NORTH CAROLINA.

In North Carolina we find [250] that Jacob Mordecai was Master of Johnston Caswell Lodge, No. 10, of Warrenton, in 1797, 1798, and 1799, and is noted as a member in 1801. An account of him has been written by Gratz Mordecai. [251]

Jacob Gaster and Jacob Hartman, two names possibly Jewish, appear as members of Pansophia Lodge, No. 25, 1797 to 1799. Gaster was a member of the House of Commons for Moore County, North Carolina, between 1796 and 1815, and of the Senate in 1806 and 1812. [252]

Zachariah Hart was a member of Davie Glasgow Lodge, No. 26, Glasgow County, in 1798 and 1799. In the latter year the spelling of the name is Harte.

Abraham Isaacs was a member of St. Tammany Lodge, No. 30, of Wilmington, in 1798. In 1799 he is noted as A. M. Isaacs, Senior Warden.

Aaron Lazarus and M. Levy were also members of St. Tammany Lodge, No. 30, in 1803, J. M. Levy in 1807, and Aaron L. Gomez and Philip Benjamin in 1813 and probably before.

Aaron Lazarus is mentioned as one of the earliest Hebrews to reach Wilmington and as one of the first directors of the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad Company. He was born in Charleston in 1777 and died at Richmond in 1841. [253]

Benjamin Jacobs was Tiler in that lodge in 1799, and in 1803 is noted as Junior Warden of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, of Wilmington.

Joseph Jacobs was a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, in 1803, Senior Warden in 1807, and still a member in 1812.

Jacob Henry, in 1807, was a member of Taylor Lodge, No. 48, Beaufort County. He was a member of the House of Commons of North Carolina, for Carteret County, in 1808 and 1809. His seat was sought to be vacated on the ground that he "denied the divine authority of the New Testament," but on his appeal to the House he successfully defended his right to it. [254]

Henry, in 1812, was also a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 3, of Newbern. Other members of that lodge were Abraham Cutten, 1797 to 1799, Samuel Hart and Jacob Sabiston. [255]

Simon Nathan is not recorded as active in North Carolina, for which State he was, as already noted under Pennsylvania, appointed Deputy Inspector General in 1781.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

Our earliest reference to a Jewish Mason in South Carolina is to Isaac Da Costa, already referred to. In 1753 he was a member of King Solomon's Lodge, of Charleston, and in 1759 its Treasurer. [256]

A Sublime Lodge of Perfection was organized by him in Charleston in February, 1783, he being then Deputy Inspector General of Masonry under appointment from Moses M. Hays. At that meeting Moses C. Levy received the degree of Royal Select Master, and was still a member in 1827. [257]

Da Costa was a merchant and old resident of Charleston, and for years Reader of the Jewish congregation (Beth Elohim) of that city. In 1781, owing to the British occupancy of Charleston, [258] he went to Philadelphia and became one of the original members of the Mikve Israel Congregation of that city in 1782. [259] In 1783 he returned to Charleston, where he died in November of that year. [260] Of him, as of Joseph M. Myers, it was said [261] that it was fortunate for Masonry that both were Israelites and well educated men. (Da Costa was a slave trader, see note [E1])

On Da Costa's death, Joseph M. Myers was appointed as his successor by Moses M. Hays, thus becoming Deputy Inspector General of Masonry for South Carolina. Reference to him has already been made under Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.

Myers established a Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem in Charleston on February 20, 1788. [262] With Barend M. Spitzer, Deputy for Georgia, and Abraham Forst, Deputy for Virginia, he installed the officers. The Rite in South Carolina was only worked at Charleston. [263] Myers shortly afterwards removed from Charleston, and resided at various times at Norfolk, Richmond, and Baltimore, and about 1795 left the country for Europe. [264] His name, with Abraham Alexander, Moses Eleazer, and Marcus Lazarus, is mentioned in 1780 in a petition offering allegiance to his Majesty's person and government. [265] On August 21, 1791, we find that he delivered an excellent discourse at Charleston at the synagogue in support of a plan for a non-sectarian orphan asylum to be erected by the city. [266]

Abraham Jacobs, in 1787, was Master of King Solomon's Lodge, of Charleston, and in that year received various degrees in the Sublime Lodge of Perfection up to the Royal Arch. His certificate is signed by Abraham Sasportas, as Grand Master of Ceremonies of the Grand Lodge of Perfection, Knight of the East and Prince of Jerusalem, Prince Mason and Knight of the Sun. It is also signed by Joseph Da Costa, Grand Elect, Perfect and Sublime Mason, Knight of the East and Sublime Grand Secretary. Jacobs afterwards resided in Kingston, Jamaica, and in 1790 was there made a Knight of the Sun at a Consistory presided over by Moses Cohen, who, as already stated, was a Knight of the Sun at the meeting of the Lodge of Perfection in Philadelphia in 1781, and Abraham Forst, already referred to, both acting as Deputy Inspectors General. His certificate as Knight of the Sun is signed by Moses Cohen, and also by A. M. Bonito as Keeper of the Seals pro tem., and Jacob Delion as Grand Secretary pro tem. Jacobs left Kingston for Georgia in 1790, his certificate giving him authority to promote the interests of the craft there. [267] We shall meet him again in that State. He has already been noted under New York.

Barend (or Barnard) M. Spitzer who had been commissioned by Moses M. Hays, June 25, 1781, seems to have commissioned Moses Cohen as Deputy Inspector General in January, 1784, and Cohen commissioned Hyman Isaac Long as Deputy Inspector General January 11, 1795. [268] Spitzer was a resident of Charleston between 1770 and 1782, [269] a member of the Mikve Israel Congregation of Philadelphia in 1782, [270] and was again in Charleston in 1784, when he left for the West Indies. [271] He died in 1796. [272]

Hyman Isaac Long, on March 13, 1796, constituted a Grand Consistory of Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret in the hall of La Candeur Lodge, No. 12, of Charleston. [273] He has already been mentioned under New York and Virginia. Israel Myers, from 1788 to 1802, was Grand Tiler of the Grand Lodge of Ancient York Masons, and Alexander Alexander was Secretary from 1788 to 1800. [274]

Masonry and the synagogue were connected in 1793 at the laying of the corner-stone of the new synagogue of the Beth Elohim Congregation on September 14 of that year. [275] The committee of arrangements consisted of Daniel Hart, Gershom Cohen, and Moses C. Levy. The ceremony, according to the glowing report of this committee to the vestry, "was conducted by the rules and regulations of the ancient and honorable fraternity of Freemasons." [276]

The building was completed in 1794, and at the consecration in that year Governor William Moultrie and numerous civil and military dignitaries were present. It may be inferred, in the absence of records, that Governor Moultrie was a Mason, as a near kinsman of his, Dr. James Moultrie, was prominent in the Order in South Carolina, being one of the Sovereign Grand Inspectors General for that State on the establishment of the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction in 1801, and a Mason for many years before. Reference will now be made to this Council, which has played an important part in the history of Masonry, and which, at its organization, included a number of Jews. (see note [E2])

The Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction (1801)

The Supreme Council of the 33d Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, said to be the first Supreme Council known, and superseding all previous analogous organizations, being, it is also said, a transformation of the former Rite of Perfection or Ancient Accepted Rite, was organized at Charleston, on May 30, 1801, by John Mitchell, Frederick Dalcho, Emanuel DeLaMotta, Abraham Alexander, Major T. B. Bowen, and Israel Delieben. A list exists of the officers composing this Council in 1802, and also of the officers and members of the different sections or divisions of the degrees of the Scottish Rite in that year. [277]

Many Jewish names appear in this list, as also many non-Jewish, prominent in South Carolina affairs. The list gives the officers and members in 1802 of (1) the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection in South Carolina, which had been established in 1783; (2) of the Council of the Princes of Jerusalem in South Carolina; (3) of the Sovereign Chapter of the Rose-Croix de Heroden, or Heredom, in South Carolina; (4) of the Grand Consistory of Princes of the Royal Secret in South Carolina; and (5) of the Supreme Council of Grand Inspectors General of the 33d Degree in South Carolina. It also gives the age, occupation, and nativity of the officers and members, in 1802, of the Grand Lodge of Perfection which had been established in Charleston in 1783.

The Jewish names have here been arranged in alphabetical order, giving to each his rank. The titles will be better understood by reference to what has been said of the degrees in treating of Massachusetts.

• Abraham Alexander, Grand Secretary of the Sovereign Chapter of Rose-Croix; K. D. in the Grand Council of the Princes of Jerusalem; Grand Secretary of the Grand Consistory of Princes of the Royal Secret; and Illustrious Secretary General of the H. Empire, in the Supreme Council of Grand Inspectors General of the 33d Degree.

• William Alexander, native of Charleston, factor, aged 26 years, Secret Master, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection.
• Isaac Canter, native of Santa Croix, factor, aged 33 years, Knight of the East, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection.
• Emanuel Cantor, native of Santa Croix, merchant, aged 30 years, Intimate Secretary, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection.
• Emanuel DeLaMotta, native of Santa Croix, commission merchant and auctioneer, aged 42 years, K. H.-P. R. S., Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the 33d Degree and Illustrious Treasurer General of the H. Empire, in the Sublime Grand Lodge or Perfection; Grand Treasurer of the Sovereign Chapter of the RoseCroix de Heredom; Grand Treasurer of the Grand Consistory of Princes of Jerusalem; and Illustrious Treasurer General of the H. Empire in the Supreme Council of Grand Inspectors General of the 33d Degree.
• Jacob Deleon, native of Jamlca, commission merchant and auctioneer, aged 38 years, Intendant of the Building, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection.
• Israel Delieben, native of Bohemia, commission merchant, aged 60 years, K. H.-P. R. S., Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the 33d Degree; Grand Treasurer of the Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem; Keeper of the Seals and Archives of the Grand Consistory of Princes of the Royal Secret; and Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the Supreme Council of Grand Inspectors General of the 33d Degree.
• Morris Goldsmith, native of London, merchant, aged 21 years, Secret Master, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection.
• Solomon Harby, native of London, commission merchant and auctioneer, aged 40 years, K. H.-P. R. S., in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection; Grand Orator and Keeper of the Seals of the Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem; and member of the Grand Consistory of Princes of the Royal Secret.
• Moses Michael Hays [spelled Hayes], native of [place blank], merchant, of Boston, K. H.-P. R. S., honorary member in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection.
• David Labat, native of Hamburg, storekeeper, aged 42 years, member of the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection.
• Moses C. Levy, member of the Grand Consistory of Princes of the Royal Secret, and Sovereign Grand Inspector General in the Supreme Council of Grand Inspectors General of the 33d Degree.
• Samuel Myers, native of New York, merchant, of Virginia, aged 43 years, K. H.-P. R. S., honorary member, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection.
• Abraham Sasportas, native of Bordeaux, merchant, aged 56 years, Knight of the Sun, in the Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection.

Others in the list, Dr. Frederick Dalcho, Dr. Isaac Auld, and John Mitchell, who were claimed to have been Jews, are known not to have been of that race. [278]

Abraham Alexander's nativity and age are not given in the list. He is said to have been a South Carolinian, and there was some question as to whether he was a Jew. [279]

William Alexander's history is not known. He is noted as a native of Charleston, and was probably a son of Abraham Alexander, Sr., or brother of the other Abraham Alexander.

Isaac Canter and William Cantor were both members of the Congregation Beth Elohim. [280]

Emanuel DeLaMotta was Master, in 1803, of Eagle Mark Lodge, No. 1, of Charleston, and in 1806, 1807, and 1809 was Master of Friendship Lodge, No. 9, of the same city. [281] He was born November 2, 1760, and died May 17, 1821, according to the epitaph on his tombstone, which states only the day of his death, and says he was aged 60 years, 6 months and 15 days. [282]

DeLaMotta's family fled from Spain to avoid persecution, and branches of the old stock settled in Savannah and Charleston, having rescued sufficient of their former fortune to render them free from want. Emanuel devoted himself to Jewish literature and Masonic study. One of his sons was Dr. Jacob DeLaMotta, of Charleston, at one time a surgeon in the United States Army and afterwards a practicing physician in Charleston. [283] Emanuel was a resident of Charleston between 1770 and 1782. [284] In 1790 he seems to have been at Savannah, being then described as one of the incorporators of the Congregation Mikve Israel there. [285]

Jacob Deleon was a distinguished officer of the War of the Revolution, serving as Captain on the staff of General DeKalb. [286] His name has been mentioned in connection with Benjamin Nones, under Pennsylvania, as assisting in carrying DeKalb from the battle field when mortally wounded.

Deleon appears to have been at Kingston, Jamaica, in November, 1790, being then noted as Grand Secretary pro tem. in the Grand Sublime Lodge of Perfection, and one of the signers, with Moses Cohen and Abraham Bonito, of a patent, already referred to, to Abraham Jacobs, as Knight of the Sun, in the Lodge of Perfection. [287] He was a member of the Beth Elohim Congregation.

Israel Delieben was a member of the Beth Elohim Congregation of Charleston in 1800. [288] He was born in Prague, Bohemia, in 1740, and emigrated to the United States in 1770, settling in Charleston, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He died January 28, 1807, and was buried [289] in the Charleston cemetery. [290]

Morris Goldsmith was a member of the Beth Elohim Congregation of Charleston in 1810. [291] In that year he also appears to have been a member of Lodge No. 46, of Spartanburg. [292] He was one of the committee on correspondence of the Grand Lodge between 1809 and 1814, and was quite active in relation to the proposed union of the two Grand Lodges then existing. He was Secretary of the Grand Lodge.

Solomon Harby, in 1803, was Junior Warden of Eagle Mark Lodge, No. 1, of Charleston. [293] Markens [294] says that Harby's father had been Lapidary to the Emperor of Morocco, and that his son was Isaac Harby, a well-known author.

David Labat was a member of Beth Elohim Congregation in 1800. [295]

Moses C. Levy has already been mentioned as one of the committee of arrangements at the laying, in 1793, of the corner-stone of the Beth Elohim synagogue building, and reference was made to the fact that the ceremony was conducted in accordance with Masonic rules and regulations. He was President of the congregation in 1791, and was remarkable for his piety and learning. [296]

Samuel Myers, of the Lodge of Perfection, has been described under Virginia.

Abraham Sasportas was a member of the Beth Elohim Congregation in 1810. [297] He was a member of the Philadelphia Congregation Mikve Israel in 1782. [298] In 1788 he was in Charleston, and with Joseph Da Costa signed a commission to Abraham Jacobs in connection with his work as a Mason, [299] signing as Grand Master of Ceremonies of the Lodge of Perfection, K. of E., P. of J., P. M. and Sovereign Knight of the Sun.

Eleazer Elizer, who has been mentioned under Rhode Island, is noted as an officer of the Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem in 1801, viz., S. G. S., K. H., P. R. S., [300] and also in the same year as having been appointed Sublime Grand Warden, K. H. and P. R. S., and signing himself Sublime Grand Secretary. [301]

Leaving the Supreme Council, we find the following officers of lodges in 1807, mentioned in a Masonic publication: [302]

Lodge No. 3, meeting at Charleston: Solomon Nathan, Senior Warden.

Lodge No. 9 (Friendship), a York Mason Lodge, meeting at Charleston: Emanuel DeLaMotta, Master; Samuel Hyams, Senior Warden; Samuel Jacobs, Junior Warden; and David Mordecai, Treasurer.

Lodge No. 10, meeting at Columbia: Zachariah Philips, Senior Warden.

Lodge No. 39, meeting at Coosauhatchie: Benjamin H. Mark, Tyler.

Sublime Grand Lodge: Israel Delieben, Hospitaller Brother; Isaac Canter, Secretary, and David Labat, Tyler.

Sublime Grand Council: Emanuel DeLaMotta, Treasurer; A. Alexander, Secretary.

From information furnished through the courtesy of Mr. Isaac Markens and his Charleston correspondent, obtained from an old Charleston directory, it appears that in 1806 the Jewish officers of the Sublime Grand Lodge and of the Supreme Council were the same as have just been mentioned for 1807, and that of Friendship Lodge, No. 9, the officers in 1806 were E. DeLaMotta, Master; David Brandon, Senior Warden; Samuel Hyams, Junior Warden; Ch. Moise, Treasurer, and M. L. Henry, Secretary, and that of La Reunion Franchise, No. 41, a French Masonic lodge, David Labat was Treasurer.

Through the same source it has been learned that in the minutes of LaCandeur Lodge, written in French, and now at the Home of the Temple, in Washington, D. C, the following Jewish names are entered among the visiting Masons in 1798:

Abraham Alexander, Moses Alexander, Isaac Canter, Emil Canter, E. DeLaMotta, Abraham Depass, Myer Derkheim, Hyman Harris, Jacob Harris, Emil Jones, and Benjamin Melhado. [303]

Elsewhere, Jacob Lazarus, in 1809, is noted as a member of Lodge No. 10, of Ancient York Masons, held at Columbia. [304]

Jacob DeLaMotta, the eldest son of Emanuel DeLaMotta, is noted [305] as a member of Friendship Lodge, No. 9, of Charleston, in 1809, and Samuel Hyams as Junior Warden. Myer Moses was Master of the lodge in 1810 and 1819. He was a member of the Legislature in 1810. [306]

GEORGIA.

In Georgia, Solomon's Lodge, No. 1, of Savannah, was regularly organized in 1735, though work had been done before by its members. Governor James Oglethorpe, who is said to have been a Mason in England before coming to Georgia, was one of its founders. That lodge occupied a prominent place among the corporate bodies of Savannah in its early history, and was recognized officially on more than one occasion. Governor Henry Ellis, Royal Governor of the Province of Georgia, in his account to the home government of his reception on his arrival in Savannah, in 1758, mentioned the Masonic fraternity as one of the distinguished bodies that received him. [307]

Dr. Herbert Friedenwald [308] called attention to the fact that in the Library of Congress is to be found a part of the minutes of a Masonic lodge of the period of 1756-1757, which shows that Daniel, David, and Moses Nunes, and Abraham Sarzedas were then members of the lodge (which no doubt was Solomon's Lodge), and that Daniel and Moses Nunes are therein referred to as having been admitted as Masons in Georgia in 1733-1734, and that David Nunes and Abraham Sarzedas were among those who participated in the address of welcome to Governor Ellis. [308a]

Oglethorpe's friendly reception of the Jews in 1733, on their arrival in Georgia from England, has been noted by historians. [309]

Why may not imagination trace one of the causes of this friendly reception to the recognition by Oglethorpe, through Masonic signs, of members of the craft among the new arrivals, and thus attribute, in part, his consideration for them afterwards to the brotherly sentiments created by their connection with the Order of which he himself was one?

That there is a reasonable presumption that Jewish Freemasons were among the arrivals from England in 1733 can be maintained in all seriousness. Gould [310] refers to a meeting of the Grand Lodge of England in 1733, at which the Deputy Grand Master "recommended the new Colony of Georgia in North America to the benevolence of the particular Lodges."

A probable connection exists between a Jewish member of one of these lodges and one of the first Jewish arrivals in Georgia, the names being somewhat similar. This appears from a reference to an initiation in London in 1732, reading in part as follows:

"In the presence of several brethren of distinction, as well Jews as Christians, Mr. Edward Rose was admitted to the fraternity by Mr. Daniel Delvalle, an eminent Jew, the Master, Captain Wilmot, etc."

Among those to whom land was allotted in Georgia with others of the first arrivals from London was Isaac DeVal, a Jew. [311]

David Nunes is stated to have held the office of Waiter for the Port of Savannah in March, 1765, and Moses Nunes that of Searcher of the same port, 1768-1774. [312]

The Sheftalls were also members of Solomon's Lodge. They are thus referred to by the historian of that lodge: [313]

During the War of Independence, the lodge was well represented in the patriot army. We find on its list, soon after the close of that struggle, the names of Stephens, Jackson, Houston, Stirk, the Hahershams, the Sheftalls .... and others. [314]

Abraham Jacobs has already been mentioned under New York and South Carolina. He was also in Augusta and Savannah in 1792 and 1796, and was then active in initiating Masons in those cities, but no Jewish names are found in his record for those years. In 1799 and 1800 he was Master of Forsythe Lodge in Augusta. He was again in Savannah in 1801 and 1802. In 1801 he attended a meeting of the Sublime Lodge of Perfection in that city, and his record shows that among those initiated were Isaac Franks, Dr. Moses Sheftall, Jacob Cunes, John Cackles, Myer Durham, and James Simpson. [315]

Isaac Franks, according to the record, received degrees up to Prince of Rose-Croix; Myer Durham up to Provost and Judge, which is the 7th Degree; Dr. Moses Sheftall, Elect of Fifteen, which is the 10th Degree. Jacob Cunes was appointed Grand Tiler in the Grand Lodge of Perfection. Emanuel DeLaMotta, as a member of the Supreme Council at Charleston, visited Savannah in 1801 and attended a meeting of the lodge, being then described as K. H., P. of the R. S., which is the 32d Degree.

In 1802 a meeting was held at the house of Jacobs to receive a warrant and constitution from the Grand Council of Princes of Jerusalem in Charleston, for the establishment of a like Council in Savannah, with the following officers: Abraham Jacobs, Sublime Grand Master; James Simpson, Sublime Grand Warden; Isaac Franks, Sublime Grand Treasurer; Moses Sheftall, Sublime Grand Junior Warden, and John Cackles, Grand Master of Ceremonies. [316]

Moses Sheftall was a member of the Legislature, and also had been a Judge of the County Court. [317]

Other records of Jews in Georgia lodges before 1810 are not accessible here. The names of a few Masons appearing at later dates, but no doubt initiated before, may be noted. In the Grand Lodge of Georgia, Jacob Cunes, who has just been mentioned, was Grand Tiler in 1807, and also in 1812. [318] Robert Isaac, in 1818, was Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge. His name is spelled Isaacs in 1813 and 1814, when he was Senior Grand Warden. S. M. Mordecai appears as Grand Tiler from 1813 to 1816, Isaac DeLyon as Grand Steward in 1818, Jacob DeLaMotta as Grand Secretary in 1820 and 1821, and A. DeLyon as Grand Pursuivant in the same years.

In other States the records do not give any Jewish names among Masons before 1810, nearly all the records commencing after that date. The reference in the quotation at the beginning of this paper to a member of the Jewish race as Grand Master in Louisiana, has, through the kindness of an inquiry by Mr. Isaac Markens, been found to relate to Lucien Hermann, who was Grand Master in 1849. He is said, however, to have departed from the faith.