the congregational sorieties and the sections of the Council of Jewisli Women is to foster a closer study of till' Hible and a deeper knowledge of Jewish history and literature. The Educational In- order Hue B'rith is represented in stitutions. Binniiii-'huin, .Moiiti^oniery. .Mobile, Sehiia, lliiiitsville, Annistoii, Pcnio|)o-
and Uuiontown. Shellield, with about 3.()()0 inhabitants, has a Jewish cemetery and a Sabbathlis,
school.
When
Shedield was laid out in 18H4by a landconitwo Jewish brolliers by llii' name of Moses, of Montfiomery, vere amonir the prime movers in the patiy,
Capt. Alfred II. Moses, who had been in the Confederate service, wasthc first nianaLTcrof the company; and underliis ublradministrntiou the iniAt the outset lots were set dertakiil.i? prospered. apart for a Jewish house of worship; and separate grounds for a Jewisli cemetery were laid out. The enterprise.
first
Aksenfeld Alabarch
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDLV
315
postmasterof
Slietiield
was Morris Nathan, who
received his apiwintment from President Cleveland. Philip Phillips was u prominent Jew who lived in Alabama aljoul twenty years. He was a native of Charleston, S. C. and removed to Mobile in 1^35. He was elected to the le.irislature in lS-14; the ne.vt year he published a (bluest of the decisions of the supreme court; in I80I he was returned to the legislature, and two years later was elected to Congress over Hon. Elihu Loekwood, of Mobile county. Mr. William Garrett in his " Keminiscenees of Public Men in Alabama" .says that "Philip I'hillips left Congress with a nalionid repulalii>u of which any man nii.uht feel proud." .ludah P. Bcnjainin was a resident of MonlgomiTV during the years ISOi-ti."). He was aiipoinled attorney-.i;eneral of the provi.sional government of the Southern Confederacy in 1861, and in August of the sameyearwas appointed acting secretary of war; but on being Prominent censured by a congressional commitJews. tee he resigned his otlice after having He continued held it for si.v months. to ritain the confidence of JelTersoii D"vis, and was by him appointed secretary of stale. Solomon Ileydenfeldt, who was a native of Charleston, S. C., moved to Alabama, Tallapoosa county, when that county was tirst settle(l. He was chosen jud.ije of the county court of Tallapoosa in 1840, and soon after moved to Kussell county, where he i»ractised law for several years. He then went to California. where he became justice of the supreme court. His brother, Elkin Heydenfehlt. was also an attorney of some standing in Tallupciusa ci>uiity. Adnlph Proskauer. who had been major in the ( 'onfeilerate army, served one term in the legislatur<' in the year ISd.s. Solomon Block, of as did Nathan Straus in ImTO. Camden, was a meml)erof the slate senate for several terms. Jews of Alabama have been appointed to the highest oHlces in the gift of their respective eomnuuiilies. They are found as mayors, presidents of ehand)ers of ciinuneree and of cotton e.ehaiii.'es. of the boards of education an<l of the public schools, members of the council, and in many similar important positions. Benjamin M. Mayer was, in I'.ioO, editorof the -"Birmingham Age-Herald." and Kmil Lesser was editor Knniiuiel of tile '• Birmiii!;hani Ccnirier" ((!erman). Ix'hman, the philanthropist, lived for many years in Montgomery, Ala. Bolxrt I.rfiveman, a resident of Tusealoosji during 18!M)-i»;t, is a lyric poet of aikiiowl edged merit. During his residence at Tuscaloosa the Burton Printing Company of that city printed tor him two small collections of poeuis; see Steilmuu's
American Anthology," lu his hook,
1900.
The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier.
and Citi/en," Simon Wolf has recorded the names of about one hundred and fifty Jews of Alabama who fought in the Confederate army, and of more than forty Jews who volunteered in the state regiments during the Spanish-American war of 1898. Philip Stern, of Montgomery, has held various posts in the regular anny,an<l is now (1901) captain of the Twenty ninth Alabaina infantrv. serving in the Philippines. The population of Alabaina, according tn the eensusof 1900, is 1, SOS. 097, which total includes (i.OOO to 7.000 Jews. Jews are found in almost Statistics, every occupation in which other citizens of the state arc engaged. Very few articles and no books are ])ubli.shed which bear upon the Jews or the Jewish congrcga tions and institutions of Alabama; and the early congregational records have, in the majority of instances, been lost. In cases where the latter have been preserved they have been so imperfectly kept that few correct or important data can be gathered from them. BiBi.KKiRAPHV: In ISIK Petfr
J.
Hamilton, In anartlilenn Thf
Piitucir tliurchrs <>t Mul>il> in Uie Hii SIni A"f/, a puhlit-atlnn nf the Youns.' Men's <'lirlstian A.'SK-iatlijn ef McMiili'. repuWishi'd In the M'lliih It'ijisler, makes pu-tKlnt' refi-nMiie i" the foniiatkin ami it-ilm^-ss of the Jewl.sli cfni^rreirullon at Miiliile. Tlip JiiiM, h'flfi.r iif New Orleans, May ill. is'.r.i. pnbiished a Mot*iie eiiiliun i.f its paiMT. euntainiiiK arlieies h HeniT Hanan. s. Rietianis, ami Iir. Mark J. L4*liman on tlie early history of ihe siia'anil Slioinaylm rontrretraiion ami on 'I'iie Jnri.-<h Liil^itr. tile Work of Its various ortranizatit»ns. In a Birmlnsrham eciitlon. May Is, 1!«IU, descrllied tiie relicloiis, charitable, and other orfjaiiizalions of xw .lews of Hirinini;liam: se^aiso.sVoh.sh.-.-of (/o J, i/.<o( l]i, riiih<l .s7o(..«. published by the liilon of .yiiii-rican Hol.rew Coni.'reifati.ijis. tSSJ and -i»itnVtoi JiirMi YrarUiwh for ")iitxiand SBill.
T. S.
ALABARCH
The
title
of an
ollicial
who
stood
at the head of the Jewish population of Ale.aniiria during the Grecian period. The etymology of the word !Oxifiai>x>K(iiliihiirclu-i<), and, therefore, the orig inal nature of the office, is obscure. In former times it was customary to derive it from d/f (huh, sea), which derivation might indicate dominion over the The word is, however, also written apa,iiipx'ic. sea. and in Latin iiriihuirfiin. for which reason some think the term indicates dominion over Arabia the old name of the i>art of Egypt east of the Nile. It is hard to undeistand how a Jew, even if he were the
—
most prominent man of the congregation of Alexancould be called ruler of Arabia. The trend of o])ini(m is to connect it with the Greek term for ink, a'/n.la {nhilni). taking ink in the sense of writing i.vriptnni). which, in those days, was a token for ta.x (rertir/nl). Such a derivation would im]ily that the Alabarch was a farmer of taxes, certainly from the time of the Ptolemies; anil, judging liy inscriptions which giv<' a similar title to an ofiice of the Thebaid in Egypt, he must also have collected the toll on animalspassing through the country. Stnibo(iiuoteil by Josephus, • .Vnt." xiv. 7. ^ 'Ji.wlio was in Egypt about 'iX li.t-., calls the governor of the Jews ethnarch"(tiii/<iw). and remarks that he ruled over the Jews as over an autonomous commuIf the term nitV ("C oi» -o/.irtinf tiiwuv airnrchir^). as used by Strabo is correct, then the Alabarch must have been known among the heathen as ethnarch; so that one would surmisi' that the tiTui <i/ii.Ja()t'/C was used oidy by the Jews. Stndio's ethnarch is tismilly identified' with the Alabarch. without fur ther (|Uesticin liut Fninz is of Iheopinion (('. I O." iii. .i91.() that the Alabarch was only a subordinati' functionary of he ethnarch Grilt/.C" JIonat.s.sclirift," .x.xx. "JOCi) considers the.alabarchs to be descendants of the priest Onias, whoemigniled to Egypt and he includes the gcHerals Hilkias and Ananias among
dria,
modern
I
the alaharchs, though authority for this
is
laekim;
