Gratz family (Philadelphia) papers

The collection contains correspondence, legal documents, and miscellaneous items concerning the personal lives and business interests of Barnard, Michael, and Rebecca Gratz.

Included in the collection is personal correspondence of Barnard and Michael Gratz with their brothers Hayim and Jonathan in Europe (1756, 1759), and their cousins, the Henry (originally Bloch) family (1756-1801), also in Europe. It also includes the correspondence of the Henry family itself (1754-1760), letters between Barnard and Michael Gratz (1760-1787) to Solomon and Rachel Etting (1794-1798). There are also letters from Patrick Rice (1787), Eleazar Levy (1778), and from Moses Michael Hays. Of special interest are two printed letters from Palestine (now Israel) to Michael Gratz requesting financial assistance (1763); the last will and testament of Michael Gratz, written before he left London for America (1759); and a letter from Manuel Myers, president of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York, to Michael Gratz, giving his permission for Gershom Mendes Seixas to marry Gratz and Miriam Simon in Lancaster (1759).

Included in the business papers and correspondence are letters from Meyer Josephson in Yiddish (1761-1767), Nachman Ben Moshe (1764), and Joseph Simon (1771, 1784); letters from General Augustine Prevost (1773, 1789), Peter Livingston (1768), and Isaac Hart of Newport (1769); various deeds, leases, and other legal documentsl; and the account of Michael Gratz with his sons, Simon and Hyman (1797-1814). Among the witnesses for the deeds is Aaron Levy. Of special interest is a waste book (temporary account book) of accounts, in English and Yiddish, apparently kept by Michael Gratz soon after his arrival in Philadelphia (1759-1760); a certificate of Kashrut in Hebrew signed by Abraham I. Abrahams of Congregation Shearith Israel for meat shipped by Michael Gratz to Barbados (1767), and papers dealing with the Gratz brothers' relationship with George Croghan. Among the latter are items pertaining to the Illinois and Wabash grants (ca. 1779), and maps of Croghan's Lake Otsego lands (1774), and of Gratzburgh (1786), both located in New York State. Also included is a map of land owned by Michael and Barnard Gratz in Montgomery County, Virginia (1786). Related is a document signed by Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia, granting land in Montgomery County to Michael Gratz.

This collection also contains personal letters written by Rebecca Gratz to various family members and friends. Her primary correspondents were her brother, Benjamin Gratz, of Lexington, Kentucky, and his wives, Maria Gist Gratz and Anna Maria Boswell Gratz. A substantial collection of letters from her friend, Maria Fenno Hoffman, wife of Ogden Hoffman, attorney general of New York State, is also included. The collection also contains several letters to Rebecca Gratz, including one from her mother (1799); several from Slowey Hays (1806-1832); several items pertaining to the Jewish Sunday School of Philadelphia, the Female Benevolent Society of Philadelphia, and the Orphan Society; a receipt for payment of United States income tax, along with a list of silver on which tax was paid (1862); and papers relating to Rebecca Gratz's estate.