Jewish Heritage Month Tours: “Woodford and the David Franks Family”

The story of Woodford Mansion’s Jewish heritage begins with a London-born New Yorker, Bilah Abigail Levy Franks, whose letters to England paint a vivid portrait of Jewish life in 18th-century America. Out of this respected and successful Jewish merchant family, her son, David Franks married a Philadelphia Christian, Margaret Evans, and in 1771 purchased Woodford Mansion. While David was deeply entrenched in Colonial trade and enterprise, his daughter, Rebecca, was a Loyalist socialite who favored the British forces occupying Philadelphia. Visit Woodford Mansion between Wednesday, May 24th and Sunday, May 28th to hear about the Franks family, their influence on Woodford, and about Jewish life in 18th-century Philadelphia on these special tours that will commemorate Jewish Heritage Month.

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