Benjamin Mendes Seixas | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1747 |
| Died | August 16, 1817 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupations | Merchant, broker, auctioneer |
| Known for | Signer of the Buttonwood Agreement |
| Spouse | Zipporah Levy (m. 1779) |
| Children | 21, including Isaac B. Seixas |
| Relatives | Gershom Mendes Seixas, Abraham Mendes Seixas, Moses Seixas (brothers) Grace Seixas Nathan (sister) Bernard Hart (son-in-law) Emanuel B. Hart (grandson) |
Benjamin Mendes Seixas (1747 – August 16, 1817) was an American Jewish merchant in Newport, Philadelphia and New York City, and one of the 24 signers of the Buttonwood Agreement of 1792, the founding document of the New York Stock Exchange. A supporter of the American Revolution, he was a brother of Gershom Mendes Seixas, minister of New York's Congregation Shearith Israel, which Benjamin later served as president.
Seixas was born in Newport in 1747, the fourth son of the merchant Isaac Mendes Seixas and his wife Rachel Levy; unlike his brothers, who were born in New York, he was a native of Newport. His siblings included Gershom; Moses Seixas, who wrote the Newport congregation's letter of welcome to George Washington in 1790; the Revolutionary War officer Abraham Mendes Seixas; and Grace, wife of the merchant Simon Nathan.
In 1775 Seixas sent two petitions to the Committee of Safety of the province of New York urging members of the community to prepare to fight if hostilities with Britain escalated into war. When the British occupied New York, he left for Stratford, Connecticut, where he joined his father, and also lived in Norwalk. He later moved to Philadelphia, where on January 27, 1779, he married Zipporah Levy. The couple had twenty-one children.
Seixas returned to New York with his family in 1784, after the war. He was a prominent merchant there, and on May 17, 1792, he was one of the 24 brokers and merchants who signed the Buttonwood Agreement that was the founding document of the New York Stock Exchange, agreeing to trade securities only with one another at a fixed commission; five of the signers were Jewish. His fellow signer Bernard Hart later married his daughter Rebecca.
Seixas was active in Congregation Shearith Israel, serving on its board as a trustee and as its president. Later in life he worked as an auctioneer. He died in New York on August 16, 1817.
His son Isaac B. Seixas (1782–1839) became minister of Shearith Israel in 1828. Through his daughter Rebecca and Bernard Hart he was the grandfather of Emanuel B. Hart, a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.