Essex militia sometime before 1803. In that year, he was promoted to lieutenant. According to the Godfreys, Moses “was the first professing Jew to be appointed a commissioned officer in the militia. And he may have been the first Jew to be appointed a commissioned officer in the whole empire. . . .”47 How Moses David managed to obtain his commission without swearing the state oath and complying with the Test Act is unclear, but the practice was repeated when he was made a captain in 1807.48
In 1808, Moses David was offered the position of coroner of the Western District by Lieutenant Governor Francis Gore. Again according to the Godfreys, this was the first instance of a Jew “being appointed by commission to a government office” in Upper Canada. “It showed how far the government of Upper Canada was willing to go in adopting innovative solutions to allow a person of the Jewish faith to participate in society, without swearing state oaths.” The innovative solution in this case was the posting of a bond as security for the performance of duties in lieu of the state oaths with their Christian/Anglican declarations. As in Moses’ struggle for land rights, the solution of posting bonds in place of taking the state oaths opened the way for other religious minorities seeking equal rights. “Never again was there to be any doubt as to the rights of Jews to obtain grants of land from the crown in Upper Canada or to receive and hold at least some civil and military positions.”49
Trading, Forwarding, Money Lending, and Banking
As were many of his contemporaries, Moses David was a full-service merchant. He dealt with a number of local individuals and companies representative of the whole spectrum of humanity in the area. As a fur trader, Moses had developed close contacts with a number of native groups; as early as April 1794 he was purchasing furs from Antoine Badichon,50 and other French Canadians from Detroit. And from his brother David’s rather large consignment of fur packs to Gabriel Godfroy on credit51 just before the Detroit fire of 1805, one can assume that he relied upon Moses to protect the family’s interests here.
From September 26, 1800, to August 1807, Moses David’s name appears in William Hands’ ledger book. Hands was a merchant of Sandwich and a neighbour of Moses on the next-door property, which he had acquired from the Indians before the laying out of Sandwich. He crossed over from Detroit in 1799 and took up residence at about the same time Moses David began his improvements on the neighbouring property. Hands was a one-man civil service of the Western District, holding a number of posts that included sheriff, treasurer, postmaster, and registrar of the Surrogate Court.52 Moses furnished Hands with a diverse list of items—loadstones, wood, sand, bricks, boards, shingles, cabbages, a lamb, a spelling book, paper, a comb, tea, nails, pipes, and even a bottle of peppermint.53 A close connection with Hands was invaluable in business and legal matters.
Moses also participated in banking and lending although these transactions were usually associated with property, at least as collateral. In 1800 Moses loaned John Boyle, a tailor from Malden £41 4s,54 probably with property as collateral, and on May 18, 1800, witnessed a land sale of property owned by Jonathan Schieffelin, Indian agent and territorial legislator, and Thomas Smith, merchant and surveyor of both Detroit and Sandwich. Of special interest is the fact that Schieffelin was employed in the 1760s in Detroit by the openly avowed Jewish merchant Chapman Abraham. Schieffelin may have been a Jew, although not openly.55 He was called a Jew by Francois Baby during a personal conflict between the two while both were Indian Department officials.
Moses also involved himself in the forwarding business—to Mackinac, the Upper Lakes, and beyond. On May 29, 1800, he wrote to Jacob Franks, a Jewish merchant in Mackinac and Green Bay:
Your boat[s] arrived late last eve. I have provisioned them from this day, for twenty days, should they arrive in a shorter time they will have to account to you. With respect to Duties, which may be laid on at Mackinac, you will no doubt get every information there. I shall write you by the next Boats.
Your humble servant56
Legal Business
Although he was not trained as a lawyer, Moses had a good education for his day. He was certainly literate, his activities suggest a fine legal mind and he was aware of the legal requirements of the business of his day. Court records, in which Moses David was involved either as plaintiff, defendant, or solicitor for clients are numerous. Among them is a suit he filed against the partners in the firm of Forsythe, Smith and Company for non-payment for merchandise. Although the document pertaining to the action is almost illegible, it does show that the hearing judge, Elijah Brush, (a trustee of Detroit and treasurer of the Michigan Territory in 1806) had declared in favour of Moses David:
On the first day of December in the year of our Lord 1802, at Sandwich in the presence of Upper Canada, twice at Detroit and in said county of Wayne, and within the transaction of this court was indebted to the said Moses in the sum of three hundred and fifty dollars lawful money of the United States for goods, monies and merchandise by the said Moses, before that time sold and delivered to the said Forsythe Smith and Company and at this special instance and neglect and so indebted they, the said Forsythe Smith and Company in consideration then and these undertook and faithfully promised the said Moses to pay him the said sort mentioned sum of money.57
In another court action, Jacques Peltier and Jacques and Francoise Lavelle accused Moses David of “picking out all the good skins to be sent to Canada but keeping the bad ones to pay your debts here.”58 The plaintiffs probably were justified in making that claim, since Moses, as his family’s trusted representative in the field, likely made sure that all the best merchandise went to Montreal.
In view of the diversity of his business ventures, Moses David came in contact with many prominent people, for some of whom he did favours on various occasions. One of them was Francis Badgley, who practiced law in Montreal with his brother James. In a letter to Solomon Sibley, written on April 28, 1804, he mentions Moses’ name.59 Solomon Sibley was a Detroit lawyer who was elected to the first legislature of the Northwest Territory in 1799, and was named the delegate to Congress from the territory of Michigan between 1820–1823. He subsequently served as a judge of Michigan’s Supreme Court. Sibley acted as Badgley’s attorney, when he, as the last surviving partner of Francis Badgley and Company, sued a Mr. Joseph Campeau for money owed to the firm. The following excerpts, from that letter, show Moses’ involvement in the case:
Sir,
I duly received your favour of the first of December, last, Mr. D. will no doubt have advised you, so this paper as I conceive it was very sufficient. I wrote to Mr. D. that if he made out his objections so stated to his satisfaction what he might allow that amount to be deducted from the account as it then stood and, in order to close the business until I have done with (the gentleman), either in money or good pelts at the current cash prices. Certainly nothing can be more fair on my part. I now repeat with respect to the interest for two years past, I am willing to have it to Mr. David’s discretion, although I shall never think otherwise than that is my just due. The demand Campeau made of 10% more on his furs than the market price is an abominable advantage he wishes to take of me and which no man could admit for a moment in the discharge of a debt long due. At the time there might have been some reason for such an idea, had payment been closed 12 months before the payment was due, but certainly not in the present case. You mentioned that you should write me again with a statement of what proof was necessary. Not having received any further advice from you or Mr. David on the subject, I can say nothing further on the business but that in a few days I shall send you a detailed account of every particular with the book of origin entry which my brother kept in Detroit. In the meantime, please communicate this to Mr. David. In hopes of soon hearing that the matter is settled,
I remain, your obedient servant,
[signed] Francis Badgley60
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