Abraham Alexander, Sr.

Abraham Alexander Sr. was born in London, the son of Rabbi Joseph Raphael Alexander. In 1764, at age twenty, he left London for Charleston, where he was soon established as the second hazzan at K.K. Beth Elohim. This was a post that he would retain for nearly twenty years, without compensation, until in 1784 he took as his second wife, the Huguenot widow of a Gentile friend. Tradition recounts that the two became acquainted during the British bombardment of Charleston in 1780, when Alexander came to the aid of the young widow. Despite her enthusiastic embrace of his faith, Ann’s status as a convert left rendered Alexander ineligible to continue his religious duties to the congregation.

Alexander is known for helping to initiate Scottish Rite Freemasonry in Charleston. He was also an accomplished Hebrew scholar and calligraphist. He compiled a mahzor (High Holiday prayer book) in 1805. City registers list him as a clerk and an auditor at the U.S. customs house, and later as a Collector of Customs for the Port of Charleston. Family lore says that upon Alexander’s death in February 1816, the flag at the Charleston Customs House and all of the flags flying from ships docked in the harbor were lowered to half-mast. He was buried in Charleston’s Coming Street Cemetery.

Abraham Alexander, Sr.

c. 1795