David Franks: Colonial Merchant

Mark Abbott Stern

Published by Penn State University Press 2010

David Franks

Colonial Merchant

Mark Abbott Stern

In the series Keystone Books

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780271051345

Overview
Contents

About this book

David Franks, a colonial businessman in Philadelphia, was one of the most important figures in American Jewish history in the eighteenth century. This extensively researched biography illuminates not only Franks's personal dealings, but also his business life. Franks was involved with Indian trade, ship design and building, manufacturing, international trade, land speculation, westward exploration, and military provisioning. This volume follows Franks from his beginnings in a prominent Jewish family to his trials for treason and his exile in the postrevolutionary period, offering a unique portrait of a forgotten American.

Author / Editor information

Stern Mark Abbott :

Mark Abbott Stern is a retired engineer and amateur historian. He has devoted the past eleven years to studying the life of David Franks.

Reviews

“In this gracefully written book, Mark Abbott Stern tells the story of a Jewish man, his Christian family, and his adopted city of Philadelphia during the era that led to American independence. David Franks: Colonial Merchant is the sweeping and illuminating chronicle of a businessman’s engagement with history, the grand intersection of personal temperament with war, westward expansion, and social assimilation. Demonstrating remarkable archival scholarship, Stern writes with skill, sympathy, and mastery about a man in his times.”
—Edith B. Gelles, Stanford University

“Mark Abbott Stern’s well-written and extremely well-researched biography of Philadelphia merchant David Franks (1720–1793) ranks among the best works on early American Jews. It is also the finest study I know that clarifies the complicated story of army contracting during the French and Indian War and the bureaucratic intricacies of caring for prisoners of war during the American Revolution.”
—William A. Pencak, The Pennsylvania State University

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Foreword William Pencak Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Preface and Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Publicly Available Download PDF	xix
One David Franks, Arrested for Treason Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Two Family, Friends, and Associates Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	6
Three Indian Affairs, Family Growth, and Supplying the Army Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
Four Commercial Adventures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
Five Plumsted and Franks, Agents for the Contractors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	46
Six General Jeffrey Amherst and Colonel Henry Bouquet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	56
Seven Major General Thomas Gage Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
Eight Franks, Inglis and Barkly, Agents for the Contractors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
Nine Levy and Franks and Land Speculation Companies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
Ten A Time of Transition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	102
Eleven Working Both Sides of the Street Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
Twelve War and Financial Turmoil in Philadelphia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	122
Thirteen The Revenge of the Radicals Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
Fourteen A Time of Trials Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
Fifteen Exiles Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	158
Sixteen The Final Chapter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
Appendix A Letters to the Editor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
Appendix B Questions of Death and Burial Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
Appendix C “Dear Mrs. Cad”: A Revolutionary War Letter of Rebecca Franks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253

Language: English
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 288

eBook

Published: November 4, 2015
ISBN: 9780271051345