Quebec, 1792.
The document also mentions Michel Cornud (1725-1792) of Quebec.
Signed several times by the Notary & Judge Pierre-Louis Deschenaux.
Samuel Jacobs, Jewish merchant; 1710- died 3 Aug. 1786 at Quebec,
According to American historian Jacob Rader Marcus, Samuel Jacobs was probably of Alsatian origin. He arrived in Canada with the British army during the Seven Years’ War and did business as a purveyor to the troops, especially the officers. Some promissory notes and receipts confirm his presence in January 1758 at Fort Cumberland (near Sackville, N.B.), where he apparently engaged mainly in the liquor trade. From 1759 to 1761 he was in partnership on equal terms with William Buttar and Alexander Mackenzie in a brewery at Louisbourg, Cape Breton Island. Jacobs seems to have devoted little time to it, choosing instead to take his schooner Betsey and follow the British fleet when it sailed for Quebec in the summer of 1759. That autumn he was preparing to send his vessel to Oporto (Porto), Portugal, but General James Murray requisitioned the little ship to ply between Île d’Orléans and Quebec. He later requested compensation for the losses he had suffered in consequence.
The end of the war led Jacobs to try his luck in the new British colony. A few papers which seem to be in his handwriting, in particular a large invoice made out to Laurent Bertrand (Bertrend) dated 20 Oct. 1760, suggest that Jacobs spoke French. He seems to have been a wealthy merchant already, since by the transaction Bertrand consigned £2,525 worth of furs to him and Jacobs sold him wine, spirits, salt pork, coffee, sugar, and salt, for £1,444. By 3 November Jacobs had paid what he still owed Bertrand.
Jacobs evidently was at home among both old and new subjects of His Britannic Majesty; he did business with the Canadians as easily as with the British or his fellow Jews. Around 1760 he was trading with Aaron Hart, who later set up business in Trois-Rivières, and with Eleazar Levy, who after settling for a time in Quebec finally moved to New York about 1771. Through his Jewish connections Jacobs established firm commercial relations with New York, where Hyam Myers was his principal agent. Myers also travelled frequently to Quebec and in 1772 lived in Levy’s house before returning to New York, after which there is no trace of him.
Jacobs early grasped the importance of the Richelieu route. He set up stores along it from Crown Point (N.Y.) to Sorel. In 1763 he thought it advisable to open a store at Saint-Denis, which he entrusted to Charles Curtius. Jacobs’ account books show the extent of his trading activity. In the single month of November 1763 he received at least 18 different shipments, carefully noting the names of the ships and captains. These deliveries included coffee, salt, and sugar, and especially a large number of pipes of wine and spirits. He exported mainly wheat, apples, and furs.
While living in Quebec, where he owned some property, he concentrated his activity along the Richelieu. In a document dated 3 April 1770 he listed the plots of land he had bought at Saint-Denis from 31 Jan. 1769 on, valuing them at £2,700. On 1 July 1770 he made a list of his accounts at his store in Sorel: 183 debtors owed him £5,270 18s. 11d. He also did a good deal of business at Saint-Ours and Saint-Charles.
Jacobs finally settled at Saint-Denis. In addition to buying and running a general store, he operated a distillery and had an interest in pearl-ash, which he exported to England. One of his business associates at that time was George Allsopp*. As well as being Allsopp’s partner in these various industries, Jacobs acted as his supplier of wheat in exchange for wholesale goods.
Jacobs died on 3 Aug. 1786. He left his executor, Edward William Gray*, a heavy task, since the value of the property involved made it necessary for him to guard the rich merchant’s papers carefully. Jacobs’ widow took as her second husband Jean-Baptiste Rieutord*, a doctor from Trois-Rivières. She in turn died in 1806. An extremely complex notarial deed, now in the Baby collection, again left Edward William Gray the task of settling the delicate question of the inheritance, raised this time by the new will left by the widow, in which she is called “mother and step-mother” of Samuel Jacobs’ children.
