David Franks

David Franks (b. 23 September 1720 in New York – October 1794 in Isleworth, England) was a loyalist in the war of the American Revolution.

~ not to be confused with [Colonel David Salisbury Franks (Continental Army) '''David Salisbury Franks'''], patriot & aide-de-camp of Benedict Arnold.

Biography

He was born in New York, 23 September 1720, the youngest son of Jacob Franks (1687‐1769) and Abigail Franks, of a large and prominent Jewish family from England. As a young man, he moved to Philadelphia, where he became a successful merchant, engaging in land speculation, shipping, and fur trading; he was also a member of the Congregation Mikveh Israel. He was elected a member of the provincial assembly in 1748. Franks, with his wife Margaret Evans (1720–1780) of one of Philadelphia's Christian families, was socially prominent in the city.

During the French and Indian War, he was engaged by the government to supply the army with provisions. In 1755, upon the defeat of General Braddock, he helped to raise a fund of £5,000 for the further defense of the colony. He signed the Non-Importation Resolution of 1765, but eventually his loyalist tendencies won over. During the revolution, he was the king's agent for Pennsylvania. Perceived as a threat to the security of the United States, he was jailed briefly in 1778 by order of Congress, and then imprisoned again in 1780.

From 1771 to 1781 he owned and occupied Woodford, a mansion in Germantown, now a National Historic Landmark, to which he added a second story and a rear two-story addition.

After living in England for a time, Franks returned to Philadelphia in 1783, where he worked as a merchant.

By various accounts, he died in the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 in Philadelphia, where he was buried in Christ Church Burial Ground[4], or returned again to England and died at Isleworth in October 1794.

Family

His wife died on 20 September 1780 and is interred at Christ Church Burial Ground.

His nephew, Col. David Salisbury Franks, a revolutionary who served as aide to Benedict Arnold, came under further suspicion because of his relationship with his loyalist uncle.

In 1768, his eldest daughter Abigail married Andrew Hamilton (1745–1813), elder brother of William Hamilton, well-known proprietor of "The Woodlands." His youngest daughter Rebecca became the wife of then British colonel (later General) Sir Henry Johnson, and was one of the prominent young Philadelphians who attended the Mischianza Ball.

• the Franks family came from a long line of successful Sephardic Jews.

A story of their dealings in the Revolution is told in Cha. 13 of Loyalist Mosaic by Joan McGee; Dundurn Press, Toronto (1985)

The book 'David Frank's: Colonial Merchant' by Mark Abbott Stern is written about David Frank's. ISBN 978-0-271-03669-4 (cloth: alk paper) ISBN 978-0-271-03098 (pbk alk paper)

GEDCOM Source

@R-2138641360@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=19150847&pid...

• Notes: Age: 73Died during yellow fever epidemicDied during the yellow fever epidemic. Interment: Christ Church BuriaConjecture suggests that he is burried with his wife and the grave stoRecord for Bilhah Abigail LEVY
  • Reference: GenealogieOnline Family Tree Index - SmartCopy: Feb 15 2021, 18:45:16 UTC