The Jews of Windsor, 1790-1990. Jonathan V. Plaut

the ledger page of Henry’s account with Moses, which clearly showed the diversity of his business dealings. Covering the period between November 1809 and June 24, 1812, Moses apparently had supplied Henry with such items as a “tea kettle, maid’s hose, table cloths, book, calfskin, flour, drawing knife, and nails.”⁶⁶

      Even though Moses David continued to engage in business with prominent Americans, businessmen as well as political figures, he remained loyal to Great Britain. Anxious to come to her aid, should he be required to do so, he became a captain in the Northeast Regiment, Essex County Militia on May 22, 1807.⁶⁷ The company under his command included one lieutenant, an ensign, a sergeant, twenty-two privates, twenty-two arms, and sixty-six rounds of ammunition. On June 4, 1807, his name appeared together with those of other officers, in the papers of his former business associate John Askin, who meanwhile had become a colonel.⁶⁸

      Moses David was influential in breaking down barriers in Upper Canada that threatened to limit Jewish opportunity and equal rights concerning land ownership and military and political participation.

      In reversing this practice, Moses David, a natural-born British subject resident in Essex, played an important part. The change, however, was de facto rather than de jure. In 1803 the Executive Council granted his prayer for relief and he received the patent, in his own right, for land in Sandwich on 20 February 1804. He did so without swearing the oath of adjuration in its Christian form. He seems to have avoided this when he was commissioned a militia officer prior to 1803 although the state oaths were a formal requirement. When appointed coroner of the Western District in 1808, he again escaped taking the oaths by posting a performance bond, an innovative practice designed to meet the requirement of the oath of adjuration.⁶⁹

       The Land Speculator

      There is no doubt that Moses David was well respected. He was even favoured by the exclusive Family Compact, a group that had emerged when John Graves Simcoe became Upper Canada’s first lieutenant governor and attempted to create a local aristocracy. Not only had he appointed his Loyalist friends to powerful government positions, he had also granted them enormous tracts of Crown reserves. These were usually kept unproductive and dormant, even though the lands were badly needed for new settlements. This system remained intact until popular discontent forced reform. Under these conditions, Moses David was able to acquire a number of prized tracts of Crown land in the Western District.

      In John Clark’s magisterial work, Land, Power and Economics on the Frontier of Upper Canada, Moses David is presented as a major player among the land speculators on this western frontier:

      An interesting facet of commerce was that over time the nature of the speculators changed with the economy. In the earlier period, many of the land speculators or mortgage investors were directly involved in the fur trade and Indian trade or at least in supplying the fur trade. Askin and McGill are the most obvious examples, but the list also includes . . . others among the 144 speculators who were recognizably merchants but who had less obvious connections to the fur trade. These included . . . Moses David, William McCormick, George Meldrum, William Munger, Charles Askin, and Francis Baby.⁷⁰

      Moses David apparently adopted one of the common strategies of land speculators, that of buying tax delinquent lands much less than he would have paid the Crown or private land companies. Price was one advantage and another was the fact that lands purchased in that fashion could be held for eight years without paying any tax, allowing the speculators to better employ their capital in more profitable ways.⁷¹ A sample of Moses David’s land purchases and sales demonstrate his knowledge of local development trends.

      Aside from his urban real estate in Sandwich town, Moses had properties in the village of Amherstburg, the site of Fort Malden, the major British stronghold on the frontier. The community grew and became more influential than Sandwich. On September 27, 1805, Moses paid George Ermatinger ten shillings for a property that included a house and auxiliary buildings,⁷² and on September 11, 1806, at a price of £68 1s 8p, he bought one hundred of the two hundred acres Thomas Smith had received from the Crown free of charge two years earlier. Located in Sandwich East, that parcel of land was no more than a swamp at the time. However, since it bordered on Lake St. Clair, it offered good possibilities for future development as a prime waterfront property.⁷³ This area was a favourite of John Askin, who put together a parcel of lots along Lake St. Clair and the rivers draining into the lake. Accessibility by water remained a crucial component of value in an area still largely devoid of roads. On November 20, 1807, Smith sold the remaining one hundred acres to Moses David,⁷⁴ who resold them to a Joseph Mayoux on January 16, 1808 — just a few months later.⁷⁵

      Moses also became owner of additional lands; some in the Township of Sandwich,⁷⁶ as well as 114 acres in the Township of Colchester,⁷⁷ properties that had cost him ten shillings each. Moses apparently later sold this property to Alexander Mackenzie and his partner Frederick William Ermatinger. And in a quirk of fate, six years after Moses’ death, on September 6, 1820, McKenzie resold the property to David David, with F. W. Ermatinger releasing all claims to the property.⁷⁸

      Eventually David David inherited all the properties from the estate of his late brother, in particular, the 114 acres in Colchester. Some eight years after David David’s own death on October 9, 1832,⁷⁹ his executors sold the land to Henry Hoffman for £250. However, during David David’s lifetime, as early as 1805, he must have been quite active in the border city area. Records reveal a correspondence he had with a Gabriel Godfroy⁸⁰ of Detroit to whom he had shipped a consignment of fur packs, for which he had not received payment in the amount of £1,766 18s 11p.⁸¹ Since David also allowed his brother to act as his agent in a variety of local land deals, there is no justification for the notion that Moses was not on good terms with his family. David not only visited his brother but also took an interest in his affairs.

       Additional Family Connections

      Taking on apprentices was common practice among many businessmen and David was instrumental in arranging a two-year apprenticeship in March 1805 for Jean Baptiste Dodlain,⁸² for whom Moses had to provide all the necessities of life. David subsequently became involved on his brother’s behalf with the drafting of another contract. This involved the apprenticeship of their nephew David Hayes in Sandwich. That agreement, reproduced here in part, is of even greater significance since it contains the first reference to Andrew and Abigail Hayes’ son David, whose birth had remained unrecorded until May 6, 1805, the date on which the following document was drawn up:

      Before the subscribing public notaries residing in the city of Montreal in the province of Lower Canada, personally came and appeared David Hayes, a minor son of Andrew Hayes of Montreal, aforesaid merchant being duly assisted by and with the consent and approbation of his said father testified by his present and as subscribing these presents. And declared the said David Hayes that he hath of his own free will and accord placed and bound himself apprentice to Moses David of Sandwich in Province of Upper Canada a merchant, his brother David David of Montreal merchant being present and accepting for him and in the name of Moses David, to be taught in the art of science and trade; to live, continue and serve him as an apprentice henceforth unto the full term of four years hence next ensuring and fully to be compleat and end.⁸³

      Listed as residing in Sandwich, the name of David Hayes subsequently appeared as a witness to several land transactions concluded by Moses David.⁸⁴

      Moses David, besides acquiring properties for himself, his brother David, and for others in trust, he also lent money to various people, including Jean Baptiste Parre, who borrowed £50 11s from him on June 21, 1806.⁸⁵ Among Moses’ land purchases were two hundred acres known as South Gore for which he paid £200. The lands were located between lots No. 11 and No. 12, in the Second, Third, and Fourth Concessions of the Township of Colchester.⁸⁶ Other land transactions show that on April 6, 1807, he bought land in Gosfield from John Bell,⁸⁷ and purchased a lot in Elizabethtown on September 12, 1809, from Robert Livingston.⁸⁸ As well, he acquired property from James Heward, to whom he may have given a longterm mortgage, as he did not take possession of it until January 31, 1811.⁸⁹ Among the land