HEBREWS.
The people destined to be "wanderers among the nations,"
have been represented in Albemarle from the earliest times.
In 1757 Michael Israel patented eighty acres in North Garden
near Stockton's Thoroughfare, which he and his wife Sarah
sold in 1770 to William Williams, of Goochland. It will be
seen he was one of the Border Rangers. In 1772 he purchased
more than three hundred acres on Mechum's River in the
same section, which he sold in 1779. Solomon Israel, a
brother or son, bought in the same neighborhood in 1764.
Eleanor, a daughter of Solomon, was the wife of John Wood,
and in 1783 Solomon gave his land to his grandson, Solomon
Wood. Whether the Israels died in the county, or removed
elsewhere, is not known, but their name has been left as a
permanent memorial. The conspicuous pass through the
mountains between North Garden and Batesville, is no
longer Stockton's Thoroughfare, but Israel's Gap.
Isaiah Isaacs died in Charlottesville in 1806, leaving six
children, Frances, Isaiah, Henrietta, David, Martha and
Hays. They for the most part removed to Richmond.
David remained in Charlottesville, was one of its merchants
in the decade of 1820, was the owner of a number of lots on
Main Street, and died in 1837. One of his sisters was a
milliner of the place at the same date. Jacob and Raphael
were also Jewish merchants in Charlottesville at that period,
and besides their business there, they at the same time conducted
stores at Stony Point and Port Republic.
