Peixotto, A Portuguese-Jewish Family in the Americas

Growing up, Haakon Lazarus Chevalier knew little of his family. His great-grandfather was a ship's chandler in Panama City and his great-grandmother, an embroiderer. She was born Rebecca Pyke or Peixotto in Jamaica. The family moved from Panama to San Francisco in 1881. After years of research, Haakon has pieced together more of the story. He will discuss Rebecca’s mother Rachel Peixotto and her family story in Jamaica and Philadelphia. Haakon will touch on topics including unrequited love, the origins of American Jewish institutions, epidemics, the Civil War, and slavery.
Haakon Lazarus Chevalier lives in Boston and was born in San Francisco, both cultural melting-pots. He has great-grandparents from France, Norway, Bohemia, Poland, and Jamaica. In addition to his professional work as a programmer for speech recognition and medical research, a musician, and teacher, he has long been interested in genealogy and family history. Although raised in a non-religious family, he has explored his Jewish roots through Me’ah with the Harvard Minyan and received a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University in December 2019.
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