History of the Jews in Natchez, Mississippi

By the late 19th century, the Jewish population of Natchez reached roughly 5%, which was higher than other places in the state of Mississippi.

Many of these Jewish residents co-mingled with the local white non-Jewish planters and landowners, some Natchez Jews even owned slaves and fought in the Confederate States Army.

[1] By the 21st century the Jewish population of Natchez has dropped to around a dozen residents, in part due to the economic downturn.

[2] Cotton farming required more labor, and was often worked by enslaved African people; and by the early 19th century Natchez became a major site for the slave trade.

[2] The group was led by Moses Hasan and Joseph Deutch, and established a chevra kadisha (Jewish burial society) in Natchez.

[2] However Jacob Soria, was a Natchez Jew who owned a human commodity auction house that sold enslaved people.

[2] During the outbreak of the American Civil War, Natchez Jews usually supported the Confederate States Army with many joining the cause.

[2] By the late 19th century, Natchez had roughly a 5% Jewish population, which was significantly higher than other places in the state of Mississippi.

[2] In 1927, Isadore Levy (who was from New Orleans, and born to a Jewish father but did not practice Judaism) and his sons built the Eola Hotel in Natchez, which remained open until the Wall Street crash of 1929.

[1] In 1935, Jewish resident Jane Wexler served as queen of the Natchez Pilgrimage, a Confederate–themed festival celebrating the antebellum era of the city and which awarded royal court titles in a pageant.