NEW YORK.

Jonas Phillips was a Mason in New York City in 1760. This date is the earliest we have as to Jewish Masons in New York. His certificate as printed [47] is dated 1760, but does not give the month or the name of the lodge. It was undoubtedly Trinity Lodge, No. 4, said to be a military lodge, judging from the copy of the certificate dated in the same year to Aaron Hart, the form of which is similar and contains the names of the same certifying officers. Jonas Phillips' name also appears in a list of "Masons belonging to lodges in New York State who fought on the side of liberty and independence in the War of the Revolution." [48] The entry is as follows:

Jonas Phillips, Lodge No. 4, Registry of New York. Enlisted October 31, 1778, in Capt. John Linton's Company, Col. William Bradford's Regiment of Philadelphia Militia. Subsequently mustered into the service of the United States. Died in Philadelphia, Pa., January 28, 1803, aged 67 years. Buried in New York City. Grandfather of M. W. Isaac Phillips, of New York. Data furnished by Bro. N. Taylor Phillips, of Albion Lodge, No. 26, his great-grandson.

Aaron Hart, in 1760, was a member of Trinity Lodge, No. 4. He joined in that year General Amherst's army of invasion into Canada as an officer and then settled there, at Three Rivers, where he and his children became prominent. A sketch of his life appears in the Dictionary of National Biography.

A certificate dated June 10, 1760, showing his membership in the lodge is in the possession of Gerald E. Hart, of New York, a descendant, who, at the writer's suggestion, supplied a photograph of it to the American Jewish Historical Society. It is dated within a few years of the oldest extant Masonic certificate in this country. It is in handwriting on a broad sheet of parchment, now somewhat faded with age, but its terms can still be deciphered. Whether it is the original certificate making him a member of the lodge, or a dimit on his joining Amherst's army for Canada, is not certain. It reads as follows:

And the Darkness Comprehended it not.

In the East, a Place Full of Light, where Reigns Silence & Peace.

We the Master & Wardens, of the Worshlpfull Trinity Lodge No. 4 of the Registry of New York, Adorn'd with all our Honours, & Assembled in Due Form, Do Hereby Declare, Certify & Attest, unto all Men Enlightened & Spread on Face of The Earth, That The Bearer Hereof, Aaron Hart, hath been Received an Entered Apprentice, & Fellow Craft, and after Tryall & Due Proof have Given him The Sublime Degree of a Master Mason, and he Lawfully and Safely may, Without any Demur, be Accepted of & Received into any Society to Whome these Presents may Come. Given under our Hands, & the Seal of our Lodge, in City of New York, in North America, this Tenth day of June, in the Year of our Lord 1760, & in Year of Masonry 5760.

John Marshall, Master.

John Thompson, Senr. Wardn.

Geoege Harris, Junr. Wardn.

Abrm. Skinner, Secr'y.

(Seal of Lodge)

Aaron Hart

Moses M. Hays, as noted under Massachusetts, received a warrant for the organization of King David's Lodge in New York. A copy of that warrant, dated February 23, 1769, signed by George Harrison, Provincial Grand Master of New York, is entered in the minute book of King David's Lodge, No. 1, of Newport, now in the archives of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, of Newport, where it was seen by the writer. It appoints Moses M. Hays Master and Myer Myers and Isaac Moses [as] Senior and Junior Wardens.

It is probable that under this warrant and the patent already referred to from Henry Andrew Francken which Hays received in 1768 as Deputy Inspector General in New York, where he then resided, many additional Jewish Masons were made, but their names are not ascertainable as the minutes for King David's Lodge of New York cannot be found. We know, however, that Simon Nathan and Benjamin Seixas, who like Isaac Moses, were prominent New Yorkers, were Masons in Philadelphia in 1781, whither they and Myers and Moses, just named, and other Jews had removed on the British occupancy of New York during the Revolution. These four are noted as among the members of the Philadelphia Congregation Mikve Israel in 1782. [49] They subsequently returned to New York. (see note [E2])

The printed records do not give as much information as one would expect to find about the activity of the Jews in Masonry in New York previous to 1810.

In several publications lists of members of some of the early lodges in New York City appear, from which names of Jewish members before 1810 have been selected, with dates of admission to membership. Some of these may possibly be nonJewish, although, judging from names alone, appearing to be of the race. In some cases dates are given after 1810, but these indicate a membership prior to that year. Names of officers are also found in the early New York City directories.

Union Lodge, No. 1: Isaac Gecion. The name is suggestive of Gerson or Gershom. It appears as the 65th in a long list of members between 1765 and 1805. The date of admission is not given. [50]

St. John's Lodge, No. 1: Isaac Heymes, 1794, Junior Warden, and H. Hays, 1795, Junior Warden. [51]

In later years the record shows Jonas Bush Master of Ceremonies in 1814, and Senior Warden in 1816. [52] In 1822 he was Grand Scribe of the Grand Chapter, R. A. M. (See Hardcastle's "Annual Masonic Calendar" for 1823.) He was probably a Mason before 1810, and may have been a relative of Solomon Bush, to be named under Pennsylvania. He served in the American Revolution. [53]

St. Andrew's Lodge, No. 3, known as No. 1 in 1791. A Mr. Levy was Secretary in 1791; J. H. Levy, Steward, in 1795; Isaac H. Levy, Treasurer, in 1796. These names are probably all of the same person. [54] The New York Directory of 1790 to 1792 gives the name Isaac H. Levy, occupation, merchant.

Holland Lodge, No. 8; Prince of Orange Lodge, No. 16, and Holland Lodge, No. 16. These lodges have the same membership:

J. L. Aarons, 1804; Alexander Brochez, 1793; Abraham Delaparra, 1806; Isaac Gomez, Jr., 1802; J. S. Gomperts, 1802; Henry Haymen, 1806; J. B. Jacobs, 1802; Simon Lupardo, 1803; Moses Monsanto, 1808; Joshua Moses, 1809; Seixas Nathan, 1807; Rufino Cavello Pereira, 1805; Isaac B. Seixas, 1808, and Joseph Sterlitz, 1791. [55] Seixas Nathan was Junior Deacon in 1808 and Secretary in 1809. [56]

Phenix Lodge, No. 11: Asher Hart, Secretary, 1795; M. Myers, Junior Warden, 1797, and Senior Warden, 1798 and 1799, of Mark Lodge annexed to Phenix Lodge, No. 11; A. Myers, Senior Warden, 1797; [57] Barnebas S. Judah, Secretary, 1796. [58] B. S. Judah is noted in the Grand Lodge Proceedings for September, 1796, as having been suspended for 12 months, the reason not being stated. [59]

Washington Lodge: Mordecai Myers, Junior Warden, 1800, Senior Warden, 1801, Master, 1802, 1804, 1805; Hyman Abrams, Junior Warden, 1801; [60] Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, 1801, 1804,1805; Naphtali Judah, Treasurer, 1800, Junior Warden, 1802, Senior Warden, 1803; Aaron Judah, Treasurer, 1802; Joel Hart, Master of Ceremonies, 1808. [61] John Moss, in 1805, was also a member of this lodge. [62]

Clinton Lodge, No. 453: Sampson Simson, initiated 1807, Senior Master of Ceremonies, 1808, Senior Warden, 1809, Master, 1810. Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, from 1810 to 1831. [63] In 1812, Solomon I. Isaacs was Steward. [64]

L'Unite Americane: Joseph Furtado, Treasurer, 1799. [65]

Warren Lodge: Moses Judah, Senior Deacon, 1800; Junior Warden, 1803; Senior Deacon, 1804. [66]

Albion Lodge: Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, 1804, 1805, 1807.

Erin Lodge: Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, 1808. [67]

Ancient Chapter, No. 1, Royal Arch Masons, known in 1804 as the Old Grand Chapter, R. A. M.: Nathan Eisenhart, 1804; Abraham Delaparre, 1808; [68] Jacob Frank, member in 1806 and Scribe in 1807. [69]

Independent Royal Arch Lodge, No. 2: Henry David, 1795; Isaac Isaacs, 1797; Dufty Jacobs, 1784; Elisha Jacobs, 1785; Jonas Lyon, 1804; M. Myer, 1784; Levi Nathan, 1809; John Pollock, 1792; David Rayner (?), 1810; Stephen Wise (?), 1798; John J. Zeitman (?), 1784; [70] Henry Hays, Treasurer, 1797; David Henry, Tiler, 1799; Seixas Nathan, Deacon, 1808; Levi Nathan, Junior Deacon, 1810, Senior Deacon, 1811, Treasurer, 1812, Master, 1815; and Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, 1808, 1810, 1811. [71]

Phenix Royal Arch Lodge, No. 3: Joseph Jacobs, Tiler, 1808. [72]

Jerusalem Chapter, No. 8, Royal Arch Masons: Isaac Gedalia, 1799; Gompert S. Gomperts, 1808; Joel Hart, 1807, Secretary, 1808, High Priest, 1812, Scribe, 1815; William Hays, 1799; Naphtali Judah, 1800; Moses Monsanto, 1808; Seixas Nathan, 1808; Moses L. M. Pexota [Peixotto], 1808. [73]

Washington Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, No. 8: Joel Hart, D. S., 1808.

Washington Chapter, No. 2: Sol. Simson, 1st G. M., 1811. [74] This Simpson was no doubt a Mason before 1810. [74a]

A "Society for the Promotion of Masonic Knowledge" also existed in 1796, with Asher Hart as President and Bernard S. Judah as Secretary. [75]

In 1795, Hyman Isaac Long, a physician, is noted as presenting a petition as a distressed brother from the Island of Jamaica, and the standing committee on charity was ordered to give him such assistance as its members thought proper. [76] Long was also the object of a charitable appropriation by the Virginia Grand Lodge, in 1795. He will be again referred to as a Deputy Inspector General of Masonry in South Carolina.

Mordecai M. Noah, referred to at the beginning of this paper, was no doubt a member of the Order before 1810, as he was then already prominent politically. He was a grandson of Jonas Phillips, the Mason of 1760. In later years his relation to the fraternity was strikingly displayed in connection with his well-known project for the founding of a Jewish "City of Refuge" at Niagara Falls, 1825. Various Masonic Lodges, Master Masons, Royal Arch Masons and Knights Templars, with their officers and Masonic jewels and paraphernalia, attended at the dedication ceremonies. [77]

Abraham Jacobs

Abraham Jacobs, who is described as a native of New York, [78] and who, as will appear, was active in Masonry in Georgia in 1801 and 1802, is the same who has been already noted as a Mason in Massachusetts in 1782. He came in for some animadversion from Masonic writers for "peddling" the higher degrees. He is said, in an unidentified note against his name in a list of officers in one of the records, to have been expelled from the Scottish Rite in 1810 for un-Masonic conduct, though the proof of the charge against him does not appear. [79] He seems to have remained a Mason, however, as he was one of the charter members of York Lodge, No. 197, in 1824, and was connected with that lodge until his death in 1834. [80]

Jacobs, as an answer to the attacks of his enemies, prepared a record of his proceedings in the Lodge of Perfection which he established in New York and Georgia, with copies of documents showing his authority to act. This record he called his "Register." [81] He confided it, fearing death, to Joseph Jacobs, who is said to have been his son. [82] A copy of his certificate of membership in St. Andrew's Lodge of Boston appears in this book. The original certificate is in the possession of the Grand Lodge of New York, and is copied in its publication giving an account of its collections of Masonic Antiquities, 1905, under No. 19, Collection of Charters. [82a] It is signed by Paul Revere as Master. In a note, Jacobs is there referred to, as receiving his Master's degree at Charleston, as made a Knight of the Sun in Jamaica in 1790, and later as receiving the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite at Charleston.

Jacobs' "Register" gives these facts about Jewish Masons in New York:

Joseph Jacobs, described as an old Royal Arch Mason, received, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection, various degrees between 1804 and 1806, in which latter year he received the degree of Knight of the Sun. He was also Grand Tiler in that lodge, and was Grand Tiler of the Grand Lodge in 1805. He has already been referred to as Tiler in Clinton Lodge from 1810 to 1831. In 1809, 1810, and 1811 he is also noted as Grand Pursuivant at a Grand Lodge meeting, [83] and is mentioned [84] as having held that office for many years. He seems to have been Tiler in various lodges, probably because of his large acquaintanceship.

Sampson Simson, Joel Hart, Mordecai Myers, and Isaac Moses, Jr., late of Charleston, received various degrees between 1807 and 1808, up to that of Prince of Jerusalem, and in October of the latter year Mordecai Myers and Sampson Simson received the degree of Knight of the Sun.

Moses Levi Maduro Peixotto is also noted in the record as K. H. and Prince of the Royal Secret in 1808.

Peixotto, Simson, and Abraham Jacobs, at a meeting in November, 1808, after Jacobs' proceedings had been examined and confirmed, were appointed a committee to correspond with the Supreme Councils of Sublime Lodges in other States, and wrote a letter to John Mitchell, the head of the Supreme Council in South Carolina, giving him a list of the members composing the Council of Princes of Jerusalem in New York. From this list, it appears that in 1808 Mordecai Myers was Grand Master in the Council of Princes of Jerusalem; Joel Hart, Grand Orator and Keeper of the Seals; Abraham Jacobs, K. S., K. H., and P. E. S.; Joseph Jacobs, Grand Tiler, and Isaac Moses, Jr., Knight. Peixotto received about this time the degree of Select of Twenty-Seven, then the 20th degree.

Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction (1813)

A Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction was formed in New York, in 1813, on the lines of the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction formed in Charleston, S. C, in 1801. Emanuel DeLaMotta, of Charleston, had come to New York as special Deputy-Representative of the Charleston Council, and was instrumental in forming the New York Council, becoming its head.

In 1814, DeLaMotta became engaged in a controversy with the founders of a rival Masonic body, claimed to have been organized without due authority, and in the course of it felt called upon to refer to his Judaism as the cause of some of the attacks upon him. In his Rejoinder [85] he showed that the fact that he was a Jew did not militate against his holding high office in the Order. [86]

Sampson Simson also was an officer of the Supreme Council for the Northern Jurisdiction in 1813, being Inspector Lieutenant, or Lieutenant Grand Commander. [87] He was then 33 years old. He represented Clinton Lodge at Grand Lodge meetings, and in 1812 and 1813 was Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of New York. [88] Simson was the founder of Mount Sinai Hospital. An account of him is given by the late Myer S. Isaacs. [89] He studied law with Aaron Burr and is said to have been the first Jewish lawyer in New York, being admitted to the bar in 1802. [90]

Moses Levi Maduro Peixotto was also an officer of the same Supreme Council, being Captain of the Life Guard. He was then 49 years old. His birth place is given as at Curacoa, and the date of his death, July 17, 1828. [91]

Joel Hart was Deputy Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, in 1815 and 1816. [92] He was a physician, and one of the charter members of the New York County Medical Society. He was U. S. Consul at Leith, Scotland, from 1817 to 1832. An account of him is given by Gustavus N. Hart. [93]

Mordecai Myers was Deputy Grand High Priest of the Royal Arch Grand Chapter from 1831 to 1833, and Grand High Priest in 1834. [94] Previously he had been Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge from 1829 to 1834. In 1830 he had received the nomination of Grand Master, but had declined the office. [95]

Myers was a soldier in the War of 1812, with the rank of Captain, and was wounded at the battle of Chrysler's Field. He was a member of Assembly for New York City from 1831-1834, and was Mayor of Schenectady in 1851 and 1854. He died January 20, 1871, aged 95 years. [96] In 1804 he seems to have been at Charleston. [97]

Isaac Gomez, Jr., of Holland Lodge, No. 8, in 1802, [98] was a member of the well-known Gomez family of New York.

Isaac B. Seixas, mentioned as of Holland Lodge, No. 8, was, in 1828, minister of the Shearith Israel Congregation. [98a] He is noted in the Virginia Grand Lodge proceedings as attending in 1808 and 1810 as a visitor.

Seixas Nathan, of the same lodge, was the son of Simon Nathan, a Mason in Philadelphia. [99]

Joshua Moses, also of the same lodge, was a prominent New York merchant engaged in the China trade. He died in 1837. [100]

Abraham Delaparre, also of that lodge and of Ancient Chapter, No. 1, was probably related to DelaPera or delaParra, of Surinam. [101]

Moses Monsanto, of Jerusalem Chapter, No. 8, in 1808, was probably of the family of D. N. Monsanto, president of the Jewish Congregation in Surinam in 1785, [102] and of M. R. Monsanta and Rodrigues Monsanta who appear in 1804 and 1805 to have been "contributors" towards the expenses of the Congregation Beth Elohim of Charleston. [103]

Gompert S. Gomperts, of the same Chapter, appears to have been a candidate in 1829 for the position of "Chazan," in the Philadelphia Congregation Mikve Israel. [104]

Isaac Isaacs, of Independent Royal Arch Lodge, No. 2, in 1797, may be identical with Isaac Isaacs of St. John's Lodge, of Newport, in 1790.

NEW JERSEY.

In New Jersey, Samuel Hays, in 1796, represented St. John's Lodge, of Philadelphia, at a Grand Lodge meeting. [105]

Jacob Benjamin was Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge from 1796 to 1806. [106] He was a merchant in Trenton in 1778, and may have been a Jew though not a strictly observing one. He advertised sales every Saturday. [107]