The Two Witnesses, Moses and Elijah. By L.P. Labagh. Edited by Warder Cresson (United States Consul at Jerusalem).

Born into an old Quaker Philadelphia family, Warder Cresson (1798-1860) traveled through a series of religious awakenings, before becoming deeply interested in Judaism, subsequent to which he formed a strong relationship with Philadelphia’s Rev. Isaac Leeser. He was also influenced by the writings of Mordecai Manuel Noah, who campaigned for the return of the Jews to their ancestral homeland in Palestine. In 1844 Cresson was appointed United States Consul at Jerusalem, the first to hold such office. Upon arrival to take up his diplomatic mission, he was much affected by Jerusalem’s surroundings and converted to Judaism four years later. See A.J. Karp, The Zionism of Warder Cresson, in: The Early History of Zionism in America (1958) pp. 1-38.