Etting 55 ViBGiNiA. Hezekiah Levy and George Washington. — Jewish Masons, 1785-1810. — Joseph Darmstadt, Grand Treas- urer. — Solomon Jacobs, Grand Master. — Samuel Myers, Jacob I. Cohen, Zalma Rehine, Benjamin Wolfe, Mordecai Marks, Joseph M. Myers. — Richmond Lodge, No. 10. — Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19. — Jerusalem Lodge, No. 54. — Naphtali Lodge, No. 56, Norfolk 58 NoETH Carolina. Jacob Mordecai, Aaron Lazarus, Jacob Henry 74 South Cakolina. Isaac DaCosta, 1753. — Lodge of Perfection, 1783. — Abraham Jacobs. — Joseph M. Myers. — Supreme Council and Jewish Ofla.cers in Scottish Rite, 1802. — Corner-stone, Beth Elohim Congregation, Charleston, laid with Masonic ceremonies, 1793. — Friendship Lodge, Charleston. — Lodge No. 10, Columbia. — La Candeur Lodge. — Abraham Alexander, Emanuel De La Motta, Jacob Deleon, Israel Delieben, Abraham Saportas, Moses C. Levy, B. M. Spitzer, Hyman Isaac Long, Israel Myers . . 76 Georgia. Oglethorpe and Solomon's Lodge. — Jewish Masons, 1733-4, 1756-7.— The Sheftalls, Nunes, Isaac Pranks. — Abraham Jacobs' initiations 87 Resume. With Names of Principal Jewish Masons 92 THE JEWS AND MASONEY IN THE UNITED STATES BEEOEE 1810. By Samuel Oppenheim.* In an article in Moore's Freemason's Monthly Magazine, Vol. XV., p. 183 (Boston, April, 1856), the editor, comment- ing on the religious views of several Jewish ministers, took occasion to make the following remarks in regard to what had been said by the then late M. M. Noah: We have understood that Dr. Noah was a Mason, but know not how that may have been.' With his liberal views there is cer- tainly nothing in Masonry to which he could have taken exception. Many of the most eminent of his Jewish brethren were in his day filling high and honorable places in the fraternity. The Grand Lodges of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Louisiana, and perhaps some others, have at different times elevated dis- tinguished brethren of the Jewish faith to the dignity of Grand- mastership. They were gentlemen and Masons of enlarged views and liberal minds; and by the exercise of a tolerant spirit and a courteous bearing towards those who differed from them in mat- ters of conscience endeared themselves to their Christian brethren, and contributed largely to elevate the social position of those to whom they were allied by ties of kindred blood. In line with the first part of this quotation is the following excerpt from an editorial by Dr. Isaac M. Wise,' in The Israel- ite for August 3, 1855 : Masonry is a Jewish institution whose history, degrees, charges, passwords, and explanations are Jewish from the beginning to * The author is not a Mason. ' M. M. Noah was admitted a member of Independent Royal Arch Lodge, No. 2, in New York, in 1825. See By-Laws and List of Members of that lodge. ' Dr. Wise was a Mason. See Reminiscences of Isaac M. Wise, by Rev. Dr. David Philipson, p. 264. 1 2 American Jewish Historical Society. the end, with the exception of only one by-degree and a few words in the obligation. Dr. Wise, in a further editorial on August 17, 1855, also said: The beauty and pride of Masonry is its universal character, its tendency to fraternize mankind, and its being free from the ele- ments which have been ever the efficient causes of hatred, perse- cution, fraud, and rude barbarism. That the connection of Jews with Masonry in the early history of the United States was of benefit to them, as well as that it was to the advancement of the Order, is probably true, though little has been written on the subject by Jewish historians. An examination of the various publications acces- sible here, relating to Masonry, reveals the names of Jews who have been often mentioned in works treating of their race, and who have been representative men in their respective States. Their names appear in lists of members of the sub- ordinate and Grand Lodges of many of the original thirteen States. They were, however, always a small minority in the few lodges with which they were connected. Among their fellow members or those with whom they were brought into relation through Masonry were men prominent in the affairs of the nation. Several Jews are known to have been members of the lodge with which Governor Oglethorpe, of Georgia, was connected. In the lodge to which Washington belonged, a Jew, as will be shown, was a member. Jews, also, were mem- bers of the lodge to which belonged Edmund Eandolph and John Marshall, of Virginia, and DeWitt Clinton, of New York, all of whom were Grand Masters in their respective States. In Ehode Island, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina prominent non-Jewish names are likewise met with as mem- bers of lodges to which Jews were admitted. The relationship of the Jews to the Order brought them naturally more directly in contact with their Christian brethren than would otherwise have probably been the case, and the respect and esteem with The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 3 which the individual members of the race were regarded no doubt tended to the advantage of their coreligionists as a body. A connection with Masonry may possibly be traced through the letters written to President Washington in 1790 by the Jewish congregations of N'ewport, New York, Philadelphia, Eiehmond, and Charleston, as many of the members of those congregations were, like Washington, Masons. In one case, the presiding officer of one of these congregations who, as such, made his well-known address to Washington, also at the same time, in his capacity as Master of a Masonic lodge, made a further address to the President of the United States. Eef- erence to this wiU be made in treating of Ehode Island. It is impossible to obtain here, other than through the printed records of the Grand Lodges of the various States and of a few of their subordinate lodges, satisfactory informa- tion as to the character of the early membership of those lodges, and even the information so obtainable is somewhat meagre. If arrangements could be made with those connected with the Masonic fraternity in each State for an examination of the lists of members of the various subordinate lodges ex- isting in the early history of Masonry in the United States, many additional Jewish names could no doubt be brought to light, and fuller details obtained for biographical and historical purposes. Freemasonry is said to have been established as a regular institution in the colonies through duly constituted lodges deriving their authority from the Grand Lodge of England, about the year 1727, although prior to that time it may have been practiced here without regard to warrant or charter. The active work of the Order, as an independent American organi- zation, however, did not really begin until during and after the Eevolution, when the Eepublic had begun to live. Accord- ing to a writing confirming a tradition, which Masonic his- torians refuse to accept, as uncorroborated, although accepting 4 American Jewish Historical Society. in other cases traditions as binding, Jews may be said to have had the honor of being among the first, if not the first, to work the degrees of Masonry in this country, by bringing these with them on their arrival in Rhode Island in 1658. This subject will be discussed later on. The results of the limited investigation the writer has been able to make among the printed records to be found at the Grand Lodge library in Masonic Hall in New York, and in the Astor, Lenox, Columbia University, and New York His- torical Society libraries, have been incorporated in this paper, which does not pretend to be complete, and are submitted as a slight contribution to the history of the Jews in this country and as a basis for further work. Many of the earlier records have either been lost or destroyed, and there has always been some difficulty, according to the historians of the subject, in getting the officers of the subordinate lodges to search their archives for information. The influence of the Order in the early history of the United States is so well known that the connection of the Jews with it at that time, forming part of the same influence, justifies this contribution, incomplete though it be. The greatest activity among the Jews in Masonry was dis- played in this country during the latter part of the eighteenth century in Ehode Island, Virginia, South Carolina, New York, and Pennsylvania, where they were largely settled. The names of many of the leading members of the Jewish congregations in those States are to be found in lists of members of Masonic lodges. Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, and Geor- gia also give evidence of their early relation to the fraternity. Mention is made of Jews as Masons in New Hampshire, Con- necticut, New Jersey, and Delaware where they had not set- tled in numbers; while no mention is to be found, so far as ascertainable from the printed records, of Jewish Masons in Maine and Vermont. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 5 MASSACHUSETTS. The leading figure among the Jews in connection with early Masonry in the United States was Moses Michael Hays, a member of the well-known Hays family, of which a connected account is given in The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. VI, p. 270."' His name is sometimes spelled " Hayes " in the early Masonic records. An interesting article on his Masonic activ- ity is to be found in the New England Freemason for 1875, written by Sereno D. Kickerson, who also wrote on the same subject in The New Era for October, 1902. Mckerson says that Hays was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1739, though in various other Masonic accounts, and in documents. Hays is spoken of as a native of London, and even of New York. N'o attempt will be made here to repeat the details given ia the two articles referred to. Hays was prominently identified with the introduction into the United States of what is called in Masonry the "Ancient Accepted Scottish Eite," which now comprises, according to Albert G. Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, p. 667, 33 degrees, divided into the following sections: Symbolic Lodge, 1st to 3d degrees; Lodge of Per- fection, or, as it was called in its early history, Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection, 4th to 14th degrees; Council of Princes of Jerusalem, 15th and 16th degrees; Chapter of Eose-Croix, 17th and 18th degrees; Council of Kadosh, 19th to 30th de- grees; Consistory of Priaces of the Eoyal Secret, 31st and 32d degrees; and Supreme Council, 33d degree. Previous to 1801 the number of degrees was less, but they covered the " He was an uncle of Judah Touro, the celebrated Jewish- American philanthropist. See Publications of the American Jew- ish Historical Society, No. 13, p. 95, where Max J. Kohler gives an interesting reference to his life and character. See also Id., No. 12, pp. 104-110, for further mention of him and pp. 108-109 for an extract from Life of Samuel J. May, pp. 13, 14, giving a vivid picture of Hays' beautiful home life, and showing the respect and esteem in which he was held in Boston. 6 American Jewish Historical Society. various sections named, except the Supreme Council. A de- gree is the equivalent, in ordinary language, of grade or rank. These names will be occasionally met with in this paper, and are here given as explanatory. During Hays' life his authority was recognized, but after his death considerable criticism, due apparently to his Jewish origin and to his designation of Jews in whom he had con- fidence for some of the higher oflBces, was made in anti-Masonic circles and by some discontented Masons and rival Masonic bodies, with reference to the steps taken by him and those acting under his authority for the furtherance of the interests of the Order. Into the merits of that controversy this is not the proper place to enter. His proceedings are now accepted by the Masonic fraternity as part of their approved history, and title is traced through him and his appointees, for the Scottish Eite in America. Nickerson speaks of him as " the only Hebrew who ever held prominent office in the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts." In recognition of the powers con- ferred upon him he was elected Grand Master of that Grand Lodge at the annual elections from 1788 to 1792, having be- come a member of the subordinate Massachusetts Lodge in 1783, in which year he was elected its Master, and re-elected for the two succeeding years.' Paul Eevere, the Eevolutionary patriot, was Deputy Grand Master under him.' Before be- coming Grand Master, Hays had been Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge in 1785. Previous to that time he had been Master of King David's Lodge in Newport from 1780 to 1782.° Prior to 1780 he had been Master of that lodge in ' History of Massachusetts Lodge, Boston, 1871. * Mass. Grand Lodge Proa, for 187S, List of Ofllcers. "Henry "W. Rugg, History of Freemasonry in Rhode Island, Providence, 1895, and letter to the writer from Mr. S. Penrose Williams, Grand Secretary of the Rhode Island Grand Lodge. The fact that Hays was Master of King David's Lodge in 1781 and 1782 does not appear in Rugg's hook. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 7 New York where it had been originally organized under a warrant issued to him by George Harrison, Provincial Grand Master of ISTew York, February 33, 1769.° His connection with Masonry probably commenced about 1768 when he was appointed Deputy Inspector General of Masonry for North America by Henry Andrew Francken, who had been com- missioned by Stephen Morin, of Paris, acting under the au- thority of Frederick II of Prussia, the Grand Master of Masons of Europe and holding jurisdiction over America. The appointment was made with the view of establishing the Scottish Eite ia America, and power was given to Hays to appoint others with like powers. Under this authority he appointed several Deputy Inspectors General of Masonry for various States, of whom mention will be made in treating of those States.' Why such extraordinary powers were granted to Hays, a Jew, is a question remaining to be answered. Hays is reported as having been in Philadelphia, New York, Newport, and Boston in furtherance of the mission entrusted to him, settling finally in Boston, in 1783, although one writer speaks of him as residing in Boston in 1767. When the Supreme Council of the Scottish Eite for the Southern Jurisdiction was organized in 1801, at Charleston, S. C, as a transformation of the former Eite of Perfection or Ancient Accepted Eite which had been established in Charleston in 1783, through his appointee, Isaac DaCosta, Hays was on its rolls as an honorary member of the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection,' and holder of the thirty-second degree. His per- "Rugg, supra, pp. 44, 48. 'A copy of the patent from Francken, dated December 6, 1768, Is printed in the AntirMasonic Review, Vol. II, p. 343. In it Hay3 is described as " of the Jewish Nation, native. Inhabitant and merchant of the City of New York." This patent is also printed in publications relating to the Scottish Rite. ' Albert G. Mackey and William R. Singleton, History of Free- masonry, New York, 1898, Vol. VII, p. 1846. 8 American Jewish Historical Society. sonal activity in connection with the Eite seems to have ceased after he became Grand Master in Massachusetts. He died in Boston, May 9, 1805, and his remains were taken to Newport and buried in the Jewish cemetery there. An elegiac sonnet on his death was written by Eobert Treat Paine, Jr., son of Eobert Treat Paine, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.' Hays is described in a recent Masonic work published in Massachusetts'" as follows: Worshipful Brother Hays was truly " an Israelite in whom there was no guile," a man of broad and liberal culture, astute in busi- ness, sociable and friendly with all, of open-hearted and open- handed charity which his well-filled purse allowed him to extend to all who required fraternal aid, whether among Masons or other- wise. Such aid he extended in a truly Masonic spirit and in no intrusive manner. Kickerson, in The New Era, says that Hays' son and all his granasons and great-grandsons were Masons. Hays left one son and five daughters." Hays' son Judah is the only other Jew listed as a member of Massachusetts Lodge, of Boston, before 1810. He was initiated ia 1788, and became a member in 1790." He was a resident of Boston in 1805 when his father died. The issue of the Columbian Centinel of that city, for May 11, 1805, which contains a tribute on the death of Moses M. Hays, quoted by Nickerson in articles already referred to, includes an item of the election of Judah Hays as a "fireward" in Boston, in place of another official who had resigned. ° Robert Treat Paine, Jr., Collected Works in Verse and Prose, Boston, 1812, p. 292. See, too. Publications of the American Jew- ish Historical Society, Nos. 11 and 12. " Celebration of the 125th Anniversary of Massachusetts Lodge, 1770-1895, Boston, 1896. " The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. VI, p. 270. ^History of Massachusetts Lodge, Boston, 1871. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 9 Abraham Jacobs was, according to his certificate, " initiated into the second degree of Masonry " on July 32, 1782, in St. Andrew's Lodge, of Boston." He will be met with later. His original certificate of membership is in the possession of the Grand Lodge of New York, and will be referred to in treating of New York. It reads : And the Darkness Comprehended it Not. in the East, a Place of Light where Reigns Silence and Peace. We, the Master, Wardens and Secretary of St. Andrew's Lodge, held In the Town of Boston and State of Massachusetts, do Certify, that the Bearer hereof, our Worthy Brother Abraham Jacobs has been Regularly Initiated into the Second Degree of Masonry. As such he has been Received by us, and being a True and Faithful Brother is hereby Recommended to the Favor and Protection of all Free and Accepted Masons Wheresoever Dispersed. In Witness Whereof, We have caused the Seal of our said Lodge to be hereunto affixed this twenty-second day of July, 1782, and of Masonry 5782. Patji, Reveee, Master. Robert McElbot, Senior Warden. N. Willis, Junior Warden. Ben Coolidge, Secretary. (Seal) We have caused the Bearer to afiax his name on the oppo- site column. Abbaham Jacobs. RHODE ISLAND. In Ehode Island, the name of Mordeeai Campanall, one of the first Jews at Newport, is connected by tradition and a document with Masonry. Mr. J. L. Gould, of Connecticut, in his Manual entitled Guide to the Chapter, published in 1868, made this statement : The earliest account of the introduction of Masonry into the United States is the history of a lodge organized in Rhode Island, "Robert Folger, The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, 2d edition. New York, 1881, Document No. 15, first page. 10 American Jewish Historical Society. A. D. 1658, or 59 years before the revival in England and 75 years before the establishment of the first lodge In Massachusetts. In its support Gould quoted the following passage from Eev. Edward Peterson's History of Rhode Island (New York, 1853, p. 101) : In the Spring of 1658, Mordecai Campannall, Moses Peckekoe [Pacheco], Levi, and others, in all fifteen families, arrived at Newport from Holland. They brought with them the three first degrees of Masonry, and worked them in the house of Campan- nall; and continued to do so, they and their successors, to the year 1742. Dr. Peterson gave Mr. IST. H. Gould, of Newport, as Ms authority. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, wishing in 1870 to obtain further information in regard to this assertion, wrote, through its Grand Master, to Mr. Nathan H. Gould, 33d degree, who had been Master of St. John's Lodge of Newport in 1857, and was a member of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island, for the evidence upon which Dr. Peterson's statement was based. There was received a long reply, which is printed in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, for 1870 (p. 358). In this reply Gould, writing from Newport, stated that inquiry on the subject had been made of him at various times by Masons and by Israelites, and that he had shown his data to Dr. Peterson who had studied them out with him, and that he had also spoken about the matter in an ad- dress before St. John's Lodge, of Newport, when he was its Master." He added that there were well-authenticated tradi- tions among some of the Masons who had devoted not a little time and energy in collecting and preserving them, supporting Dr. Peterson's statement. He then recounted the finding, in 1839, when he was not yet a Mason, of certain papers in an old chest among the effects of a deceased relative of his, who "This address is not in print, and a statement of its contents cannot be obtained. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 11 was a great-great-grand-daughter of John Wanton, Gk)vernor of the Colony of Ehode Island from 1734 to 1740; and among them a memorandum, called by him a " document of a dual nature," relating to the early Israelites and referring to Masonry. This memorandum, or " document," he wrote, was in a somewhat tender state and much worn when found and could not be photographed, and in 1870 was, for reasons given by him, not accessible for inspection by the inquiring Masons. As far as it could be deciphered, he added, it read as follows: Th3 ye [day and month obliterated] 165 [6 or 8, not certain which, as the place was stained and broken; the first three figures were plain] "Wee mett att y House off Mordecai Campunall and affter Synagog Wee gave Abm Moses the degrees of Maconrie. Gould, in his reply, continued : Thus we find, at one and the same time, confirmation of the traditions that those early Israelites opened a synagogue in the house of Campannall, and continued to worship there as long as they and their descendants resided in that town. They were part of a colony of Israelites from Holland who, as such, were induced to go out to what has since been known as the Spanish coast of South America, probably Brazil, and collect precious stones, were driven out and scattered to the islands. A portion, with their Rabbi, Isaac Abboab, having, after wanderings, found their way to Jamaica (with which island and this town [Newport], at that early day, there was a regular trade), and they hearing from one of the captains of the packets that in the North there was an island healthy and beautiful, where full and perfect toleration, or liberty of conscience was allowed, where the " Mohommedan and the Jew " could worship according to the dictates of their own consciences, a church without a bishop and a State without a king, they made further inquiries; and being satisfied it was to them like the dry land to Noah's dove — a place where they could rest — thither, with their Rabbi, came, viz., Mordecai Campannall, Moses Packeakoe [Pacheco], Levi, Moses, and others, in all about fifteen (15) families, and continued to reside here for many years; and the names of some of the families are not yet extinct in this State; such as the Moses, James, Benjamins, etc. The 13 American Jewish Historical Society. site of the house formerly occupied by Campannall was pointed out to me, when a child, by an aged relative to whom it was pointed out when she was a child, and what is a little remarkable, that when the second emigration of Israelites came here about 1750 to 1760, a family of them purchased and occupied a house standing on the same spot, and continued to do so until about 1820. Gould in 1839, when tlie document was foimd, was not over twenty-one years old."" Though not disputing the genuineness of the document, the historian of the Massachusetts Grand' Lodge, as well as the his- torian of the Rhode Island Grand Lodge to whom Gould's letter was submitted for opinion, insisted that it did not prove the existence of a Masonic lodge in Newport, or that there was legal Masonic authority for the work done there, or that any one ever was legally made a Mason in Newport between " 1658 and 1742," though the degrees might have been given to Abraham Moses, as stated in the memorandum. The first lodge established in Rhode Island, it was claimed, was one in Newport in 1749, under the authority of Thomas Oxnard, and was known as St. John's Lodge, of Newport. It was also claimed that as the document was not signed or cor- roborated and its author unknown, it cannot be regarded as an authority. It is also asserted by an eminent Masonic writer that " in the seventeenth century the craft was most unlikely to have been thus patronized by Israelites, seeing it was Christian in character." " Another Masonic writer" remarks that three degrees of Ma- sonry were not recognized at the time the document appears to be dated, and therefore inferentially argues that the statement of Peterson that the Jews brought with them the first three de- grees of Masonry proves the document unworthy of credit. The arguments with regard to the document have always been against it, the subject being usually dismissed with a curt or con- temptuous notice. No one seems thus far to have attempted to "' See The Wanton Family, B. I. Hist. Tracts, No. 3, p. 115. "William James Hughan, Origin of the English Bite of Free- masonry, tiondon, 1884, p. 12. "J. Ross Robertson, History of Freemasonry in Canada, To- ronto, 1900, Vol. I, p. 138. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 13 consider the arguments In Its favor from a Masonic or other point of view. No facts have ever been presented to Impeach the story of the discovery or the genuineness of the document. It -will be seen that the document Itself does not mention three degrees, but uses only the word " degrees." Peterson's refer- ence to three was no doubt due to his belief that in the use of the word " degrees " the writer of the document meant the first three degrees which since 1721 have been generally recog- nized. Apparently he was unacquainted with the history and theories regarding degrees before that time. Modern Masonic writers, with the meagre data of the period before 1717, known as the prehistoric period, find no records to show references to three degrees prior to 1721. They agree, however, that there were three classes of Masons, namely, Masters, Fellows, and Ai)- prentices, and say that one form of initiation was common to all, but that there was no such thing as a series of degrees as that term is now Masonlcally understood." All this does not militate against the reference to degrees in the Gould document which does not say that the degrees were numbered, or that Abraham Moses was given the first, second, and third degrees. The use of the word " degrees " may have had reference to what was then re- garded as the steps taken by the candidate before becoming a full Mason, which steps may have been termed degrees, without divid- ing them into numbers, and the three grades of initiation may have been conferred at one meeting and been termed degrees by the writer of the memorandum. The conclusion of some Masonic writers that three degrees did not exist Is merely presumptive, and is based on the absence of data on that point and many others, and upon an examination of the few remaining old records which make no mention of numbered degrees. Some of the older writers, such as Anderson and Payne, speak of " degrees," and in an ad- dendum to Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Charles T. McClenachan shows. In " Degrees, when were Three Created? " by citations from the older writers, that more than one degree was known before 1721, and even as early as the late sixteenth century in Scotland. The want of data on the subject may there- fore be a point in favor of the statement in the document. Even though there were not then three degrees, the term degrees no "Mackey and Singleton, History of Freemasonry, supra, Vol. Ill, p. 869. 3 14 American Jewish Historical Society. doubt had in 1658 another signification than as now Masonically understood. Whether the institution was Christian in character in the middle of the seventeenth century, or unlikely then, under any circum- stances or conditions, to have been patronized by Israelites, is a subject properly discussible in a Masonic publication by experts on both sides of the question, and its consideration cannot be entered into here, under the limitations prescribed for this paper. The question being an open one does not militate against the document, bee Buppiemeuial Note, p. 'd-t It is admitted by Masonic writers that lodges existed In America before the revival of the Order there and in Europe, and Mackey, Rugg, and others refer to the tradition regarding one of these in Rhode Island."' No claim is made here that the lodge Indicated In the Gould document was one directly constituted by a central au- thority, but it Is urged that it was as regular as any of those existing here before the revival. The document, considered as a writing of the seventeenth century and before the revival, there- fore contains the first mention of the Order in what Is now the United States, antedating, as it does, any other known reference. An Important element in considering the value of the document, in connection with other elements here considered, is proof of the existence, at the time, of such a person as Mordecal Campan- all named in it. Campanall's name appears as one of the grantees In a deed of the Jewish cemetery at Newport, dated in February, 1677-1678. That deed contains a provision indicating that Campanall, with other Jews, was In Newport some time before that date, and that he and they had at one time before 1678 departed as a body. It speaks of them all leaving the island " again." It is just possible that after their settlement there about 1657 or 1658 they were compelled to leave because of the operation of the English Navi- gation Act of 1660, which prohibited foreigners or aliens, not made denizens, from trading in the colonies, or of the operation of the prior Navigation Act. "• See Mackey and Singleton, supra, Vol. V, pp. 1226-1241, 1411; Rugg, supra, pp. 21, 25, 44; Robertson, supra. Vol. I, pp. 135-140; Robert P. Gould, History of Freemasonry, Yourston & Co., edition 1905, Vol. IV, p. 424; Leonard Stlllson, in "Masonic Fraternity," column 6, in Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. X, unpaged. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 15 The cemetery deed is important to us as establishing the exist- ence of Campanall in Newport, and its authenticity cannot be doubted, though a recent writer has questioned it and intimated that Gould fabricated it. Absolute proof, however, regarding it exists. Ross, in 1838, when Gould was not yet 21, and Peterson, in 1853, both mention it in their accounts of Newport, and a copy made from a copy certified in 1767 is on record in Newport. The whereabouts of the original deed itself is unknown. The volume of. land evidences of Newport in which the original was recorded is lost, but the certified copy made by William Codding- ton, Town Clerk of Newport, in 1767, is in existence. It was recorded in 1872. It was recently found in possession of Gould's son Stephen, of San Antonio, Texas, and by the latter presented, at the writer's suggestion, to the American Jewish Historical Society, which now owns it. A comparison of the writing with a specimen of the known handwriting of Coddington, now also with the Society, and with records in Newport, leaves no doubt of its genuineness as a certified copy made in 1767, and proves the recording of the original in 1678 in the book and page men- tioned in the certified copy and by Ross and Peterson. In this way the fact that Campanall and other Jews were in Newport in 1677-1678, when the deed is dated, is established, and from one of its provisions, as remarked, is also established the fact that they were there some time before, presumably at the time men- tioned by Gould. Writers on Newport, like Ross and Peterson, deriving their data from families long resident in that town, whose ancestors were in the colony from almost its foundation, and in position to give them correct information regarding the date of the first arrival of the Jews there, fix the date as 1657 or 1658. The gen- eral trend of knowledge on the subject of the early settlement of the Jews in the United States goes to confirm that date, though contemporary record proof is lacking aside from the document quoted by Gould and the information derived from the cemetery deed just referred to, and also the data in Gould's possession, upon which he based his statements regarding the early arrivals. This lack of contemporary proof arises from the loss of many of the records of Newport and the colony prior to 1700. Campanall's existence is also proved by another record made in 1685. This is a Newport court record detailing the proceedings in a suit against him and other Jews questioning their right to 16 American Jewish Historical Society. trade in the colony in view of the Navigation Act of 1660. The suit -was decided in their, favor. A certified copy of that record has been filed with the American Jewish Historical Society. It is referred to, with mention of Campaaall's name, in an address by the late Thomas Durfee, a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, entitled " Gleanings from the Judicial History of Rhode Island." " This record appears in Book A, p. 73, in the oflBce of the Clerk of the Superior Court of Rhode Island, at Newport. As Campanall is not known to have lived beyond the seven- teenth century, the reference to his house, indicating he was alive when the meeting was held, as the house would not have been called his if he were dead, is a strong evidence that the document was written in the seventeenth century, and therefore, as such a writing, establishes the truth of its statements re- garding Masonry. That there was at one time a Campanall house is evidenced by the reference in Gould's narrative to its site, and may also be inferred from Campanall's residence in Newport, indicated by the cemetery deed and court record just mentioned. Abraham Moses, mentioned in the document, was In all proba- bility an ancestor of the Moses family living in Newport in the eighteenth century. The extant records do not disclose his name. There was, however, a Samuel Moses In Newport in 1760," and an Isaac Moses in 1774; " also a Samuel Moses in 1810," and the last of the family, Samuel Moses, died in 1881." The existence of the Moses family in Newport, as mentioned by Gould, thus confirmed, tends to corroborate the existence of the Abraham Moses mentioned in the document. The period of composition of the document may be practically determined, independently of the date given in it, from the style of its orthography. In the doubling and raising of letters, in the unusual forms " Maconrie " and " oS " for " of," and even in the apparently Inconsistent variation in the manner of spelling " oft " and " ye " in a single writing, the orthography is peculiarly of the "B. I. Hist. Tracts, No. 18, pp. 123, 134. " See Book B, p. 154, in office of Clerk of Superior Court of Rhode Island, at Newport. =° Book F, iUd. " Probate Book at Newport, No. 4, p. 734. "Ibid., No. 34, p. 412. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 17 seventeenth century and not of a later period and is thus con- firmatory of genuineness. Its language and style of composition Indicate a Jewish hand as the author. Proof that the document was written before 1700 suffices to give weight to the statements in It even if its authorship he not established. We may, however, relatively determine the probable author, and thereby also definitely prove the existence of the document as a writing of the seventeenth century, through the following considerations. That author, it is submitted, was Moses Pacheco, one of the grantees named in the Jewish cemetery deed, and mentioned by Gould as among the first Jewish arrivals in Newport. A reason for believing him so to be, in addition to its Jewish character, is to be found in the following indication that the document came through him to Gould: Gould stated in his Grand Lodge letter that the document had come to him from a relative who was a descendant of John Wan- ton, Governor of Rhode Island from 1734 to 1740. A connection between Wanton, Pacheco and the document is shown as follows. From an official record we learn that administration on the estate of Moses Pacheco was granted in 1688 to Caleb Carr, whose son's widow was related to Wanton. A copy of this record has been filed with the American Jewish Historical Society. It is certified by the Clerk of the Superior Court of Rhode Island, at Newport, as being a transcript from Book A, p. 97, in his office. It proves the existence of such a person as Moses Pacheco, men- tioned by Gould, in addition to the mention of him in the cem- etery deed. A further mention of him appears in the will of Governor Caleb Carr, of Rhode Island, a copy of which is given in the Rhode Island Historical Magazine, Vol. Ill, p. 226. There the name is erroneously printed as Moses Pachech. Comparing the genealogical records" of the Wanton and Carr and Gould families, we find that Governor John Wanton's brother Michael married the widow of Caleb Carr's son William, who had died after his father's death, and who no doubt had possession of all the papers belonging to or in the custody of his father, including those of Pacheco, of whose estate his father was admin- istrator. Wanton, said Gould In his letter to the Massachusetts "The Wanton Family, R. I. Hist. Tracts, No. 13; Austin's Gen. Diet, of R. I., under Carr and Wanton; and Edson I. Carr, The Carr Family Records, Rockton, 111., 1894. 18 American Jewish Historical Society. Grand Master, was a highly respected merchant of Newport to whom many valuables were entrusted for safekeeping. Pacheco was also a merchant of that town. It is fair to conclude that thus, through the relationship indicated with Caleb Carr, Pacheco's ad- ministrator in 1688, the papers of Pacheco finally came into Wan- ton's possession and that the Masonic document was among them, and thus came to be handed down to Gould who was of the Wanton family. Found, as the document was, among the old papers of the family adds to our reasons for accepting It as a writing of the seventeenth century, and as such alone the conclusions flowing from its statements regarding Masonry must be accepted whether the document was signed or not. Mr. N". H. Gould is also given as the authority for the following statement, quoted in Judge Charles P. Daly's Settle- ment of the Jews in North America (p. 78) : Among the earliest lodges of Freemasons were the following Israelites: Isaac Isaacs, money-broker; Solomon Aaron Myers, Joseph Jacobs, Abraham Mendez, Eleazar Eleazar, Moses Isaacs, and Isaac Eleazar. These names are given in Judge Daly's work as names of seventeenth century Jews. This is evidently a misinterpreta- tion of Gould's communication. " Earliest lodges " refers to the earliest of the regularly constituted lodges after the revival of Freemasonry — St. John's Lodge of Newport, organized in 1749. These names and others are found in a list of 113 "members of St. John's Lodge of Newport previous to the 24th of June, 1791," appearing in a reprint of the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island, 1791-1820. The Jewish names mentioned in that list are as follows : Moses Seixas, Master; Moses M. Hays, Jacob Isaacs, Isaac Isaacs, Moses Isaacs, Eleazer Elizer, Isaac Elizer, David Lopez, Sen., Ab. P. Mendez, David Lopez, Jr., Joseph Jacobs, Isaac Judah, and Barrak Hays. The name Solomon A. Myers seems to have been omitted from this list, though he was known to be a Mason before 1791. On inquiry of Mr. Ara Hildreth, the venerable secretary of St. John's Lodge, of Newport, regarding early Jewish mem- The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 19 bers of that lodge, and the dates of their admission, the fol- lowing reply was received : I find that Christian Myers joined St. John's Lodge In 1755; Moses Isaacs, Isaac Isaacs, 1760; David Lopez, 1762; Jacob Isaacs, 1763; Moses Lopez, 1763; Isaac Elizer, 1765; Eleazer Blizer, Isaac Elizer, Moses M. Hays, Isaac Isaacs, David Lopez, Jr., Solo. A. Myers, Abraham P. Mendez, Moses Selxas, Jacob Jacobs, 1790; Barrak Hays, 1791. All who joined in 1790 came from King David's Lodge, and I think they remained members of St. John's Lodge until their death. The name Christian Myers given by Hildreth is probably that of a converted Jew, being spelled in the reprint Just men- tioned Mayers. It was no doubt given because of the appear- ance of the name Solo. A. Myers. He also gives Jacob Jacobs, and does not give Joseph Jacobs, whose name appears in the reprint. A Jacob Jacobs married a sister of Moses M. Hays.'* He is probably the Mason referred to by Hildreth. In the reprint a Joseph Jacobs is also mentioned as a mem- ber of St. John's Lodge, of Providence, before 1791. He is probably identical with the Joseph Jacobs of the lodge at Newport. From the same volume of reprinted lodge proceedings, it appears that Sheftall Sheftall, in 1793, and Abraham Massias, in 1800, became members of St. John's Lodge of Newport. Sheftall Sheftall was the son of Mordecai Sheftall and was born in Savannah in 1763. At the early age of 15 he was assistant to his father who was Commissary General to the Georgia troops during the Eevolution."" Abraham Massias may be identical with A. A. Massias men- tioned by Eev. H. S. Morals " as serving in the War of 1813, " The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. VI, p. 270. "Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 17, pp. 174 and 94; cf. Isaac Markens, The Hebrews in America, pp. 49 and 50. "• The Jews of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, 1894, p. 459. 30 American Jewish Historical Society. and also by Eev. B. A. Elzas. The last gives the epitaph on his tombstone in Charleston where he died June 28, 1848, aged 76 years." The epitaph reads : " Eeceiving his brevet for twenty years' service in the field, he was subsequently ap- pointed Paymaster of the Army of the United States, discharg- ing his duties with distinguished integrity and uprightness." Massias was also a member of the Beth Elohim Congregation of Charleston in 1804." Isaac Elizer, mentioned by Hildreth as admitted as a Mason in 1765, is no doubt the same whose naturalization was re- fused by the Superior Court of Ehode Island in 1763, on the ground that he was a Jew." The Isaac Elizer, mentioned by Hildreth as admitted in 1790, in King David's Lodge, if not the same as the Mason admitted in 1765, was perhaps his son or nephew. He and Eleazer Elizer, admitted in 1790, seem to have gone to Charles- ton, as they are mentioned as members of the Beth Elohim Congregation there in 1800." Eleazer Elizer there became connected with the Masonic fraternity. Of Moses Isaacs, mentioned by Hildreth as a Mason in 1760, it is said that he had the honor of entertaining George Washington as a guest at his house in Newport. The date is not given. Isaacs served in the Eevolutionary War." King David's Lodge, spoken of by Mr. HUdreth above, was a lodge originally organized in New York in 1769 by Moses M. Hays, as Master, and removed by him to Newport in 1780 " The Old Jewish Cemeteries of Charleston, 8. C, 1901. "B. A. Elzas, History of the Beth Elohim Congregation of Charleston. "Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 6, p. 71. '° Elzas, supra. '^ Simon Wolf, The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier, and Citi- zen, p. 49, and H. S. Moraia, The Jews of Philadelphia, pp. 241 and 458. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 21 when it was established there with Hays as Master, Moses Seixas as Senior Warden, David Lopez as Junior Warden, and Solo. A. Myers as Deacon." Shortly after its establishment in Newport, General Washington was expected in that city. The lodge then considered the question of addressing him as a Mason, and Hays, Seixas and others were appointed a com- mittee to draft the proposed address. At a meeting of the lodge, held at the request of the Master, February 14, 1781, the committee presented their report to the effect that, for reasons stated by them, they thought it inexpedient for the lodge then to make the address. It seems that Washington had not at that time been Master of his lodge. The report was received, and the address ordered to be laid aside at that time." When Washington again visited Newport in 1790, King David's Lodge, of which Moses Seixas was then Master, presented him with the following address, which, on the even- ing of August 17, 1790, Seixas and two others, as a committee, had been appointed to prepare (Hayden, supra, pp. 130-132) : ADDRESS Of the Mastee, Wabdens and Bbethren of King David's Lodge, to Geoege Washington, Peesident of the United States of Amebica. Sir. W E, the Master, Wardens and Brethren of King David's Lodge, in Newport, Rhode Island, joyfully emhrace this opportunity, to greet you as a Brother, and to hail you welcome to Rhode Island. We exult in the thought, that as Masonry has always been pa- tronized by the wise, the good, and the great, so hath it stood, and ever will stand, as its fixtures are on the immutable pillars of faith, hope and charity. With unspeakable pleasure, we gratulate you as filling the Presidential Chair, with the applause of a numerous and en- " Henry W. Rugg, History of Freemasonry in R. I., pp. 44, 49. ■" Sidney Hayden, Washington and His Masonic Compeers, New York, 1866, p. 77; Joseph Ritner, Vindication of George Washing- ton, Boston, 1841, p. 41. v 33 American Jewish Historical Society. lightened people; whilst at the same time, we felicitate ourselves in tlie "honour done the brotherhood, by your many exemplary virtues, and emanations of goodness proceeding from a heart worthy of possessing the ancient mysteries of our craft, being persuaded that the wisdom and grace, with which Heaven has endowed you, will eventually square all your thoughts, words and actions by the eternal laws of honour, equity and truth; so as to promote the advancement of all good works, your own happi- ness, and that of mankind. Permit us then, illustrious Brother, cordially to salute you, with three times three, and to add our fervent supplications, that the Sovereign Architect of the Uni- verse may always encompass you with his holy protection. Moses Seixas, MasterT „ y Committee. Henbt Sherbuene J By Order, WmiAM LrrTLEFiELD, Secretary. Newport, August 17, 1790. This address, though dated August 17, was not delivered until the next morning." Washington responded as follows: To the Master, Wardens and Brethren of King David's Lodge in Newport, Rhode Island. Gentlemen : I Receive the welcome which you give me to Rhode Island with pleasure: and I acknowledge my obligations for the flattering expressions of regard contained in your Address with grateful sincerity. Being persuaded that a just application of the prin- ciples on which the Masonic Fraternity is founded, must be pro- motive of private virtue and public prosperity, I shall always be happy to advance the interest of the Society, and to be considered by them as a deserving Brother. My best wishes. Gentlemen, are offered for your individual happiness. G. Washington. The authenticity of this correspondence, which was ques- tioned during the anti-Masonic excitement but as to which " The GolumHan Gentinel, of August 25, 1790, speaking of Washington's visit to Newport, says he was addressed by the Town, Clergy and Society of Freemasons, on Wednesday morning, August 18, 1790. The Jems and Masonry — Oppenheim. 23 there is now no doubt, was aiSrmed by Hayden (supra), who speaks of it as " the earliest Presidential Masonic correspond- ence that exists on record." " There was no Grand Lodge in Ehode Island when the letter to Washington was written. That was formed only in 1791. King David's Lodge and a Providence lodge were the only working lodges in the State when Washington visited Newport, the former being more active. ' An account of the activity of Moses Seixas in Masonry is to be found in Engg's History. From this it appears, as already stated, that Seixas became connected with King David's Lodge of Newport, on its establishment in that city by Moses M. Hays, June 7, 1780. At that time Hays con- ferred on him the degrees of the Scottish Eite. The lodge flourished for some ten years, when it was determined to close it, and at its close to revive the St. John's Lodge of Newport, which had declined during the Eevolution and many of the members of which had joined King David's Lodge when or- ganized. Seixas was one of the committee appointed to revive the St. John's Lodge when King David's should cease to exist. In the revival 130 members of King David's and 11 members of St. John's Lodge participated. The merger took place October 19, 1790, the merged lodge being known thenceforth as St. John's Lodge, No. 1, of Newport. Moses Seixas was elected its first Master, and held that ofSce until his death "This correspondence, as well as that of the Hebrew Congre- gation of Newport, with Washington, had at the same time, is printed in full in the Providence Oazette and Country Journal, September 18, 1790, a copy of which is at the Lenox Library, and also in the volume entitled A Collection of the Speeches of the President of the United States to toth Houses of Congress at the Opening of every Session, with their Answers. Also the Addresses to the President loith his Answers, from the time of his Election: With an Appendix, printed at Boston, July, 1796, by Manning & Loring, for Solomon Cotton, Jun. 24 American Jewish, Historical Society. in 1809. His position in King David's Lodge after 1780, when he was Senior Warden, is not stated by Dr. Eugg, but a letter to the writer in 1905 from Mr. S. Penrose Williams, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island, is authority for the statement that Seixas was Master of King David's Lodge from 1783, and thereafter by successive elec- tions until the lodge was merged with the old St. John's Lodge in 1790. Previous to 1783, says Mr. Williams, Moses M. Hays was Master. Seixas as Master of King David's Lodge, in December, 1787, wrote a long letter to the Grand Lodge of Virginia, in answer to an inquiry as to the standing of Masonry in Ehode Island. This letter, says Eugg," was undoubtedly composed by Seixas who, he adds, was a respectable merchant in Newport, and whose residence on Washington Square was later the property of Commodore 0. H. Perry. Seixas was elected Master of the Grand Lodge of Ehode Island in 1791, and held that office until 1800 when he became Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge. This position he held until 1802 when he became Grand Master of the Grand Lodge. He held the office of Grand Master for seven con- secutive years, his successor being elected June 26, 1809. He was exalted to the Eoyal Arch Degree in 1793, being then Deputy Inspector General of Masonry for Ehode Island, ap- pointed by Hays. The Eoyal Arch has been termed, remarked Eugg, " the root, heart and marrow of Masonry." When the Grand Eoyal Arch Chapter of Ehode Island was established in 1799, Seixas was elected its first Grand High Priest, and served in that capacity until the election of 1804. As Grand Master he conducted, in 1803, the dedication ceremonies of the Masonic Hall of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, in Newport, and also signed the charters of the following lodges : St. Alban's, No. 6, in Bristol, in 1802 ; Friendship, "History of Freemasonry in B. I., p. 44. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 25 No. 7, Chepachet, in 1805; Mount Moriah, No. 8, Smithfield, in 1805; Harmony Lodge, No. 9, Pawtuxet, in 1808, and Union Lodge, No. 10, Pawtucket, in 1809. Seixas was widely and favorably known among Masons, and his Masonic skill was evinced in many ways and on frequent occa- sions. He was foremost among those who established the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island, being at that time Worshipful Master of St. John's Lodge in Newport, and the Chairman of a committee representing that lodge, which committee, acting in conjunction with a similar committee appointed by St. John's Lodge, Provi- dence, formulated a plan for constituting the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island. Because of his representative capacity, and his ability, he was called upon to preside at the constituting of Grand Lodge, 1791, and as installing officer he inducted Christopher Champlin into his office as Grand Master of Masonry, and the other designated officers into their respective places. ... In 1802 he was elected Grand Master, continuing to hold office, by annual re-elections, until 1809. His administration of Grand Lodge af- fairs during this long term of seven years was very much to his credit. It was at this period, and somewhat by his efforts, that Masonry made rapid progress in Rhode Island, and became more systematized in the expression of its principles and purposes. Seixas was active and proficient in all departments of Free- masonry as recognized at his time, and had been advanced to foremost place in the Scottish Rite. His greatest interest, how- ever, was centered in the Blue Lodge. . . .For the last fourteen years of his life Seixas held the position of Cashier in the Bank of Rhode Island, Christopher Champlin being the President of the same institution." Seixas died in New York, at the house of his son-in-law, Naphtali Phillips, November 39, 1809, aged 66, while on a visit to that city. His body was laid to rest in the Jewish cemetery at Newport, and the burial place marked by a monument which states the fact of his connection with the Masonic fraternity, and of his having held the office of its Grand Master. "Rugg, supra, p. 276. 36 American Jewish Historical Society. The Inscription on his monument is as follows: MATSEBETH MONUMENT OF MOSES SBIXAS Died 4th Chlslev 5570 Being November 29, 1809, aged 66. He was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Masonic Order of this State and Cashier of the Bank of Rhode Island from its Commencement to his Death." MAINE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, AND VERMONT. Maine and Vermont Masonic lodge proceedings, accessible to the writer, show no reference to Jews before 1810. In New Hampshire, Abraham Isaacs is noted" as present at a Grand Lodge meeting in 1798. In 1799 he was appointed as one of the Grand Stewards, and also acted in that year as Junior Grand Deacon. In 1801 he is noted as member of Washington Lodge, No. 13, of Portsmouth, and in 1803 again as Grand Steward. His name appears as one of the signers on November 15, 1799, of a petition to the General Court of the State of New Hampshire, by St. John's Lodge, F. & A. M., for leave to become incorporated." No other printed reference to Jews is found for this State. " See Rugg, supra, p. 94. See also The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. XII, title Seixas, for a photo-engraving of this inscription. " Reprint of Proceedings of Grand Lodge of N. H., 1789-1841. "Leon Hiihner, Publications of the American Jewish Historical Somety, No. 11, p. 98, makes mention of this petition, and gives other facts in regard to Isaacs. His authority spells the name Isaac. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 27 CONNECTICUT. In Connecticut, Solomon Pinto is met with as a Mason in Few Haven, in 1763. From December of that year to Decem- ber, 1764, he was Junior Warden of Hiram Lodge, No. 1, organized in 1750, and was probably a member some time before becoming Junior Warden. In 1770 he is noted as Sec- retary." He served during the' Eevolution as aji oflBcer from Con- necticut." Ealph Isaacs was also a member of the same lodge, of which he was elected Secretary in December, 1762, and Master in 1770." Benjamin Isaacs is mentioned** as the first Master of St. John's Lodge of Norwalk, constituted May 33, 1765. David Marks, as Senior Warden of Aurora Lodge, No. 35, of Harwinton, is noted as present at a Grand Lodge meeting in 1799, and later is noted as Junior Warden of his lodge." His name is suggested as possibly Jewish. Fontaine Eaphael, who may have been a Jew, was admitted a member of St. John's Lodge, of Hartford, on August 36, 1789." " Centennial Celebration of Hiram Lodge, No. 1, at New Haven, Sept. 5, 1850. Address by Benjamin Huntoon, and Historical Sketch by Francois Turner. "Leon Hiihner, "The Jews of New England," Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 11, pp. 93-95. " Centennial Celebration of Hiram Lodge, No. 1, supra, and see infra, p. Ill, article by Leon Hiihner, " Jews in Connection with the Colleges of the Thirteen Original States Prior to 1800." "E. C. Storer, Records of Freemasonry in the State of Con- necticut, New Haven, 1859, p. 54. " Storer, supra, pp. 18, 123. " Constitution and By-laws of the Qrand Lodge of Connecticut and By-laws of St. John's Lodge, No. 4, of Hartford, published at Hartford, 1861. 88 American Jewish Historical Society. NEW YORK. Jonas Phillips was a Mason in New York City in 1760. This date is the earliest we have as to Jewish Masons in New York. His certificate as printed" is dated 1760, but does not give the month or the name of the lodge. It was nndoTibt- edly Trinity Lodge, No. 4, said to be a military lodge, judging from the copy of the certificate dated in the same year to Aaron Hart, the form of which is similar and contains the names of the same certifying officers. Jonas Phillips' name also appears in a list of " Masons belonging to lodges in New York State who fought on the side of liberty and independence in the War of the Eevolntion." " The entry is as follows : Jonas Phillips, Lodge No. 4, Registry of New York. Enlisted October 31, 1778, In Capt. John Linton's Company, Col. William Bradford's Regiment of Philadelphia Militia. Subsequently mus- tered into the service of the United States. Died in Philadelphia, Pa., January 28, 1803, aged 67 years. Buried in New York City. Grandfather of M. W. Isaac Phillips, of New York. Data furnished by Bro. N. Taylor Phillips, of Albion Lodge, No. 26, his great- grandson. Aaron Hart, in 1760, was a member of Trinity Lodge, No. 4. He joined in that year General Amherst's army of invasion into Canada as an officer and then settled there, at Three Eivers, where he and his children became prominent. A sketch of his life appears in the Dictionary of National Biography. A certificate dated June 10, 1760, showing his membership in the lodge is in the possession of Gerald E. Hart, of New York, a descendant, who, at the writer's suggestion, supplied a photograph of it to the American Jewish Historical Society. It is dated within a few years of the oldest extant Masonic " A copy of his certificate of membership is printed in Publica- tions of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 2, p. 53. Facts about him are given there and in The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. X, p. 4. " Procs. of the Grand Lodge of N. Y., for 1900, p. 308. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 29 certificate in this country. It is in handwriting on a broad sheet of parchment, now somewhat faded with age, but its terms can still be deciphered. Whether it is the original certificate making him a member of the lodge, or a dimit on his joining Amherst's army for Canada, is not certain. It reads as follows: And the Darkness Comprehended it not. In the East, a Place Full of Light, where Reigns Silence & Peace. We the Master & "Wardens, of the Worshipfull Trinity Lodge No. 4 of the Registry of New York, Adorn'd with all our Honours, & Assembled in Due Form, Do Hereby Declare, Certify & Attest, unto all Men Enlightened & Spread on Face of The Earth, That The Bearer Hereof, Aaron Hart, hath been Received an Entered Apprentice, & Fellow Craft, and after Tryall & Due Proof have Given him The Sublime Degree of a Master Mason, and he Law- fully and Safely may, Without any Demur, be Accepted of & Re- ceived into any Society to Whome these Presents may Come. Given under our Hands, & the Seal of our Lodge, in City of New York, in North America, this Tenth day of June, in the Year of our Lord 1760, & in Year of Masonry 5760. JoHiT Mabshaix, Master. John Thompson, Senr. Wardn. Geobqb Habbis, Junr. Wardn. Abbh. Skinneb, Secr'y. (Seal of Lodge) Aabon Habt Moses M. Hays, as noted under Massachusetts, received a warrant for the organization of King David's Lodge in New York. A copy of that warrant, dated February 33, 1769, signed by George Harrison, Provincial Grand Master of New York, is entered in the minute book of King David's Lodge, No. 1, of Newport, now in the archives of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, of Newport, where it was seen by the writer. It ap- points Moses M. Hays Master and Myer Myers and Isaac Moses Senior and Junior Wardens. It is probable that under 4 30 American Jewish Historical Society. this warrant and the patent already referred to from Henry Andrew Prancken which Hays received in 1768 as Deputy Inspector General in New York, where he then resided, many additional Jewish Masons were made, but their names are not ascertainable as the minutes for King David's Lodge of New York cannot be found. We know, however, that Simon Nathan and Benjamin Seixas, who like Isaac Moses, were prominent New Yorkers, were Masons in Philadelphia in 1781, whither they and Myers and Moses, Just named, and other Jews had removed on the British occupancy of New York during the Eevolution. These four are noted as among the members of the Philadelphia Congregation Mikve Israel in 1783." They subsequently returned to New York. The printed records do not give as much information as one would expect to find about the activity of the Jews in Masonry in New York previous to 1810. In several publications lists of members of some of the early lodges in New York City appear, from which names of Jewish members before 1810 have been selected, with dates of admis- sion to membership. Some of these may possibly be non- Jewish, although, judging from names alone, appearing to be of the race. In some cases dates are given after 1810, but these indicate a membership prior to that year. Names of officers are also found in the early New York City di- rectories. Union Lodge, No. 1 : Isaac Gecion. The name is suggestive of Gerson or Giershom. It appears as the 65th in a long list of members between 1765 and 1805. The date of admission is not given." " Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach, Historical Sketch of the Congregation Mikve Israel, Philadelphia, 1909, p. 11. "Charles T. McClenachan, History of Freemasonry in New York, N. y., 1894, Vol. I, p. 175. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 31 St. John's Lodge, No. 1 : Isaac Heymes, 1794, Junior Warden, and H. Hays, 1795, Junior Warden." In later years the record shows Jonas Bush Master of Cere- monies in 1814, and Senior Warden in 1816." In 1823 he was Grand Scribe of the Grand Chapter, R. A. M. (See Hard- castle's Annual Masonic Calendar for 1833.) He was probably a Mason before 1810, and may have been a relative of Solomon Bush, to be named under Pennsylvania. He served in the American Eevolution." St. Andrew's Lodge, No. 3, known as No. 1 in 1791. A Mr. Levy was Secretary in 1791; J. H. Levy, Steward, in 1795; Isaac H. Levy, Treasurer, in 1796. These names are probably all of the same person." The New York Directory of 1790 to 1793 gives the name Isaac H. Levy, occupation, merchant. Holland Lodge, No. 8; Prince of Orange Lodge, No. 16, and Holland Lodge, No. 16. These lodges have the same membership : J. L. Aarons, 1804; Alexander Brochez, 1793; Abraham Delaparra, 1806; Isaac Gomez, Jr., 1803; J. S. Gomperts, 1803; Henry Haymen, 1806; J. B. Jacobs, 1803; Simon Lupardo, 1803; Moses Monsanto, 1808; Joshua Moses, 1809; Seixas Nathan, 1807; Rufino Cavello Pereira, 1805; Isaac B. Seixas, 1808, and Joseph Sterlitz, 1791." Seixas Nathan was Junior Deacon in 1808 and Secretary in 1809.°' "Proceedings on the Occasion of the Centennial Celebration of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, December 7, 1857, N. Y., 1869. The re- cords from 1757 to 1792 are imperfect. "N. Y. City Directory, 1814 and 1816. " Wolf, supra, p. 46, and Morals, supra, p. 458. •* N. Y. City Directory for 1791, 1795, 1796. " Joseph N. Balestler, Historical Sketches of Holland Lodge, No. 8, N. Y., 2d ed., 1878; By-laws of Prince of Orange Lodge, No. 16; By-laws of Holland Lodge, No. 16. " N. Y. City Directory, 1807, 1808, 1809. 33 American Jewish Historical Society. Phenix Lodge, No. 11: Asher Hart, Secretary, 1795; M. Myers, Junior Warden, 1797, and Senior Warden, 1798 and 1799, of Mark Lodge annexed to Phenix Lodge, No. 11; A. Myers, Senior Warden, 1797;" Barnebas S. Judah, Secretary, 1796.°" B. S. Judah is noted in the Grand Lodge Proceedings for September, 1796, as having been suspended for 13 months, the reason not being stated." Washington Lodge : Mordecai Myers, Junior Warden, 1800, Senior Warden, 1801, Master, 1802, 1804, 1805; Hyman Abrams, Junior Warden, 1801 ; " Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, 1801, 1804, 1805 ; Naphtali Judah, Treasurer, 1800, Junior Warden, 1802, Senior Warden, 1803; Aaron Judah, Treasurer, 1802; Joel Hart, Master of Ceremonies, 1808." John Moss, in 1805, was also a member of this lodge." Clinton Lodge, No. 453 : Sampson Simson, initiated 1807, Senior Master of Ceremonies, 1808, Senior Warden, 1809, Master, 1810. Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, from 1810 to 1831." In 1812, Solomon I. Isaacs was Steward." L'Unite Amdricane: Joseph Furtado, Treasurer, 1799." "N. T. City Directory for 1797 gives the flrm of Abraham & Mordecai Myers, brokers, 404 Pearl St. " N. T. City Directory, 1795-1799. "Procs. of Or. L. of N. T., reprint, Vol. I, p. 189. "N. Y. City Directory, 1800 to 1805. In the Directory for 1801 the name of Abrams is spelled Hyman Abrahams, tobacconist, 24 Water Street. " Id., for 1800 to 1805, and 1808. " See Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 2, p. 173; No. 10, p. 127. Morals, In The Jews of Philadelphia, p. 407, says that he served at one time, about 70 years ago, as a member of City Councils in Philadelphia. " History of Clinton Lodge, No. 45S, from 1806 to 1898. " N. Y. City Directory, 1813. « N. Y. City Directory, 1799. The Furtado family is mentioned in Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 5, pp. Ill, 113, 114, 115. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 33 Warren Lodge : Moses Judah, Senior Deacon, 1800 ; Junior Warden, 1803 ; Senior Deacon, 1804." Albion Lodge: Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, 1804, 1805, 1807. Erin Lodge: Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, 1808." Ancient Chapter, No. 1, Royal Arch Masons, known in 1804 as the Old Grand Chapter, R. A. M. : Nathan Eisenhart, 1804; Abraham Delaparre, 1808;" Jacob Frank, member in 1806 and Scribe in 1807.™ Independent Eoyal Arch Lodge, No. 2: Henry David, 1795; Isaac Isaacs, 1797; Dufty Jacobs, 1784; Elisha Jacobs, 1785; Jonas Lyon, 1804; M. Myer, 1784; Levi Nathan, 1809; John Pollock, 1793; David Eayner (?), 1810; Stephen Wise ( ?), 1798; John J. Zeitman ( ?), 1784; " Henry Hays, Treas- nrer, 1797; David Henry, Tiler, 1799; Seixas Nathan, Deacon, 1808; Levi Nathan, Junior Deacon, 1810, Senior Deacon, 1811, Treasurer, 1812, Master, 1815; and Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, 1808, 1810, 1811." Phenix Eoyal Arch Lodge, No. 3: Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, 1808." Jerusalem Chapter, No. 8, Eoyal Arch Masons: Isaac Gedalia, 1799; Gompert S. Gomperts, 1808; Joel Hart, 1807, Secretary, 1808, High Priest, 1812, Scribe, 1815; William Hays, 1799; Naphtali Judah, 1800; Moses Monsanto, 1808; Seixas Nathan, 1808; Moses L. M. Pexota [Peixotto], 1808." "N. r. City Directory, 1800, 1803, 1804. "N. Y. City Directory, 1804, 1805, 1807, 1808. "History and By-laws of Ancient Chapter, No. 1, B. A. M., of the State of New York, N. Y., 1874, p. 34, etc. "N. Y. City Directory, 1806 and 1807. " By-laws of Independent Royal Arch Lodge, No. 2. "J^. Y. City Directory, 1797, 1799, 1808, 1810, 1811; Procs. of N. Y. Or. L., 1902, p. 93. "N. Y. City Directory, 1808. '"Centennial History of Jerusalem, Chapter, No. 8, Royal Arch Masons, 1799-1899. 34 American Jewish Historical Society. Washington Chapter of Eoyal Arch Masons, No. 8: Joel Hart, D. S., 1808. Washington Chapter, No. 2 : Sol. Simson, 1st G. M., 1811." This Simpson was no doubt a Mason before 1810."* A " Society for the Promotion of Masonic Knowledge " also existed in 1796, with Asher Hart as President and Bernard S. Jndah as Secretary." In 1795, Hyman Isaac Long, a physician, is noted as pre- senting a petition as a distressed brother from the Island of Jamaica, and the standing committee on charity was ordered to give him such assistance as its members thought proper." Long was also the object of a charitable appropriation by the Virginia Grand Lodge, in 1795. He will be again referred to as a Deputy Inspector General of Masonry in South Carolina. Mordecai M. Noah, referred to at the beginning of this paper, was no doubt a member of the Order before 1810, as he was then already prominent politically. He was a grand- ":V. Y. City Directory, 1808, 1811. "* He was elected one of the trustees of the Congregation Shearith Israel In 1784. See Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 6, p. 130. '"N. Y. City Directory, 1796. Bernard S. Judah, Barnebas S. Judah, and B. S. Judah, already mentioned, are probably iden- tical with Barnueb S. Judah, who was a member of the Philadel- phia Congregation Mikve Israel In 1782. Morals, supra, p. 15. The New York City Directory for 1794 gives a Barney Judah as a surgeon, and for 1796 Bernard S. Judah as a druggist. Bernard S. Judah Is also noted In a New York newspaper as having mar- ried at Three Rivers, Canada, in 1797, Miss Catherine Hart, daugh- ter of Aaron Hart, merchant, of Three Rivers. Greenleaf's N. Y. Journal and Patriotic Register for September 20, 1797. William Hays and Henry Hays, above mentioned, are probably of the Hays family, as a William Henry Hays was the son of Jacob Hays, the High Constable. See Publications of the American Jew- ish Historical Society, No. 2, p. 71. "Procs. Or. L. of N. Y., Feb. 25, 1795, reprint. Vol. I. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 35 son of Jonas Phillips, the Mason of 1760. In later years his relation to the fraternity was strikingly displayed in connec- tion with his well-known project for the founding of a Jewish " City of Eefuge " at Niagara Palls, 1825. Various Masonic Lodges, Master Masons, Eoyal Arch Masons and Knights Templars, with their officers and Masonic jewels and para- phernalia, attended at the dedication ceremonies." Abraham Jacobs, who is described as a native of 'New York," and who, as will appear, was active in Masonry in Georgia in 1801 and 1803, is the same who has been already noted as a Mason in Massachusetts in 1782. He came in for some animadversion from Masonic writers for "peddling" the higher degrees. He is said, in an unidentified note against his name in a list of officers in one of the records, to have been expelled from the Scottish Kite in 1810 for un-Masonic conduct, though the proof of the charge against him does not appear." He seems to have remained a Mason, however, as he was one of the charter members of York Lodge, No. 197, " See Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 8, pp. 104-105; and Morais, The Jews of Philadelphia, supra, pp. 396-400. " Robert Folger, The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Bite, 2d ed., N. Y., 1881. Copyright, 1862, Document 15, Register of Abraham Jacobs. "See Procs. of the Supreme Council, A. & A. S. R., Nor. Jur., reprint, 1781-1862, p. 6. See also Folger, supra, containing many deprecatory references to the relation of the Jews to the Rite. It is not regarded as an authority, so far as its opinions are con- cerned. The documents in it are valuable, however, for reference. Folger designates as Jews men known to be Christians. He was scored for his work by Albert Pike, in various publications, and his inaccuracy is shown by Pike in his Historical Inquiry, written in 1872, but published as a separate pamphlet in 1885, and quoted with approval by Masonic writers. Pike gives an account of a number of Jews connected with the Rite. See also E. T. Carson, in R. F. Gould's History of Freemasonry, 1st Am. ed.. Vol. IV, p. 654. 36 American Jewish Historical Society. in 1834, and was connected with that lodge nntil his death in 1834." Jacobs, as an answer to the attacks of his enemies, prepared a record of his proceedings in the Lodge of Perfection which he established in New York and Georgia, with copies of docu- ments showing his authority to act. This record he called his " Eegister." " He confided it, fearing death, to Joseph Jacobs, who is said to have been his son." A copy of his certificate of membership in St. Andrew's Lodge of Boston appears ia this book. The original certificate is in the possession of the Grand Lodge of New York, and is copied in its publication giving an account of its collections of Masonic Antiquities, 1905, under No. 19, Collection of Charters."* It is signed by Paul Eevere as Master. In a note, Jacobs is there referred to, as receiving his Master's degree at Charleston, as made a Knight of the Sun in Jamaica in 1790, and later as receiving the thirty- second degree of the Scottish Eite at Charleston. Jacobs' "Eegister" gives these facts about Jewish Masons in New York : Joseph Jacobs, described as an old Eoyal Arch Mason, re- ceived, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection, various degrees between 1804 and 1806, in which latter year he re- ceived the degree of Knight of the Sun. He was also Grand Tiler in that lodge, and was Grand Tiler of the Grand Lodge in 1805. He has already been referred to as Tiler in Clinton Lodge from 1810 to 1831. In 1809, 1810, and 1811 he is also noted as Grand Pursuivant at a Grand Lodge meetiug,*' and is mentioned " as having held that office for many years. " History of York Lodge, No. 197, F. & A. M., List of Members. » Document No. 15, in Folger, supra. " Id., and Folger, supra. °^" For a copy see p. 9, supra. " Procs. of the Grand Lodge of N. T., for 1809, 1810, and 1811. "7d., for 1903, p. 179; also John Stewart, History of Aliion Lodge, No. 26. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 37 He seems to have been Tiler in various lodges, probably because of his large acquaintanceship. Sampson Simson, Joel Hart, Mordecai Myers, and Isaac Moses, Jr., late of Charleston, received various degrees between 1807 and 1808, up to that of Prince of Jerusalem, and in October of the latter year Mordecai Myers and Sampson Sim- son received the degree of Knight of the Sun. Moses Levi Maduro Peixotto is also noted in the record as K. H. and Prince of the Koyal Secret in 1808. Peixotto, Simson, and Abraham Jacobs, at a meeting in November, 1808, after Jacobs' proceedings had been exam- ined and confirmed, were appointed a committee to corre- spond with the Supreme Councils of Sublime Lodges in other States, and wrote a letter to John Mitchell, the head of the Supreme Council in South Carolina, giving him a list of the members composing the Council of Princes of Jerusalem in New York. Prom this list, it appears that in 1808 Mordecai Myers was Grand Master in the Council of Princes of Jerusa- lem ; Joel Hart, Grand Orator and Keeper of the Seals ; Abra- ham Jacobs, K. S., K. H., and P. E. S.; Joseph Jacobs, Grand Tiler, and Isaac Moses, Jr., Knight. Peixotto received about this time the degree of Select of Twenty-Seven, then the 20th degree. A Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction was formed in New York, in 1813, on the lines of the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction formed in Charleston, S. C, in 1801. Emanuel DeLaMotta, of Charleston, had come to New York as special Deputy-Eepresentative of the Charles- ton Council, and was instrumental in forming the New York Council, becoming its head. In 1814, DeLaMotta became engaged in a controversy with the founders of a rival Masonic body, claimed to have been organized without due authority, and in the course of it felt called upon to refer to his Judaism as the cause of some of the attacks upon him. In his Eejoin- 38 American Jewish Historical Society. der" he showed that the fact that he was a Jew did not militate against his holding high ofBee ia the Order." Sampson Simson also was an officer of the Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction in 1813, heing Inspector Lieu- tenant, or Lieutenant Grand Commander." He was then 33 years old. He represented Clinton Lodge at Grand Lodge meetings, and in 1812 and 1813 was Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of New York." Simson was the founder of Mount Sinai Hospital. An account of him is given by the late Myer S. Isaacs." He studied law with Aaron Burr and is said to have been the first Jewish lawyer in New York, being admitted to the bar in 1802." Moses Levi Maduro Peixotto was also an officer of the same Supreme Council, being Captain of the Life Guard. He was then 49 years old. His birth place is given as at Curagoa, and the date of his death, July 17, 1828." Joel Hart was Deputy Grand High Priest of the Grand " DocumeHt No. 19, Folger, supra, p. 160. " On this point The Israelite of May 24, 1872, in an editorial, reprinted in Official Bulletin of the Supreme Council, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Bite, Southern Jurisdiction, for X889, p. 625, claims that in the Rite under the Southern Jurisdiction the rituals are modified so that a Jew can, without sacrifice of conscience, take some of the higher degrees which he cannot take in the Northern Jurisdiction with substantially the same degrees. " Procs. of the Supreme Council, A. & A. S. R., Nor. Juris., re- print, 1781-1862. Tableau of the Northern Council. *» Procs. of the Grand Lodge of N. Y., for 1812 and 1813, reprint. Vol. I, p. 498, etc. "Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 10, p. 109. ■" Id., and see Lewis Abraham, " The Jewish American as a Politician," Am. Jews' Annual for 1888, p. 113. "^ Procs. of the Supreme Council, supra. He became prominent in the organization after DeLaMotta's retirement. He was min- ister of the Congregation Shearith Israel, of New York. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 39 Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, in 1815 and 1816." He was a physician, and one of the charter members of the New York County Medical Society. He was U. S. Consul at Leith, Scotland, from 1817 to 1833. An account of him is given by Gustavus N. Hart." Mordecai Myers was Deputy Grand High Priest of the Eoyal Arch Grand Chapter from 1831 to 1833, and Grand High Priest in 1834." Previously he had been Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge from 1829 to 1834. In 1830 he had received the nomination of Grand Master, but had de- clined the office." Myers was a soldier in the War of 1812, with the rank of Captain, and was wounded at the battle of Chrysler's Field. He was a member of Assembly for New York City from 1831- 1834, and was Mayor of Schenectady in 1851 and 1854. He died January 20, 1871, aged 95 years." In 1804 he seems to have been at Charleston." Isaac Gomez, Jr., of Holland Lodge, No. 8, in 1802," was a member of the well-known Gomez family of New York. Isaac B. Seixas, mentioned as of Holland Lodge, No. 8, was, in 1838, minister of the Shearith Israel Congregation."' "Procs. of the Grand Chapter, B. A. M., for 1815 and 1816. "' Fublications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 4, pp. 217-218. " Procs. of the Grand Chapter, R. A. M., 1831 to 1834. ^ Procs. Gr. L. of N. Y., for 1830. See infra, p. 99, paper by Albert M. Friedenberg, " A List of Jews Who Were Grand Masters in Various States in this Country." "Markens, The Hebrews in America, pp. 127, 128; McClena- chan's History of Freemasonry in New YorTc, Vol. Ill, p. 395; Lossing's Field Book of the War of 1812; and Civil List of the State of New York, 1887. " B. A. Blzas, History of the Beth Elohim Congregation, p. 4. "Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 11, p. 139 et seq. »»• Id., No. 6, pp. 133, 135. 40 American Jewish Historical Society. He is noted in the Virginia Grand Lodge proceedings as at- tending in 1808 and 1810 as a visitor. Seixas Nathan, of the same lodge, was the son of Simon Nathan, a Mason in Philadelphia." Joshua Moses, also of the same lodge, was a prominent New York merchant engaged in the China trade. He died in 1837.'°* Abraham Delaparre, also of that lodge and of Ancient Chapter, No. 1, was probably related to DelaPera or dela- Parra, of Surinam.'" Moses Monsanto, of Jerusalem Chapter, No. 8, in 1808, was probably of the family of D. N. Monsanto, president of the Jewish Congregation in Surinam in 1785,™ and of M. R. Monsanta and Eodrigues Monsanta who appear in 1804 and 1805 tohave been " contributors " towards the expenses of the Congregation Beth Elohim of Charleston."" Gompert S. Gomperts, of the same Chapter, appears to have been a candidate in 1839 for the position of " Chazan," in the Philadelphia Congregation Mikve Israel.^ Isaac Isaacs, of Independent Eoyal Arch Lodge, No. 2, in 1797, may be identical with Isaac Isaacs of St. John's Lodge, of Newport, in 1790. NEW JERSEY. In New Jersey, Samuel Hays, in 1796, represented St. John's Lodge, of Philadelphia, at a Grand Lodge meeting.'" " An account of him appears In The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. IX, p. 178. He was born In 1785 and died in 1852. "* Markens, The Hebrews in America, p. 128. '" PuftZicotions of the American Jewish Historical Bocietv, No. 9, pp. 131, 134. 137, 142. ""Id., No. 4, p. 6. "" B. A. Elzas, History of the Congregation Beth Elohim, p. 4. '" Morals, The Jews of Philadelphia, p. 46. '" Joseph H. Hough, Origin of Freemasonry and the entire Pro- ceedings of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey from its Organization The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 41 Jacob Benjamin was Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge from 1796 to 1806.™ He was a merchant in Trenton in 1778, and may have been a Jew though not a strictly obserying one. He advertised sales every Saturday.'" PENNSYLVANIA. In Pennsylvania Jewish Masons were quite active, particularly In the Scottish Rite. In that State we have the full record of the early proceed- ings of the Sublime Lodge of Perfection in Philadelphia, which marks the beginning of the Scottish Rite there. It was first printed in Hyneman's Mirror and Keystone, at Philadelphia, in 1854, Vol. Ill, pp. 139, 196, 205, 212, 221. It was reprinted in 1878 as the first part of a small volume entitled By Laws of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Bite, Orient of Philadelphia. The title page of the proceedings reads: " Minute Book for the Lodge of Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime Masons, in the City of Phila- delphia, 25th June, 1781." The minutes, however, run to 178'9.' This lodge played a most Important part in the early history of Masonry in America, and Is referred to in all accounts of the Scottish Rite there. Its Jewish membership and control are par- ticularly noted. A list of members of the Sublime Lodge of Perfection in Philadelphia in 1781, prefacing the minutes of that lodge, as printed in the volume above referred to, shows 56 names, among which the following Jewish ones occur : Solomon Bush, Isaac Da Costa, Simon Nathan, Samuel Myers, Barnard M. Spitzer, Benjamin Seixas, Moses Cohen, Myer M. Cohen, Benjamin Nones, Isaiah Bush, Solomon Et- ting, Lazarus Levy, and Isaac Pranks. In addition the minutes show in the same year Joseph M. Myers, and in 1782 Solomon M. Cohen, and in 1784 Solomon M. Myers in 1786, Trenton, N. J., 1870. Hays is mentioned as a member of the Philadelphia Mikve Israel Congregation In 1782. Dr. S. Morals speaks of him as being still connected with it in 1813, Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 2, p. 157. ^^ Hough, supra. ^"N. J. Archives, Second Series, Vol. II, p. 602. 43 American Jewish Historical Society. and Michael Gratz. Etting and Levy, however, are first noted in the minutes in 1785 and Pranks in 1786. All of these except Levy were members of the Mikve Israel Congregation of Philadelphia at its organization in 1783."* The record shows the following details relating to Jews: Solomon Bush, who was the Deputy Inspector General of Masonry for Pennsylvania, having been appointed by Moses M. Hays (who had also appointed the other inspectors below named) under the authority vested in him, as already stated, ordered a chapter to be held on the 35th of June, 1781. On that day a meeting of the Sublime Lodge of Perfection was held in Philadelphia, at which, among others, are noted as present the following Jewish members : Solomon Bush, Deputy Grand Inspector General for Penn- sylvania, in the chair. Isaac Da Costa, Grand Warden, Grand Inspector General for the West Indies and North America. Simon Nathan, Deputy Grand Inspector General for North Carolina. Samuel Myers, Deputy Grand Inspector for the Leeward Islands. Barnard M. Spitzer, Deputy Grand Inspector for Georgia. Benjamin Seixas, Prince of Jerusalem. Moses Cohen, Knight of the Sun. Myer M. Cohen, Knight of the Sun. Joseph M. Myers is noted as Grand Secretary pro tern.. Inspector for Maryland. At the next meeting held October 23, 1782, the same Jewish members were present except Samuel Myers. Isaac "' Morals, The Jews of PhiladelpJiia, pp. 15-16, and Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbaoh, Historical Sketch of the Congregation Mikve Israel of PMladelpMa, 1909, p. 11. Rosenbach does not give Bttlng and Levy in his list of members. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 43 Da Costa was in the chair and Solomon Bush was Grand Warden Inspector. Benjamin Seixas was appointed Treasurer. Motions relating to organization were made by Joseph M. Myers, Myer M. Cohen, Seixas, and Nathan. At the next meetings, held October 30 and 31, 1783, Bush appears as Chairman, Da Costa as Grand Warden, Seixas as Treasurer. As members Simon Nathan, Joseph M. Myers, B. M. Spitzer, and Solomon M. Cohen are noted. No further meeting appears to have been held before October 33, 1784. Between October 23, 1784, and October 6, 1785, Benjamin Nones and Isaiah Bush received various degrees in the Lodge of Perfection of the Scottish Eite from the 4th to the 14th. Solomon Bush, at these different meetings, deliv- ered lectures on the duties connected with these degrees. At one of these meetings, November 11, 1784, Simon Nathan presented a petition on behalf of Michael Gratz, described as an Ancient Master Mason, praying to be admitted in the Sublime Degree of Masonry, which, being seconded by Benja- min Nones, was approved of- At the meetings of May 4 and 11, 1785, Myer M. Cohen presented at cost 21 plates or representations in his possession for the benefit of the lodge. He stated that he was about to leave the city. On May 19, 1785, the lodge met at Benjamin Nones' house in Market Street by special order. Moses Cohen acted as Sublime Grand Secretary pro tern. On June 24, 1785, Benjamin Nones was elected Steward, but declined in favor of Moses Cohen, who was elected to that oflSce. At that meeting he presented to the lodge a copper- plate for the embellishment of certificates of membership. In August he was elected Master of Ceremonies, and on De- cember 25, 1785, and also in 1786 was elected Steward. On July 6, 1785, Moses Cohen presented 2000 bricks to be applied to the use of the lodge room in Black Horse Alley, which had been rented of Joseph Morris. 44 American Jewish Historical Society. On July 13, 1785, Solomon Etting, an Ancient Master Mason, was passed to the chair, and thereafter received the de- grees of Secret Master and Perfect Master, and on October 5, 1785, that of Intimate Secretary. Lazarus Levy, between September 25 and October 5, 1785, received the degrees of Secret Master and Perfect Master. Isaac Pranks, on December 5, 1786, received the degree of Secret Master, and on February 21, 1788, was elected Steward. He resigned that office April 2, 1788. On October 1, 1788, he appears as Junior Warden. Solomon M. Myers appears as a member in 1784 and again on April 7, 1788, when he submitted a request, which was granted, to be discontinued as such. Solomon Bush, on November 2, 1785, was appointed one of a committee of four to prepare a letter to the Grand Council at Berlin and Paris, of which the King of Prussia was the head, informing them of the establishment of the Sublime Lodge in Philadelphia, and of the names of the several mem- bers who composed the same and their several degrees.'" '"The form was submitted to the meeting held December 7, 1785. This letter was first published in 1854 in TJie Mirror and Keystone, Vol. Ill, p. 212, and has since been frequently reprinted. It was signed by Solomon Bush. It is also given in the By Laws of tfie A. d A. 8. R., supra, p. 51, and a facsimile of the document with Bush's signature appears in William Homan's The Scottish Rite, p. 172, published in New York in 1905. It was addressed to the "Most Sublime and Powerful Sovereign! Illustrious Chief of the Grand Council of Masons! .... Frederick, the Third! " Bush described himself in the letter as follows : " I, Solomon Bush, Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime (Knight of the East and Prince of Jerusalem, Sovereign Knight of the Sun and of the Black and White Eagle, Prince of the Royal Secret, and Deputy Inspector General, and Grand Master over all Lodges, Chapters, and Grand Councils of the Superior Degrees of Masonry in North America, within the State of Pennsylvania), by letters patent from the Sovereign Council of Grand Princes," etc. The letter The Jems and Masonry — Oppenheim. 45 Solomon Bush, at the elections in 1787 and 1788, was elected Grand Master of the Sublime Lodge of Perfection. On April 3, 1788, he is reported as much indisposed. On November 5, 1788, he informed the lodge that he was shortly about to leave for Europe. He then retired as Grand Master, and an address of thanks was ordered to be prepared on November 7, 1788, and presented to him. No Jews are noted as present at that meeting except Bush, and none thereafter are recorded in the minute book which ends February 21, 1789. Bush is noted as connected with the Sublime Lodge in 1796. His name then appears as Deputy Grand Secretary."" Abraham Forst, of Philadelphia, was Deputy Inspector Gen- eral for Virginia in 1781. A copy of his patent, issued by Moses M. Hays, as Deputy Grand Inspector General over the two Hemispheres, attested by S. Bush as Deputy Grand Sec- retary, dated April 4, 1781, is given in a recent work with a facsimile endorsement of authenticity June 35, 1781, showing the signatures of Solomon Bush, Isaac Da Costa, Samuel Myers, Simon Nathan, and Bd. Mos. Spitzer as Deputy Grand Inspectors General. Forst is therein described as a merchant of Philadelphia, late of London. The document is said to be the most ancient of the kind known, and is in the library of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania."* He still held that office in 1788, when he went to Charleston to assist in the establish- ment of a Council of Princes of Jerusalem.'" He is noted as being in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1790, on Masonic busiaess."* He was the son-in-law of Eev. Jacob E. Cohen, minister of asked for Masonic intercourse, direction, and advice. The answer. If any, is not of record. "° Stephens' Directory of Philadelphia, 1796. ™ Norris S. Barratt and Julius F. Sachse, Freemasonry in Penn- sylvania, 1727-1907, Philadelphia, 1908, Vol. I, pp. 426-428. ^Procs. Supreme Council, A. & A. B. B., Nor. Jur., reprint, 1781-1862, p. 6. ""Register of Abraham Jacobs in Folger, supra. 5 46 American Jewish Historical Society. the Congregation Mikve Israel of Philadelphia from 1784- 1811, and was connected with it in a ritual capacity."' Lodge JSTo. 3, A. Y. M., of Philadelphia, from the proceed- ings recently printed, the following appears: A Brother Solomon is noted as a visitor May 13, 1767, and Isaac SoUomon, of Lancaster, October 17, 1768."' Abraham Franks is noted as a visitor January 12, 1773."^' Ezekiel Levy was proposed by Solomon Bush in 1781, balloted for and accepted as a member, but his initiation delayed until receipt of orders from the Grand Lodge.™ This would indi- cate that Solomon Bush was a member, though he is not re- corded as such, being noted only as a visitor. The following became members : Isaiah Bush and Benjamin Nones in 1783,"' and Moses Cohen, Haym Salomon, and Sol- omon Btting in 1784."° Isaiah Bush in 1784 was elected Senior Deacon, and also Secretary, and in 1785 Senior War- den."" Moses Cohen, in 1784, was Steward, and in 1786, Senior Warden, and also Secretary pro tem^ Benjamin Nones was Senior Warden in 1784.'^ At various dates be- tween 1783 and 1785 Solomon Bush, Simon Nathan, Lazarus Levy, and Isaac Da Costa are noted as visitors. George Bush appears as a visitor in 1785, as also an M. Cohen, of Lodge No. 19, in 1787, when Moses Cohen was still a member of Lodge No. 2r "' Morals, supra, p. 18, where the name is spelled Furst. Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach, in his Historical Sketch of the Congregation Milcve Israel of Philadelphia, 1909, p. 11, gives the spelling Porst in his list of members in 1782. ■^^ Norris S. Barratt and Julius F. Sachse, supra, Vol. I, pp. 174, 181. "'Id., p. 250. "'7(i., pp. 424, 429, 430. "=!(?., Vol. II, 1909, pp. 48, 49, 65. ™J(Z., pp. 65, 66, 73, 75. '^la., pp. 79, 87, 90. ^Id., pp. 71, 72, i;i4. "Id., p. 79. ""Id., pp. 48-149. Index. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 47 Isaiah Bush ceased being a member in 1785 when he stated he intended to go to Charleston, S. C. A specimen of his handwriting as secretary is lithographically reproduced ia the historical account of the lodge."* Joseph Miranda appears to have been Secretary of Lodge ISTo. 4, of the Moderns, on June 24, ITSg,'"' and of Lodge No. 1, of the Ancients, in the same month, and Deputy Master of Lodge No. 2 on February 12, 1760."' The name is Jewish, but whether he was a Jew or of Jewish descent the writer has not been able to ascertain positively. Solomon Bush became instrumental in 1788 in bringing about fraternal relations between the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge and the two rival Grand Lodges of England, Ancients and Modems. The Pennsylvania Grand Lodge had established itself as independent, and announced that it would no longer consider itself a Provincial Grand Lodge, owing to the result of the War of the Eevolution. Bush, who acted as the repre- sentative of the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge, of which he ap- parently was a prominent member, delivered in London in 1788 its letter, announcing the change, to the English Moderns with which Pennsylvania was not in affiliation, instead of to the Ancients with which it was. Through this error, com- munication was opened up and continued with two rival bodies, a condition of affairs said to be exceptional in Masonry, and to have been the precursor of the ultimate union of the two English Grand Lodges in 1813."" Solomon Bush is well known to students of Jewish history as having served in the American Eevolution, and as a prom- inent man in the Jewish community.™ He is described by Solomon Etting, who was quoted by Col. J. W. Worthington ^Jd., Vol. II, pp. 97, 82. ''Ud., Vol. I, pp. 38 and 52. '^Id., p. 67. ^""Id., Vol. II, pp. 132-143, and p. viii. "'Markens, The Hetrews in America, p. 126; Morais, The Jews of PMla., pp. 455-457. 48 American Jewish Historical Society. in his address before the House of Delegates, Maryland, in 1834." Solomon Btting's name is also well known. In addition to the accounts by Markens, p. 93, and Morals, pp. 270, 393, he is described in another work,*" as follows : Solomon Ettlng was born In York, Penn. He married a daugh- ter of the celebrated Indian trader, Joseph Simon, of Lancaster. He then removed to Lancaster and entered into partnership with his father-in-law, under the firm name of Simon & Etting. They conducted a general merchandise business in a store room on the southeast corner of East King and Centre Square. He afterwards removed to Philadelphia, and finally to Baltimore, where he died at a great age, leaving a large family. He was a man of sterling integrity, of great wit and drollery, and was beloved and respected by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. He was distin- guished for his considerable and indiscriminate charities, and was in his old age affectionately hailed by all as " Father Etting." He was one of the founders of Lodge No. 43, and being a Master was deputized by R. W. Grand Master William Adcock to constitute the lodge and install the officers. He was the first Treasurer of the lodge, serving as such until 1786. . . . He was elected Junior Warden in 1788, serving as such until June, 1790, when he was elected Worshipful Master, filling the office for one year, when he withdrew from the lodge and removed to Philadelphia. Lodge 'No. 43, of Lancaster, Pa., was organized September 25, 1785, with Etting as one of the foimders. Other Jewish members of the lodge were Myer Solomon, admitted March 13, 1790; Abraham Henry, June 19, 1790; Simon Gratz, February 10, 1796, and Samuel Jacobs, March 1, 1798. Abraham Henry is described as a gun-maker, and as one of the first to engage in that business ia Lancaster. He was elected Senior Warden in December, 1797, and served as "• H. M. Brackenridge and others. Speeches on the Jew Bill, p. 113 : " Colonel in the American Revolution, a distinguished officer, and who died after the Revolution of the wounds received, or effects arising out of them." ™ George R. Welchans, History of Lodge No. 43, F. & A. M., Lancaster, Pa., 1875, p. 109. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 49 such until June, 1799, when he became Master, filling that oflBce for one term of six months."' Myer Solomon is mentioned as a Lancaster subscriber in 1777 for £1 10s. to a fund to pay for intelligence to and from "Washington's army.™ Samuel Hays, as noted under New Jersey, was a member of St. John's Lodge of Philadelphia. He was a son-in-law of Michael Gratz."" Simon Nathan was a brother-in-law of Benjamin Seixas "' and was President of the Mikve Israel Congregation of Phila- delphia from 1783 to 1784. He was also prominent in New York."" Benjamin Nones was President of the Congregation from 1791 to 1799."* He was a soldier in the American Kevolu- tion, with the rank of Major."" He was aide-de-camp on the staffs "" of Washington, Lafayette, DeKalb, and PulasM."' "^Id., p. 601. ^Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 8, p. 148. ™ Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 1, p. 122. "'/(?., No. 4, p. 212. ^ For an account of him, see The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. IX, p. 178. ""Rosenbach, supra, p. 25. "' See Morals, supra, p. 457, where an interesting account of him appears. A view of him Is also obtained in " A Political Docu- ment of the Year 1800," in Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 1, p. 111. ™ Markens, The Hebrews in America, p. 126, who adds that Ben- jamin Nones, Jacob Deleon, and Jacob DeLaMotta bore Baron DeKalb from the field at the Battle of Camden, S. C, when the latter was fatally wounded. Lossing and others do not mention this incident, and for that reason some Jewish writers hesitate to accept the statement as authentic. Mr. Markens informed the writer that his authority was a statement made to him by Major Joseph B. Nones, a son of Benjamin Nones. "'National Register of Sons of the American Revolution, 1902, pp. 240 and 806. 50 American Jewish Historical Society. These two statements of rank, however, appear to lack official confirmation, though there is no doubt he served in the war. Nones had a son, Solomon B. Nones, also a Mason, whose life was saved through his connection with the Order. In the earliest years of this Government he was our Consul-General to Portugal. It is related of him that, while on his way to his post of duty, the vessel on which he sailed was captured on the Mediterranean Sea by Corsairs; that all his fellow passengers were killed, and that he was saved by giving a Masonic sign."" Isaac Franks '" is said to have been an aide-de-camp to Gen- eral Washington.'" He appears to have been in Savannah, Georgia, in 1801 and 1802, and was an active Mason there. Benjamin Seixas, mentioned as possessing the degree of Prince of Jerusalem, was Treasurer of the Philadelphia Con- gregation Mikve Israel in 1782,"" and one of the founders of the New York Stock Exchange in 1792."' He is referred to in The Jewish Encyclopedia by Max J. Kohler, Vol. IX, p. 269, as serving early in the Eevolutionary War. Moses Cohen was a broker and shopkeeper in Philadelphia in 1785."' He seems to have been in Jamaica, W. I., in 1790."' Myer M. Cohen appears to have removed to Eichmond, and to have been an active Mason in that city between 1794 and "" Morais, The Jews of PMla., p. 401. '^'^ Puilications of the American Jevnsh Historical Society, No. 5, p. 7 et seq., giving some documents relating to his military- career, and a statement showing he served under the immediate command of Washington. Id., p. 31. "" See I A., p. 33, giving a statement to that eftect by his grand- son. See also Morais, The Jews of Phila., p. 455. '^" Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 2, p. 57. ^" m.. No. 2, p. 85. "° Morais, supra, p. 444. "" Folger, supra. Doc. 15, p. 103. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 51 1799. He died in the latter year. He will be referred to in treating of Virginia. Samuel Myers was a native of New York, and in 1781, when he is mentioned as present at the Lodge of Perfection in Philadelphia, was about 33 years old. In 1803 he was an honorary member of the Charleston Sublime Lodge of Per- fection, being then a merchant in Virginia. He was at the time 43 years old."' He will be referred to under Virginia. Isaac Da Costa, previous to 1783, when he was in Philadel- phia, had been in Charleston, and was also there afterwards, until the latter part of 1783, when he died. He will be re- ferred to under South Carolina. Benjamin Nones, Isaiah Bush, and Moses Cohen are men- tioned in 1785 as among the members of Lodge No. 3, of Philadelphia, subscribing to a fund to purchase a house called the Lodge, in Lodge Alley. Nones subscribed £3, Bush £1 Ss. 6d., and Cohen £1 15s.'" Joseph Capella is also mentioned'" as among the signers of an agreement to establish a Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania which should be independent of Great Britain. A Joseph Carpelles seems to have been a member of the Philadelphia Congregation Mikve Israel in 1783, and may have been identical with Capella."" Haym Salomon, of Lodge No. 3, was the patriot-banker who was of great assistance to the American cause during the Eevolution. His very large loans to the government were never repaid. He was the friend, in need, of Madison, JefiEer- son, Eobert Morris, and other of our early public men, and was in other ways famous.'"" "'Mackey and Singleton, History of Freemasonry, Vol. VII, p. 1821. ^^ Proas. Grand Lodge of Penn., March 28, 1785, reprint, Vol. I. "' Id., for 1786. "° Morals, The Jews of Phila., p. 16. Moa Morals, supra, pp. 23-25; Markens, supra, pp. 66-70; PuiUca- tions of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 2, pp. 1-19. 52 American Jewish Historical Society. Concordia Lodge, No. 67, of PhiladelpMa : Members, with dates of admission, were Abraham Cohen, 1800 ; Jacob David, 1806 ; Adam Pranks ( ?), 1795 ; Jacob Horn ( ?) , 1801 ; Henry Eies ( ?), 1786, and Michael Winterberger ( ?), 1810."' Simon Gratz appears as Senior Warden of this lodge. Adam Franks, in. 1797, is noted as Junior Warden."* Columbia Lodge, No. 91 : Abraham Cohen was admitted ia December, 1801, as a member; was its Secretary December, 1805, to June, 1806, and Treasurer from December, 1806, to November, 1807. Isaac Lyon was another member in De- cember, 1803, and Simon Eovira September 35, 1809."* Abraham Cohen was a member of the Grand Eoyal Holy Arch of Pennsylvania in 1807,"* and A. H. Cohen, probably the same person, is noted as its Grand Scribe in 1809 and 1810. A. H. Cohen is probably identical with Eev. Abraham H. Cohen, Eeader in Mikve Israel Congregation of Philadel- phia in 1815,"* and afterwards Eeader in the Eichmond Con- gregation Beth Shalome before 1830.'" Jonas Phillips, who has been mentioned as a Mason in New York in 1760, is noted as having been connected with the Order in Philadelphia in 1785,"' being then described as a merchant. He was a prominent member of the Mikve Israel Congregation of Philadelphia in 1782-1783, being then its President,"' and, with Isaac Moses, Jacob Mordecai, and Bar- "^ By-laws of Concordia Lodge, No. 67. "' Proas. Orand Lodge of Penna., reprint, 1779-1801, Vol. I, pp. 274, 342, 429. "" Julius F. Sacbse and James P. Rellly, Centenary of CoXwm- bia Lodge, No. 91, Phila., 1901. "• History of the Grand Royal Holy Arch of Pennsylvania, 1795- 1872, Phila., 1882. "* Morals, The Jews of Phila., p. 43. '"Post, Note 249 and its text. "• Morals, The Jews of Phila., p. 28. '"Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 1, p. 16; Rosenbach, supra, p. 25. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 53 nard Gratz, laid the corner-stones of their new synagogue in that year. Isaac Moses was the ITew Yorker of that name already noted as a Mason there. He was a prominent merchant during the Eevolution and a co-worker with Eobert Morris in rendering financial assistance to the government."' Jacob Mordecai will be noted as a Mason in Korth Carolina, and was probably then one in Philadelphia. Barnard Gratz was an uncle of Simon Gratz mentioned as a Mason in Lancaster and Philadelphia, and also no doubt a Mason."" An Isaac Moses also laid one of the comer-stones for the Charleston Beth Elohim Synagogue in 1793. An Isaac Moses, Jr., of Charleston, has already been mentioned as a Mason in New York in 1806. Hyman Marks was a member of [Montgomery] Lodge, Wo. 19, in 1804.'" He was a resident of Philadelphia in 1815, being then President of the Mikve Israel Congregation."' Later he was in Virginia.'" He will be again referred to in treating of that State. DELAWARE. In Delaware, David Bush became a member of Washington Lodge, No. 1, of Wilmington, on December 16, 1784."" The lodge was established in 1769 under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and a new warrant, also from the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge, was granted to it in 1789 "• See Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 1, pp. 16 and 17; No. 2, p. 86; No. 3, p. 84. "• Morals, The Jews of Phila., pp. 269-270. "° See Ya. Gr. Lodge Procs. for Dec. 11, 1804. ^^ Morals, The Jews of Phila., p. 45. ^"Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 11, p. 72. "» Robert C. Fralm, Freemasonry in Delaware, being a History of Washington Lodge, No. 1, from 1769 to 1889, Wilmington, Del., 1890. 54 American Jewish Historical Society. with Bush as its first Senior Warden. He was its Treasurer in 1791, and again Senior Warden in 1795. David Bush may have been related to Solomon Bush, al- ready mentioned under Pennsylvania.""" David Bush, of Wilmington, Del., had four sons, one of whom. Major Lewis Bush, was fatally wounded at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777.'" Bush appears as one of the signers in 1737 of a petition "to the Honrb. Thomas Penn, Bsqr., one of the Proprietors of Pensilvania," for the " erecting of a Market House in Willing Town," as Wilmington was then called.'" His name does not appear in any of the full lists of church members of Wilmington.""' Another son of David Bush, who also fought in the Eevolu- tion, was Major George Bush who was for a long time Col- lector of the Port at Wilmington."' George Bush was Senior Warden of Washington Lodge, Ho. 1, in 1790, Master in 1791, Treasurer in 1792 and 1793. John Bush, who was probably another son of David Bush, was Junior Warden in 1793. ^"The name David Bash, which may be a misprint for David Bush, appears in the list of members of the Congregation Mlkve Israel of Philadelphia in 1782. Morals, The Jews of Phila., p. 16, and H. P. Rosenbach, The Jews of Philadelphia before 1800. A David Bush also was a member of the Congregation Beth Elohlm of Charleston, S. C, in 1800. B. A. Elzas, History of the Congre- gation Beth Elohim. '"Elizabeth Montgomery, Beminiscences of Wilmington, Bel., Phila., 1851, pp. 278-279. Major Lewis Bush is mentioned by Morals, supra, p. 458, and by Wolf, The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier, and Citizen, p. 45, as a Jew, and, if correctly so, this would confirm the Jewish character of David Bush. i» Benjamin Ferris, History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware, &c., and History of Wilmington, Wilmington, Del., 1846, p. 216. '«» lUd. "' Reminiscences of Wilmington, supra, p. 279. See Note 123. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 55 Joseph Capelle was a member between 1769 and 1784, dur- ing which years the records are not complete. He was Treas- urer from 1789 to 1791, Master in 1792, Junior Warden in 1795.'" MAHYLAND. In Maryland, Joseph Myers, or Joseph M. Myers as he is sometimes described, was the Deputy Inspector General of Masonry, having been appointed by Moses M. Hays."' He was present, as already stated in treating of Pennsylvania, at a meeting of Deputy Inspectors General in Philadelphia in 1781. Myers succeeded Isaac Da Costa as Inspector General of Masonry for South Carolina after Da Costa's death in November, 1783."° Apparently nothing was done by him in Maryland with reference to the propagation of the Scottish Eite, as in Pennsylvania and South Carolina, though it is asserted that he probably conferred the degrees of the Kite on Henry Wilmans, who established a Lodge of Perfection in Baltimore, in a list of 76 members of which no Jewish names appear."' Myers settled in Eichmond, Va. Eeference will be made to him in treating of Virginia. Lists of members of many Maryland lodges at their forma- tion contain but few Jewish names. Probably if a full list of the members of each lodge since its organization were obtained Jewish names would be found among the members previous to 1810. ^" A name somewhat similar, Joseph Carpelles, is given by Mo- rais, supra, p. 16, as a member of the Congregation Miltve Israel in 1782. He has also been mentioned under Pennsylvania. "'Mackey and Singleton's History of Freemasonry, Vol. VII, p. 1846. "'Id., p. 1846. ™/d., p. 1843. Edward T. Schultz, History of Freemasonry in Maryland, Balto., 1884, Vol. I, p. 327. 56 American Jewish HistoricaJ Society. Daniel Bamett, in 1765, was a member of Lodge No. 1, Joppa, Baltimore County, and a Master Mason.™ In Decem- ber, 1765, the lodge attended church and Bamett was fined for non-attendance. In January, 1766, complaint was made against him for attending at the irregular passing of certain members in a clandestine lodge. In answer Bamett said he would abstain from seeing any makings, passings, etc., in any lodge that hath not a warrant of dispensation in the future. Bamett was probably a Jew. William Jacobs, Past Master, A. Phillips, Joseph Modinay, and William Hayes are noted as among the members of Balti- more Lodge, No. 15, organized in 1770, and afterwards known as Washington Lodge, No. 3. These names are given as prob- ably Jewish."' William Jacobs is also mentioned as having been elected in 1787 a member of the Eoyal Chapter of Jerusalem."' In that year also he appears as Past Master at a Grand Lodge meeting."' In 1790 he was Master of Wash- ington Lodge, of Baltimore, and in 1794 was elected Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge."' His name is sometimes given as Jacob and sometimes as Jacobs. He also appears as a mem- ber of Baltimore Lodge, No. 16, some time between 1773 and 1789.'" Jacob Hart was also a member of that lodge during the same period, having been initiated November 20, 1773. Hart was the father-in-law of Haym M. Salomon, son of the patriot Haym Salomon. He was one of the patriotic merchants of Baltimore who loaned money to Lafayette to relieve the suf- ferings of his soldiers. Lafayette mentioned the loan in a letter to Washington in 1781."' "' Schultz, supra, Vol. I, p. 35. "'Id., p. 58. "*Id., p. 60. "• Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, 1788-1797. "•Id. •" Schultz, supra. Vol. I, p. 60. "• Max J. Kohler, " Incidents Illustrative of American Jewish Patriotism," Puilications of the American Jewish Historical Bo- dety, No. 4, pp. 94-95. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 57 William Hayes was at a Grand Lodge meeting in 1790/" B. Wolfe, John Tobias, Sam White ( ?) , Isaac Mordecai, S. Block, S. Mordecai, and M. Suberon ( ?) were among the mem- bers of Baltimore Lodge, Ko. 23, formed May 31, 1797, from a previous lodge in which they had been early members."" Ben- jamin Wolfe was reported by the Maryland Grand Lodge to the Virginia Grand Lodge as suspended in 1800. John Tobias is mentioned "" as a member of the Eichmond Congregation Beth Shalome in 1791, of which Wolfe was also then a member. The Tobias family were among the first Jewish settlers in Charleston, S. C.'"' Samuel Jacobs was elected Grand Warden and Hyman Samuel Grand Steward at the election of the Grand Lodge, June 23, 1798."^ Jacobs, in 1797, was a member of Spiritual Lodge, No. 33, of Baltimore."* He is noted as Senior Grand Warden in 1799 and Deputy Grand Master pro tern., in 1800, 1801, and 1803; and Grand Treasurer in 1803."" In 1803 Davidson David and Abraham Larsh were also members of the Grand Lodge, David being noted as a member of Har- mony Lodge, Elkton, Cecil County, in 1801."° Hyman Samuel was again elected Grand Steward in 1799. In September, 1798, he is noted as making a complaint against a member of Baltimore Lodge, Ko. 32, for un-Masonic con- duet."" Benjamin Solomon is recorded as a member of Benevolent Lodge, No. 33, of Baltimore, in 1803."" He was reported as "" Schultz, supra, Vol. I, p. 159. "'Id., Vol. I, p. 238. "^Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 4, p. 21. "•Id., No. 12, p. 44. "» Schultz, supra. Vol. I, p. 255. "• Procs. of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, for 1797. "'Id., for 1801-1803. "'Schultz, supra, Vol. I, p. 287. "^Id., Vol. I, p. 221. "'Id., Vol. II, p. 37. 58 American Jewish Historical Society. having been suspended from that lodge in 1803, and as having appealed to the Grand Lodge, which gave directions to receive him on certain conditions."' Joseph Jacobs, Moses Jacobs, Hymen Lowenstein, and Jacob Lewis were members of Concordia Lodge, No. 13, Baltimore, prior to 1803."° Solomon Etting has been described under Pennsylvania as having finally settled in Baltimore, and a short account of him has already been given. He was undoubtedly active as a Mason in Baltimore, but to what lodge he belonged in that city the writer has not been able to ascertain. He was a Masonic guest of the Grand Lodge at the laying of the corner-stone of Masonic Hall, on St. Paul Street, in 1814."' Etting was one of the directors of the Baltimore & Ohio Eailroad Company at the time it commenced the construction of its road in 1828.™ He was the first Jew to be elected by the people to office in Maryland. This was in 1826, when he was elected a member of the City Council, of the first branch of which he was chosen President."' VIRGINIA. In Virginia, Hezekiah Levy is the earliest Jewish name ap- pearing in a list of Masons in that State. He was a member of Fredericksburg Lodge, No. 4, of which George Washington was a member. The lodge was organized in 1752 and became dormant in 1771. Levy's name appears in a list of about 250 members between those dates. The time of his admission is not given."' "» Procs. Grand, Lodge of Maryland for 1803. '■" Centenary of Concordia Lodge, No. 13, of Baltimore, organized in 1793, Balto., 1894. ^" Schultz, supra. Vol. II, p. 192. ^"'Niles' Register, Vol. XXXIV, p. 318. i» Id., Vol. XXXI, p. 102. Cf. Markens, supra, pp. 100 and 94. "* S. J. Qulnn, Historical Sketch of Fredericksburg Lodge, No. i, in wfiich George Washington was made a Mason, and in which The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 59 Joseph Myers, or Joseph M. Myers, noted herein under Maryland, shortly afterwards removed to Richmond, where he settled in business. He there conferred the degrees of the Scottish Eite upon Masons whom he deemed worthy.'" Abraham Forst, already referred to under Pennsylvania, and to be referred to under South Carolina, was Deputy In- spector General of Masonry for Virginia, but the records do not disclose what he did in that State with reference to the Scottish Eite, the introduction of which he was to further. he held his membership for life, Fredericksburg, Va., 1890. Efforts to find some reference to him In works treating of Fredericksburg or Virginia, have not met with success. An Bzekiel Levy is men- tioned as a vestryman in the Protestant Episcopal Church in Wil- liamsburg, Va., between 1787 and 1802. Bishop Meade, The Old Churches, Ministers and Families of Virginia, Vol. II, p. 176. He may have been the sinner in Israel mentioned by Rev. S. Morals, Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 1, p. 18, as shaving on a Sabbath in Baltimore in 1782. An Bzekiel Levy has already been noted as a Mason in Philadelphia in 1781, and is possibly the Hezekiah of Virginia. It is somewhat unusual to find a Levy noted as a Christian, and we may assume that Bzekiel Levy became a convert, and Hezekiah Levy, in the absence of testimony to the contrary, was a true believer in the ancient faith. Hezekiah Levy may have been a descendant of John Levy to whom 200 acres of land upon the main branch of Powells Creek, in James City County, were patented in 1648 dur- ing the regal government. See Williams and Mary Quarterly for 1901-1902, Vol. X, p. 95. »"> John Dove, Text Book of Royal Arch Masons, for 1853, p. 91. Among those who received those degrees from him was Rev. John Dove, a non-Jew, who was Grand Secretary of the Grand Chapter of Virginia for more thon 50 years. Dove refers to his acquaint- anceship with Myers from whom, he adds, he acquired knowledge of the principles and practice of Masonry, and says it was fortu- nate for Masonry that both Da Costa and Myers, who had been appointed through Frederick the Second on the mission of Ma- sonic propagandism in America, " were Israelites and well-edu- cated men." John Dove, History of the Grand Lodge of Ya., Richmond, 1854, p. 59. 60 American Jewish Historical Society. The printed Virginia records here are fuller as to the Jew- ish members in the early Masonic lodges than those of other States, though further information could no doubt be obtained in Eiehmond. Nearly all of those who we know were members of the Beth Shalome Congregation of Richmond in 1791 were Ma- sons, as will be seen on comparison with the list below."* The following is a list arranged in alphabetical order of Jewish Masons who are known to have been members of Vir- ginia lodges between 1785 and 1810, with the names of the lodges to which they belonged, and dates between which they are noted in the printed proceedings as members."" Charles Z. Abrahams, Jerusalem Chapter, No. 54, Richmond, In 1810, Past Master, at Grand Lodge meeting in 1819, and was Grand Master of the 3d Veil of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in 1820, according to Dove's Text Book for 1853. Lewis Barnett, Winchester Hiram Lodge, No. 21, Winchester, in 1808. Simon Z. Block, Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, from 1805 to 1808. William Block, Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1804 to 1805. Isaac Burres, Marshall Lodge, No. 39, Lynchburg, 1800; Rich- mond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1802 and 1803. Abraham N. Cardozo, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1797 to 1800; Manchester Lodge, No. 14, Manchester, Chesterfield Co., 1800 to 1805. ^^ The names of these members are given in " The Jews of Richmond," by Jacob Ezekiel, Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 4, p. 21; and by Markens, in The Hebrews in America, p. 83. ^" See Reprint of Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Virginia, 1777-182S, and original issues of yearly proceedings of the Grand Lodge between 1791 and 1810. In 1799 the lists of members of all the lodges are first given, but names can be gathered in previous years from notes of attendance at Grand Lodge meetings. See also Charles P. Rady, History of Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1888. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 61 Israel I. Cohen, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1793 to 1800; St. John's Lodge, No. 30, Richmond, 1800. Jacob I. Cohen, at Grand Lodge in 1792; Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, in 1795; Georgetown Lodge, No. 46, in 1798; Rich- mond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1798 to 1805. Myer M. Cohen, Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1794 to 1799. Master, October 1795 to June 1796. At Grand Lodge meetings. Death reported in 1799. Joseph Darmstadt, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1787 to 1810. Grand Treasurer of Grand Lodge, 1794 to 1807. In 1792 and 1793 Deputy Grand Master pro tem. Isaac Delion, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1800 to 1805. Lyon Elcan, noted as withdrawn from Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, in 1797. Marcus Elcan [Blkan or Blkln], Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1787 to 1797, when he withdrew; was at Grand Lodge meeting in 1785. Gersham Galutha, Petersburg Lodge, No. 15, Petersburg, 1803. Michael Garber, Sen. (?), Staunton Lodge, No. 13, Staunton, 1800 to 1805. Michael Garber, Jun. (?), Staunton Lodge, No. 13, Staunton, 1800 to 1805. Dayid Greiner (?), Staunton Lodge, No. 13, Staunton, 1802. Isaac Hays, Staunton Lodge, No. 13, Staunton, 1803. Death re- ported in 1805. Joseph Hays, Abingdon Lodge, No. 48, Abingdon, 1800. Isaac Henry, Naphtali Lodge, No. 56, Norfolk, 1800 to 1802; Salem Lodge, No. 81, Salem, Fauquier Co., 1807. David Isaacs, Door to Virtue Lodge, No. 44, CharlottesTille, 1794 to 1806. Joseph Israel, Naphtali Lodge, No. 56, Norfolk, 1800 to 1802. Benjamin Jacobs, Norfolk Lodge, No. 1, Norfolk, 1802. Solomon Jacobs, Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1798 to 1827. Master, 1804 to 1807. Grand Master of Grand Lodge, 1810 to 1813. Lazarus Joseph, Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1805. Isaac H, Judah, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1794 to 1805. Marcus Levi, Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1810. 6 63 American Jewish Historical Society. A. S. Levy, visitor at Grand Lodge, from Stanvasdegoed Lodge, Surinam, 1810. Jacob Lyon, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1808 to 1809. Hyman Marks, at Grand Lodge as visitor from Lodge No. 19, of Pennsylvania, Dec. 11, 1804. Mordecal Marks, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1809 to 1810. Solomon Marks, Jr., Naphtali Lodge, No. 56, Norfolk, 1804. Solomon Marx, Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1795. Isaac Miller, Door to Virtue Lodge, No. 44, Charlottesville, 1799 to 1800. Isaac Mordecai, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1792 to 1799; Scottsville Lodge, No. 20, 1799. Mordecal M. Mordecai, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1792 to 1797; Frederick Argyle Lodge, No. 10, 1797. Grand Treas- urer, pro tern., 1792. Joseph A. Myers, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1787 to 1799; Jerusalem Lodge, No. 54, Richmond, 1800 to 1805; Rich- mond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1802 to 1827. Master of Lodge No. 19, in 1819. Michael Myers, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1802 to 1805. Philip Myers, Fredericksburg American Lodge, Fredericksburg, 1805. Samuel Myers, Honorary Member of Charleston, S. C, Lodge of Perfection, in 1802; Jerusalem Lodge, No. 54, Richmond, 1805. Death reported in 1805. Joseph Ober, Norfolk Lodge, No. 1, Norfolk, 1802. Solomon Raphael, Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Rich- mond, 1800 to 1810. Frequent attendant at Grand Lodge meetings. David Rattsay, Manchester Lodge, No. 14, Manchester, Chester- field Co., 1810. Zalma Rehine, Richmond Lodge, No. 10, 1798 to 1799; reported as having removed from that lodge in 1799, and in 1806 as present at Grand Lodge meeting as representative of that lodge. Isaac Salle, Manchester Lodge, No. 14, Manchester, Chesterfield Co., 1800 to 1803. Joseph Samuel, Norfolk Lodge, No. 1, Norfolk, 1800 to 1802. Benjamin Seixas, Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, 1805 to 1807. The Jews cmd Masonry — Oppenheim. 63 Isaac B. Selxas and Isaac V. Seixas, visitors at Grand Lodge, from New York, 1809 and 1810. Benjamin Wolfe, St. John's Lodge, No. 30, Richmond, 1792; Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, 1795; reported removed from Lodge No. 19, in 1799; Richmond Lodge, No. 10, Richmond, 1800; suspension from Grand Lodge of Maryland notified to Grand Lodge of Virginia, 1800; Naphtall Lodge, No. 56, Norfollc, 1800; Jerusa- lem Lodge, No. 54, Richmond, 1802. Jacob Wolfe, Lodge No. 37, 1808. Lewis Wolfe, Lodge No. 21, 1808. Of Eichmond Lodge, No. 10, Edmund Eandolph, Governor of Virginia, and also John Marshall, who later was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, were mem- bers. Each was a Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Virginia. Alexander Yuille was a member of Eichmond Lodge, 'No. 10, in 1789, and was Grand Deacon in 1793. His name is suggested as possibly Jewish. He appears as one of the mem- bers of the Amicable Society of Eichmond in 1789, the name being then spelled Youille."' William TJrie appears as Grand Tiler in 1788.""" David May, in 1788, was authorized to constitute Wash- ington Lodge, No. 36, to continue for one year. James Barnet was to be one of its members.*'" Zachariah Vowles ( ?) was at a Grand Lodge meeting in 1798.'°' Myer PoUax had his application for membership rejected in 1807.*"' He may be identical with Myer Pollack, of New- port, mentioned by Mr. Kohler "' and by George A. Kohut.'" ^" Samuel Mordecai, Richmond in By-gone Days, 2d ed., Rich- mond, 1860, p. 256. i»" Procs. Va. Grand Lodge, 1788. '^Id., for 1788. '^ Id., for 1798. '"■Id., for 1807. '"'Publications of the American JevAsh Historical Society, No. 6, p. 73. '"'Ezra Stiles and the Jews, p. 45. 64 American Jewish Historical Society. Isaac Henry, mentioned as of Kaphtali Lodge, of Norfolk, 1800 to 1802, is named in a list of addressees of letters re- maining unclaimed at the Washington post-office on July 1, 1804, the letter for him being addressed in care of Isaac Polock."* Marcus Elcan, whose name in the proceedings is also spelled Elkan and Elkin, appears as the earliest member in. the above list of Virginia Masons, being noted as attending a Grand Lodge meeting in 1785. He was an active attendant at many of the meetings. He was a member of the Philadelphia Con- gregation in 1783.^^ He was dead in 1816, in which year it was said of him that he had been for many years President of the Eichmond Congregation Beth Shalome.°°° Whether he was President in 1790 when Washington was addressed by the various Jewish congregations does not appear, but as he ceased being noted as present at lodge meetings after 1797 we may, in the absence of the congregation's records, infer that he was President in 1790. Joseph Darmstadt is next in order of early Jewish Masons in Virginia. His name is first mentioned in 1786. Its spell- ing in the records varies at different meetings, appearing as Darmsdat, Darmsdadt, Darmsdaat, Darmsdatt, Darmstat, Darmstatt, Darmstaat, Darmstadt, and Darmstaadt. It is signed at two meetings in 1792, as Deputy Grand Master pro tern., Darmsdaat and Darmstaadt, and in 1795, as Chairman of a committee, Darmsdatt. Before 1795 he filled temporarily in the Grand Lodge the offices of Grand Sword Bearer, Junior Grand Deacon, Senior Grand Warden, and Deputy Grand Master. Prom 1794 to 1807 he was Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge. In 1804 he was the subject of a reprimand by the Grand Lodge for aspersing the character of some of the '"National Intelligencer, July 9, 1804. ^ Morals, The Jews of Phila., p. 16. '°° Puilieations of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 4, p. 25. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 65 members of Eichmond Lodge, No. 10, who had a controversy with him regarding the amount claimed by him from that lodge, the lodge being at the same time ordered to pay him a balance found to be due to him according to the report of a committee of investigation. He continued to hold the office of Grand Treasurer for three years longer, retiring at his own request in December, 1807.*" He is noted as one of the visiting brethren at the organiza- tion of Eichmond Eandolph Lodge, No. 19, in December, 1787, and as having advanced that lodge and Eichmond Lodge, No. 10, in 1788, the sum of £347 to prevent a sale of the lodge building on a claim for the balance due for its con- struction. That building, erected in 1785, is still in existence, and is claimed to be the oldest Masonic edifice in America. A question of title to the property arose in 1793, and in a suit in chancery a decree was entered requiring the execution of a deed to trustees for both lodges, and among those named as such trustees were Joseph " Darmsdat " and Jacob L. Cohen. The Jacob L. Cohen there mentioned may be the Jacob I. Cohen herein noted as a prominent Mason connected with Eichmond Lodge, No. 10."' Darmstadt was a member of the Beth Shalome Congrega- tion of Eichmond in 1791.'"' '"Procs. GranA Lodge of Virginia, reprint, 1777-1823. "°Rady, History of Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, supra, pp. 2, 6, and 7. ^Publications of the American Jetoish Historical Society, No. 4, p. 21. A sketch of him appears in Samuel Mordecai's book, Richmond in By-gone Days, 2d ed., Richmond, 1860, p. 147. Sam- uel Mordecai was a son of Jacob Mordecai, of Warrenton, N. C, to whom reference as a Mason will be made in treating of North Carolina. That writer says, among other things, that Darmstadt was, as his name implies, a Hessian, who came to this country as a sutler with the troops that were sold by their prince at so much per head to fight the battles of despotism. On his arrival he renounced his foreign allegiance and established himself shortly afterwards at Richmond. 66 American Jewish Historical Society. He is noted"* as a member of the Amicable Society of Richmond in 1789. Its object was to relieve strangers and wayfarers in distress for whom the law made no provision. . His name also appears, printed as J. Darmsdale," among the signers of a petition to the president and directors of the Bank of the United States for the establishment of a branch bank in Eichmond. Israel J. Cohen was another signer of ibis petition. His name also appears as one of the subscribers for the shares of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of the United States of Amer- ica, established at Eichmond in 1786."° The firm of Cohen & Isaacs also appears as subscribers, as also Benjamin Lewis and Barnet Price. Cohen is said to have come to Eichmond after the Eevolution, and to have died in 1803."° Jacob I. Cohen, an elder brother, who appears to have been an active attendant at lodge meetings, was first at Lancaster, Pa., and Charleston, S. C, before coming to Eichmond. He took part in the Eevolution, serving under Moultrie and Lin- coln. After being honorably discharged he settled at Eich- mond, where he became a successful merchant and afterwards a banker, rendering important services to the young Eepublic. Frequent references to him are to be found in the Madison papers. He was a magistrate and member of the City Council of Eichmond,"' and was also Eecorder of that city."*' Myer M. Cohen has been mentioned under Pennsylvania as an active member of the Sublime Lodge of Perfection, and as a member of the Philadelphia Congregation Mikve Israel in '"Id., p. 255. "" Virginia Magazine of Bistory and Biography, 1900-1901, Vol. VIII, pp. 291-295. '^ S. Mordecai, supra, p. 206. "' Markens, The Hebrews in America, p. 86. ="7(J., pp. 85-87. ^** PuiUcations of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 12, p. 164. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 67 1783. He was a Senior Warden of Eichmond Eandolph Lodge in 1795, and on the death of the Master succeeded him. He held the office of Master from October 6, 1795, to June 26, 1796. He died in 1799."° He is mentioned by Rev. Gteorge A. Kohut in connection with a Prayer Book presented by him to Isaac H. Judah, at Eichmond, in September, 1797."° Isaac H. Judah was a frequent attendant at Grand Lodge meetings. He was Eeader in the Beth Shalome Congre- gation."' Isaac B. Seixas was Eeader in the same congregation, after Judah's death."" He appears to have been still in Eichmond when Isaac Leeser arrived there in 1834."' Zalma Eehine was Grand Master pro tern, of the 4th Veil of the Grand Eoyal Arch Chapter of Virginia in 1808."" He was a storekeeper and the uncle of Isaac Leeser.™ He was still a resident of Eichmond in 1834," and apparently as late as 1839.*" Eehine was later a resident of Baltimore. Mordecai M. Mordecai is mentioned by Morals ™ as a Min- ister, and also by Dr. S. Morals "^' as a member of the Phila- delphia Congregation Mikve Israel in 1783, and as writing a letter of appeal to the Jews of Surinam for funds to aid in building the synagogue. In 1793 he is noted at Grand Lodge *" History of Bichmond, Randolph Lodge, No. 19, supra, p. 14. '^'Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 3, p. 120. '''Id., No. 4, p. 22. ™'' Markens, supra, p. 84. '"H. S. Morais, Eminent Israelites of the Nineteenth Century, N. Y., 1880, p. 196. ^' Dove's Text-Book of R. A. M. of Va. for 1853, p. 128. "™ Markens, supra, p. 85. ^Morals, supra, p. 196. '^ See Isaac Leeser's The Jews and the Mosaic iow, 1833, Preface. '"^ The Jews of Phila., pp. 29 and 290. ''^ Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 1, p. 18. 68 American Jewish Historical Society. meetings as Junior Grand Deacon pro tern, and Grand Treaa- urer pro tern. Solomon Jacobs was a very active member of the Grand Lodge and held various oflBces ia it. In 1810 he was elected Grand Master, and was agaia elected in 1811 and 1813, serving imtil 1813. A fine steel engraving of him as Grand Master in 1813 appears in the printed Grand Lodge proceedings." He was Master of Kichmond Eandolph Lodge, No. 19, from 1804 to 1807, and was one of the members attending at the reception to Lafayette at Eichmond on his visit to that city on October 30, 1834. Lafayette was then made honorary mem- ber of the lodge.^ Jacobs was President of the Beth Shalome Congregation of Eichmond."" "^ Reprint of Proceedings of the Qrand Lodge of Virginia, 1777- 1823, p. 409. Rev. John Dove, The Qrand Lodge of Virginia, p. 71, speaks of Jacobs as Past Master of Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, and as having presided over the Grand Lodge of Virg:inia from 1810 to 1813, and as " a well-educated Israelite, and a man of high standing in the community as well as with the Frater- nity." """Rady, supra, pp. 19, 27. "" Markens, The Hebrews in America, p. 87. He is said to have been for ten successive years Mayor of Richmond. (Lewis Abrar ham, " The Jewish American as a Politician," American Jeios' Annual for X888, p. 104.) This last statement cannot be verified other than through a doubtful reference to his incumbency of that oflace found in an English publication relating to the Jews, written about 1830, and giving " a list of some persons who hold or hava held oflace in the United States of America." Among the names there mentioned is "Jacobs, Mayor of Richmond, Virginia." (Sea Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 18, p. 210.) The inscription on Jacobs' tombstone at Richmond says that he died at the age of 52 years, on the 12th of Cheshvan, 5588, cor- responding to November 3, 1827, and that he was called to oflfices of distinction in the municipality and other corporate institutions, and discharged his duty with firmness and ability. For this last information thanks are due to the kindness of Mr. Isaac Markens The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 69 Solomon Raphael, Mordecai Marks, and Joseph A. Myers were active members and frequent attendants at Grand Lodge meetings. Their names occur in connection with the great fire in Richmond in 1811. Joseph A. Myers was one of a committee appointed to ascertain the names of the dead and missing, and among those reported by that committee were Solomon Raphael's wife Charlotte and Mordecai Marks' wife Cyprian, and also Joseph Jacobs and Barach Judah's child.'^ Mordecai Marks was probably the " Marks, Recorder of Vir- ginia," mentioned in the English publication already referred to."" Joseph A. Myers also was an active member of Richmond Randolph Lodge, ITo. 19. His name is noted in 1787 as one from whom a petition was received by that lodge shortly after its organization. Presumably he was then a member of Rich- mond Lodge, No. 10, which he is noted as representing at Grand Lodge meetings. He was Master of Richmond Ran- dolph Lodge, Ko. 19, from June to September, 1819. With Solomon Jacobs and others he was one of the attendants at the reception to Lafayette in 1824. He died September 29, 1827. His son, Joseph Albert Myers, was Master of the Lodge from 1830 to 1832, and died in 1834."*" Joseph A. Myers is mentioned as a member of the Philadelphia Congre- gation Mikve Israel in 1782,'"' though his name does not ap- pear in the list of members of the Richmond Congregation in 1791. He was probably related to the Joseph M. Myers noted and his Richmond correspondent who examined the tombstone. The Richmond directory for 1819, the first issued, mentioned Jacohs' name as Recorder, among the officers of the municipal government. This book is in the Library of Congress. ™ See A Particular Account of the Dreadful Fire at Richmond, December 26, 1811, Baltimore, 1812; at Lenox Library. ^ See Puhlications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 18, p. 210. =^°Rady, supra, pp. 2, 3, 27, 54. =^' Morals, The Jews of Phila., p. 16. 70 American Jewish Historical Society. as a member of the Sublime Lodge of Perfection of Philadel- pliia in 1781. David Isaacs, of Door to Virtue Lodge, No. 44, Charlottes- ville, was the son of Isaiah Isaacs who died in Charlottesville in 1806, leaving six children, Francis, Isaiah, Henrietta, David, Martha, and Hays. They, for the most part, removed to Eichmond. David remained in Charlottesville, and was one of its merchants in the decade of 1830 and died in 1837.*" Isaiah Isaacs has just been mentioned twice, once as father and once as brother of David. The father was probably the member of the Beth Shalome Congregation of Eichmond who in 1791 sold part of his land in that city to the congregation for cemetery purposes.'^' He is probably identical with the Isaiah Isaacs mentioned as among those who fought in the Eevolution.^ David Isaacs is also mentioned as a member of the Eich- mond Congregation Beth Shalome in 1791.^°° Joseph Israel, of Naphtali Lodge, No. 56, Norfolk, may have been a descendant of Michael Israel who patented 80 acres of land in North Garden, near Stockton's Thoroughfare, Albemarle County, in 1757, and who bought, in 1772, 300 acres in Mechum's Eiver, in the same section, which he sold in 1779.™ The name of the pass known as Stockton's Thoroughfare was changed to Israel's Gap. Michael Israel belonged to the Albemarle Company of Militia in actual ser- vice for the protection of the frontier against the Indians in 1758."°' '^ Rev. Edgar Woods, Aliemarle County in Virginia, Charlottes- ville, Va., 1901, pp. 359-360. ^'Markens, The Hebrews in America, p. 84. '^PuWcations of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 4, p. y6; No. 12, p. 50. ^ Markens, The Hebrews in America, p. 84. =^'' Rev. Edgar Woods, supra, p. 359. ^'Jd., p. 363. Joseph Israel is mentioned by Wolf, supra, as having volunteered during the Revolution, and may have been The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 71 Benjamin Wolfe was an active member of the Order. The first record of him is in 1792.°" The Grand Lodge then, on Wolfe's appeal, sustained the Master of Eichmond Lodge, No. 10, in revoking a dispensation to initiate Wolfe after his re- jection by the votes of two brethren who were alleged to have acted from private pique, it having been represented to the Master that Wolfe was an exceptionable character and would be obnoxious to his fellow members. Wolfe, however, seems after this to have been a member of Richmond Lodge, Wo. 10, being noted as a visitor from it to the Grand Lodge in 1795, and as a member of it in 1800. He also appears to have been a member of other lodges in 1803 and 1803. He was a mem- ber of the Common Council of Richmond in 1816."' Wolfe has been mentioned as a member of a Baltimore lodge in 1787. Hyman Isaac Long is mentioned in the Grand Lodge pro- ceedings for 1795 in connection with a petition stating his deplorable condition. An appropriation of sixty dollars was made for him. He has been mentioned as having presented a similar petition to the New York Grand Lodge. He was one of the Deputy Inspectors General for Jamaica, and had been appointed by Moses Cohen, who had been appointed by B. M. Spitzer. He will be referred to again imder South Carolina. Benjamin Seixas, noted as of Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, was a son of Moses Seixas, of Newport,^ and not the Benjamin Seixas mentioned as Treasurer in 1782 of the Phila- related to Isaac Israel whose military record Wolf gives, and who is elsewhere named as Captain of the 8th Virginia Regiment among the Albemarle County soldiers of the Revolution. Woods, supra. ^ Procs. Gr. Lodge of Ya., for Oct. 30, 1792. '"Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 4, p. 25, where other particulars about him are given. ""Id., No. 4, p. 204. 73 American Jewish Historical Society. delphia Congregation Mikve Israel,"" and already noted under Pennsylvania."' Samuel Myers has been referred to in treating of Pennsyl- vania as present at a meeting of the Sublime Lodge of Per- fection in Philadelphia ia 1781, as Deputy Inspector of Ma- sonry for the Leeward Islands, and as of the Philadelphia congregation in 1782. In 1802 he is described as a native of New York, but a merchant of Virginia.*" He married Judith Hays, a daughter of Moses M. Hays, of Boston, on September 27, 1796, being at that time of Petersburg, Va."* Samuel Myers is probably the one mentioned in a facsimile reprint of the first New York City Directory, for 1786, pub- lished by David Franks, in which, specially prepared for the reprint, are compiled from the newspapers of the day, " Annals of City for 1786." Under date of January 7, the following reference to him occurs: The partnership of Isaac Moses, Samuel Myers, and Moses Myers under the firm name of Isaac Moses & Co., late of Phil, and now of New York is dissolved. Likewise the co-partnership of Samuel Myers, Moses Myers, and Isaac Myers under the firm name of Samuel & Moses Myers, formerly of St. Eustatia and late of Am- sterdam. This indicates why Samuel Myers, ia 1781, appears as Deputy Inspector of Masonry for the Leeward Islands."" '^m.. No. 2, p. 57. ^ Ante, notes 143, 144. ^ Mackey and Singleton, History of Freemasonry, supra. Vol. VII, p. 1821. '^^ Newport Mercury, Notices of Marriages and Deaths before 1800, reprinted between July 8, 1899, and February 3, 1900. Mounted clippings at Lenox Library. See also Mason's Reminis- cences of Viewport. Sally, another daughter of Hays, was mar- ried to M. M. Myers, of Petersborough, Va., September 27, 1796. '^^ Samuel Myers was probably identical with the Samuel Myers mentioned in a late biographical work. (Eminent and, Representor tive Men of Virginia and the District of Columbia, of the Nine- The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 73 David Eattsay, mentioned as of Manchester Lodge, may have been related to Eatse Seixas, who was a member of the Beth Elohim Congregation of Charleston, S. C, in 1803."" Hyman Marks must have been a well-known resident of Eichmond, as he is mentioned as such in a petition, not dated, of Israelites to the Common Council of that city."' An en- graving of Marks is in the possession of the American Jewish Historical Society.™ He is there spoken of as a merchant of Eichmond, and as having afterwards moved to Philadelphia. He died in Philadelphia November 5, 183 5."" He has been mentioned as a visitor at the Grand Lodge from [Montgomery] Lodge No. 19 of Philadelphia. teenth Century, Madison, Wis., 1893, p. 523. At Lenox Library.) In a sketch of Barton Myers, the statement is made that his paternal grandfather was Samuel Myers, a native of Norfolk and a lawyer by profession, and that a great-great-grandfather wag Hyman Myers, born in Amsterdam, Holland, who emigrated to New York City in the early days of the settlement of that place, and became prominently identified with its interests. The lat- ter's son, it is there stated, Moses Myers by name, removed to Norfolk, Virginia, in 1786. This is the date of the dissolution of the partnership of Samuel & Moses Myers, above referred to. There is a conflict in regard to the birth-place of Samuel Myers in this account and in the statement of his nativity in the list to be given of members of the Charleston Lodge of Perfection, but the latter may have been the correct account, being made closer to the date of the birth, while the former followed the residence of the father, and was made long after the event. It is also possible that the reference to Samuel Myers as a lawyer and native of Norfolk may have been to a son of Moses Myers. Moses Myers also had two brothers, John and Myer, who fought in the War of 1812. (Eminent and Representative Men of Va., supra.) ^' B. A. Elzas, History of the Congregation Beth Elohim. "'' Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 11, p. 72. '^Id., No. 1, p. 123; No. 6, pp. 153-154. See also Morals, TTie Jews of Phila., pp. 45, 292. «" Id., No. 6, p. 110. 74 American Jewish Historical Society. Comparing the names of the Masons of Virginia herein given with the names of the Israelites mentioned in the im- dated petition to the Common Council just referred to, it will be seen that the date of the petition was probably between 1830 and 1835, as those mentioned therein are stated to have been then already dead. Solomon Jacobs, one of those named, died in 1837, and Zalma Eehine, another of those named, was alive in Eiehmond as late as 1830. The Eev. Mr. Cohen, also named in that petition, was Abraham H. Cohen referred to as Grand Scribe of the Grand Eoyal Holy Arch of Pennsyl- vania. He had been a Eeader in the Philadelphia Congrega- tion Mikve Israel, and is spoken of by Isaac Leeser as late Eeader of the Eiehmond congregation in 1839.^° NORTH CAROLINA. In Forth Carolina we find°'° that Jacob Mordecai was Master of Johnston Caswell Lodge, No. 10, of Warrenton, in 1797, 1798, and 1799, and is noted as a member in 1801. An account of him has been written by Gratz Mordecai.'"^ Jacob Gaster and Jacob Hartman, two names possibly Jew- ish, appear as members of Pansophia Lodge, N'o. 25, 1797 to 1799. Gaster was a member of the House of Commons for Moore County, liTorth Carolina, between 1796 and 1815, and of the Senate in 1806 and 1812."' ^" See Isaac Leeser, The Jews and the Mosaic Law, Preface, Note. ==»Procs. of the Qrand Lodge of N. C, 1797-1814. '^'■Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 6, p. 39. His son, Samuel Mordecai, was the author of Richmond in By-gone Days, cited in treating of Virginia. Jacob Mordecai seems to have been In New York in December, 1784, being then noted as a purchaser of forfeited lands of loyalists, belonging to James DeLancey (Id., No. 10, p. 164), and also in 1786 when his name appears in the New York City directory for that year as vendue and commission merchant, 22 Wall Street. ""'John H. Wheeler, Sistorical Sketches of North Carolina, Phila., 1851, Vol. I, p. 273. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 75 Zachariah Hart was a member of Davie Glasgow Lodge, No. 26, Glasgow County, in 1798 and 1799. In the latter year the spelling of the name is Harte. Abraham Isaacs was a member of St. Tammany Lodge, N"o. 30, of Wilmington, in 1798. In 1799 he is noted as A. M. Isaacs, Senior Warden. Aaron Lazarus and M. Levy were also members of St. Tam- many Lodge, No. 30, in 1803, J. M. Levy in 1807, and Aaron L. Gomez and Philip BenjamiQ in 1813 and probably before. Aaron Lazarus is mentioned as one of the earliest Hebrews to reach Wilmington and as one of the first directors of the Wilmington & Weldon Eailroad Company. He was born in Charleston in 1777 and died at Eichmond in 1841.'°' Benjamin Jacobs was Tiler in that lodge in 1799, and in 1803 is noted as Junior Warden of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, of Wilmington. Joseph Jacobs was a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, in 1803, Senior Warden in 1807, and still a member in 1813. Jacob Henry, in 1807, was a member of Taylor Lodge, No. 48, Beaufort County. He was a member of the House of Com- mons of North Carolina, for Carteret County, in 1808 and 1809. His seat was sought to be vacated on the ground that he " denied the divine authority of the New Testament," but on his appeal to the House he successfully defended his right to it."* Henry, in 1813, was also a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 3, of Newbern. Other members of that lodge were Abra- ham Cutten, 1797 to 1799, Samuel Hart and Jacob Sabiston."°" Simon Nathan is not recorded as active in North Carolina, for which State he was, as already noted under Pennsylvania, appointed Deputy Inspector General in 1781. ^ Markens, The Heirews in America, p. 113. 2" Wheeler's Historical Sketches of North Carolina, pp. 74-76. Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 16, article by Leon Hiihner. '^ Proas. Or. L. of N. G., 1797-1814. 76 American Jewish Historical Society. SOUTH CAROLINA. Our earliest reference to a Jewish Mason in Soutli Carolina is to Isaac Da Costa, already referred to. In 1753 he was a member of King Solomon's Lodge, of Charleston, and in 1759 its Treasurer.*" A Sublime Lodge of Perfection was organized by him in Charleston in February, 1783, he being then Deputy Inspector General of Masonry under appointment from Moses M. Hays. At that meeting Moses C. Levy received the degree of Royal Select Master, and was still a member in 1827.'°' Da Costa was a merchant and old resident of Charleston, and for years Eeader of the Jewish congregation of that city. In 1781, owing to the British occupancy of Charleston,"* he went to Philadelphia and became one of the original members of the Mikve Israel Congregation of that city in 1783."' In 1783 he returned to Charleston, where he died in November of that year.^ Of him, as of Joseph M. Myers, it was said '^ that it was fortunate for Masonry that both were Israelites and well- educated men. On Da Costa's death, Joseph M. Myers was appointed as his successor by Moses M. Hays, thus becoming Deputy In- spector General of Masonry for South Carolina. Eeference to him has already been made under Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Myers established a Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem in Charleston on February 20, 1788.'°' With Barend M. ^° See B. A. Blzas, The Jews of South Carolina, p. 36. ""'R. P. Gould, History of Freemasonry, supra, Vol. IV, p. 663; A. G. Mackey, History of Freemasonry in S. 0., p. 182; Mackey and Singleton, History of Freemasonry, Vol. VII, p. 1846. =*' Elzas, The Jews of South Carolina, Pamphlet II, pp. 5-6. =" Morals, The Jews of Philadelphia, p. 15. "'° Elzas, supra. '^ John Dove, History of the Orand Lodge of Virginia^ p. 59. "'Procs. Supreme Council, A. <& A. S. R., Nor. Jur., reprint, 1781-1862, p. 6; Mackey and Singleton, supra, Vol. VII, p. 1843; The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 77 Spitzer, Deputy for Gteorgia, and Abraham Forst, Deputy for Virginia, he installed the officers. The Eite in South Carolina was only worked at Charleston."" Myers shortly afterwards removed from Charleston, and resided at various times at Norfolk, Richmond, and Baltimore, and about 1795 left the country for Europe.*" His name, with Abraham Alexander, Moses Bleazer, and Marcus Lazarus, is mentioned in 1780 in a petition offering allegiance to his Majesty's person and government.*" On August 31, 1791, we find that he delivered an excellent discourse at Charleston at the synagogue in sup- port of a plan for a non-sectarian orphan asylum to be erected by the city.*" Abraham Jacobs, in 1787, was Master of King Solomon's Lodge, of Charleston, and in that year received various de- grees in the Sublime Lodge of Perfection up to the Royal Arch. Hie certificate is signed by Abraham Sasportas, as Grand Master of Ceremonies of the Grand Lodge of Perfec- tion, Knight of the East and Prince of Jerusalem, Prince Mason and Knight of the Sun. It is also signed by Joseph Da Costa, Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime Mason, Knight of the East and Sublime Grand Secretary. Jacobs afterwards resided in Kingston, Jamaica, and in 1790 was there made a Knight of the Sun at a Consistory presided over by Moses Cohen, who, as already stated, was a Knight of the Sun at the meeting of the Lodge of Perfection in Philadelphia in 1781, and Abraham Porst, already referred to, both acting as Deputy Inspectors General. His certificate as Knight of the Sun is E. T. Carson, in Yourston edition of R. F. Gould's History of Free- masonry, Vol. IV., p. 633. *^Mackey and Singleton, supra, p. 1846; Mackey, History of Freemasonry in S. C, p. 483. ™ Mackey, ibid. ^ So. Car. Gazette, Sept. 21, 1780, cited in Elzas' Jews of South Carolina, Pamphlet III, p. 19. '^ Charleston Year Book, for 1883, p. 306. 7 78 American Jewish Historical Society. signed by Moses Cohen, and also by A. M. Bonito as Keeper of the Seals pro tern., and Jacob Delion as Grand Secretary pro tern,. Jacobs left Kingston for Georgia in 1790, his certificate giving him authority to promote the interests of the craft there."' We shall meet him again in that State. He has al- ready been noted under New York. Barend (or Barnard) M. Spitzer who had been commis- sioned by Moses M. Hays, June 35, 1781, seems to have com- missioned Moses Cohen as Deputy Inspector General in Jan- uary, 1784, and Cohen commissioned Hyman Isaac Long as Deputy Inspector General January 11, 1795.°°* Spitzer was a resident of Charleston between 1770 and 1783,™° a member of the Mikve Israel Congregation of Philadelphia in 1783,™ and was again in Charleston in 1784, when he left for the West Indies."" He died in 1796.=" Hyman Isaac Long, on March 13, 1796, constituted a Grand Consistory of Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret in the hall of La Candeur Lodge, No. 13, of Charleston."' He has al- ready been mentioned under New York and Virginia. Israel Myers, from 1788 to 1803, was Grand Tiler of the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons, and Alexander Alexander was Secretary from 1788 to 1800."' *" Register of Abraham Jacobs, Document No. 15, p. 103, In Polger, supra. '^ Statutes and Regulations, &c., of the A. & A. S. R., prepared by the Supreme Ciouncil, 33d Degree of the U. S. A., McCoy & Sickles, N. Y., 1862. "■° Elzas, The Jews of South Carolina, Pamphlet II, p. 3. ™ Morals, The Jews of Phila., p. 15. "'■ Elzas, supra. "''Robert Folger, The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, 2d ed., 1881, p. 38. '"^ Mackey, History of Freemasonry in S. C, p. 496. "*Ibid., p. 5; and Ahiman Rezon, by Frederick Dalcho, Charles- ton, 1807. It is doubtful that Alexander was a Jew. 2'he Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 79 Masonry and the synagogue were connected in 1793 at the laying of the corner-stone of the new synagogue of the Beth Elohim Congregation on September 14 of that year.'" The committee of arrangements consisted of Daniel Hart, Gershom Cohen, and Moses C. Levy. The ceremony, according to the glowing report of this committee to the vestry, " was conducted by the rules and regulations of the ancient and honorable fraternity of Freemasons." ™ The building was completed in 1794, and at the consecra- tion in that year G-overnor William Moultrie and numerous civil and military dignitaries were present. It may be in- ferred, in the absence of records, that Governor Moultrie was a Mason, as a near kinsman of his. Dr. James Moultrie, was prominent in the Order in South Carolina, being one of the Sovereign Grand Inspectors General for that State on the establishment of the Supreme Council for the Southern Juris- diction in 1801, and a Mason for many years before. Eefer- ence will now be made to this Council, which has played an important part in the history of Masonry, and which, at its organization, included a number of Jews. The Supreme Council of the 33d Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Eite of Freemasonry, said to be the first Supreme CouncU known, and superseding all previous analogous organizations, being, it is also said, a transformation of the former Rite of Perfection or Ancient Accepted Eite, was ^^ Nathaniel Levin, " The Congregation Beth Elohim," Charles- ton Year Book, 1883, p. 307. -'° A. B. Prankland, " Fragments of History," American Jews' Annual for 1889, p. 17. The eight marble stones were laid hy the following members of the congregation: Israel Joseph, Philip Hart, Lyon Moses, Isaac Moses, Emanuel Abrahams, Mark Ton- gues, Hart Moses, and Abraham Moses, all of whom, judging from the account, and in the absence of Masonic records of the time, may have been Masons. (Charleston Year Book, 1883, pp. 306-307. Cf. Markens, supra, p. 55.) Isaac Moses we have seen to be one in New York. 80 American Jewish Historical Society. organized at Charleston, on May 30, 1801, by John Mitchell, Frederick Dalcho, Emanuel DeLaMotta, Abraham Alexan- der, Major T. B. Bowen, and Israel Delieben. A list exists of the officers composing this Council in 1802, and also of the officers and members of the different sections or divisions of the degrees of the Scottish Eite in that year."' Many Jewish names appear in this list, as also many non-Jewish, prominent in South Carolina affairs. The list gives the ofiBcers and members in 1802 of (1) the Sublime Grand Lodge of Per- fection in South Carolina, which had been established in 1783; (2) of the Council of the Princes of Jerusalem in South Carolina; (3) of the Sovereign Chapter of the Rose-Croix de Heroden, or Heredom, in South Carolina; (4) of the Grand Consistory of Princes of the Royal Secret in South Carolina; and (5) of the Supreme Council of Grand Inspectors General of the 33d Degree in South Carolina. It also gives the age, occupation, and nativity of the ofBcers and members, in 1802, of the Grand Lodge of Per- fection which had been established in Charleston in 1783. The Jewish names have here been arranged in alphabetical order, giving to each his rank. The titles will be better understood by reference to what has been said of the degrees in treating of Massachusetts. Abraham Alexander, Grand Secretary of the Sovereign Chapter of Rose-Croix; K. D. in the Grand Council of the Princes of Jerusa- lem; Grand Secretary of the Grand Consistory of Princes of the Royal Secret; and Illustrious Secretary General of the H. Em- pire, in the Supreme Council of Grand Inspectors General of the 33d Degree. William Alexander, native of Charleston, factor, aged 26 years. Secret Master, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection. Isaac Canter, native of Santa Croix, factor, aged 33 years. Knight of the East, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection. Emanuel Cantor, native of Santa Croix, merchant, aged 30 years. Intimate Secretary, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection. Emanuel DeLaMotta, native of Santa Croix, commission mer- chant and auctioneer, aged 42 years, K. H.-P. R. S., Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the 33d Degree and Illustrious Treas- =''Mackey and Singleton, supra, Vol. VII, pp. 1820, 1821 et seq. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 81 urer General of the H. Empire, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection; Grand Treasurer of the Sovereign Chapter of the Rose- Croix de Heredom; Grand Treasurer of the Grand Consistory of Princes of Jerusalem; and Illustrious Treasurer General of the H. Empire in the Supreme Council of Grand Inspectors General of the 33d Degree. Jacob Deleon, native of Jamica, commission merchant and auc- tioneer, aged 38 years, Intendant of the Building, In the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection. Israel Delieben, native of Bohemia, commission merchant, aged 60 years, K. H.-P. R. S., Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the 33d Degree; Grand Treasurer of the Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem; Keeper of the Seals and Archives of the Grand Con- sistory of Princes of the Royal Secret; and Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the Supreme Council of Grand Inspectors General of the 33d Degree. Morris Goldsmith, native of London, merchant, aged 21 years. Secret Master, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection. Solomon Harby, native of London, commission merchant and auctioneer, aged 40 years, K. H.-P. R. S., in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection; Grand Orator and Keeper of the Seals of the Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem; and member of the Grand Consistory of Princes of the Royal Secret. Moses Michael Hays [spelled Hayes], native of [place blank], merchant, of Boston, K. H.-P. R. S., honorary member in the Sub- lime Grand Lodge of Perfection. David Labat, native of Hamburg, storekeeper, aged 42 years, member of the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection. Moses C. Levy, member of the Grand Consistory of Princes of the Royal Secret, and Sovereign Grand Inspector General in the Supreme Council of Grand Inspectors General of the 33d Degree. Samuel Myers, native of New York, merchant, of Virginia, aged 43 years, K. H.-P. R. S., honorary member, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection. Abraham Sasportas, native of Bordeaux, merchant, aged 56 years. Knight of the Sun, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Per- fection. Others in the list. Dr. Frederick Dalcho, Dr. Isaac Auld, and John IMitehell, who were claimed to have been Jews, are known not to have been of that race."^ ™ Pike's Historical Inquiry. 83 American Jewish Historical Society. Abraham Alexander's nativity and age are not given in the list. He is said to have been a Sonth Carolinian, and there was some question as to whether he was a Jew."° William Alexander's history is not known. He is noted as a native of Charleston, and was probably a son of Abraham Alexander, Sr., or brother of the other Abraham Alexander. Isaac Canter and William Cantor were both members of the Congregation Beth Elohim.^" Emanuel DeLaMotta was Master, in 1803, of Eagle Mark Lodge, Fo. 1, of Charleston, and in 1806, 1807, and 1809 was Master of Friendship Lodge, Ko. 9, of the same city.^' ™ Pike's Historical Inquiry, pp. 133, 196. Jacob C. Levy, a son of Moses C. Levy, of whom information was requested, said that he remembered Abraham Alexander, who was by birth an Eng- lishman and a caligraphist of the first order, and that he was Secretary of the Collector of the Custom House in Charleston, his son, of the same name, residing in 1872 at Atlanta, Georgia. There were two persons of the name of Abraham Alexander in Charleston at the time. (B. A. Elzas, The Old Jewish Cemeteries of Charleston, 1903.) One of them, Abraham Alexander, St., was, according to the epitaph on his tombstone (ibid.) a native of Lon- don, and died in 1816, aged 73 years. He was also Minister of the Beth Elohim Congregation from 1765 to 1790. (The Charleston Year Booh, for 1883, p. 315.) The other Abraham Alexander is noted (Elzas, supra) as a native of London, also, who died in 1844, aged 73 years. This would make him about 31 in 1802. Both were probably connected with the Masonic fraternity, and the latter was probably the caligraphist and secretary of the Supreme Council. Another Alexander, John J., was Grand Master in South Carolina in 1836 and 1837 (Albert G. Mackey, Ahiman Rezon, &c., of 8. C, 1852, p. 179), but it is doubtful that he was a Jew. ^'' Elzas, History of the Beth Elohim Congregation. ^''Mackey's History of F. in 8. C, p. 511. The Freemason's Vocal Assistant and Register of the Lodges of Masons in 8outh Carolina and Georgia, Charleston S. C, 1807. At N. Y. Historical Society Library. When the Supreme Grand Council for the Northern Jurisdiction was formed in New York on August 5, The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 83 He was bom November 2, 1760, and died May 17, 1821, according to the epitaph on his tombstone, which states only the day of his death, and says he was aged 60 years, 6 months and 15 days.'''' DeLaMotta's family fled from Spain to avoid persecution, and branches of the old stock settled in Savannah and Charles- ton, having rescued sufficient of their former fortune to render them free from want. Emanuel devoted himself to Jewish literature and Masonic study. One of his sons was Dr. Jacob DeLaMotta, of Charleston, at one time a surgeon in the United States Army and afterwards a practicing physician in Charleston."' Emanuel was a resident of Charleston between 1770 and 1783.^* In 1790 he seems to have been at Savannah, being then described as one of the incorporators of the Con- gregation Mikve Israel there."' Jacob Deleon was a distinguished officer of the War of the Kevolution, serving as Captain on the staff of General De- 1813, lie was one of its founders, as special deputy-representative and member of the Supreme Council at Charleston (Mackey and Singleton, supra. Vol. VII, p. 1873), and, as already appears under New York, was its head at its organization. "-^^ Blzas, The Old Jewish Cemeteries of Charleston, 1903. These dates are given differently by Nathaniel Levin, in Pike's Histor- ical Inquiry, where it is said that DeLaMotta was born January 5, 1761, and died May 15, 1821. The epitaph says of him: " The noblest endowments of man were his: united to a respectable character which he sustained with undeviating rectitude. Strict, yet unbigoted in his faith — liberal, yet unostentatious in his charities — dignified, yet assuasive in his manners — he merited the eulogy pronounced of being truly a good man. This tomb is erected by his bereaved widow and eight children." =^ Pike, Historical Inquiry. Statement by Nathaniel Levin. ^ Elzas, The Jews of South Carolina, Pamphlet III, p. 4. ^ A. E. Frankland, " Fragments of History," American Jews' Annual, for 1889, p. 10. Nathaniel Levin says of him (Pike's Historical Inquiry, p. 201) that he served his country in the War of the Revolution and in the War of 1812, and rose from the ranks to a military position of honor and trust. 84 American Jewish Historical Society. 'Kalh."" His name has been mentioned in connection with Benjamin Nones, imder Pennsylvania, as assisting in carry- ing DeKalb from the battle field when mortally wounded. Deleon appears to have been at Kingston, Jamaica, in No- vember, 1790, being then noted as Grand Secretary pro tern. in the Grand Sublime Lodge of Perfection, and one of the signers, with Moses Cohen and Abraham Bonito, of a patent, already referred to, to Abraham Jacobs, as Knight of the Sun, in the Lodge of Perfection.^' He was a member of the Beth Blohim Congregation. Israel Delieben was a member of the Beth Blohim Congre- gation of Charleston in 1800."^ He was born in Prague, Bohemia, in 1740, and emigrated to the United States in 1770, settling in Charleston, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He died January 28, 1807, and was buried ^'' in the Charleston cemetery .°°° Monis Goldsmith was a member of the Beth Blohim Con- gregation of Charleston in 1810.^' In that year he also ap- pears to have been a member of Lodge 'No. 46, of Spartan- burg.'"^ He was one of the committee on correspondence of the Grand Lodge between 1809 and 1814, and was quite active in relation to the proposed union of the two Grand Lodges then existing. He was Secretary of the Grand Lodge. =" Simon Wolf, The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier, and Citi- zen, p. 51. *' Register of Abraham Jacobs, Doc. 15, p. 103, in Folger, supra. '^^ Elzas, History of the Beth Elohim Congregation. '^"At the bead of bis tombstone the following symbol was en- graved: ri a\' ^^® Nathaniel Levin, in Pike's Historical In- quiry, p. 204, who there says of him that he served his country in the War of the Revolution, and rose from the ranks to military positions of honor and trust. -" Blzas, The Old Jewish Cemeteries of Charleston. ™ Elzas, History, supra. ■""Procs. Grand Lodge of S. C, for 1810. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 85 Solomon Harby, in 1803, was Junior Warden of Eagle Mark Lodge, No. 1, of Charleston/" Markens "* says that Harby's father had been Lapidary to the Emperor of Morocco, and that his son was Isaac Harby, a well-known author. David Labat was a member of Beth Elohim Congregation in 1800."°' Moses C. Levy has already been mentioned as one of the committee of arrangements at the laying, in 1793, of the corner-stone of the Beth Elohim synagogue building, and reference was made to the fact that the ceremony was con- ducted in accordance with Masonic rules and regulations. He was President of the congregation in 1791, and was remarkable for his piety and learning.^"" Samuel Myers, of the Lodge of Perfection, has been de- scribed under Virginia. Abraham Sasportas was a member of the Beth Elohim Con- gregation in 1810.'" He was a member of the Philadelphia Congregation Mikve Israel in 1783.'°' In 1788 he was in Charleston, and with Joseph Da Costa signed a commission ^'' Mackey, History of Freemasonry in S. O., p. 510. ^ Tfie Hebrews in America, p. 58. ^'' Elzas, supra. ™ The Charleston Year Book, for 1883, p. 315. An account of him written in 1872 by his son, Jacob C. Levy, of Savannah, then in his 84th year, is to be found in Pike's Historical Inquiry, in a statement obtained by Nathaniel Levin, 32d Degree. See also B. A. Elzas, The Jews of South Carolina, Phila., 1905. His tombstone In the Charleston Cemetery has the following inscription (Pike, supra) : Sacred to the Memory of MOSES CLAVA LEVY, who died on the 5th Nissan, 5999 [corresponding to March 20, 1839]. Nearly Ninety Years old, a Native of Poland, and for 54 Years an In- habitant of this City. He was a Kind Husband, a Fond Parent, a Firm Friend, an Indulgent Master, Incorruptible in Integrity, Sincere in Piety, and Unostentatious in Charity. =" Elzas, History of the Congregation Beth Elohim. "" Morals, The Jews of Phila., p. 16, and Rosenbach, supra. 86 American Jewish Historical Society. to Abraham Jacobs in connection with his work as a Mason,""" signing as Grand Master of Ceremonies of the Lodge of Per- fection, K. of E., P. of J., P. M. and Sovereign Knight of the Sun. Eleazer Blizer, who has been mentioned under Ehode Is- land, is noted as an officer of the Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem in 1801, viz., S. G. S., K. H., P. E. S.,'°° and also in the same year as having been appointed Sublime Grand Warden, K. H. and P. E. S., and signing himself Sublime Grand Secretary."" Leaving the Supreme Council, we find the following officers of lodges in 1807, mentioned in a Masonic publication : ""'' Lodge No. 3, meeting at Charleston: Solomon Nathan, Senior Warden. Lodge No. 9 (Friendship), a York Mason Lodge, meeting at Charleston: Emanuel DeLaMotta, Master; Samuel Hyams, Senior Warden; Samuel Jacobs, Junior Warden; and David Mordecai, Treasurer. Lodge No. 10, meeting at Columbia: Zachariah Philips, Senior Warden. Lodge No. 39, meeting at Coosauhatchie : Benjamin H. Mark, Tyler. Sublime Grand Lodge: Israel Delieben, Hospitaller Brother; Isaac Canter, Secretary, and David Labat, Tyler. Sublime Grand Council: Emanuel DeLaMotta, Treasurer; A. Alexander, Secretary. Prom information furnished through the courtesy of Mr. Isaac Markens and his Charleston correspondent, obtained from an old Charleston directory, it appears that in 1806 the ^""Register of Abraham Jacobs, Doc. 15, in Polger, p. 103. 300 Proceedings of the Supreme Council, A. & A. 8. R., Nor. Juris., reprint, 1781-1862; Proceedings, for 1813, pp. 38 and 40. '" Offioial Bulletin of the Supreme Council, SSd Degree, A. £ A. S. R., Sov. Jur., Vol. VIII, 1888, p. 722. "" The Freemason's Yocal Assistant and, Register of the Lodges of Masons in South Carolina and Georgia, Charleston, S. C, 1807. At N. Y. Historical Society. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 87 Jewish officers of the Sublime Grand Lodge and of the Su- preme Council were the same as have just been mentioned for 1807, and that of Friendship Lodge, No. 9, the officers in 1806 were E. DeLaMotta, Master; David Brandon, Senior Warden; Samuel Hyams, Junior Warden; Ch. Moise, Treas- urer, and M. L. Henry, Secretary, and that of La Eeunion Prangaise, No. 41, a French Masonic lodge, David Labat was Treasurer. Through the same source it has been learned that in the minutes of LaCandeur Lodge, written in French, and now at the Home of the Temple, in Washington, D. C, the fol- lowing Jewish names are entered among the visiting Masons in 1798: Abraham Alexander, Moses Alexander, Isaac Canter, Emil Canter, E. DeLaMotta, Abraham Depass, Myer Derkheim, Hjrman Harris, Jacob Harris, Bmil Jones, and Benjamin Melhado.""' Elsewhere, Jacob Lazarus, in 1809, is noted as a member of Lodge No. 10, of Ancient York Masons, held at Columbia."' Jacob DeLaMotta, the eldest son of Emanuel DeLaMotta, is noted™' as a member of Friendship Lodge, No. 9, of Charleston, in 1809, and Samuel Hyams as Junior Warden. Myer Moses was Master of the lodge in 1810 and 1819. He was a member of the Legislature in 1810.™° GEORGIA. In Georgia, Solomon's Lodge, No. 1, of Savannah, was regularly organized in 1735, though work had been done before by its members. Governor Oglethorpe, who is said to ^ Myer Derkheim is noted as having died August 2, 1810, aged 70. He was buried in Philadelphia. PuMications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 6, p. 109. "°* Procs. of the Or. L. of Ancient York Masons, for 1809. ^'^Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of 8. G., 1809. ""Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 12. p. 163. 88 American Jewish Historical Society. have been a Mason in England before coming to Georgia, was one of its founders. That lodge occupied a prominent place among the corporate bodies of Savannah in its early history, and vras recognized officially on more than one occasion. Gov- ernor Henry Ellis, Eoyal Governor of the Province of Georgia, in his account to the home government of his reception on his arrival in Savannah, in 1758, mentioned the Masonic frater- nity as one of the distinguished bodies that received him.'"' Dr. Herbert Priedenwald °°° called attention to the fact that in the Library of Congress is to be found a part of the min- utes of a Masonic lodge of the period of 1756-1757, which shows that Daniel, David, and Moses Nunes, and Abraham Sarzedas were then members of the lodge (which no doubt was Solomon's Lodge), and that Daniel and Moses Nunes are therein referred to as having been admitted as Masons in Georgia in 1733-1734, and that David Nunes and Abraham Sarzedas were among those who participated in the address of welcome to Governor Ellis.'™' Oglethorpe's friendly reception of the Jews in 1733, on their arrival in Georgia from England, has been noted by his- torians.™' Why may not imagination trace one of the causes of this friendly reception to the recognition by Oglethorpe, through Masonic signs, of members of the craft among the new ar- " The Old Lodge. Freemasonry in Georgia in the Days of the Colony. A Brief History of Solomon's Lodge, from 1735 to 1782. Address by J. H. Estill, Dec. 17, 1885, at 150th anniversary of the lodge. '"Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 8, p. 147. sraa These minutes have also heen examined by the writer. Though the name of the lodge does not appear in the incomplete record, the lodge must have heen Solomon's, as that was the only lodge in Savannah, Georgia, in 1756-1757 and before. '"^ PuT)lications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 10, pp. 71-72. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 89 rivals, and thus attribute, in part, his consideration for them afterwards to the brotherly sentiments created by their con- nection with the Order of which he himself was one ? That there is a reasonable presumption that Jewish Free- masons were among the arrivals from England in 1733 can be maintained in all seriousness. Gould "° refers to a meeting of the Grand Lodge of England in 1733, at which the Deputy Grand Master "recommended the new Colony of Georgia in North America to the benevolence of the particular Lodges." A probable connection exists between a Jewish member of one of these lodges and one of the first Jewish arrivals in Georgia, the names being somewhat similar. This appears from a reference to an initiation in London in 1733, reading in part as follows: " In the presence of several brethren of distinction, as well Jews as Christians, Mr. Edward Eose was admitted to the fraternity by Mr. Daniel Delvalle, an eminent Jew, the Mas- ter, Captain WUmot, etc." Among those to whom land was allotted in Georgia with others of the first arrivals from London was Isaac DeYal, a Jew.™ David Nunes is stated to have held the office of Waiter for the Port of Savannah in March, 1765, and Moses JTunes that of Searcher of the same port, 1768-1774."' '^° Gould, History of Freemasonry, 1st Amer. edition. Vol. IV, p. 407. ^' See CllfEord P. MacCalla, Early Newspaper Accounts of Free- masonry in Pennsylvania, England, etc., Phila., 1886, and The Key- stone, Sept. 26, 1885, citing Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 225, March 15-22, 1732-1733. — News from London, Sept. 23, 1732. See Publi- cations of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 10, pp. 78-79, and No. 17, p. 170. The resemblance between the two names Delvalle and DeVal is striking. '"Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 3, p. 150; No. 10, pp. 92-93. 90 American Jewish Historical Society. The Sheftalls were also members of Solomon's Lodge. They are thus referred to by the historian of that lodge : '^' During the War of Independence, the lodge was well represented in the patriot army. We find on its list, soon after the close of that struggle, the names of Stephens, Jackson, Houston, Stirk, the Habershams, the Sheftalls .... and others.^* Abraham Jacobs has already been mentioned under New York and South Carolina. He was also in Augusta and Savan- nah in 1792 and 1796, and was then aetiye in initiating Ma- sons in those cities, but no Jewish names are found in his record for those years. In 1799 and 1800 he was Master of Forsythe Lodge in Augusta. He was again in Savannah in 1801 and 1803. In 1801 he attended a meeting of the Sublime Lodge of Perfection in that city, and his record shows that among those initiated were Isaac Pranks, Dr. Moses Sheftall, Jacob Cunes, John Cackles, Myer Durham, and James Simp- sis son. Isaac Pranks, according to the record, received degrees up to Prince of Eose-Croix; Myer Durham up to Provost and Judge, which is the 7th Degree ; Dr. Moses Sheftall, Elect of Fifteen, which is the 10th Degree. Jacob Cunes was ap- pointed Grand Tiler in the Grand Lodge of Perfection. ='=J. H. Estill, supra. ''*Mordecai Sheftall and his son Sheftall Sheftall, both of whom served on the American side during the Revolution, are specifically mentioned elsewhere as such members. Puilications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 17, p. 185. Levi Sheftall, a brother of Mordecai, was also no doubt a member. The address, signed by him as President of the Hebrew Congre- gation of Savannah, to Washington in 1790, was presented by Gen. James Jackson, the Mason above referred to, who was Grand Master in Georgia. Id., and No. 3, p. 88. See Rosenbach, supra, p. 16. "° Register of Abraham Jacobs, Document No. 15, in Folger, p. 92. The name Myer Durham is probably an error in writing for Myer Derkheim, already referred to as a visitor at a Charles- ton lodge. The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 91 Emanuel DeLaMotta, as a member of the Supreme Council at Charleston, visited Savannah in 1801 and attended a meet- ing of the lodge, being then described as K. H., P. of the E. S., which is the 33d Degree. In 1802 a meeting was held at the house of Jacobs to re- ceive a warrant and constitution from the Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem in Charleston, for the establishment of a like Council in Savannah, with the following officers : Abra- ham Jacobs, Sublime Grand Master; James Simpson, Sublime Grand Warden; Isaac Pranks, Sublime Grand Treasurer; Moses Sheftall, Sublime Grand Junior Warden, and John Cackles, Grand Master of Ceremonies.'" Moses Sheftall was a member of the Legislature, and also had been a Judge of the County Court."' Other records of Jews in Georgia lodges before 1810 are not accessible here. The names of a few Masons appearing at later dates, but no doubt initiated before, may be noted. In the Grand Lodge of Georgia, Jacob Cunes, who has just been mentioned, was Grand Tiler in 1807, and also in 1813.°'' Eobert Isaac, in 1818, was Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge. His name is spelled Isaacs in 1813 and 1814, when he was Senior Grand Warden. S. M. Mordeeai appears as Grand Tiler from 1813 to 1816, Isaac DeLyon as Grand Steward in 1818, Jacob DeLaMotta as Grand Secretary in 1830 and 1831, and A. DeLyon as Grand Pursuivant in the same years. In other States the records do not give any Jewish names among Masons before 1810, nearly all the records commencing after that date. ='" Register of Abraham Jacobs, supra. -" Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 12, p. 163. ="W. S. Rockwell, Ahiman Rezon of Orand Lodge of Georgia, and History of Freemasonry in Georgia, Savannah, Ga., 1859. 93 American Jewish Historical Society. The reference in the quotation at the beginning of this paper to a member of the Jewish race as Grand Master in Louisiana, has, through the kindness of an inquiry by Mr. Isaac Markens, been found to relate to Lucien Hermann, who was Grand Master in 1849. He is said, however, to have de- parted from the faith. A consideration of what has been said herein shows the probability of Jews having been the first to introduce Masonry into the Colonies, and that the period of their greatest activity as Masons in the early history of the Eepublic was between 1780 and 1810. The Jews described in this paper were men of parts and character, and distinguished in the early Ameri- can annals of their people. Their connection with the Order was no doubt of benefit to their coreligionists, as it was to themselves, and brought them into relations with many not of their race, prominent in the official and civil life of the country, who were also members of the fraternity. Nearly all were members of the Hebrew congregations in the cities where they resided. Though it is not maintained that be- cause they were Masons they arranged during 1790 for the addresses of their various congregations to Washington, yet the facts presented herein may very well be considered in sup- port of a theory that their connection with the Order made them feel doubly desirous to Join in the welcome to the head of the nation, who like themselves was a Mason. The singular fact stands out that in Newport the Jewish Master of the Masonic Lodge delivered, on behalf 'of his lodge, the first Masonic address to Washington as President, at the same time that he delivered his address on behalf of his congregation, and that many members of the Hebrew congregations in New York, Philadelphia, Eichmond, Charleston, and Savannah which likewise addressed Washington were also Masons. Many of the Jewish Masons of whom an account has been given were also soldiers in the Eevolution and probably met Wash- The Jews and Masonry — Oppenheim. 93 ington and exchanged Masonic greetings with him. Some of them, as shown, were aides-de-camp on his staff. Many of them held public ofBce. The number of Jews here in our early history was com- paratively small. Aside from the reference to them in Ehode Island in the seventeenth century, we saw in the foregoing pages, taken from printed accounts which other sources will undoubtedly amplify, that they were already connected with the Order soon after its revival here about 1737, and before the Revolution. Among these, we found the well-known names of Daniel and Moses Nunes in 1733-1734, and David Nunes and Abraham Sarzedas in 1757, in Georgia; Isaac Da Costa in 1753, in South Carolina; Jonas Phillips and Aaron Hart in 1760, Moses M. Hays in 1768, and Myer Myers and Isaac Moses in 1769, in New York; Moses Isaacs and Isaac Isaacs in 1760, David Lopez in 1762, Jacob Isaacs and Moses Lopez in 1763, and Isaac Blizer in 1765, in Rhode Island; Solomon Pinto and Ralph Isaacs in 1763, and Benjamin Isaacs in 1765, in Connecticut; Isaac Solomon in 1763 and Abraham Pranks in 1773, in Pennsylvania; Daniel Barnett in 1765 and Jacob Hart in 1773, in Maryland; and Hezekiah Levy, before 1771, in Virginia. After the Revolution we saw the names become more numerous. A few of the prominent among these, in addition to all those stUl to be mentioned, were Solomon Et- ting, Isaac Franks, Michael Gratz, Jacob Henry, Benjamin Nones, the Sheftalls, Haym Salomon, Joseph Darmstadt, Marcus Elcan, Hyman Marks, Jacob Mordecai, Joshua Moses, John Moss, Levy Nathan and Benjamin "Wolfe. Among Grand Masters we found Moses M. Hays, in Massachusetts, 1788-1793; Moses Seixas, in Ehode Island, 1803-1809; and Solomon Jacobs, in Virginia, 1810-1813. A number were Grand Treasurers and held other prominent positions in the Grand Lodge. Many were Masters or held some office in the lodge. In the early history of the Scottish Rite branch of the 94 American Jewish Historical Society. Order in Ehode Islajid, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia we saw them as the leading and apparently controlling figures, among these being Moses M. Hays, Moses Seixas, Isaac Da Costa, Solomon Bush, Abraham Forst, Samuel Myers, Joseph M. Myers, Barnard M. Spitzer, Simon Nathan, Benjamin Seixas, Hyman Isaac Long, Abra- ham Jacobs, Emanuel DeLaMotta, Israel Delieben, Jacob De Leon, Moses C. Levy, Sampson Simson, Joel Hart, Mordecai Mj^ers, and Moses Levi Maduro Peixotto. StrppLEMENTAL NoTE. — In all the lack of early Masonic records it is of interest to note, as bearing upon the claim of Hughan, referred to at pages 12 and 14, supra, that Israelites were unlikely to have patronized the Order in the seventeenth century, that a reference appears, by a well-known Masonic authority of the eighteenth century, to a prominent Jew of the seventeenth as a " brother." Lawrence Dermott, in his Ahiman Rezon, second edition, London, 1764, p. xxxiv, speaks of Rabbi Jacob Jehudah Leon, of Amsterdam (who was surnamed Temple from his con- struction of a finely executed model of Solomon's Temple), as " the learned Hebrewist, architect and hrotUer," and says that he saw in 1759 the original design of the Masonic coat of arms, now used by the Grand Lodge of England, made by Leon, which design Dermott described in his book. Cf. The Jewish Encyclopedia, title Leon, Vol. VIII, p. 2, and Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England, Vol. 2, p. 156. Leon was in England prior to 1678 and was a colleague of the Dutch Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel who was also in England prior to 1658. The latter was a colleague of Rabbi Isaac Aboab, of Amsterdam, referred to by Gould in his narrative, though the authority for Gould's reference Is not known. Hughan himself apparently recognized Leon as connected with the fraternity by presenting to the Grand Lodge of New York for its Collection of Masonic Antiquities, catalogued in 1905, photo- gravures, referred to by Dermott in his Ahiman Rezon, of a por- trait of Rabbi Leon, made in 1641, and of Illustrations of a model of Solomon's Temple designed by the Rabbi. See Nos. 62 and 63, of Printed Books, described in the catalogue of that Collection. Cf. further as to Leon and Dermott, Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Vol. XII-XIII, pp. 150 et seq.