Ephraim Hart
Encyclopedia
Ephraim Hart was an American merchant who helped to organize the Board of Stock-Brokers, now known as 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...

.

Biography

Hart was born in Fürth
Fürth
The city of Fürth is located in northern Bavaria, Germany in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the two cities being only 7 km apart....

, a city in the region of Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...

 which lies now in 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...

, Germany. Since 1440, a prospering Jewish community existed in Fürth. Hart's original surname was Hirz which he changed when he came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

By 1782 he was residing as a merchant in Philadelphia, and in that year he joined the Mickvé Israel congregation. He married in 1783 Frances Noah, a sister of Manuel Noah, and their son was Joel Hart
Joel Hart (doctor)
Joel Hart was a physician; the only son of Ephraim Hart; born in Philadelphia in 1784; died in New York June 14, 1842. He received the degree of M.D. from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, London. He was one of the charter members of the Medical Society of the County of New York. He...

. Later he removed to New York and engaged in the commission and brokerage business. On April 2, 1787, he was registered as an elector of the Shearith Israel congregation.

By 1792 he had become one of the most successful merchants in the City, and at this time he helped to organize the Board of Stock-Brokers, now known as 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...

. His name appears in 1799 in a "list of owners of houses and lots valued at £2,000 or more." He was one of the founders, in 1802, of the ebra Hesed Veemet, a charitable organization connected with the Shearith Israel congregation. He enslaved at least one Black woman named "Silvia." He died in New York City.
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