Moses Benjamin Seixas was a key member of the Shearith Israel congregation in New York, as well as the husband of Judith Levy, a Kingston-born jewish woman. The Shearith community, which enjoys continued prominence to this day, has its origins in the Spanish and Portuguese congregation that resided in Kingston. The Seixas family were deeply involved in New York’s jewish community, and their pre-eminence is evidenced by their choice of portrait artist, Henry Inman. Inman was the vice president of the National Academy of Design, was commissioned by the US government to produce portraits for the Capitol, and has work in both the collections of the White House and on display at the National Portrait Gallery. While the ‘Spanish and Portuguese congregation of the Caribbean may have once had to hide their activities, by the time they became the Shearith of New York, they were bumping shoulders with the sorts of creatives who were closest to the center of power in the United States.