Some further details of the strange negligence to which this unfortunate loss is due may be found in the Senate Committee Report to the 31st Congress on the claim of H. M. Salomon. The timely services rendered by Haym Salomon to James Madison during the sessions of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia are specifically indicated in the published letters of Madison; see Gilpin, Madison Papers, Vol. I., pp. 163, 178-9. Mr. Herbert Friedenwald, of Philadelphia, has recently found among the records of the Continental Congress an interesting Memorial of Haym Salomon, submitted to the Congress in August, 1778; see Publications of American Jewish Historical Society, I., 87. The main sources of information relative to the life of Haym Salomon are thus the secondary Congressional Committee Reports upon the claims of his descendants for indemnity for money advanced to the United States Government during the Revolution. These, in the order of their presentation, are as follows:[21]
1. Report on Claim of Haym M. Salomon. Rep. F. A. Tallmadge. April 26, 1848. 3 pp. House Reports, No. 504, 30th Cong., 1st Sess., Vol. III.
2. Report on Claim of H. M. Salomon. Senator J. D. Bright. July 28, 1848. 3 pp. Senate Reports, No. 219, 30th Cong., 1st Sess.
3. Report on Claim of H. M. Salomon. Senator I. P. Walker. August 9, 1850. 7 pp. Senate Reports, No. 177, 31st Cong., 1st Sess., Vol. I.
4. Report on Claim of Haym M. Salomon. Senator Charles Durkee. March 9, 1860. 10 pp. Senate Reports, No. 127, 36th Cong., 1st Sess., Vol. I.
5. Report on Claim of Haym M. Salomon. Senator M. S. Wilkinson. July 2, 1862. 5 pp. Senate Reports, No. 65, 37th Cong., 2d Sess.
6. Report on Petition of Haym M. Salomon. June 24, 1864. 4 pp. Senate Reports, No. 93, 30th Cong., 1st Sess.
The second, third, fifth and sixth of the above reports have been reprinted in pamphlet form, presumably for private circulation. During the first session of the 29th Congress, the Senate Committee of Claims unanimously agreed upon a report similar to that adopted by the House Committee of the 30th Congress, but too late for presentation. Another report was drawn up during the second session of the same Congress, placed on file, but never adopted. It was largely embodied in the Senate Report to the 31st Congress; see Senate Report to the 31st Congress. The last sentence of the Report to the 38th Congress: "except the report of this committee made at the last session," and several paragraphs inserted in the Report to the 37th Congress as statements of "the committee of the last Congress," indicate the presentation of additional reports. No positive evidence of their existence has, however, been found. At the second session of the 52d Congress (February 24, 1893), a bill was presented to the House, ordering that a gold medal be struck off in recognition of services rendered by Haym Salomon during the Revolutionary War, in consideration of which the Salomon heirs waived their claims upon the United States for indemnity. The measure was reported favorably by the House Committee on the Library, but too late for consideration. The Report (No. 2556; to accompany H. R. 7896) summarizes the efforts made in previous Congresses, and reprints in full the Senate Report to the 37th Congress.
OTHER JEWISH CONTRIBUTORS TO THE COLONIAL TREASURY.
The monetary contribution by Haym Salomon to the successful issue of the Revolutionary struggle was doubtless the largest made by any individual, but while it is the most signal instance of its kind, it does not stand alone. Haym Salomon was not the only Jew who showed his earnestness in behalf of freedom by a jeopardy or sacrifice of fortune. Among the signers of the Bills of Credit for the Continental Congress in 1776 were Benjamin Levy, of Philadelphia and Benjamin Jacobs, of New York; and Samuel Lyon, of the same city, was among the signers of similar bills in 1779. Isaac Morris, also of Philadelphia, and who, after the Revolutionary War, was one of the incorporators of the Bank of New York, contributed three thousand pounds sterling (£3000) to the colonial treasury, and still another Philadelphian, Hyman Levy, repeatedly advanced considerable sums for the support of the army in the field. A yet more notable instance of patriotic devotion was that of Manuel Mordecai Noah, of South Carolina, who not only served in the army as officer on Washington's staff, and likewise with General Marion, but gave of his fortune twenty thousand pounds (£20,000) to further the cause in which he was enlisted. Many minor cases of a similar order could be cited, but only the more important instances, such as are of public record, have here been adduced.