Sephardi Jews and the early years of The Bank of England

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

A pretty typical (and classic) Jew "Scam Usury" story IMHO....--CSR
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Sephardi Jews and the early years of The Bank of England  

By J. A. Giuseppi, f.s.a.

THE FOUNDATION OF THE BANK

The story is told by Mr. Hyamson in The Sephardim of England that one Jacob
Henriques petitioned King George III on his coronation for relief on account of the
alleged services of his father in founding the Bank of England. Of this Henriques
Mr. Hyamson says nothing is known save that he was a hunchback vendor of lottery
tickets.    

[The lists appended to this paper are being published in Miscellanies VI.]

INTRODUCTORY

In the chapter on the Proprietors of Bank Stock 1694-1797, in his history
of the Bank of England, the late Sir John Clapham called attention to the high
percentage of Spanish or Portuguese names of Jews of the Sephardim which
appeared in the lists of the Proprietors in the Bank's early years. He noted that in 1701
these names constituted a full ninth of the group of 107 Proprietors who held the £4,000
stock and upwards which was the qualification for the Governorship; and that among
these holders were two Da Costas, a Fonseca, a Henriquez, a Mendes, a Nunes, a
Rodrigues, a Salvador, a Teixeira de Mattos, and Solomon de Medina, the great army
contractor to King William III. There was, he showed, a parallel here with the case of
the Bank of Amsterdam; when this was founded there were 25 Jews among the 731
Proprietors.

The circumstances are evidently worthy of a fuller investigation than Sir John
Clapham himself had time or occasion to conduct. At the suggestion of your Society,
and with the approval of the Governor and Company of the Bank, to whom I am
indebted for allowing me the time and facilities for conducting it, I embarked upon a
more extensive investigation of the story in the summer of 1952, and this paper is the
outcome of my researches.

A few words regarding the sources of information may be of interest. The main
record is the series of Bank Stock Ledgers, complete from the initial subscriptions of
June 1694, and the alphabets or indices, to these ledgers. The latter are of prime
importance, for as well as guiding the searcher to the accounts in the ledgers they alone
in the early years contain any indication of the addresses of the stockholders. There are
the stock transfer books—a complete series—and as well a number of the dividend books,
lists compiled alphabetically of the stockholders entitled to the half-yearly dividends :
both series of importance because in them the holders or their agents signed for the transfer
and acceptance, of their stock, and for the receipt of their dividends. Other manuscript
records include the books of the first and of subsequent subscriptions—the first is of out-
standing importance, as Sir John Clapham's references to it show—and a series of
Abstracts from the wills of deceased stockholders. It was the Bank's practice to extract
from such wills all relevant particulars, and to note any specific reference to the disposal
of the deceased's stock holding. The earliest of these extracts relating to a Jewish
Proprietor may be cited as an example of their form.

Memorand. That Benjamin Levy, late of the Parish of St. Catherine Coleman
London Broker Deceased Dying possessed of £3,400: 5:—Stock in the Bank of
England, Did by his last Will and Testament dated the nineteenth day of June
in this present year of our Lord 1704 Constitute and appoint Alvaro de Fonseca,
Abraham Nathan, Isaac Fernandes Nunes, Moses Hart and Joshua Gomes Sera
to be Ms Executors: With power reserved to his son Menahem Levy (now a
minor, aged about 17 years) to be admitted into the number of Executors when he
shall lawfully demand his right to the same: And having made no particular
bequest or mention of his said Stock in the Bank, in his said Will, The same is
therefore become wholly at the disposal of the said Executors.

The Probate of which Will was made at Doctor's Commons London the 17th day
of July last.

Registered this 23rd day of September Ano 1704.

Tho: Mercer1

Witness Benjamin Parker.

Those who are familiar with Mr. Hyamson's The Sephardim of England will appreciate
that the Bank's extracts do small justice to an interesting will with which he deals at
some length, but it will be seen that the particulars taken contain only what was essential
to the Bank's purpose, viz., the address and quality of the deceased, the dates of the will
and of the granting of probate, the amount of the Bank Stock holding, the names of the
Executors and Administrators, and details of any specific bequest of the stock.

Among further records are the printed lists of Proprietors to which Sir John Clapham
makes extensive reference. These are far from complete, as they have been collected
and bound only in fairly recent years, but they constitute a valuable guide, as they show
the names of all those who held the £500 stock which was a necessary qualification for
voting at the General Courts held annually for the election of the Governor, Deputy
Governor and 24 Directors. They also give some indication of the relative importance
of the stockholders, for the names are starred, one star indicating that the Proprietor holds
£500 stock, and so is entitled to vote, two, that he holds the necessary £2,000 stock to
qualify for election as a Director, three, for the £3,000 stock to qualify for election as
Deputy Governor, and four, for the £4,000 stock which was the qualification for the
Governorship. Of the period immediately under review, 1694-1725, the lists are missing
for the years prior to 1701, and for the subsequent years 1705, 1708, 1710, 1711, 1714,
1716 and 1718, and for 1722. Those prior to 1712 show all Proprietors, whether entitled
to vote or not, but this practice ceases in the lists of 1712 onwards. Most of these fists
also show, by ink markings in the margins, whether the Proprietor was in the habit of
attending and voting at the Election General Courts. I shall have something to say
later of the record of attendance of the Jewish proprietors.

I have limited the scope of this paper to the years from 1694 to 1725, but it must
be understood that there is every indication that the Sephardi Jews continued to constitute
a high percentage of the Proprietors right through the 18th century, and that in the
1750s and 1760s the numbers were considerably higher than in the early years. In an
appendix2 I have listed some 350 names of Proprietors between 1694 and 1725, almost
entirely of known Jewish origin, although there may be among them a number whose
connection with the Anglo-Jewish community cannot be shown for certain: the names of

Thomas Mercer was the Chief Accountant: Benjamin Parker at the time was fifth of the 13
clerks in the Accountant's Office. Their respective salaries were £250 and £150 a year—the
junior clerk, a recent entrant to the service, received £40 a year.

List A, published in Miscellanies VI,

the Jewish Proprietors resident abroad, of whom the greatest number were domiciled in
Amsterdam, are also included. The addresses and qualities as given in the indices are
shown, and the dates between which the stock was held. I shall have something to say
later in regard to the number of those proprietors who were resident abroad. In the
early days, as might be expected, most of them resided in the City of London—'Of
London, Merchant', is the general description of the majority at this period, and this was
presumably an adequate enough description when all transactions, transfers and payment
of dividends, took place over the counters of the Bank and when a merchant, if needed,
could usually be found, 'on Change'. Spinsters and widows were, however, usually
recorded as of a more definite address—when resident in London.

There are two holdings worthy of mention where the proprietor is shown resident
elsewhere in England; Samuel de Paz, of Ewell, Surrey, Gentleman, who held stock
between May and October 1696, who is probably the Samuel Paz whose will is listed by
Mr. A. P. Arnold1 under date 1702, and Sarah Arias, of Worcester, Widow, who acquired
stock in October 1721. It is possible that this Sarah Arias was the widow of Anthony
Arias of Worcester, whose will Mr. Arnold dates 1720, but I have not had opportunity
of confirming this by reference to the will.

As a rough guide to the financial standing of the holder I have utilised the 'star'
system outlined above, putting in a dash where the Proprietor was at no time qualified
to vote, and adding a 'J' as an indication that the holder was a 'Jobber' in the stock—one
whose account constantly showed purchases and almost immediate sales, frequently of
large amounts of stock. In another column I have indicated the occasions when the death
of the holder was recorded in the ledgers, and in this connection I have also included
(whether the death of the holder is recorded or not) the date of any will where this can
be identified in Mr. A. P. Arnold's list2.

It should be mentioned that while the books of the Bank of this period in all cases
follow the Julian Calendar, i.e., with the year commencing on the 25 March, I have
consistently amended all dates between the 1 January and the 24 March to the Gregorian
style, e.g., 2 February 1694-5 appears as 2 February 1695.

THE FOUNDATION OF THE BANK

The story is told by Mr. Hyamson in The Sephardim of England that one Jacob
Henriques petitioned King George III on his coronation for relief on account of the
alleged services of his father in founding the Bank of England. Of this Henriques
Mr. Hyamson says nothing is known save that he was a hunchback vendor of lottery
tickets. It may be as well to make clear that there are no records extant at the Bank
which in any way relate to the parts played by any of the persons known to have been
most concerned in the foundation. The sole records of individual names surviving are
the lists firstly of the Commissioners appointed to take the subscriptions, and secondly
of the original subscribers. The first list appears in the Commission under the Great
Seal of William and Mary, which is preserved at the Bank. This list is headed by the
name of Sir William Ashurst, Knight, Lord Mayor of London and contains the names of
9 baronets, 9 knights who were also aldermen of the City, 14 other knights and 143

In his list of Anglo-Jewish Wills and Letters of Administration Registered at the Principal Probate
Registry, Somerset House, in Anglo-Jewish Notabilities.
I should here like to record how invaluable I have found Mr. Arnold's list, and also Mr. A. M.
Hyamson's works, in conducting my searches. These have been constantly at my side
during the investigation, esquires. The names are principally those of merchants of standing in the City, but not
one of them is Sephardic.

THE BOOK OF THE SUBSCRIPTIONS, 1694

This book was opened at Mercers' Hall on the 21 June 1694, and in it are recorded
the amounts paid towards the sum of £1,500,000, the capital of the Bank, which was to be
lent to the Government for the carrying on of the war against France. The subscription
was completed on the 2 July following.

The first subscription of Sephardic interest is that recorded under application
No. 203 on the day next following the opening of the book—the 22 June. It is for the
sum of £1,000 subscribed by Ferdinando Mendes of London, 'Doctor in Phisick'.
Dr. Mendes held his stock until his death in 1724, when it was transferred to Benjamin
Mendes da Costa—Ms Executor. There is no need for me to say anything here regarding
Dr. Fernando, or Ferdinando, Mendes, a very well-known member of the Community.

On the 25 June a subscription of £1,500 was paid by Peter Henriquez, Junior, of
London, Merchant. This stock he subsequently greatly increased; in 1701 he held
over £35,000. He continued as a stockholder until his death in 1726, when the holding
was transferred to his Executor, Abraham Jesurun Pinto del Sotto. This Peter Henriquez
was apparently known in the community as Isaac Israel, and was one of the Wardens in
1701. It is therefore obvious that he cannot be identified with the aforementioned
hunchback vendor of lottery tickets who is alleged to have rendered services in the
foundation of the Bank.

On the same day the sum of £800 was subscribed by William Vega, of London,
Merchant, who subsequently increased his holding to £1,000. He sold his holding
in November 1695. Mr. Arnold lists wills of two William Vegas, one in 1701 and the
other in 1706.

On the following day, 26 June, two further Jewish subscriptions were received,
£200 from Benjamin Levy of Fenchurch Street, Broker, and £100 from Jacob Dessa (De
Saa?) of 'James Duekes Place', London, Merchant. The latter disposed of his holding
in February 1695. Benjamin Levy has been mentioned above. He held his stock until
his death in 1704. The account in his name was closed on the 29 November 1706.

This Benjamin Levy is presumably the one mentioned in Mr. Hyamson's The
Sephardim of England and also in his list of Anglo-Jewish notabilities,1 where he is
described as the Ashkenazi Jewish leader. He was also one of the original twelve
Jewish brokers to be admitted to the Exchange as Jews in 1697.

On the 28 June Moses Barrow of London, Merchant, subscribed £100; his holding
he retained until February 1720. It is clear that this Moses Barrow cannot be Moses
Baruh Lousada, Gabay in 1663, who died in 1699, but it may perhaps be that he was a
member of the same family. There are a great many dealings recorded on his account,
of which many are with members of the Community.

The next name of apparent Sephardic significance appears on the 29 June when
Manuel de Almanza subscribed £400. He held his stock until November 1710. A
Joseph Almanza appears in Mr. Arnold's list as having died in 1692, but I have traced no
other reference to the name.

These six or seven out of the 1,272 original subscribers were an early indication of
Jewish interest in and support for a financial experiment never previously tried in this
country. They were probably influenced in the main by the support for the project
evinced by many of the most solid merchants of the City, and by their knowledge of the
success of a similar experiment in Amsterdam.

THE RECORD FROM THE LEDGERS, 1694-1700

The first newcomer from the Jewish community after the books of the Bank had
been opened was Solomon de Medina, Esquire, of London, famous as the great army
contractor for William III, who acquired £1,000 stock on the 25 August 1694. This
holding he steadily increased; when the books were closed for the payment of the
4th dividend, on the 25 December 1697, he held £3,110 stock; at the 11th dividend,
29 September 1701, his holding, then in the name of Sir Solomon, amounted to over
£28,000, He disposed of the holding in May 1712, but on the 6 April 1722 acquired a
fresh one, on which he was this time recorded as of The Hague. This was a smaller
holding—for the 63rd dividend, 29 September 1725, it stood at £3,500. Three genera-
tions of de Medina's appear in the books during the period covered. Moses de Medina,
Esquire, son of Sir Solomon, opened an account in August 1697, and Salamon de Medina,
described as 'Moses' son', in April 1722.

One other member of the community, Izaque Lopez Mellado, Merchant of London,
acquired stock before the end of the year 1694. On the 18 December he purchased £800
stock which he disposed of in February of the following year. This is presumably the
Ishac Lopes Melhado cited in Zagache's list of 16841 as a bachelor member of the
community.

In 1695 three further Sephardi proprietors appeared: Jacob de Paz Morenu of
Budge Row, Moses Francia and Moses Israel Nunes, all of London, Merchants.

In 1696 a further four names were recorded: Jacob Adolf, Samuel de Paz of Ewell,
Surrey, Gentleman, and the first of the da Costa's—Philip Mendes da Costa on the 26
October, and Alvaro da Costa, of London, Esquire, on the 7 December. Alvaro da
Costa's holding, in which he 'jobbed' extensively, was closed by transfer to his son,
Antony da Costa, Junior, on the 21 January 1717.

In 1697 a further twelve names were recorded, but of those I have mentioned not all
had held for any length of time. At the payment of the 4th dividend in December 1697,
for example, there were some seventeen proprietors only with Jewish names, holders
between them of just under £35,000 stock (the capital then stood at just over £2,200,000)
The largest holder among them was Peter Henriquez Junior with £11,000 stock, next
John Mendes da Costa, with £5,075, Moses Barrow with £3,645, Solomon de Medina
with £3,110, Philip Mendes da Costa £2,700, Alvaro da Costa £2,375, Jacob Teixeira de
Mattos £1,500 and Benjamin Levy £1,425. Abraham Duez (who may not have been
a member of the community—the name is possibly Huguenot) and Moses de Medina
each held £750 stock, Aaron Alvarez £600, Dr Ferdinando Mendes and Antonio Gomez
Serra £500 each The remaining four, who held less than the amount entitling them to
vote in the General Courts, were Jacob Adolph, £350, Manuel de Almanza, £357,
Anthony da Costa Junior, £400, and Antonio Silveira, £125. The dividend was at
4 per cent: Peter Henriquez drew £440, Antonio Silveira £5 part of 1701 a further 9.  

At the time of the 11th Dividend, payable on the 29 September
17011, there were 45 Jewish names in the lists, but from these lists a number of quite
prominent holders may well be missing, for a proportion of the Sephardi holders were
stock jobbers and of these a number may have happened to have held no stock on the day
when the books were closed for the preparation of the dividend. Of those that do appear,
seven held amounts of upwards of £4,000, and the largest holder was still Peter Henriquez
Junior, with £35,050 stock, with Sir Solomon de Medina next with £28,325. Alvaro da
Costa and Jacob Teixeira de Mattos each held just over £17,000 stock and Dr. Ferdinando
Mendes had increased his holding to £7,500. There were four holders of upwards of
£3,000 stock, 6 of £2,000 and upwards, 9 of £1,000 and 10 of £500 and upwards. Of
those holding less than £500 there were a further 9.

THE ATTENDANCE OF JEWISH PROPRIETORS AT THE GENERAL COURTS

Although it was open for all persons, natives or foreigners as well as for any corporate
body, to subscribe to and become members of the Bank, the qualifications for appointment
as Governor, Deputy Governor or Director, precluded anyone not a natural born subject
of England, or naturalised, from standing for these positions. In consequence it can only
have been an interest in the way in which the affairs of the Bank were being conducted
that brought any member of the Jewish community at this period to the meetings of the
General Court of Proprietors. It may, however, be of some interest to note the attend-
ance of such members, though in the first year of the Bank, when there was a great deal for
the Court to resolve, and when it met more frequently than subsequently became
necessary, the Jewish attendance was very small indeed, the only names recorded being
those of Jaques Gonsales, who attended the 2nd meeting, on the 10 August 1694 (when
he took the oath) and Benjamin Levi, who was present on the 16 May 1695.

The minute books of the General Court give comprehensive lists of those who were
present for all meetings prior to the 24 July 1695. For this meeting and subsequently,
however, the lists of those who attended are concluded by the phrase 'and divers others
of the generality'. Consequently it cannot be stated with any certainty who was present
at this and all meetings thereafter.

Between 1695 and 1703 relatively few attendances of members of the Jewish
community are recorded. Among the names which occur, however, of those who were
present on one or more occasions during the period, are those of Peter Henriquez Jr.,
Alvaro da Costa, Moses Barrow, Jacob Teixeira, Simon Rodrigues, Elias Lindo, Francis
de Casseres, Joseph de Castro, John da Costa, Jacob de Paz, and Moses Carrion. (The
name of Moses Carrion is also one of those of the bachelor members of the Community
recorded in Zagache's list of 1684.)

From the printed lists issued for the Election Court of 1703 we learn that on that
occasion Joseph de Castro, Isaac Fernandes Nunes, Manuel Lopez Pereira, Francis
Salvador and Jacob Teixeira de Mattos submitted lists of those they desired to be
elected as Directors. In 1704 sixteen are similarly recorded: Alvaro da Costa, Isaac
Telles da Costa, Moses Carrion, John Mendes da Costa, Isaac and Samuel da Costa
Alverenga, Simson da Costa Athias, Alvaro de Fonseca, Abraham Franco, Peter
Henriquez Jr., Jacob do Porto, Benjamin del Sotto and Isaac da Valencia being among

them. In 1706 the names of Anthony da Costa Junr., Joseph da Costa, John Mendes
da Costa, Francisco de Lis Junr., Ferdinando Mendes, Menasseh Mendez and Francis
Pereira are new among the 13 who submitted lists.

There appears to be a change in practice at the election of 1707. We have seen
that up to this date it was apparently the custom of members of the community who voted
to record their vote at the election of Directors but to ignore the voting for the Governors-
on the preceding day. On this occasion, however, of the nine members of the community
who recorded their votes eight of them cast them in the election of the Governor or
Deputy Governor, one only of the eight returning on the next day to record a vote for his
choice of Directors. There is no apparent reason for the change on this occasion:
in accordance with the practice of former years the Deputy Governor of the preceding
year, Francis Eyles, was elected Governor, receiving 73 votes, and William des Bouverie
was elected Deputy Governor, receiving 69 votes. As only 74 proprietors are marked
as having recorded their votes, it is evident that there was no competition. The eight
members of the Community who voted on this occasion were Moses Barrow, Peter
Henriquez Junr., Elias Lindo, Moses de Medina, Daniel de Mattos, Francis Pereira,
Benjamin del Sotto and Jacob da Veiga. Peter Henriquez returned the next day to vote
for the Directors, the only other member of the Community joining him on this occasion
being Isaac de Castro.

For the year 1708 the list is missing. In 1709, when 13 members of the Community
are recorded as having voted two only, Alvaro and Anthony da Costa, voted on the first
day, for the Governors; these two also returned for the election of Directors on the
following day.

The lists for 1710 and 1711 are missing. It is particularly unfortunate that the 1711
list has gone for this year marked what might have been a crisis in the Bank's history.
The occasion was the alleged attempt of Dr. Henry Sacheverell to capture the Directorate
in the Tory interest. As Sir John Clapham records, there had never been, and never was
again, such voting as there was in 1711. In 1710 there had been 371 votes cast for the
Governor and 368 for the Deputy. In 1719 there would be 95 for each and 68 in 1721.
In 1711 Nathaniel Gould, the outgoing Deputy, got 975 votes for the Governorship and
John Rudge, the new Deputy, got 955. Both were old Bank men. Gould had joined
the Court in 1697 and Rudge in 1699.

The success for continuity, and for the Whigs, recorded in the first day's voting was
repeated on the second day, when it is said that Dr. Sacheverell 'to his great mortification'
was hissed at the Bank. Voting was normally heavier on this day than on that of the
election of the Governor and this time it was extraordinary. Sir John Clapham estimated
that there were probably some 3,000 persons qualified to vote at the time, but that it was
doubtful whether, owing to distance, ill-health and other causes, so many as 2,000 votes
could possibly have been recorded. Yet nine of the candidates each got more than 1,400
votes, the highest nearly 1,500. It is almost certain therefore that among those of the
Proprietors who took special care to record their confidence in the existing Directorate
must be numbered almost all the Sephardi proprietors who had the right to vote, probably
some 50 or more1.

In 1712 conditions were back to normal. Seven members only of the Community
attended to record their votes—all regulars—Moses Carrion, Alvaro da Costa, Anthony

There were 44 in the Dividend List of September 1709 (see List B in Miscellanies VI), and the
number was steadily increasing. da Costa, Simson da Costa Athias, Alvaro de Fonseca, Peter Henriquez Junr. and
Elias Lindo.

THE DIVIDEND OF 1712

The list which I have extracted from the books showing the payment of the 36th
Dividend on the 29 September 17121, contains 69 Jewish names. Of these, 17 held
amounts of over £4,000 and upwards, 22 amounts between £1,000 and £4,000 and of the
remainder 14 held upwards of £500 a piece, and so were qualified to vote, and 15 amounts
of £400 and less.

The largest holding was in the name of Peter Henriquez, Junior, £50,189. Next
Francisco de Lis, Junior, £27,697: 5:0. Francis Pereira, later to become outstanding
in having the largest holding of any one proprietor, at this time held £23,730 stock.
Four others held upwards of £10,000 stock—they were Alvaro da Costa, Menasseh
Mendez, Anthony da Costa, Junior, and Jacob Mazahod.

Of those in the list who were resident abroad there are six of interest because they
are domiciled in Holland, and are forerunners of the very large contingent of Dutch
holders to enter the books in the course of the next 12 or 13 years These were Benjamin
Teixeira, £5,000 stock, Manuel Teixeira, Junior, £3,289 stock, Joseph and Jacob de
Prado, who had a holding of £1,000 in their joint names, as Executors of Joshua, alias
Antoine, de Prado, Elias Gabay Henriques, £550, and Isaac Rocamora, MD., £253.
All came from Amsterdam. It was still very largely the practice of the proprietors to
collect their dividends themselves. Forty-eight of the 69 Jewish proprietors did so.
Anthony da Costa, Junior, signed for collecting the dividend due to the now aged Alvaro
da Costa. The attorneys for the Jewish proprietors from Amsterdam were as follows:
for Benjamin and Manuel Teixeira—D. L. Martinez; for Joseph and Jacob de Prado—
Joseph Rodriguez (himself a proprietor): for Elias Gabay Henriques and for Isaac
Rocamora—Simson da Costa Athias, also a proprietor, though at the time of this dividend
he held only £4:5:0 stock. This was not the smallest of the Jewish holdings as
Samuel da Costa Alvarenga at this time held only £2:10:0 stock.

THE COMMUNITY IN AMSTERDAM

At this point it is of interest to trace the gradual increase in the number of Sephardi
Proprietors who are domiciled in Holland—mostly in Amsterdam, though a few came
from The Hague. The first of these acquired their holdings in 1701; Jacob Gabay
Henriques in April and Elias Gabay Henriques in August. In February 1702 Salamon
de Rocamora, M.D., purchased stock, and in April 1703 Isaac Rocamora, M.D., and
Hester Rocamora, widow of Moses Abarbanel Davids. All these were of Amsterdam.

There was then a break until July 1709 when Joseph and Jacob de Prado of Amster-
dam acquired a joint holding on which they were described as Executors of Joshua, alias
Antoine, de Prado. In September 1710 Paulo Jacome Pinto acquired stock and in
September 1713 Manuel Gomez da Costa—the first of the Amsterdam branch of this
family. In December of this year Jacob de Pinto and Francis de Lis, Senior, both of
The Hague, purchased holdings. (Francisco de Lis, Junior, of London, had held stock
since 1701.)

The increase in the number of holdings of the Dutch Sephardim was then gradual,
4 more in 1714, 2 in 1716, 1 in 1717 and 3 in 1718, all from the Amsterdam community.
In 1719 there were 8 additions, however, and in 1720 there were 19. This was the
highest figure in any one year, but in 1721 there were 12, in 1722—7, in 1723—10, in
1724—12, and in 1725 (January to May)—8. The names appear in List C (published in
Miscellanies VI) and it would be wearisome to enumerate them, so I will content myself
by saying that among them occur all those names that one might expect—de Pinto,
Henriques, Pereira, Teixeira de Mattos, da Costa and Mendes da Costa, Abenacar,
Carvalho, Ximenes, da Mesquita and Bueno de Mesquita. A few had no counterparts
among the holders from the London Community—Jacob Olivier and Abraham Granada,
for example.

THE DIVIDEND OF SEPTEMBER 17251

It is not surprising to find on analysing the lists of those who received the 63rd
Dividend that the number of Jewish holders in Holland approximate almost exactly with
that of holders in the London Community, and that for 66 holders having London
addresses there are 62 from Holland.

The largest holding was still that of Francis Pereira of London, £114,840: 16: 8,
and the next largest of the Sephardi holdings that of Benjamin Mendes da Costa (£23,000),
who had acquired his stock while resident in Amsterdam but was at this time living in
St. Mary Axe. Next came the holdings in the name of Francis de Lis, Senior, deceased,
formerly of The Hague, £22,000; that of Joseph da Costa Villa Reall, of Lisbon in
Portugal, £15,000, and that of Alvaro Lopez Suasso, originally of Amsterdam but at this
time of Broad Street, London, Merchant, £13,365: 10: 0. (Don Antonio Lopes
Suasso, Baron of Avernes, commonly called Baron Suasso, had held a small holding of
stock for about a fortnight in February 1720.) Of Jewish holders of upwards of £4,000
there were 20 proprietors domiciled in Holland and 18 in London and other places; of
those who held between £1,000 and £4,000 stock, there were 29 from Holland and 32 in
London and other places.

ATTORNEYS FOR THE DUTCH HOLDERS

A point in connection with the payment of this dividend which might have some
significance for the social historian is the fact that while it was still the general practice
for the London holder to attend in person and to sign for having received the dividend,
the number of persons who had delegated the necessity to do this to appointed Attorneys
had steadily increased. Of the Jewish holders in London, 38 of the 66 attended in
person. But for those domiciled in Holland this was, of course, impossible. The person
whose signature as Attorney occurs most frequently was Jacob Abenatar Pimentel, who
collected the dividends for 19 of the Dutch Sephardi holders; the next names those of
Francis Pereira, of Joseph Henriques Junior, each attorney for 8 Dutch holders and of
Isaac Martins, Junior, attorney for 6. Jacob da Costa acted as attorney for 2 Dutch
holders, Solomon da Costa for 2 and a number of other London Jews, including Benjamin
Mendes da Costa, Jacob Henriques, Jacob Alvares Junior, and Rodrigo Ximenes, who
each acted on one account only. Of possibly non-Jewish attorneys the names of Henry
Muilman and John van Stement only occur. Both of these were agents for large numbers
of Dutch holders who were not Jews.

THE SEPHARDI JEWS AS CUSTOMERS

It had been my intention to incorporate in this paper as much information as was
available concerning the Jewish Community's use of the Bank as a Banking House as to
that made of it as an investment, but I regret that in the time available I have been able
to do very little investigation into the former aspect. Certain it is, however, that the
Bank did exercise an attraction in this way to the members of the community, as is
shown by the frequency with which Sephardi and other Jewish names occur in the
indices to the earliest of the Banking ledgers.

These ledgers were opened on the 27 July 1694 and they record a variety of trans-
actions. At their first meeting the Directors had put forward three 'methods in keeping
running Cash': (1) by 'Notes payable to Bearer, to be endorsed', (2) by 'Books or
Sheets of Paper, wherein their Account to be entered' or (3) by 'Notes to persons to be
accomptable'. The first method produced the Bank Note proper; the second anticipated
the modern pass-book, and blended with the third under a rule by which people who drew
notes (cheques) should have receipts for their deposits; and the third was a kind of
deposit-receipt, as was shown by an early decision that only 'accomptable notes' be given
for foreign or inland bills of exchange until the money was actually received. The
outcome of these three methods being all entered together into one particular ledger was
that the ledger of banking transactions combined very many more names in the opening
years than later became necessary, for it meant that the person who bought himself a
Bank Note as a convenient means of carrying large or small sums of money received as
much attention in the early days as did the regular customer who deposited and withdrew
in the ordinary way in which one runs a current account at the present time.

I have given this explanation to account for the larger number of names of members
of the Community to occur in the Bank's opening ledgers in comparison with the figure
at a later date. A good number of the Sephardim did, in fact, continue to be regular
customers over a long period, but these are only a small proportion in comparison with
the numbers whose names occur for a single or small number of transactions only in the
opening year. In the ledger for 1694-5 of some 2,300 names there are 45 which are
definitely Sephardic. In 1697 there are not more than 1,000 names in all, of which only
between 15 and 20 are Sephardic.

The ledgers and their indices have a disadvantage compared with the Bank Stock
ledgers in that they do not record the addresses and qualities of the customers. In
many cases the names are those of persons who either then or later became holders of
stock; but this is by no means always the case. For instance Manuel de Almanza,
Merchant of London, purchased Bank Stock in June 1694, and in August of that year
Manuel Almanza's name is entered in the banking ledger. Presumably they were one
and the same person, but we cannot say with complete certainty. In the opening pages
of the 1694 ledger appears the name of Elias Abenaker, who never became a stock-holder
—the only one of this patronymic to appear in my list of Proprietors was Raphael
Abenacar, of Amsterdam, and he not until 1720. Of names in the first category—viz.,
persons who can be identified by their stock holdings, I find in my first—rather tentative —
lists Aaron Alvarez, Jacob Adolph, several de Castros, a good number of da Costas,
Francis de Caseres (a very active customer, both as a depositor and as a discounter),
Moses Carrion, Jacob Dessa, David D'Avila, David de Faro, Moses Francia, Rowland
Gideon, Jaques Gonsales, Peter Henriquez, Junior, Theodore Jacobsen, Benjamin Levy,
Elias Lindo, Solomon and Moses de Medina, Menasseh Mendez, Jacob Mazahod, Isaac

Lopez Mellado, Manuel Nunes Miranda, Joseph Mussaphia, Isaac Fernandes and
Moses Israel Nunes, David Penso, Abraham de Paiba, Francis Salvador, Anthony Gomez
Serra and William Vega.

But the names occurring in the early Banking ledgers which will naturally be of
rather greater immediate interest are those for which no counterparts exist in the Stock
ledgers. Elias Abenaker I have already mentioned. I cannot vouch for all the following
being Sephardi but there are also Samuel Avila, William Ariga, Isaac Nunes Arrias,
Jacob Ador, Jonadab Baalam, David Cardoso, Anthony Corea, Lovis de la Costa,
Joseph Ferdinando, Tuvarly Fernandes, Francis Francia, Jacob Gideon de Seigneville,
Lewis Henriques Julian, Benjamin Joseph, Alexander Jacob, the firm of Daniel Lions
and Co., John (or Jacob de Leon) Lopez (who died in 1695), the firm of Levy and
Pereira, Andrew Alva Nogueira, Francis Peyto, Abraham de Pavia, the firm of Valencia
and Pacheco, and Mattathias Sarfaty, among others.

All the above names occur before the end of 1697, and are the outcome of only a
very brief survey of this fresh field of Sephardic interest. I trust to be able to pursue the
examination into this field and to be allowed to give this Society some further details at
some future date.

With these remarks I bring this paper to a close. I have designed it primarily as a
contribution to the general fund of knowledge regarding the members of the Sephardi
Community in the early years of the 18th century. I have found it a subject of great
interest, but have been limited in my original intention by having had rather less
opportunity than I would have liked of tracing from other sources the parts played in the
general affairs of the Community by the persons whose names I have extracted. Further
investigations of this kind can, however, no doubt be better done with the aid of my
record by those whose knowledge of the Community greatly exceeds my own.

Anglo-Jewish Notabilities. The Jewish Historical Society of England. 5709-1949. See also
C. Roth, The Great Synagogue, London, especially pp. 23-6,

http://www.jhse.org/book/export/article/16630

[FrankDialogue]

A pretty typical (and classic) Jew "Scam Usury" story IMHO....--CSR
----------

Sephardi Jews and the early years of The Bank of England  


THE BOOK OF THE SUBSCRIPTIONS, 1694 [/b]

This book was opened at Mercers' Hall on the 21 June 1694, and in it are recorded
the amounts paid towards the sum of £1,500,000, the capital of the Bank, which was to be
lent to the Government for the carrying on of the war against France. The subscription
was completed on the 2 July following.

The first subscription of Sephardic interest is that recorded under application
No. 203 on the day next following the opening of the book—the 22 June. It is for the
sum of £1,000 subscribed by Ferdinando Mendes of London, 'Doctor in Phisick'.
Dr. Mendes held his stock until his death in 1724, when it was transferred to Benjamin
Mendes da Costa—Ms Executor. There is no need for me to say anything here regarding
Dr. Fernando, or Ferdinando, Mendes, a very well-known member of the Community.

[youtube:3euxa0fy]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BY8a4sjOuQ[/youtube]3euxa0fy]

Lyrics:

"Take care daughter dear
Don't dream on many gallant men tonight
Take care daughter dear
For a doctor comes to steal your books in the dead of night"
Every sign in here
So wear your relic near
Doctor Monk unpacks his trunk tonight
"Oh, father dear
I dreamed last night a man sat on my bed
And I fear
When I awoke I could not find my maidenhead"
Every sign in here
So wear your relic near
Doctor Monk unpacks his trunk tonight
He'll have you all
You fine young ladies, pure as fallen snow
He'll have you all
If you think upon improper things, the doctor will know
Every sign in here
So wear your relic near
Doctor Monk unpacks his trunk tonight
Doctor Monk unpacks his trunk tonight

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

That's very interesting Frank D.

Phisick is a collection of instruments and artefacts related to the history of medical, surgical and dental practice.

The collection started with a handful of objects used for teaching purposes in a London General Medical Practice.

http://books.google.com/books?id=fAH7LL ... 0&lpg=PA40

Also this:

How Portuguese Secret Jews (Marranos) Saved England   :wtf:

mlopesazevedo

Last year England celebrated the 350th anniversary of the re-admission of Jews after their expulsion in 1290. In 1656 rabbi Menasseh ben Israel of Amsterdam, born Manuel Dias Soeiro in Portugal, the son of a New Christian nail vendor, convinced Oliver Cromwell it would be just and profitable to allow Jews to return to England. Although Cromwell's formal request to Parliament failed and Manasseh died a broken man, Jews did indeed acquire the right to live, work and worship in England, based on the ubiquitous English legal tradition of precedent ( the arrest and seizure of the property of Antonio Rodrigues Robles was reversed on the grounds that he was not a Spanish Catholic but a Portuguese Jew-England was then at war with Spain). Accordingly, by precedent, Portuguese Jews were safe.

Portugal and England have the longest enduring alliance in the world, starting in 1386 with the marriage of John I of Portugal to a cousin of Richard III, Philipa, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. The marriage cemented the alliance against a common enemy, Castile. While England's rescue of Portugal from the Napoleonic invasions is generally well known, England's salvation by crafty Portuguese secret Jews has been kept a secret.  :think:

Until recently it was believed that there were no Jews in England between 1290 and 1656 but as revealed by the distinguished historian, Cecil Roth, in the History of the Jews in England, Portuguese secret Jews masquerading sometimes as Catholics, other times as Protestants (Marranos) settled in England during the reigns of King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

In 1492, the Sephardic Jews (i.e. Iberian as contrasted with Ashkenazi from Germany/Poland; see Obadiah, verse 20 for biblical reference to Sepharad) were expelled from newly created Spain. Portugal, already a unified nation for more than 300 years did not follow suit although King Manuel, under duress by his future Spanish mother- in-law, in December 1496 ordered the Sephardim of Portugal to leave within ten months. However, the king had no intention of ever letting go of his most creative and learned subjects. Using devious means such as removing children under 14 years of age from their parents to be raised by Christian families, the king forced approximately one fifth of the population to convert to Christianity. Those that resisted were simply dragged by their hair to baptismal founts in Lisbon while they waited for promised ships that never arrived. A handful, such as Abraham Zacuto, the King's astronomer who developed the nautical tables relied on by Vasco da Gama to find a sea route to India, managed to get out.

The king assumed that the forced ones, Anousim in Hebrew would be assimilated within a generation. He even promised not to inquire into their private religious practices for twenty years, which he later extended. However, the Marranos, outwardly Catholic, remained Jews in their hearts, secretly observing essential Judaism to the twentieth century, despite 300 years of persecution by the Inquisition.
The Spanish expulsion of 1492 caused great suffering and dislocation, including a huge rise in the number of Jews immigrating to Portugal as described by Samuel Usque in Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel, published in Portuguese at Ferrara in 1553, a foundational work of Portuguese literature. In 1506, fanatical Dominican monks led an unruly mob through the streets of Lisbon for three days of devastation, plundering and killing two to four thousand New Christians who were blamed for every misfortune in the land. In response, the king hung the Dominican friars and removed travel restrictions imposed on New Christians. Soon a steady stream of the wealthy and educated Marranos started leaving Portugal, settling in Antwerp, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Rouen, Leghorn, Naples, Bristol, London, and Dublin, before moving on to the New World in the 17th century.

In 1512, the House of Mendes monopoly of the pepper trade enabled it to open a branch office in Antwerp. The heir to the stupendous fortune, recently widowed Dona Gracia Mendes, aka Beatrice de La Luna (the Senhora), the most adored woman in the Marrano world (see The Woman who defied Kings, by Andree Brooks) passed through Bristol in 1537 during her flight from Lisbon to assist her brother-in-law Diogo Mendes in Antwerp. Mendes had an agent in England and financed not only Henry the VIII, but also, John III of Portugal, Francis I of France, Charles V, (un)Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Maximilian (Charles' grandfather), Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, and Ercole II, Duke of Ferrara. In 1532, Henry VIII intervened personally on Diogo's behalf when Charles V arrested him in Antwerp on charges of Judaizing.
Diogo Mendes' agent in the ports of Southampton and Plymouth was instrumental in forming a small but vibrant community in Bristol, which held regular secret religious services in the house of one Alves Lopes. One of its members, Dionsio Rodrigues had a distinguished court clientele and had been a former physician to the royal court in Portugal. He was burned in effigy by the inquisition in Lisbon

In 1540, Gaspar Lopes, a cousin of Diogo Mendes, was arrested in Milan and compromised the fledging Bristol community. In 1542 the Privy Council ordered the arrest of certain Merchant Strangers and their property. Despite the intervention of the queen regent of the Netherlands, many left although some of the Marranos in London remained, including Martin and Francisco Lopes, uncles of Michel Montaigne on his mother's side. During the reign of Edward VI the Bristol community revived and included the surgeon Antonio Brandao of Santarem, a nephew of the illustrious medical analyst and author, Amatus Lusitanus (Joao de Rodrigo de Castelo Branco). Beatrice Fernandes, wife of Dr. Henriques Nunes, led secret religious services in her house. However, with the reaction against the Reformation under Mary, the ostensible Catholics once again scattered.

The commercial expansion under Queen Elizabeth and the overthrow of Mary's Catholicism ushered in a new era. The Marranos were back with a hundred or more members in London. Jorge Anes (anglicized as Ames) and family had been in London since 1521. One of his sons commanded an English garrison in Ireland where he became mayor. Another son, Dunstan was a purveyor to the Queen. Their sister Sarah married Rodrigo Lopes who was the Queen's doctor. He was the first house physician appointed at St. Bartholomew's hospital. Unfortunately, he was caught in political intrigue between Spain and Dom Antonio, the claimant to the Portuguese throne (son of Violante Gomes, a New Christian), and was unjustly hung for treason at Tyburn on June 7th, 1594. During the four month trial anti-Semitism reached its apogee, with published rumours that the Jews wanted to buy St. Paul's cathedral to convert it into a synagogue! Cecil Roth attributes Marlowe's Jew of Malta and Shakespeare's Shylock to the fate of Lopez.

The Marranos of London, including, the shipping magnate and arms supplier to Parliament, Antonio Fernando Carvajal a native of Fundao, Francisco Lopes D'Azevedo, the Spinoza family agent, and the Lopes brothers, were outwardly Protestants, but collected money for a hidden synagogue in Antwerp. They held Jewish religious services in secret near the Tower of London. With an extensive network of family ties, Marranos established trade routes between the New and Old worlds, especially in sugar, timber, coffee and tobacco as well as precious stones and spices from the orient. London replaced Lisbon as the diamond centre of the world. (See The Coffee Trader and Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss and The First Global Village, How Portugal Changed the World, Martin Page).
By 1585, Protestant England was at war with Catholic Spain, which had annexed Portugal in 1580. The Spanish king claimed his cousin's crown when the unmarried Portuguese monarch was killed at the ill-fated battle of Alcacer-Quibir in Morocco. The combined crown lasted until 1640. Phillip the II of Spain, a devout Catholic who had been spurned by Elizabeth the Ist, was intent on doing the Pope's bidding, re-instating Catholicism in England. Preparations for a massive invasion started.
Hector Nunes was born of New Christian parents in Evora, around 1520, after the forced baptism but before the onset of the Inquisition in Portugal. He attended Coimbra University, as a Catholic of course, and graduated in medicine in 1543. By then the Inquisition had started its monstrous work, especially in Evora. He immediately fled to England to join his family. At first engaged in trade, he was eventually certified by the Royal College of Physicians and even elected Censor of the College in 1562. He became a highly sought after physician, treating the likes of Lord and Lady Burlghey and Sir John Penott, Lord Deputy of Ireland.
He was soon providing Burghley and queen Elizabeth's Ministers, notably the principal secretary Walsingham, intelligence information on Spanish military and naval movements. Nunes' large scale trading was a perfect cover for his espionage activities. The wily Nunes even corresponded directly with Phillip the Catholic. He had an extensive network of informants including his own brother-in-law in Madrid who was later arrested. Roth notes that Nunes was so important to the government that the Privy Council protected him from creditors. He was appointed as a special commissioner in insurance cases. He was treated unlike any other Portuguese merchant of the period.

On May 30th, 1588, the 'Invincible' Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon to invade England with approximately 140 ships, 25, 000 men and 180 priests. They were intent on taking England in the name of Catholicism and root out Protestantism. They had the Pope's blessing.

Unbeknownst to the commander of the Spanish fleet, one of Nunes' ships from Lisbon contained more than salt and figs. It is said that Nunes was in the middle of supper when he received the despatch with the news of the Armada's departure. He arose from his half eaten dinner, and headed straight to Walsingthams house with the news. England was ready for the Spanish invasion. Less than 70 Spanish ships limped back home. Not only was England saved, but also the defeat of the 'Invincible' Spanish Catholic Armada had significant military, political, and religious importance for years to come. The power of the Pope and the Catholic Church were curbed and the way opened for Manasseh's ultimatel successful plea to Cromwell entitled, To his Highnesse the Lord protector of the Common-wealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The Humble Addresses of Menasseh ben Israel, a Divine, and Doctor of Physick, in behalfe of the Jewish nation.

http://ladina.blogspot.com/2007/02/how- ... ranos.html

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

Interesting how "Bills of Exchange" were created to allow Jews to flee with their stolen loot from countries that kicked them out for "Scamming". Interesting how they returned to Turkey forming another "crypto-alliance" with Jews already there... most likely their descendants created the Donmeh...  --CSR

----------


Donna Gracia Nasi
A philanthropist, known as the heart of her people.


By Emily Taitz ( another Jewess named Taitz.... :sick:  )

Gracia Nasi, known at first as Beatrice de Luna, was born in Portugal in 1510 into a family of New Christians or conversos, the result of the mass conversion of Portuguese Jews in 1497. However, as so many others had done, her family secretly retained their ties to Judaism and gave her the Hebrew name Hannah. Beatrice married another converso, Francisco Mendes, a wealthy trader in gems and spices.

The Formation of a Family

Beatrice/Hannah de Luna Mendes and her husband, Francisco, had one child, a daughter named Reyna. In 1536, when Reyna was five years old, Francisco died, and Beatrice, now a 26-year-old widow, was heir to one half of his enormous fortune. That same year, the Inquisition was re-established in Portugal and all conversos were threatened, but Beatrice de Luna, who up until that time had escaped suspicion, was allowed to leave Lisbon. Together with her daughter, Reyna, and her sister Brianda, she fled to Antwerp, the capital of Flanders. Two years later, Joao Migues, Beatrice's nephew (later renowned as Joseph Nasi), joined them.

Diogo Mendes, Francisco's brother and business partner, already lived in Antwerp, and after the arrival of the two women, he married Beatrice's sister Brianda. Diogo had inherited the other half of Francisco's fortune and had already extended the family business to include not only trading in spices and precious stones, but also banking. Banking as it was practiced in the 16th century involved the transmission of money from country to country and the arrangement of bills of exchange. Once Beatrice de Luna Mendes and her family were safely settled in Antwerp, they became skilled in these procedures and Beatrice created a secret network, enabling Jewish conversos to leave Portugal, transferring their money through bills of exchange so they could make new lives elsewhere."

Tragedy Brings New Fortune

Prosperous and respected, the Mendes family established themselves in luxurious fashion, but as long as Flanders remained part of the Spanish Empire and the Inquisition remained active, they were still not able to live without fear of discovery. The decision was made to transfer the Mendes assets to a more tolerant country, where they could live openly and practice Judaism. But before these plans could be carried out, Diogo died. Now Beatrice not only retained her half of the capital in the Mendes business, but she was also appointed administrator for the other half, which she was to manage for his widow (her sister Brianda) and their infant daughter. This assignment caused a bitter fight between Beatrice and Brianda that had ramifications for many years afterward.

Beatrice de Luna Mendes now controlled one of the largest fortunes in Europe, and through her business acumen she forged connections to rulers throughout the Western world. Despite her growing power, however, she could not protect the family from all outside dangers, and soon a new threat presented itself. In 1536, a Catholic nobleman, Don Francisco d'Aragon, sought Reyna's hand in marriage. Beatrice Mendes took immediate action. With no warning, she, her daughter, Reyna, and her sister Brianda with her young daughter (also named Beatrice) left the Mendes mansion. Packing only their jewels and as many personal possessions as possible, they fled to Italy and before long appeared in Venice. Forty boxes filled with valuables were left behind in Antwerp.

Still regarded as New Christians, the Mendes family was not required to live in the Venetian ghetto. Although Beatrice continued supervising her business and lived in luxury, those years (1545-1549) were not peaceful ones. Beatrice's sister Brianda, the widow of Diogo Mendes, challenged her for control of the family fortune, and as long as the matter remained undecided, neither of them was permitted to leave Venice.

Physical and Spiritual Aid

When the case was finally settled in 1549, Beatrice Mendes went to the court of Ercole II d'Este in Ferrara. The Duchy of Ferrara, already the home of BenvenidaAbrabanel and her family, was more hospitable to Jews, and it was here that Beatrice began using her Hebrew name, Hannah, or Gracia, and took on the family name of Nasi, the Hebrew word for prince. Other Portuguese Jews simply called her Signora or La Dona. From Ferrara, Dona Gracia continued to help crypto-Jews leave Portugal.

In addition, she contributed to the printing of Hebrew books in Spanish translations for the benefit of the conversos. In 1553 the Hebrew Bible was translated into Spanish and published in two editions, one for Christians and one for Jews. It became known as "The Ferrara Bible" and was dedicated to the noble-hearted Dona Gracia Naci, the Very Magnificent Lady. Samuel Usque's Consolation for the Tribulations of Israel, a prose-poem in Portuguese, was also dedicated to Gracia, whom Usque called "the heart of her people."

In 1554, Gracia and her daughter returned to Venice and began to make plans to relocate to Istanbul. Joao now called Don Joseph Nasi, again followed Gracia. He arrived in Istanbul with his own retinue of bodyguards and servants, had himself circumcised in 1554, and returned to Judaism. He subsequently married Gracia's daughter, Reyna Nasi.

Forging a Community

In Turkey, Dona Gracia became the leading force in the Jewish community. She lavishly supported synagogues, schools, and hospitals all over the Ottoman Empire and carried on extensive trade in spices, grain, and wool with Italian cities, utilizing her own ships. When she pulled her fleet out of Ancona during the Jewish boycott of that city, there were international repercussions. Finally secure in Turkey, with close ties to the sultan's court, Dona Gracia sought to acquire some place of safety for other Jews. With that goal in mind, she leased land in Tiberius, a town in Palestine, then under Ottoman control.

Her hope was to encourage a self sufficient Jewish community there. For a short time, Jewish settlement in the Galilee was increased and Tiberius became a successful city. Although a mansion was prepared there for La Signora herself, she died before she could occupy it. This settlement, one of the earliest to attract Jews to return to Zion, has usually been credited to Gracia's nephew, Don Joseph Nasi, conceding only that she was at his right hand, serving as his inspiration. However, the idea was first envisioned by Gracia, who, taking advantage of her influence at court, conceived of the plan, leased the land for a high yearly rental that she paid herself, and briefly turned Tiberius into a thriving Jewish city.  (Looks like the drive to Jerusalem was British after all... due to the    Marranos...  :wtf:  )

After she died, Joseph never visited the town and it deteriorated. Finally, the lease was allowed to lapse. The exact date of Gracia Nasi's death is not known, but it probably occurred in the summer of 1569 when she was 59 or 60 years old. By that time, she had achieved power, fame, and riches beyond most people's imagination.


   Emily Taitz has a PhD in medieval Jewish history from the Jewish Theological Seminary. She taught women's history at Adelphi University and is presently co-editor of The New Light, a literary magazine.  

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history ... Nasi.shtml

[FrankDialogue]

It is very fascinating to see that although these Sephardim were small in number, they still had some important access to levers of power.

Also, I believe at the beginning of the article, or it may be another one on the board about the Bank of England, the writer states that it would be impossible to get a list of the original shareholders...I'm sure this is even more true today, just as it is with the FED...You can get a list of the bannks that hold shares with the FED, but then the question is 'who owns the shares in those banks?'.

One of the most difficult areas of research is who really owns banks...It is all front companies.

The Queen of England has what is called a 'nominee account' with City of London Coutts Bank, and I have read that many major politicians/international leaders have accounts with this bank as a way of hiding money when they are in power, as the list of 'nominees' is above top secret, and no media person will go near the issue of these 'nominees', even though the bank does lower level commercial business:

Coutts remains the crème of private banking




http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/7111143/Coutts-remains-the-creme-of-private-banking.html

[CrackSmokeRepublican]

(Not the best source for accuracy but some interesting info on the famed "Da Costa" family... doubt the connection with Khazars but mentioned below.  Looks like some J-Tribe fantasy work at play here.  )

From book....
Jews Among the Indians: Tales of Adventure and Conflict in the Old West
http://www.amazon.com/Jews-Among-Indian ... 0963296515

========================

Jewish-Turkish Gist Family (from When Scotland Was Jewish)

Samuel Gist was a Virginian, partner of George Washington, and one of the first admiralty insurance brokers in London. He lived for nearly a hundred years, helped start Loyd's of London, and owned the first stud racehorse to come to America. An "Arabian Turk" (like himself ), Bulle Rocke was foaled about 1718, and out of him sprang some of the most valuable of all U.S. native thoroughbred racing stock.  In The Fabulous History of the Dismal Swamp Company (Royster 1999), Gist is called "an old Jew." By blood or marriage, he was related to the Smiths, Andersons, Coopers, Ashleys, Howards (dukes of Norfolk, originally Norman Hereward "guards of the Army"), Boleyn/Bollings (Hebrew "bath keeper"), and Masseys (Maxey), an Edinburgh and Aberdeen mercantile family.

            The origin of this unusual name, borne by several prominent colonial Americans, including the land agent, spy and military guide Christopher Gist (1705-1759) and his grandson George Guest (usually identified with the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary Sequoyah), is most instructive. It appears to come from Altaic Turkic GWSTŢ/Gosţaţā, Heb. גּוֹסּטּטּאּ, the name of a line of Khazar rulers who embraced Judaism (Golb and Pritsak 1982, pp. 35-40). The Byzantine form was Κώστας. The same dynasty later led the migration of the Khazar converts to Kiev and the Ukraine, where their name was rendered in Latin letters as Gostou-n/s as early as the eighth century. In Spain, after the ninth century, the family adopted the name Da Costa, which they derived from "God's rib." Acosta is a variant. This became Kist in Ashkenaz (Ger. "coast," through a pun on costa, which could mean "rib" or "coast" -- Daitch-Mokotoff s.v. and "Lista...Pere Bonnin" ).  From Golb and Pritsak's account, then, it appears likely that the Da Costa and Gist families of Spain, Italy, the Low Lands, and the British Isles were originally non-Semitic (Khazar Turkish) converts.   :think:

The same name occurs in the Ragusan/Croatian/Venetian Gozzi family of traders, explorers, admirals, tax farmers and physicians in Elizabethan London and the Ottoman Empire. Argo:  "Merchant vessel of the largest size, especially one from Ragusa-Dubrovnk, whence the name" (Eterovich 2003, p. 75). Many of the seamen and most of the Ottoman admirals came from Croatia (p. 29). "In the years 1544 to 1612, nine grand viziers came from Bosnia, and Bosnia gave to the Empire most of the twenty-four grand viziers of Croatian ancestry in addition to many pashas, sandiak-begs, beger-begs, and other dignitaries" (p. 23). Moreover, "[A] majority of the mariners and pilots on the [English] king's ships at this period were foreigners – Ragusans (listed first), Venetians (Slavonians), Genovese, Normans and Bretons...[as] noted by French Ambassador Marillac, writing in 1540" (p. 62). Many of the ship's captains were also Jewish, e.g. Nikola Gucetich (Gozzi, Gast, Gass, Goss, Gist, Guest, and Guess in English -- Daitch-Mokotoff), who came from the Sephardic Da Costa family and lived in Tower Ward, later the home of Joseph Gist, the partner of George Washington, and one of the first admiralty insurance brokers in London (pp. 65ff.; see also The Great Dismal Swamp Company). It is instructive that one of the Templar priories in Suffolk was named Gislingham; we believe this name is related and shows the Gists were in England probably as early as the 12th century.

The epigrapher Gloria Farley in the forthcoming second volume to her In Plain Sight suggests that Sequoyah came from a Mediterranean people and his writing system (together with some lost gold tablets) was based on the Cypriot syllabary (personal correspondence with the authors, Nov. 12, 2003). Contemporary references to Christopher Gist, Deputy Indian Commissioner to Gov. Edmond Atkin in Maryland, and agent of the Ohio Company, describe him as exceedingly tall, dark-complexioned, and hairy, with a full beard. George Guess's sister, Maria Cecil Gist, married Benjamin Gratz of Lexington, Ky. (1792-1884), a son of the frontier merchant Michael Gratz who helped endow the Spanish and Portuguese synagogues in Philadelphia and New York and establish communities in Lancaster and Lexington  (Stern 1992, pp. 64-65; Birmingham 1971, p. 146; Jacobs 1973 II, pp. 12-20). The Gratz family had come to Philadelphia from Inquisitorial Spain where their name was Gracia, or Garcia, via Silesia (Germany). They intermarried with the Hayses, Howards, Frankses, Ettings, and Levys. The only portrait of George Guess, or Sequoyah (?), shows him in a Turkish turban and distinctly Mediterranean clothing (Panther-Yates, June 2002). He was a silversmith, a rare occupation for an American Indian at that time.

Sequoyah


Courtesy Hargreave Library of the University of Georgia.

Some Facts about Samuel Gist

1717:  Born in place unknown, raised as an orphan until age 15 in Bristol Hospital, where he wore the traditional blue uniform and was hence in latter life called a "blue boy," (probably an indication of illegitimacy).

1739:  Went to Virginia, where he was an indentured servant, and later factor-storekeeper, on John Smith's Gold Hill Plantation, Hanover Co.

1747:  Married Smith's widow, Sarah (or Mary) Massey, the daughter of Thomas William Massey and Sarah Walker; see Figure J.2 for connections.

1757:  He had a large plantation in the James Valley near Little Richmond.

1765: British Creditor Lists: Samuel Gist, (Kellock, London debt claimants of 1790, appendix, p. 123). Became a London tobacco merchant and rose fast and high so that in 1773-1775 he was next to Lydes in tobacco taken from the Upper James Naval District, and in January 1775 he was one of three men appointed to represent Virginia trade on the committee to draw memorials to Parliament.

1776:  Although his step-daughter played the piano at the wedding of the outspoken Patrick Henry, Gist was loyal to the Crown. On the dawn of the American Revolution, Gist placed his vast holdings into his step-daughter's hands until the King could regain control. Gist proved to be a very good business man. His investments included thousands of acres in Virginia and even a slave ship.

1789:  He valued his Virginian place at £23,000, but the title was vested in his daughter, who had married William Anderson of Hanover County. Gist was not counted friendly to America in 1769. A Virginian woman then in London complained to Thomas Jefferson in 1786 about being in debt:  maybe Gist could relieve her. Gist was still in the tobacco trade after 1790. He left his counting house in Savage Gardens for one in 10 America Square, and had a house in Gower Street, Bloomsbury. He claimed a pre-war debt in Virginia of £34,000.

1816:  By his death, his holdings also included 274 slaves. In his will, Gist manumitted his slaves.

1818 Feb. 10: Will of Samuel Gist:  [VSL] ...late of Gower St; Parish of St. Giles in the Fields; Middlesex Co., Province of Canterbury, England. At London, before Worshipful Samuel Pearce Parson, Doctor of Laws and Rt. Honorable Sir John Nicholl. Will and 4 Codicils:  Admr:  Martin Pearkes and Francis Greggs are 2 surviving executors. Wm. Fowke: also surviving exec. when he shall apply. Pay just debts. Bury in vault I had built under church at Warmington, in County of Gloucester with name and date, age in bluestone to be placed on north wall within chancel of the Church at Warmington. Cousin James Gist who went to India ca. 40 years ago £100. To Thos. Darracott of Va.; my gold watch chain and seals by Mudge and Dutton.

            The manumitted slaves of Joseph Gist were granted land in Ohio and went there en masse, becoming the so-called Brown County Melungeons. A message on the Internet:

Looking for former slaves of Samuel GIST of VA (formerly of England). When Mr GIST died in 1815, his will set his slaves free. In 1819 his slaves were sent to Brown County, Ohio. Each ex slave family was given a plot of land, a cabin and were told to choose a surname. Some of the names chosen were HUTSON, TOLLER, & LAWSON.

Another Internet posting:

Subject: GIST SETTLEMENT

            LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON SLAVES THAT WERE FREED IN         SAMUEL GIST WILL IN 1815. THE SLAVES WHERE IN HANOVER, AMHERST AND GOOCHLAND COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA. BECAUSE OF THE LAW IN VIRGINIA AT THAT TIME THE FREED SLAVES HAD TO LEAVE OR BE PUT  BACK INTO SLAVERY. THERE THE FREED SLAVES FROM THE GIST      SETTLEMENT WERE PLACE IN HIGHLAND, ADAMS, BROWM. ERIE, NEW VIENNA COUNTIES IN OHIO. THE NAME I'M PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN IS ANDERSON. POSSIBLY FROM GEORGETOWN, OHIO. THE OTHER

NAMES FROM THE SLAVES OF THE GIST SETTLEMENT WERE TOLAR,

HUDSON, WALLACE, BURR, SMITH, CUMBERLAND, GIST, BAKER, TURNER, JOHNSON. ANY INFORMATION WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED

Samuel Gist's ultimate heir was an obscure cousin, Josiah Sellick, who adopted the style of "Samuel Gist Gist of St. Marylebone" and inherited his city and country estates in 1827. He had married the Hon. Mary Anne Westenra, daughter of William, Lord Rosemore, in St. George, Hanover Square, 1824.  He became Samuel Gist Gist, Esq., of Dixton.

Sources: The Fabulous History of the Dismal Swamp Company, by Charles Royster (1999); Wills from the Burned counties of Virginia 1670-1838, by William Lindsey Hopkins (Will of John Smith, Jr., written 7-20-1769, proved 3-4-1773 in Hanover Co., Va.); "Darley Arabian," by Anne Peters, available online at http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/DarleyArabian.html.

Note:  There is a small town on Sand Mountain named Guess.
Gunter

Guntersville and Lake Guntersville are named after this Scottish trading family who intermarried with the Cherokee and resided in Creek Path. Samuel Gunter married Katherine Ghi-go-ne-li of the Paint Clan, and his brother Edward (Ned) Gunter (died 1843, Tahlequah, I.T.) married 1) Elise McCoy, and 2) Letitia Keys. Like the Keyses and Coopers, the family became split between the east and the west during Indian Removal. Augustus Gunter (1815-1894) was agent for the N.C.& St.L. Railroad in Bridgeport. According to the Cherokee Advocate, 19 Oct. 1844, George Washington Gunter had erected a cotton gin at his place on the Arkansas River, 15 miles from Ft. Smith, the first in the Cherokee Nation.

Keys

The Keys/Kee family was evidently Sephardic Jewish in origin. Many were noted as "bright mulattoes," or "other free" in Virginia and North Carolina records of the 18th century. They appear to have been early mixed with Indian. In 1817, when a choice was given to the Cherokee to settle on a reservation in the east for life or emigrate west, Samuel Keys and his three sons Isaac, William and Samuel received reservations on Sand Mountain. Isaac Keys was married to Elizabeth Riley, William, to Sally Riley, and Samuel, to Mary Riley. The Riley sisters were all granddaughters of Chief Doublehead (Chuqualatague) through the two sisters Ni-go-di-ge-yu and Gu-lu-sti-yu Doublehead. During Indian Removal, some Keyses managed to stay in Alabama, others went on the Trail of Tears. Richard Keys (Chapman Roll 1686) lived for a while in Fabius on Sand Mountain before moving to Indian Territory with his large family. He died February 6, 1892, and was buried in Paw Paw Bottoms, Muldrow, Sequoyah, I.T. He is the Dick Keys named as a character witness on Peter Cooper's ECA. Richard Riley Keys (1813-1884), a brother of Letitia Keys, who was married to Minerva Nave, served as Judge on the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court. Samuel Riley Keys, born 1819, Fabius, married Mary Hannah Easter, a Choctaw.

 

Jackson County, AL

1680.  Samuel Keys, Jr.         32

1681.  Mary Keys                10      d

1682.  Polina Keys               4      d

1683.  William Keys              2      s

1684.  Samuel Keys Sr.          64              [642]

1685.  Mary Keys                25      d       [1546, 642]

1686.  Richard Keys             37              [642]

1687.  William Keys              4      s

1688.  Richard R. Keys           2      s

1689.  infant not named                 s

1690.  James M. Keys            30

1691.  William Keys              2      s

1692.  Eveline McCoy            35      w       [8146]

1693.  Leanah McCoy              8      d      

1694.  Mary McCoy                4      d

1695.  Muzedore McCoy            2      d

(Chapman Roll, 1851, Cherokee by Blood)

What a minute, you're going to say. I didn't know Scotland was ever Jewish. Scottish history can't boast of having too many prominent Jews, right? Well, not until now. When Scotland Was Jewish was begun by Professor Elizabeth C. Hirschman of Rutgers University and joined by me as a co-investigator in 2001. Both of us are of Melungeon ancestry. Using the tools of modern DNA testing and clues ranging from medieval burgess lists to synagogue records, we researched a large community of Jewish and Moorish merchants and court officials who were active in the nation-building phase of early Scottish history, 1000-1300. Our book discusses, among other subjects, the Judaic origins of the Royal House of Stewart, the identity of Aberdeen's St. Machar, and the possible role of secret Jewish religious practices in the formation of Presbyterianism. Over 150 illustrations and 15 detailed genealogies document not only the Judaic character of Scotland's political, economic and religious history, but also an important tie-in to the Melungeons of the southern Appalachians, including those on Sand Mountain. Chapters on DNA analysis, clan genealogies, the Knights Templar, the Cabala, and the religions of Scotland conclude with an essay on Sir Walter Scott's heroine Rebecca in Ivanhoe, bringing the story of a previously unsuspected Judaic presence in the British Isles down to the present day. In many ways, this study is the sequel to Hirschman's Melungeons:  The Last Lost Tribe in America (Mercer University Press, 2005). Jews among the Indians, a work in progress, is also co-authored by Yates and Hirschman.

Shankles

Not only was Scotland the source of many Jews, who often threw off their Christian guises in the New World, but it was also a magnet for Jews from the rest of Europe during the religious persecutions of the Spanish Inquisition and Counter-Reformation. For these reasons, Avold Shenkel migrated from Oldenburg, Germany, through the Netherland to Berwick, Scotland, in the early 1700s. He continued to New Jersey and Pennsylvania around 1750. From there, like so many others, he gravitated to Tennessee. Sand Mountain residents George Shankle, born about 1808 in Franklin Co., Tennessee, and John Shankle (born about.1814) raised large families around Maynards Cove, intermarrying with Ashberry, Byrd, Dawson, Holland (Cherokee), Lackey (Cherokee), Minor (Melungeon), Musgrove (Creek), Proctor (Cherokee), Sizemore, White (Choctaw-Cherokee) and Wooten (Choctaw). John Shankles (about 1814-1885) married Clarissa Proctor, the granddaughter of William Davis and Mary Ann Black. The Proctors came from Canada and were to become a prominent Cherokee family. Samuel G. Shankles (about 1846-1902) married Lovina (Dovey) Fossett (nee Lackey).  Like many non-slave-holding Southerners, he fought on the Union side during the Civil War, serving in Company D, First Alabama Tennessee Vidette Cavalry. Their daughter, the author's great-grandmother, Lucinda, married James Lafayette (Fate) Goble, the son of Cornelius Goble, whose father was a former Indian agent, and Ellen Wooten. Lucinda Goble was reported to be "three-quarters Cherokee Indian," a blood quantum that proves fairly accurate if you add up the blood lines in her genealogy. Her mitochondrial DNA is a rare form of U2.

Family tradition says Fate Goble was raised an orphan and that the Gobles were well to do.  According to grandchildren, Fate Goble became a banker and owned land on what is now a corner of the highway in central Rainsville on Sand Mountain. The legal description is SE 1/4 of SE 1/4, Section 24, Township 6, Range 7, DeKalb Co., Ala. Jacob's Bank and McDonald's Restaurant are now located there. Mrs. E. E. McCurdy owned the land in 1975, when she sold it to Rainsville Bank, later Jacobs Bank. Courthouse records at Ft. Payne could not be located despite persistent efforts by the author around 1990. It is said that Fate Goble was struck by lightning and killed in his bed in Hog Jaw, on January 22, 1918. He is buried in the Goble Plot of the Langston (Old Davis) Cemetery.

Sizemore

Richard Sizemore came from Spartanburg District, S.C.and moved to Habersham Co., Ga. by 1822 and to Dade County, Ga. about 1845, where he joined a group of other mixed breeds avoiding removal near Rising Fawn. To credit descendants and relatives in Eastern Cherokee claims 1906-1924, which comprise two entire volumes of the Guion Miller Commission's Report, the family came from North Carolina and Virginia and were Cherokee. The name is cognate with Cismor and other Portuguese Jewish surnames, deriving from Sis(a)mai, a Judahite of the descendants of the daughter of Sheshan and Jarha, a Phoenician god's name, meaning water crane or swallow, in Sephardic tradition applied to "tax farmers." "Sheshan had no sons, only daughters; Sheshan had an Egyptian slave, whose name was Jarha... Eleasah begot Sisamai, and Sisamai begot Shallum" (1 Chronicles 2:34-40). They were Portuguese Jews who came from London to Barbados and Jamestown, where they blended with the Saponi, Powhatan, Mattaponi, Cherokee and Creek on the frontier.

Georgia. Dade County. In the name of God, Amen. I, Richard Sizemore of said state and county, being of advanced age and knowing that must shortly depart this life, deem it right and proper both as respects my family and myself that I should make a disposition of my property with which a kind providence has blessed me; do therefore make my last will and testament hereby revoking all others heretofore made by same.

1st item. I design that my body be buried in a decent and Christian-like manner suitable to my condition in life. My soul, I trust, shall return to rest with God who gave it.

2nd item. I design and direct that all my just debts be paid without delay by my executors hereinafter appointed, as I am unwilling my creditors should be delayed in their right.

3rd item. I give, bequeath and devise to my son Andrew Jackson and Thomas Benton and James Clayton and my daughter Malinda Elizabeth part of lot of land number two hundred and nineteen in the eleventh district of formerly Cherokee, now Dade County, containing one hundred and ten acres with all the rights, members and privaliges (sic) to said lot of land in any wise appertaining or belonging forever.

4th item. I give and bequeath to my son John one sorrel horse and two cows and calves and their increase and six head of sheep and their increase, one yoak (sic) of stears (sic) and cart, one hundred bushels of corn and ten head of hogs, and one rifle gun, and three feather beds and furnature (sic).

5th item. I hereby appoint my son John executor of this my last will and testament this April 18th, 1850.

Richard Sizemore

Registered this 20th of April 1850.

John B. Perkins, Clerk

(Thanks to Winona Jones of Weatherford, Tex..)

Richard Sizemore was buried in Pea Ridge Cemetery, DeKalb Co., Ala. on top of the mountain. This cemetery also contains the graves of Coopers and Bundrens. His widow Elizabeth moved to Fraction Township in the area known as Shraders Mill, where her neighbors were the Coopers and Shraders (Alabama 1866 State Census). She was the daughter of Francis Forester and a Chickahominy woman and died May 01, 1879.

House-by-house view of Valley Head and Pea Ridge on Sand Mountain, DeKalb/Jackson Co., Ala., with part of Wills Valley and Fraction Township from a 1953 map (The Bear Went over the Mountain).

Very recent efforts spearheaded by Alan Lerwick of Salt Lake City, Utah, have traced the Sizemores back to a Michael Sizemore, a London merchant who died in 1685. Lerwick has also mapped two distinct DNA lines in Virginia and North Carolina, one continuing the original R1b gene type and the other an American Indian Q haplotype. He believes – and I agree with him – that Indian descent entered the Sizemore family with Henry Sizemore, born about 1698. The descendants of Henry's older brother Ephraim are R1b.
 
Conclusion

So it is time to summarize what we know about Sand Mountain Melungeons. Our rather random listing contains:  24 untimely deaths, 6 murders, 2 hangings, 1 rape, 4 divorces, 4 instances of congenital deafness or blindness, an average migration rate of 4.2 moves per lifetime during the period of Indian removal, 6 cases of lost treasure, and uncounted examples – whether aimed at individuals or groups – of theft, assault, imprisonment, legal sanctions, denial of Federal benefits and basic rights, law suits, and disinheritance. Families were split down the middle, with many members simply disappearing. A high number of sons and daughters chose never to marry to produce future generations. The average lifespan for a female in my mother's direct line, which goes back to a Cherokee woman born about 1790, is 32. Elders were often unwilling to even speak of their losses. In the face of systematic and relentless prejudice, they maintained what they could of their intellectual heritage, culture and religious practices, often in a secretive fashion.

A Biblical injunction warns us against trying to make bricks without straw. The Five Civilized Tribes built an amazing legacy, one that endures to this day as strong as ever. After the 2000 Census, the Cherokee constituted the largest Indian group in the U.S., with nearly 500,000 recognized and unrecognized members. Through genocide, military conquest, plague, starvation, captivity, dispossession, betrayal and endless government maneuvers, they and the other major Southeastern tribes fought back with cunning and conviction. These were the first Indian nations to have constitutions, courts of law, a press, police forces and schools. Euchella v. Welsh (1824) and the Cherokee case before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1830s marked their arrival in the circle of nations. The ensuing public sympathy stirred up by converted Jews like John Howard Payne secured a place in legend for them similar to that of the Founding Fathers of America and David Crockett. The Browns, McDonalds, Adairs, Rosses, Coopers, Keyses, Rogerses and Vanns mingled their bloodlines with the strength of natives in the eighteenth century and before. Were it not for that "leaven" the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek and Choctaw could never have survived as political entities. Southern Sephardic Jews were that straw in a stubborn and enduring product.

There are some three hundred Indian reservations in the United States, covering 52.4 million acres of land in twenty-seven states (Pevar 1992). Many states, however, such as Virginia, with the oldest record of Indian affairs, going back to British treaties signed by its colonial governors, do not have federally recognized Indian tribes. Neither Kentucky nor Tennessee, the original homelands, respectively, of the Shawnee and Cherokee, has ever legitimized any Indian groups within their boundaries. Moreover, during a period known as Termination (1953-1968), Congress voted to end federal services and benefits to Indians "at the earliest possible time." Over a hundred tribes were "terminated." Recently, under Republican administrations, as tribes were struggling to regain their standing, and while an estimated 300 Indian groups sought recognition for the first time, more rights were struck down by the courts and more nations were "terminated." The century-long scandal of the Individual Indian Money Accounts continued, with billions of dollars owed to the descendants of Indians cheated during the days of the Dawes Act of 1887, which broke up tribal governments, abolished Indian reservations and forced Indians to assimilate into white society.

The rights of Indians and Indian tribes constitute a labyrinthine body of U.S. Federal law and public policy, not to mention the ever-changing social and historical factors or human rights underlying them. In general, federal recognition of a tribe and its members (always based on treaties signed before 1867) confers: 1) a special status as protected wards of the federal government (thereby immune to the power of states, counties and municipalities and exempt from certain taxes), 2) limited sovereignty as "a nation within a nation," 3) citizenship in one particular Indian nation, 4) occasional jurisdiction in tribal courts under the concept of Indian Country, and 5) a host of erratic privileges ranging from Indian health services and educational assistance to the right to label arts and crafts as "Native American" and a share in tribal income, treaty annuities, and mineral rights on reservation land (Felix Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law, 1982).

In 1990 it was noted that American Indians represented 1 percent of the U.S. population but 50% of its diversity. [1] Between the 1990 and 2000 census, the Indian population doubled, from nearly 2 million Americans to 4.1 million people. Most of this increase was attributable to altered categories of reporting and new ways race and ethnicity were tallied, with persons claiming "American Indian and Alaska Native in combination with another race" henceforth included together with those identifying as Indian alone. The Pan American Indian Association maintains that even these figures are low and that there are more than 15 million U.S. citizens of some degree of Indian ancestry. [2]

If Melungeons should attempt Federal recognition, nearly everybody and everything would be arrayed against them, including historical precedent, current political climate, and other Indian and minority groups, always reluctant to "slice the pie" even thinner. Still, there are tangible benefits to be gained from even the slightest legislative or administrative victory. This is demonstrated by the 400,000 member Lumbee tribe winning conditional Federal recognition in the 1990s, the various Virginia tribes' long but persistent petition for their rights, and, most recently, the small Waccamaw tribe receiving state recognition from South Carolina, allowing members to organize meetings without interference from authorities, preserve their culture, and sell arts and crafts labeled "Native American."

Notice the third right listed above, "citizenship in one particular Indian nation." Many Melungeon names appear on the rolls of the IIM mentioned above (Sizemore is an example). One cannot claim membership in two discrete Indian nations. On this point, even non-recognized tribes are recognized, and Washington has a long memory. Thus, enrollment or the attempt to enroll on one registry invalidates all others, for there can be no dual citizenship in Indian Country. Most tribal law suits before the Bureau of Indian Affairs founder on a requirement demanding proof of continuous sovereign organization and unequivocal leadership. Multiple and confused attempts to establish a tribe like the Sizemores' White Top Laurel Tribe of Indians are the kiss of death.

http://pantherslodge.com/sand.html

[ada]

Mendes Monsanto Familie
http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.c ... 52/mb.ashx

Anousim, marranos: Originally Sephardic family names,Spanish,Portuguese,Dutch Jews
http://eduplanet.net/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=1356

From Jewish Virtual Library
"Although there were transient Jews in the colony, the first recorded settler was Isaac Rodriguez Monsanto, a Dutch-born merchant who had taken his brothers and sisters to Curaçao before moving his headquarters to New Orleans in 1757. Between 1757 and 1769 Monsanto conducted successful business operations with settlers and merchants throughout Louisiana, the Illinois country, Atlantic and Caribbean ports, and Europe. In 1769, when Monsanto and his family and associates were expelled from New Orleans under the rigorous Spanish rule of Governor Alejandro O'Reilly, who invoked the first provision of the Code Noir for their expulsion, the Monsantos took refuge in British West Florida, but all gradually filtered back into Spanish Louisiana. The Monsantos, born Jewish, all participated in the rituals of the Protestant and Catholic churches without baptism.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jso ... 12779.html

Anousim, marranos, Aaron Lopez, Abraham Pereira Mendes, Jacob Rodriguez Rivera and so forth from the jewish Slave Trade

Aaron Lopez (1731-1782) was the most notorious of the slave dealing Jews. He was Newport's leading participant in the Black Holocaust, largest taxpayer and the epitome of the Newport slave dealing Jewish culture. His son-in-law, Abraham Pereira Mendes, carried on the murderous trade and built massive wealth in his own right. Born in Portugal Lopez moved to Newport, Rhode Island in 1752, renounced his Marrano past and built an extensive trans-Atlantic slave dealing empire. "What can be said about this most attractive figure," writes Dr. Marcus, "is that he lived on a baronial scale, maintained an entourage of over thirty persons, including the necessary slaves and hired servants, and had his own stable and two chaises." He was engaged extensively in smuggling and the owner of between 30 and 40 ships. By 1749, Lopez was generally considered to be one of the largest merchants in the country, shipping every marketable item including molasses, Blacks, rum, pork and bottled beer. He owned a wharf, arranged for building, chartering, and outfitting the vessels, hired captains and crews, and kept detailed accounts.

Lopez reportedly launched his career as a slave merchant late in 1761 when he and Jacob Rodriguez Rivera began to outfit their jointly owned brigantine Grayhound for an African voyage. On January 7, 1763, William Pinnegar captained a Lopez ship which delivered 134 Africans to Lopez's Jewish agents in South Carolina, Da Costa and Farr. Four captains made thirteen of the voyages, two of whom died in Lopez's service. Below are the recorded slaving voyages of Aaron Lopez in the years 1764 through 1774:

    Sloop Spry, Capt. Willaim Pinneger, July 16, 1764 - May 22, 1766, stopping at Barbados, Jamaica, and New York on the return voyage. The cargo included iron hoops, iron chains and slave shackles.252 Slaves sold: 57.
    Brig Africa, Capt. Abraham All, May 3, 1765 - July 11, 1766. Slaves sold at Kingston: 45.
    Sloop Betsey, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, July 22, 1765 - August 21, 1766. Slaves sold at Kingston: 40.
    Brig Sally (the Spry rerigged), Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, August, 1766 - July 1767. Slaves sold at St. Kitts: c. 33.
    Brig Africa, Capt. Abraham All, October 20, 1766 - January 9, 1768. Slaves sold at Kingston: 69.
    Brig Hannah, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, May 3, 1768 - May 4, 1769. Slaves sold in South Carolina and Barbados: 63.
    Sloop Mary, Capt. William English, June 4, 1770 - spring 1771. Slaves sold in Barbados: c. 57.
    Ship Cleopatra, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, July 1770 - 1771. Slaves sold in Barbados: 96.
    Ship Cleopatra, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, June 16, 1771 - May 27, 1772. Slaves sold in Barbados: 230.
    Brig Ann, Capt. William English, November 27, 1772 - winter 1773-74 (arrived in Jamaica October 8, 1773). Slaves sold at Kingston: 104.253
    Ship Africa, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, April 22, 1773 - August 1774. Slaves sold in Jamaica: c. 49.
    Ship Cleopatra, Capt. James Bourk, June 30, 1773 - August 1774, Cargo consigned to Briggs. Slaves sold in Jamaica: c. 77.
    Brig Ann, Capt. William English, spring 1774 - March 1775. Slaves sold in Jamaica: 112.

Mortality on these voyages was extremely high, as this passage from the William and Mary Quarterly suggests:

    Captain Briggs had taken aboard twenty-one slaves at the Windward Coast south of Cape Verde, ten at Cape Mount on the Grain Coast, and sixty-seven along the Gold Coast -- a total of ninety-eight. However, as Lopez informed his London correspondent, William Stead, there was severe loss of life at sea, and much sickness among the survivors forced a hurried sale at St. Kitts. Sally's log records the burial of six slaves at sea, dead "with the feaver and flox"; the loss was doubtless much heavier, as the log does not cover a four-month period of coasting southward and eastward from the Windward Coast to Cape Coast Castle....The figure, given above, of thirty-three slaves sold is calculated from the sum realized on the sale of the survivors, who may have been more numerous than this but of low value because of their debilitated condition.

The Cleopatra was assumed to have experienced very heavy mortality, according to Lopez biographer Virginia Bever Platt, because the ship had carried a "much higher number of 230 blacks to Barbados on her next voyage." Using this reasoning and simple mathematics, one could conclude that as many as, or more than, 287 Black Africans may have lost their lives in these two voyages of the Cleopatra alone.

In the last recorded voyage of the Ann, "[Captain] English reached Kingston on October 7, having lost five slaves on the voyage but with his people apparently healthy. By the time the sale could be made, two more had died and the prevalence of 'the Swelling' among the remainder caused a drastic reduction in their value..."

Lopez's other commercial ventures were sometimes called into question. One Caribbean trader bitterly complained in a series of letters about the quality of the lumber, flour, and fish cargoes dispatched from Newport -- consignments that often arrived out of season or in leaky vessels to which he had to give time and attention. Flour, too often was of low grade; staves and hoops for the making of molasses hogsheads were often worm-eaten and fish was putrid from being packed in insufficient brine. He found it difficult to dispose of such cargoes and implied that slave cargoes were easier to handle and more profitable.

Dr. Marcus discusses the household and business of Lopez and his utter dependency on free Black labor:

    Lopez always maintained a staff of Negro domestics and in addition often hired Negro slaves from their masters, though in his papers such laborers were always referred to as servants, never as slaves. At least half a dozen negroes were usually employed at one time at the Lopez shop, storehouse and wharf. For his living quarters, Lopez supplemented his Negro domestics by hiring an Indian woman to wash and scrub and a white seamstress to sew and make garments for the family and the Negro household servants.

Lopez took 27 of these slaves to Leicester, Massachusetts, when fleeing the British attack on Newport.

It was also Lopez who was identified as the primary Newport merchant who ignored the non-importation protest of British tax policies organized by the Revolution-era colonists. The man who fingered Lopez was Ezra Stiles, a leading clergyman and President of Yale University. He referred to Lopez in his Diary as "a Merchant of the first Eminence; for Honor and Extent of Commerce probably surpassed by no Merchant in America."

Journeying to Rhode Island with his wife and family on May 28, 1782, he passed Scott's Pond, near Providence and was thrown by his horse into quicksand where he drowned.


Ships Owned by Aaron Lopez


    Active

    Africa

    America

    Ann

    Betsy

    Charlotte

    Cleopatra

    Coaxel

    Diana

    Dolphin

    Eagle

    Friendship

    George

    Grayhound

    Hannah

    Hope

    Industry

    Jacob

    Mary

    Newport Packet

    Ocean

    Ranger

    Royal Charlotte

    Sally

    Spry

    Venus

Sephardim and Freemasonry
http://www.ahava.org/SephardicPiratesof ... pdf(jewish site...)
• Aaron Lopez, Abraham Redwood, Abraham Pereira Mendes, Jacob Riveras, Jacob Polock, and the De Wolfs
The slave trade was not the province of Jews, Episcopalians, or Huguenots. It did, however, pay to band together
and operate in secrecy.
• Christian or Jewish, the slave traders had to be connected, at least to each other. Religious affiliation was often
the tie that bound. But not every slave trader was from a persecuted sect. For this reason it was very important to
be accepted into a lodge. The lodge system, which was composed of the elite shipowners, made navigating the
treacherous waters of both the Atlantic Ocean and New England political life easier.
• The Newport Lodge was founded by a merchant from Boston, and once it was established it was populated
mostly by Jews from Portugal and the Caribbean. Moses Seixas served as grand master for Rhode Island from
1791 to 1800"; he went on to become one of the founders of the Bank of Rhode Island. Intermarriage among
Newport's first families tightened the bonds, as it did among the Boston merchant elite. But intermarriage did not
mean marrying within one's race or religion; it meant marrying within one's caste. ....letter sent by George
Washington to Moses Seixas, president of the Newport Hebrew Congregation on August 17, 1790, and inscribed
on a stone at the Touro Synagogue (Newport R.I.), stating the inalienable human rights for Jews, as opposed to
tolerance
• A Protestant could marry a Jew as long as they were both from the same station in life. Shipowner, sea captain,
and merchant were three titles within the higher caste of Rhode Island life. In America, Jews in general did not
suffer the degree of hostility that they encountered in Europe. While in many countries Masonry rejected Jews,
and at least one still does, in America Masonry welcomed them. Moses Michael Hays, a Portuguese Sephardic
Jew, was instrumental in bringing Scottish Rite Masonry to America, and Paul Revere, a Huguenot, was his
deputy grand master. Hay was also instrumental in founding the Bank of Boston.
• The first Jewish Masons officially in the Carolinas were Simon Nathan and Benjamin Seixas, designated to
represent Masonry in Charlotte and Charleston in June, 1781.

[FrankDialogue]

Aaron Lopez, Abraham Redwood, Abraham Pereira Mendes, Jacob Riveras, Jacob Polock, and the De Wolfs...

First synagogue in America, Newport, Rhode Island, built by Aaron Lopez, slave trader, described in WikiPedia as a 'candlestick maker'  :lol: