Brother Haym Salomon
1740-1784
Polish born American patriot. Known as the “Financier of the American Revolution”. Personally loaned upwards of $20 million to the Continental Congress and General Washington’s army in support of the American Revolution.
The debt owed to him was never repaid.
Presented Jul. 2026
Haym Salomon is born in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1740
He studies finance in Western Europe until emigration to New York City in 1775
Once the Revolution begins Salomon joins the Sons of Liberty in New York and is promptly arrested as a spy in Sep. 1776 but pardoned. He is held on a ship for 18 months and forced to act as a German interpreter for Hessian soldiers. During his detainment he works to assist Continental Army prisoners of war to escape, convinces Hessian soldiers to desert and assists prolific spies Hercules Mulligan and Cato with further espionage against the British.
Flags of the Sons of Liberty
18th Century depiction of Hessian soldiers
Following his release he is arrested again in 1778, convicted of espionage, and sentenced to death. He managed to escape imprisonment and flee to Philadelphia with his family where he returned to working as a broker. Salomon worked closely with the French consul and the paymaster for the French forces in North America before beginning his work with the newly appointed Superintendent of Finance of the United States, Robert Morris in 1781.
Robert Morris, Superintendent of Finance of the United States
In August of 1781, Lord Charles Cornwallis was trapped in Yorktown, Virginia. Seeking to end the war, General Washington needed funds to make a final push to Yorktown and defeat Cornwallis once and for all. The money from the Continental Congress had long since dried up so General Washington sent for Haym Salomon directly. Salomon was able to raise the $20,000 needed for the final push to Yorktown, all but solidifying the victory over Cornwallis and bringing the American Revolution to a close. Salomon manages to further fundraise and personally contribute over $650,000 (the equivalent of almost $20million in 2026) to the Continental Congress and General Washington between 1781-1784.
Lord Charles Cornwallis
The surrender of Lord Cornwallis
Salomon was Initiated and Passed in Philadelphia Lodge No. 2 in 1764 and believed to have been Raised in Maryland Lodge No. 27 in 1784.
Philadelphia Lodge No. 2, the oldest lodge in the original 13 colonies
Hyam Salomon died unexpectedly in 1785 at the age of 44. The debt he purchased to fund the Continental Congress and the personal loans he provided we never repaid and he died in poverty. Since his death there have been some recognitions for him but nothing to repay the great debt this nation owes to the man who financed a revolution. Not for personal gain, but because of the cause it represented.
Haym Salomon stamp
Haym Salomon Square, Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York
Haym Salomon statue in Pan-Pacific Park, Los Angeles