The Letters of Abigaill Levy Franks, 1733–1748

Abigaill Franks letters are among the earliest extant by a woman in colonial New York City. They are also the earliest known letters by a Jewish woman in British America and probably the Western colonies. Thirty-five letters survive, all written to her son Naphtali between 1733 and 1748. These letters represent a rare resource for the study of family life during the colonial period as well as of the life of a lively and articulate woman.
In this fascinating book, Edith B. Gelles carefully edits all of Abigaill Franks letters to make them accessible to modern readers. Gelles substantial introduction provides a portrait of New York City at the time, describes typical colonial family life, and discusses the Jewish immigrant experience in New York. Abigaill s spontaneously written letters tell of one Jewish family s assimilation in eighteenth-century America; it is a story that resonates with other stories of assimilation that permeate the pages of American history.