Solomon Cohen Jr. (August 15, 1802 – August 14, 1875) was a lawyer, prominent in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, where he was also postmaster, the state's first Jewish senator, a district attorney, a real-estate developer and banker. He established the first Jewish Sunday School in Georgia. He is mentioned in the memoirs of

General William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

as being a "rich lawyer".

Life and career

Cohen was born in 1802 in

Georgetown, South Carolina Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, South Carolina, Georgetown County, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census ...

, to

Solomon Cohen Sr. Solomon Cohen Sr. (October 13, 1757 – May 23, 1835) was a distinguished merchant and prominent citizen of both Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, in the 18th and 19th centuries. He was also a slave owner. Life and career Cohen ...

and Bella Moses. One of his siblings, brother Octavus, was a cotton merchant. His brother-in-law was

Isaac Minis Isaac Minis (July 30, 1780 – November 15, 1856) was a private in the War of 1812 and a member of several administrations of Savannah's city council. He later became an associate of future Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Early life and career ...

, husband of his sister Dinah. In 1836,First American Jewish Families
- The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives he married Miriam Gratz Moses, niece of Rebecca Gratz, a philanthropist from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. They had three known children, two of whom died relatively young (including Gratz, who was killed in the Battle of Bentonville, aged 20). Daughter Miriam Gratz lived until the age of 80. She was married to James Troup Dent Sr., a

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

veteran. Cohen was the ''de facto'' publisher and distributor of the works of Grace Aguilar, the English novelist who was of interest to his wife and her aunt. 17 West Bay Street, Savannah

In 1839, Cohen and his brother-in-law

Mordecai Myers Mordecai Myers (November 9, 1794 – February 21, 1865) was an American politician and landowner in Savannah, Georgia, in the 19th century. Life and career Named for his paternal grandfather, Myers was born in South Carolina to physician Dr. Le ...

(husband of his sister Sarah Henrietta) helped established the Georgia Historical Society. Cohen was its treasurer between 1841 and 1844, and its vice-president between 1864 and 1868. He served as the president of the

Congregation Mickve Israel Congregation Mickve Israel in Savannah, Georgia, is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States, as it was organized in 1735 by mostly Sephardic Jewish immigrants of Spanish-Portuguese extraction from London who arrived in the new colony i ...

for several years. Shortly before his death, Cohen had built the home at today's 116–120 West Liberty Street, an addition to the 1851-built number 124. Cohen was a slave-owner. At one point, he owned eight slaves and hired out an additional fifteen.

Properties

In addition to his home at 116–120 West Liberty Street, Cohen also built properties at 124 West Liberty Street (1851) and 17 West Bay Street (1869).

Death

Cohen died in 1875, aged 72. He is interred in Savannah's

Laurel Grove Cemetery Laurel Grove Cemetery is a cemetery located in midtown Savannah, Georgia. It includes the original cemetery for whites (now known as Laurel Grove North) and a companion burial ground (called Laurel Grove South) that was reserved for slaves and fr ...

, alongside his wife, who survived him by sixteen years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen Jr., Solomon 1802 births 1875 deaths People from Georgetown, South Carolina Lawyers from Savannah, Georgia American slave owners Confederate Jews 19th-century American Jews Jews from Georgia (U.S. state) Jews from South Carolina