Joseph Simon (1712-1804)
Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Jewish pioneer and merchant, Simon played a significant role in the development of central and western PA. He participated in expeditions as far as the Mississippi, and helped establish Lancaster as a center for exploration, trade & settlement. During the American Revolution, Simon supplied the Continental Army with arms and equipment. Simon's home near here was one of the first centers of Jewish worship west of Philadelphia.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the mid-1700s, Lancaster sat on the edge of the British colonies' expanding frontier, a bustling inland hub where traders outfitted expeditions toward the Ohio country and beyond. Joseph Simon, a Jewish merchant, built a far-reaching network of trade and land ventures that reached as far as the Mississippi, and when the Revolution came he helped arm the Continental cause. His home doubled as one of the earliest gathering places for Jewish worship west of Philadelphia.
Why it matters
Simon's life shows how Jewish colonists helped build the commercial backbone of frontier America and quietly planted the roots of Jewish religious life beyond the seaboard cities.
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Related people
- · Joseph Simon
Related events
- · American Revolution
Themes & tags
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Around 1729 a congregation of German, Swiss, and French settlers gathered in the young town of Lancaster, raising a log church here in 1736—the town's first house of worship. Stone and brick buildings followed as the community grew and prospered. Its pulpit was filled by notable early clergymen, including Rev. Philip Otterbein.
Bailey's Printshop
Lancaster, PA · est. 1971
From 1773 to 1780, Francis Bailey ran a printing office on this Lancaster site, serving as official printer to both the Continental Congress and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In an age when the press was a weapon of revolution, his shop turned out patriot documents—including Thomas Paine's "Crisis No. 4," one of the essays meant to steel American resolve through the darkest stretch of the war. Bailey is also credited with being among the first to call George Washington "Father of His Country" in print.
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