Abraham Minis (1694 – January 13, 1757) was a European immigrant to the newly settled colony of

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

Province of Georgia The Province of Georgia (also Georgia Colony) was one of the Southern Colonies in colonial-era British America. In 1775 it was the last of the Thirteen Colonies to support the American Revolution. The original land grant of the Province of G ...

, in 1733. Despite their not knowing if they would be received, General

James Oglethorpe Lieutenant-General James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British Army officer, Tory politician and colonial administrator best known for founding the Province of Georgia in British North America. As a social refo ...

, founder of the Savannah colony, allowed Minis and his family entry and granted them land. Their descendants have lived in Savannah ever since. Minis became a farmer and merchant shipper who supplied Oglethorpe at Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island.

Early life and career

Minis, an

Ashkenazi Jew Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

of German origin, was born in 1694. He married

Abigail Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future King David after Nabal's death (1 Samuel ). Abigail was David's third wife, after Ahinoam and Saul's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later married to ...

, with whom he had two daughters, Leah (born 1726) and Esther (1731), prior to their emigration to

colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 1776, during the Re ...

aboard the ''William and Sarah''. Neither Leah nor Esther had any descendants. A third child,

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

, was born in Savannah, the year following their 1733 arrival, becoming the first white male child born in the colony. They went on to have six more children (one of whom died in infancy): daughters Judith, Hannah and Sarah, and sons Minis, Joseph and Samuel. The girls all survived their mother, whereas the sons all died before her. The Minises arrived in Savannah on July 11, 1733, shortly after General James Oglethorpe. In addition to the Minises and their two children, Abraham's brother, Simeon, also made the voyage. He had no descendants. Oglethorpe granted the family land, although it was in a swamp and was "so frequently under water" that he was unable to drain and farm it. Abraham's name appears in the general conveyance of town lots and farms that was implemented in December 1733, which makes it one of the earliest deeds in the colony. By 1736, Minis had become a merchant shipper, one of the first settlers in Georgia to have commercial interest. He was in partnership with a local man, with the business known as Minis & Salomons. In research published in 1917, they were deemed to be the first merchants doing business in Georgia, for the previously accepted claimants of Harris & Habersham were established in 1749. While many colonists left Georgia around 1740, after disagreements over the Trustees' policies, the Minis family remained.

Descendants

Minis' great-grandson (son of Philip's son

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

), also named

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

, built several properties in Savannah in the 19th century. He was "one of Savannah's leading merchants and a citizen of the highest integrity and social influence." Later Minises were founding members of the

Congregation Mickve Israel Congregation Mickve Israel (transliterated from Hebrew language, Hebrew as "Congregation for the Hope of Israel") is a Reform Judaism, Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 20 East Gordon Street, Monterey Square (Savannah, Georgia) ...

, the Hibernian Society and the Oglethorpe Club.

Death

Minis died in 1757 in Savannah. He was 62 or 63 years old, and left widow Abigail with eight children to raise. He is interred in the former Bull Street Cemetery, a Jewish burial ground allotted in 1733 by James Oglethorpe at the northwestern corner of today's Bull Street and Oglethorpe Avenue. A memorial, in the median of Oglethorpe Avenue, lists the twenty people known to be interred there. Abigail, who survived her husband by 37 years, is buried in the Mordecai Sheftall Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in Savannah.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minis, Abraham Minis family 1694 births 1757 deaths American businesspeople Businesspeople from Savannah, Georgia Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire to the Thirteen Colonies American Ashkenazi Jews German Ashkenazi Jews 18th-century American Jews