Ziprah Nunez’s Account of the Family Escape

On page 101, reference is made to the history of the Jews in this State. Since that part of the work was printed, M. M. Noah, Esquire, of New-York, has kindly favoured us with the following additional items:

Dr. Samuel Nunez, whose name belonged to a distinguished family in Lisbon, was a physician of eminence, and had an extensive practice, even in times when Jews of that city were under the surveillance of the Inquisition. Jealousy and rivalry, however, caused him to be denounced to that dreadful tribunal, and himself and family were arrested as heretics, and thrown into the dungeons of the Inquisition. At that period the Jews were not permitted openly to follow their religion; they had no synagogues or places of public worship, but assembled for devotional purposes in each others’ houses, and their prayer-books were concealed in the sets of chairs, and opened by springs. It had long been observed that the families never ventured abroad on Friday evenings, being the evening of the Sabbath, and suspicions were awakened as to their real faith, although for form sake they all attended mass. The familiars of the Inquisition, who were generally spies, were set to work to discover what their pursuits were on the Sabbath, and detecting them at prayers, seized their Hebrew prayer-books, and threw them all into prison.

Doctor Nunez, who was a most popular and skilful man, was physician to the Grand Inquisitor, who was anxious to save him. He did all in his power to alleviate the sufferings of his family; but one of them, Abby de Lyon, who died in Savannah, carried to her grave the marks of the ropes on her wrists when put to the question. They remained for some time in prison; but as the medical services of Doctor Nunez were very much in demand in Lisbon, the ecclesiastical council, under the advice of the Grand Inquisitor, agreed to set him and family at liberty, on condition that two officials of the Inquisition should reside constantly in the family, to guard against their relapsing again into Judaism. The doctor had a large and elegant mansion on the banks of the Tagus, and being a man of large fortune, he was in the habit of entertaining the principal families of Lisbon. On a pleasant summer day he invited a party to dinner; and among the guests was the Captain of an English brigantine, anchored at some distance in the river. While the company were amusing themselves on the lawn, the captain invited the family and part of the company to accompany him on board the brigantine, and partake of a lunch prepared for the occasion. All the family, together with the spies of the Inquisition, and a portion of the guests, repaired on board the vessel; and while they were below in the cabin, enjoying the hospitality of the captain, the anchor was weighed, the sails unfurled, and the wind being fair, the brigantine shot out of the Tagus, was soon at sea, and carried the whole party to England. It had been previously arranged between the doctor and the captain, who had agreed, for a thousand moidores in gold, to convey the family to England, and who were under the painful necessity of adopting this plan of escape to avoid detection. The ladies had secreted all their diamonds and jewels, which were quilted in their dresses, and the doctor having previously changed all his securities into gold, it was distributed among the gentlemen of the family, and carried around them in leather belts. His house, plate, furniture, servants, equipage, and even the dinner cooked for the occasion, were all left, and were subsequently seized by the Inquisition and confiscated to the State.

On the arrival of Doctor Nunez and family in London, the settlement of Georgia, and the fine climate and soil of that country, were the subjects of much speculation. The celebrated John Wesley, and his brother Charles, had resolved to embrace the occasion of visiting this El Dorado; and when the ship which conveyed Governor Oglethorpe to that new settlement was about sailing, the doctor and his whole family embarked as passengers, not one of whom could speak the English language; and from them the families have descended, already named in the body of this work. After a few years, a number sailed for New York; and Zipra Nunez married the Rev. David Machado, Minister of the Hebrew congregation of that city. Major Noah states that he remembers his great-grandmother, Zipra Nunez, as a very remarkable personage. She died at nearly ninety years of age, and was celebrated for her beauty and accomplishments. She spoke several languages—preserved to the last a beautiful set of teeth, unimpaired, and was observed, whenever the clock struck, to repeat a silent prayer, which had some reference to her imprisonment in the Inquisition. The whole family were rigid in their attachment to the doctrines of their faith. Two of her brothers, who arrived in the same vessel from London, lie buried in the Jewish cemetery in Chatham Square, New York; and from them has sprung a long list of highly respectable descendants in Savannah, Charleston, Philadelphia, and New York, all of them of the Hebrew persuasion at this day.