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Haym Salomon

Haym Salomon

THE FINANCIER OF THE REVOLUTION

AN UNWRITTEN CHAPTER IN
AMERICAN HISTORY

By
MADISON C. PETERS

fe'

NEW YORK
THE TROW PRESS
1911

Copyright, 1911, by Madison C. Peters
All rights reserved

Cb + -K\ni

President Taft
On Haym Salomon
Address at Eighth Street Temple, Washington, D. C.
It is a great pleasure for me to be here to-night and
to hear the eloquent tribute of the orator, Dr. Peters,
to what the Jew has done in American history.
One of the privileges of the President of the United
States is to attend, and to feel at home at, the religious
services of every denomination that is fostered under
the flag, no matter what his own church.
It is the duty of the President of the United States,
in so far as he may, to testify to his interest in every
religion in order that it may be understood of all men
that the absence from the Constitution of the United
States of any recognition of a state church gives no
right to any man to infer that the government is against
the churches. On the contrary, the government is for
all the churches, and it eliminates a state church in
order that it may embrace all and support all and pro
tect all without guiding or restricting any.
If there was anything that I could criticise in my
friend Dr. Peters' address, it was that the Jews of the
United States do not need the elaborate defense that
he has made. Their position in this country goes with
out saving — at least for one brought up as I was. My
father was a member of the Unitarian Church of Cin
cinnati, and that church stood just opposite Dr. Wise's
synagogue. — just across the street, on the corner of
7

President Taft
Eighth and Plum, and occasionally we exchanged min
isters, and we had Dr. Wise in our pulpit, and our
minister spoke in the synagogue across the street. As
a consequence, under the influence of my father, who
was the broadest man I ever knew, I came to feel that
the Jews were a very important part, as they were, of
the citizenship of Cincinnati.
And as I attended the public schools, and was pre
pared for college there, I had occasion to note what
Dr. Peters has commented on, that there were some
young men and women with " stein " at the end of their
names who were always among the first in the class.
Everyone who lives in a community like that of my
home city of Cincinnati knows that none of the great
charities, none of the theaters, none of the societies for
art, artistic development, or music, could live if it were
not for the support of the Jews.
I believe it to be true, as Dr. Peters says, that the
Jews are not very rich, but they are all engaged in
making as good a living as they can, and in supporting
their families as comfortably as they can, and in up
holding fhe home and the domestic circle as the most
important things to be upheld and supported. And so
it is that they are a most important part of every com
munity. It is pathetic almost to see the Jews of the East Side,
who come from Russia and elsewhere, seize and enjoy
and appreciate the opportunities that are given in this
government for education. I have been there to see the
energy and the sincerity with which they respond to
every patriotic sentiment, feeling, as they do, gratitude
to the flag under which they enjoy the educational and
other privileges that this government affords.
I believe, and I am proud of the fact, that the Jews
in America enjoy an equality that they have in only a

On Haym Salomon
few other countries of the world. I don't mean to say
that there are not racial prejudices here; I don't mean
to say that there are not social clubs and other places
where the small-headed men who occasionally get into
a directory manifest their greatness by using a blackball
and shutting out men of importance in the community;
but, my friends, while it is aggravating and exasper
ating, still it is not the worst thing that could happen.
I have had it happen to friends of mine — Gentiles —
who have been kept out of clubs by people who are not
worthy to button up their shoes, and who have no
standing save in clubs. It is aggravating, I agree, but
a man is what he is by reason of his respect for him
self, and if he knows that some one who affects to snub
him and look down upon him is not worthy — if he
knows that that person is not his equal and he cultivates
any of the philosophy that he ought to call to his aid — ¦
he will have the advantage over his small-brained and
narrow-minded critic always.
I did not come here to make a speech. I came here
to second the motion for a memorial to the Jew who
stood by Robert Morris and financed the revolution, the
friend of Kosciuszko and of Pulaski, both of whom have
monuments here — a man who apparently gave all he
had, for he had nothing when he died — or at least there
was nothing except what he ought to have collected and
did not — a man thrown into prison as a spy under Clin
ton, and who escaped because he could talk ten different
languages, and because somebody who had custody of
him thought he would be more useful to him as a live
interpreter than as a dead man. He subsequently es
caped and devoted his entire time and fortune to help
ing along the cause of the revolution.
It is most interesting to read those letters, to which
Dr. Peters has referred, in which Madison speaks of
9

Haym Salomon

the strapped condition in which he was while he was
trying to help out the country as a member of the Con
gress, and his constant application to his friend Salo
mon until he became ashamed to go to him, because
Salomon would not charge him any interest. Salomon
must have had a pretty heavy load to carry in looking
after all those Congressmen, but they were necessary to
this country, and he knew it. It is not the man only
who wears the uniform and carries a gun or a sword
and has epaulets that is necessary to effect a successful
revolution. Money is the sinews of war, and the necessity for
money impresses itself as the fight goes on, and you will
observe that Haym Salomon was most active during
these later years, when the strain grew harder in the
fight and when people were likely, because of the long
struggle, to become tired out and to lose their patriotic
interest. Then it was that he negotiated these large
loans; then it was that he helped his impecunious asso
ciates, and then it was that he entitled himself to the
gratitude of the entire country. If there should be
erected a memorial to him in Washington to testify to
his disinterested self-sacrifice in behalf of his country
it would be most appropriate.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:— In an address in San Francisco, on " The Part
of the Jew in the Making of America," the writer spoke of Haym
Salomon's services to the Nation, and on his suggestion that a monu
ment be built to the Revolutionary hero, a Committee was appointed
for the purpose. Hon. Julius Kahn was named as Chairman. Mr.
Joseph B. Greenhut was chosen Treasurer.
At an address given in Washington, President Taft was present and
spoke what is here printed in indorsement of the movement, to erect
a suitable monument in recognition of Salomon's services. Mr. William
Salomon, the great grandson, heads the subscription list, and favors the
movement. No return of the loans is asked by the family.
For particulars of the movement address Hon. Julius Kahn, House
of Representatives. Washington, D. C, or the author at 1822 Glenwood
Road, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Subscriptions should be sent to Mr. Joseph B. Greonhut, 18th Street
and 6th Avenue, New York. M. C. P.
IO

I
Haym Salomon
HAYM SALOMON was born at
Lissa, Poland, in 1740, of Jewish-
Portuguese descent, and it is prob
able that he left his native country after the
partition of Poland in 1772.
Salomon's family were highly respectable
and learned people. He enjoyed the friend
ships of Kosciuszko and Pulaski, the noble
patriots who unsheathed their swords for hu
man liberty.
With his own unhappy country's history
and with his hatred of despotic Russia, Salo
mon imbibed a love of liberty which extensive
travel in Europe intensified, and, as might
have been expected, the outbreak of the Revo
lution found him an ardent supporter of the
Colonial cause. 11

Haym Salomon
He settled in New York and there married
Rachel, daughter of Moses B. Franks, of
London, who, as well as his brother, the dis
tinguished Jacob Franks of the Revolution
ary War, died in New York while it was yet
a colony. Rachel Franks was the sister of
Colonel Isaac Franks, a Revolutionary officer
of distinction, and of Mayer Isaac Franks, a
judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Moses and Jacob Franks were the sons of
Adam Franks, of Germany, the friend of
King George of Hanover and who loaned
that monarch the most valuable jewels in his
crown at the coronation.
Jacob Franks was the British King's sole
agent for the Northern Colonies at New York,
and his son David was the British King's
agent for Pennsylvania.
When the Revolutionary War began, Salo
mon identified himself with the American
cause and was arrested and imprisoned as a
spy soon after the occupation of New York
by the British in 1776. Salomon was closely
confined for a long time in the prison known
as " the Provost," which stood on the spot
12

The Financier of the Revolution
now occupied by the old Hall of Records in
the City Hall Park. So closely were the pris
oners packed there that when they " laid down
at night to rest, when their bones ached, on
the hard oak planks, and they wished to turn,
it was altogether by command, ' right — left,'
being so wedged as to form almost a solid
mass of solid bodies."
When Salomon's linguistic proficiency be
came known (he knew Polish, French, Ger
man, Russian, Spanish and Italian), he was
turned over to the Hessian general, Heister,
who gave him an appointment in the com
missariat department, where his greater lib
erty enabled him to render much service to
the French and American prisoners, many of
whom he helped to escape. He created dis
sension among the Hessian officers, prompt
ing many to resign from the service.
In 1778, he was taken by the British gen
eral, Sir H. Clinton, on charges that he had
received orders from Washington to burn
fleets and destroy their warehouses, " which
he had attempted to execute to their great
damage and injury." 13

Haym Salomon
He was imprisoned, tortured, and con
demned to a military death, but on August 1 1,
1778, he managed to escape, by bribing his
jailor, leaving behind him in New York six
thousand pounds sterling, a distressed wife,
and child one month old. It seems likely
that his intimate friend, the brave General
McDougall, who then commanded the Ameri
can army in the neighborhood of New York,
was in co-operation with him. Fourteen days
later Salomon addressed a petition to the Con
tinental Congress, setting forth his services
and asking for some employment; but, char
acteristic of the man, he asked not for himself
alone, at the same time he entered a plea for
the exchange of Samuel Demezes, a fellow
prisoner. Congress turned a deaf ear to his plea and
the denial worked for the ultimate good both
of Salomon and the young country.
The tide in his affairs, and as the story
shows, the tide in the affairs of the young
Republic, turned upon his escape to Phila
delphia, and it was not long until he succeeded
in establishing himself in business, and there
14

The Financier of the Revolution
becoming one of the greatest financiers of his
adopted city.
Salomon's matchless enterprise, eminent re
spectability, remarkable intelligence, irre
proachable integrity, his delicate sense of
mercantile honor, his unbounded benevolence
for all mankind, and, above all, his undying
hatred of English tyranny, soon led to his
recognition by the leading men of his time,
and the uncompromising, implacable foe to
British dominion was brought into intimate
relationships with the Revolutionary patriots.
Early in 178 1, he made known through
the newspapers that he was a dealer in bills
of exchange on France and Holland. For the
most part the money advanced by Louis XVI
and the proceeds of the loans negotiated in
Holland passed through his hands. He was
intrusted with the negotiation of all the war
subsidies of France and Holland on his own
personal integrity, which were sold to the res
ident merchants in America without any loss,
at a credit of two and three months, for which
he received the small commission of one-
fourth of one per cent. Several European fi-
15

Haym Salomon
nancial houses did business through him. A
few days after the foregoing announcement,
Robert Morris became Superintendent of
Finance. Morris' diary records not less
than seventy-five financial transactions with
Salomon, between August 178 1, and April
1784. Alexander Hamilton, writing during the
dark days of the war to Robert Morris, says :
" It is by restoring public credit, not by gain
ing battles, that we are finally to gain our ob
ject." Haym Salomon brought not only all
his wealth to the aid of his adopted country,
but a financial insight which, for clearness and
depth, was not surpassed by Alexander Ham
ilton nor equalled by Robert Morris. Amer
ica found in Haym Salomon a champion
equalled by few, his fertility in resource and
soundness of financial views made him,
through Robert Morris, Superintendent of Fi
nance, the real financier of the Revolution and
judged by Alexander Hamilton's standard of
patriotism, surpassed by none, for Haym Salo
mon was practically the sole agent employed
by Morris for negotiating bills of exchange,
16

The Financier of the Revolution
by which means the credit of the Government
was so largely maintained during this period.
We do not wish to detract from the glory of
Robert Morris, but we do insist that the suc
cess Morris obtained in his financial schemes
was due to the skill, ability and sacrifice of
Haym Solomon.
On July 12, 1782, he requested Morris'
permission to publish the fact that he was
broker to the Office of Finance. In reference
to this Morris entered into his diary: "This
broker has been useful to the public interests.
... I have consented, as I do not see that
any disadvantage can possibly arise to the
public service, but the reverse."
He was appointed broker to the French
consul and the treasurer of the French army
and fiscal agent of the French Minister to the
United States, Chevalier de la Luzerne, enor
mous sums passing through his hands. He
was the principal depositor of the Bank of
North America, an institution founded
through the instrumentality of Robert Mor
ris, to serve as a means of obtaining funds to
carry on the Government, the first and only
17

Haym Salomon
bank chartered by the Revolutionary Con
gress. The accounts of fifteen other mer
chants who commenced with the opening of
the bank occupied, in all, fifteen pages, up
to the period of Salomon's death, while Salo
mon's account occupied in all fifteen pages,
double columns, of the same ledger. Salo
mon's one account was as large as their entire
account in the aggregate. The balances at
the various times of settlement in his bank
book show special balances of from $15,000
to $50,000 at each period. The amount
charged by the bank to his account as paid to
Robert Morris was over $200,000, while
Robert Morris' own account during the same
period had a deposit of less than $10,000.
A further interesting fact is that on a day
when Robert Morris deposited $10,000 in
the bank, he received exactly the same amount
from Haym Salomon.
Morris' diary, August 26, 1782, records:
" I sent for Salomon and desired him to try
every way he could to raise money." Two
days later he wrote: " Salomon, the broker,
came and I urged him to leave no stone un-
18

The Financier of the Revolution
turned to find out money and the means by
which I can obtain it."
Not only did Salomon advance large sums
to the Government for which he received no
return, but the services of James Madison,
Edmund Randolph, Generals Mifflin, St.
Clair and others were retained in the cause
through his bounty. In Madison's letter to
Virginia, in 178 1, he writes: " My wants are
so urgent that it is impossible to suppress
them. The case of my brethren is equally
alarming." Later he declares: "The kind
ness of our friend in Front Street ( Mr. Salo
mon) is a fund that will preserve me from ex
treme necessities, but I never resort to it with
out great mortification, as he obstinately re
jects all recompense. To necessitous delegates
he gratuitously spares from his private stock."
Henry Wheaton says: " Judge Wilson, so
distinguished for his labors in the Convention
that framed the Federal Constitution, would
have retired from public service had he not
been sustained by the timely aid of Haym Sal
omon, as delicately as it was generously ad
ministered." 19

Haym Salomon
When Salomon was called on to advance
the entire pay for the ensuing year to Jones,
Randolph, and Madison, as members of the
Revolutionary Congress, they had in writ
ing allotted that Madison should get fifty
pounds less than the other two, but Salomon,
seeing in young Madison, then only twenty-
nine years old, those great talents for which
be became distinguished in after years, pre
sented him, from his own private purse, the
fifty pounds, thus equalizing the pay of the
whole delegation.
Jared Sparks in his life of Gouverneur
Morris, a member of Congress in 1780, pub
lishes a letter written by Mr. Morris, in
which he declares that " the person who did
loan cash to a member to relieve his distress
in that day, was in no expectation of ever
getting repaid."
James Madison, twice President of the
United States, the most learned and patriotic
member of the Revolutionary Congress, thus
paid his tribute to Salomon's devotion and
bounty: " When any member was in need, all
that was necessary was to call upon Salomon."
20

The Financier of the Revolution
Again and again he refers to his " little friend
in Front Street," acknowledged not only his
indebtedness to " the little Jew " on whose
bounty he had pensioned, but again and again
refers to his integrity and disinterestedness.
It is true that there were merchants who
subscribed to make up army supplies in 1780,
ostensibly without security, but Madison's
journal shows that they had a contingent se
curity of the best Sterling Exchange to the
amount of 150,000 pounds in excess of their
subscription. Not only did Salomon aid his home gov
ernment, but he was the confidential friend
and adviser of agents, consuls, and representa
tives of foreign powers in sympathy with the
Revolutionary movement. He had confiden
tial relations with all the foreign representa
tives at one time or another. He was the con
fidential friend of that ardent adherent to
the American cause, Count de la Luzerne,
Ambassador for France. With this appoint
ment, Salomon was made banker for that
Government. He was appointed by Mon
sieur Roquebrune, treasurer of the forces of
21

Haym Salomon
France in America and made paymaster-gen
eral, which office he filled free of charge. A
letter from Count Vergennes, Minister of
Spain, to De la Luzerne, states that in two
years 150,000 livres (equal to present-day
francs) were distributed through Salomon.
Salomon for two years, up to the time of
his death, out of his own private purse main
tained Don Francisco Rendon, Ambassador
from Spain. Writing to the Spanish Governor
of Cuba, Rendon says: "Mr. Salomon has
obtained money for his Most Catholic Maj
esty and I am indebted to his friendship in
this particular for the support of my charac
ter, as his Most Catholic Majesty's agent
here, with any degree of credit and reputa
tion, and without it I would not have been
able to give that protection and assistance to
His Majesty's subjects which His Majesty
enjoins and my duty requires." More than
$10,000 was thus advanced which was never
repaid. The secret support of Charles III of Spain
is said to have been due to Salomon's efforts.
Although Salomon endorsed a great por-
22

The Financier of the Revolution
tion of the bills of exchange for the amount
of loans and subsidies our Government ob
tained in Europe, of which he negotiated
the entire sums and the execution of which
duty required a great deal of his valuable
time, from 178 1 to 1783, still there was
only charged a fractional percentage to the
United States. He never caused the loss to
the Government one cent of the many mil
lions of his negotiations, either by his own
management or from the credit he gave to
others on the sale he made of those immense
sums of foreign drafts on account of the
United States.
After the peace of 1783, when foreign
commerce could again float unmolested, Salo
mon engaged as a trading merchant to Eu
ropean ports. He had several ships upon the
sea, but through the failure of merchants in
whom he had confidence, he suffered great
losses. Always eager to help his fellowmen, he
gave every assistance possible to those who
commenced trading after the war. To the
president of the National Bank, whose part-
23

Haym Salomon
ner was the Superintendent of Finance, he
gave two loans of $40,000 and $24,000, and
without interest. The firm was known as
Willing, Morris & Swanick. It is doubtful
if he ever got any of his money back.
So successful had Salomon become that he
opened up an establishment in New York. In
the Pennsylvania and Weekly Advertiser,
January 1, 1785, appeared the following an
nouncement :
" Haym Salomon, broker to the Office of
Finance, having provided a license of ex
ercising the employment of an auctioneer in
the City of New York, has now opened for
the reception of every species of merchandise,
his house, No. 22 Wall Street, and every
branch of business, which in the smallest de
gree appertains to the profession — factor,
auctioneer and broker, will be transacted in it,
with that fidelity, dispatch and punctuality
which has hitherto characterized his dealings.
The house, in point of convenience and situa
tion, is exceedingly well calculated for the
different kinds of business above mentioned,
and he thinks it is almost unnecessary to assure
those who favor him with their orders that
the strictest attention shall be paid to them
and the utmost care and solicitation employed
24

The Financier of the Revolution
to promote their interests. The nature of his
business enables him to make remittances to
any part of the world with peculiar facility,
and this he hopes will operate considerably
in his favor with those who live at a
distance. " A desire of being more extensively use
ful and of giving universal satisfaction to the
public are among his principal motives for
opening the house and shall be the great lead
ing principles of his transactions. By being
broker to the Office of Finance and honored
with its confidence, all those sums have passed
through his hands, which the generosity of
the French Monarch, and the affection of
the merchants of the United Provinces,
prompted them to furnish us with, to enable
us to support the expenses of the war and
which have so much contributed to its suc
cess and happy termination. This is a cir
cumstance which has established his credit and
reputation, and procured him the confidence
of the public, a confidence which it shall be
his study and ambition to merit and increase,
by sacredly performing all his engagements.
The business will be conducted upon the most
liberal and extensive plan, under the firm
name of Haym Salomon and Jacob Morde
cai." Salomon died suddenly in Philadelphia,
January 6, 1785, at 45 years of age. He left
25

Haym Salomon
a widow and four small children, to use the
language of the Congressional report: "to
hazard and neglect." Here is his obituary
notice taken from the Pennsylvania Journal
and Weekly Advertiser, of January 8, 1785:
" On Thursday, died Haym Salomon, a
broker." That is all, not a word about his
princely fortune to the new Republic, nothing
about his self-denying gifts whereby the great
geniuses of Revolutionary days could give the
service that constructed the greatest Nation
on the globe, nothing about his leadership in
the first charitable organization among the
Jews of Philadelphia, a society for the relief
of destitute strangers, nothing about his loy
alty to the ancient faith, his eminent charac
ter as a business man and high standing as a
citizen. But — he was a Jew ! That tells the
story. The following is a copy of an authentic cer
tificate from the Register's office in Philadel
phia, showing the amount of public securities
and Revolutionary papers left by Haym Salo
mon and from which personal estate not a
cent has been received by any of his heirs:
26

The Financier of the Revolution
58 Loan office certificates  $110,233.65
19 Treasury certificates  18,259.50
2 Virginia State certificates. . . 8,166.48
70 Commissioners' certificates. . 17,870.37
Continental liquidate  199,214.45
$353,744-45
Besides he left evidences of advances to
Robert Morris in the sum of $211,000, a
claim of $92,000 on the United States for ad
ditional loans, an unpaid balance of $10,000
to the Spanish Ambassador, and innumerable
loans to Madison, St. Clair, Steuben, Wilson,
and many others.
The condition of the Government's finances
as well as those of individuals during and im
mediately after the Revolutionary War was
almost as chaotic, and his affairs were neces
sarily much involved and his family were al
most without resources. The widow's un-
familiarity with business, together with the
monetary situation prevailing at the time, pre
vented her ever securing a dollar of the $658,-
007.13 advanced, as shown from document
ary evidence afterwards submitted to Con-
27

Haym Salomon
gress — an enormous sum at that period for a
private individual, when all commerce and
business were prostrated. Madison, in 1827,
urged that the memorialists might be indemni
fied and reports in their favor have been fre
quently made, but not a dollar has been repaid
— not a medal granted in lieu of the claim —
a fact which affords support to the oft-re
peated observation of the ingratitude of re
publics.* *The descendants of Salomon have been de
prived of their valued inheritance by the reason
of their vouchers being lost while in the custody
of the Government, and in consequence of the
destruction by the British of many of the public
archives of that period, during the invasion of
Washington in 1814.
During the first session of the Twenty-ninth
Congress the Senate Committee of Claims unani
mously agreed upon a report similar to that
adopted by the House Committee of the Thir
tieth Congress, but too late for presentation.
At the second session of the Fifty-second Con
gress (February 24, 1893), a bill presented to
the House ordered that a gold medal be struck
off in recognition of services rendered by Haym
28

The Financier of the Revolution
Ezekiel, the elder son of Haym Salomon,
was for some time purser in the United States
Navy, and died in 1822 while cashier of New
Orleans branch of the United States Bank.
Haym M., the younger son, established
himself in the mercantile business in New
York City, where he married Ella, the
daughter of Jacob Hart, a German Jew who
came to America in 1775, became a promi
nent merchant of Baltimore and is mentioned
in the secret journals of Continental Congress
as having headed a subscription of the Balti
more merchants for the relief of a detachment
of the American Army, under command of
Lafayette, then passing through that city.
In 1844, Haym M. Salomon abandoned
business, gathered the evidence proving his
father's claim against the Government and de
voted all his energies to recovering the fortune
of which his family had so long been deprived.
Salomon, in consideration of which the Salomon
heirs waived their claims upon the United States
for indemnity. The measure was reported favor
ably by the House Committee on the Library,
but too late for consideration. 29

Haym Salomon
He enjoyed the confidence of Webster, Clay,
Calhoun and other great Americans of his
time, and though his claims were frequently
reported favorably by committees of both
Houses of Congress, a united action taking
the form of legislation was never secured by
him. Colonel David Salomon, grandson of
Haym, was a man of mark, and after having
made a great name as a merchant in Phila
delphia, the Pennsylvania Railroad created
for him the office of financial agent in New
York. His son, William, great-grandson of
Haym Salomon, one of the famous bankers
of New York, as the direct descendant, makes
no monetary claim upon the Government.
For the justice of the Haym Salomon claim
we have the highest possible authority. In
the report filed in the Senate during the twen
ty-ninth Congress it was said :
" From the evidence in the possession of
the committee, the patriotic devotion of Haym
Salomon to the cause of the American Inde
pendence cannot in their judgment be ques
tioned. The proof of his eminent character
and standing as a citizen and merchant is very
30

The Financier of the Revolution
clear and abundant." Further in the report,
the committee found Mr. Salomon to have
been " the negotiator of all the war subsidies
obtained from France and Holland, which he
indorsed and sold in bills to the merchants in
America, at the credit of two or three months
on his own personal security."
In the same report it was also stated :
" The committee from the evidence before
them are induced to consider Haym Salomon
as one of the truest and most efficient friends
of the country in a very critical period of its
history and when its pecuniary resources were
few and its difficulties many and pressing.
He seems to have trusted implicitly to the
National honor; and the committee are of the
opinion that, as in the case of Lafayette and
others, the Nation ought to be liberal in their
indemnity to a son of any early benefactor in
the day of its prosperity.
" France, in the most pressing times during
the Revolutionary struggle, redeemed her
paper obligations by means of the public do
main; and generation after generation of Rev
olutionary claimants in this country have been
rewarded by a grateful people ; nor ought the
memorialist to bear exception. His claim, in
the opinion of the committee, to the amount
which the United States owed to his father
when he suddenly died, and which has been
clearly established by documents referred to
3i

Haym Salomon
in this report, is a just one, and the recom
pense he seeks ought not to be longer delayed.
" Abundant proof is presented that Haym
Salomon rendered very essential aid to the
cause of the Revolution, and that he did so,
judging by so many of his acts, disinterestedly
and from a sincere and ardent love for human
freedom:" In the report submitted by the Committee
on Revolutionary Claims in the Senate, under
date July 2, 1865, the justice of the claim was
again affirmed, and a further attestation of the
remarkable public spirit of Haym Salomon
vvas made, in these words, viz. :
" It is also proven by the vouchers before
your committee that Haym Salomon provided
the means to support the ambassador of the
King of Spain, Don Francisco Rendon, who
was in secret alliance with the Revolutionary
Government, and whose supplies were cut off
by the British cruisers. This fact was ac
knowledged in an official letter from that
minister to the Governor-General of Cuba,
and the original orders, uncancelled, to the
amount of ten thousand Spanish dollars, are
before your committee, showing that the
amount was never paid. But the memorialist
does not nor never has asked this Government
to pay that sum. 32

The Financier of the Revolution
" All the former reports from the commit
tees of both houses show that Haym Salomon
supported from his private means many of the
principal men of the Revolution, who other
wise, as stated by themselves, could not have
attended to their public duties, among whom
are mentioned Jefferson, Madison, Lee, Steu
ben, Mifflin, St. Clair, Blond, Jones, Monroe,
Wilson and others."
The unsecured loans of Haym Salomon in
the Nation's supreme crisis, like Washing
ton's advance of $64,000, at an earlier period,
out of his own purse, with no other security
but his own faith in the cause, to pay his daily
expenses, while he was leading their armies,
inspired the confidence that made men rally
'round the flag. Even so Jeremiah purchased
a field in Anathoth, in the days when Judah
was captive under Babylon, paying down
seventeen shekels of silver as a token of his
faith that the land would some day be de
livered from the enemy and restored to peace
ful habitation. Washington's pledge of prop
erty to liberty was repaid by a grateful people
— but for his services, not a dollar.
The men who stood with Washington were
33

Haym Salomon /
recklessly rash in the pursuit of their ideals.
John Dickinson said: " It is not our duty to
leave wealth to our children, but it is our duty
to leave liberty to them. We have counted
the cost of this contest and find nothing so
dreadful as voluntary slavery."
Samuel Adams, hungry and poorly clad,
rejected with scorn the offer of a profitable
office, wealth, a title even, to turn him from
his allegiance to America.
John Adams wrote to his wife: "I have
accepted a seat in the House of Representa
tives and thereby have consented to my own
ruin, to your ruin and to the ruin of our chil
dren." She replied: " I am willing, in this cause,
to run all the risks with you and be ruined
with you if you are ruined."
Benjamin Franklin, past seventy, then the
most celebrated man in all America, accepted
the dangerous mission to France, saying: " I
am old and good for nothing, but as the
storekeepers say of the remnants of cloth, ' I
am but a fag end and you may have me for
what you please.' " 34

The Financier of the Revolution
America has honored these patriotic men
and justly so, by high places in her history,
and as we sing their praises we are inspired
with the invincible determination to give our
country to our children as we got it from our
fathers, a free and independent Nation, but
this man, Haym Salomon, who, renouncing
the maxim of worldly wisdom which says,
" Get all you can and keep all you get," gave
all he had to the cause of America, gave it
in a crucial moment, when money alone saved
the day, and when, had he kept it, he could
have made millions, and it is only just to
ask that future writers .of American history
acknowledge " the little Jew," the real finan
cier of the American Revolution. Shall not
the people of this peerless, unrivalled, unap-
proached and unapproachable Republic, now
in the days of their prosperity, erect to this
early benefactor a monument at Washington,
a memorial to this ardent lover of human free
dom, who did in his little office in Front Street,
Philadelphia, for the Nation's credit, what
Washington did on the field of battle for the
people's freedom? 35

Bibliography

A. U. S. Government Reports on Haym
Salomon Claim
Rep. F. A. Talmadge, April 26, 1848,
House Reports, No. 504, 30th Congress, 1st
sess., Vol. III.
Report of Senator J. D. Bright, July 28,
1848. Senate Reports No. 219, 30th Con
gress, ist sess.
Report of Senator I. P. Walker, August 9,
1850. Senate Reports, No. 177, 31st Con
gress, ist sess., Vol. I.
Report of Senator Charles Durkee, March
9, i860. Senate Reports, No. 127, 36th
Congress, ist sess., Vol. I.
Report of Senator M. S. Wilkinson, July
2, 1862. Senate Reports, No. 65, 37th Con
gress, 2d sess.
Senate Reports, June .24, 1864, No. 93,
37th Congress, 2d sess. 36

The Financier of the Revolution
Senate Report to 31st Congress.
Papers of the Continental Congress, No.
41, Vol. IX, p. 58.
The House Report (No. 2,556 to accom
pany H. R. 7,896) summarizes the efforts
made in previous Congresses and reprints
in full the Senate Report to the 37th
Congress. B. Books and Articles
Adams, Herbert B., Haym Salomon:
Publication, American Jewish Historical
Society, No. 2, pp. 15-19.
Daly, Judge Charles Patrick :
Settlement of the Jews in North America.
Edited by Max J. Kohler, New York, 1893;
pp. 58-60.
Hollander, Jacob H. :
Some further references relating to Haym
Salomon. Publications of the American Jew
ish Historical Society, Vol. Ill (1895) ; pp.
7-1- Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. X (1905) ; pp.
653-655- Magnus, Lady Kate :
37

Haym Salomon
Outlines of Jewish History, Philadelphia,
1890; p. 350.
Madison, James :
Writings (Hunt), 228-242.
Markens, Isaac:
The Hebrews in America, New York,
1888; pp. 66-70.
Morris, Robert:
Diary (in Mss.), in Library of Congress,
Washington. Salomon, Haym M. :
Two letters relating to Haym Salomon.
Publications of the American Jewish Histor
ical Society, No. 16 (1907), pp. 189-192.

38

II
Other Jewish Patriots of
the Revolution
HAYM SALOMON was not the only
Jew who sacrificed his fortune for
Independence, for we find that
among the signers of the bills of credit for
the Continental Congress, in 1776, were Ben
jamin Levy, of Philadelphia, and Benjamin
Jacobs, of New York. Samuel Lyon, of New
York, was among the signers of similar bills
in 1779. Isaac Moses, of Philadelphia, con
tributed $15,000 to the Colonial Treasury,
and Herman Levy, another Philadelphian, re
peatedly advanced considerable sums for the
support of the army in the field. Manuel
Mordecai Noah, of South Carolina, not only
served in the army, as an officer on Washing
ton's staff, and likewise with General Marion,
39

Haym Salomon
but gave $100,000 to further the cause in
which he was enlisted.
Among the patriots of the South none
worked more unselfishly than Mordecai Shef-
tall, " Chairman of the Rebel Parochial Com
mittee," organized to regulate the internal af
fairs of Savannah and composed of patriots,
opposed to the royal government, and who,
after active hostilities were begun in the
South, was appointed Commissary-General to
the troops of Georgia in July, 1777, and soon
thereafter was also appointed Commissary to
the Continental troops; and when the British
attacked Savannah in December, 1778, Shef-
tall's name appears not only foremost among
the patriot-defenders of that city and as one
who advanced considerable money to the
cause, but as one who was placed on board
the prison ship because of his refusal to flock
to the royal standard. In 1780, when the
British authorities passed the disqualifying
act, we find the name of Mordecai Sheftall
near the head of the list with the most promi
nent patriot names of Georgia.
Among the 600 Jews of Charleston, S. C,
40

The Financier of the Revolution
then the largest Jewish city in America, there
was not one Tory.
The Jews in New York were not on a foot
ing of political equality with Christians until
the adoption of the first constitution of the
State of New York, in 1777, New York hav
ing been the first State actually granting full
religious liberty to the Jews. Even in Mary
land, to which Bancroft has referred as
among the first colonies which " adopted re
ligious freedom as the basis of the State," re
ligious freedom was limited to those who be
lieved in Jesus Christ, and accompanied by a
proviso, which declared that any person who
denied the Trinity should be punished with
death. Even after the Revolution, though
under the Constitution of the United States
a Jew was eligible to any office, no one could
hold any office under the government of
Maryland without signing a declaration that
he believed in the Christian religion. These
intolerant provisions were not repealed in
Maryland until February 26, 1825.
Though subjected to civil disabilities and
unreasonable demands in most of the States,
4i

Haym Salomon
where they had settled prior to the Revolu
tion, yet the Colonial cause found among the
Jews its staunchest friends. Freely they gave
their lives for Independence and aided with
their money, to equip and maintain the armies
of the Revolution.
The Non-Importation Resolution in 1765,
the first organized movement in the agitation
for separation from the mother country — a
document still preserved in Carpenter's Hall,
Philadelphia — contains the following Jewish
names: Benjamin Levy, Samson Levy, Joseph
Jacobs, Hayman Levy, Jr., David Franks,
Mathias Bush, Michael Gratz, Bernard Gratz
and Moses Mordecai.
The decision reached in New York, in
1770, to make more stringent the Non-Im
portation Agreement, which Colonists had
adopted to bring England to terms on the tax
ation question, had among its signers, Samuel
Judah, Hayman Levy, Jacob Moses, Jacob
Meyers, Jonas Phillips and Isaac Seixas.
Cyrus Adler recently called attention to the
following incident, based on the unpublished
letter of Jared Sparks: "At the outbreak of
42

The Financier of the Revolution
the Revolutionary War, a Mr. Gomez, of
New York, proposed to a member of the Con
tinental Congress that he form a company of
soldiers for service. The member of Con
gress remonstrated with Mr. Gomez on the
score of age, he being then sixty-eight, to
which Mr. Gomez replied that he ' could stop
a bullet as well as a younger man.' "
Colonel Isaac Franks became aide-de-camp
to Washington, holding the rank of Colonel
on his staff and served with distinction
throughout the war.
Major Benjamin Nones, a native of Bor
deaux, France, who came to America in 1777,
served on the staffs of both Lafayette and
Washington. He entered service under Pu
laski, as a private, and as he writes: " fought
in almost every action which took place in
Carolina, and in the disastrous affair of Sa
vannah shared the hardships of that sangui
nary day." He became Major of a legion of
four hundred men, attached to Baron de
Kalb's command and composed in part of He
brews. Colonel David S. Franks, of Montreal,
43

Haym Salomon
openly sympathized with and aided the Amer
icans under Generals Montgomery and Ar
nold during their invasion of Canada, and
was forced to flee from Canada in 1776, when
the American forces abandoned the country.
The name of David S. Franks appeared on
Governor Carleton's list of twenty-nine per
sons, sent to the British Ministry early in
1777, " being the principal persons who set
tled in the province who very zealously served
the rebels in the winter of 1 775-1 776, and
fled upon their leaving it." Franks, who left
Canada with the intention of joining the
American Army, although his course in this
matter resulted in heavy pecuniary losses in
his business affairs and also alienated him
from his father, became aide-de-camp to Ar
nold, intrepid, zealous, and able soldier that
he was, until jealousy, extravagance and spite
led him to take up the traitor's role. Franks
gave testimony to Mrs. Arnold's innocence
of all complicity in her husband's treason.
Suspicions were aroused against Franks on
account of Arnold's treason, but after a
searching inquiry into his conduct, he was not
44

The Financier of the Revolution
only acquitted, but was sent to Europe with
important dispatches to Jay and Franklin,
with instructions to await their orders. In
a letter from Robert Morris to Franklin,
dated Philadelphia, July 13, 1781, we read:
" The bearer of the letter, Major Franks,
formerly aide-de-camp to General Arnold,
and honorably acquitted of all connection with
him, after a full and impartial inquiry, will
be able to give you our public news more par
ticularly than I could relate them."
Philip Moses Russell, in the spring of
1775, enlisted as a surgeon's mate under com
mand of General Lee. After the British oc
cupation of Philadelphia in September, 1777,
he became surgeon's mate to Surgeon Nor
man of the Second Virginia Regiment. Rus
sell went into the winter quarters with the
army at Valley Forge, 1 777-1 778.
Sickness forced him to resign in August,
1780. He received a letter of commendation
from General Washington " for his assidu
ous and faithful attentions to the sick and
wounded." Solomon Bush, Emanuel de la Motta, Ben-
45

Haym Salomon
jamin Ezekiel, Jason Sampson, Ascher Levy,
Nathaniel Levy, David Hays and his son
Jacob, Reuben Etting, Jacob I. Cohen, Major
Lewis Bush, Aaron Benjamin, Moses Bloom
field, Isaac Israel and Benjamin Moses are
the names of a few of the other Jews who
distinguished themselves upon the battlefields
of the Revolution.
A pretty good record is it not, when we
remember that there were only 3,000 Jews
— men, women and children, in the Colonies
at the time of the Revolution ?
The commemoration of the first battlefield
of the Revolutionary War was made possible
through a Jew. Upon learning that Amos
Lawrence, of Boston, had pledged himself to
give $10,000 to complete the Bunker Hill
monument, if any other person could be found
to give a like amount, Judah Touro, of New
Orleans, who came to the aid of Andrew Jack
son during the memorable defense of that
city, immediately sent a check for the amount.
In the History of Bunker Hill Monument,
which was published by George Washington
Warren, appears the following tribute to Ju-
46

The Financier of the Revolution
dah Touro : " He was one of that smallest of
all classes into which mankind can be divided
— of men who accumulate wealth without
ever doing a wrong, taking an advantage, or
making an enemy; who become rich without
being avaricious; who deny themselves the
comforts of life that they may acquire the
means of promoting the comfort and elevat
ing the condition of their fellowmen." At a
dinner given at Faneuil Hall on June 17,
1843, to celebrate the completion of the mon
ument, the two great benefactors of the asso
ciation were remembered by the following
toast :
" Amos and Judah, venerated names,
Patriarch and Prophet press their equal
claims ;
Like generous coursers running neck and
neck,
Each aids the work by giving it a check.
Christian and Jew, they carry out one plan,
For, though of different faiths, each is in
heart a man."

47

BY MADISON C. PETERS

Justice to the Jew
The Story of What He Has Done for the World
AN ENTIRELY NEW EDITION
"No more notable book has appeared in two decades than
'Justice to the Jew. ' " — Pres. Kemp, Illinois Wesleyan Uni
versity. 41 The most intelligent summary of the world's debt to the
Jew ever made." — New Tork Times.
Price, Post-paid, One Dollar

The Wit and Wisdom of the Talmud
Seven Hundred Witty Sayings, Parables
and Legends
" A distinctly valuable book for all literary workers." — Hart
ford (Conn.) Courant.
" A repository of ancient gold." — School Journal.
One Dollar, Post-paid

Hebrew Hopes of Heaven
What the Old Testament Has to Say About the
Great Hereafter
Fifty Cents, Post-pud

Address: COSMOPOLITAN PRESS
1822 Glen wood Road, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Haym Salomon as a Man
Through tho courtesy of Mr. William Salomon,
the author had placed at his disposal copies of
letters written and received by Haym Salomon,
wliiich letters give us an insight into character
of Haym Salomon as a man. Men are apt to say
on the impulse of the moment things which are
not their real thoughts, but when a man deliber
ately sits down and with pen in hand writes out
may be regarded as the best evidence of his real
nature. "As a man thinks so is he." And a
man's written words rather than the things spoken
are the best evidences of what sort of a man he
is. Under date of Feb. 4th, 1782, Joshua Isaacs, of
Lancaster, Pa., wrote to Mr. Salomon concern
ing the number of officers there belonging to
Cornwallis".* army and who were in great want
of money, but found it difficult to sell their Bills.
Isaacs, owing to scarcity of cash could not accom
modate them and wrote to Mr. Salomon to do so.
Mr. Salomon answered that "if the Bills were
drawn by the Pay- "Master-General in favor of any
particular officers and indorsed by the Comman
der-in-Chief, or at least by the Commanding of
ficer of the Regiment, for a short sight, payable
in Xew York, they will answer, if they are drawn
on London it will make no difference. If they
are correctly drawn it is in my power to furnish
sufficient cash to supply the whole army," and
then he added that he would advance small sums
on tbem until he "knew positively that the Bills
were correct." Receiving word from Mr. Isaacs
that everything was all right he answered: "I
shall furnish you with as much cash as you may

stand in need of. Proceed on the business im
mediately ancl draw on me for any sum by post
or express, it shall be honored at sight, let the
amount be ever so great." Thus we see that he
not only relieved our army, but the foes iiii dis
tress found in him a friend.
The letters also show that Mr. Salomon bought
goods of every description for people in all parts
of the Colonies, advancing the money for the pur
pose, for which advance he charged 5%. The
confidence his letters show he reposed in those
who transacted business with him at long dis
tance was remarkable. The letters (indicate a
variety of enterprises and interests which would
be remarkable even in our days. His letters show
that he was one of the most courtly men, a gentle
man of the old school and his demands for money
owed him were made in the kindliest spirit.
Among the' letters in preservation and which
reveal the characteristic of his race is his anxiety
for his parents, how he sent a Mr. Sampson to
find them in Poland, as well as his brothers and
sisters and contributed generously to their wants.
Tt seems for a while he had lost sight of them.
He says it is his "duty now that it is in my
power io afford them assistance." Mr. Sampson
with ."i00 guilders was instructed to dispose it
among his relatives. In one of his letters he says:
"What little I have T feel it my duty to share it
with my father ancl mother — they are the first
to be provided for by me and must and shall have
the preference. Whatever little more 1 can
squeeze out I will give my relations," but, writ
ing to one of his nephews he says : "I tell yon
plainly and truly that it is not in my power to
g-ive vou or any relation yearly allowances. Don't

you or any of them expect it — don't fill your mind
with vain expectations and golden dreams that
never can be accomplished. I have three young
children and as my wife is very young may have
more and if you and the rest of my relations will
consider things with reason they will be sensible
of this I now write, but notwithstanding this I
mean to assist my relations a*s far as lays in my
power." In one of his letters to Felix Gilbert 0f Rock
ingham County, Virginia he concluded by say
ing: "Nothing can give me more real pleasure
than when you please to give me an opportunity
of rendering you such services as is in the power
of Your Very Obedient and Most Humble Ser
vant."' Salomon was a graduate of the University of
Hard-Knocks, he was a self-educated man and
his associations with the foremosr jnen. of his
period made him conscious of the vaTTTg of agood
education and in his letter to Mr. ^jrael Meyer?
of Xew York in which he again speaks of his
concern for his parents and as Mr. Meyers was
going to Poland to relieve in person the parents
of Salomon, he added a postscript to the letter
as follows : "Please mention to my father the
difficulty that I have labored under in not having
any learning and that I should not know what to
have done had it not been for the languages that
I learned in my travels — such as French, English,
etc. Therefore would advise him and all my re
lations to have their children well educated, par
ticularly in the Christian language and should
any of my brother's children have a good head
to learn Hebrew would contribute towards their
being- instructed."

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