The Washington herald., 1913-08-17
new GRAVE HAS
STRANGESTORY
Unusual Request Of Baltimore
Woman Recalls Life of
Rebecca Cratz.
INSPIRATION TO SCOTT
Ancient Jews Buryins Ground Has
History that Antedates the
RevolutionaEy War.

| NSvOsoAOooy "Ns
/ Philadelphia, Aug. 16-The appeal o
woman of Baltimore that she be buri,t
by the side of her friend and kinswoman
| Kebecca Gratz, has opened a new grav,
in the old Jews burying ground .:
Spruce Street near Ninth. 1t Is the first
time a spade has broken the surface ol
| the historic cemetery. where lie thu
bodies of a host of men and women "a
nous in the stories of their city add
their nation. in many. many years.
| To visitors who wander through the old
cemetery and stop to read the quaint in.
scriptions on its headstones the bury.
/ ing ground is known best as the resting
place of Rebecca Gratz, who gave Sii
Walter Scott his charming Rebecca in
| 'Ivanhoe" Nearly as famous are tEe
| names of a score Of others carved or
| these headstones.
| But the graveyard's story has always
been a story of the past. There are &c
freshly made mounds. no newly carved
| marble of today 4 solitary open grave,
dug beside that of the beloved Rebecca,
| is the buryins grounds only possession
not OF yesterday.
Appeal to sexton.
A few days ago Leopold Goodman, sex
| ton Of the cemetery, received letter
from a Miss Getting, of Baltimore. She
| asked il there could be found any room
| in the cemetery for her when she dies.
She knew Rebecca Gratz; she Is a grand
niece of Sir Walters heroine, and she
wanted a place beside her grave for fcr
own last resting place.
History of the city in the colonial and
revolutionary war periods centers abcu:
the old graveyard. As far back as 115l
Nathan Levy. its founder, advertised in
the Pennsylvania Gazette. published theI
by Benjamin Franklin, a warning to
sportsmen not to set up marks and fire
against the fence of the Jews buryirh
ground
Careless gunners. it seems. had beei
practicing for later service against Brit
ish redcoats by shooting at marks against
the fence and tombstone had been de-
stroyed when Levy published his warn.
irg. and backed II up with twenty shil-
hngs' reward paid by me" for informa.
ton against the guilty ones.
saw Death of Deserters.
1t was in front of the gate leading to
this burying ground that British soldiers
in the revolution executed its deserters
lining them up against the old fence and
shooting them.
center about the names on its grave.
stones.
Most famous of course, of its silent in
habitants is Rebecca Gratz, whom Wash
ington Irving introduced to Walter Scott
as the woman par excellence for him,
most beautiful in face and lovely in char
acter. She became the model for one OF
Scott's most charming heroines. the de-
voted daughter Of Isaac. Of York. in
'1vanhoe."
She was one of the founders OF the Jew
ish Foster Home and of the first secular
institution of that kind in Philadelphia,
the Philadelphia Orphan Asylum. She
was prominent in religious. educational,
and charitable works of all kinds. friend
of Henry Clay. Washington Irving, and
Gen. Schuyler, whose nephew, Nicholas
Schuyler, surgeon in the revolutionary
war, married her sister.
Her grave. surrounded by the graves OF
other members of the Gratz family. Is
situated at the north wall, row No. ..
Rebecca Gratz died August q, 1859,
eighty-eight years old.
other Famous Graves.
Near by is the grave of Philip NJ. Rus
sell. who DISTINGUISHED himself in the
revolutionary war. Starting as surgeons
mate. he resided in Germantown when
the war broke out. He enlisted under
Gen. Lee. Valley Forge. 1711-l77s. SO en-
ieebled him because of his 'assiduous AMI
faithful attention to the sick and the
wounded" to quote George Washington,
that he was forced to resign by reason
of impaired eyesight and hearing in 17so,
though his natural vigor saved his life
for another fifty years.
Not far away rests the body Of Nathan
Levy, who bought the ground from John
Penn In 174O. and paid an annual tax of
"a quit rent of shillings sterling" for
the cemetery. Later 1t passed into the
possession of the Mikva Israel Congre-
CATION. one of the Oldest Hebrew syna-
gogues in the country. now in its temple
at Bread and York Streets.
A picture of a widow seated at her
husbands tomb with her child marks
the grave Of Jonas Phillips. an auctioneer
Of revolutionary days, located at Second
and Market Streets. In 17G he petit
toned the Federal convention for the
removal of the test oath. which, by its
unjust discrimination Of non-Christians,
was so obnoxious to Jews Of his time
He was a prominent Mason and died in
1909 His widow survived him twenty
eight years.
White Slavery at that Time.
When George Washington was elected
first President of the United States in
17S9 the president of the congregation,
Manuel Josephson, prepared an address
for the Jewish communities Of America,
who, besides Philadelphia. hcd syna-
gogues at that time only in New York,
Charleston and Richmond, congratulat-
ing him on his accession. George WASH
ington's letter in reply. expressing the
deepest gratitude for the same, Is still
a treasure in fine preservation.
Those were times when a white slavery.
very different to the kind of our day.
but with its own hardships was a prob
lem, and are recognized by the govern
ment. An interesting romance connects
two s,eepers here together-the hero one
of the most progressive Pennsylanians
of his time, Aaron Levy. founder Of the
first town in Centre County. Aarons-
burg. Pa.
He was born in Amsterdam In 174e,
and came over at an early age to this
country. He engaged in trade with the
Indians, and later, during the Revolu-
tionary war, furnished supplies to the
patriots. He speculated extensively in
land and owned considerable tracts in
every county in Pennsylvania.
Romance of Colonial Days.
Robert Norris. the financier OF the Rev.
olution, was his partner. and he loaned
great sums to the Continental Congress
to carry on the war. much Of which was
never repaid him. He had made his
mark already. when. in passing through
4 street in Philadelphia, he was attracted
by a beautiful girl cleaning the steps
of a house, and. entering into converse
rnritk oh ,cIo a