After sending her children from New York to England, Bilhah Franks began writing to her son. These letters relate her experiences of New York society and her combination of devotion to Judaism and anger at its superstitions. Franks offers a window into the attempts of colonial American Jews to retain their religious identity while still participating in the larger society.
A British Loyalist in the American Revolution, Rebecca Franks was known in high society for her sparkling wit. She was raised in a secular household and her Jewish heritage was rarely mentioned; however, she came from a line of several prominent Jewish Americans.