Background
Haym Salomon was born c. 1740 at Leszno (Lissa), Poland, of Jewish-Portuguese ancestry.
Haym Salomon was born c. 1740 at Leszno (Lissa), Poland, of Jewish-Portuguese ancestry.
In his youth he traveled widely, acquired an excellent knowledge of foreign languages.
In 1772 he fled to England and thence to New York, where he opened a brokerage and commission merchant's business. His previous association with the cause of liberty in his native country drew him naturally to the side of the American Whigs and later to the movement for American independence.
During the British occupation of New York his activities led to his arrest as a spy (Sept. 22, 1776) and consequent imprisonment. The British, however, put him to use as an interpreter and assigned him to the Hessian general, Heister, who placed him in the commissary department. There he made use of his increased freedom to induce Hessian soldiers to resign or to desert. Paroled after a brief imprisonment, he resumed his business as merchant and continued to act as an under-cover desertion agent among the Hessians.
In August 1778 Salomon was again arrested, charged with being an accomplice in a plot to burn the King's fleet and to destroy British warehouses around New York. He was confined in the dreaded prison, the Provost, and condemned to death, but on Aug. 11, by turning to advantage a string of golden guineas which he had concealed on himself, he bribed his jailer and escaped to the American lines, leaving his family behind in the city. Fourteen days later found him in Philadelphia addressing a memorial to Congress setting forth his services to the cause and asking for some employment, but to no avail.
With the assistance of friends he thereupon opened an office as dealer in bills of exchange and other securities. The business prospered, and within the next few years he became a leading broker in the city and one of the largest depositors in the Bank of North America, to which he was a subscriber. He was paymaster-general for the French forces in America and most of the war subsidies of France and Holland passed through his hands.
As almost sole broker for the office of finance in the sale of bills of exchange he contributed much to maintain the bankrupt government's credit. Original checks and vouchers presented before a later committee of Congress show that he advanced in specie to the superintendent of finance at various times a total of $211, 678. In addition he held government obligations of various sorts amounting to $353, 729. 33, six promissory notes to the amount of $92, 600, making an aggregate indebtedness against the government of $658, 007. 43, as shown by his papers and later recognized by committees in Congress.
Following the war Salomon suffered heavy financial reverses. His plans to return to New York in 1785 as a factor, broker, and auctioneer were interrupted by his sudden death, undoubtedly hastened by an impaired constitution owing to his imprisonment by the British.
He helped convert the French loans into ready cash by selling bills of exchange for Robert Morris, the Superintendent of Finance. He was possibly, along with Morris, the prime financier of the American side during the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain. To calculate the full extent of Salomon's financial assistance there should be added to the above figures advances of more than $20, 000 to pay the salaries of men holding government posts in order to keep them in the service, and untold additional advances during the war to army officers, to foreign agents, and for the outfitting of soldiers. These liberal advances in specie and equally liberal investments in Revolutionary paper furnish a singularly outstanding example of unselfish devotion to the American cause, particularly when it is remembered that the family was left practically penniless at his death.
He became an ardent advocate of Polish and American independence.
Quotations: In 1784, Salomon answered anti-Semitic slander in the press by stating: "I am a Jew; it is my own nation; I do not despair that we shall obtain every other privilege that we aspire to enjoy along with our fellow-citizens. "
Quotes from others about the person
His 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. "
On Jan. 2, 1777, he married Rachel, daughter of Moses B. Franks, an influential Jewish merchant.
