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Aaron Hart (businessman)
Encyclopedia
Aaron Philip Hart was a businessman
in Lower Canada
and one of the first Jews to settle in the colony. He is considered the father of Canadian Jewry. He was one of the founding members of Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal
(Shearith Israel), a wealthy man with numerous landed estates, and the married father of four sons, including the future politician Ezekiel Hart, and four daughters.
, England, to Yehezkel (Ezekiel) and Judah Hirsh, immigrants from Bavaria
(they later changed their name to Hart, the English version of their name).
After a stay in Jamaica
, in 1756, Aaron Hart went to New York City to live with his relatives. He was soon joined by his brothers Harmon and Bernard; his brother Leman stayed in London to supervise the organization of a distillery. He became a member of the St. Paul's Lodge of Freemasons
on June 10, 1760, making him one of the first Jews in North America to become a Mason.
Some accounts say mistakenly that Hart crossed the Atlantic
with Sir Frederick Haldimand
during the Seven Years War between England and France. Hart was appointed commissary officer
in Jeffrey Amherst
's army, and he travelled north and entered Montreal
with Amherst's army in 1760. He settled at Trois-Rivières
in 1761. Hart supplied the British
troops stationed there. He was appointed postmaster
of Trois-Rivières in August 1763 at the conclusion of the war with the British victory.
One of the first Jews in Canada, in 1768 Hart was a founding member of Shearith Israel
, the Sephardic
synagogue at Montreal. He was an Ashkenazi Jew
who spoke fluent Yiddish, but at that time, most of the British Jews were of Sephardic descent and ritual.
, England. After the marriage, his cousins (and brothers-in-law_ Uriah and Samuel Judah emigrated to Trois-Rivières. The large family included four sons: Moses, Ezekiel, Benjamin, and Alexander (Asher), and five daughters, the latter educated by the Ursuline
Catholic sisters in Trois-Rivières. One daughter, Chavah, married a Judah and two others, Sarah and Charlotte, married Samuel and Moses David respectively, sons of Montreal's Lazarus David.
, then quite lucrative, and later acquired a vast amount of property, having more than seven seigneuries
, notably the seigneuries of Sainte-Marguerite
, Vieux-Pont, and Bécancour
. He bought the fief
of Bruyères, the marquisate of Le Sable, and numerous other properties in and around Trois-Rivières. He also owned part of Trinity Island
, and the mouth of Saint-Maurice
.
Hart also operated a store in Trois-Rivières, where he conducted a diverse wholesale
and retail
business. He made commercial and real estate loans throughout a wide area around the town. Prospering by these diverse operations, he bequeathed a huge legacy to his and Catherine's eight children; his four sons inherited the vast bulk of his estate, while his four daughters received £1,000 each.
At their residence in Trois-Rivières, the Harts received a visit from Prince Edward, the father of Queen Victoria. The first Papal Envoy
to the country was also the guest of the hospitable Hart manor
.
Hart participated in repelling Montgomery
's invasion in the winter of 1775. He took an active part in the military operations during the American Revolutionary War
.
He was survived by his wife Catherine and four sons: Moses
, Ezekiel, Benjamin
, and Alexander, and four daughters: Catharine, Charlotte, Elizabeth, and Sarah. His will contained an impressive list of bequests to his wife and children. He left a seigneury to his sons, as well as land and a house in the center of Trois-Rivières. He left his family a thriving business and assets that his children would go on to expand.
A number of his descendants settled in New York, where they became members of the Congregation Shearith Israel
. Most of Aaron Hart's children and grandchildren had remained Jews, but in later generations, Hart males intermarried with Christian women and gradually their descendants became Gentiles.
His second son, Ezekiel Hart, who entered into the family business at Trois-Rivières and later opened a brewery with his brothers, was elected to the legislative assembly. Later he was expelled from his seat because he was a Jew. His son Moses became a businessman at William-Henry (later Sorel) and ran unsuccessfully several times for a seat in the legislative assembly. His son Benjamin became an important businessman in Montreal
.
In 1901, the cemetery was asked to permit removal of the bodies and draining of the land for "sanitary reasons". What later became apparent was that the owner of the adjoining property had manipulated officials to buy the cleared land. The new owner of the land had the remains disinterred for burial elsewhere. This was done in the presence of some Hart family members, but none was Jewish. The bodies interred in the old cemetery were removed to another field, Côteau. At that time there had not been a Jewish burial in Trois-Rivières for more than 40 years. Ezekiel Hart had established a second Jewish cemetery on Prison Street in the early 19th century, when available land for more graves in the original Alexander Street cemetery had become too scarce.
The Jewish community of Montreal was outraged by the maneuvers at the Jewish Cemetery in Trois-Rivières and protested vigorously. Finally the heirs of Ezekiel Hart and the Board of the Spanish and Portuguese congregation decided to move all Jewish remains from both the original Alexander Street cemetery and the Prison Street cemetery to Montreal for reburial in the Mount Royal Cemetery
of Shearith Israel. The bodies and stones were moved and reinterred in October 1909, with Rabbi Meldola deSola officiating. The new plot consisted of 31 graves.
Businessperson
A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...
in Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
and one of the first Jews to settle in the colony. He is considered the father of Canadian Jewry. He was one of the founding members of Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal
Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal
The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal also known as Shearith Israel is a Montreal synagogue, located on St. Kevin Street in Snowdon, which is the oldest Jewish congregation in Canada. The Congregation traces its history back to 1760 and was formally established in 1768...
(Shearith Israel), a wealthy man with numerous landed estates, and the married father of four sons, including the future politician Ezekiel Hart, and four daughters.
Early life
Aaron was born August 16, 1724, at LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England, to Yehezkel (Ezekiel) and Judah Hirsh, immigrants from Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
(they later changed their name to Hart, the English version of their name).
After a stay in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, in 1756, Aaron Hart went to New York City to live with his relatives. He was soon joined by his brothers Harmon and Bernard; his brother Leman stayed in London to supervise the organization of a distillery. He became a member of the St. Paul's Lodge of Freemasons
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
on June 10, 1760, making him one of the first Jews in North America to become a Mason.
Some accounts say mistakenly that Hart crossed the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
with Sir Frederick Haldimand
Frederick Haldimand
Sir Frederick Haldimand, KB was a military officer best known for his service in the British Army in North America during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War...
during the Seven Years War between England and France. Hart was appointed commissary officer
Commissariat
A commissariat is the department of an army charged with the provision of supplies, both food and forage, for the troops. The supply of military stores such as ammunition is not included in the duties of a commissariat. In almost every army the duties of transport and supply are performed by the...
in Jeffrey Amherst
Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst
Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst KCB served as an officer in the British Army and as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.Amherst is best known as one of the victors of the French and Indian War, when he conquered Louisbourg, Quebec City and...
's army, and he travelled north and entered Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
with Amherst's army in 1760. He settled at Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières, Quebec
Trois-Rivières is a city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada, located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence Rivers. It is situated in the Mauricie administrative region, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of Bécancour...
in 1761. Hart supplied the British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
troops stationed there. He was appointed postmaster
Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...
of Trois-Rivières in August 1763 at the conclusion of the war with the British victory.
One of the first Jews in Canada, in 1768 Hart was a founding member of Shearith Israel
Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal
The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montreal also known as Shearith Israel is a Montreal synagogue, located on St. Kevin Street in Snowdon, which is the oldest Jewish congregation in Canada. The Congregation traces its history back to 1760 and was formally established in 1768...
, the Sephardic
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
synagogue at Montreal. He was an Ashkenazi Jew
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
who spoke fluent Yiddish, but at that time, most of the British Jews were of Sephardic descent and ritual.
Marriage and family
On January 14, 1768, Aaron wed his cousin Dorothea Catherine Judah in PortsmouthPortsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, England. After the marriage, his cousins (and brothers-in-law_ Uriah and Samuel Judah emigrated to Trois-Rivières. The large family included four sons: Moses, Ezekiel, Benjamin, and Alexander (Asher), and five daughters, the latter educated by the Ursuline
Ursuline
The word Ursuline is used to describe the following:* The Ursulines, a Catholic religious order.Several schools named after the Ursuline religious order, including several named Ursuline Academy.Ursuline Academy or similar may refer to:...
Catholic sisters in Trois-Rivières. One daughter, Chavah, married a Judah and two others, Sarah and Charlotte, married Samuel and Moses David respectively, sons of Montreal's Lazarus David.
Career
Hart invested in the fur tradeFur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
, then quite lucrative, and later acquired a vast amount of property, having more than seven seigneuries
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
, notably the seigneuries of Sainte-Marguerite
Sainte-Marguerite
Sainte-Marguerite may refer to:* Île Sainte-Marguerite, the largest of the Lérins Islands, off the cost of France, near CannesSainte-Marguerite is name of section of town in Belgium:...
, Vieux-Pont, and Bécancour
Bécancour, Quebec
Bécancour is a town in the Centre-du-Québec region of Québec, Canada; it is the seat of the Bécancour Regional County Municipality. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the confluence of the Bécancour River, opposite Trois-Rivières.Wôlinak, an Abenaki Indian reserve, is...
. He bought the fief
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
of Bruyères, the marquisate of Le Sable, and numerous other properties in and around Trois-Rivières. He also owned part of Trinity Island
Trinity Island
Trinity Island or Île de la Trinité or Isla Trinidad is an island long and wide in the northern part of the Palmer Archipelago. Trinity Island is located at...
, and the mouth of Saint-Maurice
Saint-Maurice River
The Saint-Maurice River is a river in central Quebec which flows south from Gouin Reservoir to empty into the Saint Lawrence River at Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The river is 563 km in length and has a drainage basin of 43,300 km² ....
.
Hart also operated a store in Trois-Rivières, where he conducted a diverse wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
and retail
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
business. He made commercial and real estate loans throughout a wide area around the town. Prospering by these diverse operations, he bequeathed a huge legacy to his and Catherine's eight children; his four sons inherited the vast bulk of his estate, while his four daughters received £1,000 each.
At their residence in Trois-Rivières, the Harts received a visit from Prince Edward, the father of Queen Victoria. The first Papal Envoy
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
to the country was also the guest of the hospitable Hart manor
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
.
Hart participated in repelling Montgomery
Richard Montgomery
Richard Montgomery was an Irish-born soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a brigadier-general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is most famous for leading the failed 1775 invasion of Canada.Montgomery was born and raised in Ireland...
's invasion in the winter of 1775. He took an active part in the military operations during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
.
Death
Hart died at Trois-Rivières on December 28, 1800, at the age of 76. At his death he was reputed to be the wealthiest man in British Canada.He was survived by his wife Catherine and four sons: Moses
Moses Hart
Moses Hart was a Canadian businessman and seigneur, eldest son of Aaron Hart.-Early life:Moses Hart was born in Trois-Rivières to Aaron Hart and Dorothea Judah....
, Ezekiel, Benjamin
Benjamin Hart (businessman)
Benjamin Hart was a Canadian businessman, militia officer, and justice of the peace.-Early life:Benjamin Hart was born in Montreal to Aaron Hart, a prominent merchant of Trois-Rivières, and Dorothea Judah....
, and Alexander, and four daughters: Catharine, Charlotte, Elizabeth, and Sarah. His will contained an impressive list of bequests to his wife and children. He left a seigneury to his sons, as well as land and a house in the center of Trois-Rivières. He left his family a thriving business and assets that his children would go on to expand.
A number of his descendants settled in New York, where they became members of the Congregation Shearith Israel
Congregation Shearith Israel
Congregation Shearith Israel, often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. It was established in 1654....
. Most of Aaron Hart's children and grandchildren had remained Jews, but in later generations, Hart males intermarried with Christian women and gradually their descendants became Gentiles.
His second son, Ezekiel Hart, who entered into the family business at Trois-Rivières and later opened a brewery with his brothers, was elected to the legislative assembly. Later he was expelled from his seat because he was a Jew. His son Moses became a businessman at William-Henry (later Sorel) and ran unsuccessfully several times for a seat in the legislative assembly. His son Benjamin became an important businessman in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
Cemetery affair
Hart was originally buried at the Jewish Cemetery on Alexander Street in Trois-Rivières. He had designated this land (at the time part of his personal garden) for use as a burial ground for his family and for any member of Shearith Israel. Later the land was designated as a burial ground for any Jews.In 1901, the cemetery was asked to permit removal of the bodies and draining of the land for "sanitary reasons". What later became apparent was that the owner of the adjoining property had manipulated officials to buy the cleared land. The new owner of the land had the remains disinterred for burial elsewhere. This was done in the presence of some Hart family members, but none was Jewish. The bodies interred in the old cemetery were removed to another field, Côteau. At that time there had not been a Jewish burial in Trois-Rivières for more than 40 years. Ezekiel Hart had established a second Jewish cemetery on Prison Street in the early 19th century, when available land for more graves in the original Alexander Street cemetery had become too scarce.
The Jewish community of Montreal was outraged by the maneuvers at the Jewish Cemetery in Trois-Rivières and protested vigorously. Finally the heirs of Ezekiel Hart and the Board of the Spanish and Portuguese congregation decided to move all Jewish remains from both the original Alexander Street cemetery and the Prison Street cemetery to Montreal for reburial in the Mount Royal Cemetery
Mount Royal Cemetery
Opened in 1852, Mount Royal Cemetery is a 165-acre terraced cemetery on the north slope of Mount Royal in the borough of Outremont, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The burial ground shares the mountain with the much larger adjacent Roman Catholic cemetery -- Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges...
of Shearith Israel. The bodies and stones were moved and reinterred in October 1909, with Rabbi Meldola deSola officiating. The new plot consisted of 31 graves.