FRANKS, JACOB

FRANKS, JACOB (1688–1769), New York City merchant and founder of a prominent mercantile family. Franks, born in London, arrived in New York in 1708 or 1709. He became a freeman of New York in 1711. A year later he married Abigail Bilhah Levy, daughter of moses levy , one of New York's wealthiest Jews. The couple had nine children, three of whom – Moses, David, and Naphtali – became successful merchants in England and the provinces. A daughter, Phila, married Oliver De Lancey in 1742, thus linking the family with New York aristocracy. Franks' vast trade activities, engaged in part with Moses Levy and Nathan Simpson, as well as his sons, included dry goods, liquor, and slaves. Other partners in trade were members of the Van Cortlandt, Philipse, and Livingston families. Franks was elected constable of the Dock Ward in New York City in 1720, but declined to serve. He did serve in the militia during the French and Indian Wars. Franks contributed to the building of the steeple on Trinity Church in 1711. Much involved in the congregational affairs of Shearith Israel in New York, he served in a variety of offices, including that of president (1729). He was a founder of the congregation's Mill Street synagogue, and also helped to purchase the congregation burial ground off present-day Chatham Square. Frank's interest in religious affairs was not continued by his descendants, and the family disappeared as Jews by the end of the 18th century. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: L. Hershkowitz and I.S. Meyer (eds.), Letters of the Franks Family (1733–1748) (1968). (Leo Hershkowitz) FRANKS, JACOB FRANKS, JACOB (c. 1766–c. 1823), merchant and civic leader in Wisconsin and Michigan. Franks, who was born in England, was a nephew of david salisbury franks . He immigrated to Montreal and in 1792 was sent to Green Bay, Wisconsin, as anagent for a Montreal firm. He soon purchased a large tract of land, opened his own trading post, and became one of the influential residents of the settlement, contributing much toward the development of the area. Franks moved to Mackinac, Michigan, in 1805 or earlier. During the War of 1812 Franks fought on the British side and aided in the capture of Mackinac. In 1815 he was listed as one of the "magistrates, merchants, traders and principal inhabitants of Michilimackinac and St. Josephs." When the British withdrew from Mackinac to Drummond Island, Michigan, in 1815, the Americans destroyed Franks' house at Mackinac. He returned to Montreal, where he became an army purveyor and was also a business associate of Henry Joseph, member of a leading Canadian Jewish family. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: I. Katz, The Beth El Story (1955), index; B. Sack, History of the Jews in Canada (1945), index; Wisconsin Historial Collections, 19 (1903–11), 292. (Irving I. Katz) FRANZBLAU, ABRAHAM NORMAN FRANZBLAU, ABRAHAM NORMAN (1901–1982), U.S. educator and psychiatrist. Franzblau was born in New York. He began a long association with Hebrew Union College in 1923 as principal of its school for teachers in New York, serving until 1931, when he became professor of education and pastoral psychiatry at the College at Cincinnati. Franzblau receiveda Ph.D. in education from Columbia (1935), and then took up the study of medicine, receiving his M.D. in 1937. During World War II he was attached to the Surgeon General's Office as colonel. Franzblau returned to New York in 1946 as professor of pastoral psychology and dean of the Jewish Institute of Religion school of education. In 1948 he became associated with the psychiatric department of Mount Sinai Hospital and in 1958 retired from Hebrew Union College to devote himself entirely to psychiatry. A pioneer in the application of psychiatric knowledge to the work of the ministry, Franzblau lectured in this field at many seminaries. Besides texts, monographs, and research studies, he wrote Religious Belief and Character Among Jewish Adolescents (1934); Road to Sexual Maturity (1954); Primer of Statistics for Non-Statisticians (1958); and (with his wife Rose Franzblau) Sane and Happy Life (1963). His wife ROSE NADLER FRANZBLAU (1905–1979) was a psychologist and columnist. She was born in Vienna and wrote human relations columns for the New York Post from 1947 and discussed psychological problems submitted by listeners to her daily radio program. She wrote Race Differences in Mental and Physical Traits (1935) and co-authored Final Report, National Youth Administration (1944) and Tensions Affecting International Understanding (1950). She also wrote The Middle Generation (1971). -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: F. Fierman, "Abraham N. Franzblau: Revolutionary Jewish Educator," in: El Paso Historical Review (1988). (Sefton D. Temkin / Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)