Michael Gratz

1740 (age 71)

Langensdorf, Upper Silesia, Switzerland

Faraway India had come within the ken of venturesome traders and Michael, following the lure of this distant land of new opportunities, sailed from London in 1757. His expectations must have been disappointed for he remained in India little more than a year. Returning to London either late in 1758 or early in 1759, in April of the latter year, he set sail for America in order to join his brother, Barnard. Upon his arrival in Philadelphia he entered the employ of David Franks as had his brother five years previously. It was not long before the brothers formed a partnership, known as B. & M. Gratz. They “adventured” in the coast trade between New Orleans and Quebec and in the country west of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the frontier town of that day. Through the influence of Joseph Simon, the leading merchant of Lancaster, whose daughter hemarried, the brothers obtained valuable business connections and secured large tracts of land in Virginia, western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, their holdings in the last named state including the famous Mammoth Cave territory. Among other ventures, the Gratz brothers ran a line of steamboats from the Forks of the Ohio (Pittsburgh) down the river into Kentucky and Indiana. As stanch patriots they were very helpful in securing needed supplies for the colonies, notably Virginia, by running the British blockade. During the Revolution, Michael Gratz had removed to Virginia, where he took the oath of allegiance to that state in 1783. The first Philadelphia directory, published in 1785, contains the name of Michael Gratz and describes him as “merchant, Fourth between Market and Chestnut. ” He continued actively in business until 1798 when his health began to fail and his sons Simon and Hyman succeeded to the business. Michael was buried in the old cemetery on Spruce Street between Eighth and Ninth, where rest so many of the pioneers of the Jewish community of Philadelphia.

Michael Gratz

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merchant

Background

Michael Gratz was born in Langensdorf, Upper Si lesia. He was the son of Solomon Gratz.

Education

Like his brother Barnard, Michael served his apprenticeship in the London counting-house of his cousin, Solomon Henry, which he entered in 1756.

Career

Faraway India had come within the ken of venturesome traders and Michael, following the lure of this distant land of new opportunities, sailed from London in 1757.

His expectations must have been disappointed for he remained in India little more than a year. Returning to London either late in 1758 or early in 1759, in April of the latter year, he set sail for America in order to join his brother, Barnard.

Upon his arrival in Philadelphia he entered the employ of David Franks as had his brother five years previously. It was not long before the brothers formed a partnership, known as B. & M. Gratz.

They “adventured” in the coast trade between New Orleans and Quebec and in the country west of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the frontier town of that day.

Through the influence of Joseph Simon, the leading merchant of Lancaster, whose daughter hemarried, the brothers obtained valuable business connections and secured large tracts of land in Virginia, western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky, their holdings in the last named state including the famous Mammoth Cave territory.

Among other ventures, the Gratz brothers ran a line of steamboats from the Forks of the Ohio (Pittsburgh) down the river into Kentucky and Indiana. As stanch patriots they were very helpful in securing needed supplies for the colonies, notably Virginia, by running the British blockade.

During the Revolution, Michael Gratz had removed to Virginia, where he took the oath of allegiance to that state in 1783. The first Philadelphia directory, published in 1785, contains the name of Michael Gratz and describes him as “merchant, Fourth between Market and Chestnut. ”

He continued actively in business until 1798 when his health began to fail and his sons Simon and Hyman succeeded to the business.

Michael was buried in the old cemetery on Spruce Street between Eighth and Ninth, where rest so many of the pioneers of the Jewish community of Philadelphia.

Achievements

Michael Gratz and his brother, along with David Franks, Mathias Bush and others, signed the Non-Importation Resolutions of 1765 to protest the Stamp Act. During the Revolution Michael Gratz took the oath of allegiance to that state in 1783.

Personality

Among Michael's twelve children was the well-known philanthropist, Rebecca Gratz.

Connections

On June 20, 1769, Michael married Miriam Simon.

Father:: Solomon Gratz.
Wife:: Miriam Simon Gratz
Daughter:: Rebecca Gratz
Daughter:: Frances Gratz Etting
Daughter:: Rachel Gratz Moses
Son:: Simon Gratz
Son:: Hyman Gratz
Son:: Jacob Gratz

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Michael Gratz

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Michael Gratz

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