Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery
![]() Map of Georgia, highlighting Chatham County, with a dot showing where the cemetery is located in the county. | |
Details | |
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Established | August 2, 1773 (or as early as 1769) |
Closed | approximately 1881 |
Location | Savannah, Georgia |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 32°04′20.07″N 81°06′12.05″W / 32.0722417°N 81.1033472°WCoordinates: 32°04′20.07″N 81°06′12.05″W / 32.0722417°N 81.1033472°W |
Type | Jewish |
No. of graves | approximately 84 |
Find a Grave | Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery |
The Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery in Savannah, Georgia. It is one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in America.[1] Located at the end of Coyle Street (a small turnoff of Cohen Street)[2] in the Kayton/Frazier area of West Savannah, it is sometimes referred to as the Old Jewish Burial Ground,[3] the Jewish Cemetery Memorial,[4] the Jewish Community Cemetery[3] or the Sheftall Cemetery.[5]
History[]
The founding date of the Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery is disputed; some sources cite August 2, 1773,[3] while others claim that it was established four years prior, in 1769.[6] The cemetery was founded by Mordecai Sheftall, a leader in the Savannah Jewish community, on 1.5 acres of a 5-acre tract of land granted to him and nine other trustees by King George III to be used as a Jewish cemetery and a synagogue.[7]
The cemetery was in use until the late nineteenth century, or a little over one hundred years.[7][3] Today, it is still maintained by Mordecai Sheftall's trust. It is situated near the Levi Sheftall Family Cemetery, where much of the Sheftall, de Lyon and De La Motta families are buried.
Notable burials[]
- Mordecai Sheftall,[7] founder of the cemetery and highest-ranking Jewish Officer in the American Revolutionary War.[8]
References[]
- ^ "On Cohen Street lie two of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in North America. The family burial plots of the Levi and Shef… | Savannah chat, Cemeteries, Jewish settlers". Pinterest.
- ^ "32°04'20.1"N 81°06'12.1"W". 32°04'20.1"N 81°06'12.1"W.
- ^ a b c d "Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia - Find A Grave Cemetery". www.findagrave.com.
- ^ "First Jewish Cemetery in Savannah, GA". www.vacationsmadeeasy.com.
- ^ "Mordecai Sheftall (1735-1797)".
- ^ https://mickveisrael.org/wp-content-uploads-sites-149-2018-08/Historical-Cemeteries.pdf
- ^ a b c https://mickveisrael.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/149/2018/08/Historical-Cemeteries.pdf
- ^ "For Country and for Kashrus | Jewish Culture". Hamodia.
- Jewish cemeteries in the United States
- Cemeteries in Savannah, Georgia
- Jewish cemeteries in Georgia (U.S. state)
- 1773 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Jews and Judaism in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Jews and Judaism in Savannah
- Chatham County, Georgia