Touro family (Newport, R.I.), Papers

The Touro family of Newport, R. I. was a family of wealthy merchants, famous philanthropists, and prominent Jewish community leaders.

The Touro siblings (Abraham, Judah, and Rebecca) were the children of Rabbi Isaac Touro (1737-1783) and Rebecca Hays Touro (1743-1787) of the Boston Hays family. Rabbi Touro was originally from Amsterdam, Netherlands, but moved to Newport, RI to become the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Jewish community. Rabbi Touro was in charge of building and overseeing the Sephardic Orthodox Synagogue (the original name of the Touro Synagogue), but as a British Loyalist, he fled with his family to British New York at the beginning of the American Revolution.

Shortly afterward, he went the Jamaica with his family where he took a position as a rabbi, and died in 1783. The children and their mother returned to New England, settling in Boston with Rebecca’s brother, Moses Michael Hays. Rebecca died in 1787, and the children were subsequently raised by their uncle.

Abraham and Judah became businessmen and philanthropists, donating to many public works, monuments, hospitals and colleges, as well as funding the upkeep of the synagogue, which was renamed after Abraham Touro. Judah Touro moved to New Orleans in 1801 and opened a store where he prospered. Rebecca Touro Lopez married Joshua Lopez, the son of Newport merchant Aaron Lopez.

After Abraham’s death in 1822, monies he had given for the synagogue were held in in trust by the state of Rhode Island for the upkeep of Touro Synagogue. However, after two years, the funds were left languishing until Rebecca petitioned the state of Rhode Island to release the funds in order to pay for the caretaker of the synagogue. The funds were eventually released in 1825, which began a two-year restoration of the synagogue and subsequent renaming.