Colonial American Jewish ANcestry

Many Americans have Jewish ancestry that joined their family tree, early in American history. I think it would be fair to say all 13 colonies from their moment they were created, had Jewish immigration. Jews came to the colonies in different waves from different places and ended up in different colonies. I have written a paper on the the Virginia colony that highlights some colonial Jewish families. 

Having thoroughly researched the topic, my conclusion is this. Most early colonial Jews disappeared into the non-Jewish world. Some remained in the faith, but many many disappeared into the white Protestant world and the Christian African American world. 

If you suspect your Hidden Jewish Ancestry entered your family tree in colonial times, read my article. It may clear up how this could be the case. 

Following the article you will find resources to research colonial American Jewish ancestors. Malcolm Sterns book is the definitive guide to colonial Jewish ancestry. If you find your ancestors in his book or in other resources, you may want to do some cemetery touring. There you may find ancestors not listed in the census or databases! 

Malcom H Stern was perhaps the greatest genealogists of all time, and most assuredly the best American Jewish genealogists that has ever lived. He was trained as a Rabbi, and he did serve several communities, but ultimately, his greatest contribution was his fastidious documentation of the first American Jewish families. 

He published "Americans of Jewish Descent" in 1960. It involved family trees for all Jewish families that lived in America before 1840. (26,000 names.) The book was then republished in 1978 as "First American Jewish Families: 600 Genealogies 1654-1977" , and then finally in 1991 "First American Jewish Families: 600 genealogies 1654-1988"(50,000 names). 

First of all, this genius was doing this research and making these genealogies long before the internet existed. That means he was doing this the hard way, one courthouse, one synagogue, one genealogical society at a time. Manually. He compiled these genealogies the old way. No internet databases were at his disposal. 

One cannot say enough about his work. Its magnificent. His research was thorough and traced early American Jewish families from the 17th century right the way through to the 20th century. It's a priceless work if your family is an early American Jewish family. However, it is of even greater value if your family is American and has Hidden Jewish Ancestry. Because, the family trees laid down by Stern tell the story of the families, as they happened. And more often than not, these early American Jewish families disappeared into the local population as you approach the 20th century.  Many descendants of these first American Jewish families have no clue they descend from America's founding Jewish fathers and mothers. 

If you are American, and your family got here before 1850, and you have Hidden Jewish Ancestry, you may well find your family in Sterns great work. 

Below you will find a PDF with all the Surnames found in Sterns Book. If you have early American ancestors, look through Sterns list. If you find your surname, go to the book and look your name up in the index, and then go to the corresponding family tree. Or enter the surname into the searchable format. 

The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives makes the PDF of Sterns  book available and a whole lot more. You can actually search the book on their website. I have provided both a link to the center and a link to the book. They have a huge amount of information available. If you find your family in Sterns books, the American Jewish Archives would be the place to investigate further. 

This is such a great organization. If you are a person that makes contributions, think about making a contribution to them!  They make this outstanding book of genealogies available and any help to make certain they continue to do so, would be great! 

Once you have found a Hidden Jewish Ancestor in your family tree, nothing could be more rewarding than visiting their gravesite. Seeing the actual grave is pretty amazing, but, touring the cemetery is a real education in and of itself. 

Families buried relatives near each other and seeing where people are buried can tell you a lot about your family. You might find out a grandfather had a first wife that did not make it to the record books. But walking the cemetery you can also learn about the community in which your ancestor lived. When we visited the Coming Street Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina, it was a history lesson. The earliest graves were those of Sephardic Jews, later followed German Jews, and later still, some Eastern European names appear. And that is the order in which Jews immigrated to America, first the Sephardic Jews, next the German Jews, and still next the Eastern European Jews. 

Here is some information on two southern cemeteries, the Coming Street Cemetery and Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. If you have colonial American Jewish ancestors, there is a big chance you will find some in one of those two cemeteries. 

I will start with the Coming Street Cemetery. The Cemetery is maintained by the congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE). To tour the cemetery, you will have to make an appointment and pay a nominal fee. Our tour guide(docent) was fantastic. The congregation is doing a great job maintaining the cemetery and making it accessible to the public. If you feel like making a charitable contribution, think about KKBE. They deserve it. 

I rather regretted using that title just after I wrote it. While it's true the book and the movie comes from a statue in their cemetery, the cemetery is so much more. It is another colonial cemetery where many many colonial American Jewish immigrants found their final resting place. To walk the cemetery is to learn about early American Jewish living. If you ever have the chance to go, I recommend it. 

The cemetery does have a Jewish section, however, because so many of our ancestors lived between the Jewish and Christian world, you may find your ancestors in the general cemetery.  My Winkler ancestors were in the general cemetery and my Gerber ancestors were in the Jewish section. They both have Jewish ancestry. So, if you go, make sure you scout out both sections. 

My parents met and married in Ohio. That would be almost in the middle of the United States. But, it turns out their colonial ancestors both passed through Savanah, Georgia on their western migration. My father has Gerber on his side of the family and my mother has Winkler on her side of the family. On my trip to the Bonaventure Cemetery I found both families. 

If you look at the photos below you will see the grave of Shadrach Winkler. Finding his grave was particularly interesting to me because I had read about him. We both descend from two brothers that made their way from Switzerland on the Neptune to North Carolina. Strange records survive and when you go rooting around your family tree, you will find them. Shadrach Winkler went to NYU to get a medical degree. He had a change of heart and went on to go to law school at Harvard. For better or worse, he left a diary about his life which survives. One of his more unfortunate statements was that at Harvard he had to carry his own water to his rooms. He found it hard work and he said that he would be nicer to his slaves when he returned to Georgia. Wow. That would be one lesson he could have picked up while studying up north. He might have picked up another, like,  "Slavery is Bad" but apparently he did not. 

Indeed, this is where our common ancestors parted company. My ancestor could not abide slavery and moved his family to Ohio to escape its horrors. The brother he descends from southern side obviously not only stayed but actively participated in slavery.