Baiz of Venezuela

In his book First American Jewish Families, Malcolm Stern includes a family which shows just how wide an impact one family can have. He shows Jacob Baiz (b. 19 Jan 1843) the son of Abraham Baiz and Sarah Miriam Naar, was married in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on 11 Mar 1868 to Emily Mendes Seixas (b. 5 Sep 1848), the daughter of Abraham Mendes Seixas and Hannah Pardo.

While we do gather a lot of vital family information from his book, it is not until we start searching the census records to see just how much impact one family can have. In the 1880 United States census shown below (http://www.familysearch.org/) we find Jacob and Emily living in Manhattan, New York where he is serving as Consul General of South America.

As you look closer at the census, it quickly becomes clear. Jacob, was born in Venezuela to a father from St. Thomas and a mother from New York. Emily was also born in Venezuela to a father from South Carolina and a mother from Holland. In addition their servants were 2 from Ireland and 1 from St. Croix. What an incredible upbringing these children must have had with such an international heritage.

The records of this family can be found in The Jews of the Americas.