Born in Mount Pleasant, New York, David Hays Solis was the son ofJacob Da Silva Solis and Charity Hays Solis. His father was aLondon-born Sephardi who had arrived in America in 1803. The story istold that Jacob was descended from Solomon da Silva Solis and DonnaIsabel da Fonseca, the daughter of the Marquis of Turin and Count ofVilla Real and Monterey, both refugees from the Inquisition whomarried in Amsterdam around 1640. In the mid-eighteenth century, thestory goes on, the Catholic branch of the House of Turin and VillaReal had died out, and so the succession was offered to David HaysSolis’ great grandfather. This ancestor spiritedly rejected theoffer, as one of the conditions was a conversion to Catholicism.

Charity Hays, from Bedford New York, was a member of WestchesterCounty’s most distinguished Jewish family. The couple was marriedin 1811, and made their home in Mount Pleasant. However, they spentsome time in Wilmington, Delaware, where Jacob had established anauction house. Jacob also purchased land in and maintained economicties to New Orleans, while the family was connected to ShearithIsrael in New York City. By the time David and his younger sister,Sarah, were born, the family had settledback in Mount Pleasant once more.

Davidestablished himself in Philadelphia as a merchant. In 1852 he marriedElvira Nathan of New York. David wasdeeply committed to the benefaction of educational, religious andcharitable institutions in New York and Philadelphia. Among theobjects of his generosity were the B’naiJeshurun Educational Institute, Shearith Israel, the HebrewCharitable Fund, the Jewish Publication Society and the HebrewEducational Society of Philadelphia.