Billy Simmons (also known as Billy Simons) was an African-American Jew from Charleston, South Carolina, one of the few documented Black Jews living in the Antebellum South. Simmons was a scholar in both Hebrew and Arabic.[1]
Billy Simmons
| |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1780 |
| Died | 1860 |
| Occupation(s) | Scholar, newspaper deliverer |
Simmons was born in Madagascar. Simmons claimed to be a descendant of a Rechabite tribe, a claim that two cantors and other Jewish authorities supported. Purchased by white Jewish enslavers, Simmons was taken into captivity and brought to South Carolina. A newspaper editor in Charleston enslaved him and forced him to deliver newspapers.[2]
Despite anti-Black restrictions in the constitution of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim that banned Black converts from membership, Simmons was among the few African-American Jews known to have attended the synagogue during the antebellum period.[3][4] Simmons attended the synagogue during the 1850s and was known to members as Uncle Billy. Simmons was known to attend Shabbat services wearing a black top hat, black suit, and frilly shirt.[5]
A drawing of Billy Simmons is held by the Special Collections Library of the College of Charleston.[6]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)