The oldest of Frances and Jacob Marx’s seven children, Joseph Marxwas born in Bremen in 1772. His father served as the court physicianto the Elector of Hanover but when he died suddenly in hismid-forties, Joseph, a mere seventeen, found himself suddenly withthe responsibility to help care for his mother and siblings, theyoungest of whom was only a year old.

The family movedto Richmond, where Joseph’s name first appears in the records ofcongregation Beth Shalome in 1791. Although he started with little,Marx quickly assumed a place of importance in the business life ofRichmond, pursuing various mercantile and real estate interests,while his brother Asher proved similarlysuccessful as a merchant and importer based in New York.

Although the exact date is unknown, Joseph married RicheaMyers within a few years of his arrival in America. She wasthe daughter of famed silversmith Myer Myers and ElkalehMears Myers, and like Marx, she had recently suffered thedeath of her father. In the wake of that tragedy, her family hadrelocated from New York to Richmond, and her brothers, Samuel andMoses Mears Myers would achieve a prominence in the business, civic,and Jewish life in Richmond in parallel to that of Marx.

Joseph and Richea had nine children, including Adeline,whom they brought up in an opulent mansion, which he named, ina nod to his roots, Hanover House. With the sudden death, in 1827, ofSolomon Jacobs, a man who had served asa Richmond city councilman, recorder, and even as acting mayor, Marxbecame guardian of his dear friend’s children.

Marx counted Thomas Jefferson as an acquaintance, and in 1812 he wasappointed to the board of directors of the Farmers Bank of Virginia.Upon his death, the Richmond Enquirer said of Mark that he was“universally respected.”