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This project is for those buried in the Old Jewish Burial Ground in Savannah, Georgia.
The cemetery is also known as the Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery, Jewish Community Cemetery, Jewish Cemetery Memorial and Sheftall Cemetery. It is located on Cohen and Spruce Streets and the cemetery is locked most of the time.
From the historical marker:
Established by Mordecai Sheftall on August 2, 1773 from lands granted him in 1762 by King George III as a parcel of land that “shall be, and forever remain, to and for the use and purpose of a Place of Burial for all persons whatever professing the Jewish Religion.”
During the ill fated attempt of the French forces under Admiral Charles Henri, Comte d’Estaing, and the American forces under General Benjamin Lincoln, to recapture Savannah from the British, General Lincoln’s Orders of the Day of October 8, 1779 stated that “The second place of rallying, or the first if the redoubt should not be carried, will be at the Jew’s burying ground, where the reserve will be placed.”
According to the account of Captain Antoine-Francoise Terance O’Conner, a military engineer serving with the French forces, on October 9, 1779, shortly after 4:00 A. M. “The reserve corps, commanded by M. le Vicomte de Noailles, advanced as far as an old Jewish cemetery, and we placed on its right and a little to the rear the four 4-pounders.”