Correspondence Re: Circumcision of Babies and Marranos

Aaron Lopez was a prominent figure in colonial-era Rhode Island. Born Duarte Lopez in Lisbon to a family of conversos, Lopez changed his given name to Aaron after immigrating to North America, where he began living openly as a Jew. He settled in Newport and built a fortune on the trade of spermaceti, a wax derived from whale oil, though he had a range of mercantile interests, including involvement in the slave trade. When Lopez was denied citizenship of the colony of Rhode Island, he relocated for a time to Massachusetts, where his application for citizenship was successful. Though his fortunes were severely damaged during the Revolutionary War, Lopez supported the war effort. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Newport.

Benjamin Gomez was a member of one of the first prominent Jewish families in New York and colonial America. His father, Luis Gomez, born in Madrid to a wealthy converso, had married his mother, a Sephardic Jew from Jamaica, by prearrangement on his way to America. In New York, the Gomez family made a living trading with Native Americans. Their home, known today as the Gomez Mill House, is considered the oldest Jewish building in North America. The family also helped secure funding for the Shearith Israel Synagogue in Manhattan. Each member of the Gomez family served an important role in the observance of Jewish ritual: Benjamin was the family mohel.