The man whose loans may have helped to save the War of Independence was Jacob de Haven (1730–1812) a citizen of Pennsylvania. The unbroken de Haven family tradition since Jacob’s death is that he made loans of gold and supplies to Washington’s army at Valley Forge during the fateful winter of 1777–1778, such loans totalling about $450,000 value at the time. With the passage of time evidence inevitably gets lost and whether, or to what extent, the family tradition is history or fiction may no longer be capable of proof. But more than one friend or patriot must have helped to rescue the army from the cold and starvation of that terrible winter. Jacob owned the land on the bank of the Schuylkill adjacent to Washington’s encampment. Jacob and Washington were friends and both were Freemasons, and for whatever reason, during that winter Jacob suddenly fell from great wealth to a state of penury from which he never recovered.
In March 1989, Thelma Weasenforth Lunaas, a descendant of Jacob de Haven, sued the federal government in the United States Claims Court to recover the amount of the loan and the congressionally authorised interest on the sums loaned. She was represented by Jo Beth Kloecker of the Texas Bar, who enlisted me, her former law school professor, as her co-counsel. In January 1990, Judge James T. Turner held that the claim was barred by the six-year statute of limitation applicable to Claims Court cases, and dismissed the case. Judge Turner also refused to make an order for discovery, thereby preventing us from making the government search for and disclose such evidence as it might have relating to the de Haven loans.
Subsequently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld Judge Turner’s decision. The United States Supreme Court refused our application to hear the case. Consequently, the de Haven family no longer has any judicial remedy to recover a loan for which, according to Alexander Hamilton, the faith and credit of the United States had been repeatedly pledged, and which represented the price of liberty.
Jacob de Haven died in poverty in 1812. He lies buried in an unmarked grave in a remote churchyard in rural Pennsylvania.
There is no memorial in his honour.