The Jews of Windsor, 1790-1990. Jonathan V. Plaut

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ Mackenzie and his partner Frederick William Ermatinger. And in a quirk of fate, six years after Moses’ death, on September 6, 1820, McKenzie resold the property to David David, with F. W. Ermatinger releasing all claims to the property.⁷⁸

      Eventually David David inherited all the properties from the estate of his late brother, in particular, the 114 acres in Colchester. Some eight years after David David’s own death on October 9, 1832,⁷⁹ his executors sold the land to Henry Hoffman for £250. However, during David David’s lifetime, as early as 1805, he must have been quite active in the border city area. Records reveal a correspondence he had with a Gabriel Godfroy⁸⁰ of Detroit to whom he had shipped a consignment of fur packs, for which he had not received payment in the amount of £1,766 18s 11p.⁸¹ Since David also allowed his brother to act as his agent in a variety of local land deals, there is no justification for the notion that Moses was not on good terms with his family. David not only visited his brother but also took an interest in his affairs.

       Additional Family Connections

      Taking on apprentices was common practice among many businessmen and David was instrumental in arranging a two-year apprenticeship in March 1805 for Jean Baptiste Dodlain,⁸² for whom Moses had to provide all the necessities of life. David subsequently became involved on his brother’s behalf with the drafting of another contract. This involved the apprenticeship of their nephew David Hayes in Sandwich. That agreement, reproduced here in part, is of even greater significance since it contains the first reference to Andrew and Abigail Hayes’ son David, whose birth had remained unrecorded until May 6, 1805, the date on which the following document was drawn up:

      Before the subscribing public notaries residing in the city of Montreal in the province of Lower Canada, personally came and appeared David Hayes, a minor son of Andrew Hayes of Montreal, aforesaid merchant being duly assisted by and with the consent and approbation of his said father testified by his present and as subscribing these presents. And declared the said David Hayes that he hath of his own free will and accord placed and bound himself apprentice to Moses David of Sandwich in Province of Upper Canada a merchant, his brother David David of Montreal merchant being present and accepting for him and in the name of Moses David, to be taught in the art of science and trade; to live, continue and serve him as an apprentice henceforth unto the full term of four years hence next ensuring and fully to be compleat and end.⁸³

      Listed as residing in Sandwich, the name of David Hayes subsequently appeared as a witness to several land transactions concluded by Moses David.⁸⁴

      Moses David, besides acquiring properties for himself, his brother David, and for others in trust, he also lent money to various people, including Jean Baptiste Parre, who borrowed £50 11s from him on June 21, 1806.⁸⁵ Among Moses’ land purchases were two hundred acres known as South Gore for which he paid £200. The lands were located between lots No. 11 and No. 12, in the Second, Third, and Fourth Concessions of the Township of Colchester.⁸⁶ Other land transactions show that on April 6, 1807, he bought land in Gosfield from John Bell,⁸⁷ and purchased a lot in Elizabethtown on September 12, 1809, from Robert Livingston.⁸⁸ As well, he acquired property from James Heward, to whom he may have given a longterm mortgage, as he did not take possession of it until January 31, 1811.⁸⁹ Among the land Moses took as collateral for loans was Lot No. 42 in the Second Concession and another property against which he registered a mortgage on July 2, 1807, in the amount of 127 pounds, 13 shillings, 9 pence, and 3 farthings.⁹⁰

       Moses and Charlotte

      Although a great deal of material has been uncovered about Moses David’s business activities, the only somewhat oblique reference to his social life is contained in a March 12, 1805, letter written to him by his friend James May of Detroit. Inquiring about an illness Moses appears to have had, he expresses the hope that “it did not proceed from your frolic at Mr. Henry’s — when you were imprudent enough to cross this river at midnight.”⁹¹ Moses’ religious life, although interesting, also is enigmatic. We know that he owned a set of Hebrew prayer books, inscribed, “Sandwich, Upper Canada 1803,”⁹² that he supported the synagogue in Montreal, and that he occasionally returned to that city on business and religious missions. But Moses was isolated in Sandwich/Detroit from fellow Jews and forced to choose between Assumption, the existing Roman Catholic church, and St. John’s Anglican Church, both in Sandwich. St. John’s was the only Protestant place of worship in the Sandwich area and it would seem natural for Moses to have chosen the Protestant church for social and business reasons, if no other. It is also quite traditional for Jews to support wider community needs with contributions — his family in Montreal, for example. In Quebec, it was also tradition to consider Jews as Protestant in terms of rights, being non-Catholic. Reverend Pollard of St. John’s was a former fur trader and probably good company for Moses — and not overly sanctimonious given his merchant background.

      Since his name appears at the end of a list of persons who attended a vestry meeting on March 23, 1807, his only interest in the gathering was likely the fact that the sale of various properties was one of the topics.⁹³ He was also a witness to the marriage of Joseph Eberts, merchant and Ann Baker, spinster,” performed by Reverend Richard Pollard at St. John’s Church on July 24, 1810.⁹⁴ Dr. Eberts was a fascinating character who left Montreal in the dead of night after performing an autopsy in violation of church and civil law. In Detroit in 1804, he suffered through a highly publicized divorce, which damaged his reputation further. It is possible that Moses was the only person in Sandwich willing to stand up for him.⁹⁵ Back in Montreal, his older brother Samuel also married in 1810, perhaps giving Moses pause to consider his own marital status.

      Because of Moses David’s position in the community, he had an association with that church and even held a pew seat there, as claimed by Windsor historian George F. Macdonald in his compilation of data about Moses’ life,⁹⁶ but that he remained a Jew throughout his life is borne out by the fact that he was buried in the backyard of his Sandwich home, rather than in the cemetery adjoining St. John’s Church.

      Moreover, there were indications that Moses David occasionally visited his family in Montreal, since a journey he made in the summer of 1804 is mentioned in his brother Samuel’s diary,⁹⁷ as well as in a letter to Moses from Francis Badgley.⁹⁸ On one of these trips he must have been introduced to Charlotte, daughter of Dorothea (née Judah) and Aaron Hart,⁹⁹ — Canada’s first Jewish settler. Born on June 4, 1777,¹⁰⁰ in London, England, she became an astute and active businesswoman in her own right, a most unusual phenomenon in the nineteenth century. Using a portion of the money she had inherited from her father, on October 6, 1804, Charlotte registered a £500 mortgage against a property held by Robert Lester and Robert Marrogh.¹⁰¹ It stipulated that the loan be repaid within three months and that if Charlotte married and/or in case of her death, her brothers would be entitled to the repayment.

      Moses must have asked for Charlotte’s hand in marriage some time before September 29, 1811, when he and his bride-to-be entered into a pre-nuptial agreement that stated, in part, that they

      shall and will have and take each other to be man and wife and that their marriage shall be celebrated without delay according to the rites and forms of Jewish laws and, further, that there shall not be any communacity or community property between them, the said Moses David and Charlotte Hart, either of the real and personal property, which now belongs to them or either of them, or shall or may be acquired by or come to them or either of them during their intended marriage in any manner or way whatsoever any have wage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.¹⁰²

      In addition, Moses David had to give £1,000 to his prospective wife in lieu of dower — that part of a husband’s property that his widow inherits for life after his death — allowing her to use it in any way she deemed proper. Even though the contract further stipulated that the marriage should take place “without СКАЧАТЬ