Family correspondence including letters to Esther Cohen, Jacob Mordecai's mother; Judith Myers Mordecai's family in New York; and letters to and from Jacob and Judith, Jacob and Rebecca, and Jacob and his children, including Rachel, Ellen, and Samuel. Judith's letters to her parents describe her family and Warrenton, North Carolina. Letters between Jacob and Judith and Jacob and Rebecca were written primarily during his absences from home and reflect family news. Many of the letters for the early 1800s were to Rachel Mordecai at Warrenton from relatives in Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia. By 1808 Samuel was in Petersburg and there were many letters exchanged between him and his sisters Rachel and Ellen discussing social life and the well-being of Richmond and Petersburg family and friends; and plans for the opening of the Mordecai Female Academy in 1809.

Many letters refer to the running of the Mordecai Female Academy, including the burning and rebuilding of the main building in 1811. Rachel, Ellen, and later Solomon all taught at the school, and their letters mention their work and students. Other letter topics include the Richmond Theater fire tragedy of 1811; the progress of the War of 1812 in Virginia, North Carolina, and New Orleans; Samuel's travels in the United States and Europe, 1812-1813 and 1815 (see also his account of his travels in Subseries 3.2); and Samuel's service during the war in the Richmond Light Infantry Blues. In August 1815 Rachel Mordecai wrote to popular English novelist Maria Edgeworth concerning Miss Edgeworth's unflattering portrayal of Jews in her writings (this is the beginning of the Edgeworth correspondence, which is referred to frequently in the family letters, and included in the Addition of April 2011). In 1817 Solomon travelled to Philadelphia, New York City, Saratoga Springs and Ballston Spa, New York, and White Sulphur Springs, Virginia. His letters contain his impressions of these places. Also in 1817 Moses married a Gentile, Margaret Lane (d. 1821), of whom the family disapproved. There are letters exchanges between Moses and his sisters Rachel and Caroline, the former expressing her concern that Moses was making a mistake and the latter expressing her support. In 1819 the family sold the school to Achilles Plunkett and associates and moved to "Spring Farm" outside of Richmond. Solomon left to attend medical school in Philadelphia and wrote frequently to his sisters Ellen and Rachel describing his studies.

Correspondence includes letters from Solomon while attending medical school in Philadelphia and from his brother Alfred at West Point, discussing their respective studies. Other events discussed in the family correspondence include: Rachel's marriage to Aaron Lazarus of Wilmington, North Carolina, and her life and family there; the death of Margaret (Lane) Mordecai; Solomon's move to Mobile, Alabama, in 1823 to establish his medical practice and his marriage in 1824 to Caroline Waller, a Gentile; the death of Caroline Mordecai Plunkett's two children in 1823, of her husband in 1824, and of her third child in late 1824 or early 1825; Julia Mordecai's visit to Fayetteville, North Carolina; Moses' ill health, travels to various medicinal springs, and eventual death in 1824; and Samuel's business and social life in Petersburg, Virginia.

During this time members of the family lived in Wilmington and Raleigh, North Carolina; Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia; and Mobile, Alabama; and letters were exchanged among all branches. The main branch at "Spring Farm" near Richmond included Jacob and Rebecca, Ellen, Emma, Laura, Augustua, and Julia. Topics of letters include: Alfred's life in the army and at the various places where he was stationed, including Fortress Monroe, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Frankford Arsenal, Pennsylvania; and Troy, New York; Ellen's visit to Solomon in Mobile in 1831; the Southampton County, Virginia, insurrection, September, 1831; the selling of "Spring Farm" and the family's move into Richmond, 1831; Caroline Mordecai Plunkett's move to Fayette County, Tennessee, in 1833 and emigration to Mobile, Alabama, in 1836; and Rachel Mordecai Lazarus' growing Christian sentiments, 1835, which created a family conflict.

Rachel's letters to Ellen at this time reveal great emotional distress. Not only did she face her father's displeasure, but Rachel's husband, Aaron Lazarus, apparently threatened to take her children away from her if she tried to convert him to her heretical beliefs.

By 1833 George W. Mordecai was living in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his sister-in-law Nancy; his letters to his father and brothers primarily discuss family business matters. Rachel Mordecai Lazarus died suddenly in 1838, having been baptized on her deathbed. Her father Jacob died shortly thereafter, following an extended illness. Both deaths are described in great detail by family members present at the time.

Topics of discussion include George's trip to England, 1839, and his visit with Maria Edgeworth's family; the sudden death of sister Laura Mordecai in July 1839; Ellen's writing and publishing (see especially letters from W. S. Simpson of Petersburg) and her book, The History of a Heart, the story of a Jewess who converts to Christianity; the death of Aaron Lazarus in 1841 and guardianship of the Lazarus children. The children, Marx, Ellen, Mary, and Julia lived primarily in RIchmond. In the late 1840s Mary moved to live with her aunt Nancy's family in Raleigh, after it was revealed that the Jewish members of the femily in Richmond were uncomfortable with her Christian beliefs.

Beginning in 1844 there is correspondence between Ellen and her nieces Ellen Mordecai of Raleigh (daughter of Moses and Margaret (Lane) Mordecai) and Mary Catherine Lazarus about religious matters. Other subjects of interest include Ellen's employment as a governess in the Duer family of Weehawken, New York, 1848-1849; the marriage of Ellen of Raleigh to her younger cousin Samuel Fox Mordecai of Mobile; and the sudden engagement, miserable marriage and untimely death, in 1850, of Mary Catherine Lazarus, who had married Drury Thompson of Mobile, Alabama, her uncle Solomon's business partner.

Scattered family correspondence contains comments on George's marriage to Margaret B. Cameron in 1853, and Solomon and Ellen's trip to Philadelphia in 1854 so that Solomon could have a cataract operation. In 1859 Ellen began writing her "Christian letters" (marked with a + at the top of the pages), inserts into family letters that were to be kept separate and secret from Jewish members of the family who would find them unpleasant. The letters reflect her personal religious philosophy, the ways in which her beliefs had helped her to accept the limitations and disappointments of her life, and her wish that various other members of the family would convert. She also frequently referred to reading she had done and to sermons and lectures she had attended.

Scattered family letters from Mobile and Richmond with references to the war and to family members serving in the Confederate Amry. All three of Rosina's sons as well as William Mordecai of Mobile saw action in Virginia. Rebecca Myers Mordecai died in 1863; in 1864 the family home in Richmond was broken up. Emma stayed primarily with Rosina at Rosewood and her letters describe the ravages of the armies, Confederate and Union, on the property of local farmers.

Three folders of undated material arranged loosely by recipient (many letters were written by more than one person). Most appear to be directed to Ellen Mordecai (1790-1884), but are difficult to separate from letters written to her niece Ellen of Raleigh.

Mostly accounts of the sales of Ellen's book The History of a Heart.

A miscellany of deeds; land grants; ships' registry certificates; accounts (primarily between Jacob Mordecai and his son Samuel); purchase agreement for the ship Alliance; division of slaves, 1853, belonging to Samuel Simpson of Craven County, North Carolina; and an agreement to form the Lockville Mining Company, ca. 1865. Included in this are a few Lane family items that may have had to do with the marriage of Moses Mordecai to Margaret Lane of Raleigh.

Account of Samuel's travels from New York to New Orleans, 1815, and diaries of Ellen and Emma Mordecai. Ellen's diary for 1819-1820 is essentially a long letter to her brother Solomon while he was studying medicine in Philadelphia. Emma's 1864-1865 diary was written in retrospect from notes and letters of the time period.

Poetry and prose, most apparently original, of various members of the Mordecai family. Included are an account in letter form by Jacob Mordecai of his first wife, Judith; manuscript versions of Ellen Mordecai's The History of a Heart and Fading Scenes Remembered, as well as an unpublished work, "Alicia Warburton, or the Tried Heart," the story of a man and woman who marry against her father's wishes only to find out afterwards that they are brother and sister; the story of a doll, "Josephine," by Rosa Mordecai (daughter of Alfred) that describes childhood in antebellum Washington, D.C.; an essay by Rachel Mordecai Lazarus on coquetry; and "A Discourse in the Synagogue in the City of Richmond, January 1, 1812, in consequence of the loss of life occasioned by the burning of the Theatre on 26 December 1811," by Samuel Mordecai.

Insurance papers, advertisements for the school, lists of students, financial accounts, accounts of the burning of the school building in 1811, and a geography copybook.

Printed invitations and announcements; obituaries; broadside announcing a performance of The Belle's Stratagem; crayon drawing used to illustrate The History of the Heart; and the commission of Thomas D. Hogg to serve as a delegate to the national Nicaraguan Canal Convention, 1892.

Collection of newpaper clippings pasted in an old music book. Subjects include manners and customs, household hints, clothing styles, and Confederate history.

Letters written to and by Mordecai family members, 1798-1896 and undated, as well as reminiscences, song lyrics, and fragments. Letters are chiefly to Ellen Mordecai of Raleigh, N.C., but there are also other family members represented in correspondence, including Emma Mordecai, Eliza Mordecai, Jacob Mordecai, and Rachel Mordecai Lazarus. Some letters were later annotated by Martha Mordecai.

Of particular interest is Irish novelist Maria Edgeworth's 1816 response letter to Rachel Mordecai Lazarus and a letter from Maria's father, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, to Rachel. The Mordecais were interested both in the Edgeworths' approach to education and Maria Edgeworth's unflattering treatment of Jews in at least one of her novels. See also Addition of April 2011.

Letters written to and by Mordecai family members, 1865 and 1916-1917, and one poem dated 1945. Correspondence includes letters to Emma Mordecai, 1865; letters from Rosa Mordecai to Samuel Mordecai, 1916-1917; two 1917 condolence telegrams to Samuel Mordecai, then professor at Trinity College, Durham, N.C.; and other family letters.

Three volumes of the unpublished memoir of Maria Edgeworth entitled "A Memoir of Maria Edgeworth with a Selection from Her Letters by the late Mrs. Edgeworth." Printed by Joseph Masters and Son in 1867, the volumes are marked "Not Published" and their circulation was carefully limited by Maria Edgeworth's family. All three volumes bear the inscription "Ellen Mordecai from the Editors."

Each volume contains a tipped-in letter entitled "Extract of a letter from Mrs. Butler dated from the Observatory, Arnaugh, Ireland, 25 June 1868 and 9 December 1867." Presumably the letters were written by Ellen Mordecai, copying portions of letters sent by Maria Edgeworth's sister Harriet (Mrs. Butler) to the Mordecais. These additions express the desire that Maria's letters and memoir remain unpublished. Also included in volume 1 are a tipped-in sheet listing Maria Edgeworth's brothers and sisters and a poem entitled "From Maria Edgeworth to Marx Edgeworth Lazarus." Marx Edgeworth Lazarus was the son of Rachel Mordecai Lazarus.

The Addition of April 2011 includes a volume of typewritten copies of correspondence between Rachel Mordecai Lazarus and Maria Edgeworth from 1815 to 1838, with one 1816 letter to Lazarus from Edgeworth's father, Richard Lovell Edgeworth. The first entry is a copy of the 1815 letter written to Maria Edgeworth by Rachel Mordecai Lazarus, in which Lazarus questioned Edgeworth's treatment of Jewish characters in earlier works (see the Addition of January 2007). In a September 1823 letter, Maria Edgeworth described her friendship with Sir Walter Scott. There are also several letters, from November and December 1831, that reference the Southampton, Va., slave insurrection led by Nat Turner.

The addition also includes correspondence between Maria Edgeworth and Rachel Mordecai Lazarus and Alfred Mordecai following Rachel Mordecai Lazarus's death in 1838. There is also a sketch of Edgeworthstown, Maria Edgeworth's residence in Ireland; a lithograph of Richard Lovell Edgeworth; and two 1907 letters between Rosa Mordecai and Civil War author Morris Schaff.

The Addition of May 2012 contains a small handmade account book with manuscript entries, presumably made by Ellen Mordecai. The account book was laid in a published copy of History of a Heart, written by Ellen Mordecai and published in 1845. It is made up of eight pages, five with handwriting, plus paper wrappers, and is labeled on the cover, "Charity book 1846." Entries document contributions from the proceeds of sales of History of a Heart to charities and Christian religious causes. Among the entries are listed charitable contributions to women and children experiencing poverty, a Christian missionary organization that proselytized in Jewish communities, an orphan asylum, and repairs to an old Christian church. (See also Subseries 2.1 and 3.2.)

Acquisitions Information: Accession 101726

The Addition of January 2013 consists primarily of letters to Emma Mordecai, circa 1860s-18890s. Also included are a stereograph photograph and two black and white photographs of a house.