Notes for: Jacob MORDECAI
Jacob attended private schools in Philadelphia, receiving a classical education. At age 13, he served as a rifleman when the Continental Congress was resident in Philadelphia and later helped supply the Continental Army as a clerk to David Franks, the Jewish quartermaster to General George Washington.
After marrying Judith Myers, they moved to Warrenton, NC and to the best of their ability as the only Jewish family in Warrenton, they managed to keep kosher and observe Jewish law. Jacob was fluent in Yiddish and Hebrew, and was frequently called upon by congregations as far away as New York for advice on Jewish law and ceremonial issues. He was also a merchant, but was so renowned for his scholarship, that his community asked him to establish a boarding school for girls, which he did in 1807. He was a pioneer in education in Colonial America, having established the Mordecai's Female Academy. He was the author of several of its textbooks and the faculty was comprised of his children. The Academy was unique in that it included not only traditional "female" subjects such as needlework and deportment, but history, geography, and Greek. High standards of behavior and performance were the norm for both students and faculty. The goal was to properly mold both the character and intellectual development of the students.
After Judith died, he married her half sister, Rebecca Myers. In 1819, Jacob and Rebecca retired from teaching, having put aside what they thought was enough to support the family. They along with their unmarried daughters moved to "Spring Farm" five miles north of Richmond, VA. The farm never proved profitable and as a result of several business reversals, the farm was sold in 1831, and the family moved into town where Jacob was an active member of Richmond's Jewish community, serving as president of its Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome.
The Mordecai's were a distinguished and brilliant Jewish family whose members contributed to the cultural advancement of NC, and in later years graced the society of Richmond, VA.