For Yom Kippur: Grant's Atonement for His 1862 Order Expelling the Jews

The Institute of Southern Jewish Life, cited above, says that the size of the Jewish community in Savannah in 1860 was 345 people. This was up from about 200 or fewer a decade earlier. It was only in the 1890s that Savannah attracted large numbers of Jewish immigrants and the Jewish population rose to 3,000 in 1912. Jews represented about 2% of the city's population in 1860.
 
The census did not record religion.

Charleston's Jewish population was estimated at around 2000 in the early 1800s and was still extimated at 2000 at the start of the 20th Century. Because immigrants avoided the South during the 19th Century there was little growth in the Jewish community. Here is more on the history of the Charleston Jewish community.

http://www.isjl.org/south-carolina-charleston-encyclopedia.html

While we don't know the exact size of the Charleston Jewish community at the time of the Civil War, it likely constituted about 5% of the total population of the city.
Thanks for posting,I will get to this one as I have to run into town today.
 
Thanks for the link,as it was a very interesting article and full of new information that I had never heard of before.my wife and I go to Savanah about 5-6 times a year as it is one four favorite places to visit since it is only 2 1/2 hrs.away.the last time we were there we visited all the houses of worship that we could fit in one day.the catholic church there is NE of the prettiest churches I have seen in the south.the temple mikva Israel gives daily tours and is really interesting as they have a museum on an upper level which houses many Jewish artifacts but contains 2 letters from R.E.Lee thanking them for their support for the Confederate cause.another interesting church is the A.M.E church which was built by the slaves in their spare time when they were done in the fields for the day.what makes it interesting is that it was the first slave church not built out of wood but non-flammable materials.when you look at the floors in the church you see holes in the floor which you might think we're for ventalation but in reality they were there for slaves who would under the church as it was a stop on the underground railroad.
One of my favorite cities. I am so grateful that preservationists work saving the essence of this city.
 
One of my favorite cities. I am so grateful that preservationists work saving the essence of this city.
We love Savanah that's why we go somuch.we also love Charleston but that's a six hour drive so we do not get there unless we have a weekend.talk about history,it is not just ACW but goes back before the Revolution.I always Learn something new when we visit.
 
Last edited:
I read Sarna's book a couple of years ago. I thought the part about the order was interesting (especially since I'm Jewish) but the book, as a whole, didn't grab me. I thought it was a good idea for an article but not enough for a book.
 
I have always wondered after hearing about this in history classes and from family members just how could you tell that someone was a Jew? My ancestors dressed just like anyone else during this time period and some even were in the Union army. How would the individual issuing train passes know the difference?
 
I have always wondered after hearing about this in history classes and from family members just how could you tell that someone was a Jew? My ancestors dressed just like anyone else during this time period and some even were in the Union army. How would the individual issuing train passes know the difference?
That's easy,you just look at those hideous cartoons the Nazi's published in the 30's.
 
Louisiana was the only state with a (comparatively) large Jewish population in 1860. The ISJL estimates that 8,000 Jews lived in the state. Considering that the French Catholic governor had expelled Jews in the 1750s, this was a largely post-Revolution settlement. http://www.isjl.org/louisiana-encyclopedia.html

I've not checked the link, but Louisiana's Jewish population was indeed under-recorded by the U.S. Census in 1860.

Elliot Ashkenazi in his work, The Business of Jews in Louisiana, brings out records from the predecessor of today's Dunn an Bradstreet Company. Dunn and Company in the 19th century were keeping confidential records on about anyone involved in the credit system of the day.

The records show Jewish families in about every trading town along Louisiana's rivers, far more people than the census would suggest.
 
I've not checked the link, but Louisiana's Jewish population was indeed under-recorded by the U.S. Census in 1860.

Elliot Ashkenazi in his work, The Business of Jews in Louisiana, brings out records from the predecessor of today's Dunn an Bradstreet Company. Dunn and Company in the 19th century were keeping confidential records on about anyone involved in the credit system of the day.

The records show Jewish families in about every trading town along Louisiana's rivers, far more people than the census would suggest.

Still there was no national ID card back then... Today you can not get a plane ticket without identification... How would the authorities know if someone was Jewish and wanted a train ticket on a southbound train? Unless you waved your arms about shouting "I am a Jew" would the Union authorities know that you should be prevented or expelled. How did Dunn and Company find out some business was owned by a Jew? Having been singled out for abuse for untold centuries who is going to tell anyone their faith?
 
...... How would the authorities know if someone was Jewish and wanted a train ticket on a southbound train? ........

According to my German language teacher in High School, German immigration officials assigned names to Jewish immigrants so as to easily identify them as Jewish. She should know, because she was a member of the Hitler-youth training to be a translator for the invasion forces, during WWII.
 
Still there was no national ID card back then... Today you can not get a plane ticket without identification... How would the authorities know if someone was Jewish and wanted a train ticket on a southbound train? Unless you waved your arms about shouting "I am a Jew" would the Union authorities know that you should be prevented or expelled. How did Dunn and Company find out some business was owned by a Jew? Having been singled out for abuse for untold centuries who is going to tell anyone their faith?

They asked. Back then people in town knew exactly what religion their neighbours were and what church/temple they attended...
 
Still there was no national ID card back then... Today you can not get a plane ticket without identification... How would the authorities know if someone was Jewish and wanted a train ticket on a southbound train? Unless you waved your arms about shouting "I am a Jew" would the Union authorities know that you should be prevented or expelled. How did Dunn and Company find out some business was owned by a Jew? Having been singled out for abuse for untold centuries who is going to tell anyone their faith?

It's "Dun and Company," my fault, I misspelled it. They hired locals all over the country, usually attorneys, to keep tabs on goings-on around them. That's how they knew who was Jewish, who was keeping a mistress, who was paying his bills, etc.

None of it was meant to pass judgement on anyone. Rather, they were keeping tabs on people for credit evaluation purposes. The whole thing was the pre-curser to today's credit bureaus.

All of the 19th century records were eventually donated to Harvard Business School. You can see the extent of it, here.
 
I agree. I think that the question of why he made the change still lingers.
Over and over in Grant's life, we see him strive to be fair-minded, and we see him, like Lincoln, continually evolving -- for example, evolving from the default racism that was typical of most white Americans of his generation, to being a committed advocate for African-American civil rights. I believe Grant had some default anti-Semitism from his upbringing, just like the default racism, but matured beyond it. (Just my opinion from all that I've read about him.) And the fallout from Order 11 may have forced that evolution more quickly and dramatically.
 
Back
Top