Seixas family

The papers constitute a history of some of the descendants of Isaac Mendes and Rachel Levy Seixas, Portuguese Jews who immigrated to America circa 1734 . Several offspring of Isaac and Rachel Seixas held important roles in early synagogues and colonial Jewish affairs in New York ; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Newport, Rhode Island ; and Richmond, Virginia . Many were active in the establishment of civic economic institutions, such as the Bank of Rhode Island and the New York Stock Exchange and in philanthropic organizations, such as the Deaf and Dumb Institute in Philadelphia . Some were members of the military during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. Moses Mendes Seixas and Gershom Mendes Seixas were involved in events welcoming George Washington as the nation's first President.

The following lists significant members of the Seixas family that appear in these papers. A biography of Abraham I. Abrahams also follows.

References:

Berman, Myron. Richmond's Jewry, 1769-1976 . Charlottesville, 1979.

Ezekiel, Herbert T. and Gaston Lichtenstein. The History of the Jews of Richmond from 1769-1917 . Richmond, 1917.

Greenspahn, Frederick E. "The Beginnings of Judaic Studies in American Universities." Jewish History, vol. 20, no. 2, 2000, pgs. 209-225.

Grinstein, Hyman. The Rise of the Jewish Community of New York 1654-1860 . Philadelphia, 1976.

Gutstein, Morris A. The Story of the Jews of Newport: Two and a Half Centuries of Judaism, 1658-1908 . New York, 1936.

Libo, Kenneth and Abigail Kursheedt Hoffman. The Seixas-Kursheedts and the Rise of Early American Jewry . Block Publishing Company, 2001.

Marcus, Jacob R. American Jewry: Documents, Eighteenth Century . Cincinnati, 1959.

Marcus, Jacob R. Early American Jewry, Volumes I and II . Philadelphia, 1951, 1953.

Marcus, Jacob R. The Handsome Young Priest in the Black Gown; the Personal World of Gershom Seixas . Cincinnati, 1970.

Morais, Henry Samuel. The Jews of Philadelphia . Philadelphia, 1894.

Pool, David and Tamar de Sola. An Old Faith in the New World . New York, 1955.

Pool, David de Sola. Portraits Etched in Stone . New York, 1952.

Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society . Volumes 4 (1896), 6 (1897), 19 (1910), 27 (1920), and 45 (1955-1956).

Rosenbloom, Joseph R. A Biographical Dictionary of Early American Jews: Colonial Times through 1800 . University of Kentucky Press, 1960.

Stern, Malcolm H. First American Jewish Families . Baltimore, 1978.

Wolf, Edwin and Maxwell Whiteman. The History of the Jews of Philadelphia from Colonial Times to the Age of Jackson . Philadelphia, 1975.

Isaac Mendes Seixas, September 5, 1709-November 3 1781/1782 . Son of Abraham Mendes and Abigail Seixas, Isaac Mendes came to America from Lisbon, Portugal about 1734 . He was naturalized in 1745 and elected constable in New York City, but was not eligible for the position, being neither a freeman nor a freeholder. He moved to Newport, Rhode Island and lived there until the Revolutionary War, when he moved to Stratford, Connecticut . He returned to Newport after the war, and died shortly after. He married Rachel Levy about 1740, they had eight children: Abraham (died in infancy), Abigail ( 1742-1819 ), Moses (1744-1809), Gershom (1745-1816), Benjamin (1747-1817), Abraham ( 1751-1799 ), Grace ( 1752-1831 ), and Raphael (died in infancy).

Moses Mendes Seixas, March 28, 1744-November 29, 1809 . Son of Isaac Mendes Seixas, brother of Gershom . He was one of the organizers and first cashier of the Bank of Rhode Island . The bank conducted its business in his house until 1818 . After the British occupied Newport during the Revolutionary War, Moses M. Seixas remained in Newport and was among the signers of a document pledging loyalty to the patriot cause. In 1790 he was president of the congregation in Newport, Jeshuat Israel and addressed George Washington in an historic letter of welcome. He was a charter member and in 1802 became first grand master of St. John's Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Newport . Moses Mendes Seixas married Jochebed Levy in 1770 and they had eight children: Rachel ( 1773-1822 ), Benjamin ( 1775-1843 ), Judith ( 1777-1829 ), Isaac ( 1779-1786 ), Bella ( 1781-1860 ), Abigail ( 1782-1854 ), Gershom (died in infancy), Grace ( 1786-1865 ), and Hetty ( 1790-1854 ).

Gershom Mendes Seixas, 1746-1816 . Son of Isaac Mendes Seixas . He was the first native-born minister in the United States and one of the most noted of early American Jews. During the Revolutionary War he fled first to Stratford, Connecticut where he joined his father ( 1776 ), residing as well in Norwalk, Connecticut . In 1780, he moved his family to Philadelphia ( 1780 ), where he served as minister and helped establish Congregation Mikveh Israel. He returned to New York in 1784, one year before his first wife Elkalah died. He may have been present at the inauguration of George Washington in New York in 1789 . As Hazzan (prayer leader) of Congregation Shearith Israel, he also served at times as the community's mohel (circumciser), teacher, and shochet (ritual slaughterer). He founded the oldest existing Jewish philanthropic organization in New York, Hebra Hased Va-Amet ( 1802- ), a funeral society. He also initiated the formation of a charity society, Kalfe Sedaka Mattan Basether ( 1798-1816 ). He was a trustee of Columbia College from 1784-1814 . He married Elkalah Myers-Cohen ( 1749-1785 ) in 1775 in New York and they had four children: Isaac (died in infancy), Sarah Abigail (1778-1854), Rebecca Mendes ( 1780-1867 ), and Benjamin ( 1783-1847 ). He then married Hannah Manuel ( 1766-1856 ) in 1786 and they had eleven children: David (1788-1864), Grace (1789-1826), Samuel ( 1792-1852 ), Joseph ( 1794-? ), Elkalah ( ?-1831 ), Rachel ( 1801-1827 ), Joshua (1802-187?), Theodore J. ( 1803-1882 ) and his twin Henry ( 1803-1822 ), Lucy Orah ( 1804-1825 ), Selina ( 1806-1883 ), and Myrtilla ( 1807-1859 ).

Benjamin Mendes Seixas, January 17, 1747-August 16, 1817 . Son of Isaac Mendes Seixas, brother of Gershom . Born in Newport, RI, he came to New York as a young man. There he became a freeman of New York City, owning a saddler shop on Broad Street. He served as third lieutenant in the Fusiliers Company of the First Battalion of the New York Militia. He joined his parents in Stratford, Connecticut when the British overtook New York during the American Revolution, but was married in Philadelphia in 1779 by his brother Gershom. While a resident of Philadelphia, Benjamin Mendes Seixas engaged in privateering with Isaac Moses, and was a mason and treasurer at the Sublime Lodge of Perfection. He also served as a trustee for the Philadelphia congregation Mikveh Israel. In 1784, Benjamin Mendes Seixas returned to New York and opened a dry goods store. He was active in Congregation Shearith Israel, serving among his roles, as chairman of the board, trustee, and president. He was one of the founders of the New York Stock Exchange and became an auctioneer later in his life. He married Zipporah Levy on January 27, 1779 in Philadelphia . They had twenty-one children: Abigail ( 1779-1782 ), Moses B. ( 1780-1839 ), Isaac B. (1781-1839), Rebecca B. ( 1782-1868 ), Abigail ( 1784-1860 ), Abraham ( 1786-1834 ), Solomon ( 1787-1840 ), Esther B. ( 1789-1872 ), Sarah ( 1791-1834 ), Madison (died in infancy), three more, Hayman Levy ( 1792-1865 ), Grace ( 1794-1866 ), Jacob B. (1795-1854), Aaron ( 1796-1849 ), Rachel ( 1798-1861 ), Daniel ( 1800-1886 ), Miriam ( 1802-1833 ), and Leah ( 1805-1886 ).

Sarah Abigail Seixas Kursheedt, February 10, 1778-August 4, 1854 . Daughter of Gershom Mendes Seixas . Born in Stratford, Connecticut where her parents had fled after the British occupied New York, Congregation Shearith Israel's historian and religious leader David Sola de Pool considers Sarah Seixas Kursheedt as Gershom's favorite daughter. She was a loyal correspondent with her father and other family members. On January 18, 1804, she married merchant and broker Israel Baer Kursheedt, a learned Jewish scholar who was active in philanthropic societies. The couple had nine children: Elkaleh ( 1805-1883 ), Jeanette ( 1807-1901 ), Asher ( 1808-1893 ), Alexander ( 1811-1884 ), Isaac Mendes ( 1814-1886 ), Anna Augusta ( ?-1876 ), Gershom ( 1817-1863 ), Rebecca ( 1819-1875 ), and Miriam ( 1821-1866 ).

Isaac Benjamin Seixas, November 22, 1781-August 10, 1839 . Son of Benjamin Mendes Seixas . Born in Philadelphia, the third of twenty-one children, Isaac Benjamin Seixas came to New York as a child when his parents returned there in 1784 after the Revolutionary War. In 1806, he was the reader for congregation Beth Shalome in Richmond, Virginia . Records indicate he owned a store in Richmond in 1808 . Isaac Benjamin Seixas served in the War of 1812 and in 1813 he was a second corporal in the Richmond Light Infantry Blues. From 1828 until his death he was the hazzan for Congregation Shearith Israel in New York . He married his cousin Rebecca Judah on May 31, 1809 in Richmond . The couple had eight children: Abigail ( 1811-? ), Benjamin (died in infancy), Hillel Mendes ( 1814-1874 ), Zipporah ( 1816-1839 ), Benjamin ( 1818-1840 ), Gershom ( 1820-? ), Rachel ( 1822-? ), and Sloe Virginia (died in infancy).

David G. Seixas, 1788-March 19, 1864 . Son of Gershom Mendes Seixas . Born in New York, David G. Seixas moved to Philadelphia where by 1811 he owned a small crockery store. When English imports of crockery were banned during the War of 1812, David G. Seixas manufactured crockery and has been credited as father of this art in the U.S. He also served in the military during the War of 1812. In 1819, he began bringing deaf children into his home to care and teach them. In May 1820, he established the Deaf and Dumb Institute in Philadelphia and served as the Principal until he retired in 1821 . He established a brewery in New York in 1834, and in 1840 he was among the first to introduce daguerreotypes in the United States . He also discovered ways of burning anthracite coal, and manufactured sealing wax, printer's ink, and enamel-surfaced visiting cards. He joined his brother Theodore J. Seixas in South Bend, Indiana, where he died unmarried.

Grace Seixas Judah, December 7, 1789-August 20, 1826 . Daughter of Gershom Mendes Seixas . She married her cousin Manuel Judah, an auctioneer and merchant of distilled liquor, who was one of the founders of Richmond Jewry and active in the Richmond Light Infantry Blues. The couple had three children: Abigail ( 1816-1898 ), Louisa Leah ( ?-1838 ), and Gershom (?).

Jacob B. Seixas, July 30, 1795-March 15, 1854 . Son of Benjamin Mendes Seixas . Jacob Seixas was a music teacher and performer who arranged a choral group to sing at the dedications of new synagogue buildings for both Congregation Shearith Israel in 1818 and Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia in 1825 . He died unmarried.

Joshua Seixas, June 4, 1802-187? . Son of Gershom Mendes Seixas . Joshua converted to Christianity early in his life, and taught Hebrew at Oberlin and Western Reserve Colleges in Ohio . He published his first edition of A Manual of Hebrew Grammar in 1834, the same year he wrote to his friend Elizabeth as noted in the collection. Joshua Seixas married Henrietta Raphael in Richmond, and the couple had ten children: Julia Ann ( 1822-? ), Esther H. ( 1825-? ), Myrtilla ( 1827-? ), Grace ( 1827-? ), Virginia ( 1829-? ), Theodora ( 1831-? ), Henrietta Francis ( 1833-1902 ), Gershom Arnold ( 1835-1919 ), Selina ( 1838-1917 ), and Seraphine ( 1840-? )

Naphtali Moses Taylor Phillips, December 5, 1868-April 30, 1955 . Grandson of Rachel Seixas Phillips and Napthali Phillips. Rachel Seixas Phillips was the daughter of Moses Mendes Seixas . N. Taylor Phillips was a lawyer active in public service. One of the founders of the American Jewish Historical Society, he acted as its treasurer and later Vice-President. He also served for three years in the New York State Legislature and for eight years as deputy and then acting comptroller of New York City . At the age of fifty, he requested military duty during World War I and held the position of captain based in Washington, D.C. He served as clerk for Congregation Shearith Israel for thirty-two years, and as its president for eight years. He married Rosalie Solomons in Washington, D.C. on March 9, 1892 . The couple had no children.

Abraham Isaac Abrahams, 1720-August 10, 1796 . (No relation to the Seixas Family) Abraham, son of Isaac Abrahams, was of Lithuanian descent. He served as a constable in New York City in 1753, and also was a tobacconist, distiller, and merchant. He traveled widely in the colonies as a mohel and also was a Hebrew teacher. He taught for Congregation Shearith Israel from 1762-1775 . A circumcision register Abrahams compiled is available in the Jacques Judah Lyons Collection (P-15) .