Spotlight #2: Joshua Montefiore, Vermont’s First Jewish Citizen

This photo and the accompanying caption were originally posted to our Facebook page (link to external site) on September 22, 2022.

Tonight marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year! Did you know that the first known Jewish citizen of Vermont was also a resident of St. Albans?

Born in 1762 in London, England, Joshua Vita Montefiore first studied law at Oxford University and was admitted to the bar in 1784 before joining an expedition to establish a British colony on the island of Bulama in 1791. The expedition failed, and after returning to England, Montefiore joined the British army as a captain. In 1811, he resigned from military service and emigrated to New York City to continue practicing as a lawyer.

Following his retirement in 1835, Montefiore resettled in St. Albans with his wife and two children, fathering an additional seven children in the years to come. Although his wife and children were Catholic, he never lost touch with his Jewish faith. He refused to be buried in a Christian cemetery, and upon his death in 1843, he was buried in the flower garden on his farm, as there were no Jewish cemeteries in the area. In 2010, his remains were re-interred in Hebrew Holy Society Cemetery in Burlington, VT.