Myers-Adolphus

[DBCoup]

In his will Naphtali Hart Myers expressed his desire "to be privately buried in the ground marked out by me lying next to my mothers tomb in the burying ground at Mile End in the county of Middlesex and a suitable tomb erected on my grave not to exceed the sum of twenty pounds"
Cecil Roth in The Great Synagogue 1690-1940 states "Naphtali Hart Myers, son of Joseph Myers, ...., belonged to a New York family and was descended from the Adolphuses on the female side."
Naphtali Hart Myers married Hester Moses who was the daughter of Simon Jacobus Moses and (according to Stern) Rebecca, the daughter of Aaron Hart (Rabbi of the Great Synagogue)

I am looking for any leads I can on the Adolphus connection, or indeed, on any of these families. Our family apparently became non-Jewish when Simeon Hart Myers (son of Naphtali Hart Myers) married out of the faith in 1797.

Any help gratefully received.

[Waitabit]

Difficult times arise, is this the Naphtali Hart Myers you mean? b.21 May 1796.
Hart St London.
Father Joseph..Mother Leah Hart?

and is this his Son?
Simon Heart Myers marriage.: Catherine Peard 10 Nov. 1796 Cheltenham, Gloucester.
batch no. M043992 on Family Search IGI ?

[DBCoup]

Many thanks Waitabit
Naphtali Hart Myers who was born 21 May 1796 is the son of Joseph Hart Myers and Leah Hart.
Joseph Hart Myers is the son of Naphtlai Hart Myers and Hester Moses, and the brother of my ancestor Simeon Hart Myers.
Yes Simeon Hart Myers married Catherine Peard (a widow) 10 Nov 1796 Cheltenham, Gloucester.

After many years of not being able to locate Catherine Peard all was revealed when I got Simeon's will. Catherine's first husband was Oliver Peard and that knowledge allowed me to determine her maiden name - Winsloe - and also establish that the Rev Richard Winsloe who Simeon nominated as one of his executors was Catherine's brother.

Catherine later married for a third time, to John Greatrix Smyth

My Naphtali Hart Myers (born c 1711) has left footprints all over the place, playing important rolls in synagogues on both sides of the Atlantic, appearing in court (either as a plaintiff or as a witness!!!), advertising a reward for lost jewelry, executor for wills, .... not to mention father of Dr Joseph Hart Myers, who also left many footprints.

Still not sure that he "belonged to a New York family" or "was a New York family" - certainly his children were born in New York. Naphtali moved to London c 1764-1766 (cannot remember exact date at the moment). Hester seems to have been from London.
Stern has several errors that I know about and the concern is "are there others that I do not know about"

[Ari Harman]

Simeon Myers did indeed marry out of the faith leaving me (and maybe other forum members) assimilated and disenfranchised, with direct Jewish male but not the halachical female line. Would be glad to hear from those here.

Here is an excellent page http://
freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kaub/Myers/nhm1711.htm which contains all of the following information reproduced in the following 2 posts:

Naphtali Hart Myers
c1711 - 1788

NAPHTALI HART MYERS
Born: c 1711
Place : Unknown
Died : 18 October 1788
Place : London, England
Father : Joseph Myers
Mother : Unknown

Married : February 1754
Place : London, England

HESTER MOSES
Born : Unknown
Place : Unknown
Died : 1764
Place : Unknown
Father : Simon Jacobus Moses
Mother : Rebecca Hart

Children of NAPHTALI HART MYERS and HESTER MOSES are :

i REBECCA HART MYERS
Born: Unknown
Place : Unknown
Died : Unknown
Place : Unknown

ii JOSEPH HART MYERS
Born: 1758
Place : New York, USA
Died : 1 June 1823
Place : London

Married : Unknown
Place : Unknown
LEAH UNKNOWN
Born : Unknown
Place : Unknown
Died : Unknown
Place : Unknown
Father : Unknown
Mother : Unknown
iii FAYBES MYERS
Born: 9 February 1760
Place : New York USA
Died : 14/15 October 1760
Place : New York, USA

iv SIMEON HART MYERS
Born: 4 January 1763
Place : Unknown
Died : Unknown
Place : Unknown

Married : Unknown
Place : Unknown
CATHERINE PEARD NÉE WINSLOE
Born : Unknown
Place : Unknown
Died : Unknown
Place : Unknown
Father : Unknown
Mother : Unknown

Naphtali Hart Myers was possibly born in New York as Roth describes him (in his History of the Great Synagogue [London]) as being the son of Joseph Myers, belonging "to a New York family" and being "descended from the Adolphuses on the female side."
There is also a strong possibility that Naphtali Hart Myers was not born in America at all as he appears in a list of "persons being naturalised" in 17??. Stern indicates that Naphtali was born about 1711. Stern also gives details of a daughter of Naphtali Hart Myers, named Faybes, who was born in New York on 9 February 1760 and who died in New York on 14 or 15 October 1760. "Naphtali Hart Myers donated a candalbrum that eventually would be used as one of a set of almost-matching four hanging in the Touro Synagogue of Newport, Rhode Island"
Simon Jacobus Moses as Hester Moses' father is supported by Simon's will. The identity of her mother is from Stern (stern_p221.jpg) as is her pedigree. Stern's work is not without errors so it is with caution that we accept his pedigree for Hester Moses. Whereas Stern has Hester's father as "Simon Moses Jacobus" his will is in the name of "Simon Jacobus Moses" - the name by which he is referred to in Roth's History of the Great Synagogue, London. At this point Stern's work is unverified.

History of the Great Synagogue [London] by Cecil Roth available on line jewishgen.org
Chapter VIII THE WORLD AND THE SYNAGOGUE
"A full list of the major benefactions to the Congregation, in the middle years of the eighteenth century, is subjoined. The list begins with the bequests of Isaac Franks and of Moses Hart. All names are of course given in their Hebrew form: the English forms, when ascertainable, together with the date of death, are appended in brackets:
Simon ben Moses Levi £50 (Simon Jacob Moses, d. 1764)
Haber Aaron Moses ben haber Baruch Levi £100 (Aaron Levy)
Dan Eliezer b. Simon £250 (Lazarus Simon, d. 1764)
Benjamin Mendes da Costa £120 (d. 1764)
Judah b. Zevi £50
Hayim b. Judah Levi £100 etc. (Hyman Levy, d. 1769)
Joseph b. Benjamin £50 Joseph Wolf, d. 1770)
Adam b. Hayim £100
Zevi b. Zeeb £100 (Henry Isaac of the Hambro' Syn., d. 1773: See p. 120)
Abraham b. Hayim Levi £100 (Abraham Hyman Levy, d. 1774)
Simon b. R. Israel Scroll of Law, etc.
Aaron b. Naphtali £1000 (Aaron Franks, d. 1777)
Moses Hayim Gomes Serra £15 (d. 1780)
Jacob b. Hayim £100
Phineas b. Isaiah £100
Yetta b. Judah £25
Aaron Moses b. Reuben £25
Speranz b. Joseph £60
Benjamin b Joseph £150
Naphtali b. Joseph £100 (Naphtali Hart Myers, d. 1788)
Alexander b. Isaac £25 (Alexander Isaac, d. 1789)
Moses b. Jacob £250 (?Moses [Michael] Adolphus, d. 1785)"
Chapter X TEVELE SCHIFF AND THE CHIEF RABBINATE OF ENGLAND
"... and on February 3rd the following minute was entered on the Synagogue records:
Feb.y 3rd, 1765
Present Naph.ty Franks, Mr. Aaron Goldsmid, Mr. Aaron Levy, Mr. Jacob Nathan Moses, Mr. Naph.ty Myers, Mr. Joel Levy, Mr. Sam.l Ans.l2 Levy, Mr. Moses Franks, Mr. Alex.r Isaacs."

"One Saturday night, in February 1766 the supporters of the Rabbinate of Meshullam Solomon came to the Synagogue, removed their prayer-books and ritual appurtenances, and carried them off to a new place of worship which they now established. The two bodies immediately put themselves in touch with the rival London Rabbis. Before the winter was over, the Wardens of the Portsmouth community travelled specially to London to make the necessary arrangements. They interviewed the presiding officers of the Great Synagogue (Naphtali Franks, Naphtali Hart Myers, Joel Levi and Aaron Goldsmid) in the Vestry Room at Duke's Place; they waited on Rabbi Schiff in his house; and details were settled to mutual satisfaction. They returned home with mellifluous letters of commendation and amity: and later on, the Great Synagogue authorities sent down the basis of a code of laws to regulate reciprocal obligations"

"It is convenient to give at this point the names of the officers of the congregation at the time of the dedication of the new building:
Wardens :
Naphtali Franks, Naphtali Hart Myers (Naphtali b. Joseph).
Treasurer ("Steward"):
Joel Levy.
Treasurer of Society for Visiting the Sick:
Alexander Isaacs (Züsskind b. Isaac).
Treasurer for Cemetery :
Zalman ben Isaac (? Solomon Isaacs).
Committee ("Five Men"):
Aaron Franks, Aaron Goldsmid, Aaron (ben Naphtali) Levy, Jacob Nathan Moses, Michael Adolphus."

[Ari Harman]

Chapter XI THE SYNAGOGUE OF 1766-1790
" Some of the immigrants, encouraged to come to England by the fatal simplicity of obtaining passage, and finding themselves unable to earn a living when they arrived owing to the galling restrictions which prevailed, turned in desperation to dishonest practises. The problem of delinquency among the Ashkenazi Jews became serious, threatening the good name of the entire community. Instead of blinking at the facts, the authorities of the Duke's Place Synagogue faced them manfully, attempting on the one hand to cope with the problem and on the other to dissociate the Jewish community as such from the malefactors. In 1766 certain criminals who were bringing discredit on the Jewish name were formally excommunicated in the Great Synagogue, and the Wardens gave every assistance to the authorities to bring them to justice. The latter were duly appreciative, as the following interchange of correspondence shows:
Bow Street, May 25th 1766.
Sir John Fielding presents his respectful Compliments to Mr. Naphtaly Franks and Mr. Naphtaly Myers; thinks himself much obliged to them, as is the Public for the assistance they have already given to the civil power, to detect the Receivers of stolen goods, in Duke's Place and Houndsditch: and also for their laudable Declarations to continue their assistance, till the evil itself is suppressed; And Sir John Fielding is persuaded that as this practise has been carried on by a few persons only, that the countenance and protection of the respectable part of their Body to the Magistrates, in their endeavours to cause such offenders to be apprehended, will discourage this atrocious practise, benefit the public, and reflect honour on themselves.
To this, the Synagogue sent the following reply:
From the Vestry Chamber of the Great Synagogue.
May 26th 1766.
Sir:--
We are honoured with your letter of yesterday, and are very happy in receiving your approbation of our endeavours to detect those few infamous receivers of stolen goods, about Duke's Place and Houndsditch: wretches who are a pest to every Community.
We return you our sincere thanks for your laudable and spirited assistance on this occasion of doing public justice, and flatter ourselves, that with the assistance of the Civil Power, our perseverance will be attended with the same desirable success.
We are firmly convinced that in pursuance of this our fixed resolution, we shall receive the applause of every Jew, who is not totally ignorant of the Laws of God, the Duty of his own religion, the true regard for Public Justice, and the obedience due to the laws of this Kingdom.
We are, with the highest respect,

Sir,
Your most obedient humble servants,
N. Franks
N. H. Myers
Presidents of the Great Synagogue.

Under the same vigorous direction, this policy was continued unremittingly, notwithstanding the criticisms which were offered by some purblind members of the community, who considered it unwise to recognise the existence of the abuse. The Press of the period records, for example, how a person who defrauded a certain Mr. Gibson was expelled from the Great Synagogue at this time; and this was probably not the only case. But remedial action was not enough. In 1771 there was recrudescence of crime, of particularly brutal character. On this occasion, the Duke s Place authorities were not content with excommunicating those responsible, inserting an advertisement to that effect in the newspapers, and offering a reward of £20 for assistance in apprehending them, but did their best to get to the root of the problem. It was pointed out that the free passage from abroad for all, regardless of character, was largely responsible for the regrettable state of affairs, and the Earl of Suffolk, Secretary of State, was persuaded to instruct the Postmaster General to suspend this practice. (There is extant the letter of thanks to the noble Earl, dated December 17th, 1771, written by Naphtali Hart Myers on behalf of the General Vestry of the Great Synagogue.) At the same time, the Wardens waited on the Lord Mayor, who offered a free pass to any Jew who wished to leave the country and return home. Thus, the problem of delinquency was coped with: it was swept away when economic opportunity became more ample. The courageous action of the Great Synagogue in the eighteenth century, in grappling with the problem instead of ignoring it, can be a model to later generations.13"
"13 Naphtali Hart Myers, son of Joseph Myers, who was mainly responsible for this policy, belonged to a New York family and was descended from the Adolphuses on the female side. He died at his residence in John Street, America Square, in 1788. He married Hester, daughter of Simon Jacob Moses, of Bury Street, a pillar of the Synagogue, who died in 1764 (see above, p. 99): their son, Joseph Hart Myers, graduated in medicine at Edinburgh, being probably the first professing Jew to obtain an ordinary degree at a British university, and published a dissertation on diabetes. He was appointed physician to the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in 1785 and died in 1823. For the episode of 1771, See the account in R. Leslie-Melville: Life and Work of Sir John Fielding (London, 1935), p. 259 ff."

Stern
<< Stern has confused two Rebecca Hart Myers. One is, indeed, the daughter of Haphtali Hart Myers and Hester Moses. The second, who married Isaac Cohen, is the daughter of Joseph Hart Myers and therefore the granddaughter of Naphtali Hart Myers and Hester Moses.>>

AMERICAN-REVOLUTION-L Archives
Subject: [A-REV] Journal 1757-60 lookups, L, M, N
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 23:50:03 -0400
Murray McCombs offered to do lookups in " Doctoral dissertation of John McCOMB's three year daily journal, 1757-1760. Though most of this index covers the French and Indian wars, the preamble is a scholarly description of life and times of Albany NY leading up to the American Revolution. Some personages may have supported the King during the ARW."

Myers, Elias, Lt 60th Regt, Military Engineer
Myers, Naphtali Hart, Merchant of NYC
No contact was able to be established with Murray McCombs (2005)

Touro Synagogue, Newport, RI, Harry A. Butowsky
"Touro Synangogue, dedicated in 1763 is the oldest synagogue in the United States. It is the only one which survives from the colonial era. The congregation was founded in 1658 by descendants of Shephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal seeking a haven from religious persecution. Designed by noted colonial architect Peter Harrison, the Touto Synagogue is considered one of the finest examples of 18th-century architecture in America.

[Ari Harman]

. .

"In the Orthodox tradition, women sit in the gallery and men sit below. The wainscoted seat running along the sides of the hall provided the only seating for men at the time of the synagogue's dedication. A raised section of this seat at the center of the north wall is used by the president and vice president of the congregation. Five massive brass candelabra hang from the ceiling. Two were the gift of Jacob Ridriques Rivera in the name of his son Abraham; they bear the date 1765. Another dated 1760 was presented by Naphtali Hart Myers; and the fourth, the gift of Aaron López, is dated 1770. The inscription on the large center candelabrum identifies it as a gift of Jacob Pollock in 1769."
One cannot help but note the date of the presentation of the candelabrum, by Naphtali Hart Myers, is coincident with the date of the death (and birth!) of his daughter Faybes << dbc >>

Lehigh County Historical Society
Pearl Heritage Exhibit Gallery
"Jewish immigrants were among the earliest Europeans in the Lehigh Valley: Myer Hart is considered one of the founders of Easton in 1752. A trader, possibly of Portuguese ancestry, Hart ranked among the village's wealthiest men in the 1750s-1770s, but suffered financial reverses during the Revolution and left town by 1790. Other non-resident Jewish businessmen visited Easton and conducted commercial affairs. Notable among them was Naphtali Hart Myers who was recorded in Easton records in 1755. Myers was the president of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City.

[DBCoup]

Simeon Myers did indeed marry out of the faith leaving me (and maybe other forum members) assimilated and disenfranchised, with direct Jewish male but not the halachical female line. Would be glad to hear from those here.
Thanks Ari
Does this mean that you have Simon Hart Myers as your ancestor?


Here is an excellent page http://
freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kaub/Myers/nhm1711.htm which contains all of the following information reproduced in the following 2 posts:

Not, I am afraid, as "excellent" as it would be if I updated it with recent discoveries. |oopsredfa Nice to know that some of my efforts are appreciated by others (or even viewed!)
Daryl
PS Kaub is the original spelling of my surname and that was the original intent of my web page, but it grew ....
PPS Just hit my maiden century ... without really trying. Must be the adiction.

[Ari Harman]

Hi Daryl


Does this mean that you have Simon Hart Myers as your ancestor?

Direct ancestor through the male line to my grandma. Maintain Jewish practices (eg shabbat) without being member of The Tribe. Re-converting a long way off.


Not, I am afraid, as "excellent" as it would be if I updated it with recent discoveries. |oopsredfa Nice to know that some of my efforts are appreciated by others (or even viewed!)

Please update it as there are a number of readers or please point to where you have updated. Keep in touch.
cheers
ziji

[DBCoup]

Direct ancestor through the male line to my grandma.
:confused: I am intrigued. I thought I had this part of the family "nailed". If you are unwilling to post the lineage here could you send me a PM and we can communicate off forum.

Please update it as there are a number of readers or please point to where you have updated.
I have been somewhat disheartened by the plundering and recycling of the information (without acknowledgment) on my site so I have been a bit slow to keep it up to date. If people are genuinely interested in the family and wish to enter into dialogue with me (rather than grabbing what they see and running) my email address is on the web site.

Besides that I am working on my "opus" - I am writing up my research in book form (actually 12 books semi-simultaneously - one book takes focus for a while then a new find or contact brings another book to the fore).

I look forward to learning how you connect to Simeon Hart Myers. As I have it now Simeon Hart Myers married Catherine Peard and had but one child John Powell Matthew Myers before he died.
daryl

[Ari Harman]

Hi Daryl
fear of identity theft prevents me from posting from which one of the 8 kids of JPMM I am descended. Will send you privately. Understand your disheartened, I have a large professional web site, much used and little acknowledged. I guess your linkage is FWM, in which case greetings cousin. 12 books - now that is a work of love.
cheers

[DBCoup]

12 books - now that is a work of love.

or a sign of insanity. Sometimes it does make me feel a little insane but mostly it keeps me sane ;)
daryl