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Issac Moses Some history of Quincy’s Jewish Community Quincy’s
first permanent Jewish resident was Abraham Jonas, an English-
born Jew, who prior to his arrival in 1838 had lived in
Cincinnati with other members of the Jonas family, had moved to
Williamstown, KY where he was merchant and representative in the
Kentucky state legislature, and where he had been the Grand
Master of Kentucky Lodge of Masons in 1832. Why Jonas uprooted
his family and came to the wilds of Illinois remains unclear.
Beginning as a carriage, chair, window, and paint merchant,
Jonas quickly plunged into local Masonic and political affairs.
In 1840 he was elected the first Grand Master of the Illinois
Masonic Lodge and in 1841 he was elected to his only term in the
Illinois legislature as a member of the Whig Party. Jonas has
characterized as quick in perception, a brilliant debater, and a
formidable opponent. It was during this one term that he met
Abraham Lincoln and their