Stephen Girard – America’s Forgotten Multi-millionaire

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According to 4G Magazine, when personal wealth is measured as a percentage of the contemporaneous Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Stephen Girard is ranked fourth on the list of wealthiest Americans in history. He was also the first multi-millionaire in the United States, decades before the writer Horatio Alger popularized the rags-to-riches tale in America. Stephen Girard lived just outside of his adopted hometown of Philadelphia and remains virtually unknown. His vast fortune, most of which he bequeathed to charity, continues to support philanthropic projects since his death on December 26, 1831, ironically the Feast of Stephen. He wasn’t given that name at birth but rather the French version, Étienne, when he was christened in Bordeaux, France, in 1750. His father rose from a common sailor to Port Captain, a position of considerable authority among merchant seamen.

Sources regarding Étienne’s early life are scant, although it is known that he had no vision in his right eye, probably from birth, as he noted in letters he wrote years later that he had no recollection of ever having seen with that eye. He had little in the way of education in his youth, beginning his career as a cabin boy at the age of 14, two years after the death of his mother. By the time his career ended with his own death in 1831, he had amassed a fortune of 7.5 million pounds, a significant portion of the United States GDP at the time. Only John D. Rockefeller, John Jacob Astor, and Cornelius Vanderbilt built fortunes that reflected a larger portion of the national economy. He also financed the American war effort during the War of 1812 largely from his own resources, created charitable and educational institutions that still exist, and built the first private bank in America.

Most of his life was conducted away from the public stage, avoiding the spotlight. It all began in the humble home of a sailor on the Rue Ramone, then just a small village outside Bordeaux on the river in France. During the War of the Austrian Succession, during a British fleet attack on the French anchorage, Étienne served aboard a vessel damaged by an English warship. His heroism during the action, in which he was credited with extinguishing a fire and saving his ship, led King Louis XV to grant him an award that included the Royal Military Order of Saint Louis. Following the war, his fame led him to a position as a minor authority in Bordeaux with considerable influence over the port’s shipping and mercantile trade.

He married a woman named LaFarge in 1748, and from this union, eventually, ten children emerged. The details of Étienne’s early life are scarce, other than surviving records of the births of his siblings and the death of his mother. His known story begins in 1764 when he shipped as a cabin boy aboard one of his father’s ships, a merchant in seaman, maintaining brisk trade with the French colonies in the West Indies, including Port-au-Prince on the island of Saint-Domingue. On his first voyage, he learned the seagoing trade quickly. By 1773, he was designated as an officer equivalent to a lieutenant in the French Navy in terms of knowledge and responsibility. Within another year, he was the equivalent of a captain, holding the license necessary for him to assume command of a ship under French law.

In 1774, Étienne sailed for Saint-Domingue in command of the ship La Julie on a voyage in which he owned a share of the cargo being delivered. As captain, he had the right to purchase deliverables on credit, sell them to planters and merchants at his destination, and pay his creditors upon his return to Bordeaux. However, upon his return, he found himself unable to pay his debts and petitioned for discharge, which was granted in June 1774. He then sought another cargo to be purchased with what he had collected on the goods he had brought across the Atlantic, eventually finding one in coffee and sugar.

In New York, Étienne took employment as a mate for a shipping concern owned by Thomas Randall. He made several voyages along the American coast from New York, including to New Orleans, generating modest profits for both Randall and himself. When war broke out between the British North American colonies and Great Britain in April 1775, the war increased the dangers of the sea but also created additional opportunities for experienced and skilled seamen. By then, Étienne was knowledgeable about the West Indies, the Caribbean, and most of the American coastline.

He took refuge from a severe storm in Philadelphia and remained there when the British captured New York in 1776. His employer, Thomas Randall, fled from New York to elude the British, and together they started a new trading firm in Philadelphia. It was around that time that Étienne began referring to himself as Stephen. Under that name, he purchased a home in Mount Holly, New Jersey, and a counting house and warehouse for his trade goods in Philadelphia.

Over the ensuing years, several ships, including privateers, established him in Saint-Domingue, brokering goods from France and Spain. During the Revolutionary War, Girard established roots in Philadelphia both professionally and personally. In 1777, he married Mary Lun, the daughter of a Philadelphia shipbuilder. The following year, after the British occupation of the city ended, Girard was confronted with the decision to swear an oath of loyalty to the Revolutionary cause as a condition of freedom. He opted to swear allegiance to Pennsylvania and was granted status as a citizen of Pennsylvania and resident of Philadelphia.

Stephen worked to expand not only his shipping interests but also his rapidly growing mercantile business in the city. By the end of the Revolutionary War, he held a fortune in ships, local real estate, and hard currency. International trade, significantly strangled during the Revolutionary War, returned with gusto after the fighting ended. However, it was not without risks, as ships flying the new stars and stripes did not enjoy the protection of the British Navy as had ships from American ports before the war.

The Atlantic slave trade occupied the attention and efforts of traders in Europe and North America, as well as those of smugglers and pirates. There was effectively no national government in the United States, and trade was regulated by each of the former colonies through local customs officials. To circumvent the maze of shipping regulations, merchants and ship captains adopted methods similar to those used during the war. Girard and other traders used false documents, disguised cargos, and counterfeit ship registries to move their goods between the states.

By 1785, Stephen and Mary’s marriage, although otherwise a happy union, was troubled by Mary’s steadily increasing fits and emotional outbursts. They began to withdraw from Philadelphia’s social scene. Mary was diagnosed with an incurable mental instability, leading Girard to hire a full-time nurse to care for her. Mental health care in the late 18th century was virtually non-existent, and all that could be done was ensure the patient did no harm to herself or others.

As Mary’s condition worsened, the Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia, and Girard’s wealth continued to grow, as did his influence with emerging politicians. Philadelphia was then the nation’s largest city and shipping port, and Girard was the city’s wealthiest merchant and shipper. His views on the nation’s ability to impose tariffs and regulate trade were likely expressed during the convention and in the early years of the new government, yet he kept his views private.

Mary’s condition continued to deteriorate, and Girard began an affair with one of his wife’s nurses. By 1790, her condition was so alarming that she could no longer be cared for in their home. Stephen had his wife committed to the Pennsylvania Hospital in the late summer of that year, ensuring she had all she required. She arrived pregnant, giving birth to a daughter who died shortly after birth. Mary remained at the Pennsylvania Hospital until her death in 1815. While Girard paid for her care, he did not visit her except when consulting with her doctors.

Coastal cities in early America were subject to epidemics during the warmer months, particularly those borne by mosquitoes, including yellow fever and malaria. In 1793, over 5,000 Philadelphians succumbed to yellow fever. Girard, perhaps due to his low opinion of medicine, led efforts to establish a hospital for the care and treatment of the afflicted during the yellow fever epidemic. He worked tirelessly to obtain food, bedding, furnishings, and nursing care for the stricken.

In February 1791, the First Bank of the United States was chartered as a national bank. Alexander Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury, was an early supporter of establishing a national bank. In 1811, the charter expired, and Congress refused to renew it, leading Girard to purchase most of the remaining shares and equipment. Although he gave his bank no name, it quickly became known in Philadelphia as Girard’s Bank. He operated it as a sole proprietorship, aiding what would have otherwise violated state law requiring a charter to operate.

By 1812, the United States declared war on Britain. Girard supported the government’s actions to defend American free trade rights. By 1813, the U.S. government was bankrupt, and Girard used his personal fortune to shore up the faltering American economy and continue the war. His loans to the federal government contributed significantly to the federal budget, effectively funding the American war effort through his own resources.

After the war, the American economy flourished, and Girard’s war bonds matured, making him even wealthier. In 1824, an altercation involving all of his ships and Chinese authorities ended his participation in the opium trade. He continued to operate his bank and trading enterprise, as well as his many charitable activities, becoming well-known for his penchant for walking from his businesses to his home in what is today South Philadelphia.

In December 1830, he was struck by a carriage on Market Street and never fully recovered from the injuries sustained in the accident. He died on December 26, 1831, at the age of 81. His last will and testament was challenged by relatives in France and the Caribbean, concerned that the vast bulk of his fortune had been left for the establishment of a school for poor white male orphans. Girard insisted that no ecclesiastical minister of any sect should hold any position in the school.

In 1844, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld Girard’s will, and in 1848, Girard College opened in Philadelphia. It held the largest endowment of any educational institution in America at the time, all from Girard’s personal fortune. The school remains in operation today, offering classes for students from low-income families. Following his death, several employees of his private bank purchased the assets and opened the Girard Trust Company, which remained in business until its merger with Mellon Bank in 1983.

A biography of Girard written by a former employee pointed out several instances where he ignored past debts, taking advantage of events such as the French Revolution and slave revolts in Haiti. While many of the assertions were discounted by historians, they reflected Girard’s opportunism and the ruthless nature of his business transactions. Stephen Girard was the wealthiest man in America at the time of his death, and his fortune continues to benefit Philadelphians and, by extension, his adopted country. Much of his fortune was earned through means that may be considered less than scrupulous, yet he put that fortune to good use in the service of his country and its people.