
All references are in The
Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews
Moseh Hamis, a Jew
residing in Barbados, prepared a will in Portuguese dated March 26, 1684, in which he and his wife directed that 2,000 lbs.
of sugar be paid after their death to his son Simon Massiah "to help in the purchase of a young negress."
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It is my last wish that our slaves named Consciencia continue serving my said Wife
all her life, & if she serves her faithfully, & with love and due respect as if I had been living, I desire &
direct that on the death of my said wife she shall become free, without any person or persons, heirs of myself or my wife,
having the right to keep her captive; this being a reward for her good service to me, and as I hope to my wife.
Isaac Harby (1788-1828)
was a Charleston, South Carolina, dramatist and political essayist and president of the Reform Society of Israelites. He regularly
wrote in opposition to "the abolitionist society and its secret branches," as early as 1824. He edited the Quiver,
the Investigator, and the Southern Patriot, and contributed to the Mercury and the Courier.
Aaron Hart, in his
will of 1762, bequeathed to his servant, "a mourning gown."
Ephraim Hart (1747-1825),
a wealthy New York stockbroker, land speculator and state senator (in 1810), enslaved at least one Black woman named "Silvia."
He was an official of Congregation Shearith Israel, and founder of its burial society Hebra Hesed ve Emet, as well as a member
of the Philadelphia Synagogue.
Henry Hart, a "Jew
Tailor" of Arundel County, Maryland, was accused in 1752 of an illicit relationship with a maid. He was sentenced to serve
a man named McNamara for six months "for the Damage Sustained...on Acct. of the said Henry Hart begetting a Bastard child
on the body of Susanna Talome, a Servant belonging to the said McNamara."
Isaac Hart (d. 1780)
was a founder and member of Newport's Touro Synagogue. His firm, Naphtali Hart & Co., shipped and traded in Black slaves
and cultivated their New England property with hired hands and slaves. He sided with and supplied the British during the Revolutionary
War and was shot to death by the Continental army.
Jacob Hart (b. 1781)
came to New Orleans from New York in 1804 and traded in slave ships and African people. In 1808, Hart advertised in Saint
Dominigue for the sale of three Black people, including a cook, two fisherman and a tailor who spoke English and French fluently.
In 1810, he bought two Africans in Florida. The 1820 census reports that he imprisoned seven African people as slaves. He
became the owner of a number of vessels, including the schooner Celestine, and he brokered the
sale of four African citizens. At the time of his bankruptcy in 1823, he held fourteen Black hostages.
Levy Hart owned a
general merchandise business firm in Savannah, Georgia, in the early 1800s. "Unlucky in 'chattel,' he was exasperated by a
very valuable slave, Sandy, who functioned as a butcher, and was prone to 'take off' now and again."
Michael Hart (d.
1813), an Easton, Pennsylvania, Indian trader, "never acquired wealth" but he owned a stone house, collected some silverplate,
owned a slave and sold whiskey to the Indians "in hundreds of gallons."
Though Michael Hart (d.
1861) was from New York, he owned a Virginia plantation. When he feared that Richmond would be taken by the Union Army in
the Civil War, his son escaped with "most of the slaves belonging to the estate."
Moses Hart, son of
Aaron, was sent to Albany in 1786, where his mother:
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wanted him to buy a good Negro wench for houseworke [because the] last one had died
-- and if the price was right [his] father wanted a Negro hand who knew something about farming, could handle an ax, and work
in the garden.
Myer Hart, of Easton
on the Delaware, was the richest man in town and one of the founding fathers. In 1768, he owned "two houses, a bond servant,
six lots, a horse, a cow, and his stock in trade."
Nathan Hart, of Newport,
informed the community by newspaper advertisement on March 18, 1765, that among other things, he "also wants to purchase a
negro."
Nathan Hart was the
constable of Charleston in 1821, whose job it was to punish runaway slaves. In October of 1827, he sold five slaves to Sophie Monsanto, and he was listed as enslaving fifteen Blacks in the census of 1830.
Philip Hart (1727-1796)
was a Charleston Jew with at least one African captive named "Flora."
Samuel Hart came
to Louisiana via England and by 1823 he owned half of the steamboat United States and "four Negro
slaves," $20,000 in bank stock and two lots in Louisville, Kentucky. He had a "slave mistress" named "Polly" with a "mulatto
child." Hart cut them from his will and added "Cecilia Beni," "a woman of color," and her four children, presumably all his.
David Hays (1732-1812),a
farmer and storekeeper and son of Jacob Hays, fought against the Indians in the French and Indian
War. One of his Black captives was named "Darby." The inventory of his estate, valued at $3,658.98, included the following
items all valued greater than or equal to his Black humans.
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An inventory of the Goods, Chattels & Effect belonging to the Estate of David
Hays of the Township of Mount Pleasant, Deceased.
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6 Cows @ $15 $90
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1Colt 12.50
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1 Yoke Oxen 50
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3 Calves @ $3.50 10.50
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1 fat Steer 18
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2 fat Cows @ $18 36
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1 Bay Horse 10
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1/2 field Rye 25
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1/2 field Corn 15
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1 field Corn 15
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1 field Wheat 15
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1 Lott Buckwheat 17.50
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1 Windfan 12
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10 Sheep @ $1 10
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1 Lott wheat in the Sheaf 15
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1 Lott Rye 15
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1 Lott Oats 10
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1 Lot Hay in the Barn 10
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8 Stacks Hay @ $5 40
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1 Mare & yearling Colt 14
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14 Hogs @ $5 70
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1 Ton of plaster 15.75
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1 Waggon & Harness 25
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4 feather beds 25
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1 Lot silver Plate 15
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1 Silver Watch 20
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1 Black Girl 10
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1 Black Woman 10
Grace Hays (d. 1740)
conveyed in her will, "fifty ounces of sterling wrought silver plate and the best negro slave which I should be possessed
of..."
Judah Hays (1703-1764)
was a New York merchant and shipowner who was elected constable in 1736. His Black captives were allegedly part of a foiled
1741 plot to burn the city and escape from their Jewish captors. "Like other well-to-do men of his period," wrote Harold Korn,
"he bought negroes and the time of indentured servants. He paid £80 for a negro man named Aaron and £20 for four years' service
of an indentured boy named John Camble."
Hays had some apparent difficulties tracking his runaway
slave "Sarah" when he ran this ad in February of 1751:
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Run away last Sunday night, from Judah Hays, a Negroe wench, named Sarah, aged about
30 years; she is a likely wench, of a Mulatto complexion, was brought up at Amboy, in Col. Hamilton's family, and has had
several Masters in the Jerseys: She dresses very well, has a good parcel of cloaths, and speaks good English. Whoever takes
up the said wench, and brings her to her said master, or secures her in any county goal, so that he may have her again, shall
receive Forty Shillings reward, and reasonable charges. Whoever entertains said wench, shall be prosecuted with the utmost
rigour of the law. All masters of vessels, boat-men, &c. are forewarned of conveying said wench away, as they shall answer
the same. Judah Hays
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N.B. Said wench has robb'd her said master, in apparel, &c. upwards of Fifty Pounds.
And this one in May of 1751:
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Whereas the subscriber hereof, has great reason to apprehend that his Negroe wench
Sarah, formerly advertised in this paper, has been and is now harboured and concealed by some white person in this town; this
is to give publick notice, that whoever brings said wench to me, or has her confined in goal, shall immediately receive from
me Five Pounds as a reward: And farther, that whoever will give information upon oath, who it is that harbours and detains
said Negroe wench, shall have Ten Pounds reward.
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N.B. All masters of vessels, boatmen and others, are cautioned against taking said
wench on board, as she has lately been seen in sailors dress. Judah Hays.
All references are in the publication: "The Secret
Relationsip Between Blacks and Jews".
Samuel Hays (1764-1838)
of Philadelphia was a slave owner and active Mason who is remembered as a humanitarian because he arranged to have his slaves
liberated. He reserved the right, however, to keep them as indentured servants.
Abraham Baruch Henriques,
a Portuguese Jew of Barbados, bequeathed to his family the "liberty to sell houses, slaves or plantations..."
David Henriques was
a Jamaican-Jewish slave-marketing "specialist" in the late eighteenth century.
Manuel Dias Henriques
(probably the same as Manuel Diaz Enriquez) "lived in New Spain during the early 1620s where he
had been a representative of Portuguese slave traders." He was accused of being a Jew by Inquisitional authorities in early
17th century New Spain. Though unnamed in the historical record, his uncle was described as, "a broker or dealer in Negro
slaves."
Jacob Henry held
a seat in the House of Commons of North Carolina in 1808. He was the son of Joel and
Amelia Henry, who in 1810, held ten Black African slaves. Jacob's household consisted of twelve Black hostages, according
to the census of 1810; in 1820 that number is believed to have increased to fifteen.
Isaac Hermann (1838-1917);
author Jacob R. Marcus described him as follows:
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In the Reconstruction period, Hermann was a leader in the movement to organize the
veterans into an association whose primary aim, it would seem, was to protect the whites against the Negro freedmen....[H]e
worked to restore white supremacy and to resist what he believed to be the encroachments of the Negroes.
Samuel Hermann was
a New Orleans merchant and banker and partner of Asher Moses Nathan, and according to census data
of 1810 he enslaved four Blacks, ten in 1820 and seventeen in 1830. His dealings in Blacks were "extensive." In 1825, he sold
16 Black Africans to various farmers.
Solomon Heydenfeldt (1816-1890)
of California gave up his judgeship because his position automatically bound him to the Union but his sympathies were with
the Confederacy. Jewish historians have claimed that he was against slavery, and yet, contrarily, he wrote in a pamphlet of
the "unjust and bitter crusades of the Northern Abolitionists." He was a "passionate secessionist" and thought Lincoln's slave
emancipation plan of 1861 to be "tyranny." He opposed the importation of slaves into Alabama in 1849, not for any humanitarian
reason, but because of "the unproductiveness of slave labor, and its gradual, but certain, impoverishment of our State, is
a sufficient reason for limiting its farther propagation among us." He felt that when other states recognized the uneconomic
character of slave labor they would dump the freed Africans on Alabama.
Aaron Hirsch (1829-1911)
was a French Jew who settled in New Orleans and later became a resident of Mississippi and Arkansas. He was a strong Confederate
who expressed the Jewish sentiment of his time when in the 1860s he stated that:
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the institution of slavery as it existed in the south was not so great a wrong as people
believe. The Negroes were brought here in a savage state; they captured and ate each other in their African home. Here they
were instructed to work, were civilized and got religion, and were perfectly happy.
Hirsch spoke in favor of slavery because the plantation
owners were his customers. He owned slaves and bought and sold them in his Batesville, Arkansas, business, Hirsch & Adler.
During the Civil War he bought six Blacks and later exchanged them for a farm. He was against the proposal to free the slaves
who had fought for the Confederacy, reasoning that the war was fought to keep them enslaved.
Haham Jeossuha His
advertised in the Royal Gazette of Kingston, Jamaica, for the return of a runaway slave on December
15, 1792.
Uriah Hyam (d. 1740)
was a New York merchant, member of Shearith Israel and slave maker. He held Black people against their will and one, named
"Cavandro," he bequeathed to his son, Andrew Israel, in his 1740 will.
Henry Hyams was a
staunch supporter of slavery, Jewish leader, and lieutenant governor of Louisiana in 1859.
Samuel Hyams of Charleston
had more than twenty African hostages. As the 1822 keeper of the jail, his job was to incarcerate freedom-seeking Blacks.
Levi Hyman was a
merchant and landowner who lived at his plantation estate in St. Andrew, Jamaica, called "Hyman's Delight." In 1811, he held
32 African citizens, 46 in 1821 and 45 in 1830.
Rev. Bernard Illowy (1812-1871)
of Baltimore was a Jewish spiritual leader and vocal supporter of the American slave system. He said that the Abolitionists
had "thrown the country into a general state of confusion" and called them "ambitious aspirants and selfish politicians."
Abraham Isaacks paid
a £700 debt to Nathan Simson with "feathers, flour, cider, negro slaves and cash."
Jacob Isaacks was
a Newport merchant who frequently bought and sold Black human beings even from his home on Broad Street. One 1777 advertisement
offered "Foodstuffs, pork, negro man and woman." He placed ads in the Newport Mercury over the
next seven years for the sale of "negroes" at least five times.
Born in Germany, Isaiah Isaacs
(1747-1806) was the first Jew in Richmond, Virginia, and a founder of the Congregation Beth Shalome, a grantor of its
cemetery land and a slave driver. In 1788, he was elected to the Common Hall. He was in slave-making alliance with Jacob I.
Cohen and held Black Africans named "Lucy," "James," "Polly," "Henry" and "Rachel," and her children "Clement Washington"
and "Mary." His business firm once took a Black captive as security for a debt. Isaacs placed this advertisement in the Virginia Gazette or American Advertiser on June 1, 1782:
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TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD
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RAN AWAY from the subscriber, living in the town of Richmond, a very likely Negro woman
named MOLLY, lately the property of Mr. Edward Busbel, of Gloucester-town; she is much pitted with the small-pox, about twenty-two
years old, and about five feet six inches high; had on when she went away, a Virginia cloth vest and petticoat, checked; she
had with her a checked apron, a callico petticoat, and a pair of leather high-heeled country made shoes. I expect she will
make towards Williamsburg or Gloucester-town, as she came from those parts a few days ago. She had four horse-locks fastened
on her legs when she went away. Whoever apprehends and delivers the said Negro to me, shall receive the above reward and reasonable
charges, paid by ISA[I]AH ISAACS.
Referring to the words of Isaacs, the great Jewish
scholar Jacob R. Marcus wrote that "the following phrases [are] redolent of the spirit of the great Virginians of [Isaacs']
generation":
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Being of the opinion that all men are by nature equally free, and being possessed of
some of those beings who are unfortunate[ly], doomed to slavery, as to them I must enjoin my executor a strict observance
of the following clause in my will. My slaves...are hereby manumeted and made free, so that after [30 years] they shall enjoy
all the privileges and immunities of freed people....Each one of my slaves is to receive the value of twenty dollars in clothing
on the days of their manumission.
Samuel Isaacs (Isaaks),
from one of the original 300 families to populate Texas (comprised of 1,800 persons and 443 slaves), was allotted "a Spanish
Grant of one league (4,428.4 acres grazing land) and one labor (177.13612 acres farming land)," situated about midway between
the Gulf Coast and the upriver settlement of Washington-on-the-Brazos.
Solomon Isaacs of
the New York family of that name imported some slaves into Charlestown in 1755. In his will, probated in 1757, he left "a
substantial inventory of goods, a house, books, mahogany furniture, colored prints, silver plate, several Negro slaves --
three of whom were children -- two horses and a chaise, and a quarter ownership of a sloop."
All references are in the publication: "The Secret
Relationsip Between Blacks and Jews".
David Israel, Jewish
inhabitant of Barbados, wrote his will in Portuguese dated May 24, 1689, "revoking all previous Wills made if it should please
God to take me to a better world I ask pardon for all my sins & that my soul may be rec'd in mercy." Then, to his wife
Sarah he left "a negress named Betty, and the use of two negresses named below to go (eventually) to my daughter Esther when
21, or on her previous marriage."
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To my son Isaac a male negro named Antonio....Also my two negresses Maria Ibo and Esperansa
they to be delivered by my wife unto Esther when she marries or attains 21 years....To my daur. Rahel, wife of David Judah
Rodriques £25 sterling payable by executors and 2 moreques (=negro-boys (moliques))
for my grand-daughter Ester Zinha. To grandson Jacob son of David and Rahel Judah Rodrigues a moliques
named Robin....Also 2 negroes named Vallenty and Macaco which I sent him for the service of the business.
Rabbi George Jacobs
of Richmond, Virginia, held Black hostages and rented them for a fee.
Gerrit Jacobs (d.
1754) from the Netherlands was a storekeeper and planter with a plantation in Surinam called Nieuw Meerzorg, with 100 Black
African slaves. He later ordered that number to be increased to more than 200. To his wife Haija Sadoks, he bequeathed "ten
domestic slaves," which he stipulated could not be sold. To his stepson went "the Negro boy Present."
Israel Jacobs (c.
1741-1810) of Philadelphia held Black hostages but was, nevertheless, well respected in his synagogue.
Jacob Jacobs of Charleston,
an auctioneer, left an estate that included ten slaves, horses, carriages, notes and bonds. He advertised in the Gazette
of the State of South-Carolina November 24, 1779:
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Four Hundred Dollars Reward
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RUN away from the Subscriber, on Sunday Night last, two Negro Fellows named Hercules
and Romeo, the former is about five Feet two or three Inches high, very black, speaks good English, and had on when he went
away a blue Coat and Jacket with a red Cape, and white metal buttons: The latter is about five Feet high, of a yellowish Complexion,
speaks good English, and had on a great Coat, red Jacket and black or Osnabrugs Breeches. They both had hats, and may perhaps
change their Dress, having carried all their Cloathing with them: The above Reward will be given for the taking of the said
two Negroes, and the half for either of them. All Masters of Vessels are forbid carrying off the Negroes at their Peril.
John Jacobs, possibly
a Jew, placed this advertisement in the Virginia Gazette on February 7, 1771:
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RUN away from the Subscriber, in Amherst county, on or about the 5th of October last,
a new Negro man slave who calls himself CHARLES, which is every word of English he can speak, he is a black fellow, with a
smooth skin, of a middle size, well made for strength, appears to be about 18 years of age, and has a good set of teeth. He
was purchased from the Yanimerew the 14th of last September, and was one of the number judged to have had the small pox. Had
on when he left me a Negro cotton Jacket with buttons (both top and bottom) of brass, a pair of cotton breeches, very long,
with flat metal buttons to the waistband, cotton boots, and a coarse linen cap. Whoever will deliver him to me, or secure
him so that I may get him again, shall receive a reward of FIVE POUNDS; and if he is taken out of the colony and brought home
to me TEN POUNDS current money.
Joseph Jacob, of
Newport, ran an advertisement in December of 1769: "Notice: Reward $3 South Hampton, Long Island runaway Indian servant."
Levy Jacobs was a
New Orleans and Mobile liquor and slave dealer who advertised to "buy and sell Negroes" in 1819. In September of 1828, he
notified the public that he was expecting about 100
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prime, Virginia slaves, selected expressly for this market -- among which are Ostlers,
Carriage Drivers, Mechanics, Field Hands and Cooks, House Servants, seamstresses and washer women.
As proprietor of one of the leading auctioneer houses
of New Orleans, Levy Jacobs was reported to have "paraded blacks on the slave block that was operated by Levy Jacobs and his
Christian partner, George Asbridge." When he was accused of selling Kentucky slaves and not the advertised Virginia slaves,
Jacobs posted this notice:
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Notice -- A report being circulated that I have for sale no other than Kentucky slaves,
I beg leave to state to the public that all the Negroes which I have on hand, and shall hereafter keep for sale are and will
be Virginia born Negroes, of good character; that the person who has stated to the contrary, with the view of injuring me,
I call upon in this public manner to come forward and support this charge if he can, or hereafter hold his peace. All Negroes
sold and bought by me from traders (excepting at my own house) will be free of commission.
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L. Jacobs
Manis Jacobs (c.
1782-1839) was the rabbi and president of the New Orleans Jewish congregation Shanarai Chasset and a leading Jewish citizen,
even though he held eleven Black people as slaves. Rabbi Sharfman writes of Jacobs: "Though unordained, he felt his ability
to recite Hebrew prayers qualified him. He proudly signed his name in Hebrew on bills of sale, as a cachet or seal -- some
on his transactions involving the purchase of slaves still exist."
Samuel Jacobs, in
1761, "ordered a Negro girl from New York -- domestic slaves were popular because hired help was scarce." Jacobs was the owner
of the slave schooner Betsey.
Solomon Jacobs (1777-1827)
was acting mayor of Richmond, Virginia, in 1818-1819, president of Beth Shalome Congregation, and the first Jew to become
grand master of the Masons of Virginia. He was an agent for the French government's tobacco interests and the Richmond representative
for the Rothschild banking house. He owned a slave named "Esther," and when he died his tombstone epitaph read:
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Fond as a Husband. Indulgent as a Father. Kind as a Master...
His widow, Hetty, then
successfully lobbied the Virginia House and Senate to allow the sale of a number of Black female captives and children because
of the "conduct of said slaves toward their mistress...was so very malevolent and very objectionable."
In 1830, L. Jacoby held
thirty Africans against their will in the New Orleans area.
Joseph Jonas, in
an address to the Ohio House of Representatives on February 25-26, 1861, said, "I am not in favor of slavery, and would not
own a slave on any account. But this is not the question. Slavery in the South is an institution, and the framers of the Constitution
guarded their rights and their property."
Israel I. Jones (1810-1877)
of Mobile, Alabama, was leader of the Jewish community in the mid-1800s, as well as being a slave-trading auctioneer. President
of Congregation Shaarai Shomayim from 1844-1873, he was on the Board of Delegates of American Israelites, the first national
Jewish organization. On Feb. 6, 1841, he advertised in the Mobile Daily Advertiser and Chronical
that he had "Negroes at Auction," including a "Man Alfred, 25 years old, field hand; Boy Isaac, 7 years old; Woman Judy, 30
years old and two work horses."
Samuel Jones (c.
1737-1809) was a Charleston Jew who ordered that his survivors free two of his eight Black hostages named "Jenny" and her
son "Emanuel." This selective manumission of an African woman indicates that she was the victim of rape by the Jew and that
her son may have been the result of that crime.
J. Joseph advertised
for the return of a runaway African female child in the Quebec Gazette on July 28, 1791.
Meir Josephson, a
Pennsylvania trader, informed Michael Gratz in a letter written in Yiddish:
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...that I may sell my nigger wench at a profit. So if a ship with niggers should arrive,
or a ship with [indentured] Germans you will let me know, because I cannot manage without a servant. The wench I now have
has two virtues, both bad ones. First, she is drunk all day, when she can get it, and second, she is mean so that my wife
cannot say a word to her. She is afraid of her. How did all this happen? A free nigger wants to court her and to buy her from
me. I don't want to give her away for less than 110 pounds with her bastard, because I bought the bastard too. At present
she costs me 90 pounds. So if I can make out with her, I think it is best to let her go and get another. So if you have occasion
to hear of a good nigger wench or of a good servant, you will inform me.
Baruch H. Judah "hired"
a Black African woman named "Mary" who was tried in 1820, and acquitted, for setting fire to the house of her employer.
Isaac H. Judah (1761-1827)
of Richmond, Virginia, was a merchant and Beth Shalome's first minister. He fathered two "mulatto"
children named "Philip Norbourne" and "Benjamin Wythe," the products of the rape of an African woman. Judah's slave "Harry"
was charged on March 13, 1815, with "going at large and hiring himself to Paul Christian, was remanded to jail and Judah summoned
to appear the next day and show cause why he should not be fined for allowing the said slave to go at large and hire himself
out."
Manual Judah owned
a Black slave named "Shadrach," who was tried in the Richmond courts in 1805 for stealing a hog. He was found guilty, and
given nine and thirty on his bare back.
Samuel Judah was
the most prominent of the Jewish slave-traffickers in Canada.
David S. Kaufman
of Texas was a notable proponent of the spread of the slavocracy.
Betsy Levi Kokernot
and her son Louis of New Orleans operated a retail store in the 1830s. In 1832, the sheriff seized
part of their stock to pay bills and found that:
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Betsy and Louis seemed to have caught an inordinate number of runaway Negroes, or stopped
Negroes carrying money without proper identification; probably much of their trade was with slave owners.
David Cohen Labatt of
Louisiana was devoted to the Confederacy and the preservation of the slave system.
Joseph Lasalle was
active in the Louisiana militia and local politics. He owned four female slaves in 1830.
Benjamin D. Lazarus
sold "A Negro named Sam, about Eighty Years of age, diseased, and a Negro Woman named Sylvie about seventy five years of Age,"
for ninety dollars. Dr. Bertram W. Korn comments on the cruelty of this act:
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Perhaps the estate required cash, and undoubtedly the slaves were too old for any useful
purpose, but what future could they have at the hands of a purchaser who would be compelled somehow to regain his investment?
Jacob Lazarus, Jr.,
from Charleston, South Carolina, enslaved more than twenty African hostages.
Sampson Lazarus of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, "had a female slave and a horse and was a shopkeeper," in 1782.
Ishak Gabay Letob,
probably of Speightstown, Barbados, prepared his will in Portuguese dated August 24, 1698:
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To son Jacob Gabay Lettob my slave-girl Juana, so that she may look after him, he being
ill, and she is not to be disposed of by him but at his death she is to go to whichever one of his brothers she prefers. To
grand-dau. Ribca Ulloa the daur. named Peggy, of said Juana and for her heirs at her death but not otherwise.
Rachel Mordecai Lazarus
was "fully aware of the evils of slavery, but, after a fashion, defended this institution in her correspondence with Maria
Edgeworth. Rachel contended that the black under chattel slavery was no worse off than the European who suffered under wage
slavery."
Edwin De Leon (1828-1891)
considered those who opposed slavery to be guided by a "mistaken philanthropy" with a disregard for "Providence" or "God."
He was one of the chief Confederate propaganda agents and vehemently supported slavery with the belief that Blacks are the
"bearer of burdens; never a conqueror or a king." In 1862, he was sent abroad by Jefferson Davis and Judah
P. Benjamin on a secret mission to persuade Britain, France and other countries to grant diplomatic recognition to
the Confederacy. He failed after nearly two years and expenditures of $30,000.
Lewis Leon was a
Confederate Jew who said retrospectively: "I still say our Cause was just, nor do I regret one thing that I have done to cripple
the North." Author Charles Segal says that this statement "is indicative of Jewish loyalty to the Southern cause."
Abraham Levi was
in partnership with Edward Newman in New Orleans. Levi's assets at the outbreak of the war were said to be in the range of
$300,000. Records of some of Levi's transactions for the year 1860 indicate that in January, A. Levi & Co. advanced $7,000
to James Bogan, a planter in East Baton Rouge Parish. In return, Bogan signed a series of promissory notes that gave A. Levi
& Co. a mortgage on his 746-acre plantation and his slaves.
Jacob Levin of Columbia,
South Carolina, was the leader of his Jewish community in the mid-1800s and a slave-trading auctioneer. An acting rabbi, he
was quoted in prestigious Jewish periodicals, and his wife was director of the Columbia Hebrew Sunday School. He was also
the secretary and treasurer of the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Columbia and a grand master of the Masons. On December 17,
1852, he advertised in the Columbia Daily South Carolinian the sale of:
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22 Likely Negroes, the larger number of which are young and desirable. Among them are
Field Hands, Hostlers and Carriage Drivers, House Servants, & c., and of the following ages: Robinson 40, Elsey 34, Yanaky
13, Sylvia 11, Anikee 8, Robinson 6, Candy 3, Infant 9, Thomas 35, Die 38, Amey 18, Eldridge 13, Charles 6, Sarah 60, Baket
50, Mary 18, Betty 16, Guy 12, Tilla 9, Lydia 24, Rachel 4, Scippio 2. The above Negroes are sold for the purpose of making
some other investment of the proceeds, the sale will therefore be positive.
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Arthur Levy of New
York owned at least one Black woman named "Cresie."
Ash Levy worked with
the notorious Davis brothers in their slave dealings.
Benjamin Levy (c.
1650-1704) was a New Orleans printer and publisher who bequeathed to his African hostage, "Richard White," the chance to buy
his freedom for $500 from Levy's son, Alexander. The deception was that, as a slave, "Richard White"
was unpaid. Additionally, "White" was "never to be sold, Mortgaged, or hired out for a longer term than one Year at a time,
and never to be hired out of the State of Louisiana."
The elder Levy also instructed that each of his eight
remaining hostages named "Harry," "Samuel," "Joseph," "Ellen," "Martha," "Horace," "Millie" and "Richard," be given a token
trinket as a "small memorial of their old master."
In 1761, Levy joined coreligionists David
Franks and Joseph Marks in the signing of a petition protesting a duty on imported Blacks.
Chapman Levy (1787-1850)
was born in Camden, South Carolina, and elected to the state legislature and served as a colonel in the War of 1812. He was
a prominent Jewish lawyer who held 31 Black human beings as slaves. He moved to Mississippi and operated a plantation until
his death. Levy's will manumitted some of his hostages and retained others. His mother, Sarah,
sold her Black hostage "Kennedy" and an African woman to Levy for $300.
Eugene Henry Levy
of New Orleans was an official in the Confederate Army who said: "The slaves are in their proper sphere as they are at present
situated within the boundaries of the Confederacy." The day before General Robert E. Lee surrendered, Levy was captured and
soon released. He made his post-Civil War sentiments known when he declared that "Negroes are among the masters and have the
inclination to be tyrants. The extermination of this race is a necessary consequence of this state of affairs."
Gershon Levy and
Hyam Myers did business with the notorious Indian murderer Sir Jeffrey Amherst.
Hayman Levy (1721-1789)
was born in Germany and came to New York City in 1748. He made his fortune fur-trading with the Indians and in the Black Holocaust
as owner of several ships. His Shearith Israel congregation voted him its president six times.
Hyman Levy was a
Jamaican Jewish "specialist" in the Black flesh trade in the late eighteenth century.
Isaac Levy was the
brother of Nathan (see below) and partner with David and Moses
Franks in African flesh dealing. He worked in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and London and was
part owner of the slave ship Crown Gally. He once brought 117 Africans into bondage.
Israel Levy, a merchant
of Charlestown, sold an African man named "Thomas (H)Eskett" to John Evans in 1759.
J. Levy (May be the
same as John B. Levy) owned a Louisiana plantation at Ascension Parish with forty-one Black people working his fields at no
wage.
Jacob Levy, Jr. (d.
1837) was active in the Congregation Shearith Israel of New York and owned slaves named "George
Roper," "Mary Mundy," "John Jackson," "Samuel Spures," "Edwin Jackson," "Elizabeth Jackson" and "James Jackson," among others.
One of his daughters married Moses Seixas, another married Moses Hays,
and another married Joseph L. Joseph, all of whom were slave dealers or owners.
John B. Levy came
to New Orleans in 1828 with 37 Africans on the schooner Transport.
Joseph Israel Levy,
in his 1786 will, left to the mother of his child Jabica, "five hundred Rupees, and two slave girls and the garden and the
house, with everything belonging unto her to be paid to her by my executors..."
Levy Andrew Levy,
described as a "gentlemen," participated in the extermination plot against the Indians by providing them with blankets laced
with smallpox. He is listed as a resident of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with "two female slaves and one house." Levy once had
a slave "who preferred freedom with the Indians to servitude under Levy. The slave ran off with a local tribe."
Lewis B. Levy of
Richmond, Virginia, was a "manufacturer [of] all kinds of servant's clothing." He sold rags to such slave dealers as the Davis
brothers.
M. C. Levy of Charleston,
South Carolina, had more than twenty African hostages.
Moses Levy (c. 1665-1728)
was a New York merchant, distiller, real estate investor, ship and land owner. He became probably the most prominent and wealthiest
New York Jew of the 18th century terrorizing Black humans. He was elected constable of his municipal district in 1719 but
declined to serve. He was president of his Jewish congregation and died holding that office. Levy's slave-trading profits
were used to help build the Shearith Israel on Mill Street.
Moses Levy of Charleston,
South Carolina, was the most successful detective on the Charleston police force. Part of his responsibility was to pursue
runaway Blacks.
Moses Elias Levy
(1782-1854) was a plantation owner in Florida, Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands and Havana, Cuba. While in England, Levy attacked
the evils of slavery in public forums and written pamphlets. In Florida, he used dozens of Black Africans to try to establish
a Zionist homeland.
Nathan Levy (1704-1753)
came to Philadelphia from London on the same ship (Myrtilla) that brought the Liberty Bell. He
established an indentured servant placement service with his brother Isaac, and on January 3, 1738,
they advertised in Benjamin Franklin's Gazette for buyers for: "A likely young Negroe Man to be
sold by Nathan and Isaac Levy, fit for Town and Country."
In 1741, they teamed up with David
and Moses Franks to ship their Black victims in from Africa. Levy was a founder of the Jewish
community in Philadelphia and bought land for the Jewish cemetery in 1740. He was "undoubtedly the city's richest Jew at the
time of his death in 1753."
Uriah Phillips Levy (1792-1862)
was a ship captain in the navy before he was twenty, and later a commodore. He held title to Thomas Jefferson's famous estate
Montecello, and to the Virginia plantation Washington Farm, where Black
Africans were imprisoned as slaves. He was a member of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York
and charter member of Washington's Hebrew Congregation. Jacob R. Marcus has written of the contradiction:
-
Jews in the South knew full well that there was a slave problem, but like the people
about them, they did nothing to come to grips with this evil. Though Captain Uriah P. Levy wanted to abolish slavery, his
wish did not deter him from running his Virginia plantation with slave labor.
Rabbi Max (Menachem) Lilienthal
(1815-1882) of Cincinnati was a major Jewish leader and ardent supporter of the Southern state's right to kidnap and enslave
African people.
Alexander Lindo (1753-1812)
was a "major importer of slaves" in the late eighteenth century. He admitted to being responsible for the deaths of over 150
African slaves in the Middle Passage and 20 more upon their arrival in Jamaica, though he was never punished.
Moses Lindo (1712-1774)
of South Carolina was a wealthy planter and enslaver of Africans, according to the Jewish Encyclopaedia.
He ran an advertisement stating that: "If any person is willing to part with a plantation of 500 acres with 60 or 70 Negroes,
I am ready to purchase it for ready money." Lindo imported 49 slaves from Barbados in the 1750s and in 1756, he bought 2 African
male children from John Gordon, according to a bill of sale. One of his slave ships was named Lindo Packett. Lindo
was reputed to be one of the best judges of indigo in America or Europe. He was largely responsible for the growth of that
industry from 300,000 pounds yearly to over 1,200,000 pounds. "Lindo himself handled millions of pounds of it. He lived to
see the indigo industry employ 10,000 slaves," according to Jacob Rader Marcus.
Aaron Lopez (1731-1782)
was the most notorious of the slave dealing Jews. He was Newport's leading participant in the Black Holocaust, largest taxpayer
and the epitome of the Newport slave dealing Jewish culture. His son-in-law, Abraham Pereira Mendes,
carried on the murderous trade and built massive wealth in his own right. Born in Portugal Lopez moved to Newport, Rhode Island
in 1752, renounced his Marrano past and built an extensive trans-Atlantic slave dealing empire. "What can be said about this
most attractive figure," writes Dr. Marcus, "is that he lived on a baronial scale, maintained an entourage of over thirty
persons, including the necessary slaves and hired servants, and had his own stable and two chaises." He was engaged extensively
in smuggling and the owner of between 30 and 40 ships. By 1749, Lopez was generally considered to be one of the largest merchants
in the country, shipping every marketable item including molasses, Blacks, rum, pork and bottled beer. He owned a wharf, arranged
for building, chartering, and outfitting the vessels, hired captains and crews, and kept detailed accounts.
Lopez reportedly launched his career as a slave merchant
late in 1761 when he and Jacob Rodriguez Rivera began to outfit their jointly owned brigantine
Grayhound for an African voyage. On January 7, 1763, William Pinnegar captained a Lopez ship which
delivered 134 Africans to Lopez's Jewish agents in South Carolina, Da Costa and Farr. Four captains made thirteen of the voyages,
two of whom died in Lopez's service. Below are the recorded slaving voyages of Aaron Lopez in the years 1764 through 1774:
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Sloop Spry, Capt. Willaim Pinneger, July 16, 1764 - May
22, 1766, stopping at Barbados, Jamaica, and New York on the return voyage. The cargo included iron hoops, iron chains and
slave shackles.252 Slaves sold: 57. Brig Africa, Capt. Abraham All, May 3, 1765 - July 11, 1766.
Slaves sold at Kingston: 45. Sloop Betsey, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, July 22, 1765 - August 21,
1766. Slaves sold at Kingston: 40. Brig Sally (the Spry rerigged),
Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, August, 1766 - July 1767. Slaves sold at St. Kitts: c. 33. Brig Africa,
Capt. Abraham All, October 20, 1766 - January 9, 1768. Slaves sold at Kingston: 69. Brig Hannah,
Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, May 3, 1768 - May 4, 1769. Slaves sold in South Carolina and Barbados: 63. Sloop Mary,
Capt. William English, June 4, 1770 - spring 1771. Slaves sold in Barbados: c. 57. Ship Cleopatra,
Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, July 1770 - 1771. Slaves sold in Barbados: 96. Ship Cleopatra, Capt.
Nathaniel Briggs, June 16, 1771 - May 27, 1772. Slaves sold in Barbados: 230. Brig Ann, Capt.
William English, November 27, 1772 - winter 1773-74 (arrived in Jamaica October 8, 1773). Slaves sold at Kingston: 104.253 Ship
Africa, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, April 22, 1773 - August 1774. Slaves sold in Jamaica: c. 49. Ship
Cleopatra, Capt. James Bourk, June 30, 1773 - August 1774, Cargo consigned to Briggs. Slaves sold
in Jamaica: c. 77. Brig Ann, Capt. William English, spring 1774 - March 1775. Slaves sold in
Jamaica: 112.
Mortality on these voyages was extremely high, as
this passage from the William and Mary Quarterly suggests:
-
Captain Briggs had taken aboard twenty-one slaves at the Windward Coast south of Cape
Verde, ten at Cape Mount on the Grain Coast, and sixty-seven along the Gold Coast -- a total of ninety-eight. However, as
Lopez informed his London correspondent, William Stead, there was severe loss of life at sea, and much sickness among the
survivors forced a hurried sale at St. Kitts. Sally's log records the burial of six slaves at sea, dead "with the feaver and
flox"; the loss was doubtless much heavier, as the log does not cover a four-month period of coasting southward and eastward
from the Windward Coast to Cape Coast Castle....The figure, given above, of thirty-three slaves sold is calculated from the
sum realized on the sale of the survivors, who may have been more numerous than this but of low value because of their debilitated
condition.
The Cleopatra was assumed
to have experienced very heavy mortality, according to Lopez biographer Virginia Bever Platt, because the ship had carried
a "much higher number of 230 blacks to Barbados on her next voyage." Using this reasoning and simple mathematics, one could
conclude that as many as, or more than, 287 Black Africans may have lost their lives in these two voyages of the Cleopatra
alone.
In the last recorded voyage of the Ann,
"[Captain] English reached Kingston on October 7, having lost five slaves on the voyage but with his people apparently healthy.
By the time the sale could be made, two more had died and the prevalence of 'the Swelling' among the remainder caused a drastic
reduction in their value..."
Lopez's other commercial ventures were sometimes called
into question. One Caribbean trader bitterly complained in a series of letters about the quality of the lumber, flour, and
fish cargoes dispatched from Newport -- consignments that often arrived out of season or in leaky vessels to which he had
to give time and attention. Flour, too often was of low grade; staves and hoops for the making of molasses hogsheads were
often worm-eaten and fish was putrid from being packed in insufficient brine. He found it difficult to dispose of such cargoes
and implied that slave cargoes were easier to handle and more profitable.
Dr. Marcus discusses the household and business of
Lopez and his utter dependency on free Black labor:
-
Lopez always maintained a staff of Negro domestics and in addition often hired Negro
slaves from their masters, though in his papers such laborers were always referred to as servants, never as slaves. At least
half a dozen negroes were usually employed at one time at the Lopez shop, storehouse and wharf. For his living quarters, Lopez
supplemented his Negro domestics by hiring an Indian woman to wash and scrub and a white seamstress to sew and make garments
for the family and the Negro household servants.
Lopez took 27 of these slaves to Leicester, Massachusetts,
when fleeing the British attack on Newport.
It was also Lopez who was identified as the primary
Newport merchant who ignored the non-importation protest of British tax policies organized by the Revolution-era colonists.
The man who fingered Lopez was Ezra Stiles, a leading clergyman and President of Yale University. He referred to Lopez in
his Diary as "a Merchant of the first Eminence; for Honor and Extent of Commerce probably surpassed by no Merchant in America."
Journeying to Rhode Island with his wife and family
on May 28, 1782, he passed Scott's Pond, near Providence and was thrown by his horse into quicksand where he drowned.
Ships Owned by Aaron Lopez
-
Active
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Africa
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America
-
Ann
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Betsy
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Charlotte
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Cleopatra
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Coaxel
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Diana
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Dolphin
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Eagle
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Friendship
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George
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Grayhound
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Hannah
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Hope
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Industry
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Jacob
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Mary
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Newport Packet
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Ocean
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Ranger
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Royal Charlotte
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Sally
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Spry
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Venus
Haham Eliahu Lopez,
the spiritual head of the Barbados Jews of the late seventeenth century, said that he "would certainly continue in enjoyment
of his own two negro attendants."
All references are in the publication: "The Secret
Relationsip Between Blacks and Jews".
Moses Lopez purchased
a Black woman from John Roosevelt. The sale was witnessed by Judah Hays and Jacobus
Roosevelt.
Rachel Lopez lived
in Bridgetown, Barbados, with a family of four and "one negro."
Aaron Baruch Louzada
lived with his family in Broad Street, Bridgetown, Barbados, attended by five Black slaves.
Rachell Baruh Louzada's
will in Portuguese, dated October 29, 1703, required her sons Solomon and Jacob
to "sell everything in the house, goods, jewels, silver, gold & copper, also slaves, & to pay all my debts, funeral
expenses, & doctors bills....To my daughter Hannah Baruh Louzada a negress named Esperansa, & a diamond ring, also
£25 current money with which to commence seeking a livelihood, & that she may live in sisterly harmony with her brothers...as
God commands."
James Lucena was
a Portuguese cousin of Aaron Lopez who found revenue as a shipper in the African slave trade. A
refugee from the Portuguese Inquisition, he came to Rhode Island in the early 1750s claiming to be a Catholic. In June of
1768, he wrote to Lopez asking instructions as he prepared for a voyage to Africa to kidnap innocent Africans. In the letter
he establishes that it was customary for ship owners to pay their captains with slaves.
Lucena reportedly enslaved at least nine and as many
as twenty Africans and owned 750 acres in Georgia when the trustees of that colony introduced slavery in 1749. He was a justice
of the peace in 1766, and in 1771 he owned 1000 more acres and "sent a vessel to Jamaica for a parcel of Negroes." On March
21, 1770, he placed the following advertisement in the Savannah Georgia Gazette:
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RUN AWAY from the subscriber, on Friday last, A NEGROE FELLOW, named SAM, about 22
years old, and about 5 feet 6 inches high, is well known in and about Savannah, has his country marks on each side his face
thus |||, his teeth remarkably wide apart, and speaks very good English, had on when he went away a dark grey cloth double
breasted waistcoat and a white negroe cloth under jacket, a pair of green negroe cloth long trowsers, and a round sailor's
cap. Whoever delivers him to me at Savannah shall have a reward of twenty shillings, and all reasonable charges.
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James Lucena
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N.B. Said negroe is suspected to be concealed on board some vessel, and I forewarn
the masters of vessels from carrying him off, as they may depend on being prosecuted to the utmost rigour of the law.
Abraham De Lyon, Sr.,
arrived in Savannah, Georgia, in 1733, and later held eighteen Black hostages against their will.
Abraham De Lyon (may
be the same as above) left his Savannah, Georgia, wine- making business due to "the want of Negroes...whereas his white servants
cost him more than he was able to afford."
Isaac Lyons of Columbia,
South Carolina, owned a plantation and held numerous African citizens against their will. He imported eight Blacks in 1763.
Samuel Maas of Charleston,
according to Professor Marcus, took
-
only four weeks to be convinced that blacks had to be watched, disciplined, and, if
necessary, ruthlessly punished. Slavery he agreed, was a sound institution; the Southern economy was built on black labor.
The black made an ideal workhand, for only he, stemming from the torrid African lands, could tolerate the humidity, intense
heat, and backbreaking labor of the Carolina lowlands. Undoubtedly, Maas was influenced in his views by his uncle and by the
luxury of the well-appointed home with its massive silver service and numerous, obsequious slaves ready to respond to his
slightest nod -- all this impressed Maas mightily.
Esther Marache sent
her "mulatto wench" out to peddle cakes, but "[did] not want her admitted into anyone's home."
A. J. Marks (This
may be Alexander Marks; 1788-1861) was the acting rabbi in New Orleans in the 1830s, and owned eleven Africans according to
the 1840 census.
Joseph Marks signed
a petition from a group of Philadelphia merchants against a tax on Negroes in 1761. Joining him were Jews David
Franks and Benjamin Levy.
Mark Marks was deputy
sheriff of Charleston in 1822, part of whose job was to punish runaway Blacks.
Mordecai Marks (1739
or 1740-1797) was a merchant and farmer "who owned his own trotting and pacing mares, a Negro slave, and a small library."
Isaac Rodrigues Marques
(d. 1706 or 1707) was a New York merchant, importer and shipowner from Denmark who dictated in his will that a "good serviceable
negro woman" be purchased to serve his "dear mother" after his death.
Joseph Marx (1771
or 1772-1840) was born in Hanover, Germany, and moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he engaged in large real estate transactions.
He was an associate of Thomas Jefferson and active in the Jewish community while holding 11 Blacks against their will to perform
hard labor at no pay.
Abraham Pereira Mendes
(1825-1893) was a Jamaican rabbi, the son-in-law of Jacob Rodriguez Rivera, and made his money
as a slave trader. On May 4, 1752, he advertised the following:
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To be sold by Abraham Pereira Mendes, a Parcel of Likely young Negroes, Piemento, Old
Copper, Coffee, etc....If any Person has a Mind to purchase any of the Goods mentioned, they may enquire of Mr. Daniel Gomez.
In 1767, when on a mission to Jamaica, Mendes reported
back to his father-in-law that a consignment of Negroes was "in such poor order" because of the storage conditions that he
could not do anything but sell them off cheaply:
-
To my great surprise I found the negroes nothing to what I expected....Captain All's
small cargo, however, turned out as we see to consist almost entirely of "refuse slaves," and Captain All himself fell ill.
Joseph Mendes, of
the town of Speights in the Parish of St. Peters, Barbados, prepared his will in English dated February 17, 1700:
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To my dear & loving wife Rachel M. 3 Negro Slaves, Mary, Astor she & her boy
Matte & the Issue or Offspring of their bodies for ever....To son Moses M. £1000 on marriage or 21st birthday (which shall
first happen) & for ever one Negro Woman named Hagar & the issue or offspring of her body & 2 negro boys named
Jack Coger & Tom. To daughter Sarah £1000 on marriage or 18th birthday (which shall first happen) & for ever one negro
woman named Mary & a Negro girl named Evare & the issue...of their bodies. To daughter Luna £1000 on marriage or 18th
birthday (which shall first happen) & £40 [so] that 2 young negroes be bought for her forever....Ex'ors may sell all such
Lands houses & Negroes as I have in this Island for the better adjusting their Accounts.
Jacob Defonseca Meza
of Barbados owned "a certain Molatto woman Isabella."
Abraham Bueno DeMezqueto
(Mesquita)--probably a son of Benjamin Bueno de Mesquita, who, with
two sons, was banished from Jamaica on August 16, 1665. Abraham owned a plantation at Barbados in 1692, and was recorded as
a slave owner in the census of 1707.
Gustavas Meyers was
a staunch supporter of slavery and a Jewish leader.
Moses Michal (or
Michaels, c. 1685-1740) was born in Germany and was a New York merchant in partnership with Michael Asher of Boston. By 1730, he was the largest importer among the Curaçaoan Jews. He was a member
of Shearith Israel and enslaved at least two Blacks named "Tham" and "Prins."
Abigail Minis (1701-1794);
In 1740, many Jews left Savannah, Georgia, because of the restriction against slavery. Ms. Minis and family stayed, waited
for the law to change, and then forced at least 17 Blacks to work her 2,500-acre farm. Her son Philip
was president of Savannah's Congregation Mikveh Israel. Minis named three of the Africans "Sue,"
"Lizzy," and "Sandy." He advertised in the Savannah Georgia Gazette, on June 28, 1775:
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RUN AWAY, A CREOLE NEGROE FELLOW, named Charles, well known in Savannah. Ten shillings
reward will be given on delivery of him to Philip Minis.
Isaac Miranda was
an active trader and land owner in Lancaster County in 1720. In 1730, the Indians filed a formal complaint against Miranda,
who they claimed defrauded them. According to historian David Brener, "In all probability it was the gullibility and childish
wants of the Indians which made them give their valuable furs in exchange for trinkets, mirrors, rum and blankets. Such was
the nature of Indian traders."
All references are in The Secret Relationship
Between Blacks and Jews
Moline Family was
run out of San Domingo in 1793 when the Africans revolted against the White man's slave society. They brought with them some
African captives, branded with the Moline name, to work for them in Pennsylvania. Another source lists a Solomon
Moline from Cape Francois, who fled to Philadelphia in 1792 with his family and slaves.
Manoel Rodrigues Monsancto
of Brazil was charged with openly professing Judaism by Inquisitional authorities in 1646. He held a woman from Guinea named
"Beatriz," and her "mulatto" daughter "Rachel," as slaves.
Monsanto Family of
Louisiana included Benjamin, Isaac, Manuel, Eleanora, Gracia and Jacob.
They made frequent purchases of Blacks including twelve in 1785, thirteen and then thirty-one in 1787, and eighty in 1768.
In 1794, Benjamin sold "Babet," a Black woman, to Franco Cardel. Manuel sold two Blacks from Guinea named "Polidor" and "Lucy"
to James Saunders for $850 in silver. As individuals they were owners of Africans whom they named "Quetelle," "Valentin,"
"Baptiste," "Prince," "Princess," "Ceasar," "Dolly," "Jen," "Fanchonet," "Rozetta," "Mamy," "Sofia," and many others. Isaac
repeatedly mortgaged four of these when in financial trouble. Benjamin Monsanto of Natchez, Mississippi entered into at
least 6 contracts for the sale of his slaves which would take place after his death. Gracia bequeathed nine Africans to her
relatives in her 1790 will, and Eleanora also held Blacks as slaves. Manuel Jacob Monsanto entered into at least 12 contracts
for sale of slaves between 1787 and 1789 in Natchez and New Orleans, Louisiana.291 "His family consists of himself and seven
Negroes."292 Later, "Jacob Monsanto, son of Isaac Rodrigues Monsanto, one of the very first known Jews to settle in New Orleans,
owner of a several-hundred-acre plantation at Manchac, fell in love with his slave, Mamy or Maimi William. Their daughter
Sophia, grew up to be a lovely quadroon." An excerpt of one of Benjamin's many slave contracts follows:
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Be it known to all to whom these presents shall come, that I Benjamin Monsanto do really
and effectually sell to Henry Manadu a negro wench named "Judy," aged Eighteen years, native of Guinea, for the sum of four
hundred Dollars in all the month of January in the year one thousand Seven hundred and ninety one; and paying interest at
the rate of ten per cent for the remaining two hundred and fifty Dollars until paid; said negro wench being and remaining
mortgaged until final payment shall have been made; wherewith I acknowledge to be fully satisfied and content, hereby renouncing
the plea of non numerata pecunia, fraud, or others in the case Whatsoever; granting formal receipt for the same. For which
said consideration I do hereby resign all right, title, possession and claim, in and to the said Slave, all of which I transfer
and convey to the Said Purchaser and his assigns, to be, as his own, held and enjoyed, and when fully paid for, Sold, exchanged,
or otherwise alienated at pleasure in virtue of these presents granted in his favor in token of real delivery, without other
proof of property being required, from which he is hereby released, binding myself to maintain the validity of this present
sale in full form and right in favor of the Purchaser aforesaid, and granting authority to the Justices of his Majesty to
compel me to the performance of the same as if Judgment had already been given therein, renouncing all laws, rights, and privileges
in my favor whatsoever. And I the said Henry Manadu being present, do hereby accept this Instrument in my favor, receiving
said negro Wench as purchased in the form and for the consideration therein mentioned and contained, wherewith I am fully
satisfied and content, hereby renouncing the plea of non numerato pecunia, fraud, or other considerations in the case Whatsoever;
granting formal receipt for the same. Done and executed, in testimony thereof, at the post of Natchez, this nineteenth day
of the month of February in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety...
Benjamin Monsanto
sold land and "a Dwelling House, Store, and two other buildings, for which I have received payment in a negro, named 'Nat;'
to my full satisfaction." Another contract stipulated "that Don Louis Faure is bound to defend the said sale in case the negro
shall be claimed by any other Person."
In a 1792 contract, Benjamin mortgaged his Black slaves:
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I do hereby specially mortgage three slaves to me belonging, namely Eugene and Louis,
aged twenty four years each, the first named of the Senegal nation and the second of the Congo nation; and a Negro Woman named
Adelaide, aged twenty eight years, also of the Congo nation; which said slaves I warrant free from mortgage or other incumbrance,
as I have made appear by certificate from the Recorder of mortgages; and which said slaves I promise and engage shall not
be sold nor otherwise alienated during the term of this obligation...
Born in Warrenton, North Carolina, Major
Alfred Mordecai completed West Point and in 1861 was assigned to the army arsenal at Watervliert, New York. He resigned
his commission rather than fight against the Confederates and made these observations of the African and slavery:
-
[I have] a sort of repugnance to the Negroes which has increased upon me as I have
been less and less associated with them. Therefore, I have never wished to make a home among them. This feeling is, naturally
enough, much stronger on the part of my family; we have seldom spoken of it, but I am sure that it would be utterly repugnant
to the feelings of my wife and daughters to live among slaves, and if it can be avoided, I should be extremely loathe to oblige
them, by residence and habit, to overcome this repugnance, even supposing it possible....I have no doubt that the race is
in a better condition here than they are as savages in Africa, or than they would be as free men, from all the experience
we have seen. But I never wished to be one of the agents in thus bettering their condition...and I am utterly averse to any
participation in the schemes for destroying or weakening the hold of the masters on their slaves, unless they themselves are
willing to abandon it.
In his letter of March 17, 1861, to brother Samuel, Mordecai defended slavery as a constitutional right:
-
...it appears to be sufficient to know that at the formation of our government slavery
existed all over the land and was expressly protected by the Constitution from being interfered with by any authority but
the states themselves; that therefore the people who have retained it are entitled to the enforcement of their constitutional
rights with regard to it both in the letter and the spirit.
Furthermore, Mordecai firmly believed that the maintenance
of slavery was the result of the activities of Northern abolitionist and condemned abolitionism, which had "grown to a fearful
extent within a few years."
Mordecai's Southern relatives had been slaveholders
as far back as he could remember; indeed, his brother George, a wealthy Raleigh businessman, owned
about one hundred slaves.
Augustus Mordecai,
brother of Emma, owned a plantation called Rosewood in North Carolina, with many slaves.
Benjamin Mordecai
of Charleston dealt in huge sales of Blacks and penned them up like livestock next to his warehouses. At least one of his
captives was named "Abram" or "Abraham." Of his participation in the Civil War the Boston Transcript reported
that Mordecai "has presented to his belligerent state and city $10,000, to aid the purpose of secession, with the offer besides
of a large number of negroes to work in the cause..."
In 1857, he advertised in the Charleston
Courier, "Prime Field Negros and House Servants" for sale. They included:
-
Coachmen and House Servants Cooks, Seamstresses, Washers
and Ironers
-
Tom, 25 years of age John, 21 Lilburn, 24 Isaac, 22 Elvy, 18 Amelia,
22 Lydia, 40 Louisa, 40 Patsy, 19; Nurse
-
-
Field Hands and Laborers
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Caroline,17 Betsy, 17 Catherine, 16 Octavia, 16 Mary, 28 Sarah, 30;
w/ child
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Sarah, 18
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Saunders, 22
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Sampson, 30
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Moses, 33; woodworker
-
Henry, 20
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Lawrence, 45
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Dave, 25; laborer
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Henry, 22; tailor
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Lucy, 19
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Margaret, 16
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Milly, 17
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Salina, 16
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Nancy, 20; with 2 children
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Susan, 30
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Caroline, 18
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Benjamin, 25
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Sam, 16; ploughboy
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Lindsay, 27
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Isaac, 18
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Byron, 22
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Nat, 30; laborer and sailor
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Mordecai regularly shipped slaves to New Orleans between
1846 and 1860 and bought at least 102 slaves at Charleston district judicial sales of the 1850s.
Emma Mordecai was
a Jewish relative of the Gratz and Hays families who enslaved several
Black Africans. She described in her journal how the Jews participated in the lynching of Nat Turner's rebel forces by burning
off the foot of an innocent Black man and cutting off the ear of another. They then rubbed sand into their wounds and horse-dragged
them to their death.
The slaves of Emma Mordecai included "George," "Cyrus,"
"Massie," "Mary," "Georgiana" and possibly "Phil," "Lizzy" and "Elick." She said of the freed Blacks: "They are as ill-bred
as old Lincoln himself....They will now begin to find out how easy their life as slaves had been, and to feel the slavery
of their freedom."
George Washington Mordecai
was a wealthy Raleigh, North Carolina, plantation owner, bank president and slave driver who owned at least one hundred
Black Africans. He wrote to a northern Republican in 1860: "I would much sooner trust myself alone on my plantation surrounded
by my slaves, than in one of your large manufacturing towns when your labourers are discharged from employment and crying
aloud for bread for themselves and their little ones."
All references are in the publication: "The Secret
Relationsip Between Blacks and Jews".
Jacob Mordecai of
Henrico County, Virginia held more than twenty African hostages.
Mordecai Moses Mordecai,
a Russian Jewish businessman in Pennsylvania, helped Joseph Simon to buy a slave.
Rebecca Mordecai,
of Richmond, Virginia, was fined $3.33 in 1839, "for allowing a hired slave to go at large contrary to the Act of Assembly."
Samuel Mordecai (1786-c.
1865); was a journalist from Richmond who derived part of his income from his articles in the pro-slavery journal, The
Farmer's Register. He regarded slavery as a natural and desirable condition of society and helped to put down Nat Turner's
1831 rebellion and assisted in the lynch mob that followed.
Barnard Moses of
Charleston, South Carolina, placed the following advertisement in the South-Carolina Gazette and
General Advertiser on November 4, 1783.
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RUN away from the subscriber, a Negro Wench called HAGAR, and her daughter called MARY,
Hagar is about 40 years of age, speaks very good English. Mary about 12 years of age, speaks good English, had on when she
went away a green frize habit. Whoever apprehends and secures said negroes, so that the owner may get them, shall receive
a Guinea reward for each. Any person or persons harbouring said negroes, many depend on being prosecuted according to law;
a farther reward of Five Guineas will be given to any person who shall give information of either of the said negroes being
harboured by any white persons, on conviction. Barnard Moses.
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N.B. I was since informed the above negroes crossed Ashley River a few days ago, and
suppose they are gone to Mr. William Stoutenburg's plantation, as her relations belong to him. All masters of vessels are
forbid to harbour, or carry them off.
Isaac Moses of Philadelphia
enslaved "a certain Negro named Bill of the age of thirty or thereabouts."
Isaiah Moses enslaved
thirty-five Black Africans whom he forced to work his farm at St. James, Goose Creek, South Carolina.
J. F. Moses of Lumpkin,
Georgia was a slave dealer who once advertised:
-
-
The undersigned has just arrived in Lumpkin from Virginia, with a likely lot of negroes,
about 40 in number, embracing every shade and variety. He has seamstresses, chamber maids, field hands, and doubts not that
he is able to fill the bill of any who may want to buy. He has sold over two hundred negroes in this section, mostly in this
county, and flatters himself that he has so far given satisfaction to his purchasers. Being a regular trader to this market
he has nothing to gain by misrepresentation, and will, therefore, warrant every negro sold to come up to the bill, squarely
and completely. Give him a call at his mart.
Major Moses was a
Jew who gave the name "London" to one of his Black captives.
Meyer Moses advertised
in the South-Carolina Gazette for a runaway slave on September 19, 1771:
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RUN AWAY from the Subscriber about a week past, a negro man named JACK, had on when
he went away a soldier's coat, and petty coat trowsers; he is a square well set fellow, about five feet six inches high, much
pock marked in the face; one of his feet is frost bitten; speaks good English. Any person that will apprehend and bring him
to me, or deliver him to the warden of the work-house, shall receive FIVE POUNDS reward, and if discovered to be harboured
by a white person TWENTY POUNDS reward, and if by a negro, TEN POUNDS, on conviction. Masters of vessels are cautioned against
carrying him off, as they must answer the consequence: I have been informed he gives himself out for a freeman, lately from
England and wants to ship himself.
Myer Moses (1779-1833)
of Charleston, South Carolina had a long record of civic leadership as a state legislator, a commissioner of schools, a director
of the Planters and Mechanics Bank, a major in the War of 1812, and a major slave dealer. The following is an excerpt of an
advertisement placed in The Southern Patriot of Charleston on August 14, 1815:
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Sales at Auction by Myer Moses On Tuesday, 22d August, at 10 o'clock, will be exposed
to public sale, at the North side of the Exchange, the following Valuable property:
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That well settled farm, on Charleston Neck, situated but one mile from the Lines, fronting
on King and Russel-streets. On the premises is a comfortable Farm House [with] two very convenient Negro Houses....At the
same time will be sold THE FOLLOWING VALUABLE SLAVES
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BOOMA, (an African) about 22 years of age, an excellent jobbing carpenter, and a prime
field hand, has been emply'd several years as a market man, in selling vegetables. MARIA, (a country born) about 22 or
23 years old, an excellent market wench, speaks French remarkably well, is a plain cook and tolerable washer, but prefers
the attendance of market, or working in the field, and is a prime field hand. SARAH, (a country born) about 20 years old,
a prime field hand. BEN, (an African) about 20 years old Born in Africa, a prime field hand and a good boatman. ANDREW,
(an African) age unknown, a prime field hand, possesses an uncommon good disposition. PHILLIS, (a country born) a cook,
washer and ironer. JOHN, (ditto) her son, a mullatto boy, about 16 or 17 years old, a smart house servant, understands
the management of horse, drives a chair. ROBERT, (ditto) her son, a mullatto boy, about 5 years old. This family will
be sold together or separate.
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Conditions - For Lots and Farm, one half cash, balance payable in 12 months, by Note
with two approved endorsers; for the Negroes, cash, or Notes with two approved endorsers, at 60 days, with discount added. Indisputable
titles will be given, and the Negroes warranted sound and agreeable to description.
Raphael J. Moses
(1812-1893) was a lawyer, orator and leader of the Columbus, Georgia Jewish community and a staunch supporter of slavery.
At one time he held title to at least 47 Black people whom he forced to tend his 20,000 fruit trees. He helped lead Georgia
out of the Union and then joined the Confederate army with his three sons. He was a Florida delegate to the 1847 Democratic
convention where he teamed with Alabama secessionist William L. Yancey to include in the platform the right to carry slaves
into the Northwest territories. When this failed he protested and withdrew his delegation from the convention.
Samuel Moses was
a ship owner who formed a partnership with Isaac Elizer and Jacob Rivera. He rewarded the crews of his profitable ships with
Black men and women.
Solomon Moses (c.
1734-1828); Born in Amsterdam, he was Charleston's constable in 1822, whose job was to punish Africans who sought freedom.
Solomon Moses, Jr.
(1783-1857) was Charleston, South Carolina's deputy sheriff in 1822, whose job, like his father (above), was to punish runaway
Blacks.
Clara la Mota purchased
a female slave and married Benjamin Monsanto in 1787.
Sarah A. Motta; Daughter
of R. D'Azevedo, from whom she inherited at least four Blacks and was given an option in the will to free or keep them. She
continued to force them to labor for her without pay.
Isaac Motta was a South Carolina resident who, acting
possibly as a legal agent or bounty hunter, placed this advertisement in the South-Carolina Gazette on March 29, 1770:
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RUN AWAY from the Honourable WILLIAM DRAYTON, Esq; at St. Augustine, in East-Florida,
two NEGRO MEN; Anthony, about 25 Years of Age, very black, near six Feet high, has lost part of the first Joint of his left
Thumb; Frank, about 22 Years of Age, yellow Complexioned, and pitted with the Small-pox. They were born on the Estate of the
late THOMAS DRAYTON, Esq; at Indian-Land, and are supposed to have attempted to return thither. Ten Pounds Currency will be
paid for each, on being delivered to the Warden of the Work-House.
Dr. Jacob De La Motta
(1789-1845) of Charleston enslaved Africans named "Ann Maria Simmons" and her son "Augustus," who were transferred to his
sister Rachel after his death. He also held two other African citizens whom he called "Sam" and "Sylvia." A physician who
was active in politics, he served as minister at the Jewish congregations in Savannah and Charleston. He was also involved
in Masonry and was the secretary of the South Carolina Medical Society, assistant commissioner of health and founder and president
of his orthodox congregation.
Esther Myers (1748-1826)
of the Georgetown district of South Carolina was the wife of Mordecai and enslaved 11 African citizens.
Dr. Henry Myers;
According to Jewish writer, Emma Mordecai, Myers joined the militia and helped to put down the 1831 rebellion of Nat Turner.
Hyam Myers did business
with Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the infamous Indian exterminator. Myers wrote to Samuel Jacobs on September 27, 1761,
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I take this opportunity to inform you that [I] have shipp'd you on board a schooner
bound to Quebeck, which will sail in a day or two, your Negro girl, seal, and blank paper.
A subsequent letter identifies the "Negro Girl" as
"Jenny" whose price was £65.328
Joseph Myers, of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania owned a slave, age 25, in 1773.
Manuel Myers (d.
1799) was a New York merchant, distiller and high official of Congregation Shearith Israel. To his wife Judith, he left: "my
mulatto boy slave, named Harry, during the term of her natural life, and upon the decease of my said wife, I do manumit set
free and release from slavery my said slave named Harry." His wife died 33 years later.
All references are in the publication: "The Secret
Relationsip Between Blacks and Jews".
Mordecai Myers' plantation
housed sixty-four slaves.331 Based on regional records, it may be he or his relatives who are responsible for the following
advertisement in the South-Carolina Gazette of October 24, 1770:
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ABSENTED herself from the Subscriber, on Thursday last, a tall stout NEGRO WENCH, named
LUCY, well known in and about Jacksonburgh; formerly the Property of Francis Oldfield, on Ponpon Neck. She had on when she
went away a Callico Petticoat and Jacket: But as she took other Cloaths with her, may probably appear in other Dresses. TEN
POUNDS Currency Reward will be paid to any Person who will give Information of her being harboured by a white Person, and
ONE DOLLAR if by a Negro, on Conviction of the Offender; and FIVE POUNDS like Money to any one who will deliver her to Mordecai
Myers.
Years later he still sought his slave through an advertisement
in the Savannah Georgia Gazette, on May 17, 1775:
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RUN AWAY from the subscriber, A NEGROE WENCH, named Lucy, from Ponpon, formerly the
property of Francis Oldfield, said wench supposed to have gone to George Galphin, Esq.'s or harboured by horse thieves, &c.
either Joseph or Brukins Prine. Whoever brings said wench to me shall have one hundred pounds reward South-Carolina currency;
if harboured by white persons, and the same prosecuted. I hereby promise a reward of five hundred pounds South-Carolina currency.
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Mordecai Mires (sic).
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N.B. The wench has been absent four years.
Moses Myers (1752-1835)
of Philadelphia, held an African named "David Anderson" against his will.
Samuel Myers (1755-1836)
of Petersburg, Virginia enslaved Blacks named "Isaac," "Judah," "Maria" and "Betsy" and in 1796, bought an African woman named
"Alice," probably to sexually violate at his will, due to the loss of his wife four months earlier. He sold "Alice" shortly
after his next marriage.335 The Samuel S. Myers & Co. in Richmond, held 82 African citizens as slaves in 1830. The Virginia
capital was the center of the nation's tobacco industry, an industry in which slaves were owned by manufacturing enterprises.
Samuel S. Myers & Co. was one of Virginia's leading tobacco manufacturers.
David Naar (1800-1880)
was born in St. Thomas, Danish West Indies to Joshua Naar and Sarah D'Azevedo. According to an island census in 1830, his
family, including himself, numbered "2 men, 1 woman, 2 sons and 1 daughter, his domestic staff 5 colored women and his stock
of slaves still 1 full-grown."337 Soon thereafter, the increasing threat of slave insurrections in the Caribbean and the decline
of trade caused a considerable number of Jews, including the Naars, to begin to emigrate to continental North America. "David
Naar wielded a powerful influence as owner and editor of the Daily True American," writes biographer Rabbi S. Joshua Kohn:
"It became the organ of the Democratic party in central New Jersey" and was edited for more than half a century, from 1853
to 1905, by David Naar and by his nephew, Moses D. Naar, and by David's son, Joseph L. Naar. .; He was politically rewarded
with several prominent positions:
· Appointed as one of the lay Judges of the Court
of Common Pleas of Essex County. · 1843: appointed Mayor of the Borough of Elizabeth by the New Jersey Legislature. ·
1844: elected a Delegate from Essex County to the State Constitutional Convention. · 1844: campaigned for James K. Polk
as President and in 1845 was rewarded with the appointment as Commercial Agent of the United States to Saint Thomas.
· 1848: returned to Elizabeth, New Jersey where he
was soon elected Recorder of the Borough and a member of the Borough Council. · 1851-1852: chosen Clerk of the General
Assembly for two successive terms.
Naar used his influence in these positions to promote
his white supremacist ideology. As a member of the committee on the new bill of rights he played a prominent part in its deliberations
and conclusions. In the new constitution of 1844, the word "white" was inserted into the text concerning suffrage which effectively
disfranchised Blacks. It was not until the enactment in 1870 of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States that the right of suffrage was restored. Furthermore, the word "white" was not struck out of the New Jersey constitution
by amendment until the year 1875. Naar was appointed to a committee to prepare an address and resolutions at the Democratic
convention held on December 11, 1860, in Trenton. The resolutions passed:
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RESOLVED, That we see no remedy for this deplorable state of public affairs unless
the North, in the most prompt and explicit manner, shall avow its determination to remove all political agitation for the
abolition of slavery; shall repeal all acts designed to nullify or embarrass the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave
Law; shall consent to the citizen of the South enjoying the services of his domestic while temporarily sojourning here on
business or pleasure...
Rabbi Kohn described Naar as one who "espoused the
cause of the South and was a strong and irreconcilable exponent of states' rights and pro-slavery." In the election of November
7, 1860, with Naar's help, New Jersey was the only Northern state to vote against Lincoln. Among the examples of his anti-Black
wisdom: "Is it 'freedom' to destroy the peace, happiness and prosperity of thirty millions of white freemen, in order to give
a nominal freedom and bring into a condition of actual misery, four million of negroes? Is it 'freedom' of the 'higher law'
which ignores the laws of God and man, and seeks to substitute for the will of madmen and fanatics?" The Emancipation Proclamation,
promulgated on September 25, 1862, brought forth a vigorous denunciation from Naar:
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The injustice of this measure is only exceeded, we think, by its impolicy, and will
serve, we fear, to aggravate the difficulties of our position. What is to be gained by the emancipation of the slaves in any
point of view, we have never been able to discover; but to the contrary, we can perceive that, if successful, it will be of
great harm to the population of the non-slave holding States, both white and colored. In anticipation of this project, we
have more than once admonished our readers of the pernicious effect which must follow, in a social and industrial point of
view, the influx in their midst of a body of Negro slaves, unaccustomed to voluntary habits of industry or self-control, and
we do not propose now to repeat what we have said.
To Naar, the forthcoming Proclamation "will witness
the most stupendous act of folly and usurpation on the part of the occupant of the Executive Chair that has ever been perpetuated
by the ostensible representative of the American people." In a speech at a mass meeting in Trenton, on March 4, 1863, he voiced
the opinion that Americans were "cutting each other's throats" for the sake of a few Negroes and that the abolitionists had
wanted to place the Negro above the White man. Says Rabbi Kohn, "Naar was against Negro suffrage because it would mean that
Negroes could hold office. This was too difficult a thought for him to accept." He condemned the proponents of freedom for
Blacks with a curious logic:
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This is the case with the fanatical Zealots, who unfortunately for the country, now
hold the reins of Government....They have determined that Negro slavery shall be abolished and that determination they are
bent upon adhering to even at the cost of Constitutional liberty and of the Union itself. Failing in that they have resolved
to have no Union at all.
When Lincoln was assassinated, it was Naar who objected
to the recitation of the Escaba (Memorial Prayer) in the synagogues of Philadelphia. Finally, in an editorial entitled "Treason,"
the Daily Gazette & Republican expressed its view of Naar:
-
...a West India Jew, whose very being is made of low cunning, craftiness, meaness,
and deception, is less to be wondered at, and merely shows to what perfection the animal can be brought when put under proper
training. That future historians will link the name of Naar with those of Arnold and Judas there is but little doubt, judging
from the present course of events.
David Namias was
a Barbados planter in 1680 "with a dozen negroes and twenty acres of land." His household in St. Michaells housed "nine persons
(Jews) and five further slaves."
David De Isaac Cohen Nassy
of Philadelphia, held two "personal slaves" (which is synonymous with "sexual slave"). His Jewish ancestors built a whole
colony in Surinam based on African slave labor.
Asher Moses Nathan
of Baton Rouge, Louisiana was a businessman who loaned money to plantation owners for slave buying and was himself a slave
dealer. He owned an eighty-year-old Black male whom Nathan attempted to sell when he fell ill in 1807. This practice, in another
instance, netted his estate $72 when he sold a 70 year old Black woman named "Lucretia."
Nathan Nathans was
the president of the Beth Elohim Congregation in Charleston, South Carolina and owned and operated a plantation on the Cooper
River using the forced labor of African hostages.
Aaron Navarro's household
comprised seven Jews, "and no less than eleven black slaves....Other Navarros, Samuel and Judith, also owned slaves.349 He
dispensed his Black slaves in his will of July 4, 1685:
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I say that Entitta & her daughter Hannah are mine, being the daughter & grand-daughter
of my slave (negress) Maria Arda; if they wish to free themselves, they can come to an arrangement with my wife, & no
one may prevent or contradict them; this is my order & desire.350
Major Mordecai Manuel Noah
(1785-1851) was a journalist, judge, politician and "was probably the most distinguished Jewish layman until 1840." A prolific
proponent of slavery, he felt that "the bonds of society must be kept as they now are." To emancipate the slaves, he said,
"would be to jeopardize the safety of the whole country." The first Black American periodical, The Freedom's Journal, was
launched in response to Noah's racist propaganda - it characterized him as the Black man's "bitterest enemy."
Benjamin Nones (1757-1826);
Born in France, he moved to Philadelphia and enslaved two African people to build his business. They regularly ran away and
by 1793, he manumitted them. He was an active Mason and president of Philadelphia's Mikveh Israel synagogue for eight years.
Jacob Franco Nunes'
household of four used "only one negro slave."
Moses Nunes (1705-1787
or 1797) of Savannah, Georgia enslaved at least thirteen and possibly twenty Africans. He admitted to repeatedly raping one
Black woman named "Mulatta Rose," who bore his children named "Robert," "James," and "Alexander," and "Frances." He was a
landowner and merchant and was a prominent Mason. His grandson Joseph had five children by the rape of a Black women named
"Patience." He tried to sell these children but was legally challenged when their race was questioned.
Abraham Nunez left
to his granddaughter Hester Lopez, "the following negroes viz. - Old Katy, Old Flora & Katy Casandar & John her children
(& the children thereafter to be born of her body) Ishmael a negro boy....To great grand daughter Ester N. (daur. of my
son Morducoy & my grand daur. Rebecca) my negro woman slave called Casander & Sammy her child & the children she
shall have at the time of my decease."
All references are in the publication: "The
Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews".
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