David Franks: Colonial Merchant

Appendix C: “Dear Mrs. Cad”: A Revolutionary War Letter of Rebecca Franks

AppendixC “dear mrs. cad”: a revolutionary war letter of rebecca franks Life was splendid for Rebecca Franks during the winter and into the spring of 1777–78. Washington’s rebels were immobilized at Valley Forge, improperly clothed and short of food. British general Sir William Howe was content to enjoy the comforts of British-occupied Philadelphia. Some of the finest mansions in the city had been commandeered for Howe and his officers . They embarked upon an almost endless series of parties, dances, plays, and other social delights with the many charming and affluent young ladies of the city.1 Miss Franks was certainly one of these. Renowned for her beauty, wit, and conversational acumen, she enjoyed close friendships with a coterie of the richest and prettiest girls in town—Betsy, Sarah, Mary, and Peggy Shippen ; the Chew sisters, Mary, Elizabeth, and Peggy; and Williamina Bond, Nancy Redman, Mary White, and others.2 Upon settling in Philadelphia, Howe made a point of visiting David Franks at his Woodford estate to establish a working relationship with the agent in charge of victualing the British army in Pennsylvania and on the frontier. The general was accompanied by his aides and top staff, including the dashing Major John André, who encountered Rebecca Franks and her friends at Woodford. The encounter was pleasurable—the handsome young officers in their impressive uniforms and the beautiful young women responded instinctively. A pattern of daily visits ensued; even Howe took part. André drew sketches of the ladies and composed poetry. We have no evidence of how Mr. and Mrs. Franks liked the situation, but there was nothing wrong with finding a way to please one’s best customer. David Franks had supplied the British troops as a co-contractor with his father, the late Jacob Franks of New York, who in turn fulfilled contractual Appendixes 202 requirements passed on from the firm of Arnold Nesbitt, Sir James Colebrooke , Adam Drummond, Sir Samuel Fludyer, and Moses Franks of London , David’s brother.3 The business arrangement had been in force since the conclusion of the French and Indian War.4 As we saw in chapter 2, David Franks’s parents were upset that all of David’s children were raised as Protestants, his wife Margaret’s faith. All of the children were baptized at Christ Church—except Moses and Rebecca.5 Oddly, however, despite her Protestant upbringing and her mother’s active devotion to Christ Church, Rebecca became known as the “Jewish belle” of Philadelphia—a consequence of her father’s faith and its indelible stamp. We find numerous references in the literature to Rebecca as a Jewess. In 1893 Anne Hollingsworth Wharton referred to her as “the beautiful Jewess .”6 The following year, the Jewish scholar Max J. Kohler wrote a twentyseven -page essay on Rebecca, pointing out, “We find Rebecca constantly referred to in contemporary and later papers as a Jewess.”7 Henry S. Morais devoted several pages to Rebecca in an 1894 book entitled The Jews of Philadelphia .8 Nearly a century later, a collection of essays on Jewish life in Philadelphia explains that her father was one of the original subscribers to the Philadelphia Dancing Assembly and that “Rebecca Franks was one of the most popular belles of Revolutionary society in the city.”9 One of the most comprehensive histories of Philadelphia, published in 1912, refers to “Miss Rebecca Franks, the Jewish belle of the city,”10 and a late twentieth-century work describes David Franks as Philadelphia’s leading Jewish merchant and a die-hard loyalist, “whose daughter Rebecca was the belle of the Philadelphia social scene.”11 After forty-one years of marriage to an Anglican baronet, Rebecca’s death was recorded under “Jewish Obituary Notices” in the Gentleman’s Magazine of Great Britain.12 As we have seen, David Franks was expelled from Pennsylvania in 1780 despite a series of trials in which he was repeatedly found not guilty of treason. He and Rebecca moved to New York City, where in 1782 Rebecca married British army colonel Henry Johnson, who had been captured and held prisoner during the final stages of the war. Soon after their wedding, the war over, Johnson was sent back to England and the couple settled in Bath. Not long thereafter he was promoted to the rank of major general and appointed governor of Ross Castle in New Ross (near Wexford), Ireland. Rebecca accompanied him there and wrote this letter during their stay. Rebecca’s friend (and her...