Savannah had many Revolutionary heroes either live or die here. But none quite as unique as Mordecai Sheftall. Mordecai lived between 1737 and 1797. He was the son of Benjamin and Perla Sheftall who came to Savannah on either the William or Sarah two ships in 1733 that brought the first Jewish settlers of Georgia. Mordecai was Benjamin and Perla’s son and a successful merchant and real estate dealer in early Savannah history. He was active in the colonial cause from the earliest days of the fomenting of the American Revolution. When the War inevitably came between the colonists and the British, he was appointed commissary-general and eventually the “Deputy Commissary of Issues in South Carolina and Georgia.”  He was given the rank of colonel to carry out these duties and this made him the highest ranking Jew to serve in the continental Army. Mordecai not only served but he also gave of his fortune for the upkeep of the soldiers under his command.
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Unfortunately Mordecai was taken prisoner by the British early in the War. Along with his son Sheftall Sheftall (no misprint) who served as his assistant he was eventually released in a prisoner exchange. But this was not before his fortune of land and tannery factory were confiscated and destroyed.  He would petition the new government for the money he had given his soldiers after the War but was denied, leaving him in bad financial straits.

Mordecai was not only a Jew by ethnicity but a Jew by heart too. He had a room in his home which served as the house of worship for the Congregation Mickve Israel. After the War this Congregation would build what is the only Gothic Synagogue in the United States (1773) on land he deeded to the congregation. The congregation is the third oldest in America. He served five years as its president.
Sheftall also donated land for the first major Jewish cemetery in Georgia on August 2, 1773. It was called the Sheftall Cemetery. This burial ground was in use for one hundred years. Today it is located in a secluded back street behind Garrison Performing Arts School.

Sheftall died on July 6, 1797, He never regained the fortune he had before the War but he remained one of the leading citizens of Savannah, serving on civic boards and as the leader of the Savannah Jewish Community.

It should surprise no one when a city with such beautiful architecture has the works of some of our country’s greatest architects. William Gibbons Preston lived September 29, 1842 – March 26, 1910. He first learned architecture from his father Johnathan Preston where he practiced from 1861 - 1885. He was a Bostonian and Harvard graduate. He continued his studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His work is scattered throughout the cities of Boston, New York, Rhode Island, Ohio, and most importantly Savannah.
His career In Boston would include the design for the Rogers Building Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s original site which has been demolished. He introduced the bungalow style of architecture to the United States in his design of a home in Monument Beach, Massachusetts in 1879. His buildings helped shape Boston’s architectural landscape.
He was an active member and fellow of the American Institute of Architect and was a vice president of the organization during the late 1890s. He also was a precursor of the historical preservation movement influential in the successful 1896 effort to prevent the demolition of Boston’s historic State House. The historic state house was built in 1798 by Charles Bulfinch. Bulfinch was also the architect of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. As if he was not busy enough he was also a member of the Boston Art Club and exhibited there for over twenty years. His works are still sought after today.
Without Gibbon’s work in Savannah, just as in Boston, has helped shape our architectural landscape. During his stay here he was prolific. He designed the Savannah Volunteer Guards Armory on Bull Street (1893) which is the building Savannah College of Art and Design started now called Poetter Hall. He designed the Cotton Exchange Building, originally called King Cotton’s Palace, (1886). This building has the distinction of being, if not the only, one of the few to be designed above a street that is still in use. He designed the old County Courthouse (1889).  All of these still stand but one of his more famous works in Savannah was the old Desoto Hotel (1890) whose destruction left many a historic preservationist’s heart broken. Besides these buildings he designed 20 other civic and private buildings throughout the Historic District.
Savannah has been blessed with some of our country’s greatest architects. William G. Preston certainly rates as one of our finest.
 
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