According to Dov Weinereve, the first "forerunner" is Mordecai Manuel Noah.
In 1825 the playwright, diplomat and journalist, Mordecai Manuel Noah - the first Jew born in the United States to reach national prominence - tried to found a Jewish "refuge" at Grand Island in the Niagara River, to be called "Ararat," after Mount Ararat, the Biblical resting place of Noah's Ark.
Noah | Noah Webster | Manuel Noriega | Joan Manuel Serrat | Noah's Ark | Manuel I of Portugal | Manuel de Falla | Juan Manuel Santos | Manuel L. Quezon | Manuel Belgrano | Manuel Alejandro | Manuel Castells | Mordecai Richler | Manuel Zelaya | Manuel Álvarez Bravo | Juan Manuel de Rosas | Víctor Manuel | Richard Manuel | Mordecai Cubitt Cooke | Mike Mordecai | Manuel Requena | Manuel Mujica Láinez | Manuel II of Portugal | Manuel Roxas | Manuel Pineda Munoz | Manuel Oribe | Manuel Mijares | Manuel L. Quezon University | Juan Manuel Márquez | Juan Manuel Fangio |