See: Solomon Raphael, 1740 – 13 January 1822 for further information on his life and relationship to Virginia; online at: https://familysearch.org/tree/#view=ancestor&section=details&am...
Solomon Raphael (about 1740-1822) (also known as Salomon Raphael and Salomon Raffel) was a Jewish tobacco merchant, auctioneer, and slave owner. Raphael was a tobacco peddlar/merchant in Northern Liberties area of Philadelphia. He was issued a peddlar's license on March 23, 1787, signed by Benjamin Franklin, the then President of Pennsylvania. Raphael expanded his business to Baltimore and Richmond. In 1788 he married at the Congregation Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia, Catherine (some say Charlotte) Jacobs, the daughter of Barent Jacob of Northern Liberties, Pennsylvania. In the mid 1790s he had moved to Baltimore and by 1798 he had moved on to Richmond, Virginia. At Richmond he obtained a license to keep a place called "Old City Tavern." He also was the co-owner (with his partner) of a slave named Sylvia and her child, Nelly, who he freed in July 1798. He also owned another slave named "Pricilla." From 1800-10 he was an active member of the Masons (i.e., Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19). His daughter, Charlotte, died in the great Richmond Theater fire of December 1811. Solomon himself died in Richmond, but it is not clear whether he died before or after his daughter (some accounts state 1811, some say 1810, but his name appears in the census of 1820, so it is likely he passed away not long after that).
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Solomon Raphael of Richmond held Blacks captive named "Pricilla," "Sylvia," and her child "Nelly." Source: The Historical Research Department, The Nation of Islam, The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews. Chicago: The Nation of Islam, 1991, p. 202, citing, Korn, “Jews and Negro Slavery," p. 187; Ezekiel and Lichtenstein, pp. 78, 80; Bermon, p. 163; MUSJ1, p. 133; "Selected Acquisitions," AJA, vol. 19 (April, 1967), p. 94.
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The records of the Court of Hustings for April 10, 1798, shows that one Solomon Raphael was ordered to deliver up a detained apprentice girl " to her master and Judith Cohen, wife of the said Israel I. Cohen." 30
30. Ezekiel and Lichtenstein, p. 78.
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"In the same year [1798], Solomon Raphael of Richmond, and his partner, freed their slave Sylvia and her child; and six years later Raphael emancipated another slave, Priscilla. [footnote 19] In 1812, Solomon Jacobs, also of Richmond, freed his slave Esther. [footnote 20]"
19 Herbert T. Ezekiel and Gaston Lichtenstein, The History of the Jews of Richmond (Richmond, 1917), pp. 78 and 80.
20 Herbert T. Ezekiel and Gaston Lichtenstein, The History of the Jews of Richmond (Richmond, 1917), p. 85.
Source: Bertram Wallace Korn, Jews and Negro Slavery in the Old South, 1789-1865. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, 1961, p. 32.
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"Solomon Raphael, Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1800 to 1810. Frequent attendant at Grand Lodge meetings." Source: Samuel Oppenheim, The Jews and Masonry in the United States before 1810. Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, No. 19 (1910), pp. 62+:
The following is a list arranged in alphabetical order of Jewish Masons who are known to have been members of Virginia lodges between 1785 and 1810, with the names of the lodges to which they belonged, and dates between which they are noted in the printed proceedings as members. [197] ....
•Solomon Raphael, Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1800 to 1810. Frequent attendant at Grand Lodge meetings....
Solomon Raphael, Mordecai Marks, and Joseph A. Myers were active members and frequent attendants at Grand Lodge meetings. Their names occur in connection with the great fire in Richmond in 1811. Joseph A. Myers was one of a committee appointed to ascertain the names of the dead and missing, and among those reported by that committee were Solomon Raphael's wife Charlotte [NOTE: THIS IS AN ERROR, THE CHARLOTTE WHO DIED WAS SOLOMON AND HIS WIFE'S DAUGHTER] and Mordecai Marks' wife Cyprian, and also Joseph Jacobs and Barach Judah's child. [228]
Notes:
197. See Reprint of Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Virginia, 1777-1828, and original issues of yearly proceedings of the Grand Lodge between 1791 and 1810. In 1799 the lists of members of all the lodges are first given, but names can be gathered in previous years from notes of attendance at Grand Lodge meetings. See also Charles P. Rady, History of Richmond Randolph Lodge, No. 19, Richmond, 1888.
228. See "A Particular Account of the Dreadful Fire at Richmond, December 26, 1811", Baltimore, 1812; at Lenox Library.
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Reportedly, Solomon Raphael was appointed by the Masonic Grand Lodge of Virginia as one of the gentlemen to receive General La Fayette on his visit to this country.
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F. Claiborne Johnston, Jr., "A more complete record of those who perished in the Richmond Theater fire, December 26, 1811." Richmond, Virginia: Author, 2011, 163 page manuscript in University of Virginia, pp. 131-132, writes: Solomon Raphael came to Richmond from Philadelphia, PA where, as in Richmond, Raphael managed a public establishment. Berman, Richmond Jewry, p. 74-75. In Richmond, he purchased the Old City Tavern from Gabriel Galt, but by 1807 had become a licensed auctioneer. Raphael manumitted three slaves in 1798. Id. at 163. He was a member of, and a contributor to, Beth Shalome.
Solomon Raphael is thought to have married Catherine Jacobs, sister of Solomon Jacobs. Solomon Jacobs refers to “Mr. S. Raphael” in his will as his “late brother-in-law,” but does not name Solomon Raphael’s wife. Berman, Richmond Jewry, p. 74; 163. There is a deed of emancipation in the City of Richmond deed records dated May 1, 1798 where Solomon Raphael and Catherine Jacobs emancipated a slave woman Silvia and her daughter, Nelly. City of Richmond, Hustings Court Deed Book 4, page 435. Many have assumed Solomon Raphael and Catherine Jacobs were married, but if that is the case, it is not clear why Catherine Jacobs signed the deed of emancipation using her maiden name. It seems possible the slave Silvia had been the property of Catherine Jacobs and a sister who married Solomon Raphael, but who was deceased at the time of the deed of emancipation.
Another sister of Joseph Jacobs, Esther Jacobs, is said to have married Mordecai Marks. Richmond Jewry, p. 74 (Berman says “Mordecai Marx,” but his name in all public records was spelled “Marks”). After the death of Mordecai Marks’ wife in the theater fire, Marks married (second) Esther Raphael, on 31 Dec. 1812. Marriages and Deaths from Richmond, Virginia Newspapers, 1780-1820, p. 224. She was another daughter of Solomon Raphael.
In Samuel Myers’ letter of January 13, 1812 to his brother-in-law, Judah Hays in Boston, Myers noted that “Raphels (sic) is an isralite who lost two children ...” VHS manuscript (Mssl M9924 al-3-27). One child was Charlotte Raphael. Charlotte Raphael’s sister (actually she may have been a step-sister, whose mother was Esther Jacobs) also died in the fire. She was Cyprian (or Zeporah) Raphael, married to Mordecai Marks (see no. 50 above, “Wife of Mordecai Marks”).
Solomon Raphael died in Richmond on 13 Jan. 1822 “at an advanced age.” The obituary notice stated that he had been “for many years a resident of this city.” Death Notices from Richmond Newspapers, 1821-1840, p. 251.
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The belief by some that the Raphael family are descended from the famous painter is totally false. He is known to have several mistresses but encyclopedias will tell you he had no known issue and died childless. Rather it appears the Raphaels were Jews who came from the Iberian peninsula (Spain/Portugal) and were part of the Sephardic diaspora. Proving that, however, requires more research. We do know that many Sephardic Jews leaving there over time made it to places such as the Netherlands, London, the Caribbean (Jamaica etc.) and eventually to the English colonies in North America prior to the American Revolution.
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