Shinah Solomon Etting (December 24, 1744 – November 30, 1822) was the matriarch of one of the first Jewish families to live in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

Biography

Etting was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to Lancaster merchant Joseph Solomon and Bilah Myer-Cohen Solomon. She had two brothers, Isaac (1742-1798) and Levy (1748-1827). In November 1759, she married 35-year-old Elijah Etting and the couple moved to

York, Pennsylvania York is a city in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located in South Central Pennsylvania, the city's population was 44,800 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in ...

, where they had eight children—Reuben,

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

, Joseph, Fanny, Elizabeth, Kitty, Hetty and Sally—all of whom lived to adulthood except Joseph. She and her husband ran a small store in York where they hosted

Alexander Graydon Alexander Graydon Jr. (1752–1818) was an author and officer in the American Revolution. He was commissioned captain on January 5, 1776, and commanded a company of men in the Battle of Long Island and in the Battle of Harlem Heights. He was taken ...

in the summer of 1773. He wrote about the pleasant hospitality he received in the Etting home, saying that Shinah in specific was "always in spirits, full of frolic and glee, and possessing the talent of singing agreeably...." When Elijah died in 1778, Shinah moved to Baltimore with her younger children around 1780, though the exact date is unknown. Using her inheritance, she had a small boarding house built to her specifications, "for gentlemen." She took in boarders, among them Judith Cohen, the widow of Israel Cohen, and her children; both families had sons who rose to prominence in Baltimore. Etting used the profits from her successful inn to assist her two prominent sons in their business ventures. She was a stockholder in Union Bank in 1796, along with two of her sons and two of her daughters. Etting had her portrait painted twice by

Charles Peale Polk Charles Peale Polk (March 17, 1767 – May 6, 1822) was an American portrait painter and the nephew of artist Charles Willson Peale. Biography Polk was born in Annapolis, Maryland, to Elizabeth Digby Peale and Robert Polk. At age eight or ten ( ...

in the first half of the 1790s. One of the paintings is considered "one of his more successful portraits." An additional portrait was painted of her by

John Wesley Jarvis John Wesley Jarvis (1780 or 1781 – January 14, 1839) was an American Painting, painter. Early life and education Jarvis was the great, great nephew of Methodism, Methodist leader John Wesley, and was born in South Shields, England in 1780 o ...

in 1813. Her son Solomon and her brother Levy purchased the "Jew's burying ground" in Baltimore in 1801. The cemetery which became known as the Etting Cemetery, was the oldest Jewish cemetery in Baltimore. Solomon Etting and Jacob Cohen were elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1826 a few months after the state constitution was amended to modify the requirement that elected officials swear a "Christian oath." Etting Street in Northwest Baltimore is named for Solomon Etting. Her son Reuben was appointed

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...

for Maryland by

President Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was the nation's first U.S. secreta ...

in 1801 and served through 1804.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Etting, Shinah Solomon 1744 births 1822 deaths 18th-century American women 19th-century American women 18th-century American Jews 19th-century American Jews People from Baltimore Jews from New York City

Biography

See also

References