Bilhah Abigail Levy Franks wrote letters in the 1730s and 1740s that provide insight into colonial America and American Jewry. She was born in London, England to Moses Raphael and Richea Asher Levy. Franks's father was an immigrant of German-Jewish descent. In 1695, he moved the family to New York City.

Franks married Jacob Franks in 1712. They shared a similar background: Franks was also born in England, and his father was a German-Jewish merchant and broker. The couple joined New York congregation Shearith Israel, and Franks helped lay the cornerstone for the Mill Street synagogue in 1729. He became the temple's syndic, or president, in 1730. The Frankses also socialized with Christians, and appreciated New York's religious diversity. Franks gave birth to nine children between 1715 and 1742, and raised them to be observant Jews. They learned Hebrew, and she maintained a Kosher household. She longed, however, for a Jewish reform movement, and became critical of some traits within New York's Jewish society. Because of the family's financial problems, the Franks children sought their fortunes in England, so letter-writing became an essential activity.

Franks was devastated when two of her children married Christians. Daughter Phila eloped in 1742 with Oliver de Lancey, whose family was Huguenot. In response, Franks cut Phila out of her life completely. She was further disappointed when her son David married Margaret Evans, even though Franks and Margaret's mother were good friends. Franks expressed more tolerance towards her stepmother, Grace Mears Levy Hays, whom Moses Levy married in 1718. At first, Franks disliked her stepmother, but she grew to respect her. In 1728, Franks's father died, and Grace Levy married a man who made her unhappy. At the same time, though, she managed to run a store that supported her family. Franks's letters document Grace's resilience.

Franks died in 1756.

Source: Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia, ed. Paula E. Hyman and Deborah Dash Moore, Routledge, 1997