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Commercial Specialization in Philadelphia's Merchant Community, 1750–1791*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2012

Thomas M. Doerflinger
Thomas M. Doerflinger
Affiliation:
Institute of Early American History and Culture
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Abstract

In this study of Philadelphia merchants in the latter half of the eighteenth century, Thomas M. Doerflinger subjects to critical scrutiny some heretofore accepted interpretations of the transition from general merchant to specialist. Specifically, he finds a surprisingly large degree of specialization in the period under study. In the course of this investigation, Dr. Doerflinger develops important ideas concerning the forces encouraging and inhibiting this transition.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , Spring 1983 , pp. 20 - 49
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1983

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References

1 Porter, Glenn and Livesay, Harold C., Merchants and Manufacturers: Studies in the Changing Structure of Nineteenth-Century Marketing (Baltimore, 1971), 15–16.Google Scholar

2 Porter and Livesay, Merchants and Manufacturers, 17.

3 Harrington, Virginia D., The New: York Merchant on the Eve of the Revolution, Columbia Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law, No. 404, (New York, 1935), 64–65Google Scholar; Baxter, William T., The House of Hancock: Business in Boston, 1724–1775, 1945, Reprint (New York, 1965), Chapt. II, esp. 21–22.Google Scholar

4 Harrington, New York Merchant, 65; Cochran, Thomas C., Business in American Life: A History (New York, 1972), 23Google Scholar; Berg, Harry D., “The Organization of Business in Colonial Philadelphia,” Pennsylvania History, X (1943), 168Google Scholar; Baxter, House of Hancock, Chapt. IV.

5 East, Robert A., “The Business Entrepreneur in a Changing Colonial Economy, 1763–1795,” Journal of Economic History, VI (1946), Supplement, 16–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

6 Berg, “Organization of Business,” 168–169; Porter, Kenneth Wiggins, The Jacksons and the Lees: Two Generations of Massachussets Merchants, 1765–1844, 2 vols. (New York, 1937), I, 79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7 Berg, “Organization of Business,” 168.

8 Hedges, James B., The Browns of Providence Plantations, Vol. I, Colonial Years, 2d ed., (Cambridge, Mass., 1968)Google Scholar, Chapts. II–VIII. Only one slaving voyage was undertaken by one of the brothers after 1765.

9 Ibid., 46, 155–157.

10 Baxter, House of Hancock, 48, Chapts. II, III.

11 Porter, Jackson and Lees, I, 78, 79. On the representative character of the merchants studied by Porter, see Ibid., I, 3, 4.

12 Baxter, House of Hancock; Hedges, Browns of Providence; Bruchey, Stuart, Robert Oliver, Merchant of Baltimore, 1783–1819, The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, Ser. 74, No. 1 (Baltimore, 1956)Google Scholar; McMaster, John Bach, The Life and Times of Stephen Girard, 2 vols., (Philadelphia, 1918).Google Scholar

13 White, Philip L., The Beekmans of New; York in Politics and Commerce, 1647–1877 (New York, 1956), 543–547.Google Scholar

14 “Tonnage Duties on Incoming Vessels, November 1, 1765-August 30, 1775,” 3 vols., Cadwalader Collection, Thomas Cadwalader Section, Historical Society of Pennsylvania (hereinafter HSP). A small fragment of this document, covering the end of 1775 and 1776, when very few vessels entered the port, is in Record Group 4, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, under the title “Accounts of Duty on Tonnage, 1775–1776.”

15 “Registry of Imports and Exports, 1781–1787,” 6 vols., Record Group 4, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg.

16 Roach, Hannah Benner, comp., “Taxables in the City of Philadelphia, 1756,” Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, XXII (1961-1962), 3–41Google Scholar; Transcript of the Assessment for the 1774 Provincial Tax for the City and County of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, (microfilm copy at the HSP); White, Francis, The Philadelphia Directory (Philadelphia, 1785)Google Scholar; Biddle, Clement, The Philadelphia Directory (Philadelphia, 1791).Google Scholar Figures for 1756 and 1774 are estimates because occupational designations in the documents covering those years are incomplete. The enumeration for 1774 was supplemented by County Tax Duplicates, 1773–1775, Philadelphia City and County, in Philadelphia City Archives, Philadelphia City Hall; and by Transcript of the Assessment for the 1772 Provincial Tax for the City and County of Philadelphia (microfilm copy at the HSP).

17 The top 12.5% of the merchants possessed 54.2% of the taxable wealth of merchants in 1774; the top 13.3% of merchants investing in vessels registered 49% of the tonnage known to have been registered by merchants before 1776; and the top 70 importers in the mid-1780s (5% of all importers who were merchants or who imported at least £300), imported 45.9% of the goods. For sources, see notes 15, 16, and 33.

18 On the wealth of the merchants, see Doerflinger, Thomas M., “Enterprise on the Delaware: Merchants and Economic Development in Philadelphia, 1750–1791,” (PhD dissertation, Harvard University, 1980), 153–167.Google Scholar All monetary values refer to Pennsylvania currency; £1.67 currency equals £1 sterling.

19 Robert Henderson Ledger, 1781–1794; Robert Henderson Invoice Book, 1784–1793, 47–55, Robert Henderson Papers, HSP (all papers of individual firms and merchants are in the HSP unless otherwise specified). The flour and indigo were worth £1,322 and £874, respectively, in 1790; and £1,869 and £1,837, respectively, in 1791.

20 An analysis of the Tonnage Duty Book suggests that in 1769 53 firms owned one vessel, 23 owned two, and 9 owned three, four, or five.

21 Berg, “Organization of Business,” 169, and Porter, Jacksons and Lees, 1, 78, recognize that young, capital-poor firms tended to be more specialized. It is significant that a New York city directory for 1794 lists two dozen firms as dry goods merchants. Davison, Robert A., Isaac Hicks, New York Merchant and Quaker, 1767–1820 (Cambridge, Mass., 1964), 30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

22 Collins and Emlen Journal, 1758–1764; Stephen Collins Ledger, 1761–1764; Stephen Collins Wastebook, 1764–1773; Stephen Collins Journal, 1773–1794; Stephen Collins and Son Journal, 1786–1794. Vols. CXVII, CXVIII, CXXIX, CXXXI, and CXXXII, Stephen Collins Papers, Library of Congress.

23 Joshua Fisher and Sons Ledger, 1769–1773, 38, 40, 46, 73, 110; Samuel and Miers Fisher Journal, 1792–1795, 1–253; Stephen Girard Journals, 1783–1786, 1786–1790, and Stephen Girard Journal, 1791–1794, 258–261, all 3 vols. in Ser. III, reel 113 of Girard Papers, American Philosophical Society (hereinafter APS). The three ports were Charleston, Cape Francois, and Marseilles. See also John and Peter Chevalier Ledger, 1770–1781, on microfilm in Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg.

24 William West Ledger, 1770–1777; Francis and John West Letterbooks, 1783–1788, 2 vols., all 3 volumes in William West Account Books. William West does not appear as a ship manager in the Tonnage Duty Book, while Francis and John West appearas heavy importers from Great Britain in customs records for the 1780s.

25 Charles Willing and Son to Robert Hibbert, July 30, 1754, Willing and Morris Letterbook, 1754–1761, 10.

26 Ibid.; Thomas Willing to David Barclay and Sons, May 22, 1755, Willing and Morris Letterbook, 1754–1761, 97.

27 Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan Journal A, 1763–1766, Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan Papers, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, reel 8 of the microfilm edition; James and Drinker Letterbook, 1756–1759, Henry Drinker Papers; John and Peter Chevalier Daybook, 1760–1766; Daniel Clark Letterbook, 1759–1762; John Greeves Ledger, 1753–1757; Thomas Wharton Daybook, 1758–1762, Leonard T. Beale Collection; Larsen, Grace Hutchison, “Profile of a Colonial Merchant: Thomas Clifford of Pre-Revolutionary Philadelphia,” (PhD dissertation, Columbia University, 1955).Google Scholar

28 Joseph Turner to John Gibson, July 8, 1764, Joseph Turner Letterbook, 1753–1774.

29 Based on an analysis of the customs records cited in note 15.

30 Stephen Girard Journals, 1780–1794, 5 vols., Series 3, reels 44, 113, Girard Papers, APS; James and John Cox Ledger, 1788–1802, Thomas A. Biddle Collection; Benjamin Fuller Journal, 1782–1789, William West Account Books.

31 Francis and John West Letterbooks, 1783–1788, 2 vols., William West Account Books.

32 Thomas Fitzsimmoos Journal, 1781–1785. For still another example of a Philadelphia provision firm, see Goldenberg, Joseph A., “The William and Favorite: The Post-Revolutionary Voyages of Two Philadelphia Ships,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, XCVIII (1974), 325–338.Google Scholar

33 The main portion of this document, covering the years 1727, 1730, 1736–1739, 1742–1761, 1765–1775, and parts of six other years, is in the HSP, while the registers for the period Jan. 1, 1762-Oct. 1, 1764, previously thought to be missing, appear in “British Registry of Vessels, 1727–1776,” 12 vols, Record Group 41, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg. I used the originals but checked my data against a valuable listing of vessels that appear in the HSP portion of the document and other materials. This list is filed in the HSP and was prepared by John J. McCusker. I am very grateful to Professor McCusker for allowing me to use it. For analysis of the Ship Register, see McCusker, John J., “Sources of Investment Capital in the Colonial Philadelphia Shipping Industry,” Journal of Economic History, XXXII (1972), 146–57CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Idem, “The Pennsylvania Shipping Industry in the Eighteenth Century,” 1973, unpublished study in the HSP; Crowther, Simeon J., “The Shipbuilding Output of the Delaware Valley, 1722–1776,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, CXVII (1973), 90–104Google Scholar; Idem, “The Shipbuilding Industry and the Economic Development of the Delaware Valley, 1681–1776,” (PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1970).

34 Of 375 merchant investors appearing in the Ship Register, 71 purchased 30 tons or less, while of 238 firms that received a vessel between 1766 and 1775 76 received three or fewer.

35 John Head Will #128, 1792, Philadelphia Registry of Wills, Philadelphia City Hall and City Hall Annex. Romanek, Carl L., “John Reynell, Quaker Merchant of Colonial Philadelphia,” (PhD dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, 1969), 110–120, 132–135, 166–167.Google Scholar

36 Analysis of the Tonnage Duty Book shows that of the top 17 shipping firms 47% owned more than 75% of the shipping they handled. Of the 127 next smaller firms, 59% owned over 75% of the shipping they handled.

37 This is a simplified account. After the Revolution the organization of the dry goods trade became more complex, as new British firms entered the field and adventures to America became more common. On the pre-revolutionary trade, see Jensen, Arthur L., The Maritime Commerce of Colonial Philadelphia (Madison, Wisconsin, 1963), 87–106.Google Scholar

38 John Chaloner to Theodore Hopkins, April 22, 1784, [John Chaloner] Letterbook, 1782–1784, Chaloner and White Papers, Box 4.

39 Larsen, “Thomas Clifford,” 276–305.

40 Stephen Collins Ledger, 1761–1764, and Stephen Collins Journal,1773–1794, Stephen Collins Papers, Library of Congress, CXVIII, CXXXI.

41 For representative listings, see Jones and Wister Invoice Book,1759–1762; John Reynell Invoice Book, 1758–1772, Coates-Reynell Papers.

42 Stephen Collins to David Knox, March 8, 1785, Stephen Collins Papers, Library of Congress, LXI, 158.

43 Egnal, Marc and Ernst, Joseph A., “An Economic Interpretation of the American Revolution,” William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd ser., XXIX (1972), 15–18Google Scholar; Berg, “Organization of Business,” 159–160. For an example of an upwardly mobile importer, see Thomas Armat Papers in Loudon Papers, Armat Section, esp. Thomas Armat Letterbook, 1781–1784, and Thomas Armat Ledger, 1784–1790.

44 Foner, Eric, Tom Paine and Revolutionary America (New York, 1976), 25.Google Scholar

45 This simplified account is based on the papers of many traders involved in shipping. See especially Willing and Morris Letterbook, 1754–1761; Orr, Dunlope, and Glenholme Letterbook, 1767–1769; Daniel Roberdeau Letterbook, 1764–1771; and Stephen Girard Papers, APS. It was not mandatory to own a vessel to be engaged in overseas adventures, but most large exporters did so.

46 Walton, Gary M., “New Evidence on Colonial Commerce,” Journal of Economic History, XXVIII (1968), 363–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

47 Joshua Fisher and Sons Ledger, 1769–1773, 1–111; William West Ledger, 1770–1777, 1–66; William West Account Books; Benjamin Fuller Journal, 1782–1789, 360–363, William West Account Books; Stephen Girard Journal, 1788–1790, entries for Dec.31, 1790, Series 3, reel 44, Stephen Girard Papers, APS.

48 Orr, Dunlope, and Glenholme to George Dunlope, Dec. 16, 1767, Orr, Dunlope and Glenholme Letter-book, 1767–1769.

49 Stephen Girard to John Girard, January 3, 1786. Girard also leased a lot on the waterfront to facilitate loading, Idem to Idem, April 14, 1785. Both letters are in Series 2, reel 121, Stephen Girard Papers, APS.

50 Egnal, Marc Matthew, “The Pennsylvania Economy, 1748–1762: An Analysis of Short-run Fluctuations in the Context of Long-run Changes in the Atlantic Trading Community.” (PhD dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1974), 70, 79.Google Scholar Foran example of a merchant who seems to have financed diverse activities on credit extended by English suppliers, see Daniel Clark Letterbook 1759–1762. This was very difficult to do when payment for dry goods was slow, because by the time the Philadelphia merchant had received payment it would be time to pay his English suppliers.

51 See above, page 33. Daniel Roberdeau, Orr, Dunlope and Glenholme; and Mifflin and Massey were pre-revolutionary shippers who did not import dry goods.

52 McMaster, Stephen Girard; Bruchey, Robert Oliver.

53 Tooker, Elva, Nathan Trotter, Philadelphia Merchant, 1787–1853 (Cambridge, Mass., 1955), 34–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

54 Gregory, Frances W., Nathan Appleton: Merchant and Entrepreneur, 1770–1861 (Charlottesville, Virginia, 1975), 13–56.Google Scholar It is possible that the rise of the China trade and of re-exportation of goods during the Wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars may have caused shipping merchants to handle more manufactured goods than they did before 1790. This problem deserves much more study.

55 Larsen, “Thomas Clifford,” 291–293; Romanek, “John Reynell,” 92; Joseph Turner to Joshua Mauger, February 25, 1759, Joseph Turner Letterbook, 1753–1774; Thomas Willing to Coddrington Carrington, May 26, 1755 and June 10, 1755, Willing and Morris Letterbook, 1754–1761, 97, 99.

56 Philadelphia Merchant Daybook, 1770–1788 (Identified as Thomas Canby's) Levi Hollingsworth's occupation was listed in a city directory as “keeper of the stage boats twice a week to Christianna,” and George Lattimer also operated shallops. White, Philadelphia Directory, Thomas Fitzsimmons Journal, 1781–1785, 116.

57 Benjamin Fuller to John Mitchell, September 30, 1785, Benjamin Fuller Letterbook, 1784–1787, Benjamin Fuller Papers; Stephen Girard to John Girard, October 27, 1789, Series 2, reel 121, Stephen Girard Papers, APS.

58 John Philips to William Crammond, Oct. 7, 1789, Crammond and Philips Papers, Gratz Collection.

59 James and Drinker to Henry Trotman, September 7, 1772; Idem to Zachery Philip Fonereau and Sons, August 3, 1773, James and Drinker Foreign Letterbook, 1772–1785, 12, 126, Henry Drinker Papers.

60 Stephen Girard Journal, 1786–1790, 126, 137, 184, Series 3, reel 113, Stephen Girard Papers, APS; Josiah and Samuel Coates Journal, 1785–1789, 201, 239, 249, 263, 272, Coates-Reynell Papers; Robert Henderson Ledger, 1781–1794, 2, Robert Henderson Papers; Bienjamin Fuller Journal, 1782–1789, 317, 326, William West Account Books; Coxe and Frazier Journal, 1783–1785, reel 20, Tench Coxe Papers; Thomas Fitzsimmons Journal, 1781–1785, 102, 125, 132, 211.

61 Levi Hollmgsworth Journal, 1784–1785, 377–398, Hollingsworth Papers.

62 James and Drinker to Lancelot Cowper, April 30, 1773, James and Drinker Foreign Letterbook, 1772–1785, 103, Henry Drinker Papers.

63 Based on an analysis of Philadelphia tax lists and city directories for the period 1756 to 1791.

64 Lumber merchants Joseph Huddle, Daniel Richards, William Wayne, and Joseph Weatherill also owned significant amounts of urban property.

65 Daniel Richards Will #294, 1793, Philadelphia Registry of Wills, Philadelphia City Hall; Henry Drinker Ledger A, 1776–1792, 29, 13, 47, Henry Drinker Papers.

66 John Baynton Ledger B, 1754–1759, 14, 58, 82, Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan Papers, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, reel 7 of the microfilm edition; Samuel Neave Ledger, 1752–1756.

67 Mifflin and Massey Ledger, 1760–1763- For representative commodity accounts showing principal suppliers of the firm, see 4, 21, 25, 26, 28, 130, and 184.

68 Josiah and Samuel Coates Journal, 1784–1789, 84–111, Coates-Reynell Papers.

69 Benjamin Fuller Journal, 1782–1789, 168–171, 184, 185, 203, 208, 215, William West Account Books; Thomas Fitzsimmons Journal, 1781–1785, 113, 118, 174; Stephen Girard Ledger, 1783–1786, Series 3, XCVII, Girard Papers APS; Coxe and Frazier Journal, 1785–1787, entries for June and July, 1787 reel 20, Tench Coxe Papers; James and John Cox Ledger, 1788–1802, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 25, 32, 59, 89, Thomas A. Biddle Collection.

70 Of 88 firms identified as major borrowers in 1790 and 1791 whose occupations can be learned, about 50 were merchants and 19 were grocers. Bank of North America Discount Book, 1790–1792, Bank of North America Papers, HSP. A “major borrower” was one who had at least one full page of discounts in the volume. The figure of 36 firms is an estimate based on this volume, which covers only the first half of the alphabet.

71 White, Beekmans of New York, 543–547.

72 Based on an analysis of exchange rates, 1750–1775, in McCusker, John J., Money and Exchange in Europe and America, 1600–1775 (Chapel Hill, 1978), 97, 185, 186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

73 Romanek, “John Reynell,” 38–40, 60–76. McCusker, Money and Exchange, 176–181, emphasizes that Philadelphia's foreign exchange market was much deeper than that of New England.

74 Clement Biddle and Co. Letterbook, 1769–1770, Clement Biddle Collection. Edwin Wolf 2nd and Whiteman, Maxwell, The History of the Jews of Philadelphia from Colonial Times to the Age of Jackson, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, 1975), 105Google Scholar, reports that there were 25 brokers in the city in 1781.

75 Shepherd, James F. and Walton, Gary M., Shipping, Maritime Trade, and the Economic Development of Colonial North America (Cambridge, 1972), Chapts. IV, V.Google Scholar

76 Crowther, “Shipbuilding Output,” 100, 101, Table 9; McCusker, “Sources of Investment Capital;” Nash, Gary B., “Urban Wealth and Poverty in Pre-Revolutionary America,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History, IV (1975–1976) 571–573Google Scholar, Chart 3.

77 Walzer, John Flexer, “Transportation in the Philadelphia Trading Area, 1740–1775,” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1968), 306–314.Google Scholar