The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1922-05-19
Jewish MasOns
Who Helped
Washington

Z you consider their numbers is one
of the unwritten romances of ou1
history, for at that time there were
not more than 5000 Jews in al
j North America. They came out OF
4 the fires of persecution in Europe
Out of the forty-six prominent Jews
bers of the Masonic lodge at that
time, more than half of them GIVEN
ty-four) were officers in the Contin-
entail army.
Major benjamin. Nones. native OF
Bordeaux, France, who come to
America in 1777, served on the stats
of both Washington and Lafayette
Colonel Isaac Frank became aide de-
camp to Washington, holding the
served with distinction throughout
the war.
Major Nones, Captain De La Motta,
Captain De Leon, three Jewish off,
GERS, carried the brave Baron De
Kalb from the field of battle, NOR
tally wounded, and the brave baron
was laid to rest with Masonic hon
ors.
We should not be surprised at the
part played by Jews during l the
American Revolution when we re-
member that the love of liberty and
democracy is an ideal which has burn
II ed with an interesting SteadineSS and
an undiminished luster longer and
stronger in their hearts than in the
hearts OF any other people in the
| world.
They rallied to the cause of he Col
onies from Massachusetts,, in the far
north. to Georgia, in the far south.
| that colony founded by the great
| philanthropist, statesman and Mason,
| General Oglethorpe one of the found
ders of Solomon's Lodge, No. L, Sa-
| vannah, Ga, in 1875, one of the old
est lodges in America. Oglethorpe's
| friendly reception Of the Jews in 1913,
upon their arrival from England, has
| or ba
is simple to a Mason. Among them
were such men as Isaac De Va, David
Nunes, waiter for the port of Savan-
nah, and Moses Nunes searcher for
| the port Of Savannah, Modecai Shelf
! tall and his son, SheftaM Shefta1l,
both Of whom served on the Ameri-
can side during the American revo-
| luton, at which time Solomon lodge
was well represented in the patriotic
| army.
Among them we find such names
| as Stephens, Jackson, Houston, Stirk.
the Habershanls, well known Gentle
| tails father and son. Levi Sheftall,
brother of Mordecai Sheftau, signed
the address as president of the He
brew CONGREGATION of Savannah, to
Washington in 1890 and was present
ed by General Jackson, who was the
grand master of Masons in Geor-
| gia.
Passing northward to Philadelphia,
we find that one of the most distin-
guished members of Lodge No. 2, Free
and Accepted MasonS of Pennsylvania,
was Lyman Solomon, who helped
Robert Morris finance the American
Revolution.
Associated with him were men like
Solomon Bush. Isaac De Costa, Simon
Splitter, Thomas NJ. Randall, Benja-
min SeiXaS and Moses Cohen, most of
whom We're members Of Mikre Israel
Of Philadelphia, of which zalegman
70 xHvA Nf hot 1ic-4i
guished lawyer, the late Henry NJ.
Phillips, was parnas, or president.
These men We're all Masons and stood
together in sustaining General Wash
1ngton In our first fight for liberty.
They were ably seconded and sup
ported by our Bro. Moses Michael
Hayes of Massachusetts,, grand master,
who Is buried in the ancient Jewish
cemetery in Newport r. I. And
when I state that the celebrated Paul
Revere served as deputy grand master
under Hayes you will understand his
standing and influence.
Then many Philadelphia families of |
equal position, like that of Morse, |
Gratz, Phillips, Cohen, Fitting, |
Marks Gomez, Sartor. Pereyra, Gum
port, Peixotto, Hackenberg, Levy, |
Wolf. Nathans, Hyneman, Nones, Sol |
ONION, Lpman, Crome1ien, Segar, Fri |
denberg, Da Costa, Abrahams and a |
Jewish cemetery, called Beth Ha-
hahn (the house of the hving), on |
Spruce street below Ninth in Phila-
delphia, supported the Revolutionary
cause with the same zeal they gave
to their civil and religious duties
FINALLY, to bring a long list of
names and heroic deeds of patriotic |
service to a close. I cannot fail to
mention two or three more who gave
Endy1ng zeal to the cause of the Colo
MES in their agonizing birth as a new
nation. These names are Hyam Solo
mon, Isaac Moses, BENJAMIN Levy
a n
Hyam Solorn on, member of Solo
mon Lodge, No. 2, Ancient York Ma
sons, at the request of Robert Morris
IN Iaa the dark al ID, days Of the ReyoI1tion.
nothing of which has been repaid
He also loaned to Jefferson. Madison,
Lee and others to defray their per-
sonal expe nses. He was captured by
died there. 1 would like to see
monument erected to him in Wash
ington, that ali the nation may know
its great indebtedness to the Jewish
people during the American Revolu-
ton.
Isaac Moses said Benjamin Levy
also advanced considerable funds for
the cause and Mordecai Noah of
ington's staff. gave 100000 to the
government for carrying on the war
These are only a few selected out of
the long roll of the Jewish American
strong arm of Washington from 1875
till the close of the war
In conclusion. drop the role of his
tor1an and assume that of the
prophet. Surely. all the while you
must have caught a glimpse of the
unique and inesdmable work the Ma
sonic lodge and the Order of the
Eastern Star are doing to make out
of the diverse races and nationalities
here in the United States, even in |
spite of the dfscordant elements, |
devotion to the great ideal of one
homogeneous people, one in hope |
and aspiration, one in love of our
common flag and country, one in the
service Of humanity and God. a
brotherhood and sisterhood in which
each shall contribute something of /
worth to our common heritage so
that finally, when we really learn
what the F'atherhood of God and the j,
brotherhood OF Man mean, then that
far-oh divine event will come when
there will be neither lew Grae1~ nor |