Born in Savannah, Georgia, Sheftall Sheftall was the oldest of Mordecai and Frances Sheftall’s six children. His family was at the heart of the city’s Jewish community: his father’s father among the first Jews to move there, and Congregation Mickve Israel frequently holding services in the Sheftall house.

During the Revolutionary War, Mordecai was a strong supporter of the American cause. Mordecai was given the rank of colonel and served as staff officer in the Continental Line of the Georgia Brigade, and he, in turn, appointed his son to be his assistant. Father and son fought in support of the city when the British attacked in 1778, and they were subsequently captured and incarcerated aboard the prison ship Nancy. They remained there for a year and half, taunted by their British captor for refusing to eat pork and tormented by letters from Frances about the family’s struggles.

Eventually released—and after a brief spell on the Antigua—Sheftall and Mordecai managed to get to Philadelphia, where they reunited with the rest of the family. After the war, they returned to Savannah. Sheftall lived out the rest of his life there, never marrying.