Kansas Physician Confirms Howard Report

[TradeName]

The preface to the Robinson booklet refers to Helen Jewett as "a Milwood." This seems to be a reference to the character Mrs. Millwood in a 1731 play by George Lillo, The London Merchant: Or, The History of George Barnwell.

The Reader's Handbook of Famous Names in Fiction, Allusions, References, Proverbs, Plots, Stories, and Poems (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1910), Page 191
By Ebenezer Cobham Brewer

Barnwell (George),tbe chief character and title of a tragedy by George Lillo. George Barnwell is a London apprentice, who falls in love with Sarah Millwood of Shoreditch, who leads him astray. He first robs his master of 200. He next robs his uncle, a rich grazier at Ludlow, and murders him. Having spent all the money of his iniquity, Sarah Millwood turns him off and informs against him. Both are executed (1732).

For many years this play was acted on boxing-night, as a useful lesson to London apprentices.

----end

A link to a 1906 edition of the play.

The London Merchant: Or, The History of George Barnwell, and Fatal Curiosity (Boston: D. C. Heath, 1906), link
by George Lillo

[TradeName]

Two of the quotes in the conversation from the Robinson booklet (“a marvellous proper man", “I could a tale unfold") are from Shakespeare.

A Complete Concordance Or Verbal Index to Works, Phrases and Passages in the Dramatic Works of Shakespeare (London: Macmillan, 1894), Page 1226
by John Bartlett

She finds although I cannot, Myself to be a marvellous proper man. Richard III

Page 1521

I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thay soul. Hamlet


For the quote “That sight is very sharp, I ween” I found something similar from the following poem.

M'Fingal: A Modern Epic Poem in Four Cantos (Baltimore: A. Miltenberger, 1812), Page 10
By John Trumbull

For any man, with half an eye,
What stands before him, may espy;
But optics sharp it needs, I ween,
To see what is not to be seen.

----end

I find the quote “life in Lunnun [London]” used in a novel by Bulwer Lytton based upon a real murder case.

Eugene Aram: A Tale, Volume 1 (New York: J & J Harper, 1832), link
by Edward Bulwer Lytton Baron Lytton

Page 171

“Aughs" replied the corporal, “’tis a pleasant thing to look about un with all one’s eyes open; rogue here, rogue there—keeps one alive;-—life in Lunnun, life in a village-—all the difference 'twixt healthy walk, and a doze in armchair; by the faith of a man 'tis!"

“What! it is pleasant to have rascals about one?”

“Surely yes,” returned the corporal, dryly; “what so delightful like as to feel one's cliverness and 'bility all set an end—-bristling up like a porkypine; nothing makes a man tread so light, feel so proud, breathe so briskly, as the knowledge that he's all his wits about him, that he's a match for any one, that the Divil himself could not take him in. Augh that's what I calls the use of an immortal soul—-bother!”

Eugene Aram: A Tale, Volume 2 (New York: J & J Harper, 1832), link


A review of the novel.

Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Volume 5, February, 1832, Pages 107-113

A Good Tale Badly Told

[TradeName]

This books has accounts of some of the other rogues featured in the exhibition of wax figures.

The Record of Crimes in the United States (Buffalo: H. Faxon & Co., 1834) Pages 13-41

Charles Gibbs, alias James D. Jeffers with Notices of His Partner in Crime, Thomas J. Wansley


Pages 116-129

John Francis Knapp and Joseph Jenkins Knapp


Pages 202-213

Jesse Strang

Link to another account of the pirate Gibbs.

Mutiny and Murder: Confession of Charles Gibbs, a Native of Rhode Island (Providence: Israel Smith, 1831), link
by Charles Gibbs

[TradeName]

Accounts of the Rev. E. K. Avery, another of the wax museum rogues. As with Robinson, Avery was acquitted.

Trial of Rev. Mr. Avery: A Full Report of the Trial of Ephraim K. Avery (Boston: 1833), link
by Benjamin Franklin Hallett


A Vindication of the Result of the Trial of Rev. Ephraim K. Avery (Boston: Russell, Odiorne and Co., 1834), link
by Timothy Merritt


The Terrible Hay-stack Murder: Life and Trial of the Rev. Ephraim K. Avery (Philadelphia: Barclay & Co., 1876), link
by Ephraim K. Avery


A forensic textbook has a section on the evidence in the Avery case.

Elements of Medical Jurisprudence, Volume 2 (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott 1863, 12th ed.), Pages 196-199
by Theodric Romeyn Beck, John Brodhead Beck

[Abby Normal]

Accounts of the Rev. E. K. Avery, another of the wax museum rogues. As with Robinson, Avery was acquitted.

Trial of Rev. Mr. Avery: A Full Report of the Trial of Ephraim K. Avery (Boston: 1833), link
by Benjamin Franklin Hallett


A Vindication of the Result of the Trial of Rev. Ephraim K. Avery (Boston: Russell, Odiorne and Co., 1834), link
by Timothy Merritt


The Terrible Hay-stack Murder: Life and Trial of the Rev. Ephraim K. Avery (Philadelphia: Barclay & Co., 1876), link
by Ephraim K. Avery


A forensic textbook has a section on the evidence in the Avery case.

Elements of Medical Jurisprudence, Volume 2 (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott 1863, 12th ed.), Pages 196-199
by Theodric Romeyn Beck, John Brodhead Beck

There once was a guy from Nantucket
whos dick was so long he could suck it
It was As long as this thread
And as old as the dead
I tried to read it but said Fuk it!

(the only thing more stale than this stinker is rap music. Lol) id suggest starting a lechmere thread or something with a modicum of ....

[TradeName]

Thanks for sharing that, Normal.

The elder James Gordon Bennett, editor of the New York Herald, was accused of having founded his personal fortune on blackmailing a man who had been present the night Helen Jewett was murdered.

New-York Daily Tribune, February 23, 1855, Page 7, Columns 1-2

The Case of Fry v. Bennett
A Card from Mr. Fry

To the Public

[...] When the trial came on, four important
witnesses of mine were dead, and among them Judge
Noah, who had told me he was ready to come on the
stand at any moment, and give evidence that within
his person[al know]ledge Bennett had at various times,
under threat [of pu]blishing in The Herald the name
of an unfortunate man who happened to be in the
house of Rosina Townsend, on the night Helen
Jewett was murdered, extorted from him sums in all
amounting to $13,000, and that, not content even
with this large amount of black-mail, which laid the
foundation of his fortune, he continued to demand more, and
finally drove the poor man to commit suicide.

[...]


Edward P. Fry

----end

Newspaper Libel: A Handbook for the Press (Boston: Ticknor and Company, 1888), Pages 199-200
by Samuel Merrill

The New York Herald published a series of eleven articles from November 3, 1848, to February 11, 1849, in which the conduct of Edward P. Fry, as a manager of Italian opera, was severely commented upon. It was charged that Mr. Fry had employed critics to defame the female members of his company in hired newspapers; that Madame Pico was insulted and discharged from the company, and that she had sued the manager; that Fry had packed the Astor Place Opera House with loafers and hirelings to hiss Benedetti off the stage; that the manager appeared before the audience and "sustained his favorite character of an ape, by no means for the first time"; that he was a "half-starved musical adventurer " ; that the opera season was a history of ridiculous blunders, disgraceful brawling, and broken promises; that Mr. Fry's opera in Philadelphia had collapsed; that, but for the patronage of public gamblers at the opera, the manager could not sustain himself a week, etc., etc. Mr. Fry brought suit for libel against James Gordon Bennett, in February, 1849. Mr. Bennett maintained in defence that the articles were true; that he believed them to be true when he published them; that he published them without malice; and that, therefore, they were privileged. After more than fourteen years of litigation, the Court of Appeals, in September, 1863, held that the bounds of privilege had been exceeded, and a verdict for the plaintiff for $6,000 was sustained. In such a case an editor is responsible for the truth of what he alleges

----end

[TradeName]

An article which discusses the men present the night Jewett was murdered, without naming them.

Alexandria Gazette, July 14, 1836, Page 2, Column 2

The Late Trial
[from the New York Times]

The late disclosures in regard to Richard P.
Robinson, his letter to Gray relative to the
latter’s wife, and other circumstances, have caused
the public mind to become again in some
measure excited, and to revolt with horror at the
idea that one so well brought up, one so young,
and possessing so many real advantages in life,
could have reached the degree of depravity
which he appears to have attained.

The inquiry is repeatedly made, if Robinson
did not murder Helen Jewett, who is the murderer?
Did the District attorney, it has been asked, j
do his duty in conducting the trial—-could he
have produced witnesses whose testimony
would have been unanswerable, yet forbore to
do so—-did he exert himself with that energy ]
which belongs to his character, or urge the
prosecution with the eloquence and ability for
which he is justly famed? We answer unequivocally
and decidedly, that he did--that the
interests of the people were well taken care of
by him, and that a sincere desire to perform
his duty to the public blending with his official
duties that proper degree or merciful feeling
which should ever be the accompaniment of
justice, seemed to govern his every action
throughout that long and arduous trial.

It has been asked, and naturally so, why
the men that were in the house on the night
were not brought forward. It was also insinuated
on the trial, by the prisoners counsel, that
the person who was in Mrs. Townsend’s room
that night, and the one that Mrs. T. let in at
three o’clock in the morning, by which
fortunate circumstance the murder was discovered,
and the fire that had been kindled in Ellen
Jewett’s room prevented from extending and
destroying others, could tell, if they pleased
who committed the murder.

We have taken some pains to ascertain the
facts in the case, and feel certain that no person
could have conducted the trial with more ability
or with more care than were exhibited by Mr.
Phoenix and Mr. Morris. In the house that night,
besides the girls, there were six persons, (men.)
The one spoken of as Frank Rivers, two strangers,
(genteel in their appearance whose names
were not known, and who were supposed to be
from the South,) a young man, (clerk in the city,)
and two others, (young merchants of respectability.)
Immediately on the alarm being given,
as is natural to suppose, they all fled, alike to
prevent exposure, as to avoid the dangerous
scene. The gentleman that was with Mrs.
Townsend is one of the latter, a single man of
good business standing, and with the exception
of the cloud that this might throw around his
name, one that stands well with his fellow men.
The district attorney endeavored to procure his
evidence. He declared that he could state
nothing, he knew Mrs. T. got up and in a short time
he heard the alarm, but left the house
immediately on the watchmen coming in, or as soon
as he possibly could. He said he could do no
good—-to bring him on the stand would injure
himself and his business—-and he prayed the
district attorney to spare him the disagreeable
task. A consultation was held. It was found,
as he had stated, that his testimony could be of
no service, that to bring him on the stand, would
have no effect in subserving the arm of justice,
and that it would be cruelty to inflict upon him
the stain that he might possibly endure. It is
feared that too many men visit such places--
their safety is in concealment. The name in
this case, would have been blazoned to the
world, and the blow could not easily have been
recovered from. He was not brought forward.

The young men whose names were unknown
had remained in the room with their girls until
the alarm when they also got away as soon as
possible. The young man spoken of as a clerk,
was also in one of the rooms, and was roused
from bed by the alarm. He could state nothing
as to the facts farther than that the alarm was
given and that he fled, as early as possible,
terrified at the sound of fire and murder that
prevailed. He was of respectable connexions, plead
with tears not to be brought on the stand, as it
would destroy him in the estimation of his
employer and his friends. It was found that his
testimony would be of no possible service, and he
was not called.

The fifth that we shall speak of is a young
merchant in the lower part of the city. One
who stands well in the community, and whose
evidence would have borne very considerable
weight. He was the one that Mrs. Townsend let
in at 3 o’clock in the morning, and could, as he
stated, have testified to seeing the lamp in the
back room, and hearing Mrs. Townsend give
the alarm of fire and of murder a few minutes
after he came in and went to Elizabeth Salter’s
chamber. (The latter testified to this effect on
the trial.) It will be remembered that there is a
defect in the law relative to compelling the
attendance of witnesses. The coroner has power
to bind over any that may have been present
when an inquest was taken whom he considers
of importance on a trial. The District Attorney
has no power of the kind. He can subpoena and
he can fine for non-attendance, but there his
power ends.

In the present instance he did every thing that
the law enabled him to do to secure the
attendance of this witnesss, but the gentleman said
that worlds could not tempt him to come on that
stand. Although a single man, there were
circumstances in his case that rendered it peculiarly
trying for him to do so. The District Attorney
sent an officer to his store to subpoena him
and endeavor to induce him to appear. The
officer was told that he had left the city. The
District Attorney then despatched the officer to the
upper part of the State, where it was supposed,
he had gone, and other efforts were made to
obtain his evidence, but equally in vain. The
Coroner had not bound him over, as he was not a
witness on the inquest, and the District Attorney,
at the appointed time for the trial, was compelled
to proceed without him.

The sixth young man was the person who had
been with Helen Jewett, and whom Mrs. Townsend,
Elizabeth Salters, and Emma French declared
to be Richard P. Robinson, known to
them as Frank Rivers; a name which it was
acknowledged by others he had assumed on his
different visits to the unfortunate girl.

[...]

----end

[TradeName]

A book published in 1863 states that a "Mr. Kneeland" of the firm of Kneeland & Bogart paid $30,000 to keep his name out the papers in connection with the Jewett case.

The Old Merchants of New York City: Second Series (New York: Carleton, 1863), Pages 38-39
By Walter Barrett (Joseph Alfred Scoville?)

The author of this book has an arranged list of merchants that he intends to write about sooner or later. Among the names of firms in his portfolio, is that of “Bogart & Kneeland,” one of the oldest and most respected commercial houses in this city. They started in business at 71 South street, in the year 1804.

The attention of the author has been called to this “firm,” by a most melancholy occurrence that happened at 49 William street, on the afternoon of the 2d of August [1861].

The firm is still Bogart & Kneeland, and continues in the cotton business, although the partners of fifty-seven years ago must have been dead long since. The sign over the present locality is 55 years old.

Fifty-eight years ago, Henry Kneeland, of the firm of Bogart & Kneeland, had his private residence at No. 183 William, near Beekman street. He resided there some years, and probably in that same house, young Kneeland, who killed himself, was born. Here is the story:

“Suicide of a Merchant in William Street.-—Coroner Gamble was called upon yesterday to hold an inquest upon the body of Henry Kneeland, a brother of Mr. Kneeland, of the firm of Bogart & Kneeland, cotton merchants, No. 49 William street, who committed suicide on Friday afternoon, by shooting himself in the head with a pistol. Henry K. Bogart, the partner of deceased's brother, testified that Mr. Kneeland came into the office as above about three o'clock on Friday afternoon, and closed the door. Mr. Bogart asked him why he closed the door, but deceased took a seat and made no reply; deceased then made use of some incoherent language, in which the word “dishonorable” occurred, and drawing a pistol out of his coat pocket, shot himself through the head. Witness ran for a physician immediately, but all medical skill proved of little avail, as the unfortunate man lived but a few moments; deceased never threatened to commit suicide, nor had the witness any idea that he contemplated such a thing; deceased had been pecuniarily embarrassed for some time past, and it is supposed that the derangement of his financial affairs led to the commission of the rash act. The jury rendered a verdict in accordance with the above facts, and the body was handed over to the friends for interment. Deceased resided at Fairfield, Ct., where he leaves a large family to lament his untimely end. Mr. Kneeland was a native of New York, and was fifty-four years of age.”

The Mr. Kneeland who founded the great cotton house was the subject of scandal connected with Rosina Townsend, in 1836, when Helen Jewett was murdered. It was said that when he died, proofs were found among his returned checks and papers that he had paid $30,000 to suppress publications about the matter.

----end

A website about a New York cemetery identifies Henry Kneeland as the man allegedly blackmailed by Bennett.

The New York City Marble Cemetery, link
Vaults 115 & 116 - Kneeland and Bogert

[...]

Henry [Kneeland, Sr.] died "of apoplexy" on July 7, 1837. It appears that he was a "guest" at Rosina Townsend's brothel the night of the murder of Helen Jewett in 1836. James Gordon Bennett, editor/publisher of the Herald, threatened to publish the names of the brothel's clients that night and, it appears, blackmailed Henry Kneeland to the tune of between $10,000 and $30,000. Bennett was later accused of having hounded his quarry (Henry Kneeland) to his death.

----end

[TradeName]

During the financial panic of 1837, the Herald published a list of failed firms which included some which had not failed. When one of the wrongly named firms threatened legal action, Bennett responded by threatening to put on the record the names of the men present when Jewett was murdered.

The Herald, May 13, 1837, Page 2, Column 1

Beginning of the War between the Fraudulent Bank Confederacy of Wall Street and the Inimitable New York Herald

[...]

The several good natured donkies of the "Express"
next fire off their gun upon us thus:--

An article in one of the papers of this city, the
Herald, created not a little excitement among some
of the parties, whose names have been paraded in a
double column, as among the failures in this city.--
John Haggerty & Sons, have instituted a process
against the editor of that paper, and have laid their
damages at $25,000.

This is tolerably decent. We have no objection to
the legal process--only as soon as that process ahall
have commenced, we shall institute another. Mr.
William B. Townsend, the editor of the Express, was
the foreman of the grand jury who found a bill of
indictment against R. P. Robinson, for the murder of
Helen Jewett. We shall inquire of him what was
the reply of Rosina Townsend, on her examination
before the grand jury, when she was questioned as to
the particular individuals in her respectable house
on the night of that fatal murder. We are perfectly
willing to let the matter remain in this position, but
if we are pressed to it, we shall lift a curtain and
exhibit a scene of licentiousness that will make the
very stones in Broadway cry out for vengeance.

[...]


----end

[TradeName]

An obituary for Major Noah, the witness who died before he could testify that James Gordon Bennett had allegedly blackmailed a man who had been present the night Helen Jewett was murdred.

Stryker's American Register and Magazine, Volume 6 (New York: 1853), Pages 218-220

American Obituary

March 22d. [1851] At New York, Mordecai Manasseh [sic; Manuel] Noah, aged 67, the well-known editor. Major Noah was the son of Manuel Noah and Zipporah Phillips of that city; and at the age of five he was left to the care of his maternal uncle, Jonas Phillips. He received only a common English education, and was apprenticed to a carver and gilder; but he soon gave up this trade, and devoted himself to literary and political pursuits, his first eifort being a Fourth of July Oration, delivered in his thirteenth year.

While he was still very young, he removed to Charleston, S. C, where he took an active part in public affairs, and became editor of the Charleston Gazette. In 1813, Mr. Madison appointed him U. S. Consul to Tunis; and he sailed from Charleston in May of that year, to assume the duties of that office. But the vessel in which he sailed was captured by a British frigate, and he was carried as a prisoner to England. After being detained several weeks, he was liberated, and allowed to proceed to his original destination. He returned to the United States in 1816, and communicated to the public the results of his observations abroad, in an interesting volume of travels.

Soon after his return he established himself at New York, and assumed the editorial charge of the "National Advocate," a democratic journal, of which he and his uncle, Mr. Phillips, were proprietors. He continued in this situation for several years, but as the periodical was not very profitable, and some trouble arose between him and the other proprietor, it was discontinued.

Mr. Noah now established the "New York Enquirer," a paper which was subsequently purchased by the proprietors of the "Evening Courier" when the two papers were merged in the present "Courier and Enquirer."

He afterwards established the "Evening Star" in connection with the late Thomas Gill, who was then one of the proprietors and financial managers of the "Evening Post." This paper was very successful until Mr. Gill's death; but it afterwards languished and was merged in the "Times" under the name of the "Times and Star." This movement turned out to be unfavorable; and the proprietors of the "Commercial Advertiser" purchased the whole establishment in 1840.

Mr. Noah now published, in connection with Messrs. Dean and Howard, a weekly paper, called "The Times" which he continued to edit until shortly before his death.

As an editor, Mr. Noah was very brilliant and graceful, but his neglect of financial details was unfavorable to his success as manager of a daily paper. His death was caused by a stroke of paralysis, the second which he had experienced. He filled the office of Sheriff of the County of New York, had been a Judge of one of the City Courts, and was an Inspector of Customs at the time of his death.

Mr. Noah was of Hebrew descent, and adhered to their peculiar faith through life. He was distinguished for good-humor and liberality, and frequently gave very material assistance to young men who were struggling with difficulties. He was on the best terms with his brethren of the press, among whom it is not known that he possessed a single personal enemy. He was a devoted admirer of the Constitution of the United States, and some of his ablest productions were designed to illustrate its spirit and provisions.

Besides his contributions to the newspaper press, Mr. Noah published various essays and plays, such as "The Grecian Captive," "She would be a Soldier," "The Fortress of Sorrento" &c.

----end

[TradeName]

Major Noah was one of those who Edgar Allan Poe wrote about in his series on "Autography." Poe wrote to his subjects using the alias "Joseph Miller."

The Southern Literary Messenger, Volume 2, August, 1836, Pages 601-604

Autography

Page 604

[TradeName]

An unkind view of Major Noah that mentions his early association with James Gordon Bennett.

The American Historical Review, Volume 6, April, 1901, Pages 455-456

Rise of Metropolitan Journalism: 1800-1840
by C. H. Levermore

James Watson Webb merited the laurels of Fame for the same reason that gave Louis XIV. the title of "Great," because of the eminent men whom he gathered around him. The Courier and Enquirer became the foster-mother of nearly all the bright young journalists of that generation, with the exception of Horace Greeley. Among these knights of the quill were Charles King, afterwards President of Columbia College, James K. Paulding, the novelist, afterwards Secretary of War, and Henry J. Raymond, the founder of the New York Times. But the most remarkable members of Webb's group of lieutenants and associates were two men who entered his office in 1829 as part of the fixtures of the New York Enquirer. These were Mordecai Manasseh Noah and James Gordon Bennett. Major Noah's personality is more interesting to the psychologist than important to the historian. He was an Israelite, indeed, in whom there was much guile. Since 1816 he had been editor of the city organ of Tammany Hall, and an aspirant for various political offices, some of which he obtained. When he was a candidate for the shrievalty of New York City it was objected that a Jew ought not to be permitted to hang a Christian. "Pretty Christians," said Noah, "to require hanging at all!" Noah was a brilliant paragraphist, but too erratic and uneasy to make a durable impression in any calling. His vagaries touched occasionally on the verge of insanity, as when he attempted to gather all the lost tribes of Israel, among whom the Red Indians were to be included, into a new city on Grand Island in the Niagara River. Clad in a rich antique costume, he dedicated in September 1825, the corner-stone of the new Hebrew capital, and named the place "Ararat," in honor of his illustrious ancestor, the elder Noah.

The three men Webb, Noah, and Bennett, who were so closely associated in the conduct of the Courier and Enquirer in 1830, had not a few points in common. There was a dash of charlatanry in all three. They were alive to the mercantile value of sensationalism. They were all restless spirits, anxious to magnify their office, and all were half-conscious of an enormous waste of latent force somewhere in the operation of the newspaper institution. More than one enthusiast in the renaissance of 1830 had already perceived the power that the press could exert, if it could arrest the attention of a larger circle of readers. To achieve this, the paper must contain news that everyone would wish to read, and must be cheap enough for everyone to buy.

----end

[TradeName]

British author and journalist, Israel Zangwill, wrote a fictional account about Peloni, the soul European Jew who answered Major Noah's call to establish a city of refuge in New York. Zangwill anachronistically mentions Bennett and the Herald.

Ghetto Tragedies (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1899), link
By Israel Zangwill

Pages 79-123

Noah's Ark

Page 114

"Of course the New York Herald will sneer; but then Bennett was once in my employ on the Courier and Enquirer."

[TradeName]

Link to an account of Noah's "city of refuge."

Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society, Volume XXV (Buffalo: 1921), Pages 113-144

The Story of the Tablet of the City of Ararat
By Lewis Falley Allen, Mrs. Elizabeth Mehaffey Howe


Noah's later discourse on the restoration of the Jews, with an apocalyptic passage that Zangwill paraphrased in his story.

Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1845), link
By Mordecai Manuel Noah

Pages 52-53

Let it, however, be kept in mind, that the restoration will be at first limited and partial; the government which they may form will be transitory and contingent; the great war prophesied in Ezekiel against Gog, prince of Rush, Meshech, and Tubal, the power which now controls Archenaz, Refath, and Togarmah of the Scriptures, that is to say, the Germans, Sclavonians, Sarmatians, and Turks of our day, is Russia; the descendants of the joint colony of Meshech and Tubal, and the little horn. of Daniel. Russia, in its attempt to wrest India from England and Turkey from the Ottomites, will make the Holy Land the theatre of a terrible conflict. Tarshish, “with the young lions thereof"—- evidently Great Britain, with her allies—-will come to the rescue. Then will ensue the battle so sublimely described by the prophet: the fire and hailstones; the purification and victory; the advent of the Messiah, and the thousand years of happiness and peace which are to ensue.


----end

Links to two bios of Noah.

Mordecai Manuel Noah: A Biographical Sketch (Philadelphia: The Levtype Company, 1897), link
by Simon Wolf



Mordecai M. Noah: His Life and Work from the Jewish Viewpoint (New York: Bloch Publising Company, 1917), link
by A. B. Makover

[TradeName]

The British novelist Marryat included Major Noah's discourse on the alleged Jewish origin of American Indians as an appendix to his book on his travels in America.

A Diary in America: With Remarks on Its Institutions (Paris: Baudry's European Library, 1839)
by Frederick Marryat

Page 270

There is a question which has been raised by almost every traveller in America, and that is—-from whom are the American Indians descended? and I think, from the many works I have consulted, that the general opinion is, that they are descended from the lost tribes of Israel. We have never discovered any other nation of savages, if we may apply such a term to the American Indians, who have not been idolators; the American Indian is the only one who worships the one living God. In a discourse, which was delivered by Mr. Noah, one of the most intelligent of the Jewish nation that I ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with, there is much deep research, and a collection of the various opinions upon this subject. To quote from it would not do it justice, and I have therefore preferred, as it is not long, giving the whole of it in the Appendix as it is not (though should be more) generally known.

Pages 331-353

Appendix II

Discourse on the Evidence of the American Indians being the Descendents of the Lost Tribes of Israel

Page 334

[...]

It is, however, in the religious belief and ceremonies of the Indians that I propose showing some of the evidences of their being, as it is believed, the descendants of the dispersed tribes. The opinion is founded—-

1st. In their belief in one God.

2d. In the computation of time by their ceremonies of the new moon.

3d. In their divisions of the year in four seasons, answering to the Jewish festivals of the feast of flowers, the day of atonement, the feast of the tabernacle, and other religious holidays.

4th. In the erection of a temple after the manner of our temple, and having an ark of the covenant, and also the erection of altars.

5th. By the divisions of the nation into tribes, with a chief, or grand sachem at their head.

6lh. By their laws of sacrifices, ablutions, marriages; ceremonies in war and peace, the prohibitions of eating certain things, fully carrying out the Mosaic institutions;—-by their traditions, history, character, appearance, affinity of their language to the Hebrew, and finally, by that everlasting covenant of heirship exhibited in a perpetual transmission of its seal in their flesh.

If I shall be able to satisfy your doubts and curiosity on these points, you will certainly rejoice with me in discovering that the dispersed of the chosen people are not the lost ones—-that the promises held out to them have been thus far realised, and that all the prophecies relative to their future destination will in due time be strictly fulfilled.

[...]

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