Collection ID: P-15
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Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Jacques Judah Lyons
Abstract:
Jacques Judah Lyons, hazzan, rabbi and community leader, was born in Surinam and emigrated to Philadelphia in the early 1800s. Minister of the New York Congregation Shearith Israel for 38 years, he gathered extensive materials on early Jewish history in the United States, Canada and the West Indies. His papers include manuscripts, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, notebooks, photographs and a Sansom ship's log book. Contains material relating to Jews in North and South America generally and more specifically to Congregation Shearith Israel and the Jews in New York, the Touro Synagogue and cemetery and the Jews in Newport, Rhode Island, Philadelphia and the West Indies. Also contains material relating to Jews in the wars of the United States, correspondence of the Jews with George Washington and items relating to Haym Salomon. Collection consists of manuscript material and five notebooks and three scrapbooks of Lyons. Contains also material not listed in calendar consisting of sermons by Lyons, a manuscript prayer book used in Surinam and a guide for religious ceremonies at Congregation Shearith Israel, as well as letters written during the Civil War period and correspondence relating to the personal life and career of Lyons.
Extent:
12.05 linear feet (14 manuscript boxes; 3 oversize boxes (11.5 x 18 x 3.25), (16.5 x 20.5 x 3), (23 x 31.5 x 3))
Language:
The collection is in English , Dutch , Hebrew , Spanish , and Portuguese .

Background

Scope and Content:

The Jacques Judah Lyons Collection is a truly valuable source for researchers interested in early American and West Indies Jewish history. The collection primarily consists of material concerning the Shearith Israel Congregation, New York Jewish community, Touro Synagogue, Newport Jewish community, Philadelphia Jewish community, and West Indies Jewish communities. The collection also includes material relating to Jews who served in wars or military missions for the United States, correspondence of the Jewish leaders with George Washington, information concerning Haym Salomon, and a detailed log book of the Ship "Sansom."

The Jacques Judah Lyons Collection is composed of manuscripts, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, notebooks, log book and photographs. Materials are in fragile condition and must be handled very carefully. Certain items may be restricted from use due to fragility.

The collection is stored in a total of 14 manuscript boxes and three oversize boxes. Manuscripts are organized numerically:

  • Boxes 1-6A contain manuscriptsBoxes 7-10A, 12 contain scrapbooks, notebooks, and minute booksBox 11 contains correspondence pertaining to the Lyons Collection Committee.

It is believed that the current order of the collection was either specifically organized by the children of Jacques, or by Jacques himself. The reader is strongly urged to refer to the following volumes of thePublications of the American Jewish Historical Society, which categorize the manuscripts into broad subject areas, and offer summaries of each manuscript along with its reference number. These volumes are located in the reference collection in the reading room (call# E184.J5 A5). The volumes and their table of contents are as follows:

Volume 21 (Part I):

  • Earliest Extant Minute book of Congregation Shearith Israel, 1728-1760
  • Minute book of Congregation Shearith Israel, 1760-1786
  • Sketch of Congregation Shearith Israel by Naphtali Phillips (served for many years as clerk for the congregation), circa 1855
  • Address of Mordecai Manuel Noah (given at the laying of the cornerstone of the City of Ararat, 1825)

Volume 27 (Part II):"Containing transcripts and summaries of the manuscripts embraced in the Collection, as well as the most important material selected from notebooks and scrapbooks of the late Rev. J.J. Lyons."

Manuscript Material:
  • Items relating to Congregation Shearith Israel, New York
    • Relating to Gershom Mendes Seixas
    • Relating to Rev. Jacques Judah Lyons
  • Miscellaneous items relating to Jews in New York
  • Items relating to the Seixas Family, New York
  • Items relating to the Jews of Newport
  • Items relating to Correspondence of Jews with George Washington
  • Miscellaneous items relating to Jews of North America
  • Log Book of the ShipSansom
  • Receipt book of Congregation Shearith Israel, New York
  • Excerpts from the Gomez Ledger

Notebook Extracts:
  • Items relating to Congregation Shearith Israel, New York
  • Items relating to the Gomez Family, New York
  • Items relating to the Hays Family, New York
  • Items relating to the Moses and Levy Families, New York
  • Items relating to the Seixas Family, New York
  • Items relating to the Simson Family, New York
  • Items relating to the Solomons Family, New York
  • Miscellaneous items relating to Jews in New York
  • Items relating to the Newport Synagogue
  • Items relating to the Newport Cemetery
  • Items relating to masonry in Newport
  • Items relating to the Touro Family, Newport
  • Items relating to the Gould Family and the Jews of Newport
  • Miscellaneous items relating to the Jews of Newport
  • Items relating to Jews in Philadelphia
  • Items relating to Haym Salomon
  • Items relating to Jews in South America and the West Indies
  • Miscellaneous items relating to Jews in North America
  • Items relating to Jews in Wars of the United States and Correspondence with Washington
  • Excerpts from the Scrapbooks of Rev. J.J. Lyons
  • List of Pamphlets in the Collection(Note: These pamphlets are located in the Rosenbach Rare Book Collection, and have not been microfilmed as part of the J.J. Lyons Collection)

Please note that there are additional items in the collection that are not listed in either of the Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society volumes.

Biographical / Historical:

Jacques Judah Lyons (1813-1877)

Jacques Judah Lyons, hazan, rabbi, and community leader, was born in Surinam, Dutch Guiana on Menahem 25, 5573 (August 25, 1813). His parents, Judah Eleazar and Mary Asser Lyons, had emigrated to Surinam from Philadelphia in the early 1800s. Jacques education was limited to the institutions the Dutch colony could afford; however, he spoke several languages in addition to Dutch, including Hebrew, English, German, and French and possessed a strong understanding of Spanish.

Jacques began his career as a hazan in Surinam in Congregation Nevie Shalom, a synagogue founded by Spanish-Portuguese Jews. In 1836 he left for Philadelphia, his parents' home state, and was hired within a few months by Congregation Beth Shalome of Richmond, Virginia. He served Beth Shalome for two years, winning the high esteem of the congregation. In 1839, following the death of Rev. Isaac B. Mendez Seixas, he was elected Seixas' successor as minister of Congregation Shearith Israel of New York City. He married Grace Nathan, daughter of Seixas Nathan and Sarah Mendes Seixas in 1842. Jacques and Grace were blessed with three children: Julius J., Sarah, and Alfred.

During his thirty-eight years of ministry, he became highly active in Jewish welfare and advocating Orthodox Judaism. He served as superintendent of the Shearith Israel's school, Polonies Talmud Torah; president of its benevolent society, Hebra Hased va-Emet; director of the Sampson Simson Jewish Seminary and Scientific Institute; and one of the founders of Jews Hospital, later renamed The Mount Sinai Hospital.

Jacques possessed a deep interest in Jewish history. In 1854, Jacques and Rabbi Abraham de Sola of Montreal collaborated in writingA Jewish Calendar for Fifty Years, a book that contained a comprehensive Jewish calendar, an essay on the Jewish calendar system, as well as historical information concerning Jewish communities in the United States, Canada, and the West Indies. Prior to 1861, and continuing to the end of his life, Jacques painstakingly gathered sources and information on United States Jewish history in the hopes of publishing his findings. He made copies of some of the documents he found, and also obtained papers from old families, such as Naphtali Phillips, Isaac Phillips, Joshua Phillips, Horatio Gomez, Joseph Nones, the Pesoa, and Judah Families. His family later destroyed a portion of his papers; one cannot but think of the treasures that may have been contained therein.

Jacques died at the age of sixty-three on Elul 4, 5638, shortly before Rosh Hashanah (August 15, 1877). His funeral services were held on August 15, 1877 in Shearith Israel, and were conducted by his successor Rev. Dr. Henry Pereira Mendes, Rev. Dr. Abraham De Sola of Montreal, Rev. Samuel M. Isaacs of Congregations Shaarai Tefilla of New York, and Rev. Sabato Morais of Congregation Mikve Israel of Philadelphia. His niece through marriage, Emma Lazarus, wrote the poem "Rosh Hashanah, 5638" in his memory. He is buried in the congregation's cemetery in Long Island.

References:De Sola Pool, David and Tamar.An Old Faith in the New World: Portrait of Shearith Israel 1654-1954. New York: Columbia University Press, 1955, 178-182.Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society (PAJHS), vol. 21 (1913), xxiii-xxviii; and vol. 27 (1920), 144-9.Encyclopaedia Judaica. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, 1972. vol. 11, 626.

Acquisition information:
The Lyons collection was donated to the American Jewish Historical Society in 1908 by Jacques Judah Lyons' children: Julius J. Lyons, Sarah Lyons, and Alfred Lyons.
Arrangement:

The collection is divided into six series as follows:

  • Series I: Manuscripts, undated, 1705, 1709-1880, 1933, 1950
  • Series II: Notebooks, undated, 1863, 1872
  • Series III: Scrapbooks, 1760-1786, 1812-1885
  • Series IV: Minute Book, undated, 1760-1786
  • Series V: Correspondence, undated, 1908, 1911-1914, 1917-1919
  • Series VI: Books, 1783-1804
  • Oversized Separated Material, 1730, 1738-1745, 1760, 1785, 1787, 1796-1797, 1803, 1817, 1819, 1826, 1829, 1839, 1843, 1846, 1871

Online content

Access

LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011, United States
CONTACT:
212-294-8350
reference@ajhs.org