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LEVY, Nathan. Manuscript deed on vellum signed by

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Philadelphia: 25 March 1751. 1 p., large vellum membrane (530 x 648 mm). Signatures and red wax seals of each party on the fold recto. Docketed on the verso, with a later paper-sealed note signed by Math. Irwin, of the "Office of Recording Deeds", and a note dated 1786 signed by Edward Shippen, president of the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia, recording that David Franks has sworn an oath confirming the authenticity of the signatures. Condition: small hole, ink spill on verso. a document signed by one of the first jews to settle in philadelphia. Nathan Levy (1704-1753) is described as being the "first practicing Jew living in Philadelphia of whom there is a record" (Philadelphia A 300-Year History, p. 50). However, there seem to have been at least two other claimants: Arnold Bamberger (resident in 1726, according to Rosenbach's Jews in Philadelphia previous to the Year 1800) and Jonas Aaron (resident in 1703, according to Peter Wiernik's History of the Jews in America). It appears, however, that Levy with his brother Isaac were the first permanent Jewish settlers in Philadelphia. Levy, a merchant, was living in Philadelphia by 1735. In the early 1740s, with fellow Jew David Franks (1720-1793), he established a successful shipping and import/export business. By 1744 they owned several ships which made regular voyages to England, and they jointly rented the largest house in Philadelphia from Isaac Norris. In 1752, Norris entrusted Levy & Franks with the task of transporting the Liberty Bell which he had ordered from England aboard their ship the "Myrtilla."

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