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Sixteen the final chapter When David Franks left America for England, Tench Coxe recorded a list of his real property holdings, fastidiously collected rents, and managed properties. Coxe was equally meticulous about keeping the account books, listing all of the items purchased for repairs on the various buildings and all payments to laborers. He also recorded David’s other expenses in connection with the Indiana and Illinois & Ouabache partnerships. When Coxe turned over the accounts, there was barely any increase in their value over the balance of five years earlier. Financially, Franks had been running in place. The list of his properties was impressive and included thousands of acres throughout Pennsylvania, numerous houses, rented farms, a snuff mill, and a fair number of properties owned in partnership with Bush, Simon, Trent, Terence Warder, and others. In addition, Franks still had his 29 percent share of the Illinois & Ouabache Company claim and his stake in Indiana .1 On paper, he was a wealthy man. Further, he had transferred property to the Gratz brothers before departing to England and would be able to reclaim that if he could pay for it. David’s challenge would be to convert some of this land to cash in order to acquire stock for his mercantile business. The entire Franks family was engaged in the same pursuit. David’s son Moses had lent money to Joseph Simon, a large tract in Lancaster serving as security on the loan. When he demanded repayment, Simon was unable to produce cash and mortgaged a large portion of his property, including his primary residence, to pay off the debt. Simon’s son-in-law, Solomon Etting, brought the bad news to the Gratz brothers and was emotionally devastated by the event.2 David, however, was singularly unsuccessful at acquiring cash, and two years later, in March 1788, he appealed to the commissioners of American David Franks 170 claims for more time to settle his affairs in America. He told the British government that he had “made some progress therein and has Various Suits at Law now depending, but Owing to the present scarcity of money here and the delay of the Law he finds it Impossible to conclude his very Extensive Affairs for some time and cannot therefore without certain and Inevitable loss leave America and return to England.” Therefore, he “humbly prays your Honorable Board to grant him such further Indulgence of Time to enable him to settle his Extensive Concerns as to the Commissioners may seem just.” This request was approved in June 1788, with no end date specified.3 Brother Moses Franks also attempted to get compensation for the loss and destruction of his American properties through an appeal to the Royal Commission on the Losses and Services of American Loyalists. Inadvertently , the confusion of names (having two Moses Franks appeals concurrently ) resulted in Uncle Moses’ claim being sent to the wrong place, and it consequently became moot when the time expired for the claim. He tried to rekindle the effort without success and then asked that his papers be returned so that he could take some other route toward recompense. His letters were approved for return.4 Just six weeks later, Moses Franks died, at age seventy. None of David’s letters in the months following give any indication of his reaction, nor did he convey the news of Moses’ death to others. Moses, who had still practiced his faith, was buried at Alderney Road Cemetery .5 At about the same time, sister Richa, now more than sixty years old, married a considerably younger widower, Abraham ben Baruch De Fries, and became the stepmother of his son, Mordicai (Modcha) De Fries.6 As with Moses’ demise, David’s communications were silent on Richa’s nuptials and the aftermath. David Franks continued to pursue even the smallest opportunities to acquire funds. The tremor in his hand, which he now attributed to gout, became increasingly severe, and his handwriting became more difficult to make out. He used abbreviations more and more frequently and omitted words to spare himself the effort of writing, making it increasingly difficult to decipher his letters as time progressed. He was probably in pain, and he became more irascible, leaving no one, friend or foe, untouched by criticism or complaint. He told Simon, his oldest, most trusted, and most loyal ally, that his handling of a problem had “an odd appearance & the offer Mr. Etting made . . . was thot an unfair dealing or offer even by...

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