The history of the Jews in Colonial America begins upon their arrival as early as the 1650s. The first Jews that came to the New World were Sephardi Jews who arrived in New Amsterdam. Later major settlements of Jews would occur in New York, New England, and Pennsylvania.
Mikveh Israel Cemetery is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, giving evidence of a settled community as early as 1740. A number of outstanding patriots, pioneers, and other notables of the Jewish faith who made important contributions to the history and freedom of America during the Colonial and Revolutionary period were interred here, and for this reason, in 1959, by an act of Congress, the burial ground was designated as a unit of the Independence National Historical Park, while continuing to be maintained by the sponsoring Congregation Mikveh Israel. The cemetery was certified by the Philadelphia Historical Commission, and in 1971, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The city of Savannah, Province of Georgia, was laid out in 1733, in what was colonial America, around four open squares, each surrounded by four residential ("tything") blocks and four civic ("trust") blocks. The layout of a square and eight surrounding blocks was known as a "ward." The original plan was part of a larger regional plan that included gardens, farms, and "out-lying villages." Once the four wards were developed in the mid-1730s, two additional wards were laid. Oglethorpe's agrarian balance was abandoned after the Georgia Trustee period. Additional squares were added during the late 18th and 19th centuries, and by 1851 there were 24 squares in the city. In the 20th century, three of the squares were demolished or altered beyond recognition, leaving 21. In 2010, one of the three "lost" squares, Ellis, was reclaimed, bringing the total to today's 22.
Congregation Mickve Israel in Savannah, Georgia, is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States, as it was organized in 1735 by mostly Sephardic Jewish immigrants of Spanish-Portuguese extraction from London who arrived in the new colony in 1733. They consecrated their current synagogue, located on Monterey Square in historic Savannah, in 1878. It is a rare example of a Gothic-style synagogue. The synagogue building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Today, the synagogue is a member of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Samuel Nunes (1668–1744) was a Portuguese physician and among the earliest Jews to settle in North America.
Mordecai Sheftall was a Georgia merchant who served as a colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and was the highest ranking Jewish officer of the Colonial forces. He was born in Savannah, Province of Georgia, to Benjamin and Perla Sheftall, who had arrived in 1733 to the Georgia colony on the William and Sarah from London, England, with a few dozen members of other Jewish immigrant families. The Sheftalls were founding among the members of Congregation Mickve Israel.
Simeon Magruder Levy, also known as Simon Levy, was an officer in the United States Army. He was the second overall graduate and first Jewish graduate of the United States Military Academy.
The following is a timeline of the history of Savannah, Georgia, United States.
Few Jews arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, in its early years. As an immigrant port of entry and border town between North and South and as a manufacturing center in its own right, Baltimore has been well-positioned to reflect developments in American Jewish life. Yet, the Jewish community of Baltimore has maintained its own distinctive character as well.
The Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. It is one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in America. Located at the end of Coyle Street in the Kayton/Frazier area of West Savannah, it is sometimes referred to as the Old Jewish Burial Ground, the Jewish Cemetery Memorial, the Jewish Community Cemetery or the Sheftall Cemetery.
Bull Street is a major street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Named for Colonel William Bull (1683–1755), it runs from Bay Street in the north to Derenne Avenue in the south. It is around 3.40 miles in length, not including the section interrupted by Forsyth Park. It is the center of a National Historic Landmark District.
Johnson Square is one of the 22 squares of Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located in the northernmost row of the city's five rows of squares, it was the first of the squares to be laid out, in 1733, and remains the largest of the 22. It is east of Ellis Square, west of Reynolds Square and north of Wright Square. Situated on Bull Street and St. Julian Street, it is named for Robert Johnson, colonial governor of South Carolina and a friend of General James Oglethorpe. The oldest building on the square is the Ann Hamilton House, at 26 East Bryan Street, which dates to 1824.
Abraham Minis was a European immigrant to the newly settled colony of Savannah, Province of Georgia, in 1733. Despite their not knowing if they would be received, General James Oglethorpe, founder of the Savannah colony, allowed him and his family entry and granted them land. Their descendants have lived in Savannah ever since.
Abigail Minis was a businesswoman and landowner, prominent in Savannah, Province of Georgia, during the American Revolutionary War. She was a European immigrant, along with her husband, Abraham Minis, to the newly settled colony of Savannah, in 1733. Despite their not knowing if they would be received, General James Oglethorpe, founder of the colony, allowed her and her family entry and granted them land.
Philip Minis was an American merchant, and the first white male born in the colony of Savannah, Province of Georgia. He went on to become paymaster to the Continental Army in Georgia during the American Revolutionary War, in addition to being an advisor to French and continental forces. His name appears in the Journals of the Continental Congress.
Drayton Street is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located between Bull Street to the west and Abercorn Street to the east, it runs for about 2 miles (3.2 km) from East Bay Street in the north to East Victory Drive in the south. It is named for Ann Drayton, a member of a noted family in Charleston, South Carolina, who had lent four sawyers to assist colonists in building one of the first homes in Savannah. The street is one-way (northbound). Its northern section passes through the Savannah Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.
Mordecai Myers was an American politician and landowner in Savannah, Georgia, in the 19th century.
Oglethorpe Avenue is a prominent street in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located, in its downtown section, between York Street to the north and Hull Street to the south, it runs for about 1.26 miles (2.03 km) from the Atlantic Coastal Highway in the west to Randolph Street in the east. It was originally known as South Broad Street, then Market Street. After being named South Broad Street again for a period, it became known as Oglethorpe Avenue in 1897. It was formerly Oglethorpe Avenue singular, but its addresses are now split between "West Oglethorpe Avenue" and "East Oglethorpe Avenue", the transition occurring at Bull Street in the center of the downtown area. The street is named for the founder of the Savannah colony, James Edward Oglethorpe.
Bull Street Cemetery was a Jewish cemetery established in Savannah, Province of Georgia, in 1733. Today, a memorial in the median of West Oglethorpe Avenue, at Bull Street, erected in 1983 by the trustees of the Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery, marks the former location of the cemetery, which contained around twenty graves when it was built over around a century after it opened. The memorial says: "Original 1733 burial plot allotted by James Edward Oglethorpe to the Savannah Jewish Community."
