An Interesting Letter Handwritten and Signed by Warder Cresson, the First USA Consul to Jerusalem – Written after ...

An Interesting Letter Handwritten and Signed by Warder Cresson, the First USA Consul to Jerusalem – Written after His Conversion to Judaism – Jerusalem, 1860
A long, interesting letter handwritten and signed by Warder Cresson, the first person to be appointed USA consul to Jerusalem. Written in Jerusalem (Mount Zion) on September 13, 1860 (shortly before his death) and sent to Ann Paschal Jackson of Pennsylvania, USA. With the letter is enclosed the original envelope in which it was sent (with postmarks of the French postal services in Jerusalem and Jaffa and other postmarks). English.
Warder Cresson, one of the most fascinating figures in the history of Jerusalem in the 19th century, was born to a Quaker family in the USA. He was appointed the first USA consul to Jerusalem (an appointment that was cancelled even before his arrival to Eretz Israel) and eventually moved to the city permanently, converted to Judaism and consequently stood trial in the USA, the claim being he had lost his mind.
The letter before us was written when he was sick, shortly before his death, to his friend Ann Paschal Jackson, a Quaker minister in the USA. The letter indicates Cresson's sense of belonging to the Jewish community of Jerusalem. He writes about the sanctity of the city and his desire to be buried there, about his way of life combining prayer and the study of the Torah, about the severing of his ties with his family in the USA, and about many additional issues, all this while quoting many biblical verses. Cresson begins his letter with the verse "And the redeemed of the Lord shall return & come to Zion" (Isaiah, 35, 10). The first part of the letter deals mainly with this verse and the idea of the Jews' return to Zion. In this context, Cresson writes about the Muslim inhabitants of Eretz Israel: "Hagar, the mother of Ishmael & the present Turks, was a very bad Woman, & her Son was very bad; & so are very many of their descendants, therefore G-d said to Sarah, 'Cast out the Bond-Woman, & her Son; for the Son of this Bondwoman, shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac'. Gen. 21c-10v. & Why? Because neither Hagar, nor Ishmael, was either of them, the 'Redeemed of Lord'… & very soon, they will be 'cast-out' from this land, as the
52nd Chapter of Isaiah declares, & not return to Zion with the Redeemed of the Lord…".
Later in the letter, Cresson addresses his visit to the USA in 1848 (a visit he made after his conversion and during which he was prosecuted by his family members): "In the year 1848, I returned, at the particular request of my family, to America, & I very soon found, that I had got out of the 'field of Boaz'… for I found, that all their Conversations; their Places of Diversion; – their Pleasures – Their Love of mammon, would eventually land me, in the field of Weakness & Sin & I therefore determined, to return to Jerusalem, at every Sacrifise, as soon as possibly could; wh. I did… I am here; where I hope to lay my Bones".
In the course of his writing, Cresson describes Jerusalem, while citing from the Book of Psalms, Isaiah and Jeremiah, and also describes his Jewish way of life: three prayers a day ("as our Blessed David says in Psalms 55c-17"), study of Torah, visiting the poor and the sick, writing, and more. In addition, Cresson relates that several people chose to convert to Judaism in Jerusalem, among them a Catholic woman ("The Rabbis questioned her very closely & found, that the Truth & Light of G-d had been doing their work, & therefore they could not reject her").
Warder Cresson (1798-1860, also known by his Hebrew name Michael Boaz Yisrael Ben Avraham), was born to a wealthy Quaker family in Philadelphia. In 1830, Cresson published the composition "Babylon the Great is Falling!" which decisively denunciated the degeneration that had, in his opinion, spread in American Christianity. In the following years, he changed his religion five times, eventually adopting a Messianic faith according to which redemption is dependent on the Jews returning to Eretz Israel.
When in 1844, he was offered the office of American consul to Jerusalem, he immediately accepted, even without pay, and in May of that same year, President John Tyler signed his decree of appointment. However, when the White House heard rumors of his Messianic beliefs, it was decided to cancel the appointment. Cresson was already on his way to Eretz Israel and therefore never received the announcement about the cancelling of his appointment. With his arrival to Jerusalem, he declared himself the USA consul to Jerusalem and started to advocate the return of Jews to Eretz Israel. He even sold capitulations on behalf of the USA government. He stopped his activity only after being notified that if he continues presenting himself as consul, he will be banished from the country.
Despite the cancellation, Cresson decided to remain in Eretz Israel and in 1848, converted to Judaism. When he traveled to the USA to liquidate his business once and for all, his family issued a court order ordering his hospitalization, the claim being he had lost his mind. The trial garnered unprecedented public interest, was held with the participation of dozens of witnesses (some of them well-known figures such as Moses Montefiore and Mordechai Emanuel Noah), and at its end – Cresson was acquitted and was permitted to return to Eretz Israel.
In his final years he settled in Jerusalem, devoted himself to the study of the Torah and became an honorable member of the Sephardic community of Jerusalem. At the same time, he conducted important agricultural experiments, opened several small schools for agriculture in the vicinity of Jaffa and even attempted to open an agricultural farm in the area of Emek Refa'im in Jerusalem. He married a Jewish woman named Rachel Moledano and the couple had two children. In 1860 he died of a prolonged illness. He was buried in the Mount of Olives cemetery.
Enclosed is the original envelope in which the letter was sent, with postmarks of the various stations it had gone through on its way from Jerusalem to Pennsylvania. The letter was sent using the French post in Jerusalem (with a "Jerusalem Cross" postmark), via the French post in Jaffa (postmark from September 15 1860), then through Alexandria, Lyon, Paris and Boston.
Letter: [1] folded leaf (four pages handwritten by him), 26.5 cm. Good condition. Fold lines. A few stains. A few tiny tears along edges and fold lines. Envelope: 8X13.5 cm. Good condition. Minor creases and stains. Was opened with a letter opener at the edge.