Judith Albergo Suares, Landowner--and Slaveowner

Because my direct ancestors only came to America in the twentieth century, I've spent more time hunting down Russian Empire Revision Lists than slavery-related documents.  But when tracing my nieces' family on my sister-in-law's side, I found one line that's been in America for a very long time (particularly for a Jewish family).  And I'd already seen some evidence that my sister-in-law's 5th great grandfather, Rabbi Jacob Suares, was a slaveowner.

His wife Judith was born about 1769 in the West Indes, and by the turn of the century she was living in Charleston.  Although Rabbi Suares died in 1818, it seems that Judith was the one who owned at least some of the slaves even before his death.

Bill of Sale for Good Luck by Judith Suares, July 1809

We Were Slaves--But Became Slaveowners

It is currently Passover, the holiday on which Jews commemorate our freedom from slavery in Egypt. As the Jewish population in the southern United States pre-1865 was minuscule, most American Jews do not have slave-owning ancestors. All of my ancestors came to the U.S. in the 20th century, so I never had to worry about finding out about their slave-owning past.  But then I started working on my nieces' and nephews' trees.

Three of my nieces have one branch of their family who have been in the United States for a very very long time, particular for Jews and particularly for a family who has kept its Jewish identity for so long. Their 6th great grandparents were Jacob and Judith Alberto Suares.

Jacob was born about 1754 in Curaçao and arrived in the United States about 1790. Judith was born about 1769 in the West Indies.  The couple lived in Charleston, South Carolina, where Jacob was a Rabbi and had at least 10 children, with the youngest Caroline (later Schwerin) born after Jacob's 1818 death.