Freedom in 1777, which granted equality and the right to worship to Jews.The article explains that there was only one Jew who lived permanently in Williamsburg during the colonial period, Dr. John de Sequeyra, who immigrated to Virginia from London in 1745. He had studied medicine in Holland, and practiced medicine after moving to Williamsburg, where he treated 85 households during a smallpox epidemic of 1747 and 1748. There was no congregation for de Sequeyra to attend while living in Williamsburg, and no established Jewish community.There are records of Jews who passed through Williamsburg during the 17th and 18th centuries on business, however, there is not much evidence to suggest that any lived or settled there for long periods of time, the encyclopedia article explained.There were Jewish families,however, who owned stores and factories in Williamsburg but did not reside in the city. Although some Jews attended Williamsburg’s College of William and Mary in the latter part of the 18th century, they did not remain in town after finishing their studies.Most Jews who settled in Virginia during the colonial period lived in Charlottesville, Richmond and later Norfolk.