America celebrates its independence on July 4. What few in our community know is that the person responsible for saving the newly established nation from collapse was a frum Jew, Haym Salomon.
Haym Salomon, (1740-1785) the first documented Jewish immigrant from Poland to the U.S. is considered the most prominent financier of the American Revolution. An observant Jew, he was a close friend of George Washington. His knowledge of English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Polish, Russian, French, German, Spanish and Italian helped him become a successful merchant who sold stocks and bonds and served as an international broker. He acted without remuneration as the financial agent of the French, doing all in his power to facilitate the Franco-American Alliance. The French Minister appointed Haym Salomon paymaster general of the French forces fighting for the American cause. The Dutch, and Spanish governments also engaged him to sell the securities that supported their loans to the Continental Congress. American patriot forces were supported by the Kingdoms of France and Spain while Britain was supported by the Hessian soldiers of Germany.
Because of his wealth and access to money, Haym Salomon was able to save the newly established nation from collapse.
Over a three year period, Salomon’s financial contributions to George Washington and the war effort totaled well over $650,000, which in today’s currency would exceed $15 million.
Salomon’s Money Ensures Decisive Victory
The last major battle of the American Revolution took place with the surrender of Yorktown, Virginia, where more than 8,000 British troops convinced the British Parliament to begin negotiations for the end of the war. On September 4, 1783, the treaty of Paris was signed.
If not for Haym Salomon, the decisive victory at Yorktown would not have taken place.
By 1781, the American congress had run out of money. The tremendous cost of financing the war effort had taken its toll. In September of that year, George Washington decided to march on Yorktown to engage British General George Cornwallis. French Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse was ordered to sail with his French fleet from the West Indies to America to assist George Washington and French General de Rochambeau in the War for American Independence.
This fleet would only be able to stay until late October, so Washington was facing immense pressure to lead an attack on Yorktown before then.
After having marched through Pennsylvania, with almost no food or supplies, Washington’s troops were on the verge of mutiny. They would only continue to march on the condition that they would receive a full month’s pay in coins. Washington wrote to the Superintendent of Finance, English-born Robert Morris saying he would need $20,000 to conduct operations, feed, provision, and clothe his army. Morris responded that there was no money or even credit left.
Washington simply wrote, “Send for Haym Salomon.”
Within days, Haym Salomon had raised the $20,000 needed for what proved to be the decisive victory of the Revolution.
According to one legend, the messenger from Robert Morris found Haym Salomon in Shul as it was Yom Kippur. Salomon made a successful appeal then.
Robert Morris kept a diary in which he recorded many of his financial transactions; the extent to which he relied on Salomon may be gathered from the fact that between August, 1781, and April, 1784, Salomon’s name appears in the diary seventy-five times.
Haym Salomon’s Reward:
The Magen David on the One Dollar Bill
The story is related that when Haym Salomon was asked by George Washington , what he would like as a personal reward for his services to the Continental Army, Salomon responded that he wanted nothing for himself, but he would like something for his people.
“This something for his people”, according to tradition is the Magen David depicted on the one dollar bill.
On the back of the one-dollar bill there are two circles. Together, they comprise the Great Seal of the United States. The 13 stars symbolizing the thirteen colonies in the right hand circle are arranged as a Magen Dovid.
The thirteen stars at the back of the one dollar bill depicting a Magen David.
Salomon Lends Money to Prominent Statesmen
In addition to the Continental Army, Haym Salomon made private loans to prominent statesmen such as James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe, from whom he would not take interest. Salomon also personally advanced funds, charging interest and commissions well below the market rates to members of the Continental Congress and other federal officers.
James Madison (who was later to become the fourth U.S. President) wrote in a letter (dated August 27, 1782) “I have for some time past been a pensioner on the favor of Haym Salomon, a Jew broker.” On Sept. 30 of the same year, he wrote: “The kindness of our little friend in Front street, (Mr. Salomon) near the coffee-house, is a fund which will preserve me from extremities, but I never resort to it without great mortification, as he obstinately rejects all recompense. “
In addition to James Madison, other recipients of Haym Salomon’s generosity included one of the first judges of the Federal Supreme Court, James Wilson and Edmund Randolph, Attorney General of Virginia and Secretary of State of the United States.
Early Years
Haym Salomon was born in Leszno, (Lissa) Poland, on April 7, 1740, a descendant of Portuguese Jewish immigrants. Very little is known of his family, although according to one source, his father was a rabbi. This may be very possible as the city in which he was born was part of Prussian Posen and was known for its Talmidei Chachomim including Rabbi Yaakov Lorbeerbaum, the Chavos Daas of Lissa, (1760-1832) and Rabbi Akiva Eiger (1762-1837) who served as a Rosh Yeshiva in that city. Lissa was also the birthplace of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer, a Talmid of the two aforementioned Rabbonim and a mechaber of several Seforim including Even Bochan and Sefer Moznaim LaMishpat on Choshen Mishpat. Rabbi Kalischer is best known for his views on the resettlement of the Land of Israel.
One of two main routes connecting Warsaw and Dresden ran through Leszno in the 18th century and Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland often traveled that route.
A fire in 1767 which destroyed the entire Jewish quarter of Lissa and killed 20 Jews was the impetus for Haym Salomon to flee his native city. He traveled throughout Europe where he learned many of the local languages but still considered Poland his home.
In 1772, however, the First Partition of the Three Partitions of Poland took place. The three partitions would eventually end the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth twenty-three years later. It was then, in 1772 when Haym Salomon realized Poland as he knew it would soon be gone, he sailed for the American colonies.
Marriage to Rachel Franks
Five years after he arrived in New York, in 1777, he married Rachel Franks, the daughter of the wealthy Moses Benjamin Franks. One of her brothers was Mayer I. Franks, a Supreme Court of Pennsylvania judge. Another brother of hers was Isaac Franks, a colonel in the revolutionary army. In 1793, during the prevalence of yellow fever, President Washington resided in the home of Isaac Franks at Germantown, a suburb of Philadelphia. Sadly, he was married to a Christian.
Rachel Franks was a granddaughter of Aaron Franks who was a friend of King George of Hanover. Aaron Franks loaned that monarch the jewels in his crown that he wore at his coronation, which marked the beginning of the House of Hanover in the British Monarchy.
Haym Salomon’s Ketubah, dated the second day of Rosh Chodesh Tamuz, 5537, July 6, 1777 in New York – image Courtesy of the American Jewish Historical Society.
Joining the Sons of Liberty
To protest the British, Haym Solomon joined the Sons of Liberty, a secret organization that fought against British taxation policies and known for their role in the Boston Tea Party. In 1776, the year before his marriage, he was arrested in New York by the British for espionage.
Although it is not known for certain that Salomon was actually a spy, the British authorities seem to have believed so. However, they decided to spare him from the traditional death sentence for spies and offered him a pardon in exchange for his linguistic services. The British officers needed translators to communicate with their Hessian soldiers, most of whom spoke no English. Salomon who was fluent in German, served as their interpreter. Salomon used his translating as an opportunity to encourage as many as five hundred German soldiers to desert the British ranks. He also spent a lot of time helping patriot captives escape from British prisons.
In 1778, when the British discovered that Haym Salomon was urging the German mercenaries to desert, Salomon was sentenced to hang. He managed to escape by bribing the guard. He fled to Philadelphia with his wife and baby, Yechezkel Salamon.
Within a short amount of time he re-established himself as a merchant and financial broker.
Haym Salomon as Merchant
From 1781 to 1784 Haym Salomon placed over 1085 advertisements in New York and Philadelphia newspapers announcing the sale of vinegar, wine, rum, brandy, bread, rice, pepper, tobacco, Havana sugar, raisins, almonds, Green and Congo teas, umbrellas, chimney tiles and real estate. His dry goods would include silk gloves, linen handkerchiefs, superfine and coarse broad cloths of all colors, Irish linens, elegant Damask table linens and beautiful paper hangings. His New York ads would sometimes be accompanied by French and Dutch translations. Some newspaper issues would carry as many as five ads at one time.
Helped Build Mikveh Israel Synagogue
Haym Salomon was a member of Congregation Mikveh Israel, now known as the “Synagogue of the American Revolution,” which is the fourth oldest continuous synagogue in the United States. It was founded in 1740 with a Minyan gathering first in private homes. After renting quarters on Sterling Alley and then around the corner on Cherry St., the community built their own synagogue. Haym Salomon was a major contributor towards the 1782 construction of the Congregation’s main building by donating 25% of the cost. Interestingly, Benjamin Franklin, who was not Jewish donated $5 to the construction of the building.
Haym Salomon also served as the treasurer to the Society for the Relief of Destitute Strangers, the first Jewish charitable organization in Philadelphia.
Religious Test Oath for Holding Office Removed
Salomon together with five other Jews was involved in the successful effort to have the Pennsylvania Council of Censors remove the religious test oath required for office-holding under the State Constitution. This test oath barred Jews and other non-Christians from holding public office in Pennsylvania. In 1783, the total population of Philadelphia was estimated at 40,000 and the Jewish population was only 350 and yet Haym Salomon was able to accomplish this.
Letters illustrating Haym Salomon’s Adherence to Judaism
According to an oft quoted letter he had written to his uncle in Europe in 1783, Haym Salomon discouraged his relative from immigrating to the States. He wrote in Yiddish there is Veinig Yiddishkeit, (little Judaism) here.
From a letter Haym Salomon sent to the British Chief Rabbi, David Tevele Schiff in Hebrew and Yiddish in Ellul of 5544 (1784) we learn that Haym Salomon participated in the first known rabbinic court of arbitration in the United States. This arbitration was regarding an inheritance belonging to someone in London who was supposed to receive the money from a Jew in the colonies. Haym Salomon is in touch with the Chief Rabbi regarding all the particulars.
It is also interesting to note that Haym who signs his name “son of Reb Salomon” thanks the Chief Rabbi for taking care of his father; he notifies Rabbi Schiff that he instructed a certain individual to give 50 ducats to his father so that he can purchase a Kever, clothing and membership in the Kehilla. Haym Salomon blesses the Chief Rabbi for all the good he has done for Haym’s father and for Haym Salomon individually. Haym also asks Rabbi Schiff to convey a message to his mother regarding a gold chain that he gave her.
On June 23, 1825, Haym M. Salomon, the son of Haym Salomon who was born several months after his father’s death wrote to the Parnas and Trustees of Congregation Mikveh Israel the following letter: It illustrates the adherence to Yiddishkeit of his famous father.
“Having understood that the Sepher Torah which my father (Olav Hashalom) had imported at considerable expense, and which was lodged in the Philadelphia Shule as our property, had in consequence of being unopened for the long time while the Shule was rebuilding so dimned the ink of its writing that in many places it has become quite obscure.
“Wishing to have it perfectly repaired, I have found a very competent friend who has undertaken to have it remedied completely here and prevent its becoming Pasul. Please therefore hand it carefully over to my nephew, Joseph J. Andrews, who will forward it to me without delay for that object.”
More than three months later, on October 2, 1825, Zalegman Phillips, Parnass of Mikveh Israel was directed by his Board to write Salomon informing him that the scroll was regarded as the property of the synagogue and that it needed no restoration.
The following letter was sent back to Zalegman Phillips by Hyam M. Salomon:
….. Allow me my dear Sir to acknowledge the kind mention you made of the known exertions my father made during his residence in your city to promote the due observance of our religion.
Haym M. Salomon reasserted that the title to the scroll remained in his family and commented on the high degree of religious laxity in both Philadelphia and New York.
Since Haym M. Salomon never knew his father, much credit must be given to his mother for having raised him to be a G-d fearing and observant Jew.
An Untimely Death
Sadly, Salomon passed away on January 8, 1785, at the age of 44. He had contracted tuberculosis. Due to the failure of the government and his private lenders to repay debt incurred by the war, he was impoverished and his family was left penniless after his passing. Without money for a headstone, Salomon was buried in an unmarked grave in congregation Mikveh Israel’s Spruce Street Cemetery in Philadelphia.
Haym Solomon’s obituary in the Independent Gazetteer read: Thursday, last, expired, after a lingering illness, Mr. Haym Salomon, an eminent broker of this city, was a native of Poland, and of the Hebrew nation. He was remarkable for his skill and integrity in his profession, and for his generous and humane deportment. His remains were yesterday deposited in the burial ground of the synagogue of this city.
Years later, Salomon’s son, Haym M. Salomon, and later his family, repeatedly petitioned the U.S. government for repayment of the loans. Haym M. Salomon was seeking, with interest, in excess of $650,000.
Various United States House and Senate Committees reviewed the Salomon financial claims and agreed that the family should be paid back. However, each time payments were denied to the family for one reason or another. The family even offered to settle for $100,000 in the late 19th century but the offer was never accepted. In 1893, a Congressional recommendation that a gold medal be struck in honor of Haym Salomon did not materialize. The Jewish-American Hall of Fame did design a Haym Salomon medal in 1972, however, which was meant to serve as a substitute for the 1893 medal.
Pennsylvania Historical Marker, 44 N 4th Street, Philadelphia (July 2014)
In 1975, a commemorative stamp honoring Haym Salomon was issued by the U.S. Postal Service. On the glue side of the stamp, the following words were printed: “Financial Hero – Businessman and broker Haym Salomon was responsible for raising most of the money needed to finance the American Revolution and later to save the new nation from collapse”.