Aaron Hart (businessman)

Aaron was born August 16, 1724, at London, England, to Yehezkel (Ezekiel) and Judith Hirsh, immigrants from Fürth, now in Bavaria (they later changed their name to Hart, the English version of their name).{{cite book|last1=Langlais|first1=Jacques |last2=Rome|first2= David|title=Jews and French Quebecers: Two Hundred Years of Shared History|year=2010|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press|isbn=9781554587261|page=23}} He became a member of the St. Paul's Lodge of Freemasons on June 10, 1760, making him one of the first Jews in North America to become a Mason.

Some accounts say mistakenly that Hart crossed the Atlantic with Sir Frederick Haldimand during the Seven Years' War between England and France.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}} Hart was appointed commissary officer in Jeffrey Amherst's army, and he travelled north and entered Montreal with Amherst's army in 1760. He settled at Trois-Rivières in 1761.{{cite web|title=This day, Mary 15, in Jewish history|url=http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/cjnconnect/blogs/article_057a78b4-3f44-5375-a20d-a850a62b2194.html|publisher=Cleveland Jewish News|access-date=May 18, 2014|archive-date=May 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519165352/http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/cjnconnect/blogs/article_057a78b4-3f44-5375-a20d-a850a62b2194.html|url-status=dead}} Hart supplied the British troops stationed there.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} He was appointed postmaster of Trois-Rivières in August 1763.{{cite book|last=Godfrey|first=Sheldon J. |title=Search Out the Land: The Jews and the Growth of Equality in British Colonial America, 1740-1867|series=McGill-Queen's studies in ethnic history|volume=23|year=1995|publisher=McGill Queen's Press|isbn=9780773564824|page=98}}

One of the first Jews in Canada, in 1768 Hart became a founding member of Canada's first synagogue; Shearith Israel, the Sephardic synagogue in Montreal. He was an Ashkenazi Jew who spoke and wrote fluent Jiddisch-Deutsch (Jewish-German, related to Yiddish), but at that time, most of the British Jews were of Sephardic descent and ritual.

On January 14, 1768, Aaron wed his cousin Dorothea Catherine Judah in Portsmouth, England.

Hart invested in the fur trade, then quite lucrative, and later acquired a vast amount of property, having more than seven seigneuries, notably the seigneuries of Sainte-Marguerite, Vieux-Pont, and Bécancour. He bought the fief of Bruyères, the marquisate of Le Sable, and numerous other properties in and around Trois-Rivières. He also owned part of Trinity Island, and the mouth of Saint-Maurice.

Hart also operated a store in Trois-Rivières, where he conducted a diverse wholesale and retail business. He made commercial and real estate loans throughout a wide area around the town. Prospering by these diverse operations, he bequeathed a huge legacy to his and Catherine's eight children; his four sons inherited the vast bulk of his estate, while his four daughters received £1,000 each.

At their residence in Trois-Rivières, the Harts received a visit from Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (father of Queen Victoria), and received the Papal Envoy.{{cite web|url=http://www.ajcarchives.org/ajc_data/files/1925_1926_5_specialarticles.pdf|title=The Jews of Canada|last=Wolff|first=Martin|work=American Jewish Year Book|page=156|accessdate=5 May 2014}}

Hart participated in repelling Montgomery's invasion in the winter of 1775. He took an active part in the military operations during the American Revolutionary War.

Hart died at Trois-Rivières on December 28, 1800, at the age of 76. At his death he was reputed to be the wealthiest man in British Canada.

He was survived by his wife Dorothea Catherine and four sons: Moses, Ezekiel, Benjamin, and Alexander, and four daughters: Catharine, Charlotte, Elizabeth, and Sarah.{{cite web|url= http://www.americanjewisharchives.org/pdfs/stern_p095.pdf |title=Hart Family Tree at the American Jewish Archives }} {{small|(663.79 KB)}}

A number of his descendants settled in New York, where they became members of the Congregation Shearith Israel. Most of Aaron Hart's children and grandchildren had remained Jews, and despite speculation to the contrary, many of Aaron Hart's descendants continue to live in the Jewish faith to this day.{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}

His second son, Ezekiel Hart, who entered into the family business at Trois-Rivières and later opened a brewery with his brothers, was elected to the legislative assembly. Later he was expelled from his seat because he was a Jew.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}} His son Moses became a businessman at William-Henry (later Sorel) and ran unsuccessfully several times for a seat in the legislative assembly. His son Benjamin became an important businessman in Montreal.

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• {{Cite DCB |first=Denis |last=Vaugeois |title=Hart, Aaron |volume=4 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hart_aaron_4E.html}}
• {{cite book |last1=Denis |first1=Vaugeois |title=First Jews in North America: The Extraordinary Story of the Hart Family |date=2012 |publisher=Baraka Books |isbn=978-1926824093}}
• {{Cite book|title=Jews & French Quebecers|first=Jacques|last=Langlais|author2=Rome, David|year=1991|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press|isbn=0-88920-998-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQLpVlQ61DMC}}
• {{Cite book|title=Aaron Hart: Récit Historique|first=Raymond|last=Douville|year=1938|location=Trois-Rivières|publisher=Éditions du Bien Public|url=https://archive.org/details/aaronhartrecithi0000douv|url-access=registration}}
• {{Cite book|title=The Jew in Canada|first=Arthur Daniel|last=Hart|year=1926|publisher=Jewish Publications Limited|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20JlGQAACAAJ}}
• {{Cite book|title=Canadian Mosaic|last=Gibbon|first=John Murray|authorlink=John Murray Gibbon|year=1939|publisher=J. M. Dent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=unxxAAAAMAAJ}}
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• {{Cite book|title=The Jewish Community in Canada|last=Rosenberg|first=Stuart E.|year=1970|publisher=McClelland & Stewart|isbn=9780771077371|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NN5AAAAMAAJ}}
• {{Cite book|title=Imperial Year Book for Dominion of Canada|last=Southall|first=A.E.|author2=Moody, C.H.|year=1914|publisher=Imperial Year Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2Sctdl7SWAC}}
• {{Cite book|title=A Coat of Many Colours: Two Centuries of Jewish Life in Canada|last=Abella|first=Irving M.|authorlink=Irving Abella|year=1990|publisher=Lester & Orpen Dennys|url=https://archive.org/details/coatofmanycolour0000abel|url-access=registration|isbn=0-88619-251-X}}
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• {{Cite book|title=Jews and the State: Dangerous Alliances and the Perils of Privilege|first=Ezra|last=Mendelsohn|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-517087-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-TttDROff0C}}
• {{Cite book|title=Taking Root: The Origins of the Canadian Jewish Community|first=Gerald|last=Tulchinsky|year=1993|publisher=University Press of New England|isbn=0-87451-609-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7tMCamkUKuQC}}
• {{Cite book|title=Canada's Jews: A People's Journey|first=Gerald|last=Tulchinsky|year=2008|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-8020-9386-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fIZ6wftL3oQC}}
• {{Cite book|title=Montréal, les Juifs et l'école|first=Arlette|last=Corcos|year=1997|publisher=Les Éditions du Septentrion|isbn=2-89448-078-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RAmVOIgnGokC}}
• {{Cite book|title=Cent ans de littérature yiddish et hébraïque au Canada|first=Chaim Leib|last=Fox|author2=Anctil, Pierre|year=2005|publisher=Les Éditions du Septentrion|isbn=2-89448-429-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uvUxAAAACAAJ}}
• {{Cite book|title=Canadian Jewish Year Book|year=1941|publisher=Canadian Jewish Year Book reg'd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hdw0AAAAIAAJ}}
• {{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=H&artid=309#847|title=Aaron Hart|accessdate=March 24, 2009|encyclopedia=Jewish Encyclopedia}}

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Category:1724 births

Category:1800 deaths

Aaron Hart

Category:English Jews

Category:Canadian Ashkenazi Jews

Category:Canadian people of English-Jewish descent

Category:Settlers of Canada

Category:18th-century Canadian businesspeople

Category:English emigrants to pre-Confederation Quebec

Category:Yiddish-speaking people

Category:English people of German-Jewish descent

Category:Canadian people of German-Jewish descent

Category:Jews and Judaism in Quebec

Category:Immigrants to New France