Moses Michael Hays was an American banker, merchant, and philanthropist.
Background
Hays was born in New York City in 1739 to Dutch Jewish immigrants Judah Hays and Rebecca Michaels. Moses continued his father’s commitment to Congregation Shearith Israel, serving as second parnas (vice-president) in 1766 and parnas in 1767.
Career
As Boston"s most prominent 18th-century Jewish citizen, Moses Michael Hays set a high standard for civic leadership and charity. In 1766, Hays was married to Rachel Myers, younger sister of famed New York silversmith Myer Myers. The couple moved to Newport, Rhode Island in 1769, where Hays continued his shipping business.
Business reverses landed him in debtor’s prison but he was set free when he liquidated his assets and repaid his creditors.
He immediately reestablished himself in the transport-Atlantic trade. In 1775, seventy-six men in Newport were asked to sign a declaration of loyalty to the American colonies that included the phrase "upon the true faith of a Christian." Hays publicly objected to the phrase and refused to sign, standing firm on the philosophy of "all men created equal".
Instead he offered a letter affirming his belief that the Revolution was a just cause. Hays signed when the Christian portion of the oath was omitted.
The Hays family left Newport for Boston ahead of the British occupation in 1776.
He opened a shipping office in Boston and was among the first merchants there to underwrite shipbuilding, trade and insurance to newly opened Far Eastern markets. In 1783, Reverend Isaac de Abraham Touro, husband to Hay’s sister Reyna died in Jamaica, leaving his widow with three children: Abraham, Judah and Rebecca. Moses Hays brought the family to Massachusetts and raised Reyna’s children as his own.
Hays also helped to establish the New England Masonic movement.
When Hays was accepted into the Massachusetts Lodge in November 1782, he was the only Jew. In 1792, the lodge members elected Hays their Grand Master with Paul Revere as his Deputy.
Hays provided financial support to beautify Boston Common, establish theaters and endow Harvard College. Hays descendants helped found the Boston Athenaeum and the Massachusetts General Hospital and remain prominent in Boston public life to this day.
Hays died in 1805 and is buried at The Colonial Jewish Burying Ground in Newport.