Bilhah Abigail Levy Franks (c. 1696–1756)[1][2] was an English–born Ashkenazi Jewish woman who lived most of her life in the Province of New York, British America.

Spanning the years 1733 to 1748, these letters describe the political and social milieu of 18th-century New York, together with the assimilation and interfaith marriage that affected Jewish families.

[2] Her father relocated the family to New York City in the early 1700s and became a wealthy, respected merchant in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

[1] Residing on the East River, they lived in proximity to Adolphus Philipse, Frederick and Jacobus Van Cortlandt, Robert Livingston, Abraham de Peyster, and Stephen Bayard, all prominent Protestants and civic leaders.

[6] Jacob and his father-in-law, Moses Levy, were among the 11 Jews who helped pay for a steeple for the First Trinity Church in Manhattan, which served as a beacon for incoming ships.

[2][3][8] Sons Naphtali and Moses both established themselves in England and helped develop their father's business interests; David did the same after moving to Philadelphia.

[3] The letters cover a range of topics, including family and community gossip, local politics, and Abigail's observations on the current state and future of Judaism in colonial New York.

In her letters she expressed a desire to inject more modernity into the religion to counter its "Many Supersti[ti]ons", and denigrated the Jewish women of New York as "a Stupid Set of people".

[13] She often quoted lines from the English poets John Dryden, Alexander Pope, and Joseph Addison, as well as contemporary writers, in her correspondence.

A series of seven portraits is traditionally held to depict three generations of family members, although some scholars have questioned the sitters' identities.