Raphael Jacob Moses (1812–1893) was an American lawyer, plantation owner, Confederate officer and politician.

Biography

Early life

Moses was born in 1812 to a prominent Jewish-American family in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

.Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities - Columbus, Georgia
Institute of Southern Jewish LifeLewis Regenstein
Raphael Moses (1812-1893)
''New Georgia Encyclopedia'', 12/16/2004
/ref>Columbus State University: Raphael J. Moses Collection (MC 57)
/ref> His family fought in the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, and he was a fifth-generation South Carolinian. His father was Israel Moses and his mother, Deborah Cohen. He grew up in Charleston.

Career

He practiced as a lawyer in

St. Joseph, Florida St. Joseph was a boomtown that briefly became the largest community in Florida, United States, before being abandoned less than eight years after it was founded. St. Joseph was founded in 1835 on the shores of St. Joseph Bay. A brief period of pros ...

, and Apalachicola, Florida, settling down in Columbus, Georgia, in 1848. He purchased The Esquiline, a plantation named after Esquiline Hill in Rome, Italy and located in what is now known as the neighborhood of Benning Hills in Columbus, Georgia. He owned fifty slaves in 1850 and sixty slaves by 1860. He pioneered the commercial growing of peaches on his plantation, becoming of the first merchants to ship them to the North (New York City) in 1851. He shipped his peaches in champagne baskets instead of shipping them in containers of pulverized charcoal, the standard method at that time. The result was a fresher peach, which proved very popular with consumers. In the late 1850s, he became an outspoken proponent of secession. During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, he served as the chief commissary officer for Generals Robert Toombs and

James Longstreet James Longstreet (January 8, 1821January 2, 1904) was one of the foremost Confederate generals of the American Civil War and the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Horse". He served under Lee as a corps ...

in the Confederate States Army (CSA). As such, he was responsible for providing food and supplies to 54,000 Confederate troops and personnel. He was also a confidant of Confederate General

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

, especially during the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1–3, 1863. On May 5, 1865, he attended the last meeting of the Confederate States of America government at the Bank of the State of Georgia (later the Heard House) and carried out its last order. It was then that Confederate

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

instructed him to take US$40,000 in gold and silver bullions from the Confederate Treasury to feed and clothe the defeated Confederate soldiers. His three sons served in the CSA as well. After the war, he returned to law practice in Columbus, Georgia. He was, however, greatly impoverished by the Confederate defeat, as his wealth plummeted from $55,000 in 1860 to $35,000 in 1870. Moreover, fifty-nine of his sixty slaves left his plantation. He had a dispute with

William Hugh Young William Hugh Young (January 1, 1838 – November 28, 1901) was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War (Civil War). He was a university student and received a military education before the Civil War. He was ...

and lobbied against

Eagle & Phenix Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, ju ...

, Young's business vehicle. Additionally, he became an outspoken critic of the Republican-led Reconstruction efforts in Georgia and the South. He was later elected to the Georgia House of Representatives and was Chair of the Judiciary Committee. Shortly after he was elected, he declared, "I wanted to go to congress as a Jew and because I...would have liked in a public position to confront and do my part towards breaking down the prejudice." He added, "I feel it an honor to be of a race whom persecution can not crush, whom prejudice has in vain endeavored to subdue." In 1892, he wrote his autobiography.

Personal life

He married Eliza Matilda Moses (1812–1892), the daughter of Isaac Clifton Moses (1781–1834) and Hannah Lazarus Moses (1783–1835). They had six children: *Hannah Maria Moses (1840–1860). *Albert Moses Luria (1842–1862) killed at the Battle of Seven Pines, aged 19.Robert N. Rosen, ''

The Jewish Confederates ''The Jewish Confederates'' is a 2001 history book authored by Robert N. Rosen about Jewish citizens of the Confederate States of America who served in the Confederate States Army (CSA) during the American Civil War of 1861–1865. As they made u ...

'' (2000). University of South Carolina Press, pp. 4. *Raphael J. Moses Jr. (1844–1909). *Penina Septima Moses Robison (1846–1921). *Isabel Adeline Moses Levy (1850–1934). *Israel Moses Nunez (1838–1905) died in Texas.

Death

He died on October 13, 1893, in Brussels, Belgium.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moses, Raphael J. 1812 births 1893 deaths Politicians from Charleston, South Carolina People from Columbus, Georgia 19th-century American planters Confederate States Army officers Peach production Members of the Georgia House of Representatives Jewish American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) American slave owners Confederate Jews 19th-century American legislators Lawyers from Charleston, South Carolina 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American Jews