Sheftall Sheftall (1762 – 15 August 1847) was an American patriot from Savannah, Georgia, and the son of Mordecai Sheftall. As a teenager, he served alongside his father in the Continentalcommissary in Georgia and was taken prisoner by the British. In later life. he became a well-known Savannah figure, nicknamed "Cocked Hat Sheftall" for wearing his Revolutionary War uniform every day.
Revolutionary War
Sheftall was born in Savannah in 1762. His father Mordecai was deputy commissary general of issues for Continental troops in South Carolina and Georgia. Sheftall served under him as a deputy, and when the British took Savannah in December 1778, both were captured. Sheftall was sent as a prisoner to the West Indies.
Later life
By the 1840s, Sheftall was one of Savannah's best-known characters. The Confederate officer Charles H. Olmstead, recalling his boyhood, described him living in a low wooden house on the north side of Broughton Street between Whitaker and Barnard Streets. Sheftall still dressed daily in the old Continental uniform, with a blue coat and brass buttons, knee breeches, silk stockings, and buckled shoes, topped by the tricorne hat that gave him his nickname.
Death and legacy
He died in Savannah on 15 August 1847.
A 1792 graphite portrait of Sheftall survives in the collections of the Sheftall Family Trust and Congregation Mickve Israel. His cocked hat is preserved by the Sheftall Collection Trust and was displayed at Mickve Israel in an exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of American independence.
References
123Olmstead, Charles H. The Memoirs of Charles H. Olmstead. Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. Vol.14. Savannah: Georgia Historical Society.
United States