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Commerce born active died
1763, Jul 17 1779-1841 1848, Mar 29
a German–American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul and investor who mainly made his fortune in fur trade and by investing in real estate in or around New York City. Born in Germany, Astor emigrated to England as a teenager and worked as a musical instrument manufacturer. He moved to the United States after the American Revolutionary War. He entered the fur trade and built a monopoly, managing a business empire that extended to the Great Lakes region and Canada, and later expanded into the American West and Pacific coast.
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Commerce
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Sort Name Nationality Born Active Died Selected 59
John Jacob Astor 1763, Jul 17 1779
1841 1848, Mar 29
Francis Lewis 1713, Mar 21 1734 1780 1802, Dec 31 a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New York. He was... George Taylor 1716 ca 1736 1781 1781, Feb 23 a Colonial ironmaster and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a represen... Cornelius Harnett 1723, Apr 10 1740 1781 1781, Apr 28 an American merchant, farmer, and statesman from Wilmington, North Carolina. He was a leading Ame... John Hanson 1715, Apr 3 1750 1783 1783, Nov 15 a merchant and public official from Maryland during the era of the American Revolution. In 1779, ... Jonathan Trumbull 1710, Oct 12 1731 1784 1785, Aug 17 one of the few Americans who served as governor in both a pre-Revolutionary colony and a post-Rev... Silas Deane 1737, Dec 24 1759 1784 1789, Sep 23 an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane s... Esek Hopkins 1718, Apr 26 1740 1786 1802, Feb 26 the only Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. He wa... Henry Laurens 1723, Feb 24 1757 1788 1792, Dec 8 an American merchant, slave trader, and rice planter from South Carolina who became a political l... Benjamin Franklin 1705, Jan 6 1718 1789 1790, Apr 17 one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A renowned polymath, Franklin was a leading aut... Adam Smith 1723, Jun 5 1748 1789 1790, Jul 17 a Scottish economist, philosopher, and author. He was a moral philosopher, a pioneer of political... Ethan Allen 1737, Jan 10 1757 1789 1789, Feb 12 a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, and American Revolut... Michael Hillegas 1729, Apr 22 1765 1789 1804, Sep 29 a merchant, sugar refiner, and iron magnate who used his wealth to assist the American revolution... John Odell unknown 1780 1789 unknown a carpenter from New York. A contract for the construction of St.Peter’s Church in the Bronx wa... Benjamin Harrison V 1726, Apr 5 1745 1791 1791, Apr 24 an American politician, planter, and merchant, a revolutionary leader and a Founding Father of th... George Mason 1725, Nov 30 1747 1792 1792, Oct 7 a Virginia planter and politician, and a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, ... John Hancock 1736, Jan 12 1754 1793 1793, Oct 8 an American merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as p... Nathaniel Gorham 1738, May 27 1759 1796 1796 Jun 11 Starting at 15, Gorham served an apprenticeship with a merchant in New London, Connecticut, after... George Clymer 1739, Mar 16 1765 1796 1813, Jan 23 an American politician and Founding Father of the United States. He was one of the first Patriots... Robert Morris Jr. 1734, Jan 20 1750 1798 1806, May 8 a Founding Father of the United States, was a Liverpool-born American merchant who financed the A... Justin Morgan 1747, Feb 28 1771 1798 1798, Mar 22 a U.S. horse breeder and composer. Morgan was a composer, best known for his hymns and fuguing tu... Ashley Bowen 1728, Jan 8 1741 1799 1813 the first American sailor to write an autobiography. Although Bowen's career as a sailor was not ... Joseph McDowell Jr. 1756, Mar 8 1776 1799 1801, Feb 5 an American planter, soldier, and statesman from North Carolina. He was known as "Quaker Meadows ... John Fitch 1743, Jan 21 1780 1799 1798, Jul 2 an American inventor, clockmaker, entrepreneur and engineer. He was most famous for operating the... John Fearn [1] 1768, Aug 24 1790 1799 unknown an English whaling ship captain, notable as the first European to discover the Pacific island of ... John Hetherington unknown 1790 1799 unknown a presumed apocryphal English haberdasher, often credited as the inventor of the top hat, which i... Jeremiah Wadsworth 1743, Jul 12 1761 1801 1804, Apr 30 an American sea captain, merchant, and statesman from Hartford, Connecticut who profited from his... William Felton [2] unknown 1790 1809 unknown a London coachmaker from 36 Leather Lane in Holborn, and 254 Oxford Street near Grosvenor Square,... Ezra Weeks unknown 1800 1809 unknown a successful builder who served as a witness in a sensationalized murder trial. John McComb, the... Paul Revere 1734, Dec 21 1756 1811 1818, May 10 an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, and a Patriot in the American Revolution.... William Williams [3] 1731, Apr 23 1771 1811 1811, Aug 2 a merchant, and a delegate for Connecticut to the Continental Congress in 1776, and a signatory o... Sybil Ludington 1761, Apr 5 1777 1811 1839, Feb 26 celebrated as a heroine of the American Revolutionary War. She reportedly rode to alert militia f... Samuel Osgood 1747, Feb 3 1771 1813 1813, Aug 12 an American merchant and statesman born in Andover, Massachusetts, currently a part of North Ando... Elbridge Gerry 1744, Jul 6 1765 1814 1814, Nov 23 an American statesman and diplomat. As a Democratic-Republican he was selected as the fifth Vice ... Jean Baptiste Point du Sable 1750 ca 1770 1818 1818, Aug 28 Regarded as the first permanent resident of what later became Chicago, Illinois, and is recognize... Charles Holt unknown 1797 1819 unknown printer, political provacateur Jao de la Porta unknown 1810 1819 unknown along with his older brother Morin, was a Portuguese Jewish merchant important in the early settl... Moses Austin 1761, Oct 4 1784 1821 1821, Jun 10 an American businessman and pioneer who played a large part in the development of the lead indust... Betsy Ross 1752, Jan 1 1773 1827 1836, Jan 30 widely credited with making the first American flag. According to family tradition, upon a visit ... William Maclure 1763, Oct 27 1782 1827 1840, Mar 23 an Americanized Scottish geologist, cartographer and philanthropist. He is known as the 'father o... Daniel Sargent Jr. 1764, Jan 15 1780 1829 1842, Apr 2 a successful American merchant and politician in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a successful merch... Samuel Morey 1762, Oct 23 1780 1834 1843, Apr 17 an American inventor, who worked on early internal combustion engines and was a pioneer in steams... Stephen F. Austin 1793, Nov 3 1814 1836 1836, Dec 27 an American empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas", and the founder of Texas, he led the seco... William Henry Ashley 1778 ca 1808 1838 1838, Mar 26 an American who pioneered as a miner, land speculator, manufacturer, territorial militia officer,... Johnny Appleseed 1774, Sep 26 1794 1839 1845, Mar 18 an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ontario... Alpheus Babcock 1785, Sep 11 1809 1842 1842, Apr 3 a piano and musical instrument maker in Boston, Massachusetts and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania duri... Petro Prokopovych 1775 1798 1850 1850 the founder of commercial beekeeping. He introduced novelties in traditional beekeeping that allo... Thomas L. Jennings 1791 1820 1855 1856, Feb 12 an African-American tradesman and abolitionist in New York City, New York. He operated and owned ... Alvin Adams 1804, Jun 16 1839 1855 1877, Sep 1 the founder of Adams and Company, a forerunner to Adams Express, one of the first companies to ac... Linus Yale Sr. 1797, Apr 27 1830 1857 1858, Aug 8 an American inventor and manufacturer of locks. In 1857 the village of Newport , New York incorpo... John Brown [3] 1800, May 9 1820 1859 1859, Dec 2 an American abolitionist who believed in and advocated armed insurrection as the only way to over... Peter Desaga 1812 1840 1859 1879 a German instrument maker at the University of Heidelberg who worked with Robert Bunsen. In 1855,... Richard Cobden 1804, Jun 3 1828 1862 1865, Apr 2 an English manufacturer and Radical and Liberal statesman, associated with two major free trade c... Samuel Colt 1814, Jul 19 1835 1862 1862, Jan 10 an American inventor and industrialist from Hartford, Connecticut. He founded Colt's Patent Fire-... Isaac Singer 1811, Oct 27 1830 1863 1875, Jul 23 an American inventor, actor, and businessman. He made important improvements in the design of the... Richard L. Allen 1803, Oct 20 1833 1865 1869, Sep 22 an American writer on agriculture. In 1842 he started the American Agriculturist in partnership w... Horace Greeley 1811, Feb 3 1826 1872 1872, Nov 29 founder and editor of the New-York Tribune, among the great newspapers of its time. Long active i... Zachariah Allen 1795, Sep 15 1815 1879 1882, Mar 17 an American textile manufacturer, scientist, lawyer, writer, inventor and civil leader from Provi... John Deere 1804, Feb 7 1821 1886 1886, May 17 an American blacksmith and manufacturer who founded Deere & Company, one of the largest and leadi... P. T. Barnum 1810, Jul 5 1832 1888 1891, Apr 7 an American politician, showman, and businessman remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and f...
