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Benjamin Hart (businessman)
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Hart was a Canadian
businessman, militia
officer
, and justice of the peace
.
to Aaron Hart
, a prominent merchant of Trois-Rivières
, and Dorothea Judah.
He was educated privately in Philadelphia and New York
. In 1798 Benjamin returned to Trois-Rivières to assist his brothers and aged father with the family's extensive business. Among Benjamin’s assignments was that of travelling salesman
for the family brewery.
When Aaron died in December 1800 he left to Benjamin the Harts' main store in Trois-Rivières and a two-storey stone house in the commercial heart of Montreal. In 1802 Benjamin went to England
to make arrangements with Aaron's former suppliers, including the Ellice empire, recently taken over by Edward Ellice
. In Montreal they operated as Alexander Hart and Company and in Trois-Rivières, where Benjamin directed the business, as Benjamin and Alexander Hart and Company.
On April 1, 1806, in New York, Hart made an advantageous marriage with Harriot Judith Hart, daughter of Ephraim Hart
, a wealthy stockbroker who was one of the founders of the New York Stock Exchange
. The couple had 16 children, of whom 8 survived.
In February 1811 Benjamin petitioned the government for a commission in the Trois-Rivières battalion of militia, but was opposed by Colonel Thomas Coffin
, the unit's commander, who argued that Christian militiamen would not wish to serve with or under a Jew. In response Hart sent to Governor Sir George Prévost
favourable affidavits from leading residents of the town, including Louis-Charles Foucher
, who was lieutenant-colonel under Coffin, Roman Catholic vicar general François Noiseux, and the Anglican priest at Trois-Rivières, Robert Quirk Short
.
In 1812 he lent the military £1,000 to permit immediate establishment of a garrison at William Henry
, and during the War of 1812
he served as a private
in Captain John Ogilvy's company of light infantry in the Montreal Incorporated Volunteers.
Although Benjamin's partnership with Alexander had been dissolved on April 1, 1812, he continued in business in Trois-Rivières as a commission merchant, auctioneer, and broker. In 1818 Benjamin moved back to Montreal to start up a new business as a general agent and commission merchant. He retained his business in Trois-Rivières until May 1820. In October 1829 he was among eight men requesting incorporation of the Montreal Savings Bank, founded ten years earlier.
In October 1820 he was promoted from ensign to lieutenant in Montreal's 1st Militia Battalion. He contributed generously to the house of industry, founded in 1818, and to the Montreal General Hospital
, established the following year. In 1829 he was appointed to the Montreal Board of Examiners of Applicants to be Inspectors of Pot and Pearl Ashes, and the same year he was a director of the Montreal Committee of Trade.
Benjamin contributed to the pressure that produced a law, passed in 1831 and sanctioned the following year, giving Jews equality of civil liberties. Consequently, he, Samuel Becancour Hart, and Moses Judah Hayes were offered appointments as justices of the peace
in 1833, but because the recent legislation had provided only for a Christian oath of office, Benjamin and Hayes refused to accept the appointments until 1837.
, had departed in 1782, and in 1825 the land on which Shearith Israel Synagogue
stood reverted to the heirs of David David, depriving the Jews of their place of worship. In July 1826 Hart made a passionate printed appeal to his co-religionists of the city to reorganize Shearith Israel. A trustee of the congregation, he initiated a subscription campaign to finance construction of a new synagogue and was himself the third largest contributor to it. Meanwhile, he opened a room adjoining his home for religious services.
He was the city's agent for Minerva Life of London in 1843. Benjamin Hart and Company was one of Montreal's more active import firms in 1844, and by that year Benjamin's son Theodore
had joined it as a partner. In the late 1840s, however, the company may have been caught up in a general trade collapse; in 1848 he declared bankruptcy
at the same time as his wife sued him for the financial support guaranteed by their marriage contract.
In 1840 in Liverpool
he had published a broadside ridiculing former governor Lord Acheson Gosford for presenting to the House of Lords
a mammoth petition from Lower Canada against the union of the Canadas. The Rebellion Losses Bill
of 1849 was the last straw. That year Hart signed the Annexation Manifesto
, advocating economic and political union with the United States. When, in consequence, he was stripped of his magisterial and militia commissions (by 1846 he had become lieutenant-colonel, commanding Montreal's 3rd Militia Battalion), he moved to New York, in failing health. In this city, where his wife had property inherited from her father, Hart lived out his last years in retirement near his son Arthur Wellington. He died in 1855 in St George's Hotel on Broadway
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
businessman, militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
, and justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
.
Early life
Benjamin Hart was born in MontrealMontreal
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...
to Aaron Hart
Aaron Hart (businessman)
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...
, a prominent merchant of Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières
Trois-Rivières means three rivers in French and may refer to:in Canada*Trois-Rivières, the largest city in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada*Circuit Trois-Rivières, a racetrack in Trois-Rivières, Quebec...
, and Dorothea Judah.
He was educated privately in Philadelphia and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. In 1798 Benjamin returned to Trois-Rivières to assist his brothers and aged father with the family's extensive business. Among Benjamin’s assignments was that of travelling salesman
Vendor (supply chain)
A vendor, or a supplier, is a supply chain management term meaning anyone who provides goods or services to a company. A vendor often manufactures inventoriable items, and sells those items to a customer.- History :...
for the family brewery.
When Aaron died in December 1800 he left to Benjamin the Harts' main store in Trois-Rivières and a two-storey stone house in the commercial heart of Montreal. In 1802 Benjamin went to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to make arrangements with Aaron's former suppliers, including the Ellice empire, recently taken over by Edward Ellice
Edward Ellice (merchant)
Edward Ellice the Elder , known in his time as the "Bear", was a British merchant and politician. He was a Director of the Hudson's Bay Company and a prime mover behind the Reform Bill of 1832....
. In Montreal they operated as Alexander Hart and Company and in Trois-Rivières, where Benjamin directed the business, as Benjamin and Alexander Hart and Company.
On April 1, 1806, in New York, Hart made an advantageous marriage with Harriot Judith Hart, daughter of Ephraim Hart
Ephraim Hart
Ephraim Hart was an American merchant who helped to organize the Board of Stock-Brokers, now known as the New York Stock Exchange.- Biography :...
, a wealthy stockbroker who was one of the founders of the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
. The couple had 16 children, of whom 8 survived.
Career
He became a grand juror soon after 1800, and in 1811 he was treasurer of the Fire Society. He also joined the early struggles for Jewish civil liberties. In 1807 he urged his elder brother Ezekiel to contest the seat for Trois-Rivières in the House of Assembly and, when the seat was won but Ezekiel prevented from taking it on religious grounds, Benjamin encouraged him to seek re-election.In February 1811 Benjamin petitioned the government for a commission in the Trois-Rivières battalion of militia, but was opposed by Colonel Thomas Coffin
Thomas Coffin (Pre-confederation Canadian politician)
Thomas Coffin was a businessman, seigneur and political figure in Lower Canada.He was born in Boston in 1762, the son of John Coffin, and came to the town of Quebec with his family in 1775. He became a merchant in Montreal...
, the unit's commander, who argued that Christian militiamen would not wish to serve with or under a Jew. In response Hart sent to Governor Sir George Prévost
George Prevost
Sir George Prévost, 1st Baronet was a British soldier and colonial administrator. Born in Hackensack, New Jersey, the eldest son of Swiss French Augustine Prévost, he joined the British Army as a youth and became a captain in 1784. Prévost served in the West Indies during the French Revolutionary...
favourable affidavits from leading residents of the town, including Louis-Charles Foucher
Louis-Charles Foucher
Louis-Charles Foucher was a notary, lawyer, judge and political figure in Lower Canada.He was born at Rivière-des-Prairies in Montreal in 1760 and studied at the Collège Saint-Raphaël. He qualified to practice as a notary in 1784; he was admitted to the bar in 1789 and set up practice in law at...
, who was lieutenant-colonel under Coffin, Roman Catholic vicar general François Noiseux, and the Anglican priest at Trois-Rivières, Robert Quirk Short
Robert Quirk Short
Robert Quirk Short was a Church of England clergyman. He was born at Withycombe Hall in Somerset, England.He entered the University of Oxford in 1778 and was ordained a deacon in the Church of England in 1783 and a priest on September 30, 1787. He served as a curate in the Diocese of Bath and Wells...
.
In 1812 he lent the military £1,000 to permit immediate establishment of a garrison at William Henry
Sorel-Tracy, Quebec
Sorel-Tracy is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada and the geographical end point of the Lake Champlain Valley at the confluence of the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence River, on the western edge of Lac Saint-Pierre downstream and east of nearby Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006...
, and during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
he served as a private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
in Captain John Ogilvy's company of light infantry in the Montreal Incorporated Volunteers.
Although Benjamin's partnership with Alexander had been dissolved on April 1, 1812, he continued in business in Trois-Rivières as a commission merchant, auctioneer, and broker. In 1818 Benjamin moved back to Montreal to start up a new business as a general agent and commission merchant. He retained his business in Trois-Rivières until May 1820. In October 1829 he was among eight men requesting incorporation of the Montreal Savings Bank, founded ten years earlier.
In October 1820 he was promoted from ensign to lieutenant in Montreal's 1st Militia Battalion. He contributed generously to the house of industry, founded in 1818, and to the Montreal General Hospital
Montreal General Hospital
The Montreal General Hospital is a hospital in Montreal, Canada, established on May 1, 1819 and an early teaching hospital. First located on the corner of Craig and St-Lawrence Streets with only 24 beds, it moved in 1822 to a new 72-bed building on Dorchester Street. It is currently situated on...
, established the following year. In 1829 he was appointed to the Montreal Board of Examiners of Applicants to be Inspectors of Pot and Pearl Ashes, and the same year he was a director of the Montreal Committee of Trade.
Benjamin contributed to the pressure that produced a law, passed in 1831 and sanctioned the following year, giving Jews equality of civil liberties. Consequently, he, Samuel Becancour Hart, and Moses Judah Hayes were offered appointments as justices of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
in 1833, but because the recent legislation had provided only for a Christian oath of office, Benjamin and Hayes refused to accept the appointments until 1837.
Later life and death
Hart spent much time and money trying to revitalize Montreal's Jewish congregation. Its last resident minister, Jacob Raphael CohenJacob Raphael Cohen
Jacob Raphael Cohen was a Jewish minister in England, Canada, and the United States.-Biography:He is believed to have been born on the Barbary Coast, but was educated was educated in London where he became a mohel...
, had departed in 1782, and in 1825 the land on which Shearith Israel Synagogue
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...
stood reverted to the heirs of David David, depriving the Jews of their place of worship. In July 1826 Hart made a passionate printed appeal to his co-religionists of the city to reorganize Shearith Israel. A trustee of the congregation, he initiated a subscription campaign to finance construction of a new synagogue and was himself the third largest contributor to it. Meanwhile, he opened a room adjoining his home for religious services.
He was the city's agent for Minerva Life of London in 1843. Benjamin Hart and Company was one of Montreal's more active import firms in 1844, and by that year Benjamin's son Theodore
Theodore Hart
Theodore Jonathan Hart was a Canadian businessman from Montreal, Lower Canada. He was the son of Benjamin Hart and grandson of Aaron Hart.-Career:...
had joined it as a partner. In the late 1840s, however, the company may have been caught up in a general trade collapse; in 1848 he declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
at the same time as his wife sued him for the financial support guaranteed by their marriage contract.
In 1840 in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
he had published a broadside ridiculing former governor Lord Acheson Gosford for presenting to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
a mammoth petition from Lower Canada against the union of the Canadas. The Rebellion Losses Bill
Rebellion Losses Bill
The Rebellion Losses Bill was a controversial law enacted by the legislature of the Province of Canada in 1849...
of 1849 was the last straw. That year Hart signed the Annexation Manifesto
Montreal Annexation Manifesto
The Montreal Annexation Manifesto was a political document dated September 14, 1849 and signed in Montreal, Quebec, calling for Canada's annexation by the United States....
, advocating economic and political union with the United States. When, in consequence, he was stripped of his magisterial and militia commissions (by 1846 he had become lieutenant-colonel, commanding Montreal's 3rd Militia Battalion), he moved to New York, in failing health. In this city, where his wife had property inherited from her father, Hart lived out his last years in retirement near his son Arthur Wellington. He died in 1855 in St George's Hotel on Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
.