David Franks: Colonial Merchant

1. David Franks, Arrested for Treason

One david franks, arrested for treason On November 10, 1778, Philadelphia newspapers reported, “Last week, Mr. David Franks, late Commissary for the British Prisoners . . . had been confined by Congress in the new gaol in this city, for writing letters of an improper nature and dangerous tendency to the enemy.”1 Franks had written the letter in question to his brother, Moses Franks, the night after his son-in-law’s brother, William (Billy) Hamilton, was acquitted of treason against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. One of several merchants in charge of supplying the British forces in North America, Moses was among London’s leading commercial figures. But Franks did not send the news to his brother directly, as it was impossible to send letters to London in the middle of war. Nor would it have been possible for Franks directly to contact loyalist brigadier general Oliver DeLancey, his brother-in-law, who had married his sister Phila in 1741 and had done business with Moses Franks before the war. Instead, David sent his report to Captain Thomas William Moore, a cousin of his wife’s, who was serving in DeLancey’s loyalist brigade, to have DeLancey forward it to Moses. The letter stated, “Last Night ab[ou]t 12 oClock Billy Hamilton after 2 hours tryall was honourably acquitted—the jury ab[ou]t two minutes absent . . . —it appears an ill Natured prosecution.”2 Franks was not alone in considering the prosecution “ill natured”; George Clymer, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a U.S. congressman , wrote to General John Cadwalader of the Continental army that the behavior of Joseph Reed, the president of Pennsylvania, during the trial had demonstrated “the extremity of baseness” of those who “participated in the prosecution.”3 But by calling into question the wisdom of a Pennsylvania judicial decision in a letter to his brother, sent surreptitiously through British David Franks 2 lines, Franks brought his own loyalty into question, even though many of Pennsylvania’s revolutionaries, such as Clymer, also thought the new revolutionary government had begun to replicate the tyranny it claimed to replace. Expressing his happiness that Billy Hamilton had been acquitted was not the worst of Franks’s letter. An enclosure also discussed the high prices of foodstuffs in Philadelphia as a guide for Moses in purchasing items for the army, and the rampant inflation Franks disclosed reflected a food shortage about which the revolutionaries would have preferred to keep the British in the dark. Franks was delivered up to the civil authority, brought before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and after a hearing released on bail: “himself bound in £5000 and Mr. Joseph Simons [actually, Simon] of Lancaster, and General Cadwalader becoming sureties for him in £2500 each.”4 Simon’s offer of help was understandable. This sixty-five-year-old Jewish businessman was the leading merchant in Lancaster and the leading Jewish citizen of its community. But General Cadwalader was one of George Washington’s most trusted officers. This incident occurred just one month after Cadwalader had turned down an appointment as brigadier general in the Continental army, preferring to remain with the Pennsylvania militia.5 The relationships among Franks, Cadwalader, Hamilton, and Reed are a fascinating illustration of how friendships, family ties, and rivalries among Pennsylvanians could make the question of who was a loyalist and who a patriot extremely complicated, not to say a matter of bitter recrimination and equally strong personal loyalty. General John Cadwalader remains one of the most neglected figures of the American Revolution. The story of his extraordinary service to the patriot cause needs to be told so that his vouching for Franks’s innocence will be given the weight it deserves. Beginning in December 1776, Cadwalader commanded the Pennsylvania militia. His support of Washington’s campaign in southern New Jersey, following through on his commander ’s detailed plans, contributed to the victories at Trenton and Princeton. Washington placed great confidence in Cadwalader, who participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth, and offered him command of the cavalry in the Continental army. This was the first of three unsuccessful attempts by Washington to persuade Cadwalader to leave the Pennsylvania militia.6 Yet, although he remained with his Pennsylvania troops, Cadwalader’s loyalty to his commander was beyond question. In 1778 a plot developed to remove Washington from his role as commander of the army and replace him with General Horatio Gates. The leader of the conspirators was Thomas [3.142.200...