Isaiah Isaacs | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1747 Germany |
| Died | 1806 (aged 58–59) |
| Occupations | Silversmith, merchant |
| Known for | First permanent Jewish resident of Richmond, Virginia; co-founder of Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome |
Isaiah Isaacs (1747–1806) was a German-born Jewish silversmith, merchant and public official in Richmond, Virginia, where he was the city's first permanent Jewish resident. With his partner Jacob I. Cohen he ran one of Richmond's leading mercantile firms, and he served on the town's Common Council and helped found Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome, Virginia's first synagogue.
Isaacs was born in Germany in 1747. He first appears in Richmond's records in 1769, making him probably the first Jew to settle in the town. A silversmith by trade, he later went into partnership with Jacob I. Cohen, a fellow veteran of the Revolutionary War. Their firm, Cohen & Isaacs, known locally as "the Jews' store," dealt in merchandise, land and houses. The partners invested heavily in western lands and employed Daniel Boone to survey them; receipts from their dealings with Boone were written in Yiddish. The partnership was dissolved amicably in 1792.
Isaacs took an active part in Richmond's civic affairs. He was appointed clerk of the market in 1785 and later served as a tax assessor. In 1788 he was elected to the town council, becoming a member of Richmond's original Common Council, on which John Marshall also sat. His election came two years after the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom removed religious barriers to holding office.
In 1789 Isaacs and Cohen were among the founders of Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome, Richmond's first Jewish congregation. In 1791 Isaacs deeded part of his land, on East Franklin Street between Nineteenth and Twentieth Streets, to the Jews of Richmond for use as a cemetery, the city's first Jewish burial ground.
In 1800 Isaacs moved to Charlottesville, where he died in 1806.