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Baruch
Hays
Baruch Hays was born about 1745. He was the son of Solomon Hays, a New York City merchant. His father and several brothers had emigrated from Holland during the eighteenth century. These Jews prospered in business and were prominent members of the colonial city's Jewish community.
By
1765, he was identified as a merchant in Albany and
was conducting business with Sir William Johnson.
In 1766 and 1767, his first ward house and property
were listed on Albany assessment rolls.
Baruch
Hays may have been married twice - first to a woman
named Prudence; and then, in 1783, to Rachel da Costa.
He fathered a son and possibly other children as
well.
In
1768, he was made a freeman and identified as "Vendue Master" in New York City. He was a member of Temple in Manhattan.
He
may have been an officer in the Revolutionary army
or a loyalist who sought to liquidate his holdings
before he left New York at the end of the war. He
joined his brother in business in Canada and petitioned
the British for relief.
A
Baruch Hays died in the West Indies in April 1845!
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Sources: The life of Baruch Hays is CAP biography number
8386. This profile is derived chiefly from family
and community-based resources.
By Stefan Bielinski, Colonial Albany Social History Project [http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany]
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