Papers of Seixas Family

This Collectiom contains the records of the Seixas family, specfically of the descendants of Isaac Mendes and Rachel Levy Seixas, Portuguese Jews who immigrated to North America in around 1734. Their children and descendants held important roles in the colonial Jewish communities of New York, Philadelphia, Newport, and Richmond. Many were active in the establishment of civic economic institutions--such as the Bank of Rhode Island, and the New York Stock Exchange--as well as in philanthropic organizations. Family members served in the Revolutionary War, and in the War of 1812.

Please find below a listing of significant members of the Seixas family, whose records are included in this collection.

Isaac Mendes Seixas, September 5, 1709-November 3 1781/2.

Son of Abraham Mendes and Abigail Seixas, Isaac Mendes emigrated from Lisbon, Portugal to North America in 1734. He was naturalized in New York in 1745, and settled in Newport until the Revolutionary War, at which point he moved to Stratford, CT. He returned to Newport after the war, and died shortly thereafter.

Isaac Mendes married Rachel Levy in 1740; they had eight children together: 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, Moses Mendes Seixas was one of the founders of the Bank of Rhode Island. The bank conducted its business out of his house until 1818.

Moses remained in Newport when it was occupied by the British during the Revolutionary War, where he was among the signatories of a document pledging loyalty to the patriot cause. Later, he welcomed George Washington in a historic letter of welcome. In 1790 he served as President of Congregation Jeshuat Israel in Newport; and he was a charter member, and, in 1802 became the first grand master of, St. John's Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Newport.

Moses Mendes Seixas married Jochebed Levy in 1770. They had eight children together: 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, Gershom 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 to Stratford, CT, and resided in Norwalk, CT. In 1780, he moved his family to Philadelphia, where he served as minister in and helped to establish Congregation Mikveh Israel. He returned to New York in 1784, where he may have been present at the 1789 inauguration of George Washington.

As Hazzan (prayer leader) of Congregation Shearith Israel, he also served as the community's mohel (circumciser), teacher, and shochet (ritual slaughterer). He founded the oldest existing Jewish philanthropic organization in New York, the funeral society Hebra Hased Va-Amet. He also initiated the formation of a charity society, Kalfe Sedaka Mattan Basether, and was a trustee of Columbia College between 1784 and 1814.

Gershom married Elkalah Myers-Cohen (1749-1785) in 1775. They had four children together: Isaac (died in infancy), Sarah Abigail (1778-1854), Rebecca Mendes (1780-1867), and Benjamin (1783-1847). After Elkalah's death, Gershom married Hannah Manuel (1766-1856) in 1786. Gershom and Hannah had eleven children together: David (1788-1864), Grace (1789-1826), Samuel (1792-1852), Joseph (b. 1794), Elkalah (d. 1831), Rachel (1801-1827), Joshua (b. 1802), twins Theodore J. (1803-1882) and 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, Benjamin was born in Newport, RI. He moved to New York as a young man where he became a freeman, and owned a saddler shop on Broad Street.

He served as third lieutenant in the Fusiliers Company of the First Battalion of the New York Militia, and joined his parents in Stratford, CT when the British occupied New York.

During the American Revolution, Benjamin moved to Philadelphia, where he engaged in privateering with Isaac Moses, and joined the masons. He also served as a trustee for the Philadelphia congregation Mikveh Israel.

He returned to New York in 1784, where he opened a dry goods store, and later co-founded the New York Stock Exchange. There, he was active in Congregation Shearith Israel, and served on its board, as a trustee, and as its President. Later in his life, he took work as an auctioneer.

Benjamin married Zipporah Levy on January 27, 1779 while living in Philadelphia. They had twenty-one children together: Abigail (1779-1782), Moses (1780-1839), Isaac (1781-1839), Rebecca (1782-1868), Abigail (1784-1860), Abraham (1786-1834), Solomon (1787-1840), Esther (1789-1872), Sarah (1791-1834), Madison (died in infancy), Hayman Levy (1792-1865), Grace (1794-1866), Jacob (1795-1854), Aaron (1796-1849), Rachel (1798-1861), Daniel (1800-1886), Miriam (1802-1833), Leah (1805-1886), and three more whose names are not known.

Sarah Abigail Seixas Kursheedt, February 10, 1778-August 4, 1854.

Daughter of Gershom Mendes Seixas, Sarah Abigail was born in Stratford, CT, where her parents fled following the British occupation of New York. She maintained lifelong correspondence with her father and other family members.

On January 18, 1804, she married merchant, broker, philanthropist, and scholar Israel Baer Kursheedt. Together, they had had nine children: Elkaleh (1805-1883), Jeanette (1807-1901), Asher (1808-1893), Alexander (1811-1884), Isaac Mendes (1814-1886), Anna Augusta (d. 1876), Gershom (1817-1863), Rebecca (1819-1875), and Miriam (1821-1866).

Isaac Benjamin Seixas, November 22, 1781-August 10, 1839.

The third of Benjamin Mendes Seixas' 21 children, Isaac Benjamin Seixas moved to New York as a child in 1784 when his parents returned there after the Revolutionary War.

In 1806, Isaac owned a store, and served as reader for Congregation Beth Shalome in Richmond, VA. He 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 (b. 1811), Benjamin (died in infancy), Hillel Mendes (1814-1874), Zipporah (1816-1839), Benjamin (1818-1840), Gershom (b. 1820), Rachel (b. 1822), and Sloe Virginia (died in infancy).

David G. Seixas, 1788-March 19, 1864.

Born to Gershom Mendes Seixas in New York, David G. Seixas spent most of his life in Philadelphia. There, he owned a small crockery store; he has been credited as father of this art in the United States. He established a brewery in New York in 1834; in 1840, he was among the first to introduce daguerreotypes in the United States; and he discovered ways of burning anthracite coal, and manufactured sealing wax, printer's ink, and enamel-surfaced visiting cards.

David served in the military during the War of 1812 and, in 1819, he began bringing deaf children into his home to care for and teach them. In May 1820, he established the Deaf and Dumb Institute in Philadelphia, serving as Principal until his retirement in 1821.

He joined his brother Theodore J. Seixas in South Bend, IN, where he lived until his death.

Grace Seixas Judah, December 7, 1789-August 20, 1826.

Daughter of Gershom Mendes Seixas, Grace married her cousin Manuel Judah; an auctioneer and merchant of distilled liquor, and one of the founders of the Jewish community Richmond, VA. Together, they had three children: Abigail (1816-1898), Louisa Leah (d. 1838), and Gershom. Abigail, their only child who survived until adulthood, married Ashur Kursheedt, a Seixas cousin, in 1839.

Jacob B. Seixas, July 30, 1795-March 15, 1854.

Son of Benjamin Mendes Seixas, Jacob Seixas was a performer, a music teacher, and choir director.

Joshua Seixas, June 4, 1802-187?.

Son of Gershom Mendes Seixas, Joshua converted to Christianity early in his life. He taught Hebrew at Oberlin College, and at Western Reserve College. He published his first edition of A Manual of Hebrew Grammar in 1834.

Joshua Seixas married Henrietta Raphael in Richmond; they had ten children together: Julia Ann (b. 1822), Esther H. (b. 1825), Myrtilla (b. 1827), Grace (b. 1827), Virginia (b. 1829), Theodora (b. 1831), Henrietta Francis (1833-1902), Gershom Arnold (1835-1919), Selina (1838-1917), and Seraphine (b. 1840).

Naphtali Moses Taylor Phillips, December 5, 1868-April 30, 1955.

Grandson of Rachel Seixas Phillips and Napthali Phillips, N. Taylor Phillips was a lawyer active in public service. He was one of the founders of the American Jewish Historical Society, and served as both its treasurer and Vice-President. He served as clerk for Congregation Shearith Israel for thirty-two years, and as its president for eight years.

He served in the New York State Legislature for three years, and as the deputy and then acting comptroller of New York City for eight years.

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 married Rosalie Solomons in Washington, D.C. on March 9, 1892. he couple had no children.

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.