biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1734–1806)
|
| biography:
| Merchant, banker, and public official, born in or near Liverpool, Merseyside, NW England, UK. He arrived in Maryland c.1747 to work for his father, a tobacco exporter, then went to Philadelphia where he joined the Willings' shipping firm. By 1754 he had formed a partnership with Thomas Willing, and their mercantile firm became one of the most prosperous in the colonies. Although by no means a radical patriot, he objected to the Stamp Act of 1765, and by 1775 he was recognizing a need for some action, but sent to the Continental Congress he only reluctantly signed the Declaration of Independence (1776). During the war he remained in Philadelphia and provided crucial support, both moral and material, to George Washington. Although he personally ended up profiting, he risked much of his own money in buying needed armaments for the colonial forces, and was acquitted (1779) by a congressional committee of charges that he had engaged in improper financial transactions. When the colonies realized they were on the brink of bankruptcy, the Continental Congress appointed him superintendent of finance and for over 3 years (1781–4) he instituted strict financial policies including collecting taxes from the colonies, arranging for a loan from France, and securing the money to transport Washington's army to Yorktown, VA. Once again, however, he had mixed his own finances with those of the government, by buying military supplies, for instance, with notes backed only by his own fortune. He remained active in public life, attending the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and then serving a term as one of Pennsylvania's first two senators (Federalist, 1789–95). His speculations in Western land led to the collapse of his financial empire, and he spent over 3 years in debtors' prison in Philadelphia (1798–1801). On his release he lived out his final years in poor health and was all but forgotten by his countrymen. |
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