The Early Jews of Rhode Island

The Jewish history of Rhode Island is perhaps the earliest in all of North America. In Newport, the first members of the Jewish community started to arrive in the mid 1650's, over 100 years before the American Revolution. The first synagogue, known as Touro Synagogue was completed in 1763, and is still in use today, making it the oldest existing synagogue in North America.   The Hebrew Cemetery was open about a dozen years later in the mid 1670's. That makes it the oldest existing Jewish cemetery in America.

These early Jews were Sephardic, whose journey to Newport started in places such as Spain and Portugal, and like many of the early Jews in America, included stops in the Islands of the Caribbean. These earliest families in Newport, who had names such as Lopez, Rivera, Levy, Seixas and Touro, would one day be known as people who were very influential in the forming of early colonial history.
A few of these early leaders, included:

• Rev. Isaac Touro, was the spiritual leader of the community. His family, originally from Spain, came to Newport after stops in Amsterdam and the West Indies, The synagogue was called the Touro synagogue in honor of all he contributed to the community.

• Rev. Touro's brother in law, Moses Michael Hays, was a very successful  merchant. He introduced the order of the Scottish Rite Masonic Order to America. He was the first Grand Master of the Lodge in Massachusetts with Paul Revere and a good friend of Thomas Paine. He is also credited with being a founder of the Bank of Boston.

• In 1763, Jacob Rodriquez Rivera, met with a group of locals and made the first plans to establish a college in Rhode Island. The school would eventually become known as Brown University.

Today, the community has over 350 years of history behind it and continues to be a strong Jewish community. The Jewish population of Rhode Island today is almost 20,000 people. FamilySearch has quite a few databases that include the records of the Jews of Rhode Island.

As with all FamilySearch databases, these records can be viewed free of charge at anytime.

The Jews of Azerbaijan

The Jewish history of Azerbaijan is one that is old and very interesting. Located on the Caspian Sea, the country is surrounded by Armenia, Georgia, Iran and Russia.  The first Jews came to the area over 1500 years ago when the Mountain Jews arrived.
The Mountain Jews, who are also known as the Persian Jews first arrived sometime before the 5th century. The Mountain Jews have a history well over 2000 years old.
According to their own tradition, the Mountain Jews believe they are descended from the Lost Tribes who left what is now Israel after the destruction of the First Temple. After leaving Israel they made their way through Syria and Babylon before arriving in Persia. Finally their ancestors came to live in southern Azerbaijan, which is now the northern part of Iran. 

While living in southern Azerbaijan the Jews adopted Tat, which was the language of the native Muslim people. They adopted the language but remained Jewish. Their language over time has evolved into a very distinct dialect, Juhuri, which incorporates many parts of the ancient Hebrew language.
The first Ashkenazic Jews started arriving in Azerbaijan in the 1800's. It was at this time that the Czar of Russia first sent Ashkenazic Jews into the area. Another wave of Ashkenazim came during World War II in an attempt to escape the Nazis.
Today, most of the more than 15,000 Jews of Azerbaijan live in cities such as Baku, which is home to the majority of the community, and Quba and Grozny.
The overall population of the Jewish community has shrunk from where it was as recently as the 1990's. At that time there were more than 75,000 Jews. The decline in population can probably be blamed on economic conditions, and not anti-semitism which has for the most part not been a problem to the Jews. Yes, while the Soviet Union was in control they did seize many buildings and property, however the leaders today have returned many of those buildings, including the synagogues back to the people.
The fact that many of the Jews have no immigrated to Russia, Israel and the United States is because they are seeking employment or because the young people are looking for a place to get a better education.

IAJGS 2016 - Seattle, Registration is Now Open

It's official, registration for the 2016 International Conference on Jewish Genealogy is now open. Even though the conference is still seven months off, time will fly as the conference approaches. For more information on Early Registration discounts visit the www.iajgs2016.org website. I look forward to seeing everyone in Seattle.

Netherlands, Zuid-Holland Province, Civil Registration, 1679-1942

There is a long history of the Jews in the Netherlands, going well back into the 1400's. The communities were large and for the most part prosperous, made up of both Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews.
FamilySearch has now added the Civil Registration records from 1679-1942 for the Province of Zuid-Holland to its Historical Records Collections. As of today only a small portion of the 5.4 million images have been name search able but as more records are indexed that number will increase as well.

The collection includes civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths. Indexes, marriage intentions, marriage proclamations, marriage supplements, and divorces are also included. For a list of records by localities and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.The records themselves give some good information, depending on the year of the record.
The record below is for the birth of Louiza Cohen, who was born on the 8th day of January in 1892 in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands.

The record also tells us that her birth was registered on the next day, the 9th, also in Rotterdam. We now know that her parents were Jacob Cohen and his wife Eva. The record also tells us that her father was 33 when she was born, which would give us a year of birth as 1859. That same information for the mother was not provided. For those with ancestry in the Netherlands this collection could be of great help in finding your ancestors.

Happy Hanukkah 2015

 At this time of year may we all DEDICATE ourselves to remembering who we are and where we came from. 

 May we all have the JOY of teaching someone new the joy that comes with researching our ancestry. 

  May we strengthen the bonds of friendship with those we know, while also finding new friends in the JOURNEY.

Happy

Hanukkah

To All.

So Much To Be Thankful For

Here in the United States we are one week away from the Thanksgiving holiday. It is a time for all of us to pause and remember all the things we have to be thankful for. The holiday was first proclaimed a national holiday in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln. This was during the U.S. Civil War, a time when brother fought against brother, and one of Americas darkest times. I feel that the establishing of the Thanksgiving holiday at that time was not an accident, it showed that if we came together we can heal almost anything. With all that is going on in the world today, I feel the need to put in writing some of those things that I am thankful for as someone searching for his own ancestors.

Morris David Rosenbaum

 I am thankful for all my family that I never knew in life. Many lived in a different time, in places far away from me, yet the legacy they left behind has touched me in many ways. As I have read their stories, I have laughed with some and cried with others but I have been blessed by them all. I truly believe that in order to know ourselves we must know those who came before.

Trinidad, Colorado

  I am thankful for a supportive family that occasionally joins me on this journey.  They have grown familiar with stopping when we travel to see the home of an ancestor and they only mildly complain when they hear a story for the tenth time. Even a grandchild who enjoys searching through cemeteries (this obviously skipped a generation).

Willesden Cemetery, London

I am thankful for all those who preserve the history and memories of our ancestors.  For the archivists who preserve records, historians who document the past, and those societies and individuals who give of their time to clean and protect the burial grounds of our ancestors. We may never see them doing it, but because we can view those treasures, we know they were there.

Family History Library, Salt Lake City

 I am thankful for all those people who make the records of our people available to us. Genealogy websites that allow us to research in our homes, bloggers who keep us updated on new happenings, and speakers and teachers who travel the world guiding through the process, it could not be done without you.

Paris, France

I am also very thankful for the incredible people who no matter what happens in the world, they are always willing to put aside their own needs and help one another. It truly is a blessing to know that even as we try to link our families together, we are all truly brothers and sisters. I am very proud and thankful to have such a  wonderful genealogy family.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, may you and your families have a very blessed holiday.

Delaware Vital Records, 1650-1974

The amount of basic vital records located on sites such as FamilySearch, Ancestry and My Heritage continues to grow. These records are some of the best sources for birth, death and marriage records available to people searching for more complete information on their ancestors. FamilySearch has now added the collection, Delaware Vital Records, 1650-1974 to its free Historical Collections. This collection, which also includes bible and cemetery records, contains over 3.1 million images.
The records are typewritten and give some very good information for researchers. Below, you will see that the information provided on the birth, marriage and death records can be very helpful in identifying family connections. 

 

 

 The images above, come from the FamilySearch wiki page for this collection. In addition to these examples, there is also a good amount of information on this collection. It is always a great idea to read the wiki pages as they can be a great source of information.

We Remember All Who Have Served, (part 1, Pre 1900).

Cemetire du Pere-Lachaise, Paris.

Today in America it is Veterans Day, when we pause for a moment to honor all the military veterans, both men and women who have sacrificed their time, their families and even their own lives to defend freedom in all parts of the world. In other parts of the world they celebrate it under different names such as Remembrance Day or Armistice Day. In the United States, the Jews have been a part of the military since almost the beginning of the country. In the mid 1730's, Jews, most of whom were of Spanish or Portuguese descent were enrolled in the militia. From that time till now, men and women have served their country with honor. Today, I would like to mention just a few of the men who served with honor and courage. Those men played a valuable part in making the United States the country it is today.
During the American Revolution we find the account of Lieutenant Colonel David Salisbury Franks, who began his military career in the 1770's.  He was arrested in Montreal for speaking against King George III. In 1776, he was appointed to be the Paymaster to the American garrison in Montreal. When the army retreated from Canada he joined up with a Massachusetts Regiment. In 1778, he ordered to service as Aide de Camp under General Benedict Arnold. After General Arnold's Treason, Franks was cleared of any suspicion of wrong doing and at the end of the war was given 400 acres of land for his service.
It shouldn't be surprising that lieutenant Colonel Franks would have such patriotic feelings toward the United States. He had the great example of his brother in law, Haym Salomon, who was perhaps one of the greatest hero's of the American Revolution. During the Revolutionary War, there were many delegates to congress and officers in the Army, who because of their service had become unable to pay their daily expenses. By not being home on their farms or at work they had lost that source of funds to help during these rough times. Haym Solomon, a great patriot stepped in and provided money to the Colonies and also to these men to help them keep pushing forward the work of independence. Many of the early leaders of the United States were the benefit of his act, and his great act put him in a very hard situation. He was put in prison by the British for his act of Patriotism to his new homeland. He was after a few years able to escape and went right back to serving his country. He helped broker loans between the US and other countries and he became quite well know, he was even authorized to call himself "Broker to the Office of Treasury of the United States" . However, even though at the start of the war he was a wealthy man by the end of it he lost most of that money. The service that these men gave is by no means limited to one war, it was repeated time and time again throughout our history. A few examples of the great service given by Jewish military personnel are as follows;

War Of 1812.

1. Commodore Uriah P. Levy. He was the Master of the Brig-of-War Argus during the War of 1812. In a battle in the British Channel he was captured and put in prison for a time. Upon his death in 1862, he was the highest ranking officer in the United States Navy. His service was over 50 years.
2. Levi Myers Harbi. He began his military service very early, serving in the War of 1812 at the age of 14. During that time he was also a prisoner of the British by escaped after 2 years by swimming away. For over 52 years he served his country and fought for freedom all over the world, eventually becoming a Captain. During his service he also served in the Mexican War, the Seminole War and was a ships commander in the fight against pirates in Tripoli and Algiers. He also took a leave form his service to help the fight for independence in Texas. his final service was as a Commodore for the Confederate Army in the US Civil war.

The Civil War. 

 This is no doubt one of the darkest times in our nations history. The prospect of brother fighting brother can never be a good thing, however even in this dark time, Jews came forward to serve. It has been said that the percentage of Jews withing both the armies was far higher than the percentage of Jews within the general populations. While exact numbers may not be known, various sources give the number of Jews who joined the Union army as being over 2,000 from New York alone. Many stories have been written about this war, but a few people stand out to me as incredible examples;

1. Edward S. Solomon. Colonel of the 82nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which had over 100 Jewish men. He fought at many of the famous battles of the war. He was sited for gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg. Post war he was appointed by President Grant to be the Governor of the Washington Territory.
2. General L. C. Newman. From New York he died of wounds received at Chancellorsville, but not before President Abraham Lincoln arrived at his bedside to present his commission as a General.
3.  Captain Edward M. Moise. from Georgia he was a cavalry officer. He was usually in the front of his company and on one day alone he had three different horses shot out from under him. Yet he never stopped.
4. Captain Ullman. Commander of Company E of the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry. After the war he continued to serve his country. He finally lost his life along side General George Custer in 1876.

War Memorial, London.

We could go on and on with stories of the bravery of those who have served us. Yet the most
important thing to remember is that in the case of the Jewish servicemen, most did not have a long history in the United States. Many were immigrants or the children of immigrants who answered the call to step in and defend their new country. It was and continues to be the ultimate act of service toward millions of people they will never meet. May we always keep them in our thoughts, not just on this special day.

Happy Veterans Day to all.