Mordecai, Sarah Ann Hays

Sarah Ann Hays Mordecai (1805-1894)

Sarah Ann Hays was born on September 27, 1805 to Samuel and Richea Gratz Hays. One of her maternal aunts was Rebecca Gratz (see *P-8 ), the founder of the Jewish Sunday School Society, about whom Sarah published a book in 1893.

She married Alfred Mordecai, who served in the Mexican War, on June 1, 1836 in Philadelphia, and the couple had eight children, including Alfred Mordecai, Jr., an officer in the Civil War, and Laura, Miriam and Rosa Mordecai, whose papers are collected in the Mordecai family papers (*P-116).

As a member of the interconnected network of elite Jewish families of the early 19 th century, Mordecai traveled in high social circles and was acquainted with many of the influential Americans - Jews and non-Jews - of the era.

Sarah Ann Hays Mordecai died on May 26, 1894, in Philadelphia.

1 Source: Malcolm Stern, First American Jewish Families .