Judah Touro Dies

On this day, Judah Touro died in New Orleans. Born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1775, the son of Isaac Touro, hazzan of Yeshuat Israel, he spent part of the Revolutionary years in Jamaica and later worked in Boston before moving to New Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase. He was wounded while serving as a volunteer during the defense of New Orleans in the War of 1812.

He gave money to complete the Bunker Hill Monument in Boston and to a public library in Newport. In New Orleans he helped found the Sephardi congregation Nefutzot Yehudah and the Touro Infirmary. His January 1854 will left large sums to Jewish congregations across the United States, to civic institutions in New Orleans, Boston, and Newport, and to relief for Jews in Ottoman Palestine through Moses Montefiore. He was buried in Newport’s Jewish cemetery. His tombstone records 18 January 1854.