Born to a Jewish family in Leszno, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Salomon studied finance in Western Europe before emigrating to New York City in 1775. After the American Revolutionary War broke out in the same year, Salomon supported the Patriots by providing financial services while working alongside financier Robert Morris, the Superintendent of Finance of the United States, and risked his life as a member of the Sons of Liberty, leading to multiple arrests by the British for espionage

Salomon addressed this letter in 1783 to General Stewart and Mr. Conyngham:

"You will particularly oblige me, by permitting Mr. Samuel Lazarus & his Wife (who are passengers on board your Ship) to come ashore; & you shall be paid for their passage (or any other charge you may have against them) by your most Obed.t hum.e Serv.t—Haym Salomon"

While Salomon was a patriot, the subject of his generosity, Samuel Lazarus, was a loyalist. It is likely that he was the father of the liturgist Eleazar Samuel Lazarus and the great-grandfather of the poet Emma Lazarus. 

Philadelphia, December 29, 1783

MS 8383