Moses Judah Hays

Moses Judah Hays (1799^{[note 1]} – 12 November 1861) was a Canadian businessman and municipal leader. He established and managed the first water-works in Montreal, and served as the city's chief of police from 1854 until his death.^[4][5]

Capt. Moses Judah Hays
6th Chief of the Montreal Police Service
In office 1854–1861
Personal details
Born	1799 (1799) Montreal, Lower Canada
Died	12 November 1861(1861-11-12) (aged 61–62) Montreal, United Province of Canada

Early life

Moses Judah Hays was born into a prominent Jewish family in Montreal. His mother, Brandele Abigail (née David; 1762–1840), was the sister of fur trader David David.^[6] His father, Andrew Hays (1742–1835), one of the founders of the Shearith Israel Synagogue, came from a well-established Sephardic family which emigrated from Holland to the United States in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Among his relatives were lawyer Daniel P. Hays, ophthalmologist Isaac Hays, police officer Jacob Hays [Wikidata], and painter William J. Hays [fr].^[7][8]

Career

Hays began his career as a clerk in Montreal's Royal Engineers Department and continued to contribute to civic life for many years thereafter.^[9] He joined the Montreal Mechanics' Institution in 1829.^[2] When Montreal was incorporated as a city in 1832, Hays established its first municipal water system,^[10] which he operated until selling it to the city at a loss in 1845.^[11] He was also a director of Joseph Masson's gas company and of the Montreal Provident and Savings Bank,^[11][12] and between 1836 and 1840 served as a judge on the Court of Special Sessions, which administered the city.^[9] In 1837, he and Benjamin Hart were appointed magistrates, becoming the first Jews in Canada to be appointed to that office.^[1][10]

 

Hayes House burning on Dalhousie Square (1852)

He opened Hays House in Dalhousie Square in 1847. The four-storey block of buildings included a hotel, a shopping area, and a theatre,^[2] and featured a panoramic view extending over the entire city.^[13] It became a centre of activity for Montreal's nouveau riche.^[14] The theatre hosted concerts by Anna Bishop, Nicolas-Charles Bochsa, the Germania Musical Society, and others,^[15] as well as theatrical performances.^[16] After the burning of the Parliament Buildings in April 1849, Hays leased the building to Parliament to serve as its temporary seat.^[17] It was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1852.^[18]

Hays was active in the Montreal Jewish community, serving as gabbai and later president of the Shearith Israel Synagogue.^[19] He planned and superintended the construction of a new building for the Synagogue, which opened in 1838.^[20] In 1847, he and Rev. Abraham de Sola organized the Hebrew Philanthropic Society to assist poor Jewish immigrants.^[4]

Outside the Jewish community, Hays served as president of the Montreal Agricultural Society, secretary of the Montreal Mechanics' Institute,^[11] and a member of the Provincial Grand Lodge.^[21] In 1849, he was appointed to Montreal's Central Board of Health.^[11] In 1854, he was installed as Chief of Police.^{[10][note 2]}

Hays died of a sudden heart attack on the morning of 12 November 1861.^[23]

Notes

1. 1789 according to some sources.^[1][2] His age, however, is given as 60 in the 1861 Canadian census.^[3]
2. Some sources mistakenly give the year of his appointment as 1845. The correct date is confirmed by his obituary in the Montreal Herald.^[22]

References

1. Blaustein, Esther I.; Esar, Rachel A.; Miller, Evelyn (1969–1970). "Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue (Shearith Israel), Montreal, 1768–1968". Transactions & Miscellanies. Jewish Historical Society of England. 23: 111–142. JSTOR 29778791.
2. McGuire, Susan (July–August 2009). MacLeod, Rod (ed.). "Early Jewish Families Active in Montreal's Mechanics' Institute" (PDF). Quebec Heritage News. 5 (4): 9–10.
3. "M. J. Hays" (January 1861). Canada East Census, ID: 250138, p. 370. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
4. Rosenberg, Louis (1961). "Two Centuries of Jewish Life in Canada, 1760–1960". The American Jewish Year Book. 62: 28–49. JSTOR 23603227.
5. Hart, Arthur Daniel (1926). The Jew in Canada. Toronto & Montreal: Jewish Publications Ltd. pp. 36–37.
6. Rome, David (1981). On the Early Harts—Their Contemporaries. Canadian Jewish Archives. Vol. 19. Montreal: National Archives, Canadian Jewish Congress. p. 55.
7.   Adler, Cyrus; Sulzberger, Rachel Hays (1904). "Hays". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 270–271.
8. Malchelosse, Gérard (1939). "Les Juifs dans l'histoire canadienne". Les Cahiers des Dix (in French). Montreal. 4 (4): 185–186. doi:10.7202/1078897ar. S2CID 243476145.
9. Rome, David (1983). On the Jews of Lower Canada and 1837–38. Canadian Jewish Archives. Vol. 28. Montreal: National Archives, Canadian Jewish Congress. pp. 11–16, 41, 59.
10. Rosenberg, Louis (1959). Chronology of Canadian Jewish History (PDF). Canadian Jewish Congress. pp. 7–8.
11. Miller, Carman (1976). "Hayes (Hays), Moses Judah". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. 9. University of Toronto / Université Laval.
12. Mitchell, Doug; Slinn, Judy (1989). McMaster Meighan History. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-7735-6091-8. JSTOR j.ctt130hh5z.6.
13. Mackay, Robert W. S. (1851). The Canada Directory. Montreal: John Lovell. p. 220.
14. Tulchinsky, Gerald (2008). Canada's Jews: A People's Journey. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. doi:10.3138/9781442687486-004. ISBN 978-1-4426-8748-6.
15. Barrière, Mireille; Potvin, Gilles (15 December 2013). "Music at Theatre Royal". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
16. Graham, Franklin (1902). Histrionic Montreal: Annals of the Montreal Stage, with Biographical and Critical Notices of the Plays and Players of a Century (2nd ed.). Montreal: John Lovell & Son. pp. 94–95.
17. "19th Century Public Figures". Juifs d'ici. 2017.
18. "Full Particulars of the Great Fire". Montreal Herald and Daily Commercial Gazette. Vol. XLIV, no. 114. 12 July 1852. p. 1.
19. Sack, Benjamin G. (1945). History of the Jews in Canada: From the Earliest Beginnings to the Present Day. Vol. 1. Montreal: Canadian Jewish Congress. pp. 109–113, 130–132, 135–137.
20. Borthwick, John Douglas (1892). History and Biographical Gazetteer of Montreal to the Year 1892. Montreal: J. Lovell. p. 477.
21. Smith, Pemberton (1939). A Research into Early Canadian Masonry, 1759–1869. Montreal: Quality Press Ltd. pp. 114–115, 117.
22. "The Late Chief of Police". Montreal Herald and Daily Commercial Gazette. Vol. LIII, no. 286. 29 November 1861. p. 2. The Police Committee reported that they availed themselves of the first opportunity that offered itself of conveying to the Council the sad and melancholy intelligence of the sudden and unexpected death of Moses Judah Hays, Esq., for the last seven years [emphasis added] Chief of Police.
23. "Sudden Death". The Gazette. Montreal. 13 November 1861. p. 2.

Preceded by Charles O. Ermatinger [Wikidata]

6th Chief of the Montreal Police Service 1854–1861

Succeeded by Guillaume Lamothe [Wikidata]