Rachel Mordecai Lazarus (July 1, 1788 – June 23, 1838) was an American educator and correspondent with the children's writer

Maria Edgeworth Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and a significant figure in the evolution of the novel i ...

Early life and education

Rachel Mordecai was born in Virginia, the eldest daughter and second child of Jacob Mordecai and his first wife, Judith Myers. She was raised in

Warrenton, North Carolina Warrenton is a town in and the county seat of Warren County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 862 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Warrenton, now served by U.S. Route 158, U.S. routes 158 and U.S. Route 401 in North ...

, where her father worked at a boys' school, then opened his own girls' school in 1809, with 21-year-old Rachel as one of the school's teachers. Rachel taught at her father's school until 1818.

Correspondence with Maria Edgeworth

Rachel Mordecai first wrote to author

in 1815. Mordecai studied and admired the enlightened educational writings of Edgeworth and her father,

Richard Lovell Edgeworth Richard Lovell Edgeworth (31 May 1744 – 13 June 1817) was an Anglo-Irish politician, writer and inventor. He had 22 children. Biography Edgeworth was born in Pierrepont Street, Bath, England, son of Richard Edgeworth senior, and great ...

, and was disappointed by the unflattering stereotypical portrait of a Jewish character in Edgeworth's ''The Absentee'' (1812). Edgeworth's ''Harrington'' (1817) made a better effort at a Jewish character, in response to the criticism from Miss Mordecai. The families of Maria Edgeworth and Rachel Mordecai stayed in correspondence for over a hundred years after Rachel's death, until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Marriage and children

Rachel Mordecai married widower Aaron Marks Lazarus in 1821, and moved to

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

, where she lived for the rest of her life. The Lazaruses had four children together, three daughters and a son, M. E. Lazarus, in a household that also included Mr. Lazarus's seven children from his first marriage. In 1835, when Rachel Lazarus announced that she felt moved to convert to Christianity, her husband threatened to keep her from her children. She was baptized on her deathbed in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...

, a week before her 50th birthday. Rachel Mordecai Lazarus's letters are in the Mordecai Family Papers at the Southern Historical Collection, the Pattie Mordecai Collection in the North Carolina State Archives, and the Jacob Mordecai Papers at Duke University,"Guide to the Jacob Mordecai Papers, 1784-1936"
Duke University Libraries. among other collections.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mordecai Lazarus, Rachel 1788 births 1838 deaths American Ashkenazi Jews American educators American Episcopalians American people of English descent American people of English-Jewish descent American people of German-Jewish descent Converts to Anglicanism from Judaism Mordecai family People from Warrenton, North Carolina Jews from North Carolina Jews from Virginia