Moses Cohen Mordecai, American shipowner, legislator. famous blockade runner during Civil War</td><tr><td class="label_burgverd11px"><b>Death</b></td></tr><tr><td> Died December member South Carolina. House of Representatives, 1845-1846; member South Carolina. Senate, 1855-1858.
Background
Moses Cohen Mordecai was born on February 19, 1804 in Charleston, South Carolina. His father was David Cohen Mordecai (1781-1818) and his mother, Reinah (Abrahams) Mordecai (1784-1853). He was the grandson of Mordecai Moses Mordecai and Zipporah deLyon.
Career
He owned the Mordecai Steamship Lincolnshire, which he used to import fruit, sugar, tobacco, and coffee. Additionally, he was a co-owner of the Southern Standard, a newspaper published in South Carolina from 1851 to 1858. His votes reflected his opposition to secession in the 1850s, prior to the American Civil War of 1861-1865.
He used his newspaper to echo this position.
Moreover, he was widely seen as a politician representing the merchant class and free trade. Overall, he did not suffer from much open antisemitism.
However, historians have noted that Senator James Henry Hammond (1807–1864) privately called him a "miserable Jew" in his diary. During the Civil War, he decided to change his mind about secession and supported the Confederate States of America.
Some of his ships were used by the Confederate States Army.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, and after his shipping enterprise had been shattered and he became blind, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland. Personal life
They had four children:
Hortensia Mordecai (1830-1899). Rosa Hays Mordecai Tobias (1832-1897).
Minnie Mordecai Lazarus (1839-1913).
Isabel Mordecai (1842-1927). In 1837, he purchased a mansion in Charleston built for Doctor Jean Ernest Poyas (1756-1824) in the Adam style.
lieutenant became his family home. Despite the Civil War, the house still stands today.
Death
He died on December 30, 1888 in Baltimore.
Achievements
Membership
Member South Carolina. House of Representatives, 1845-1846. Member South Carolina.