Moses also participated in banking and lending although these transactions were usually associated with property, at least as collateral. In 1800 Moses loaned John Boyle, a tailor from Malden £41 4s,54 probably with property as collateral, and on May 18, 1800, witnessed a land sale of property owned by Jonathan Schieffelin, Indian agent and territorial legislator, and Thomas Smith, merchant and surveyor of both Detroit and Sandwich. Of special interest is the fact that Schieffelin was employed in the 1760s in Detroit by the openly avowed Jewish merchant Chapman Abraham. Schieffelin may have been a Jew, although not openly.55 He was called a Jew by Francois Baby during a personal conflict between the two while both were Indian Department officials.
Moses also involved himself in the forwarding business—to Mackinac, the Upper Lakes, and beyond. On May 29, 1800, he wrote to Jacob Franks, a Jewish merchant in Mackinac and Green Bay:
Your boat[s] arrived late last eve. I have provisioned them from this day, for twenty days, should they arrive in a shorter time they will have to account to you. With respect to Duties, which may be laid on at Mackinac, you will no doubt get every information there. I shall write you by the next Boats.
Your humble servant56
Legal Business
Although he was not trained as a lawyer, Moses had a good education for his day. He was certainly literate, his activities suggest a fine legal mind and he was aware of the legal requirements of the business of his day. Court records, in which Moses David was involved either as plaintiff, defendant, or solicitor for clients are numerous. Among them is a suit he filed against the partners in the firm of Forsythe, Smith and Company for non-payment for merchandise. Although the document pertaining to the action is almost illegible, it does show that the hearing judge, Elijah Brush, (a trustee of Detroit and treasurer of the Michigan Territory in 1806) had declared in favour of Moses David:
On the first day of December in the year of our Lord 1802, at Sandwich in the presence of Upper Canada, twice at Detroit and in said county of Wayne, and within the transaction of this court was indebted to the said Moses in the sum of three hundred and fifty dollars lawful money of the United States for goods, monies and merchandise by the said Moses, before that time sold and delivered to the said Forsythe Smith and Company and at this special instance and neglect and so indebted they, the said Forsythe Smith and Company in consideration then and these undertook and faithfully promised the said Moses to pay him the said sort mentioned sum of money.57
In another court action, Jacques Peltier and Jacques and Francoise Lavelle accused Moses David of “picking out all the good skins to be sent to Canada but keeping the bad ones to pay your debts here.”58 The plaintiffs probably were justified in making that claim, since Moses, as his family’s trusted representative in the field, likely made sure that all the best merchandise went to Montreal.
In view of the diversity of his business ventures, Moses David came in contact with many prominent people, for some of whom he did favours on various occasions. One of them was Francis Badgley, who practiced law in Montreal with his brother James. In a letter to Solomon Sibley, written on April 28, 1804, he mentions Moses’ name.59 Solomon Sibley was a Detroit lawyer who was elected to the first legislature of the Northwest Territory in 1799, and was named the delegate to Congress from the territory of Michigan between 1820–1823. He subsequently served as a judge of Michigan’s Supreme Court. Sibley acted as Badgley’s attorney, when he, as the last surviving partner of Francis Badgley and Company, sued a Mr. Joseph Campeau for money owed to the firm. The following excerpts, from that letter, show Moses’ involvement in the case:
Sir,
I duly received your favour of the first of December, last, Mr. D. will no doubt have advised you, so this paper as I conceive it was very sufficient. I wrote to Mr. D. that if he made out his objections so stated to his satisfaction what he might allow that amount to be deducted from the account as it then stood and, in order to close the business until I have done with (the gentleman), either in money or good pelts at the current cash prices. Certainly nothing can be more fair on my part. I now repeat with respect to the interest for two years past, I am willing to have it to Mr. David’s discretion, although I shall never think otherwise than that is my just due. The demand Campeau made of 10% more on his furs than the market price is an abominable advantage he wishes to take of me and which no man could admit for a moment in the discharge of a debt long due. At the time there might have been some reason for such an idea, had payment been closed 12 months before the payment was due, but certainly not in the present case. You mentioned that you should write me again with a statement of what proof was necessary. Not having received any further advice from you or Mr. David on the subject, I can say nothing further on the business but that in a few days I shall send you a detailed account of every particular with the book of origin entry which my brother kept in Detroit. In the meantime, please communicate this to Mr. David. In hopes of soon hearing that the matter is settled,
I remain, your obedient servant,
[signed] Francis Badgley60
In a subsequent letter of August 25, 1804,61 Badgley advises Sibley that Moses David had informed him of the judgment the lawyer had obtained in Detroit against Joseph Campeau that “serves to request that you will pay the amount of the claim into the hands of my attorney, Mr. Moses David, whose receipt will exonerate you therefrom.”62
On the back of that letter, Moses had inserted the total sum of the judgment, less court costs. The following notation made at the bottom of the letter, appears to refer to the interest charges Moses had added to the original judgment:
Received Sandwich, September 25, 1804 of Solomon Sibley, attorney at Law the above sum of 1380.50, being the amount of the judgment above S. Sibley 3 percent commission for collection per the written order received by me.63
The Detroit Fire of 1805
The Detroit Fire of 1805 was a major disaster and damaged the area’s economy even across the river in Sandwich, so integral were the communities. The following correspondence demonstrates that David did not always succeed in collecting his debts. James May, the first chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1796 and a prominent Detroit merchant, was a personal friend of Moses David. Although he had owned a shop and had kept slaves, by 1806 he appeared to have fallen on hard times. The following excerpts from a letter he wrote to Moses David in August of that year sheds some light on prevailing general economic conditions, but specifically on May’s personal plight:
Dear Sir:
I have this moment received your letter and am very sorry to inform (you) at this present juncture, it is totally out of my power to assist you with cash. My situation is pretty much the same with your own. I have experienced nothing but a series of disappointments from all quarters. I should have answered your letter enclosing my account, but was in every expectation of seeing you over on this side in order to make some remarks on your account current relative to the deficiency which you have charged my account with. Also the vinegar for Badgley’s estate and the astonishing amount of the box of toys, but more of it when we meet. Suffice my good friend that I am to the trouble to apologize for asking for your own is what I have no right to expect. I am in hopes that something will turn up before long that will give a little circulation of cash. If not, the Lord only knows what will become of the country and the people in it. I never saw anything equal to the great scarcity of money as at present. I remain, dear sir, with sentiments of respect.
Yours truly,
[signed] James May64
Moses also was well acquainted with James Henry, another Detroit merchant. Active in politics, he also was the judge of the Court of Quarter Sessions, serving it as commissioner as well. Moses wrote to him on January 30, 1809, requesting help in settling the aforementioned James May’s account, which he agreed to do.65 Again on June 25, 1812, Moses wrote to Henry, this time asking him to remit the payment he had promised to make on an overdue draft issued in Philadelphia.