Elias Legarde (a/k/a Legardo) b. abt 1593 in
Languedoc, France, d. abt 1670 in
Elizabeth City, Virginia, was a
Sephardic Jew who arrived at
James City, Virginia, on HMS ''Abigail'' in 1621. Legarde arrived in the muster, the equivalent of an indentured servant, of Anthonie Bonall.
According to Leon Huhner, Elias was from Languedoc, France, and was hired to go to the colony to teach people how to grow grapes for wine.
Elias Legarde was living in Buckroe in
Elizabeth City
Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...
, Virginia, in February 1624. Elias was employed by Anthonie Bonall, age 46, who arrived on the same ship as Elias. Anthonie Bonall was a French silk maker and vigneron (someone who cultivates vineyards for winemaking), one of the men from Languedoc sent to the colony by John Bonall, keeper of the silkworms of
King James I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
.
In 1628 Elias leased 100 acres on the west side of
Harris Creek in Elizabeth City.
["Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers, 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary", by Martha W. McCartney, Genealogical Publishing Com, 2007, page 460-461, , 9780806317748]
See also
*
Colonial history of the United States
*
History of the Jews in the United States
There have been Jewish communities in the United States since colonial times. Early Jewish communities were primarily Sephardi (Jews of Spanish and Portuguese descent), composed of immigrants from Brazil and merchants who settled in cities. Unt ...
*
History of the Jews in Colonial America
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legarde, Elias
Jewish-American history
1590s births
1620s deaths
People from Languedoc-Roussillon
French emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies
17th-century French Sephardi Jews
17th-century American Sephardic Jews