Clark, Daniel (1766–13 August 1813), merchant, diplomat, and territorial delegate, was born in Sligo, Ireland. Although his parents’ names are unknown, his family’s wealth and connections were sufficient to provide him with an education at Eton and other English schools. Declining fortunes in Ireland prompted the Clarks in 1785 or 1786 to emigrate to America, where they settled in Germantown, outside of Philadelphia....
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Clark, Daniel (1766-1813), merchant, diplomat, and territorial delegate
Carolyn E. De Latte
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Gwinnett, Button (bap. 10 April 1735), merchant and political leader
Harvey H. Jackson
Gwinnett, Button (bap. 10 April 1735), merchant and political leader, was born in Gloucester, England, the son of the Reverend Samuel Gwinnett and Anne Emes. Gwinnett left England as a young man and for a number of years after arriving in America was a merchant in the colonial trade. In April 1757 he married Ann Bourne, with whom he had three children. His business activities took him from Newfoundland to Jamaica, and at times brought him into conflict with other merchants and with legal authorities. Never very successful, he moved to Savannah in 1765 and opened a store. When that venture failed, he bought (on credit) St. Catherines Island, off the coast of Georgia to the south of Savannah, and attempted to become a planter. Though his planting activities were also unsuccessful, he did make a name for himself in local politics....
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Gwinnett, Button (bap. 10 April 1735)
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Button Gwinnett. Courtesy of the Library of Congress (LC-USZ62-111795).
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Laurens, Henry (1724-1792), planter-merchant and revolutionary war statesman
C. James Taylor
Laurens, Henry (24 February 1724–08 December 1792), planter-merchant and revolutionary war statesman, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, the son of John Laurens, a saddler, and Esther Grasset. The Laurens family had fled La Rochelle, France, as Huguenot refugees in 1682. After stops in London, Ireland, and New York, they settled in Charleston about 1715. Laurens received in his own words “the best education” that the provincial community could offer. In 1744 he sailed for London to serve a three-year clerkship in James Crokatt’s counting house. Laurens married Eleanor Ball in 1750. They had twelve children, but only four survived childhood. ...
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Laurens, Henry (1724-1792)
Maker: John Singleton Copley
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Henry Laurens. Reproduction of a painting by John Singleton Copley, 1781. Courtesy of the National Archives (NWDNS-148-CP-213).
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Nolte, Vincent Otto (21 November 1779?–19 August 1856), merchant
E. Clark Davis
Nolte, Vincent Otto (21 November 1779?–19 August 1856), merchant, was born in Livorno, Italy, the son of John Henry Nolte, a merchant. Little is known of his mother. He was educated privately in Germany and at age sixteen was apprenticed to the Livorno mercantile house of Otto Frank, managed by his uncle. There he rejected his uncle’s authority, spent much of his time in idle pursuits, and as a result soon found himself back in Hamburg working in his father’s countinghouse. As he explains in his memoir, ...
