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I am researching back in branches of my Mothers family, following a group of Sephardic Jewish ancestors,( about 12 different families that I have tentatively identified) who arrived in America in Virginia in the 1600`s, via London, Amsterdam, Venice, and Genoa. One of the families is surname Anthony, which I can trace back to Genoa / or Amsterdam in 1650. Mark Anthony, born 1678.
My most recent direct female ancestor in this line, born in 1745, had Menges as her middle name.( Mary Menges Anthony). Her Mother was Elizabeth Clark, born in 1720.
I have realized that Menges might well be a variation of the spelling of Mendez/ Mendes, and I am wondering if Mendez was the family surname when they left Spain or Portugal.
The first ancestor in this line I know of for sure, was said to have been born in Genoa in 1650,possibly named Marcus Antonius or Marcus Anthony. But I have also found references to a Anthony Mendes, who was a 'Portuguese merchant ' in London in 1678, when the next ancestor I have was born, a Mark Anthony. It may have been that in London they decided to drop the Mendes, and instead used ( son of ) Anthony instead. And thus perhaps Anthony Mendes was Mark Anthony`s father??
This Anthony Mendes was involved in the coral trade from Genoa Italy, to London. The sketchy data we have on Mark Anthony`s father seems to indicate that he was a merchant, with Genoa, and Amsterdam connections. London would have been part of this trading network. If the family were indeed of converso Jewish ancestry from Spain, then by this time it was safe to be outwardly Jewish in Amsterdam, and also in Londo. In Genoa, it kept changing. Bu tin any case most of the Sephardic Merchants had several different names they used, depending on who they were with, and where. It makes it hard to trace back any further in time! :-)The names listed, usually, for Mark Anthony`s father, just seem to be guesses, such as Marcus Atonioas, or Mark Antonious, as Italian versions of Mark Anthony. As far as actual records, we do not have nay that are reliable. Which we do have for Mark Anthony himself.
The problem with these of our ancestor who fled for their lives, was then they often had 3 or 4 or more names !!
I have another line that goes through the Bassano family of Converso Jews, who played music for Henry VIII. They came from Spain originally, but passed through Venice and the area around Venice. They have De Nassi (De Nasi, De Nazzi, De Naci) ancestors in Venice. De Nassi is another family name used by some of the Mendes family, including Gracia De Nassi and her Husbands family. Some records say that both she and her sister married their Uncles, who were named Mendes, of the House of Mendes banking House.
So, anyone know more about if Mendez is really the same surname as Mendes and Menges ?
It is interesting that my family 8 generations back, as recently as 1745 would have perhaps carried the ancestral name forward as a middle name for my direct female ancestor! By that point they were outwardly seen as Quakers, in early Virginia, but this name, and other family lore makes me think that the family still considered themselves to be Jews, in private.
Shalom, Glenn Hill
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