Commerce and Connection: Jewish Merchants
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COMMERCE AND CONNECTION: JEWISH MERCHANTS, PHILADELPHIA, AND THE ATLANTIC WORLD, 1736-1822 by Toni Pitock A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Spring 2016 © 2016 Toni Pitock All Rights Reserved ProQuest Number: 10157839 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ProQuest 10157839 Published by ProQuest LLC (2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 COMMERCE AND CONNECTION: JEWISH MERCHANTS, PHILADELPHIA, AND THE ATLANTIC WORLD, 1736-1822 by Toni Pitock Approved: __________________________________________________________ Arwen P. Mohun, Ph.D. Chair of the Department of History Approved: __________________________________________________________ George H. Watson, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Approved: __________________________________________________________ Ann L. Ardis, Ph.D. Senior Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Cathy Matson, Ph.D. Professor in charge of dissertation I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ David Suisman, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Owen White, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Jonathan D. Sarna, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to many individuals and institutions for their help and support during the different stages of my dissertation. This project would not have been possible without the guidance of Cathy Matson, my advisor. Her feedback and direction helped shape my topic, and her dedication, accessibility and encouragement have modeled for me what it means to be a scholar and a teacher. I am grateful to David Suisman and Owen White both for what they taught me throughout my graduate career and for their feedback on this dissertation. Jonathan Sarna arrived at the completion of this dissertation, and I thank him for his valuable input. I also wish to thank James Brophy, Sherryllne Haggerty, Emma Hart, Christine Heyrman, Adam Mendelsohn, and Polly Zavadivker for their support, insights, and suggestions along the way. The faculty and staff in the Department of History at the University of Delaware offered a stimulating and encouraging learning environment, and my colleagues in the graduate program have provided much-needed camaraderie and feedback throughout the dissertation writing process. Thank you to Kevin Barry, Christy Croxall, Julie Fisher, Elizabeth Jones-Minsinger, Stephanie Lampkin, Melissa Maestri, Ashley Moreshead, Kimberley Nath, Colleen Rafferty, Anne Riley, and Nate Wiewora. iv The American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati, the Clements Library at the University of Michigan, the Program in Early American Economy and Society at the Library Company of Philadelphia, and the University of Delaware provided generous support. I am also grateful for the assistance from the staff at these and other institutions. Family and friends offered endless moral support and enthusiasm throughout the process. Friends from the Gryphon Café provided stimulating conversation and, often, much-needed distraction. My fellow Jamaica CVEers inspired, supported, and entertained during several week-long adventures. I am grateful to my late father and my mother, Richard and Pearl Weinberg, my siblings, Barbi Dorfan and Michael Weinberg, and my in-laws, Andra and Paul Rosen, for their unconditional love, for always being available when I need them, and for their support even when I have been preoccupied with my research. I am most indebted to my husband and children who have encouraged me through every stage of my graduate work, nourished, and nurtured me. Elyse, Jeremy, and Nathan Pitock accepted the perpetual presence of the individuals who peopled this dissertation, and graciously accepted “No” when I was too busy. Their curiosity and tenacity inspires me, and their love and laughter sustains me. Todd Pitock believed in me before I believed in myself. His support has given me the courage to keep moving forward; and his insightfulness and incisiveness as a thinker, and his grace as a writer challenges me to reach further. More importantly, his adventurous spirit, optimism, v and joie de vivre have enriched my life in every way. It is to my family I dedicate this work. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. ix INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 Chapter SECTION ONE: BEGINNINGS, 1736-1763 .................................................. 35 1 EMERGENT CONNECTIONS ....................................................................... 36 2 BETWEEN TWO WORLDS ......................................................................... 117 SECTION TWO: DISRUPTIONS, 1763-1785 .............................................. 184 3 TRADING EMPIRE AND NATION ............................................................ 185 4 BECOMING WHITE, BECOMING AMERICAN ....................................... 284 SECTION THREE: EXPANSION, 1783-1822 ............................................. 360 5 FAMILY EXPANSION, NETWORK EXTENSION .................................... 361 6 JEWS, CLASS, AND INTEGRATIONS ....................................................... 436 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………...497 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 505 Appendices A. GENEALOGIES…………………………………………………………….529 B. JEWISH MEN IN PHILADELPHIA: 1736-1776……………….………….531 C. GRATZ/SIMON JEWISH NETWORK BEYOND PHILADELPHIA (1756-1799)……………………………………………………………..…..536 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Abigail Levy Franks…………………………………………………...…132 Figure 2. Jacob Franks……………………………………………………………...132 Figure 3. David and Phila Franks…………………………………………………...133 Figure 4. Map of the Dominion in North America, 1763…………………………...217 Figure 5. Bank of Pennsylvania with David Franks’ House………………………...329 Figure 6. Woodford Mansion………………………………………………………..329 Figure 7. Moses Myers House………………………………………………………493 viii ABSTRACT This dissertation is a case study of Philadelphia’s Jewish commercial community from its emergence in 1736 until the early 1820s. In Philadelphia, a burgeoning city on the western shore of the Atlantic Ocean, the earliest settlers in this community were well placed to connect London, other Atlantic colonies, and Pennsylvania’s hinterlands through their commercial enterprises. Their presence in Philadelphia attracted other Jews to the area who gradually engaged in trade locally, in the greater region, others colonies, and in Europe. Over the course of two generations newcomers and their American-born sons participated in Atlantic and western trade, land speculation, army supply, and corporations aimed at internal development. Events such as the Seven Years’ War, the Imperial Crisis, the American Revolution, and the international wars that followed sometimes facilitated and sometimes impeded their enterprises. These events also revealed Jews’ complex insider-outsider status. Unlike the Sephardi Jews who first settled in the Atlantic world and established other early Jewish communities, it was almost exclusively Ashkenazim who trickled into Philadelphia and its surrounding region. This dissertation, then, adds to scholarship on so-called “Port Jews,” the Jewish Atlantic World, and Jewish trade networks, which usually focuses on Sephardim. It adds portraits of the earliest wave of Ashkenazi migrants who were new to Atlantic world trade. Ashkenazim diligently learned the ix skills they needed to participate in commerce, establish credit, and build up an expansive network that included both Jewish and non-Jewish colleagues in the Atlantic world. Using correspondence and business accounts, this dissertation examines Jews’ relationships with