Lopez, Aaron, 1731-1782

Colonial merchant and shipper, Aaron Lopez was born in Portugal in 1831. He immigrated to Newport,Rhode Island in 1752 where he was engaged primarily in the whale oil and candle business, although healso dealt in livestock, groceries, rum, ships, clothing, and slaves. During the 1760s and 1770s, he builtan extensive transatlantic mercantile empire and on the eve of the American Revolution, Lopez wasNewport's leading merchant and taxpayer. During the Revolution, he supported the colonials and withdrewfrom British-threatened Newport which greatly diminished his business. He died in 1782 before he couldrecoup his losses.

Aaron Lopez (1731–1782), born Duarte Lopez, was a merchant, slave trader, and philanthropist in colonial Rhode Island. Through his varied commercial ventures, he became the wealthiest person in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1761 and 1762, Lopez unsuccessfully sued the Rhode Island colonial government for citizenship. Duarte Lopez was born in 1731 in Lisbon, Portugal. He belonged to a family of conversos, Portuguese Jews who had converted to Catholicism, Aaron's older brother José had left Portugal years earlier, began to openly practise Judaism, and changed his given name to Moses.[1] Moses was naturalized in 1740 and granted a license by the General Assembly to make potash in 1753, and he became a successful merchant in Newport.[4] In 1752 Duarte and his family moved to Newport, where they too reclaimed their Jewish identities and became Aaron, Abigail, and Sarah.[1][5] Lopez established himself as a shopkeeper in Newport shortly after his arrival. By 1755 he was buying and selling goods throughout Rhode Island and dealing with agents in Boston and New York Between 1761 and 1774, Lopez was involved in the slave trade. By the beginning of the American Revolution, Lopez owned or controlled 30 vessels, engaged in the European and West Indian trade and in whale fisheries By the early 1770s, Lopez had become the wealthiest person in Newport; opez supported a number of charitable causes in Newport. He purchased books for the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. He contributed lumber to help build the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (which later relocated to Providence and eventually became Brown University),[18] and he donated land to establish Leicester Academy in Leicester, Massachusetts. It has been said about him that he was 'a man of eminent probity and benevolence whose bounties were widely diffused, not confined to creed or sect.'[19]

Lopez was a leading contributor who helped build the Touro Synagogue, and he was given the honor of laying one of its cornerstones.[20][21]

During the American Revolution, Lopez harbored Jewish refugees in his Leicester home. Referring to those sheltered by Lopez, a friend wrote in jest that "your family at present are in a number only 99 and still there is room for one more".[22] In 1761, Lopez applied to the Rhode Island Superior Court to become a naturalized citizen. . Although he met the conditions set by law, Lopez's request was denied by the colonial government of Rhode Island.[23] Another qualified Jew, Isaac Elizer, was also denied citizenship The Superior Court heard the pair's appeal on March 11, 1762. Their application was denied a second time. The court reasoned that the 1740 act was intended to increase the population of the colony, and since the colony had grown crowded the law no longer applied. The court also noted that under a 1663 Rhode Island law, only Christians could become citizens.[27] Lopez and Elizer could not become citizens of Rhode Island.[24][26][28]

Determined to become a citizen, Lopez made inquiries to learn whether he could become naturalized in another colony. In April 1762 he moved temporarily to Swansea, Massachusetts.[26] On October 15, 1762, Lopez became a citizen of Massachusetts and then returned to Newport. Historians believe Lopez was the first Jew to become a naturalized citizen of Massachusetts.[29]

Death
On May 28, 1782, while returning with his family from Leicester to Newport, he drowned when his horse and carriage fell into a pond.[30][31] He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Newport.[32][33]