Subject: Freemasonry

Handwritten and printed application for membership to the Charity Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Stockton, California. Dated February 16-23, 1859. The application proposes Luis Rosenthal for membership, with Alexander Isaac and A. Kohlberg as proposers. This document is signed.

This broadside from the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, dated September 2, 1831, serves as an official communication announcing the election and appointment of Grand Officers on August 29, 1831, in Lexington. The document lists numerous individuals and their respective roles, including Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master, Grand Wardens, Grand Chaplain, Grand Orator, Grand Secretary, Grand Treasurer, Grand Deacons, Grand Marshal, Grand Standard Bearer, Grand Pursuivant, and Stewards of the Grand Charity Fund. It is attested by the handwritten signatures of several officers, including H. I. Bodley, Grand Secretary. The document was intended for the Grand Lodge of Vermont. The broadside features a simple, official layout with plain text and handwritten elements. 3.

Printed broadside announcing the election of officers of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, signed by Abraham Jonas as Junior Grand Warden and three other lodge officers. Issued September 4, 1830. Sent to the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Vermont. One page plus a separate address leaf. Features signatures of notable individuals including a Kentucky newspaper publisher, a Louisville founding father, and a Kentucky Militia general.

This pamphlet, printed in Richmond, Virginia during the Civil War in 1864 by James E. Goode, contains the by-laws and membership roster of Richmond Lodge No. 10. The by-laws detail the rules and regulations governing the lodge, while the roster lists the officers, past masters, master masons, and members, including numerous individuals with Jewish names. This provides a glimpse into the social structure and membership of a Masonic lodge during the Confederacy, highlighting the presence and participation of Jews within the Richmond community.

Certificate of membership in the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, awarded to Joseph L. Moss. Issued in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1860. The certificate is a printed document.

Eight-page pamphlet detailing the membership and schedules of Enterprise Lodge No. 228 F & A.M., located in the Doric Room of Mason Hall at 6th Ave. & 23rd Street in New York City. Published in 1895, the lodge was chartered in 1851. The pamphlet lists numerous Jewish members, as well as H.W. Meincke and Cohen, identified as non-paying members.

Envelope addressed to W. J. Hooper, Secretary of Lodge 22, Eureka, Nevada. Postmarked Virginia City, Nevada, January 29, 1896. The envelope shows advertising.

Envelope addressed to W. J. Hooper, Secretary, Lodge 22, Eureka, Nevada. Postmarked Virginia City, Nevada, March 19, 1896. The envelope contains advertising and was sent by L. Guggenheim.

Two-page letter from Horace E. Baldwin in New York City to Charles Tobias in New Orleans, dated April 5, 1851. Baldwin discusses his illness, a capital investment in their business, and Masonic affairs. The letter indicates Charles Tobias had a financial stake in the New Orleans firm H.E. Baldwin & Co.

A one-page letter, folded, addressed, and docketed on the verso, written by Brother Samuel Townsend to Israel Israel, R. W. Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, on June 4, 1804. The letter discusses Townsend's expulsion from Lodge #75, Pennsylvania.

This 40-page manuscript, written circa 1863, is a lengthy essay exploring Masonic ceremony and symbolism. The author, Rabbi Alexander Barnard Davis, examines the significance of the numbers three and seven in relation to human life stages and their symbolic representation within Masonic rituals. The manuscript incorporates biblical texts and Hebrew words and phrases, reflecting a blend of Masonic and Kabbalistic thought. Written in an exercise book from the Rev. A.B. Davis's Academy in Kingston, Jamaica.

Partly-printed manuscript document, boldly signed by officers elected by the Grand Lodge of the State of New York on June 20, 1833. Sent as a stampless letter to a Vermont Lodge. Includes the signature of Mordecai Myers as Deputy Grand Master.

Oil Painting - This oil portrait (76cm x 63.5 cm) of Solomon Jacobs was done by Thomas Sully Sr. from life in 1812. It was on the ascendancy of Jacobs to the position of the Grand Master Masons of Virginia. He married Hetty Nones of Philadelphia...Benjamin's daughter. He was born to Bernard Jacobs in Heidelberg, Pennsylvania in 1777. He was a prosperous merchant in Richmond, Virginia acting as a tobacco agent for the French Government and represented the European banking houses of Rothschild. From a public service prospective he was one of the most prominent Southern Jews of the 1st quarter of the 1800’s. He is to be found in all major histories of Early American Jews. A brief outline of his public service in Virginia is presented below The history of the Jews of Richmond from 1769 to 1917 By Herbert Tobias Ezekiel, Gaston Lichtenstein... "A man of parts" would be particularly applicable to Solomon Jacobs. He rose to the highest municipal office—Recorder and Acting Mayor—ever held by a Richmond Jew; he attained the greatest Masonic honors within the gift of the craft in Virginia, being thrice elected Grand Master, the only person of his faith in the State who ever held this position. And withal he remained a loyal and consistent adherent to Judaism, serving Congregation Beth Shalome as its President. Reverting to Jacobs' Masonic career, the record of Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, shows that he was its twelfth Master, holding office from 1804 to 1807. His advancement in the Grand Lodge was remarkably rapid, for three years after this latter date he had reached the exalted station of Grand Master, to which he was re-elected in 18n and 1812. A steel engraving of him as Grand Master in 1813 appears in the re-printed proceedings of 1777-1823. This picture is from a painting by the elder Sully, now in possession of grandchildren in Richmond. Such is its excellence that the portrait has been shown at various exhibitions. (It was sold by the family and entered the Whitney collection....in portraits of Jews by London, pub. 1926 listed as; own by Mrs. William a. Harriman, NYC who purchased from Macbeth Gallery) Copy of inscription on his tombstone in the Beth Haim in Richmond, Virginia, of K. K. Beth Shalome: In memory of Solomon Jacobs who died on the 12th day of Hesvan 5588 [November 2, 1827], aged 52 years. During a hopeless and painful illness, which he bore with great patience and nnshaken fortitude he manifested in no ordinary degree his perfect reliance on the mercy of God and his entire con viction of the truth of the Mosaic dispensation. He passed a life of activity, usefulness and unblemished integrity. Called to office of distinction in the municipality of the city and other corporate institutions, he discharged his duty with firmness and ability. Fond as a husband, indulgent as a father, kind as a master, hospitable and benevolent as a man, steady and disinterested as a friend. Valuation: 1. The painting was purchased by Mr. Kaplan from the Whitney collection Auction at Sotheby’s in 1999 for $50,962.50 including commission 2. Condition ·         Excellent general condition ·         the frame is not original ·         Painting has been cleaned & re-lined with well less than 5% restoration • Clearly the work of Sully but not signed, Sotheby’s attributed it to Sully in the Auction Catalogue 3. The value of Thomas Sully Sr.’s paintings vary widely based on fame of sitter and quality of painting. In the same period this painting was purchased, a similar quality Sully of a gentle man would fetch $10,000-20,000. However a small Sully painting of Thomas Jefferson sold for $209,100 @ Christie's New York in 2003, his self portrait sold for $102,770 @ Christie’s New York in 2004 and Sully’s portrait of Peal sold for $144,000 @ Christie’s New York in 11/2006 4. Early American paintings of Jews are rare and easily fetch premiums of 2-3x comparable art due more to their historical significance to collectors of American Judaica as their art content. 5. The Solomon Jacobs was displayed at the one year long opening of the Museum of American Jewish History Museum in Philadelphia. (2010-2011) it was the premier early 1800’s portraits shown. 6. In the decade since this painting was purchased interest and value of early American Judaica has increased substantially. Given the subject, the fact that is the only known from life portrait of Jacobs and the fame of the artist… this painting would be valued at $125,000. One of the finest early American portraits with a Jewish sitter known

Pair of oil on canvas portraits of Moses Michael Hays (1739-1805) and Rachel Myer Hays (1738-1810). Attributed to Gilbert Stuart (American, 1755-1828), circa 1790. Each portrait measures 25 x 20 inches. Moses Michael Hays was a prominent Jewish merchant, civic leader, philanthropist, and Freemason in Colonial and early Federalist America. He lived in New York, Boston, and Newport, Rhode Island. Rachel Myer Hays was the sister of New York silversmith Myer Myers (1723-1795). The portraits descended through the Hays family and were collected by circa 1840 Jewish settlers in Cincinnati, OH. The current heirs include the president of an international literary society.

This 1840 edition, published in New York by M. M. Noah & A. S. Gould, represents a purported translation of the medieval Hebrew text, Book of Jasher. The book is a compilation from the Babylonian Talmud and other Jewish sources, intermixed with Arabic legends and biblical passages. The translation, though initially unattributed, is now associated with Moses Samuel of Liverpool. This edition includes a preface by M. M. Noah and endorsements from several prominent Hebraists of the time. The book is notable for its significance in Rosicrucian and Masonic circles, and its later acquisition by Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. The book contains [4], xxiii, [1 blank], 267, [1 blank] pages and measures 155 x 234 cm (6 x 9 1/8 inches).