Moses Seixas | |
|---|---|
| Born | Moses Mendes Seixas March 28, 1744 |
| Died | November 29, 1809 (aged 65) |
| Occupations | Merchant, banker |
| Known for | Letter to George Washington (1790); co-founder of the Bank of Rhode Island |
| Spouse | Jochebed Levy |
| Relatives | Gershom Mendes Seixas, Benjamin Mendes Seixas, Abraham Mendes Seixas (brothers) Grace Seixas Nathan (sister) Naphtali Phillips (son-in-law) |
Moses Mendes Seixas (March 28, 1744 – November 29, 1809) was an American merchant, banker and Jewish communal leader in Newport, Rhode Island. As warden of the Newport congregation, now known as the Touro Synagogue, he wrote the 1790 letter welcoming President George Washington to Newport. Its phrase describing a government "which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance" was adopted by Washington in his reply, the letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, which became a landmark statement of American religious liberty. He was also a co-founder and the longtime cashier of the Bank of Rhode Island and grand master of Rhode Island's Freemasons.
Seixas was born in New York City on March 28, 1744, the eldest son of Isaac Mendes Seixas, a Portuguese Jewish merchant from Lisbon, and his wife Rachel Levy. The family later settled in Newport, where Seixas became prominent in its civic, religious and commercial life. His younger brothers included Gershom Mendes Seixas, minister of New York's Congregation Shearith Israel; Benjamin Mendes Seixas, a founder of the New York Stock Exchange; and the Revolutionary War officer Abraham Mendes Seixas.
Seixas remained in Newport during the British occupation of the town and was among the signers of a document pledging loyalty to the Patriot cause.
In August 1790 Washington visited Rhode Island, which had just become the last of the original thirteen states to ratify the Constitution. As warden of Congregation Jeshuat Israel, Seixas wrote an address of welcome on behalf of the congregation, dated August 17, 1790, which he probably presented to Washington on the morning of August 18.
The letter thanked God for a government "which to bigotry gives no sanction, to persecution no assistance — but generously affording to All liberty of conscience, and immunities of Citizenship." Washington's reply repeated the phrase, assuring the congregation that "the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens." Washington's letter, built in part on Seixas's wording, is read each year at the Touro Synagogue.
Seixas was one of the founders of the Bank of Rhode Island in Newport in 1795 and served as its cashier until his death. A Freemason, he was grand master of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island.
Seixas married Jochebed Levy. Their daughter Rachel Hannah married Naphtali Phillips in 1797. Seixas died on November 29, 1809. His obituary in the Newport Mercury described him as a man of "unblemished reputation" who was zealous in the practice of his faith. He was one of the last members of Newport's colonial Jewish community; the synagogue closed soon after his time and did not reopen for decades.