David Franks: Colonial Merchant

Appendix B: Questions of Death and Burial

AppendixB questions of death and burial Where did David Franks die, and where is he buried? These two questions became thorny problems during the research for this biography. Two conflicting yet credible stories emerged concerning his burial. The time and place of his death are known. In a letter to his wife, Dr. Benjamin Rush, a renowned physician, noted patriot, and leading citizen of colonial Philadelphia, reported the deaths of both David Franks and his cousin, David Salisbury Franks, during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793. Rush had remained in town to heal the sick, and had sent his wife, Julia Stockton Rush, to the country for her safety. He told her the story of the burial of David’s cousin, David S. Franks, in potter’s field and his subsequent removal by the local blacksmith, who reburied him at Philadelphia’s Christ Church. Many historians accept Rush’s story as true. The Christ Church Web site lists David S. Franks as “the only Jew” buried in its cemetery, but it also lists David Franks as having been buried there. That our David Franks was a member of Christ Church for many years apparently disqualified him from being listed as a Jew. The Christ Church Web site listing was disputed in an article by historian Rachel Daiches-Dubens in an issue of the Transactions and Miscellanies of the Jewish Historical Society of England from the mid-1950s, in which Daiches-Dubens recorded that “Priscilla, Jacob and David [all Frankses] were all buried in Isleworth Parish Cemetery.” Intensive investigation of Anglican Church properties in the Isleworth area, and of records provided by the church wardens and local genealogical agencies, has produced no confirmation of that assertion. Daiches-Dubens’s article contained no supporting evidence for her statement, and its authenticity is therefore questionable . Priscilla Franks was in fact buried at All Saints Anglican Church in Isleworth; burial records substantiate the fact. Her husband, Jacob ( John) Appendixes 198 Franks, was buried at St. Michael’s Church in Bath. No burial site could be found for David Franks in England.1 In 1906, politician and amateur historian Captain N. Taylor Phillips wrote a letter to Robert Winder Johnson stating, “there can be no question as to the year and place of David Franks’ death, which is as stated by you, England, 1794.” Again, no supporting evidence is given for this statement.2 Phillips was a lifelong member of New York’s Shearith Israel synagogue and held several positions of responsibility in the American Jewish Historical Society. He would have been an obvious source of information for Johnson. The two men carried on a correspondence over a period of several years. Johnson believed himself to be a descendant of Sir Henry Johnson, and therefore of Rebecca Franks Johnson and, consequently, of David Franks. When he had completed his research, Mr. Johnson wrote a genealogical text about his family that made no mention of the Franks connection.3 Apparently, he had not learned of any. I examined all of the Phillips Family Papers at the American Jewish Historical Society and all of Captain Phillips’s papers in Shearith Israel Congregation’s archives for evidence for the statement about David’s death. I found nothing to corroborate the assertion. There is a probate document dated July 15, 1794, with handwriting extremely difficult to read, which appears to say, “David Franks was late of the City of Philadelphia Esq. [?] and died in October last.” The original, located at Somerset House in London, may be easier to read and may produce a more accurate transcript. In any event, the probate was recorded the following year.4 Mr. John Wood, the customer relations manager of the Public Services Development Unit of the British National Archives, provided the following explanation. Probate recordings are collected in a file called PROB 8/XXX and are termed “probate acts.” Each volume covers one year—PROB 8/187 covers 1794. “Within each volume, they are arranged systematically by date and section—one clerk dealt with each section—the first section each year deals with the overseas deaths—in which the David Franks entry is found.” Mr. Wood declined to copy the entire volume, which would show irrefutably that the Franks listing was in the first section, but he gives absolute assurance of the fact.5 Consequently, we are certain that David Franks did not die in England. Other puzzles remain. Dr. Rush and Franks were indeed neighbors for many years and are believed to...