History of The Jews in Pennsylvania - Philadelphia

Philadelphia

See Jewish history in Philadelphia and Kahal Kadosh Mikveh Israel

In 1681, when William Penn gained possession of the land that bears his name, there must have been several Jewish settlers in the southeastern portion. The earliest Jewish resident of Philadelphia of whom there is any record was Jonas Aaron, who was living there in 1703. The most prominent member of the Jewish belief in the early history of the colony was Isaac Miranda. The date of his birth is not known; he died in Lancaster, Pa., in 1733. He took up his residence in the colony very early in the eighteenth century, and was one of the earliest Jewish settlers in Philadelphia and the first in Lancaster. In 1723 James Logan, secretary of the province, refers to him as an "apostate Jew or fashionable Christian proselyte," who had gone into the interior of the colony to transact some official business. In 1727 Miranda was appointed "agent to receive and collect the perquisites and rights of Admiralty," and on June 19, 1727, he was appointed "deputy judge of the Court of Vice-Admiralty"—the first judicial office held by a Jew in the provinces. He was a large holder of land, and his name is frequently mentioned in the archives of the colony. In 1730 (or 1720) the Indians of Lancaster made a complaint that he had acted unfairly toward them, but no action is recorded in the matter.